30 December 2004
+ 2 - 1 | § ¶Speeding The Future
The Huntsville Times today has an article interviewing Skylab and Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott about
the retirement of Shuttle and creation of CEV.
In essence, Garriott argues that the schedule of remaining Shuttle flights should be stripped to 10 to 15, and the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle accelerated to reduce or eliminate a gap between the two vehicles.
29 December 2004
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶ROCKVISS Update
A European collectSPACE forum member was kind enough to direct me to
an article about the ROCKVISS robot I posted about a couple of days ago. If I'm reading the article correctly, ROCKVISS won't actually be doing maintenance work, but is instead a roughly 20-inch-long robot arm technology demonstrator which will be tested outside the ISS to verify its ability to function in space.
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Virgin Territory
Wired's cover story this month is about
Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic. I just got my copy in the last couple of days and haven't read the article yet (I'm waiting to read it in the magazine), so I don't have any comments.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶RTF Update
An external tank that is
"the safest, most dependable tank NASA has ever produced" will leave the Michoud Assembly Facility Friday to travel via barge to Kennedy Space Center for stacking in preparation for Return To Flight.
28 December 2004
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶No Impact
Well, it turns out that Earth won't be celebrating the 59th anniversary of the "Houston, we've had a problem here" Apollo 13 oxygen tank explosion by getting blown up real good. Astronomers have determined that
asteroid 2004 MN4 won't hit Earth on April 13, 2029.
27 December 2004
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Rockviss?
So, in reading about the Progress that docked with ISS Saturday, I came across a story that made passing reference to the fact that it contained the
German "Rockviss" robot. Further research revealed that this is a robot that will be mounted to the Station's exterior and will be able to perform maintenance tasks of the sort that would normally be done by astronauts on EVA. From what I've read, it's apparently similar in intent to the Canadian "Dextre" manipulator that will be added to the Station's Canadarm2 robot arm, or NASA's less technologically mature Robonaut. Odd that this is the first time I've heard of it. Also odd that, to the best of my recollection, it hasn't been brought up during the Hubble robotic servicing discussions, since it's actually flight-ready hardware. Fascinating.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Christmas In Space
The international spaceflight community was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief Christmas Day with the
successful docking of the Progress M-51 spacecraft to the International Space Station, delivering much-needed food and defusing the chance of a shortage causing the Station to be decrewed. The spacecraft carried twice as much food as well be needed to last until the next Progress arrives in March.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Five Planets
All five of the visible-eye planets can be seen at the same time this week during the morning; Saturn's in the west, the rest of in the east.
25 December 2004
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶Updates
In case you haven't had time to keep up with the latest space goings-on, the
Russian Progress supply vehicle launched successfully Thursday and is expected to rendezvous with ISS today; and the
Huygens probe successfully separated from Cassini, and is on its way to a Jan. 14 encounter with Titan.
24 December 2004
+ 1 - 4 | § ¶Today In History
On this date, 36 years ago, the Apollo 8 crew became the first human beings to orbit another world.
While there, they sent back Christmas greetings from space, which this blog would like to echo.
23 December 2004
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Administrator Update
According to
NASA Watch, Rep. Bob Walker is not under consideration for the NASA administrator job. The names known to still be in consideration are Steidle, Kadish and Worden.
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Picture Of The Day
There's just something I find awe-inspiring and incredible about encountering another man-made object on an alien world, about coming across something constructed in the magnificent desolation around it. It happened on Apollo 12 with the Surveyor 3 lander, and now Opportunity has come close enough to take this pretty cool picture of its heatshield; the two reunited after nearly a year apart. Photo by NASA, via Spaceref.com
+ 0 - 4 | § ¶Heading For Titan
Since I don't know how much blogging I'll be doing over the holiday weekend, I though I'd go ahead and post this article about Huygens separation from Cassini this weekend and
what the probe may encounter when it reaches Titan.
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Yet Another Shenzhou VI Update
China, which thus far has proved far more adept at talking
alot about sending people into space than at actually sending people into space has announced that the
Shenzhou VI launch is scheduled for September 2005. The mission will feature two astronauts in orbit for five days.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Bang! Zoom!
NASA has selected six instruments for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is scheduled to launch to the Moon in fall 2008 (assuming adequate funding). The spacecraft will perform unprecedented studies of the Moon which will be used in choosing landing sites for human exploration.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Important Progress
The next few days could be some of the most important to spaceflight thus far this decade. The
Progress M51 spacecraft is scheduled to launch this afternoon at 4:19 p.m. CST for a rendezvous with the International Space Station at 5:31 p.m. Christmas Day. The spacecraft carries a much-needed 112-day supply of food. Without that supply, the Expedition 10 crew would run out of food the first week of January, and would have to return to Earth before then, leaving the Space Station unmanned and breaking the string of continuous human presence that began in November 2000.
To be fair, while much is being made of the importance of this launch and the impending disaster, it's important to note that there is no reason to expect a problem, and that every Soyuz launch since February of last year has been equally important--a failure of one crew to reach the Station would have meant that the preceeding crew would have had to leave it unoccupied.
This launch is a slightly bigger deal because, to the best of my knowledge, there have been more problems with Progress dockings than with Soyuz. I don't think there have been any during the ISS program, but there were a few during Mir--in addition to the infamous crash into the Spektre module, there was at least one around the same time which had to be waved off and deorbited without docking.
The ISS will have visible passes over much of the US over the next few days, and on Christmas Day passes, it may be possible to see the Progress approaching Station, which can be cool looking. You can find out when ISS will be visible where you live at
SkyWatch.
22 December 2004
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Marscano!
So, the cool news first:
Some scientists believe there may be volcanic activity on Mars. There are signs that there has been relatively "recent" (read: in the last 4 million years) volcanic activity, which means the planet is less dormant than conventional wisdom would have once believed. In addition, there's reason to believe that there is still some activity today, including, possibly, hydrothermal systems which could support life.
The down side, though, is that much has been made in the past year about the discovery of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Two possibilities were given as sources for the methane: life, and volcanic activity. Since there was no evidence of volcanic activity, that gave more credence to the theory that there is currently life on Mars. The article above doesn't address this issue, so thus doesn't answer the question of whether the hypothetical volcanoes could be an adequate source for the methane.
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶D4H Away
Despite an unknown glitch that caused its two strap-on CBCs to shut down about 8 seconds early,
yesterday's demonstration launch of Boeing's Delta 4 Heavy rocket is being considered a success. The new launch vehicle completed all phases of the flight, but the premature engine shutdown left it shy of its intended orbit.
21 December 2004
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶Today In History
On this date in 1987, the Soviet Soyuz TM-4 capsule launched to the Mir space station, and on this date in 1988, the crew returned to Earth, having become the first humans to spend a year in space.
+ 2 - 1 | § ¶Captive Audience
Per The Huntsville Times:
Homer Hickam of Huntsville, best-selling author of the book "Rocket Boys" and other stories about Coalwood, W.Va., got an unexpected card in the mail last week.
It was from Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia:
"Dear Mr. Hickam: Thank you so much for the books and DVD. I will definitely have time to read them. I very much appreciate your thoughtfulness and kind words.
"Cordially, Martha Stewart (dictated by Stewart and signed in her absence)."
+ 2 - 1 | § ¶Picture Of The Year
The Nexus-like photo above is one of several candidates you can vote for in Space.com's Best Images Of 2004 contest.
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶Unusual Opportunity
The Mars rover
Opportunity is drawing near its discarded heat shield, which was jettisoned during the landing process. The MER team is looking forward to being able to study both the crater the shield made at impact, and how well the shield itself weathered Martian atmospheric entry.
+ 2 - 1 | § ¶RTF Update
To be honest, I haven't even read it myself, but if anyone's interested, Spaceflight Now has a
10-part, 11,600-word report about the STS-114 Return to Flight mission.
+ 2 - 1 | § ¶Heavy News Update
After many delays, Boeing's new
Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled for launch today at 1:36 p.m. CST.
20 December 2004
+ 0 - 3 | § ¶RTF Update
Here's a report from Florida Today about the
Return To Flight Task Group meeting I attended Thursday:
NASA faces no showstoppers in its bid to return the shuttles to space in May or June as planned, an independent oversight panel said Thursday. ...
"Right now, we don't see anything that stands in front of the agency that can't be accomplished in order to make the May-June launch window," said Richard Covey, a retired astronaut who co-chairs the task force assigned to review whether the space agency meets the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
+ 2 - 0 | § ¶Oh, Voyager
I can't find a link, but apparently The Economist has reported that after the VSS Enterprise, the second Virgin Galactic spacecraft will be the VSS Voyager.
+ 1 - 1 | § ¶The Next Admin
According to
NASA Watch, the four former astronauts on early lists are no longer in consideration for the NASA administrator job, nor is JPL director Elachi.
Kadish and Worden are apparently still on the list, but now with two names above theirs: Exploration Systems head
Bob Walker, who served this year on the president's "Moon, Mars and Beyond" commission.
Addendum: Space Politics on Worden.
+ 0 - 3 | § ¶Final Answers
Spaceref.com has a transcript of
Sean O'Keefe's press conference about his resignation, in which he answers numerous questions about the past and future of NASA (and, in particular, the Vision and Hubble).
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶Picture Of The Day
Saturn and Dione. Courtesy NASA.
17 December 2004
+ 1 - 1 | § ¶Congrats, Sean
Looks like
O'Keefe got the job.
16 December 2004
+ 1 - 1 | § ¶Congrats, Rovers!
Per AP:
The conclusive discovery by a pair of wheeled robots that Mars once had vast pools of water and possibly could have harbored life was chosen by the editors of the journal Science as the most important scientific achievement of 2004.
+ 0 - 3 | § ¶This Week At NE
It's all Maggie this week at
NASAexplores, with one story about Soyuz training and another about how eyes are affected by spaceflight.
15 December 2004
+ 2 - 0 | § ¶Today In History
On this date in 1965, the first rendezvous of manned spacecraft was conducted by the Gemini 6A and 7 crews.
+ 1 - 1 | § ¶The Search
NASA Watch has an update on the
NASA Administrator search, and is predicting that, not only will a new administrator be named tomorrow, as was said during the weekend, but that a decision won't be made until after the holidays.
14 December 2004
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶Today In History
