30 May 2008
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶STS-124 Update
Per NASA:
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are putting the finishing touches on space shuttle Discovery one day before its scheduled liftoff on mission STS-124. Launch is set for May 31 at 5:02 p.m. EDT.
A countdown status briefing scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT will provide an update on final launch preparations and an updated weather forecast. The event will be carried live on NASA TV.
...
Discovery and the seven-member flight crew are ready to fly, and the weather is expected to be favorable. The forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time.
This mission will carry the largest payload so far to the station and includes three spacewalks. It is the second of three missions that will launch components to complete the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory. The crew will install Kibo's large Japanese Pressurized Module and Kibo's robotic arm system. Discovery also will deliver new station crew member Greg Chamitoff and bring back Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, who will end a three-month stay aboard the outpost.
Keywords: international_space_station,launch_schedule,nasa,space,space_shuttle,sts_124
28 May 2008
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Phoenix Family Album
OK, it's more than a little cool to me that we now have enough spacecraft at Mars that when a new one arrives we can get pictures of it
parachuting through the thin Martian atmosphere and
and on the surface from orbit. The former is a first, and the latter is perhaps the best example of its kind I've seen.
Keywords: mars,nasa,planets,space
25 May 2008
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Ernst Stuhlinger, RIP
Von Braun team member
Ernst Stuhlinger died today at the age of 94.
I won't try to explain his significance, feel free to check out his
Wikipedia entry. I had the honor of meeting him a few times, most recently when he and fellow Paperclip veteran Konrad Dannenburg spoke at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik. It was an amazing opportunity to be in the room with palpable a sense of history, to be there hearing these men talk about this event.
Rather than try to eulogize him, I'd like to share some of his own words, which brilliantly explains why the push beyond our home planet must continue.
Please follow the link below the cut, and read Stuhlinger's "Why Explore Space":
(more)
Keywords: apollo,history,huntsville,marshall_space_flight_center,nasa,politics,space
+ 0 - 0 | § ¶Phoenix Has Landed
After a rough year for the agency, NASA's then-administrator said of the Spirit Mars rover landing in January 2004:
"We're back, and we're on Mars."
Tonight,
we're on Mars again.
But this time,
we never left.
Oh, yeah, we rock.
Keywords: mars,nasa,rovers,space
23 May 2008
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Phoenix Landing
Per NASA:
With three days and 3 million miles left to fly before arriving at Mars, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft is on track for its destination in the Martian arctic.
...
The spacecraft is closing in on the scariest seven minutes of the mission.
On Sunday, shortly after the annual 500-mile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Phoenix will be approaching Mars at about 12,750 miles per hour, a speed that could cover 500 miles in 2 minutes and 22 seconds. After it enters the top of the Martian atmosphere at that velocity, it must use superheated friction with the atmosphere, a strong parachute and a set of pulsing retrorockets to achieve a safe, three-legged standstill touchdown on the surface in just seven minutes.
The earliest possible time when mission controllers could get confirmation from Phoenix indicating it has survived landing will be at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time). Of 11 previous attempts that various nations have made to land spacecraft on Mars, only five have succeeded.
Phoenix will land farther north on Mars than any previous mission, at a site expected to have ice-rich permafrost beneath the surface, but within reach of the lander's robotic arm.
Keywords: mars,nasa,planets,space
20 May 2008
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶STS-124 Update
Per NASA:
Space shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission is officially scheduled for launch May 31. The announcement was made in an afternoon news conference held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida following today's executive-level Flight Readiness Review.
"Preparations are going really well," Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach said, pointing out that Discovery's remarkably smooth processing flow will allow shuttle work crews to take off the Memorial Day holiday. "Right now we're in great shape, and we really expect to have a good three or four days off this weekend and come back and launch."
As further confirmation, I received my
lapel pin of the mission patch in the mail yesterday, so everything seems to be proceeding nicely.
Keywords: international_space_station,launch_schedule,nasa,space,space_shuttle,sts_124
14 May 2008
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Today In History
Yep, today is the anniversary of the most significant event in all of spaceflight history, at least in terms of impact on me personally, which is all that really matters, right?
On this date in 1973,
the Skylab space station launched into orbit -- or, at least, most of it did.
If you'd like to know more about Skylab, may I recommend
Homesteading Space?
Keywords: books,history,nasa,outward_odyssey,skylab,space
09 May 2008
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Space Law!
Per Space.com:
A student at the University of Mississippi will leap into the final frontier of the legal system Saturday when he receives the first-ever space law certificate in the United States.
Michael Dodge of Long Beach, Calif., earned the special distinction along with his law degree through the National Center for Remote Sensing, Air and Space Law at the university's law school.
"The professors and personnel here are the highest quality that can be found anywhere in the world, and I have learned from them the necessary skills I will need to effectively practice space law," Dodge said in a statement. "Ole Miss is, simply put, the space law expert, and anyone wishing practice in this field should get their legal education here."
Keywords: mississippi,ole_miss,space
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶End Of The Beginning
Per NASA:
STENNIS, Miss. -- NASA engineers Thursday successfully completed the first series of tests in the early development of the J-2X engine that will power the upper stages of the Ares I and Ares V rockets, key components of NASA's Constellation Program. Ares I will launch the Orion spacecraft that will take astronauts to the International Space Station and then to the moon by 2020. The Ares V will carry cargo and components into orbit for trips to the moon and later to Mars.
NASA conducted nine tests of heritage J-2 engine components from December to May as part of a series designed to verify heritage J-2 performance data and explore performance boundaries. Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., conducted the tests on a heritage J-2 "powerpack," which, in a fully assembled engine, pumps liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the engine's main combustion chamber to produce thrust. The test hardware consisted of J-2 components used from the Apollo program in the1960s through the X-33 program of the 1990s.
...
The main objectives of the series were to resolve differences in heritage turbopump performance data and recent component-level tests, and investigate vibration and pressure drops through the turbopump inlet ducts. Tests in the series ran for durations up to 400 seconds and at power levels up to 274,000 pounds of thrust.
After the data from the test series has been reviewed and objectives met, Stennis will begin readying the test stand for the next series of tests, said Gary Benton, the J-2X project manager at Stennis.
Keywords: ares,constellation,history,huntsville,mississippi,nasa,space
08 May 2008
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶One Of The Wonders
Per The Huntsville Times:
The Apollo Saturn V moon rocket, born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, to lift men on their journeys to the moon nearly 40 years ago, is about to be named one of the "7 Wonders of America" by ABC-TV's "Good Morning America."
The honor is especially noteworthy in that the Saturn V may be one of the few man-made objects to make the list, said Larry Capps, CEO of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, home to one of the three remaining.
...
ABC's Huntsville affiliate, WAAY-TV, said Wednesday that "Good Morning America" will broadcast live segments Monday from the Davidson Center for Space Exploration.
Very cool, and, on a personal note, may be mildly cooler for me, but we'll see.
Keywords: apollo,history,huntsville,nasa,outward_odyssey,saturn,skylab,space,ussrc
06 May 2008
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Send Your Name to Space Again
OK, here's yet another opportunity to send your name into space. After last week's LRO opportunity, NASA has announced an opportunity to have your name
included on a DVD on the Kepler mission, which involves a space telescope that will be launched in February 2009 to look for Earth-like planets in other stellar systems.
Keywords: astronomy,nasa,planets,space
05 May 2008
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶STS-124 Update
Per NASA:
Space shuttle Discovery made the long, slow trek out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The 3.4-mile trek is one of the last major milestones leading up to the launch of Discovery on the STS-124 mission. Launch is targeted for May 31.
Carried by the slow-moving crawler-transporter, the shuttle assembly and mobile launcher platform began rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at 11:47 p.m. EDT Friday night and was secured at the pad at 6:06 a.m. on Saturday.
The canister carrying the STS-124 payloads arrived at the launch pad April 29. Primary payloads are the tour-bus-sized Japanese Experiment Module-Pressurized Module and the lab's robotic arm system. The components will soon be installed in the orbiter's payload bay.
Keywords: international_space_station,launch_schedule,nasa,space,space_shuttle,sts_124
02 May 2008
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Send Your Name To The Moon
Per NASA:
NASA invites people of all ages to join the lunar exploration journey with an opportunity to send their names to the moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, spacecraft.
The Send Your Name to the Moon Web site enables everyone to participate in the lunar adventure and place their names in orbit around the moon for years to come. Participants can submit their information at http://lro.jhuapl.edu/NameToMoon/, print a certificate and have their name entered into a database. The database will be placed on a microchip that will be integrated onto the spacecraft. The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008.
Keywords: moon,space
