BusinessWeek: Astronauts Return From International Space Station
NASA welcomed home two astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) and continued a much-delayed plan to send others to it as another year of its space program draws to a close.
Two U.S. astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut reached Earth this week after spending five months on the ISS, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary Nov. 2.
Meanwhile, NASA has determined that the delayed last mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery -- which is meant to travel to the ISS -- won't happen before Dec. 17.
The space shuttle and its crew of six was originally meant to fly Nov. 1 on mission STS-133, but fuel leaks caused by cracks in components of the shuttle's external tank have forced multiple launch delays.
As the space shuttle waits to fly, the Soyuz spacecraft made it successfully back from the ISS Thursday. Aboard were Expedition 25 commander Doug Wheelock and flight engineers Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin, who had spent five months on the ISS
Of the three, cosmonaut Yurchikhin has spent the longest amount of time in space, with 371 days in total. Wheelock has spent 178 days, while Walker has spent 163.
The three landed on the Kazakhstan steppe Thursday, northeast of the town of Arklyk, according to NASA. Following their landing and re-acclimation to gravity, Yurchikhin will return to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, outside of Moscow, while Wheelock and Walker will return home to Houston.
The trio launched into space together on the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft on June 15, departing from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
During their mission, they worked a variety of experiments, including those involving microgravity and its effects on humans. They also engaged in experiments in biology and biotechnology; physical and materials sciences; technology development; and Earth and space sciences.
Wheelock also took three unplanned spacewalks with fellow astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson to replace a faulty pump module that caused a shutdown in the space station's critical cooling system.
When Discovery finally makes it off the ground on the delayed STS-133 mission, it will bring a series of components to improve the ISS.
They include the Permanent Multipurpose Module, which was converted from the multipurpose logistics module Leonardo to provide additional storage for station crew, as well as a place for astronauts to experiment.
The space shuttle also will deliver some unique cargo to the ISS -- a humanoid robot called Robonaut 2 co-developed by NASA and General Motors.
Once it arrives at the station, the robot will become a permanent resident, performing mundane tasks and setting up work sites for astronauts to eliminate some of their busywork.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Russia Invests $2 Billion To Clean Up Space Debris
From Popular Science: Russia Invests $2 Billion To Clean Up Space Debris
Hare-brained schemes for cleaning up space debris have been batted around for some time, but Russia has finally put some money down on a real project. Russia’s space corporation, Energia, is going to invest $2 billion to build a space pod to fly around and knock the junk out of orbit and out of our way. Hopefully it will burn up in the atmosphere, or land in the ocean, and not rain down on Chinese villagers.
This pod could help reopen orbits that are currently inaccessible to future spacecraft due to the amount of shredded metal and empty hulls of dead satellites floating around. Using an ion drive, it will gently nudge these useless scraps out of orbit. Energia plans to have completed testing on the pod, which will have a nuclear power core, by 2020, and have it in service no later than three years after. It will have a lifespan of about 15 years, enough time to make a significant dent in our space debris problem.
Energia is also working on developing an “interceptor” spacecraft using similar technology. This craft would be able to derail any incoming comets or other outer-space projectiles that might be hurtling towards Earth, and change their trajectory just enough that they miss us.
Hare-brained schemes for cleaning up space debris have been batted around for some time, but Russia has finally put some money down on a real project. Russia’s space corporation, Energia, is going to invest $2 billion to build a space pod to fly around and knock the junk out of orbit and out of our way. Hopefully it will burn up in the atmosphere, or land in the ocean, and not rain down on Chinese villagers.
This pod could help reopen orbits that are currently inaccessible to future spacecraft due to the amount of shredded metal and empty hulls of dead satellites floating around. Using an ion drive, it will gently nudge these useless scraps out of orbit. Energia plans to have completed testing on the pod, which will have a nuclear power core, by 2020, and have it in service no later than three years after. It will have a lifespan of about 15 years, enough time to make a significant dent in our space debris problem.
Energia is also working on developing an “interceptor” spacecraft using similar technology. This craft would be able to derail any incoming comets or other outer-space projectiles that might be hurtling towards Earth, and change their trajectory just enough that they miss us.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Reusable Launch Vehicles – The future of space missions
Brahmand.com: Defense and Aerospace News: Reusable Launch Vehicles – The future of space missions
As man's space exploration ambitions are becoming insatiable, a demanding need has arisen to make space missions more affordable and reliable.
To date, space missions have been quite expensive undertakings – be it placing satellites in low-Earth orbit or sending astronauts to space or robotics for inter-planetary explorations.
According to estimates, US space agency NASA spent around 20 to 25 billion US dollars on its Apollo 11 Moon landing mission in 1969.
While executing manned missions is exorbitantly high, the cost of launching satellites also comes at a high price.
Hence, devising new ways and means for low-cost and reliable access to space has become the clear objective for all space-faring nations today.
Development of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology is a pioneering step in this direction. Such a launch vehicle, if developed successfully, will not only be a major technological breakthrough, but would also yield rich economic dividends for future space programmes.
A Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) refers to a vehicle that can be launched into space more than once. The vehicle can stay in orbit during its mission period and return to Earth after the mission’s completion. It can then be used to conduct subsequent space missions.
An RLV can be used either to launch payloads such as satellites (small/large) or it can ferry astronauts to space and bring them back.
The Reusable Launch Vehicle is different from an Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) system in the sense that it can be used for more than one space mission. An Expendable Launch Vehicle is capable of carrying payloads to space only once and its components cannot be recovered for reuse.
The space shuttles of NASA, presently used to ferry astronauts to space, are partially reusable launch vehicles. Each shuttle is reused after several months of refitting work for each launch.
Several countries, including US, Russia and India, are working on the concept of Reusable Launch Vehicle system. However, with several technological challenges involved, no major breakthrough has been achieved in this direction so far.
While designing an RLV, the key technological aspects to focus on could be its;
1. Composite, low-weight structure
2. A well-developed heat shield to protect the system from disintegration while re-entering Earth
3. Improved propulsion
4. Increased range
5. High payload carrying capacity
One of the conceptual designs for RLV is the single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle. An SSTO reaches space orbit by using its propellants and fluids and does not abandon any hardware during its space journey to reduce weight.
However, as per rocket equation, an SSTO should be ultra light in its mass to achieve flight acceleration. Such a light structure in turn could make the vehicle very small which would mean low/small payload carrying capacity and hence, higher costs.
Another more reliable design structure for the RLV is the two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) vehicle. In a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) launch vehicle, two distinct stages provide propulsion consecutively in order to achieve orbital velocity.
In the TSTO launch system, two independent vehicles operate. While the first stage vehicle can return to the launch site for re-use, the second stage can return after flying one or more orbits and re-entering.
This is usually proposed to be done by flying a compromise trajectory that keeps the first stage above or close to the launch site at all times, or by using small airbreathing engines to fly the vehicle back, or by recovering the first stage downrange and returning it some other way (often landing in the sea, and returning it by ship.)
The US’s effort for designing a fully operational Reusable Launch Vehicle is the development and testing of its X-37 space plane. The X-37 is a technology demonstration project that will test and validate technologies in the environment of space as well as test system performance of the vehicle during orbital flight, reentry and landing. Results from the X-37 will aid in the design and development of NASA’s Orbital Space Plane – designed to provide a crew rescue and crew transport capability to and from the International Space Station.
Indian space agency ISRO has conceived similar plans to design, develop and test a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle system. For this, a series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived.
Indian RLVs for low cost access to space
The Indian RLV has been conceived by ISRO as a space launch system that will significantly cut down launch cost from the present level of around $12,000 / kg. ISRO's RLV is a pure launcher. It is not designed to enter orbit.
The RLV will loft a satellite into orbit and immediately re-enter the atmosphere and glide back for a conventional landing. The RLV and the rocket booster will be recovered separately, with the former making a conventional landing on a runway and booster making a parachute landing.
ISRO’s RLV will possess wings and tail fins, and will be launched atop a 9 ton solid booster called S-9, similar to the ones on the PSLV. The space agency plans to achieve RLV capability in three phases - Re-entry Technology Development, RLV Runway Recovery, and Scramjet Power.
The RLV-TD prototype will look vaguely like a mini Space Shuttle, and will be used to carry out a series of experiments - HEX, LEX, REX, SPEX.
For HEX (Hypersonic Flight Experiment), the RLV-TD will be mounted on top of a rocket and launched beyond the atmosphere, after which the RLV-TD will separate and re-enter the atmosphere like the Space Shuttle, traveling through the hypersonic regime. This is to prove the aerobody, which will be ditched in the ocean at the end.
The next experiment LEX (Landing Experiment) will see an RLV-TD fitted with deployable landing gear and probably dropped from a larger aircraft, to prove the technology of autonomous landing.
The next experiment REX (Return Flight Experiment) would see RLV-TD fitted with small engines to take off horizontally like an aircraft and also then land again horizontally like an aircraft.
The final experiment SPEX (Scramjet Propulsion Experiment) will see RLV TD fitted with a hypersonic scramjet engine of waverider type underneath. It will take off and land like an aircraft as before, but in between it will accelerate to supersonic speed and activate its scramjet engines to accelerate hypersonically.
The eventual AVATAR TSTO vehicle will however look somewhat different than RLV-TD.
AVATAR (Aerobic Vehicle for hypersonic Aerospace Transportation) is a conceptual single-stage reusable rocket plane which is capable of horizontal launch and land SSTO Reusable launch vehicle being developed by India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) along with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and other research institutions, which can be used for cheaper military and civilian satellite launches.
When operational, it is planned to be capable of delivering a payload weighing up to 1000 kg to low earth orbit. The hyperplane will takeoff from conventional airfields, collect air in the atmosphere on the way up, liquefy it, separate oxygen and store it on board for subsequent flight beyond the atmosphere.
It is planned to be the size of a MiG-25 fighter and would be capable of delivering a 500 kg to 1000 kg payload to low earth orbit at very cheap rate for an estimated vehicle life of 100 launches.
Avatar is proposed to weighing only 25 tonnes in which 60 per cent of mass will be liquid hydrogen fuel. The oxygen required by the vehicle for combustion is collected from the atmosphere, thus reducing the need to carry oxygen during launch. Avatar is said to be capable of entering into a 100-km orbit in a single stage and launching satellites weighing up to one tonne.
Currently DRDO plans to build and fly a scaled down version of Avatar, weighing just 3 tonnes at take off. AVATAR design has already been patented in India and applications for registration of the design have been filed in patent offices in the United States, Germany, Russia and China.
Finally, in a nutshell, the successful development of the reusable launch vehicle system certainly promises to make future space missions more affordable and easy!
As man's space exploration ambitions are becoming insatiable, a demanding need has arisen to make space missions more affordable and reliable.
To date, space missions have been quite expensive undertakings – be it placing satellites in low-Earth orbit or sending astronauts to space or robotics for inter-planetary explorations.
According to estimates, US space agency NASA spent around 20 to 25 billion US dollars on its Apollo 11 Moon landing mission in 1969.
While executing manned missions is exorbitantly high, the cost of launching satellites also comes at a high price.
Hence, devising new ways and means for low-cost and reliable access to space has become the clear objective for all space-faring nations today.
Development of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology is a pioneering step in this direction. Such a launch vehicle, if developed successfully, will not only be a major technological breakthrough, but would also yield rich economic dividends for future space programmes.
A Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) refers to a vehicle that can be launched into space more than once. The vehicle can stay in orbit during its mission period and return to Earth after the mission’s completion. It can then be used to conduct subsequent space missions.
An RLV can be used either to launch payloads such as satellites (small/large) or it can ferry astronauts to space and bring them back.
The Reusable Launch Vehicle is different from an Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) system in the sense that it can be used for more than one space mission. An Expendable Launch Vehicle is capable of carrying payloads to space only once and its components cannot be recovered for reuse.
The space shuttles of NASA, presently used to ferry astronauts to space, are partially reusable launch vehicles. Each shuttle is reused after several months of refitting work for each launch.
Several countries, including US, Russia and India, are working on the concept of Reusable Launch Vehicle system. However, with several technological challenges involved, no major breakthrough has been achieved in this direction so far.
While designing an RLV, the key technological aspects to focus on could be its;
1. Composite, low-weight structure
2. A well-developed heat shield to protect the system from disintegration while re-entering Earth
3. Improved propulsion
4. Increased range
5. High payload carrying capacity
One of the conceptual designs for RLV is the single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle. An SSTO reaches space orbit by using its propellants and fluids and does not abandon any hardware during its space journey to reduce weight.
However, as per rocket equation, an SSTO should be ultra light in its mass to achieve flight acceleration. Such a light structure in turn could make the vehicle very small which would mean low/small payload carrying capacity and hence, higher costs.
Another more reliable design structure for the RLV is the two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) vehicle. In a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) launch vehicle, two distinct stages provide propulsion consecutively in order to achieve orbital velocity.
In the TSTO launch system, two independent vehicles operate. While the first stage vehicle can return to the launch site for re-use, the second stage can return after flying one or more orbits and re-entering.
This is usually proposed to be done by flying a compromise trajectory that keeps the first stage above or close to the launch site at all times, or by using small airbreathing engines to fly the vehicle back, or by recovering the first stage downrange and returning it some other way (often landing in the sea, and returning it by ship.)
The US’s effort for designing a fully operational Reusable Launch Vehicle is the development and testing of its X-37 space plane. The X-37 is a technology demonstration project that will test and validate technologies in the environment of space as well as test system performance of the vehicle during orbital flight, reentry and landing. Results from the X-37 will aid in the design and development of NASA’s Orbital Space Plane – designed to provide a crew rescue and crew transport capability to and from the International Space Station.
Indian space agency ISRO has conceived similar plans to design, develop and test a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle system. For this, a series of technology demonstration missions have been conceived.
Indian RLVs for low cost access to space
The Indian RLV has been conceived by ISRO as a space launch system that will significantly cut down launch cost from the present level of around $12,000 / kg. ISRO's RLV is a pure launcher. It is not designed to enter orbit.
The RLV will loft a satellite into orbit and immediately re-enter the atmosphere and glide back for a conventional landing. The RLV and the rocket booster will be recovered separately, with the former making a conventional landing on a runway and booster making a parachute landing.
ISRO’s RLV will possess wings and tail fins, and will be launched atop a 9 ton solid booster called S-9, similar to the ones on the PSLV. The space agency plans to achieve RLV capability in three phases - Re-entry Technology Development, RLV Runway Recovery, and Scramjet Power.
The RLV-TD prototype will look vaguely like a mini Space Shuttle, and will be used to carry out a series of experiments - HEX, LEX, REX, SPEX.
For HEX (Hypersonic Flight Experiment), the RLV-TD will be mounted on top of a rocket and launched beyond the atmosphere, after which the RLV-TD will separate and re-enter the atmosphere like the Space Shuttle, traveling through the hypersonic regime. This is to prove the aerobody, which will be ditched in the ocean at the end.
The next experiment LEX (Landing Experiment) will see an RLV-TD fitted with deployable landing gear and probably dropped from a larger aircraft, to prove the technology of autonomous landing.
The next experiment REX (Return Flight Experiment) would see RLV-TD fitted with small engines to take off horizontally like an aircraft and also then land again horizontally like an aircraft.
The final experiment SPEX (Scramjet Propulsion Experiment) will see RLV TD fitted with a hypersonic scramjet engine of waverider type underneath. It will take off and land like an aircraft as before, but in between it will accelerate to supersonic speed and activate its scramjet engines to accelerate hypersonically.
The eventual AVATAR TSTO vehicle will however look somewhat different than RLV-TD.
AVATAR (Aerobic Vehicle for hypersonic Aerospace Transportation) is a conceptual single-stage reusable rocket plane which is capable of horizontal launch and land SSTO Reusable launch vehicle being developed by India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) along with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and other research institutions, which can be used for cheaper military and civilian satellite launches.
When operational, it is planned to be capable of delivering a payload weighing up to 1000 kg to low earth orbit. The hyperplane will takeoff from conventional airfields, collect air in the atmosphere on the way up, liquefy it, separate oxygen and store it on board for subsequent flight beyond the atmosphere.
It is planned to be the size of a MiG-25 fighter and would be capable of delivering a 500 kg to 1000 kg payload to low earth orbit at very cheap rate for an estimated vehicle life of 100 launches.
Avatar is proposed to weighing only 25 tonnes in which 60 per cent of mass will be liquid hydrogen fuel. The oxygen required by the vehicle for combustion is collected from the atmosphere, thus reducing the need to carry oxygen during launch. Avatar is said to be capable of entering into a 100-km orbit in a single stage and launching satellites weighing up to one tonne.
Currently DRDO plans to build and fly a scaled down version of Avatar, weighing just 3 tonnes at take off. AVATAR design has already been patented in India and applications for registration of the design have been filed in patent offices in the United States, Germany, Russia and China.
Finally, in a nutshell, the successful development of the reusable launch vehicle system certainly promises to make future space missions more affordable and easy!
Space Shuttle Program Winds Down as Era of Privatized Spacecraft Dawns
PBS Newshour: Space Shuttle Program Winds Down as Era of Privatized Spacecraft Dawns
JEFFREY BROWN: And finally tonight: the end of one era in space travel and the beginning of another. Judy Woodruff has the story.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The shuttle Discovery is set to blast off for the final time next month, bringing NASA's shuttle program one step closer to an historic end.
Discovery is one of three remaining shuttles facing retirement by 2011. Meanwhile, private companies are stepping in to fill the gap. This week, the California-based company SpaceX was cleared by the government to launch into space a capsule that will fly into low orbit and reenter the Earth's atmosphere.
It will be the first-ever commercial spacecraft to be licensed for reentry. Founded by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX has been a leader in the drive to develop commercial space travel. Its company's Dragon capsule is scheduled to orbit the Earth four times next month, transmit data, receive commands, then reenter the atmosphere and splash into the Pacific Ocean.
If all goes as planned, it will deliver cargo and eventually astronauts to the International Space Station.
And, for more on all this, joining us now, our science correspondent, Miles O'Brien. It's good to have you with us.
MILES O'BRIEN: Good to be here.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, let's talk background -- the shuttle program going away. A lot of people don't realize that it's not around for long.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, it's interesting. Here we are approaching 30 years of shuttle-flying, 130 some-odd flights. And all good things, I guess, come to an end.
Now, this decision really was made on the heels on the loss of Columbia. In 2004, then President Bush announced the slow retirement of the shuttle and the decision to move on to something else. At that time, the program was called Constellation, and the goal was return to the moon.
But things have changed with the Obama administration.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And so nothing was planned from the government for NASA post the shuttle program?
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean, the sad part about it, I think everybody can agree, no matter which thing we do next in space, is that we are faced with this long gap.
The shuttles will go away, and we're going to have this five-, six-, seven-, maybe longer year period where we will not have the capability here in the U.S. to fly American astronauts to space on our own. What we're faced with -- to get to the International Space Station, something we have invested $100 billion in for research, what we're faced right now is the prospect of hiring Russian taxis.
A Russian Soyuz rocket will be carrying U.S. astronauts to the space station for the foreseeable future. And I think that's unfortunate.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Which -- and so we come to this commercial license, first of its kind, granted this week. Tell us who's behind it and what the goal is here.
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, Elon Musk is a guy who -- a South African originally -- American now -- lives in California, who made a pile of money with a company called PayPal. We all know that one.
He's always been fascinated by space, and has gotten in this business, Space Exploration Technologies, SpaceX for short. He has a contract with NASA, a commercial contract, to build a rocket and a capsule that would deliver cargo and he hopes, ultimately, crews to the International Space Station, flying a dozen flights over the foreseeable future.
This license he got is unprecedented because it's the first time that the FAA has granted a license for a capsule to reenter from space. You know, the FAA controls the airspace. And if this capsule is going to come down after this test flight December 7, the FAA has to say a few things about it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, why did they give him a license? They must have confidence that he can pull this off.
MILES O'BRIEN: The FAA wants to encourage this, because this is part of a burgeoning new sector, they hope, where, one day, we might have instead -- you know, 500 people have flown to space so far in the history of the space program.
The notion is that there will be 500 a month flying, or maybe even more than that, if the power of the entrepreneurial spirit is opened up.
And, so, SpaceX is just part of it. You've -- a lot of people, of course, are familiar with Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic...
JUDY WOODRUFF: Right. Right.
MILES O'BRIEN: ... and the efforts there. And there are other players in this field that would really like to turn it into a for-real business.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But are there -- are there disadvantages? Are their worries about turning it over to the private sector?
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes. In a word, it's safety. This is dangerous business. We have lost two orbiters in the shuttle period. Let's not forget that, 14 brave men and women who we have lost.
And so, when you talk about giving more latitude to the private sector to build these rockets, the question becomes, how will we know it is safe? And it's important that NASA and the FAA are looking over the shoulder of these private players, making sure that they're done in a way that is safe, but, then again, not being so much in their business that it's so expensive, that they can't make a buck.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And so -- but advantages, in terms of, what's the vision behind what Musk, Elon Musk, is doing? What does he ultimately want to do?
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, you know, of course, one of the things that everybody always talks about is the notion of tourists going to space. There are a lot of people with a pile of money who -- we have already seen it happen -- who have flown on Soyuz rockets to the International Space Station, paying $20 million, $30 million, $40 million for the visit.
So, there is a small well-heeled market out there. Now, you might say, well, what kind of business is that? But, you know, when the airlines were new in the 1920s, not many people could afford to go on an airliner. And no one could have envisioned in 1924, when they were flying a Ford Tri-Motor, a Boeing 777 taking them over to Hong Kong. So, you have to start somewhere.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And if -- this whole notion, Miles, though, of letting the private sector determine where we go as a country in space, I mean, what does that -- I mean, the United States has been seen as the leading country on the planet when it comes to space travel. What will that do to that image?
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's interesting, because, you know, of course there's a lot of competition right now. The Chinese have a manned space program now. Of course, we all know about the Russian space program. The nation of India would like to have a manned spaceflight program. So, there's a lot of competition in this field.
But no one has decided to hand the reins over to the private sector and give it some space, if you will, to create a business. So, that could be an area where, if you could unleash America's entrepreneurial spirit, you could march ahead in low Earth orbit.
Meanwhile, in theory, at least, that opens up more money, effort time, resources for NASA to push farther out, to an asteroid, to a moon of Mars, or who knows where.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And we were talking earlier about this administration, the Obama administration, coming in. Commercial flight has been a piece of how they have viewed the future of space.
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, let's remember, you know, the commercial entities have always been a part of the space program. It's just been more like the Pentagon for all these years, cost plus contracts, and, as a result not very efficient. We all know how that goes.
So, the idea of having the commercial players involved is not new. What's different is how you allow these contracts to be set up. If you allow a fixed-price contract, it changes everything.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And still, Miles, you hear the voices of those who say, but wait a minute. Again, even though we're not turning it over to the private sector, what happens to that kind of just science-for-science-sake kind of work that NASA had been doing?
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, that's precisely what NASA should be doing, many people would suggest, that, frankly, at this point, we have been flying to low Earth orbit 30 years with the space shuttle, and NASA has proven that it has every capability to do that.
Scientifically, technologically, as an engineering feat, that -- that's not as interesting as going farther. And so to the extent that allowing commercial players to sort of rule low Earth orbit, if you will, it frees up resources for NASA to move beyond.
That's the notion anyhow. Of course, a lot of people look back at the success of Apollo and like to see that recreated. But Apollo had the Cold War context and a blank checkbook and also honoring the wishes of a martyred president. That recipe is no longer here.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, meanwhile, the last space shuttle coming up soon.
MILES O'BRIEN: It's coming up, yes. And I have got to say, it's going to be a sad day. I have a lot of fondness for the program. And I will miss the space shuttles. But, you know, all good things come to an end.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Already nostalgia.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
JUDY WOODRUFF: OK. Miles O'Brien, thanks for dropping by the studio.
MILES O'BRIEN: My pleasure.
JEFFREY BROWN: And finally tonight: the end of one era in space travel and the beginning of another. Judy Woodruff has the story.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The shuttle Discovery is set to blast off for the final time next month, bringing NASA's shuttle program one step closer to an historic end.
Discovery is one of three remaining shuttles facing retirement by 2011. Meanwhile, private companies are stepping in to fill the gap. This week, the California-based company SpaceX was cleared by the government to launch into space a capsule that will fly into low orbit and reenter the Earth's atmosphere.
It will be the first-ever commercial spacecraft to be licensed for reentry. Founded by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX has been a leader in the drive to develop commercial space travel. Its company's Dragon capsule is scheduled to orbit the Earth four times next month, transmit data, receive commands, then reenter the atmosphere and splash into the Pacific Ocean.
If all goes as planned, it will deliver cargo and eventually astronauts to the International Space Station.
And, for more on all this, joining us now, our science correspondent, Miles O'Brien. It's good to have you with us.
MILES O'BRIEN: Good to be here.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, let's talk background -- the shuttle program going away. A lot of people don't realize that it's not around for long.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, it's interesting. Here we are approaching 30 years of shuttle-flying, 130 some-odd flights. And all good things, I guess, come to an end.
Now, this decision really was made on the heels on the loss of Columbia. In 2004, then President Bush announced the slow retirement of the shuttle and the decision to move on to something else. At that time, the program was called Constellation, and the goal was return to the moon.
But things have changed with the Obama administration.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And so nothing was planned from the government for NASA post the shuttle program?
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean, the sad part about it, I think everybody can agree, no matter which thing we do next in space, is that we are faced with this long gap.
The shuttles will go away, and we're going to have this five-, six-, seven-, maybe longer year period where we will not have the capability here in the U.S. to fly American astronauts to space on our own. What we're faced with -- to get to the International Space Station, something we have invested $100 billion in for research, what we're faced right now is the prospect of hiring Russian taxis.
A Russian Soyuz rocket will be carrying U.S. astronauts to the space station for the foreseeable future. And I think that's unfortunate.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Which -- and so we come to this commercial license, first of its kind, granted this week. Tell us who's behind it and what the goal is here.
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, Elon Musk is a guy who -- a South African originally -- American now -- lives in California, who made a pile of money with a company called PayPal. We all know that one.
He's always been fascinated by space, and has gotten in this business, Space Exploration Technologies, SpaceX for short. He has a contract with NASA, a commercial contract, to build a rocket and a capsule that would deliver cargo and he hopes, ultimately, crews to the International Space Station, flying a dozen flights over the foreseeable future.
This license he got is unprecedented because it's the first time that the FAA has granted a license for a capsule to reenter from space. You know, the FAA controls the airspace. And if this capsule is going to come down after this test flight December 7, the FAA has to say a few things about it.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, why did they give him a license? They must have confidence that he can pull this off.
MILES O'BRIEN: The FAA wants to encourage this, because this is part of a burgeoning new sector, they hope, where, one day, we might have instead -- you know, 500 people have flown to space so far in the history of the space program.
The notion is that there will be 500 a month flying, or maybe even more than that, if the power of the entrepreneurial spirit is opened up.
And, so, SpaceX is just part of it. You've -- a lot of people, of course, are familiar with Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Galactic...
JUDY WOODRUFF: Right. Right.
MILES O'BRIEN: ... and the efforts there. And there are other players in this field that would really like to turn it into a for-real business.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But are there -- are there disadvantages? Are their worries about turning it over to the private sector?
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes. In a word, it's safety. This is dangerous business. We have lost two orbiters in the shuttle period. Let's not forget that, 14 brave men and women who we have lost.
And so, when you talk about giving more latitude to the private sector to build these rockets, the question becomes, how will we know it is safe? And it's important that NASA and the FAA are looking over the shoulder of these private players, making sure that they're done in a way that is safe, but, then again, not being so much in their business that it's so expensive, that they can't make a buck.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And so -- but advantages, in terms of, what's the vision behind what Musk, Elon Musk, is doing? What does he ultimately want to do?
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, you know, of course, one of the things that everybody always talks about is the notion of tourists going to space. There are a lot of people with a pile of money who -- we have already seen it happen -- who have flown on Soyuz rockets to the International Space Station, paying $20 million, $30 million, $40 million for the visit.
So, there is a small well-heeled market out there. Now, you might say, well, what kind of business is that? But, you know, when the airlines were new in the 1920s, not many people could afford to go on an airliner. And no one could have envisioned in 1924, when they were flying a Ford Tri-Motor, a Boeing 777 taking them over to Hong Kong. So, you have to start somewhere.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And if -- this whole notion, Miles, though, of letting the private sector determine where we go as a country in space, I mean, what does that -- I mean, the United States has been seen as the leading country on the planet when it comes to space travel. What will that do to that image?
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's interesting, because, you know, of course there's a lot of competition right now. The Chinese have a manned space program now. Of course, we all know about the Russian space program. The nation of India would like to have a manned spaceflight program. So, there's a lot of competition in this field.
But no one has decided to hand the reins over to the private sector and give it some space, if you will, to create a business. So, that could be an area where, if you could unleash America's entrepreneurial spirit, you could march ahead in low Earth orbit.
Meanwhile, in theory, at least, that opens up more money, effort time, resources for NASA to push farther out, to an asteroid, to a moon of Mars, or who knows where.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And we were talking earlier about this administration, the Obama administration, coming in. Commercial flight has been a piece of how they have viewed the future of space.
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, let's remember, you know, the commercial entities have always been a part of the space program. It's just been more like the Pentagon for all these years, cost plus contracts, and, as a result not very efficient. We all know how that goes.
So, the idea of having the commercial players involved is not new. What's different is how you allow these contracts to be set up. If you allow a fixed-price contract, it changes everything.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And still, Miles, you hear the voices of those who say, but wait a minute. Again, even though we're not turning it over to the private sector, what happens to that kind of just science-for-science-sake kind of work that NASA had been doing?
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, that's precisely what NASA should be doing, many people would suggest, that, frankly, at this point, we have been flying to low Earth orbit 30 years with the space shuttle, and NASA has proven that it has every capability to do that.
Scientifically, technologically, as an engineering feat, that -- that's not as interesting as going farther. And so to the extent that allowing commercial players to sort of rule low Earth orbit, if you will, it frees up resources for NASA to move beyond.
That's the notion anyhow. Of course, a lot of people look back at the success of Apollo and like to see that recreated. But Apollo had the Cold War context and a blank checkbook and also honoring the wishes of a martyred president. That recipe is no longer here.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, meanwhile, the last space shuttle coming up soon.
MILES O'BRIEN: It's coming up, yes. And I have got to say, it's going to be a sad day. I have a lot of fondness for the program. And I will miss the space shuttles. But, you know, all good things come to an end.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Already nostalgia.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
JUDY WOODRUFF: OK. Miles O'Brien, thanks for dropping by the studio.
MILES O'BRIEN: My pleasure.
What Happened in Space News November 25
Venera 10 - USSR Venus Orbiter and Lander - 5,033 kg was launched on June 14, 1975 (7 days after its sister spacecraft, Venera 9).
Venera 10 arrived at Venus on October 25, 1975, three days after its sister spacecraft Venera 9.
Both orbiters photographed the clouds and looked at the upper atmosphere. Differences in cloud layers were discovered at 57-70 kilometers, 52-57 kilometers, and 49-52 kilometers from the surface. The lander arrived on the Venusian surface on November 25, 1975. During a period of 65 minutes, it transmitted black and white images of the planets surface.
Venera 10 arrived at Venus on October 25, 1975, three days after its sister spacecraft Venera 9.
Both orbiters photographed the clouds and looked at the upper atmosphere. Differences in cloud layers were discovered at 57-70 kilometers, 52-57 kilometers, and 49-52 kilometers from the surface. The lander arrived on the Venusian surface on November 25, 1975. During a period of 65 minutes, it transmitted black and white images of the planets surface.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Russia to develop nuclear space engine
The Voice of Russia: Russia to develop nuclear space engine
Russia’s “Energia” Space Corporation has drawn up a project to develop a space module with a nuclear-powered propulsion system. This is designed to protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids and remove defunct satellites from the orbits. The high capacity nuclear-powered spacecraft can fly to the Moon from 20 to 30 days.
Experts say that it’s impossible to solve space exploration problems of the 21st century without nuclear-powered propulsion systems. Russia, which has developed over 30 nuclear reactors for satellites, is rightfully recognized as the leader in this area.
The new project of the “Energia” Corporation to build a nuclear-powered special pod will be an excellent idea to sweep up the near-earth space, especially the geosynchronous orbit, from satellite debris. The price of a point on the geosynchronous orbit, where a satellite is stationed, is estimated at 50 million U.S. dollars because a limited number of satellites can be put into this orbit, says an adviser to the president of the corporation, Victor Sinyavsky.
“At present, there are over 600 defunct satellites on the geosynchronous orbit, and they are occupying valuable places. These places can be cleaned up using a nuclear-powered propulsion system that can collect these satellites from the orbit and put them into a lower orbit to eventually sink them into the ocean,” says Victor Sinyavsky.
Moreover, “Energia Corporation believes that a special pod is also necessary to develop a system to protect the earth from asteroids or comets. A spacecraft of this system will detect asteroids that intercept the Earth’s orbit. The objects that pose a threat to the Earth should be neutralized, says Victor Sinyavsky.
“The most effective method could be the detonation of a nuclear bomb on the surface of the asteroid or under it. This will change the trajectory of the asteroid, which could be dangerous from the standpoint of it falling on the Earth,” Victor Sinyavsky said.
A high capacity nuclear-powered pod can be used to intercept a dangerous object. A project to develop a 500 kilowatt capacity nuclear-powered engine is estimated at 60 billion rubles or about 2 billion U.S. dollars. “Energia” Corporation hopes to start flight tests of a multi-purpose pod in 2020.
The nuclear-powered propulsion systems will be used to carry out manned space flights to the Moon and Mars in the near future. The most effective method to study these is to create settlements, enterprises and nuclear power stations. A nuclear power station of the capacity between 20 and 40 kilowatt will be the most suitable for a lunar base.
These stations can be assembled as modules if there is a need for more energy. The only thing the cosmonauts have to do to start these nuclear power stations is only to push a button. In short, the future of space exploration is in the hands of nuclear energy.
Russia’s “Energia” Space Corporation has drawn up a project to develop a space module with a nuclear-powered propulsion system. This is designed to protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids and remove defunct satellites from the orbits. The high capacity nuclear-powered spacecraft can fly to the Moon from 20 to 30 days.
Experts say that it’s impossible to solve space exploration problems of the 21st century without nuclear-powered propulsion systems. Russia, which has developed over 30 nuclear reactors for satellites, is rightfully recognized as the leader in this area.
The new project of the “Energia” Corporation to build a nuclear-powered special pod will be an excellent idea to sweep up the near-earth space, especially the geosynchronous orbit, from satellite debris. The price of a point on the geosynchronous orbit, where a satellite is stationed, is estimated at 50 million U.S. dollars because a limited number of satellites can be put into this orbit, says an adviser to the president of the corporation, Victor Sinyavsky.
“At present, there are over 600 defunct satellites on the geosynchronous orbit, and they are occupying valuable places. These places can be cleaned up using a nuclear-powered propulsion system that can collect these satellites from the orbit and put them into a lower orbit to eventually sink them into the ocean,” says Victor Sinyavsky.
Moreover, “Energia Corporation believes that a special pod is also necessary to develop a system to protect the earth from asteroids or comets. A spacecraft of this system will detect asteroids that intercept the Earth’s orbit. The objects that pose a threat to the Earth should be neutralized, says Victor Sinyavsky.
“The most effective method could be the detonation of a nuclear bomb on the surface of the asteroid or under it. This will change the trajectory of the asteroid, which could be dangerous from the standpoint of it falling on the Earth,” Victor Sinyavsky said.
A high capacity nuclear-powered pod can be used to intercept a dangerous object. A project to develop a 500 kilowatt capacity nuclear-powered engine is estimated at 60 billion rubles or about 2 billion U.S. dollars. “Energia” Corporation hopes to start flight tests of a multi-purpose pod in 2020.
The nuclear-powered propulsion systems will be used to carry out manned space flights to the Moon and Mars in the near future. The most effective method to study these is to create settlements, enterprises and nuclear power stations. A nuclear power station of the capacity between 20 and 40 kilowatt will be the most suitable for a lunar base.
These stations can be assembled as modules if there is a need for more energy. The only thing the cosmonauts have to do to start these nuclear power stations is only to push a button. In short, the future of space exploration is in the hands of nuclear energy.
Lockheed Martin Proposes Manned Mission to the Dark Side of the Moon
Popular Science (POpSci): Lockheed Martin Proposes Manned Mission to the Dark Side of the Moon
The Obama administration may have axed NASA’s ambitious manned moon exploration plans for even an even more ambitious deep space exploration agenda, but for those developing the technologies that will one day take us to deep space the moon is just too ripe a testing ground to ignore. Lockheed Martin is pitching NASA what’s being called an L2-Farside Mission that would launch a manned Orion spacecraft into a stationary halo orbit on the other side of the moon.
The mission, Lockheed says, will serve several purposes. Most immediately, it would allow astronauts to study, via unmanned robots, some lunar real estate that hasn’t been seen with human eyes since the Apollo missions. But its real function is to test out technologies and skills that will be necessary to make a manned trip to an asteroid, and then on to Mars.
The idea is to park an Orion space capsule at the L2 Lagrange point about 40,000 miles above the moon’s far side, where the combined gravity from the Earth and the moon would allow the spacecraft to essentially hover in one place in sync with the moon. From there, the astronauts would deploy and conduct remotely-operated surface science, collecting rock samples and exploring the South Pole-Aitken basin, one of the oldest craters in the solar system. From the L2 point, the capsule would continuously maintain line of sight with both the Earth and the far side of the moon.
But the mission would also serve as a test bed for everything from the Orion capsule to the astronauts themselves. The medium-duration missions would test the durability of both the crew and the vehicle over several one-month spans before attempting an asteroid mission, which would likely last six months to ensure both bodies and capsules could withstand prolonged doses to deep space radiation. It would also allow NASA and Lockheed to demonstrate the high-speed reentry necessary for return trips from deep space – speeds reaching up to 50 percent faster than re-entry from LEO.
Lastly, astronauts on an L2-Farside mission would travel 15 percent farther from Earth than the Apollo astronauts did and spend nearly three times longer out in the vacuum. Essentially, the L2-Farside missions would be stepping-stones to prove that human stamina and technological wherewithal are both where they need to be to take the next big step out into deep space.
Of course, Lockheed isn’t going anywhere by itself. To get to the Lagrange point without resorting to a complicated multi-rocket scheme, Lockheed needs NASA to supply a new heavy lift launch vehicle – something that the space agency is working on but doesn’t have on the shelf. It a new heavy lifter does materialize, Lockheed sees an L2-Farside mission feasible as early as 2016.
The Obama administration may have axed NASA’s ambitious manned moon exploration plans for even an even more ambitious deep space exploration agenda, but for those developing the technologies that will one day take us to deep space the moon is just too ripe a testing ground to ignore. Lockheed Martin is pitching NASA what’s being called an L2-Farside Mission that would launch a manned Orion spacecraft into a stationary halo orbit on the other side of the moon.
The mission, Lockheed says, will serve several purposes. Most immediately, it would allow astronauts to study, via unmanned robots, some lunar real estate that hasn’t been seen with human eyes since the Apollo missions. But its real function is to test out technologies and skills that will be necessary to make a manned trip to an asteroid, and then on to Mars.
The idea is to park an Orion space capsule at the L2 Lagrange point about 40,000 miles above the moon’s far side, where the combined gravity from the Earth and the moon would allow the spacecraft to essentially hover in one place in sync with the moon. From there, the astronauts would deploy and conduct remotely-operated surface science, collecting rock samples and exploring the South Pole-Aitken basin, one of the oldest craters in the solar system. From the L2 point, the capsule would continuously maintain line of sight with both the Earth and the far side of the moon.
But the mission would also serve as a test bed for everything from the Orion capsule to the astronauts themselves. The medium-duration missions would test the durability of both the crew and the vehicle over several one-month spans before attempting an asteroid mission, which would likely last six months to ensure both bodies and capsules could withstand prolonged doses to deep space radiation. It would also allow NASA and Lockheed to demonstrate the high-speed reentry necessary for return trips from deep space – speeds reaching up to 50 percent faster than re-entry from LEO.
Lastly, astronauts on an L2-Farside mission would travel 15 percent farther from Earth than the Apollo astronauts did and spend nearly three times longer out in the vacuum. Essentially, the L2-Farside missions would be stepping-stones to prove that human stamina and technological wherewithal are both where they need to be to take the next big step out into deep space.
Of course, Lockheed isn’t going anywhere by itself. To get to the Lagrange point without resorting to a complicated multi-rocket scheme, Lockheed needs NASA to supply a new heavy lift launch vehicle – something that the space agency is working on but doesn’t have on the shelf. It a new heavy lifter does materialize, Lockheed sees an L2-Farside mission feasible as early as 2016.
SpaceX Wins Key Regulatory License
Los Angeles Business Journal: SpaceX Wins Key Regulatory License
The Federal Aviation Administration said it has awarded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. the first-ever license for a commercially developed spacecraft to re-enter Earth's atmosphere from orbit. It’s a significant milestone for the privately financed space program.
The FAA license, which was issued Monday, was a requirement for the Hawthorne commercial rocket developer’s launch of its Dragon space capsule, which Space X hopes will become the first commercial cargo delivery vehicle for the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Dragon is scheduled to launch atop its Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 7 and return to Earth. While initially unmanned, NASA hopes the Dragon will eventually be able to make commercial trips to the International Space Station with cargo and crew.
The development comes as NASA prepares to retire its quarter century-old fleet of manned space shuttles. The shuttle Discovery is scheduled to make its last lift-off on Nov. 30, although some NASA officials are lobbying for an additional flight next year since alternatives such as the SpaceX program are not yet ready for service.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it has awarded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. the first-ever license for a commercially developed spacecraft to re-enter Earth's atmosphere from orbit. It’s a significant milestone for the privately financed space program.
The FAA license, which was issued Monday, was a requirement for the Hawthorne commercial rocket developer’s launch of its Dragon space capsule, which Space X hopes will become the first commercial cargo delivery vehicle for the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Dragon is scheduled to launch atop its Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 7 and return to Earth. While initially unmanned, NASA hopes the Dragon will eventually be able to make commercial trips to the International Space Station with cargo and crew.
The development comes as NASA prepares to retire its quarter century-old fleet of manned space shuttles. The shuttle Discovery is scheduled to make its last lift-off on Nov. 30, although some NASA officials are lobbying for an additional flight next year since alternatives such as the SpaceX program are not yet ready for service.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Cooperation to replace rivalry in space exploration
The Voice of Russia: Cooperation to replace rivalry in space exploration
People will surely fly to the Moon and Mars. 25 national space agencies including Russia’s space agency, NASA and the European space agency have agreed on coordinating their efforts to carry out these plans at a summit in Washington organized by the International Academy of Astronautics.
The International Academy of Astronautics, which was founded in Stockholm 50 years ago, has set the task of strengthening cooperation between the countries in the peaceful exploration of space. The participants of the meeting discussed four main issues, says the head of the Russian space agency, Anatoly Perminov.
“These are the future of manned flights, the use of automatic probes in space exploration, studying climate change and monitoring the indications of emergency situations and disasters,” says Anatoly Perminov.
Most importantly, the heads of the space agencies agreed that the time of rivalry had ended and the time of cooperation had begun. There is a need to pool a huge amount of resources and intellectual potential of various countries to carry out space exploration and prepare for flights to the Moon and Mars.
The participants supported the idea of pursuing a common policy towards the use of the International Space Station and noted that the use of common standards in making spacecraft would be expedient. All this is very important for future long-range flights, says Anatoly Perminov.
“Russia’s space agency and NASA agreed that it will be expedient to step up the work of an international space studying group and submit several proposals to it by space industry enterprises of Russia, the U.S., Europe and Japan for developing a habitable complex of an Earth-Moon system. To this end, there is a need to develop new technology that is necessary for future manned flights to asteroids and Mars and other planets,” Anatoly Perminov said.
Outer space has already become a habitual place for human beings although it is still a dangerous place for work. There is no future for mankind without serious space exploration.
People will surely fly to the Moon and Mars. 25 national space agencies including Russia’s space agency, NASA and the European space agency have agreed on coordinating their efforts to carry out these plans at a summit in Washington organized by the International Academy of Astronautics.
The International Academy of Astronautics, which was founded in Stockholm 50 years ago, has set the task of strengthening cooperation between the countries in the peaceful exploration of space. The participants of the meeting discussed four main issues, says the head of the Russian space agency, Anatoly Perminov.
“These are the future of manned flights, the use of automatic probes in space exploration, studying climate change and monitoring the indications of emergency situations and disasters,” says Anatoly Perminov.
Most importantly, the heads of the space agencies agreed that the time of rivalry had ended and the time of cooperation had begun. There is a need to pool a huge amount of resources and intellectual potential of various countries to carry out space exploration and prepare for flights to the Moon and Mars.
The participants supported the idea of pursuing a common policy towards the use of the International Space Station and noted that the use of common standards in making spacecraft would be expedient. All this is very important for future long-range flights, says Anatoly Perminov.
“Russia’s space agency and NASA agreed that it will be expedient to step up the work of an international space studying group and submit several proposals to it by space industry enterprises of Russia, the U.S., Europe and Japan for developing a habitable complex of an Earth-Moon system. To this end, there is a need to develop new technology that is necessary for future manned flights to asteroids and Mars and other planets,” Anatoly Perminov said.
Outer space has already become a habitual place for human beings although it is still a dangerous place for work. There is no future for mankind without serious space exploration.
Monday, November 22, 2010
NASA Launches Exploration, Science Collaboration With Alaska
NASA Launches Exploration, Science Collaboration With Alaska
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA and the State of Alaska agreed today to collaborate in a variety of activities of mutual interest involving small satellite development, advanced aviation, space exploration, education and science.
During a ceremony held at the Alaska Aerospace Corporations (AAC) Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska, NASA's Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden and Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development Curtis Thayer signed a three-year non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement establishing a partnership for space exploration, scientific research and education initiatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known as STEM.
"NASA is extremely happy to enter into an agreement with the State of Alaska to expand our long-standing relationship," said Worden. "NASA will work cooperatively with the State of Alaskas educational institutions, including the University of Alaska system, to find ways to engage Alaska students through hands-on, interactive, education activities and open the way for other cooperative programs in aviation and space technology. This will contribute to the continued availability of trained scientists, technologists, engineers and educators to meet the nation's technical workforce needs in the 21st century."
NASA has worked with the State of Alaska over the past half century to advance the national space program, beginning with NASA launches from the Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska. These launches led to a broad range of programs in support of astronomy, planetary geosciences, satellite communications, space-based environmental monitoring, and the development of the Kodiak Launch Complex, as well as other activities that have helped establish the United States as a global leader in space.
On Sept. 29, 2001, Alaska supported the launch of the Department of Defense's Kodiak Star mission, which carried the NASA-sponsored Starshine-3 on a Lockheed Martin Athena 1 rocket from Kodiak Launch Complex. In addition to the Starshine-3 mission, the Kodiak Star launch carried four NASA science and educational satellites. The KLC will support the upcoming launch of the U.S. Air Force four-stage Minotaur IV rocket, which will carry several NASA-sponsored nanosatellites as secondary payloads, including the Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS), NanoSail-D and the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSAT) bus.
"The state of Alaska is pleased to continue its collaboration with NASA, and to expand the states role as both a contributor to, and beneficiary of, NASAs national space expertise," said Thayer. "We look forward, as well, to the hands-on opportunity this brings Alaska students to broaden their educational horizons."
"Alaska Aerospace looks forward to continued cooperation and building on an existing NASA Ames relationship that includes the satellites on this mission and the active support for the NASA Space Grant program at the University of Alaska," said Dale Nash, chief executive officer of the Alaska Aerospace Corp., Anchorage, Alaska.
NASA's Space Grant national network of 52 consortia in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico includes more than 850 affiliates from universities, colleges, industry, museums, science centers, and state and local agencies supporting and enhancing science and engineering education, research and public outreach efforts for NASA's aeronautics and space projects.
The agreement's first annex provides for research and development with the Alaska Aerospace Corp., Anchorage, Alaska to evaluate existing ground tracking stations at the Kodiak Launch Complex, Kodiak, Alaska, for potential use in support of NASA's small satellite operations. The ground stations also could be used to engage Alaska middle school through university students in tracking NASA spacecraft
.
For more information about NASA's Ames Research Center, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ames
To learn more about NASA's small satellite program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats
For information about NASA's education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education
For more information about the State of Alaska, visit: http://alaska.gov
For more information about Alaska Aerospace Corp., and the Kodiak Launch Complex, visit: http://akaerospace.com/
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA and the State of Alaska agreed today to collaborate in a variety of activities of mutual interest involving small satellite development, advanced aviation, space exploration, education and science.
During a ceremony held at the Alaska Aerospace Corporations (AAC) Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska, NASA's Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden and Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development Curtis Thayer signed a three-year non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement establishing a partnership for space exploration, scientific research and education initiatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known as STEM.
"NASA is extremely happy to enter into an agreement with the State of Alaska to expand our long-standing relationship," said Worden. "NASA will work cooperatively with the State of Alaskas educational institutions, including the University of Alaska system, to find ways to engage Alaska students through hands-on, interactive, education activities and open the way for other cooperative programs in aviation and space technology. This will contribute to the continued availability of trained scientists, technologists, engineers and educators to meet the nation's technical workforce needs in the 21st century."
NASA has worked with the State of Alaska over the past half century to advance the national space program, beginning with NASA launches from the Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska. These launches led to a broad range of programs in support of astronomy, planetary geosciences, satellite communications, space-based environmental monitoring, and the development of the Kodiak Launch Complex, as well as other activities that have helped establish the United States as a global leader in space.
On Sept. 29, 2001, Alaska supported the launch of the Department of Defense's Kodiak Star mission, which carried the NASA-sponsored Starshine-3 on a Lockheed Martin Athena 1 rocket from Kodiak Launch Complex. In addition to the Starshine-3 mission, the Kodiak Star launch carried four NASA science and educational satellites. The KLC will support the upcoming launch of the U.S. Air Force four-stage Minotaur IV rocket, which will carry several NASA-sponsored nanosatellites as secondary payloads, including the Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS), NanoSail-D and the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSAT) bus.
"The state of Alaska is pleased to continue its collaboration with NASA, and to expand the states role as both a contributor to, and beneficiary of, NASAs national space expertise," said Thayer. "We look forward, as well, to the hands-on opportunity this brings Alaska students to broaden their educational horizons."
"Alaska Aerospace looks forward to continued cooperation and building on an existing NASA Ames relationship that includes the satellites on this mission and the active support for the NASA Space Grant program at the University of Alaska," said Dale Nash, chief executive officer of the Alaska Aerospace Corp., Anchorage, Alaska.
NASA's Space Grant national network of 52 consortia in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico includes more than 850 affiliates from universities, colleges, industry, museums, science centers, and state and local agencies supporting and enhancing science and engineering education, research and public outreach efforts for NASA's aeronautics and space projects.
The agreement's first annex provides for research and development with the Alaska Aerospace Corp., Anchorage, Alaska to evaluate existing ground tracking stations at the Kodiak Launch Complex, Kodiak, Alaska, for potential use in support of NASA's small satellite operations. The ground stations also could be used to engage Alaska middle school through university students in tracking NASA spacecraft
.
For more information about NASA's Ames Research Center, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ames
To learn more about NASA's small satellite program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats
For information about NASA's education programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education
For more information about the State of Alaska, visit: http://alaska.gov
For more information about Alaska Aerospace Corp., and the Kodiak Launch Complex, visit: http://akaerospace.com/
World space agencies to jointly explore solar system
World space agencies to jointly explore solar system
MOSCOW, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- International space agencies have agreed to cooperate over the exploration of solar system using unmanned spacecraft, said Russian federal space agency Roscosmos on Monday.
"Universal understanding of the birth and the development of our Solar System ... has widened significantly with the beginning of the space era, which gave us an opportunity to see everything through the eyes of automatic research equipment," Roscosmos said in a statement published on its website.
Countries were not likely to achieve any palpable results if they worked separately, said the statement, which came as a result of the recent meeting between 25 space agencies in Washington, the United States, on Nov. 17.
Further international cooperation in space sector was viewed in four main directions: manned space flights, climate change control, emergency situations monitoring and space exploration using unmanned spacecraft, said the statement.
MOSCOW, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- International space agencies have agreed to cooperate over the exploration of solar system using unmanned spacecraft, said Russian federal space agency Roscosmos on Monday.
"Universal understanding of the birth and the development of our Solar System ... has widened significantly with the beginning of the space era, which gave us an opportunity to see everything through the eyes of automatic research equipment," Roscosmos said in a statement published on its website.
Countries were not likely to achieve any palpable results if they worked separately, said the statement, which came as a result of the recent meeting between 25 space agencies in Washington, the United States, on Nov. 17.
Further international cooperation in space sector was viewed in four main directions: manned space flights, climate change control, emergency situations monitoring and space exploration using unmanned spacecraft, said the statement.
What Happened in Space News November 22
Venera 9 - USSR Venus Orbiter and Lander - 4,936 kg had been launched on June 8, 1975.
Venera 9 arrived at Venus on October 22, 1975, three days before its sister spacecraft Venera 10.
Both orbiters photographed the clouds and looked at the upper atmosphere of the planet.
Differences in cloud layers were discovered at 57-70 kilometers, 52-57 kilometers, and 49-52 kilometers from the surface.
The lander arrived on the Venusian surface on November 22, 1975. During a period of 53 minutes, it transmitted the first black and white images of the planets surface. It showed sharp-edged flat rocks and a basaltic terrain. The probe in now in an orbit around Venus.
Venera 9 arrived at Venus on October 22, 1975, three days before its sister spacecraft Venera 10.
Both orbiters photographed the clouds and looked at the upper atmosphere of the planet.
Differences in cloud layers were discovered at 57-70 kilometers, 52-57 kilometers, and 49-52 kilometers from the surface.
The lander arrived on the Venusian surface on November 22, 1975. During a period of 53 minutes, it transmitted the first black and white images of the planets surface. It showed sharp-edged flat rocks and a basaltic terrain. The probe in now in an orbit around Venus.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Space Ref: NASA Collaborates with Alaska on Space Exploration, Science
Space Ref: NASA Collaborates with Alaska on Space Exploration, Science
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- News media are invited to attend a signing ceremony to commemorate a new collaborative relationship between NASA's Ames Research Center and the State of Alaska. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. AST on Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, at the Alaska Aerospace Corporations Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska. After the agreement is signed, news media will have an opportunity to ask questions and interview signatories.
NASA and Alaska have agreed to collaborate on specific activities of mutual interest, including space exploration, advanced aviation, science research and education initiatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The first annex under the new agreement provides for small satellite research and development with the Alaska Aerospace Corp., Anchorage, Alaska, to evaluate existing ground tracking stations at the Kodiak Launch Complex, Kodiak, Alaska, for potential use in support of NASA's small satellite operations. The ground stations could also be used to engage Alaska middle school through university students in tracking NASA spacecraft. The agreement lasts three years and has two year-long options.
News media interested in attending must contact Pat Johnston at 907-561-3338 or pat.johnston@akaerospace.com to make arrangements.
WHAT: Signing of an Umbrella Space Act Agreement for a non-reimbursable collaboration between Ames and the State of Alaska.
WHEN: 2 p.m. AST, Friday, Nov. 19, 2010.
WHERE: Conference Room 118 at the Alaska Aerospace Corp.s Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The spaceport is approximately 44 road miles south of Kodiak, Alaska at Narrow Cape on Kodiak Island.
WHO: Signing ceremony participants, include:
- S. Pete Worden, director, NASA's Ames Research Center
- Curtis Thayer, deputy commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
- Dale Nash, chief executive officer, Alaska Aerospace Corp., Anchorage, Alaska
- Tom Case, president and chief operating officer, Alaska Aerospace Corp.
For more information about NASA's Ames Research Center, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ames
For more information about the State of Alaska, visit: http://alaska.gov
For more information about Alaska Aerospace Corp., and the Kodiak Launch Complex, visit: http://akaerospace.com/
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- News media are invited to attend a signing ceremony to commemorate a new collaborative relationship between NASA's Ames Research Center and the State of Alaska. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. AST on Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, at the Alaska Aerospace Corporations Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska. After the agreement is signed, news media will have an opportunity to ask questions and interview signatories.
NASA and Alaska have agreed to collaborate on specific activities of mutual interest, including space exploration, advanced aviation, science research and education initiatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The first annex under the new agreement provides for small satellite research and development with the Alaska Aerospace Corp., Anchorage, Alaska, to evaluate existing ground tracking stations at the Kodiak Launch Complex, Kodiak, Alaska, for potential use in support of NASA's small satellite operations. The ground stations could also be used to engage Alaska middle school through university students in tracking NASA spacecraft. The agreement lasts three years and has two year-long options.
News media interested in attending must contact Pat Johnston at 907-561-3338 or pat.johnston@akaerospace.com to make arrangements.
WHAT: Signing of an Umbrella Space Act Agreement for a non-reimbursable collaboration between Ames and the State of Alaska.
WHEN: 2 p.m. AST, Friday, Nov. 19, 2010.
WHERE: Conference Room 118 at the Alaska Aerospace Corp.s Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The spaceport is approximately 44 road miles south of Kodiak, Alaska at Narrow Cape on Kodiak Island.
WHO: Signing ceremony participants, include:
- S. Pete Worden, director, NASA's Ames Research Center
- Curtis Thayer, deputy commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
- Dale Nash, chief executive officer, Alaska Aerospace Corp., Anchorage, Alaska
- Tom Case, president and chief operating officer, Alaska Aerospace Corp.
For more information about NASA's Ames Research Center, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ames
For more information about the State of Alaska, visit: http://alaska.gov
For more information about Alaska Aerospace Corp., and the Kodiak Launch Complex, visit: http://akaerospace.com/
International cooperation needed for space exploration
Washington DC Examiner: International cooperation needed for space exploration
.
Charles Bolden, 12th Administrator of NASA.
Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA recognizes that exploration beyond low-Earth orbit will involve the coordination, cooperation and support of other countries, said Charles Bolden, NASA administrator, after meeting with space agency leaders from around the world.
Bolden participated in the Head of Space Agencies Summit in Washington on Wednesday.
More than two dozen leaders attended the meeting to discuss issues almost all countries are grappling with, such as changing national priorities and stagnant budgets.
In October, NASA celebrated its 52nd birthday facing major workforce layoffs and the retirement of the Space Shuttle while China launched their second unmanned spacecraft to the moon. It is predicted more than 9,000 workers will be laid off when the Shuttle program finally comes to an end.
NASA has been actively working with many of the space agencies attending the summit to further common understanding of exploration and establish global partnerships. One global partnership in space construction is coming to a highlight with the completion of the International Space Station (ISS).
Construction of ISS, which began in 1998, is nearly complete in low-Earth orbit and involves 14 international partners. The first piece of ISS was launched into orbit by a Russian Proton rocket.
In August, Bolden signed a joint statement of intent to expand cooperation in civil space activities with the Israel Space Agency. The agencies agreed to identify new joint activities related to Earth and space science, life sciences, space exploration and other areas of mutual interest.
“It is my hope that more countries will become supportive of this cooperative dialogue and adopt a global exploration roadmap,” Bolden said Wednesday. “With a roadmap in place, the participating agencies and their countries will benefit enormously from a comprehensive, global approach to space exploration.”
In April, NASA signed a $335 million contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency to continue launching U.S. astronauts to ISS until 2014 aboard Russian space vehicles.
"I can assure you that as we look to the future, international cooperation will continue to be a cornerstone of NASA's exploration activities,” Bolden added.
.
Charles Bolden, 12th Administrator of NASA.
Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA recognizes that exploration beyond low-Earth orbit will involve the coordination, cooperation and support of other countries, said Charles Bolden, NASA administrator, after meeting with space agency leaders from around the world.
Bolden participated in the Head of Space Agencies Summit in Washington on Wednesday.
More than two dozen leaders attended the meeting to discuss issues almost all countries are grappling with, such as changing national priorities and stagnant budgets.
In October, NASA celebrated its 52nd birthday facing major workforce layoffs and the retirement of the Space Shuttle while China launched their second unmanned spacecraft to the moon. It is predicted more than 9,000 workers will be laid off when the Shuttle program finally comes to an end.
NASA has been actively working with many of the space agencies attending the summit to further common understanding of exploration and establish global partnerships. One global partnership in space construction is coming to a highlight with the completion of the International Space Station (ISS).
Construction of ISS, which began in 1998, is nearly complete in low-Earth orbit and involves 14 international partners. The first piece of ISS was launched into orbit by a Russian Proton rocket.
In August, Bolden signed a joint statement of intent to expand cooperation in civil space activities with the Israel Space Agency. The agencies agreed to identify new joint activities related to Earth and space science, life sciences, space exploration and other areas of mutual interest.
“It is my hope that more countries will become supportive of this cooperative dialogue and adopt a global exploration roadmap,” Bolden said Wednesday. “With a roadmap in place, the participating agencies and their countries will benefit enormously from a comprehensive, global approach to space exploration.”
In April, NASA signed a $335 million contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency to continue launching U.S. astronauts to ISS until 2014 aboard Russian space vehicles.
"I can assure you that as we look to the future, international cooperation will continue to be a cornerstone of NASA's exploration activities,” Bolden added.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Japanese scientsts confirm space probe Hayabusa recovered asteroid dust
UK: Japanese scientsts confirm space probe Hayabusa recovered asteroid dust
Japanese scientists have confirmed that particles found inside the Hayabusa space probe are from the asteroid Itokawa, the first time that specimens from an asteroid have been recovered.
Hayabusa returned to Earth in June, its heat-proof pod crashing into the Australian outback after a seven-year journey, but scientists needed an extended analysis of the samples within the craft to make sure they were from Itokawa.
"This is a world first and it is a remarkable accomplishment that brought home material from a celestial body other than the moon," Yoshiaki Takagu, science and technology minister, told a press conference called to announce the scientists' findings.
The craft's achievement is all the more remarkable given the vast distances it travelled - Itokawa is 300 million km from Earth, twice the distance of our planet to the sun - and a series of equipment failures during the mission.
Ground control feared the 510-kg craft had been lost when it was out of contact for seven weeks, a fault that added three years to the flight, while it also suffered a malfunctioning gyroscope and a fuel leak.
Another glitch threatened to ruin the mission entirely when a mechanism to fire a pellet into the surface of the asteroid failed. A close examination of the chamber designed to capture the dust stirred up by the round revealed that it contained around 1,500 specimens of space dust - most a mere 1 micrometre in size.
Concerned that the specimens were contaminants from the Earth, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency conducted numerous tests on the dust and were able to identify silicon, oxygen and a number of metals in the particles. Using scanning electron microscopes, they were also able to confirm that around 1,500 of the specimens "are extra-terrestrial and come from Itokawa."
The Japanese scientists hope that their research will provide new information about the birth of the solar system, more than 4.5 billion years ago.
Japanese scientists have confirmed that particles found inside the Hayabusa space probe are from the asteroid Itokawa, the first time that specimens from an asteroid have been recovered.
Hayabusa returned to Earth in June, its heat-proof pod crashing into the Australian outback after a seven-year journey, but scientists needed an extended analysis of the samples within the craft to make sure they were from Itokawa.
"This is a world first and it is a remarkable accomplishment that brought home material from a celestial body other than the moon," Yoshiaki Takagu, science and technology minister, told a press conference called to announce the scientists' findings.
The craft's achievement is all the more remarkable given the vast distances it travelled - Itokawa is 300 million km from Earth, twice the distance of our planet to the sun - and a series of equipment failures during the mission.
Ground control feared the 510-kg craft had been lost when it was out of contact for seven weeks, a fault that added three years to the flight, while it also suffered a malfunctioning gyroscope and a fuel leak.
Another glitch threatened to ruin the mission entirely when a mechanism to fire a pellet into the surface of the asteroid failed. A close examination of the chamber designed to capture the dust stirred up by the round revealed that it contained around 1,500 specimens of space dust - most a mere 1 micrometre in size.
Concerned that the specimens were contaminants from the Earth, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency conducted numerous tests on the dust and were able to identify silicon, oxygen and a number of metals in the particles. Using scanning electron microscopes, they were also able to confirm that around 1,500 of the specimens "are extra-terrestrial and come from Itokawa."
The Japanese scientists hope that their research will provide new information about the birth of the solar system, more than 4.5 billion years ago.
Monday, November 15, 2010
To boldly go where no Canadian has gone before
Calgary Herald: Giannuzzi: To boldly go where no Canadian has gone before
Respect for Canada abroad is a fast-diminishing commodity nowadays. Trendoids hate us for bashing seals and developing the oilsands. Some of our allies are upset at our imminent exit from a combat role in Afghanistan while plenty of other people are furious we sent troops in the first place.
There's no shortage of gripes against us and the days when we could win plaudits for being the genial conciliator and everybody's friend have long fled.
The best way to reclaim some shreds of old glory is to head in an entirely new direction and one has just presented itself: space science. A few weeks ago, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a new direction for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Obama cancelled the Constellation program, which had included the development of a suite of launch vehicles and spacecraft meant to allow humans to return permanently to the moon and Mars.
The replacement plan will see the International Space Station -- to which Canada contributes -- kept aloft until 2020, which is only fitting since it's taken practically forever to build the thing. We ought to get some scientific return on our investment. More importantly, Obama's plan bumps up NASA's budget and includes $1.3 billion to help the private sector come up with cheaper ways to get astronauts into orbit.
This is Canada's opportunity to get in on the action. Canadians know about and are justly proud of the two Canadarms the Canadian Space Agency has contributed to the International Space Station. However, fewer people are aware that the CSA lacks solid goals for the future, beyond a few plans to develop some cheap Martian rovers and next-generation remote sensing satellites. With a budget of $497 million over the next five years, dreams on a grander scale are impossible.
The Canadian government should think about ramping this up, if not quite to NASA levels, to allow researchers room to innovate. The expansion of the private space industry will provide Canadian researchers with unprecedented chances to collaborate and develop new skills in niche areas, guaranteeing us a pivotal place in the next stage of space exploration.
Other countries are working on satellites and rovers already. Canada needs to position itself to profit from unforeseen technical challenges arising as private space travel matures. We can develop a much bigger space industry and reap the economic benefits. For benefits there will be.
Going into space still doesn't make sense purely in dollar terms, but fortunately, this outward urge is being driven by a force which scoffs at red ink: national pride.
The definitive geopolitical rivalry of the 21st century is that between America and China. Both are prickly, ambitious and looking to trump each other wherever possible. Space is one arena where this not-quite-Cold War rivalry will play out. China plans to build a space station and develop a lunar lander and rover, seeing space exploration as a source of prestige and pride to mark the country's coming of age as a superpower. In return, Americans are getting increasingly leery about Chinese ambitions and view an active space program as a vital part of their national security.
As China expands its presence in orbit, expect the Americans to look for reliable partners to share the costs, technologies and benefits of space exploration wherever possible. Who better than us to lend the Yanks a helping hand?
There is no shortage of reasons to send humans to space, from the practical (keeping all your eggs in one basket is a bad idea) to the romantic (let's see what's out there), but ultimately, it's good old tribalism and profiteering that will drive us beyond the Earth. The opportunities and acclaim are ours for the taking, if only we dare.
Tim Giannuzzi is a Calgary columnist who specializes in foreign affairs.
Respect for Canada abroad is a fast-diminishing commodity nowadays. Trendoids hate us for bashing seals and developing the oilsands. Some of our allies are upset at our imminent exit from a combat role in Afghanistan while plenty of other people are furious we sent troops in the first place.
There's no shortage of gripes against us and the days when we could win plaudits for being the genial conciliator and everybody's friend have long fled.
The best way to reclaim some shreds of old glory is to head in an entirely new direction and one has just presented itself: space science. A few weeks ago, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a new direction for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Obama cancelled the Constellation program, which had included the development of a suite of launch vehicles and spacecraft meant to allow humans to return permanently to the moon and Mars.
The replacement plan will see the International Space Station -- to which Canada contributes -- kept aloft until 2020, which is only fitting since it's taken practically forever to build the thing. We ought to get some scientific return on our investment. More importantly, Obama's plan bumps up NASA's budget and includes $1.3 billion to help the private sector come up with cheaper ways to get astronauts into orbit.
This is Canada's opportunity to get in on the action. Canadians know about and are justly proud of the two Canadarms the Canadian Space Agency has contributed to the International Space Station. However, fewer people are aware that the CSA lacks solid goals for the future, beyond a few plans to develop some cheap Martian rovers and next-generation remote sensing satellites. With a budget of $497 million over the next five years, dreams on a grander scale are impossible.
The Canadian government should think about ramping this up, if not quite to NASA levels, to allow researchers room to innovate. The expansion of the private space industry will provide Canadian researchers with unprecedented chances to collaborate and develop new skills in niche areas, guaranteeing us a pivotal place in the next stage of space exploration.
Other countries are working on satellites and rovers already. Canada needs to position itself to profit from unforeseen technical challenges arising as private space travel matures. We can develop a much bigger space industry and reap the economic benefits. For benefits there will be.
Going into space still doesn't make sense purely in dollar terms, but fortunately, this outward urge is being driven by a force which scoffs at red ink: national pride.
The definitive geopolitical rivalry of the 21st century is that between America and China. Both are prickly, ambitious and looking to trump each other wherever possible. Space is one arena where this not-quite-Cold War rivalry will play out. China plans to build a space station and develop a lunar lander and rover, seeing space exploration as a source of prestige and pride to mark the country's coming of age as a superpower. In return, Americans are getting increasingly leery about Chinese ambitions and view an active space program as a vital part of their national security.
As China expands its presence in orbit, expect the Americans to look for reliable partners to share the costs, technologies and benefits of space exploration wherever possible. Who better than us to lend the Yanks a helping hand?
There is no shortage of reasons to send humans to space, from the practical (keeping all your eggs in one basket is a bad idea) to the romantic (let's see what's out there), but ultimately, it's good old tribalism and profiteering that will drive us beyond the Earth. The opportunities and acclaim are ours for the taking, if only we dare.
Tim Giannuzzi is a Calgary columnist who specializes in foreign affairs.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
U.S., Russia share views on space collaboration
ABC13 News: U.S., Russia share views on space collaboration
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (KTRK) -- After three more flights, America's space shuttle program will be history next year. So what happens when Russia is in charge of launching all of our astronauts?
To get the $100 billion space station after next June, NASA will buy seats for our astronauts on the Soyuz rocket, just like wealthy space tourists have done.
Some space experts insist that makes us weak and vulnerable, that the Russians have us over a barrel. But the truth is our space programs have long relied on each other, and may soon cooperate with china and other countries to go deeper into space.
It was two hours before U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly's launch on a Russian rocket to the International Space Station and he was saying goodbye -- from quarantine.
"Yeah man I'm a proud father," said Kelly's dad, Richard Kelly.
"I hope he has fun and doesn't get bored; we sent him care packages, so I sent him a lot of Family Guy," Kelly's daughter, Samantha Kelly, said.
Kelly has spent nearly three years training for his Soyuz flight and his six-month stint commanding the space station. In his final pre-flight press conference, the veteran of two shuttle flights said he's not sad the shuttle program will end next year.
"You know because of the economic realities, this is what we have to do; we have to retire the shuttle and build a new vehicle," he said.
"I think we're very fortunate to have our Russian partners," Scott Kelly added.
The Americans and Russians have been cooperating in space for decades, but when the shuttle program ends next year, the Russian Soyuz rocket is only way the Americans can get to space for years to come.
"Of course, it is a burden because we have to take on our shoulders the additional responsibilities," said Alexey Krasnov with the Russian Space Agency.
While the NASA will still command the space station, Russian space officials say the pressure will be on them to get there.
"Because we are feeling as a partner to the ISS program, the overall responsibility for the success of this unique international project," Krasnov said.
The U.S. will now try to encourage commercial space travel to low Earth orbit, while NASA develops new vehicles for deep space exploration to the moon or Mars. But U.S. and Russian officials agree that tight budgets mean future space travel will depend heavily on international cooperation.
"This is not giving up your leadership in space, and in fact, I don't think we will be able to explore without the rest of the major agencies around the world participating together," Space Station Manager Mike Suffredini said.
"If we combine our efforts, we can combine positive parts of every program," said Sergei Krikalyov with the Russian Space Agency.
NASA officials say there will always be disagreements over how to do human space flight, but there's no debate about whether it will continue.
"You just can't believe that the guy you knew in college is blasting off into space, and this is his third time," said Beth Christman, a friend of Scott Kelly.
"It's a dream and I'm living the dream right now," Scott Kelly said.
The latest plan passed by congress and signed by the president means three more shuttle flights, extending the space station until 2020, developing a new rocket for deep space travel and giving money to private companies to carry astronauts to the space station in low Earth orbit.
In the meantime, Americans must watch our astronauts hitching a ride and get used to seeing the once mighty shuttles in museums instead of outer space.
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (KTRK) -- After three more flights, America's space shuttle program will be history next year. So what happens when Russia is in charge of launching all of our astronauts?
To get the $100 billion space station after next June, NASA will buy seats for our astronauts on the Soyuz rocket, just like wealthy space tourists have done.
Some space experts insist that makes us weak and vulnerable, that the Russians have us over a barrel. But the truth is our space programs have long relied on each other, and may soon cooperate with china and other countries to go deeper into space.
It was two hours before U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly's launch on a Russian rocket to the International Space Station and he was saying goodbye -- from quarantine.
"Yeah man I'm a proud father," said Kelly's dad, Richard Kelly.
"I hope he has fun and doesn't get bored; we sent him care packages, so I sent him a lot of Family Guy," Kelly's daughter, Samantha Kelly, said.
Kelly has spent nearly three years training for his Soyuz flight and his six-month stint commanding the space station. In his final pre-flight press conference, the veteran of two shuttle flights said he's not sad the shuttle program will end next year.
"You know because of the economic realities, this is what we have to do; we have to retire the shuttle and build a new vehicle," he said.
"I think we're very fortunate to have our Russian partners," Scott Kelly added.
The Americans and Russians have been cooperating in space for decades, but when the shuttle program ends next year, the Russian Soyuz rocket is only way the Americans can get to space for years to come.
"Of course, it is a burden because we have to take on our shoulders the additional responsibilities," said Alexey Krasnov with the Russian Space Agency.
While the NASA will still command the space station, Russian space officials say the pressure will be on them to get there.
"Because we are feeling as a partner to the ISS program, the overall responsibility for the success of this unique international project," Krasnov said.
The U.S. will now try to encourage commercial space travel to low Earth orbit, while NASA develops new vehicles for deep space exploration to the moon or Mars. But U.S. and Russian officials agree that tight budgets mean future space travel will depend heavily on international cooperation.
"This is not giving up your leadership in space, and in fact, I don't think we will be able to explore without the rest of the major agencies around the world participating together," Space Station Manager Mike Suffredini said.
"If we combine our efforts, we can combine positive parts of every program," said Sergei Krikalyov with the Russian Space Agency.
NASA officials say there will always be disagreements over how to do human space flight, but there's no debate about whether it will continue.
"You just can't believe that the guy you knew in college is blasting off into space, and this is his third time," said Beth Christman, a friend of Scott Kelly.
"It's a dream and I'm living the dream right now," Scott Kelly said.
The latest plan passed by congress and signed by the president means three more shuttle flights, extending the space station until 2020, developing a new rocket for deep space travel and giving money to private companies to carry astronauts to the space station in low Earth orbit.
In the meantime, Americans must watch our astronauts hitching a ride and get used to seeing the once mighty shuttles in museums instead of outer space.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Joys and benefits of American space travel
The Korea Times: Joys and benefits of American space travel
By Bill Maxwell
You can call this my outer space lamentation.
The space shuttle Discovery soon will make its final voyage. The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to blast off on Feb. 27, ending the shuttle program that began in 1970 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
I am not alone in feeling this loss. Each time I go to Cape Canaveral or to a nearby beach to witness a liftoff, thousands of other people from around the world are there. Many of them also are lamenting the demise of the shuttle program.
My interest in space started when I read "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne as a child. I really got hooked on space travel on a night in October, 1957, when I walked into our front yard and watched a tiny, lighted cylinder cross the sky. It was Russia's Sputnik.
Then, along with millions of other Americans, I listened to President Kennedy's inspiring speech at Rice University on America's mission to explore space. "Well, space is there," he said, "and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."
Over the years, I have witnessed at least 30 liftoffs as a journalist on assignment and on my own as a space junkie. I was at the Cape with my 11th grade classmates on Feb. 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted off in Friendship 7 to orbit the Earth. We watched from a site reserved for schoolchildren. NASA already had learned how to excite and inspire kids. After that day, I was hooked on spaceships and space flight. And I was at the Cape in October 1998 when at age 77 Glenn flew into space again, this time on Discovery.
Space exploration, especially manned exploration, has been good for the United States. I vividly recall Walter Cronkite's choked voice on July 20, 1969, as he reported mankind's first landing on the moon. The world was captivated. Later, Cronkite would be identified with the greatest intangible contribution of NASA's accomplishments during the 1960s.
"The space program was a major factor in maintaining some balance of what our country was all about," he said. "That period was the most traumatic decade this country had since the Civil War. The Kennedy and King assassinations, the civil rights struggle, the Vietnam War. . . . The country was splitting apart. The great thing about the space program in those days was (that) it kept us dreaming about the future, which had a very salutary effect in maintaining national sanity."
On the tangible side, the space program has provided tens of thousands of jobs for highly skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled Americans. Florida, especially the Space Coast, has benefited from the program by enjoying millions of tourist dollars.
And there have been what NASA refers to as "spinoffs" and "technology transfers." According to the agency's annual journal, more than 1,650 NASA technologies have benefited U.S. industry and science and improved quality of life. In fact, NASA's charter requires the agency to share its technologies with the public, mandating that the time and money invested in space must also return to Earth as tangible benefits.
I can't list all of the spinoffs and transfers, but here is how Peter Salgo, a physician, the host of PBS's "Second Opinion" and a professor at Columbia University, describes his daily contact with some of the spin-offs: "Today, I work in a large metropolitan hospital. I see NASA technology all around me. The digital image processing software, the chemical method that eliminates toxins from used dialysis fluid, intensive care unit monitoring systems, physical therapy equipment ― all spinoffs from the great adventure."
I'm already having a hard time believing that we'll never see Discovery, this incredible spaceship, fly again.
By Bill Maxwell
You can call this my outer space lamentation.
The space shuttle Discovery soon will make its final voyage. The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to blast off on Feb. 27, ending the shuttle program that began in 1970 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
I am not alone in feeling this loss. Each time I go to Cape Canaveral or to a nearby beach to witness a liftoff, thousands of other people from around the world are there. Many of them also are lamenting the demise of the shuttle program.
My interest in space started when I read "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne as a child. I really got hooked on space travel on a night in October, 1957, when I walked into our front yard and watched a tiny, lighted cylinder cross the sky. It was Russia's Sputnik.
Then, along with millions of other Americans, I listened to President Kennedy's inspiring speech at Rice University on America's mission to explore space. "Well, space is there," he said, "and we're going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."
Over the years, I have witnessed at least 30 liftoffs as a journalist on assignment and on my own as a space junkie. I was at the Cape with my 11th grade classmates on Feb. 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted off in Friendship 7 to orbit the Earth. We watched from a site reserved for schoolchildren. NASA already had learned how to excite and inspire kids. After that day, I was hooked on spaceships and space flight. And I was at the Cape in October 1998 when at age 77 Glenn flew into space again, this time on Discovery.
Space exploration, especially manned exploration, has been good for the United States. I vividly recall Walter Cronkite's choked voice on July 20, 1969, as he reported mankind's first landing on the moon. The world was captivated. Later, Cronkite would be identified with the greatest intangible contribution of NASA's accomplishments during the 1960s.
"The space program was a major factor in maintaining some balance of what our country was all about," he said. "That period was the most traumatic decade this country had since the Civil War. The Kennedy and King assassinations, the civil rights struggle, the Vietnam War. . . . The country was splitting apart. The great thing about the space program in those days was (that) it kept us dreaming about the future, which had a very salutary effect in maintaining national sanity."
On the tangible side, the space program has provided tens of thousands of jobs for highly skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled Americans. Florida, especially the Space Coast, has benefited from the program by enjoying millions of tourist dollars.
And there have been what NASA refers to as "spinoffs" and "technology transfers." According to the agency's annual journal, more than 1,650 NASA technologies have benefited U.S. industry and science and improved quality of life. In fact, NASA's charter requires the agency to share its technologies with the public, mandating that the time and money invested in space must also return to Earth as tangible benefits.
I can't list all of the spinoffs and transfers, but here is how Peter Salgo, a physician, the host of PBS's "Second Opinion" and a professor at Columbia University, describes his daily contact with some of the spin-offs: "Today, I work in a large metropolitan hospital. I see NASA technology all around me. The digital image processing software, the chemical method that eliminates toxins from used dialysis fluid, intensive care unit monitoring systems, physical therapy equipment ― all spinoffs from the great adventure."
I'm already having a hard time believing that we'll never see Discovery, this incredible spaceship, fly again.
SpaceX moves back launch date, raises $50 million
Los Angeles Times: SpaceX moves back launch date, raises $50 million
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the privately owned, Hawthorne-based rocket venture, bumped back the maiden launch of its Dragon spacecraft to carry out more testing.
The first flight of the capsule, which is being designed to carry cargo and crew for NASA, is now slated for Dec. 7. It had been scheduled for Nov. 20.
When it does blast off, it will be a crucial test for the company, better known as SpaceX. The Dragon capsule is considered to be a contender for the job of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station after the space shuttle program is mothballed in 2011.
NASA has already awarded SpaceX an additional $1.6 billion in contracts to transport cargo to the International Space Station on the Dragon, starting as early as next year.
In the test launch, the capsule will be launched on top of SpaceX’s massive Falcon 9 rocket. The nine-engine rocket made its maiden flight from a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., in June.
In addition, SpaceX revealed in a securities filing Tuesday that it raised $50 million in funding from investors.
SpaceX currently employs more than 1,100 people, mostly in California. The firm makes its rockets in a sprawling facility in Hawthorne that once housed the production line for Boeing's 747 jumbo jet.
-- W.J. Hennigan
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the privately owned, Hawthorne-based rocket venture, bumped back the maiden launch of its Dragon spacecraft to carry out more testing.
The first flight of the capsule, which is being designed to carry cargo and crew for NASA, is now slated for Dec. 7. It had been scheduled for Nov. 20.
When it does blast off, it will be a crucial test for the company, better known as SpaceX. The Dragon capsule is considered to be a contender for the job of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station after the space shuttle program is mothballed in 2011.
NASA has already awarded SpaceX an additional $1.6 billion in contracts to transport cargo to the International Space Station on the Dragon, starting as early as next year.
In the test launch, the capsule will be launched on top of SpaceX’s massive Falcon 9 rocket. The nine-engine rocket made its maiden flight from a launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., in June.
In addition, SpaceX revealed in a securities filing Tuesday that it raised $50 million in funding from investors.
SpaceX currently employs more than 1,100 people, mostly in California. The firm makes its rockets in a sprawling facility in Hawthorne that once housed the production line for Boeing's 747 jumbo jet.
-- W.J. Hennigan
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Gig Harbor woman's mission is space exploration
Seattle Times: Gig Harbor woman's mission is space exploration
Humanity's farthest venture into space is in the hands of a woman who grew up in Gig Harbor and likes a unique opportunity.
"Everything NASA does is unique," Suzanne Dodd told me Monday as she settled into her new job.
Dodd is the latest Voyager project manager. She is, in effect, the captain of two spacecraft hurtling toward the edge of our solar system.
The manned space-shuttle program is winding down, but Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are continuing the work they began while Dodd was still a student at Peninsula High School.
Voyager 2 launched first, on Aug. 20, 1977, and is the longest continuously operated NASA spacecraft.
Voyager 1, launched a couple of weeks later, is the most distant active spacecraft, 17 billion kilometers from Earth and headed out of the solar system.
Dodd was already in love with math and science when those craft lifted off. She credits her high-school math teacher with setting her on that path.
She graduated in 1979 and went on to Whitman College and a Whitman-California Institute of Technology program that allowed her to earn a math degree from Whitman and an engineering degree from Caltech in five years.
Dodd had several job offers when she graduated in 1984 at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif. One of them was at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech, which was staffing for the Voyager encounter with Uranus.
It was a one-of-a-kind job, so she took it and stayed in Pasadena.
"I miss the Northwest," she said. "Believe it or not, I like the weather. Here [in California] it's dry and brown for months on end. Once in a while, I like the gloom and wet."
Her parents moved to Oregon, but Dodd still visits this area for work and to see friends. And she always tries to fit in a ferry ride, which is one of her pleasures.
At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dodd started out working "with the scientists to lay out the observations they wanted to make and to generate the commands that would do them — commands for instruments, or to maneuver the spacecraft and for returning the data to Earth."
She was a pioneer as a female NASA engineer. "I've seen a lot of growth with women in the space program" and more women studying engineering in college, she said. That includes her older daughter, who is studying engineering at Caltech.
The Uranus encounter that attracted Dodd to NASA was a major moment for Voyager 2, the first close-up look at an outer planet. The closest approach came Jan. 24, 1986; a few days later everyone's attention turned to the space shuttle.
On Jan. 28, the Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff. All seven crew members died.
Dodd said it's important for the public not to think spaceflight is routine. "Getting into space is hard," she said. "It doesn't matter how much you've done it, it's hard."
And we really haven't done it that much. Space exploration is still new, and Dodd said we aren't doing the same thing over and over but keep changing equipment and missions.
"NASA wouldn't be inspiring," she said, "if all we did was launch more rockets at the moon."
Dodd embraces change and adventure and has moved from project to project over her career. She left Voyager and worked on other projects, including Cassini, which launched in 1997 and continues to orbit Saturn. For the past 11 years she has been part of the Spitzer Space Telescope team. She was recently named project manager for Spitzer, and she'll continue in that position in addition to running the Voyager program.
She's still excited about the work. "Space and space exploration," she said, "is one of the few topics that's inspirational."
When she visits classrooms and asks young children what they want to do, they say hunt dinosaurs or explore space. "Exploration is important to humankind," she said.
The Voyager craft continue to return valuable scientific information, and in four to six years they will leave the edge of our solar system and send back the first data from interstellar space.
Dodd sees much more out there to explore. "I would like to send an orbiter around Neptune because Neptune has a lot of moons that are of interest." she said. "That would be really cool."
Searching, learning, innovating, it's what humans do, in space and here on Earth. Wrestling with challenges really is cool.
Humanity's farthest venture into space is in the hands of a woman who grew up in Gig Harbor and likes a unique opportunity.
"Everything NASA does is unique," Suzanne Dodd told me Monday as she settled into her new job.
Dodd is the latest Voyager project manager. She is, in effect, the captain of two spacecraft hurtling toward the edge of our solar system.
The manned space-shuttle program is winding down, but Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are continuing the work they began while Dodd was still a student at Peninsula High School.
Voyager 2 launched first, on Aug. 20, 1977, and is the longest continuously operated NASA spacecraft.
Voyager 1, launched a couple of weeks later, is the most distant active spacecraft, 17 billion kilometers from Earth and headed out of the solar system.
Dodd was already in love with math and science when those craft lifted off. She credits her high-school math teacher with setting her on that path.
She graduated in 1979 and went on to Whitman College and a Whitman-California Institute of Technology program that allowed her to earn a math degree from Whitman and an engineering degree from Caltech in five years.
Dodd had several job offers when she graduated in 1984 at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif. One of them was at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech, which was staffing for the Voyager encounter with Uranus.
It was a one-of-a-kind job, so she took it and stayed in Pasadena.
"I miss the Northwest," she said. "Believe it or not, I like the weather. Here [in California] it's dry and brown for months on end. Once in a while, I like the gloom and wet."
Her parents moved to Oregon, but Dodd still visits this area for work and to see friends. And she always tries to fit in a ferry ride, which is one of her pleasures.
At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dodd started out working "with the scientists to lay out the observations they wanted to make and to generate the commands that would do them — commands for instruments, or to maneuver the spacecraft and for returning the data to Earth."
She was a pioneer as a female NASA engineer. "I've seen a lot of growth with women in the space program" and more women studying engineering in college, she said. That includes her older daughter, who is studying engineering at Caltech.
The Uranus encounter that attracted Dodd to NASA was a major moment for Voyager 2, the first close-up look at an outer planet. The closest approach came Jan. 24, 1986; a few days later everyone's attention turned to the space shuttle.
On Jan. 28, the Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff. All seven crew members died.
Dodd said it's important for the public not to think spaceflight is routine. "Getting into space is hard," she said. "It doesn't matter how much you've done it, it's hard."
And we really haven't done it that much. Space exploration is still new, and Dodd said we aren't doing the same thing over and over but keep changing equipment and missions.
"NASA wouldn't be inspiring," she said, "if all we did was launch more rockets at the moon."
Dodd embraces change and adventure and has moved from project to project over her career. She left Voyager and worked on other projects, including Cassini, which launched in 1997 and continues to orbit Saturn. For the past 11 years she has been part of the Spitzer Space Telescope team. She was recently named project manager for Spitzer, and she'll continue in that position in addition to running the Voyager program.
She's still excited about the work. "Space and space exploration," she said, "is one of the few topics that's inspirational."
When she visits classrooms and asks young children what they want to do, they say hunt dinosaurs or explore space. "Exploration is important to humankind," she said.
The Voyager craft continue to return valuable scientific information, and in four to six years they will leave the edge of our solar system and send back the first data from interstellar space.
Dodd sees much more out there to explore. "I would like to send an orbiter around Neptune because Neptune has a lot of moons that are of interest." she said. "That would be really cool."
Searching, learning, innovating, it's what humans do, in space and here on Earth. Wrestling with challenges really is cool.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
German story lives on in space success
al.com: German story lives on in space success
Historians are known for telling the stories of people and events that are long since passed and no longer part of living history.
But for Mike Baker, the historian for the Aviation and Missile Command, the history of Redstone’s rocket past and its German rocket team is still very much alive in the ongoing science and technology development that has put Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on the world map.
“Konrad Dannenberg (a German rocket scientist who died in 2009, and who was responsible for the production of the Redstone and Jupiter rockets, and was deputy manager of the Saturn program) used to call me ‘Mr. Redstone.’ He would tell me it is always important that everyone know the Army story and that I need to continue to tell that story even after all the German scientists are gone,” Baker said.
“Everyone thinks of NASA when they think of space. But the success of the 1950s when we built up missile and rocket technology helped lay the foundation for space. It’s a fascinating story.”
The Army’s role in space, Baker said, has gone “full circle” with today’s mission that incorporates space technology in national defense, with the role of the Space and Missile Defense Command, the Missile and Space Intelligence Center and other military space agencies, and with several Soldiers taking lead roles in space exploration, including Col. Doug Wheelock, the first Army astronaut in command of the International Space Station.
“Even with all these Army accomplishments, groups are still surprised to learn about the role Redstone Arsenal and the Army has had in space exploration,” Baker said. “I still hear things like ‘I didn’t know Dr. Wernher von Braun worked for the Army’ and get questions like ‘How did a NASA facility come to exist on an Army post?’”
When he was hired in 1979 as an archivist for the then Missile Command, Baker’s job allowed him to delve deeply into the history of the German rocket scientists and the early days of space exploration. In 1990, more than 10 years later and after assuming the command’s historian post, Baker met some of the scientists who made that history happen.
And he has enjoyed his association with the group ever since.
In his early years at the Missile Command, Baker had casually met a few of the German scientists through the now deceased Doris Hunter, who ran the archives at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
“Doris Hunter used to help put together reunions for the Germans and Americans who worked together during the early days of space,” Baker said. “She started introducing me to the German rocket scientists.”
As he prepared for the National Space Club’s Salute to the Army in Space in May 1990 in Washington, D.C., Baker worked closely with Walt Wiesman, a member of von Braun’s team.
“An award was created – the Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris Award for Army Achievement in Space (named after Maj. Gen. John Medaris who commanded the Army Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone in the 1950s) – and it was given to a number of individuals who were early pioneers in the work of space,” Baker recalled.
“Gen. Chen (Maj. Gen. William Chen, commander of the Missile Command) decided to fly some of the German scientists to D.C. for the ceremony. We had four of them. I had to get their biographies together. I delivered nine trophies for the ceremony and then I became an escort officer with the instruction to ‘take good care of these guys.’”
And so he did, even making sure German rocket scientist Dr. Eberhard Rees could get into his hotel room.
“He couldn’t get that big key card with the holes in it to work in his door,” Baker recalled. “He said to me ‘I can put man on the moon, but I can’t get in this room. Please help me.’”
Baker’s assistance went far beyond helping Rees with his hotel key. Since then, the historian has freely told the stories of the German rocket scientists, shared their achievements and championed their successes.
That job hasn’t always been easy. With the McCarthy-style manhunt of the 1980s that threatened to export German rocket scientists long after the heyday of man’s first achievements in space, the German scientists and their families closed ranks, not talking to historians, scholars or the media about their days at Peenemunde, Germany, where they launched the first rocket into space; their transfer to the U.S., where they worked for the Army and then NASA, and where they became citizens and heroes of the space program; and their accomplishments that are still very much part of the nation’s space program.
In 1982, German rocket scientist Arthur Rudolph – who was responsible for the development of the Army’s Pershing missile as well as being the project director for NASA’s Saturn V that took man to the moon and who received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal — was investigated by the Office of Special Investigations, which claimed he was in the U.S. illegally.
In 1983, under duress and fearful for the welfare of his wife and daughter, Rudolph agreed to leave the U.S., return to Germany and renounce his U.S. citizenship. He was investigated in Germany for possible prosecution. Eventually, it was concluded there was no basis for prosecution and Rudolph was granted German citizenship.
When the investigation surfaced in the American public, Medaris, Huntsville city officials, the American Legion and former NASA associates called for an investigation of the OSI’s activities regarding Rudolph. The scientist tried to regain his U.S. citizenship, but died in Germany in 1996.
“There was a real fear because they didn’t know what was happening … I just think it was a grave injustice what happened. There’s a lot of revisionist history going on. You can’t look at history in today’s terms. I think that is wrong,” Baker said.
At the end of World War II, von Braun’s team was sought out by American forces and urged to come to the U.S. where they could further develop their missile technology.
“The Russians wanted the German rocket scientists. Can you imagine where we would be today if that had happened? The technologies we got from the Germans gave us military strength and started our space program. They taught our American engineers,” Baker said.
“The U.S. made a decision to bring them here. We invited them to come here. We said it was OK for them to be here and to be citizens. There may have been an issue (during World War II). But they were brought here legally, they were allowed to become U.S. citizens, they swore an oath to this country. To me, that ends the case.”
Baker said there are many American scientists who went on to excel in the fields of military and space rocketry because of what they learned from the Germans.
“The von Braun team was a team of not just Germans,” he said. “It was a team of Germans and Americans, and it was 4,700 people strong.”
Throughout his 30 years at Redstone, Baker said the height of interest in the history of space came in 1998 with the 40th anniversary of the Explorer I launch. That interest continues to peak at major anniversaries, such as the 50th anniversary of Explorer I when Baker spoke about the Army’s role in space at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas, and this year’s 50th anniversary of the creation of NASA and the 60th anniversary of the Germans coming to Huntsville.
“If it hadn’t been for von Braun’s team, we wouldn’t be here today. The launch of Explorer I literally put Huntsville on the map,” Baker said.
“When Explorer I launched, there was no NASA. If it hadn’t launched there might not have been a NASA and probably not a Marshall Space Flight Center. Explorer I solidified the fact that at least the Army at Redstone could make things happen.”
Baker said to fully understand the accomplishment, people need to look at it through the climate of the late 1950s.
“Russia had launched two Sputniks. America was embarrassed at that time. We answered that at Redstone with a spirit of achievement. What happened in 1958 with Explorer I was a building block of all our success,” Baker said.
“It’s something that all Soldiers and Army civilians should be proud of. The Army helped lay the foundation for our U.S. space program.”
Army officers such as Medaris and Maj. Gen. Holger Toftoy were the visionaries who helped von Braun and his German team develop a space mission.
“When I interviewed (German scientist) Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger a few years before he died, the gentleman broke down in tears, saying Toftoy was like a father to us. That was a universal opinion with all the Germans,” Baker said.
When they came to Redstone, they found an Army post that had been closed and a small town with cotton as the major industry. They brought science and technology, and economic and community growth with them — Huntsville went from a population of 16,000 in 1950 to more than 70,000 by 1960 – that continues even today.
“They had to have people to do the mission,” Baker said. “Scientists and engineers were drafted into the Army and then sent to Redstone. They joined the German scientists to develop rocket science.
“They had to hire people to build test stands and everything they needed out here. They hired contractors – mostly from GE at the time – to provide mission support. And in those early days, the first Redstone missiles were built at the Arsenal. It was quite an effort when you think of what all went on and when you realize it is still very much a part of our history here.”
Historians are known for telling the stories of people and events that are long since passed and no longer part of living history.
But for Mike Baker, the historian for the Aviation and Missile Command, the history of Redstone’s rocket past and its German rocket team is still very much alive in the ongoing science and technology development that has put Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on the world map.
“Konrad Dannenberg (a German rocket scientist who died in 2009, and who was responsible for the production of the Redstone and Jupiter rockets, and was deputy manager of the Saturn program) used to call me ‘Mr. Redstone.’ He would tell me it is always important that everyone know the Army story and that I need to continue to tell that story even after all the German scientists are gone,” Baker said.
“Everyone thinks of NASA when they think of space. But the success of the 1950s when we built up missile and rocket technology helped lay the foundation for space. It’s a fascinating story.”
The Army’s role in space, Baker said, has gone “full circle” with today’s mission that incorporates space technology in national defense, with the role of the Space and Missile Defense Command, the Missile and Space Intelligence Center and other military space agencies, and with several Soldiers taking lead roles in space exploration, including Col. Doug Wheelock, the first Army astronaut in command of the International Space Station.
“Even with all these Army accomplishments, groups are still surprised to learn about the role Redstone Arsenal and the Army has had in space exploration,” Baker said. “I still hear things like ‘I didn’t know Dr. Wernher von Braun worked for the Army’ and get questions like ‘How did a NASA facility come to exist on an Army post?’”
When he was hired in 1979 as an archivist for the then Missile Command, Baker’s job allowed him to delve deeply into the history of the German rocket scientists and the early days of space exploration. In 1990, more than 10 years later and after assuming the command’s historian post, Baker met some of the scientists who made that history happen.
And he has enjoyed his association with the group ever since.
In his early years at the Missile Command, Baker had casually met a few of the German scientists through the now deceased Doris Hunter, who ran the archives at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
“Doris Hunter used to help put together reunions for the Germans and Americans who worked together during the early days of space,” Baker said. “She started introducing me to the German rocket scientists.”
As he prepared for the National Space Club’s Salute to the Army in Space in May 1990 in Washington, D.C., Baker worked closely with Walt Wiesman, a member of von Braun’s team.
“An award was created – the Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris Award for Army Achievement in Space (named after Maj. Gen. John Medaris who commanded the Army Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone in the 1950s) – and it was given to a number of individuals who were early pioneers in the work of space,” Baker recalled.
“Gen. Chen (Maj. Gen. William Chen, commander of the Missile Command) decided to fly some of the German scientists to D.C. for the ceremony. We had four of them. I had to get their biographies together. I delivered nine trophies for the ceremony and then I became an escort officer with the instruction to ‘take good care of these guys.’”
And so he did, even making sure German rocket scientist Dr. Eberhard Rees could get into his hotel room.
“He couldn’t get that big key card with the holes in it to work in his door,” Baker recalled. “He said to me ‘I can put man on the moon, but I can’t get in this room. Please help me.’”
Baker’s assistance went far beyond helping Rees with his hotel key. Since then, the historian has freely told the stories of the German rocket scientists, shared their achievements and championed their successes.
That job hasn’t always been easy. With the McCarthy-style manhunt of the 1980s that threatened to export German rocket scientists long after the heyday of man’s first achievements in space, the German scientists and their families closed ranks, not talking to historians, scholars or the media about their days at Peenemunde, Germany, where they launched the first rocket into space; their transfer to the U.S., where they worked for the Army and then NASA, and where they became citizens and heroes of the space program; and their accomplishments that are still very much part of the nation’s space program.
In 1982, German rocket scientist Arthur Rudolph – who was responsible for the development of the Army’s Pershing missile as well as being the project director for NASA’s Saturn V that took man to the moon and who received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal — was investigated by the Office of Special Investigations, which claimed he was in the U.S. illegally.
In 1983, under duress and fearful for the welfare of his wife and daughter, Rudolph agreed to leave the U.S., return to Germany and renounce his U.S. citizenship. He was investigated in Germany for possible prosecution. Eventually, it was concluded there was no basis for prosecution and Rudolph was granted German citizenship.
When the investigation surfaced in the American public, Medaris, Huntsville city officials, the American Legion and former NASA associates called for an investigation of the OSI’s activities regarding Rudolph. The scientist tried to regain his U.S. citizenship, but died in Germany in 1996.
“There was a real fear because they didn’t know what was happening … I just think it was a grave injustice what happened. There’s a lot of revisionist history going on. You can’t look at history in today’s terms. I think that is wrong,” Baker said.
At the end of World War II, von Braun’s team was sought out by American forces and urged to come to the U.S. where they could further develop their missile technology.
“The Russians wanted the German rocket scientists. Can you imagine where we would be today if that had happened? The technologies we got from the Germans gave us military strength and started our space program. They taught our American engineers,” Baker said.
“The U.S. made a decision to bring them here. We invited them to come here. We said it was OK for them to be here and to be citizens. There may have been an issue (during World War II). But they were brought here legally, they were allowed to become U.S. citizens, they swore an oath to this country. To me, that ends the case.”
Baker said there are many American scientists who went on to excel in the fields of military and space rocketry because of what they learned from the Germans.
“The von Braun team was a team of not just Germans,” he said. “It was a team of Germans and Americans, and it was 4,700 people strong.”
Throughout his 30 years at Redstone, Baker said the height of interest in the history of space came in 1998 with the 40th anniversary of the Explorer I launch. That interest continues to peak at major anniversaries, such as the 50th anniversary of Explorer I when Baker spoke about the Army’s role in space at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas, and this year’s 50th anniversary of the creation of NASA and the 60th anniversary of the Germans coming to Huntsville.
“If it hadn’t been for von Braun’s team, we wouldn’t be here today. The launch of Explorer I literally put Huntsville on the map,” Baker said.
“When Explorer I launched, there was no NASA. If it hadn’t launched there might not have been a NASA and probably not a Marshall Space Flight Center. Explorer I solidified the fact that at least the Army at Redstone could make things happen.”
Baker said to fully understand the accomplishment, people need to look at it through the climate of the late 1950s.
“Russia had launched two Sputniks. America was embarrassed at that time. We answered that at Redstone with a spirit of achievement. What happened in 1958 with Explorer I was a building block of all our success,” Baker said.
“It’s something that all Soldiers and Army civilians should be proud of. The Army helped lay the foundation for our U.S. space program.”
Army officers such as Medaris and Maj. Gen. Holger Toftoy were the visionaries who helped von Braun and his German team develop a space mission.
“When I interviewed (German scientist) Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger a few years before he died, the gentleman broke down in tears, saying Toftoy was like a father to us. That was a universal opinion with all the Germans,” Baker said.
When they came to Redstone, they found an Army post that had been closed and a small town with cotton as the major industry. They brought science and technology, and economic and community growth with them — Huntsville went from a population of 16,000 in 1950 to more than 70,000 by 1960 – that continues even today.
“They had to have people to do the mission,” Baker said. “Scientists and engineers were drafted into the Army and then sent to Redstone. They joined the German scientists to develop rocket science.
“They had to hire people to build test stands and everything they needed out here. They hired contractors – mostly from GE at the time – to provide mission support. And in those early days, the first Redstone missiles were built at the Arsenal. It was quite an effort when you think of what all went on and when you realize it is still very much a part of our history here.”
Editorial: Another liftoff is reminder of space program decline
Iowa State Daily: Editorial: Another liftoff is reminder of space program decline
By ISD Editorial Board
Thursday afternoon, the Space Shuttle Discovery will lift off from Cape Canaveral for the 39th and final time.
The launch had been scheduled for Tuesday at 2:52 p.m., but was delayed at least 24 hours so engineers could troubleshoot a problem with one of the orbiter's main engine controllers.
We're all huge space geeks, and with the mothballing of the shuttle program commencing upon Discovery's return, today is a somber day.
The space shuttle program is a monument unto itself, a symbol of humanity's aspiration and ingenuity. We, the hairless monkey, have not only mastered the art of launching ourselves off the planet, we have established residency in the sky.
Mission STS-133 carries with it, among other things, Robonaut 2 — an upgrade of the robots they use to carry out extra-vehicular [read: space-walking] tasks via remote control.
What, you didn't know NASA had remote-controlled humanoid robots working alongside our astronauts? How's this for you — the folks at the Robonaut program have a goal of landing one on the moon within the next thousand days, and it looks like Boba Fett. They're calling it "Project M."
You'd be forgiven, though, if this news has eluded you, what, with Christine O'Donnell's witchin' days being deemed more newsworthy.
Still, some of us are old enough to remember the U.S.S.R.
Had you told someone in 1989 that in less than 20 years we'd be hitching rides to the space station with the Ruskies, they'd probably report you for treason.
And say what you will about the Cowboy President — at least he was trying to get us back to the moon. We were genuinely excited for the Orion program, and not just because of the goofy smile Dubya would crack every time he said the words "moon base."
Space exploration pushes the boundaries of human achievement. Discovery is something that still fascinates us — human discovery. Robots don't sign autographs.
Always remember boys and girls — America is the only country ever to set foot on the Moon, and we've done that six times. Touchdown.
The space program is one of the cornerstones of American public education. No six year old wants to grow up to be an accountant.
Astronauts are the mascots of NASA, and for good reason.
Not that we aren't stoked for space tourism, it's just that paying your way into space isn't quite the same as earning it. We remember that Lance Bass from 'N Sync is a certified cosmonaut every time we hear about plans to blast off NASA astronauts in the commie capsule, and it makes us sad.
If you haven't been to Kennedy Space Center in Florida or to Johnson Space Center in Houston, here's our glowing endorsement. You simply can't appreciate the scale of our space program until you've seen it for yourself.
What does the decline of the space program say about us? Have we given up hope?
We don't think that we've given up hope; it's just that the high our country rode from the '70s to the late '90s is over. For now anyway, we're stuck here, on the same old rock, with the same old problems.
The stars are still giving the human race what they've been giving us since we first raised our eyes to the heavens — hope.
Hope that maybe, someday, we can get out of here.
By ISD Editorial Board
Thursday afternoon, the Space Shuttle Discovery will lift off from Cape Canaveral for the 39th and final time.
The launch had been scheduled for Tuesday at 2:52 p.m., but was delayed at least 24 hours so engineers could troubleshoot a problem with one of the orbiter's main engine controllers.
We're all huge space geeks, and with the mothballing of the shuttle program commencing upon Discovery's return, today is a somber day.
The space shuttle program is a monument unto itself, a symbol of humanity's aspiration and ingenuity. We, the hairless monkey, have not only mastered the art of launching ourselves off the planet, we have established residency in the sky.
Mission STS-133 carries with it, among other things, Robonaut 2 — an upgrade of the robots they use to carry out extra-vehicular [read: space-walking] tasks via remote control.
What, you didn't know NASA had remote-controlled humanoid robots working alongside our astronauts? How's this for you — the folks at the Robonaut program have a goal of landing one on the moon within the next thousand days, and it looks like Boba Fett. They're calling it "Project M."
You'd be forgiven, though, if this news has eluded you, what, with Christine O'Donnell's witchin' days being deemed more newsworthy.
Still, some of us are old enough to remember the U.S.S.R.
Had you told someone in 1989 that in less than 20 years we'd be hitching rides to the space station with the Ruskies, they'd probably report you for treason.
And say what you will about the Cowboy President — at least he was trying to get us back to the moon. We were genuinely excited for the Orion program, and not just because of the goofy smile Dubya would crack every time he said the words "moon base."
Space exploration pushes the boundaries of human achievement. Discovery is something that still fascinates us — human discovery. Robots don't sign autographs.
Always remember boys and girls — America is the only country ever to set foot on the Moon, and we've done that six times. Touchdown.
The space program is one of the cornerstones of American public education. No six year old wants to grow up to be an accountant.
Astronauts are the mascots of NASA, and for good reason.
Not that we aren't stoked for space tourism, it's just that paying your way into space isn't quite the same as earning it. We remember that Lance Bass from 'N Sync is a certified cosmonaut every time we hear about plans to blast off NASA astronauts in the commie capsule, and it makes us sad.
If you haven't been to Kennedy Space Center in Florida or to Johnson Space Center in Houston, here's our glowing endorsement. You simply can't appreciate the scale of our space program until you've seen it for yourself.
What does the decline of the space program say about us? Have we given up hope?
We don't think that we've given up hope; it's just that the high our country rode from the '70s to the late '90s is over. For now anyway, we're stuck here, on the same old rock, with the same old problems.
The stars are still giving the human race what they've been giving us since we first raised our eyes to the heavens — hope.
Hope that maybe, someday, we can get out of here.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Amy Gehrt: Space exploration to enter a new phase
Maryville Daily Forum: Amy Gehrt: Space exploration to enter a new phase
As NASA’s space program prepares to once again embark into unchartered territory, it is also marking two momentous milestones that helped it get to the precipice of an exciting new journey into the unknown.
The International Space Station — a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency, the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency — celebrates its 10th anniversary on Tuesday, according to several Associated Press stories that provided the background for this column.
And on Wednesday, the space shuttle Discovery is slated for its final flight. It will be the 39th trip into space for Discovery, which, at 26 years old, is the oldest surviving shuttle.
“There’s still a certain amount of disbelief that it’s really her final launch,” launch director Mike Leinbach said. “It’s difficult to accept emotionally. But rationally, we all know it’s coming to an end, and we need to get on with it.”
Discovery’s last mission won’t be without firsts, however — among the load of equipment the space shuttle and her crew of six will drop off at the International Space Station is the first humanoid robot ever sent to space.
According to Associated Press stories, Robonaut 2 — nicknamed R2 — is the result of a $2.5 million collaboration between NASA and General Motors. Currently built from the waist up, R2 is 3 feet 4 inches tall, has arms that are 2 feet 8 inches long each, and weighs 330 pounds. The robot is preprogrammed to do certain tasks by itself and will be able to do even more, such as vacuuming air filters, once it gets legs — planned for late 2011. The space agency hopes R2 may even be able to participate in spacewalks once a torso and computer enhancements are added, possibly in 2012. R2 has a twin which will remain at Kennedy Space Center.
R2’s name may be reminiscent of R2-D2 from the “Star Wars” movies, and it even somewhat resembles a cross between R2-D2 and C-3PO, but unlike the talkative droids, R2 is completely silent — although he does tweet.
NASA says R2 is friendly and is designed to help humans, but as fans of SyFy’s reimagined “Battlestar Galactica” series and the just-cancelled “Caprica” can attest, the Cylons were created to be cybernetic workers and soldiers and that didn’t turn out so well for the humans. But in a recent tweet, R2 offers this reassurance: “You have no reason to worry — my twin and I are nice robots. We promise not to take over space or Earth.”
Once R2 is dropped off and Discovery returns, there is just one remaining shuttle mission scheduled. Endeavour’s February or March flight was expected to serve as the end to America’s space shuttle program, but NASA officials are hoping to get the go-ahead for one more after that. A bill signed by President Barack Obama on October 11 would fund an additional flight mid-year, and it is now awaiting an appropriations review.
The bill also maps out the new path of America’s space exploration, a shift from NASA’s moon-oriented program to one focusing on asteroids and Mars. The president’s space policy calls for a manned mission to an asteroid by 2025, and a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s, according to NASA.
A bold plan, to be sure, but one I find exciting nonetheless. We’ve come a long way since our first space flight in 1961, but the space program has seemed stale in recent years. I wasn’t alive to experience the thrill when we first landed on the moon on July 16, 1969, but I have no doubt seeing Americans land on asteroids and Mars will be equally exciting. Because after all, the thrill lies in the journey, and the countless never-before-seen discoveries awaiting us.
As NASA’s space program prepares to once again embark into unchartered territory, it is also marking two momentous milestones that helped it get to the precipice of an exciting new journey into the unknown.
The International Space Station — a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency, the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency — celebrates its 10th anniversary on Tuesday, according to several Associated Press stories that provided the background for this column.
And on Wednesday, the space shuttle Discovery is slated for its final flight. It will be the 39th trip into space for Discovery, which, at 26 years old, is the oldest surviving shuttle.
“There’s still a certain amount of disbelief that it’s really her final launch,” launch director Mike Leinbach said. “It’s difficult to accept emotionally. But rationally, we all know it’s coming to an end, and we need to get on with it.”
Discovery’s last mission won’t be without firsts, however — among the load of equipment the space shuttle and her crew of six will drop off at the International Space Station is the first humanoid robot ever sent to space.
According to Associated Press stories, Robonaut 2 — nicknamed R2 — is the result of a $2.5 million collaboration between NASA and General Motors. Currently built from the waist up, R2 is 3 feet 4 inches tall, has arms that are 2 feet 8 inches long each, and weighs 330 pounds. The robot is preprogrammed to do certain tasks by itself and will be able to do even more, such as vacuuming air filters, once it gets legs — planned for late 2011. The space agency hopes R2 may even be able to participate in spacewalks once a torso and computer enhancements are added, possibly in 2012. R2 has a twin which will remain at Kennedy Space Center.
R2’s name may be reminiscent of R2-D2 from the “Star Wars” movies, and it even somewhat resembles a cross between R2-D2 and C-3PO, but unlike the talkative droids, R2 is completely silent — although he does tweet.
NASA says R2 is friendly and is designed to help humans, but as fans of SyFy’s reimagined “Battlestar Galactica” series and the just-cancelled “Caprica” can attest, the Cylons were created to be cybernetic workers and soldiers and that didn’t turn out so well for the humans. But in a recent tweet, R2 offers this reassurance: “You have no reason to worry — my twin and I are nice robots. We promise not to take over space or Earth.”
Once R2 is dropped off and Discovery returns, there is just one remaining shuttle mission scheduled. Endeavour’s February or March flight was expected to serve as the end to America’s space shuttle program, but NASA officials are hoping to get the go-ahead for one more after that. A bill signed by President Barack Obama on October 11 would fund an additional flight mid-year, and it is now awaiting an appropriations review.
The bill also maps out the new path of America’s space exploration, a shift from NASA’s moon-oriented program to one focusing on asteroids and Mars. The president’s space policy calls for a manned mission to an asteroid by 2025, and a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s, according to NASA.
A bold plan, to be sure, but one I find exciting nonetheless. We’ve come a long way since our first space flight in 1961, but the space program has seemed stale in recent years. I wasn’t alive to experience the thrill when we first landed on the moon on July 16, 1969, but I have no doubt seeing Americans land on asteroids and Mars will be equally exciting. Because after all, the thrill lies in the journey, and the countless never-before-seen discoveries awaiting us.
Obama hails 'important milestone' in space exploration
Obama hails 'important milestone' in space exploration
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama hailed the 10th anniversary of crews aboard the International Space Station as an "important milestone" in the history of human space exploration.
His statement came ahead of the fourth and final US shuttle flight of the year to the orbiting ISS, scheduled for Thursday. It will also be the last planned for Discovery, the oldest in the three-shuttle fleet being retired next year.
"Today marks an important milestone in the history of human exploration," Obama said in a statement.
"Truly an international endeavor, the space station has brought disparate nations together for a common purpose -- to better our lives on Earth."
Thanking the astronauts who contributed to "this historic achievement," Obama said he was looking to the future of "America's continued leadership in space" and considering steps for space exploration beyond Earth's orbit.
After scrapping plans earlier this year to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, Obama insisted he was "committed to ensuring that NASA continues along a sustainable path as an international leader in space exploration and as an inspiration to a new generation of explorers."
Men and women from 15 countries have lived and worked over the past decade aboard the station some 200 miles (322 kilometers) above Earth, conducting more than 600 experiments in what Obama called an "amazing laboratory."
The ISS, a joint project involving 16 countries, has cost around 100 billion dollars, mostly funded by the United States.
Obama recently signed into law legislation extending the life of the floating research station until 2020.
Hailing the ISS's "extraordinary value," Obama said the move will allow the US space agency NASA to "pioneer new frontiers in education and international cooperation that will maximize the scientific return of this important foothold in space."
"As we look to the next 10 years, we can only imagine what's in store for our future astronauts, engineers and scientists," he added.
Discovery's six-member, all-American crew is due to take off at 1929 GMT on Thursday to deliver a pressurized logistics module and Robonaut 2, the first human-like robot in space, a permanent ISS addition and spare parts.
The three US shuttles -- the other two are Atlantis and Endeavour -- are due to be sent off to become museum pieces after a final shuttle mission to the space station in late February.
That means Russian Soyuz spacecraft, a modernized version of which recently dropped off three fresh crew members to the ISS, doubling the crew to six, will for several years be the only vehicle for transporting humans into space.
However, NASA's recently approved 2011 budget has left the door open to an additional shuttle flight in June.
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama hailed the 10th anniversary of crews aboard the International Space Station as an "important milestone" in the history of human space exploration.
His statement came ahead of the fourth and final US shuttle flight of the year to the orbiting ISS, scheduled for Thursday. It will also be the last planned for Discovery, the oldest in the three-shuttle fleet being retired next year.
"Today marks an important milestone in the history of human exploration," Obama said in a statement.
"Truly an international endeavor, the space station has brought disparate nations together for a common purpose -- to better our lives on Earth."
Thanking the astronauts who contributed to "this historic achievement," Obama said he was looking to the future of "America's continued leadership in space" and considering steps for space exploration beyond Earth's orbit.
After scrapping plans earlier this year to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020, Obama insisted he was "committed to ensuring that NASA continues along a sustainable path as an international leader in space exploration and as an inspiration to a new generation of explorers."
Men and women from 15 countries have lived and worked over the past decade aboard the station some 200 miles (322 kilometers) above Earth, conducting more than 600 experiments in what Obama called an "amazing laboratory."
The ISS, a joint project involving 16 countries, has cost around 100 billion dollars, mostly funded by the United States.
Obama recently signed into law legislation extending the life of the floating research station until 2020.
Hailing the ISS's "extraordinary value," Obama said the move will allow the US space agency NASA to "pioneer new frontiers in education and international cooperation that will maximize the scientific return of this important foothold in space."
"As we look to the next 10 years, we can only imagine what's in store for our future astronauts, engineers and scientists," he added.
Discovery's six-member, all-American crew is due to take off at 1929 GMT on Thursday to deliver a pressurized logistics module and Robonaut 2, the first human-like robot in space, a permanent ISS addition and spare parts.
The three US shuttles -- the other two are Atlantis and Endeavour -- are due to be sent off to become museum pieces after a final shuttle mission to the space station in late February.
That means Russian Soyuz spacecraft, a modernized version of which recently dropped off three fresh crew members to the ISS, doubling the crew to six, will for several years be the only vehicle for transporting humans into space.
However, NASA's recently approved 2011 budget has left the door open to an additional shuttle flight in June.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Is NASA Covering Up the 100-Year Starship?
Fox News: Is NASA Covering Up the 100-Year Starship?
A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.
The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's Long Conversation conference, Simon “Pete” Worden said DARPA has $1M to spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us to Mars or beyond.
There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.
The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it takes to travel 35 million miles. That’s a daunting prospect, partly because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only recourse.
"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-Team.
A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of the red planet will shock you.
Related Links
The Psychology of Leaving Earth Behind Forever
The Race to the Red Planet
Buzz Aldrin Dreams of Mars
Horror Stories From Space: 10 Ways Life in Orbit Can Be Rough
More Leaks Plague Space Shuttle, Delaying Launch There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be “adapted” to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way to make the planet more hospitable to them.
“The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,” Worden said during his talk. “Twenty years ago you whispered that in dark bars and got fired.” (Worden actually was fired, he confessed during the talk, under the Bush administration.)
Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions.
FoxNews.com first contacted NASA’s Ames Research Center last week and scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before finally canceling the interview, citing Worden’s busy schedule.
After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial speech.
But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life, or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning. Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space colony.
New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending four astronauts on a one-way mission who “establish their presence” and do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus was most famous for actually returning.)
Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only way to get to Mars or other planets.
The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.
Johnson said the only solution is a longer mission using some form of propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested. One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.
Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. “It seems like the only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar system, is to have one-way trips,” DePree told FoxNews.com. “It might be that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian colonists return to Earth.”
He also explained what “adapting humans” means: The suggestion sounds absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.
As to the question of a one-way mission, DePree says the idea is not as hush-hush as you might expect. NASA doesn't intend for a suicide mission, he said, but rather is debating the idea that an astronaut may live out his or her natural life on another planet and never return to Earth. Johnson said there are astronauts who have already volunteered for one-way missions before, and it's not a ludicrous proposition.
Swirling controversy
Even with these explanations, there is still wild speculation about the program. Worden mentioned the idea of working with third-parties to help fund future missions. He said Larry Page, the Google founder, asked how much it would cost to fund the mission (the answer: about $10 billion). This begs the question: is NASA ready to leverage its work by enlisting private enterprises?
Some scientists have wondered how the 100-Year Starship would deal with the effects of long-term space travel. Johnson said that even after spending a few months in space, the wear and tear starts to show -- astronauts who have visited the Space Station often cannot walk for a few days. Johnson said muscle mass starts to decline and bone density decreases after prolonged periods in outer space.
Short of an official news release, one that spells out exactly how the starship program will proceed, many assume that the program is just in an early stage. Johnson said the funding level of just $1.1M sounds like it is simply for research.
Worden may have slipped by revealing the program, but -- as evidenced by NASA’s lack of cooperation -- it may be too early for any new revelations.
A NASA official may have made a 35-million-mile slip of the tongue.
The director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California casually let slip mention of the 100-Year Starship recently, a new program funded by the super-secret government agency, DARPA. In a talk at San Francisco's Long Conversation conference, Simon “Pete” Worden said DARPA has $1M to spend, plus another $100,000 from NASA itself, for the program, which will initially develop a new kind of propulsion engine that will take us to Mars or beyond.
There's only one problem: The astronauts won't come back.
The 100-year ship would leave Earth with the intention of colonizing a planet, but it would likely be a one-way trip because of the time it takes to travel 35 million miles. That’s a daunting prospect, partly because of the ethical dilemma, and partly because it may be the only recourse.
"What psychological challenges should we anticipate in those who volunteer in good faith and with great courage, yet find themselves confronting misgivings or loneliness or feelings of rage or beset with mental illness?" asked Dr. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and member of the Fox News Medical A-Team.
A NASA spacecraft has been beaming to Earth incredibly detailed pictures of the surface of Mars. And the beautiful colors and rich textures of the red planet will shock you.
Related Links
The Psychology of Leaving Earth Behind Forever
The Race to the Red Planet
Buzz Aldrin Dreams of Mars
Horror Stories From Space: 10 Ways Life in Orbit Can Be Rough
More Leaks Plague Space Shuttle, Delaying Launch There's one other bizarre aspect to the plan: Humans would have to be “adapted” to the alien world, Worden said, instead of figuring out a way to make the planet more hospitable to them.
“The human space program is now really aimed at settling other worlds,” Worden said during his talk. “Twenty years ago you whispered that in dark bars and got fired.” (Worden actually was fired, he confessed during the talk, under the Bush administration.)
Since that revelation, hundreds of news reports about the program have theorized that the substantial budget indicates the Hundred Year Starship is a dramatic shift for the stalled space program, not just a research project; others suggest it is a serious attempt to find a way to Mars. And NASA? The space agency seems to be dodging all questions.
FoxNews.com first contacted NASA’s Ames Research Center last week and scheduled a call with Worden for Monday. The call was postponed to Wednesday. Late Wednesday the space agency postponed again, before finally canceling the interview, citing Worden’s busy schedule.
After a week and a half, DARPA issued a press release announcing the program -- but conveying no more information than in Worden's initial speech.
But what is the Hundred Year Starship? Some experts argue that any program that suggests putting humans into space for their entire life, or for multiple generations, is doomed from the start, since many people react negatively to the idea of leaving the planet and never returning. Others are more supportive, saying it is the only way to settle a space colony.
New exploration
Speculation about colonization takes many forms, and some of the freshest ideas sound a bit peculiar. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Paul Davies, who wrote in the Journal of Cosmology recently, suggest sending four astronauts on a one-way mission who “establish their presence” and do not come back. The suggestion is to send supplies to them occasionally, but the risks are similar to what Columbus undertook to explore the new world. (That analogy is a bit suspect, however: Columbus was most famous for actually returning.)
Les Johnson, a well-respected science author, spoke to FoxNews.com and agreed with the plan: a one-way, hundred-year mission may be the only way to get to Mars or other planets.
The main issue has to do with a basic physics conundrum. In order to travel the great distance to Mars (about 35 million miles), a starship would need a tremendous amount of fuel. Yet fuel adds more weight -- in fact, every pound you add to a ship requires 4 pounds of fuel. The more fuel you add, the more you need simply to move the ship's bulk, making it impossible to go one-way to Mars, much less roundtrip.
Johnson said the only solution is a longer mission using some form of propulsion that has not even been invented yet, or is still untested. One is a massive solar sail, which captures energy from the sun. Another is a fusion reactor that generates power without any on-board fuel.
Dr. Chris DePree, who heads the Bradley Observatory, also helped fill in some gaps on a 100-year mission to another planet. “It seems like the only realistic way forward, if we really want to colonize the solar system, is to have one-way trips,” DePree told FoxNews.com. “It might be that technology improves, and the grandchildren of those first Martian colonists return to Earth.”
He also explained what “adapting humans” means: The suggestion sounds absurd, but science may actually have more luck developing new breathing apparatuses or using chemical injections to make humans able to live on a foreign world than developing technology for "terraforming" a planet.
As to the question of a one-way mission, DePree says the idea is not as hush-hush as you might expect. NASA doesn't intend for a suicide mission, he said, but rather is debating the idea that an astronaut may live out his or her natural life on another planet and never return to Earth. Johnson said there are astronauts who have already volunteered for one-way missions before, and it's not a ludicrous proposition.
Swirling controversy
Even with these explanations, there is still wild speculation about the program. Worden mentioned the idea of working with third-parties to help fund future missions. He said Larry Page, the Google founder, asked how much it would cost to fund the mission (the answer: about $10 billion). This begs the question: is NASA ready to leverage its work by enlisting private enterprises?
Some scientists have wondered how the 100-Year Starship would deal with the effects of long-term space travel. Johnson said that even after spending a few months in space, the wear and tear starts to show -- astronauts who have visited the Space Station often cannot walk for a few days. Johnson said muscle mass starts to decline and bone density decreases after prolonged periods in outer space.
Short of an official news release, one that spells out exactly how the starship program will proceed, many assume that the program is just in an early stage. Johnson said the funding level of just $1.1M sounds like it is simply for research.
Worden may have slipped by revealing the program, but -- as evidenced by NASA’s lack of cooperation -- it may be too early for any new revelations.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Biologist: Space Travelers Can Benefit From Genetic Engineering
Space.com: Biologist: Space Travelers Can Benefit From Genetic Engineering
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's human spaceflight program might take some giant leaps forward if the agency embraces genetic engineering techniques more fully, according to genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter.
The biologist, who established the J. Craig Venter Institute that created the world's first synthetic organism earlier this year, told a crowd here Saturday (Oct. 30) that human space exploration could benefit from more genetic screening and genetic engineering. Such efforts could help better identify individuals most suited for long space missions, as well as make space travel safer and more efficient, he said.
"I think this could change the shape of what NASA does, if you make the commitment to do it," said Venter, who led a team that decoded the human genome a decade ago.
Venter spoke to a group of scientists and engineers who gathered at NASA's Ames Research Center for two different meetings: a synthetic biology workshop put on by NASA, and Space Manufacturing 14: Critical Technologies for Space Settlement, organized by the nonprofit Space Studies Institute.
Astronauts with the right (genetic) stuff
Genetics techniques could come in extremely handy during NASA's astronaut selection process, Venter said. The space agency could screen candidates for certain genes that help make good spaceflyers — once those genes are identified, he added.
Genes that encode robust bone regeneration, for example, would be a plus, helping astronauts on long spaceflights battle the bone loss that is typically a major side effect of living in microgravity. Also a plus for any prospective astronaut: genes that code for rapid repair of DNA, which can be damaged by the high radiation levels in space.
Genetic screening would be a natural extension of what NASA already does — it would just add a level of precision, according to Venter.
"NASA's been doing genetic selection for a long time," he said. "You just don't call it that."
Last summer, the agency chose just nine astronaut candidates — out of a pool of 3,500 — for its rigorous astronaut training program based on a series of established spaceflight requirements and in-depth interviews.
A new microbiome
At some point down the road, NASA could also take advantage of genetic engineering techniques to make long space journeys more efficient and easier on astronauts, Venter said.
As an example, he cited the human microbiome, the teeming mass of microbes that live on and inside every one of us. Every human body hosts about 100 trillion microbes — meaning the bugs outnumber our own cells by a factor of at least 10 to one.
While humans only have about 20,000 genes, our microbiome boasts a collective 10 million or so, Venter said. These microbes provide a lot of services, from helping us digest our food to keeping our immune system's inflammation response from going overboard.
With some tailoring, the microbiome could help us out even more, according to Venter.
"Why not come up with a synthetic microbiome?" he asked.
Theoretically, scientists could engineer gut microbes that help astronauts take up nutrients more efficiently. A synthetic microbiome could also eliminate some pathogens, such as certain bacteria that can cause dental disease. Other tweaks could improve astronauts' living conditions, and perhaps their ability to get along with each other in close quarters.
Body odor is primarily caused by microbes, Venter said. A synthetic microbiome could get rid of the offenders, as well as many gut microbes responsible for excessive sulfur or methane production.
Food, fuel and the future
Other genomics efforts could one day create or design microbes to maximize the production of food, water and renewable fuel, Venter said. Such tailor-made bugs could ease the difficulties of both spaceflight and living on other planets.
Venter also raised the possibility of genetically engineering potential astronauts to handle the rigors of space and space travel.
The microbe Deinococcus radiodurans, for example, can survive radiation doses 7,000 times higher than those that would kill a human. The bug can reassemble its DNA after its genetic material gets blasted apart by powerful radiation, Venter said.
If scientists can figure out how to incorporate such super-charged DNA repair genes into the human genome, astronauts won't have to worry so much about the damaging cosmic rays hurtling through space.
Engineering humans would only come after long consideration and debate, Venter said. And the technology needs to advance, too. Venter said his team hasn't had much success, for example, working with the genome of D. radiodurans outside its native cell.
"We're trying to apply these tools in a wide variety of areas," Venter said. "But we're just in the early stages."
Still, Venter said space exploration could benefit greatly from the application of genetic engineering, especially the creation of custom-built organisms.
"I can't think of an organization that could benefit from synthetic genomics more than NASA," he said.
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's human spaceflight program might take some giant leaps forward if the agency embraces genetic engineering techniques more fully, according to genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter.
The biologist, who established the J. Craig Venter Institute that created the world's first synthetic organism earlier this year, told a crowd here Saturday (Oct. 30) that human space exploration could benefit from more genetic screening and genetic engineering. Such efforts could help better identify individuals most suited for long space missions, as well as make space travel safer and more efficient, he said.
"I think this could change the shape of what NASA does, if you make the commitment to do it," said Venter, who led a team that decoded the human genome a decade ago.
Venter spoke to a group of scientists and engineers who gathered at NASA's Ames Research Center for two different meetings: a synthetic biology workshop put on by NASA, and Space Manufacturing 14: Critical Technologies for Space Settlement, organized by the nonprofit Space Studies Institute.
Astronauts with the right (genetic) stuff
Genetics techniques could come in extremely handy during NASA's astronaut selection process, Venter said. The space agency could screen candidates for certain genes that help make good spaceflyers — once those genes are identified, he added.
Genes that encode robust bone regeneration, for example, would be a plus, helping astronauts on long spaceflights battle the bone loss that is typically a major side effect of living in microgravity. Also a plus for any prospective astronaut: genes that code for rapid repair of DNA, which can be damaged by the high radiation levels in space.
Genetic screening would be a natural extension of what NASA already does — it would just add a level of precision, according to Venter.
"NASA's been doing genetic selection for a long time," he said. "You just don't call it that."
Last summer, the agency chose just nine astronaut candidates — out of a pool of 3,500 — for its rigorous astronaut training program based on a series of established spaceflight requirements and in-depth interviews.
A new microbiome
At some point down the road, NASA could also take advantage of genetic engineering techniques to make long space journeys more efficient and easier on astronauts, Venter said.
As an example, he cited the human microbiome, the teeming mass of microbes that live on and inside every one of us. Every human body hosts about 100 trillion microbes — meaning the bugs outnumber our own cells by a factor of at least 10 to one.
While humans only have about 20,000 genes, our microbiome boasts a collective 10 million or so, Venter said. These microbes provide a lot of services, from helping us digest our food to keeping our immune system's inflammation response from going overboard.
With some tailoring, the microbiome could help us out even more, according to Venter.
"Why not come up with a synthetic microbiome?" he asked.
Theoretically, scientists could engineer gut microbes that help astronauts take up nutrients more efficiently. A synthetic microbiome could also eliminate some pathogens, such as certain bacteria that can cause dental disease. Other tweaks could improve astronauts' living conditions, and perhaps their ability to get along with each other in close quarters.
Body odor is primarily caused by microbes, Venter said. A synthetic microbiome could get rid of the offenders, as well as many gut microbes responsible for excessive sulfur or methane production.
Food, fuel and the future
Other genomics efforts could one day create or design microbes to maximize the production of food, water and renewable fuel, Venter said. Such tailor-made bugs could ease the difficulties of both spaceflight and living on other planets.
Venter also raised the possibility of genetically engineering potential astronauts to handle the rigors of space and space travel.
The microbe Deinococcus radiodurans, for example, can survive radiation doses 7,000 times higher than those that would kill a human. The bug can reassemble its DNA after its genetic material gets blasted apart by powerful radiation, Venter said.
If scientists can figure out how to incorporate such super-charged DNA repair genes into the human genome, astronauts won't have to worry so much about the damaging cosmic rays hurtling through space.
Engineering humans would only come after long consideration and debate, Venter said. And the technology needs to advance, too. Venter said his team hasn't had much success, for example, working with the genome of D. radiodurans outside its native cell.
"We're trying to apply these tools in a wide variety of areas," Venter said. "But we're just in the early stages."
Still, Venter said space exploration could benefit greatly from the application of genetic engineering, especially the creation of custom-built organisms.
"I can't think of an organization that could benefit from synthetic genomics more than NASA," he said.
NASA completes upgrade of Mars antenna
Wire Update: NASA completes upgrade of Mars antenna
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) — National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday announced the completion of the seven-month upgrade to the historic Mars antenna and is ready to operate.
The Mars antenna also underwent a month of intensive testing, similar to the rehabilitation stage after surgery, and is now ready to help maintain communication with spacecraft during the next decade of space exploration.
“We’ve been testing the antenna since September 28, and we’ve had no problems in tracking the spacecraft. We are ready to resume service as scheduled,” said Peter Hames of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The month of October was used as a testing period to assure that the antenna was working as expected and was fully functional. On September 28, the antenna successfully communicated with NASA’s EPOXI mission spacecraft.
An intense series of tasks were completed in order to upgrade the 70-meter-antenna in time to perform its first task: communicate with the EPOXI mission spacecraft during its planned flyby of comet Hartley 2 on November 4.
As part of the upgrade process, workers raised a portion of the antenna that weighs 3.2 million kilograms up from the base by 5 millimeters while they performed a precise repair. The team replaced a portion of the hydrostatic bearing and the four elevation bearings.
The repair operation was performed in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert, a hot oasis baked by the unforgiving desert heat. The team had to perform the tests during early morning and night shifts to avoid heat.
The Deep Space Network consists of three deep-space communication facilities distributed120 degrees of longitude apart. In addition to the Mojave Desert, the other locations are outside Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia.
In March 1966, the antenna, officially known as Deep Space Station 4, received the first signal from NASA’s Mariner 4 mission to Mars.
It is currently tracking the rovers Spirit and Opportunity currently on the surface of Mars, the Cassini orbiter at Saturn, the twin Voyager spacecraft in the outer reaches of our solar system, and the Spitzer Space Telescope, which observes stars, galaxies and other celestial objects.
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) — National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday announced the completion of the seven-month upgrade to the historic Mars antenna and is ready to operate.
The Mars antenna also underwent a month of intensive testing, similar to the rehabilitation stage after surgery, and is now ready to help maintain communication with spacecraft during the next decade of space exploration.
“We’ve been testing the antenna since September 28, and we’ve had no problems in tracking the spacecraft. We are ready to resume service as scheduled,” said Peter Hames of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The month of October was used as a testing period to assure that the antenna was working as expected and was fully functional. On September 28, the antenna successfully communicated with NASA’s EPOXI mission spacecraft.
An intense series of tasks were completed in order to upgrade the 70-meter-antenna in time to perform its first task: communicate with the EPOXI mission spacecraft during its planned flyby of comet Hartley 2 on November 4.
As part of the upgrade process, workers raised a portion of the antenna that weighs 3.2 million kilograms up from the base by 5 millimeters while they performed a precise repair. The team replaced a portion of the hydrostatic bearing and the four elevation bearings.
The repair operation was performed in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert, a hot oasis baked by the unforgiving desert heat. The team had to perform the tests during early morning and night shifts to avoid heat.
The Deep Space Network consists of three deep-space communication facilities distributed120 degrees of longitude apart. In addition to the Mojave Desert, the other locations are outside Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia.
In March 1966, the antenna, officially known as Deep Space Station 4, received the first signal from NASA’s Mariner 4 mission to Mars.
It is currently tracking the rovers Spirit and Opportunity currently on the surface of Mars, the Cassini orbiter at Saturn, the twin Voyager spacecraft in the outer reaches of our solar system, and the Spitzer Space Telescope, which observes stars, galaxies and other celestial objects.
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