Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Discovery Departs
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
Explanation: Climbing into cloudy skies, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery (OV-103) took off from Kennedy Space Center Tuesday at 7 am local time. This time, its final departure from KSC, it rode atop a modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Following a farewell flyover of the Space Coast, Goddard Space Flight Center, and Washington DC, Discovery headed for Dulles International Airport in Virginia, destined to reside at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center. Discovery retires as NASA's most traveled shuttle orbiter, covering more than 148 million miles in 39 missions that included the delivery of the Hubble...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
Astronomy Picture of the Day -- The Flight Deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
Explanation: What would it be like to fly a space shuttle? Although the last of NASA's space shuttles has now been retired, it is still fun to contemplate sitting at the controls of one of the humanity's most sophisticated machines. Pictured above is the flight deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour, the youngest shuttle and the second to last ever launched. The numerous panels and displays allowed the computer-controlled orbiter to enter the top of Earth's atmosphere at greater than the speed of sound and -- just thirty minutes later -- land on a runway like an airplane. The retired space...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
Astronomy Picture of the Day -- To Fly Free in Space
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
Explanation: At about 100 meters from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, Bruce McCandless II was farther out than anyone had ever been before. Guided by a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), astronaut McCandless, pictured above, was floating free in space. McCandless and fellow NASA astronaut Robert Stewart were the first to experience such an "untethered space walk"during Space Shuttle mission 41-B in 1984. The MMU works by shooting jets of nitrogen and has since been used to help deploy and retrieve satellites. With a mass over 140 kilograms, an MMU is heavy on Earth, but, like everything, is...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
Obama's NASA Disgrace
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
Except in wartime, there has never been another government program that produced as much technological innovation as the U.S. space program, and there likely never will be. No other program has so successfully infused the economy, rallied the nation, inspired youngsters toward academic achievement or established the U.S. as the world leader in technology. In spite of this, on Feb. 1, President Barack Obama announced the cancellation of the Constellation program of exploration, leaving NASA, for the first time in history, without a specific mission. It is as if President Gerald Ford had canceled the space shuttle program in 1975,...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
Congressional Support Grows For Heavy-Lift
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
A small groundswell is rising in Congress for a faster start on the heavy-lift launch vehicle President Barack Obama says he wants, but it may be swamped by the backwash from growing irritation over NASA’s sluggish production of justification for its “game-changing” new approach. A bipartisan gang of 62 House members wants Obama to initiate “the immediate development and production of a heavy-lift launch vehicle that, in conjunction with the Orion crew exploration vehicle, may be used for either lunar or deep-space exploration.” Their June 22 letter to Obama, circulated by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), follows word from Sen. Bill...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
Russian Spaceship Zooms Out of Control Near Space Station
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
An unmanned Russian cargo ship veered out of control near the International Space Station on Friday, sailing clear past the orbiting lab instead of docking on autopilot, as engineers on Earth struggle to determine what went wrong. The robotic cargo ship Progress 38 was slated to dock at the space station at 12:58 p.m. EDT (1658 GMT) but lost its navigational lock on the orbiting lab about 28 minutes before the rendezvous. "The Progress literally flew past the station, but at a safe distance from the outpost," NASA commentator Rob Navias said. "The station crew reported seeing the Progress drift...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
NASA Delays Death of Space Shuttle Program to 2011
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
NASA's space shuttle program has gotten a brief reprieve, as the space agency plans to keep shuttle flights going until next year. The space agency made it official Thursday after weeks of hints about the potential for launch delays. Managers agreed to postpone the next-to-last shuttle launch until Nov. 1. Discovery had been scheduled to fly to the International Space Station in September. The very last mission now has a Feb. 26 launch date. Endeavour will close out the shuttle program by delivering a major scientific instrument to the space station. Why the delays? NASA says it needs more time...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt Tries To Stop Constellation Cuts (Fight for US lunar return continues)
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
Congressman Aderholt's bill intends to hold off any more cuts until Congress votes on the budget, with the hope of halting more layoffs. "I think the problem that you're seeing is that the money has been appropriated by Congress, to NASA. But NASA is sending the word out, that actually, they're giving some mixed signals that what's going to proceed, how it's, what's going to happen with the Constellation program, and therefore, alot of the money is being withheld from these companies," said Aderholt. "Therefore, that's what this legislation would do is send a message to these contractors, that we...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
Space shuttle missions likely to be postponed: NASA
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
The two final US space shuttle missions before the shuttle program is phased out will likely be postponed, a NASA spokesperson told AFP on Friday. "It's not official yet but it's very likely," said Allard Beutel, media services chief at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "The decision will be officially announced July 1st," he said. The US space shuttles are being retired after President Barack Obama opted not to fund a successor program, deciding instead to encourage private spacecraft development. The final two shuttle missions are both to the orbiting International Space Station (ISS). The shuttle Discovery's flight to...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
How risky is it to rely on Russian spaceflight?
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
With shuttle’s retirement, Baikonur will be NASA’s only path to space HOUSTON - The latest Soyuz launch underscores the gamble that the U.S. space program is embarking on: reliance for years to come on one other country to carry all of NASA's astronauts into space. No space system is ever 100 percent reliable — so how risky is this strategy? The central lesson of the worldwide partnership that built the International Space Station has become clear. We have learned that multiple independent technologies for major space capabilities provide amazing robustness in the face of the unavoidable surprises. Whether for oxygen,...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
Does moon plan have a pulse?NASA backers eye 2 key votes for positive signs
Posted by admin / Under STS 120
Congressional backers of NASA's existing space program are about to find out whether they have enough support on Capitol Hill to overturn President Obama's plan to abandon a return to the moon. Two milestones in the protracted congressional budget process are expected to provide NASA supporters their first concrete evidence next week that lawmakers from states without major NASA facilities are willing to defy the president and support the campaign to salvage parts of the $108 billion back-to-the-moon program. After four months of word wars, news conferences and letter writing challenging Obama's new direction for the space agency, lawmakers will...
Published on Wednesday 23rd of May 2012 10:45:44 AM
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