Space Shuttle Discovery Moves Closer to By Tariq Malik Senior Editor posted: 26 April 2008 11:07 am ET
The space shuttle Discovery moved a step closer to launch early Saturday as NASA engineers hauled the spacecraft into a massive hangar to join its fuel tank and twin rocket boosters.
Discovery made the short morning move from its processing building to the cavernous, 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to prepare for its planned May 31 launch.
The shuttle's seven-astronaut crew, commanded by veteran spaceflyer Mark Kelly, will deliver Kibo - a massive Japanese laboratory the size of a tour bus - to the International Space Station during a planned 13-day mission.
Engineers rolled Discovery out of its processing facility atop a 76-wheel transporter at 7:17 a.m. EDT (1117 GMT) and into the Vehicle Assembly Building at about 8:05 a.m. EDT (1205 GMT), where engineers will hoist it into a vertical position for external tank attachment. The move occurred two days earlier than planned due to swift work by shuttle workers, NASA officials said.
"That's usually a pretty good sign when you can gain some time in the schedule," NASA spokesperson Allard Beutel told SPACE.com. "They just didn't encounter a lot of problems and things have been going extremely well."
The extra two days will give shuttle workers more flexibility should they encounter any unexpected issues later, Beutel added.
Discovery is slated to roll out to its Pad 39A launch site at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on May 3, where shuttle workers will prepare it for a planned 5:02 p.m. EDT (0902 GMT) liftoff on May 31.
During their mission, Kelly and his crew will install the 37-foot (11-meter) Kibo laboratory, relocate its attic-like storage module delivered on an earlier flight and swap out one member of the space station's crew. Two spacewalks are planned for the mission, NASA said.
Discovery astronauts will perform a full dress rehearsal of their launch day on May 9.
Kibo's delivery will mark the second laboratory added to the space station this year. Astronauts installed Europe's Columbus laboratory during a February shuttle mission, with a March flight delivering Kibo's storage module and a Canadian-built maintenance robot.
The American Moon rocket Ranger IV has landed on the far side of the moon but has failed to send back pictures due to a technical fault.
It is the first time an American spacecraft has successfully reached the Moon - the Russians achieved the first ever lunar impact in 1959.
However, the main aim of the mission - to take television pictures of the lunar surface - was not achieved after all internal power on board the spacecraft failed two hours after launch.
The Ranger IV Atlas-Agena rocket, which took off from Cape Canaveral on 23 April, is one of the most sophisticated space machines ever developed.
Crash-land
It was specifically designed to crash-land on the Moon after capturing a series of images of the lunar surface on its approach.
The television pictures on board were designed to begin operating when the rocket came within 2,500 miles (4,023km) of the lunar surface - 40 minutes before impact - and then send an image of the Moon back to Earth every 13 seconds.
After the loss of internal power the spacecraft could only be tracked using the tiny radio transmitter in the lunar capsule. This is how scientists confirmed it had actually reached the Moon.
The latest mission was identical to that of Ranger III, which launched on 26 January this year.
But the expected pictures from that mission were not produced because the rocket missed the Moon by 22,862 miles (36,793km).
Nasa scientists will be hugely disappointed by this latest failure as a successful mission would have given them the first ever close-up images of the mysterious lunar surface.
Ranger IV was also equipped with a seismometer and radio transmitter, designed to be released in a small capsule from the rocket before impact and land on the Moon in sufficiently good condition to measure the frequency of natural earthquakes in the body of the Moon.
Images from this would have been sent back to Earth for up to 30 days for vital research.
Space Station Astronauts Marvel at Planet Earth By Tariq Malik Senior Editor posted: 21 April 2008 3:33 pm ET
As Earth Day approaches, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have a unique perch from which to gaze at their home planet and ponder its future.
NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, an Expedition 17 flight engineer living aboard the space station, said the view of Earth from about 220 miles (354 km) up is both tremendous and precious.
"It's fantastically beautiful from our vantage point," said Reisman, who is making his first spaceflight, in a recent televised interview. "The other thing that really strikes you is how thin the atmosphere is. It's such a tiny little sliver of a band, and you get a definite impression of the fragility of it just by looking out the window at an angle."
NASA is broadcasting a series of high-definition (HD) views of Earth recorded by astronauts from the ISS and the agency's space shuttles to commemorate Earth Day on April 22, culminating with day-long HD broadcast on Tuesday.
Each continent on Earth has its own character and hue which veteran spaceflyers can recognize at a glance, Reisman said, adding that he hopes to gain such expertise during his flight.
Japan's Kaguya orbiter, currently orbiting the moon, has also beamed back high-definition videos of a distant Earth rising and setting on the lunar horizon. The probe carries a special high-definition camera specifically designed to relay the stark beauty of the moon and Earth to the public, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency officials have said.
Two of the three space station astronauts who returned to Earth Saturday agreed with Reisman's description of the Earth from space.
Before leaving the station, Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and South Korean astronaut So-yeon Yi told reporters that the Earth's beauty was one of the highlights of their respective spaceflights. They landed early Saturday, off-target but safely, with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko to end the six-month Expedition 16 mission.
"I do think there is a sense of fragileness to our planet just because of the thinness of the atmosphere," Whitson said. "It's an incredibly beautiful place that we live in and this perspective that we have makes us want to cherish it even more."
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft has returned to Earth, but came down more than 400km (250 miles) away from its planned touchdown point, say Russian officials.
The crew are safe, but were subjected to severe G-forces during re-entry, said a spokesman for mission control.
He said they were examined at the landing site by medical staff.
On board were Yi So-yeon, South Korea's first astronaut, Yuri Malenchenko from Russia and American Peggy Whitson, who broke Nasa's record for time in space.
AMERICA'S PEGGY WHITSON
First female commander of ISS
Sets new US spaceflight record
Served almost 185 days in 2002
Latest ISS flight lasted 192
377 total passes Michael Foale
UK-born astronaut total: 374
The Russian capsule was returning from a mission to the International Space Station.
It touched down some 420km away from its planned landing point in the Kazakh steppe, and some 20 minutes later than schedule.
"The main thing is that the crew is alive and healthy," said Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian federal space agency.
They underwent medical examinations after landing, having been subjected to high G-forces in the descent.
Mr Perminov said the craft followed the back-up landing plan, a so-called "ballistic re-entry" - a plunge with an uncontrollable, steep trajectory.
He said the crew missed the target because they changed their landing plan at the last minute without telling mission control.
In October, a crew returning from the International Space Station had a similar experience, touching down in Kazakhstan 200km (120 miles) from its intended landing site, in temperatures of 6C ( 43F).
Ms Yi had spent 11 days conducting tests at the space station.
South Korea's Yi So-yeon spent 11 days at the International Space Station
South Korea, which paid Russia $20m (£10m) for her trip into space, is investing heavily in space technology and is due to launch its first rocket later this year.
Ms Whitson now holds the record for the cumulative length of time spent in space by an American at 377 days, the US space agency Nasa said earlier.
This was Yuri Malenchenko's third long-duration spaceflight. He spent 126 days aboard space station Mir in 1994, and 185 days on the ISS in 2006.
He also flew on a 12-day shuttle mission in 2000. He has accumulated 515 days in space during his four flights. This is the ninth highest total of cumulative time.
The Soviet Union has beaten the USA in the race to get the first man into space.
At just after 0700BST, Major Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was fired from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan, Soviet central Asia, in the space craft Vostok (East).
Major Gagarin orbited the Earth for 108 minutes travelling at more than 17,000 miles per hour (27,000 kilometres per hour) before landing at an undisclosed location.
The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev has congratulated Major Gagarin on his achievement.
He sent the cosmonaut a message from his holiday home on the Black Sea.
"The flight made by you opens up a new page in the history of mankind in its conquest of space," Mr Khrushchev said.
The Soviet news agency, Tass, made the first official announcement of Major Gagarin's flight at just before 0800BST.
National hero
Radio Moscow then interrupted its schedule to give details to a jubilant nation.
Major Gagarin's safe return has laid to rest worries that space flight would be fatal for humans.
It is also a blow to the Americans who had hoped to be the first to launch a man beyond Earth's atmosphere.
However, President Kennedy has congratulated the Soviets on their achievement.
It would be some time before the United States caught up with the Soviets in the fields of rocket boosters, the president added.
Rumours that a Soviet launch attempt was imminent began some days ago.
It was the culmination of two years of highly secretive training for Yuri Gagarin, 27, who beat off thousands of other hopefuls.
The previously obscure army major has returned to earth a national hero.
He has already been awarded the title of "Master of Radio Sport of the Soviet Union" and a big reception for him at the Kremlin in Red Square is being planned.
Major Gagarin spent two years training for his space trip
In Context
The USSR notched up a series of space firsts beginning with the launch of the world's first man-made satellite, Sputnik, in 1957.
Later the same year they sent a dog called Laika into space.
Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman cosmonaut in 1963 and two years later Alexei Leonov became the first man to perform a space walk.
However, the Americans did beat the Soviets to the Moon with the flight of Apollo 11 in July 1969.
Yuri Gagarin became an international icon but was disappointed to be banned from more space missions because the Soviet state considered him too valuable a propoganda asset to risk his life.
In 1968 he was killed in a plane crash just outside Moscow in what some people believed were suspicious circumstances.
New Station Crew, Korean Astronaut Rocket Into Space By Clara Moskowitz Staff Writer posted: 8 April 2008 7:20 am ET
This story was updated at 7:45 a.m. EDT.
Two Russian cosmonauts and South Korea's first astronaut soared into space aboard a Russian rocket Tuesday morning to begin a two-day trek toward the International Space Station (ISS).
Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, along with South Korea's So-yeon Yi, lifted off aboard their Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft at about 7:16 a.m. EDT (1116 GMT) from the Central Asian spaceport of BaikonurCosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where it was late afternoon. The spaceflyers are set to dock at the station on Thursday at 9:00 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT).
"We're feeling fine, everything is nominal," Volkov said as they launched into space.
Russian Mission Control congratulated the astronauts after they reached orbit, with a special nod to Yi as her country's first spaceflyer.
"Thank you!" she replied in Russian. An excited Yi waved to the onboard camera with a big smile on her face during the launch, which was broadcast on Russian and NASA television. Yi's family members were seen cheering her on as they watched the launch from the ground.
The current space station crew watched the launch on video from space, where their orbital lab was over the Pacific Ocean, just west of Pitcairn Island.
Volkov, son of famed Russian cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, became the first second-generation spaceflyer to reach space with the successful launch. He will serve as commander for the six-month Expedition 17 space station mission, with Kononenko as his flight engineer.
"I never thought about it, really, that I am going to be the second generation of the space cosmonauts," Volkov said in a pre-flight NASA interview. "I just want to do my job as best as is possible and that's it, honestly."
Yi, 29, is the second Asian woman to fly in space and is due to visit the orbital lab for a 10-day mission under a $25 million commercial arrangement between Russia and South Korea. She plans to perform science experiments and educational events during her orbital stay before returning aboard a Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft with ISS Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko on April 19.
"I am hoping the people of North Korea are happy about my flight as well," Yi, a mechanical engineer, told reporters in Russia's cosmonaut training center in Star City before flight, the country's Interfax News Agency reported.
Selected from a field of 36,000 applicants, Yi was originally chosen as South Korea's backup astronaut behind artificial intelligence expert San Ko. She moved to the prime crew last month after Russian spaceflight officials pulled Ko from the flight due to reading rule violations.
Volkov and Kononenko will join their third Expedition 17 crewmate, U.S. astronaut Garrett Reisman, already aboard the station when they dock Thursday. During their tenure, the three first-time spaceflyers will help install the new massive Japanese Kibo laboratory on the station during NASA's STS-124 shuttle mission, oversee the departure of Europe's cargo ship Jules Verne and perform at least one spacewalk.
"The main goal of Expedition 17 of course is to continue station exploitation," Volkov said. "We expect that STS-124 will bring probably the biggest module on the station, the Japanese pressurized module, and we will take part as a team to install and work with [the] module."
The new crew will arrive at a roughly 70-percent complete space station, and help make it even bigger when they add its largest room, Kibo.
"It will be quite an interesting expedition," Kononenko said in a pre-flight NASA interview. "The reason for that is that the station is almost fully assembled, I mean, the pressurized modules. In addition, the station will already have the Japanese module docked to it and the European module, so it will be quite an interesting construction there in space."
The current station crew has spent their last days aboard the ISS preparing for their relief crew's arrival.
During the busy, six-month Expedition 16 mission, Whitson, Malenchenko and their fellow crewmembers completed five spacewalks, hosted three visiting shuttle missions, and performed a slew of scientific experiments. The crewmembers helped install the hub-like Harmony connecting node, the European Columbus laboratory, a small Japanese storage module, and a giant Canadian robot on the space station.
While the two crews overlap this week, the spaceflyers will share more than mission tips and scientific expertise. Yi is planning to prepare Korean food for her U.S. and Russian crewmates and may even sing for them on April 12, Cosmonautics Day in Russia, to celebrate the anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's historic 1961 launch that began human spaceflight, Interfax and the Associated Press reported.
"I hope they will like it," she said.
NASA will broadcast the docking of Expedition 17 with the ISS live on NASA TV Thursday, April 10 beginning at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). Click here for SPACE.com's NASA TV feed and live ISS mission updates.
By Dave Mosher Staff Writer posted: 11 March 2008 2:43 am ET
This story was updated at 5:30 a.m. ET.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The cloudy predawn sky above Florida ignited into a spectacular blaze Tuesday as NASA's shuttle Endeavour roared into a high-speed pursuit of the International Space Station (ISS).
Endeavour and its seven-astronaut crew successfully left Earth at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT), riding a towering column of white smokein a rare night liftoff from Launch Pad 39A here at Kennedy Space Center. Led by commander Dominic Gorie, the STS-123 mission crew is now poised to catch up to the space station Wednesday night.
"God's truly blessed us with a beautiful night here," Gorie said minutes before Endeavour rumbled spaceward. "Let's light 'em up and give them a show."
During their planned 16-day mission — the longest station-bound flight yet — the crew will perform no less than five spacewalks to install a giant Canadian robot, deliver the first piece of Japan's school bus-sized Kibo laboratory and conduct a series of on-orbit science experiments.
Riding aboard the orbiter with Gorie are pilot Gregory H. Johnson, mission specialists Robert Behnken, Mike Foreman, Rick Linnehan, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The launch marks the first spaceflight Johnson, Behnken, Foreman and Reisman.
Reisman will stay aboard the ISS as a member of the Expedition 16 and 17 space station crews. He will relieve European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Leopold Eyharts, who will return home on board Endeavour.
"He is our most precious payload," Johnson said of Reisman prior to launch. "We're taking him to the space station and we're going to leave him there."
Special delivery
When Endeavour docks at the space station late Wednesday, the crew will quickly get to work by retrieving pieces of a massive robot named Dextre with the shuttle's robotic arm.
Astronauts are slated to spend two spacewalking days assembling the 1.72-ton robot, which will use two 11-foot (3.4-meter) arms, gripper-like "hands" and a tool belt to gently replace failed components outside the space station. The Canadian Space Agency built the new robot to help relieve station astronauts of the more routine maintenance work outside the ISS.
"Dextre is 'Gigantor the Space Age Robot,' is what I think," said Linnehan, who will partake in the device's assembly. "He's massive and crawls around the station. He's got two big arms and he's got all these appendages and tools to plug in. It's pretty wild."
Before Dextre is put together outside of the ISS, however, astronauts willinstall the Japanese Logistics Pressurized (JLP) module — that nation's first room in space, and the first of three Kibo laboratory components.
"For the first time we'll have representatives from four nations; from Russia, from the U.S., from Europe and from Japan," Doi said of the JLP's installation, calling his own participation a dream come true. "Some people have been working on this program more than 25 years, it's just unbelievable."
The STS-123 crew will also spend two other days outside the airlock to test heat-resistant tile repair methods and replace bearings in a damaged solar array joint.
Beacon in the night
Today's successful liftoff is the second of six flights NASA planned for an ambitious 2008 launch schedule, and marks the 122nd space shuttle mission, the 25th flight to the space station and Endeavour's 21st launch.
The predawn launch is only the second after-dark flight in five years — the latest was shuttle Discovery's launch in late 2006. NASA temporarily halted night launches because it's difficult to spot errant chunks of ice or insulation that can shed from the external fuel tank.
Such debris can damage the heat-resistant underbelly of a space shuttle, but Endeavour is using a new camera flash system for the first time that will help technicians better examine the shuttle's disposable 15-story tank after launch.
"We're somewhat hampered because of the night launch," LeRoy Cain, chair of NASA's mission management team Sunday, but noted that the flash unit should be a boon to post-launch inspections. "I think it should be pretty spectacular."
Orbital inspection
Perhaps more importantly, however, astronauts will scope for thermal shield damage with the space shuttle's sensor-tipped inspection boom.
"That's where we really verify that the orbiter is safe to come home," Cain said.
STS-123 astronauts will unberth the 50-foot (15-meter) boom Tuesday evening and begin an eight-hour inspection of the shuttle's wing leading edges and nose cap, which absorb most of the heat of atmospheric reentry. Space station crew will also photograph the orbiter's underside shortly before the spacecraft docks at the orbital outpost.
Endeavour is slated to arrive at the space station late Wednesday at 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT March 13) and return to Earth the evening of March 26.
ON THIS DAY IN 1968:CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER MARTIN LUTHER KING SHOT DEAD IN MEMPHIS, TENNEESEE
April 4, 2008
1968: Martin Luther King shot dead In Memphis
1968
Let me take you back in time To the year before 1969
It was a time of change but also a time of hate The year that I speak of was 1968 We could believe in the dream of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy too
They were men of conscious speaking out for me and for you We started the year in turmoil as the Vietnam War continued to escalate
There seemed some hope when President Johnson said he would not run again....but would Bobby enter the race too late?
Then it happened...the hate grew worse Dr. King was slain in Memphis...was America under a curse?
We still had hope that another Kennedy would make our lives better as the convention drew near Finally, we could see some hope as it became clear that this would be Bobby's year To carry on the goals and ideals of the Kennedy name But alas, Bobby too was gunned down and slain. Now what did we do?.....we elected a President named Nixon who was a liar and a cheat
If only we knew of the wrongs he was doing while sitting in the oval office seat
Oh, what might have been in 1968
But it seems that our country was a little too late… To see that men of vision sometimes can change the world with justice and peace
But we all must strive to work together if the killing is to cease I believe in the principles that the Kennedys gave us all It was powerful enough to finally tear down the Berlin wall
But like anything else, freedom and goals take time So please remember the goal we achieved in 1969 When we landed a man on the moon, we fulfilled President Kennedy's goal
We rose above a dream and made reality come true May Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy do the same for you
We can still change the world like in 1968 But this time let's do it with love instead of hate! It's time to act on love and not hesitate.
Together we can change the world....but we must not wait It's never too late....just reach inside and demand justice and truth It will lead you to love....can you still remember your youth?
1968 could have been great Let's not let those ideals be lost to our fate If we reach deep inside to find what is right and what is true Then the spirit of these men will live on in me and also with you
January 2006
FROM THE BBC
THE AMERICAN black civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King, has been assassinated. Dr King was shot dead in the southern US city of Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a march of sanitation workers protesting against low wages and poor working conditions He was shot in the neck as he stood on a hotel balcony and died in hospital soon afterwards. Reverend Jesse Jackson was on the balcony with Dr King when the single shot rang out. "He had just bent over. I reckon if he had been standing up he would not have been hit in the face," said Mr Jackson. I ask every citizen to reject the blind violence that has taken Dr King President Lyndon Johnson Police in Memphis were put on alert for a "well-dressed" white man who is said to have dropped an automatic rifle after the shooting and escaped in a blue car. There were early signs of rioting in Memphis after Dr King's death and 4,000 members of the National Guard were drafted into the city. A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been ordered to ward off disturbances. The US President, Lyndon Johnson, has postponed a trip to Hawaii for peace talks on Vietnam. The president said he was "shocked and saddened" by the civil rights leader's death. "I ask every citizen to reject the blind violence that has taken Dr King who lived by non-violence," Mr Johnson said. Bus boycott Dr King, 39, had previously survived several attempts on his life including the bombing of his home in 1956. The charismatic civil rights leader joined the crusade for equal rights for black people in America in the mid 1950s. He first came to national prominence as one of the leaders of the Alabama bus boycott in 1955. In 1963 Dr King led a massive march on Washington DC where he delivered his now famous "I have a dream" speech. Dr King advocated the use of non-violent tactics such as sit-ins and protest marches. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel peace prize.
In Context
Martin Luther King's assassination led to riots in more than 100 US cities.
James Earl Ray was convicted of his murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison.
But he later retracted his confession and said he had been only a minor player in a conspiracy.
However, his appeals for a new trial were rejected and he died in prison in 1998.
Ray was supported by some members of Martin Luther King's family who believed the US Government may have been involved in Dr King's death.
Their case was strengthened in December 1999 when a jury in a wrongful death case brought by the King family, decided the civil rights leader was the victim of a murder conspiracy.
However, in June 2000 after an investigation the US Justice Department said it had uncovered no reliable evidence of a conspiracy.
SPACE STATION CONSTUCTION CONTINUES IN 2008 WITH USA SHUTTLES
April 2, 2008
FEBRUARY 11,2008
Neil Armstrong Shows How to Land on the Moon
09.29.07
The problem: land an aerospace vehicle before you take off in it, and do it the first time ever on an unimproved field no human has ever visited. That's what Neil Armstrong faced when he guided Eagle to the moon's surface in July 1969.
Image right: The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, described the unorthodox training vehicle that taught him how to land on the lunar surface. Armstrong spoke to a packed hall during the Society of Experimental Test Pilots symposium in California September 29.
Armstrong brought an audience of 700 to the edge of their seats as he recounted his own precarious perch during testing of the lunar landing research vehicle (LLRV) intended to make that lunar landing possible. The Apollo 11 astronaut described the ungainly LLRV at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) symposium in Anaheim, Calif., September 29.
With no atmosphere and only one-sixth the Earth's gravity, the moon presented unique operational challenges to the design of the piloted American space vehicle intended to go there safely. Forward-thinking engineers from what is now NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California proposed a training vehicle for astronauts that would simulate operating in a lunar environment. After rejecting existing helicopters and vertical takeoff jet aircraft, the best minds believed they could effectively subtract five-sixths of a lunar lander's weight on earth by using a gimbal-mounted jet engine thrusting straight down even as the lander pivoted and changed its own attitude for maneuvering.
Image left: Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) in flight
This matched the audacious planning underway at NASA's Langley Research Center to send a multi-part vehicle into lunar orbit, from which a lander would separate, touch down on the moon, and later return to lunar orbit for a do-or-die link-up with its command module for the return to Earth. That thinking was considered ludicrous in some circles, Armstrong said, because prophetic Langley planners came up with the complex idea at a time when "the U.S. had not even put a man in orbit."
Several elements within NASA joined Bell Aerosystems in creating the lunar landing research vehicle that would give astronauts the touch for landing in the lunar environment. Unglamorously called a flying bedstead, the LLRV was dependent upon its single downward-thrusting jet engine to maintain the illusion of lunar flight while smaller motors allowed for maneuvering. On a hot day in the Mojave Desert, the gravity-canceling jet engine could be taxed beyond its capabilities. Flights with less fuel weight, or missions scheduled in cool morning hours, could restore the jet’s abilities, Armstrong explained. Several NASA research pilots demonstrated the LLRV worked, and opened the door for similar lunar landing training vehicles - LLTVs - used by NASA in Texas to train Apollo astronauts.
Nobody ever accused the LLRV or LLTV of being fun to fly, and Armstrong said a lunar deceleration to landing was akin to "trying to stop a downhill putt on a fast green." The LLTVs were able to take advantage of maturing Apollo design tenets, and had controls more closely replicating those of the actual lunar modules to follow, he said.
Neil Armstrong said before he made his historic descent to the surface of the moon, he flew every iteration of lunar landing device from early test helicopters to the final LLTV, "including the Weber ejection seat… not by choice." When he experienced a loss of control in LLRV No. 1 in Texas, quick action saved his life as he ejected about 200 feet above the ground.
Armstrong's presentation conjured images of the best traits of NASA - unfettered engineers creating unorthodox solutions to daunting problems, while masterful pilots and astronauts learned how to survive both the rigors of lunar training and actual lunar missions nearly four decades ago. He finished his remarks with the hope that NASA's next generation of lunar explorers can benefit from a simulator program at least as good as the LLRV and LLTV that taught him to land on the moon.
Frederick A. Johnsen NASA Public Affairs
FEBRUARY 14, 2008
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!
Ministers consider UK astronauts
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
The UK has historically opted out of manned space exploration
The UK government is to launch a formal review into whether British astronauts should take part in the international exploration of space.
The review has been prompted by growing fears that the UK might lose out in the next wave of space travel.
International space agencies have set out ambitious plans in a document called the Global Exploration Strategy.
Science Minister Ian Pearson said space was "increasingly important" and worth £7bn to the British economy.
Costs and benefits
The British National Space Centre (BNSC) said in the new UK Civil Space Strategy published on Thursday: "In 1986, the UK chose not to participate in human space missions.
"The publication of the Global Exploration Strategy provides a suitable point to review this decision."
The BNSC will study the options, taking into account the scientific, technological and economic costs and benefits, and report to Innovation Secretary John Denham.
Mr Pearson said: "This strategy sets out measures to increase the UK's share of this growing international sector."
The review is expected to take between six and 12 months.
The UK has historically opted out of manned space exploration, and spent its limited space budget on detailed scientific missions involving robotic probes.
The new strategy also unveils plans for a new European Space Agency (Esa) facility to be based at Harwell, Oxfordshire, which will focus on climate change, robotic space exploration and applications.
The upcoming Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative is expected to make an important contribution to our understanding of global warming and its impacts.
But the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) took a small share in the project, which will draw together environment and security data from earth observation satellites and the ground.
The move surprised some observers, particularly given the government's vocal stance on tackling climate change. But the BNSC is now in discussions with Defra to explore options for raising Britain's stake in the initiative.
British mission
Meanwhile, in another development, Nasa is due to give its formal backing in a report to a British-led £100m mission to the Moon.
FEBRUARY 17, 2008
Shuttle Astronauts Cast Off From Space Station By Tariq Malik Senior Editor posted: 18 February 2008 6:36 am ET
HOUSTON - The shuttle Atlantis and its seven-astronaut crew castoff from the International Space Station (ISS) early Monday to begin the trip home after adding a new European module to the orbiting laboratory.
Atlantis undocked from the space station at 4:24 a.m. EST (0924 GMT) as the two spacecraft flew 219 miles (354 km) above eastern New Zealand.
"We just wanted to thank you again for being a great host and letting us enjoy your station for about a week," Atlantis commander Steve Frick told station commander Peggy Whitson. "We had a great time over there."
Frick and his crewmates delivered the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus laboratory and a new crewmember to the ISS during almost nine days docked at the station. They are also returning U.S. astronaut Dan Tani back to Earth after nearly four months stationed aboard the ISS.
"Well, thank you guys," said Whitson, who rang the station's bell to mark Atlantis' departure. "It is a great new room you have added on and we really appreciate it. Get Dan home safe and thanks."
Atlantis is due to land in Florida early Wednesday to complete its 13-day spaceflight.
Station astronaut heads home
Atlantis ferried ESA astronaut Leopold Eyharts of France to the ISS, where he replaced Tani as a member of the station's Expedition 16 crew. Tani is returning to Earth two months later than planned after delays to Atlantis' launch in December extended his mission.
"It certainly will be sad to leave," Tani said, adding that he will miss his Whitson and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko of Russia's Federal Space Agency. "I've gotten to know Peggy and Yuri quite well."
Mission Control woke the Atlantis crew at 12:53 a.m. EST (0553 GMT) to a ukulele version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole. The song was chosen for Tani by his wife Jane and their two young daughters, Keiko and Lilly.
"I can't wait to get back home," Tani said after hearing the tune. "I've had such a wonderful time here, but it's time to get back to my family."
Before Atlantis pulled away from the space station, shuttle pilot Alan Poindexter flew the shuttle on a victory lap of sorts to allow his crewmates to observe their construction handiwork.
"It was a real pleasure to fly around the station," Poindexter said. "It was a beautiful sight."
Poindexter's crewmates photographed and recorded video of the space station's new look as he flew Atlantis.
"We're just looking for a complete survey," ISS flight director Bob Dempsey said Sunday, adding that the station's new Columbus lab would be likely target. "One of the main reasons we do this is to monitor the exterior of the space station over time."
Even as Atlantis departed the ISS, NASA's next space shuttle to fly made the trek out to its seaside launch pad. Riding atop its massive crawler carrier vehicle, the shuttle Endeavour ambled out to Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Fla., the same launch site where Atlantis lifted off on Feb. 7.
Endeavour and its STS-123 crew are slated to launch to the ISS on March 11 to deliver a new addition to the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm and the first segment of Japan's massive Kibo laboratory.
Heat shield inspection up next
Today's undocking was only the start of a busy day in space for the Atlantis crew. The shuttle flyers will conduct a second full inspection of their orbiter's heat shield covering its nose cap and wing leading edges.
Known as a late inspection, the four-hour survey will begin at 8:40 a.m. EST (1340 GMT). The now-standard chore is aimed at ensuring that Atlantis' heat shield has not suffered damage from orbital debris or micrometeorites during flight. Engineers have already cleared the shuttle of any concerns related to external fuel tank debris from launch.
NASA has kept a close watch on shuttle heat shield health since the 2003 loss of Columbia and its crew due to a wing damage sustained at launch.
Aboard the space station, the three Expedition 16 astronauts have a light couple of days ahead to rest up after the frenetic pace of last week's construction work. Eyharts is expected to spend some of that time activating science racks aboard Columbus, while Whitson has volunteered to perform extra experiments for researchers on Earth.
"It's definitely a lot quieter already," she said late Sunday.
Frick and his crew are due to land at KSC on Wednesday at 9:07 a.m. EST (1407 GMT), though NASA is activating a backup runway in California to return Atlantis as soon as possible and give the U.S. military enough time to shoot down a falling spy satellite laden with half a ton of toxic rocket fuel.
"We are still planning on landing on the 20th," Dempsey said. "The weather is looking promising at the Kennedy Space Center."
NASA is broadcasting Atlantis' STS-122 mission live on NASA TV. Click here for SPACE.com's shuttle mission coverage and NASA TV feed.
See the Falling Spy Satellite By Joe Rao SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist posted: 15 February 2008 11:48 am ET
During the next week, a wayward U.S. spy satellite will make passes across North America and western Europe soon after sunset and should be easily visible to the unaided eye.
That's if it doesn't get shot down first.
The falling satellite is named USA 193. It was launched Dec. 14, 2006. It has been described as being similar in size to a school bus and might weigh as much as 10,000 pounds. It carries a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor but the satellite's central computer failed shortly after launch, never reaching its final orbit, and the Pentagon declared it a total loss in early 2007.
Since then, the satellite's orbit has been decaying — slowly at first. But in recent weeks USA 193's nearly circular orbit has been rapidly lowering. Currently, its altitude is approximately 160 miles (260 km) above the Earth.
Unless a proposed plan by the Pentagon is enacted to shoot down USA 193 during the next week, the satellite could conceivably re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up sometime in mid-March.
Viewing opportunity
Today through Feb. 22, USA 193 will make a number of evening passes over North America and western Europe. It's orbit is inclined 58.5-degrees to the equator, a setup that makes it readily observable from most of the Northern Hemisphere.
During this period, USA 193 will move along a general southwest-to-northeast trajectory and pass over a number of cities in the United States, southern Canada and western Europe.
To spot a specific satellite, you need to know when and where to look.
Predictions for the times and locations of USA 193 are available at the Heavens Above website (www.heavens-above.com). Based on this website's sighting information, USA 193 will be very favorably placed for observation over a number of large cities, assuming it is still in orbit around the Earth and weather conditions permit.
What to look for
To find satellites, it's also helpful to know how to roughly measure the sky. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10-degrees of the sky. (From the horizon to the top of the sky (the zenith) measures 90-degrees.)
From Chicago, as an example, the spy satellite is predicted to reach as high as 38-degrees above the horizon (nearly four fists) on Feb. 17. That same date, as seen from Orlando, Florida, an evening pass as high as 65-degrees is predicted.
From Boston and Seattle, nearly overhead passes are forecast for (respectively) Feb.18 and Feb. 22. And on the latter date, London, England should have a fine pass, with USA 193 arcing as high as 77-degrees above the horizon.
It should be stressed that because of the rapidly changing nature of its orbit, sighting information from Heavens-Above should be checked frequently.
Those who have seen the International Space Station (ISS) flying across their local skies should be aware that USA 193 will appear noticeably fainter, since it's quite a bit smaller than the ISS. Yet, at its brightest, the spy satellite still should rank as bright as the brightest stars, at roughly first magnitude in astronomers parlance.
Also, since the spy satellite is in a lower orbit than the ISS, expect USA 193 to move much more rapidly across your line of sight.
The Atlantis orbiter has touched down on Earth after a 13-day mission to cement Europe's position on the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft and its crew installed the 12.8-tonne Columbus science lab, an achievement that makes Europe a full member of the $100bn platform project.
Atlantis landed at Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 1407 GMT.
Now that the shuttle is down, the US military will be allowed to shoot an ailing spy satellite out of the sky.
The mission triggers Europe's full membership of the ISS project
The missile firing, which is likely to take place over the Pacific Ocean, could not be carried out until after Atlantis had returned for fear the ship might encounter debris on its high-speed descent.
Nasa officials earlier reported that four small steering jets on Atlantis had failed, but they stressed these thrusters were not needed to help de-orbit the shuttle or control its glide through the atmosphere.
Riding home on Atlantis was US astronaut Dan Tani, who has been a long-stay resident on the ISS since October.
His place on the platform has been taken by Frenchman Leopold Eyharts who went up with the shuttle and who will spend the coming weeks commissioning the Columbus lab.
The 1.3bn-euro ($1.8bn; £0.9bn) module is Europe's major contribution to the science endeavours on the station, and the first part of the ISS it will control, through an operations centre in Oberpfaffenhofen in southern Germany.
The lab's installation means the European Space Agency (Esa) acquires "rights" under the space station project plan, principally to fly one European astronaut every two years to the platform for a six-month stay.
Columbus is booked for an extensive programme of research that will take in experiments from the life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and other disciplines.
Knowledge gained in the weightless conditions experienced on the platform are expected to aid the development of more advanced electronics, new alloys, novel drugs, and better crops, to name just a few examples.
In addition to fitting Columbus, the Atlantis crew replaced an empty nitrogen tank on the station and retrieved a failed control-moment gyroscope that is one of four such mechanisms used to keep the ISS pointing in the right direction.
The mission has been deeply satisfying for Nasa. It now feels it has the shuttle system working at optimum efficiency.
The fuel sensor glitch experienced during recent launch campaigns seems to have been solved, and the shedding of shuttle tank insulation foam - the fatal flaw that downed Columbia and her crew in 2003 - has been minimised.
Agency managers have expressed confidence that they can complete the construction of the ISS by the time the orbiter fleet is retired at the end of 2010 to make way for a new human launch system.
Already, the Endeavour orbiter is on the launch pad at Kennedy ready for an 11 March flight.
Ten more shuttle flights will be required after its return, a manifest it looks set to shoulder along with the Discovery shuttle.
Atlantis, on current planning, has completed its ISS duties and is set for one last outing in August or September this year to service the Hubble Space Telescope However, Nasa says no final decision has been taken on Atlantis' immediate future.
For Europe, attention turns to its new space station logistics ship, known as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).
Dubbed "Jules Verne" for its maiden voyage, the ATV is entering final launch preparations at the European Kourou spaceport in French Guiana where it is expected to leave Earth on 8 March.
The ATV will haul just under five tonnes of cargo (food, water, fuel and experimental equipment) to the ISS.
Preliminary launch dates for shuttles in the rest of 2008:
11 March, Endeavour: to deliver the first part of the Japanese science complex known as Kibo and the Canadian Dextre robot to the ISS
24 April, Discovery: to loft the second and main component of the Japanese Kibo lab together with its exterior robot arm
28 August, Atlantis: a flight to service the Hubble Space Telescope
16 October, Endeavour: a cargo flight to the ISS using the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module in Endeavour's payload bay
4 December, Discovery: taking up the fourth starboard "backbone" segment for the ISS; and the fourth set of solar arrays and batteries
Because Atlantis will not be able to reach the space station if it gets into trouble, or is damaged, on its Hubble flight, the Endeavour orbiter will be made ready on the pad for a rescue mission in case it is needed.
Launch dates for the remaining seven flights in 2009/10 are under review. The crew of the space station is expected to rise from three to six in mid-2009.
FEBRUARY 9, 2008
*
Shuttle docks with Space Station
*
Columbus will be the site of an intensive research programme
Space shuttle Atlantis has docked at the International Space Station (ISS), where it is to deliver Europe's Columbus science laboratory.
Columbus is the first part of the ISS that the European Space Agency will control, from a station in Germany.
Its installation will mean Esa becomes a full member of the orbital project.
The Columbus laboratory cost about $2bn and has room for three researchers in fields ranging from crop breeding to the development of advanced alloys.
Inspection
Before docking, the crew guided Atlantis in a back-flip manoeuvre that will allow crew on the space station to photograph the shuttle's protective heat-resistant tiles.
Engineers on earth will check for any possible damage that may have been done to the tiles during take-off: a routine safety measure since the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entering the earth's atmosphere in 2003.
The 7m-long (24ft), 4.5m-wide (14ft), 12.8-tonne laboratory will be manoeuvred into position by the shuttle's robotic arm, and docked to the station's Harmony Node 2 connector.
Hans Schlegel, the German Esa astronaut on the flight, will play a key role in this process, carrying out two spacewalks to get the job done.
Esa colleague Leopold Eyharts will be staying on the station to commission Columbus, a process that should take a few weeks to complete fully.
Atlantis was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, and is due to return to earth on Monday.
Once the lab is in place, an intensive programme of research in weightless surroundings will begin.
The experiments will also help researchers better understand the physiological demands of long-duration spaceflight, something that will be important if humans are ever to colonise the Moon or travel to Mars.
del.icio.us
Shuttle landing 
Enlarge Image
