Author Topic: The Official Space Exploration Thread  (Read 230808 times)

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #886 on: October 27, 2009, 03:50 AM »
NASA's Ares rocket set for test flight

Quote
For the first time in decades, a rocket instead of a space shuttle is occupying launchpad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.



Nightfall comes to Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 23, 2009, as xenon lights reveal the Ares I-X rocket awaiting the approaching Oct. 27 liftoff of its flight test. This is the first time since the Apollo Program's Saturn rockets were retired that a vehicle other than the space shuttle has occupied the pad. Credit: NASA Kim Shiflett.

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #887 on: October 27, 2009, 09:42 AM »
Winds delay NASA launch of world's largest rocket



NASA's space shuttle Atlantis awaits liftoff from Launch Pad 39A (right) at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., while the Ares I-X rocket is poised for its own blast off from from Launch Pad 39B, in the background. The Ares I-X flight test is set for Oct. 27; Atlantis' STS-129 launch to the International Space Station is targeted for Nov. 16. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.



At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 327-foot-tall Ares I-X rocket (left) awaits a late October 2009 liftoff on Launch Pad 39B on its upcoming flight test. In the distance are space shuttle Atlantis (right) atop Launch Pad 39A, and the pads and processing facilities on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #888 on: October 27, 2009, 12:45 PM »
NASA scrubs launch of Ares I-X rocket

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NASA said it will try again to launch at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #889 on: October 28, 2009, 12:27 PM »
Go for launch! Less than 2 minutes.

Live on NASA TV Online

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #890 on: October 28, 2009, 12:29 PM »
We have a launch... Go baby go!   8)

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #891 on: October 28, 2009, 12:38 PM »
Quote
Liftoff! The Ares I-X Flight Test Begins
Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:30:38 AM MDT

Rising into the Florida sky, the 327-foot rocket thunders away from the launch pad, marking the first time a new vehicle has launched from the complex since the first space shuttle launch in 1981.

The mission will last two minutes, during which constant data received from the rocket.

At about the T+2 minute point in the flight, the upper stage simulator and first stage will separate at approximately 130,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. The unpowered simulator will splash down in the ocean. The first stage will be fired for a controlled ocean landing with parachutes that will allow recovery by one of NASA's booster recovery ships, while the other ship tracks the upper stage.

Boom baby, success!   8)

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #892 on: October 28, 2009, 01:20 PM »
Video up on the launch:  Ares I-X Rocket Test Flight Launch

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #893 on: November 4, 2009, 10:07 AM »
Successful Flight Through Enceladus Plume



In this unprocessed image, sunlight brightens a crescent curve along the edge of Saturn's moon Enceladus and highlights its misty plume. The image was captured by Cassini's narrow-angle camera as the spacecraft passed about 190,000 kilometers (120,000 miles) over the moon. This image has not been validated or calibrated. A validated/calibrated image will be archived with the NASA Planetary Data System in 2010. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.

Fabulous! Enceladus Raw Flyby Images

These raw, unprocessed images were taken during Cassini's close flyby of Enceladus on Nov. 2, 2009. The most recent Enceladus maps also are included here.

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #894 on: November 13, 2009, 12:17 PM »
NASA Discovers Large Lunar Ice Field

NASA'S LCROSS Impacts Confirm Water In Lunar Crater

Got Water? Yes and a Whole Lot More!



The visible camera image showing the ejecta plume at about 20 seconds after impact.
Credit: NASA.

Sweet news, I'm thirsty.   :D  Hungry too...  :-\

Offline iFett

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #895 on: November 13, 2009, 02:47 PM »
Learn new skills at home that some consider to be.....unnatural.  Easy repayment terms.  555-PLPTN

Offline BillCable

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #896 on: November 13, 2009, 03:05 PM »
That reads like a really good fake news article.   ;D
Bill Cable - Steeler Fan & Star Wars Collector
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Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #897 on: November 16, 2009, 12:07 AM »
The skies above NASA's Florida spaceport look to be clear for tomorrow's planned launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.

Atlantis is slated to lift off at 2:28 p.m. EST (1928 GMT) on Nov. 16 from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.



Space shuttle Atlantis atop the crawler-transporter makes its way up the steep incline to Launch Pad 39A on Oct. 14, 2009 for a planned Nov. 16 launch. Credit: NASA/KSC.



As the sun sets behind Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the rotating service structure has been moved away from space shuttle Atlantis. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder.

Six space shuttle flights remaining till...  :'(

Offline DSJ™

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #898 on: November 16, 2009, 09:27 AM »


Space shuttle Atlantis is seen on Launch Pad 39a of the NASA Kennedy Space Center shortly after the rotating service structure was rolled back, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009, Cape Canaveral, FL. Atlantis is scheduled to launch at 2:28p.m. EST on the STS-129 mission to the International Space Station on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.


Leonid Meteor Shower tonight.  8)

One of the best annual meteor showers will peak in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, and for some skywatchers the show could be quite impressive.

The best seats are in Asia, but North American observers should be treated to an above average performance of the Leonid meteor shower, weather permitting. The trick for all observers is to head outside in the wee hours of the morning – between 1 a.m. and dawn – regardless where you live.

The Leonids put on a solid show every year, if skies are clear and moonlight does not interfere. This year the moon is near its new phase, and not a factor. For anyone in the Northern Hemisphere with dark skies, away from urban and suburban lighting, the show should be worth getting up early to see.

"We're predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the Americas, and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia," said Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. Other astronomers who work in the nascent field of meteor shower prediction have put out similar forecasts.

Urban dwellers and suburbanites will see far fewer, as the fainter meteors will be drowned out by local lights.

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Re: The Official Space Exploration Thread
« Reply #899 on: November 16, 2009, 02:27 PM »
The shuttle Atlantis has cleared the tower!  8)