The Official Space Exploration Thread

[DSJ™]

Astronauts take on construction job in space



STS-124 mission specialist Ron Garan smiles in this camera view during a June 5, 2008 spacewalk at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV.



STS-124 spacewalkers Mike Fossum and Ron Garan outfit Japan's new Kibo laboratory outside the International Space Station during a June 5, 2008 excursion. Credit: NASA TV.



The Japanese Kibo pressurized laboratory extends out to the right from the Harmony node in this image taken by a camera outside the International Space Station on June 4, 2008. The Kibo lab's storage module can be seen as the squat cylinder at the bottom in this view. Credit: NASA TV.



Astronaut Ron Garan, STS-124 mission specialist, participates in the mission's first scheduled spacewalk to deliver the Japanese Kibo lab to the ISS on June 3, 2008. Credit: NASA.



This image was taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on Sol 11 (June 5, 2008), the eleventh day after landing. It shows the Robotic Arm scoop containing a soil sample poised over the partially open door of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer's number four cell, or oven.

Light-colored clods of material visible toward the scoop's lower edge may be part of the crusted surface material seen previously near the foot of the lander. The material inside the scoop has been slightly brightened in this image. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University.



NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander scooped up this Martian soil on June 5, 2008 as the first soil sample for delivery to the laboratory on the lander deck. This approximately true-color view of the contents of the scoop on the Robotic Arm comes from combining separate red, green and blue images taken by the Robotic Arm Camera. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute.

[DSJ™]

Space station's new tool works



The fading blue limb of the Earth backlights the shuttle Discovery docked at the ISS. At center is the station's six-jointed Japanese robotic arm folded up at the outboard end of the new Kibo lab. Credit: NASA TV.



NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg (right) and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide test drive the Kibo laboratory's robotic arm on June 7, 2008. Credit: NASA TV.

Mars dirt fails to reach lander's testing oven



The Robotic Arm of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander released a sample of Martian soil onto a screened opening of the lander's Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) during the 12th Martian day, or sol, since landing (June 6, 2008). TEGA did not confirm that any of the sample had passed through the screen.



This image shows a view from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Stereo Surface Imager's left eye after delivery of soil to the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), taken on the 12th Martian day after landing (Sol 12, June 6, 2008). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA.

[DSJ™]

Final spacewalk for Discovery astronauts



STS-124 astronaut Mike Fossum inspects the port solar array joint of the ISS during a June 8, 2008 spacewalk, the third of his mission, in this view caught by a camera outside the station. Credit: NASA TV.



Spacewalkers Mike Fossum and Ron Garan work outside of the International Space Station during the third excursion of their STS-124 mission on June 8, 2008. Credit: NASA TV.



Spacewalker Ron Garan totes a new nitrogen tank for the International Space Station to its final home while riding the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm in a June 8, 2008 spacewalk by the STS-124 shuttle crew. Credit: NASA TV.



STS-124 spacewalker Mike Fossum retrieves insulation covers and restraints from the robotic arm of Japan's Kibo lab outside the ISS on June 8, 2008. Credit: NASA TV.



On Sunday, mechanical shakers inside the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer on Phoenix will attempt to loosen clumped soils on the device's screens to allow material to fall into the oven for analysis later in the week.

[Matt_Fury]

I don't know if any of you are watching that new series on the Discovery Channel entitled "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions".  It premiered tonight and it's awesome so far!

[DSJ™]

I don't know if any of you are watching that new series on the Discovery Channel entitled "When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions".  It premiered tonight and it's awesome so far!

The Discovery Channel presents a 6 part mini series When We Left Earth starting this Sunday. Discovery will air 2 episode segments for 3 Sundays.

CLICK HERE to watch the cinema promotional trailer for When We Left Earth.

When We Left Earth is the story of mankind’s greatest adventure, leaving the earth and living in space. For the first time this series has digitally re-mastered the original film and audio recordings from NASA’s vault, including and all the key on-board footage filmed by the astronauts themselves. From John Glenn's Mercury mission to orbit the earth, to Neil Armstrong’s first historic steps on the moon, to the unprecedented spacewalks required to repair the Hubble telescope, these epic stories are shown in stunning clarity and told by the astronauts and engineers who were there.

I'll just say you guys in the US are lucky bastards, our Canadian Disovery Channel is not showing it... yet. Not sure when they will tho. 

I'm hearing great reviews on the show, I may have to pick up the DVD set for $69.95.

[Matt_Fury]

I was about to suggest picking up the DVD set Dale.  You'll love it, a great inside look at our early space program!

It's also great in HD!   

[DSJ™]

Yeah, I'm thinking of getting the DVD set for my space collection. It's too bad all my other stuff is on VHS.    Still nice to watch & see how it was all done, just like the Right Stuff. 

Alan Shepard: Dear Lord, please don't let me **** up.
Gordon Cooper: I didn't quite copy that. Say again, please.
Alan Shepard: I said everything's A-OK.

They should have quoted this line when the new toilet was repaired on the ISS.

Alan Shepard: Request permission to relieve bladder. 

Astronauts put finishing touches on lab



One of a series of digital still images documenting the Japanese Experiment Module, or JEM, also called Kibo, in its new home on the International Space Station, this view depicts Kibo's exterior, backdropped by solar array panels for the orbital outpost and one of its trusses.

The main Kibo lab was installed during the first spacewalk of this, the STS-124, mission. Credit: NASA



A still taken from a video camera outside the ISS, shows the Kibo lab's Japanese robotic arm outstretched to its full 33-foot (10-meter) length. Credit: NASA TV.



Backdropped by the blackness of space, the Japanese Pressurized Module (foreground), the Japanese Logistics Module (top right), and a portion of the Harmony node of the ISS are featured in this image photographed by a crewmember during the STS-124 mission's second spacewalk on June 5, 2008. Credit: NASA.

The Phoenix is still having problems with the martian soil.



A "before" image shows a sample of Martian soil resting on a screen over the opening to one of the eight ovens of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer instrument on Phoenix. After vibration, the soil slumped almost imperceptibly downhill. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute.



The "after" image was taken after about seven minutes of shaking a sample of Martian soil, which rests on a screen over the opening to one of the eight ovens of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer instrument on Phoenix. The soil resting on the screen has slumped almost imperceptibly downhill, with a dark gap about 3 millimeters (one-tenth of an inch) wide opening at the top edge of the screen. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute.



Engineers operating the Robotic Arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander are testing a revised method for delivering soil samples to laboratory instruments on Phoenix's deck now that researchers appreciate how clumpy the soil is at the landing site.

[DSJ™]

Shuttle crew says goodbye, shuts hatch to space station



The Kibo Japanese Pressurized Module and Kibo Japanese logistics module of the International Space Station are featured in this image photographed by a STS-124 crewmember while Space Shuttle Discovery is docked with the station. The blackness of space and Earth's horizon provide the backdrop for the scene on June 6, 2008. Credit: NASA.

Mars lander faces biggest challenge so far

[DSJ™]

Shuttle begins journey back to Earth



This still from a video camera on the exterior of the ISS shows the shuttle Discovery after its June 11, 2008 undocking during NASA's STS-124 mission. Credit: NASA TV.



This still image from a video camera outside the shuttle Discovery captures the space station and its new Kibo lab (right with attic and robotic arm) after undocking on June 11, 2008 during NASA's STS-124 mission. Credit: NASA TV.

NASA's Phoenix Lander Has An Oven Full Of Martian Soil.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has filled its first oven with Martian soil.



"We have an oven full," Phoenix co-investigator Bill Boynton of the University of Arizona, Tucson, said today. "It took 10 seconds to fill the oven. The ground moved."

Boynton leads the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer instrument, or TEGA, for Phoenix. The instrument has eight separate tiny ovens to bake and sniff the soil to assess its volatile ingredients, such as water.

The lander's Robotic Arm delivered a partial scoopful of clumpy soil from a trench informally called "Baby Bear" to the number 4 oven on TEGA last Friday, June 6, which was 12 days after landing.

A screen covers each of TEGA's eight ovens. The screen is to prevent larger bits of soil from clogging the narrow port to each oven so that fine particles fill the oven cavity, which is no wider than a pencil lead. Each TEGA chute also has a whirligig mechanism that vibrates the screen to help shake small particles through.

Only a few particles got through when the screen on oven number 4 was vibrated on June 6, 8 and 9.

Boynton said that the oven might have filled because of the cumulative effects of all the vibrating, or because of changes in the soil's cohesiveness as it sat for days on the top of the screen.

"There's something very unusual about this soil, from a place on Mars we've never been before," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. "We're interested in learning what sort of chemical and mineral activity has caused the particles to clump and stick together."

Plans prepared by the Phoenix team for the lander's activities on Thursday, June 12 include sprinkling Martian soil on the delivery port for the spacecraft's Optical Microscope and taking additional portions of a high-resolution color panorama of the lander's surroundings.



Phoenix used its robotic arm during the mission's 15th Martian day since landing (June 9, 2008) to test a "sprinkle" method for delivering small samples of soil to instruments on the lander deck. This image from the lander's Surface Stereo Imager shows the amount of soil delivered to the upper end the cover of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) by the time the test was finished. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M.

In other space news:

NASA launches telescope in search of gamma rays



The GLAST spacecraft and Delta II rocket leap off the launch pad. Credit: Carleton Bailie for United Launch Alliance.

[DSJ™]

Discovery Crew Prepares for Journey Home

After Wednesday’s undocking from the International Space Station, the members of the STS-124 crew began their 13th flight day with a morning off.

The astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery answered questions from ESPN and ABC News in the afternoon. After the interview, the crew stowed the orbiter boom sensor system in the shuttle’s payload bay. They also powered down Discovery’s robot arm in preparation for landing Saturday.

LeRoy Cain, NASA's deputy shuttle program manager, said Discovery is in good shape to land here at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT) after its crew's successful mission to add a new Japanese lab to the International Space Station (ISS).

First Sample Delivery to Mars Microscope



The Robotic Arm on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has just delivered the first sample of dug-up soil to the spacecraft's microscope station in this image taken by the Surface Stereo Imager during the mission's Sol 17 (June 12), or 17th Martian day after landing.

The scoop is positioned above the box containing key parts of Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA, instrument suite. It has sprinkled a small amount of soil into a notch in the MECA box where the microscope's sample wheel is exposed. The wheel turns to present sample particles on various substrates to the Optical Microscope for viewing.

The scoop is about 8.5 centimeters (3.3 inches) wide. The top of the MECA box is 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) wide. This image has been lightened to make details more visible. Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M.

China Space Walk In October

Inaugural spacewalk set for Oct

[DSJ™]

NASA identifies shiny object trailing shuttle



A view of the Shuttle Discovery soon after the shuttle and the International Space Station began their post-undocking relative separation on June 11, 2008. One of the Expedition 17 crewmembers recorded the photo with a digital still camera. Credit: NASA.



This image shows an image of the lost Iconel metal seal clip (top left) seen by STS-124 astronauts aboard Discovery, as well as ground images and a diagram that illustrates its flight position. Credit: NASA.

Phoenix's Solar Panel and Robotic Arm



This image shows NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander’s solar panel and the lander’s Robotic Arm with a sample in the scoop. The image was taken by the lander’s Surface Stereo Imager looking west during Phoenix’s Sol 16 (June 10, 2008), or the 16th Martian day after landing. The image was taken just before the sample was delivered to the Optical Microscope. This view is a part of the "mission success" panorama that will show the whole landing site in color. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University.



This image taken by the Optical Microscope on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander on Sol 17 (June 11, 2008) shows soil sprinkled from the lander's Robot Arm scoop onto a substrate that has been micromachined to produce different patterns of pegs and holes to capture the smallest particles in the Martian soil. The micromachined substrates are designed to tightly hold particles for imaging using the Atomic Force Microscope on Phoenix, which should be able to zoom in another 40 times beyond the magnification in this Optical Microscope image. For scale, each strip is 0.4 millimeter (0.016 inch) wide. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Imperial College London.

 

This image of the Martian soil was taken by the Phoenix Mars Lander's optical microscope and shows the variety of colors, shapes and sizes of the soil particles. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.

[DSJ™]

Shuttle back from mission with 'beautiful landing'



The space shuttle Discovery touched down at 11:15 a.m. EDT, Saturday, June 14, 2008, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the 13-day mission, Discovery and the crew of STS-124 delivered new components of Kibo, the Japanese Experiment Module, to the International Space Station and the Canadian-built Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator, also known as Dextre, to the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.



Space shuttle Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. June 14 at around 11:15 a.m. EDT. Credit: NASA TV.



Backdropped by a blue and white part of Earth, the International Space Station is seen from the space shuttle Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation during the STS-124 mission. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred on June 11, 2008. Credit: NASA.

[DSJ™]

Mars lander finds bits of ice, scientists say



This color image was acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on the 20th day of the mission, or Sol 19 (June 13, 2008), after the May 25, 2008, landing. This image shows one trench informally called "Dodo-Goldilocks" after two digs. White material, possibly ice, is located only at the upper portion of the trench. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University.



NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander catches a glimpse of the "Snow White" trenches in the Martian arctic in this image released on June 20, 2008. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University.



This animation from two images taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows how what appears to be ice disappears over several days in the Martian arctic. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University.



These images from the Phoenix Mars Lander show sublimation of ice in the trench informally called "Dodo-Goldilocks" between Sols 20 and 24 (June 15 and 18, 2008. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University.

[Matt_Fury]

I read this story today and just knew you'd post all about it Dale!  Pretty interesting find!

[DSJ™]

Phoenix Scrapes to Icy Soil in Wonderland



This image was acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on the 31st Martian day of the mission, or Sol 31 (June 26, 2008), after the May 25, 2008 landing. This image shows the trenches informally called "Snow White 1" (left), "Snow White 2" (right), and within the Snow White 2 trench, the smaller scraping area called "Snow White 3." The Snow White 3 scraped area is about 5 centimeters (2 inches) deep. The dug and scraped areas are within the diggiing site called "Wonderland."

The Snow White trenches and scraping prove that scientists can take surface soil samples, subsurface soil samples, and icy samples all from one unit. Scientists want to test samples to determine if some ice in the soil may have been liquid in the past during warmer climate cycles. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University.

Clicky image below for a super high res shot. Man, this thing is huge!



The developing International Space Station (ISS) has changed its appearance again. Earlier this month, the Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery visited the ISS and added components that included Japan's Kibo Science Laboratory. The entire array of expansive solar panels is visible in this picture taken by the Discovery Crew after leaving the ISS to return to Earth. The world's foremost space outpost can be seen developing over the past several years by comparing the above image to past images. Also visible above are many different types of modules, a robotic arm, another impressive set of solar panels, and a supply ship. Construction began on the ISS in 1998.