The Official Space Exploration Thread

[DSJ™]

NASA: Reports of Martian-Life Announcement 'Bogus'

[Darth Broem]

Darn I was hoping for announcement of little green men's fossilized feces. 

[DSJ™]

Scientists puzzling over chemical found in Martian soil

Phoenix Mars Team Opens Window On Scientific Process

August 5, 2008 -- Phoenix Mars mission scientists spoke today on research in progress concerning an ongoing investigation of perchlorate salts detected in soil analyzed by the wet chemistry laboratory aboard NASA's Phoenix Lander.

"Finding perchlorates is neither good nor bad for life, but it does make us reassess how we think about life on Mars," said Michael Hecht of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., lead scientist for the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA), the instrument that includes the wet chemistry laboratory.

If confirmed, the result is exciting, Hecht said, "because different types of perchlorate salts have interesting properties that may bear on the way things work on Mars if -- and that's a big 'if ' -- the results from our two teaspoons of soil are representative of all of Mars, or at least a significant portion of the planet."

The Phoenix team had wanted to check the finding with another lander instrument, the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA), which heats soil and analyzes gases driven off. But as that TEGA experiment was underway last week, speculative news reports surfaced claiming the team was holding back a major finding regarding habitability on Mars.

"The Phoenix project has decided to take an unusual step" in talking about the research when its scientists are only about half-way through the data collection phase and have not yet had time to complete data analysis or perform needed laboratory work, said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. Scientists are still at the stage where they are examining multiple hypotheses, given evidence that the soil contains perchlorate.

"We decided to show the public science in action because of the extreme interest in the Phoenix mission, which is searching for a habitable environment on the northern plains of Mars," Smith added. "Right now, we don't know whether finding perchlorate is good news or bad news for possible life on Mars."

Perchlorate is an ion, or charged particle, that consists of an atom of chlorine surrounded by four oxygen atoms. It is an oxidant, that is, it can release oxygen, but it is not a powerful one. Perchlorates are found naturally on Earth at such places as Chile's hyper-arid Atacama Desert. The compounds are quite stable and do not destroy organic material under normal circumstances. Some microorganisms on Earth are fueled by processes that involve perchlorates, and some plants concentrate the substance. Perchlorates are also used in rocket fuel and fireworks.

Perchlorate was discovered with a multi-use sensor that detects perchlorate, nitrate and other ions. The MECA team saw the perchlorate signal in a sample taken from the Dodo-Goldilocks trench on June 25, or Sol 30, or the 30th Martian day of the mission after landing, and again in another sample taken from the Snow White trench on July 6, or Sol 41.

When TEGA heated a sample of soil dug from the Dodo-Goldilocks trench on Sol 25 to high temperature, it detected an oxygen release, said TEGA lead scientist William Boynton of the University of Arizona. Perchlorate could be one of several possible sources of this oxygen, he said.

Late last week, when TEGA analyzed another sample, this one from the Snow White trench, the TEGA team looked for chlorine gas. The instrument detected none.

"Had we seen it, the identification of perchlorate would be absolutely clear, but in this run we did not see any chlorine gas. We may have been analyzing a perchlorate salt that doesn't release chlorine gas upon heating," Boynton said. "There's nothing in the TEGA data that contradicts MECA's finding of perchlorates."

[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!

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. 

This was on our Discovery Channel last night, the night I forgot to look at the TV guide. 

While I was on my break at work late last night, I saw the episode "Landing the Eagle". One of the other guys at work who is also a space buff & I laughed as we were quoting lines from The Right Stuff, sure wrong missions but it was a hoot. "JIMP? Well what the HELL is a jimp?" etc...   

I will get another chance on the reruns this coming weekend. 

Also coming to a night sky nere you...

Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tuesday Morning

The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a good display of shooting stars in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday.

The best views will be from rural locations away from light pollution, where up to 60 meteors per hour could be seen, weather permitting. Urban and suburban skywatchers can expect far fewer.

The Perseids are bits of debris left by comet Swift-Tuttle.The debris is like a river of small particles in space, and each year, Earth passes through it. As the bits zoom through our atmosphere at 37 miles per second (60 kps) they vaporize, creating the brilliant streaks of light. Most of the meteors are no larger than a grain of sand.

The shower is typically best between midnight and dawn, when the side of Earth you are standing on is plowing into the stream as our planet plunges through space in its orbit around the sun. It's similar to how bugs hit the windshield of a moving car but rarely smack into the rear bumper.

The annual shower begins as a trickle in mid-July and will continue to spark a handful of shooting stars for several nights to come. But Earth passes through the densest part of the stream Aug. 12 at around 7 a.m. ET (1100 GMT). The moon will set around 1:30 a.m. local time (regardless of your location), leaving the sky dark for a few hours of optimal meteor watching across much of North America.

"There should be plenty of meteors -- perhaps one or two every minute," said Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Cooke said the brightest Perseids can be seen from a city, but the majority are too faint and are visible only from rural locations.

Meteor watching is easy.

Find the darkest location you can, away from porch lights and other lighting.
Use a blanket or lounge chair to lie back and scan as much of the sky as possible.
Allow 15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Binoculars and telescopes are of no use, as the meteors move too swiftly.

Expect the shooting stars to arrive in groups. While scientists forecast 1 per minute during peak hours, the pace in fact tends to be higher for brief periods with relative droughts in between. Patience is truly a virtue. The best time to watch, regardless of your location, is from 2 a.m. to dawn local time, but the best seats will be in the western half of North America where dark skies coincide with the peak activity.

The Perseids get their name from the constellation Perseus, from which they tend to emanate like spokes from the hub of a wheel. The meteors can make their appearance anywhere in the sky, however.

Perseus rises in the northeast around 9 a.m. local time. So Monday evening, avid skywatchers will head out after 9 p.m. in search of early Perseids that tend to fly along the horizon. These earthgrazers, as they are called, are rare but rewarding sights.

Unfortunatlly the weather here will be the *****, cloudy & rain. 

[DSJ™]

The Shuttle Atlantis is tentatively is scheduled to roll out Thursday from Kennedy Space Center's massive Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A, with its six-hour trek set to begin at 10 a.m. EDT. Managers will first meet at 5:30 a.m. for a weather briefing on the status of Tropical Storm Hanna before making the final decision. If changes in Hanna's path prevent tomorrow’s roll out, the move likely will be planned for Saturday morning.



Inside the massive Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis awaits its trip to the launch pad. Photo credit: NASA.

This upcoming mission of STS-125 will be the final visit to the Hubble Space Telescope.

STS-125: The Final Visit

Preparing to rescue Hubble

With just a 10 missions left in the shuttle program before its retirement in 2010, On July 7, 2008, NASA announced the future launch dates of the remaining eight missions in 2009 and 2010.

SHUTTLE FLIGHTS IN 2009

February 12: space shuttle Discovery (STS-119 / 15A)

“Discovery will kick off a five-flight 2009 with its 36th mission to deliver the final pair of U.S. solar arrays to be installed on the starboard end of the station's truss. The truss serves as the backbone support for external equipment and spare components, including the Mobile Base System. Lee Archambault will command the 14-day flight that will include four planned spacewalks. Joining him will be pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Joseph Acaba, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will replace Sandy Magnus on the station as a flight engineer. STS-119 marks the 28th shuttle flight to the station.”

May 15: space shuttle Endeavour (STS-127 / 2JA)

“Endeavour sets sail on its 23rd mission with the Japanese Kibo Laboratory's Exposed Facility and Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section, the final permanent components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's contribution to the station program. During the 15-day mission, Endeavour's crew will perform five spacewalks and deliver six new batteries for the P6 truss, a spare drive unit for the Mobile Transporter and a spare boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna. Mark Polansky will be Endeavour's commander with Doug Hurley as pilot. Mission specialists will be Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Dave Wolf, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette. Kopra will become a station flight engineer replacing Koichi Wakata, who will return home with the STS-127 crew. It will be the 29th shuttle flight to the station.”

July 30: space shuttle Atlantis (STS-128 / 17A)

“Atlantis launches on its 31st flight, an 11-day mission carrying science and storage racks to the station. In the payload bay will be a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module holding science and storage racks. Three spacewalks are planned to remove and replace a materials processing experiment outside the European Space Agency's Columbus module and return an empty ammonia tank assembly. The mission includes the rotation of astronaut Nicole Stott for Tim Kopra, who will return to Earth with the shuttle crew. The remaining crew members have yet to be named. STS-128 marks the 30th shuttle flight dedicated to station assembly and outfitting.”

October 15: space shuttle Discovery (STS-129 / ULF-3)

"Discovery’s 37th mission will focus on staging spare components outside the station. The 15-day flight includes at least three spacewalks. The payload bay will carry two large External Logistics Carriers holding two spare gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly, a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, a spare trailing umbilical system for the Mobile Transporter and a high-pressure gas tank. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk will return home aboard Discovery with its crew, which has yet to be named. STS-129 marks the 31st shuttle mission devoted to station assembly.”

December 10: space shuttle Endeavour (STS-130 / 20A)

“Endeavour will close 2009 with its 24th mission to deliver the final connecting node, Node 3, and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center that provides a 360-degree view around the station. At least three spacewalks are planned during the 11-day mission. The 32nd station assembly mission by a shuttle does not yet have a crew named.”

February 11: space shuttle Atlantis (STS-131 / 19A)

“Atlantis begins its 32nd mission as the first flight in 2010, carrying a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science racks that will be transferred to laboratories of
the station. The 11-day mission will include at least three spacewalks to attach a spare ammonia tank assembly outside the station and return a European experiment that has been outside the Columbus module. It will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station. The crew has yet to be named.”

April 8: space shuttle Discovery (STS-132 / ULF-4)

“Discovery’s 38th mission will carry an integrated cargo carrier to deliver maintenance and assembly hardware, including spare parts for space station systems. In addition, the second in a series of new pressurized components for Russia, a Mini Research Module, will be permanently attached to the bottom port of the Zarya module. The Russian module also will carry U.S. pressurized cargo. The first Russian Mini Research Module to go to the station is scheduled to launch on a Russian rocket in the summer of 2009.”

“Additionally, at least three spacewalks are planned to stage spare components outside the station, including six spare batteries, a boom assembly for the Ku-band antenna and spares for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm extension. A radiator, airlock and European robotic arm for the Russian Multi-purpose Laboratory Module also are payloads on the flight. The laboratory module is scheduled for launch on a Russian rocket in 2011. The mission marks the 34th mission to the station. The STS-132 crew has yet to be named.”

May 31: space shuttle Endeavour (STS-133 / ULF-5)

“Endeavour’s 25th mission will carry critical spare components that will be placed on the outside of the station. Those will include two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank, additional spare parts for Dextre and micrometeoroid debris shields. At least three spacewalks are planned to be carried out by the crew, which has yet to be named. The 15-day mission will be the 35th to the station.”

For the NASA space shuttle launch manifest, visit International Space Station: Consolidated Launch Manifest .

In addition, the U.S. House of Representatives has allocated money for one additional space shuttle flight to allow a previously canceled major International Space Station component to be flown: the European CERN Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle physics experiment that will be mounted outside of the space station so that it can search for various types of unusual matter by measuring cosmic rays.

If flown in the fall of 2010, the mission will be designated STS-134 and probably flown by space shuttle Discovery.

If you have not seen this Trailer for upcoming Hubble Service Mission, please do so. This is an important mission to save the Hubble Space Telescope that has given us an awesome look into our backyard. 

[Darth_Anton]

At least I hear that they're reconsidering mothballing the shuttle fleet in 2010.

[DSJ™]

Will see if the shuttle gets the extension, the Russians are holding the cards. 

Get HR pics of the roll out, enjoy. 

Media Gallery Space Shuttle Atlantis

[DSJ™]

ESA spacecraft completes flyby of Steins asteroid



The 5-km wide Asteroid Steins seen from a distance of 800 km, taken from two different perspectives. At the top of the asteroid (as shown in this image), a large crater, approximately 1.5-km in size, can be seen. Scientists were amazed that the asteroid survived the impact that was responsible for the crater. Credit: ESA ©2008 MPS for OSIRIS Team.



Illustration of asteroid with Rosetta approaching in the distance. Credit: ESA/AOES Medialab.

Check out the actual animation of Steins getting closer look. 

Steins: A diamond in the sky

[Darth_Anton]

Interesting article about plans for a Lunar Base.

[DSJ™]

Moonbase... Nuclear! I have a bad feeling about this! 

[Phrubruh]

Why do they need another moon base? Is the one on the dark side of the moon getting outdated?

[DSJ™]

China counts down to space launch

Fighter pilot to be China's first space walker

[DSJ™]

China set to launch third manned space mission



The Shenzhou-7 manned spaceship, the Long-March II-F rocket and the escape tower being transferred to the launch pad. Credit: AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Gang.



In this photo distributed by the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, the Shenzhou-7 manned spaceship, the Long-March II-F rocket and the escape tower are vertically transferred to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu province on Saturday September 20, 2008. The transfer made the final stage of the launching preparation, Xinhua said. Credit: AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Gang.

Something you don't see everyday.



The shuttle Atlantis (foreground) sits on Launch Pad A and Endeavour on Launch Pad B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. For the first time since July 2001, two shuttles are on the pads at the same time. Endeavour will stand by in the unlikely event that a rescue mission is necessary during Atlantis' upcoming mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, targeted to launch Oct. 10, 2008. Credit: NASA/Troy Cryder.

[Darth_Anton]

Wow! Awesome picture. I've never seen two set for launch before.

[Keonobi]

Do they usually roll out the shuttle that far in advance of the launch?  Especially given the time of year, wouldn't they be concerned with Hurricanes, etc.  I'd think they would roll them out at most a week before.  Then again, do they have the capacity to have both those shuttles inside at this point, IIRC from the tour I went on about 15 years ago, I think there is only one assembly facility where they could shelter the shuttle.