Blast off on Feb 11 of mighty Atlas V rocket and SDO from Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral as viewed from the KSC press site. Credit: Ken Kremer
Video Caption: EVE rediscovered the Van Allen Radiation Belt. These EVE data highlight where the energetic protons are in the inner Van Allen radiation belt. The red dots indicate the highest concentration of protons (lower altitude), and the blue-violet dots represents very little detection of particles (higher altitude of GEO). Visualization by Chris Jeppesen.
Following several precise propulsion burns to circularize its orbit, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has arrived “On Station” and multiple tasks critical to check out of the science instruments are in progress this week, according to Dean Pesnell. Pesnell is the SDO project scientist from NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center which built the spacecraft and manages the nearly $1 Billion mission for NASA.
“We reached our final orbit on March 16, 2010”, Pesnell told me in an interview. “The SDO spacecraft is working great and all systems are behaving as expected”. SDO was launched on Feb. 11, 2010 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas V rocket.
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The revolutionary science mission has been dubbed the “crown jewel” of NASA’s Solar Exploration research fleet, joining the twin STEREO spacecraft and SOHO. SDO is equipped with three science instruments (HMI, AIA, and EVE) to explore the Sun and its complex interior mechanisms in unprecedented detail.
Although the doors to the solar science payload will be opened starting just today (March 24), SDO has already managed to transmit its “first data”, Pesnell explained. This bonus science data from Earth’s radiation belt was unexpected he said. The first solar light data will come after the science instruments are fully activated.
SDO Instruments“One detector in EVE was responding to the protons in the inner Van Allen radiation belt. We spent several orbits going through that part of space and EVE was able to produce a map of the radiation belt,” said Pesnell.
“The amount of proton data was not expected as we were not supposed to spend as much time in the belts as we did. By spending a few extra days in the inner belt the MEGS-P radiometer was able to measure a more complete picture of the radiation belt. It may be the only measurement of the proton fluxes in the inner radiation belt during the extremely low solar activity of the current solar minimum,” added Pesnell.
Check out of the science payload is moving ahead swiftly as planned. “The SDO instruments are working through their initial steps to turning them completely on”, Pesnell explained. A key activity was to “bake out” the instruments to remove any remaining harmful contaminants that could threaten to degrade the quality of the science data.
“CCD decontamination heaters had been turned on for several weeks to allow the instruments to outgas any residual contamination”, according to Pesnell. “During the first 40 days of the mission the instruments kept their CCDs hot with heaters. This prevents water vapor from condensing onto the surfaces of the CCDs while forcing water vapor out of the interior of the instruments. Two instruments, HMI and EVE, have turned off their decontamination heaters while AIA will turn them off next week. Those heaters are being turned off to allow the CCD’s to cool to their normal operating temperatures of about minus 100 C”.
“HMI will open their payload door Wednesday and begin checking out the instrument. EVE is cooling their CCDs getting ready to open their doors on Thursday. AIA will open their doors on Saturday”.
Pesnell mentioned that the SDO team expects to show off the initial data at a telecom in mid-April. “The science data should start to flow in early May, fully calibrated data will show up later. We will discuss the data at the SPD/AAS meeting in Miami, FL at the end of May”.
Van Allen Radiation Belts
SDO will collect a staggering 1.5 terabytes of data per day, equivalent to 380 full length movies per day on a 24/7 basis. “The data will be continuously beamed back to newly built receivers on Earth. We have no onboard recorders since nothing is available to handle such a huge data volume,” said Pesnell. “SDO will transmit 50 times more science data than any other mission in NASA history”.
Test data have already been transmitted via the spacecraft antenna to the receiving station on the ground in New Mexico, confirming that the vital communications systems are operating perfectly.
SDO’s measurements of the Sun’s interior, magnetic field and hot plasma of the solar corona will allow scientists to determine how violent solar events are created which then cause ‘space weather’ that ultimately affects every aspect of life here on Earth. The goal is create better predictions of ‘space weather’ in order to provide early warning to valuable satellites and astronauts operating in space, and to prevent disruption to navigation systems and failures in the power grid.
Rocket firing to raise SDO to its final orbit on March 16, 2010. click to enlargeSDO was launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit with an apogee altitude (farthest point from Earth) of 36,000 km (22,000 miles) and a perigee altitude (closest point to Earth) of 2500 km (1600 miles). Over the next 34 days the propulsion module was used to raise the perigee altitude to 36,000 km, with a few small burns to push both apogee and perigee to geosynchronous.
“SDO is in an inclined geosynchronous orbit at the longitude of New Mexico. The inclination of 28 degrees is the natural orbit when launched from Kennedy Space Center. Changing the inclination of an orbit requires a lot of fuel, so this orbit was less expensive than a geostationary orbit,” said Pesnell. This orbit will keep the observatory in constant view of the two newly constructed 18-meter dishes around the clock so that not a single bit of data should be lost.
Nancy Atkinson and Ken Kremer covered the Feb 11, 2010 SDO launch on site at KSC for Universe Today
SDO soars to space from the Kennedy Space Center atop Atlas V rocket on Feb 11, 2010 as I observed from the KSC Press Site. Credit: Ken Kremer Artist's concept of the Solar Dynamics Observatory in Orbit
This post is part of Ada Lovelace Day, which is a worldwide effort to get as many people as possible to blog about a heroine of science or technology. Ada was a mathematician who lived in the 1800’s who created the first computer program. Yep — you read correctly — a computer in the 1800’s. It was actually a device called an analytical engine, which was an important step in the history of computers. You can read more about Ada and Ada Lovelace Day here.
The person I chose to write about is a goddess of both science AND technology. She is a biochemist and an astronaut. She was the first science officer on board the International Space Station and later become the first female commander of the ISS. She helped get some of the initial science programs going on the on the space station, and as commander oversaw a period of one of the biggest expansions for the station, coordinating the additions of European and Japanese laboratory modules. Her name is ….
Dr. Peggy Whitson
Perhaps I have always been drawn to Whitson because she grew up in a rural, agricultural environment, as I did. But I have always found Whitson to be endearing because of her easygoing and friendly personality. But yet, she must be almost a “slave-driver” and perfectionist when it comes to her work. During her expeditions on the ISS, Whitson earned a reputation for high achievement, which prompted mission planners to assign the crew extra work every day. NASA called it “The Peggy Factor.”
“We account for the fact that Peggy is going to do things more efficiently, and that she likes to work some on her time off, and so she’ll accomplish more,” said NASA deputy station project manager Kirk Shireman. Whitson works with a science glove box on board the ISS. Credit: NASA
First some the details about Whitson: she graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1981, and received her doctorate in biochemistry from Rice University in 1985. She worked as a Welch Postdoctoral Fellow before joining NASA in 1986.
From 1989 to 1993, Whitson was a research biochemist for NASA. During that time, she also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Texas and Rice University. In 1995, she became co-chair of a combined American and Russian working group, and a year later she was named an astronaut candidate.
Whitson flew her first space mission in 2002 as a flight engineer to the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 5 crew. While there, then NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe gave her the title of first NASA Science Officer. Of course, she took some ribbing about being like “Spock,” the science officer on the original Star Trek, but she came to enjoy using the phrase “Live Long and Prosper.” During that mission she performed 21 experiments in human life science, microgravity sciences and commercial payloads.
During her second stint on the station, Expedition-16 in 2007-2008, she was named the commander.
I could go on about her accomplishments, but perhaps even better would be to let Whitson herself tell about her experiences in space. During her stays on the ISS, she wrote “letters home” to family and friends, answering questions and sharing details of her days in space.
Here’s what she had to say about doing science on the ISS:
I set up the first experiment inside the microgravity sciences glovebox this week. Tomorrow, I will do the powered checkouts of the glovebox and the next day start up the experiment. It is ssssoooo cool, getting to do science in space!!! This week we are also doing the urine collections for the renal stone investigation…and while I suspect this won’t be especially fun to collect the samples, I do think it’s one of the best experiments (I am biased, of course, since it is my experiment!).
In reading her letters, I found it interesting that she did amateur astronomy while on board the space station!:
One evening, I had dimmed the lights inside the module so that I could better watch the Earth/stars. I watched the sun set as we moved into the shadow of the Earth. I was pleasantly surprised a few min later to see a half-moon rise into view from behind the Earth. As the stars started popping into view, I was surprised again, as I saw a satellite pass by above us, looking so much like one of the other stars, but moving across the field of “constant” stars. I had never thought about the fact that I could, as one of those satellites, actually see another! And then I saw a second! Amazing.
Whitson during an EVA at the ISS. Credit: NASA
Whitson has conducted six spacewalks. Here’s how she described her first one:
My first look, as I poked my head out the hatch, was amazing! I previously compared the view of being in space to having lived in semidarkness for several years and having someone turn on the lights. Well, the view from my helmet, continuing the same analogy, would be like going outside on a sunny, clear day after having lived in semidarkness for years! If it gets better than this, I’m not sure my mind would be able to comprehend it!
And in this letter home, she waxes poetically about seeing Earth from space. She also talks about how people on Earth can watch for the ISS in the night sky, which is something that I love to do, and so it was interesting to read her perspective on that as well:
Although all the views of our planet are incredible and varied from our viewpoint up here on the Station, with the colors, textures, and lighting changing as we orbit…the most impressive view is the curve of the planet at the horizon. That curve is the special place where it is possible to see the layers of atmosphere extend beyond the surface to meet with the blackness of space beyond. Relative to the size of the Earth, it seems impossibly thin, less than a finger-width. The atmosphere carries all the shades of blue in that thin band, closest to the planet a glowing blue, like sunlit water over white sand, extending to the deepest blue-purple mixture that holds the blackness at bay.
As the night-side of the planet slips by beneath me, it carries on the fringes of darkness the colors of a sunset on the clouds below. The Station is still lit by the sun, despite the fact that we have already crossed the terminator between day and night below us. This is the timeframe when Station is most visible to folks on the ground, just before their dawn or after their dusk. A small bit of sunlight reflected off of our structure, illuminates us moving across their darkened sky. As the terminator approaches the horizon, the sun shows a blinding face that burns the atmosphere with molten reds and oranges before seemingly melting itself into the darkness, leaving a royal blue line that dissipates more slowly as the stars come out from hiding. Less than an hour passes before our path around the planet brings us back to the royal blue curve, signaling sunrise, as the process reverses itself. I am sure that after I return, I will again miss watching the curve of the Earth.
Whitson’s ride home from space after Expedition 16 was more dramatic than expected. A malfunction made the Soyuz enter Earth’s atmosphere at a steeper angle than normal and the crew experienced “ballistic” descent at eight times the force of Earth-normal gravity. But, thankfully, everything turned out OK.
Whitson is currently chief of NASA’s astronaut office at Johnson Space Center.
Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, left, and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, address human spaceflight during a forum Friday at Brevard Community College's campus in Cocoa, Florida. (Rik Jesse, FLORIDA TODAY)
“I know him [Obama] to be a vigorous supporter of the manned space program”, Nelson added. “But he certainly has not given that impression. The President is going to have to prove that when he comes here on April 15,” said Nelson. He was referring to the upcoming “Space Summit” scheduled to take place at or near the Kennedy Space Center on April 15.
“The President made a mistake” in cancelling Project Constellation says Florida Sen. Bill Nelson. Nelson believes that the White House budget office or Science Advisor John Holdren (sitting to left of Obama) urged Pesident Obama to terminate Constellation. Does Obama really believe in continuing US Human Spaceflight ? Answers may come at the “Space Summit” set for April 15 at the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA/Bill IngallsConstellation was the designated human spaceflight successor program to the Space Shuttle program which is currently planned to shut down by the end of 2010.
Comprised of the Ares 1 and Ares 5 booster rockets and Orion manned capsules, Constellation would have sent humans flying to exciting destinations of exploration beyond low earth orbit for the first time since the Apollo lunar landings ended in 1972. The ambitious targets included the Moon, Mars, Asteroids and Beyond.
Sen. Nelson made his remarks on March 19 at a public space forum co-hosted by Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Florida ,which is the local college located only a few miles distant from KSC and also by the local newspaper Florida Today. Nelson was joined by KSC Director Bob Cabana, a former astronaut who flew 4 space shuttle missions. Over 100 residents attended the space forum.
Up to 9000 workers at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are fearful of swiftly losing their jobs and livelihoods in the aftermath of the imminent dual cancellation of the Shuttle and Constellation programs. Tens of thousands more jobs will be extinguished as well in other states across the US.
“By saying they were cancelling the Constellation program, the perception is that the President is killing the manned space program”.
“The President made a mistake. He made a mistake because he did not stand up and lay out his budget for the space program and outline what his goal is, which is Mars, and how we should go about getting there for the space program. The President should have used the word restructure not cancel with regard to Constellation”.
Ultra Rare Up-Close view of Shuttle Discovery from on top of Launch Pad 39A after retraction of the massive Rotating Service Structure (RSS, at left) during my pad visit on March 19 as part of media photo op. I was in absolute awe to stand right beneath Discovery. The payload canister (rectangular white box) containing ‘Leonardo’ resupply module had just been hoisted up the RSS to support delivery of ‘Leonardo’ into shuttle cargo bay for STS 131 mission targeted to launch on April 5. Thousands of KSC shuttle workers will lose their jobs when the shuttle is retired by end of 2010. Will the shuttle program be extended ? Credit: Ken Kremer
President Obama’s cancellation of Project Constellation has been vigorously criticized by key members of both houses of the US Congress, including Democrats and Republicans, since the moment that word first leaked of the Presidents decision to kill the moon program announced by President George Bush in 2004.
Many political and industry leaders have harshly labeled this decision as an “Abdication of US Leadership in Space”, which amounts to nothing less than a “US Space Surrender” that will begin the “Death March of US Human Spaceflight”. They also fear that the massive job cuts will result in catastrophic devastation to the local effected economies as well as a swift erosion of the science and technology base across America.
“This is a tough time for our people because they are facing dislocation and the loss of jobs in a terrible time which is an economic recession”, explains Nelson.
Nelson and others members of Congress are pushing a compromise with the Obama Administration that would accelerate development of a new Heavy Lift booster rocket that would adapt certain technologies from Constellation.
The Obama plan does not include any specific program to develop a Heavy Lift booster. Instead, the plan vaguely mentions the pursuit of “game changing technologies” that would one day enable faster voyages beyond Earth says NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.
The fact that the Obama plan has not set any goals, timelines or destinations for NASA is the cause of what has lead to the vociferous denunciations. $9 Billion has already been spent on Constellation and a minimum of another $2.5 Billion would be required to terminate the project according to existing contracts.
“We’re going to keep a vigorous R&D program going for a Heavy Lift rocket and [manned] spacecraft if what we do in the Senate is finally adopted.” Nelson hopes that this new program will offset some of the job loses coming soon to Florida.
“It is my hope that we’re going to get additional work that is going to cushion the blow after the last space shuttle mission is flown. It’s time we get out of low Earth orbit. And that’s what we intend to do. But it hasn’t been managed the right way.”
“I hope the President will embrace this in his comments when he comes here on April 15,” Nelson stated.
Nelson believes that the president’s Budget office and or Science Policy office decided to kill Constellation. Better advice would have been to restructure the program, he said.
KSC Director Bob Cabana said, “The $6 billion more in the [NASA] budget over five years is a significant increase. And I think it shows a commitment to exploring.”
“We have known that the shuttle is coming to an end for quite awhile. We’re still trying to figure out the impact of the new budget on KSC. There will be a significant loss of jobs”, from the end of the shuttle and Constellation.
“If we can establish a vehicle testing program, hopefully we can buy some of those jobs back”, said Cabana.
“We have to focus on what we can do at Kennedy to retain the critical jobs that we need in order to be viable for the future. Part of that is transitioning low earth orbit operations over to the commercial sector. We know how to do that. Our job [at NASA] should be developing those technologies and those skills which are far too expensive for the commercial sector”.
“My role is putting the Kennedy Space Center in the very best possible position for the future to retain those skills and facilities that we need to explore space beyond low earth orbit when the direction is given to do that”, said Cabana.
Cabana added that part of that effort would be renovate aging infrastructure in order to develop a “21st Century launch facility” at KSC to make commercial space viable and retain some jobs for the current KSC workforce. Plans call for spending about $2 Billion on extensive renovations to the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building to make it more “modular” so it can “handle more rockets”.
Protestors outside the forum held up signs that said:
“Obama Lies, NASA Dies” ……. “Send Obama & Nelson to Uranus”
“NELSON SELLS NASA OUT” ….. “Clunkers 3 Billion $$ …. NASA ‘0’ $$”
The details of the upcoming KSC “Space Summit” are still not known with respect to the exact location, what President Obama plans to discuss, the format, who will participate and who will be permitted to attend.
Map of Soyuz TMA 16 Landing Site, set for Thursday, March 18 AT 7:23 AM in the steppes of Kazakhstan
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ISS Station Commander Jeff Williams, from NASA, handed over command of the massive orbiting outpost to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotev, in a formal ceremony early today (Wed, March 17) in preparation for the return to earth of two crew members early Thursday. The ISS population will be reduced to a crew of three until the scheduled April 4 arrival of the next three person station crew inside a Russian capsule. Both Williams and Kotev have previously served on the ISS for long duration missions.
This marks the end to Expedition 22 and the start of Expedition 23. The five person international crew of Expedition 22 comprised Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi, and T.J. Creamer.
“I would like to thank the crew here for supporting me and for actually being really autonomous. I mean, I didn’t have to do anything, everyone is a self starter here, everyone did a very good job in everything that came before us. Well beyond things that were asked,” Williams said. “It was amazing that we were about to accomplish everything planned.
Williams thanked Kotov by saying, “You came with a lot of experience, you made great contributions from end to end on the space station with your previous experience. And even through today, I continue to take your advice on things and learn new things from you. Thank you for that.
Kotov heaped praising upon Williams saying, You demonstrated excellent leadership and a good example, being an excellent commander. Thank you for leaving station in such excellent condition. We’ll try to follow your way and keep it in good shape. Thank you, Jeff, thank you, Max, and Godspeed.”
After bidding a final farewell this evening, they’ll float aboard their return vessel and close the hatches between the ships at about 11:40 PM EDT tonight. US astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Sureav are scheduled to undock and depart aboard their Soyuz TMA-16 capsule at about 4 AM EDT. The first separation burn is set for 4:06 AM.
Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams (right) shakes hands with Expedition 22 Flight Engineer/Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov while Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev (obscured behind Kotov), Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer look on during the change of command ceremony Wednesday aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV
A four minute and 19 second de-orbit burn at 6:34 AM will send the craft on an irreversible course for the fiery plunge through the earth’s atmosphere. The heat shield will protect the two man crew from the scorching heat of reentry. They are set to land at 7:23 AM in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
With frigid weather around 20 F, ground snow and gusty winds predicted to greet Williams and Suraev at the landing site, Russian and NASA personnel are staying overnight in nearby Arkalyk to assure a swift recovery of the crew. Weather permitting, four additional helicopters will depart from Kustanai Thursday and refuel in Arkalyk en route to the landing site to assist with the recovery.
The stations crew size will again increase to its maximum of six, when the next Soyuz blasts off on April 2 at 12:04 AM with a three person Russian/American crew composed of Commander Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko and Tracy Dyson aboard the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft.
Space Shuttle Discovery is currently set to lift off on April 5 from pad 39 A with a seven person crew and the ‘Leonardo’ Multi Purpose Logistics Module which is packed with living supplies, replacements parts and science experiments and gear. The two week assembly mission will feature three spacewalks and three female astronauts, including one from Japan.
Over $9 Billion has been spent on Project Constellation since 2004. Tens of thousands of US jobs will be rapidly lost with the shuttle shutdown. The Obama Administration has instead decided to fund the development of “space taxis” by commercial providers to deliver astronauts to low Earth orbit, or LEO and the ISS. It is not known when these “taxis” will be flown and there is intense opposition to Obama’s plan from key members of the US Congress.
Endeavour rolls to pad 39 A at Dawn. Will the sun set on the shuttle era forever as scheduled by late 2010, or will Congress force an extension to the shuttle program until a replacement US rocket system is available to fly Americans into space and the ISS ? Credit: Ken Kremer
“Where the money comes from is the ‘big question’. We feel like we’ve addressed [the issue of shuttle] recertification”, said Shannon at a press briefing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
More missions could be flown if money was available. But there could be up to a two year gap in flights due to the need to restart the production lines for the huge External Tank (ET) which have already been shut down. NASA has only five ET’s remaining in inventory to fly out the current manifest of four, plus 1 more flight if approved by the Obama Administration, (read my earlier article).
The purpose of any additional shuttle missions is quite clear. They would be directed to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) who’s working orbital lifetime has just been extended by five years to 2020 from 2015. However, the ISS cannot operate and conduct the scientific research for which it was constructed without a steady and robust stream of rocket launches to loft new human crews and cargo resupply flights.
“The real issue the agency and the nation has to address is the expense,” said Shannon.
“The shuttle program is fairly expensive. We burn at about a $200 million a month rate. So that gives you a base of about $2.4 billion a year that it would require to continue flying the shuttle, almost irregardless of how many flights you flew during the year. There’s just a base cost there you have to pay to keep the program in business”, explained Shannon.
Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the ISS was photographed by an STS-130 crew member on space shuttle Endeavour after undocking from the station and the two spacecraft began to separate on Feb. 19, 2010. The shuttle plays a crucial role in resupplying the ISS which will be lost when it is retired at the height of its capability. Credit: NASA
Shannon’s comments are completely in line with those spoken by NASA KSC Shuttle manager Mike Moses about two weeks ago at the STS 130 post landing briefing. The vast expense which would supposedly be required to recertify the three orbiter shuttle fleet to fly beyond 2010 has frequently been cited by many shuttle detractors to justify a shuttle shutdown.
Shannon and Moses now state that NASA has in effect already recertified the shuttle fleet as part of the requirements set by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) for the Return to Flight in 2005 following the Columbia tragedy during re-entry in February 2003.
President Obama has proposed to completely cancel NASA’s Project Constellation to send humans to the Moon, Mars and Beyond, thus calling into question whether US Leadership in Space will continue. Artists concept of NASA’s cancelled Orion crew exploration vehicle shown here in on a science mission in lunar orbit. Credit: NASA “From a personal standpoint, I just think it’s amazing that we’re headed down a path where we’re not going to have any vehicles at all to launch from the Kennedy Space Center for an extended period of time. To give up all the lessons learned, the blood, sweat and tears we’ve extended to get the space shuttle to the point where it is right now, where it’s performing so magnificently”, said Shannon.
President Obama’s highly controversial recent decision to completely cancel Project Constellation (comprising the Orion capsule and Ares 1 and Ares V booster rockets) leaves the US with no near term human spaceflight program to replace the shuttle before its looming retirement and no vehicle to send astronauts to the ISS and beyond to the Moon and Mars as directed by President Bush in 2004.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden defends the Obama Plan to terminate Project Constellation at a KSC press briefing for reporters. Credit: Ken KremerThere are no specific destinations, goals or timelines outlined in Obama’s strategy and no direction to develop a new heavy lift booster to replace the cancelled Ares V. In its place would be some funding for technology development as outlined by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden at a KSC news briefing I attended. Bolden stated that NASA would not build a Heavy Lift booster “until the 2020 to 2030 time fame”.
The US would be left completely dependent on the Russians and their Soyuz capsule to send American astronauts into space for many years to come. Russia recently increased the price for Soyuz seats to $50 million and further increases are expected after the shuttle is retired.
Meanwhile, China is pushing full steam ahead developing a new heavy lift booster – the Long March 5 and is constructing new manned Shenzhou capsules and even the first element of a space station.
China puts its scientists and engineers to work generating innovations on exciting new space projects, while the US voluntarily dismantles its space exploration capabilities, lays off tens of thousands of people – potentially devastating local economies – and loses their accumulated knowledge.
President Obama has directed that NASA should cancel development of the manned Orion capsule and instead fund alternative private companies to develop new space taxis to deliver astronauts to low Earth orbit, or LEO. Critics have questioned the timelines of when the commercial companies can actually produce a manned capsule and whether the safety of astronauts will be compromised by companies seeking profits.
$9 Billion has already been spent on Project Constellation and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says it will cost an additional $2.5 to cancel the ongoing contracts.
At least 9000 jobs will be rapidly lost at the Kennedy Space Center due to the simultaneous shutdown of the Shuttle and Constellation human spaceflight programs. Tens of thousands more jobs will be lost across the country, especially in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and California. Layoffs have already begun.
There has been harsh bipartisan criticism of Obama’s new plan for NASA from some key members of Congress in the Senate and House who cite the new plan as nothing more than a gigantic “job killer” which will also kill Americas 50 year long leadership in Space and terminate manufacturing facilities and infrastructure as well as the accumulated know-how. Many in academia and industry also fear greatly for the future job prospects of students in science & technology, engineering and aerospace.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) has introduced a new bill to extend the life of the shuttle program until a replacement rocket system is available. Representatives Suzanne Kosmas (D) and Bill Posey (R) of Florida introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives – which was co-sponsored by other Democrats and Republicans from several states – to extend the shuttle, minimize the human spaceflight gap and accelerate development of a next generation space vehicle.
“Right now we estimate that gap would be about two years from when we’re told [to restart production] to when we’d have the first external tank rolling off the assembly line”, explained Shannon. The gap could be shortened by delaying one or more of the remaining flights.
Shannon said that in response to the Congressional bills, “We kicked off an extension study for each of the program elements to go out and physically touch base with each of the vendors and the sub vendors and the entire supply chain and understand where we might have some issues if we were to restart the program.
“There is this big misconception that there’s all this big supply chain that was shuttle specific only. Shuttle is for the most part a sideline business for these major companies that support the actual program. We will send that information to NASA Headquarters.”
“We’ve addressed the orbiter recertification issues. We are addressing the supply line issues. I don’t expect to find any problems there. The real issue we would have is just in manufacturing. While you have a supply chain, while you can get a workforce back to go and build things like external tanks, there would be some type of a gap”, he added.
Basically, an extension depends on whether the money is available. President Obama decided that he would not fund a shuttle extension and also decided to terminate Project Constellation in the new NASA budget.
The White House has just announced plans for a Florida space summit on April 15 to be held at or near the Kennedy Space Center where President Obama will discuss his new strategy for NASA. He may also announce approval for one more shuttle mission using the final ET being held in reserve in case of a space emergency rescue mission for the currently planned final mission in September 2010.
Based on the very hostile reaction and comments from Congress and local residents and politicians in Florida at a number of recent forums, President Obama should not anticipate to be greeted by a friendly crowd unless he unexpectedly announces a major policy change.
Earlier Shuttle extension and Constellation articles by Ken Kremer
President Obama will travel to Florida to unveil an “ambitious plan for NASA that sets the agency on a reinvigorated path of space exploration,” according to a press release from the White House. The President will host a conference on April 15, inviting space officials and leaders to discuss the new budget and plan for NASA and the future of U.S. leadership in human space flight. The location was not yet disclosed, but it likely will be at Kennedy Space Center.
Specifically, the conference will focus on the goals and strategies, the next steps, and the new technologies, new jobs, and new industries it will create, the White House said. Conference topics will include the implications of the new strategy for Florida, the nation, and our ultimate activities in space.
The proposed plan for NASA, which includes cutting the Constellation program to return to the Moon, has drawn extreme reactions — both praise and harsh criticism since first announced on Feb. 1, 2010. Most agreed, however, that the plan was short on details as to destinations and how we might get there.
After the Augustine Commission found that Constellation program was “fundamentally un-executable,” Obama’s new plan cancels the Ares rockets but add $6 billion for NASA over the next five years.
“This funding will help us achieve our boldest aspirations in space,” the White House said in the press release. “The President’s ambitious new strategy pushes the frontiers of innovation to set NASA on a more dynamic, flexible, and sustainable trajectory that can propel us on a new journey of innovation and discovery.”
But former astronaut Leroy Chiao, a member of the Augustine Commission said he was surprised Constellation was cut.
“I didn’t foresee the recent announcement of the cancellation of the NASA Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV),” Chiao wrote in his blog,“the commercial option was for LEO access, not exploration. I expected that CEV, along with either a heavy lift vehicle, or a man-rated expendable launcher would serve as a complimentary system to commercial LEO efforts. Details of the US plans for the future of NASA human spaceflight remain to be revealed, but I remain cautiously optimistic. Sometimes it takes dramatic change, even temporary chaos, to affect the possibility of a quantum jump in improvement.”
There’s been much discussion about if this new “plan” means the end of human spaceflight as we know it. It might. But do we want to keep going with the status quo, or go in new directions? Hopefully the April 15 conference will provide the details everyone is craving. Change is hard, and certainly, not everyone will be satisfied.
Garver and Bolden after they were sworn into office. Credit: NASA
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Several news sources reported Thursday that NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden had asked senior managers to come up with an alternate plan for the newly proposed NASA budget after members of Congress indicated they wanted to reject a White House proposal to cancel the Constellation program and hire private companies to bring astronauts to the ISS. But today, Bolden issued a memo saying there is no “Plan B” and that he only asked two agency directors to help develop an accelerated plan for research and development on a heavy lift launch vehicle. The lack of heavy lift capability is one of the big sticking points for many on the new plan.
“I have not asked anyone to develop an alternative to that budget and plan,” Bolden wrote, “and I don’t want anybody to do so. Rather, I have asked – and am asking – for input on how the exceptional talents and capabilities we have developed in our organization can best be applied going forward to advance the elements of our new plan.”
The proposed plan for NASA seemingly has divided supporters of the space program. Daily, there are reports on new plans being formulated by Florida legislators to try to extend the shuttle program going or keep Constellation alive. But Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said yesterday that the option for extending the shuttles has come and gone. “I was told by the entire shuttle NASA folks that, in fact, that time had come and gone. It was not an issue of money at that point, it was an issue of second-tier suppliers, there would be at least a two-year gap between our last flight and the next one, et cetera.” That situation, she said, was a result a previous policies: “We inherited what we inherited.”
Garver told a Capitol Hill audience on March 4 that she empathized with those seeking to save Constellation, but said continuing Constellation and pursuing the president’s priorities for NASA would cost $5 billion more per year than the roughly $19 billion a year the White House has budgeted for the space agency through the end of Obama’s first term.
“Think of it this way,” she said. “If you are focused on getting the Constellation budget continued in the future — and I harbor no ill will against those of you who do … but if Constellation is put back in the budget without that $5 billion-a-year increase, where will we cut the budget?” she asked.
In Bolden’s memo, he also talked about those who don’t agree with the proposed plan for NASA: “I find great comfort in knowing that President Obama has seen fit to put his faith in us to develop a game-changing strategy in our four mission areas, and that he has given us a $6 billion plus up on our FY10 budget as a show of support and trust. I fully believe in the plan that this budget has allowed us to set out for NASA’s road ahead, and unlike many of our detractors, I do believe it will very likely allow us to reach exploration destinations sooner and more efficiently than we would have been able to while we were struggling to develop the Constellation Program.”
Where will this all end up? Only time will tell. If nothing else, Obama’s plan for NASA has stirred deep feelings for the space program.
Hi, this is Nancy Atkinson from Universe Today. Right now I’m at Kennedy Space Center, and I’ve had the opportunity to see a couple of launches and cover other events that normally, I’d be back home watching on NASA TV. Since NASA TV is part of my daily diet of space media, I was very interested to see the newsroom, step in the auditorium where all the press conferences are held, and also talk with some of the people who work at NASA TV at Kennedy Space Center, or KSC TV as they call it, to find out about the work that they do, and also what it’s like to provide some of the most unique and exciting coverage anywhere on — and off — the planet. I chatted with producers, directors, technicians and other people who work behind the scenes, plus I also had the good fortune to talk with one of the voices of NASA TV, George Diller.
Allie Lee, Producer. Allie Lee, Producer for KSC TV/NASA TV. Image: Nancy Atkinson
Nancy: I’m now here with Allie Lee and you are a producer for NASA TV?
Allie: I am, for Kennedy Space Center Television.
Nancy: What are some of the things you get to do. Or have to do?
Allie: I’m in charge or preparing the launch countdown show prior to launch and all the press conferences and media briefings that we do leading up to launch. But the most exciting thing that I get to do is work with the launch commentator, which a lot of times is George Diller, and work with him about what elements we’re going to put in the show, what things do we need to show on NASA TV, and I get to sit in the control room with all the fabulous employees that we have and watch the astronauts and the space shuttle get ready to launch.
Nancy: How long have you been here?
Allie: I’ve been here five years.
Nancy: Any memorable moments or times, or launches that you have been a part of?
Allie: I think the last launch was pretty special (STS-130). It happens to be the first one I got to do by myself as a producer. It was a fun launch, a beautiful launch in the evening. It was just wonderful to see the astronauts come out and get loaded up into the shuttle and wait for it and hear that countdown.
I would also say that another memorable flight would be STS-114, the return to flight. That was my first launch being here, and I happened to be pregnant with my little boy, so that was a nice launch.
Nancy: What are some of the challenges? Do you have to worry about timing and how you get everybody in and all the shots you want?
Allie: You do. There is a lot of tricks with it. As the producer you have to work very closely with the director who works closely with the field cameramen and the camera operators. You have to follow the astronauts schedule very closely and make sure that when a special milestone happens that the NASA TV commentator knows that it is happening, and that the director and the photographers all have that shot up on the TV so that everyone can see it and the commentator can talk about it.
You also have to be listening to the nets, to the loops and you get to listen all the people in the firing room discussing the launch. You have to listen for weather problems, weather issues. You have to listen for things that are going well, things that are not going well so that you can advise the NASA TV commentator so that he or she is preparing so they can give notice to the public, should they need to. So those are the things that are the challenges.
Working as a producer at Kennedy Space Center is a unique job, in that it is the only job like it in the world. So it is really special to me. It’s special to the whole team, but it is great to be part of this team.
Nancy: So, as you see the shuttle program coming to the end, does it…
Allie: It’s really sad. It’s really sad because we enjoy it so much and it is so beautiful. It’s going to be sad to see it go. I get to produce rocket launches, too, and those are wonderful. I’m excited that I get to be the producer for the last shuttle, I can tell you that.
Nancy: Thank you very much!
Dimitri Gerondidakis, Director.
Dimitri Gerondidakis in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC. Image: Nancy Atkinson
Nancy: And now I’m with Dimitri Gerondidakis. And you are one of the directors for NASA TV?
Dimitri: Yes.
Nancy: Can you me about a typical day for you, or the kinds of things you get to do?
Dimitri: Well, are you talking launch day?
Nancy: Launch day, that would be good!
Dimitri: OK, because every other day I’m just one of the troops and go out and get video and stills of different processing. But on launch day I’m lucky enough to get to direct the NASA TV launch coverage. Directing a shuttle launch is a lot different than directing news or sports or anything like that because with the shuttle launch there are actually required shots at certain times, for the paperwork for the engineers. There is a lot of timing out – at this time we need to show the engine and show the sparklers lighting the main engines. We need to stay with that shot until, what they call the mach diamonds form, coming out of the engines.
It’s not the most creative TV directing in the world, but it is no doubt exciting. The adrenaline really starts pumping. The control room at NASA TV at Kennedy Space Center. Image: Nancy Atkinson
Nancy: So, you’re not only getting shots not only for us watching NASA TV, but for the engineers as well?
Dimitri: Right. I believe what I learned is that we were a news feed, so there are no dissolves; its straight cuts and stuff like that. And during the polls, we want to show the launch director polling his team. Whenever there are astronauts and we can see them, it is a required shot, like ingressing. If you watch the coverage you’ll notice that once we see astronauts we don’t get off of astronauts until they are no longer visible, like when they pull those cameras out of the crew cabin.
There’s room for some creativity, don’t get me wrong. I mostly rely on the awesome cameramen we have here that sometimes get to show their “artsy” side. They do a great job of it. Praise goes to them really. I just pick the shots I like!
Nancy: Well, I think it is always interesting to watch the launches for the variety of things you do get to see. You get to see behind the scenes – the astronauts going into the vehicle. That’s very interesting.
Dimitri: Oh yeah, that’s always a fun part of the show. There’s the part when we go into the Operations and Checkout building and we see them all suiting up and they are waving and this and that. And it’s anxious wait for us because we are waiting for them to pop out into that hallway. So while you’re trying to put on a decently entertaining good show/news feed, whatever you want to call it, you have your one eye on that hallway camera, because as soon as they come out…
Nancy: It’s one thing you don’t want to miss!
Dimitri: It’s an exciting part of the show. If the show were condensed down to 10 minutes you would probably start from there, the astronauts getting on, and coming out of the 9 minute hold.
Nancy: Right. For landing, is it kind of a waiting game like it is for the rest of us, you just have to wait and see when it is going to happen?
Dimitri: And there’s a little competition between the guys out there on the cameras who can see it first and get the shot. It’s funny, because typically they land from the north to the south, unless winds are… this is my opinion, I’m not sure if this is fact or not, but it seems to be the majority of the landings here. Well, we’re all rooting for a south to north because we have a camera on the VAB roof and you’ll see when it lands from south to north, we pullout with this big, beautiful shot with Titusville in the background, you got the rivers, the lagoons, and here’s the shuttle dropping in like a brick, almost. It just makes for a really cool shot. So there’s some friendly competition out there.
Nancy: So, coming up we have a night landing. I’m assuming that makes it a little bit harder?
Dimitri: Yeah, we don’t have our long range tracker, we have an infrared tracker which picks up a little heat signature. The first thing you see on the screen is this little white dot, and you’re going, is that it? Is that it? And finally it will start to take the shape of the shuttle and they’ll start tracking it and its pretty much infrared, which is not the prettiest picture in the world. Until I get that pilot’s point of view feed, and I’m not sure when I get it or why when I get it but you can see their point of view and the runway and the lights and then it becomes a little prettier, no doubt. Then it gets into the Xenon lights and it gets like daytime.
Nancy: Yeah, I bet! Any memorable moment that you’ve had in your time here? How long have you been with NASA?
Dimitri: I originally worked at NASA Headquarters and directed some shows there. I and a producer, my friend Tony, followed Sean O’Keefe around to different centers and did his NASA Update show. Came down here, I think it was five years ago. They were looking for someone to direct, and I asked the wife is she wanted to move to Florida and the kids loved it and so we did.
So the most memorable would have to be return to flight. The place was buzzing; it was my first. I kind of got thrown to the fire. I asked the bosses, can I watch someone else direct it first, because I have no idea what goes into it. “Nah, just get in there and do it!” So there was a lot of adrenalin and there were a lot of us new hires for return to flight, there were a lot of people here, the place was buzzing. It was probably the one I remember most.
Nancy: OK, thanks Dimitri!
Loren Mathre, Audio.
Loren Mathre at the audio control panel at NASA TV at Kennedy Space Center. Image: Nancy Atkinson
Nancy: And now I’m talking with…
Loren: Loren Mathre.
Nancy: And what do you do at NASA TV?
Loren: I work in the audio control room. We support NASA TV when it comes to any aspect of audio. For launches we put microphones out at the pad, we have one that’s maybe 100 feet from the orbiter itself and we pick up from the sparkler, so when you watch it on TV and you see the water dump and you hear that “whoooosh” and you hear the sparklers kick on, people just take it for granted that you hear that, but we have microphones out there. So we have one out there, we have one on the pad perimeter to pick it up as soon as it is launching. And then we put one on the beach, pointing straight up to get that low level rumbling you hear when the shuttle has launched.
Nancy: This was my first launch that I was here for, for Endeavour, and the thing that got me was the sound.
Loren: The sound is impressive!
Nancy: It engulfs you! So how do you – and I tried to record it and it just basically distorted everything, so what to you have to do to get good sound?
Loren: It is a fine mix. It is a different mix every launch depending on the weather, the temperature – sound travels at different levels, different speeds depending on what is in the atmosphere. The microphone we put out on the pad we’re only on that when the sparklers ignite on. Once the engines kick on you have to get off that immediately, or you have nothing but overdriven clipping noise. The pad perimeter mic, it overdrives immediately as well, but you have to ride that a little bit, so it’s a fine tuning of riding the fader and the trim pot until the microphone at the beach picks up the audio. Once the microphone at the beach picks up the audio, you’re pretty much good because the shuttle is so far away. That’s where you hear that low level crackling.
Nancy: How long have you worked here?
Loren: I’ve worked here in the TV department for 10 years. I used to be in the tech control, which is just systems, down in the industrial area. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that area – that’s where all the payloads are processed. But I was working down there for 10 years as well before I got laid off and re-called back up here. But when I was working 10 years up there I didn’t know of any of the operations up here. It’s funny how you get stuck in your own little world down there. So when I came up here it was a whole different aspect of the space program because we work hand in hand with the astronauts, you know, so you get to see them. And we handle all the press conferences, so you get to see the press conferences and you see the Administrator and Bill Gerstenmaier, all of them coming up, and you’re able to put a face and a personality to the people that are running the agency, and the astronauts themselves, so it’s a really good job.
Nancy: So, since it’s my first time here, it is my first time being at press conferences. So you’re always trying to get a shot at who is talking. How hard is that when you’ve got several people talking?
Loren: Press conferences are pretty easy, even when they are full houses. I don’t know if you were here when the NASA Administrator was here. That was a very big press conference. Normally we only have one mic handler out there, but we had two mic handlers just to handle questions from the media. It’s pretty easy, you just ride the levels. It’s nothing compared to a launch. Mixing launch audio is a tricky thing and when you get it just right you feel really good about it because not very often do you get it just right. There’s always something that afterwards you think, ‘oh, I could have gotten off that faster, I could have brought that other mic up faster.’ It’s just trial and error each time.
Nancy: And there is no do-overs.
Loren: There is no do-overs, right! A month later or so you get another shot at it. I have another audio control person out there. And we switch off launches. So when I mix a launch, he puts the mics out for me and send the signal back to me, and then when he mixes the launch, I do the same for him. So this is actually his launch, so I’m putting the microphones out for launch, and for landing – we put microphones on the runway for landings as well. Just things you take for granted that you see on TV – anything TV-wise, I always like to say, without audio KSC TV is just like a very expensive surveillance system. We add the extra to the launches and landings.
Nancy: I know! I watch NASA TV religiously and I know a lot of our listeners do to, so they will be very interested to hear about this kind of behind-the-scenes stuff.
Loren: Yeah, I went to my niece’s 5th grade class and talked about it, and you just take it for granted when you do it all the time. But I talked to my niece’s class earlier this year in January. Before me there was a police officer there and when I walked up the police officer was showing the kids his car. There was a karate instructor giving instructions on breaking boards. And here I am, I work at NASA TV, and I have a little boxful of astronaut pictures and other memorabilia, I thought, ‘This is going to be so bad.’ They loved it—the kids could not get enough about space! They had so many interesting questions for me – about a space elevator and living on the moon – these 5th graders were really interested and wanted to know more. They said I was the best – they had me signing autographs afterwards! I said, all I do is mix sound out there, but they just loved it. There is a lot of interest in the space program.
Maggie Persinger, Public Affairs/Multimedia Maggie Persinger, with QinetiQ, who works at Kennedy Space Center. Image: Nancy Atkinson
Nancy: And this is Maggie Persinger. And you get to work with all the fun technological things with video – can you tell us about that?
Maggie: Still and video. When anybody in the world from motion pictures, film, movies to newspapers, wants or needs something from KSC, or NASA, they come to me and I provide the research, the product, whatever it is that they need for their story, or for Clint Eastwood’s movie “Space Cowboys,” whatever it is. So it’s a lot. I not only deal with that, I have to make sure the jobs are shot, and that I get the copies, and I have to know the entire space program, what is going on everywhere. So it’s a difficult job for one person. There used to be three NASA people that did videos and two people did stills, so now I do it all.
Nancy: What has been the most interesting thing you’ve had to send videos or stills to?
Maggie: I think the most interesting were things like “Space Cowboys,” “Armegeddon,” “Contact,” things like that. When they used to come here and film, for a year and a half before they came and did that movie, I worked with the background people. I did things like provide them blanket pieces, tile pieces so they could build their sets. I got them the color chart for the ET tank. It was very long and involved. So whenever you deal with everybody – there’s a big Discovery program coming out about Australia. So I constantly am keeping track of these people and sending them new things. So there’s a lot of stories – there’s of interest around the world that people in Iowa don’t know realize. But I do! Because I deal with them so I know there is a lot of interest in the space program.
Nancy: I know that you are very busy even after press conferences, you are quickly handing out audio for us, it’s been great!
Maggie: That’s the thing, actually launch time is my easiest time. Even though you guys are here, I’m just dedicated to launch, all of you for this. It’s when you all leave and I have to get back to my routine when it gets tough. Because I’m dealing with the entire world, get everything shot, keeping up the library, making room – I’m constantly trying to make room for things, converting all the Quicktime files, — it’s busy. So everybody thinks it’s just busy at launch time! But launch time is my easiest time. I love launch day! It’s the rest of the time that is tough!
Nancy: Well thanks Maggie – it’s been great talking to you!
Maggie : It’s been good talking to you!
George Diller, Public Affairs Officer. George Diller, Public Affairs Officer at KSC, left, with NASA launch director Doug Lyons during a shuttle launch in 2007. Credit: AP
Nancy: The next voice you’ll hear you will probably recognize. He’s the voice of, I think almost all the launches here at Kennedy Space Center for the past several year. It’s George Diller. Hi George, thanks for talking with us today.
George: I do a lot of the launches but the shuttle launches we tend to spread out between among some of us in the office because there is a tremendous amount of preparation that goes into one of those so its hard for one person to do them all. I do do a lot more of the expendable launches, the unmanned launches and I really enjoy those particularly because the payloads are so different. They are deployable spacecraft that tend to be focused on space science, planetary exploration, astrophysics – those are the ones to me that have a certain amount of fascination, and always have way back from when I started here back in the late 70’s. In fact I cut my teeth as a newsman covering the space center for about five years and became particularly interested in the expendable vehicle launches with Viking, Voyager and Pioneer Venus. I’ve been here 29 years now and that still has the same attraction for me. We did launch those kinds of payloads on the shuttle for awhile and I got to work with those payloads in preparation for launch. But those all transitioned over to the expendable launch vehicles completely after the Challenger accident and the space shuttle was refocused on building the International Space Station.
If I look back probably at some of the missions that I have most enjoyed working on and doing the launch commentary for, probably the Hubble Space Telescope would the one that would be the highlight because I was directly involved with the telescope and the spacecraft payload testing and doing the commentary for launch, as well as for all the missions that have been done since that have gone up to service the telescope. So it really is quite a feeling to look back and say that I was a part of that for all of those Hubble Missions, both for the launch and all the flights that have followed to service it.
Probably the most memorable spacecraft that I have been directly involved with have been involved with particularly would be Cassini that went to Saturn and sent a probe down to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. Also Galileo that went to Jupiter and that was such a great success and the Magellan mission to Venus. So, I think I enjoy those kinds of missions because they are leaving low Earth orbit and going so much farther out that we can only hope that one day we’ll one day go to those places ourselves.
The shuttle missions have really become focused on the space station, and it’s kind of been fun on those flights to focus on a particular piece of flight hardware that’s going up to be attached to the station, and later on when there is some kind of reference to a particular component or something particular that has been attached to it, you can remember some involvement that you’ve had with it.
But I think the space station, is, when is all finished and we look back at the science that was done over the next 10 or 15 years, I think we are going to look back at it as probably one of the wonders of the world in terms of modern accomplishments just as we have the Hubble Space Telescope, because I think so much will come out of it that is focused to us right down here on the ground. It will translate to benefits such as new metals, new pharmaceuticals, new computer substrates; new potential cures for diseases, medicines that we can get to synthesize only in the microgravity – zero gravity environment of The potential of the space station is almost mind boggling.
And I’m hoping to be around long enough to look back at the history of the space station program and say, well, I was with NASA when we were putting this together, and I may be retired eventually, but I can look back and say, look at all of the great things that now have come from the program.
Nancy: As you see the end of the space shuttle program coming, what are your personal feelings about that?
George: Well, the shuttle is something that gives us the kind of capability and flexibility that we never had before and that we do not have any plans to have again. It has the tremendous ability in terms of being able to deploy payloads, to take large payloads to space, to be able to services things in space, to be able to service things in space, to be able to construct things in space, also to be able to take things up and bring them back. And looking forward we’re going to have more capable rockets but they don’t have the same flexibility in terms of the weight that they can bring up or bring things back or be able to servicing that the shuttle has become so famous for being able to do for things already up there. So I think we’ll miss that, but it’s going to be fun to be able to look back and say the shuttle gave us the only way could have ever built the space station. I think it is a very storied program in the history of NASA. I’m proud to say I was here for the first launch and I’ll be here for the last launch and I was in some way a part of that story.
Nancy: Could you tell us about what it takes to put everything together to do a launch commentary for NASA TV?
George: The launch commentaries are, when you start planning for one, not only are there all the materials that you have to put together, but you also have to work with the TV people on all the things you want to show during the broadcast. That means scheduling all the video to be shot over a certain amount of time as the spacecraft is being prepared for launch, then all the things you want to do to tell the story, such as the animations you want to show and you have to figure out where in the broadcast its going to fit with what you are doing. Then have to schedule for it, so it’s a lot more than just writing it. Although there’s a lot of it now that, as far as the shuttle is concerned, I can work from an outline. I really don’t have to read from a script, although if I’m doing something very mission specific I might need a script for some part of it, if it is very mission specific. So, for anybody doing a launch commentary, it’s not something you can just pull together in just an afternoon. It takes a fair amount of time to pull all that together, and then work with the TV people and tell them where you want to include it and you have to work out your shot sheet of the sequence you want all these things in, so I think it’s good, in a way, that we kind of rotate the shuttle launches in particular around the office because it takes a fair amount of work to put it together. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of work!
Nancy: I’ve noticed that it seems recently you’ve had extra people come on and talk about different things going on with the mission during the launch countdown.
George: On the shuttle side, yes. On the ELV side we’ve always kind of done that. Our ELV commentary is usually divided into two parts, because the commentaries run usually between two and two and a half hours, as a rule on an unmanned launch. The first part of it picks up at a certain point in the countdown, but it is very heavy on interviews and things that are associated with the mission aspect. Usually you’re doing all that while they are fueling the vehicle. So, it gives you the chance to talk about fueling and things going on, but basically it gives you time for the color.
And then the second half of it is really focused on the launch itself and the launch operations. So it is divided into two parts that way.
On the shuttle, its more of a desire on the part of NASA to include much more activity both in terms of the mission as well as features that tell a story in the countdown and include more background that the average guy watching NASA TV can relate to. So it has meant more features, and some are related to the mission and some are related to the countdown, some are more related to the astronauts, some are more related to the people that have been involved with it, so we try to broaden it out a little bit. I think that is the reason behind that, because the count is on for such a long time. It’s one for five to five and a half hours. I think there was a feeling that we needed to do that and we had enough time to do that.
Nancy: I know I always enjoy watching as much as I can because it is fun to watch the whole process of what takes place. And now that I’ve been here and have gotten to see that, like the astronauts walking out and seeing it live and in person, its been really fun being here.
George: There have been a coupel that have almost been extravaganzas because of the nature of the mission, like the John Glenn mission. That one, there was so much you could include in the commentary because of the history of John Glenn. And he is so modest. He didn’t want us to do any more than we customarily do. But how can you not? And he is such a favorite around here. When he was here for the countdown dress rehearsal and the training, it was hard to get him through these exercises and these tests because he was just being mobbed by the NASA workers and the KSC employees. They were pulling dollar bills out of their wallets to get him to sign. And he would never be rushed. The trainers would try to keep things moving, but he would not be rushed. He took time to talk to everybody and sign their bills.
When we had the Challenger accident, he was the first person on site after the accident. He flew down here immediately and was on a briefing that afternoon over in the news center. He absolutely loves this place. He’s never forgotten it and those are the kinds of missions that have a lot of public interest. Plus the return to flight missions after Challenger and Columbia those were always big because in each case it meant a re-focusing of the program in some way. And of course the last one will just be a blowout.
Nancy: Thanks very much for talking with us today, this has been a lot of fun.
George: All right!
Nancy: I hope you enjoyed as much as I did the conversations I had with some of the people from NASA TV. NASA TV is available through many cable and satellite providers, and you can also watch it online. Go to www.nasa.gov/ntv. Reporting from Kennedy Space Center, this is Nancy Atkinson
Mosaic of microscopic images of Spirit underbelly on Sol 1925 (June 2009) showing the predicament of being stuck at Troy with wheels buried in the sulfate-rich martian soil. The sulfate deposits formed by aqueous (water-related) processes when this area dubbed “Home Plate’ was volcanically active. This false color mosaic has been enhanced and stretched to bring out additional details about the surrounding terrain and embedded wheels and distinctly show a pointy rock perhaps in contact with the underbelly. Spirit fortuitously discovered extensive new evidence for an environment of flowing liquid water at this location on Mars adjacent to ‘Home Plate’, an eroded over volcanic feature. Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Ken Kremer - NASA/JPL/Cornell
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The plucky Mars rover ‘Spirit’ may yet rove again !
She’ll just have to outwit and outlast the unavoidably harsh cold and desperately low power levels of the looming winter in Mars southern hemisphere. Rather long odds to be sure – but she’s done it before. Remember – at this moment on Sol 2192, Spirit is 75 months into her 3 month mission ! That’s 25 times beyond her “warrenty” as Rover Principal Investigator Prof. Steve Squyres of Cornell University is extremely fond of saying.
Spirit has been stuck in a rut since becoming mired in a sand trap of soft soil in April 2009. While driving on the western edge of ‘Home Plate’, she unknowingly broke through a hard surface crust (perhaps 1 cm thick) and sank into hidden soft sand beneath. Her wheels churned, sinking deeply – and became embedded in the sand trap at the place called ‘Troy’.
See the underbelly mosaic above, created by Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer, to get a glimpse of the predicament Spirit lurched into with her sunken wheels. Note: we have significantly enhanced and stretched the mosaic to extract out hard to see details.
As luck would have it, “Troy is a great place to be stuck. It’s like getting stuck in front of Disneyland”, says John Callas the Mars Rover Project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Spirits wheels are buried in sulfate-rich Martian soil. “The sulfate deposits formed by aqueous [water-related] processes when volcanism was active at this area dubbed Home Plate”, says Roy Arvidson, the deputy Rover Principal Investigator. “Spirit has uncovered evidence for two timescales of water related processes”.
“The Troy area is one of the most scientifically interesting ones that we’ve found the whole mission, and we rarely have enough time to study something this thoroughly. So we’re putting that to good use”, Squyres told me.
Spirit Traverse close-up map shows route rover has traveled from Sol 200 to today. Spirit is located at black dot, adjacent to western edge of ‘Home Plate’ volcanic feature. Husband Hill is upper left of center. Click to enlarge. Credit: NASAAt a press briefing on 26 January 2010, NASA declared Spirit would henceforth be a “stationary lander” after exhaustive extrication efforts failed to ‘Free Spirit’. So the small remaining team of rover handlers are now busily getting Spirit ready for sleeping – and surviving – through plunging winter temperatures at her current parked position. Spirit may enter a ‘hibernation’ mode for weeks or even months at a time as she struggles to survive through the freezing winter cold of her upcoming 4th Martian winter.
Remarkably, just as Spirit was concluding her escape efforts and being put into her “stationary” winter parked position to achieve a more optimal tilt for power generation, she finally managed to move about 34 centimeters (13 inches) toward the south southeast in a series of drives beginning on Sol 2145 (Jan. 15, 2010). Her final movement was on Sol 2169 (Feb. 8, 2010). The left-rear wheel even moved out of a rut that it had dug into back in April 2009.
Spirit Traverse close-up map shows entire route rover has traveled until today. Spirit is located at black dot, adjacent to western edge of ‘Home Plate’ volcanic feature. Husband Hill is upper left of center. Click to enlarge. Credit: NASABut with the onset of winter and dropping power levels, time had just run out for further escape attempts. The team was forced to halt extrication efforts and focus instead on maximizing chances for mere survival. The goal was to adjust the tilt of the rover more towards the sun in order to increase the energy output generated from the wing like solar arrays. This strategy had been successfully implemented and saved Spirit during the last two Martian winters as she eked out just enough power to endure – and make new breakthrough (pun intended) science discoveries !
Given that Spirit did move 13 inches in the final drive attempts, I enquired whether NASA is reevaluating to try more driving IF she survives winter ?
Yes.
“The rover team does plan to try driving Spirit out of the immediate sand trap if the rover survives the winter. That was always a possibility”, Guy Webster informed me. He is the Public Affairs Officer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which manages the Mars rover project for NASA. Webster cautioned that, “With only four working wheels, the expectation is that even if Spirit gets out of Troy, the rover will not be able to rove significant distance, but might reposition itself to reach different targets in the immediate vicinity”.
Due to the extremely low power levels, the team is implementing plans to minimize energy usage by shutting down almost all functions except keeping a master clock running and checking its power status periodically until it has enough power to reawaken. Even communications will only be on an sporadic basis.
As of Feb. 23, the power output was down to 163 watt-hours. That compares to roughly 900 watt hours at landing. Earlier in the mission, “the line of death” was considered to be in the 200-250 watt hour range. Now, out of necessity, the team has developed ways to operate the rover on somewhat less power.
To get an idea of just how deeply Spirit was embedded and better evaluate her chances to escape, the team seized on an idea that was completely different. For the very first time, they commanded Spirit to carefully maneuver the robotic arm to peek underneath the rover and image her underbelly using the microscopic imager (MI) mounted at the end of the arm’s ‘hand’.
“We used the MI in a new way, because we have no bellycam”, explained Callas.
This action was outside the design envelope of the arm and not previously contemplated partly because the MI is a short focuser, built to focus on objects only 6 centimeter (2.4 inches) away – as well as concerns for damaging the rover and arm assembly. Nonetheless it was hoped that the expected fuzzy pictures would clarify the situation somewhat and perhaps elucidate clues about the wheels and terrain.
Indeed, the underbelly images from Sol 1925 in June 2009 revealed significant new details on how deeply the wheels had sunk and also discerned an upward pointing rock, possibly in contact with the rovers belly. See our mosaic (above) assembled from the MI images. If the rover was caught on the rock, the wheels could be spinning aimlessly if not in firm contact with the soil and thereby obstruct potential escape movements.
At the time of her embedding, Spirit was making great progress towards her next science targets, ‘Von Braun’ mound and the ‘Goddard’ depression in hopes of further elucidating the historical record of flowing liquid water in the Columbia Hills region where Spirit safely landed on Jan 3, 2004.
‘Von Braun’ is the intriguing feature some 100 meters distant at the top left of the mosaic (below) created by Ken Kremer and Marco Di Lorenzo for Spaceflight Now. ‘Troy’ is located approximately in the left of center foreground of the mosaic which was assembled from images taken by the Pancam imager just a few sols – martian days – before she became stuck. Pancam is bolted to the top of Spirits head like mast.
Mosaic of the area adjacent to Home Plate where Spirit remains stuck was made especially for Spaceflight Now, and is used by permission. It shows smooth area, foreground, that concealed slippery water related sulfate material where rover became stuck. Credit: Kenneth Kremer, Marco DiLorenzo, NASA/JPL/Cornell/Spaceflight Now
Teams had spent many months developing and testing numerous drive strategies to escape by using nearly identical replicas of the rovers at a test bed at the Jet Propulsion Lab. They solicited ideas worldwide from outside experts. No clear answers emerged, according to Project manager John Callas.
At last Spirit was commanded to move her 5 still functioning wheels. The 6th wheel had broken long ago after climbing down from Husband Hill (see our mosaic below). After a somewhat hopeful start, actual progress could only be measured in millimeters of movement. And her wheels began to sink deeper. Then another wheel broke, leaving only 4. Thus an already desperate situation became much worse with diminished wheel capacity. At last she moved that last foot, slightly improving her chances. And that’s the State of Spirit today.
Self portrait of Spirit atop Martian mountain top on Sol 618, September 2005. Spirit climbed for more than 1 year to reach the summit of Husband Hill where she made crucial discoveries related to water flowing on Mars. This mosaic was assembled by a group of mars enthusiasts at Unmannedspaceflight.com and originally published on the cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine on 14 November 2005. Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Doug Ellison, Bernhard Braun, and Kenneth Kremer – NASA / JPL/Cornell/Aviation Week & Space Technology
The solar powered Spirit is now tilted unfavorably, about 9 degrees to the south. The team stove mightily to obtain the desired northward tilt to achieve a better attitude for generating energy from the sun in the northern Martian sky.
Only time will tell the outcome. Let’s pray for clear skies for Spirit.
Squyres has often been quoted to say, “Never bet against the rovers. Those who have bet against the rovers have been repeatedly proven wrong !”
Spirit recorded this fisheye view with its rear hazard-avoidance camera after completing a drive during the 2,169th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (Feb. 8, 2010). The drive left Spirit in the position where the rover will stay parked during the upcoming Mars southern-hemisphere winter. The top of the image shows the underside of Spirit's solar array. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Buzz Aldrin is one of the few former astronauts who have spoken out in support of the new proposed budget/direction for NASA. But, now, Buzz wants to add a little “oomph” to the underlying goal of getting to Mars by providing one thing that many think is missing from President Obama’s proposed budget: heavy lift capability.
“I believe we can be well on our way to Mars by July 20, 2019 — which just happens to be the 50th anniversary of my Apollo 11 flight to the moon,” Buzz Aldrin wrote in an opinion piece on AOL.com. “The plan I’ve designed, called a unified space vision, contains ideas for the development of a deep-space craft that I call the Exploration Module, and development of a true heavy lift space booster evolved from the existing space shuttle.”
In last week’s Congressional hearings — which some journalists classified as a “grilling” instead of testimony, members of Congress expressed concern (sometimes bordering on outrage) when talking with NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden that under the proposed Obama plan, NASA will no longer be in the human spaceflight business, as space transportation services will be turned over to commercial firms.
Buzz says that with his plan, commercial carriers would fly astronauts and cargo up to the space station, but NASA would stay in the human spaceflight business by designing and building the Exploration Module, or XM.
The prototype of the spacecraft would be built in space, using excess modules and parts left over from constructing the space station. Buzz proposes continuing to fly the space shuttle for several additional flights to bring up the pieces. The XM would be docked to the station and outfitted by astronauts.
Then, attach a rocket engine is attached to the prototype and head to the Moon, just for a flyby.
To keep much of the current NASA workforce employed, Buzz proposes to use the shuttle until the replacement can be built, and to use shuttle derived part for the heavy lift XM. “Why should we abandon something before a replacement ship is available? Sure doesn’t make much sense to me,” he said.
“By building a deep-space craft,” Buzz writes, “NASA can use much of their engineering know-how and put a form to Charlie Bolden’s Mars mission dream. It allows the commercial folks their unfettered access to the station, as President Obama proposes. And it recommits America to leadership in space by aiming at Mars, using parts and equipment already paid for by the taxpayers.”
Buzz wants to know: What are we waiting for?
