NASA Archives

September 18, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

NASA is Looking for New Astronauts

Have you got the right stuff? If you’ve got multiple advanced degrees, a body carved from a block of steel, tremendous experience flying jet aircraft, and strong stomach, you might want to consider signing up as a NASA astronaut. NASA announced today that they’re now accepting applications for the 2009 Astronaut Candidate Class. These are the people who will be staffing the International Space Station, and heading back to the Moon.

Don’t think this happens all the time. The last time NASA opened up applications for astronaut candidates (or ascans) was back in 2004. They brought in 11 US candidates and 3 international people out of thousands of applications. This time around, they’re going to be looking to fill 15 positions or so.

The NASA press release links to the USAJOBS website. Here’s the information from that website, including the astronaut salary range: $59,493.00 – $130,257.00 USD per year. Nice money.

Astronaut Candidate
SALARY RANGE:$59,493.00 – 130,257.00 USD per year
OPEN PERIOD: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 to Tuesday, July 01, 2008
SERIES & GRADE: GS-0801-11/14
POSITION INFORMATION: Full-Time – Permanent appointment
PROMOTION POTENTIAL: 15
DUTY LOCATIONS: Few vacancies – Houston
WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED:
This announcement is open to all qualified U.S citizens.

JOB SUMMARY:
NASA, the world’s leader in space and aeronautics is always seeking outstanding scientists, engineers, and other talented professionals to carry forward the great discovery process that its mission demands. Creativity. Ambition. Teamwork. A sense of daring. And a probing mind. That’s what it takes to join NASA, one of the best places to work in the Federal Government.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a need for Astronaut Candidates to support the International Space Station (ISS) Program.

NASA uses the USAJobs resume as the basic application document. NASA limits resumes to the equivalent of about six typed pages, or approximately 22,000 characters (including spaces). You cannot complete the application process if your USAJobs resume is too long. More information about the NASA application process is also available under the “How to Apply” section of this announcement.

KEY REQUIREMENTS:
* Position subject to pre-employment background investigation
* U.S. citizenship is required
* This is a drug-testing designated position
* Frequent travel may be required
* Selectee must pass a pre-employment medical examination

So, unlike previous years, this one’s only open to US citizens. I guess that rules me out.

Click here to access the job posting.

Hilariously, the press release lists the possible destinations you might travel to: “Texas, Florida, California, Russia, Kazakhstan, the International Space Station and the moon.” Good to know.

The deadline to apply is July 1, 2008, so head out there and update your resume. Include the fact that you read Universe Today, that’s got to be a big positive.

Original Source: NASA News Release

August 31, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

NASA is Certain There Were No Drunk Astronauts

Now what should we believe? A NASA safety review released on Wednesday says that there’s no evidence that astronauts were drunk when they flew into space. The review was conducted by NASA chief of Safety and Mission Assurance Bryan O’Connor, who looked into the last 20 years of NASA spaceflights.

As you may remember, the news of drunken astronauts first came out about a month ago, when an internal safety review turned up two incidents where astronauts were intoxicated just before their launch into space. In one case, a shuttle launch was scrubbed. And in another case, an astronaut went into space aboard a Soyuz rocket.

This new 45-page report by safety chief Bryan O’Connor, a former astronaut himself and one of the Columbia accident investigators, was requested by NASA chief Mike Griffin after the allegations came out.

According to O’Connor, “I was unable to verify any case in which an astronaut spaceflight crewmember was impaired on launch day.” He also didn’t find any situation where a manager disregarded warnings from a NASA employee that an astronaut was unsafe to fly.

Despite the lack of evidence, O’Connor still suggested that NASA doctors should play a stronger oversight role during launch day, and that NASA should add excessive drinking to its list of risky activities.

In a recent press conference, NASA administrator Mike Griffin noted that there was a 1991 law that directed the space agency to come up with a policy for alcohol testing, but they hadn’t implemented it yet. So, now they’ll probably get going to put something in place.

You can read the full report here.

Original Source: NASA News Release

August 13, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

NASA Mulls Orbital Shuttle Repair

As it was approaching the International Space Station, the space shuttle Endeavour performed a back flip maneuver to expose its underside to the station residents. The astronauts captured high-resolution images of the shuttle’s underbelly, and uploaded them to NASA analysts to see how the shuttle fared during takeoff. Not well, apparently.

NASA engineers back on Earth are studying a gouge made in the shuttle’s protective tile system by a chunk of foam that fell during launch. The gouge was carefully measured by a laser and camera system attached to the shuttle’s robotic arm. The gash runs all the way through a tile on the underside of Endeavour, exposing bare metal. Engineers will perform a series of heat tests to understand the thermal properties of the damage. Tiles with a physical mockup of the damage will be exposed to similar conditions that Endeavour will face during reentry to understand the risks involved.

Once they understand the extent of the damage, and the potential risk to the shuttle, NASA will make a decision if and how the astronauts will repair the damage. They have three options: paint the section, screw in a protective plate, or fill the hole with a special protective goo.

Now, onto the actual mission. Their first spacewalk was on Saturday, August 11th. Rick Mastracchio and Dave Williams stepped outside to install the new starboard truss segment to the end of the International Space Station. Their entire trip outside lasted 6 hours and 17 minutes, and was hassle free, except for a computer shutdown in NASA’s Destiny laboratory. This forced backup computers to take over the operations of the module, but had no impact on the spacewalk.

The second spacewalk begins on Monday. This time, Mastracchio and Williams will step outside the station again, but this time to replace a broken gyroscope that the station uses to keep itself oriented. This spacewalk will also last approximately 6.5 hours. While the station can maintain its orientation with just two gyroscopes, it’s preferable to have all 4 working, to help spread the load of all the additional modules being added.

Source:NASA Status Report

August 9, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Endeavour is Off to the Space Station

Thanks to the improved weather, the space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Wednesday right on schedule, at 2236 UTC (6:36 pm EDT). Within minutes, the shuttle had released its solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank, and was drifting right on target towards Friday’s encounter with the International Space Station.

Mission STS-118 has begun.

Over the course of the next 11-14 days, Endeavour will link up with the station and transfer over a cargo hold full of food, water, air, fuel, equipment, and experiments. It’s also carrying a starboard truss section that astronauts will bolt onto the station’s backbone, enhancing its size and capacity.

Once the shuttle docks, the astronauts will carry out a series of 3 spacewalks to connect the truss, and replace one of the station’s gyroscopes. They’ll also install an external stowage platform. An additional 4th spacewalk is also a possibility, to attach a new camera boom that future missions could use to inspect their spacecraft for damage to heat tiles. That’s what would extend the mission from 11 to 14 days.

This is the first time that Endeavour has launched since the Columbia disaster killed 7 astronauts back in 2003. NASA has taken the time to give the shuttle a complete overhaul, upgrading almost every part of the orbiter. It’s also been equipped with a new gadget that will let it connect to the International Space Station’s power grid conserving its own batteries, and allowing it to operate longer.

Original Source: NASA News Release

August 8, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Martian Skies are Starting to Clear

The dire condition of the Mars Exploration Rovers has improved a bit in the last few days. That series of dust storms circling the planet has eased off a little, and the skies are started to clear up. This is giving both Spirit and Opportunity a much needed boost to their solar powered electrical systems.

On August 6th, 2007 Spirit’s solar arrays collected a total of 295 watt hours; Opportunity gathered 243 watt hours. This is a significant improvement over the last few weeks, when the dust storms dropped Spirit down as low as 261 watt hours, and Opportunity down to 128. At those levels, engineers were worried that the rovers might not be able to even keep their sensitive electronics heated overnight.

With the skies clearing up, Spirit even has enough energy to start doing some science again. Operators will command the rover to move its robot arm for the first time in three weeks. Its job will be to position its microscopic imager to take a series of photographs of two soil targets and a rock target. Opportunity will stay put, but make observations of the Martian atmosphere.

The increased sunlight has allowed both rovers to fully recharge their batteries, and the night time temperatures have warmed up a little, decreasing the risk of freezing their electronics.

NASA managers are still pretty wary, though, and have a cautious take on the situation:

“Conditions are still dangerous for both rovers and could get worse before things get better,” said John Callas, rover project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

“We will continue our cautious approach to the weather and configure the rovers to maintain a high state of charge on the batteries. Communication sessions with both rovers will remain limited until the skies clear further.”

Sounds like a good idea.

Original Source:NASA News Release

August 7, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Weather Looks Good For Endeavour’s Wednesday Launch

Weather in Florida this time of year can be dramatic. Thunderstorms, rain and lightning can appear at any time – and that’s not good for launching space shuttles. Fortunately, a heat wave has swept across the area around Cape Canaveral, holding off the typical thunderstorm conditions, and improving Endeavour‘s chances for blasting off on Wednesday.

If all goes well, Endeavour will lift off from Pad 39A on Wednesday, August 8th at 2236 UTC (6:36 pm EDT), beginning mission STS-118 to continue the construction of the International Space Station. Endeavour is carrying supplies, spare parts, experiments, and a new starboard-side truss element that will be bolted onto the station’s backbone-like main truss.

Endeavour will have the usual 7-crew compliment, led by veteran astronaut Scott Kelly. Also on board will be teacher Barbara Morgan. If you recall back to the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, one of the crew members of that ill-fated mission was Christa McAuliffe. Barbara Morgan was her backup. Now 22 years after the disaster, NASA is ready to continue its “Teachers in Space” program.

As I mentioned, weather in this area can get nasty this time of year. But NASA’s official weather officer, Kathy Winters raised Endeavour‘s chances of an on-time launch to 80 percent. The drier air and hot temperatures causing a heat wave in Florida is good news for the shuttle.

Because of the good weather, controllers will retract the Rotating Service Structure that’s protecting the shuttle from bad weather tonight. And then they’ll begin filling up the external fuel tank with liquid oxygen and hydrogen tomorrow morning.

Original Source:NASA Shuttle

August 3, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

The Origin Discovered for Saturn’s G Ring

When you look at Saturn, it’s easy to see the distinct rings, with dark bands in between them. For some of the rings, scientists think they know their sources: several of the planet’s moons are feeding particles into the rings. The planet’s mysterious G ring has had them puzzled since Cassini first arrived at Saturn in 2004. But now this ring is giving up its secrets.

The particles in Saturn’s G ring are confined to their position through gravitational interaction with Saturn’s moon Mimas. Micrometeoroids collide with the particles, and release even smaller, dust-sized particles. The plasma field generated by Saturn’s magnetic field sweeps through the cloud of particles, and pulls out the finest ones, creating the G ring.

This discovery will be published in the August 2nd issue of the journal Science, and was based on Cassini spacecraft observations in 2004 and 2005. The photos gathered by Cassini have been turned into movies, showcasing an entire orbital revolution. The G ring is revealed as a bright arc on the ring’s inner edge. To see the animation, click here.

Several of Saturn’s other rings are associated with a specific moon. For example, Enceladus’ geysers are supplying material for the E ring. And other moons sculpt and shape the rings, such as the effect that Prometheus and Pandora have on the F ring. But this isn’t the case for the G ring.

The latest Cassini images show that the ring stretches around Saturn like a bright arc 150 km wide, reaching about 1/6th around the planet. It contains about as much mass as a single ice rich moon 100 metres wide. It was seen several times during Cassini’s 2004 arrival at Saturn, but scientists hadn’t worked out where it came from until now.

Original Source:Cassini-Huygens News Release

August 1, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Networking Across the Planets

I don’t know about your Internet connection, but I have enough trouble wiring up my home network. Imagine trying to connect together spacecraft orbiting millions of kilometres away into a serviceable network. That’s just what’s going to happen when NASA’s Phoenix Lander arrives at the Red Planet. In the spirit of cooperation, ESA’s Mars Express will be on hand to watch the Phoenix lander during its entry and landing phases of the mission.

If everything goes well, Phoenix will blast off from Cape Canaveral on August 4th, making its way to the Red Planet atop a Boeing Delta II rocket. It’ll then take several months to reach Mars, arriving in spring, 2008.

For missions to Mars, the most dangerous moment is the Entry Descent and Landing (EDL) phase, where the spacecraft plunges through the thin Martian atmosphere. Go too fast and you crash into the planet; too slow and you just skip off the atmosphere, and head off into space. For more information about why this is hard, check out this article.

With such a dangerous maneuver, it’s good to know there’ll be another set of eyes watching overhead. Mars Express will optimize its orbit over the next few months so that it’ll be keeping Phoenix directly in sight for the entire EDL phase. Mars Express is equipped with a special electronics package designed to communicate with landers on the surface of Mars. It was originally designed to communicate with Beagle 2, but it’ll be repurposed to talk to Phoenix.

If all goes well, Mars Express will receive regular updates from Phoenix through the decent and landing stages, and then over the lander’s anticipated 90-day lifespan. Let’s hope everything goes well, but if things go poorly, the spacecraft will be able to give mission controllers detailed information about how the lander went splat, so they can work out why. If only Beagle 2 had been so lucky.

Original Source:ESA News Release

July 30, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Prototype Blended Wing Aircraft Tested

The flying wing is an old design, but NASA aerospace engineers think it might be just what the airline industry needs. As part of their research into this concept, the agency recently tested out the X-48B flying wing prototype. If this design matches the developers’ ambitions, it could usher in a new class of aircraft which would be quieter and use less fuel.

The remotely controlled 6.4 metre (21-foot) wingspan aircraft took off from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center on July 20th, 2007. It climbed to an altitude of 2,286 metres (7,500 feet), and then landed again 31 minutes later.

Designed and built by Boeing’s Phantom Works, the X-48B was created to help engineers explore the flight dynamics of this aircraft shape. Instead of the traditional fuselage and wings, the X-48B looks just like flying wing, which blends smoothly into a wide, flat, tailless fuselage. The blend between the wing and fuselage gives the aircraft additional lift and less drag compared to a circular fuselage.

Powering the vehicle are three turbojet engines. These are 8.5% scale, which allow the aircraft to fly up to 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) altitude, and reach speeds of 220 kph (138 mph). The engines are mounted high up on the fuselage in the back, and making it both quieter inside, and on the ground.

NASA is planning 25 more test flights with the X-48B to gather data in low-speed maneuvers. Then they might use the prototype to see if it’s truly quiet and how it handles at transonic speeds.

Original Source: NASA News Release

July 26, 2007December 26, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Drunk Astronauts Were Allowed to Fly

Now this is a NASA scandal that I never saw coming. Apparently twice in the past, shuttle astronauts were permitted to fly, even though they had levels of alcohol in their system so high they posed a risk to the shuttle mission. What?!

Aviation Week is reporting that an independent 8-person panel was convened to study astronaut health after the arrest of former astronaut Lisa Nowak (I’m sure you remember this little incident). As part of their research, the panelists interviewed shuttle flight surgeons, and these details came to light. NASA is keeping the revelations, tight-lipped, but they have a press conference on Friday to discuss it further.

NASA will also release the fully document on Friday, which contains the findings of both the outside committee, as well as an internal panel. This external panel included Air Force experts in aerospace medicine and clinical psychiatry.

I suppose I can understand how astronauts might want to have a celebration with their friends and family before heading up into space. But considering the sacrifices they’ve already made to get to this point in their careers, and the stakes involved for any kind of failure on the mission, I’m amazed anyone drinks a sip of alcohol months before their scheduled flight. I’m also amazed that flight surgeons would permit astronauts to fly while intoxicated. I can just imagine the pressure they’re under to certify astronauts for flight.

Anyway, I suppose we’ll just to wait for the final report to see all the details. I’ll keep you posted.

Original Source: Aviation Week