Space Flight Archives

November 4, 2011April 13, 2022 by Ken Kremer

NASA Robot seeks Goldmine of Science and Sun at Martian Hill along vast Crater

Opportunity - Panoramic view inside vast Endeavour Crater snapped ascending Cape York crater ridge on Sol 2754, October 23, 2011. Opportunity wheel tracks at right. Cape Tribulation and distant, far side Endeavour crater rim in background. Opportunity is now driving to the northern tip of Cape York in search of a winter haven to survive upcoming brutal Martian Antarctic winter temperatures. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell. See the entire panorama in 2 D and 3 D and route maps below.

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NASA’s intrepid robogirl Opportunity is now swiftly scouting out locations at a Martian hill along gigantic Endeavour crater that would simultaneously proffer a goldmine of sun and science as her power level drops significantly in these waning days of Martian autumn ahead of the absolutely brutal and potentially deadly 6 month long Antarctic winter that’s fast approaching. Opportunity has just discovered a geologic vein possibly formed as a result of flowing water eons ago.

But, search time for a sunny exposure at the Martian hill known as Cape York is running out says the Mars rover team in new interviews with Universe Today. Recall that lack of power and utterly frigid temperatures killed her twin sister Spirit last winter.

“Martian winter in the southern hemisphere starts on March 29, 2012 or Sol 2908. But, Solar power levels already begin dropping dramatically months before Martian winter starts,” said Alfonso Herrera to Universe Today, Herrera is a Mars rover mission manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

“Orbital imagery indicates that the northern-most tip of Cape York might have north facing slopes which Opportunity will need in order to generate enough solar power to sustain her comfortably throughout the winter,” Herrera explained to me.

The team is very excited about the science implications of the vein detection.

“The importance of veins is that often they occur from the deposition of material that was dissolved and transported by hot water in cracks deep underground,” said Bruce Banerdt to Universe Today. Banerdt is the Project Scientist for the Mars rover mission at JPL.

Traverse map showing the 7 Year Journey of Opportunity from Eagle Crater landing site Sol 1 (Jan. 24, 2004) to current location around Homestake on Sol 2763 (November 2011) at Cape York ridge at Endeavour Crater rim. Endeavour Crater is 14 miles or 22 kilometers in diameter. Opportunity has driven more than 21 miles (34 km). Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Kenneth Kremer

Segments of Endeavour’s rim at Cape York and Cape Tribulation about 6 kilometers further south offers scientifically rich motherlodes of phyllosilicate clay minerals and other water bearing minerals that formed Billions of years ago on Mars and that could possibly point to habitats favorable for the genesis and support of Martian microbial life forms if they ever existed in the past or present.

Opportunity is currently traversing about the hilltops and slopes of Cape York where she recently made landfall after an epic three year trek across the plains of the Meridiani Planum region of Mars.

Initial reconnaissance around the southern tip and then climbing on top of the central ridge of Cape York have already yielded a bonanza of new science data at rock types never seen before on Mars, according to Steve Squyres, the Mars Rover Principal Investigator of Cornell University.

The rover is now driving north and back down around the base while searching for a “winter haven” with more potential for great science and a northerly inclined slope to more efficiently catch the sun’s rays.

“Opportunity is heading north to find the best winter site,” Ray Arvidson told Universe Today. Arvidson is the rover’s deputy principal investigator, of Washington University in St. Louis.

“We are more than halfway toward the northern part of Cape York where there are slopes steep enough to provide an energy-valid winter site and where science can take place. Now we are driving away from the predicted outcrops [of smectite clay minerals] on Cape York and onto the bench on the western side because we have run out of time to investigate these outcrops.”

Opportunity - Wide panoramic view inside vast Endeavour Crater snapped ascending Cape York crater ridge on Sol 2754, October 23, 2011. Opportunity wheel tracks at center. Cape Tribulation and distant, far side Endeavour crater rim in background. Opportunity is now driving to the northern tip of Cape York in search of a winter haven to survive upcoming brutal Martian Antarctic winter temperatures. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell

However, the rover team was still hoping to catch a break for science opportunities along the way north and just chanced upon geologic veins potentially indicative of past flow of liquid water.

“The bench around the edge of Cape York looks like sedimentary rock that’s been cut and filled with veins of material possibly delivered by water,” says Arvidson.

3 D Opportunity Panorama - 3 D Wide panoramic view inside vast Endeavour Crater snapped ascending Cape York crater ridge on Sol 2754, October 23, 2011. Opportunity wheel tracks at center. Cape Tribulation and distant, far side Endeavour crater rim in background. Opportunity is now driving to the northern tip of Cape York in search of a winter haven to survive upcoming brutal Martian Antarctic winter temperatures. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell

Opportunity has just driven to a light toned vein at a spot dubbed “Homestake” and will spend a few sols (martian days) investigating with all the tools on the terminus of the robotic arm – including some Microscopic Imager (MI) images of the vein and placing the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on top for overnight integrations.

“Opportunity will then continue traveling on the outboard side of Cape York (i.e. facing the plains),” Herrera told Universe Today.

“Plans are subject to change, but currently, Opportunity will travel to the north end of Cape York and stay there for the winter if suitable north facing slopes are found.”

“Our hope is that once a winter haven is identified, Opportunity will have enough power to make brief forays for science gathering in the vicinity of the winter haven,” Herrera informed me.

Homestake vein close up on Sol 2765- November 3, 2011. RAT (Rock Abrasion Tool) at lower left will target Homestake. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell

Opportunity Panorama at Cape York Ridge at Endeavour Crater - November 2011
Opportunity rover is exploring around the base of Cape York hill at the bench and vein features which may hold clues to the ancient flow of liquid water here on Mars. Opportunity drives North (ahead) from here in search of a sunny winter haven. Mosaic Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Kenneth Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

Opportunity’s power levels have dropped by nearly 25 percent in the past few months – as Martian dust builds up – and are hovering around 300 watts-hours , which is less than a third of the maximum output possible from her life giving solar arrays.

Her sparkling wing-like solar panels boasted an output of some 950 watt-hours upon landing on Mars nearly 8 years ago – for a mission warrentied to last a mere 90 Martian Days, or Sols. That equates to 31 times beyond the design lifetime !

Endeavour Crater Panorama from Opportunity, Sol 2681, August 2011
Opportunity arrived at the rim of Endeavour on Sol 2681, August 9, 2011 and climbed up the ridge known as Cape York. Odyssey crater is visible at left. Opportunity is now driving to the northern tip of Cape York (to the left) and is investigating a geologic vein that indicates flow of liquid water. Opportunity was photographed from Mars orbit on Sept. 10, 2011.
Mosaic Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Kenneth Kremer

Cape York is a low ridge that belongs to the rim of humongous Endeavour crater, some 14 miles or 22 kilometers in diameter that offers spectacular panoramic vistas peering into the vast and beautiful crater sporting a huge central mound and mountainous rim segments both near and far.

Opportunity arrived at Cape York and Endeavour Crater in August 2011 after an overland expedition of more than 21 miles (34 km).

NASA’s Curiosity rover is on course to liftoff for Mars on Nov. 25

Traverse map showing the 7 Year Journey of Opportunity from Eagle Crater landing site to current location at Cape York ridge at Endeavour Crater rim. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Kenneth Kremer

Read Ken’s continuing features about Opportunity starting here:
Opportunity spotted Exploring vast Endeavour Crater from Mars Orbit
Twin Towers 9/11 Tribute by Opportunity Mars Rover
NASA Robot arrives at ‘New’ Landing Site holding Clues to Ancient Water Flow on Mars
Opportunity Arrives at Huge Martian Crater with Superb Science and Scenic Outlook
Opportunity Snaps Gorgeous Vistas nearing the Foothills of Giant Endeavour Crater

Read Ken’s continuing features about Curiosity & Nov. 25 launch starting here:
Closing the Clamshell on a Martian Curiosity
Curiosity Buttoned Up for Martian Voyage in Search of Life’s Ingredients
Assembling Curiosity’s Rocket to Mars
Encapsulating Curiosity for Martian Flight Test
Dramatic New NASA Animation Depicts Next Mars Rover in Action

November 4, 2011December 24, 2015 by Jason Rhian

Star Lab: Space Science on the Wings of Starfighters

4Frontiers Corporation is testing an experimental launcher that will be launched into space via the F-1-4 Starfighter jet aircraft. Photo Credit: Alan Walters/awaltersphoto.com

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla – A NewSpace company based out of New Port Richey in Florida is working to provide suborbital access to space for firms with scientific payloads. The Star Lab project is an experimental suborbital launcher, designed to provide frequent, less expensive access to sub-orbit. This could allow educational and scientific institutions across the nation to conduct experiments that would normally be impractical.

“If Star Lab proves itself viable, as we feel it will, this could open the door to a great many scientific institutions conducting their research by using the Star Lab vehicle,” said Mark Homnick the CEO of 4Frontiers Corporation.

2011-7560 — On Oct. 27th, the Star Lab launcher was tested out while attached to the F-104 carrier aircraft via a series of fast-taxis up and down NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility located in Florida. Photo Credit: NASA.gov

4Frontiers is working to launch their Star Lab sounding rocket vehicle into sub-orbital space via an F-104 Starfighter that is part of the Starfighters demo team based out of Kennedy Space Center. 4Frontiers hopes to launch a prototype early next year with commercial flights to follow about six months later.

On Thursday Oct. 27, Star Lab began the first of its tests as it was mounted to a F-104 Starfighter and the aircraft then conducted several fast-taxi runs up and down NASA’s Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) with the Star Lab vehicle affixed to one of its pylons. On the last of these fast taxis, the jet aircraft deployed its drogue chute. These maneuvers were conducted to collect data to test the Star Lab vehicle’s response.

200811098486-XL — In terms of providing access to space, compared to more conventional means, the Star Lab project is considered to be an innovative and cost-effective means for scientific firms to test their experiments in the micro-gravity environment. Photo Credit: Alan Walters/awaltersphoto.com

The Star Lab suborbital vehicle is an air-launched sounding rocket, which is designed to be reusable and can reach a maximum altitude of about 120km.

The Star Lab vehicle carrying scientific payloads is launched from the venerable F-104 Starfighter jet. After the Star Lab payload stage reaches its predetermined altitude, it will descend by parachute into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Star Lab is capable of carrying up to 13 payloads per flight.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Members of the Starfighters Demo Team along with technicians working on the Star Lab program work to attach the vehicle to the F-104 Starfighter. Photo Credit: Star Lab

All of these payloads will have access to the outside, sub-orbital space environment. One payload on each mission will be deployable by way of an ejectable nosecone on the Star Lab vehicle. 4Frontiers Corporation will handle integrating the payloads into the vehicle. After the craft splashes down, private recovery teams will collect and return it to 4Frontiers. It in turn will have the payloads off-loaded and the Star Lab vehicle will then be reprocessed for its next mission.

“Today, 4Frontiers and Starfighters, with the assistance of the Florida Space Grant Consortium, unveiled to the public for the first time the Star Lab suborbital project. Star Lab is an air-launched reusable sounding vehicle, built using COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) technology and able to reach altitudes of up to 120km,” said 4Frontiers’ Business Development Manager Panayot Slavov. “With its very reasonable price structure, frequent flight schedule and numerous educational and research opportunities, the vehicle and the project will turn into the suborbital research platform of choice for all those who are interested in experimenting and learning about suborbital space.”

The project was created through a cooperative agreement between the 4Frontiers Corporation, Starfighters Aerospace, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the University of Central Florida with funding provided by the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium.

If all goes according to plan firms wanting to send their payloads into suborbit could achieve this goal via the Star Lab project. Photo Credit: Starfighters Aerospace

November 3, 2011December 24, 2015 by Daniel Sims

Space Junk Problem? Just Fire a Laser!

An computer generated image of objects in Low Earth Orbit that are currently being tracked. Approximately 95% of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris. Credit - NASA

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Imagine yourself as an astronaut performing scientific experiments and crowd-stunning aerobatics. Suddenly, ear-stinging, blaring alarms go off. Mission Control radios that all space station personnel should evacuate to the rescue vehicles because a piece of deadly space debris is headed your way.

This scenario isn’t science fiction. In June of 2011, Universe Today reported that “six crew members on board the International Space Station were told to take shelter in…two Russian Soyuz spacecraft.” As more satellites reach the end of their operational lives, there will be more space junk emergencies in space and on the ground, undoubtedly with less pleasant results. Our young space faring society has been lucky so far: the ISS has been able to steer clear of space junk, and falling, uncontrolled satellites have thankfully fallen into the oceans. But one day our luck will run out.

There is hope, however. A new paper titled Removing Orbital Debris with Lasers published on arXiv proposes using a high-power pulsed laser system from Earth to create plasma jets on pieces of space debris, slowing them slightly, causing them to re-enter and burn up in the atmosphere or fall into the ocean.

Claude Phipps and his team from a high-tech company named Photonic Associates outlined their method, called Laser Orbital Debris Removal (LODR) which uses 15-year-old laser technology which is now readily available.

The team recognized that “thirty five years of poor housekeeping in space have created several hundred thousand pieces of space debris larger than one cm in the …low Earth orbit (LEO) band.” These may not seem like large objects, but with the energy density of dynamite, even a large paint chip can cause major damage.

The photo shows the "energy flash" when a projectile launched at speeds up to 17,000 miles an hour impacts a solid surface at the Hypervelocity Ballistic Range at NASA's Ames Research Center. This test is used to simulate what happens when a piece of orbital debris hits a spacecraft in orbit. Credit - NASA

Removing debris is an urgent task because the amount of debris currently in space poses “runaway collisional cascading,” with objects colliding with each other, creating even more pieces of debris.

There are other solutions besides creating a plasma jet, but they tend to be both less effective and more expensive. A laser could be used to grind down an object into dust, but this would create an uncontrollable molten spray, making the problem worse.

Grappling the object or attaching a de-orbiting kit can both be effective. Unfortunately, they require a lot of fuel due to the need to accelerate to catch the object, which leads to more a more costly solution – about $27 million per object. Finally, there is the nuclear option of releasing a gas, mist, or aerogel to slow down objects, but this would affect both operational and non-operational spacecraft.

In their paper, Phipps and his team say that removing space junk by creating a jet of plasma of a few seconds in length with a laser is the best solution, costing only $1 million per big object removed and a few thousand for small objects. Furthermore, smaller objects can be de-orbited in merely one orbit, and a constellation of “167 different objects can be addressed (hit with a laser) in one day, giving 4.9 years to re-enter” the atmosphere.

All 167 objects must carefully be tracked as to not change their paths of doom for the worse; however, it is possible to use the system to adjust orbits of space junk. That being said, current levels of space debris tracking are not adequate to implement LODR, but there is a dual benefit of easier removal and better avoidance with improve debris tracking. Better tracking will then allow for better control of the re-entry point and orbit modification with LODR, if necessary.

How can a light-push from a laser modify an orbit? While the laser doesn’t blast the debris out of the air, it is still effective because of the nature of orbital mechanics.

Imagine a cubesat that needs to be disposed of in a low altitude, perfectly circular orbit. The tap from a high powered laser and the plasma jet generated would push the cubesat out, farther away from Earth (higher in altitude) and into a more elliptical orbit.

This might seem like a horrible idea during the time the cubesat spends at a higher altitude, but as it comes half circle, it clips the atmosphere at a lower altitude since the ellipse is warped due adjustments by the laser. Since a low altitude corresponds to more drag, the cubesat slows down and locks into a lower orbit. This is why highly elliptical orbits are called transfer orbits, as they change lanes on the highway of space. Now, with the transfer orbit complete, the cubesat is slowed enough so that its orbit can no longer be achieved by the cubesat. The cubesat then falls out of the sky.

A picture showing the accelerations needed to transfer orbits, the laser provides acceleration and the atmosphere provides deceleration. Credit - Wikimedia Commons, AndrewBuck

The meat of the research for LODR deals with the atmosphere as the laser can become unfocused if the atmospheric turbulence is not addressed. LODR is complicated because the turbulence in the atmosphere causes distortions like those you see above a road on a hot summer’s day or like those you see when looking through a glass bottle. This complication is in addition to the aiming ahead needed to hit a target, just like the aiming ahead needed to hit a running player in dodgeball.

There are two ways to cancel turbulence. First, one can shine a laser at a known spot in the atmosphere, exciting the sodium atoms at that location. Knowing the height of this dot in the sky, the system can then flex the reflecting mirror to bring the dot into focus moment-by-moment. It can then fire freely.

A second way involves the use of a Phase Conjugate (PC) mirror, otherwise known as a retroflector, which could automatically undo turbulence by sending light who’s phase variation has been reversed. That is to say it will send back an “oppositely distorted” laser beam whose distortion is un-done by the atmosphere creating a sharp laser beam.

An illustration of the distortion caused by both a phase conjugate mirror and a normal mirror. While both mirrors receive distorted images, the PC mirror results in a clear picture whereas a normal mirror is doubly distorted when passing through disrupting medium. Credit - Wikimedia Commons, Danh

LODR is not a silver bullet. Wired reports that “the main criticism of such a project would come from the international community, which might fear that a powerful enough laser could be used for military purposes such as hitting enemy satellites.” Wired then conducted an interview with Kessler; NASA’s former Senior Scientist for Orbital Debris Research who said, because of the politics involved, “any laser proposal is dead on arrival.” However, Phipps asserts to Wired that “If we get the right international cooperation, no one would believe the laser to be a weapon in sheep’s clothing.”

There are still unaddressed problems, as Kessler points out, hitting the wrong part of a space object would have disastrous results. “You might hit the wrong part of a satellite or could vaporize enough to cause it to explode.” In spite of that, careful study of the object could avoid any danger.

November 3, 2011January 14, 2016 by Nancy Atkinson

Watch Progress 42’s Fiery Re-Entry

The International Space Station crew were able to watch the Progress 42 cargo ship burn up in Earth’s atmosphere after it undocked from the ISS on October 29, 2011. We posted a single picture taken by Commander Mike Fossum earlier this week, but here’s a video compiled from several images from ISS cameras.

The video is from NASA’s Earth Observatory Astronaut Videos

November 3, 2011April 13, 2022 by Ken Kremer

Phobos and Jupiter Conjunction in 3 D and Amazing Animation – Blastoff to Martian Moon near

3 D view of the rare Phobos–Jupiter conjunction taken on 1 June 2011 by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Video Caption: Phobos and Jupiter in Conjunction – taken from Mars orbit !
A movie of the 1 June 2011 Phobos–Jupiter conjunction made by combining a sequence of 100 images of the encounter taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express orbiter. Mars Express is searching for safe landing zones on Phobos for Russia’s Phobos-Grunt lander blasting off on November 9. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
3 D images of Phobos-Jupiter conjuction below
Update – Phobos-Grunt launch processing photo below

In just 7 days, Russia’s Phobos-Grunt sample return mission will blast off for Mars on November 9 on a daring mission to grab soil samples from the surface of the miniscule martian moon Phobos and return them back to Earth for analysis to give us breathtaking new insights into the formation and evolution of Mars, Phobos and our Solar System.

So, check out the amazing animation and 3 D stereo images of fish-like Phobos and banded Jupiter snapped by Europe’s Mars Express orbiter to get a bird’s eye feel for the battered terrain, inherent risks and outright beauty that’s in store for the Phobos -Grunt spaceship when it arrives in the Red Planet’s vicinity around October 2012. Whip out your red-cyan 3 D glasses – Now !

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ESA’s Mars Express orbiter (MEX) was tasked to help Russia locate suitable and safe landing sites on Phobos’ pockmarked terrain. MEX was built by ESA, the European Space Agency and has been in Mars orbit since 2003.

To capture this impressive series of rare photos of Jupiter and Phobos in conjunction, Mars Express performed a special maneuver to observe an unusual alignment of Jupiter and Phobos on 1 June 2011.

Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) snapped a total of 104 images over 68 seconds when the distance from the spacecraft to Phobos was 11,389 km and the distance to Jupiter was 529 million km.

Phobos- Jupiter Conjunction: before, during and after on 1 June 2011 from Mars Express. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Enjoy the exquisite views of the bands of Jupiter and imagine exploring the deep pockets and mysterious grooves on Phobos – which may be a captured asteroid.

The camera was kept fixed on Jupiter, to ensure it remained static as Phobos passed in front and which afforded an improvement in our knowledge of the orbital position of Phobos.

Phobos in 3 D during flyby of 10 March 2010. Image taken from a distance of 278 km. Russia’s Phobos-Grunt will retrieve rogolith and rock for return to Earth. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

NASA’s twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have also occasionally photographed both of Mars’ moons to further refine their orbital parameters.

NASA’s Curiosity rover remains on track to liftoff for Mars on Nov. 25

Orbital Paths of Phobos and Mars Express. The trajectories of Phobos and Mars Express at the time of the conjunction with Jupiter on 1 June 2011. The letter ‘S’ denotes the South Pole of Mars.

Technicians at Baikonur Cosmodrome prepare Phobos-Grunt for upper stage attachment. Credit: Roscosmos

Read Ken’s continuing features about Phobos-Grunt here:
Russia Fuels Phobos-Grunt and sets Mars Launch for November 9
Phobos-Grunt and Yinghou-1 Arrive at Baikonur Launch Site to tight Mars Deadline
Phobos-Grunt: The Mission Poster
Daring Russian Sample Return mission to Martian Moon Phobos aims for November Liftoff

November 3, 2011December 24, 2015 by Jason Rhian

NASA Up Close Tour: VAB and Space Shuttle Endeavour On Display

Now that the shuttle era has come to a close, NASA, through the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, is opening some of its doors to allow the public a peek inside - including the massive doors of the Vehicle Assembly Building or VAB. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla – When guests visited the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in the past, they never knew if they would have the opportunity to see an actual space shuttle in some stage of being processed for a mission. The operators of the Visitor Complex have changed that – guests will now not only get the chance to see space shuttle Endeavour (as well as potentially Atlantis and Discovery in the future) – but to also tour the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building.

The opportunity to tour the VAB is currently being offered for a limited time and only to a limited number of Visitor Complex guests per day as part of KSC Up-Close, a new two-hour, guided special interest tour that began on Nov. 1. While touring inside the VAB itself is considered a treat, to actually be just a short distance away from one of the three remaining orbiters to conduct missions to and from orbit – is a rare thing indeed.

20111101914web-X2 — One, almost universal, reaction that guests displayed was craning their necks to see all the way to the ceiling of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo Credit: Alan Walters/awaltersphoto.com

“We are very pleased to have the ability to offer to our guests the opportunity to see not just the inside of the Vehicle Assembly Building – but one of the orbiters as well,” said the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Public Relations Manager Andrea Farmer. “While we don’t know the exact time frame – but this tour should be offered throughout 2012 and possibly into 2013.”

While undoubtedly one of the most memorable stops on the tour, the VAB tour stop is just one stop on this tour. Other stops include; NASA’s KSC Headquarters, the Operations & Checkout building (O&C), as well as the NASA Causeway providing a view of the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Guests who choose to go on the KSC Up-Close tour should call ahead as seats on this tour are limited and the tour might not be available every day. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian

From here, guests can see launch pads 17, 37, 40, and 41, which are currently used for commercial and government launches.

After their stop at the VAB, guests will get to see the massive Crawler Transporters and “Crawlerway”. Guests will also get to see the Pegasus barge used to haul the shuttle’s large External Fuel Tanks (ETs) from Louisiana; the famous blue countdown clock and the Shuttle Landing Facility.

281632_10150249591269627_525404626_7207287_278410_n — Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour all will be in and out of the Vehicle Assembly Building in the future, allowing guests the opportunity to see these spacecraft first hand. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian

The last place that guests will visit is two hills where NASA remotely shoots launch photography and videography. On one side guests can see Launch Complexes 39A and B and on the other side is the Atlantic. This will provide guests to see the renovations that are currently being done to LC-39B in preparation for commercial launches or for the use for the Space Launch System (SLS).

Guests who had the opportunity to take the tour were amazed at what they were seeing, the sheer scale of the facilities and vehicles – as well as the history that they were walking through.

Three-time shuttle veteran Sam Gemar thinks that this new tour is important in allowing the public to gain a greater appreciation for U.S. human space flight efforts.

“Having flown to space myself, I cannot express strongly enough how much of a tremendous opportunity it is for the public to see the actual vehicles that have sent astronauts into space for the past three decades,” Gemar said. “Kennedy Space Center is where America goes to space and the KSC Up – Close tour allows us to share the history of the Vehicle Assembly Building with the world.”

Although the Visitor Complex cannot guarantee that whenever a guest arrives that they will be able to see a space shuttle inside the VAB (each of the orbiters are being processed for display in their new homes in Los Angeles, CA, Washington, D.C. and Florida. Eventually shuttle Atlantis, which will placed be display in a new facility at the Visitor Complex in 2013.

November 2, 2011April 13, 2022 by Ken Kremer

China Technology Surges Forward with Spectacular First Docking in Space

Photos of Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 docking in Earth orbit. Credit: CMSE

Video Caption: Live Video of Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 docking in Earth orbit. Photos below. Credit: CCTV commentary/CMSE

China’s technological capabilities took a major surge forward with the successful docking in space today for the first time ever of two Chinese built and launched spaceships – orbiting some 343 kilometers in the heavens above at 1:37 a.m. Beijing time Nov. 3(1:37 p.m. EDT, Nov. 2). China’s goal is to build a fully operational space station in Earth orbit by 2020 – about the time when the ISS may be retired.

Today’s space spectacular joining together the Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft and the Tiangong-1 prototype space station was an historic feat for China, which now becomes only the 3rd country to accomplish a rendezvous and docking of spacecraft in Earth orbit.

Shenzhou is China’s manned spaceflight capsule but is flying without a crew for this particular test flight. The prowess demonstrated with this triumph paves the way for further manned Shenzhou’s launches soon.
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The remarkable space milestone follows in the footsteps of what the United States and Russia accomplished decades ago but this was carried out with 21st century science, technology and manufacturing abilities developed by China during the nation’s rapid rise over the past few decades to become the world’s 2nd most powerful economy.

Schematic of Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 docking in Earth orbit. Credit: CMSE

Shenzhou 8 has been chasing Tiangong-1 in orbit for two days since it was launched on Nov. 1 atop a Long March 2F booster rocket from the Gobi desert in northwest China.

The Commander-in-chief of China´s manned space program Gen. Chang Wanquan, announced “China’s first rendezvous and docking in space joining together the spacecraft Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 space lab module was a complete success.” Chang leads the China Manned Space Engineering (CMSE) Project and pronounced the achievement at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.

Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a congratulatory message from the G-20 summit in Cannes, France. “I am very pleased to hear the news and I send congratulations to all who made this possible. This will push China’s manned space program forward.”

Graphic shows the procedure of Shenzhou-8 spacecraft docking with Tiangong-1 space lab module on Nov. 3, 2011. (Xinhua/Lu Zhe)

The landmark rendezvous and docking was carried live by state run CCTV for all the world to watch. The impressive 2 hour long TV broadcast showed simultaneous and breathtaking camera videos from both the unpiloted Shenzhou-8 capsule and the Tiangong-1 space station module as they viewed one another in the cameras field of view and slowly approached together with the lovely Earth as a backdrop.

Mission controllers carefully monitored all spacecraft systems on both Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 as they sped closer at about 20 cm/sec and stopped at several parking points along the way (400 m, 140 m, 30 m) to confirm everything was nominal.

Chinese engineers and on board systems precisely guided the two spaceships and watched for any deviations. In case of any failures they had the capability to radio the vehicles to separate. But no deviations occurred and the autonomous docking proceeded to completion.

The two vehicles will remain docked for 12 days, then unhook and back off about 150 meters and then conduct another practice docking. The second practice docking is being done to gain more expertise and confidence and will be carried out under different conditions and in daylight.

The combined Shenzhou-8/Tiangong-1 orbiting complex weighs about 16 tons, some 8 tons each. Tiangong-1 is 10.4 m in length and 3.3. m in diameter. Shenzhou 8 is 9.2 m in length.

China plans two crewed flights to Tiangong-1 starting in 2012. The multi-person crews aboard Shenzhou 9 & Shenzhou 10 are almost certain to include China’s first female astronaut. The astronauts would float into Tiangong 1 from their Shenzhou capsules and remain on board for a few days or weeks. They will check out the spacecraft systems and conduct medical, space science and technology tests and experiments.

Meanwhile, since the premature retirement of the space shuttle with no successor in place, the US has absolutely no capability to launch astronauts to earth orbit. Therefore the ISS is totally reliant on Russian Soyuz rockets and capsules. US astronauts must hitch a ride to space with the Russians.

The US Senate just passed a NASA budget for 2012 that cuts NASA funding and will delay a replacement manned vehicle even further, likely into 2017. The US House seeks even deeper NASA budget cuts.

Thus China surges powerfully forward in space and science while the US political establishment has directed NASA to delay and retrench and layoff still more workers.

China's unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 blasted off at 5:58 a.m. Beijing Time Nov 1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern desert area. Credit: CMSE

November 1, 2011April 13, 2022 by Ken Kremer

China launches Shenzhou-8 bound for Historic 1st Docking in Space

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China today launched the Shenzhou-8 capsule on a historic mission to accomplish the nation’s first ever docking in space with another vehicle, already in orbit, and pave the way toward’s China’s true ambition – constructing a multi-module space station by 2020.

The unpiloted Shenzhou-8 streaked skywards today in a blinding flash atop a powerful and upgraded Long March 2F/Y8 carrier rocket in the early morning darkness and precisely on time at 5:58 a.m. Beijing time (5:58 p.m. EDT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwest China. Viewers could watch a live CCTV broadcast from state media broadcast in English.

The Long March first stage is augmented with four liquid fueled strap on boosters. Spectacular TV views show the boosters and payload fairings being jettisoned.

The goal of the mission is for China to master critical and complex rendezvous and docking technologies and link up with China’s 1st orbiting prototype space station module dubbed Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace-1.

A modified model of the Long March CZ-2F rocket carrying the unmanned spacecraft. Shenzhou-8 blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, Nov. 1, 2011. Credit: Xinhua/Li Gang

The historic docking of Shenzhou-8 with Tiangong-1 will be a highly significant achievement and is set to take place after the capsule catches up with the module in two days time. Tiangong-1 has been orbiting Earth since it was launched a month ago from the same launch site.

“The Launch of Shenzhou 8 has been a great success !”, announced Gen. Chang Wanquan, the Commander in Chief of China’s manned space program known as the China Manned Space Engineering (CMSE) Project. Chang, dressed in his military uniform, is Commanding Officer of Tiangong 1/Shenzhou 8 Rendezvous and Docking Mission Headquarters, and director of the PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) General Armaments Department.

Shenzhou-8 blasted off on Nov.1 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Credit: CMSE

“The Shenzhou 8 spaceship has entered at 6:07:53 its operating orbit with a perigee height of 200 km and apogee height of 329 km.”

The unmanned Shenzhou capsule entered orbit 585 seconds after liftoff while flying over the Pacific Ocean and placed the spacecraft into an initial elliptical orbit.

Shenzhou-8 will conduct five orbital maneuvers by firing its on board thrusters to match orbits and close in Tiangong-1 over the next two days and is on course for the linkup. Each vehicle weighs about 8 tons.

The two vehicles will remain docked for 12 days. Shenzhou-8 will then undock and separate and attempt another practice docking.

After several more days of joint operations the Shenzhou-8 capsule will depart and reenter the earth as though it had a crew.

Shenzhou-8 is fully equipped to carry an astronaut crew and even food and water are stored on board.

Today’s success sets the stage for two Chinese manned missions to follow in 2012, namely Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10. They will each carry two or three astronauts.

Schematic of Shenzhou-8 (left) and Tiangong-1 space station module (right) accomplishing historic first Chinese docking in Earth orbit. Credit: CMSE

The Tiangong-1 target module was launched from Jiuquan on September 29 and is functioning perfectly. Its orbit was already lowered and the ship was rotated 180 degrees in anticipation of today’s liftoff.

The Long March 2F booster is the tallest, heaviest and most powerful in China’s rocket arsenal.

China’s state run CCTV carried the launch live and provided excellent and informative commentary that harkened back to the glory days of NASA’s Apollo moon landing project. The Chinese government and people take great pride in the accomplishments of their space program which is vaulting China to the forefront of mastering technologically difficult achievements.

Long range tracking cameras and on board cameras captured exquisite views of Shenzhou-8 maneuver all the way to orbit, including separation of the first stage booster, jettison of the payload fairing, firing of the 2nd stage engines, deployment of the twin solar arrays, live shots inside the capsule and beautiful views of mother Earth some 200 kilometers below.

October 31, 2011April 13, 2022 by Ken Kremer

Shenzhou-8 rolled out for Blastoff to China’s 1st Space Station on November 1

Shenzhou 8 spaceship and its launch vehicle Long March 2F/Y8 were transferred to the Jiuquan launch pad. Liftoff is scheduled for Nov. 1. China’s VAB in the background. Credit: CMSE

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China’s Shenzhou-8 capsule and the Long March booster rocket have been rolled out to the Gobi desert launch pad and will blast off early on November 1 bound for the 1st orbiting Chinese prototype space station – named Tiangong-1 (which translates as Heavenly Palace-1).

If successful, the Shenzhou -8/Tiangong -1 combined orbital complex will certainly be a ‘great leap forward’ for China’s space program ambitions and technological prowess while NASA’s current and future ambitions are being significantly curtailed by relentless budget cuts directed by politicians in Washington, D.C. – a fact noted by Chinese media.

Shenzhou-8, an unmanned spacecraft, and its carrier, Long March 2-F, are transported to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu province. It is expected to perform China's first space docking with Tiangong-1, a lab module that went up in September from the same facility. Credit: Su Dong/China Daily

The unmanned Shenzhou- 8 capsule will lift off at 5:58 a.m. local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in Gansu province in northwest China.

Propellants are being loaded into the upgraded Long March 2F/Y8 carrier rocket today (Oct. 31). All launch preparations and tests are proceeding on schedule according to to the China Manned Space Engineering (CMSE) office – the state run government agency responsible for China’s human spaceflight program.

Prelaunch exercises are being coordinated by the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, the command center for the Chinese space program.

The fully assembled vehicles were vertically transported some 1500 meters over about 2 hours along rail tracks from China’s version of NASA’s VAB, or the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The 8 ton Tiangong-1 target module was launched from Jiuquan on September 29 and is functioning perfectly

The Shenzhou VIII spacecraft is assembled with the Long-March II-F rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu province on Oct 23, 2011. Credit: CFP

The Long March 2F booster is the tallest, heaviest and most powerful in China’s arsenal of rockets.

Tiangong-1 has been maneuvered to rotate 180 degrees in orbit in anticipation of the upcoming launch according to CMSE.

The emergency escape tower is hoisted to Shenzhou-8 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Oct 23, 2011. Credit: CFP

Shenzhou is China’s human rated capsule but is flying in an unmanned configuration for this flight – #8 – which will be China’s first ever attempt at critical Rendezvous & Docking maneuvers in earth orbit that are required to construct a Space Station- China’s long term goal by 2020 .

Shenzhou-8 will conduct at least two docking practice tests. After the first docking, the two ships will remain joined for about 12 days and then separate to carry out another docking.

So far China has conducted 3 manned flights, the first in 2003. Currently the US has no capability to launch astronauts to earth orbit and the ISS and is totally reliant on Russian Soyuz rockets and capsules to hitch a ride to space.

Two crewed flights to Tiangiong-1 are planned for 2012. The multi-person crews aboard Shenzhou 9 & Shenzhou 10 are likely to include China’s first woman astronaut. The chinese crews would float into Tiangong 1 from their capsules and remain on board for short duration missions of a few days or weeks. They will check out the space systems and conduct medical, space science and technology tests and experiments.

October 31, 2011December 24, 2015 by Jason Rhian

Boeing To Use Shuttle Hangar for CST-100 Space Taxi

Boeing has selected Florida to be the base for its commercial crew program office. Image Credit: Boeing

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla – NASA hosted an event on Monday, Oct. 31, at 10 a.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center’s Orbiter Processing Facility-3 (OPF-3) to announce a new partnership between NASA, Space Florida and Boeing. Space Florida in turn will lease OPF-3 to Boeing. Under the terms of this arrangement, Boeing will use OPF-3 to manufacture and test Boeing’s “space taxi” the CST-100.

Boeing will use OPF-3 as the firm’s commercial crew program office. The OPF, essentially a hangar, will be converted to construct Boeing’s CST-100 space capsule, which is currently being developed to deliver astronauts to low-Earth-orbit (LEO).

Launch — In the past Boeing has issued imagery that displayed its CST-100 launching from a variety of different launch vehicles which call Florida's Space Coast their home. Photo Credit: Boeing

This new partnership was developed following a Notice of Availability that the space agency issued at the beginning of this year. The notice was used to identify interest from industry for space processing and support facilities at Kennedy. With NASA’s fleet of orbiters being decommissioned, NASA was seeking ways to effectively use its existing facilities.

It is hoped that this, and similar partnerships will help create jobs in the region as well as to help the U.S. regain leadership in the global space economy.

MTF10-003-02_CCDev_med — Boeing's CST-100 is called a "space-taxi" and is being designed to carry both crew and cargo to both the International Space Station as well and other low-Earth-orbit destnations. Image Credit: Boeing

The CST-100 is currently proposed as a reusable spacecraft that is comprised of two parts – a crew module and service module. It is designed to house up to seven astronauts, but it can also be used to ferry both people and cargo to orbit.

With the space shuttle fleet retired, NASA is completely reliant on Russia for access to the International Space Station. Russia charges the space agency about $63 million a seat on its Soyuz spacecraft.

“Only Congress can determine when we will stop the investment of our nation’s tax dollars into the purchase of continued space transportation services from the Russians – and invest instead in the U.S. work force and commercial industry capabilities,” said Space Florida’s President Frank DiBello.

During the final launch of the shuttle era, Boeing had both a mock-up as well as this test article on display. Photo Credit: Jason Rhian

NASA has worked to keep the public apprised about its efforts to open its doors to private space companies. The space agency held press conferences to announce both the Space Act Agreement (SAA) that NASA had entered into with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and EADS Astrium concerning the Liberty launch vehicle, as well as the release of the design of the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket (which was announced on the following day).

“Thanks so much John and John, I love what you have done with the place!” said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver referring to OPF-3.

boeingcst100_bastation — The CST-100 has been proposed as a means of transportation to other future destinations in low-Earth-orbit such as one of the inflatable space station's currently under development by Bigelow Aerospace. Image Credit: Boeing

Space Florida is the organization that works to maintain and cultivate the aerospace industry within the State of Florida. The purpose of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is to develop U.S. commercial crew space flight capabilities. It is hoped that they will one day allow the U.S. to achieve reliable, safe and cheap access not to just the space station – but other destinations in LEO as well.

“If we’re going to find a way to fund exploration beyond the vicinity of Earth, particularly in today’s fiscally-constrained environment – we’ve got to find a way to do the job of transporting crew to the International Space Station in a more affordable manner,” said Boeing’s John Elbon. “That’s one of the primary purposes of the commercial crew program – to provide affordable access to low-Earth-orbit so that we can use the International Space Station as the great laboratory that it is.”