Screen shot of the IRVE inflatable heat sheild during Monday's test flight. Credit: Wallops Flight Facility
[/caption]
NASA conducted a successful test Monday morning of a new type of heat shield that could make it possible to land larger payloads on Mars. The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE) demonstrated an inflatable heat shield which could slow and protect spacecraft entering atmospheres at hypersonic speeds. “This was a small-scale demonstrator,” said Mary Beth Wusk, IRVE project manager, based at Langley Research Center. “Now that we’ve proven the concept, we’d like to build more advanced aeroshells capable of handling higher heat rates.”
IRVE launch from Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: NASA
IRVE was vacuum-packed into a 38 cm (15-inch) diameter payload shroud and launched with a Black Brant 9 sounding rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., at 8:52 a.m. EDT. The 3 meter (10-foot) diameter heat shield, made of several layers of silicone-coated industrial fabric, inflated with nitrogen to a mushroom shape in space several minutes after liftoff.
At four minutes into the flight, the rocket reached 210 km (131 miles), and deployed the heat shield, which took less than 90 seconds to inflate. According to the cameras and sensors on board, which relayed real-time data back to engineers on the ground, the heat shield expanded to its full size and went into a high-speed free fall. The key focus of the research came about six and a half minutes into the flight, at an altitude of about 50 miles, when the aeroshell re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and experienced its peak heating and pressure measurements for a period of about 30 seconds.
“Our inflation system, which is essentially a glorified scuba tank, worked flawlessly and so did the flexible aeroshell,” said Neil Cheatwood, IRVE principal investigator and chief scientist for the Hypersonics Project at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. “We’re really excited today because this is the first time anyone has successfully flown an inflatable reentry vehicle.” NASA engineers check out the Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE) in the lab. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith
Inflatable heat shields hold promise for future planetary missions, according to researchers. To land more mass on Mars at higher surface elevations, for instance, mission planners need to maximize the drag area of the entry system. The larger the diameter of the aeroshell, the bigger the payload can be.
Ed von Renouard working at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Australia was the first person to see images from the Apollo 11 moonwalk. Image courtesty of Bruce Ekert.
Six hundred million people, or one fifth of humanity at the time, watched Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the Moon in 1969. But seeing live transmissions from that historic event wouldn’t have been possible – and the Apollo missions wouldn’t have possible either – without reliable communications and accurate tracking capabilities.
To support the Apollo Program, NASA built the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) with three 85 foot (26 meter) antennas equally spaced around the world at Goldstone, California, Honeysuckle Creek, Australia and Fresnedillas (near Madrid), Spain.
Because of the movie “The Dish” however, most people think the Parkes Radio Antenna was the only dish used in Australia. But the Honeysuckle Creek dish was the real star of the Apollo missions. Most notably, it supplied voice and telemetry contact with the lunar and command modules but it also provided the first televised pictures of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.
“It was a job well done by many people all over the world,” said Bruce Ekert, a technician with the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station. “When I reflect that we were part of history, it is still amazing that it came together and worked so smoothly.”
The Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station (HSK) was a radio-quiet location in the Australian Alps surrounded by granite peaks 32km southwest of Canberra, Australia’s capital.
Ekert helped install a microwave relay link from HSK to the Red Hill Radio Terminal in Canberra. “This link was the “missing link” as at that time, there was only a telephone line from HSK to Canberra, and this was unsuitable for TV pictures,” Ekert told Universe Today.
Apollo antenna coverage. Credit: NASA
Ekert was working for the government telecommunications department and in April 1969 he was told his next job would be to install a microwave link so that when Australia’s side of the world was pointed toward the Moon, all the communications to the Moon and back could be relayed to NASA and mission control in Houston.
Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station during Winter (July) 1969. Photo courtesy Bruce Ekert
It may have been summer in the US, but in Australia it was winter. 1969 was cold and snowy, especially in snow country at 1200m (3600ft) up in the mountains, making the work difficult.
“It was cold and we had a lot of snow that year,” Ekert said, “Aligning microwave dishes on towers in cold weather, the bolts tend to lock up, and it’s difficult to move them around to get the best signal. Moving them with cold hands and cold steel is not the easiest things to do. But we installed microwave dishes on towers and equipment in the buildings. We also had to install a temporary tower with two dishes on it to redirect the signal through the mountains to get it out to the rest of the world.”
“We were running by the seat of our pants at one stage,” Ekert continued. “It was all thrown together and we knew it would work, but still, since we threw it together we hoped it would work according to plan.”
Ekert and his co-workers had to make sure the temporary links stayed working for the duration of the Apollo 11 mission.
“We maintained the equipment in a hands-off position,” he said. “As we say now, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. We worked for the complete duration of the mission, but we weren’t allowed to touch anything if it was working – just let it run. If it had failed, then we would have had to fix it, but since everything just coasted along and there weren’t any problems, we just watched and waited like everyone else.”
But those at HSK had one little advantage. “The staff at Honeysuckle Creek actually were the first people in the world to see the pictures coming from the Moon, by a few milliseconds,” Ekert said. “So that is our claim to fame.”
Ed von Renouard, working at HSK was the first man in the world to see the pictures from the Moon as they came from the receiver in the dish. (See top image of Ed back in 1969, and below is Ed with Bruce Ekert)
Louise from the HSK reunion organizing committee, Bruce Ekert, and Ed von Renouard at the Apollo 11 celebrations in Australia. Photo Courtesy Bruce Ekert.
But then after 8 minutes, NASA decided the larger 64meter Parkes Radio Telescope, 300 kilometers away, was getting a clearer signal and switched over for the remaining coverage of the spacewalk for the next two-and-a-half-hours.
Yes, there was a wind storm at Parkes, which threatened to blow the dish off course, as portrayed in “The Dish,” but Ekert said the movie was a typical Hollywood type creation.
“There were no crises where they were going to lose communications,” he said. “There was a big storm, where they had winds up to 60 mph (100 kph) at Parkes not long after the landing happened. They did fear the dish might be blown off course, but they always had the standby of Honeysuckle Creek, which was still receiving pictures, and at that point the moon had risen higher in the sky and pictures were actually better. So if the Parkes dish had actually been blown off course, they would have immediately switched back to Honeysuckle Creek.”
The original Honeysuckle dish now at Tidbinbilla. Courtesy Bruce Ekert.
Parkes was part of MSFN’s “wing” stations to provide back-up and additional coverage. This meant that each of the three locations around the world would have two stations capable of communicating with Apollo spacecraft at lunar distances. In addition to just redundancy, there was another reason for having two Apollo-capable stations at each location. For project Apollo, communications used the higher frequency S-Band (around 2.2GHz), and the beam width of the 85 foot antennas at those frequencies was only 0.43 degree. Ideally, one antenna would track the Command Service Module in Lunar orbit and the other would track the Lunar Module to the surface.
Parkes was also called in to assist with the Apollo 13 emergency.
In addition, a number of other stations supported Apollo, including a facility at Tidbinbilla, 20 km away from HSK, which also had dedicated Apollo equipment and people to operate as an additional receive/transmit facility.
More permanent microwave relays were installed, and HSK was part of all the Apollo missions, and in 1974 at the conclusion of the Skylab program, HSK Creek joined the Deep Space Network as Deep Space Station 44, working deep space missions like Viking, Voyager, Pioneer and more. It was closed in December 1981, with its 26 meter antenna relocated to the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex at Tidbinbilla, and renamed Deep Space Station 46, where it is still in use today.
The original HSK site has been leveled, and only the concrete foundations remain, but in 2001 an outdoor display was added. During Apollo 11 celebrations in July of this year, Ekert joined about 200 other people who worked at HSK, Parkes and Tidbinbilla to commemorate their achievements with Apollo.
Bruce Ekert on July 21, 2009 at the Honeysuckle Creek site, taken from the position of the communications tower. Below is the concrete pad which marks the position of the building. At the very back of the photo is the place where the HSK Dish was situated. Courtesy Bruce Ekert
“We traveled to the site of the HSK tracking station, for a ceremony unveiling a new plaque to show visitors and tourists where history was made on 21st July, 1969,” said Ekert. “We then moved over to another part of the site and a time capsule was filled with memorabilia from 1969 until now. My wife, who is Russian, put in a 50 Ruble note, with the words that there is not a “Cold War” anymore. The time capsule was buried, with instructions for the park rangers that it is to be dug up in 60 years time to mark the 100th anniversary of man’s first footsteps on the moon.”
Neil Armstrong also sent a note of congratulations for the ceremony, touching on the misconceptions the rest of the world might have because of things portrayed in the movie “The Dish.”
“Some of you, I expect, may have had mixed emotions about the film, THE DISH. I understand, because as technical people, we like things to be correct and accurate. And the film did not always accurately capture the roles of those of you at Honeysuckle Creek, those of you at Parkes, and those of you at Tidbinbilla. But for most of the viewers of the film around the world, those were not the details that they would remember anyway. What they will remember is that down in Australia there were some very dedicated people, with some very big antennae and complex electronic equipment that did remarkable things that were instrumental in the success of man’s first flights to the moon. They will have a sense that you were having a great time doing what you were doing. And what they remember will, in fact, be the truth.”
—from Neil Armstrong’s message to the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex
The celebrations continued in Australia in Canberra and at exactly 12.51pm local time, they showed a replay of the moon walk, with Neil Armstrong jumping down off the ladder of the lunar module to the surface of the Moon at exactly 12.56pm.
Some of the Honeysuckle team underneath the old antenna, DSS-46, at Tidbinbilla on Monday 20th July 2009. Credit: Honeysucklecreek.net
“The audio came over the auditorium sound system, and the atmosphere was awesome,” Ekert said. “It was a great celebration, where we patted ourselves on the back and had a salutatory drink to the whole situation.”
And a well deserved drink it was. The rest of the world sends its thanks to those who made watching television from the Moon possible.
Scott Altman, in front of a portait presented to him by the Lakeview Museum in Peoria, IL and painted by artist Bill Hardin. Photo: N. Atkinson
[/caption]
A spacesuit is a complicated conglomeration of switches, dials, hoses, tabs, and multiple layers of high-tech material. It serves various functions and is part miniature spacecraft, part atmospheric re-creation, and part medical necessity — with the number one priority of protecting those who wear it. But that doesn’t mean a spacesuit is always comfortable. “The whole suit is like a big bladder and it weighs about 80 lbs,” said astronaut Scott Altman, explaining the intricacies of the orange ACES launch and entry space suit to a group of children, “and it’s not always easy to move around in it.” But, undoubtedly today’s suit is more advanced and slightly more comfortable than the spacesuit Altman’s STS-125 crewmate, John Grunsfeld assembled as a child, concocted from vacuum cleaner parts and ice cream tins.
Altman was visiting the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences in Peoria, IL, a facility he visited often while growing up. The museum presented him with a portrait painted by local artist and businessman Bill Hardin, a detailed depiction of Altman wearing the ACES suit, and Altman was asked to explain the various parts of the space suit to the children (and very interested adults) in attendance.
The Advanced Crew Escape Suit, or ACES, is currently worn by all space shuttle crews for the ascent and entry portions of flight. Scott Altman at the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences in Peoria, IL. Photo: N. Atkinson
“It’s a full-pressure suit,” Altman explained, “and the idea is if you are in the space shuttle and the spacecraft loses pressure, the suit will inflate because your body needs pressure on it so you can keep breathing and it will provide you with oxygen to breathe as well.”
The gloves and helmet are attached to the suit with locking metal rings. Altman said the neck can get a little uncomfortable because it has a “seal” that can get quite tight at the neck. “But it has some tabs we can pull on to bring the seal away from our necks when are walking around in the suit before you get on the space shuttle,” he said “which is nice because otherwise it is difficult to turn your head!”
Then Altman described the helmet. “It fits in and slides into the latches on the metal ring,” he explained. “The funny thing is that most helmets I’ve worn, when you turn your head the helmet turns with you. But in this helmet, you turn your head and you end up looking at the inside of the helmet. You actually have to turn the helmet manually with your hands by grabbing hold of the front of it and moving everything together.” Altman and his crewmates on the flight deck of the shuttle during the STS-125 mission. Note all the switches up above the heads of the astronauts. Credit: NASA
Another thing about the helmet is that wearing it makes it hard to see up above your head. What makes this interesting for Altman is that he is the shuttle commander, flying the spacecraft as the lead pilot. The shuttle has over 450 separate switches and buttons in the cockpit, not counting all the circuit breakers that can be pulled out. Some of them are located — you guessed it – up above the commander’s head.
“We are strapped in our seats very tight, and with the helmet on it is really hard to look up,” Altman said. “You can’t lean back very well in the seats, so to look up at all the switches up high, you kind of have to bend over and twist and turn your head, and turn the helmet. So it makes life a little more difficult.”
One child asked about the big zipper-like contraption on the front of the suit.
“When you’re standing up in the suit everything fits pretty well,” Altman said, “but imagine when you are sitting down the bottom of the suit rises up and everything else moves up, too. Then, when the suit starts to inflate the whole thing starts to rise up so pretty soon you find yourself looking at the bottom edge of the inside of the helmet and you can’t see. So this is a pulley system that allows you to tighten up the suit so it doesn’t go up over your head. These are all-important safety measures!” Scott Altman cuts a space shuttle cake at the Lakeview Museum in Peoria, IL. Photo: N. Atkinson
Altman used several acronyms to describe the different parts on the suit, saying NASA loves to make up new acronyms for everything. “We fly laptops in space to use but we don’t just call them laptops,” he said. “We call them PGSC’s and I don’t even know what that stands for!” (Payload and General Support Computer)
Later, Altman answered questions submitted by children about what he has seen on his space travels, how to eat and shower in space, and of course, how to go to the bathroom in space.
[/caption]
As space shuttle Endeavour undocks from the International Space Station today (Tuesday), now is a good time to look back at the very successful STS-127 mission. Here’s some great images which tell the story of the mission. Above, astronaut Tim Kopra is pictured in the forward port side area of Endeavour’s cargo bay during the first of five planned spacewalks performed by the STS-127 crew. Kopra is now part of the ISS crew, and is staying onboard the space station to serve as flight engineer.
Moon rock on board the ISS. Credit: NASA
Of course, during this mission we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Fittingly, there was a Moon rock on board the ISS. The 3.6 billion year-old lunar sample was flown to the station aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-119 in April 2009. NASA says the rock, lunar sample 10072 serves as a symbol of the nation’s resolve to continue the exploration of space. It will be returned on shuttle mission STS-128 to be publicly displayed.
Here’s a view of the newly installed “front porch” of the Kibo lab, which is actually the Japanese Experiment Module – Exposed Facility (JEF). This platform will hold experiments designed to work outside the protective confines of the station, exposing them to the space environment. The JEF was installed by the astronauts during this mission. Dave Wolf during an EVA. Credit: NASA
During the second STS-127 spacewalk, astronaut Dave Wolf worked outside bringing the Linear Drive Unit (LDU) and two other parts to the station’s External Stowage Platform 3 for long-term storage. Wolf is near the end of Canadarm2, which is anchored on the ISS. Arms in space. Credit: NASA
Speaking of the robotic arms, here’s a view of both the space station and space shuttle robotic arms as seen from inside the Kibo laboratory. A portion of the Japanese Experiment Module – Exposed Facility is also visible. The blackness of space and Earth’s horizon provide the backdrop for the scene. Tom Marshburn during an EVA. Credit: NASA
Astronaut Tom Marshburn makes his second spacewalk on July 24, along with Christopher Cassidy, out of frame. Eleven other astronauts and cosmonauts remained inside the International Space Station and the shuttle while the two astronauts worked outside. Astronauts share a lunch on the ISS. Credit: NASA
In total, there were 13 astronauts on board the ISS, a record for the amount of astronauts in one vehicle. Pictured, clockwise from bottom right, are astronauts Christopher Cassidy and Mike Barratt, with Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, an unidentified crew member, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata (floating above), Canadian Space Agency astronauts Robert Thirsk and Julie Payette, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, and astronaut Christopher Cassidy. Either out of frame or not clearly seen are astronauts Mark Polansky, Doug Hurley, Dave Wolf, Tim Kopra and Tom Marshburn, plus Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. ISS as seen from departing space shuttle Endeavour. Credit: NASA TV
This screen shot shows the ISS as seen as Endeavour departed from the station on July 28. The views of both the ISS and shuttle were stunning. We’ll post the high-resolution versions when they become available. Notice the shadow of the space shuttle on the space station solar arrays! Amazing! Endeavour's launch. Credit: NASA
And now we’re back to the beginning of the mission. Liftoff for the STS-was at 6:03 p.m. (EDT) on July 15, 2009 from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The storm clouds stayed far enough away so that Endeavour and her STS-127 crew finally on its sixth attempt. Watch a replay of the launch here.
[/caption]
As Japan’s first astronaut to spend long duration missions on board the International Space Station, Koichi Wakata has had the opportunity to do all sorts of interesting experiments the past few months. For example, he conducted several different cellular growth and crystal growth experiments, and has even flown a magic carpet in space. One other experiment has been – shall we say – kept under wraps. Wakata has been wearing the same underwear on board the ISS for two months.
“(For) two months I was wearing these underwear and there was no smell and nobody complained,” Wakata, speaking in Japanese, said through an interpreter during a press conference this weekend from the ISS. “I think that new J-ware underwear is very good for myself and my colleagues.”
Wakata has been wearing special underwear and other clothing called “J-ware” designed for the Japanese space agency. According to an article in Discovery News, the clothes are treated with antibacterial and deodorizing materials. In addition to odor control, the clothes are designed to absorb water, insulate the body and dry quickly. They also are flame-resistant and anti-static — as well as comfortable and attractive.
Typically, clothes can only be worn for a few days in space, and especially the clothing worn by astronauts as they exercise. Since there’s no laundromat in space, the clothing is discarded as garbage.
Astronaut Takao Doi, who flew with a shuttle crew last year to deliver Japan’s Kibo laboratory to the station, exercised as much as his crewmates, but his clothes stayed dry.
Wakata’s clothes include long- and short-sleeved shirts, pants, shorts and underwear. Special socks have a separate pouch for the big toes so the astronauts can use their feet like an extra pair of hands, helpful for anchoring themselves on the floor while doing work on the station.
Originally, Wakata was scheduled to wear the underwear for just a couple of weeks. But obviously, he decided to go the long duration route. Proposed Japanese space toilet. Credit: JAXA
At least he wasn’t testing this other option proposed by JAXA. Read more about these special underwear here.
Wakata heads home with the crew of the STS-127 mission, undocking from the ISS today. The first landing opportunity is Friday, July 31.
Flometrics, Inc. successfully flew a liquid fueled rocket with a 100% renewable fuel, a version of JP-8 (Jet Propellant 8) and liquid oxygen. The 180 lb (81 kg) rocket was 20 feet (6 meters) tall, 1 foot (.3 meters) diameter and it was powered by a RocketDyne LR-101 rocket engine that was originally used as a steering engine on the early Atlas and Delta rockets. The rocket performance during the 15 second long burn was better than the performance of a similar rocket using RP-1 refined kerosene rocket fuel. It reached an altitude of approximately 20,000 ft (6096 m) and may have exceeded Mach 1. The biofuel ran cleaner than the standard rocket fuel that has been used before. Since the biofuel was originally designed for jets, it may be possible to tune it for better performance in rocket engines. The fuel was developed by the Energy and Environment Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota.
The storm clouds stayed far enough away so that space shuttle Endeavour and her STS-127 crew finally launched on July 15 on its sixth attempt. The video here shows spectacular views, from the camera mounted on the shuttle’s external tank, showing the launchpad dropping away below, and then the separation of the shuttle’s twin boosters two minutes and five seconds into the flight. Watching the video here, multiple pieces of foam insulation can be seen falling away from the external tank during the early moments of flight. The crew is working today on heat shield inspections to see if any significant damage occurred from any foam strikes on the belly of the orbiter. Continue reading “Watch the STS-127 Launch Video in HD”
Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 mission. Credit: NASA
[/caption]
The whole world watched as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the surface of the Moon. Everyone listened intently to every word said between the Eagle lander and mission control. But what did Neil and Buzz say to each other when the microphone was off? Now you can find out. NASA has made the onboard audio tapes available online, so everyone can listen in the what happened inside the spacecraft. These are not necessarily major milestones of the mission but are some of the more interesting and clearly recorded conversations the crew members had among themselves as the mission progressed.
For example, here’s one exchange between Armstrong and Aldrin:
“I would appreciate if you could … see if you could … find the map …”
All of the Apollo spacecraft included onboard voice recorders, activated during much of each mission to record the crew’s conversations. The transcripts of those recordings were publicly released in the mid-1970s and they have been posted on the Internet for years. But only recently were the actual onboard recordings from Apollo 11 digitized so that the recordings could be made available on the Internet.
The Apollo 11 Onboard Audio Tape Database cross references the tape numbers to the Mission Elapsed Time (MET) that was on each tape. The database includes a description of the mission status at that time. It is best to listen to the tapes while simultaneously viewing the same mission elapsed time on the transcript, since often the recordings are faint.
Liftoff! A patient launch control team waited out stormy weather on Thursday, and finally were able to give a green light for the last launch opportunity of the day for the Atlas rocket carrying the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). The duo lifted off at 21:42 pm GMT (5:32 pm EDT), climbing through some impressive looking clouds and quickly heading to space. For more information about the missions, see our LRO/LCROSS preview article. View the video of the launch, above, and using the wonders of NASA TV on the web and my image clipping tool here are more pictures from the launch:
Here are a few pre-launch images:
[/caption]
Credit: NASA TV
Shortly after liftoff with the launch complex visible below: Credit: NASA TV
View from the spacecraft heading up through the clouds.
Credit: NASA TV
The curvature of Earth and the blackness of space visible from this image taken by cameras on the spacecraft. Credit: NASA TV
As of this writing, all systems are in good shape.
Astronaut Chris Cassidy getting strapped into the shuttle. Credit: NASA
[/caption]
An historic milestone will be reached during the STS-127 space shuttle mission to the International Space Station, which will hopefully launch on Wednesday. The crew will include the 500th person ever to fly in space. Since there are four rookie astronauts on the mission, it’s a bit of a coin toss as to who is actually the 500th, but seemingly the crew has agreed that former naval commander Chris Cassidy, 39, who has led combat missions in Afghanistan, will take the honor.
A few notables of the 499 who have gone before, below, and a quick report that things look good so far for Endeavour’s second launch attempt. NASA is shooting for 5:40:52 a.m. Wednesday (9:40 GMT) on Wednesday June 17.
Workers on Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A prepare to remove the 7-inch quick disconnect and flight seal from the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate, or GUCP, on space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank. Teams are removing the hardware to change out seals in the internal connection points. The GUCP is the overboard vent to the pad and the flare stack where the vented hydrogen is burned off. Credit: NASA
Click on image for a really huge version.
On Tuesday, engineers pulled a protective gantry away from the shuttle Endeavour and restarted the orbiter’s countdown Tuesday, setting the stage for launch. There are no technical problems of any significance and forecasters are predicting an 80 percent chance of good weather at launch time. You can watch NASA TV or follow Nancy on Twitter for updates.
