Posted on by Ken Kremer

‘NASA Johnson Style’ Parodies ‘Gangnam Style’ Music Video

Check this out and get in the groove to enjoy some really cool fun from NASA

NASA interns and NASA astronauts have joined forces to create a very humorous and entertaining music video parody of the “Gangnam Style” mega hit by international pop sensation PSY – It’s called “NASA Johnson Style” and its New!

A team of interns from NASA’s Johnson Space Center (pictured below) in Houston created original lyrics, convinced several initially incredulous astronauts to dance along and shot the video at several NASA centers. Then they integrated the whole kit and kaboodle with the “Gangnam Style” instrumental track. Scotty would be proud of the intricate engineering demanded to pull this off – but where are the tribbles !

Image caption: Mike Massimino (center) poses with the intern video team after filming at JSC. Photo credit: Nicole Cloutier

The video features a fun loving crew of NASA astronauts including Mike Massimino, who deftly repaired the Hubble Space Telescope twice among other things, Clayton Anderson and Tracy Caldwell Dyson who lived and worked for many months aboard the International Space Station, and Mike Coats, a Shuttle commander and the retiring Director of the Johnson Space Center.

The video also features actual footage from the International Space Station , Apollo Moonwalks, Curiosity on Mars, Dawn at Vesta, Houston Mission control, the SLS and Orion Crew vehicle as well as real research labs and scientists here on Earth. So it’s fun and meant to be educational as well.

“Gangnam Style” by the Korean singing star PSY is the most popular YouTube music ever and is enjoyed by millions more every day since it was released last summer. It has spawned numerous other parodies.

And in case you missed last summer’s mega hit parody straight from the Red Planet – click on this: “We’re NASA and We Know It (Mars Curiosity)” – Note: this is NOT a NASA production

Now, turn up the volume and enjoy some light hearted cheer in this Holiday season.

Ken Kremer

Posted on by Elizabeth Howell

‘Chasing Atlantis’ Film Launches Fundraising Campaign

A member of the Chasing Atlantis film team captures Atlantis during its last journey to the Kennedy Space Center in November 2012.

A member of the Chasing Atlantis film team captures Atlantis during its last journey to a display at the Kennedy Space Center in November 2012. (Matthew Cimone)

The team behind Chasing Atlantis, an upcoming film talking about the legacy of the space shuttle program, is asking the public for help funding the post-production.

This weekend, the five Canadians involved in the production opened an IndieGoGo campaign online to crowdsource $15,000 from the masses. (IndieGoGo is a similar service to Kickstarter, but unlike Kickstarter, it accepts banking information from outside of the United States.)

“We’ve gone from a small road trip doc to sitting before astronauts like Chris Hadfield, and now actors such as Wil Wheaton,” wrote team member Matthew Cimone in a statement sent to Universe Today.

“The whole film, to date, has been completely self funded, but to assist in the final post-production push, we are launching an IndieGoGo campaign.”

The team says the money is not supposed to recover the whole cost of the project, but just the final stages of it. They plan to use the money for additional on-location shooting as well as post-production costs such as sound design, colour grading, research assistance and an original score.

You can view the fundraising campaign here. Potential contributors have until Dec. 17 to donate, and the team will receive all of the money donated even if they do not reach their goal.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Hurricanes, Transporters and Grand Openings: Busy Week for Retired Space Shuttles

Atlantis is seen in the Vehicle Assembly Building Highbay 4 for the last time before she was rolled to her final home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Center. Credit: John O’Connor/nasatech.net

Last week was a busy one for the retired space shuttles, and here’s a gallery of images of what’s been happening lately: Atlantis was the last shuttle ever to be in the Vehicle Assembly Building, and was transported over to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex this weekend where it will be put on permanent display. Last week the California Science center’s Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion officially opened, And unfortunately, shuttle Enterprise suffered some damage during Hurricane Sandy.

Enterprise damaged during Hurricane Sandy. Credit: AP

Enterprise, which is now at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City sustained minor damage to its tail (a.k.a vertical stabilizer), after the fabric pavilion that protected the shuttle was torn by winds. A top piece of the tail came off, said a museum spokesperson. Enterprise will be repaired at the earliest opportunity, the Intrepid museum said, and also the rest of the museum remains closed because of storm damage.

“Enterprise remains safely in place and partially covered by the fabric of the damaged pavilion, which was left in place as a protective measure,” said museum director Susan Marenoff-Zausner.

Enterprise never flew in space but was used for atmospheric drop tests. It was formerly at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C., was switched out for shuttle Discovery — the only shuttle to not have any action last week, except for the thousands of visitors that regularly visit her.

Space shuttle Atlantis is transported along Kennedy Parkway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on its 10-mile journey to the Kennedy Visitor Complex where it will be put on public display. Credit: NASA/Tony Gray

Space shuttle workers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, watch as the space shuttle Atlantis is transported to the Kennedy Visitor Complex. Credit: NASA/Tony Gray

Flag waving children welcome space shuttle Atlantis as it approaches Space Florida’s Exploration Park. Credit: NASA/ Tony Gray

If you’d like to see some awesome high-resolution full panoramas of Atlantis in the VAB, check out this page at the nasatech.net website.

Guest walk around space shuttle Endeavour after the grand opening ceremony for the California Science center’s Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, in Los Angeles. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Endeavour’s Grand Opening Ceremony. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Endeavour’s 2-Day Drive Through LA in Less Than 3 Minutes

Here’s a fantastic timelapse compilation of space shuttle Endeavour’s big drive through the streets of Los Angeles. Photographer/cinematographer Matthew Givot and his team followed the shuttle during the 2-day ‘endeavor’ — a drive that included photo-ops of the shuttle driving past several well-known L.A. landmarks. There were also some tight squeezes and ‘back-up-and-start-over’ turns and corners. Driving a space shuttle through a metropolis like LA is a little more complicated than initially thought, as the trip took 17 hours longer than originally planned. But it’s obvious from the reactions of the crowds and the look on people’s faces that Endeavour will be well-loved in her new home.

Mission 26 The Big Endeavour from Givot on Vimeo.

Below is another video of the move from NASA:

If you want to see more of the move, Robert Pearlman from collectSPACE.com has a gallery of over 150 images of the drive, and NASA’s Flickr page has a huge collection, too. Here’s a great one from Robert:

Space shuttle Endeavour drives by the iconic Randy’s Donuts in LA. Credit: Robert Pearlman, collectSPACE.com

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Why Did the Space Shuttle Cross the Road?

Space Shuttle Endeavour on the streets of Los Angeles. Credit: Scott Maxwell

Why did Space Shuttle Endeavour cross the road? To get to the California Science Center, of course! About midnight local time, Endeavour began a 19-km (12-mile), two-day trip down the streets of LA as it moves from the Los Angeles International Airport to the its permanent museum home at the California Science Center. Thousands of people took the opportunity to see the rare sight of a space shuttle traveling down a street and waited in the predawn darkness to get a glimpse of the slow-moving shuttle — which topped out at speeds of 3.2 km/h (2 mph) instead of its usual 28,000 km/h (17,500 mph) when the space shuttle was in Earth orbit. Lots of onlookers snapped photos, including Scott Maxwell from JPL, one of the Mars rover drivers, who generously shared a few of his pictures, as its not everyday we get to see such sights. “Astonishingly, I think Endeavour was even slower than the rovers,” Scott said via Twitter. “Not when in motion, but it took *lots* of breaks.”

See more images from Scott and NASA below:

“Maybe this panorama will give you a sense of the excited, bustling crowd around Endeavour,” said photographer Scott Maxwell.

See Scott’s Twitter feed for more images and comments about his early-morning shuttle-watching experience.

There were lots of Tweets about Endeavour’s journey, but this might be the best picture showing the shuttle in amongst the regular goings on in LA:

The space shuttle Endeavour is seen atop the Over Land Transporter (OLT) after exiting the Los Angeles International Airport on its way to its new home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The driver of the Over Land Transporter, who uses a joy stick to control the shuttle, is seen as he maneuvers the space shuttle Endeavour on the streets of Los Angeles. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

To make room for the five-story-tall shuttle and its 24-meter (78-foot) wingspan, about 400 trees were chopped down, overhead wires were raised, and steel plates were laid down to protect the streets and underground utilities.

Endeavour will mostly travel on wide boulevards. The cost of the move is estimated at $10 million.

You can read more details in this Yahoo News article.

And I totally stole the headline from NASA’s Bob Jacobs from his comments on Twitter.

Posted on by Jason Major

How to Steal a Space Shuttle

For two days, from October 12 to 13, the shuttle Endeavour will be transported along 12 miles of road on the final leg of its journey to the California Science Center. During that time the orbiter will be the most publicly exposed as it’s ever been, a national treasure on the streets of LA. While this will of course be a well-orchestrated undertaking with the security of not only Endeavour but citizens and spectators being of utmost priority, one might be prompted to speculate: what if someone tried to steal the space shuttle?

And that one, in this instance, was Jalopnik.com‘s Jason Torchinsky. In his latest article, Jason describes in detail a method for snatching a spaceship — and a rather dramatic one at that, worthy of a Bondian supervillian (and requiring a similarly cinematic amount of funds.) However nefarious, fictitious, and unlikely, it’s nevertheless intriguing.

Now while we don’t encourage the theft of a space shuttle (or any federal property, for that matter) it’s a fun read… check it out.

Just keep an eye out for any suspicious Swiss skulking along Endeavour’s route…

(Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Posted on by Ken Kremer

Antares Commercial Rocket Reaches New Atlantic Coast Launch Pad

Image Caption: Antares Rocket At Wallops Flight Facility Launch Pad. Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket at the launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. In a few months, Antares is scheduled to launch a cargo delivery demonstration mission to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Credit: NASA

At long last, Orbital Sciences Corporation has rolled their new commercially developed Antares medium class rocket to the nation’s newest spaceport – the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island,Va – and commenced on pad operations as of Monday, Oct 1.

The long awaited rollout marks a key milestone on the path to the maiden test flight of the Antares, planned to blast off before year’s end if all goes well.

This is a highly noteworthy event because Antares is the launcher for Orbital’s unmanned commercial Cygnus cargo spacecraft that NASA’s hopes will reestablish resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) lost with the shuttle’s shutdown.

“MARS has completed construction and testing operations on its launch complex at Wallops Island, the first all-new large-scale liquid-fuel launch site to be built in the U.S. in decades,” said David W. Thompson, Orbital’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Accordingly, our pad operations are commencing immediately in preparation for an important series of ground and flight tests of our Antares medium-class launch vehicle over the next few months. In fact, earlier today (Oct. 1), an Antares first stage test article was transported to the pad from its final assembly building about a mile away, marking the beginning of full pad operations.”

Antares 1st stage rocket erected at Launch Pad 0-A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Credit: NASA

In about 4 to 6 weeks, Orbital plans to conduct a 30 second long hot fire test of the first stage, generating a total thrust of 680,000 lbs. If successful, a full up test flight of the 131 foot tall Antares with a Cygnus mass simulator bolted on top is planned for roughly a month later.

An ISS docking demonstration mission to the ISS would then occur early in 2013 which would be nearly identical in scope to the SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon demonstration flight successfully launched and accomplished in May 2012.

The first commercial resupply mission to the ISS by SpaceX (CRS-1) is now set to lift off on Oct. 7 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The 700,000 lb thrust Antares first stage is powered by a pair of Soviet era NK-33 engines built during the 1960 and 1970’s as part of Russia’s ill-fated N-1 manned moon program. The engines have since been upgraded and requalified by Aerojet Corp. and integrated into the Ukrainian built first stage rocket as AJ-26 engines.

Image Caption: Antares first stage arrives on the pad at NASA_Wallops on Oct. 1. First stage approaching adapter ring on the right. Credit: NASA

NASA awarded contracts to Orbital Sciences Corp and SpaceX in 2008 to develop unmanned commercial resupply systems with the goal of recreating an American capability to deliver cargo to the ISS which completely evaporated following the forced retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle orbiters in 2011 with no follow on program ready to go.

“Today’s (Oct. 1) rollout of Orbital’s Antares test vehicle and the upcoming SpaceX mission are significant milestones in our effort to return space station resupply activities to the United States and insource the jobs associated with this important work,” said NASA Associate Administrator for Communications David Weaver. “NASA’s commercial space program is helping to ensure American companies launch our astronauts and their supplies from U.S. soil.”

The public will be invited to watch the Antares blastoff and there are a lot of locations for spectators to gather nearby for an up close and personal experience.

“Antares is the biggest rocket ever launched from Wallops,” NASA Wallops spokesman Keith Koehler told me. “The launches will definitely be publicized.”

Ken Kremer

Posted on by David Gonzales

Bringing You There: Final Shuttle Flyby Over Kennedy Space Center

This will never be seen again. Last week, the remaining Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (NASA 905) lofted a Space Shuttle into the sky for the final time. After taking off, NASA 905 and Endeavour made one final low pass over the Kennedy Space Center runway before making way towards the West coast. These 2 videos were shot for Universe Today and show these vivid moments up-close from alongside the runway.

Continue reading “Bringing You There: Final Shuttle Flyby Over Kennedy Space Center”

Posted on by Jason Major

Fly Over California Alongside a Space Shuttle!

A view of Endeavour and SCA over California from one of NASA’s F/A-18 chase planes (NASA/DFRC)

We’ve shared several videos from Endeavour’s trip to Los Angeles last week, taken by excited spectators along various portions of the flight path, but what was it like for the crews of the two NASA F/A-18 chase planes that accompanied the orbiter and SCA every step of the way?

Watch the video below, and put yourself in the pilot’s seat…

Shared by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, the video shows footage taken from the viewpoint of one of the chase planes as Endeavour was ferried aboard a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft from Edwards Air Force Base to Los Angeles International Airport.

Along the way SCA pilots Jeff Moultrie and Bill Rieke, both from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, guided the 747 over such landmarks as the State Capitol in Sacramento, the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco, and NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Once over the Los Angeles area Endeavour passed over well-known landmarks like Griffith Observatory, the Hollywood sign, Dodger Stadium, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Malibu Beach and the Santa Monica Pier, and Disneyland.

After several low flybys of the runway — some under 300 feet! — the SCA touched down at LAX on Runway 25L at 12:51 p.m. PDT.

NASA’s four F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, operated by Dryden Flight Research Center, are commonly called chase planes and fill the role of escort aircraft during research missions. They also are used as camera platforms for research missions that must be photographed or videotaped. Two of these chase planes accompanied Endeavour on its flight for such documentation as well as for security.

See more images of the F/A-18s here, and for more photos of Endeavour’s trip to California check out the NASA photographer photo set on Flickr.

Video: Dryden TV

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Space Shuttle Endeavour Flies Over Historic Golden Gate Bridge (and some chick’s house in LA)

California was invaded by an unusual flying duo today: the Space Shuttle Endeavour sitting atop a 747 airplane, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Above, you can watch it they flew over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and below are more images and video of the flybys from various locations, including a video by GamerChick5567, who said, “IT FLEW OVER MY HOUSE!!!! :P” Endeavour made its final landing at LAX in Los Angeles, and will be transported to its permanent home at the California Science Center next month.

There is a “Spot The Shuttle” page on NASA’s Flickr stream where people have been uploading their images of the shuttle flying over, so check them out here.

Flying over Monteray Bay Aquarium:

Over Moffett Field/Ames Research Center

And here’s GamerChick5567’s video:

Space shuttle Endeavour, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) performs a low flyby at Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls. See more at NASAHQ’s photo stream on Flickr.