Space and astronomy news
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NASA has put out a collection of tribute posters to the Space Shuttle fleet that celebrates the contributions to human space flight of Columbia, Atlantis, Discovery, Challenger and Endeavour. Large versions of these posters now hang in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Click on each image for a larger version that you can download.
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One of the most anticipated science instruments for the International Space Station — which could find the “hidden universe” of anti matter and dark matter — has arrived at Kennedy Space Center. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) is now ready to head to space as part of what is currently the last scheduled space shuttle mission in February 2011. Dubbed “The Antimatter Hunter,” the AMS is the largest scientific instrument to be installed on the ISS, and comes as a result of the largest international collaboration for a single experiment in space.
“Even before its launch, the AMS-02 has already been hailed is already as a success. Today we can see in it with more than a decade of work and cooperation between 56 institutes from 16 different countries,” said Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight.
AMS measures the “fingerprints” of astrophysical objects in high-energy particles, and will study the sources of cosmic rays — from ordinary things like stars and supernovae, as well as perhaps more exotic sources like quark stars, dark-matter annihilations, and galaxies made entirely of antimatter.
Each astrophysical source emits a particular type of cosmic rays; the rays migrate through space in all directions, and AMS-02 will detect the ones that pass near Earth. With careful theoretical modeling, the scientists hope to measure those fingerprints.
By observing the hidden parts of the Universe, AMS will help scientists to better understand better the fundamental issues on the origin and structure of the Universe. With a magnetic field 4,000 times stronger than the magnetic field of the Earth, this state-of-the-art particle physics detector will examine directly from space each particle passing through it in a program that is complementary to that of the Large Hadron Collider. So, not only are astronomers eagerly waiting for data, but particle physicists as well.
The AMS-02 experiment is led by Nobel Prize Laureate Samuel Ting of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The experiment is expected to remain active for the entire lifetime of the ISS and will not return back to Earth. The launch of the instrument was delayed so that the original superconducting magnet could be replace with a permanent one with a longer life expectancy.
Now as KSC, the AMS will be installed in a clean room for more tests. In a few weeks, the detector will be moved to the Space Shuttle, ready for its last mission.
The AMS-02 is an experiment that we hope we’ll be doing lots of reporting about in the future!
Source: ESA
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While the final decision on adding an additional shuttle flight rests on the political process, today NASA managers approved adding the STS-135 mission, from a safety and logistics standpoint. If Congress gives final approval for funding one more shuttle mission beyond the two that are currently on the manifest, space shuttle Atlantis would be targeted to launch on June 28, 2011. The STS-135 mission – if not needed as a “Launch on Need” rescue flight for STS-133 or STS-134, would have a 4-member crew and carry a fully-loaded multi-purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) and a Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier to the International Space Station.
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel approved adding the flight from a safety standpoint. Having a crew of four means the crew – if stranded on the ISS – could stay on the space station and rotate coming back to Earth on the Soyuz spacecraft that serve as rides home/rescue vehicles , and NASA would not need another shuttle on standby for a rescue.
Originally, the Senate version of NASA’s 2011 budget included funding for an additional shuttle mission but the House version did not. However, NASASpaceflight.com reported that “The House authorization bill added the additional flight to mirror the Senate bill,” adding that the two bills differ in how the flight would be paid for.
Atlantis will be processed for the STS-335 Launch On Need mission, and the final decision on whether STS-135 becomes a reality remains to be seen. Stay tuned!
Source: NASASpaceflight.com
It’s the one kind of cheesy thing we all listen for each day of a shuttle mission: the wake up song. With only a few space shuttle missions left on the manifest, NASA has decided to enlist the help of the public to help choose the songs that will wake up the astronauts for STS-133 – currently scheduled for a November 1, 2010 launch — and STS-134, slated to launch on February 26, 2011. Not only can you choose from previously played popular songs, but those of you musically inclined can write a song and submit it.
See the NASA website for more details.
The deadline is January 10, 2011.
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The payload for the next shuttle mission, STS-133 was on full display at Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility, including the mission’s “7th” crew member – Robonaut (or R2 as he is known to his friends). A media event on Aug. 12 showcased elements that Discovery is scheduled to lift to orbit on Nov. 1, 2010 at 4:33 p.m. EDT.
Without a doubt the star of the show was R2 himself. The mostly-white android looked every bit the science-fiction meets science-fact as the imagery we have all seen on television and the internet have made him out to be. Robonaut 2 had originally been designed to only be a technology demonstrator, but engineers wanted to see how the system would operate in space and he was given a seat on the flight (albeit way in the back).
R2 was not the only horse at this rodeo however; NASA also had other flight hardware elements on display that will roar into orbit this fall. One of these was the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) that will be transported to the space station in Discovery’s payload bay (with R2 nestled inside). The PMM is in actuality the modified Leonardo multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM) and when the mission is completed the PMM will be left attached to the station.
Space Shuttle Discovery will carry Space Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) DragonEye (DE) relative navigation sensor on this mission. It is expected that this sensor will be installed about half a month later than originally planned due to a failure in the laser rod that was detected during testing. This item however was not on display at this event.
STS-133 could possibly be Discovery’s final flight (it has been mentioned that if there is an STS-135 – that Discovery might fly that mission). It will mark the 35th time that one of NASA’s orbiters has traveled to the orbiting laboratory. The crew consists of Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Tim Kopra and Nicole Stott.
More images of R2 and Leonardo:
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Universe Today photographer Alan Walters was on hand at Kennedy Space Center today to see the arrival of ET-138, the external tank for the final scheduled space shuttle mission, STS-134. Enjoy this gallery of images, (because it is something that might only happen one more time…). There was also a surprise drive-by of some segments of used shuttle solid rocket boosters.
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Almost the end of an era: the last external tank scheduled to fly on a shuttle mission was rolled out of the Michoud Assembly Facility on Thursday. The tank, ET-138, traveled on a wheeled transporter one mile to the Michoud barge dock, accompanied by a brass band and hundreds of the workers who built tanks over the past 37 years. One additional tank will come from Michoud; ET-122, which was at damaged Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, and is being restored to flight configuration and is scheduled for delivery to Kennedy in late September to serve as the “Launch on Need” tank, for the STS-335 rescue ship, if needed. Or, it might get to fly in space – no decision yet if NASA will get one additional mission.
You can see a gallery of images from Thursday’s New Orleans’ style celebration at this NASA Flickr page.
The tank will make a 900-mile sea journey to Kennedy Space Center, (around the oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico) and then processing will begin to mate it with shuttle Endeavour and solid rocket boosters for the STS-134 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than mid-November February 2011. The mission will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 3 and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. It will be the 36th shuttle mission to the space station and the 134th and final scheduled shuttle flight.
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If you are tentatively planning to attend one of the final shuttle launches, the uncertainty on launch dates just got a bit more certain; plus — an added benefit — we won’t see the end of the shuttle program until 2011.
NASA announced new target dates for the final two (and maybe three) shuttle missions. STS-133 is now aiming for November 1, 2010 at approximately 4:33 p.m. EDT for the final flight of shuttle Discovery, and for STS-134, February 26, 2011 at around 4:19 p.m. EST for shuttle Endeavour’s last launch. The potential bonus mission STS-135, would launch sometime in August 2011, if approved by Congress and NASA. The latest word on that was that NASA officials hope the decision would be made sometime this month.
The target dates were changed because the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer instrument, heading for installation on the International Space Station won’t be ready by the time of the previously planned Sept. 16 launch for STS-133. With that launch moving to November, STS-134 cannot fly as planned, so the next available launch window — taking into account sun angles and other planned launches –is in February 2011.
These dates were rumored last week, but this is now the official word. However, of course, all target launch dates are subject to change.
The last external tanks for the STS-134 mission was recently completed at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. There will be a final farewell ceremony at 9 a.m. CDT on Thursday, July 8, which will be shown on NASA TV. The event will commemorate 37 years of successful tank deliveries and the final external tank’s rollout for the last space shuttle flight. Coverage begins at 8:45 a.m.
The tank, designated ET-138, will travel on a wheeled transporter one mile to the Michoud barge dock. It will be accompanied by the Storyville Stompers, a traditional area brass band, and hundreds of handkerchief-waving employees in typical New Orleans fashion and spirit.
The tank will travel on a 900-mile sea journey to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will support shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 launch. No word yet on how the oil spill may affect the journey.
Another tank that was damaged in Hurricane Katrina is being refurbished for the Launch-On-Need (LON) rescue mission STS-335, which if not needed and if it gets approval to fly as the actual final shuttle mission, (Atlantis) would change to STS-135.
Ken Kremer (who has written for Universe Today) has an article on SpaceRef about his tour of the Michoud Facility, which includes some great images.
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The final scheduled space shuttle flight of Endeavour that has been targeted for late November 2010 is now likely to move to January or even February of 2011 because the primary payload, the $1.5 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, won’t be delivered to KSC in time to support the earlier date. Additionally, the penultimate scheduled mission, STS-133 Discovery, currently slated for September 16, could be delayed until October. As we reported yesterday, the first hint of Endeavour’s delay came from the announcement of a new opportunity for students to send experiments to space on Endeavour, and now Florida Today reports Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana said it could even be February until the AMS is ready to go.
The White House and Congress are considering adding a third and final shuttle mission that could be flown next June. Each additional month of shuttle operations costs $100 million to $200 million. While the funding for shuttle missions technically only goes until the end of 2010, mission managers have said there is currently enough money in the shuttle budget for about two months of operations in 2011.
After that and possibly one more mission next summer, if funding is approved, Cabana, speaking at a National Space Club Florida Committee meeting, hopes to see KSC transition be able to support commercial space ventures and be less reliant on a single NASA program like Apollo, the shuttle or even Constellation.
“What we don’t want to be in the future is tied to any one large program,” Cabana said.
The delay for the AMS involves switching out to magnets that will last longer in space, since operations of the ISS have been extended to 2020. Liquid helium would have been used cool the superconducting magnet’s temperature to near absolute zero. But tests showed the helium would dissipate withing 2-3 years, leaving the seven-ton experiment useless.
Source: Florida Today
NASA has released the first-ever up close video available for the public, taken from inside a space shuttle after landing, showing the checkout procedures and the “towback” to the Orbiter Processing Facility. It was taken on May 26, 2010 following shuttle Atlantis’ landing following the STS-132 mission.
Continue reading “NASA Releases First Ever Video of Inside of Space Shuttle After Landing”