Today’s NASA Image of the Day is just plain pretty; pretty as a postcard. All it is missing is the “Wish you were here!” sentiments.
Enjoy!
Pretty Picture: Orbital Sunrise Over the South Pacific
Astronaut Hadfield’s Music Unites Schools in Song
OTTAWA, CANADA – Last time Chris Hadfield went up in space in 2001, most of them were infants. In 1995, during his first mission, none of them were even born. Hundreds of elementary school students at an Ottawa school, however, sang enthusiastically along with his music — and along with thousands of other students throughout Canada — during a nationwide performance May 6.
See the video of the event below:
The 860 children at St. Emily Catholic School added their voices to the throng as Hadfield led a rendition of “Is Somebody Singing” from the International Space Station.
Ranging in ages between 4 and 12, the students at this school spent six weeks practicing in their individual classrooms before performing together for the first time.
Music is a big part of the school’s life. There are regular masses and liturgies. Some of the older students have their own bands and do performances. Saint Emily also hosts local bands in Ottawa, including Junkyard Symphony.
But this performance was something different. Hadfield, Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson and others reprised the January premiere of the song and invited every school in Canada to take part. Some sang directly with the live broadcast. Others assembled on front lawns, or in gyms, to sing at their own pace.
“We all listened to [the song] and thought it as a great way for the school to come together as a community,” said Roisin Philippe, a kindergarten teacher at Saint Emily who co-organized the school’s performance. Several teachers brought their own instruments — guitars, harps, and the like — to the performance. Others handed out tambourines.
Teachers took the opportunity to integrate the performance into the school’s curriculum where possible. Jenny Ng, who teaches Grade 1, would show students some of Hadfield’s videos (such as how to brush one’s teeth in space.) Others downloaded the sheet music to distribute to the class and teach them how to read music.
The performance is an initiative of the Canadian Broadcast Corp.’s Music Monday. It was the last live event with Hadfield, who currently commands Expedition 35, before he returns to Earth.
Hadfield and two of his crewmates — Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko — are scheduled to come back May 13.
Weekly Space Hangout – May. 3, 2013
Another busy episode of the Weekly Space Hangout, with more than a dozen space stories covered by a collection of space journalists. This week’s panel included Alan Boyle, Dr. Nicole Gugliucci, Amy Shira Teitel, David Dickinson, Dr. Matthew Francis, and Jason Major. Hosted by Fraser Cain. We discussed:
- The most powerful gamma ray burst… ever
- Test Flight for Spaceship 2
- An amazing storm on Saturn
- Chandra Images Colliding Galaxies
- The Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower
- X-51 Test Flight
- Exoplanet Habitability
- Farewell Herschel
- ISON isn’t Nibiru
- Antimatter Antigravity?
- Canada’s $5 Bill
- ISS Hole
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12 pm Pacific / 3 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Google+, Cosmoquest or listen after as part of the Astronomy Cast podcast feed (audio only).
How to Steer the Space Station: Chris Hadfield Explains
Attitude and altitude are important factors for flying a spaceship. But How do you control the International Space Station, a ship the size of a US football field (or five hockey rinks — a better reference for Canadians!)? And where does this happen? Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield answers these questions from inside the ISS.
And below is a beautiful image Hadfield just shared via social media today, showing shadows and clouds over a mountain:
Stunning New Photo from the Space Station: The Moon Ushers in Dawn
During his evening ritual of sharing images taken from the International Space Station, Commander Chris Hadfield posted this gem: a gorgeous night-time view of the southeastern United States, with the Moon hovering over Earth’s limb and the terminator separating night from day. Dawn is just beginning to break to the east, as the ISS flies overhead.
This image reflects the ‘wistful’ feelings Hadfield is having as his time in space in coming to a close. He and his two crewmates Tom Marshburn and Roman Romanenko will head back to Earth on May 13.
During a recent linkup with students, Hadfield said he is becoming “wistful” as he does tasks aboard the ISS, realizing he is doing some for the last time. He is trying to spending as much of his free time gazing out the window at Earth “because of the magnificent rarity of it and my desire to absorb as much of it as I possibly can.”
Hadfield said his emotions go between feelings of great responsibility and great honor to have been asked to command the space station, and he wants to “do it right,” making the most of his experience and communicating to as many people as possible on Earth.
“You do feel the responsibility of it to try and do it right, to try and have one perfect day on the station where I don’t make even one little mistake in any of the procedures, and I haven’t done it yet,” Hadfield admitted. “I’ve been here 130 days and I have yet to have day where I haven’t made at least one little small mistake.”
Some aspects of returning home are enticing: seeing family and friends, and eating things that aren’t dehydrated and come in a vacuum packed bag.
“I’m looking forward to fresh food and the crunch and the snap of food of all different varieties and the smell of rich coffee and the smell of fresh bread baking — that type of thing, a more full assault of the senses when I get home,” Hadfield said.
Weekly Space Hangout – April 26, 2013
We had an action packed Weekly Space Hangout on Friday, with a vast collection of different stories in astronomy and spaceflight. This week’s panel included Alan Boyle, Dr. Nicole Gugliucci, Scott Lewis, Jason Major, and Dr. Matthew Francis. Hosted by Fraser Cain.
Some of the stories we covered included: Pulsar Provides Confirmation of General Relativity, Meteorites Crashing into Saturn’s Rings, Radio Observations of Betelgeuse, Progress Docks with the ISS, Hubble Observes Comet ISON, Grasshopper Jumps 250 Meters, April 25th Lunar Eclipse, and the Mars One Reality Show.
We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12 pm Pacific / 3 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Google+, Cosmoquest or listen after as part of the Astronomy Cast podcast feed (audio only).
Success! Progress Spacecraft Overcomes Stuck Antenna, Arrives at Station
A software fix solved a sticky antenna problem on an unmanned cargo ship, a problem that threatened to interfere with the approach and docking to the International Space Station Friday.
Progress 51 successfully docked with the massive orbiting complex at 8:35 a.m. EDT (12:35 p.m. GMT) Friday without the need of assistance from the station crew, which was standing by to take over the docking just in case.
“Progress is safely docked! Big moment for the crew. Hooray!” wrote astronaut Chris Hadfield, the commander of Expedition 35, on Twitter moments after the spacecraft and station docked.
Watch all the action in the video, below:
Crew members are expected to start unloading the three tons of food, fuel, supplies and experiment on board later today (Friday), if all goes according to schedule.
The Russian supply ship has five antennas on board that are used for approaching the station for a docking using the KURS automated system. One of them refused to unfurl as usual after the spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday (April 24).
As a backup, crew members could bring the spacecraft in using a manual system that also allows them to view the station from a camera inside Progress.
This particular antenna, NASA said, is normally used to help keep the vehicle properly oriented as it gets closer to the station.
When the Progress spacecraft and station are 65 feet (20 meters) apart, the antenna also provides data on the relative roll of the vehicle with respect to the station.
NASA initially told the crew it was expected to bring the spacecraft in manually. Shortly after 6 a.m. EDT (10 a.m. GMT), however, capsule communicator David Saint-Jacques radioed that NASA was confident a software patch created by Russian ground controllers would address the problem.
Progress 51’s final approach proceeded normally, but controllers took it a little slower than usual to ensure the automated system was working properly with the fix. The approach started slightly early, allowing capture to occur at 8:25 a.m. EDT (12:25 p.m. GMT) — two minutes earlier than planned.
Ground control and the Expedition 35 crew then spent several minutes verifying that the antenna would not interfere with the docking port. With crew members saying they couldn’t hear any funny noises from inside the station, NASA went forward with the hard docking.
Follow updates from Expedition 35 at Universe Today, and live on NASA’s television channel online.
TV and Online Viewing Alert: The Man Who Tweeted Earth
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has been called “the internet’s favorite astronaut” and with over 700,000 followers on Twitter, he may be one of the reasons why space is “hot” these days.
A new show featuring Hadfield’s mission on the International Space Station will air on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on Thursday, April 25 and then will be available world-wide online on April 26.
UPDATE: The online version of this show is now available on CBC here.
CBC’s The Nature of Things is broadcasting “The Man Who Tweeted Earth,”,which looks at Hadfield’s mission and features other astronauts, scientific collaborators, Hadfield’s secret weapon family member (his son) and the Mission Control staff at the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.
Also, Universe Today is proud to say that our own Elizabeth Howell is also part of this broadcast, and she’s event featured on this trailer from the CBC!:
“Essentially, I talk about the techniques Hadfield uses to keep people engaged,” Elizabeth told me, as a teaser for the show. “He tweets about people’s hometowns, for example. I also mentioned the Shatner tweeting incident and how other Star Trek actors reacted. The entire show focuses on Hadfield on the station, the experiments he’s doing, and how folks are reacting to it.”
Elizabeth added that other astronauts and “lots of smart people” are part of the show.
For those of you in Canada (and anyone who otherwise has access to the CBC) the TV broadcast is on Thursday, April 25 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV. There are other re-broadcasts later, so check the CBC’s website for info and to verify the times it is being shown in your time zone.
The show will be available online starting Friday, April 26th at: http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episode/the-man-who-tweeted-earth.html
The Nature of Things is CBC’s flagship science television documentary show and has been broadcasting award-winning shows for more than five decades.
Progress Cargo Ship Launches to Space Station
The Russian Progress 51 cargo craft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan April 24, at 12:12 UTC (6:12 am EDT) and is on its way to the International Space Station. Unlike its three predecessors, Progress 51 will take the typical two-day rendezvous instead of the new 6-hour fast-track to reach the ISS. This is because of the phasing and orbital mechanics associated with this launch date. The unpiloted Progress is scheduled to dock to the aft port of the station’s Zvezda Service Module on April 26; however a problem arose when a rendezvous antenna did not deploy, which may affect the docking.
The Progress made it safely to orbit and deployed its solar arrays as planned. But one of the five sets of KURS automated rendezvous antennas used as navigational aids did not deploy. Russian ground controllers are assessing the antenna, which is used to measure orientation of the Progress vehicle, and how to troubleshoot the problem. We’ll keep you posted if the docking time changes.
On board are more than three tons of food, fuel, supplies and experiment hardware for the ISS Expedition 35 crew.
Antares Maiden Soar Pierces Virginia Sky and delivers NASA SmartPhone Pioneer Nanosats to Orbit
The privately developed Antares rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp. successfully blasted off on its maiden test flight from the shores of Virginia on April 21 at 5 p.m. EDT from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) Pad-0A at NASA Wallops – thereby inaugurating the new commercial space race and delivered a pioneering trio of low cost NASA Smartphone nanosatellites dubbed PhoneSat to orbit.
The 13 story Antares rocket pierced the chilly but cloudless clear blue Virginia skies as “the biggest, loudest and brightest rocket ever to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility,” said former station astronaut and now Orbital Sciences manager Frank Culbertson.
Antares picture perfect liftoff marked the first step in a public/private collaboration between NASA and Orbital Sciences to restart cargo delivery services to the International Space Station (ISS) that were lost following the forced retirement of NASA’s space shuttle orbiters in 2011.
“Today’s successful test marks another significant milestone in NASA’s plan to rely on American companies to launch supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station, bringing this important work back to the United States where it belongs,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.
The test flight was dubbed the A-One Test Launch Mission and also signified the first launch from Americas newest space port at Pad-0A.
The primary goal of this test flight – dubbed the A-One mission – was to test the fully integrated Antares rocket and boost a simulated version of the Cygnus cargo carrier – known as a mass simulator – into a target orbit of 250 x 300 kilometers and inclined 51.6 degrees.
Antares also lofted the trio of off-the-shelf-smartphone “PhoneSats” to orbit. The three picture taking satellites are named Alexander, Graham and Bell and could be the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space.
“The Phonesats cost about $3500 each,” said Andrew Petro, NASA Small Satellite Program executive, to Universe Today. “They are deployed after separation.”
The goal of NASA’s PhoneSat mission is to determine whether a consumer-grade smartphone can be used as the main flight avionics of a capable satellite but at a fraction of the cost.
NASA reports that all three lithium battery powered nanosats are functioning and transmitting data to multiple ground stations.
Two of the cubesats are PhoneSat version 1.0 while the other is the more advanced PhoneSat version 2.0. They were developed by engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Calif.
Each square shaped smartphone measures about 4 inches (10 cm) per side, weighs about 4 pounds and is the size of a coffee mug. The smartphone serves as the cubesats onboard computer – see my photos.
The cameras will be used for Earth photography. Imaging data will be transmitted in chunks and then stitched together later.
The third time was the charm for Antares following a pair of launch scrubs due to a technical glitch in the final minutes of the initial countdown attempt on Wednesday, April 17 and unacceptable winds on Saturday, April 20.
The rocket flew on a southeasterly trajectory and was visible for about 4 minutes.
This test flight was inserted into the manifest to reduce risk and build confidence for the follow on missions which will fly the fully outfitted Cygnus resupply spacecraft that will dock at the ISS, starting as early as this summer.
The two stage Antares is a medium class rocket similar to the Delta II and SpaceX Falcon 9.
The dummy Cygnus payload was outfitted with instrumentation to collect aerodynamic data until separation from the 2nd stage. That marked the successful conclusion of the A-One mission and the end of all data transmissions.
It will fly in earth orbit for about two weeks or so until atmospheric friction causes the orbit to decay and a fiery reentry.
The Antares first stage is powered by dual liquid fueled AJ26 first stage rocket engines that generate a combined total thrust of some 750,000 lbs – original built in the Soviet Union as NK-33 model engines.
The upper stage features an ATK Castor 30 solid rocket motor with thrust vectoring. Antares can loft payloads weighing over 5000 kg to LEO. The 2nd stage will be upgraded starting with the 4th flight.
The Antares/Cygnus system was developed by Orbital Sciences Corp under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to replace the ISS cargo resupply capability previously tasked to NASA’s now retired Space Shuttle fleet.
Orbital’s Antares/Cygnus system is similar in scope to the SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon system. Both firms won lucrative NASA contracts to deliver approximately 20,000 kilograms each of supplies and science equipment to the ISS.
The goal of NASA’s COTS initiative is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the ISS and low-Earth orbit (LEO).
Orbital will launch at least eight Antares/Cygnus resupply missions to the ISS at a cost of $1.9 Billion
Ken Kremer
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Learn more about Antares, Orion, SpaceX, Curiosity and NASA robotic and human spaceflight missions at Ken’s upcoming lecture presentations:
April 28: “Curiosity and the Search for Life on Mars – (in 3-D)”. Plus the Space Shuttle, SpaceX, Antares, Orion and more. Washington Crossing State Park, Titusville, NJ, 130 PM
