Can you believe in the total membership of House & Senate, we only have a few who understand the need for a Preeminent Space Program! We are in serious trouble both in space & military capabilities since present potus is anti a strong AMERICA!

Last manned flight 2011. Estimated first manned flight of commercial is 2018 or 2019. Failure delays not factored in. This delay in USA manned operations is not compatible with USA space preeminence!

Requesting some columns by Krauthammer on fallacy of killing shuttle

Bobby Martin Re Lost in Space by G. Abbey--- how about a few columns on the danger to this country in not maintaining a viable shuttle like capability. Re The Case to Save the Shuttle by Al Richardson. 

Posted on his fb page.

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Need shuttle like capability-- Abbey

Money spent on human exploration should be used to develop capabilities needed for a meaningful program. Research into long space flights can be done at the International Space Station, which should therefore be vigorously supported. Abundant launch vehicles are already on the commercial market, and yet a new and very expensive launch vehicle, with undefined payload and mission, is being developed. Three spacecraft are being developed to carry astronauts to space. Does the nation need three space capsules with limited capabilities? The capability that is lacking is the one that saved Hubble and built the largest structure ever assembled and flown in space. A redesigned X-37 that can carry astronauts could provide such a capability.

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Lost in space | Washington Examiner

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/lost-in-space/article/2568052


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Disgusted with this attitude--- all progress involves risk!

For the risk averse, shuttle must be retired immediately----I am disgusted with this attitude!

But as Krantz points out there are risks & we can't always have all the answers.  Does that mean we should be so risk averse that we cease making progress?  

Krantz stated the following & it is on target----

TO read and listen to the coverage about the space shuttle, you would think NASA's mission team has taken careless risks with the lives of the seven astronauts who went into space on the Discovery last Tuesday. During the launching, foam fell off the external tank. For the risk-averse, the only acceptable thing to do now is retire the shuttle program immediately and wait for the divine arrival of the next generation of spacecraft. I am disgusted at the lack of courage and common sense this attitude shows.

Forum: Op-Ed Contributors

All progress involves risk. Risk is essential to fuel the economic engine of our nation. And risk is essential to renew American's fundamental spirit of discovery so we remain competitive with the rest of the world.

My take on the current mission is very straightforward. The shuttle is in orbit. To a great extent mission managers have given the spacecraft a clean bill of health. Let us remember that this is a test flight. I consider it a remarkably successful test so far.

The technical response to the Columbia accident led to a significant reduction in the amount of debris striking this shuttle during launching. Mission managers have said that the external tank shed 80 percent less foam this time than on previous launchings. Only in the news media, apparently, is an 80 percent improvement considered a failure. Rather than quit, we must now try to reduce even more the amount of foam that comes off the tank.

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As summarized by a former Chief Engineer at Kennedy Space Center, “The Orbiter is the most fantastic flying machine built by man. Its retirement in 2010 is premature and shortsighted. What a waste of unique hardware and all the associated infrastructure and people skills that have been developed at Kennedy Space Center. (This applies as well to the other NASA Centers and to the Corporate Suppliers.)

NASA's Webb Space Telescope Receives First Mirror Installation -- WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasas-webb-space-telescope-receives-first-mirror-installation-300184486.html


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Neil deGrasse Tyson: 'The delusion is thinking that SpaceX is going to lead the space frontier' | The Verge

Moon bases , Mars & operational ssto vehicle will require gov support!

http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/24/9792854/neil-degrasse-tyson-interview-delusions-of-space-enthusiasts


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Fwd: Blue Origin Successfully Flies New Shepard Suborbital Vehicle

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 24, 2015 at 2:28:11 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Blue Origin Successfully Flies New Shepard Suborbital Vehicle

 

 

 

Nov 24, 2015

Blue Origin Makes Historic Rocket Landing

Van Horn, Texas - November 24, 2015 - Blue Origin today announced that its New Shepard space vehicle successfully flew to space, reaching its planned test altitude of 329,839 feet (100.5 kilometers) before executing a historic landing back at the launch site in West Texas. To receive updates on Blue Origin's continuing progress and early access to ticketing information, sign up at www.blueorigin.com/interested.

"Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West Texas is the rarest of beasts—a used rocket," said Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin. "Blue Origin's reusable New Shepard space vehicle flew a flawless mission—soaring to 329,839 feet and then returning through 119-mph high-altitude crosswinds to make a gentle, controlled landing just four and a half feet from the center of the pad. Full reuse is a game changer, and we can't wait to fuel up and fly again."

High resolution video and images capturing the historic mission are available for viewing and embedding in stories at www.blueorigin.com/gallery.

Named in honor of the first American in space, Alan Shepard, the New Shepard vertical takeoff and vertical landing vehicle will carry six astronauts to altitudes beyond 100 kilometers, the internationally-recognized boundary of space. Blue Origin astronauts will experience the thrill of launch atop a rocket, the freedom of weightlessness, and views through the largest windows to ever fly in space. An animation of the Blue Origin astronaut experience can be found at www.blueorigin.com/astronaut-experience. Astronaut flights will begin following completion of a methodical flight test program.

Details on the Reusable New Shepard Space Vehicle

The New Shepard space vehicle is fully reusable and operated from Blue Origin's West Texas launch site. The vehicle is comprised of two elements—a crew capsule in which the astronauts ride and a rocket booster powered by a single American-made BE-3 liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen engine. At liftoff, the BE-3 delivers 110,000 pounds of thrust. During ascent, astronauts experience 3x the force of gravity as the spacecraft accelerates through the atmosphere.

Following powered flight, the crew capsule separates from the booster and coasts into space, providing several minutes of weightlessness. As the crew capsule descends, it reenters the atmosphere with astronauts experiencing about 5x the force of gravity before deploying three main parachutes for landing. Meanwhile, the booster descends under guided flight to the landing pad. Just prior to landing, the booster re-ignites its BE-3 engine which slows the vehicle to 4.4 mph for a gentle, powered vertical landing, enabling vehicle reuse.

Flight Details

• Launched at 11:21 a.m. Central Time, November 23, 2015
• Apogee of 329,839 feet (100.5 kilometers) for the crew capsule
• Mach 3.72
• Re-ignition of rocket booster at 4,896 feet above ground level
• Controlled vertical landing of the booster at 4.4 mph
• Deployment of crew capsule drogue parachutes at 20,045 feet above ground level
• Landing of the crew capsule under parachutes at 11:32 a.m. Central Time
• Additional remarks from Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos are available on the Blue Origin blog at www.blueorigin.com/news/blog/historic-rocket-landing

About Blue Origin

Blue Origin, LLC (Blue Origin) is a private company developing vehicles and technologies to enable commercial human space transportation. Blue Origin has a long-term vision of greatly increasing the number of people that fly into space so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system. For more information and a list of job openings, please visit us at www.blueorigin.com.

View more mission images here

© 2015 Blue Origin All rights reserved.

 

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Blue Origin Successfully Flies New Shepard Suborbital Vehicle

by Jeff Foust — November 24, 2015

New Shepard's propulsion module stands on the pad after landing at the end of a Nov. 23 suborbital test flight. Credit: Blue Origin

WASHINGTON — Blue Origin announced Nov. 24 that it launched its New Shepard suborbital vehicle on a second test flight, flying to the edge of space and successfully landing both sections of the vehicle.

New Shepard launched from the company's West Texas test site at 12:21 p.m. Eastern time Nov. 23, reaching a peak altitude of 100.5 kilometers and top speed of Mach 3.72. The vehicle's unoccupied crew capsule separated and parachuted to a landing, while its propulsion module made a powered vertical landing.

The test was similar to one flown in April, where the vehicle reached a peak altitude of more than 93 kilometers. On that earlier test, however, a hydraulic problem with the propulsion module prevented it from making a controlled landing.

"This flight validates our vehicle architecture and design," Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the flight. That includes fins and drag brakes that steer and slow down the propulsion module before its main engine reignites for the final landing sequence.

Both modules of New Shepard are designed to be reused. "Full reuse is a game changer, and we can't wait to fuel up and fly again," Bezos said in the statement. The company did not states when they next plan to fly the vehicle.

The company did not announce the test flight in advance, and did not issue a statement about it until 18 hours after it took place. However, in recent weeks company officials have stated that they planned to conduct a test flight of New Shepard before the end of the year.

The successful flight keeps Blue Origin on track to begin commercial flights of research payloads by the middle of 2016. The vehicle is also designed to carry people, but the company has not disclosed a timetable for crewed flights.

 © 2015 SpaceNews, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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Fwd: 30 Years Since the Spectacular EVA of Mission 61B

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 22, 2015 at 5:11:28 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: 30 Years Since the Spectacular EVA of Mission 61B

 

AmericaSpace

For a nation that explores
November 21st, 2015

'Your Big Chance': 30 Years Since the Spacewalking Spectacular of Mission 61B (Part 1)

By Ben Evans

 

In the earliest EVA demonstration of building a space station, Jerry Ross and Woody Spring assemble the EASE tetrahedron in Atlantis' payload bay. Their flight, Mission 61B, began 30 years ago, next week. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Thirty years ago, next week, something unprecedented in the entire history of the shuttle program unfolded when Atlantis turned night into day across the Space Coast, rising into orbit on her second mission, a mere 50 days after returning from her maiden voyage. Roaring into the night from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 7:29 p.m. EST on 26 November 1985, Mission 61B thus secured a landing-to-launch record for a single orbiter which would never again be broken throughout the shuttle's 30-year career. During their seven days aloft, the crew—astronauts Bryan O'Connor, Jerry Ross, Mary Cleave, Sherwood "Woody" Spring, Charlie Walker, and Mexico's first man in space, Rudolfo Neri Vela, commanded by Atlantis' youngest-ever skipper, Brewster Shaw—released three communications satellites and staged a pair of spectacular EVAs to rehearse assembly techniques for Space Station Freedom, the forerunner of today's International Space Station (ISS). Little could the 61B crew have known that spacewalker Jerry Ross would go on to lead the EVAs which began building the ISS for real, in December 1998.

Beginning with the impressive turnaround of Atlantis between Missions 51J and 61B—which was, in a sense, reflective of the operational and managerial mindset prevalent within NASA during the pre-Challenger era—a mere seven weeks between launches of the same vehicle remains remarkable. When placed into context across the entire shuttle program, the next-fastest landing-to-launch turnaround for a single orbiter was 55 days, achieved by Challenger during the run-up to Mission 41C in early 1984, whilst in the post-51L era the closest parallel was the exceptional case of STS-94, in which Columbia was rapidly recycled to refly the Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL) mission in just 84 days in mid-1997. As outlined in a previous AmericaSpace article, after Mission 51J Atlantis was returned from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to the Cape, on 12 October 1985, where she spent a mere 27 days in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF), then four days in the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for stacking onto her bulbous External Tank (ET) and twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), before rolling out to the pad. And plugging that into the context of the entire shuttle program, the next-fastest pre-51L single-flow OPF turnaround was 30 days, achieved by Discovery ahead of Mission 51I, whilst the fastest post-51L single flow was 55 days, accomplished by Atlantis before STS-45 in the spring of 1992.

By peculiar coincidence, Mission 61B spacewalker Jerry Ross would also lead the EVAs to begin the on-orbit construction of the International Space Station (ISS) in December 1998. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

In spite of deploying three communications satellites, including the first use of McDonnell Douglas' uprated Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D2 booster, and seeing the first citizen of Mexico reach space, Mission 61B will always be chiefly remembered for its EVAs—only the 10th and 11th ever performed in the shuttle program. When President Ronald Reagan announced plans to build a permanent, U.S.-led space station in early 1984, it was quickly recognized that the endeavor would require multiple EVA hours. NASA already had plans to assemble a pair of structures—an inverted tetrahedron, known as the Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA (EASE), and a 43-foot-tall (13-meter) tower, the Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures (ACCESS)—in the shuttle's payload bay.

Mounted atop a Mission-Peculiar Equipment Support Structure (MPESS) for launch, the EASE-ACCESS assembly tasks required no specialized tools and called for spacewalkers to snap together their prefabricated segments, linking them in place with nodes, socket-clusters and lockable "sleeves." The downside was that there were a lot of parts: ACCESS had 93 tubular aluminum struts, measuring anywhere from 4.5 feet (1.35 meters) to six feet (1.8 meters) long, whilst EASE possessed six beams, each extending to 11.8 feet (3.6 meters). Due to shuttle manifest changes, numerous astronauts trained for the assembly EVAs—including James "Ox" van Hoften and Steve Hawley and, for a time, even the crew of the ill-fated Mission 51L—before settling on Mission 61B. In fact, the precise objectives of Brewster Shaw's flight had changed several times since his crew had been announced by NASA in February 1984: at first, they were tasked with the retrieval of the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) in February 1985, then a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) and eventually a trio of payloads, including satellites for Australia, Mexico, and Radio Corporation of America (RCA). By the spring of 1985, their launch had slipped until the end of the year and they picked up a Mexican crewman and were later joined by McDonnell Douglas engineer Charlie Walker.

Yet it was Jerry Ross and Woody Spring who pushed for the inclusion of the EASE-ACCESS task onto their mission and the two men worked with program managers over the course of several months to choreograph a pair of six-hour EVAs. ACCESS was fairly straightforward. "Both crew members were in fixed foot restraints," Ross told the NASA oral historian, years later. "It was basically just a matter of bringing a part out, putting it onto this assembly fixture, hooking the components together, rotating to the three faces, then sliding the completed segment of truss up and repeating the process for a total of ten 'bays'. We knew that technique would be a very satisfactory way of doing business, because when a crew member's feet are anchored properly, that gives you both hands free to do work." EASE, ironically, in view of its name, proved more difficult, since it required one spacewalker to "free-float," without foot restraints, holding onto the structure with one hand and torqueing the beams with the other. It was clear that EASE might turn into their Achilles heel. "We learned to do it," said Woody Spring in a NASA oral history interview, "but also learned that free-floating is not the way to put things together."

By mid-1985, Ross—designated "EV1," with red stripes on the legs of his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) for identification—and Spring ("EV2," clad in a pure-white suit) were performing at least one long-duration simulation, per week, in the Weightless Environment Training Facility (WET-F) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, deliberately spending up to six hours continuously underwater at a time. For some of the "tall" work, recalled Woody Spring, they also utilized the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator (NBS) at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Ala. "We knew … it's absolutely essential to work with the masses and the volumes and do the choreography exactly as it will happen in orbit, so you know what to expect," Spring explained. "If you don't, you'll regret it!"

Atlantis roars into the night at 7:29 p.m. EST on 26 November 1985. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

On the eve of Mission 61B's launch, the two spacewalks had been refined into a pair of intricate dance-routines. EVA-1 would feature the assembly and disassembly of the ACCESS tower, with one astronaut in foot restraints on the MPESS and the other at the end of Atlantis' Remote Manipulator System (RMS) mechanical arm, as well as up to six assemblies and disassemblies of the EASE tetrahedron. Two days later, EVA-2 would repeat the work, but would also attach flexible cables to simulate electrical wiring and evaluate their ability to physically move the structures around the payload bay.

Three days after leaving Earth, on 29 November 1985, Ross and Spring pushed open the airlock's outer hatch and entered the payload bay for EVA-1. "What's going through your mind is: Oh, I hope I don't screw up!" recalled Spring. "It's your big chance … and they've got all the video cameras in the world on you! If you screw up, your friends will have photos and video ready for you at the pin party, too." For his part, Ross was so excited that he had to muster the strength not to let out a "war whoop of glee" when he ventured outside. ACCESS was built in less than an hour—half as long as expected—and they disassembled and reassembled it a second time. Pleasantly surprising was the "ease" of EASE, which proved far more straightforward in microgravity and the spacewalkers completed eight assemblies and disassemblies, rather than the planned six.

At one point, perched at the top of EASE, Spring was hit by the suddenness of orbital sunset and the most ethereal darkness that he had ever encountered. "All of a sudden, night fell," he told the NASA oral historian. "I just wasn't used to all of a sudden going dark, so you've got to get your visor up and get your [helmet] headlights on and then everything was cool. But I remember that little bit of anxiety, because you're up on this kind of tippy structure and you're thrashing around just a little bit." Tiredness quickly set in, as did numbness in fingers, with mental fatigue far overlapping physical exhaustion, as the men's minds raced at what Ross later described as "a million miles an hour." Ross earned the nickname "Captain Cardboard" from Cleave, owing to her having to move him around repeatedly at the end of the RMS. Logging 5.5 hours outside on their first spacewalk, the two men were back in the payload bay on 1 December, this time for more than 6.5 hours, which ran so smoothly that the jubilant Ross and Spring returned inside Atlantis … and volunteered to prepare dinner for their crewmates.

In spite of the visually spectacular nature of the EVAs, they were but one facet of Mission 61B, which also marked the first occasion that shuttle fliers had celebrated Thanksgiving away from the Home Planet, saw an unusually padlocked crew access hatch and fell victim to a touch of good-natured banter among the military astronauts. As will be explored in tomorrow's article, the shuttle manifest was so busy in the fall of 1985 and early 1986—with Columbia due to fly Mission 61C and Challenger expected to follow on Mission 51L—that Brewster Shaw's crew opted to wait until the next two crews had returned to Earth, before holding a "big" homecoming party.

Tragically, it was not to be.

 

Copyright © 2015 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved

 

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AmericaSpace

For a nation that explores
November 22nd, 2015

'Barn Burner': 30 Years Since the Spacewalking Spectacular of Mission 61B (Part 2)

By Ben Evans

In addition to a pair of spectacular EVAs by Jerry Ross and Woody Spring, Mission 61B deployed three satellites and carried Mexico's first national astronaut into space. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

Thirty years ago, next week, Atlantis rocketed into orbit on her second mission, just 50 days after wrapping up her maiden voyage. In so doing, she secured a new landing-to-launch record for a single orbiter which would never again be broken for the remainder of the shuttle's career. Rising into the night on 26 November 1985—becoming only the third U.S. piloted space mission, after Apollo 17 and STS-8, to launch in the hours of darkness—Mission 61B will forever be remembered for its two spectacular EVAs, during which spacewalkers Jerry Ross and Sherwood "Woody" Spring assembled and disassembled a framework of tubular structures in the shuttle's payload bay. Intended as part of the effort to prepare for Space Station Freedom, few could have foreseen that, 13 years later, Ross would also lead the vanguard to build the International Space Station (ISS). Yet Mission 61B involved more than EVAs: Its crew placed three satellites into orbit, featured Mexico's first man in space, and was commanded by Atlantis' youngest-ever skipper.

The astronauts of Mission 61B were a very close-knit team, drawn together by almost two years of flight-specific training, following the initial assignment of the NASA "core" crew—Commander Brewster Shaw, Pilot Bryan O'Connor, and Mission Specialists Ross, Spring, and Mary Cleave—in February 1984. At that time, only Shaw had flown before, and more than one of his crewmates described him as a "mentor" and likened him to a "mother-hen." By the fall of 1985, they had been joined by McDonnell Douglas engineer Charlie Walker, who had already flown two shuttle missions, and Mexico's first citizen in space, Rudolfo Neri Vela. He was aboard Atlantis to observe the deployment of his country's Morelos-B communications satellite. However, in September 1985, an earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale hit Mexico City, killing more than 10,000 people, and for a time the effect upon ground infrastructure almost forced Morelos-B to be deleted from the 61B payload. "If Morelos … does fly," noted Flight International on 9 November, "it will be placed in parking orbit until Mexico's telecommunications are rehabilitated." As circumstances transpired, Morelos-B remained on the mission, as did Neri Vela.

Unofficial portrait of the 61B crew. From left to right are Charlie Walker, Jerry Ross, Mary Cleave, "Boss" Brewster Shaw, Rudolfo Neri Vela, Woody Spring, and Bryan O'Connor. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

An interesting story surrounds his place on the crew. Neri Vela and his backup, Ricardo Peralta y Fabi, were selected in July 1985, and having less than six months to train with an unknown crew member worried Brewster Shaw. "I'm probably a paranoid kind of guy, but I didn't know what he was going to do on-orbit," Shaw told the NASA oral historian, "so I remember I got this padlock and … went down to the hatch on the side of the orbiter and I padlocked the hatch control, so that you could not open the hatch." Charlie Walker—who had flown two previous shuttle missions, in August 1984 and April 1985—was a "known" quantity, but Shaw was concerned that Neri Vela might "flip out" during launch or in space. Fellow astronaut Mike Mullane made reference to the padlock episode in his 2006 memoir, Riding Rockets, noting that future missions benefited from a similar arrangement, with only the shuttle's commander having access to the key. "I don't know if I was supposed to do that or not," added Shaw, "but that's a decision I made as being responsible for my crew. I don't think Rodolfo noticed it, but some of the other crew noticed it."

Late in their training, the 61B crew posed for an unofficial portrait, featuring engineers Cleave and Walker in white lab coats, Shaw wearing a "Boss" badge, O'Connor dressed in leather cap and goggles as the barnstorming fighter ace, Ross and Spring in space suits and construction helmets … and Neri Vela in a traditional serape and sombrero. "That photo could not be the official one," admitted Spring in his NASA oral history, "because the Mexican government took a little bit of umbrage at Rodolfo being dressed up in a serape and a sombrero, but then post-flight we went down to Mexico City … and the first thing they did was take us to the folk ballet, where everybody is dressed up exactly like that!" In the photograph, Spring also posed with a stuffed kangaroo toy in his lap, honoring one of 61B's other communications satellites: Australia's Aussat-2. Their third satellite was Radio Corporation of America's (RCA) payload, Satcom K-2, which was, at the time, the highest-powered domestic communications satellite in service. Its size and weight also required it to be boosted into geostationary orbit using McDonnell Douglas' uprated Payload Assist Module (PAM)-D2 booster, which was embarking on its first flight.

If Woody Spring considered the moments before his first EVA as being more anxious than the launch itself, that did nothing to detract from the excitement of Atlantis' second climb into orbit. "It was a perfect night," he recalled. "We had a full Moon, the day before Thanksgiving, severe, clear, not a cloud in the sky; it was a gorgeous night." Spring was seated on the shuttle's middeck, together with the payload specialists, whilst Ross sat upstairs, directly behind the pilot, and Cleave occupied the flight engineer's position. With five minutes to go, O'Connor—the first shuttle pilot from NASA's 1980 astronaut class to draw a flight assignment—activated the three Auxiliary Power Units (APUs).

Not until relatively close to the flight did the crew realize that they would be launching at night. As the final seconds ticked away to launch, O'Connor glanced across the cabin toward Shaw and noticed that the commander had momentarily removed his gloves to wipe sweat from his hands. "Oh, my God," O'Connor thought. "My commander, who's been through this before … his hands are sweating! Why aren't mine sweating? I need to be nervous now, if he's nervous." The sound of Atlantis' main engines igniting, said Spring, was like a roomful of lions, roaring, directly behind him. "And you can feel it," he remembered. "This vehicle's alive. Then the main engines gimbal, getting ready. From the moment of main engine start, you get one and a half seconds where the vehicle actually swings about three degrees of arc and then comes back again, then the Solid Rocket Boosters ignite." With a force akin to a sledgehammer blast, they were propeled away from the launch pad in what Spring could only describe as "a barn-burner." The launch, Shaw recalled later, could be seen from as far away as the Carolinas and the south end of Florida. Eight minutes later, in a preliminary orbit, Spring released a pencil and watched it float freely. He let out a whoop of delight as Cleave giggled with excitement over the intercom. They were in space.

The high-powered Satcom K-2 satellite, atop the first PAM-D2 booster, is deployed from Atlantis' payload bay. Photo Credit: NASA, via Joachim Becker/SpaceFacts.de

A busy mission got underway almost immediately, with Spring supervising the deployments of the Mexican and Australian communications satellites and Ross overseeing the release of Satcom K-2. Morelos was sent spinning out of the payload bay ("with a resounding thump," according to Spring), early on 27 November and, after the crew had slept, was followed by Aussat later that night. Finally, the cube-shaped Satcom was released on the afternoon of the 28th.

To say that the 61B crew had a good time together, on the ground and in orbit, is something of an understatement. Years later, Ross recounted that O'Connor and Spring were the comedians, with the latter producing the idle jokes and the former mastering the dry wit. "He will sucker you in on some really serious discussion," Ross said of O'Connor, "and then hit you over the head with a two-by-four with some joke or comment!" Before launch, O'Connor had recorded the Naval Academy song, Anchors Aweigh, and hidden it somewhere in the middle of Army's aviator Spring's Walkman music cassette. A couple of days into the mission, with the lights turned off and the crew ready for sleep, Spring suddenly screamed, "O'Connor, you son of a b***h!" The prankster had completely forgotten about it, but was quickly reminded. "It was his Peter, Paul and Mary album," O'Connor recalled with glee, "and it was right in the middle of I've Got a Hammer … and suddenly up comes this really loud Navy fight song!"

Thanksgiving on the second day of the mission offered the chance for the crew to eat irradiated turkey, pumpkin bread, mashed potatoes, beans, and a somewhat tasteless concoction which was labelled "gravy." In fact, many foods which tasted fine on Earth were quite different in orbit: shrimp cocktails resembled battery acid, laced in sawdust, and Spring found the grapefruit juices appalling. Neri Vela also brought along some Mexican foodstuffs, including flour tortillas.

"The landing," said O'Connor, "isn't nearly as exciting as the launch." Re-entry was over the darkened Pacific Ocean, and cloud cover restricted their view of the runway at Edwards until Atlantis was a couple of kilometres above the ground. Shaw brought her in to a perfect landing at 1:33:49 p.m. PST (4:33:49 p.m. EST) on 3 December 1985, an orbit earlier than planned. There was a slight tail wind, and both Shaw and O'Connor were concerned about the integrity of the brakes and tires, but the vehicle slowed to a stop, right on the centerline. Thus ended the ninth shuttle mission of 1985, which enabled Mission 61B to contribute to another record, which to this day remains unbroken: the greatest number of piloted spaceflights in a single calendar year.

 

Copyright © 2015 AmericaSpace - All Rights Reserved

 

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: Get a blog & help save American manned space capabilities!

http://environmentalfruitcakes.blogspot.com/2015/07/get-blog-help-save-american-manned.html


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Cruz: We must continue America's leadership in space - Houston Chronicle

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Cruz-We-must-continue-America-s-leadership-in-6641898.php


Sent from my iPad

Having this capability in a museum is unbelievable, we need bold leadership to regain WHAT WE HAD!!! As Krantz & Abbey have said, DON'T GO BACK TO CAPSULES---- which is what we are funding with the Commercial approach!

Cruz says NASA should refocus on 'core' mission, end dependence on Russians - Houston Chronicle

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Cruz-on-NASA-s-new-rocket-and-spacecraft-6015056.php


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Project Apollo Archive’s albums | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/projectapolloarchive/albums


Sent from my iPad

Astronauts Plant Flowers in Space

http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2015/11/17/75966396/?utm_source=Today%27s+Deep+Space+Extra%2C+Wednesday%2C+November+18%2C+2015&utm_campaign=dailycsextra&utm_medium=email


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Fwd: RD-180 - the first fire test

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 15, 2015 at 8:14:40 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: RD-180 - the first fire test

 

   

 

STORY. RD-180 - the first fire test

11.15.2015 8:56

19 years ago, on 15 November 1996, the NGO "Energomash" held its first firing test of the prototype engine RD-180 # 1A. Since then, the RD-180 has become the most sought-after in the international market of the Russian rocket engine. For 19 years, made 83 commodity RD-180.

In early 1996, a draft of the RD-180 NGOs "Energomash" was recognized as the winner of the competition for the development and production of first-stage engine for the upgraded "Atlas" of the American company Lockheed Martin Corporation («Lockheed Martin"). Creating a powerful engine of the first stage in the NPO "Energomash" was carried out in a short time.

Today RD-180 has established itself as one of the most reliable rockets in the world. Largely thanks to impeccable quality and unique characteristics of using the RD-180 US launches the most expensive payloads and companies Boeing («Boeing") and Sierra Nevada («Sierra Nevada") chose "Atlas" with the RD-180 as launch vehicle prospective manned spacecraft. Cooperation Roscosmos, NPO "Energomash" and American companies contracted deliveries of missile engines proved once again that the cosmos is international, and experts of our countries can do together to create unique products of the highest quality.

RD-180 is based on the legendary engine 11D520 (RD-170) designed for rocket "Energy". Encompasses all the best that has been created on the RD-170, RD-180, despite the differences in design while retaining the ability reusable and quality management system, implemented in the NPO "Energomash" in the production of the RD-180 and later spread all engines of the company to provide him with the reliability that has become legendary. Today, technology and experience gained in the development and operation of RD-170 and RD-180, used in the RD-190 engine developed for the new Russian carrier rocket family "Angara".

 

Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности "РОСКОСМОС"

107996, ГСП-6, г. Москва, ул. Щепкина, д.42 
Тел.: +7 (495) 631-97-61 
Факс: +7 (495) 688-90-63

 

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Fwd: NASA vs. Cigarettes: A Numbers Game

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 17, 2015 at 12:00:15 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: NASA vs. Cigarettes: A Numbers Game

 

 

NASA vs. Cigarettes: A Numbers Game

by Evan Gough on November 16, 2015

 

A photo of the full moon, taken from Apollo 11 on its way home to Earth, from about 18,520 km (10,000 nm) away. Credit: NASA

People often criticize the amount of money spent on space exploration. Sometimes it's well-meaning friends and family who say that that money is wasted, and would be better spent on solving problems here on Earth. In fact, that's a whole cultural meme. You see it played out over and over in the comments section whenever mainstream media covers a space story.

While solving problems here on Earth is noble, and the right thing to do, it's worth pointing out that the premier space exploration body on Earth, NASA, actually has a tiny budget. When you compare NASA's budget to what people spend on cigarettes, NASA looks pretty good.

Ignoring for the moment the fact that we don't know how to solve all the problems here on Earth, let's look at NASA's budget over the years, and compare it to something that is truly a waste of money: cigarettes and tobacco.

NASA is over 50 years old. In its first year, its budget was $89 million. (That's about $732 million in today's dollars.) In that same year, Americans spent about $6 billion on cigarettes and tobacco.

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon. Image Credit: NASA

From 1969 to 1972, NASA's Apollo Program landed 12 men on the Moon. They won the Space Race and established a moment that will echo through the ages, no matter what else humanity does: the first human footsteps anywhere other than Earth. In those four years, NASA's combined budget was $14.8 billion. In that same time period, Americans spent over twice as much—$32 billion—on smoking.

STS-1 Columbia on the launch pad. Image Credit: NASA

In 1981, NASA launched its first space shuttle, the Columbia (STS-1). NASA's budget that year was $5.5 billion. That same year, the American population spent about $17.4 billion on tobacco. That's three times NASA's budget. How many more shuttle flights could there have been? How much more science?

The Hubble Space Telescope in 1997, after its first servicing mission. It's about 552 km (343m) above Earth. Image: NASA

In 1990, NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope into Low Earth Orbit (LEO.) The Hubble has been called the most successful science project in history, and Universe Today readers probably don't need to be told why. The Hubble is responsible for a laundry list of discoveries and observations, and has engaged millions of people around the world in space science and discovery. In that year, NASA had a budget of $12.4 billion. And smoking? In 1990, Americans smoked their way through $26.5 billion of tobacco.

MSL Curiosity selfie on the surface of Mars. Image: NASA/JPL/Cal-Tech.

In 2012, NASA had a budget of $16.8 billion. In that year, NASA successfully landed the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity on Mars, at a cost of $2.5 billion. Also that year, American lungs processed $44 billion worth of tobacco. That's the equivalent of 17 Curiosity rovers!

There was an enormous scientific debate around where Curiosity should land, in order to maximize the science. Scientific teams competed to have their site chosen, and eventually the Gale Crater was selected as the most promising site. Gale is a meteor crater, and was chosen because it shows signs of running water, as well as evidence of layered geology including clays and minerals.

Sunrise at Gale Crater on Mars. Gale is at center top with the mound in the middle, called Mt. Sharp (Aeolis Mons.)

But other equally tantalizing sites were in contention, including Holden Crater, where a massive and catastrophic flood took place, and where ancient sediments lie exposed on the floor of the crater, ready for study. Or Mawrth Vallis, another site that suffered a massive flood, which exposed layers of clay minerals formed in the presence of water. With the money spent on tobacco in 2012 ($44 billion!) we could have had a top ten list of landing sites on Mars, and put a rover at each one.

Think of all that science.

One of the JWST's gold-coated mirrors. Not even launched yet, and the golden mirrors are already iconic. Image Credit: NASA/Drew Noel

NASA's budget is always a source of controversy, and that's certainly true of another of NASA's big projects: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST.) Space enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting the launch of the JWST, planned for October 2018. The JWST will take up residence at the second Lagrange Point (L2,) where it will spend 5-10 years studying the formation of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems from the Big Bang until now. It will also investigate the potential for life in other solar systems.

The L2 (Lagrange 2) point in space. Image Credit: NASA

Initially the JWST's cost was set at $1.6 billion and it was supposed to launch in 2011. But now it's set for October 2018, and its cost has grown to $8.8 billion. It sounds outrageous, almost $9 billion for a space telescope, and Congress considered scrapping the entire project. But what's even more outrageous is that Americans are projected to spend over $50 billion on tobacco in 2018.

When people in the future look back at NASA and what it was able to accomplish in the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, they'll think two things: First, they'll think how amazing it was that NASA did what it did. The Moon landings, the Shuttle program, the Hubble, Curiosity, and the James Webb.

Then, they'll be saddened by how much more could've been done collectively, if so much money hadn't been wasted on something as deadly as smoking.

(Note: All amounts are US Dollars.)

 

 

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Fwd: First satellite launched for Russia’s new missile warning network

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 18, 2015 at 7:22:56 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: First satellite launched for Russia's new missile warning network

First satellite launched for Russia's new missile warning network

November 17, 2015 by Stephen Clark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CI2Jn67gs4

Russia launched an early warning satellite Tuesday, deploying the first in a new fleet of military satellites to detect missile launches heading for Russian territory.

The secretive payload blasted off at 0634 GMT (1:34 a.m. EST) aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military facility in northern Russia's Arkhangelsk region, according to a statement issued by the Russian Defense Ministry.

The launcher flew in the modernized Soyuz-2.1b configuration with an upgraded third stage engine and a digital flight control system. A Fregat upper stage was programmed to fire multiple times to guide the mission's satellite payload, believed to be the first EKS-class missile warning platform, into an elliptical Tundra-type orbit positioned over high latitudes.

The defense ministry declared the flight successful in its statement after the launch.

"All the required procedures and the Soyuz-2.1b space rocket launch were carried out as planned," the defense ministry said.

Russia did not release the satellite's orbital parameters or data on its specifications and capabilities, but U.S. military tracking assets indicated the spacecraft was placed in an orbit with a low point of approximately 1,626 kilometers (1,010 miles), a high point of 38,550 kilometers (23,953 miles) and an inclination of 63.8 degrees.

Russian authorities officially named the new EKS satellite Kosmos 2510, keeping with the country's nomenclature for defense-related spacecraft.

EKS is a Russian acronym that translates to integrated space system, according to RussianSpaceWeb.com. The EKS satellites replace Russia's Oko early warning system, which had its last satellite launch in 2012.

RussianSpaceWeb.com reported the last Oko satellite failed in orbit in 2014, leaving ground-based radars as the Russian government's only way to detect incoming missiles.

Russia's Novosti news agency reported last year that 10 EKS satellites will be launched by 2018 to complete the space-based early warning network.

Tuesday's launch marked the sixth space mission to lift off from Plesetsk this year, and the fourth using a Soyuz booster. It was the 13th launch of the Soyuz rocket family worldwide in 2015.

 

© 2015 Spaceflight Now Inc.

 

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Fwd:

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bobby G Martin <bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com>
Date: November 19, 2015 at 11:30:40 AM CST
To: Bobby Martin <bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com>

Shuttle Risks Are Worth It -- Gene Kranz

From an op-ed piece by Eugene Kranz, former NASA flight director (of Apollo 13 fame), in yesterday's Houston Chronicle (paragraphing edited):

During the launching, foam fell off the external tank.   For the risk-averse, the only acceptable thing to do now is retire the shuttle program immediately and wait for the divine arrival of the next generation of spacecraft.   

I am disgusted at the lack of courage and common sense this attitude shows. 

All progress involves risk.  Risk is essential to fuel the economic engine of our nation. 

And risk is essential to renew American's fundamental spirit of discovery so we remain competitive with the rest of the world. 

*  *  *

I understand the tragedy inherent in risk-taking; I witnessed the fire aboard Apollo 1 in 1967 that killed three crew members. It filled us with anger at ourselves and with the resolve to make it right. After the fire we didn't quit; we redesigned the Apollo command module. During the Apollo missions that followed, we were never perfect. But we were determined and competent and that made these missions successful.

I see the same combination of anger, resolve and determination in the space shuttle program today. These people are professionals who understand risk, how to reduce it and how to make that which remains acceptable.

Most important, the current mission has demonstrated the maturity of the shuttle team that endured the Columbia disaster and had the guts to persevere. This is the most important aspect of the recovery from the Columbia accident, and is a credit to the great team NASA now has in place, headed by its administrator, Michael Griffin.

There are many nations that wish to surpass us in space. Does the "quit now" crowd really believe that abandoning the shuttle and the International Space Station is the way to keep America the pre-eminent space-faring nation? Do they really believe that a new spacecraft will come without an engineering challenge or a human toll?

The path the naysayers suggest is so out of touch with the American character of perseverance, hard work and discovery that they don't even realize the danger in which they are putting future astronauts — not to mention our nation.

Sent from my iPad

Commercial Space Freighters

http://www.spacetran21.org/


Sent from my iPad

Fwd: Spacewalk snapshots show recent station EVAs

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 17, 2015 at 8:44:58 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Spacewalk snapshots show recent station EVAs

 

Spacewalk snapshots show recent station EVAs

November 16, 2015 by Stephen Clark

Clad in white spacesuits, astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren recently floated outside the International Space Station on a pair of spacewalks, and the duo carried cameras with them to document the excursions.

NASA has released pictures from the Oct. 28 and Nov. 6 spacewalks showing Kelly and Lindgren snapping space selfies and working near the end of the space station's 357-foot-long (109-meter) truss to reconfigure an ammonia coolant loop.

The spacewalkers also laid cables for future commercial crew capsule docking ports and lubricated the latching end effector of the research lab's Canadian-built robotic arm.

The excursions marked the first spacewalks of Kelly and Lindgren's careers. The astronauts logged 15 hours and 4 minutes on the two EVAs.

Astronaut Scott Kelly snaps a space selfie while on an Oct. 28 spacewalk. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Scott Kelly is photographed just outside the station's Quest airlock at the beginning of his first spacewalk Oct. 28. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren works on a night pass during an Oct. 28 spacewalk. Credit: NASA

A maze of cables and wires along the space station's truss backbone is seen in this view captured by one of the astronauts on a Nov. 6 spacewalk. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren took this selfie during the Nov. 6 spacewalk. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Scott Kelly is seen working outside the space station in this picture from the Nov. 6 spacewalk. One of the outpost's giant solar array wings is in the background. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Scott Kelly during the Nov. 6 spacewalk. Credit: NASA

Dwarfed by the enormous power truss of the International Space Station, astronaut Scott Kelly works outside the complex Nov. 6. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren on his second spacewalk Nov. 6. Credit: NASA

Spot the astronaut. Kjell Lindgren works at the P6 truss at the end of the space station's structural backbone on Nov. 6. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren photographed at the P6 worksite Nov. 6. Credit: NASA

 

 

© 2015 Spaceflight Now Inc.

 

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