Happy Flex Friday all.
Be careful out there!
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
- Three JSC Innovations Featured in NASA Tech Briefs
- Accepting POWER of One Nominations - Organizations/Social
- HSI ERG Meeting: MicroG Effects and Glove Sensors
- RSVP by July 23 for the Next JSC NMA Luncheon
- Apollo 45th Anniversary T-Shirts Now Available
- Starport Boot Camp - Registration Now Open - Jobs and Training
- NASA Healthier You 2014 Well-Being Webinars |  |
| Headlines - Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
Most of us are going to "wing it" during hurricane season, but are pretty comfortable that we can figure out what to do in a storm. Johnny Manziel is likely to appear on an episode of "The Kardashians" according to your second answer. I hope he knows she's already taken. This week I got back from vacation totally exhausted. Does your summer vacation leave you refreshed? Tired? The World Cup is over and many say it's a turning point for soccer in the United States. What do you think? Do you love soccer now? Couldn't care less? Like the U.S. team only? Neymar your Messi on over to get this week's poll. - Three JSC Innovations Featured in NASA Tech Briefs
The July 2014 issue of NASA Tech Briefs has recognized three more innovative JSC technologies. The NASA Tech Briefs publication introduces information on new innovations and technologies stemming from advanced research and technology programs at NASA. The latest edition includes the following advanced JSC innovations: - Carbon Monoxide Silicate Reduction System (inventors Mark Berggren, Stacy Carrera and Robert Zubrin of Pioneer Astronautics for JSC)
- Integrated Rate Isolation Sensor (inventors: Timothy Crain of JSC and Tye Brady, Timothy Henderson, Richard Phillips and Doug Zimpfer of Draper Laboratory)
- Compact Regenerative Blower (inventors: Michael Izenson and Weibo Chen of Creare Inc. for JSC)
- Accepting POWER of One Nominations
The POWER of One award has been a great success, but we still need your nominations. We're looking for standout achievements with specific examples of exceptional and superior performance. Make sure to check out our award criteria to help guide you in writing the short write-up needed for submittal. If chosen, the recipient can choose from a list of JSC experiences and have their name and recognition shared in JSC Today. Click here for complete information on the JSC Awards Program. Organizations/Social - HSI ERG Meeting: MicroG Effects and Glove Sensors
The Human Systems Integration (HSI) Employee Resource Group (ERG) invites you to our July meeting, where we will host two NASA presenters from the recent Southwest Regional Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Symposium. We hope you can join us for the discussion on these fascinating human factors topics! Feel free to bring your lunch. - Effects of long-duration microgravity on fine motor control skills (Holden, Thompson, Sandor)
- The potential of wearable sensor technology for Extravehicular Activity glove ergonomic evaluation (Reid, McFarland, Norcross, Rajulu)
- RSVP by July 23 for the Next JSC NMA Luncheon
JSC's National Management Association (NMA) invites you to its next luncheon on July 30 at 11:30 a.m. in the Gilruth Alamo Ballroom featuring Arturo Machuca, manager of Business Development Houston Airport Systems. He will talk about Ellington's Spaceport during this can't-miss event. Members get in free, while the cost for non-members is $20. - Apollo 45th Anniversary T-Shirts Now Available
The Apollo 45th anniversary T-shirts are now available in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops for $12 each. Pre-ordered shirts that haven't been picked up yet are available in the Building 11 Starport Gift Shop. Remember, you will receive 10 percent off most merchandise purchases in the Starport Gift Shops while wearing your shirts every Friday through Oct. 31. Celebrate this historic event with a commemorative T-shirt from Starport! - Starport Boot Camp - Registration Now Open
Starport's phenomenal boot camp is back, and registration is open and filling fast. Don't miss a chance to be part of Starport's incredibly popular program. The class will fill up, so register now! Early registration (ends July 18) - $90 per person (just $5 per class)
Regular registration (July 19 to27): - $110 per person
The workout begins on Wednesday, July 28. Are you ready for 18 hours of intense workouts with an amazing personal trainer to get you to your fitness goal? Don't wait! Sign up today and take advantage of this extreme discount before it's too late. Register now online or at the Gilruth Center information desk. Jobs and Training - NASA Healthier You 2014 Well-Being Webinars
The journey to productivity and well-being starts with awareness, a key first step in our behavioral transformation. Breaking through barriers often starts with becoming aware of our own perspective regarding change. The beliefs and behaviors we follow as adults have been built over a lifetime, often in an unconscious manner. Once we become aware of our beliefs and actions, the next step is education. Gaining accurate and impactful knowledge about how to improve our personal productivity and well-being is a critical component in creating our roadmap to wellness. Join us on July 23 and learn how physical activity can improve your mental performance and overall productivity. Whether good health means improved productivity, more energy, a better mood or just plain fun, these webinars are for you! The webinars are available to all civil servants, contractors and family members. | |
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| JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters. |
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Thursday – July 17, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Buzz Aldrin: Where were you when I walked on moon?
Marcia Dunn – Associated Press
On July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin was "out of town" when the world united and rejoiced in a way never seen before or since.
Former NASA officials discuss Apollo 11 mission
Lee Roop - The Huntsville (AL) Times
By the morning of the launch of Apollo 11, 45 years ago today, NASA' s engineers and rocket scientists were "reasonably confident" their plan would work and the Saturn V rocket would lift off on schedule at 8:32 a.m. CDT.
Apollo 11 Moon Landing Raised the Bar for Humanity, Astronauts Say
It goes without saying that NASA's historic launch of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission 45 years ago today changed the face of humanity, and nowhere does that resonate more than in orbit, where astronauts live and work on the largest manmade structure off planet Earth: the International Space Station.
'The Sixties,' Tom Hanks recap space race
Hal Boedeker – Orlando Sentinel
The biggest challenge for "The Sixties" in exploring the U.S.-Soviet space race was the running time, executive producer Mark Herzog says.
After Apollo: Do we need to go back to the moon?
Dave Gilbert – CNN
"Neil Armstrong is going to walk on the moon on Monday, July 21st."
Commercial shipment arrives at space station
Commercial shipment arrives at space station, Virginia company delivers food, science
Marcia Dunn – Associated Press
The International Space Station accepted a fresh delivery of goods Wednesday.
ISS welcomes arrival of 'seventh crew member'
James Dean – Florida Today
A commercial robotic freighter carrying 3,300 pounds of food, supplies and experiments arrived safely at the International Space Station this morning, less than three days after launching from Wallops Island, Va.
Commercial U.S. cargo ship reaches space station
Irene Klotz - Reuters
An Orbital Sciences Corp cargo ship reached the International Space Station on Wednesday with a delivery of food, supplies, science experiments and a fleet of tiny Earth-imaging satellites that will be launched from the orbital outpost.
Cygnus Delivers Cargo On Second Commercial ISS Flight
Frank Morring Jr. – Aviation Week
An Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus cargo carrier will remain berthed to the International Space Station (ISS) for as long as 45 days, after station crew members used their robotic arm to snatch it from a holding position early Wednesday and berth it to the station's Harmony node.
Cygnus cargo ship berthed at station
William Harwood – CBS News
A Cygnus cargo ship loaded with more than 1.5 tons of supplies and equipment was plucked out of open space by the International Space Station's robot arm early Wednesday and pulled in for berthing to wrap up a three-day rendezvous.
House Members Press NASA for Information on "Epidemic of Anomalies" with SpaceX Missions
Jeff Foust – Space News
Three members of Congress from Alabama and Colorado have asked NASA to provide information on what they perceive to be an "epidemic of anomalies" on missions performed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
Congress looks for alternative to Russian rocket engine
Ledyard King – Florida Today
It might cost $2 billion and take eight years to develop a new rocket engine to launch military satellites, but the Pentagon and congressional leaders agree that continuing to rely on Russia to provide the equipment is increasingly risky.
Senators vow to reassert America's rocket power
Julian Hattem – The Hill
Lawmakers and top military officials on Wednesday expressed fears that friction with Russia could someday leave the United States without the power to launch rockets into space.
U.S. Air Force seeking bids to launch spy satellite
Irene Klotz – Reuters
The U.S. Air Force released the first of up to eight solicitations for space launch services outside of its controversial, exclusive, multibillion-dollar agreement with United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Space Station Deserves Nobel Peace Prize
Editorial – The Moscow Times
Over the past several months, we have witnessed an almost major collapse in bilateral relations between Russia and the U.S., seemingly throwing to the wind more than 20 years of modest but quantifiable rapprochement between these powerful and once bitter enemies.
NASA Considers Mars Mission With Help Of Tesla's Elon Musk, While Celebrating 45 Years Since Apollo 11 Moon Landing
Brandon Mercer – KPIX-TV
45 years ago, America landed a man on the moon, and years from now, NASA and Tesla founder Elon Musk hope to have already landed a man on Mars, using Musk's SpaceX rocket in a public-private partnership that turns the Apollo program model on its head in what NASA dubs the #NextGiantLeap.
Is space junk catastrophic for Earth?
Meg Urry – CNN
Editor's note: Meg Urry is the Israel Munson professor of physics and astronomy at Yale University and director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! What the heck was that flaming thing streaking across Australian skies?
COMPLETE STORIES
Buzz Aldrin: Where were you when I walked on moon?
Marcia Dunn – Associated Press
On July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin was "out of town" when the world united and rejoiced in a way never seen before or since.
He and Neil Armstrong were on the moon.
They missed the whole celebration 45 years ago this Sunday. So did Michael Collins, orbiting solo around the moon in the mother ship.
Now, on this Apollo 11 milestone — just five years shy of the golden anniversary — Aldrin is asking everyone to remember where they were when he and Armstrong became the first humans to step onto another heavenly body, and to share their memories online.
Too young? You can also share how the moonwalkers inspired you.
Celebrities, public figures, and other astronauts and scientists are happily obliging with videos.
"What a day that was," said actor Tom Hanks, sipping from an Apollo 11 commemorative cup. He starred in the 1995 film "Apollo 13," another gripping moon story.
"Going to space is a big deal. Walking on the moon is, literally, walking on the moon," said singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams, born four years afterward.
And from London Mayor Boris Johnson, who watched the event unfold on an a little black-and-white TV at an English farmhouse: "I knew immediately it was the most exciting thing that I'd ever seen. I was only 5 at the time. And it still is just about the most exciting thing I've ever seen."
In all, 12 men explored the moon in six landings through 1972. But that first moonwalk, by Armstrong and Aldrin, is what clinched America's place as space leader supreme following a string of crushing losses to the Soviet Union, which claimed title to first satellite, first spaceman, first spacewoman and first spacewalker.
"U.S. 1, Sputnik nothing," actor Louis Gossett Jr. said with a laugh in his video.
It's the first big anniversary of man's first moon landing without Armstrong, whose "one small step ... one giant leap" immortalized the moment.
Armstrong, long known for his reticence, died in 2012 at age 82.
As Apollo 11's commander, Armstrong was first out the lunar module, Eagle, onto the dusty surface of Tranquility Base. Aldrin followed.
Collins, now 83, the command module pilot who stayed behind in lunar orbit as the gatekeeper, also spent decades sidestepping the spotlight. He's making an exception for the 45th anniversary — he plans to take part in a NASA ceremony at Kennedy Space Center on Monday to add Armstrong's name to the historic Operations and Checkout Building.
That leaves Aldrin, 84, as the perennial spokesman for Apollo 11. He will also be at Monday's ceremony.
"I consider myself a global statesman for space," Aldrin says in a YouTube video. "So I spend most of my time traveling the country and the world to remind people what NASA and our space program have accomplished, and what is still in our future at Mars. I feel we need to remind the world about the Apollo missions and that we can still do impossible things.
"The whole world celebrated our moon landing. But we missed the whole thing because we were out of town. So now I invite you to share with me — and the world — your story or your family's story of where you were on July 20th, 1969. Or feel free to tell me how the Apollo missions inspired you."
Aldrin used to keep a little black book to list people's whereabouts on July 20, 1969. Everyone wanted to share that with him.
Now he's using social media and asking people to post a video to YouTube using the hashtag #Apollo45.
And the stories are pouring in.
Peter Alyward, a self-professed space geek from Melbourne, Australia, recalls his parents waking him to see the Saturn V launch from what then was called Cape Kennedy, Florida, on July 16, 1969 — 45 years ago Wednesday — around the middle of the night Down Under.
It's the first major Apollo 11 anniversary— one divisible by five — that actually falls on the days of the week that the events occurred. Liftoff was, indeed, on a Wednesday, Eastern time; the moon landing was on a Sunday, Eastern time.
"More than any other time in history, with the technology that became available then, all the people of the world truly did experience it and were able to share it. Not just as an American feat, but as a really global event," said Aylward, 56, a business developer for a software company.
Actor Tim Allen watched the moon landing from his boyhood Michigan home.
"To this day, it's the most exciting thing in my life, just to think what you saw and what you experienced ... " Allen said.
Some of videos urge a return to the moon. President Barack Obama scrapped that idea in 2010 in favor of sending astronauts to an asteroid and then Mars.
"From one frontier to another, let's go back," Alaska's lieutenant governor, Mead Treadwell, said in his video.
"Well done, Buzz Aldrin," added Johnson, London's mayor. "And about time we got back up there, huh?"
Former NASA officials discuss Apollo 11 mission
Lee Roop - The Huntsville (AL) Times
By the morning of the launch of Apollo 11, 45 years ago today, NASA' s engineers and rocket scientists were "reasonably confident" their plan would work and the Saturn V rocket would lift off on schedule at 8:32 a.m. CDT.
They were reasonably confident the three astronauts on top would make it to the moon and back, and two of those astronauts would become the first humans to step on another celestial body.
They were reasonably confident, because they'd done most of this before. Apollo spacecraft had orbited the moon twice on missions 8 and 10, and a lunar module had dropped to within 10 miles of the lunar surface on Apollo 10 and returned to dock safely with the command module.
Even so, the stakes couldn't be higher July 16, 1969. The whole world really was watching, including the Soviet Union, which was racing America to the moon, and NASA wanted badly to meet slain President John F. Kennedy's 1961 challenge to land a man on the moon and return him safely in the decade of the 1960s.
And there was something else. "There were so many things that could fail and result in our astronauts being stranded on the moon or killed," retired NASA engineer Brooks Moore of Huntsville remembered this week.
The "reasonably confident" assessment was Moore's, and he should know. Moore ran the Marshall Space Flight Center division in charge of the Saturn V rocket's electronic "brain."
One million people were standing by roadsides and in parking lots across central Florida to watch the launch. Tens of millions more were watching worldwide on television. They included the more than 300,000 Americans who worked on the Apollo program. "NASA couldn't do it alone," Saturn V propulsion engineer Alex McCool said last week.
Moore was in a technical control room at the Kennedy Space Center, and his family was in the viewing stands as the countdown clock ticked down. With Moore were experts from Huntsville on every system of the Saturn V rocket.
McCool was back in Huntsville at the Huntsville Operations Support Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center with NASA and contractor teams watching the same flow of data Moore was seeing at the Cape.
Marshall's job was "simple." Get astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin off the pad and out of Earth orbit heading toward the moon. Houston's Johnson Space Center was responsible for everything from that point onward.
Famous for their white shirts, slide rules and their boss, Wernher von Braun, the Marshall team had built backup upon backup into the Saturn V. They were ready to set off the controlled explosion of liftoff that would unleash 7.5 million pounds of thrust - the most power ever ridden by human beings.
There had been problems in Marshall's part before. Two upper-stage engines shut down in flight on the unmanned Apollo 6 mission, and the lone third-stage engine failed to re-ignite in space. It simply had to fire now, because if that engine didn't ignite on command to boost the capsule out of Earth orbit, there would be no flight to the moon. America would fail, and the astronauts would return to the ground.
"We had reason to be anxious," Moore said. "It was unusual to have a propulsion vehicle you reignited in orbit."
Moore and McCool watched with the rest of the world as the countdown hit zero and the Saturn V's five giant engines ignited. The rocket cleared the gantry, and two Earth orbits later, the third-stage engine fired on command and sent the capsule and service module toward the moon.
"We cheered then," Moore said. "Oh, yeah," McCool said. Watch videos of the launch below.
Apollo 11 Moon Landing Raised the Bar for Humanity, Astronauts Say
It goes without saying that NASA's historic launch of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission 45 years ago today changed the face of humanity, and nowhere does that resonate more than in orbit, where astronauts live and work on the largest manmade structure off planet Earth: the International Space Station.
"When Apollo 11 landed on the moon 45 years ago, this space station that we live on was science fiction," station commander Steve Swanson of NASA said in a new video on the Apollo 11 anniversary. "But today it is a reality thanks to the legacy of the Apollo astronauts, and all of the nations who have followed the path to space since then." On July 16, 1969, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched toward the moon atop a mighty Saturn V rocket. Four days later, on July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed their Eagle lander at Tranquility Base on the moon as Collins remained in orbit aboard the command module.
"Today, we'd like to salute the Apollo 11 crew," said NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, who joined Swanson in the video. "Forty-five years ago, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins embarked on humanity's boldest journey. Apollo 11 not only achieved its mission to perform a manned lunar landing and return safely to Earth, it raised the bar of human potential."
In 1969, NASA and the United States were racing the Soviet Union to the moon. Since that epic Space Race, Russia and the United Space have become close partners in space. NASA and Russia's Roscosmos agency are two of the five space agencies overseeing the $100 billion International Space Station. (Space agencies from Europe, Canada and Japan round out that team.) In all, 15 different countries have worked to build the station since 1998, and more collaboration will be needed to make the next giant leap in space, Swanson and Wiseman said.
"Here on the International Space Station we are learning how to live and work in space for longer periods of time as we prepare for our next giant leap to explore an asteroid and visit Mars," Swanson added. "Like the station itself, those big missions will require the expertise and collaboration of many nations. We're privileged to be helping NASA move forward on that path."
Swanson commands an international crew of six astronauts aboard the space station. In addition to Swanson and Reid, the station crew includes Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Alexander Skvortsov, Maxim Suraev and German astronaut Alexander Gerst.
'The Sixties,' Tom Hanks recap space race
Hal Boedeker – Orlando Sentinel
The biggest challenge for "The Sixties" in exploring the U.S.-Soviet space race was the running time, executive producer Mark Herzog says.
The CNN series, which airs at 9 p.m. Thursday, recaps a lot of history in just 42 minutes. (The hour's balance goes to commercials.) In the inspiring and patriotic hour, the highlights include President John Kennedy's call to go to the moon and the Apollo missions.
"We looked at why we jumped in. We were afraid the Russians were way ahead of us," Herzog said. "We were behind the Russians in technological advances. They could put a nuclear warhead in space."
"The Sixties" explains how the U.S. space program surpassed the Soviets to put the first men on the moon. The program draws on footage from CBS, ABC and NBC.
"Walter Cronkite was a space geek," Herzog said of the CBS legend. "We remember his great moments, but there are other great scientific reporters on other networks. We wanted to spread it out. We're trying to look for moments that people don't remember."
The program includes footage of Jules Bergman of ABC and Frank McGee of NBC.
The speakers include astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Dave Scott, former NASA flight director Glynn Lunney, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, author Andrew Chaikin and actor Tom Hanks.
Hanks is also an executive producer on "The Sixties" and was very involved in the series, Herzog said. "When people think about Tom and his passion, they talk about space. He did 'Apollo 13' and 'From the Earth to the Moon,' " Herzog said.
Hanks is especially memorable talking about the Apollo 8 crew reading the Bible while orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve 1968. "Holy smokes!" Hanks says. "Who's the genius who wrote that script?"
Herzog is busy finishing the final hours of "The Sixties," which look at social movements, the tumultuous year of 1968 and the counterculture and drugs.
"We're very heartened we see a tweet from a young person that says, 'I didn't now this, I wasn't taught this,' " Herzog said. "I love seeing people of that era remembering that time and adding their own thoughts about what was going on. You see that in the tweets."
You'll want to tweet, too. It's an exhilarating program.
After Apollo: Do we need to go back to the moon?
Dave Gilbert – CNN
The Art of Movement is a monthly show that highlights the most significant innovations in science and technology that are helping shape our modern world. This week, go inside "The Space Race" Thursday night on CNN's Original Series, "The Sixties." "Neil Armstrong is going to walk on the moon on Monday, July 21st."
I couldn't have envisaged that 45 years after writing that sentence during an infant school exercise I would still be writing about human exploration of the moon -- or lack of it.
Throughout the 1970s, children's magazines showed artists' conceptions of the moon bases that would be built.
But following the global excitement of Armstrong's step off the Eagle spacecraft's ladder in July 1969 only 11 more astronauts have walked on the lunar surface and people have not been back since 1972.
The moon bases have not materialized and supersonic flights for commercial passengers, that looked like they would become commonplace after test flights during the Apollo era, came and then stopped.
In the 1960s it was possible to see 3D movies just as it is today. In 1969 the Beatles were still together -- just about, "Midnight Cowboy" won an Oscar for best picture, and Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" was published. They are all still firm favorites.
So have our advances been with such small steps in the intervening years or have we made giant leaps elsewhere? The 1960s might seem familiar but the world was actually very different.
There was no World Wide Web, no cell phones -- at least not the kind that fit in your pocket -- crude oil was a fraction of today's price and the Soviet Union still existed.
The technology of today would have seemed like science fiction to a child of the 1960s.
The Apollo spacecraft that took Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon was equipped with a navigation computer that is puny in comparison to today's devices.
NASA says the Apollo computers had a permanent memory of about 36,000 words and an erasable memory of about 2,000 words. Your smartphone likely has a 32 gigabyte storage facility -- theoretically capable of storing about six billion words and it is a lot more versatile than the hardware on the moon capsules.
You can make a video call to a person on the other side of the world, find out your exact position on the Earth to an accuracy of a few meters thanks to satellite navigation, shoot video and share it almost instantaneously, and all from a device that fits in the palm of your hand.
Over the last few decades scientists have become more successful in treating cancers, identified individual genes that cause disease and created bionic limbs for disabled patients.
So why haven't we been back to the moon?
NASA points out that the moon has not been ignored.
"In the 45 years since the Apollo program, NASA has continued scientific study of the moon through robotic explorers," said a NASA spokesman.
"Contemporary missions like NASA's GRAIL, LADEE, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have helped us explore the upper atmosphere, surface, and interior of our nearest neighbor in the solar system.
"At the same time, NASA's fleet of robotic explorers are extending our senses throughout the solar system, as we seek answers to fundamental questions like 'are we alone? How did life begin on Earth? Can we live on other worlds?'" he said.
Perhaps then, a better question should be: does it really matter that we haven't returned to the moon in person?
Major advances
Amazing discoveries have also been made in space since the 1960s.
Hundreds of new worlds have been found outside our solar system since the existence of the first exoplanet was confirmed in the 1990s. This year, NASA announced for the first time that an Earth-sized planet that could be habitable had been found 490 light years from us.
Astronomers estimate there are tens of billions of similar, possibly habitable planets in our own galaxy.
Closer to home, a fleet of NASA rovers has explored the surface of Mars sending back amazing panoramas and drilling into the rocks to test their composition. And it's not just NASA. India's first Mars orbiter is on its way to the Red Planet and private companies are also proposing adventures there.
Probes have been sent on a grand tour of the solar system since the Apollo program -- Voyager 1 launched in 1977 is now in interstellar space -- and other spacecraft have studied Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Titan.
We may not have a moon base yet but nations have come together since Apollo to build the International Space Station. Covering an area the size of a football field, it has been in continuous occupation since 2000 and carries cameras that give high definition video pictures of our home planet.
Our view of the universe has also changed considerably since 1969, partly due to the wealth of images captured by the Hubble space telescope that was launched in 1990. Last year it was announced that Hubble had discovered an exoplanet with a deep blue color and where it possibly rains liquid glass.
The European Space Agency (ESA) this year launched the billion pixel Gaia space telescope with the task of building a 3D map of the Milky Way. A successor to Hubble -- the James Webb Space Telescope -- is currently being built and scheduled for launch in 2018.
Exciting missions are also under way. The Rosetta spacecraft is due to orbit a comet beginning in August 2014 and then land a probe on its surface as it races around the Sun.
Other nations are planning to reach out to the moon, Mars and Jupiter while entrepreneurs are aiming to launch commercial space flights. Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX are all competing to enable access to space.
Where next?
So is it all over for moon exploration? NASA says not though its focus is on sending astronauts to Mars in the 2030s.
"As international partners and the growing U.S. commercial space industry venture beyond low-Earth orbit as well, there may be some opportunities to return humans and robots to the lunar surface. Our roadmap for exploration includes the possibility of assisting partners with that kind of exploration, but our investments in human spaceflight are focused on enabling the path to Mars," a NASA spokesman told CNN.
"We'll soon return humans to the vicinity of the moon ... [a] proving ground we need to test these key capabilities and help us advance on the human path to Mars," he said.
Commercial shipment arrives at space station
Commercial shipment arrives at space station, Virginia company delivers food, science
Marcia Dunn – Associated Press
The International Space Station accepted a fresh delivery of goods Wednesday.
A private cargo ship launched three days ago from Virginia arrived at the orbiting complex a little after 6:30 a.m. EDT. The station's commander, Steven Swanson, used a giant robot arm to grab onto the Cygnus capsule and its precious load as the craft zoomed 260 miles above northern Libya; the vast expanse of sand provided a backdrop.
"I think everybody's breathing again," Mission Control radioed. "We felt like we were up there with you."
Two hours later, the Cygnus was bolted to the space station for a monthlong visit.
It's the third space station shipment for Orbital Sciences Corp. NASA is paying Orbital Sciences as well as the SpaceX company to haul up supplies.
The Cygnus contains more than 3,000 pounds of food, science experiments, mini-satellites and equipment, as well as outfits designed to resist bacteria and odor. The new gym clothes should keep the exercising astronauts smelling a lot better.
Swanson paid tribute to the late astronaut Janice Voss, who once worked for Orbital Sciences and made five space shuttle flights. The company named this newest Cygnus in her honor.
"We now have a seventh crew member," Swanson said. "Welcome aboard the ISS, Janice."
Mission Control also praised Voss, who died of cancer in 2012 at age 55. She never made it to the space station during her shuttle travels.
Once emptied, the capsule will be loaded with trash and set loose in mid-August for a fiery re-entry.
The Virginia-based Orbital Sciences made its first space station delivery last September. The second occurred in January.
ISS welcomes arrival of 'seventh crew member'
James Dean – Florida Today
A commercial robotic freighter carrying 3,300 pounds of food, supplies and experiments arrived safely at the International Space Station this morning, less than three days after launching from Wallops Island, Va.
NASA astronaut Steve Swanson, commander of the station's six-person Expedition 40 crew, used a 58-foot robotic arm to capture Orbital Sciences Corp.'s cylindrical Cygnus spacecraft at 6:36 a.m. EDT, as the vehicles flew 260 miles above northern Libya.
Orbital named the Cygnus in honor of the late NASA astronaut and former Orbital employee Janice Voss, a five-time shuttle flyer who died in 2012.
"We now have a seventh crew member," Swanson radioed to Mission Control after the successful capture. "Janice Voss is now part of Expedition 40."
"Janice devoted her life to space and accomplished many wonderful things at NASA and Orbital Sciences, including five shuttle missions," Swanson continued. "And today, Janice's legacy in space continues. Welcome aboard the ISS, Janice."
"Swannie, that was great," astronaut Cady Coleman replied from Houston. "Janice was a friend, a colleague and a crewmate to many of us, and her history epitomizes what it's like to be part of a team that explores the universe."
The Cygnus will be berthed to a docking port before its hatch is opened and the crew starts unloading its contents, which include a "flock" of 28 Earth-imaging CubeSats developed by San Francisco-based Planet Labs.
The Cygnus launched at 12:52 p.m. Sunday on Orbital's Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia. The mission is Orbital's second of eight under a $1.9 billion NASA resupply contract.
Commercial U.S. cargo ship reaches space station
Irene Klotz - Reuters
An Orbital Sciences Corp cargo ship reached the International Space Station on Wednesday with a delivery of food, supplies, science experiments and a fleet of tiny Earth-imaging satellites that will be launched from the orbital outpost.
Working from a control panel inside the station's Cupola module, commander Steven Swanson delicately steered the station's 58-foot long (18 m) robotic arm to pluck the Cygnus capsule from orbit at 6:36 a.m. EDT (1036 GMT) as the ships sailed 260 miles (418 km) above northern Libya.
"I think everyone is breathing again," NASA robotics officer Melanie Miller radioed to the crew from Mission Control in Houston.
The capsule, named SS Janice Voss in tribute to a five-time space shuttle astronaut who died of breast cancer in 2012, blasted off aboard an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket from Virginia on Sunday.
"We now have a seventh crew member," Swanson radioed to Mission Control. "Welcome aboard the ISS, Janice."
A few hours later, the capsule was bolted to a docking port on the station's Harmony module so Swanson and his five crewmates can begin unpacking more than 3,600 pounds (1,630 kg) of food, equipment and supplies.
The cargo includes 28 shoebox-sized satellites for privately owned Planet Labs, which operates a constellation of Earth-imaging satellites. The satellites will be deployed this summer from a small satellite launcher set up in Japan's Kibo module.
"Our goal is to image the whole Earth every day ... and then put it online for people to get access to it," Robbie Schlinger, co-founder of the San Francisco-based company, told reporters during a prelaunch news conference.
To that end, Planet Labs, which already has flown 42 ultra-compact satellites, intends to operate a network of 100 spacecraft, which would allow it to collect images of the entire Earth every 24 hours.
"It's really about getting rich data, to make it actionable and accessible to people," Schlinger said.
Cygnus is to remain berthed at the station, a $100 billion research laboratory owned by 15 nations, until mid-August. Once it is unpacked, the capsule will be refilled with trash and other items no longer needed on the station and released to fly back into the atmosphere for incineration.
Cygnus Delivers Cargo On Second Commercial ISS Flight
Frank Morring Jr. – Aviation Week
An Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus cargo carrier will remain berthed to the International Space Station (ISS) for as long as 45 days, after station crew members used their robotic arm to snatch it from a holding position early Wednesday and berth it to the station's Harmony node.
"Janice Voss is now part of Expedition 40," radioed NASA's Steve Swanson after he grappled the 5.1-meter-long Cygnus, which is named for the late shuttle astronaut and Orbital Sciences engineer.
Orbited by an Antares launch vehicle that lifted off from Wallops Island, Virginia, on Sunday, the Cygnus carried almost 3,300 lb. of food, clothing and supplies for the crew, along with 32 cubesats that will be jettisoned later from the "porch" of Japan's Kibo module, and other spaceflight gear.
NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman used a laptop controller to drive home 16 motorized bolts that sealed it to the Harmony hatch for unloading.
If all goes as planned, the Cygnus will remain there until Aug. 15, although it can stay until the end of August if the heavy traffic flow of arriving vehicles makes it necessary.
"They've got quite a problem they're having to deal with in terms of so many vehicles coming," said Frank Culbertson, a former ISS commander who heads Orbital's Advanced Programs Group. "It's a good problem. But we will stay up there as long as necessary to fill the cargo module with as much disposable cargo as possible, and then reenter about five days after we finish closing the hatch and leaving the station."
The company plans to use the extra time on orbit to evaluate its performance as a free-flyer where potentially hazardous experiments can be teleoperated, and to validate a new reentry profile designed to save fuel while ensuring that the aluminum vehicle and its load of trash burn up completely on reentry, he said.
"We want to be able to fly Cygnus for extended periods after it leaves the station and conduct experiments for other users," Culbertson said before the launch. "There are NASA centers that want to conduct other experiments, and the longer we can stay in space the better. So we're looking at ways to ensure that we understand the most efficient operation of the spacecraft once it leaves the station."
The mission was delayed by about two months after an AJ-26 engine destined for a later Antares launch failed during a May 22 acceptance test at Stennis Space Center. Ultimately visual inspection with borescopes cleared the two engines on the Antares that launched July 13, but NASA's human-spaceflight chief said the delay added to the importance of Wednesday's delivery.
"I think this next year will be really important to us if we kind of establish a cadence of routine flights," William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said after the launch. "And that's not easy. We've got a little margin so we can grow and not push too hard, but we need to get into kind of a cadence where we're flying regularly."
Orbital is scheduled to deliver 20,000 kg (44,000 lb.) of cargo to the ISS under its eight-flight, $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. SpaceX is down for a similar load under a separate CRS contract that also includes down-mass recovery at sea via its Dragon capsule. The station also receives supplies for its six-person crew from Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle, with one more scheduled to fly; Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle, and Russia's Progress cargo-carrier.
Cygnus cargo ship berthed at station
William Harwood – CBS News
A Cygnus cargo ship loaded with more than 1.5 tons of supplies and equipment was plucked out of open space by the International Space Station's robot arm early Wednesday and pulled in for berthing to wrap up a three-day rendezvous.
With the cargo craft holding position about 30 feet away, Expedition 40 commander Steve Swanson, operating the Canadian-built robot arm, locked onto a grapple fixture on the bottom deck of the Orbital Sciences-built spacecraft at 6:36 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) as the two spacecraft sailed 260 miles above northern Libya.
"Houston and station, we now have a seventh crew member," Swanson radioed. "Janice Voss is now part of Expedition 40."
Voss, a five-flight shuttle veteran who worked for Orbital Sciences before joining NASA, died in 2012. The company named the Cygnus cargo ship in her honor.
"Janice devoted her life to space and accomplished many wonderful things at NASA and Orbital Sciences, including five shuttle missions," Swanson said. "And today, Janice's legacy in space continues. Welcome aboard the ISS, Janice."
Flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston then took over, operating the robot arm by remote control to slowly pull the Cygnus cargo craft in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module. Once in position, motorized bolts drove home to firmly lock the craft to the docking port.
"The mechanical systems officer here in mission control reports a good second stage capture," said NASA commentator Rob Navias. "And so at 7:53 a.m. Central time, a little over two hours after it was grappled in open space by Steve Swanson, the Expedition 40 commander, Cygnus is now hard mated to the International Space Station's Harmony module, a fixture for the station for the next four weeks."
After opening hatches between the spacecraft, the station crew will begin the process of unloading some 3,300 pounds of food, clothing, research equipment, spare parts and other gear, including 32 small "nanosat" satellites that will be released from the lab later. Twenty eight of those were provided by Planet Labs in a commercial venture to develop low-cost Earth imagery.
The grapple and berthing operation wrapped up a textbook rendezvous that began with launch of an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket Sunday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Island, Va., flight facility. The Cygnus cargo craft carried out a series of carefully timed thruster firings to catch up with the station, reaching the lab complex early Wednesday and then standing by while Swanson locked on with the robot arm.
Once unloaded, the Cygnus will be packed with trash and no-longer-needed gear before unberthing on Aug. 15. After leaving the vicinity of the station, Orbital engineers plan to test new rendezvous equipment before the cargo ship re-enters the atmosphere and burns up.
The Cygnus is the first of four cargo ships expected to arrive over the next two months. A Russian Progress supply ship is scheduled for launch July 23, followed one day later by the European Space Agency's fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle. The ATV will arrive at the station Aug. 12. One month after that, a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral, arriving at the station two days later.
In the midst of the cargo traffic, the station crew plans to carry out three spacewalks, with a Russian excursion by Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev planned for Aug. 18 and two NASA EVAs on Aug. 21 and 29. Swanson and Reid Wiseman will carry out the first U.S. EVA while Wiseman and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst will carry out the second.
Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev plan to undock and return to Earth aboard their Soyuz TMA-12M ferry craft Sept. 11. Three fresh crew members -- Soyuz TMA-14M commander Alexander Samokutyaev, Barry Wilmore and Elena Serova -- are scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 25.
House Members Press NASA for Information on "Epidemic of Anomalies" with SpaceX Missions
Jeff Foust – Space News
Three members of Congress from Alabama and Colorado have asked NASA to provide information on what they perceive to be an "epidemic of anomalies" on missions performed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
"Recent news reports have shown that an epidemic of anomalies have occurred during SpaceX launches or launch attempts," write Reps. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) in a July 15 letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. Those anomalies cited in the letter include issues with both SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, ranging from "multiple" helium leaks to seawater intrusions into the Dragon spacecraft after splashdown.
The congressmen -- all representing states where SpaceX competitor United Launch Alliance has major operations -- are seeking information from NASA about those incidents because of the role the agency has played in supporting the development of Falcon 9 and Dragon, and as a customer of the cargo resupply services they provide the international space station. "In the interest of full disclosure and accountability to the American taxpayer, we request that NASA publicly release all anomalies and mishap information, un-redacted, so that Congress can gain a better understanding of what has occurred and ensure full transparency," they write. They also ask for information "on the various aspects of risk and reliability with these programs" and the agency's "understanding of the specific technical issues, failures and resulting consequences for ISS."
The members' argument for providing this information is NASA's support for the development of Falcon 9 and Dragon. "Again, because the vehicles in question were funded by American taxpayer dollars, there should be no issue in making this report publicly available," they write. However, development of Falcon 9 and Dragon was supported, but not exclusively funded, by NASA through the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, using Space Act Agreements versus conventional contracts.
SpaceX supplemented the NASA funding with its own; SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has said on a number of occasions that the company used no NASA funding for development of the Falcon 9.
SpaceX does have a contract with NASA for ISS resupply, but that contract is for cargo services: that is, NASA is buying transport of cargo to and from the station, and not the launch vehicle and spacecraft itself, and thus the agency may not have the technical insight that the congressmen expect. In addition, providing "un-redacted" technical information publicly, even if it is available to NASA, could run afoul of export control restrictions.
The timing of the letter coincides with a July 16 hearing by subcommittees of the Senate Commerce Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee on space access. The Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee is chaired by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who is running for re-election this fall; Gardner is the Republican challenger to Udall.
In their letter, the congressmen say they support competition for national security launches under the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, but worry that "the process may be weakened due to recent attacks on the Air Force regarding oversight and the need to certify providers launching national security payloads. We strongly support the Air Force certification process and object to any effort to bypass it or loosen its standards."
The congressmen issued their letter the same day as the Air Force confirmed that it had certified as successful the second and third Falcon 9 v1.1 launches, a major milestone toward the overall certification of the launch vehicle for national security payloads. "I applaud SpaceX on achieving the three flights," said Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, commander of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, in the statement. "With this significant part of the agreed-to path in certifying the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch system complete, we look forward to working with SpaceX to complete the remaining certification activities and providing SpaceX with the opportunity to compete for EELV missions."
The Air Force launches most national security payloads on Atlas 5 or Delta 4 rockets built by Denver-based United Launch Alliance in Decatur, Alabama. SpaceX is suing the Air Force in federal court to overturn a block-buy of 36 Atlas 5 and Delta 5 cores for national security missions. Both the Air Force and United Launch Alliance have petitioned the court to dismiss the suit.
Congress looks for alternative to Russian rocket engine
Ledyard King – Florida Today
It might cost $2 billion and take eight years to develop a new rocket engine to launch military satellites, but the Pentagon and congressional leaders agree that continuing to rely on Russia to provide the equipment is increasingly risky.
A top Russian official warned earlier this year that the country would stop selling its RD-180 rocket engines used to launch U.S. military satellites in the wake of sanctions imposed on Russia by the Obama administration following the annexation of Crimea and unrest in Ukraine.
Pentagon officials testifying at a Senate hearing Wednesday say there's little evidence Moscow is following through on that threat or on another one that the Russian space agency would stop ferrying U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station.
But lawmakers and officials said it's imperative for the U.S. to launch satellites on its own.
"It's a national priority," GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama said at the hearing, convened by subcommittees of the Armed Services Committee and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. "It's time for us to rise to the occasion and fix this situation... Given that we have a vulnerability, it's time to close that hole."
Discussions about finding an American-made alternative to the RD-180 began more than a decade ago. But the effort fizzled because there wasn't a pressing need and the engine has proved reliable. United Launch Alliance, the joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin that launches military satellites for the Air Force, often touts its record of successful launches using the Russian engine.
"If we can continue to buy the RD-180, a good deal," Gen. William Shelton, who heads the Air Force Space Command, told senators.
Shelton said there would be "serious national security implications" if Russia stops exporting the engine and the U.S. has no backup plan. The launch of some satellites would be delayed from 12 to 48 months, depending on the size of the payload.
That's why Congress has begun to set aside money for an engine development project. A Senate Defense authorization bill includes $100 million for the project. A similar House bill includes $220 million.
If Russia were to bar export of its RD-180 to the U.S., the effects would not be felt immediately. United Launch Alliance has a two-year supply of the engines on hand to power the Atlas V rockets that carry its military satellites.
That still could result in a six-year gap if Russia stops selling the RD-180 and it takes the full eight years for the Pentagon to develop an alternative engine. But officials said launches could be re-prioritized to stretch out longer, and other players, such as California-based SpaceX, which uses its own engines, could be chosen to launch satellites as well.
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, who chaired the hearing, said it will be difficult to balance national security priorities while Congress is looking to cut federal spending.
"We want to make sure that the taxpayer money is well spent," he said. And so it's important that we consider the launch needs with the goal in mind that we want assured access to space."
Senators vow to reassert America's rocket power
Julian Hattem – The Hill
Lawmakers and top military officials on Wednesday expressed fears that friction with Russia could someday leave the United States without the power to launch rockets into space.
Reliance on a single Russian engine to launch many critical military satellites could come back to haunt the U.S., officials said, if tensions between the two nations continue to rise.
"If you consider space a national security priority, then you absolutely have to consider assured access to space a national security priority," Gen. William Shelton, commander of the Air Force's space command, testified in a joint Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.
"Given that we have a vulnerability here, it's time to close that hole," he said.
For more than a decade, the U.S. has relied on RD-180 engines to power Atlas V rockets, which are responsible for launching about two-thirds of the satellites that provide communications, surveillance and other services for the Pentagon.
But the engine is made by contractors in Russia and has become a critical bargaining chip for Moscow, as the United States prepares to impose new economic sections against the country for its actions in Ukraine.
As the conflict escalated earlier this year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin threatened to block sales to the U.S. military. At the time, he also called into question broader cooperation with Russia, on which the U.S. has relied to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station since the space shuttle program ended in 2011.
"After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline," said Rogozin, who has been specifically targeted by U.S. sanctions, along with other top Kremlin officials and aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
So far, those threats seem to be largely bluster. But lawmakers say the tough talk exposed a critical weakness for the U.S., and they are pushing to find a domestic replacement for the engine before it's too late.
"You'll notice there wasn't a peep out of [Russian space agency] Roscosmos," Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) chairman of the Commerce subcommittee on Science and Space, said during Wednesday's hearing. "They obviously want to continue that. But nevertheless, it brings it to a head."
"It puts us in a vulnerable position that I wish we didn't have to be in, but it's time for us to rise to the occasion," added Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Armed Services subcommittee that oversees space missions.
If Putin suddenly decided to change course and halt RD-180 exports to the U.S. tomorrow, American missions would be set back by as much as four years, Shelton said.
The military currently has 15 of the engines held in reserve, but there are dozens of missions already scheduled. If no new engines came in, officials would have to decide how to ration those existing engines while determining whether the Pentagon could rely on other rockets.
"It is dire," Shelton told lawmakers. "If that should happen, there is no question that, inside this manifest that we're considering right now, there would be serious national security implications."
Both chambers of Congress have turned attention to the issue.
The House's defense spending bill called for $220 million to begin building an RD-180 replacement in the U.S. The Senate Armed Services Committee has recommended $100 million for the purpose.
"The United States must now respond decisively and provide our own domestic capacity to launch our crew and cargo into space," Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said. "We simply cannot rely on the vicissitudes of foreign suppliers in a foreign nation for our national security."
The full costs of replacing the engine could be much higher than Congress is willing to commit to right now.
It is, quite literally, rocket science to fit a new engine into existing rockets. Aside from building the engine itself, engineers will also need to make sure every other component works with the new machinery, kind of like switching out a car's hybrid engine with a V8.
That could take five to eight years and cost up to $2 billion, predicted the Pentagon's acquisition and technology chief, Alan Estevez.
One possible reason for a potential strain on the engine's supply is the Air Force's limitations on purchases from companies aside from United Launch Alliance, a joint Lockheed Martin-Boeing venture for military space missions.
SpaceX, the space company led by billionaire Elon Musk, has sued the Air Force over its bidding process, which it says unfairly prevents new companies from getting in the game.
The company is not currently certified to handle 7 out of 10 mission configurations the Pentagon needs, however, and will not attain new certifications for months.
"We are aggressively pursuing to get SpaceX certified to launch our satellites," Estevez, the acquisitions chief, said. "We look forward to getting them to be able to launch the ones ... that they are capable of launching.
U.S. Air Force seeking bids to launch spy satellite
Irene Klotz – Reuters
The U.S. Air Force released the first of up to eight solicitations for space launch services outside of its controversial, exclusive, multibillion-dollar agreement with United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
The solicitation, posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website on Tuesday, is the military's first major commercial outreach for launch services in a decade.
A rocket is needed in 2016 to put a classified satellite into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office, which operates the nation's spy satellites. Currently, all of the military's key spacecraft are launched on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 and Delta 4 boosters.
Privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, filed a lawsuit in April in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to protest the Air Force's latest sole-source launch contract, an $11 billion award for 36 booster rockets from United Launch Alliance.
The Air Force and United Launch Alliance have asked the court to dismiss the suit, claiming SpaceX missed its window of opportunity to contest the arrangement, which was first announced in 2012.
While SpaceX and the Air Force wrangle in court, they also are closely cooperating to get SpaceX certified to compete for future U.S. military launch contracts.
"If everything goes extremely well ... by December of this year we'll have them certified," General William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command, said at a joint hearing of the Senate Armed Services and Commerce committees on Wednesday.
"The only (launch services) provider that's really in a serious certification process is SpaceX," Shelton added.
On Tuesday, the Air Force said SpaceX had completed three successful, consecutive launches of its upgraded Falcon 9 rocket. A bevy of engineering reviews, manufacturing assessments and other analysis is pending.
Shelton said the Air Force has 136 people assigned to the SpaceX certification process, and expects to spend about $100 million on the effort.
Certifying SpaceX to fly U.S. military payloads also could alleviate concerns about Russia banning exports of its RD-180 rocket engines, which are used to power the Atlas 5.
Congress is considering bills that include between $25 million and $250 million to assess options and begin work on a new rocket engine. The Obama administration, which opposes the proposal, estimates the engine would cost $4.5 billion.
"Throwing money at a problem where we don't know where we're going is not a good idea at this point," Alan Estevez, who oversees Department of Defense acquisitions, told legislators during Wednesday's hearing, which was webcast.
Optimistically, it would take eight years to get a new engine developed, tested and certified, Estevez added. By that time, the issue could be moot.
The Air Force intends to end its sole-source relationship with United Launch Alliance by Oct. 1, 2017, the start of the 2018 fiscal year, Shelton said.
SpaceX also plans to debut a heavy-lift Falcon rocket next year. If successful, the company, owned and run by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, would have rockets technically capable of meeting most if not all of the military's launch requirements.
Currently, the Delta 4 and some configurations of Atlas 5 are beyond the Falcon 9's capabilities, Shelton said.
Pressed by U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who chairs the science and space subcommittee, Estevez conceded that it would be substantially cheaper to certify a new launch provider than pay for designing, building and testing a new rocket engine for the Atlas 5.
"Development of new engine and integration costs are obviously much more expensive than the cost to us to certify a new entrant," Estevez said.
SpaceX declined to say whether it intended to bid for the National Reconnaissance Office satellite launch.
"Opening up more National Security Space missions to competition is a step in the right direction and SpaceX welcomes this news," company spokesman John Taylor said in an email.
Proposals are due Aug. 14.
Space Station Deserves Nobel Peace Prize
Editorial – The Moscow Times
Over the past several months, we have witnessed an almost major collapse in bilateral relations between Russia and the U.S., seemingly throwing to the wind more than 20 years of modest but quantifiable rapprochement between these powerful and once bitter enemies.
The Nobel Committee, which will award the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize in October, should look closely at the contribution each candidate makes toward the easing of tensions between Russia and the West when choosing this year's winner.
One candidate in particular has contributed more toward these ends than any other nominee: the International Space Station partnership.
This partnership, formed more than 15 years ago to facilitate the construction and operation of a $150 billion outpost in space, represents the largest international collaborative project ever undertaken during peacetime.
Space agencies have so far refused to allow political currents to interfere with the International Space Station program. The crisis in Ukraine, however, has thrown the future of the program into question.
In response to U.S. sanctions, and a federal government order for NASA to suspend all cooperation with Roscosmos outside of the ISS program, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in May that Russia was not interested in extending ISS participation beyond 2020. Roscosmos is in talks with the Russian government over the fate of ISS participation, but there are real concerns that politics will torpedo the otherwise bright future of the ISS program.
Ending Russian participation in the ISS could easily lead to a return to Cold War enmity with the very real potential of sparking an arms race in space, a scenario only narrowly avoided when the U.S. and U.S.S.R. competed for glory on the final frontier.
It would also wreck one of the few examples of major international cooperation as governments burn bridge after bridge in the Ukrainian crisis.
The men and women of these national space agencies that make up the International Space Station partnership — the organizational structure established by partner agencies from 15 nations that support the football-field-sized space station — has promoted cultural understanding between all participants. NASA, European, Canadian and Japanese space officials live and work among their Russian peers in Moscow, and Roscosmos officials do the same in Houston.
Their interactions range from the mundane — arranging housing and office spaces for visiting delegations, to the extraordinary — preparing multinational teams of cosmonauts and astronauts to live and work in space through an exhaustive and collaborative training program at space centers around the world.
International space cooperation has also fostered understanding by engaging the military, scientific and industrial bases of the U.S. and Russia in a challenging, peaceful and forward looking mission, rather than pursuing purely competitive and militaristic ends.
Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the ISS would also encourage all governments involved to allow their space agencies to work together well into the future. With 50 nations now exploring space, the ISS also sets a exemplary standard for international cooperation, helping ensure that peaceful, civilian space efforts remain the norm.
The ISS shows that it is possible to overlook political differences and work together toward a truly global and uplifting goal: creating the framework for the human race to continue its push beyond Earth's orbit.
It is due time for the international community to make an unequivocal statement of support for the positive efforts of the U.S., Russia and their 13 partners aboard ISS during times of heightened and dangerous tension between Russia and the West.
NASA Considers Mars Mission With Help Of Tesla's Elon Musk, While Celebrating 45 Years Since Apollo 11 Moon Landing
Brandon Mercer – KPIX-TV
45 years ago, America landed a man on the moon, and years from now, NASA and Tesla founder Elon Musk hope to have already landed a man on Mars, using Musk's SpaceX rocket in a public-private partnership that turns the Apollo program model on its head in what NASA dubs the #NextGiantLeap.
But, to get there, a lot of development has to be done. That's where NASA comes in, with a penultimate step to a human mission.
After three years of research, NASA Ames' scientists announced that a modified crew-carrying version of the Dragon X capsule from Space X could be a way to make it to the red planet and return samples of rocks, carrying 4,000 pounds of equipment–the most in history.
SpaceX dubbed this spacecraft "Red Dragon."
The idea for a 2022 mission (or earlier if Musk is in control) would be a precursor to a planned human flight to Mars.
Getting to Mars hasn't been all that hard. It's getting the fuel and supplies there to support humans, and then getting the humans back that's been impossible. It's a matter of mass, and the need to slow that mass down to a safe landing on Mars, and then accelerate it back up and out of Mars' gravity, back to earth, and then finally, slow it down one more time for a descent to earth. The numbers and speeds are staggering, but that's where SpaceX comes in.
Speaking at a talk at the SETI Institute, NASA's Larry Lemke said the idea began with a typical geeked-out discussion of "disruptive technology" to get to Mars.
Lemke has been studying innovative ways to explore Mars for decades, including a Martian airplane, and the Red Dragon capsule.
"Every few years someone comes up with the brilliant idea that we could take spacecraft designed to work near Earth and send it to some other planet and do great things for cheap…. and it almost never works out. Something that works well in one application doesn't work well in another," Lemke told the audience.
The scientists were skeptical, but thought it worth exploring. After running the numbers on the hunch that maybe a Red Dragon could make it to Mars and back, he said, "We convinced ourselves that indeed that was true."
The initial review was just a sample return mission–digging up some Martian rocks, and bringing them back to earth. As discussion progressed, the concept of building on the sample return mission to create a human mission started taking shape.
A competing plan to land a human on Mars involves simply leaving them there, and plenty of people are open to it, but that's not NASA's mission.
July 20th, 2014 marks 45 years since Apollo 11 landed on the moon. As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set the lunar module Eagle down in the Sea of Tranquility, and opened the hatch at 7:39 p.m. Pacific time, they took one giant leap for mankind.
The next giant step has always been Mars, but after the end of the Apollo program, it seemed that human exploration beyond earth was dead. For public space agencies, it may well be, but the public-private partnership could rekindle that spark, using Silicon Valley's ingenuity coupled with NASA's infrastructure and funding.
As Lemke put it, NASA would simply "purchase the service of delivering mass to Mars" in a way that would be "considerably cheaper than how NASA would go about it."
On Thursday, July 24th, actor Seth Green will join Comic-Con in San Diego along with Buzz Aldrin and other astronauts to talk about the future in space, including other capsules and rockets, and eventually that long dreamed of human flight, to the next giant leap.
Use hashtags #NextGiantLeap and #Apollo45 to join in the discussion during the week.
Is space junk catastrophic for Earth?
Meg Urry – CNN
Editor's note: Meg Urry is the Israel Munson professor of physics and astronomy at Yale University and director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman! What the heck was that flaming thing streaking across Australian skies?
Australians in cities from Melbourne to Brisbane reported -- and, in some cases, filmed -- a large, burning object crossing the sky last week. Unlike the meteor that hit Russia in February 2013, this sky phenomenon was manmade.
Scientists quickly realized that it was the third stage of a Russian Soyuz rocket used to launch a weather satellite July 8. Some, like Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Nobel Prize-winning Australian astronomer Brian Schmidt (@cosmicpinot), spread the news on Twitter.
Although the Down Under fireworks were spectacular enough to be alarming, most space debris falls harmlessly to Earth, completely unnoticed.
Some spacecraft parts fall within days of launch but most over considerably longer time scales. In the nearly six decades since Sputnik became the first satellite to orbit the Earth in 1957, humans have launched 7,500 satellites into orbit, according to McDowell.
Those in low Earth orbit -- about 300 miles up -- travel through a very thin atmosphere that acts as a gradual brake on the satellite trajectory. Absent any human intervention, those satellites slowly spiral toward Earth over 10 or 20 years, depending on their exact orbit and the spacecraft shape.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been in low Earth orbit for 24 years and counting only because astronauts boosted it back to a higher orbit at every space shuttle servicing visit.
More than a thousand active satellites are orbiting the Earth right now. Slightly more than half are in low Earth orbit, including Hubble and the space station. Almost all the rest are in geosynchronous orbit, meaning they circle the Earth at the same rate it rotates. For a telecommunications company serving the U.S., it's obviously a big advantage to have a satellite hovering above the country all the time.
A geosynchronous 24-hour orbital period requires a very high-altitude orbit. According to Newton's 400-year-old law of gravity, orbital speed depends only on the mass of the body being orbited (in this case, the Earth) and the radius of the orbit (the radius of the Earth plus the height of the satellite above the Earth). That's why Hubble, the much larger space station, the much smaller early satellites like Sputnik and Explorer I, and any other low Earth-orbit satellite take only 90 minutes to circle the globe.
Geosynchronous satellites are way, way up there. Those orbits won't decay anytime soon. It's the low Earth orbit satellites that will fall down. Or rather, the dead satellite and related debris that can't be controlled by engineers at space agencies. Active satellites can be controlled from the ground; for example, Hubble is continually repointed from one part of the sky to another as it observes this galaxy or that star.
As the blockbuster movie "Gravity" showed us, uncontrolled space debris can be very dangerous. In the movie, a Russian missile destroys a defunct satellite, starting a destructive and deadly chain reaction of debris destroying other satellites destroying still more satellites -- and, ultimately, destroying the space station in which the astronauts were based.
In 1985, the U.S. demonstrated anti-missile Star Wars capabilities by blowing up a solar observatory named P78. Not only did this halt the science, it created a swarm of tiny pieces of debris. China did a similar thing in 2007. As physics tells us, blowing something up doesn't make it vanish; it just makes lots of tiny pieces moving more quickly. And smaller pieces are much harder to spot and track.
The U.S. Strategic Command tracks space objects. Its Joint Space Operations Center has catalogued more than 39,000 manmade objects in orbit. About 60% have re-entered the atmosphere; 16,000 remain in orbit today. Of these, only about 5% are functioning satellites or payloads that can be controlled, while 95% is inactive space junk, including rocket bodies.
NASA estimates that there are half a million pieces of space junk floating around the Earth, most too small to be tracked. But even bits of debris no bigger than a gumdrop can cause serious damage.
Satellite technology has made it easy to phone around the globe, to a metropolis or even to Mount Everest. The downside is, pieces of satellites are going to fall back onto Earth.
Thankfully, only the largest solid hunks fail to burn up before reaching the ground. In 1979, NASA's Skylab (a much earlier version of the space station) famously fell to Earth amid nail-biting worry. A few scraps were recovered in Australia (poor Australia, again!). Bits of ROSAT (a German X-ray astronomy observatory) and other satellites have also fallen to Earth.
It is easy to calculate the path of the re-entering spacecraft because it is along the track of the orbit. But how quickly it descends depends on details that are much harder to predict. It makes a big difference how the structure burns and how it falls apart. Bigger pieces continue to hurtle downward while smaller pieces burn completely high up in the atmosphere. That's why predictions of where space debris will land are notoriously uncertain.
The good news is that only one-quarter of the surface of the Earth is land, and most of that is uninhabited. So damage to people and property is rare. Most falling space debris lands harmlessly and with no witnesses.
The likelihood of serious damage is very low. But a big hunk of metal -- or a large asteroid -- falling in the wrong place could be catastrophic.
It's definitely a good idea to keep the Skylab-sized space junk controllable and to catalog asteroids that will pass near the Earth. But in the end, whether we go the way of the dinosaurs might just be down to luck.
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