Happy Friday everyone, have a great weekend.
Friday, July 20, 2012
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1. Watch the Launch of the Japanese 'Kounotori3' H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-3) Tonight on NASA TV
2. See the Russian Progress Test New Docking System on NASA TV
3. Space Center Houston Hosts 'Curiosity: 7 Minutes of Terror'
4. Don't Miss the Latest Profile of the Orion Team
5. ISS Update: Testing the Suitport - Watch interview with Robert Boyle
6. 2012 JSC Honor Awards - July 24
7. Starport's Half Marathon Training - Early Registration Ends Today
8. Gilruth Center Open House and Social Hour - Free Food, Drinks and Giveaways
9. Let Go of Resentment, Embrace Forgiveness
10. Hurricane Prep Panel
11. So Your Kid is Going Off to College
12. Too Many 'Ahs', 'Ums' and 'You Knows' When You Speak?
________________________________________ QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ Some people change their ways when they see the light, others when they feel the heat. ”
-- Caroline Schoeder
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1. Watch the Launch of the Japanese 'Kounotori3' H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-3) Tonight on NASA TV
NASA Television coverage of the launch of an unpiloted Japanese cargo craft to supply the International Space Station begins at 8:15 p.m. CDT, tonight. Launch is scheduled for 9:06 p.m. (11:06 a.m. Japan time on July 21) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launch begins HTV-3's weeklong journey to the station.
Coverage of Kounotori3's approach to the station will begin at 6 a.m. Friday, July 27. The cargo craft will be commanded to fly in formation at a distance of about 40 feet while Expedition 32 Flight Engineers Joe Acaba of NASA and Aki Hoshide of JAXA use Canadarm2, the station's Canadian Space Agency-provided robotic arm, to grapple the vehicle and berth it to a docking port on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module. Grapple is scheduled for around 7 a.m., and berthing will follow.
JSC employees with wired computer network connections can view NASA TV using onsite IPTV on channels 404 (standard definition) or 4541 (HD) at: http://iptv.jsc.nasa.gov/eztv/
If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367.
For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
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2. See the Russian Progress Test New Docking System on NASA TV
NASA Television will broadcast the move of a Russian cargo spacecraft at the International Space Station and the demonstration of a new docking system beginning Sunday, July 22.
NASA TV coverage of ISS Progress 47's initial undocking starts at 3 p.m. CDT, July 22. Progress 47 will undock at 3:27 p.m.
Russian flight controllers will command the resupply ship to undock from the space station's Pirs compartment in a test of an updated docking system that will be used for both Progress and Soyuz human spacecraft in the future. The new automated rendezvous system will use a single antenna, which will allow four others to be removed. Kurs-NA also will use less power, improve safety and possess updated electronics.
Coverage of the Progress' re-rendezvous and docking will begin at 8:15 p.m. Monday, July 23. The ship will re-dock to the station at 8:57 p.m.
JSC employees with wired computer network connections can view NASA TV using onsite IPTV on channels 404 (standard definition) or 4541 (HD) at http://iptv.jsc.nasa.gov/eztv/
If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367.
For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
Brought to you by Communications and Public Affairs, JSC External Relations Office x35111
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3. Space Center Houston Hosts 'Curiosity: 7 Minutes of Terror'
Join a fun-filled family camp-in to celebrate the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars. There will be edible Mars creations, exciting presentations by Mars experts and even a delicious Mars celebration breakfast following countdown.
Date - Sunday, Aug. 5, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Save $5! Only $4.95 if purchased online at http://www.spacecenter.org/marslanding.html by Aug. 4. Tickets purchased at the gate will be $9.95.
Susan H. Anderson x38630 http://www.spacecenter.org/marslanding.html
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4. Don't Miss the Latest Profile of the Orion Team
The first space-bound Orion vehicle recently arrived to the launch site at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for Exploration Flight Test-1, planned for 2014. Get to know the JSC team behind Orion. This week, read about Chris (CJ) Johnson, Project Manager for the Capsule Parachute Assembly System Government Furnished Equipment Project:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/johnson_profile.html
The profile continues a series to introduce the people behind the development of the spacecraft.
JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
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5. ISS Update: Testing the Suitport - Watch interview with Robert Boyle
See an interview with Suitport Project manager Robert Boyle inside the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center. The Suitport is a new idea for a spacesuit that eliminates the need for an airlock. It reduces consumables and enables easier and more efficient spacewalking.
To see the video, visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=148758671
The Suitport was initially developed at Ames Research Center and patented in 1989. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is now testing the Suitport with humans in a pressure chamber. JSC has already tested Suitport mockups attached to experimental vehicles such as the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle.
Boyle talks a bit about his education and experience before he began working on the Suitport. He then contrasts the difference between current and past spacesuits with the Suitport now under testing and development and answers questions submitted by Twitter followers using the hashtag #askStation.
JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
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6. 2012 JSC Honor Awards - July 24
The 2012 JSC Honor Awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Teague Auditorium next week, Tuesday, July 24, at 2 p.m. This annual ceremony recognizes outstanding contributions to the space program with JSC Director's Commendation, Director's Innovation, Innovation Team Awards, Power of One, Secretarial Excellence and Patent Inventor Awards.
A full listing of this year's honorees can be found on the JSC Announcements page.
Jacinda Green x31057
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7. Starport's Half Marathon Training - Early Registration Ends Today
Are you ready to take your training up a notch? The time is NOW for you to accept the fitness challenge and train for a Half Marathon! Starport's Run to Excellence program is for anyone who wants to run, walk or run-and-walk a half marathon. The group meets at 6 a.m. on Saturday mornings for long distance sessions with our amazing instructors. Each member will get a training log and an AWESOME Run to Excellence tech shirt. Take that step towards doing something healthy, empowering and successful!
Registration: (NOW OPEN)
- Early: Ends today, July 20 | $99
- Regular: July 21 to July 27 | $120.00
- The program begins at 6 a.m. on July 28 at the Gilruth Center.
Sign up today and take advantage of the savings!
Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/RecreationClasses/RecreationProgram...
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8. Gilruth Center Open House and Social Hour - Free Food, Drinks and Giveaways
Stop by the Gilruth Center on Thursday, July 26, from 3 to 5 p.m. for an Open House and Social Hour. Starport turns 50 on July 24 and to commemorate this momentous event, we will be remembering the past, promoting our services of the present and looking forward to exciting offerings of the future.
Enjoy free catering and vendor samples along with champagne and other beverages. Visit our Gift Shop booth, where we will have featured products and enter your name for prize drawings. There will also be a ribbon cutting for our new Yoga and Pilates studio where we will create an entire mind/body experience with an exciting new program that will soon be offered.
Plus, we will be giving away Houston Texans Training Camp Tickets for Aug. 4 while supplies last.
Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/
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9. Let Go of Resentment, Embrace Forgiveness
Please join Takis Bogdanos, LPC-S, on Friday, July 27, at 1 p.m. at Building 30 Auditorium for a presentation addressing the importance of forgiveness and the damaging effects grudges and resentment have in our daily lives.
Employee Assistance Program, Clinical Services Branch x 36130 x36130
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10. Hurricane Prep Panel
Hurricane season is here with the projected patterns of ramped up activity in August. Time to be prepared. The Employee Assistance Program is happy to present a panel discussion of the areas to consider. Linda Spuler will review the Emergency Notification System. Bill Kerneckel, Human Resources, will review JSC policies and check-in procedures. Carole Porcher, RN, will discuss medical preparedness. Gay Yarbrough, LCSW, will review tips for managing children and seniors. Come review the lessons learned and get the tools so that you know you are ready. The Hurricane Preparation Panel will present on Thursday, Aug. 2, at 12:30 p.m. in the Building 30 Auditorium.
Lorrie Bennett, Employee Assistance Program, Clinical Services Branch x36130
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11. So Your Kid is Going Off to College
The JSC Employee Assistance Program Presents: "So Your Kid is Going Off to College." Thursday, July 26, noon to 1 p.m., Building 30 Auditorium. Please join us for a presentation on tips and suggestions on how to navigate this time of transition. Presented by Jackie Reese, MALPC, director of the JSC Employee Assistance Program and parent of two college students.
Lorrie Bennett, Employee Assistance Program, Clinical Services Branch x36130
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12. Too Many 'Ahs', 'Ums' and 'You Knows' When You Speak?
Toastmasters can help! Learn how to avoid some common mistakes and bolster your confidence when speaking. Visit us any time, and bring a friend! The Space Explorers Toastmasters Club meets every Friday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. in Building 30A, Conference Room 1010.
Carolyn Jarrett x37594
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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. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.
NASA TV:
· 8:15 pm Central (9:15 EDT) – HTV-3 “Kounotori” launch coverage begins
· 9:06 pm Central (10:06 EDT) – LAUNCH of HTV-3 from Tanegashima, Japan
· 3 pm Central SUNDAY (4 EDT) – 47 Progress undocking coverage begins
· 3:27 pm Central SUNDAY (4:27 EDT) – 47P undocks (will re-rendezvous & dock Monday)
SPECIAL TV:
· 5:30 pm Central (6:30 EDT) – ISS crew with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams
Human Spaceflight News
Friday, July 20, 2012
“Houston, Tranquility Base here…”
43 years ago today – July 20, 1969
HEADLINES AND LEADS
A year after shuttle's end, Johnson Space Center moving forward
Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle
Saturday marks one year since the wheels of space shuttle Atlantis stopped for the final time, ending the iconic program after three decades. Although there have been some challenges during the last 12 months the Johnson Space Center, for which the space shuttle was the signature program, is moving on from the iconic vehicle, said the center's director, Mike Coats.
Space contractors anxiously awaiting NASA's call
A select few companies soon learn if they've made commercial crew funding cut
James Dean - Florida Today
NASA is set to make its biggest commitment yet to the development of private space taxis, one of which will likely be the first U.S. vehicle after the shuttle to fly astronauts to orbit. “This is a critical next step for re-establishing U.S. human access to space,” said Phil McAlister, head of commercial spaceflight programs at NASA headquarters. By the end of this month or early next, the agency is expected to award up to three companies funding that could exceed $1 billion over nearly two years.
With Orion space capsule, NASA plots return to space exploration
Casey Stegall - Fox News
It has been more than 40 years since the famed Apollo missions, when humans stepped into deep space. And at last, NASA intends to get back to its exploration roots. "This is the first time we've had a vehicle that will truly send us where we've always dreamed of going," NASA's Josh Byerly told Fox News.
Orbital’s Antares Rocket in for Further Delays
Peter de Selding - Space News
Satellite and rocket builder Orbital Sciences Corp. on July 19 said its Antares rocket had encountered six or seven weeks of developmental delays and will not conduct its inaugural demonstration flight until late September or early October, with a second launch — this time carrying the Cygnus cargo vehicle to the international space station — likely in mid-December. Dulles, Va.-based Orbital also said it spent $2.1 million in the three months ending June 30 on legal and other professional services fees related to a major acquisition that ultimately was not consummated because it was too expensive.
New space station camera will look down at Earth, not up at the stars
Lee Roop - Huntsville Times
A new Earth-observing camera built at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station Friday. The remote-controlled camera will help scientists analyze environmental disasters and environmental changes. The new camera is called ISERV Pathfinder, and it will be installed in the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF) in the station's Destiny laboratory. Scientists hope it will be a research tool for building better systems in the future. Ideally, they would like to be able to monitor disasters as they are happening.
Russia Converts Unmanned Rocket to Carry New Crewed Spaceship
Rob Coppinger - Space.com
Russia's next new manned spacecraft will launch atop a different rocket than planned, one originally designed for only robotic spacecraft. The country's new six-cosmonaut spacecraft is due to lift off on its first test flight in 2018, using a launcher named Angara A5 developed for unmanned missions. The new six-cosmonaut spacecraft, which is called the Advanced Crew Vehicle (ACV), was to have been launched by another new rocket, Rus-M. The Rus-M was to be an evolution of the Samara Space Center's Soyuz FG rocket that launches the Soyuz manned spacecraft. But Rus-M was canceled last year, while ACV was continued despite no launcher being identified for it.
Made-in-Space Parts Could Become Space Travel's New Norm
Leonard David - Space.com's Space Insider
Maybe it's time to shelve the old saying, "you can't leave home without it," when it comes to packing for trips to space. Say you're hunkered down inside Mars Base-1 and a vital piece of life-support gear breaks down. A hurried search in supply bins proves futile. The next cycler spaceship with equipment is months away. Time is running out. This disaster scenario could be short-circuited by what's tagged as "additive manufacturing" — a process to fabricate or 3D print a critical widget layer by layer. Using additive manufacturing equipment, items can be cranked out on the spot, whether they're made of hard plastics or certain metals. Work is now in progress to demonstrate this possibility — and the International Space Station (ISS) may be the ideal spot for perfecting the scheme.
Kennedy Space Center: New tour hits Launch Pad 39-A
Dewayne Bevil - Orlando Sentinel
For the first time, Kennedy Space Center visitors will have the option of touring Launch Pad 39-A, where most space-shuttle missions and the six Apollo missions to the moon began. Beginning Friday, the Launch Pad Tour will be available after entry to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Brevard County. It’s the third tour introduced this year, part of the KSC’s 50th anniversary celebration. On the new tour, guests will be transported from the visitor complex to inside the perimeter security fence to Launch Pad 39-A.
The Space Station has hands?
Orbiting craft extends huge robot limb as it captures Southern Lights
Rob Waugh - London Daily Mail
It looks like the opening shot of a sci fi film with a spacecraft looming over an alien world - but in fact, it's our own Earth, and the mysterious spaceship is one of the robot arms of the Space Station. The shot was captured by the current Expedition 32 team on board the Space Station, and shows the 'Southern Lights' erupting over our planet's south pole. Canadarm is a 'robot arm' of the Space Station, which is used to transport equipment around the Space Station, and to support astronauts working in space.
After Long Trip, Space Shuttle Enterprise Opens to Public
Cora Lewis - Wall Street Journal
As a jazz ensemble played “Fly Me to the Moon,” science teachers, children and other visitors took their first look at the space shuttle Enterprise in its new home on the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. The new, bubble-domed Space Shuttle Pavilion opened to the public Thursday, capping an epic East Coast journey that began aboard the back of a Boeing 747 in Washington, D.C., and ended on barge that dropped it at the retired Intrepid aircraft carrier, docked at Pier 86 near 46th St.
Space shuttle Enterprise on view Thursday in NYC
Amelia Harris - New York Post
Now everyone can experience the final frontier. The new Space Shuttle Pavilion featuring NASA’s Enterprise opened yesterday at the Intrepid Museum where at least 4,000 visitors bought $40 tickets to get up close and personal with the first winged spaceplane. “I am personally very excited because I was one of the ones who wrote a letter to help name the Enterprise,” said Deborah Ross, 63, of the Upper West Side. “This is real history and it was important for me to be here on its first day of its new life.”
Space Shuttle Enterprise Wows New Yorkers at Intrepid Museum
Denise Chow - Space.com
The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum's brand-new exhibit showcasing the space shuttle Enterprise officially opened to the public today (July 19), and hundreds of excited men, women and children waited patiently in line for the chance to get up-close and personal with the city's newest and most impressive space artifact. To celebrate the opening of the new Space Shuttle Pavilion, the Intrepid hosted a special ceremony Thursday morning at the museum here, which is located at Pier 86 on Manhattan's West Side.
Decades later, Neil Armstrong still chooses to go to the moon
Part 4: First moonwalker says 'lunar vicinity' should be first step for longer voyages
Jay Barbree - NBC News (Commentary)
(In a five-part series, Barbree lays out a vision of spaceflight in the 20-teens for the 2012 presidential candidates.)
Forty-three years ago, Neil Armstrong moved slowly down the ladder. He was in no hurry. He would be stepping onto a small world that had never been touched by life. A landscape where no leaf had ever drifted, no insect had ever scurried, where no blade of green had ever waved, where even the raging fury of a thermonuclear blast would sound no louder than a falling snowflake. Across a vacuum-wide 240,000 miles, billions of eyes were transfixed on black-and-white televisions. They were watching this ghostly figure moving phantomlike, closer and closer, and then, three and a half feet above the moon's surface, jump off the ladder. Neil Armstrong's boots hit the moon at 10:56 p.m. ET, July 20, 1969.
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COMPLETE STORIES
A year after shuttle's end, Johnson Space Center moving forward
Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle
Saturday marks one year since the wheels of space shuttle Atlantis stopped for the final time, ending the iconic program after three decades.
Although there have been some challenges during the last 12 months the Johnson Space Center, for which the space shuttle was the signature program, is moving on from the iconic vehicle, said the center's director, Mike Coats.
"Contrary to rumors, we're not going out of business," Coats said during a meeting with the Chronicle's editorial board Wednesday.
The center's budget has shrunk from about $6 billion a year to $4.5 billion, and its workforce of civil servants and contractors has fallen from 17,000 to about 13,000, Coats said.
Yet the JSC still operates the International Space Station, and is also managing development of the Orion spacecraft.
This vehicle will make its first test flight - unmanned - in 2014.
Challenging transition
Coats was enthusiastic about the successful flight of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to the space station in May, making it the first private craft to visit the orbiting laboratory.
"I'm delighted with how this first SpaceX cargo mission to the space station went off so well," Coats said.
One of the challenges of the last year for some NASA employees, he said, has been transitioning from a negative attitude toward space hardware "not invented here" toward being more accepting of private contractors developing spacecraft.
"I think we've made some progress," Coats said, noting the successful flight of Dragon helped this transition.
"I think they were impressed by the professionalism of our people," he said, "and our people were impressed with them, as well. We learned from each other."
The trend should continue with the possible launch of a Cygnus cargo spacecraft, developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, late this year to the space station.
Coats said he welcomes the rise of private spaceflight because it will both allow NASA to focus on human exploration deeper in the solar system and, when the new spacecraft are rated for humans, give the United States the capacity to launch humans into space again.
'In our best interest'
"It's in our best interest, and we desperately need them flying to the space station as soon as possible," Coats said.
"We're not a space-faring nation right now. We're paying the Russians a lot of money to fly our people up there. It galls me because it's paying for a lot of Russian engineers when I'd like to be hiring American engineers."
Space contractors anxiously awaiting NASA's call
A select few companies soon learn if they've made commercial crew funding cut
James Dean - Florida Today
NASA is set to make its biggest commitment yet to the development of private space taxis, one of which will likely be the first U.S. vehicle after the shuttle to fly astronauts to orbit.
“This is a critical next step for re-establishing U.S. human access to space,” said Phil McAlister, head of commercial spaceflight programs at NASA headquarters.
By the end of this month or early next, the agency is expected to award up to three companies funding that could exceed $1 billion over nearly two years.
The decisions will impact hiring and activity here on the Space Coast, as companies work to finish designs of privately owned and operated spacecraft by 2014 and prepare for test flights from Florida after that. NASA’s goal is to have a system ready to begin crewed flights to the International Space Station by 2017.
“Yes, we’re nervous about it,” Sierra Nevada Corp. executive Jim Voss said last week of the imminent announcement, during a job fair the company hosted in Cocoa Beach. “We’re optimistic enough to spend the time down here meeting with people and interviewing folks to be ready to hire them upon award.”
The Boeing Co. is awaiting news from NASA before moving forward with renovations of a former shuttle hangar at Kennedy Space Center it wants to use for commercial spacecraft work that could eventually employ 550 people.
“Pending the NASA (program) award decision, we will be prepared to begin modifications,” said spokeswoman Susan Wells.
NASA has invested about $365 million since 2010 toward development of commercial crew transportation systems, spread among six companies, and assisted three companies via unfunded partnerships.
“We’ve seen a diversity of ideas,” McAlister said. “As we go forward at this stage, some of those ideas are going to gain better traction.”
Four companies are considered the top contenders for the new awards, with each developing vehicles that could fly up to seven people to the outpost:
· Boeing: The CST-100 capsule would launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The program office will be based at KSC. One of nation’s most experienced human spaceflight contractors, Boeing has won the most NASA development funding to date, up to $130.9 million.
· Sierra Nevada Corp.: The Dream Chaser is the competition’s only winged vehicle, promising the most shuttle-like flight experience. It would launch atop an Atlas V. Sierra Nevada has won up to $125.6 million in NASA support so far, second to Boeing.
· SpaceX: The Dragon capsule is the only proposed crew vehicle that has already visited the space station. A successful unmanned demonstration flight in May, launched by the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, assured it frontrunner status in the next round. NASA last year awarded SpaceX up to $75 million to support upgrades for crewed flight.
· ATK: An award to ATK might be considered a surprise since the company hasn’t received any commercial crew funding yet from NASA, but its proposed Liberty system is built on decades of work as a key shuttle contractor. The system uses a first-stage solid rocket booster originally designed for NASA’s canceled Ares I crew launcher and still being developed for use by the agency’s planned heavy-lift rocket. A European upper stage and a composite crew capsule round out the system, which could also carry a cargo module.
NASA plans to announce up to two “full” awards that could range from $300 million to $500 million through May 2014, according to the solicitation released in February, and one award for half that. It’s the result of a compromise with some members of Congress who were concerned that more awards could delay a system’s availability and waste money on companies unlikely to win future contracts.
The goal of the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability program, or “CCiCap,” is to complete designs for transportation systems, including the spacecraft, rocket, ground and mission systems. At that point, they’ll be ready for fabrication, assembly, integration and testing.
Working under Space Act Agreements rather than traditional contracts, participants will pursue a schedule of technical milestones and earn fixed payments as each are achieved. The companies, which have invested their own money in the development effort, were asked to propose additional optional milestones that would culminate in a crewed orbital test flight before the NASA missions begin.
NASA eventually will award contracts to one or more providers to ferry crews to the station, a service provided exclusively by Russia since the shuttle’s retirement a year ago.
The competition will be open, but the winners in the next round effectively become the finalists.
“It is not impossible but unlikely that an unfunded competitor could continue in the game,” said John Logsdon, professor emeritus at George Washington University. “The far more likely outcome is that at least one, if not two, of the three companies that receives funding are going to be the ultimate recipients of the crew transportation contracts.”
Asked who would win, Logsdon said it was “a really tough call.” Based on “pure speculation,” he picked Boeing and SpaceX to win full awards and Sierra Nevada a half award. But ATK “continues to make a very intriguing case.”
With Orion space capsule, NASA plots return to space exploration
Casey Stegall - Fox News
It has been more than 40 years since the famed Apollo missions, when humans stepped into deep space. And at last, NASA intends to get back to its exploration roots.
"This is the first time we've had a vehicle that will truly send us where we've always dreamed of going," NASA's Josh Byerly told Fox News.
The Orion capsule is a part of what NASA had planned as the sprawling and ambitious Constellation project that would offer a replacement for the space shuttle -- and a means to ferry humans into outer space and back to the moon. In under 10 years, it will ride a rocket and take astronauts to places like Mars, NASA hopes.
But it must first endure rigorous testing over the Arizona desert.
"We kind of put it through a different type of environment or even failure mode that we want to protect for," said NASA Project Manager Chris Johnson.
Parachutes are the current focus. At 26,000 feet, the capsule is dropped out of a C-17 cargo jet to see how the chutes will help glide the spacecraft safely back to Earth. The tests are happening at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona, a major U.S. military testing installation.
Orion weighs about 20,000 pounds compared to the 250,000 pounds for the shuttle. But don't let the size fool you. There's actually more room in there per person than there was for the shuttle crew.
"The space shuttle looked very large, but the majority of that volume was really for payloads, such as building the International Space Station," said Johnson.
Orion’s first official launch will be in 2014, an unmanned mission, to test its ability to survive reentering the Earth’s atmosphere at more than 20,000 miles per hour. It’ll be sent 15 times deeper into space than the International Space Station. The first time it’s scheduled to carry astronauts is 2021.
The cost of the program is a little less than $1 billion a year.
Orbital’s Antares Rocket in for Further Delays
Peter de Selding - Space News
Satellite and rocket builder Orbital Sciences Corp. on July 19 said its Antares rocket had encountered six or seven weeks of developmental delays and will not conduct its inaugural demonstration flight until late September or early October, with a second launch — this time carrying the Cygnus cargo vehicle to the international space station — likely in mid-December.
Dulles, Va.-based Orbital also said it spent $2.1 million in the three months ending June 30 on legal and other professional services fees related to a major acquisition that ultimately was not consummated because it was too expensive.
In a conference call with investors, Orbital Chief Financial Officer Garrett E. Pierce said the acquisition, had it occurred, “was a major transaction [that] would have had an impact across the company.” He declined to say more beyond adding that a purchase only creates value “at the right price.”
Industry officials had long speculated that Orbital would be in the hunt to purchase Space Systems/Loral, a builder of large telecommunications satellites whose product line has only a few overlaps with Orbital’s commercial satellite business, which specializes in smaller spacecraft.
Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., was purchased in late June by MDA Corp. of Canada for about $1.1 billion.
In the conference call, Orbital Chief Executive David W. Thompson said the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, which is managing construction of the Antares launch pad at Wallops Island, Va., had encountered “a few unexpected obstacles in recent weeks,” pushing the Antares development and qualification schedule into fall.
The Antares launch pad, Thompson said, will be certified for operations by Aug. 1 — several weeks later than what Orbital expected in its previous financial update in April.
The first stage of the Antares rocket will be placed on the pad for a hot-fire test to occur in late August or early September. About a month later — by early October — the full Antares is scheduled to conduct a demonstration flight without the Cygnus capsule. Thompson said this part of the schedule remained tight, despite the delays, and could still slip further given the program’s current development status.
Assuming the hot-fire test and demonstration flight go smoothly and on time, an Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus capsule will be ready for flight by mid-December.
Orbital is under contract to NASA to deliver cargo to the international space station under two separate contracts. The first, called the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, is designed to prove the Antares/Cygnus capability with the demonstration flight and the first Cygnus cargo delivery. This is a cost-sharing contract in which NASA is paying about $188 million, with Orbital contributing a similar amount.
The second NASA contract, called Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) and valued at $1.9 billion, calls for Orbital to make eight Antares/Cygnus flights to the space station to deliver a total of 20,000 kilograms of supplies over several years.
Thompson said the Antares and Cygnus development programs have been completed except for their demonstrations on the launch pad. The delays in recent months have been related to the Wallops Island launch complex.
Orbital reported that for the three months ending June 30, revenue was up 6 percent, to $371.3 million. The biggest contributor to the increase was the company’s Advanced Space Programs division, which includes the CRS contract.
Pierce said an increase of $33 million in CRS revenue from NASA was the main driver of the division’s improved performance, which was up 29 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
The company’s Satellites and Space Systems division, which includes government and commercial satellites, reported a 6 percent decline in revenue, to $130.1 million, for the three months ending June 30. Thompson said a decline in revenue from commercial geostationary-orbiting telecommunications satellites, which had been expected, was the main reason for the drop.
But if this division’s revenue was down, its operating profit was up substantially, to 8.1 percent of revenue.
Orbital delivered two commercial satellites during the quarter, an unusually large output for a company that typically books no more than four such satellites a year. In the case of these two satellites, Thompson said, Orbital had set aside reserves out of concern that the technologies in the satellites, and the terms of the contract, could force Orbital to spend more than expected to complete the work.
In the end, he said, both programs were completed without consuming the management reserve, helping profitability.
Orbital is scheduled to deliver two commercial satellites between July and September, but Thompson cautioned that the company is not yet ready to promise another quarter of 8 percent operating margins for its satellite business.
Orbital’s Launch Vehicles division, meanwhile, reported revenue of $126.3 million during the quarter, down 5.2 percent because of lower launch vehicle and missile-defense activity.
Orbital’s work on NASA’s Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Satellite (GEMS) to study black holes has been stopped following NASA’s cancellation of the program due to cost growth. Orbital had been under a $40 million contract signed in July 2009, with a launch scheduled for 2015.
Thompson said the U.S. Congress may yet order NASA to continue GEMS, but that for now Orbital expects to book $20 million less revenue in the second half of 2012 than it previously expected because of the project’s cancellation. The total impact on Orbital of the cancellation will be a revenue shortfall of about $75 million between now and late 2014, he said.
The $75 million figure includes the revenue the company would have booked on the satellite’s construction, plus the fact that Orbital’s Pegasus rocket was to have launched GEMS.
Thompson said it will take the company several months to determine whether the loss of GEMS will trigger the retirement of the Pegasus rocket, or whether sufficient demand exists to maintain the vehicle’s production line.
New space station camera will look down at Earth, not up at the stars
Lee Roop - Huntsville Times
A new Earth-observing camera built at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station Friday. The remote-controlled camera will help scientists analyze environmental disasters and environmental changes.
The new camera is called ISERV Pathfinder, and it will be installed in the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF) in the station's Destiny laboratory. Scientists hope it will be a research tool for building better systems in the future. Ideally, they would like to be able to monitor disasters as they are happening.
The camera is based on a modified commercial telescope with custom software. Data will be sent to scientists on the ground. "We hope it will provide new data and information from space related to natural disasters, environmental crises and the increased effects of climate variability on human populations," said Marshall program director Dan Irwin.
Irwin directs the SERVIR program at Marshall. SERVIR, named for the Spanish verb "to serve," provides satellite data and analysis tools to developing countries to manage their resources.
"ISERV came about because officials in developing countries are sometimes unable to acquire the images they need to address environmental threats and provide post-disaster assessments," said Nancy Searby, capacity building program manager for the SERVIR program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The SERVIR team approached NASA's ISS and Earth Science Applied Sciences Program with the concept of acquiring the needed imagery from the ISS. The ISERV test bed payload is a result of that collaboration."
The launch is scheduled for 9:06 p.m. CDT Friday from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
Russia Converts Unmanned Rocket to Carry New Crewed Spaceship
Rob Coppinger - Space.com
Russia's next new manned spacecraft will launch atop a different rocket than planned, one originally designed for only robotic spacecraft. The country's new six-cosmonaut spacecraft is due to lift off on its first test flight in 2018, using a launcher named Angara A5 developed for unmanned missions.
The new six-cosmonaut spacecraft, which is called the Advanced Crew Vehicle (ACV), was to have been launched by another new rocket, Rus-M. The Rus-M was to be an evolution of the Samara Space Center's Soyuz FG rocket that launches the Soyuz manned spacecraft. But Rus-M was canceled last year, while ACV was continued despite no launcher being identified for it.
As well as carrying six cosmonauts, the ACV will carry 1,100 pounds (500 kg) of cargo and could travel to the moon. Like the Soyuz capsule, which Russia currently uses to launch humans to orbit, the ACV will use rockets to land.
Rocket family
The Angara A5 is the heavy version of Angara, a family of four rockets based on a common core architecture. The Universal Rocket Motor (URM) is the common core that uses liquid oxygen and kerosene. The A5 has five of these cores combined for a total liftoff mass of 1.7 million pounds (770,000 kg), and the rocket will be able to put 53,900 pounds (24,500 kg) into a 124-mile (200 kilometers) orbit.
Soyuz is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and Angara will fly from the planned Baiterek facility, also at Baikonur, after its first few flights from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.
Vladimir Popovkin, Russia's Federal Space Agency director general, told SPACE.com, "The main launcher for the new spacecraft will be Angara," after explaining that earlier testing of the spacecraft’s technology, such as its launch escape system, will use the Ukrainian Yuzhnoye Design Bureau’s Zenit rocket.
Tested by Korea
Popovkin spoke to SPACE.com at his space agency's exhibit at the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire, England, which took place July 9-15. On exhibit by the Russian agency were scale models of the ACV and an Angara A5 and ACV stack with its launch escape system.
He added that Angara rocket technology has already been tested. South Korea’s Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV) uses it for its first stage, which is provided by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, Angara’s prime contractor. On KSLV's maiden flight in August 2009, the vehicle's first stage was successful but the Korean-made upper stage failed. That upper stage failed again a year later on the second flight. Later this year the third launch of the KSLV will take place.
The first launch of the Angara family is scheduled for 2013 — years later than originally planned.
The Angara family has been in development since the 1990s but funding problems have delayed its entry into service. This year's first flight will see the smallest of the four, the A1.2, fly.
Using one core, the A1.2 liftoff weight is 376,000 pounds and the payload capability for a 124-mile orbit is 8,300 pounds. There was a smaller Angara, the A1.1, with a 4,400-pound payload ability, but plans for that vehicle have been canceled. It and the A1.2 were supposed to fly by 2011.
There is a super-heavy version of Angara, the A7, in the works. This has a 2.4 million-pound liftoff weight and its 124-mile orbit payload capability is 77,000-pounds.
Made-in-Space Parts Could Become Space Travel's New Norm
Leonard David - Space.com's Space Insider
Maybe it's time to shelve the old saying, "you can't leave home without it," when it comes to packing for trips to space.
Say you're hunkered down inside Mars Base-1 and a vital piece of life-support gear breaks down. A hurried search in supply bins proves futile. The next cycler spaceship with equipment is months away. Time is running out.
This disaster scenario could be short-circuited by what's tagged as "additive manufacturing" — a process to fabricate or 3D print a critical widget layer by layer. Using additive manufacturing equipment, items can be cranked out on the spot, whether they're made of hard plastics or certain metals.
Work is now in progress to demonstrate this possibility — and the International Space Station (ISS) may be the ideal spot for perfecting the scheme.
Cutting the umbilical
In a televised call to the space station in February, NASA chief Charles Bolden asked two onboard residents at the time, U.S. astronauts Dan Burbank and Don Pettit, to discuss what astronauts need 20 to 30 years from now, based on what they have seen and experienced in their space travels.
"Onboard space station right now, astronauts have to be essentially jacks of all trade," Burbank said. "We need to be able to fix anything and everything that happens."
As people depart from low Earth orbit, Burbank said that one of the key things needed is to essentially cut the umbilical from Earth and be able to maintain spacecraft to the degree "that if something breaks, you can replace a part outright … you need to be able to fabricate a part."
Crews can't bring along all the pieces and parts that may or may not suffer a breakdown over the course of a long mission, Burbank added.
Field center activity
NASA has a team of researchers from four different space agency centers working on demonstrating the full concept, said Karen Taminger, materials research engineer at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
Taminger told SPACE.com that the research is geared toward identifying a mechanical component needing to be repaired or replaced, designing the replacement part, fabricating it — with additive manufacturing — finishing and inspecting it, and working to demonstrate remote control of the additive manufacturing process.
Currently, all of this work is being done in labs on the ground, at NASA's Langley, Glenn, Marshall and Johnson space centers, Taminger said, "but we are working towards demonstrating this capability on ISS."
Growing support
A demonstration of NASA's concept of an additive manufacturing process, Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (EBF3), was done in simulated microgravity on parabolic aircraft flights back in 2007.
"We're now pursuing hardware and procedural changes to make the system more robust and astronaut-friendly," Taminger said.
Similarly, an enterprising team from Singularity University, a non-profit institution in California's Silicon Valley that works on forward-thinking technologies, has formed a "Made in Space" company, carrying out parabolic flights last year to showcase their 3D printing initiative.
With the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, there has been increased national focus on 3D printing and additive manufacturing in the past six months, Taminger said. "In addition to helping create manufacturing jobs in the United States, we are pushing to demonstrate this on the ISS, in preparation for longer duration space exploration."
Although these experiments have yet to be funded or scheduled to go to the ISS, "that is certainly where we would like to go," Taminger added.
On-demand demo
Space-based, on-demand fabrication of metallic parts using additive manufacturing was outlined last month during the 1st Annual International Space Station Research & Development Conference held in Denver.
The ISS is an "ideal platform" for testing the value of on-demand additive manufacturing in the space environment, said some experts present.
According to a research paper on the initiative, the EBF3 process NASA is exploring uses an electron beam and wire to fabricate metallic structures. The process efficiencies of the electron beam and the solid wire feedstock make the EBF3 process attractive for use in space, say researchers engaged in studying the manufacturing idea.
Reducing inventory
One technology highlighted by NASA is solid freeform fabrication, a process that could be used to support fabrication and repair of large space structures, spacecraft primary structure and replacement components.
Production of replacement components by solid freeform fabrication processes during a mission could reduce or eliminate the need to carry a complete inventory of premanufactured spares. Rather, replacement components would be generated as needed from feedstock material.
As a result, only the total mass of replacements would need to be estimated instead of a prediction of which specific components might be needed. Attempting to predict which components will fail and require replacement will inherently be an inaccurate process and is likely to result in stashing away numerous components that will never be used — which is wasted mass — while "under-provisioning" other components, experts said.
"Just as Christopher Columbus brought tools with him to help explore the New World," Taminger concluded,"NASA is developing an on-demand additive manufacturing tool that will allow space explorers to build what they want, when and where they need it."
Kennedy Space Center: New tour hits Launch Pad 39-A
Dewayne Bevil - Orlando Sentinel
For the first time, Kennedy Space Center visitors will have the option of touring Launch Pad 39-A, where most space-shuttle missions and the six Apollo missions to the moon began.
Beginning Friday, the Launch Pad Tour will be available after entry to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Brevard County. It’s the third tour introduced this year, part of the KSC’s 50th anniversary celebration.
On the new tour, guests will be transported from the visitor complex to inside the perimeter security fence to Launch Pad 39-A.
“Visitors will travel the same route as astronauts to the launch pad, so they can imagine being an astronaut,” says Bill Moore, chief operating officer of Kennedy Space Center Vistor Complex.
At 39-A, guests will get off the bus for photo ops of the 350-foot fixed structure and other aspects of the launch pad, including the flame trench, propellan storage containers and water tanks that service the noise-suppression system.
The tour then does a drive-by of Launch Pad 39-B, the starting point for Skylab missions and many space-shuttle missions. This area is being remodeled for NASA’s new Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, which will carry astronauts in the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, and to accommodate commercial spacecraft.
The Launch Pad Tour and the tours that go to the Vehicle Assembly Building and to the Launch Control Center will continue through the end of the year. Each tour costs $25 ($19 for ages 3-11) in addition to admission to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
The Space Station has hands?
Orbiting craft extends huge robot limb as it captures Southern Lights
Rob Waugh - London Daily Mail
It looks like the opening shot of a sci fi film with a spacecraft looming over an alien world - but in fact, it's our own Earth, and the mysterious spaceship is one of the robot arms of the Space Station.
The shot was captured by the current Expedition 32 team on board the Space Station, and shows the 'Southern Lights' erupting over our planet's south pole.
Canadarm is a 'robot arm' of the Space Station, which is used to transport equipment around the Space Station, and to support astronauts working in space.
It's pictured here in front of a spectacular display of Southern Lights shot from within the Station's Tranquility node.
The night time display comes about when charged particles from the sun combine with the earth's magnetic field creating bursts of light.
Different types of gases found at different attitudes which causes the range on colours to appear.
Green lights are the most common, and the Space Station often captures spectacular views as it hurtles over 240 miles up.
This image was captured by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, flight engineer, recorded the series of images from the Tranquility node of the Space Station.
After Long Trip, Space Shuttle Enterprise Opens to Public
Cora Lewis - Wall Street Journal
As a jazz ensemble played “Fly Me to the Moon,” science teachers, children and other visitors took their first look at the space shuttle Enterprise in its new home on the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
The new, bubble-domed Space Shuttle Pavilion opened to the public Thursday, capping an epic East Coast journey that began aboard the back of a Boeing 747 in Washington, D.C., and ended on barge that dropped it at the retired Intrepid aircraft carrier, docked at Pier 86 near 46th St.
Kicking off the event, Intrepid Museum President Susan Marenoff-Zausner thanked the “unsung heroes” of that voyage – the transportation, construction, and crane-operating crews who made it possible. “You navigated an obstacle course and made it look like a ballet recital,” she said.
Though the Enterprise never flew into space, the aircraft is credited with setting the stage for future shuttles – and museum co-chair Bruce Mosler said it was an honor to host it. “We are very proud to have her here, on Intrepid’s hallowed deck,” he said.
The pavilion also paid tribute to science fiction, with clips of “2001: A Space Odyssey” playing alongside images of the original shuttle launches and missions. The shuttle was originally to be named “The Constitution,” but “Star Trek” fans successfully lobbied President Gerald Ford to change the name to honor the series’ fictional ship.
NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. –who awarded the shuttle to the Intrepid to give it as much exposure as possible — spoke of NASA “transitioning to a new era.” Since the 30-year-old shuttle program ended last July, there has been no move to replace it, causing some people to express disappointment over a perceived reduced commitment to space exploration.
Youngsters at the Intrepid Thursday still dreamed of trips to outer space. One boy wore a full-body, bright orange spacesuit. Ten-year-old Jona Inniss, there with her mother, Angela Howard, said that she was “definitely” interested in science and math, though she would like to become a doctor. “That doesn’t preclude being an astronaut,” her mother said, noting that physicians are also sent into space. “I’d like to go to Mars,” her daughter specified.
Science teacher Eddie Palmieri, 37, said he’s already planning a field trip to the Intrepid for his 8th grade class for next year. He says students are as interested in the stars as ever, despite the lack of a Soviet-style space-race. “They still want to learn about the moon, about what happened in the past,” he said.
Grace Gabriele, who teaches gifted and talented youth in Sayreville, New Jersey, said, “Now there is also a more likely possibility that civilians will get to go to space.”
Clare Goscienski, who also teaches in Sayreville, said, “It’s no longer science fiction.”
The Intrepid is celebrating the Enterprise with a five-day SpaceFest featuring movies, exhibits and demonstrations of NASA robotics and deep space telescopes that runs until Sunday.
Space shuttle Enterprise on view Thursday in NYC
Amelia Harris - New York Post
Now everyone can experience the final frontier.
The new Space Shuttle Pavilion featuring NASA’s Enterprise opened yesterday at the Intrepid Museum where at least 4,000 visitors bought $40 tickets to get up close and personal with the first winged spaceplane.
“I am personally very excited because I was one of the ones who wrote a letter to help name the Enterprise,” said Deborah Ross, 63, of the Upper West Side. “This is real history and it was important for me to be here on its first day of its new life.”
Ross was among the 100,000 “Star Trek” TV fans who wrote to the federal government in the early 1970s begging that the orbiter be named after Captain Kirk’s fictional starship.
President Ford named it Enterprise on September 8, 1976 — even though NASA didn’t like the name and had wanted to call the shuttle “Constitution.’’
Some fans even turned up yesterday decked out in costumes from the TV series.
“Oh so worth it, to actually just see the Enterprise up close and pay homage to the shuttle — we had to do it,” said Larry Smith of Bergenfield, NJ, who was up until 4 a.m. yesterday putting the finishing touches on his “Star Trek” costume. He was joined by two friends decked out in similar outfits.
People waited on line for up to 40 minutes to see the famed craft.
Visitors are not allowed to actually board the Enterprise, they can walk underneath and around the shuttle.
While the ship never actually went into space, it performed critical tests around the Earth’s atmosphere in 1977 and proved that it was possible for the brick-shaped craft to successfully glide back to Earth. Space experts credit the Enterprise with paving the way for future shuttles.
Space Shuttle Enterprise Wows New Yorkers at Intrepid Museum
Denise Chow - Space.com
The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum's brand-new exhibit showcasing the space shuttle Enterprise officially opened to the public today (July 19), and hundreds of excited men, women and children waited patiently in line for the chance to get up-close and personal with the city's newest and most impressive space artifact.
To celebrate the opening of the new Space Shuttle Pavilion, the Intrepid hosted a special ceremony Thursday morning at the museum here, which is located at Pier 86 on Manhattan's West Side.
"It is an exciting time for the Intrepid and for all of New York City," Susan Marenoff-Zausner, president of the Intrepid museum, said during her opening remarks. "For so long, we have dreamed of bringing a shuttle to New York, and we are so incredibly excited that this day is here."
Also present at the opening ceremony were NASA chief Charles Bolden, Ken Fisher and Bruce Mosler, co-chairmen of the Intrepid, and three of the four original Enterprise pilots, Richard Truly, Joe Engle and Fred Haise. The fourth pilot, Gordon Fullerton, was unable to travel, but was represented by his wife, Marie.
Inside the enclosed pavilion on the Intrepid's flight deck, Enterprise sits raised just 10 feet (3 meters) off the ground. The orbiter is surrounded by photos, videos and other interactive displays that tell the story of Enterprise and NASA's 30-year space shuttle program.
The shuttle Enterprise never flew in space, but the prototype orbiter was used by NASA in the late 1970s for approach and landing tests for the then-nascent space shuttle program. Before coming to the Intrepid museum, Enterprise was on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum annex just outside Washington, D.C.
Enterprise was awarded to the Intrepid in April 2011. The Smithsonian received the space shuttle Discovery, NASA's most-flown orbiter, to replace Enterprise in its shuttle exhibit.
The Intrepid exhibit's layout, which includes a raised platform for people to stand level with Enterprise's nose, allows visitors to fully appreciate the sheer size of the shuttle by walking underneath and all the way around the vehicle.
"It's bigger in real life than I would have thought," said Denise Vollert-Parrotto of New Jersey, who attended the opening of the Space Shuttle Pavilion with her husband and 4-year-old son Nicholas. "Getting close to it, I think they did a really nice job here at the Intrepid."
Vollert-Parrotto took Nicholas, who she said is fascinated by ships and airplanes, to see Enterprise as it flew into New York atop NASA's modified 747 carrier aircraft. As the family snapped pictures in front of Enterprise, the 4-year-old marveled at the display.
"I want to ride on it!" Nicholas told SPACE.com.
Having seen the space shuttle Enterprise as it made its way to the Intrepid, Vollert-Parrotto felt it was important for her son to see the orbiter in its new museum home.
"He was lucky enough to get to see it when it came, and it's a historical moment," she said. "We've talked about the shuttle a lot ever since we knew it was coming, so he was really excited to come."
Nicholas' excitement was shared by many, as people eagerly awaited their chance to gaze up at the 122-foot-long (37 meters), 150,000-pound (68,000 kilograms) shuttle.
"It's amazing," said Evan Kaplan, 9, who was dressed in an orange spacesuit costume. "I never thought a space shuttle would be this big."
To coincide with the opening of the Space Shuttle Pavilion, the Intrepid is also hosting "SAMSUNG SpaceFest," an event that invites people to experience more than 40 interactive displays, activities and exhibitions. The SpaceFest will last through Sunday (July 22), and is free with admission to the Intrepid museum.
As the pavilion doors were opened to the public for the first time, the crowds enthusiastically welcomed Enterprise into its new home at the Intrepid.
"In a city where so many things are born, engineered, developed and celebrated, it is so fitting that Enterprise finds her home right here in midtown Manhattan," Marenoff-Zausner said. "She represents the birth of an era, a revolution in science, research and discovery. She stands for risk, for chance and courage, and she is truly intrepid."
Decades later, Neil Armstrong still chooses to go to the moon
Part 4: First moonwalker says 'lunar vicinity' should be first step for longer voyages
Jay Barbree - NBC News (Commentary)
(In a five-part series, Barbree lays out a vision of spaceflight in the 20-teens for the 2012 presidential candidates.)
Forty-three years ago, Neil Armstrong moved slowly down the ladder. He was in no hurry. He would be stepping onto a small world that had never been touched by life. A landscape where no leaf had ever drifted, no insect had ever scurried, where no blade of green had ever waved, where even the raging fury of a thermonuclear blast would sound no louder than a falling snowflake.
Across a vacuum-wide 240,000 miles, billions of eyes were transfixed on black-and-white televisions. They were watching this ghostly figure moving phantomlike, closer and closer, and then, three and a half feet above the moon's surface, jump off the ladder. Neil Armstrong's boots hit the moon at 10:56 p.m. ET, July 20, 1969.
All motion stopped. He spoke: "That’s one small step for a man — one giant leap for mankind."
Lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin stayed aboard Eagle to keep watch on all the lander's systems. The LM was Aldrin’s responsibility, and as soon as it was safe for him to leave their lander, he came down the ladder and joined Armstrong.
“Beautiful, beautiful! Magnificent desolation,” Aldrin said with feeling. He stared at a sky that was the darkest of blacks. No blue. No green. No birds flying across an airless landscape. There were many shades of gray and areas of utter black where rocks cast their shadows from an unfiltered sun, but no real color. And there was the lack of gravity. They seemed to weigh a little more than nothing. In spite of their cumbersome spacesuits, both astronauts found moving about in the one-sixth gravity exhilarating and described the experience as floating.
They wanted to run and make leaps that would be impossible to do on Earth, where they would each weigh 360 pounds with their suits and life-support backpacks. On the moon, in its one-sixth gravity, they weighed only 60 pounds, but they still possessed body mass that restricted their ability to move. If they started to jog, the mass and velocity created kinetic energy, and stopping quickly was impossible. They soon discovered that "bunny hops" in the suits worked well.
Neil had the camera and while Buzz went about setting up the experiments, he turned and looked for Earth, the true oasis of shifting colors in the solar system. It appeared far larger from the moon than did the moon from Earth. And it was many times brighter. Sunlight made it so by splashing off the bright clouds and blue oceans. It was hope. It was the warmest port in this corner of the universe.
Twenty-one hours after they landed on the moon they fired Eagle’s ascent engine and headed home.
They were back on Earth three days later.
It has been 43 years since Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon. Ten more astronauts would follow him and Buzz to the lunar surface.
Today, Neil Armstrong — first to walk on the moon, first to fly an emergency landing from space, a man with experience as a test pilot as well as an engineering professor — is concerned about America’s space program.
He simply thinks that NASA is going nowhere fast. He's worried that the space agency is outsourcing thousands of high-tech jobs to Russia, leaving no direct way for astronauts to go from the United States to the International Space Station. He fears that the space station could experience a catastrophic failure with little support from the country that assembled it in orbit.
Neil thinks we should not only fly our own rockets and spacecraft, but use those vehicles to return to the moon in affordable, incremental, cumulative steps. Here's his congressional testimony on the subject, updated in an email he sent me last week:
"Americans have visited and examined six locations on Luna, varying in size from a suburban lot to a small township. That leaves more than 14 million square miles yet to explore.
"The lunar vicinity is an exceptional location to learn about traveling to more distant places. Largely removed from Earth gravity, and Earth’s magnetosphere, it provides many of the challenges of flying far from Earth. But communication delays with Earth are less than two seconds, permitting Mission Control on Earth to play an important and timely role in flight operations.
"In the case of a severe emergency, such as Jim Lovell’s Apollo 13, Earth is only three days travel time away. Learning how to fly to, and remain at, Earth-Moon Lagrangian points would be a superb precursor to flying to, and remaining at, the much farther distant Earth-Sun Lagrangian points.
"Flying to farther away destinations from lunar orbit or lunar Lagrangian points could have substantial advantages in flight time and/or propellant requirements as compared with departures from Earth orbit.
"Flying in the lunar vicinity would typically provide lower radiation exposures than those expected in interplanetary flight. The long communication delays to destinations beyond the moon mandate new techniques and procedures for spacecraft operations. Mission Control cannot provide a Mars crew their normal helpful advice if the landing trajectory is nine minutes long but the time delay of the radar, communication and telemetry back to Earth is 19 minutes.
"Flight experience at lunar distance can provide valuable insights into practical solutions for handling such challenges. I am persuaded that a return to the moon would be the most productive path to expanding the human presence in the solar system."
'Spaceflight in the 20-teens':
· Part 1: Space needs a place on to-do list
· Part 2: It's decision time for future spaceflight
· Part 3: Handicapping the commercial space race
· Part 4: Neil Armstrong still chooses to go to the moon
· NEXT: Small steps toward a giant leap in space
END
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