Hope you can join the NASA Retirees today at the Hibachi Grill in Webster on Bay Area Blvd. between Highway 3 and I45 at 11:30am.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1. Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
2. Today: Join JSC's Top Management for JSAT 'Then and Now' Seminar
3. Two Groups/Two Start Times for NASA Honor Awards Ceremony - Today
4. JSC Siemens Desk Phone Voicemail Outage Friday, Sept. 7
5. A Video 'Bloody' Worth Watching About the Immune System and Spaceflight
6. Latest International Space Station Research
7. International Space Station Ambassadors Workshop Today
8. Still Looking for Open House Volunteers for MCC in Building 30
9. Monthly Test Of The JSC Emergency Warning System
10. What is JSC's Quality Management System Documentation? (Two Sessions)
11. JSC Library Training on Aerospace Medicine Resources
________________________________________ QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ When you can't solve the problem, manage it. ”
-- Dr. Robert H. Schuller
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1. Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
Last week's poll revealed that most of us were just small kids when Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon, but we remember it. Two percent of us were born some 20 years later. This week I want to hear about your primary means of communication with your co-workers. Do you email them? Call them? Actually talk to them? You thought Lance Armstrong had a bad week last week. He did, but we all know he won those races, right? This week I'm confused. Michael Strahan is Kelly Ripa's new co-host, but I was hoping for Anderson Cooper. Is there a Cooper you'd like see sitting next to her rather than Strahan?
Regis your Philbin on over to get this week's poll.
Joel Walker x30541 http://jlt.jsc.nasa.gov/
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2. Today: Join JSC's Top Management for JSAT 'Then and Now' Seminar
The adage "Daddy knows best" doesn't always hold true when it comes to safety. How it was done back in the day and how it's done today often differs thanks to the sharing of lessons learned.
Today, Sept. 6, in the Teague Auditorium from 10 to 11:30 a.m., some of JSC's top managers will serve on a JSC Safety Action Team (JSAT) safety panel to talk about "Then and Now: Comparing How We Operated from the 1960s to 2012." Join them for the panel and be sure to ask a safety-related question about their NASA careers and personal philosophies about safety, or how the agency, center and the programs work every day to engender a culture of organizational and personal safety.
The panel members include Dr. Ellen Ochoa, deputy JSC director; Milt Heflin, associate center director (technical); Joel Walker, director, Center Operations; Vince Watkins, deputy director for Safety and Mission Assurance; Kirk Shireman, deputy manager, International Space Station Program; Mark Geyer, manager, Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle; Jeff Davis, director, Space and Life Sciences; Jon Olansen for Project Morpheus; and Hank Rotter, who worked on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.
The format of the seminar will be as follows:
- Welcome and introductions.
- Each panel member speaks for two to three minutes to share his/her personal philosophy on safety and give an example/share a safety story from early in his/her career and how it shaped his/her leadership style.
- Each panel member will discuss and respond to one or two pre-selected question of his/her choice that will be received in advance from members of the JSAT and JSC community.
- Any remaining time -- interactive question-and-answer session with questions received from the civil servants and contractors in the audience.
Patrick Buzzard 713-857-2306
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3. Two Groups/Two Start Times for NASA Honor Awards Ceremony - Today
Today's NASA Honor Awards Ceremony will be split into two groupings (2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.) to accommodate the number of awardees to be recognized and the expected attendance. This will help to ensure all families, guests and co-workers are able to attend, alleviating the wait time between awards.
2 p.m. - Ceremony opens with the presentation of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership and Public Leadership Medals, NASA Exceptional Service Medal.
3:15 p.m. - Break and reception for the first round of recipients.
3:30 p.m. - Presentation of remaining awards: NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Achievement and Public Achievement Medals, NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal, NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal, NASA Exceptional Administrative Achievement Medal, NASA Early Career Achievement Medal and the NASA Group Achievement Awards. Followed by second reception.
A full list of awards can be found on the JSC Announcements page.
Jacinda Green x31057 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/DocumentManagement/announcements/2012%20JSC%20An...
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4. JSC Siemens Desk Phone Voicemail Outage Friday, Sept. 7
The Center Telecommunications System will perform quarterly routine maintenance on the white Siemens desktop phone voicemail system Friday night, Sept. 7. Voicemail for Siemens phones will be unavailable from 6 to 8 p.m. CDT Friday, Sept. 7.
During the outage period, callers will not be able to leave voicemails, and employees will not be able to access their voicemail if they use this system. All recorded messages prior to the outage will be saved and available when the voicemail system is back online. This outage does not affect the Cisco VoIP phones or voicemail.
For more on this maintenance activity by JSC's Information Resources Directorate, please contact Steve Alpha at x39902.
JSC IRD Outreach x39902
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5. A Video 'Bloody' Worth Watching About the Immune System and Spaceflight
Don't be immune to great scientific studies aboard our orbiting lab! In this video featuring Brian Crucian, immunologist at JSC, he discusses Integrated Immune, a human research and immune system investigation on station.
Learn by watching as Crucian provides details of the investigation, including how the station crew uses a blood sample collection kit designed for the study. He also describes some analysis procedures. For the full story and more, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/immune_system_video.html
JSC External Relations, Communications and Public Affairs x35111
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6. Latest International Space Station Research
Did you know? Recently, three tests were successfully completed for the Burning And Suppression of Solids (BASS) investigation. BASS examines the burning and extinction characteristics of a wide variety of fuel samples in microgravity. The BASS investigation will guide strategies for extinguishing accidental fires in microgravity. Two samples -- flat acrylic and flat wax -- were tested. The flat wax slab was burned for the first time in BASS. Experiment results contribute to combustion computational models used in the design of fire detection and suppression systems in microgravity and on Earth.
Read more about the BASS investigation here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/BASS.html
Liz Warren x35548
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7. International Space Station Ambassadors Workshop Today
Build communication skills to share information you have learned about International Space Station (ISS) research with those you meet throughout your work and daily life.
In this workshop, attendees will simulate different types of conversations with the general public and technical audiences.
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
1. Summarize ISS research objectives both as a U.S. National Laboratory and as a platform for international cooperation.
2. Summarize the funding process for ISS research and how new users can come forward if they are interested in the laboratory.
3. Explain why the ISS is such a unique and important laboratory.
4. Describe specific research and education accomplishments and benefits of the ISS.
Date: Today, Sept. 6
Time: 9 to 11 a.m.
Location: Gilruth Center Discovery Room
Audience: All NASA and contractor team members
Register for this class in SATERN. Note: The ISS Research 101 lecture is a prerequisite.
Camille Alleyne x31239
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8. Still Looking for Open House Volunteers for MCC in Building 30
The Building 30 Mission Control Center (MCC) will be participating this year in the JSC Open House on Saturday, Sept. 29, opening our doors to the public, and we need your help. There is an estimated 30,000 people that will show up to see the MCC and what goes on behind the scenes with missions and what it takes to control our vehicles in space.
If you are interested in volunteering and having fun talking about MCC's history up through the current station programs, email Rebecca Marsh at rebecca.e.marsh@nasa.gov to sign up.
Positions that are still available:
- Apollo Mission Control floor
- Apollo Viewing Room (movie will be showing)
- Shuttle Viewing Room
- Hallway support
- Elevator support
- Greeters/welcome desk
Two- or three-hour shifts requested between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Very flexible.
Thank you very much for your help and support!
Rebecca Marsh x36873
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9. Monthly Test Of The JSC Emergency Warning System
The Emergency Dispatch Center and Office of Emergency Management will conduct the monthly test of the JSC Emergency Warning System (EWS) today, Sept. 6, at noon.
The EWS test will consist of a verbal "This is a test" message, followed by a short tone and a second verbal "This is a test" message. The warning tone will be the wail tone, which is associated with an "all clear" message. Please visit the JSC Emergency Awareness website at http://jea.jsc.nasa.gov for EWS tones and definitions. During an actual emergency situation, the particular tone and verbal message will provide you with protective information.
Dennis G. Perrin x34232 http://jea.jsc.nasa.gov
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10. What is JSC's Quality Management System Documentation? (Two Sessions)
The answer to this question may surprise you. Ever since the center established its Quality Management System (QMS) and received its ISO9001 certification in 1997, this question has been hotly debated, and every directorate has defined them differently. The center recently revised its quality manual to define the extent of the QMS documentation, associated records requirements and controls.
If you own a process, manage documents or records, write procedures or manage a documentation system, this overview training is intended for you. There will be two sessions of training available in the Building 30 Auditorium: one today, Sept. 6, from 2 to 4 p.m., and one on Tuesday, Sept. 11, from 9 to 11 a.m. No registration is required.
The training will be presented by Cheryl Andrews/NA14, JSC ISO lead auditor and corrective action manager, on behalf of the JSC Corrective Action Manager Working Group members from each directorate.
Cheryl Andrews x35979
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11. JSC Library Training on Aerospace Medicine Resources
PubMed, the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database and the Wiley Online Library are some of the online medical resources available to JSC civil servants and contractors. Learn about these and Bioastronautics Library services by joining Janine Bolton from the Scientific and Technical Information Center in a webinar from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. CDT on Thursday, Sept. 13.
To register for the WebEx, go to the link below then click on the Classroom/WebEx schedule.
http://library.jsc.nasa.gov/training/default.aspx
Provided by the Information Resources Directorate: http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/default.aspx
Ebony Fondren x32490 http://library.jsc.nasa.gov/
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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.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
In-Flight Data Needed to Investigate Microgravity Immune System Changes
Brian Crucian, immunologist at NASA's Johnson Space Center, talks about how the spaceflight and research communities take full advantage of the ISS research platform, which enables them to investigate human immune system changes during spaceflight and extended stays in microgravity.
Human Spaceflight News
Thursday – September 6, 2012
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Engineers believe sticky bolt 'galled' during pre-launch installation
William Harwood – CBS News
The bolt that jammed during a spacewalk last week, preventing the attachment of a replacement power switching unit on the space station's main solar array truss, likely was damaged slightly during the device's installation, before the truss segment was launched in 2002, the station program manager said Wednesday. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide successfully installed the replacement main bus switching unit during a spacewalk Wednesday after cleaning the bolt in question, removing metal shavings from its threaded receptacle and driving a spare bolt into and out of the fixture. The astronauts said they could feel an area near the top of the threads where the bolt tended to bind.
Spacewalking team conquers bolt, installs box
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
Spacewalking astronauts triumphed over a stubborn bolt and installed a critical power-switching box at the International Space Station on Wednesday, reviving electrical systems. "Looks like you fixed the station," Mission Control radioed. The problem had cut the amount of electrical power available to the orbiting lab and a variety of equipment had to be turned off. Engineers on the ground and the astronauts in orbit scrambled over the Labor Day weekend to devise makeshift tools to clean metal shavings from the socket of the troublesome bolt, after last week's failed effort to plug in the new power-relay unit.
Spacewalking astronauts fix station's power system
Irene Klotz - Reuters
A pair of spacewalking astronauts cleaned, greased and finally coaxed a jammed bolt into position on Wednesday, restoring the International Space Station's power system. The spacewalk by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide was the second in a week to replace a key part of the station's power system. The astronauts were able to remove the faulty 220-pound (100-kg) device, known as a main bus switching unit, during a spacewalk last Thursday, but were unable to bolt a replacement into position.
Spacewalking astronauts fix space station with toothbrush
Gina Sunseri - ABC News
A $100 billion space station saved by a simple $3 toothbrush? It was the brainstorm of astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide and NASA engineers on the ground: a tool to clean a bolt that gave them so much trouble during a marathon 8-hour spacewalk last week. They were trying to replace an electrical switching unit, but on Thursday they couldn't bolt it to the outside of the station. What to do if there is no hardware store in the neighborhood and the next supply ship is months away? Build it yourself -- so they attached a simple toothbrush to a metal pole and voila! They were able to clean out the bolt's socket today and finish the job. Shades of Apollo 13 -- when engineers threw parts on a table and brainstormed a solution, which saved the crew.
Spacewalkers fix electrical feed during record-setting ISS outing
Todd Halvorson - Florida Today
Armed with a bristle tool, a toothbrush and compressed nitrogen gas guns, the spacewalkers cleaned metal shavings out a threaded socket and then drove home a bolt that got stuck during a frustrating first attempt last week. “Woo-hoo!” U.S. astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams said after Akihiko Hoshide of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency confirmed the bolt locked properly. “All right, buddy! That is a little slice of awesome pie,” NASA astronaut Jack Fischer said from Mission Control in Houston. “Looks like you fixed the station. Good job, you guys.”
Spacewalkers Overcome Stuck Bolt to Fix Space Station Power System
Denise Chow - Space.com
Two spacewalking astronauts successfully replaced a vital power unit on the International Space Station Wednesday, defeating a stubborn bolt that originally delayed the fix with the help of some improvised tools made of spare parts and a toothbrush. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese spaceflyer Akihiko Hoshide performed today's spacewalk repair — their second excursion outside the space station in less than a week. The fix-it job in space was actually an extra spacewalk tacked on to their mission after the stuck space station bolt prevented the astronauts from properly installing the power unit, called a main bus switching unit (MBSU), on the outpost's backbone-like truss last week on Aug. 30.
House hearing next week on SLS and Orion
SpacePolitics.com
Congress will be returning from its extended summer/convention break next week, and one committee already has a space-related hearing lined up. The space subcommittee of the House Science Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday morning titled “Examining NASA’s Development of the Space Launch System and Orion Crew Capsule”.
CASIS looking for materials testing projects on ISS
Mike Kelley - Huntsville Times
A request for Proposals from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) will give Huntsville-area companies an opportunity to submit proposals for Materials Testing in space environments. The nonprofit CASIS, the organization managing research on board the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, Tuesday issued a solicitation for proposals in Materials Testing in the Extreme Environment of Space.
Space shuttle to fly Las Cruces skies in farewell trip
Diana Alba - Alamogordo Daily News
It's one last chance to say good-bye. Later this month, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will sail over White Sands Missile Range, NASA facilities on the East Mesa and the city of Las Cruces on its farewell voyage across America. NASA officials announced this week the shuttle will make a special pass over the Las Cruces area — thanks to its decades-long involvement with the U.S. space shuttle program and a "fortuitous" location along the shuttle's flight path to California. Endeavour will be retired there. The shuttle will be carried piggyback aboard a Boeing 747 and is expected to make its flight through Las Cruces skies on Sept. 19, weather-permitting.
Space Shuttle Parade Killing Trees
Christina Reed - Discovery News
Four hundred trees are getting the axe to make room for Endeavour, as the space shuttle parades its way from Los Angeles International Airport to the California Science Center. The center is planning to plant twice as many trees along the route to make up for the loss, but the young trees will take years to grow. "They are cutting down these really big, majestic trees," Galloway-Gilliam, a longtime Leimert Park resident and neighborhood council director, told the LA Times. "It will be beyond my lifetime before they will be tall like this again."
Shuttle Endeavour's trip to L.A. may cause 400 trees to be cut down
Bill Chappell - National Public Radio
The space shuttle Endeavour will make its final trip next month, to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. But while most South L.A. residents are excited to have a piece of history nearby, many are also upset that the shuttle's 12-mile transit is forcing the city to cut down about 400 trees. Officials say they simply have no alternative to the shuttle's route from Los Angeles International Airport. At 58 feet tall and 78 feet wide, Endeavour can't squeeze through highway overpasses. And at 184 feet long, it's best to minimize the need to turn. Taking it apart was ruled out. And at 170,000 pounds, an airlift was deemed impossible.
KSC Visitor Complex marks near completion of Atlantis' future home
James Dean - Florida Today
Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex Wednesday held a ceremonial “topping out” ceremony marking the near completion of the future home of space shuttle Atlantis. The orbiter remains down the road at Kennedy Space Center, with plans to move it to its new $100 million, 65,000-square-foot home later this fall. The exhibit is scheduled to open next July. Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, which runs the visitor complex, views the Atlantis exhibit as the centerpiece of its 10-year plan to upgrade the complex.
Space shuttle exhibit homes topple trees, top out building
Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com
Concept of how Endeavour will be transported from LAX to CSC
The bicoastal homes for two NASA space shuttles have raised and razed trees this week. On Wednesday, NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida conducted a ceremonial topping out of its future home for space shuttle Atlantis. Following a centuries-old workers' tradition, the ceremony included a tree being hoisted to the top of the six-story building. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the California Science Center (CSC) had to topple, rather than top out, about 400 trees that were standing in the way of shuttle Endeavour arriving there next month.
SpaceShipTwo Readied For Powered Flights
Guy Norris - Aerospace Daily
Scaled Composites is in final preparations for powered flight tests of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2), following completion of the glide-flight envelope at Mojave, Calif. The milestone means the suborbital spacecraft remains on track for the start of rocket-powered flights in the last quarter of this year, with passenger flights provisionally planned to begin by the end of 2013. The envelope clearance for airspeed, angle-of-attack, center-of-gravity (CG) and structural loads was completed during a final round of six flights between late June and mid-August.
Smithsonian Shows Neil Armstrong's Gloves, Visor
Associated Press
Neil Armstrong's space suit gloves and visor worn during his historic first walk on the moon are going on temporary display at the Smithsonian Institution following the pioneering astronaut's death. Both are usually kept in storage. They were designed to address the hazards of working on the lunar surface. Armstrong's helmet had two visors for moon walks, one with a gold reflective coating for UV protection and one with thermal protection.
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COMPLETE STORIES
Engineers believe sticky bolt 'galled' during pre-launch installation
William Harwood – CBS News
The bolt that jammed during a spacewalk last week, preventing the attachment of a replacement power switching unit on the space station's main solar array truss, likely was damaged slightly during the device's installation, before the truss segment was launched in 2002, the station program manager said Wednesday.
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide successfully installed the replacement main bus switching unit during a spacewalk Wednesday after cleaning the bolt in question, removing metal shavings from its threaded receptacle and driving a spare bolt into and out of the fixture. The astronauts said they could feel an area near the top of the threads where the bolt tended to bind.
Space station Program Manager Mike Suffredini said a review of the truss's assembly and interviews with workers who actually carried out the original MBSU installation in the S0 truss segment indicated the problem likely was caused by galling, in which fasteners can "weld" together because of heat and friction.
"This doesn't have to do with how long it's been on orbit," Suffredini said. "It really has to do with when we installed it. When we installed these particular MBSUs, and this one in particular because of the face of the truss it's on, we weren't able to rotate the S0 truss. So the ground crews had to get on a scissor jack (lift), they lifted it up high as they can, it's a 220-pound (unit), and they're ... facing up and they're trying to get it up here and then they're trying to torque it and wiggle it and torque it.
"So we're not completely surprised that the threads could be a little gummed up," he said. "You can't cross thread (the) bolt, but we think we galled the bolt, which is not an uncommon thing to have happen if you put off-center torque on it when you're trying to torque the bolt down."
He said engineers will assess other components installed in the same fashion to determine which ones might present problems down the road.
"But this isn't an age issue," he said. "This just has to do with the way we had to install them on the ground."
Spacewalking team conquers bolt, installs box
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
Spacewalking astronauts triumphed over a stubborn bolt and installed a critical power-switching box at the International Space Station on Wednesday, reviving electrical systems.
"Looks like you fixed the station," Mission Control radioed. The problem had cut the amount of electrical power available to the orbiting lab and a variety of equipment had to be turned off.
Engineers on the ground and the astronauts in orbit scrambled over the Labor Day weekend to devise makeshift tools to clean metal shavings from the socket of the troublesome bolt, after last week's failed effort to plug in the new power-relay unit.
This time, NASA's Sunita Williams and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide were armed with a blue toothbrush, a wire brush and other jury-rigged tools.
The two applied grease to the sticky bolt as well as extra pressure and plain old jiggling. They also brushed and blew away most if not all the metal shavings, debris that was discovered during last week's eight-hour extravaganza, one of the longest spacewalks on record.
Although the space station remained stable, NASA was in a hurry to get the problem fixed because of the impending departure of the U.S. astronaut who operated the hefty robot arm from inside, Joseph Acaba. He's due to return to Earth in 1 1/2 weeks.
Altogether, the space station has four of these power-switching units, which relay electricity from the eight solar wings. Being down one unit meant the orbiting complex could draw power from only six of those wings.
The power store was further degraded over the weekend when, in an unrelated problem, a tripped circuit breaker prevented full access to yet another solar panel. That left the space station running on just five wings, a vulnerable situation.
Tension mounted in Mission Control as Wednesday's spacewalk approached the four-hour mark and the power-switching unit had yet to be installed. NASA considered calling it quits at that point, but asked the astronauts whether they could keep going, given their progress. Both spacewalkers insisted on pressing ahead.
As Hoshide started to drive the bolt home, Mission Control asked the astronauts to report everything they saw and felt.
"My left hand just fell asleep because my fingers are crossed too long," Mission Control said. "We're holding our breath."
Finally, 4 1/2 hours into the spacewalk, Hoshide reported: "It is locked."
Mission Control burst into applause. Soon afterward, Mission Control confirmed that the power-switching box was firmly in place and working properly.
"It's been like living on the set of Apollo 13 for the past few days," said Mission Control, referring to the 1970 effort to save the three astronauts on the aborted moon mission. "NASA does impossible pretty darn well."
With their main task accomplished, the spacewalkers turned their attention to more mundane work. NASA stretched out the spacewalk for a camera replacement.
In a blog on NASA's web site, Williams noted that repair tips had streamed in.
"Lots of folks suggested that WD40 would do the trick, but getting a can of that stuff to work in space is sort of difficult. So, we have a couple other tricks up our sleeve," she wrote earlier this week.
Williams, a Navy captain making her sixth spacewalk, is now the world's most experienced female spacewalker with more than 40 hours spent out in the vacuum. The previous record-holder, Peggy Whitson, sent up congratulations: "You go, girl!"
Replied Williams: "Anybody could be in these boots."
Spacewalking astronauts fix station's power system
Irene Klotz - Reuters
A pair of spacewalking astronauts cleaned, greased and finally coaxed a jammed bolt into position on Wednesday, restoring the International Space Station's power system.
The spacewalk by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide was the second in a week to replace a key part of the station's power system.
The astronauts were able to remove the faulty 220-pound (100-kg) device, known as a main bus switching unit, during a spacewalk last Thursday, but were unable to bolt a replacement into position.
While engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston mulled over repair options, Williams and Hoshide spent the weekend fashioning tools to clean the bolt and its receptacle of metal shavings and other debris believed to be causing the problem.
The homemade tools included a wire brush formed from a spare cable and another fashioned out of a toothbrush.
Toting their makeshift brushes and bags of tools, Williams and Hoshide left the station's airlock shortly after 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) and headed to where they had tethered the new power distributor into position on the station's metal framework.
They used puffs of compressed nitrogen gas to blow away debris, brushed the bolt clean and wiped it with greased cloths. Hoshide also practiced with a spare bolt to get a feel for how much force would be needed to drive the real one into its receptacle.
The moment of truth came 4-1/2 hours into the 6-1/2-hour spacewalk with Williams gently wiggling the bolt and Hoshide tightening it down.
"My left hand just fell asleep because my fingers were crossed too long," astronaut Jack Fischer radioed to the crew from Mission Control in Houston. "We're holding our breath."
A couple of minutes later Hoshide reported the power distributor was locked down.
"That is a little slice of awesome pie," Fischer said, as flight controllers applauded.
A half-hour later, power was flowing through the new unit, easing concerns the station would not have enough electricity to keep all its equipment and experiments operating.
The unit is one of four needed to route power from eight solar array wings to transformers that distribute electricity to run the $100 billion orbital outpost.
The old unit was routing power but was not fully operational. Without the new unit installed, the station could not get power from two of its eight solar panel wings.
An unrelated problem on Sunday took out power from a third wing.
The station, a project of 15 countries that flies about 250 miles above Earth, is staffed by rotating crews of six astronauts and cosmonauts and used for dozens of medical, materials science, physics and other experiments.
Wednesday's outing was the sixth for Williams, who now holds the record for the most time spent spacewalking by a woman.
"You go, girl," NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the previous record holder, said in a congratulatory message relayed to Williams.
"Well thanks," Williams replied. "Like I said before, it's a matter of circumstance, time and place. Anybody could be in these big boots."
Spacewalking astronauts fix space station with toothbrush
Gina Sunseri - ABC News
A $100 billion space station saved by a simple $3 toothbrush? It was the brainstorm of astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide and NASA engineers on the ground: a tool to clean a bolt that gave them so much trouble during a marathon 8-hour spacewalk last week.
They were trying to replace an electrical switching unit, but on Thursday they couldn't bolt it to the outside of the station.
What to do if there is no hardware store in the neighborhood and the next supply ship is months away? Build it yourself -- so they attached a simple toothbrush to a metal pole and voila! They were able to clean out the bolt's socket today and finish the job. Shades of Apollo 13 -- when engineers threw parts on a table and brainstormed a solution, which saved the crew.
Spacewalking is incredibly difficult -- the astronauts wear space suits that fight every move they make. Williams wrote about last week's spacewalk in her blog.
"You don't just 'go outside,'" she said. "Usually that is the fun and easy part of the entire thing -- suit sizing, tool gathering and preparation, equipment gathering and preparations, studying new procedures, reviewing and talking through how to get us suited and how to get the airlock depressed, reviewing the tasks we will do with each other and with the robotic arm, talking about cleaning up, and then talking thru a plan to get back into the airlock, and any emergencies that can come up -- loss of communications, suit issues, etc.
"Yes, that took a lot of our time leading up to Thursday last week. Even planning when to go to sleep and what to eat are important. Remember, you are in that suit usually about 8 hours for a 6 hour EVA.
"To my surprise, the most intense part for this EVA happened to be outside when we encountered our 'sticky' bolt.
"That resulted in a long EVA, and over 10 hours in the suit. No bathroom and no lunch."
Williams and Hoshide accomplished their major tasks on today's spacewalk, and earned champagne when they got back inside the space station -- but, alas, there is no alcohol on the orbiting outpost.
Spacewalkers fix electrical feed during record-setting ISS outing
Todd Halvorson - Florida Today
Armed with a bristle tool, a toothbrush and compressed nitrogen gas guns, the spacewalkers cleaned metal shavings out a threaded socket and then drove home a bolt that got stuck during a frustrating first attempt last week.
“Woo-hoo!” U.S. astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams said after Akihiko Hoshide of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency confirmed the bolt locked properly.
“All right, buddy! That is a little slice of awesome pie,” NASA astronaut Jack Fischer said from Mission Control in Houston. “Looks like you fixed the station. Good job, you guys.”
The power-switching unit is one of four that route electricity from the station’s massive American solar arrays to outpost systems and laboratory facilities.
A faulty unit was removed during a spacewalk on Aug. 30, but the sticky bolt prevented installation of the spare.
The successful work restored two of eight power channels that feed electricity to the one-million-pound station.
Now seven of eight are operating. One was taken down last weekend after a voltage regulator short-circuited. Engineers still are trying to determine the cause. Another spacewalk likely will be required at some point to restore that electrical feed.
Williams and Hoshide raced against a clock during their second attempt to install the spare power-switching unit.
Mission managers said the astronauts would have to retreat back into the station with the spare if the unit could not be put in place within four hours.
The spacewalkers were making good progress as clocks ticked toward that mark, and mission managers wanted to forge ahead. But they left the final decision up to Williams and Hoshide.
“How are you guys feeling right now, and do you think we can press ahead with that plan?” Fischer said.
“Let’s get it done,” Hoshide said.
“Copy, get ‘er done,” Fischer said.
The orbital electricians also replaced a faulty camera assembly on the station’s 57.5-foot robot arm.
“We’ve got new video from your camera, so you guys are batting 1,000 today,” Fischer said.
Williams now is the world’s most experienced female spacewalker. She eclipsed a record held by fellow NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who has tallied 39 hours and 46 minutes of spacewalking work during six outings.
Williams passed that mark two hours and 12 minutes into the six-hour, 28-minute spacewalk. She now has logged 44 hours and two minutes during six career spacewalks.
Whitson, who became the first female commander of the station in 2007, sent a congratulatory message to Williams through Fischer in Mission Control:
“It’s an honor to hand off the record to someone as talented as you. You go, girl.”
Williams will become the second woman to command the station on Sept. 15.
Russian skipper Gennady Padalka will hand over command the day before he returns to Earth with cosmonaut colleague Sergei Revin and U.S. astronaut Joe Acaba.
The spacewalk was the 165th performed in the assembly and maintenance of the station since construction started in late 1998. Total time tallied during those outings: 1,042 hours and 23 minutes, the equivalent of about 43½ days.
Spacewalkers Overcome Stuck Bolt to Fix Space Station Power System
Denise Chow - Space.com
Two spacewalking astronauts successfully replaced a vital power unit on the International Space Station Wednesday, defeating a stubborn bolt that originally delayed the fix with the help of some improvised tools made of spare parts and a toothbrush.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese spaceflyer Akihiko Hoshide performed today's spacewalk repair — their second excursion outside the space station in less than a week.
The fix-it job in space was actually an extra spacewalk tacked on to their mission after the stuck space station bolt prevented the astronauts from properly installing the power unit, called a main bus switching unit (MBSU), on the outpost's backbone-like truss last week on Aug. 30.
The International Space Station has four 220-pound MBSUs that harness power from the outpost's solar arrays and distribute it throughout the orbiting complex. Without the use of one unit, the station had been unable to relay power from two of the eight solar arrays on the massive orbiting complex.
"Looks like you guys just fixed the station," astronaut Jack Fischer radioed from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It's been like living on the set of Apollo 13 the past few days. NASA does impossible pretty darn well, so congratulations to the whole team."
At the beginning of today's spacewalk, Williams and Hoshide removed the MBSU from where it had been temporarily tied down with a tether last week. The duo then spent several hours troubleshooting the unit and the two bolts that are designed to secure it in place on the space station's truss.
After undoing the bolts, the spacewalkers examined them for possible damage, and inspected the corresponding receptacles on the MBSU for debris that was suspected to be inside.
"I see metal shavings," Williams said as she inspected the MBSU after it had been removed. "Small metal shavings — smaller than last time we saw in the housing."
The spacewalkers used improvised cleaning tools and a pressurized can of nitrogen gas to clean out the metal shavings from the bolt receptacles.
"I see a lot of metal shavings coming out," Hoshide said as he maneuvered a wire cleaner around one of the bolt holders.
Williams and Hoshide then lubricated a spare bolt and manually threaded it into the place where the real bolt was eventually driven, in an effort to ensure that the receptacle was clear of any debris.
Following last week's failed attempt to install the replacement MBSU, mission managers, engineers and veteran spacewalkers worked around the clock at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to devise ways to fix the stuck bolt, NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said in his live spacewalk commentary.
Part of their brainstorming included fashioning tools from existing supplies on the orbiting complex for Williams and Hoshide to use to remove debris from inside the bolt housings. One of the cleaning tools used today was made from a spare toothbrush.
As the spacewalk approached the four-hour mark, the astronauts were given the option to proceed with installing the MBSU, or clean it off and bring the unit inside the station for more analysis. The two spacewalkers unanimously agreed to continue on with their work.
"I think we can press," Hoshide said. "Get 'er done."
"Copy get 'er done," Fischer replied.
When Hoshide reported that the troublesome bolt was finally locked into place, the flight managers in Mission Control erupted in applause.
"That is a little slice of awesome pie," Fischer radioed to the crew.
Last week, Williams and Hoshide removed a faulty MBSU and tried to install the spare, but they were unable to drive in one of the bolts that secures the unit to the station's truss. After repeated attempts failed the astronauts were forced to wrap up their marathon spacewalk.
The Aug. 30 spacewalk lasted 8 hours and 17 minutes, making it the third longest spacewalk in history and the longest one ever performed by a space station crew.
With the MBSU secured in place, the spacewalkers went on to remove a faulty camera from the station's Canadarm 2 robotic arm, and replaced it with a new one before returning into the Quest airlock and ending the spacewalk at 1:34 p.m. EDT (1734 GMT).
Today's outing was clocked at 6 hours and 28 minutes, and was a record-setting excursion for Williams. Roughly two hours into today's spacewalk, Williams overtook Peggy Whitson, a veteran spaceflyer and former Chief of the Astronaut Office, as the record holder for the most time spent working in the vacuum of space by a female astronaut, Byerly said.
Today's outing was the sixth for Williams and the second spacewalk for Hoshide, who is only the third Japanese spaceflyer to work outside in the vacuum of space.
The International Space Station is currently home to six astronauts: Williams and Joe Acaba of NASA, Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, Yuri Malenchenko and Sergei Revin.
House hearing next week on SLS and Orion
SpacePolitics.com
Congress will be returning from its extended summer/convention break next week, and one committee already has a space-related hearing lined up. The space subcommittee of the House Science Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday morning titled “Examining NASA’s Development of the Space Launch System and Orion Crew Capsule”.
Only two witnesses are listed as of Thursday morning, although with the promise of more: NASA’s Dan Dumbacher and Space Telescope Science Institute director Matt Mountain.
The latter suggests that the committee will be interested in other uses of the SLS beyond human exploration missions; the SLS has been suggested for launching large space telescopes or flagship planetary missions, although whether such missions could afford an SLS is an open question.
CASIS looking for materials testing projects on ISS
Mike Kelley - Huntsville Times
A request for Proposals from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) will give Huntsville-area companies an opportunity to submit proposals for Materials Testing in space environments.
The nonprofit CASIS, the organization managing research on board the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, Tuesday issued a solicitation for proposals in Materials Testing in the Extreme Environment of Space.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) seeks to identify Materials Science projects which CASIS will support through grant funding, facilitation of service provider partnerships, and flight coordination to and from the ISS.
A CASIS release said the emphasis is on projects that can be exposed to the extreme conditions of space in order to understand and make use of the physical and chemical properties influenced by microgravity, atomic oxygen, low pressure and/or vast temperature variations. Projects will utilize the NanoRacks External Platform.
CASIS believes that this RFP will create interest for both experienced and new investigators endeavoring to use the extreme conditions of space for the development and testing of new materials, components and systems that will have Earth-based applications.
"Through this solicitation, scientists will have the first opportunity to utilize a new and exciting capability outside the ISS National Lab, the NanoRacks External Platform," said CASIS Interim Executive Director, Jim Royston. "This wonderful platform offers unique opportunities to put research in the extreme environment of space, leading to what CASIS hopes will be scientific breakthroughs in consumer products as well as new materials capable of changing life on Earth."
NASA selected CASIS in July 2011 to maximize use of the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory through 2020.
Last month, CASIS closed its first solicitation for proposals; Advancing Protein Crystallization in Microgravity. In coming weeks, CASIS plans to announce a request for proposals in Earth Observational Science.
Proposals must be submitted electronically by 5 pm EST October 24, 2012, and awards will be announced in December. For additional information about this RFP, including instructions and information regarding Materials Science, CASIS and the ISS please visit: www.iss-casis.org/solicitations
Space shuttle to fly Las Cruces skies in farewell trip
Diana Alba - Alamogordo Daily News
It's one last chance to say good-bye.
Later this month, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will sail over White Sands Missile Range, NASA facilities on the East Mesa and the city of Las Cruces on its farewell voyage across America.
NASA officials announced this week the shuttle will make a special pass over the Las Cruces area — thanks to its decades-long involvement with the U.S. space shuttle program and a "fortuitous" location along the shuttle's flight path to California. Endeavour will be retired there.
The shuttle will be carried piggyback aboard a Boeing 747 and is expected to make its flight through Las Cruces skies on Sept. 19, weather-permitting.
NASA White Sands Test Facility — located off the Baylor Canyon Road Exit off U.S. Hwy. 70 — put in a request to have the shuttle fly over not only the federal facilities, but also the nearby city, which has been home to many employees over the years, said Robert Cort, public affairs officer for the test facility.
"I think it will be very impressive," said Cort, who witnessed the most-recent local shuttle flyover in 2009. "They'll probably make some banking turns to let people see it."
Officials emphasized that the schedule is heavily weather-dependent. Poor conditions in Las Cruces —or other places farther along the planned flight path — could cause delays or changes.
But, barring a disruption, Endeavour is likely to arrive in the local area between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Sept. 19, according to a NASA news release.
Asked whether they plan to watch the upcoming flyover, a number of Las Crucens responded enthusiastically.
"You bet I will!" said Jennifer Terrazas of Las Cruces, on Facebook.
Terrazas recounted how she was a kindergarten teacher in 1982, when a space shuttle touched down at an alternate landing site between Las Cruces and Alamogordo.
The flight plan for later this month calls for Endeavour to fly north from Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, pass over the WSMR main post, turn east to gain altitude, and then turn back to the west to go over San Augustin Pass, according to a NASA news release.
After that, Endeavour will veer north, passing over the NASA facilities and make a 180-degree turn and fly over the NASA facilities a second time. Next, it will turn west and follow U.S. Hwy. 70 over Las Cruces, before gaining altitude again and heading toward California.
WSMR ties
The shuttle is first scheduled to first pass over WSMR, a Department of Defense-facility that served as a training airspace —and a practice landing site —for dozens of U.S. astronauts. Pilots honed their skills at White Sands Space Harbor, a series of runways etched into gypsum dunes, miles north of WSMR's main post. It was also an alternate landing site for orbiters during shuttle missions. The harbors was set for decommissioning after the final U.S. space shuttle flight in July 2011.
Only one shuttle mission, Columbia in March of 1982, ever landed at the space harbor. WSMR spokeswoman Monte Marlin is among many of the installation's employees who recall the landing. She described the shuttle program as an important part of the missile range's legacy.
"There are folks here who've worked on the program ever since WTSF and WSMR began," she said. "All the shuttle pilots would come in on a regular basis to do training. So, we feel ownership in the space shuttle program, and it means a lot to us that NASA will swing by to say good-bye."
Several thousands of people, including school children, are typically at the missile range's headquarters around midday and could potentially see the flyover, according to Marlin.
Marlin said WSMR is tipping its hat to the NASA-run test facility "because they're the ones that made it possible."
WSMR and Holloman Air Force Base also provided support activities when the space harbor was activated as a possible shuttle landing spot.
Two NASA sites
The test facility had many ties to the shuttle program over the years, said Cort.
It managed and maintained the space harbor. But another major duty was refurbishing the in-orbit propulsion system, Cort said. Also, testing for crew systems and evaluation of the possible effects of debris on the orbiter were other functions that took place at the test facility.
The facility's 650 federal and contracted employees are likely to be on hand for the special flyover, Cort said.
"We've really, just the last day or so, been letting them know that was going to happen," he said. "Obviously, the weather could put a damper on our parade."
In addition, a second NASA-run facility, the White Sands Complex, will get a solid view of the shuttle. As one of its jobs, the complex, located north of the test facility, provided an uninterrupted communication link between orbiting shuttles and Earth.
Employees of the test facility and the complex also were "treated" to two prior flyovers of space shuttles that were returning to Florida after spaceflight, according to NASA.
Endeavour flew over WSTF in June 1994, following a California landing at the end of mission STS-59, according to NASA. Most recently, on June 1, 2009, Atlantis and its carrier vehicle passed by en route to El Paso after completing STS-125.
Farewell, Las Cruces
After passing over the White Sands Complex, Endeavour, atop the 747, will make its way over Las Cruces.
For viewing, try to avoid areas with too many trees. And, of course, avoid driving while watching for the shuttle.
Plus, don't forget the cameras, Cort said.
"It's a once-in-lifetime opportunity," he said.
The duo will then head to California Science Center in Los Angeles.
Space Shuttle Parade Killing Trees
Christina Reed - Discovery News
Four hundred trees are getting the axe to make room for Endeavour, as the space shuttle parades its way from Los Angeles International Airport to the California Science Center. The center is planning to plant twice as many trees along the route to make up for the loss, but the young trees will take years to grow.
"They are cutting down these really big, majestic trees," Galloway-Gilliam, a longtime Leimert Park resident and neighborhood council director, told the LA Times. "It will be beyond my lifetime before they will be tall like this again."
But some neighborhoods are excited by the new landscaping plans.
Inglewood officials see the tree removal as a win-win. The city rids itself of some problematic trees and even gets sidewalks repaired. In total, the California Science Center is expected to spend $500,000 to improve the city's landscape.
Shuttle Endeavour's trip to L.A. may cause 400 trees to be cut down
Bill Chappell - National Public Radio
The space shuttle Endeavour will make its final trip next month, to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. But while most South L.A. residents are excited to have a piece of history nearby, many are also upset that the shuttle's 12-mile transit is forcing the city to cut down about 400 trees.
Officials say they simply have no alternative to the shuttle's route from Los Angeles International Airport. At 58 feet tall and 78 feet wide, Endeavour can't squeeze through highway overpasses. And at 184 feet long, it's best to minimize the need to turn. Taking it apart was ruled out. And at 170,000 pounds, an airlift was deemed impossible.
So, ahead of the Oct. 12 move date, trees are being cut down on the sidewalks and center medians along several streets, including Crenshaw and Manchester Boulevards. The route winds through Inglewood to southwest Los Angeles. They range from pine and ficus to magnolia trees.
"They are cutting down these really big, majestic trees," Leimert Park resident Lark Galloway-Gilliam tells The Los Angeles Times. "It will be beyond my lifetime before they will be tall like this again."
The California Science Center says it will replant about twice as many trees as are cut down. And some city planners say they welcome the chance to replace diseased trees and to repair sidewalks that have been damaged by tree roots. But residents of the area aren't happy with the prospect of losing the trees.
South L.A. resident Claudine Jasmin tells KABC radio that although she is a frequent visitor to the science center, she's concerned about the trees — and the birds and other animals they support.
"My parents have lived in this neighborhood since before I was born, and we have these big pine trees on our street, and I'm sure it took forever for them to grow. They are beautiful," she said. "It would be really, really horrendous to see all these years of a tree's growth completely diminished for one parade."
The arguments over the trees puts Endeavour's reception in stark contrast to other shuttles' paths to museums near Washington, D.C., and in New York. In those cities, many spectators were excited to spot a space shuttle on its way to becoming a history exhibit. But crucially, those shuttles didn't have to navigate miles of small-scale surface streets on their way.
Space shuttle Discovery was flown into Dulles Airport, from which it was then driven the short distance to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
And Enterprise was flown to New York, where it was placed on a barge and floated its way to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to fly into LAX on Sept. 20.
KSC Visitor Complex marks near completion of Atlantis' future home
James Dean - Florida Today
Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex Wednesday held a ceremonial “topping out” ceremony marking the near completion of the future home of space shuttle Atlantis.
The orbiter remains down the road at Kennedy Space Center, with plans to move it to its new $100 million, 65,000-square-foot home later this fall. The exhibit is scheduled to open next July.
Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, which runs the visitor complex, views the Atlantis exhibit as the centerpiece of its 10-year plan to upgrade the complex.
Atlantis will be displayed as if in flight, offering visitors a chance to get an up-close look at the vehicle.
Wednesday's ceremony was followed by the lifting of the final building beam into place.
Meanwhile, space shuttle Endeavour is tentatively scheduled to depart its KSC home on Sept. 17 en route for the California Science Center.
Discovery is already on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The test orbiter, Enterprise, is at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City.
Space shuttle exhibit homes topple trees, top out building
Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com
Concept of how Endeavour will be transported from LAX to CSC
The bicoastal homes for two NASA space shuttles have raised and razed trees this week.
On Wednesday, NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida conducted a ceremonial topping out of its future home for space shuttle Atlantis. Following a centuries-old workers' tradition, the ceremony included a tree being hoisted to the top of the six-story building.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the California Science Center (CSC) had to topple, rather than top out, about 400 trees that were standing in the way of shuttle Endeavour arriving there next month.
Both shuttles are currently at the Kennedy Space Center, awaiting their delivery to the visitor and science centers. Endeavour will depart Florida atop a NASA jumbo jet later this month. Atlantis, which is still being converted into an exhibit piece, will be rolled over to the spaceport's nearby public attraction in early November.
Topping out
Wednesday's topping out ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex celebrated the overall completion of a 90,000 square foot exhibit building to display space shuttle Atlantis. The event included the lifting of the final building beam to the top of the orbiter home, eight months after first breaking ground.
"The topping out of this building is a major milestone in the construction of the future home for Atlantis," said Robert Cabana, Kennedy Space Center's director. "The team is doing a tremendous job and I can't wait to see the finished product."
"Atlantis is going to look spectacular in her new home," he said in a statement.
The $100 million exhibit will share the story of NASA's 30 year shuttle program, while offering a unique vantage point for guests to look at Atlantis up-close.
The 115-foot tall (35 meters) exhibit building was designed to comprise two sweeping architectural elements, or wings to represent the space shuttle's launch and landing. The outer layer of the hall will be cloaked in iridescent hues of orange and gold to symbolize the fiery glow of reentry into Earth's atmosphere. The taller, internal wing of the building will be covered in a shimmering tile pattern to evoke the tiled underside of the shuttle.
Upright replicas of the shuttle's external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters will stand at the building's entrance. On the opposite side of the assembly, a silhouette of the orbiter will provide guests an idea of the shuttle's size and placement when it was on the launch pad.
The real Atlantis, which moved into an Orbiter Processing Facility hangar last month to undergo final transformation from a space-worthy vehicle to a museum-safe display, is scheduled to roll atop a wheeled transporter to the visitor complex on Nov. 2. Once contained within its new exhibit building, workers will erect the final wall to encase Atlantis inside.
Atlantis, which flew NASA's 135th and final mission of the shuttle program in July 2011, is set to debut to the public at the visitor complex in July 2013.
Toppling down
Space shuttle Endeavour is set to leave Kennedy Space Center atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) on Sept. 17, weather permitting. The orbiter and aircraft combo will cross the country over three days, landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Sept. 20.
Endeavour, which flew to space 25 times, will embark on "Mission 26: The Big Endeavour" on Oct. 12-13. The two day road trip through the streets of Inglewood and L.A. will roll the shuttle atop a modified NASA transporter from the airport to the California Science Center (CSC).
"This will mark the first, last and only time a space shuttle will travel through 12 miles of urban, public streets," said Jeffrey Rudolph, CSC's president, in a statement. "It's not only one of the biggest objects ever transported down city streets; it's an irreplaceable national treasure."
To protect their "treasure" and to make sure the five story tall, 78-foot wide (24 meter) shuttle can clear the planned route, the CSC is having to have temporarily removed light fixtures and power lines, as well as have about 400 trees cut down.
According to the Los Angeles Times, 128 trees lining the streets in Inglewood and about 265 alongside roadways in L.A. are being trimmed and toppled. Many of the trees were already under consideration for removal, including 91 that bordered an airport fence.
"While we welcome the space shuttle with open arms, we recognize the effect it'll have on surrounding communities and are working hard to mitigate those impacts," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a statement.
For every tree brought down, the CSC plans to plant two in its place. The science center is investing $500,000 toward landscaping and roadway improvements after Endeavour passes through.
Once the shuttle arrives at the CSC, it will be temporarily housed in the recently-completed Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion. By 2017, the center plans to build the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center to display Endeavour as if it was on the launch pad, standing vertically and paired with a replica of an external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters.
SpaceShipTwo Readied For Powered Flights
Guy Norris - Aerospace Daily
Scaled Composites is in final preparations for powered flight tests of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2), following completion of the glide-flight envelope at Mojave, Calif.
The milestone means the suborbital spacecraft remains on track for the start of rocket-powered flights in the last quarter of this year, with passenger flights provisionally planned to begin by the end of 2013. The envelope clearance for airspeed, angle-of-attack, center-of-gravity (CG) and structural loads was completed during a final round of six flights between late June and mid-August.
Scaled Composites opted to re-clear parts of the glide flight envelope after modifying the tails of SS2 for additional stall margin at low angles of attack. The changes, which came in the wake of a tail stall during a flight in September 2011, included replacing a pair of smaller strakes on the inboard side of each vertical tail with a larger, one-piece, horizontal strake.
Final glide envelope clearance was achieved with the 22nd flight of SS2 since the first drop test from the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft in October 2010. The busy sequence to complete the pre-powered phase began with a “return to flight” test in late June following the tail modification, and included control surface flutter, aerodynamic stability and speed brake checks. Significantly, the flight also included an airborne functional check of the spacecraft’s reaction control system.
Further flights focused on tests of the new strake at aft CG and in a feathered position, as well as pushing up the airspeed to higher Mach numbers and landing at heavier weights. Elevon dampers and rudder locks were also evaluated, while other flights tested angle-of-attack and the feathering mechanism with the CG further aft. One of the tests, conducted on Aug. 2, included checks to make sure that a thermal protection system, now added to the horizontal tail, has no effect on handling.
The final glide flight, conducted Aug. 11, achieved the maximum airspeed to date and completed load expansion tests of the horizontal tail. The sortie also marked the 93rd flight of WK2, which was airborne for 1.5 hr.
Although some components of the Sierra Nevada-developed RM2 rocket motor have been flying on SS2, the vehicle is not thought to have flown with an entire propulsion system installed. Virgin Galactic currently plans to attempt the first rocket-powered atmospheric flight tests of SS2 “toward the end of the year” following the granting of an experimental launch permit by the FAA in May.
Smithsonian Shows Neil Armstrong's Gloves, Visor
Associated Press
Neil Armstrong's space suit gloves and visor worn during his historic first walk on the moon are going on temporary display at the Smithsonian Institution following the pioneering astronaut's death.
Both are usually kept in storage. They were designed to address the hazards of working on the lunar surface. Armstrong's helmet had two visors for moon walks, one with a gold reflective coating for UV protection and one with thermal protection.
The Apollo 11 artifacts were placed on public view Tuesday at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia. They will be exhibited for two weeks in a special display case.
NASA will hold a public memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral on Sept. 13 to honor Armstrong.
END
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