Monday, October 29, 2012
10/29/12 news
Hope you can join us this Thursday at Hibachi Grill on Bay Area for our monthly first Thursday of every month NASA Retirees luncheon at 11:30.
Monday, October 29, 2012
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
2. JSC Child Care Center Trick-or-Treating Fun -- Oct. 31
3. Breakfast Boo-ffet at the Starport Cafés
4. JSC: See the Space Station on Halloween ... And Other Days
5. WSTF: See the Space Station on Halloween ... And Other Days
6. What is Human Systems Integration?
7. Employee Discount Days With Appreciation Events and Starport
8. Just Maintain It
9. Space Systems Engineering Development Program Application Prep Sessions
10. Russian Phase One Language Course -- For Beginners
11. Overhead Cranes and Material Handling: Nov. 7-8; Building 226N, Room 174
12. Job Opportunities
________________________________________ QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you. ”
-- John E. Southard
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1. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Did you know?
o 30 percent of homicides against women committed by spouse or boyfriend
o Victims stay out of fear; leaving does not guarantee safety
o Most Domestic Violence (DV) homicides occur after the victim leaves the batterer
o 74 percent of victims are harassed by batterer at work
o 25 percent of DV homicides occur at primary workplace or daycare
o The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion per year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services
o Victims of intimate partner violence lost almost 8 million days of paid work because of abuse. This loss is equivalent to more than 32,000 full-time jobs and almost 5.6 million days of household productivity as a result of violence
o As many as 50 percent of DV victims have lost a job due, at least in part, to the domestic violence
o 96 percent of employed DV victims experience problems at work due to their abuse or abuser
o 50 to 85 percent of abused women missed work because of abuse; over 60 percent reported arriving late
o 74 percent of employed, battered women reported being harassed while at work by their abusive partners in person or by telephone
o According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, homicide is the leading cause of death for women on the job, and 20 percent of those murders were at the hands of their partners
JSC has resources to assist victims. If you suspect that someone you know is the victim of domestic violence, contact the JSC Employee Assistance Program at 281-483-6130 to learn what you can do to help. You could save a life.
JSC Employee Assistance Program x36130
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2. JSC Child Care Center Trick-or-Treating Fun -- Oct. 31
The JSC Child Care Center children that are 3 and 4 years old will be starting their trick-or-treating in costume at Building 1 by 9:45 a.m. They will continue down the mall area to Building 12, ending their adventure at Building 45.
We invite you and your co-workers to meet us on the pathway from Building 1 to Building 12 to show support and hand the children treats or candy.
Brooke Stephens x26031
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3. Breakfast Boo-ffet at the Starport Cafés
Stop by the cafés today through Wednesday for a special Halloween breakfast. Enjoy green eggs, ghost pancakes, corn-beef hash, tater tots, fresh fruit and a 12-ounce coffee or tea -- all for $4.25. (No refills.) It's so good, it's scary!
Y. Marquis Edwards x30240 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/
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4. JSC: See the Space Station on Halloween ... And Other Days
Viewers in the JSC area will be able to see the International Space Station this week.
Monday, Oct. 29, 7:58 p.m. (Duration: 2 minutes)
Path: 10 degrees above NNW to 36 degrees above N
Maximum elevation: 36 degrees
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 7:55 p.m. (Duration: 5 minutes)
Path: 10 degrees above NW to 21 degrees above SSE
Maximum elevation: 46 degrees
Thursday, Nov. 1, 7:05 p.m. (Duration: 6 minutes)
Path: 11 degrees above NW to 10 degrees above SE
Maximum elevation: 75 degrees
The International Space Station Trajectory Operations Group provides updates via JSC Today for visible station passes at least two minutes in duration and 25 degrees in elevation. Other opportunities, including those with shorter durations and lower elevations or from other ground locations, are available at the website below.
Joe Pascucci x31695 http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=U...
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5. WSTF: See the Space Station on Halloween ... And Other Days
Viewers in the White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) area will be able to see the International Space Station this week.
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 7:42 p.m. (Duration: 4 minutes)
Path: 10 degrees above NW to 41 degrees above S
Maximum elevation: 56 degrees
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 6:53 p.m. (Duration: 6 minutes)
Path: 10 degrees above NW to 10 degrees above SE
Maximum elevation: 67 degrees
The International Space Station Trajectory Operations Group provides updates via JSC Today for visible station passes at least two minutes in duration and 25 degrees in elevation. Other opportunities, including those with shorter durations and lower elevations or from other ground locations, are available at the website below.
Joe Pascucci x31695 http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=U...
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6. What is Human Systems Integration?
The SA Human Systems Academy is pleased to announce a lecture that introduces attendees to the basics of Human Systems Integration (HSI). This course will begin by defining what HSI is, how it is structured, roles and responsibilities in implementing HSI, how it integrates with the NASA systems engineering lifecycle and how we can implement HSI at NASA in the future. This course will be held Monday, Nov. 5, from 2 to 4 p.m. in Building 15, Conference Room 267.
For registration, please go to: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Cynthia Rando 281-461-2620 http://sa.jsc.nasa.gov/
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7. Employee Discount Days With Appreciation Events and Starport
Appreciation Events representatives will be in the Buildings 3 and 11 cafés from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday to offer employee savings of up to 90 percent on local activities and services. Cards are available in a vast array of categories, including local sports events, restaurants, day spas, golf courses, bed and breakfasts, boat cruises, theme parks and more. Click here for more information or email for a full list of promotions.
Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/
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8. Just Maintain It
Have you completed a "Just Lose It" Program and are worried about gaining weight this holiday season? Worry no more! Exploration Wellness has a program to help you ward off extra pounds this holiday season: "Just Maintain It." The program will meet four times to discuss exercise for travelers, recipe revamps and more. This program is free of charge and is only available to former "Just Lose It" participants.
Class dates are: Nov. 7, Nov.14, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12. Participants will meet in Building 8, Room 248. Email to register -- but hurry, because seats are limited.
Greta Ayers x30302
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9. Space Systems Engineering Development Program Application Prep Sessions
JSC will be accepting applications for Class 3 - Space Systems Engineering Development Program (SSEDP) - on Monday, Nov. 5.
The development program focuses on building employee systems engineering capabilities and competencies.
If you are interested in applying for SSEDP and want more details on the program and application tips, please feel free to attend one of the following SSEDP Prep Sessions:
• Wednesday, Oct. 31, from 11 a.m. to noon in Building 12, Conference Room 146
• Friday, Nov. 2, from 11 a.m. to noon in Building 12, Conference Room 146
• Wednesday, Nov. 7, from 2 to 3 p.m. in Building 12, Conference Room 146
For additional information, please contact Romell Thomas at x 32998 or Christine Eagleton at x27838.
Christine Eagleton 281-792-7838
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10. Russian Phase One Language Course -- For Beginners
Russian Phase One is an introductory course designed to acquaint the novice student with certain elementary aspects of the Russian language and provide a brief outline of Russian history and culture. Our goal is to introduce students to skills and strategies necessary for successful foreign language study that they can apply immediately in the classroom. The linguistic component of this class consists of learning the Cyrillic alphabet and a very limited number of simple words and phrases, which will serve as a foundation for further language study.
Who: All JSC-badged civil servants and contractors with a work-related justification.
Dates: Nov. 26 to Dec. 21.
When: Monday through Friday, 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. or 4 to 5 p.m.
Where: Building 12, Room 158A.
Please register via SATERN. The registration deadline is Nov. 16.
Natalia Rostova 281-851-3745 http://mod.jsc.nasa.gov/jlec/
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11. Overhead Cranes and Material Handling: Nov. 7-8; Building 226N, Room 174
The primary purpose of the course is to promote overhead crane safety and awareness for operators, riggers, signalmen, supervisors and safety personnel, and to further their understanding of the federal and NASA standards and regulations related to such cranes. This course introduces students to various types of overhead and gantry cranes and hoists used in general industry and construction operations and includes a review of the pertinent OSHA, ANSI and NASA standards and requirements. Students are provided with basic information concerning crane safety, operations, inspections and maintenance; pre-lift plans; wire rope; and rigging components and safety. The course will provide the basic knowledge (both in breadth and depth) for those operating in and around overhead cranes. It will provide classroom training which, when combined with the center's own hands-on training, will serve to certify overhead crane operators as required.
Shirley Robinson x41284
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12. Job Opportunities
Where do I find job opportunities?
Both internal Competitive Placement Plans and external JSC job announcements are posted on the Human Resources (HR) portal and USAJOBS website. Through the HR portal, civil servants can view summaries of all the agency jobs that are currently open: https://launchpad.nasa.gov/amserver/cdcservlet?TARGET=https%3A%2F%2Fhr.nasa.gov%3A443%2Fportal%2Fserver.pt%2Fcommunity%2Femployees_home%2F239%2Fjob_opportunities%2F133142&RequestID=12078&MajorVersion=1&MinorVersion=0&ProviderID=https%3A%2F%2Fbready.nasa.gov%3A443%2Famagent&IssueInstant=2012-10-26T09%3A13%3A29Z&launchpad_DirectoryPro=AQIC5wM2LY4SfczcBcB1O1YP3cXLfiLd83hwUUG3i5jiMKE%3D%40AAJTSQACMDIAAlMxAAIwNA%3D%3D%23
To help you navigate to JSC vacancies, use the filter drop-down menu and select "JSC HR." The "Jobs" link will direct you to the USAJOBS website for the complete announcement and the ability to apply online. If you have questions about any JSC job vacancies, please call your HR representative.
Lisa Pesak x30476
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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.
Human Spaceflight News
Monday – October 29, 2012
HEADLINES AND LEADS
SpaceX cargo capsule leaves station, returns to Earth
William Harwood - CBS News
In a major milestone for the space station program, a commercial cargo capsule loaded with nearly a ton of long-awaited experiment samples, broken components and other gear, returned to Earth Sunday, plunging back through the atmosphere to a Pacific Ocean splashdown to wrap up the spacecraft's first operational flight. The Dragon capsule is the first space station cargo ship since the shuttle capable of carrying large amounts of equipment both to and from the lab complex As such, it restores a critical capability for NASA -- the return of experiment samples from the station -- along with failed components that require troubleshooting and analysis.
SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule splashes down to Earth
Irene Klotz – Reuters
An unmanned Space Explorations Technologies cargo capsule left the International Space Station and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, wrapping up the first U.S. supply run to the orbital outpost since the space shuttles were retired last year. SpaceX, as the privately owned, California, company is known, is one of two firms hired by NASA to fly science experiments and supplies to the $100 billion station, a project of 15 countries, after the shuttles' retirement.
Dragon ship back on Earth after space station trip
Marcia Dunn – Associated Press
An unmanned Dragon freighter carrying a stash of precious medical samples from the International Space Station parachuted into the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, completing the first official shipment under a billion-dollar contract with NASA. The California-based SpaceX company successfully guided the Dragon down from orbit to a splashdown a few hundred miles off the Baja California coast.
Cargo-laden SpaceX capsule ends historic resupply mission
James Dean – Florida Today
A freezer full of sensitive science materials is being rushed to Houston after its safe return from orbit Sunday aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, the first vehicle that could ferry the precious cargo home following the shuttle’s retirement last year. Among the freezer’s contents were 384 syringes of urine and 112 tubes of blood provided by astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, biological samples that scientists are eager to add to their investigations about how long-duration stays in microgravity affect humans.
SpaceX ends space station supply mission with a splashdown
W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
SpaceX's Dragon space capsule survived a fiery reentry into the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down about 250 miles west of the Southern California coast Sunday, concluding NASA's first contracted cargo mission to the International Space Station. The three-week undertaking, carried out by the Hawthorne company officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., was capped off at 12:22 p.m. Pacific time when the cone-shaped capsule hit the water. Shortly after, ships moved in and fished the spacecraft out.
SpaceX Capsule Splashes Down
Andy Pasztor – The Wall Street Journal
A private unmanned spacecraft returned safely Sunday from a pioneering resupply mission to the international space station, splashing down as scheduled with returning cargo in the Pacific Ocean. Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s Dragon capsule came back roughly three weeks after it made the first regular commercial delivery of supplies to the orbiting laboratory. On the return leg, it was crammed with nearly a ton of material, including science experiments, medical samples previously collected from astronauts, and various station components.
SpaceX Dragon completes 1st commercial cargo flight
CNN
The SpaceX Dragon has splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a three-week flight to the International Space Station, completing the first commercial cargo mission to Earth's orbit, NASA announced Sunday. The unmanned capsule came down about 250 miles west of Baja California at 3:22 p.m., the space agency reported. The craft was launched October 7, the first of a dozen flights to the space station planned under a contract with NASA.
New NASA Spaceship Comes Together for 2014 Test Launch
Clara Moskowitz – Space.com
The pieces are coming together for NASA's newest spaceship Orion, with its first unmanned launch test scheduled for September 2014. The Orion space capsule is designed to carry humans farther into the solar system than they've ever been by taking trips to the moon, asteroids and Mars.
Space shuttle Endeavour exhibit to launch Tuesday
Kate Mather – Los Angeles Times
For more than two decades, officials at the California Science Center dreamed of showcasing a space shuttle at the Exposition Park museum. It took a nationwide competition, a three-day cross-country flight and a harrowing 12-mile trek through the streets of Los Angeles, but on Tuesday, that dream will come true.
NASA Center in Virginia Braces for 'Frankenstorm' Hurricane Sandy
Tariq Malik – Space.com
NASA photos of Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy barrels toward the U.S. East Coast, NASA is battening the hatches at its Virginia coast launch and flight testing grounds to prepare for a literal wallop from the oncoming "Frankenstorm." A private rocket is on a launch pad at the site awaiting its maiden flight, and must also be protected.
Hurricane Sandy timelapse video: NASA releases stunning space video showing superstorm's birth
WPTV Video
As Hurricane Sandy strengthens and churns just off the U.S. East Coast Monday, NASA has released a timelapse of the superstorm, showing how it formed from its birth to its current state. The National Weather Service reported Monday morning maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour.
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COMPLETE STORIES
SpaceX cargo capsule leaves station, returns to Earth (UPDATED)
William Harwood - CBS News
In a major milestone for the space station program, a commercial cargo capsule loaded with nearly a ton of long-awaited experiment samples, broken components and other gear, returned to Earth Sunday, plunging back through the atmosphere to a Pacific Ocean splashdown to wrap up the spacecraft's first operational flight.
The Dragon capsule is the first space station cargo ship since the shuttle capable of carrying large amounts of equipment both to and from the lab complex As such, it restores a critical capability for NASA -- the return of experiment samples from the station -- along with failed components that require troubleshooting and analysis.
The Dragon capsule is the first space station cargo ship since the shuttle capable of carrying large amounts of equipment both to and from the lab complex As such, it restores a critical capability for NASA -- the return of experiment samples from the station -- along with failed components that require troubleshooting and analysis.
"We see her moving aft and away from us out of the keep-out sphere," Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams radioed from the station as the SpaceX Dragon capsule departed early Sunday. "It was nice while she was on board. We tamed her, took her (on board) and literally and figuratively, there's a piece of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth."
She was referring to urine and other biological samples packed aboard the cargo ship that had been awaiting a ride back to researchers on the ground.
"Not only is it going to give us a consistent supply chain up, but very critical, particularly to biological research, is the return mass, to be able to have frozen samples returned home," space station Program Manager Mike Suffredini said earlier. "This really is the keystone to what is going to allow space station to do what it was built to do. It's critical to the success of the station."
Designed, built and operated by Space Exploration Technologies -- SpaceX -- under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, the Dragon capsule was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Oct. 7, loaded with nearly a half ton of supplies and equipment. It was captured by the station's robot arm three days later and attached to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.
After unloading its cargo, the station crew repacked the capsule with nearly a ton of experiment samples, station components and other gear awaiting return to Earth. Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, operating the space station's robot arm, detached Dragon from its berthing port at 7:19 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) Sunday. The astronauts then released the capsule at 9:29 a.m. as the two spacecraft sailed 255 miles above Burma.
At that point, SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, Calif., took over active control, using thruster firings to move the capsule away from the space station. At 2:28 p.m., the capsule's braking rockets fired for nine minutes and 50 seconds, dropping the far side of its orbit deep into the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
After enduring the heat of re-entry, the capsule's two drogue parachutes deployed at an altitude of about 45,000 feet, slowing the craft enough to permit the release of three large main parachutes at an altitude of around 10,000 feet. A SpaceX team was standing by in the landing zone 250 miles off the coast of Baja California to recover the spacecraft.
"The SpaceX recovery boat sees the vehicle with three main chutes out," NASA mission control radioed the station crew at 3:16 p.m.
"Good news," Williams replied from orbit. "Thanks for the update."
A few moments later, at 3:22 p.m., the spacecraft splashed into the Pacific Ocean to complete the return to Earth.
"Station, Houston on two, Dragon is in the Pacific," mission control advised.
"Awesome," Williams said. "She made it home to Earth."
The SpaceX recovery team quickly hauled the Dragon capsule onto a 100-foot-long recovery vessel for the trip back to California. Time-critical hardware and experiment samples will be turned over to NASA within 48 hours. The spacecraft then will be hauled to a SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, where the remaining cargo will be off-loaded.
"This historic mission signifies the restoration of America's ability to deliver and return critical space station cargo," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a statement. "The reliability of SpaceX's technology and the strength of our partnership with NASA provide a strong foundation for future missions and achievements to come."
The SpaceX commercial resupply contract requires the company to deliver 44,000 pounds of equipment and supplies over 12 flights. To pave the way for operational resupply missions, SpaceX carried out two successful test flights, one that tested the capsule's systems in a solo flight and another that included a berthing at the station last May.
The Dragon capsule measures 14.4 feet tall and 12 feet wide, with a trunk section, jettisoned just before re-entry, that extends another 9.2 feet below the capsule's heat shield that houses two solar arrays and an unpressurized cargo bay. The spacecraft can carry up to 7,297 pounds of cargo split between the pressurized and unpressurized sections.
Under a separate $440 million contract with NASA, SpaceX engineers are working on upgrades to convert the Dragon capsule into a manned spacecraft that can ferry crews to and from the station. SpaceX managers believe they will be ready for initial manned test flights in the 2015 timeframe, assuming continued NASA funding. Two other companies, Boeing and Sierra Nevada, are developing their own spacecraft designs under similar contracts.
For Dragon's first Commercial Resupply Service mission -- CRS-1 -- the SpaceX cargo capsule delivered 882 pounds of hardware, supplies and equipment to the space station, including 260 pounds of crew food and supplies, 390 pounds of science gear and 225 pounds of spare parts and other station hardware.
For its return to Earth, the Dragon was packed with about 1,673 pounds of experiment samples and hardware, including 163 pounds of crew supplies, 518 pounds of station hardware, 123 pounds of computer gear and Russian equipment and 866 pounds of science gear and experiment samples.
SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule splashes down to Earth
Irene Klotz – Reuters
An unmanned Space Explorations Technologies cargo capsule left the International Space Station and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, wrapping up the first U.S. supply run to the orbital outpost since the space shuttles were retired last year.
SpaceX, as the privately owned, California, company is known, is one of two firms hired by NASA to fly science experiments and supplies to the $100 billion station, a project of 15 countries, after the shuttles' retirement.
Following a successful test flight in May, SpaceX launched its first operational Dragon cargo ship on October 7 and reached the station three days later.
On Sunday, as the station soared 255 miles over Burma, Dragon was released by the station's robot arm to begin the return trip back to Earth. It splashed down in the Pacific Ocean west of Mexico's Baja California about 3:20 p.m. EDT (1920 GMT).
Unlike the Russian, Japanese and European freighters that also ferry cargo to the station, Dragon was designed for round-trip flights. It returned with 1,673 pounds (759 kg) of equipment and science samples, including hundreds of frozen urine and blood samples from the crew.
"It was nice while she was on board," station commander Sunita Williams radioed to Mission Control in Houston. "Literally and figuratively, there is a piece of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth."
She leads a six-member crew that includes Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy, Evgeny Tarelkin and Yuri Malenchenko; U.S. astronaut Kevin Ford and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
SpaceX's next supply run is expected in January. Orbital Sciences Corp, NASA's second cargo hauler, plans to debut its Cygnus capsule in February or March. Combined, the companies' contracts with NASA are worth $3.5 billion.
SpaceX also is working under a separate $440 million NASA contract to upgrade the Dragon capsule and its Falcon 9 launcher to carry astronauts. The company plans a test flight with its own employees in 2015.
Boeing and privately owned Sierra Nevada Corp., also have investment funds from NASA to develop alternative space taxi designs. NASA hopes to be able to buy rides for its astronauts by 2017, breaking Russia's monopoly on crew ferry flights, a service that costs the United States more than $60 million a ride.
Dragon ship back on Earth after space station trip
Marcia Dunn – Associated Press
An unmanned Dragon freighter carrying a stash of precious medical samples from the International Space Station parachuted into the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, completing the first official shipment under a billion-dollar contract with NASA.
The California-based SpaceX company successfully guided the Dragon down from orbit to a splashdown a few hundred miles off the Baja California coast.
"This historic mission signifies the restoration of America's ability to deliver and return critical space station cargo," Elon Musk, the billionaire founder and head of SpaceX, said in a statement.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden praised the "American ingenuity" that made the endeavor possible.
Several hours earlier, astronauts aboard the International Space Station used a giant robot arm to release the commercial cargo ship 255 miles up. SpaceX provided updates of the journey back to Earth via Twitter.
The supply ship brought back nearly 2,000 pounds of science experiments and old station equipment. Perhaps the most eagerly awaited cargo is nearly 500 frozen samples of blood and urine collected by station astronauts over the past year.
The Dragon is the only delivery ship capable of returning items, now that NASA's shuttles are retired to museums. Atlantis made the last shuttle haul to and from the station in July 2011.
SpaceX — more formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — launched the capsule three weeks ago from Cape Canaveral, full of groceries, clothes and other station supplies. Ice cream as well as fresh apples were especially appreciated by the station residents, now back up to a full crew of six.
It's the second Dragon to return from the orbiting lab; the first mission in May was a flight demo. This flight is the first of 12 deliveries under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.
"It was nice while she was on board," space station commander Sunita Williams said as the Dragon backed away. "We tamed her, took her home and, literally and figuratively, there's a piece of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth."
She added to the SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, Calif.: "Congratulations Hawthorne and thank you for her."
The Dragon will be retrieved from the Pacific and loaded onto a 100-foot boat that will haul it to Los Angeles. From there, it will be transported to McGregor, Texas.
The medical samples will be removed as quickly as possible, and turned over to NASA within 48 hours of splashdown, according to SpaceX. Everything else will wait for unloading in McGregor.
A Russian supply ship, meanwhile, is set to blast off this week. It burns up upon descent, however, at mission's end. So do the cargo vessels provided by Europe and Japan.
SpaceX is working to transform its Dragon cargo craft into vessels that American astronauts could fly in another four or five years. Until SpaceX or another U.S. company is able to provide rides, NASA astronauts must rely on Russian rockets to get to and from the space station.
Cargo-laden SpaceX capsule ends historic resupply mission
James Dean – Florida Today
A freezer full of sensitive science materials is being rushed to Houston after its safe return from orbit Sunday aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, the first vehicle that could ferry the precious cargo home following the shuttle’s retirement last year.
Among the freezer’s contents were 384 syringes of urine and 112 tubes of blood provided by astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, biological samples that scientists are eager to add to their investigations about how long-duration stays in microgravity affect humans.
“It may be urine to you, but it’s gold to us,” joked Scott Smith, a NASA scientist at Johnson Space Center, before the Dragon’s launch to the station. “There’s a lot of science that comes out of this.”
SpaceX reported that the unmanned Dragon spacecraft safely parachuted to a 3:22 p.m. EDT splashdown in the Pacific Ocean about 250 miles off the coast of Mexico.
The landing successfully concluded the station's first commercial resupply mission, flown by a privately designed and operated spacecraft.
A Dragon visited the outpost on a test flight in May, but the latest trip was SpaceX’s first operational mission under a $1.6 billion NASA contract awarded nearly four years ago.
"With today's mission, we've closed the loop and demonstrated that American industry is ready to step up to the plate and meet our needs for transport to low Earth orbit," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said in a statement. "This work will transform our relationship to space, save money and create jobs."
The mission got off to a less-than-perfect start. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket placed the Dragon in orbit Oct. 7 despite losing one of nine first-stage engines just over a minute after its 8:35 p.m. blastoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
A joint NASA and SpaceX team is investigating the engine failure, which caused debris to shoot from the bottom of the rocket. The problem also resulted in a secondary payload being left in a low orbit.
Early Oct. 10, the station’s robotic arm grappled and berthed the Dragon and its 882 pounds of crew supplies, science equipment and other hardware.
The station’s Expedition 33 crew, which doubled from three to six people during the Dragon’s 18-day visit, on Saturday finished packing the last of 1,673 pounds of cargo into the capsule and closed its hatch.
“It’s a nice change from loading vehicles with trash to actually loading vehicles with stuff that’s going to get looked at, analyzed and used back home,” radioed station commander and NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, referring to the science samples.
All the station’s other resupply craft — from Russia, Europe and Japan — are packed with trash and burn up during re-entry through the atmosphere, as will a commercial vehicle now under development by Orbital Sciences Corp of Dulles, Va.
Apart from the Russian Soyuz, which returns crews and a tiny amount of cargo, only the Dragon can return large quantities of goods to Earth — a critical capability for the orbiting laboratory complex slated to operate until at least 2020.
Responding to commands from the ground Sunday morning, the station’s 58-foot robotic arm pulled the Dragon from its docking port and then released it at 9:29 a.m. EDT, as the two spacecraft soared 255 miles above Burma.
The Dragon flew away under the control of only two flight computers. A third computer had automatically reset itself earlier in the mission and was out of sync with the others.
In darkness, Dragon thrusters pulsed several times to push it away from the station, its blinking strobe light dimming as the spacecraft retreated beyond an imaginary safety zone around the station known as the Keep Out Sphere.
“It was nice while she was on board,” Williams radioed to mission controllers in Houston and SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. “Literally and figuratively, there’s a piece of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth.”
A freezer holding the biological samples had brought up some of the cargo most welcome to the crew: cups of vanilla-and-chocolate swirl ice cream. Fresh apples were also delivered.
There was no live video coverage of Dragon’s re-entry and splashdown. SpaceX provided updates via Twitter messages.
At 2:28 p.m., the 12-foot diameter’s spacecraft’s Draco thrusters began a nearly 10-minute firing to start its drop from orbit.
A “trunk” holding two solar array wings jettisoned as planned, exposing the Dragon’s heat shield to the scorching atmosphere.
Within 10 minutes of splashdown, a pair of drogue chutes deployed, followed by three main chutes, each 116 feet in diameter.
Neither NASA nor SpaceX immediately provided statements about the landing, but SpaceX engineer Molly McCormick said on Twitter that if landings continued to be as precise, “we’re going to have to start issuing the recovery team titanium umbrellas.”
Divers and a fleet of four recovery boats awaited, ready to hoist the Dragon onto the deck of a 100-foot ship for return to a dock in Long Beach, Calif.
NASA’s mission success criteria call for return within 48 hours of time-sensitive cargo, including the GLACIER freezer and its biological samples, which will be flown to Houston.
The rest of the cargo will be travel with the capsule by truck to a SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, for post-flight processing.
Assuming the Falcon 9 engine issue is resolved and no other significant problems emerge, SpaceX planned to fly its second contracted mission to the station in late January.
With the help of NASA funding, the company is also working to upgrade the Dragon to fly people. Several U.S. companies are competing to fly crews to the station by 2017, ending reliance on Russia.
The international resupply effort continues this week: a Russian Progress freighter is scheduled to blast off and dock at the station Wednesday morning. On Thursday, Williams and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide plan to peform station repairs during a spacewalk.
SpaceX ends space station supply mission with a splashdown
W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
SpaceX's Dragon space capsule survived a fiery reentry into the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down about 250 miles west of the Southern California coast Sunday, concluding NASA's first contracted cargo mission to the International Space Station.
The three-week undertaking, carried out by the Hawthorne company officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., was capped off at 12:22 p.m. Pacific time when the cone-shaped capsule hit the water. Shortly after, ships moved in and fished the spacecraft out.
The Dragon capsule delivered 882 pounds of supplies to the space station this month and returned with 1,673 pounds of cargo that included damaged equipment, scientific experiments and hundreds of astronaut blood and urine samples to be analyzed by NASA officials.
"Literally and figuratively there's a piece of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth," said NASA astronaut Sunita Williams when the capsule was released from the space station about 6:25 a.m. Sunday.
The cargo mission was the first of 12 for SpaceX under a $1.6-billion contract with NASA. It was the first test of NASA's plan to outsource resupply missions to commercial companies now that the U.S. space shuttle fleet has been retired.
"With a big splash in the Pacific Ocean today, we are reminded American ingenuity is alive and well and keeping our great nation at the cutting edge of innovation and technology development," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.
"Just a little over one year after we retired the space shuttle, we have completed the first cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. Not with a government owned and operated system, but rather with one built by a private firm."
The mission wasn't flawless. One of the nine engines on SpaceX's massive Falcon 9 rocket experienced a problem and shut down shortly after launch Oct 7. Because of the glitch, a satellite that the rocket was carrying didn't reach proper orbit, but the NASA resupply mission went on as planned and the Dragon capsule connected with the space station Oct. 10.
On Sunday, after the capsule reentered Earth's atmosphere, the three main parachutes billowed open about five minutes before splashdown. The orange-and-white-striped parachutes, each 116 feet in diameter, slowed the craft's descent to 16 to 18 feet per second.
The craft bobbed in the water until a 90-foot boat equipped with a crane, a 90-foot crew boat for telemetry operations and two 25-foot rigid-hull inflatable boats made the recovery. The capsule is set to arrive at the Port of Long Beach, but it was unclear when that would occur.
"This historic mission signifies the restoration of America's ability to deliver and return critical space station cargo," SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a statement. "The reliability of SpaceX's technology and the strength of our partnership with NASA provide a strong foundation for future missions and achievements to come."
SpaceX Capsule Splashes Down
Andy Pasztor – The Wall Street Journal
A private unmanned spacecraft returned safely Sunday from a pioneering resupply mission to the international space station, splashing down as scheduled with returning cargo in the Pacific Ocean.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s Dragon capsule came back roughly three weeks after it made the first regular commercial delivery of supplies to the orbiting laboratory. On the return leg, it was crammed with nearly a ton of material, including science experiments, medical samples previously collected from astronauts, and various station components.
Despite the uneventful maneuvers to leave orbit and a seemingly pinpoint descent and water landing at 3:22 p.m. ET off the Baja California coast, the latest mission was far from perfect. A rocket engine stopped working on the ascent, and now it's not clear how long the investigation of that fault will take or when SpaceX, as the company is known, will be able to launch the next capsule.
The company, which has several missions tentatively scheduled next year as part of a multiyear, $1.6 billion cargo resupply contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, also seeks to take astronauts to the space station later this decade. But the engine problem is bound to complicate SpaceX's effort to persuade NASA that the company is close to having mature technology able to tackle human transportation, industry officials say.
So far SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, Calif., is the prime beneficiary of White House efforts to outsource cargo shipments to private industry, to be followed eventually by privately operated rockets and spacecraft intended to ferry astronauts to and from orbit. Retirement of NASA's shuttle fleet means American astronauts must hitch rides on Soviet rockets and spacecraft until U.S. companies can take them into space.
During the launch earlier this month, one of nine main, liquid-fueled engines on the Falcon 9 rocket, which put Dragon into space, suffered a malfunction and was automatically shut down to prevent greater damage. The remaining first-stage engines had enough power to carry Dragon to the correct orbit.
But the engine failure, combined with strict NASA rules on using the rocket's second-stage propulsion system, prevented SpaceX from placing a commercial satellite owned by Orbcomm Inc. ORBC -0.57% into the proper orbit. The satellite burned up as it plummeted back to earth.
Counting a booster malfunction on an earlier test flight, the Falcon 9 rocket has suffered engine problems in two out of three missions.
NASA previously announced it was assembling a government-industry team to investigate the latest engine mishap. Criticized by some industry officials in the past for allegedly withholding information about the earlier engine difficulties, SpaceX officials have refuted such claims and pledged to cooperate fully in the latest probe.
John Marshall, a former member of NASA's outside safety review board, said SpaceX continues to face major challenges in demonstrating its rocket is ready to carry astronauts. "They are still a long way from having a vehicle" that can be certified as reliable enough for such missions, Mr. Marshall said in a recent interview. "The company is clearly not ready," he added, to tackle manned launches "by a long shot."
The capsule landed about 250 miles off the Baja California coast. Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder, chairman and chief technical officer, said in a statement that "the reliability of SpaceX's technology and the strength of our partnership with NASA provide a strong foundation for future missions and achievements to come."
SpaceX Dragon completes 1st commercial cargo flight
CNN
The SpaceX Dragon has splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a three-week flight to the International Space Station, completing the first commercial cargo mission to Earth's orbit, NASA announced Sunday.
The unmanned capsule came down about 250 miles west of Baja California at 3:22 p.m., the space agency reported. The craft was launched October 7, the first of a dozen flights to the space station planned under a contract with NASA.
The craft carried nearly 900 pounds of supplies to the station and returned with nearly 1,700 pounds of freight, mostly used hardware and scientific research material. The reusable craft has been loaded onto a ship and was carried back to shore Sunday afternoon, SpaceX said.
NASA chose SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and the Dragon spacecraft to resupply the space station in 2008. The space agency has retired its fleet of space shuttles and plans to turn much of its focus toward exploring deep into the solar system.
"With today's mission, we've closed the loop and demonstrated that American industry is ready to step up to the plate and meet our needs for transport to low Earth orbit," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement issued after splashdown. "This work will transform our relationship to space, save money and create jobs. America remains the leader in space and technology development."
Another company, Orbital Sciences, is expected to launch its own demonstration flight to the space station within months under a contract with NASA. And SpaceX is one of three aerospace firms now vying for a contract for manned flights into orbit, along with Sierra Nevada and Boeing.
The mission was completed despite the failure of one of the nine engines on the Falcon 9 booster rocket that carried it into orbit. SpaceX said the engine failed 79 seconds after liftoff, but the remaining engines kept the craft headed for the space station as flight computers made the necessary adjustments.
However, a prototype communications satellite that the Falcon 9 carried as a secondary payload did not end up in its designated orbit. The satellite's builder, New Jersey-based Orbcomm, said controllers were able to successfully test the device's systems before it fell out of orbit and plans to launch two more of them aboard SpaceX rockets by 2014.
SpaceX said it was studying flight data with NASA to figure out what happened, "and we will apply those lessons to future flights."
New NASA Spaceship Comes Together for 2014 Test Launch
Clara Moskowitz – Space.com
The pieces are coming together for NASA's newest spaceship Orion, with its first unmanned launch test scheduled for September 2014.
he Orion space capsule is designed to carry humans farther into the solar system than they've ever been by taking trips to the moon, asteroids and Mars.
It will be the first new spaceship built by NASA since the space shuttle was developed in the 1970s. The space agency is planning to outsource travel to low-Earth orbit, including the International Space Station, to the private space sector, allowing NASA itself to focus on traveling beyond.
"I think having a test flight in '14 is huge — people can see it right there," Orion program manager Mark Geyer told SPACE.com in September. "It's a really important goal."
Orion was originally conceived as a next-generation spacecraft, called the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, under NASA's now-defunct Constellation program. When that program was cancelled by the Obama administration, the Orion design was carried forward as the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.
The engineering team behind the capsule has weathered political ups and downs, but say they are glad to be approaching flight time for the craft. [Photos: NASA's Orion Spaceship Test Explained]
"It's hard to put in 80 hours a week and then have somebody go, 'I don’t want to do that anymore,'" Geyer said. "We kind of went through that two years ago, but fortunately we came out on the other side."
Orion first test flight will be called the Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT 1), and will include a test of more than half the systems that will appear in the ultimate finished Orion. These include its heat shield, which is a totally novel design made of a special composite material and an ablative coating deigned to burn off as the capsule re-enters Earth's searing atmosphere for the trip home.
EFT 1 will also test the capsule's primary structure design and put its avionics and computer systems through their paces.
However, for this first flight test Orion will ride to space aboard a Delta 4 heavy rocket — a proven flight vehicle from ULA (United launch Alliance) that won't be its ultimate booster. Eventually, Orion is planned to launch toward the moon and beyond on NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift rocket still under development. The first flight test for Orion and SLS together, called Exploration Mission 1, is slated for 2017.
Orion and SLS are set to carry humans onboard for the first time in 2021.
On the surface, Orion looks like a modernized Apollo capsule. Both vehicles are cone-shaped and launch vertically atop heavy-lift rockets. However, the similarities are only skin deep.
Where Apollo could carry three astronauts to the moon, Orion is bigger and can take four. The 1960s-era Apollo capsule featured computer technology inferior to that of a smart phone, while Orion is controlled by state-of-the-art technology. Its heat shield is composed of entirely new materials, and many other features are wholly novel.
"It's kind of like an automobile in 1905 had four tires and a steering wheel, and they still do now," Geyer said. "But none of the stuff inside is the same."
Between now and EFT 1, the NASA teams are working with the capsule's prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, to finish construction of Orion's systems and assemble them together. The primary body for that test vehicle is finished, while the heat shield still needs about six months more. Its avionics computers are undergoing testing now. Eventually, the whole vehicle will be put together in Florida at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
"I think we have a great design and we have a great plan to fly it," Geyer said. "It's time to do it, to actually put it to use and put it in the missions that are going to let us discover new things."
Space shuttle Endeavour exhibit to launch Tuesday
Kate Mather – Los Angeles Times
For more than two decades, officials at the California Science Center dreamed of showcasing a space shuttle at the Exposition Park museum.
It took a nationwide competition, a three-day cross-country flight and a harrowing 12-mile trek through the streets of Los Angeles, but on Tuesday, that dream will come true.
The free, state-run museum will open its doors to the display pavilion housing the retired orbiter Endeavour, which arrived at the Science Center about two weeks ago. The 18,000-square-foot building will showcase the museum's prized exhibit until a new air and space wing is built.
"Obviously people were excited just to see it fly over or even [get] a closer look when they could see it going down the streets, but here they get a lot more of a chance to see it," Science Center President Jeffrey Rudolph said. "People can learn a lot more about it."
There are two separate parts to the temporary set-up: the Samuel Oschin display pavilion and another exhibit detailing the space shuttle's history and ties to Southern California. The entire space shuttle fleet — Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour and Enterprise, the test orbiter — was assembled in Palmdale.
Museum visitors won't be able to go inside the 122-foot-long Endeavour, but they can virtually navigate the flight deck, mid-deck and payload bay by using a touch-screen display. Officials also removed the shuttle's galley and toilet to show separately.
"It looks like a porta-potty," one fifth-grader said of the latter at a preview last week.
Tucked in the corner of the display pavilion is one of the massive engines that propelled Endeavour into space. Designed, built and tested by Canoga Park-based Rocketdyne, the 14-foot-long boosters were the first reusable engines used by NASA.
Each time the shuttles launched, a Rocketdyne team would pore over data from a support center at its San Fernando Valley plant, making sure the engines were ready for takeoff and performed properly during their 8 1/2-minute burn.
The support center has been reassembled inside the museum as part of the shuttle display. All of the pieces are original to the Canoga Park facility, down to the maroon chairs and computer keyboards.
"I hope that when people see this hardware they're able to appreciate the technological complexity and technological difficulty of putting the shuttle into space and keep it going for all these years," said Mike Carlson, a Rocketdyne engineer who once managed the support center. "It wasn't easy."
And then there's Endeavour itself.
Visitors will be able to walk underneath the orbiter's weathered underbelly, so close one can read the small, white lettering on each tile. Near the rear of the shuttle, there are about a dozen tiles that were damaged during Endeavour's 25th and final mission, revealing what looks like Styrofoam underneath.
"It's amazing," said Diane Perlov, the museum's deputy director of exhibits. "The first time I saw it — it brings tears to your eyes. It's really something."
The shuttle will be even more impressive in its permanent home in the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, Rudolph said. There, the shuttle will be displayed vertically as though it is about to launch, complete with an external tank and twin solid rocket boosters. That 170,000-square-foot facility, which will also feature exhibits on flight and space exploration, should open in about five years, Rudolph said.
Money for the temporary and permanent displays will come from a $200-million fundraising campaign. Rudolph said about 80% of that is earmarked for the new air and space wing.
"When we have it standing up vertically, there's nothing in the world like it," Rudolph said. "If you're going to see one space shuttle, this is going to be it."
The two other museums that house retired shuttles — the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City and the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia — both have reported increased attendance since their orbiters went on display. Rudolph said he expects the same boost for the Science Center, guessing the shuttle would bring attendance to about 2 million people per year, up from about 1.5 million.
Museum and NASA officials have repeatedly expressed their hope that Endeavour will encourage the next generation of engineers, scientists and astronauts.
"This thing will inspire kids to want to be astronauts," said retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who commanded Endeavour's last mission. "Maybe one of those little kids that will be looking up at this space shuttle will one day go and walk on Mars for the first time."
Amy Davis is a fifth-grade teacher at Inglewood's Century Park Elementary School. Her class watched last month as Endeavour, riding a jumbo jet, flew low over the school on its way to the Los Angeles International Airport. The children shrieked with glee as it passed over their heads.
Two students ran up to Davis. Ten-year-old Richard Hercules had tears streaming down his face.
"They're happy tears," Richard's friend told their teacher.
Richard has wanted to be an astronaut as long as he can remember. He "felt lucky" he got to see Endeavour, he said.
"That's the only space shuttle I've ever seen," he said. "It gave me a boost of wanting to be an astronaut more."
Davis wrote to the Science Center, explaining how moved Richard was by the experience. A NASA official heard the story and sent Richard an application to Space Camp in Alabama.
Richard is now working on the application, collecting letters of recommendation and writing an essay on astronaut John Glenn, trying to earn a scholarship so he can go.
"Dreams are possible," Davis said. "It was meant to be."
NASA Center in Virginia Braces for 'Frankenstorm' Hurricane Sandy
Tariq Malik – Space.com
NASA photos of Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy barrels toward the U.S. East Coast, NASA is battening the hatches at its Virginia coast launch and flight testing grounds to prepare for a literal wallop from the oncoming "Frankenstorm." A private rocket is on a launch pad at the site awaiting its maiden flight, and must also be protected.
The space agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., is bracing for potential flooding and high winds from Sandy when it arrives early next week. The storm, currently a Category 1 hurricane, is expected to merge with cold weather fronts early next week to become a more powerful storm.
"We're watching it closely," Wallops spokesman Keith Koehler told SPACE.com Friday (Oct. 26). "We've started preparations like putting aircraft into hangars and clearing those hangars as best we can, just taking the appropriate precautions."
Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall between Virginia and New York sometime between Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 29 and 30), according to National Hurricane Center forecasts.
The Wallops Flight Facility is the center of NASA's suborbital research projects and oversees balloon and sounding rocket launches from the Virginia's Eastern Shore and elsewhere. The facility is staffed by 1,100 workers and also serves as a hub for aeronautics research.
Koehler said that on Sunday (Oct. 28), the flight center will be closed, with only a skeleton crew of Wallops staff, security and emergency personnel remaining on Wallops Island. A public night sky observing event scheduled for Saturday was canceled due to the weather, he added.
Wallops is also the home of new commercial spaceflight efforts and the first private Antares rocket by the Virginia-based company Orbital Sciences Corp., stands partially assembled atop a launch pad at the nearby Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The Antares rocket's first stage was moved to the launch pad on Oct. 1 for fueling and other tests.
Propellant hoses to the rocket are being detached to help prepare it for the upcoming storm rains and winds, Orbital Sciences spokesman Barron Beneski told SPACE.com. The rocket's nearby hangar is also being safeguarded against the storm.
Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion contract to launch at least eight cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station for NASA using its Antares rockets and Cygnus, a new robotic spacecraft. The first Antares rocket is slated to launch by the end of the year.
As of Saturday morning, Hurricane Sandy was about 165 miles (270 kilometers) north of Great Abaco Island and 335 miles (540 km) southeast of Charleston, S.C. It had maximum sustained wind speeds of75 mph (120 kph) and was moving north-northeast at about 10 mph (17 kph).
The storm caused at least 43 deaths as it barreled across the Bahamas in the Caribbean, according to news reports.
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are tracking Hurricane Sandy from space using several satellites. The hurricane has also been seen from the International Space Station in Earth orbit.
Hurricane Sandy timelapse video: NASA releases stunning space video showing superstorm's birth
WPTV Video
As Hurricane Sandy strengthens and churns just off the U.S. East Coast Monday, NASA has released a timelapse of the superstorm, showing how it formed from its birth to its current state.
The National Weather Service reported Monday morning maximum sustained winds of 85 miles per hour.
Those could strengthen a little more before a late Monday or early Tuesday landfall.
Because of Sandy's size and the dense population, forecasters expect about 50 million people to feel the storm's effects.
Hundreds of thousands of homes have been evacuated along the East Coast.
For days, government and emergency management officials have been pleading with residents to be prepared, take precautions, and heed storm warnings.
Sandy has already proven deadly, killing at least 67 people in the Caribbean, last week -- 51 of those in Haiti.
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