The Orion asteroid mission concept is being unveiled just as the Presidential committeereviewing U.S. human space flight is citing asteroid missions after 2020 as a less costly alternative to NASA's proposed lunar landing infrastructure. Results of the review will be briefed to President Obama by Norman Augustine, committee chairman, by the end of August. The docked Orion configuration as shown in a Lockheed Martin graphic (above) would have a total of four large solar arrays and two service modules as well as two command modules for extra space on the several week flight. Single 25-ton Orion spacecraft would first be used to replace the space shuttle for servicing the International Space Station. But use of them for asteroid missions and other deep space sites would maximize utilization of the Orion system if lunar landings are deleted as a near term goal. If one looks closely at the graphic, a space suited astronaut deployed from the Orion, is standing atop the asteroid. The graphic is from a Lockheed Martin promotional movie that shows concepts under study by the Orion prime contractor. Under the Bush Administration strategy, NASA had planned a resumption of lunar landing missions by about 2020 using the Orion as a lunar orbiting command ship while its crew descended to the moon in Altair landers for lengthy stays on the surface. The official NASA line has been solidly "all moon" for the last several years, while more realistic assessments over the same period have shown that is not feasible. NASA more recently, however, had become more open about an asteroid mission capability for Orion after space scientists and planners meeting before formation of the committee began to criticize the lunar goal as too fragile. Development and cost problems with the Ares 1 and Ares 5 launch vehicle programs have also become increasingly apparent since about 2007. Augustine and other committee members such as former astronaut Sally Ride have already reported publicly that NASA's current plan to retire the shuttle, finish the space station and return to the moon by the early 2020s is not even remotely feasible under NASA's current funding profile. link..
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NASA's New Spaceships Could Tag-Team Asteroid
Engine Test for New NASA Rocket Targeted for Sept. 10
Engineers have ruled out the possibility that booster hardware or software was at fault during the aborted Aug. 27 test, and the focus of the investigation has shifted to ground test hardware, ATK said. "Specific suspect circuitry and components have been identified and are being methodically investigated, utilizing a systematic, detailed fault tree approach," the company said. "The team is assessing removal and replacement plans for potential suspect items." The $75 million test of the five-segment motor, based on the space shuttle's giant solid-rocket boosters, was aborted with 20 seconds left in the countdown Aug. 27 when a power system used to point the motor's nozzle failed. Engineers initially suspected a fuel valve in an auxiliary power unit on the booster had failed. The test will take place at ATK's facilities in Promontory, Utah. NASA's Ares I rocket is a two-stage booster designed to use the ATK-built solid-fueled first stage and a liquid-fueled upper stage to launch the new Orion crew-carrying spacecraft into orbit. Orion, NASA's replacement for its retiring space shuttles, is slated to begin operational flight no earlier than 2015. The first test launch of the Ares I rocket concept, called Ares I-X, is slated to lift off on Oct. 31. A White House-appointed committee has reviewed NASA's plans for future human spaceflight and is expected to submit a report to President Barack Obama's administration in upcoming weeks. link...
Chinese Rocket Launches Satellite to Wrong Orbit
Carrying the Palapa D telecommunications satellite, a Long March 3B rocket blasted offfrom the Xichang launch base in southwestern China at 0928 GMT (5:28 a.m. EDT) Monday. The three-stage launcher, boosted by four liquid-fueled strap-on engines, flew as expected during the first few minutes of the flight. But a failure occurred about 20 minutes after liftoff as the third stage was scheduled to ignite for its second burn of the mission, according to the official state-run Xinhua news agency. The third stage is powered by two YF-75 engines fueled by a mix of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, according to China Great Wall Industry Corp., the international marketing arm of the country's launch industry. The engines apparently completed the first of two burns to place the rocket and Palapa D into a parking orbit. Xinhua reported the third stage encountered problems during the second ignition, but it was not clear if the engines failed to fire or shut down early. "Experts are investigating," the Xinhua report said. The 41-foot-long third stage produces about 35,000 pounds of thrust in flight, first to send payloads into low-altitude parking orbits and then to propel spacecraft into egg-shaped geosynchronous transfer orbits. link...
Shuttle Discovery Arrives at Space Station
Discovery commander Rick Sturckow docked the 100-ton shuttle with the space stationas both spacecraft flew more than 200 miles (341 km) above the Atlantic Ocean. "It's great to hear your voices," station astronaut Michael Barratt radioed Discovery's crew as the two spacecraft drew close. "We can't wait to see you." Sturckow flew Discovery without the aid of six small thrusters, which are usually extensively used during docking, because one had a leak. Instead, he used Discovery's larger, more powerful thrusters, which use more propellant and can make for a louder ride and more challenging docking. "He just flew it like a champ today," shuttle flight director Tony Ceccacci told reporters after docking. A rendezvous first Sturckow has trained to use the larger thrusters during docking, but NASA never had to try it until today, Cain said. The smaller thrusters will not be used for the duration of Discovery's 13-day mission, he added. Sturckow also had to compensate for a slight misalignment of the space station, which was 1 degree out of position during tonight's docking, NASA officials said. Before docking at the space station, Sturckow flew Discovery through an orbital back flip so station astronauts could photograph the shuttle's tile-covered belly in a routine heat shield check. Analysts on Earth will review the images once they are sent to Mission Control. Discovery docked at the station about 10 minutes early at 8:54 p.m. EDT (0054 Aug. 31 GMT). Hatches between Discovery and the space station opened just over 90 minutes later with the seven shuttle astronauts boosting the station's six-person crew up to 13 people - a record-tying high - for only the second time. link..
Mouse Hotel Opens on Space Station
The small rodents are part of an Italian study investigating the effects of bone loss in space, and researchers have set the mice up in orbital style. "Basically, it's a little hotel," said Joe Delai, Discovery's payload manager, of the cages holding the space mice. "They have a room and a place to eat and sleep." That creature comfort is key, he said. After all, the little mice will be living in space for at least three months before hitching a ride back home. Mice have flown in space countless times before, even on space shuttles headed for the International Space Station. But the critters always stayed aboard those shuttles and returned home, said NASA's space station program scientist Julie Robinson. The longest any mouse has lived in space has been about 30 days, and that was while flying on an unmanned satellite, she added. "This is a brand new technology for carrying rodents into space," Robinson said of the mouse enclosure. "This will be, by far, the longest period of time that mice have been maintained in the space station environment in an experimental setting." Mouse house in space The mice are living in a special experiment drawer delivered to the station late Sunday by astronauts aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery. The drawer is split into partitions to give each mouse ample living room. "Each mouse is in its own little compartment," Robinson told SPACE.com. "The compartments have screens around them so the mice can hold on with their feet so that they're in control of their environment...so they're not stressed out." The mice get food and water through automated systems, which astronauts can refill when needed. A different system turns on lights to simulate day and night, and cameras will monitor their progress, Robinson said. "We take good care of them," she added. link...
New Moon Photo Reveals Tracks from Tough Apollo Moonwalk
The photograph was taken by a camera on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and shows the terrain surrounding the landing site of Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell, who touched down on the moon Feb. 5, 1971 in their Antares lander. It was released Wednesday and confirmed that the astronauts came just 100 feet (30 meters) from the rim of their target, Cone Crater, before they turned back, LRO researchers said. At first glance, the image appears to depict a stark lunar surface devoid of any evidence that humans were there. But a closer inspection can reveal the glints of the Antares lander and a nearby experiment deployed by the astronauts, which appear at the lower left of the snapshot. The tracks from the boot prints of Shepard and Mitchell appear as wispy, winding lines that are a slightly darker shade of gray from the surrounding terrain. The region of the moon explored by Shepard and Mitchell on the Apollo 14 mission is a rocky, hilly area known as the Fra Mauro highlands. The mission was the third of six Apollo moon landings between 1969 and 1972. LRO has beamed home an earlier view of the Apollo 14 landing site, as well as snapshots of Tranquility Base, the first manned landing site visited by Apollo 11 astronauts on July 20, 1969. Researchers overseeing the probe's main camera, called LROC, from Arizona State University released the new images. link..
Astronauts complain of stuffy heads in space
Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery have got a case of stuffy heads, but NASA doesn't think they're sick. More likely, the effects reported by the astronauts have more to do with crowd control and the pockets of carbon dioxide generated when they gather in groups, space station flight controller Heather Rarick said. "I don't think they have any ill health whatsoever," Rarick told reporters in an early morning briefing.Discovery commander Rick Sturckow radioed Mission Control early Wednesday to say his crew was complaining of stuffiness and that it was a new experience when compared to his three previous spaceflights. He reported it because Mission Control should know, but stressed that the discomfort was relatively low and would have no impact "on our ability to function fully and complete the mission successfully." Rarick said that the symptoms reported by the crew could be due to poor ventilation in certain spots between Discovery and the International Space Station. A similar situation has happened before. In 1999, higher than expected carbon dioxide levels in the space station's Russian-built Zarya module were thought to have contributed to ill effects reported by astronauts who complained of headaches and nausea. The symptoms eased after the astronauts returned to their shuttle. link...
Jupiter’s moons to vanish from view
An unusual celestial vanishing act will take place the night of Sept. 2 when all four of Jupiter's largest moons will be hidden from our view. The event will occur on a night when Jupiter happens to be positioned very close to Earth's moon in the southeastern sky. The two objects, though very far apart in space, will be about 5 degrees from each other in our sky (your fist on an outstretched arm covers about 10 degrees of sky). This pairing makes Jupiter, which outshines all stars and so is easy to spot, even easier for anyone to locate. link..
All systems go for spacewalk, despite junk
Part of a three-year-old spent European rocket is expected to pass within 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) of space shuttle Discovery and the international space station late Friday morning. NASA officials say that should be a safe distance and they do not expect the linked spacecraft to change course. But if the projections change, the astronauts would complete the spacewalk before steering out of the way. The debris is believed to have an area surface of 200 square feet. link...
