Oct
08

ISS Live!

Categories:

by

The International Space Station as seen in its...

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever wanted a chance to have all the data that the folks at ISS control have? Well, now it’s possible with ISS Live. NASA is releasing this information as part of an initiative for a more “open” government. ISS Live has been out of beta for the past month and I got to say, It’s awesome!

ISS Live includes live mission control console information:

  • Console Handbook – Embedded PDF files that give information regarding console-related systems on board the International Space Station.
  • OPS Planner – What the crew is doing at the present moment.
  • Crew Timelines – A look at the crew’s individual schedules for the day.
  • CAPCOM – Live audio from the capsule communicator. Live audio feed of the communications from the International Space Station to the ground.
  • EVA – Spacewalking information. Information includes Spacesuit equipment information. Only available during spacewalks.
  • ADCO – Attitude Determination and  Control Officer.  Various telemetry data.
  • CRONUS – Communication Radio Frequency Onboard Network Utilization Specialist. includes various onboard computer and radio information.
  • ETHOS –  Environmental and Thermal Operating Systems. Life support system information.
  • SPARTON – Power system information.
  • TOPO – Trajectory Operations Officer. Orbital Position information.
  • VVO – Visiting Vehicle Officer. Docking information.

The website also has a lot of information regarding the building and operation of the International Space Station. According to the website, Iphone, Ipad, and Android apps are coming soon. I think this would work pretty well on an Ipad. One thing that I can recommend to them is to make the website easier to find. It took me almost an hour to find the site again. I guess I won’t torment them any more at the moment since this service is still in beta phase.

Heres the Link: NASA: ISS LIve!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Sep
21

Falling Satellite May Give Someone a Major Booboo

Categories:

by

Within the next couple of days a falling NASA satellite will reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and will have a 1 in 3,200 chance of hitting someone and giving them a major migraine. Space.com reports that the NASA satellite called the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is 6.5 tons and is about the size of a school bus. Of course most of the satellite will fragment and burn up in the atmosphere, but there will still be a few chunks that will make it to Earth’s surface. NASA says that it will likely hit somewhere between the southern coast of Alaska and the Northern coast of South America. So, if you’re in that area, heads up!

If you want to see what the satellite looks like right now as it’s tumbling, check this video out. See how it spins? that’s not good.

The Upper Atmosphere Research satellite was deployed in September 1991 from Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-48 and was decommissioned in 2005.

This post has no tag

Sep
16

NASA Developing Heavy-Lift Vehicle

Categories:

by

The New Heavy Lift Vehicle (NASA)

On Wednesday, NASA announced that they are developing a heavy-lift vehicle that will start launching in 2017. The Space Launch System (SLS) will be able to carry the Orion Multipurpose Launch Vehicle and will be able to launch crew to and from the International Space Station and eventually carry humans to a near-Earth asteroid and even Mars.

NASA says the rocket will use a liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propulsion system like the Space Shuttle and will use Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) on the initial flights. The rocket will be able to carry a little more than 154,000 pounds of cargo with the capability to go to 286,600 pounds.

NASA originally got the idea of this rocket from DIRECT, which was an idea developed by a bunch of space enthusiasts and costs much less than the cancelled Project Constellation because it uses many of the technologies used by the Space Shuttle. This launch vehicle basically uses the External Tank and attached Solid Rocket Boosters but instead of using the shuttle, they put the Orion crew capsule on the top with launch pad abort system.

The Shuttle With The White External Tank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although the concept shows the whole vehicle painted white (which makes it look a lot like a Saturn V), I think the white paint will be eliminated just like it was for the shuttle program. The paint adds a good amount of weight and costs a bit of money to use.

DIRECT's version of the rocket gives us a clear look at what the rocket looks like without white paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the project I was cheering for because It’s much more cheaper to create because It uses existing parts and it looks much more attractive than the proposed Ares 1 vehicle, but I just hope that Obama doesn’t decide to cancel this one.

–
Image Credits:
First Image: NASA
Second Image: NASA
Third Image: DIRECT artwork from Philip Metschan

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Sep
09

LRO Gets Sharper Photos of Apollo Sites

Categories:

by

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has captured its sharpest images of the Apollo 12, 14, and 17 landing sites which goes into so much detail that it even shows the tracks of the astronauts and the infamous “Moon Buggies”. The images point out the different scientific instruments left there by the Apollo astronauts.

Apollo 12 Site taken from LRO (Click to Enlarge)

 

Apollo 14 Site (Click to Enlarge)

 

 

Apollo 17 Site (Click to Enlarge)

LRO took these clearer images after its orbit was changed to be more elliptical (more oval-shaped) which lowered it’s distance from the Moon surface from 31 to 13 miles. These pictures are much better than the ones that were taken a few months ago. NASA was cautioning everyone that the newer images my not be as clear as we hope due to the rotation of the satellite. It looks like we got the best possible images.

If you go onto NASA’s website, you can get some before and after shots of the “far” orbit and the  “close” orbit. Check it out!

 

Image Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/ASU

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Sep
08

NASA’s GRAIL Mission Scrubbed

Categories:

by

Image: NASA

UPDATE: NASA’s Grail mission has been pushed to Saturday at 8:29am EDT.

The launch of two Moon probes this morning from Cape Canaveral Air Station was scrubbed this morning due to upper-level winds. NASA’s Grail twin probes were scheduled to lift off aboard an unmanned Delta II rocket this morning at 8:37am EDT however NASA did not want to risk losing the vehicle. Another opportunity to launch was at 9:16am, however conditions did not improve.

The next launch attempt will be tomorrow at 8:33am EDT with a second attempt at 9:12am, but forecasts only show a 40% chance of favorable weather. If the launch does not go tomorrow, we’ll have to wait for later this weekend when weather conditions are expected to improve. NASA has a 42 day window to launch Grail, giving it till October 19th to launch.

The $496 million will study the Moon’s composition from crust to core and will also study its gravitational field so that scientists can get a better understanding of the evolution of the Moon.

Tags: , , , , ,

Aug
12

Perseid Meteor Shower

Categories:

by

It’s that time of the year! The Perseid Meteor Shower is at it’s peak and will be August 12 and 13th.

The best time to view the meteor shower will be around midnight each night. Unfortunately, the moon is almost at full bloom which will drowned out the weak meteors but you should be able to see the brighter ones. It’s important that you stay out of lighted areas and use a flashlight with a red lens. This will keep your “night vision”. Remember, the darker the location, the more meteors you will see.

It’s very important that you get comfortable when watching these showers. They don’t happen simultaneously, So, grab your lawn chair or even better, your air bed and get comfy.

Credit: Stardate/McDonald Observatory

The shower radiant (where all the meteors will be coming from) is simple to find. Look for the Perseid constellation in the North/Northeast sky at or after midnight.

Unfortunately, due to the full moon, we are only expected to see about 6-10 meteors an hour instead of the usual 80-100. The average brightness of the meteors will be a +4 which is still visible (the closer the negative, the brighter).

For up-to-date on the Perseid meteor shower, go to meteorwatch.org and/or follow the hashtag #meteorwatch on Twitter.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Aug
11

LRO to Take Closer Photos of Apollo Sites

Categories:

by

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (configuration: 2007)

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Universe Today, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will be moving from its usual orbit to an orbit about 20km above the Moon so that it can take closer and clearer pictures of the Apollo landing sites. The spacecraft will then snap pictures between August 14th and August 19th before going back to its 50km orbit.

The LRO Twitter Feed stated “This will allow me to obtain images of the Apollo sites that are about 4 times sharper than my current best images” However later in the day, the Twitter feed claimed that due to their inability to slow the spacecraft down could cause some blurriness. The post did say that it would be interesting to compare the photos from both orbits.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Aug
06

Juno Heads to Jupiter

Categories:

by

Juno launched from Cape Canaveral yesterday at 12:25 yesterday aboard an Atlas 5. It is scheduled to fly past Mars next year before moving on to Jupiter, which it is scheduled to arrive on July 4,2016.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Jul
22

SpaceX Announces Launch Date

Categories:

by

Photo: SpaceX

SpaceX and NASA came to an agreement on the first Dragon cargo delivery for the International Space Station. The target date as of Thursday July 22,2011 is November 30th with the target docking date of December 7th. Currently, SpaceX and NASA are trying to sort out how to launch two satellites on the same rocket without causing an impact hazard for the International Space Station. This flight will be a combination of the second and third COTS demonstration for the Dragon capsule.

Tags: , , , , ,

Jul
21

The Space Shuttle Program is Complete

Categories:

by

At 5:56am this morning Space Shuttle Atlantis landed for the final time. This was the

end of the Space Shuttle Program. The Space Shuttle program inspired millions of people around the world. We would like to thank all those people who worked on the shuttle missions.

Here are the ending quotes:

“Having fired the imagination of a generation, a ship like no other. It’s place in history secured. The Space Shuttle pulls into port one last time. It’s voyage at an end.”

Commander Chris Ferguson’s comments after wheel stop:

“Mission Complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years, the Space Shuttle earned its place in history. It has come to a final stop.”

Houston responds:

“We copy your wheel stop. We would like to take this time to congratulate you, Atlantis, as well as thousands of individuals in this great space-baring nation, who truly empower this incredible spacecraft, which for three decades inspired millions around the globe. Job well done America!”

Commander Chris Ferguson responds:

“Hey thanks Butch. Great words. Great words. You know, the Space Shuttle has changed the way we view the world and changed the way we view our universe. There is a lot of emotion today, but one thing is indisputable – America is not going to stop exploring. Thank you Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour, and our ship, Atlantis. Thank you for protecting us and bringing this program to such a fitting end. God bless all of you, and God bless the United States of America.”

Tags: , , , ,

Older posts «

» Newer posts