太空探索工程 卫星发射 剪报评论

kl90

Kosmas, Grayson Join Space Subcommittee
Editor's note: A press release from the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology confirms the appointment of Suzanne Kosmas to the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.

The committee's Democratic Caucus also named Alan Grayson, another freshman Democrat from Orlando, to join the subcommittee that oversees NASA. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona - the wife of astronaut Mark Kelly - will chair the subcommittee, while Rep. Pete Olson, whose district includes Johnson Space Center in Texas, is the ranking Republican.

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna, will join the House subcommittee that oversees NASA, her office has confirmed.

The position on the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee won't be official until the full Committee on Science and Technology votes on member assignments Wednesday during an organizational meeting.

Kosmas' appointment to the larger committee was announced Jan. 15.

She immediately sent House Democratic leaders a letter requesting an additional $2 billion in NASA funding to accelerate development of the space shuttle's replacement.

You can read the letter http://kosmas.house.gov/2009/01/ ... sa-operations.shtml

Kosmas joins other Space Coast representatives will play a key role in shaping NASA policy and budgets.

Sen. Mel Martinez recently was assigned to the Senate panel that has oversight on NASA, joining Sen. Bill Nelson.

Kosmas last year defeated Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, who previously was the ranking Republican on the Space and Aeronautics subcommittee.

kl90

NASA Defers Decision On Hubble, Ares 1X
NASA is deferring until mid-March a decision that will delay either a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission or the first test flight in the Ares 1 rocket development program.

Here's the situation:

The Ares 1X rocket is scheduled to blast off July 11 from launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. But NASA has been keeping that complex "shuttle-ready" so a rescue mission could be launched from it if shuttle Atlantis sustains critical damage during a fifth and final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

In order to make the July 11 launch date for the Ares 1X test flight, NASA would have to turn over pad 39B for modifications at least three months in advance. Atlantis and seven astronauts now are scheduled to blast off May 12 on the Hubble servicing flight.

NASA consequently is examining the possibility of using a single pad -- 39A -- to launch both the Hubble servicing mission and, if required, a rescue flight. Doing so would free up pad 39B for the Ares 1X test flight in July, but it would have a significant ripple effect.

Launch of Atlantis and the Hubble servicing crew would slip to May 26 so the rescue shuttle -- Endeavour -- could be hauled out to launch pad 39A to fuel its Orbital Manuevering System and Reaction Control System as well as the Hydraulic Power Units on its two solid rocket boosters.

Then Endeavour would be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, where it would remaining ready to roll out for a rescue flight. The early hypergolic servicing would enable NASA to roll Endeavour out to pad 39A and then launch on the rescue mission after an abbreviated countdown.

The ability to launch within about a week of the Hubble launch is critical because the Atlantis crew would not be able to seek safe haven on the International Space Station. The Hubble observatory is in an entirely different orbit and Atlantis would not have the propulsive power to fly to the outpost in an emergency.

A decision to proceed with single-pad operations for the Hubble mission and a potential rescue flight also would trigger a one-month slip in each of seven remaining International Space Station assembly and outfitting flights.

The last of those now is scheduled to fly in late May 2010. NASA is operating under a presidential directive to finish station assembly and retire the shuttle fleet by Sept. 30, 2010. The money spent on the shuttle program then would be funneled into the development of the Ares 1 and Ares 5 rockets as well as the Orion spacecraft and Altair Lunar Surface Access Module.

Senior NASA officials gathered late Thursday for a status briefing on preparations for the STS-125 Hubble servicing mission as well as the Ares 1X test flight. Preparations for a July 11 launch for the $360 million test flight are running about a month behind schedule while NASA remains on track for the May 12 Hubble launch.

NASA officials will meet in mid-March to reassess the situation and determine a course of action.

Meanwhile, preparations for the planned Feb. 12 launch of Discovery on a mission to deliver the final central truss segment to the station are proceeding without major problems, and an executive-level flight readiness review will be held Feb. 3 to firm up that date.

kl90

Debate time: Stimulus money for space?
From the "In Case You Missed It" files ...

Our local watchdog columnist, Matt Reed, suggested that President Obama take a look at investing some of the stimulus package money into public works projects related to human space flight.

Here's what Matt wrote last week. Read it and weigh in yourself.

As news media coverage of Inauguration Day borders on celebration, now is a good time for a reminder it's not unpatriotic to criticize a president's policies.

One that looks like a loser for Brevard County: spending $400 million in stimulus money on NASA climate-change research, instead of on "shovel-ready" spaceflight projects that are struggling for cash and likely to lose thousands of jobs at Kennedy Space Center.

We do need climate research. But universities, foundations, corporations and even NASA already are hard at work on that. So it's unclear how more research will stimulate anything.

Meanwhile, Central Florida's economy definitely will suffer from the executive branch's poorly planned shift from shuttle operations to the Constellation moon-Mars program.

Mr. President: Why not save high-skilled jobs and speed development of new technology by spending that $400 million on spaceflight?

kl90

Space community pauses to remember the lost
NASA and the city of Titusville, among many others, will pause this week to remember fallen astronauts.

The space explorers lost in the Apollo 1 fire and Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters will be remembered by space workers past and present this week. All of the fatal incidents occurred about the same time of year.

Read this morning's newspaper story about events on the Space Coast here http://www.floridatoday.com/arti ... 1250333/1007/news02

kl90

KSC Displays Facility Renovated for Orion
Elected and space officials gathered at Kennedy Space Center today to celebrate the completion of renovations to a facility where final assembly and checkout of the Orion spacecraft will be performed.

NASA, Lockheed Martin and Florida invested more than $55 million to renovate the Operations and Checkout Building's High Bay Facility for use by the Orion program.

The high bay measures 70,000 square feet, not including a basement that adds another 20,000 square feet.

Built in 1964 for use by the Apollo program, the high bay most recently served as a warehouse.

Final assembly and integration of the Apollo-like crew capsule is expected to preserve up to 400 jobs at KSC, which faces projected losses of 3,000 to 4,000 positions after the shuttle's retirement in late 2010.

Richard Harris, a deputy Orion project manager for Lockheed Martin, said the high bay renovation was completed on time and under budget.

He said the facility was essentially gutted, and now features a new floor, walls, ceiling, wiring, air conditioning systems and cranes.

Dignitaries in attendance included U.S. representatives Suzanne Kosmas and Bill Posey; Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and several members of Brevard County's state delegation; several Brevard County commissioners and local economic development officials; KSC Director Bob Cabana and Space Florida President Steve Kohler.

Orion's first operational flight, aboard an Ares 1 launch vehicle, is scheduled for 2015. Assembly work at KSC is expected to begin in 2012.

The spacecraft is designed to hold four to six astronauts, carrying them initially to the International Space Station, and later to the moon and Mars.

kl90

ULA Layoff Plan Shrinks
United Launch Alliance has reduced the number of layoffs planned for February at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station from 23 to 8 - just 1 percent of the 800 workers at the Cape.

"We have tremendous news as we have been able to reduce our numbers by almost two thirds since our December update," ULA spokesman Mike Rein said.

In November the company predicted it would lay off about 350 of its 4,200 workers nationwide. Initiatives, such as cutting travel expenses helped cut the number to 172 in December. Including 26 ULA employees approved for a "voluntary reduction in force," the final number is now 63 company wide.

By location:
-Denver: 23
-Decatur Production Operations: 23
-Launch Operations Cape Canaveral: 8
-Launch Operations Vandenberg Air Force Base: 5
-San Diego Production Operations: 4

"While several factors contributed to the reduction in RIF numbers, the main reason for the Launch Ops reduction was an increase in government funding for the acceleration of East Coast Atlas V launch processing," said Rein. "This will allow for at least one more Atlas V launch from the Cape in both 2009 and 2010."

kl90

Senate likes NASA more?
This report from Eun Kim in Washington:

WASHINGTON - The Senate apparently likes NASA more than the House.

The space agency would get $1.5 billion under the economic stimulus proposal released Monday by Senate Democrats.

NASA would only get $600 million under the House version released earlier this month, and none of it for manned space programs.

Outside of $500 million for Earth science missions, it's uncertain how the Senate proposal would allocate the NASA money.

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said the Florida Democrat felt "grateful, because it's $900 million more than the House bill."

But U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez said he was disappointed that neither version includes funds to advance the manned space program.

"This bill is a great opportunity to put NASA back on track and shrink the manned space flight gap," the Florida Republican said in a statement. "I certainly hope we can modify the bill to move us in that direction."

In December, Martinez sent then Vice President-elect Joseph Biden a letter seeking at least $2 billion in the stimulus proposal to help NASA shrink the five-year gap predicted between the space shuttle's final mission next year and the first manned launch of its replacement.

kl90

Kosmas lobbies for an extra $2B for NASA
Blogger update, 11:20 a.m.: Here's a comment just released by Kosmas:

"This amendment will save jobs at Kennedy Space Center and surrounding businesses that would otherwise be lost in the pending space flight gap," said Congresswoman Kosmas. "If the goal of the recovery package is to boost our economy, support science, and maintain and create high-skilled jobs, then our human spaceflight program is exactly the type of project we should be investing in."

This just in this morning from Eun Kyung Kim of Gannett News Service in Washington, D.C.:

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, the New Smyrna Beach Democrat whose district includes Kennedy Space Center, is expected to file an amendment Tuesday that would give NASA $2 billion in the economic-stimulus proposal considered by the House.

The move would come a day after Senate Democrats introduced their version of the bill -- one that allocates $1.5 billion for the space agency.

That's far more than the $600 million NASA would get under the stimulus bill proposed by the House earlier this month.

The $1.5 billion Senate version includes $500 million for space exploration, including efforts to shrink the five-year gap between the space shuttle's final mission next year and the first manned launch of its replacement.

The bill also includes $500 million for Earth science missions, $250 million for aeronautic programs and $2 million for NASA's inspector general office.

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said the Florida Democrat felt "grateful, because it's $900 million more than the House bill."

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez called the stimulus proposal "a great opportunity to put NASA back on track and shrink the manned space flight gap."

In December, the Florida Republican sent then-Vice President-elect Joseph Biden a letter seeking at least $2 billion in the stimulus proposal to help NASA shrink the five-year gap predicted between the space shuttle's final mission next year and the first manned launch of its replacement.

The amendment Kosmas plans to introduce Tuesday would allow NASA to use the extra money to either extend the life of the shuttle fleet beyond 2010 or accelerate construction of the Constellation program, which will replace the shuttles.

kl90

Space Florida On Fringe Of State Probe
This just in from Paul Flemming of our Gannett News Service Capital Bureau in Tallahassee:

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist has asked for an inspector general's inquiry to see if the director of a new space-tourism medical program at the Andrews Institute got his job after setting up the $500,000 in state grants to create it.

Project Odyssey is funded with $250,000 from the governor's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development and $250,000 from Space Florida, the state's public-private board to encourage aerospace industry.

Brice Harris, who oversees Project Odyssey for the Gulf Breeze institute, formerly oversaw those funds from OTTED. State ethics laws restrict state workers from going to work for companies on contracts they negotiate.

The Project Odyssey grant aims to get potential space tourists ready to handle the physical demands of launching into orbit. Andrews is a sports medicine center, which has ventured into cutting-edge space programs.

Nikki Troxclair, marketing manager for Andrews, said Harris works under contract to run the program, with the title of director of defense and aerospace programs.

She said Harris was recommended by OTTED and Space Florida, and he signed his contract after he resigned from the governor's economic-development staff.

"After the awarding of the grant, Space Florida and OTTED were asked for a recommendation as to who would be the best candidate to run this program," Troxclair wrote in an e-mail. "Both organizations pointed us to Mr. Harris."

Odyssey kicked off in December with appearances by Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp and Space Florida President Steve Kohler.

The Orlando Sentinel reported in a story Saturday that e-mails showed Harris was instrumental in getting Project Odyssey to Andrews before he quit his state job in July to take on running the new program.

Sterling Ivey, press secretary for Gov. Charlie Crist, said the governor asked Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel to look into questions raised by the Sentinel's story.

Crist "asked our Chief Inspector General to review Mr. Harris' role and responsibilities in OTTED and report back to the governor and his chief ethics officer," Ivey wrote in an e-mail.

Brice, 31, a Pensacola native, was chief operating officer at Ceryph, a company that sold software developed by the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola before he went to work for OTTED.

Odyssey is still taking shape.

"Once (health and flight) standards are approved, the program will be set up utilizing various medical departments, physicians and local entities," Troxclair said. "Efforts will be ongoing to work with several public organizations as well as the military."

Deb Spicer, vice president of communications for Space Florida, said the inquiry sought by the governor limits what she can say.

"Once that review began, and until it's complete, we're required to not react to it at all," Spicer said. "Doing a review process does not necessarily mean it's a negative situation. It just means it's being looked into."

The Space Florida board unanimously approved its $250,000 grant to the program at its June 2007 meeting after a committee reviewed the contract.

Dr. Joe Story, president of the Andrews Institute, a part of Baptist Health Care, made the presentation, Spicer said.

kl90

Ares 1X Command Module, Abort System Arrive

An Air Force C-5 aircraft arrived at Kennedy Space Center this afternoon, hauling with it the upper-most parts of a vehicle set for launch this summer on a critical first Ares rocket test flight.

Secured in the belly of the giant cargo carrier were aerodynamically exact replicas of the Orion spacecraft command module as well as the launch abort system that would pull the capsule off the top of an Ares rocket if the vehicle exploded or careened out of control in flight.

The hardware will top the Ares 1X vehicle, which is scheduled for launch July 11 on a $360 million mission aimed at testing the rocket's first-stage flight control system as well as its parachute recovery system and the system that separates the first and second stages of the vehicle.

The Ares 1 development project is wrestling with a number of technical challenges, including launch-induced vibrations that could damage the rocket or even injure a crew. The suborbital test flight should prove whether first-stage flight control systems will keep the slender "single stick" rocket on course -- and intact -- during the crucial first two minutes of flight.

"One good test is worth a thousand expert opinions," said NASA Ares 1X deputy mission manager Jon Cowart.

The Ares 1-X mission will be the first of four test flights slated to be carried out under a $1.8 billion contract to design, develop and test the rocket's first stage: a five-segment solid rocket booster derived from the space shuttle system. It's also the first high-profile demonstration of a critical piece of the new U.S. space transportation system set to replace the space shuttles, carrying astronauts to orbit by 2015 and the moon by 2020.

The inaugural test flight will employ a four-segment shuttle booster topped with an empty fifth segment and aerodynamically exact copies that simulate the mass and outer mold line of an Ares 1 second stage, Orion spacecraft and Launch Abort System.

The second stage mass simulator, which comprises seven sections shaped like giant tuna cans, already is being integrated in the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building.

The Orion spacecraft and Launch Abort System simulators will be stored in the same high bay on the northwest side of the 52-story building until the rocket is erected for flight.

The four solid rocket booster segments that will power the first stage of the test vehicle are expected to be delivered from ATK in Utah in late February.

kl90

Mars Spirit Rover Suffers Serious Hiccup
NASA's Mars Spirit rover is in serious but stable condition this week after failing to carry out commands for a drive across the surface of the planet, agency officials say.

Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., are running diagnostic tests aimed at determining why Spirit failed to roll out Sunday on a planned trek across Gusev Crater and why the rover did not record any of its main activities that same day.

The "unexpected behavior" left engineers and mission managers scratching their collective heads during the month that marks the fifth anniversary of Spirit's January 2004 landing on Mars.

Sunday marked the rover's 1,800th "sol" -- or Martian day -- during what originally was planned to be a 90-sol exploration of Gusev Crater, a dry lakebed that once was awash with water.

The rover's twin Opportunity landed that same month on Meridiani Planaum, an ancient plain on the opposite side of the planet. It too is still operating.

Spirit beamed back data Sunday that indicated it had received its driving commands for the day but had not moved. What's more, the rover did not record its activity in computer memory that stores data even when rover power is off.

The next day NASA sent up commands aimed at determining the orientation of the rover in relation to the sun. The rover on Tuesday reported back, indicating it had found the sun but was in fact a bit lost. The rover was not in its expected location. But it apparently stored a record of its daily activities in its so-called "non-volatile memory."

"We don't have a good explanation yet for the way Spirit has been acting for the past few days," Sharon Laubach, chief of the rover's computer command team at JPL, said in a statement. "Our next steps will be diagnostic activities."

NASA engineers think possible causes might include transitory effects from cosmic rays zapping rover electronics.

Whatever the cause, the hiccup appears to have past. JPL Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas said Spirit once again is operating as expected. Signals beamed back to Earth indicate the rover is in stable condition and is responsive to commands from Earth.

Both Spirit and Opportunity were launched the summer of 2003 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

kl90

Report questions Space Fla.'s LC36 plans
http://www.floridatoday.com/cont ... as-lc36-plans.shtml
Florida legislators should stop the state's aerospace development agency from spending more to refurbish a Cape Canaveral launch complex until its financial benefits are more clear, a state watchdog report recommends.

In an eight-page research memo released today, the state's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability says improvements to Launch Complex 36 should wait until Space Florida completes a spaceport master plan that better spells out the project's costs and benefits.

The report also recommends that legislators require Space Florida to develop deadlines for the completion of the master plan, and suggests the agency improve its business plan to include more measurable objectives and benchmarks.

Space Florida is meeting most of its statutory responsibilities, the report says.

Read the report here.

Led by President and CEO Steve Kohler, Space Florida is an independent special district established by the Space Florida Act of 2006. It consolidated the Florida Spaceport Authority, the Florida Space Research Institute and the Florida Aerospace Finance Corporation.

The Legislature last year gave Space Florida $14.5 million to design a multi-use, multi-vehicle launch complex that could attract testing and launch business by October 2010.

The report says there is industry disagreement about whether the launch complex - intended to support vehicles with payloads ranging from 200 pounds to 10,000 pounds - will benefit more than a small number of businesses.

"Without a spaceport master plan, it is difficult to assess the expected long-term costs and benefits of such infrastructure improvement projects, and resolve issues regarding their feasibility," the report says.

Space Florida expects to complete a spaceport master plan by the end of this year.

Click here to visit Space Florida's Web site.

kl90

"Keep One Here" Campaign Kicks Off
"Keep One Here."

That's the rallying cry of a grass-roots group that began a bid Thursday to make certain either Atlantis, Discovery or Endeavour roosts in retirement at Kennedy Space Center.

NASA now is under direction to shut down its shuttle fleet by September 2010, and museums around the country are aiming to display one of the agency's three winged spaceships.

The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., likely will have first dibs. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, is expected to compete.

So is the The Museum of Flight in Seattle and perhaps NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and Marshall Space Flight Center in Hunstville, Ala., not to mention the city of Palmdale, Calif., where the orbiters were built.

"It's clear that everyone thinks it would be an absolute sin if we did not have a space shuttle here for display," said Jim Banke, an aerospace-industry veteran from Melbourne, who is organizing the local effort. "And we absolutely cannot take for granted that we are going to get one. We can't just assume that one of them is automatically ours."

NASA in December put out a notice to gauge interest from educational institutions and science museums. The agency said it would cost organizations an estimated $42 million to ready an orbiter for display.

NASA said it would cost $28.2 million to "safe" a spaceship -- to deservice an orbiter and remove toxic propellants. Another $8 million would be required to prepare a ship for display. And it would cost another $5.8 million to ferry an orbiter to its retirement home.

Former KSC Directors Jay Honeycutt, Jim Kennedy and Bob Crippen -- the latter a former astronaut who piloted Columbia on its maiden voyage in 1981 -- all are involved in the bid to bring one of the birds to a final roost here at KSC.

NASA officials at KSC will submit a proposal by March 17, and the grass-roots advisory group will meet again in mid-February to form a publicity campaign.

The idea is to display an orbiter at the KSC Visitor Complex, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Florida.

"We think that we've got a nice place to display the shuttle, and to tell the story of the shuttle program," said Lisa Malone, director of external relations at KSC. "It's an important story to tell, and it makes sense to have one of the orbiters at the launch site."

kl90

NASA Gears Up For Shuttle Valve Swap


NASA is gearing up for a valve swap deemed critical to plans to launch Discovery Feb. 12 on a mission to deliver a final set of American solar wings to the International Space Station.

Now poised on launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Discovery is scheduled to blast off at 7:32 a.m. Feb. 12 with seven astronauts aboard, setting sail on a mission to haul up the final segment of the station's lengthy central truss.

Standard launch preparations are continuing without major problems, but NASA contractor technicians still must install three refurbished flow control valves that arrived at KSC this morning.

NASA program managers ordered the change-out after gaseous hydrogen flow control valves failed to work properly during the launch last November of shuttle Endeavour.

Similar to pop-up lawn sprinklers, the poppet valves are critical to keeping pressure within the external tank's liquid hydrogen reservoir at proper levels as the shuttle is thundering toward orbit and propellant in the tank is fed into the orbiter's three main engines.

One of the three GH2 flow control valves on Endeavour failed to operate as intended during ascent, but the other two compensated and the spaceship zoomed into orbit.

NASA nonetheless wants to make certain that Discovery is equipped with three good GH2 flow control valves. The valve swap must be completed and the new poppets must pass subsequent testing for NASA to remain on track for the planned Feb. 12 launch.

NASA contractor technicians also are retesting a wire harness in the rear engine compartment of the orbiter that failed an earlier checkout. The harness routes computer commands to the pyrotechnic devices used to separate the orbiter from its launcher platform, solid rocket boosters and external tank during flight.

Senior NASA managers, meanwhile, will meet at KSC next Tuesday for an executive-level flight readiness review. Assuming the valve swap-out and other prelaunch work goes as planned, NASA is expected to firm up the Feb. 12 launch date at the conclusion of that meeting.

kl90

NASA Stages Key Test In Advance of Ares 1X



NASA advanced its bid to field the Ares 1 rocket this week as the agency and contractor Alliant Techsystems successfully tested a critical stage separation system being readied for an inaugural flight test at Kennedy Space Center later this year.

The full-scale test at Promontory, Utah, simulated the separation of the Ares 1 first stage from the rest of the rocket followed by the deployment of a parachute recovery system designed to lower the spent first stage into the Atlantic Ocean. Recovery ships then will retrieve the stage and return it to KSC for extensive post-flight inspections and analyses.

The $360 million Ares 1X test flight is tentatively scheduled to launch July 11 from pad 39B at KSC. But NASA is keeping that pad "shuttle ready" in case a mission to rescue a Hubble Space Telescope servicing crew is required in May.

NASA would have to launch both the Hubble servicing flight and the rescue mission, if required, from pad 39A to maintain the July 11 launch date for Ares 1X. A decision to proceed with either "single-pad" or "dual-pad" operations for the Hubble flight and the rescue mission is expected in mid-March.

The Ares 1X test flight will employ a four-segment shuttle booster topped with a dummy fifth segment and mock-ups that simulate the mass and outer mold line of an Ares 1 second stage, Orion spacecraft and launch abort system.

Standing 321 feet tall, the 1X rocket to an altitude of about 25 miles during a two-minute powered flight. Then a linear-shaped charge will ignite to seperate the first stage of the test rocket from its upper stage before the parachute system is deployed.

The first stage will seperate at the rocket's frustum, a conical piece of hardware that connects the slender shuttle solid rocket booster with its larger-diameter second stage.

"The Ares I-X team is pleased with the completion of this key test that will provide important data leading up to the launch of the Ares I-X flight," Steve Davis, deputy mission manager for the Ares I-X test flight at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said in a news release.

The parachute system will deploy at an altitude of 15,000 feet. A nose cone within the frustum will be jettisoned, deploying a pilot parachute. The pilot chute, in turn, will deploy a drogue chute, which will hoist the booster to a vertical orientation and slow it down prior to the deployment of the system's main parachute.

When the falling stage reaches an altitude of about 4,000 feet, the frustum and a forward skirt extension assembly will separate, pulling out three main chutes in the process. The test Thursday demonstrated the ignition of the linear-shaped charge, which cleanly severed an Ares 1X frustum from its forward skirt extension. Sensors on the test article measured the shock created by the ignition. NASA will use the data gathered to prepare for the actual Ares 1X test flight.

The forward skirt extension for the Ares 1X test flight already is at KSC. It is designed to withstand the structural loads of the first stage while supporting the weight of the larger-diameter upper stage.

Twelve feet in diameter, the single solid piece of aluminum is six feet long and houses the three main chutes. Mike Kahn, executive vice president of ATK Space Systems, said in a statement that the test was considered an important milestone because it validated preparatory work being done in advance of the Ares 1X test flight.

Said Kahn: "The program is one step closer to the flight test of Ares I-X."

[ 本帖最后由 kl90 于 3-2-2009 10:28 PM 编辑 ]

kl90

NASA Set To Install Explosives On Discovery


Discovery's launch pad will be cleared of all but essential personnel at Kennedy Space Center today as NASA and United Space Alliance rig up and test small pyrotechnic devices that will play critical roles in the shuttle's ascent into orbit.

Discovery and seven astronauts remain scheduled to blast off at 7:32 a.m. Feb. 12 on a mission to deliver the fourth and final set of American solar wings to the International Space Station.

An executive-level flight readiness review will be held Tuesday. The STS-119 astronaut crew is scheduled to arrive at KSC at 12:30 a.m. Sunday and a three-countdown to launch will begin at 6 a.m. Monday.

Call-to-stations for final ordnance operations at launch pad 39A will be at 2 p.m. today. NASA and contractor engineers and technicians will rig up small explosive devices that will be used to separate Discovery from its mobile launcher platform, solid rocket boosters and external tank in flight.

Three refurbished gaseous hydrogen flow control valves were installed on the orbiter over the weekend. One of three GH2 valves on sistership Endeavour failed to operate properly during a launch last November, so NASA program managers ordered up the removal and replacement of the valves on Discovery.

The refurbished valves were installed Saturday and then passed electrical checkout. Leak tests are to be performed on the valves today.

Similar to pop-up lawn sprinklers, the poppet valves are critical to keeping pressure within the external tank's liquid hydrogen reservoir at proper levels as the shuttle is thundering toward orbit and propellant in the tank is fed into the orbiter's three main engines.

kl90

Station shaken too hard, possibly damaged
NASA is looking into whether the International Space Station was badly damaged last month during a rocket-firing to reposition the outpost for the arrival of an automated cargo tug, USA Today is reporting this morning.

A rocket firing ended abruptly and shook the station more severely than usual.

Those vibrations can damage structural supports and delicate components like solar arrays, so engineers are now studying whether the damage is bad enough to shorten the station's service life, according to the newspaper report.

You can read the full story, written by Traci Watson, by clicking here or clicking "read more" below.
Here's the full story as it appeared in USA Today this morning:

NASA is investigating whether moving the International Space Station last month caused structural damage that could cut the station's useful life, the agency said Monday.

Russian engineers last month sought to position the station to receive a robotic spacecraft on Feb. 13. The rockets used to change the station's location cut off abruptly rather than gradually, said NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said.

That caused the station to shake more than it usually does, according to daily reports on the station's condition that are posted on NASA's website.

The extra jostling may have caused damage to the station that could affect its longevity, Humphries said.

"Anytime you impart a vibration to the station it has potential implications" for the station's solar panels and the connections between the station's parts, Humphries said.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Russia | Discovery | International Space Station | Kelly Humphries

The station's longevity is a sore point. NASA has no firm plans to make use of the orbiting laboratory, which costs roughly $100 billion, after 2015. Many of the other 13 nations that helped build and operate the outpost want to keep it going until 2020.

The station was built with extra structural strength, Humphries said, and the current analysis is "just making sure we haven't eaten into that margin."

NASA officials may decide today whether to call off a second attempt to move the station planned for Wednesday or to do it with a different set of rockets than those used in the station's earlier move, Humphries said.

The rockets used in January are on the exterior of a section of the station that serves as a kitchen and dining room. There's also a set of rockets on a robotic cargo pod that is temporarily parked at the station. Those could move the station Wednesday if engineers are still worried that last month's problem could recur.

The rockets on the station are also used to move the station out of the path of any oncoming debris that could puncture its exterior shield. Humphries said he did not know whether such maneuvers would be performed given the current uncertainty over the rockets' performance.

Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to blast off Feb. 12 to carry new solar panels to the station. Its visit should not be affected by the relocation that went awry, Humphries said.

The station also needs to move in March so it can receive a Russian spacecraft carrying two new residents for the station. That will allow two crewmembers now aboard the station to go home.

Delays in construction mean that the station, which was started in 1998, still isn't finished and has been occupied by skeleton crews of two or three people. The first full crew of six people is scheduled to take up residence in May.

Equipment inside the station also is giving NASA headaches. New equipment for converting urine into drinking water â

kl90

Iran Orbits First Satellite
The Associated Press reports that Iran has orbited its first satellite, (pictured left) during festivities that mark the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that overthrew the shah.

A radio report said the satellite is designed to circle the earth 15 times during a 24-hour period and send reports to a space center in Iran. It has two frequency bands and eight antennas for transmitting data.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the country would now seek to increase the ability of its satellite-carrier rockets to carry more weight.

Read more from the Associated Press:



By NASSER KARIMI
Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has successfully sent its first domestically made satellite into orbit, the country's president announced Tuesday, claiming a significant step in an ambitious space program that has worried many international observers.

The satellite, called Omid, or hope in Farsi, was launched late Monday after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the order to proceed, according to a report on state radio. State television showed footage of what it said was the nighttime liftoff of the rocket carrying the satellite at an unidentified location in Iran.

A senior U.S. defense official in Washington said the U.S. military detected the launch of a missile into space. But it was not confirmed whether the missile was carrying a satellite, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak about the intelligence.

In Jerusalem, the head of Israel's Space Agency, Zvi Kaplan, said initial reports show that a satellite was launched.

"From what I have been investigating it is true," he said. "We are not surprised because in this day and age of information and technology and with Iranian scientists studying abroad they can obtain the knowledge."

Iran has long held the goal of developing a space program, generating unease among world leaders already concerned about its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. One of the worries associated with Iran's fledgling space program is that the same technology used to put satellites into space can also be used to deliver warheads.

The United States and some of its allies suspect Iran is pursuing a covert nuclear program. Iran denies the charge, saying its atomic work is only for peaceful purposes such as power generation.

"This test underlines and illustrates our serious concerns about Iran's intentions," Britain's Middle East minister, Bill Rammell, said in a statement.

The announcement of Omid's launch comes during festivities marking the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah and brought hard-line clerics to power. State TV said the satellite was launched "for the great celebration of the Iranian nation and the 30th anniversary of the victory of the revolution."

Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that the satellite, which he said had telecommunications capabilities, had reached its orbit and had made contact with ground stations, though not all of its functions were active yet. The launch was intended to be a message of peace and friendship to the world, Ahmadinejad told state television. "We need science for friendship, brotherhood and justice," he said.

The announcement of Omid's launch also came as officials from the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, Germany and China were set to meet Wednesday near Frankfurt to talk about Iran's nuclear program.

The group has offered Iran a package of incentives if it suspends uranium enrichment and enters into talks on its nuclear program. The U.N. Security Council has imposed sanctions to pressure Iran to comply.

Iranian television said the satellite would orbit at an altitude of between about 155 and 250 miles (250 and 400 kilometers). It was taken into orbit by a Safir-2, or ambassador-2, rocket, which was first tested in August and has a range of 155 miles, or 250 kilometers.

The radio report said the satellite is designed to circle the earth 15 times during a 24-hour period and send reports to the space center in Iran. It has two frequency bands and eight antennas for transmitting data.

Ahmadinejad said Iran has achieved the ability to launch satellites into orbit and would now seek to increase the ability of its satellite-carrier rockets to carry more weight.

Despite the anxiety by the U.S. and its allies over Iran's space program, it is not exactly clear how developed it is.

In 2005, Iran launched its first commercial satellite on a Russian rocket in a joint project with Moscow, which appears to be the main partner in transferring space technology to Iran. Also in 2005, the government said it had allocated $500 million for space projects in the next five years.

Iranian officials first started developing the satellite, which weighs 60 pounds (27 kilograms), in 2006.

Iran has said it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation and improve its telecommunications. Iranian officials also point to America's use of satellites to monitor Afghanistan and Iraq and say they need similar abilities for their security.

Iran hopes to launch three more satellites by 2010, the government has said.

kl90

Valve Trouble Delays Shuttle Launch
Shuttle Discovery will not launch before Feb. 19 as a result of lingering trouble with critical valves in the orbiter's main propulsion system.

Senior NASA officials will brief reports on the issue at a news conference scheduled to begin around 6:30 p.m.

You can watch the news conference live here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box at the righthand side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer and live coverage.

NASA had been shooting for a launch on Feb. 12. But the agency still is not comfortable with three newly installed flow control valves that arrived at KSC late last week.

NASA program managers ordered the change-out after a gaseous hydrogen flow control valve failed to work properly during the launch last November of shuttle Endeavour.

Similar to pop-up lawn sprinklers, the poppet valves are critical to keeping pressure within the external tank's liquid hydrogen reservoir at proper levels as the shuttle is thundering toward orbit and propellant in the tank is fed into the orbiter's three main engines.

One of the three GH2 flow control valves on Endeavour failed to operate as intended during ascent, but the other two compensated and the spaceship zoomed into orbit.

NASA wants to make certain that Discovery is equipped with three good GH2 flow control valves. The valve swap was completed over the weekend, but engineers want to continue an analyses aimed at determining that a valve failure would not endanger the shuttle or its crew.

"With this one exception, we're ready to go," NASA shuttle program manager John Shannon said.

The decision to delay the mission came after an all-day flight readiness review here at Kennedy Space Center. Senior NASA managers will meet on Feb. 12 to set a new launch date. Assuming the engineering analyses prove it is safe to fly, NASA could firm up a Feb. 19 launch date at the conclusion of that meeting.

Discovery and seven astronauts will fly a mission to deliver a fourth and final set of American solar wings to the International Space Station.

It will be the first of five shuttle missions NASA intends to launch this year.

kl90

NASA Moves To Repair Shuttle Wiring

NASA contractor technicians are busy repairing a damaged electrical cable in shuttle Discovery's rear engine compartment while agency engineers conduct tests aimed at clearing suspect valves for flight.

Discovery will remain grounded until at least Feb. 19 while NASA conducts tests to determine whether cracked valves could shed enough debris to sever gaseous hydrogen lines in the shuttle's main propulsion system.

The tests are part of an ongoing investigation into a valve failure that occurred during the launch last November of shuttle Endeavour on a supply run to the International Space Station.

One of three gaseous hydrogen flow control valves in the orbiter's main propulsion system failed to work as intended. Subsequent inspections showed a crack in the lip of the valve. The ongoing tests are intended to determine whether debris from a crack could rupture tubing that routes gaseous hydrogen from the shuttle's main engines to its external tank.

The recirculation valves are key to maintaining proper pressure levels within the 15-story tank as propellant within it is exhausted during a shuttle's uphill climb into orbit. Check out our story on NASA's decision to await test results and delay a planned Feb. 12 launch: Discovery Launch Delayed.

In the meantime, NASA prime shuttle fleet operator United Space Alliance is repairing damaged pyrotechnic wiring that was uncovered during preparations for final ordnance installation at launch pad 39A, where Discovery is being prepped for flight.

Technicians discovered flawed connectors within the wiring, which routes commands from shuttle general purpose computers to small explosive charges that detonate to detach the orbiter from its launcher platform, solid rocket boosters and external tank in flight. Additional damage to the wiring was detected during initial repairs and engineers are evlauating the situation.

NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach said the agency will press ahead with the wiring repairs and then remain in a holding pattern until senior agency executives set a new launch date.

"We're in a really good posture to react to this deal, and (we) don't see any issues from the ground processing perspective," Leinbach said. "When we get the flight date, we'll react to that and be ready to go."

Discovery and seven astronauts are scheduled to fly a mission to deliver a fourth and final set of massive American solar wings to the International Space Station.

Lifoff time on Feb. 19 would be 4:41 a.m.

NASA shuttle program managers will meet next Tuesday to review test data. Senior agency executives will be briefed in a mini-flight readiness review on Feb. 12. A new launch date could be set at that time.