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Second Truss Handoff Complete
After handing off a girder earlier this afternoon, a repositioned robotic arm on the International Space Station has grabbed it back.

Crews in orbit today are moving a 45-foot truss segment from shuttle Discovery's payload bay to the starboard end of the station's integrated truss, or backbone.

The station's arm started the work, because the shuttle's arm didn't have the necessary clearance.

After handing it off, the station arm rolled down a track so it would be positioned to receive the girder again.

These NASA TV picture show the station arm slowly zeroing in on a pin-shaped grapple fixture on the truss.

After the second handoff, the girder - called the Starboard 6 truss, or "S6" - will be parked overnight, ready for installation Thursday.

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Heat Shields Cleared Until Late Inspection
After examining images of heat shielding tiles for signs of damage, NASA managers have cleared shuttle Discovery for landing pending a final inspection before the shuttle plunges back through Earth's atmosphere.

"After fully analyzing the data, we've determined that the focused inspection is not required," flight communicator Greg Johnson radioed from Houston to shuttle commander Lee Archambault.

"Thank you very much, that's absolutely great news, and we look forward to seeing the reworked timeline," Archambault said.

Analysts were looking at a damaged tile on the bottom-rear section of the orbiter's left wing, but determined that it wasn't significant enough to require repair.

The decision not to conduct a more detailed inspection means Discovery's crew could move up the deployment of the station's newest set of solar arrays from Sunday to Friday.

That's if installation of the Starboard 6 truss holding the packed solar arrays goes as planned during a spacewalk Thursday.

Discovery will still conduct its standard late inspection procedure after it undcocks from the station March 25, repeating the inspection on the shuttle's wing leading edges and nose that was performed Monday before docking.

They'll be looking for damage that could have been caused by micrometeriods or orbital debris during the mission. Inspections so far checked for debris damage that could have occurred during launch.

Those surfaces are critical because sections of the orbiter are exposed to temperatures as high as 3,000 degrees during re-entry through Earth's atmosphere.

An undetected hole in Columbia's left wing led to the spaceship breaking up on re-entry in 2003, killing a crew of seven astronauts.

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All Aboard! Ares I-X Motors Chug In To KSC
A train hauling rocket motors for NASA's Ares I-X mission chugged in to Kennedy Space Center today, marking a key milestone for the first in a series of test flights aimed at qualifying Ares 1 rockets for launching American astronauts.

Now all the parts required for the $360 million Ares I-X test are at NASA's prime launch operations center, setting the stage for the upcoming assembly of the 321-foot Ares I-X rocket and a vitally important test flight in July or August.

"We're really excited to have those segments here," said Joe Oliva, program director for Ares 1 Flight Tests at ATK, manufacturer of the rocket's first stage. "All of the hardware -- we've got everything within the fence at KSC."

"If you want to talk about Ares I-X, you've got to come to KSC now. This is the place where it's all happening," added Jon Cowart, NASA's deputy mission manager for Ares I-X at KSC. "We've got all the hardware, and people are getting energized and excited."

NASA aims to launch the Ares I-X test flight on July 11, but there is a good chance the test flight will slip to August.

The Ares I-X rocket is scheduled to be launched from KSC's pad 39B, but NASA now plans to roll Endeavour to that complex to serve as a rescue vehicle for the crew of Atlantis in the event that shuttle sustains critical damage during its planned May 12 launch from pad 39A on a fifth and final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

NASA is considering an option to launch both Atlantis and the Endeavour rescue mission -- if required -- from pad 39A, freeing up pad 39B for the Ares I-X test flight.

But that would involve rolling Endeavour out to pad 39A in advance of Atlantis so it could be loaded with propellants used to power its twin orbital maneuvering engines and 44 nose-and-tail steering thrusters.

Endeavour then would be rolled back to the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building, where it would wait in the wings for the Atlantis launch. The early propellant-loading operation would enable NASA to move Endeavour to pad 39A and launch it on a rescue mission within a week of the Atlantis launch.

A decision to proceed with single-pad operations would enable NASA to press ahead with the Ares I-X flight in mid-July. But it would have a ripple effect, triggering about a one-month delay in each of NASA's eight remaining International Space Station assembly missions.

That would make it more difficult for NASA to launch all its remaining station assembly and outfitting missions before a deadline late next year.

The arrival of the Ares I-X train came after a seven-day, 2,917-mile journey from ATK's manufacturing facility in Utah. Aboard covered rail cars are the four shuttle solid rocket boosters that will form the first stage of the Ares I-X rocket.

The Ares I-X will comprise the four-segment shuttle booster, a fifth-segment simulator, a newly developed forward skirt, forward skirt extension and frustum, and mock-ups of the rocket's second stage, Orion crew module and launch abort system.

The test flight will enable NASA to gather data on the performance of the rocket's first-stage flight control system, its stage-separation system and the parachute recovery system that will be used to lower the reusable solid rocket motor segments into the Atlantic Ocean for retrieval.

The solid rocket booster segments will be moved into a processing facility just north of the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building.

Solid rocket booster stacking operations are scheduled to begin in April or May.

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Spacewalks End Station Excursion
Spacewalking astronauts Steve Swanson and Ricky Arnold are back inside the International Space Station after mounting the final segment of an 11-part central truss that serves as the outpost's metallic backbone.

The two shuttle mission specialists made their way back into the Quest airlock and switch their spacewalks off internal battery power after a six-hour, seven-minute excursion. The installation and activation of the S6 truss element completes the U.S. electrical power system and caps a decade-long effort to assemble the station's central truss.

"You guys just did a fantastic job today," Discovery mission specialist Joe Acaba told his crewmates. "It was really good work."

"Hey we just echoed that. That was just outstanding," spacecraft communicator Lucia McCullough said from NASA's Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "For you and the rest of the combined crew, we're delighted to accept delivery and installation of the S6 truss."

Station skipper Mike Fincke chimed in, too.

"I just wanted to say welcome back aboard the space station. It's a lot bigger than when you left it. Great job out there. You guys were outstanding. Thanks for your hard work."

The spacewalk was the 121st performed in the assembly and maintenance of the station since the first two building blocks of the outpost were linked in low earth orbit in late 1998.

Astronauts and cosmonauts have spent 762 hours and three minutes of spacewalking work during the assembly effort.

Ninety-three of the spacewalks have been staged from station airlocks; 28 have been staged from shuttle airlocks.

It was the third spacewalk for veteran astronaut Swanson. He now has tallied 19 hours and 44 minutes of spacewalking work.

It was the first spacewalk for Arnold.

The spacewalk set the stage for the deployment of the fourth and final set of American solar wings, which are integrated into the S6 truss segment. That work now is being moved up a day to Friday.

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Final Solar Wing "Good to Go"
Half deployed, the last solar array wing to unfold on the International Space Station shows a "little ripple," but mission managers say it won't stop the process from moving forward.

A bit of sticking was expected, they said, given that the array has been packed in a box for years.

"We don't see anything wrong, but it looks a little bit more off nominal than we saw on the other one," shuttle Discovery commander Lee Archambault reported from inside the station.

"We believe that this is an acceptable condition to continue onward," a mission controller said from Houston. "You well know, I'm sure, that we sort of expected this given how long this array has been packed. We believe we'll be good to go, are good to go, I should say."

Archambault said the "little ripple" in the array came about a third of way up the array, or about five folds up.

The final stretch of the deployment is expected to start at 1:11 p.m. EDT. You can watch it live by clicking on the NASA TV image above to launch a NASA TV viewer.

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Station's Solar Wings Complete!                                      
   
Crews on the International Space Station have successfully unfurled its eighth and final solar array wing.

"Initial look looks good for a full deployment," said shuttle Discovery commander Lee Archambault at 1:17 p.m.


"Tremendous news, great work, guys," came the reply from NASA's MissionControl Center in Houston. "We've got a whole bunch of happy peopledown here."

After further visual inspection of the wing on the outpost's starboard side, Archambault confirmed that "all looks good."


"We think we're fully deployed. We think we're done with this procedure," he said.

"You are complete with the procedure. Great work," a flight controller said.

"We're very happy as well, and we're pressing on," said Archambault.


Activation of the final pair of solar wings brings the station to full power - enough to light up a small neighborhood.

Theadded power doubles to 30 kilowatts the amount of electricity availablefor science experiments in orbit, and helps NASA advance its goal ofdoubling station crews to six people this year.

The deployment accomplishes the top goal of Discovery's 13-day mission.

Thecrew experienced none of the problems that have frustrated other crewsduring past deployments, such as arrays sticking or tearing as theyunfold.

Astronaut Sandra Magnus continues to work to install anew centrifuge assembly in the outpost's urine processor, a devicedesigned to purify urine for use as drinking water.

That's another important system needed to support larger crews.

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ATK, USA announce contract terms
NASA contractors Alliant Techsystems Inc. and United Space Alliance this week announced the terms of a contract that affects hundreds of jobs at Kennedy Space Center.

The $257 million deal formalizes an agreement announced last fall, which said that about 550 USA workers would continue to work part time on NASAâ

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Mr. Acaba Goes for a Spacewalk
Former Melbourne High science teacher Joe Acaba gets a turn to walk in space today.

Acaba, who taught freshman science on the Space Coast in 1999-2000, is scheduled to join shuttle Discovery's lead spacewalker, Steve Swanson, on the mission's second of three spacewalks outside the International Space Station.

This is Acaba's yearbook photo from his year in Melbourne (apologies for the out-of-focus cell phone shot), when he sported a ponytail.

Among other tasks, they'll prepare batteries for replacement on the Port 6 truss - on the opposite end of the station's central truss from the newest set of solar arrays.

NASA officials say work at the far ends of the station's truss increases the risk of electric shock from the electric potential created by station systems. Some precautions have been taken, like insulated tape around metal rings connecting sections of the spacesuits.

Also today, crews will put a newly installed distillation assembly in the station's urine processor through a "dry run." They hope the replacement part will help the station recycle urine into drinking water.

And the newly installed Starboard 6 solar arrays should be fully activated and producing power for the station.

The crew is scheduled to wake up at 7:43 a.m. EDT.

Here are some more highlights for the day.

- 8:18 a.m.: Preparations for missionâ

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Spacewalkers Finish Excursion
Spacewalking astronauts Steve Swanson and Joe Acaba are back inside the U.S. Quest airlock at the International Space Station after completing a six-hour, 30-minute excursion outside the outpost.

The spacewalk was the 122nd performed in the assembly and maintenance of the station since its first two building blocks were linked in low Earth orbit in late 1998.

Astronauts and cosmonauts have tallied 768 hours and 33 minutes of spacewalking work during that time.

The spacewalk was the second of three planned during Discovery's stay at the station. The third is scheduled for Monday. Total time accumulated in the two outings: 12 hours and 37 minutes.

Swanson now has four career spacewalks. Total time tallied: 26 hours and 22 minutes.

It was the first spacewalk for Acaba, a former science teacher at Melbourne High School.

"Congratulations guys. We sure appreciate the hard work you did for our beautiful space station," station skipper Mike Fincke told the astronauts. "And a special congratulations to Joe â

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"No joy" with urine processor
Today's efforts to run a repaired urine processor on the International Space Station have been put on hold.

Engineers have been trying to determine why flow rates through the device were low. Rick Davis, a spacecraft communicator in Houston, said troubleshooting since this morning has produced "no joy" in resolving the problem.

"Sorry about that, guys," said Mike Fincke, the station's Expedition 18 commander, who was setting up the processor for a wet run.

NASA was hopeful the processor would work after a new 180-poound distillation assembly brought up by shuttle Discovery was installed two days ago, and a dry test run on Saturday was successful.

The processor hasn't worked since after Christmas, weeks after shuttle Endeavour's crew delivered it in November.

The system is intended to recycle crew members' urine, in addition to sweat and other condensate, into drinkable water, and it's critical to long-term plans to double station crews to six people.

NASA plans to expand the crews in May, and can get by for a while without the processor by using water created by shuttle fuel cells and delivered by cargo vehicles.

A successful run of the system today could have produced a water sample for Discovery to take home for testing. It wasn't immediately clear what the next steps are, and when work on the processor will resume.

Discovery's crew has had a quiet morning of rest, calls to family members and exercise.

They'll eat a mid-day meal soon, and then get back to work transferring supplies between the station and shuttle and preparing for the 13-day mission's third and final spacewalk Monday.

The crew, now more than half-way through the mission, is due to depart the station Wednesday and land Saturday afternoon.

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More Space Debris Being Monitored                                          Here comes more space debris.

NASAhas been alerted that a piece of a Chinese rocket could pass close bythe joined space shuttle Discovery and International Space Station onMonday afternoon.

As a precaution, Discovery commander LeeArchambault will fire shuttle thrusters around 4:30 p.m. EDT to adjustthe position o the two spacecraft, in preparation for a possibleavoidance maneuver.

The new position will create drag thatslightly lowers their orbit. After holding that position for a fewhours, NASA will decide if whether a bigger adjustment is necessary.

"Hopefullythat will be enough that we won't have to do anything else," said BillJeffs, a spokesman at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The debris - measuring about four inches in diameter - is a piece of aChinese rocket that launched in 1999 and broke up in 2000, Jeffs said.

U.S. Strategic Command, which monitors such debris, alerted NASA of its approach.

Itwas not clear if the debris could disrupt Monday's planned spacewalk,but presumably an avoidance maneuver, if necessary, would placespacewalkers out of harm's way.

NASA considered moving thestation the day after Discovery's March 15 launch from Kennedy SpaceCenter because of another piece of space junk. Continued trackingdetermined that the debris wouldn't come as close as initially thought,and no maneuver was necessary.

In February, the spacestation's three-person crew had to briefly take shelter in their Soyuzescape craft after a late alert about approaching debris. It passedwithout incident.

Space debris "comes with the territory," said LeRoy Cain, deputy shuttle program manager, after the shuttle's launch.

In other activity, station commander Mike Fincke will resume efforts that stalled earlier today to activate a urine processor.

[ 本帖最后由 kl90 于 23-3-2009 11:14 AM 编辑 ]

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Preps for Third Spacewalk
While efforts continue to activate a urine processor on the International Space Station (left), two former teachers are preparing to perform the third and last spacewalk of shuttle Discovery's 13-day mission.

The station earlier shifted its orientation to get out of the path of approaching space junk. Moving to a position used during undocking created a little drag that slightly lowered the orbit of the joined outpost and orbiter.

No further maneuver is believed to be necessary to avoid the remnant of a Chinese satellite, and Monday's spacewalk shouldn't be impacted.

Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold have been reviewing procedures that were still being finalized today.

Monday morning, they'll return to the Unpressurized Cargo Carrier Attachment System that Acaba and Steve Swanson tried to install Saturday.

After lengthy analysis, NASA thinks the rotating platform on the Port 3 truss segment is just very stiff and stuck in place.

Astronauts normally don't pull things very hard in orbit to avoid damaging sensitive equipment, but that's exactly what the spacewalkers have been asked to do Monday.

"The fix for it may be as simple as simply pulling on it harder," said Kwatsi Alibaruho, the mission's lead space station flight director in Houston. "We won't really know until we get the spacewalkers at the site."

If that goes as planned, Acaba and Arnold will also try to install a second payload attachment system on the station's starboard side.

Later in the 6.5-hour spacewalk, Acaba and Arnold will move a cargo cart on the station's central truss, positioning it for a future shuttle mission; lubricate snares at one end of the station's robotic arm; and work on an electrical patch panel that powers station gyroscopes.

The duo has begun the standard pre-spacewalk campout in the reduced atmospheric pressure of the Quest airlock, a procedure that helps them avoid decompression sickness, otherwise known as "the bends."

Station commander Mike Fincke has made headway getting the urine processor up and running. Activation of a wet run stalled earlier today until a filtration assembly was switched out. Fincke now has the system in another dry run before trying again with urine flowing through.

The picture above show a microphone positioned to pick up noise and vibrations that would indicate if the system is working properly.

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Astronauts Wrap Up Final Spacewalk
Two American astronauts are back inside the U.S. Quest airlock at the International Space Station tonight after an all-afternoon excursion outside the orbiting outpost.

Discovery mission specialists Ricky Arnold and Joe Acaba produced mixed results during the six-hour, 27-minute spacewalk -- the third and final outing planned during Discovery's mission to the station.

The astronauts moved a mobile rail cart from one side of the station's central truss to the other -- a job that set the rail cart in place for future assembly and maintenance work at the station.

But they ran into trouble with one of their main tasks: The astronauts pushed, pulled and tried to pry a jammed experiment platform into place on the port side of the truss but they were unable to fully deploy the pallet.

Instead, the two teachers-turned-astronauts tied the platform down onto the truss with safety tethers, securing it while NASA engineers hatch a recovery plan to execute on a future spacewalk.

Arnold had much better luck lubricating the business end of the station's Canadian-built construction crane.

He used a high-tech grease gun to lubricate three snares and six bearings within the Latching End Effector -- the LEE -- of the 57-foot-long robot arm.

The job involved using needle-nose pliers to work with the snares, which are designed to capture grapple fixtures on parts of the station that are under construction or being moved from one location to another.

The astronauts likened it to a battery-operated Milton Bradley board game that has been in production since 1965.

"It's like that Operation game," one of the two said.

"Exactly," the other replied.

The spacewalk was the 123rd performed in the assembly and maintenance of the station since its first two building blocks were linked in low Earth orbit in late 1998.

Astronauts and cosmonauts in that time have accumulated 775 hours -- more than 32 days -- working in the vacuum environment.

Ninety-five of the spacewalks have been staged from either the Quest airlock or the Russian Pirs Docking Compartment, which doubles as an airlock. The other 28 were staged from shuttle orbiter airlocks.

Acaba, Arnold and crewmate Steve Swanson tallied 19 hours and four minutes of spacewalking time during the three excursions.

Swanson now has a career total of 26 hours and 22 minutes on four spacewalks.

Arnold performed two spacewalks that lasted a total of 12 hours and 34 minutes.

Acaba, who taught freshman science at Melbourne High School during the 1999-2000 school year, now has 12 hours and 57 minutes of spacewalking experience.

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Spacecraft Deployed After Spectacular Launch
A new U.S. military navigation satellite is circling Earth today after a night-owl launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The Navstar Global Positioning System satellite was deployed into an orbit 11,000 nautical miles above Earth about 5:42 a.m. -- 68 minutes after liftoff from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape.

The countdown and the flight both appeared to go flawlessly. The satellite is the 47th Navstar GPS spacecraft to be deployed aboard Delta II rockets and it was the 87th consecutive Delta II launch success.

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Shuttle, Station Crews Chat Up President Obama
The joined crews of shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station just fielded a space-to-ground telephone call from President Obama, who congratulated the astronauts and cosmonauts on their ongoing assembly mission in low Earth orbit.

Obama was joined by Washington, D.C., area schoolchildren and members of Congress who included U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, and U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, both of whom represent voters in the Kennedy Space Center area.

The half-hour conversation was about space exploration in general and in particular, work going on aboard the international outpost -- a joint project of the U.S., Russia, 10 European countries, Japan, Canada and Brazil.

Noting that the shuttle and station are circling Earth at 17,000 mph, Obama said he was glad outpost commander Mike Fincke was "using the hands-free phone." He also expressed genuine interest in the solar power technology that's being employed to generate electricity to run all station systems.

"We are really excited about the project you are doing," Obama said, referring to the delivery, installation and activation of the station's fourth and final set of massive American solar wings.

"Well, this is really exciting because we're investing, back here on the ground, in a whole array of solar and other renewable energy projects. And so, to find out that your doing this up at the space station is particularly exciting."

Saying hello to the international partners onboard -- Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata -- Obama said the station "is an example of the kind of spirit of cooperation that we can apply not just in space but here on the ground as well."

Obama threw the session open to questions from the schoolchildren, and while none asked how you go to the bathroom in space, they did want to know about space food.

Discovery mission specialist Ricky Arnold told them the food, for the most part, is like the type you would take back-packing. He also noted the astronauts eat of lot of "Meals Ready To Eat" -- the packaged military-style food many of them depended on after a hurricane swept through Houston last year.

"Do you guys still drink Tang up there?" Obama asked with a laugh. "I've got Bill Nelson here and he says that's been taken off the menu. That's, by the way, before the time of you young people. We used to drink Tang."

One kid wanted to know if you could play video games in low Earth orbit; another wanted to know whether the astronauts had seen any other life forms in space. And yet another wanted to know how many stars are in space.

Obama wanted to know about the experiments the astronauts are carrying out on the station, whether fitness requirements for astronauts are the same as they were for the original astronauts, and whether weightlessness has an effect on sleep.

One other thing caught his attention: the free-flying, long curly hair of NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus, who is wrapping up a four-month stay aboard the station and will be returning to Earth aboard Discovery on Saturday.

Obama asked if Magnus was tempted to cut her hair shorter during her tenure on the outpost.

"Well, that's a really good question because there is a little bit of overhead taking care of all this hair here," Magnus said. I think ideally the short haircut is the way to go, but quite frankly, on me it wouldn't be so nice. So I kept it long."

Said Obama: "I think it's a real fashion statement."

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Official Transcipt: Obama Chats With Astronauts

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release March 24, 2009
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
WITH THE CREW OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE
Via Satellite
9:52 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Commander, can you hear us?

COMMANDER FINCKE: Welcome aboard the International Space Station, where we're joined with our international crew from the Space Shuttle Discovery. Welcome aboard. Glad to hear your voice. We hear you loud and clear, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. We've got a crew of wonderful schoolchildren here who are all interested in space, and we've got some members of Congress who are like big kids when it comes to talking to astronauts.

I'm told that you're cruising at about 17,000 miles per hour, so we're glad that you are using the hands-free phone. (Laughter.)

COMMANDER FINCKE: Mr. President, we go around the planet once every 90 minutes. It's quite a thrill, and it is very fast, and we see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every day.

THE PRESIDENT: That is unbelievable. Well, the first thing we want to do is just let you know how proud we are of you. I've got to say especially, once I found out that you're from Bellwood, Illinois --

MISSION SPECIALIST MAGNUS: Mr. President, it was a beautiful place to grow up, and I have a lot of roots that are still there.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's great. We are really excited about the project that you're doing. My understanding is, is that you are installing some additional solar panels on the space station, and that's actually going to increase the number of people that can work out of the space station, is that correct?

MISSION SPECIALIST PHILLIPS: Sir, that's correct. We've roughly doubled the amount of solar power available for experimentation and for supporting a larger crew, and we hope to go to a crew of six and a more aggressive experimental program this year.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, this is really exciting, because we're investing back here on the ground a whole array of solar and other renewable energy projects, and so to find out that you're doing this up at the space station is particularly exciting.

Can I ask, how exactly do you end up installing these solar panels? What's involved? Somebody want to give us a rundown on how you go about doing it?

MISSION SPECIALIST SWANSON: Yes, sir. First it comes up on a truss segment, about five feet long. We use a robotic arm to attach it to the -- into another truss segment. And then once that's attached and bolted on through spacewalks, then we'll go ahead and unfurl or actually deploy the solar rays in a position so that we can unfurl from inside during the commanding with new software.

THE PRESIDENT: About how long does it take?

MISSION SPECIALIST SWANSON: It takes about, to put it all together, about six hours, but you actually do the commanding to actually deploy them out to their full length -- it takes about two hours.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, obviously we're really proud about the extraordinary work that our American astronauts are doing. You are representative of the dedication and sense of adventure and discovery that we're so proud of. But one of the things that's wonderful about this is that it is an international space station. And I know that we have our Japanese and Russian counterparts on board, as well. We'd love to say hello to them -- and hope that this is an example of the kind of spirit of cooperation that we can apply not just in space but here on the ground, as well.

MISSION SPECIALIST WAKATA: It's an honor to have a chance to talk with you, Mr. President. We have a Russian crew member, American crew members, and I'm from Japan. And we have 15 countries working together in this wonderful international space station, as well as on the ground, in space. And this really symbolizes the future of the scientific development of the world. And I'm just happy to be part of this.

THE PRESIDENT: That's wonderful.

MISSION SPECIALIST LONCHKOV: Mr. President, we work together to do everything. It's really, really important for us. And the American, Russian, Japanese, everybody, people, all people, work together.

THE PRESIDENT: Now, I notice you're bouncing around quite a bit there, guys. Are you wearing something to strap you down, or are you about to float away?

COMMANDER FINCKE: Mr. President, we're just holding on with our toes on to some handrails below us, and at any moment we could all just easily float up. And that's one of the fun things about flying in space; we get a chance to talk to a lot of kids and show them all the adventures that we have, flying around. It's also -- it's not just a lot of fun, it's a little bit tough on our bodies; you have to exercise. And so we get a chance to talk to a lot of schools while we're up here, schools all over the planet to help inspire the next generation.

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THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I hear that you're going to be talking to my alma mater, Punahou School, when you fly over Hawaii.

COMMANDER FINCKE: We're looking forward to that, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: All right, well, you tell them aloha.

Listen, we've got a bunch of young people here. I want to see if any of them have some questions.

Anybody have a question over here? Okay, this -- hold on, we've got a young lady right here who's got a question.

Q: As a astronaut, what do you eat?

THE PRESIDENT: Did you hear that question? They want to know what you guys are eating up there.

MISSION SPECIALIST ARNOLD: We're eating really well. We eat a lot of -- it's prepared at NASA, but it's kind of like the backpacking food. It's dehydrated, rehydrated, and warm it up. We also use -- have food similar to Meals Ready to Eat that they use for the military and that a few of us ate last year when the hurricane came through Houston.

THE PRESIDENT: Do you guys still drink Tang up there? (Laughter.) I've got Bill Nelson here, and he says that's been taken off the menu. (Laughter.) That's, by the way, before the time of you young people. We used to drink Tang. (Laughter.)

We've got a young man right here. Hold on one second.

Q: Can you play videogames in space?

THE PRESIDENT: Can you play videogames in space?

MISSION SPECIALIST PHILLIPS: We can, in fact. And in fact, a few years when I was up here for six months I had a videogame that I used to play in my spare time -- although, fortunately, we don't have much spare time. So we can; we have a lot of laptop computers. But for the most part we stay real busy doing our real work.

THE PRESIDENT: So the -- tell us what kind of experiments are you doing? Once you got the panel up, what kinds of other activities are you doing? Is it mostly just maintaining the craft, or are there certain experiments or projects that you're engaged in, as well?

MISSION SPECIALIST MAGNUS: Well, sir, we have experiments already up here that we've been doing for many years and we'll be able to double that with the addition of the full array that our shuttle friends brought up.

We do a lot of experiments on combustion, understanding materials, understanding how -- you know, we're guinea pigs -- so understanding how people's bodies change in space, and all this is in preparation for long-duration missions to the moon and Mars.

And the exciting thing about doing science up here is we really don't know what we don't know, and that that gives you the greatest potential for learning. And we've had a lot of cases where people have set up experiments, and we've conducted them here on the space station, only to find out that we've learned something new, something more about the fundamentals of the processes and the science. So it's a really great place to learn a lot.

THE PRESIDENT: Outstanding.

Any of the young people have another question? This young man right here? Hold on one second.

Q: Have you found any life forms or any plants out in space?

THE PRESIDENT: That's a good question. Any life forms out there other than you guys?

MISSION SPECIALIST MAGNUS: We're actually doing an experiment on this mission to take a swab or a sample of the surface of the EVA, the spacewalker's gloves both before and after the space walk. And that's a -- that was sort of a demonstration of the type of technology that we'll be able to use on the moon and Mars for the same purpose, to try and see if we can determine what sort of bacteria or micro-organisms are living in the various environments we're going to encounter.

We unfortunately haven't really found anything here. I think we'll have much more success at finding new types of life and different structures when we go to places like the moon and Mars and moons of Titan and these other types of environments.

THE PRESIDENT: Excellent question. All right, I've got a young man back here.

Q: What things did you have to study to be a astronaut?

THE PRESIDENT: All right, that's a good question. You guys are all extraordinarily trained. What -- if we've got some budding astronauts over here, what should they be doing? I'm assuming they better hit the books on science and math.

PILOT ANTONELLI: You got it just right. The -- one of the beautiful things about getting to work here is you can study just about anything that you're really interested in -- science and math being a big part of it. But we have medical doctors, geologists, engineers, and physicists in the group here with us. So it's pretty much anything in the math and science field. We've got a couple of schoolteachers here with us studying education, as well as the math and science.

But there really is room up here for everybody. The important part, though, is to work really hard and do well in school. It will make a difference in your future.

THE PRESIDENT: And what about -- what about fitness requirements these days? Some of us remember watching The Right Stuff, where -- that's pretty impressive. (Laughter.) Is there a particular requirement --

COMMANDER ARCHAMBAULT: Well, Mr. President, the fitness requirements are still --

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, I'm sorry.

COMMANDER ARCHAMBAULT: Mr. President, the fitness requirements are still there. As a matter of fact, the International Space Station just recently incorporated a new fitness machine. It's a very, very fancy workout machine seen in a gym, but it's called the ARED, and we can do a lot of good exercises on it, the leg -- strength training for your legs, as well as your upper body. So, particularly for the long duration folks, it's very important to maintain your muscles in good tone and to help you readapt when you get back on planet Earth.

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THE PRESIDENT: Excellent. Okay, there's -- a young lady back here had a question.

Q: When you say you "exercise," what do you do?

MISSION SPECIALIST ACABA: Well, we have a couple of different exercise machines up here. On the space shuttle we brought up a -- it looks like a -- the bicycle that you would find in a gymnasium. So we can use that. And they have one here on the space station.

And the other machine, you can do all kinds of stuff. You can do squats, you can do curls. We have a lot we can do. We also have a treadmill, so you can go ahead and run up here in space.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, we've got another question from a young man. Hold on.

Q: Do you know how many stars there are in space?

THE PRESIDENT: Asking how many stars in space. I'll be interested in hearing the answer to this one. (Laughter.)

COMMANDER FINCKE: Aboard the International Space Station, we can look down and see our beautiful planet Earth, and we can also look up and see the rest of the cosmos. And we can see that there are so many stars out there that it's very hard to count them all. And we can see that our Earth is a very small -- very small planet in such a big universe. And it's just really amazing, because it gives us a deep perspective of -- we have to really take good care of our own planet -- and that our own planet is just a -- is a small place, and we have the whole rest of the universe to work together in an international sense and go explore this whole universe that's in front of us, and all the discoveries that we'll make together.

So maybe we'll someday be able to count how many stars that we have, because we're starting to go to -- go to the stars as human beings together. And that's what's really exciting about serving aboard the International Space Station and flying up and down on space shuttles, is that we're part of that great adventure.

And we need you kids to study hard, because we can't do it all by ourselves. We really need you guys to work hard, and do whatever you're supposed to do, and do it well, like Tony said, because there's a whole universe in front of us.

THE PRESIDENT: I had a quick question. Does weightlessness have an impact in terms of your ability to sleep?

MISSION SPECIALIST ARNOLD: Sir, we just arrived here, just a few days ago, and it's taken a while to get used to -- for me, personally, missing a pillow. You're used to laying down on a mattress and having a place to rest your head. So it's taken a while to get used to that.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I know the kids got a chance to ask some questions. I want to make sure that if there are any members of Congress who've got some questions that they're interested in, that they've got a chance, too.

Okay, hold on. This is Kay Bailey Hutchison from Texas.

SENATOR HUTCHISON: I understand that you are doing experiments on salmonella, and watching those organisms, and how they react and grow. And we've had some salmonella problems here on Earth. What do you think you will be able to learn from the environment in space that maybe you couldn't learn here on Earth?

MISSION SPECIALIST PHILLIPS: I'm actually going to have a bit of a hard time answering that question. We do, indeed, have an experiment called the National Laboratory Program experiment, in which salmonella are -- in which certain micro-organisms are exposed to salmonella. My job as an astronaut was basically to turn the crank and activate the experiment. Then after about four or five days, I turn the crank again and deactivate it.

I'm not exactly sure what the scientists are going to do with the data back at home or with the samples. We are returning, however, eight big vials of samples of these cultures of micro-organisms and salmonella, and let the scientists go to work.

THE PRESIDENT: Does Bill Nelson -- he knows a little something about this stuff.

SENATOR NELSON: Hey, guys, I wish I were up there with you. You are just getting to the point where it's really looking like a full-up national laboratory where we can really do the experimentation. When will you have it full-up, ready to go, where we can then reap the results of that $100 billion investment?

COMMANDER FINCKE: It's nice to hear you again, sir. The International Space Station has already been delivering some of the science we've promised. Where are now is -- and Expedition 18, our crew, is we're making the turn from three people to six people. The next crew that comes after us, a few months after we get replaced will have six people onboard the International Space Station. So that's why we needed the solar power, that's why we needed the second toilet and other things, so that we'd have room and facilities for six people.

And once we have six people, we'll have enough time and energy -- solar power, I mean -- to run all the experiments that we can. And then it's just a matter of getting enough experiments up and down from the space station to really reap on that science. We've already been delivering and we've got a lot more to come. And like Sandy said, there's a lot of things we don't know, so there's some really interesting discoveries out in front of us.

THE PRESIDENT: Do any of the young people have any more questions? Hold on one second, we've got one here.

Q: Do you love doing your job?

THE PRESIDENT: They asked if you love doing your job.

MISSION SPECIALIST WAKATA: Yes, it's wonderful to work in space. Ever since I saw Apollo 11, the lunar landing, when I was five years old, I always longed for going to space and work. And here the dream came true. I had to study hard and worked hard, but I'm so happy to be here and I'm loving living here and working with so many wonderful people here.

THE PRESIDENT: Just a couple of logistical questions. How long did it take -- from the time of launch, how long does it take to get to the space station?

COMMANDER ARCHAMBAULT: Well, Mr. President, let me answer that in two ways. First of all, it takes up about eight and a half minutes to get to orbit, and at that time we're going 17,500 miles an hour. But we're in a bit of a tail chase with the space station, and it's approximately about a day and a half to two days later that we actually rejoin with the space station.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, so eight minutes just to get into orbit, but then you've got to basically try to catch up with the space station and match up so that you can lock in.

COMMANDER ARCHAMBAULT: Sir, that's exactly right.

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THE PRESIDENT: Okay.

Anybody have any more questions? Hold on one second.

Q: What's your favorite or the most interesting experiment you're working on up at the space station?

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, do you guys have a favorite experiment right now?

MISSION SPECIALIST MAGNUS: That's a really tough question, because they're all interesting in different ways. Mike and I were doing a flame experiment where we're trying to help the scientists on the ground understand how fire behaves up here -- there's all kinds of reason for that. So that was interesting because it's sort of an unusual environment to intentionally put a fire.

I think one of the ones I like the most is an experiment that we're doing on ourselves to try and understand how our nutritional state changes and our biochemistry changes, and that will help us design food and understand a little bit more about the processes that the human body undergoes. That's probably my favorite one. But there's all kinds of interesting things in all of the experiments.

THE PRESIDENT: Now, can I ask you a question? Were you tempted to cut your hair shorter while you were up there, or do you -- is it fun in weightlessness? (Laughter.)

MISSION SPECIALIST MAGNUS: Well, that's a really good question, because it is a little bit of -- to take care of long hair in here. I think ideally a short haircut is the way to go, but quite frankly, on me it wouldn't be so nice, so I kept it long.

THE PRESIDENT: I think it's a real fashion statement. (Laughter.)

Hold on one second, we've got another young man back here.

Q: How much spare time do you have on the day -- in the day?

THE PRESIDENT: How much spare time do you have? It sounds like you guys are pretty busy.

MISSION SPECIALIST ACABA: They do keep us pretty busy up here and we have a very tight schedule that starts from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep. But they give us a little bit of time in the morning to get yourself ready, get yourself cleaned up, have some breakfast. And the same in the evening. So we can use that time to either call down to our family and friends, or maybe even check our email and see how things are going back on Earth.

THE PRESIDENT: Now, that's interesting. Does email work pretty much the same between the space station and computers here on Earth?

COMMANDER FINCKE: Mr. President, as just about everybody on the planet knows, is that email is a pretty important way for us to keep in touch with each other. Even though we're really far away and traveling really fast, we still use email also. Unfortunately, we only synchronize our email once or twice a day, sometimes three times a day. So it's not as fast and instantaneous as we are used to on the ground, but even so, it's a really useful way to get in touch with other people.

In addition, we have kind of an Internet -- voice-over Internet protocol telephone, so it's really nice that we can get the a chance to talk to our families -- not 24/7, but when we do have good satellite coverage we do get the chance to call home. And that's -- for those of us who stay up for a long time, that's really important to us.

THE PRESIDENT: Excellent. All right, well, I know that you guys probably have a whole bunch of stuff to do, but I think that we may have one more question from a member of Congress. Hold on one second.

REPRESENTATIVE KOSMAS: Thank you very much. My name is Suzanne Kosmas, and I actually represent central Florida, the area that includes the Kennedy Space Center. So I want to first thank you on behalf of all Americans for your service to us and for what you represent in terms of America and our supremacy in space exploration, along with our international partners, and for what you're doing there at the International Space Station.

I had the honor of being at the Kennedy Space Center last week when you took off and it was a fabulous, absolutely fantastic launch. And we -- so I wished you adieu from there, and now I'm wishing you hello from here.

I want to thank you again for your service, and tell you how excited I am to be representing the Kennedy Space Station and that area, but also for what you do that inspires people to be interested in the science and technology that has led us to this pioneering place where you are. And the things that we anticipate that we will be able to reap from your service I'm very thrilled about, particularly the idea, as the President has said, of alternative energy and the fact that you're using solar panels in space -- what we're hoping in the long run that you will be able to, from space, use solar energy to come back to Earth.

And again, I'm thrilled to be here and very excited to have the opportunity to talk to you. And thank you so much for your service to our country.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that all of us echo --

COMMANDER ARCHAMBAULT: Thank you, ma'am, we appreciate that. And each one of us here is very lucky and honored to be right where we're at here today, so the honor is all ours. We're honored to be here doing this great work.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think all of us echo the sentiment. We are extraordinarily proud of you. We're so grateful that you took the time to speak to all of us. I know these young people are pretty excited to be on a direct link with astronauts in space.

So does everybody want to say good-bye?

AUDIENCE: Good-bye --

THE PRESIDENT: All right. They're all beaming. And we appreciate you guys -- so look forward to seeing you when you're back on the ground. God bless you.

COMMANDER ARCHAMBAULT: Thank you, Mr. President. And on behalf of the Space Shuttle Discovery crew here in the dark blue shirts, I want to say we're very honored that you spent some time with us today. It meant a lot to us. We thank you very much.

And from one Chicago guy to another, I wish you well, sir. And for closing comments, I'll pass the microphone off to Commander Mike Fincke, Commander of the International Space Station.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

COMMANDER FINCKE: Mr. President, I'm not from Chicago -- I'm sorry about that. But my crew and I are really happy to have a chance to talk to you and share our adventure with even more people. It's pretty impressive what human beings can do when we work together constructively, and not destructively. And that's the mission of the International Space Station.

So thanks for joining us. Thanks for flying with us at 17,500 miles an hour today. We're glad to have a chance to share it with you and the distinguished members from Congress, as well as all the kids out there.

So, everybody, thanks again for joining us.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, guys. Bye-bye. (Applause.)

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Discovery Departs Space Station

Discovery's astronauts departed the International Space Station at 3:53p.m. EDT as the shuttle and the station soared 216 miles over theIndian Ocean.


Shuttle pilot Tony Antonelli is backing the shuttle to a point 400 feetin front of the station and then will begin a looping flyaround of theoutpost. The flyaround is scheduled to begin about 4:18 p.m.

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata rang a bell inside the U.S. Unity module as the shuttle slowly edged away from the station.

"Spaceshuttle Discovery departing," said Wakata, who flew up to the outposton Discovery and is the first Japanese astronaut to serve along-duration tour there.


"Discovery, Alpha. Godspeed," said station commander Mike Fincke."Thanks for making us symmetrical, giving us full power and all theother wonderful things you did for us. Good work. come again."

Discoverymission commander Lee Archambault replied: "Thanks for the really greatwork as well, Alpha. have a good one and we'll see you on the ground inabout a month."


Antonelli will guide the shuttle on a loop and a quarter, and NASA nowsays the Ku-Band antenna that enables the shuttle to downlink livevideo will be in blockage for about an hour -- or nearly the entireflyaround.

A final separation burn is scheduled at about 5:37 p.m.

However, video is being recorded and will be downlinked by the astronauts later today.


The Ku-band antenna is mounted near the forward bulkhead in theshuttle's payload bay and beams video back through a NASA Tracking andData Relay Satellite circling 22,300 miles above Earth. The shuttle'sorientation during the next hour will block the line of sight with theTDRS satellite, so no video can be beamed back live as a result.

[ 本帖最后由 kl90 于 26-3-2009 02:39 PM 编辑 ]