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kl90

Blogger Note: The International Space Station partnership is poisedto make history with the launch of three space pioneers who will boostcrew size on the outpost to six - a long-awaited milestone that comesmore than a decade after construction in low Earth orbit began in late1998. You can watch the launch live here in The Flame Trench beginningat 5:45 a.m. EDT Wednesday. Simply click to NASA TV box on the righthand side of this page to launch our NASA TV viewer, and be sure torefresh this page for periodic updates. Liftoff is scheduled for 6:34a.m. Also: Check out our front page story about the launch ofExpedition 20:


The crew of the International Space Station will double in size thisweek, a long-awaited milestone that will triple the amount ofscientific research that can be done on the $100 billion orbitingoutpost.

For more than a decade now, spacewalking astronautshave been in an assembly mode, piecing together the growing station ina construction zone 220 miles above Earth, while resident crews focusedon simply keeping it flying safely.

On Wednesday, a Soyuzspacecraft carrying a Russian, a Belgian and a Canadian is scheduled tolaunch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then dock at thestation Friday -- eight years, six months and 29 days after aninaugural crew of three opened the outpost for business.

They'lljoin a Russian, an American and an astronaut from Japan, forming thefirst full six-person crew to live and work aboard the complex, whichis as large as an American football field.

"We've been lookingforward to getting to this increment for a long, long time," said DanHartman, NASA's manager for station integration and operations.

With the move to six-person crews, station residents finally will beable to turn their attention toward scientific research, logging up to600 hours of experimentation during the next six-month expedition.

Theyplan to shed light on the adverse effects of spaceflight on the body,knowledge critical to gearing up for human expeditions to the moon,Mars and other celestial destinations.

And they hope to breaknew ground in fields ranging from the development of disease-fightingdrugs to meteorology and climate change.

Adding to theexcitement: The first six-person crew includes a representative of allthe nations and agencies involved in the space station.

"We willhave Russian and U.S. crew members, but also Japanese, European andCanadian crew members, all together in one single crew, and this isreally the intent of the International Space Station," said Belgianastronaut Frank De Winne, who will be flying on the Soyuz as arepresentative of the European Space Agency.

The station is ajoint venture of the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan and 11European nations: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, theNetherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Astronautsand cosmonauts linked the first two station building blocks -- theRussian Zarya space tug and the American Unity module -- in late 1998.
And from there, it grew.

Spacewalkersfrom seven nations -- the U.S., Russia, Canada, France, Japan, Germanyand Sweden -- ventured into the deadly vacuum of space 123 times tobuild the station, tallying 775 hours -- almost 32 days -- on the job.

TheRussian Zvezda command and control module, which also serves as alaboratory and crew quarters, was added in the summer of 2000, and thefirst three-man crew floated into the outpost on Nov. 2, 2000.

Nextcame the U.S. Destiny lab, which was added in 2001. It's designated a"national laboratory" with the same status as Los Alamos.

TheEuropean Columbus laboratory was delivered in 2008, and the third andfinal segment of the Japanese Kibo science research facility isscheduled to arrive in June.

Four massive American solar wings,each of which stretch 240 feet from tip to tip, generate the electricalpower required to run the labs. The wings are mounted on the port andstarboard ends of a 335-foot girder-like truss, which serves as thestation's metallic backbone.

Still awaiting launch along withthe last Kibo segment: the final American module, Tranquility, twoRussian mini-research modules, a dome-shaped European cupola and tonsof scientific gears and supplies.

NASA plans eight more stationassembly missions. The last payload flown before shuttle fleetretirement: a large particle physics experiment called the AlphaMagnetic Spectrometer.

Construction of the 334-ton station has not come without problems.
Allthree command and control computers on the U.S. side of the stationfailed during a 2001 shuttle mission to delivery a Canadian-built robotarm.

The 2003 Columbia accident grounded NASA's shuttle fleet,shutting down station assembly and a critical supply line for almostthree years.

All crew exchange missions from February 2003 toJuly 2006 were carried out by Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and crew sizewas reduced to two to conserve limited supplies.

Station crewshave struggled at times with recurring shutdowns of a Russianoxygen-generation system, and a smoke alarm triggered by fumes from thesystem prompted fears of a potential fire in 2006.

Russiancommand-and-control computers crashed during an assembly mission in2007; a torn solar array required spacewalking surgery that same year,and a 10-foot-diameter joint that enables the station's starboard solarwings to rotate broke down in 2007, too.

"Building a spacestation with as much capability as we currently have in the harshworking environment of space is something very difficult, so it makesme very proud to be with five other crewmates who represent all of thespace station partners," said Bob Thirsk, a Canadian flying up to theoutpost.

The first resident crew of six, some of whom will beswapped out midway through a half-year expedition, also will include DeWinne and second-generation Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko.

Theywill join Russian commander Gennady Padalka, U.S. astronaut MichaelBarratt and Koichi Wakata of Japan, who are already onboard.

Theexperience, De Winne said, "is going to be a tremendous learning lessonfor us and is going to be a great step for future exploration ofhumankind."

kl90

New Crew En Route To Space Station

                            
A new crew is on its way to the International Space Station today aftera successful launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Russiancosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne andCanadian astronaut Robert Thirsk blasted off at 6:34 a.m. and reachedorbit 10 minutes later.


The three men will become the second half of the first full, six-personcrew aboard the station when they arrive there at 8:36 a.m. Friday.

The arrival will mark the first time representatives of all the nations and agencies involved in the space station.

"Wewill have Russian and U.S. crew members, but also Japanese, Europeanand Canadian crew members, all together in one single crew, and this isreally the intent of the International Space Station," said De Winne,who will be flying on the Soyuz as a representative of the EuropeanSpace Agency.

The station is a joint venture of the UnitedStates, Russia, Canada, Japan and 11 European nations: Belgium,Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain,Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

kl90

Check Out The Soyuz Launch
A Soyuz spacecraft with a crew that includes a Russian, a Belgian and a Canadian is winging its way to the International Space Station today after launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne and Robert Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency are due to arrive at the outpost early Friday, joining three others already on the station.

The hatch-opening will mark a doubling of the size of the resident crew and the first time that astronauts from each major project partner have been onboard simultaneously.

The Soyuz blasted off from Russia's central Asian spaceport at 6:34 a.m., thundering away from the same pad where first-man-in-space Yuri Gagarin set sail on April 12, 1961.

Check out the a video replay of the launch http://www.floridatoday.com/apps ... videoID=1134323867.

The crew en route to the station includes:

Roman Romanenko
Role: Flight Engineerhttp://www.floridatoday.com/apps ... ;videoID=1134323867
Military rank: Major, Russian Air Force
Age: 37
Hometown: Schelkovo, Moscow Region.
Family: Wife, Yulia; one child.
Education: Graduated from Star City High School in 1986; Leningrad Surorov military school in 1988; graduated as a pilot-engineer from Chernigov High Air Force School in 1992.
Experience: First space flight.
Cool fact: A second-generation cosmonaut, his father is Yuri Romanenko, a veteran Soyuz commander twice named Hero Of The Soviet Union.

Frank De Winne
Role: Flight Engineer/Commander
Military rank: Brigadier General, Belgian Air Component
Age: 48
Hometown: Ghent, Belgium.
Family: Married with three children.
Education: Graduated from Royal School of Cadets in Lier in 1979; Master's degree in telecommunications and civil engineering from Royal Military Academy in Brussels in 1984; Completed the Staff Course at the Defence College in Brussels in 1991; Graduated from Empire Test Pilots School in Boscombe Down, England, 1992.
Experience: Served as a flight engineer on an 11-day round trip to the International Space Station in 2002.
Cool fact: Second Belgian to fly in space (after Dirt Frimout, who flew the STS-45 mission in 1992) Enjoys football, small PC applications, and gastronomy.

Robert "Bob" Brent Thirsk
Role: Flight Engineer
Age: 55
Hometown: New Westminster, British Columbia.
Family: Wife, Brenda; three children.
Education: Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Calgary in 1976; Master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978; Doctorate of Medicine from McGill University in 1982; Master's in business administration, MIT Sloan School of Management in 1998.
Experience: Flew as a payload specialist aboard STS-78 in 1996.
Cool fact: Served as commander of an 11-day NASA undersea mission in 2004 at the National Undersea Research Center in Key Largo.

Awaiting their arrival:

Gennady Padalka
Role: Commander
Military rank: Colonel, Russian Air Force
Age: 50
Hometown: Krasnodar, Russia.
Family: Wife, Irina; three children
Education: Graduated from Eisk Military Aviation College in 1979; attended UNESCO International Center of Instruction Systems, where he was an engineer-ecologist.
Experience: served as commander of Russia's Mir space station from August 1998 through February 1999; commander of the International Space Station, Expedition 9, in 2004.
Cool fact: Enjoys theater, sport parachuting and diving.

Michael Barratt
Role: Flight Engineer
Age: 50
Hometown: Camas, Washington.
Family: Wife, Michelle; five children.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Zoology, University of Washington, 1981; M.D., Northwestern University, 1985. Completed three-year residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University in 1988; completed Chief Residency year at Veterans Administration Lakeside Hospital in Chicago in 1989; completed residency and Master's program in aerospace medicine, Wright State University, 1991.
Experience: First space flight.
Cool fact: Served as lead flight surgeon for the Expedition 1 crew during their training at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

Koichi Wakata
Role: Flight Engineer
Age: 45
Hometown: Saitama, Japan.
Family: Married with one child.
Education: Bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1987, a Master's degree in Applied Mathematics in 1989, and a Doctorate in aerospace engineering in 2004, all from Kyushu University.
Experience: Flew as a mission specialist aboard STS-72 in 1996; flew as a mission specialist on STS-92 in 1996.
Cool fact: The first Japanese astronaut to serve on a resident crew at the International Space Station, Wakata in March tested odor-free underwear designed to kill bacteria, absorb water and dry quickly. Made by researchers at Japan Women's University in Tokyo, they also also are flame-retardent and anti-static.

kl90

Next Mars Rover Named "Curiosity"
No Colbert controversy here.

From more than 9,000 suggestions submitted by students, NASA today announced a new name for its Mars Science Laboratory rover, or MSL, which is targeted for launch in 2011.

The winning name: "Curiosity," proposed by Kansas sixth-grader Clara Ma.

In a recent contest to name the next pressurized module to be delivered to the International Space Station, comedian Stephen Colbert rallied fans to make "Colbert" the top vote-getter in a non-binding poll.

NASA dubbed the former Node 3 module "Tranquility," and named a treadmill for Colbert.

The MSL contest was open to U.S. students age 5 to 18, who had to write an essay - varying in length by grade level - supporting their recommendation. (Read Ma's essay below.)

The other finalists were: Adventure, Amelia, Journey, Perception, Pursuit, Sunrise, Vision and Wonder.

A NASA panel selected Curiosity, taking into consideration another non-binding public poll and suggestions from mission project managers.

For suggesting the winning name, Ma won a trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. She'll be invited to sign her name on the rover as it is assembled, NASA said in a press release.

About the size of a small sport utility vehicle, Curiosity is targeted to launch from Cape Canaveral in 2011 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, and take 10 months to reach Mars.

Expected to cost at least $2.2 billion, the mission will search for evidence of past or present microbial life on the red planet.

Here is Ma's essay, as presented by NASA:

Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone's mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day. Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn't be who we are today. When I was younger, I wondered, 'Why is the sky blue?', 'Why do the stars twinkle?', 'Why am I me?', and I still do. I had so many questions, and America is the place where I want to find my answers. Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope. We have discovered so much about the world, but still so little. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much.

kl90

Endeavour Launch Schedule Tight
NASA still aims to launch shuttle Endeavour June 13, but the schedule leading up to liftoff is very tight and the agency will have just three days in which to launch before delaying until July 12.

Endeavour and seven astronauts remain scheduled to blast off from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A at 7:17 a.m. June 13 on a mission to deliver the final segment of the Japanese Kibo science research facility to the International Space Station.

The shuttle is set to move from pad 39B to pad 39A on Saturday, clearing the way for preparations for the planned Aug. 30 Ares I-X test flight from pad 39B. An on-time roll-around is key to maintaining the June 13 launch date, NASA shuttle program manager John Shannon said today.

"If we are not able to do that roll, that would put our launch date in jeopardy," Shannon said.

In the past week, stormy weather has prompted NASA to delay delivery of Endeavour's payload to the launch pad. NASA also was forced to send Atlantis to a back-up landing site in California as a result of stormy weather.

The forecast from the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron calls for mostly cloudy skies and a 40 percent chance of rain on Saturday morning. Endeavour is scheduled to start rolling off pad 39A at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and arrive on pad 39B six hours later.

NASA would have launch opportunities on June 14 and June 15 before standing down for the June 17 launch of the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The U.S. Air Force Eastern Range, which provides tracking, range safety and weather forecasting services for all launches from KSC and Cape Canaveral, is scheduled to use June 16 as a prep day for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter launch.

The moon mapper and a piggyback payload must be launched on precise trajectory, and that limits launch opportunities to short four-day periods about every two weeks. So NASA might opt to delay the Endeavour flight in order to get the lunar mission under way.

If the lunar mission is delayed for some reason, NASA would have another five launch opportunities -- June 16 through June 20 -- to send up Endeavour before a three-week period during which the shuttle cannot be launched to the station.

The sun angle on the International Space Station during that period would be such that the outpost could not generate enough electrical power or dispel enough heat to support a docked shuttle mission.

In that case, July 12 would be the next opportunity to launch Endeavour.

kl90

Historic Link-Up On Tap At Station
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying half of the International Space Station's first six-person crew will arrive at the outpost early Friday, ushering in a new era of scientific research at the orbiting laboratory.

With Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko at the controls, the Soyuz is scheduled to dock at the station at 8:36 a.m. Flying with Romanenko: Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency and Robert Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency.

Awaiting their arrival: Station skipper Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency, U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt and Koichi Wakata of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Hatches between the station and the Soyuz will swing open at 9:45 a.m., marking the first time all major partners in the $100 billion station project have simultaneously been represented in orbit.

"I think it's a great way to kick off six-person crews," said NASA deputy station program manager Kirk Shireman. "It's a very important day to mark all partners onboard."

You can watch the historic link-up live here in The Flame Trench starting at 8 a.m. Simply click the NASA TV box on the righthand side of this page to launch our NASA TV viewer, and be sure to refresh this page for periodic updates.

The hatch-opening will increase to six the size of resident crews for the first time since the Expedition 1 crew opened the outpost for business in November 2000. The expansion will triple the amount of time available for scientific research at the station.




Now onboard the station (left to right):

Michael Barratt
Role: Flight Engineer
Age: 50
Hometown: Camas, Washington.
Family: Wife, Michelle; five children.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Zoology, University of Washington, 1981; M.D., Northwestern University, 1985. Completed three-year residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University in 1988; completed Chief Residency year at Veterans Administration Lakeside Hospital in Chicago in 1989; completed residency and Master's program in aerospace medicine, Wright State University, 1991.
Experience: First space flight.
Cool fact: Served as lead flight surgeon for the Expedition 1 crew during their training at Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

Gennady Padalka
Role: Commander
Military rank: Colonel, Russian Air Force
Age: 50
Hometown: Krasnodar, Russia.
Family: Wife, Irina; three children
Education: Graduated from Eisk Military Aviation College in 1979; attended UNESCO International Center of Instruction Systems, where he was an engineer-ecologist.
Experience: served as commander of Russia's Mir space station from August 1998 through February 1999; commander of the International Space Station, Expedition 9, in 2004.
Cool fact: Enjoys theater, sport parachuting and diving.

Koichi Wakata
Role: Flight Engineer
Age: 45
Hometown: Saitama, Japan.
Family: Married with one child.
Education: Bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1987, a Master's degree in Applied Mathematics in 1989, and a Doctorate in aerospace engineering in 2004, all from Kyushu University.
Experience: Flew as a mission specialist aboard STS-72 in 1996; flew as a mission specialist on STS-92 in 1996.
Cool fact: The first Japanese astronaut to serve on a resident crew at the International Space Station, Wakata in March tested odor-free underwear designed to kill bacteria, absorb water and dry quickly. Made by researchers at Japan Women's University in Tokyo, they also also are flame-retardent and anti-static.




Arriving at the station (left to right):

Robert "Bob" Brent Thirsk
Role: Flight Engineer
Age: 55
Hometown: New Westminster, British Columbia.
Family: Wife, Brenda; three children.
Education: Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Calgary in 1976; Master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978; Doctorate of Medicine from McGill University in 1982; Master's in business administration, MIT Sloan School of Management in 1998.
Experience: Flew as a payload specialist aboard STS-78 in 1996.
Cool fact: Served as commander of an 11-day NASA undersea mission in 2004 at the National Undersea Research Center in Key Largo.

Frank De Winne
Role: Flight Engineer/Commander
Military rank: Brigadier General, Belgian Air Component
Age: 48
Hometown: Ghent, Belgium.
Family: Married with three children.
Education: Graduated from Royal School of Cadets in Lier in 1979; Master's degree in telecommunications and civil engineering from Royal Military Academy in Brussels in 1984; Completed the Staff Course at the Defence College in Brussels in 1991; Graduated from Empire Test Pilots School in Boscombe Down, England, 1992.
Experience: Served as a flight engineer on an 11-day round trip to the International Space Station in 2002.
Cool fact: Second Belgian to fly in space (after Dirt Frimout, who flew the STS-45 mission in 1992) Enjoys football, small PC applications, and gastronomy.

Roman Romanenko
Role: Flight Engineer
Military rank: Major, Russian Air Force
Age: 37
Hometown: Schelkovo, Moscow Region.
Family: Wife, Yulia; one child.
Education: Graduated from Star City High School in 1986; Leningrad Surorov military school in 1988; graduated as a pilot-engineer from Chernigov High Air Force School in 1992.
Experience: First space flight.
Cool fact: A second-generation cosmonaut, his father is Yuri Romanenko, a veteran Soyuz commander twice named Hero Of The Soviet Union.

[ 本帖最后由 kl90 于 29-5-2009 12:06 PM 编辑 ]

kl90

NASA Snares Soyuz Seats For $306 Million
NASA has inked a $306 million deal with the Russian Federal Space Agency for crew transportation services to the International Space Station in 2012 and 2013.

NASA's shuttle fleet at that point will be retired, so the agency is paying Russia for six seats aboard Soyuz launches to the station, or $51 million per ride.

The firm, fixed-price contract modification covers comprehensive Soyuz support, including all training and preparation for launch, crew rescue, and landing of a long-duration mission for six individual crew members.

The deal calls for seats on Soyuz launches in the spring of 2012 and the fall of that year; landings would take place in the fall of 2012 and the spring of 2013. The contract modification also covers crew post-flight rehabilitation, medical exams and
services.

The astronauts flying on the Soyuz missions will be able to carry a limited amount of cargo: about 110 pounds up to the station and 37 pounds back to Earth. Each crew member also will be allowed to dispose of 66 pounds of trash.

kl90

First Crew Of Six Hooks Up At Station                                          Thesecond half of the International Space Station's first six-person crewarrived at the outpost at 8:34 a.m. as the $100 billion complex and aRussian Soyuz spacecraft linked-up 217 miles above southern China.


"Very good," one of the crew said as contact between the craft was confirmed.

"Excellent," another said.

Thejoined crews now are making certain that docking system hooks andlatches have firmed secured the linked spacecraft and that there is anairtight seal between them.

A post-docking news conference fromthe Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow is coming up, and youcan watch it live in The Flame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box onthe righthand side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer, and besure to refresh this page for periodic updates.


Hatch-opening between the Soyuz and the station is scheduled for 9:45a.m., and a welcome ceremony will take place shortly after that.

Arrivingat the station: Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Belgian astronautFrank De Winne of the European Space Agency and Robert Thirsk of theCanadian Space Agency.

Already onboard the outpost: Russiancosmonaut Gennady Padalka, U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt and KoichiWakata of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

kl90

Six Make History On Space Station                                          Sixastronauts and cosmonauts from five different nations joined to doublethe size of resident crews on the International Space Station today,ushering in a new era that should triple scientific research aboard theoutpost.


With their Soyuz spaceship docked at an Earth-facing port on theRussian section of the station, hatches between the vehicles swung openand the second half of the first six-person resident crew floated intothe outpost.

The hatch-opening also marked the first time allthe major partners in the $100 billion station project were representedaboard the outpost, the assembly of which began in late 1998.

"Itis an historic day. It's also a very happy day up here. You can'timagine the state of elation that the six of us have right now,"Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk said. "We've got incredible potentialfor success here. This is going to something incredible. You ain't seennothing yet."

"I congratulate you allfor taking the dreams of so many and making them reality," said JoelMontalbano, the director of NASA operations in Russia.

Thejoined crew also includes Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and RomanRomanenko; U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt; Belgian astronaut Frank DeWinne and Koichi Wakata of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

"Thisis a wonderful day, and all the partner astronauts are here," Wakatasaid. "This is a wonderful laboratory, the ISS, and it's time toutilize the full capability of this wonderful International SpaceStation."

The newly arrived crew members now are attending a safety briefing and a station orientation.

Thecrew expansion comes more than a decade after the station's first twobuilding blocks were linked in late 1998. The first three-person crewopened the station for business in November 2000, carrying out whatamounted to a six-month shake-down cruise.

The size of residentcrews dropped to two for three years after the 2003 Columbia accident.The move was made to conserve supplies while the shuttle fleet wasgrounded.

The expansion of resident crews to six people isexpected to triple the amount of scientific research that can be doneon the outpost.

kl90

Falcon 9 moves to fall launch                                          SpaceX's planned summer demonstration launch of the first Falcon 9 has slipped to the fall.

Acombination of technical work on the rocket and unfinisheddocumentation for the Air Force, which manages safety on the EasternRange, is causing the delay.

"It's basically dealing with thecomplexities associated with lifting a new rocket off from a new launchsite," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said.

SpaceX's Falcon 9rocket is the nine-engine version of the Falcon I, which failed threetimes before successfully reaching orbit from an island in the centralPacific.

Before the Falcon 9's maiden flight, SpaceX must testthe engines further, integrate them with the rest of the rocket andreturn the components to Cape Canaveral, Shotwell said. The rocket wasassembled at Launch Complex 40 at the Cape and raised for several daysin January.

She added that the company,owned by Internet tycoon Elon Musk, must also produce reams ofdocumentation to satisfy safety requirements for the 45th Space Wing,commanded by Brig. Gen. Edward Bolton, a space operations veteran.

"Thereis a huge amount of documentation that gets passed to the range andlots of meetings, and that process just takes a long time," Shotwellsaid.

Shotwell said that as a commercial launch company, SpaceXhopes to launch quickly after bringing the Falcon 9 to the CapeCanaveral in September or early October. The first flight will be ademonstration without a payload, but SpaceX has a list of customerswaiting for the successful testing of the low-cost rocket.

"We would love to liftoff as quickly as we can thereafter," Shotwell said. "We don't get paid to sit on the ground."Labels: SpaceX

kl90

Shuttle Orbiters On The Move On Both Coasts                                         
Two of NASA's three shuttle orbiters will be onthe move this weekend and the crew for the planned June 13 launch ofEndeavour will be at Kennedy Space Center next week for a practicecountdown.

Now perched on Launch Complex 39B, Endeavour isscheduled to roll off the pad there at 12:01 a.m. Sunday and then makeits way to pad 39A. Total trip time: six or seven hours.

Themove will clear the way for pad 39B modifications required to host theAres I-X test flight, which is slated for launch no earlier than Aug.30.

The Endeavour roll-around is key to keeping NASA on trackfor the planned June 13 launch of a mission to deliver the third andfinal segment of the Kibo science research facility to theInternational Space Station.

Mounted atop a modified 747 jumbojet, Atlantis is tentatively scheduled to depart Edwards Air Force Baseat first light Sunday for the first leg of what is expected to be atwo-day, cross-country ferry flight to KSC.

NASA spokesmanAllard Beutel says the earliest arrival on the Space Coast would beMonday afternoon. Weather permitting, the 747 pilot would have theoption to fly over Space Coast beaches between Patrick Air Force Baseand KSC on the way to NASA's three-mile shuttle runway.

Atlantis and NASA's fifth and final Hubble Space Telescope servicingcrew landed at Edwards last Sunday after three straight days of stormyweather prevented a return to KSC.

The seven astronauts destinedto fly aboard Endeavour will fly to KSC at 3 p.m. next Tuesday to takepart in a two-day practice countdown.

Led by veteran missioncommander Mark Polansky, the crew includes pilot Doug Hurley andmission specialists Dave Wolf, Julie Payette, Chris Cassidy, TomMarshburn and Tim Kopra. Kopra will replace Koichi Wakata on thestation. Wakata will return to Earth aboard Endeavour.

TheEndeavour astronauts will hold an informal Q&A with the media inthe launch pad 39A area at 9:20 a.m. Wednesday. Then on Thursday,they'll don partial-pressure launch-and-entry suits and climb aboardEndeavour for what amounts to a launch-day dress rehearsal.

Thecrew arrival and the media Q&A both will be broadcast live in TheFlame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box at the righthand side of thepage to launch our NASA TV viewer and be sure to refresh the page forperiodic updates.

The dates for the Endeavour roll-around andthe practice countdown both were shifted as part of an attempt toreadjust the schedule for launch preparations and maintain a June 13target launch date.

Labels: Shuttle, STS-125, STS-127

kl90

Shuttle Atlantis Short-Circuit Probe Continues             
                            
NASA is continuing an analysis of a short-circuit that knocked out anelectronics box during the May 11 launch of shuttle Atlantis, but theproblem isn't expected to delay in the upcoming launch of Endeavour.

Endeavourand seven astronauts remain scheduled for launch at 7:17 a.m. June 13on a mission to deliver the third and final section of the JapaneseKibo science research facility to the International Space Station.

NASAengineers and managers, however, are continuing to analyze a shortcircuit that crashed an avionics box that amplifies signals sent to theshuttle's flight control system during atmospheric reentry and landing.

Engineerstoday briefed shuttle program managers on their latest analyses.Telemetry beamed back to Earth during Atlantis' nine-minute climb intoorbit show the short circuit likely came from wiring associated withthe avionics box as opposed to the box itself.

An examination ofthe box and associated wiring in the shuttle's aft engine compartmentwill be a high priority after Atlantis is ferried back to Kennedy SpaceCenter from a back-up landing site at Edwards Air Force Base.Technicians will not be able to access the area until the shuttlereturns to its homeport.

Engineers andmanagers think the problem is specific to Atlantis and that it ishighly unlikely that Endeavour would suffer the same failure. A failurewould cause a loss of redundancy in flight but in and of itself wouldnot be critical.

Atlantis is scheduled to depart Edwards atfirst light Sunday and make a two-day trip back to KSC. A protective,aerodynamic tailcone still must be mounted around the shuttle'sthree-main engines and it is possible that high winds could delay thatwork.

NASA officials say the earliest Atlantis might arrive backat KSC is Monday afternoon. Even in that case, it's unlikely that thefailed electronics box can be removed and tested -- and associatedwiring inspected -- prior to an executive flight readiness review nextWednesday.

NASA managers, however, still could set a firm June13 launch date and press ahead, with launch approval pending on thefinal analyses of the tests and inspections. The subject in that casewould be reviewed at a standard NASA management meeting two days priorto launch.

kl90

Endeavour Move On Tap; Atlantis Ferry On MondayShuttle Endeavour is set to roll to its seaside launch pad at KennedySpace Center overnight while sistership Atlantis is being prepped for across-country ferry flight now slated to begin in California earlyMonday.

Now perched on launch pad 39B, Endeavour is scheduled toroll up onto NASA's twin pad 39A sometime between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. EDTSunday. A call-to-stations in the Launch Control Center is scheduledfor 10 p.m. tonight, and first motion at pad 39B is slated for 12:01a.m.

We're hoping the live video feed above will follow the vehicle to pad 39A.

Themove down and around NASA's river-rock crawlerway will clear the wayfor modifications required to launch the critical Ares I-X test flightoff pad 39B later this year. The first test flight in a series aimed atqualifying the Ares 1 rocket to fly astronauts is scheduled for noearlier than Aug. 30.

It also sets the stage for the arrival atKSC on Tuesday of the seven astronauts who will launch on Endeavour onJune 13 on a mission to deliver the third and final segment of the Kiboscience research facility to the International Space Station.

The astronauts will take part in a two-day practice countdown as well as emergency training on the towering gantry at pad 39A.

Theorbiter Atlantis now is scheduled to depart Edwards Air Force Base inCalifornia at first light Monday on a two-day trip back to its homeporton Florida's Space Coast.


Atlantis landed at the Mojave Desert military base last Sunday, windingup a wildly successful Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Threeconsecutive days of stormy weather in central Florida forced NASA todivert Atlantis and its crew to Runway 22 at Edwards.

Atlantishad been scheduled to depart Edwards Sunday but high winds andthunderstorms stalled prep work for the ferry flight. A protectiveaerodynamic tailcone was mounted around the orbiter's three mainengines. The spaceship is scheduled to be bolted atop the 747 carrieraircraft early Sunday.

The route the 747 will take is still tobe determined. Meteorologists are forecasting dynamic weather acrossboth the southwest and southeast, so exactly when Atlantis will arriveback at KSC is unclear.

NASA doesn't expect the orbiter to beback at KSC before Tuesday afternoon. Weather permitting, the 747 pilotwill have the option of flying Atlantis over Space Coast beachesbetween Patrick Air Force Base and KSC on the last leg of the trip backfrom California.

kl90

Endeavour positioned for June launch

                            
Space shuttle Endeavour is right where it needs to be for a targetedJune 13 liftoff after swapping launch pads today at Kennedy SpaceCenter.

Endeavour was declared "hard down" on launch pad 39Aat 11:42 a.m., more than eight hours after rolling off the neighboringpad 39B to the north at 3:16 a.m.


It was the last time a shuttle would sit on pad 39B, and only the fourth time a shuttle moved between the twin launch sites.

Pad39B is being turned over to NASA's Constellation program, which hopesto launch the first test flight of the agency's next-generation rocketin September.

To launch the Ares I-X test flight, KSC workersmust make significant modifications to the pad that couldn't beginuntil Endeavour moved out of the way.


Endeavour was on the pad because Atlantis' recent mission to the HubbleSpace Telescope needed a shuttle ready to quickly fly a rescue missionif Atlantis sustained serious damage from launch or space debris.

WithAtlantis safely on the ground in California, Endeavour moved 3.4 milesto the primary shuttle launch pad, 39A, where the cargo it will haul tothe International Space Station already awaited.


The payload, including the final components of Japan's Kibo science lab, is scheduled to be installed in Endeavour on Monday.

Endeavour's crew, led by commander Mark Polansky, plans to fly into KSC on Tuesday for three days of countdown practice.

NASAexecutives will gather Wednesday at the spaceport for a flightreadiness review that will set the 16-day mission's official launchdate.


Endeavour has no contingency days available to meet the June 13 target date.

The shuttle must launch by June 15 or wait until at least July 12.

That'sbecause NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite is slated toblast off June 17 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a UnitedLaunch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

And for several weeksafterward, the sun's angle to the space station would not generateenough power to support a shuttle mission there.

kl90

Endeavour positioned for June launch

                            
Space shuttle Endeavour is right where it needs to be for a targetedJune 13 liftoff after swapping launch pads today at Kennedy SpaceCenter.

Endeavour was declared "hard down" on launch pad 39Aat 11:42 a.m., more than eight hours after rolling off the neighboringpad 39B to the north at 3:16 a.m.


It was the last time a shuttle would sit on pad 39B, and only the fourth time a shuttle moved between the twin launch sites.

Pad39B is being turned over to NASA's Constellation program, which hopesto launch the first test flight of the agency's next-generation rocketin September.

To launch the Ares I-X test flight, KSC workersmust make significant modifications to the pad that couldn't beginuntil Endeavour moved out of the way.


Endeavour was on the pad because Atlantis' recent mission to the HubbleSpace Telescope needed a shuttle ready to quickly fly a rescue missionif Atlantis sustained serious damage from launch or space debris.

WithAtlantis safely on the ground in California, Endeavour moved 3.4 milesto the primary shuttle launch pad, 39A, where the cargo it will haul tothe International Space Station already awaited.


The payload, including the final components of Japan's Kibo science lab, is scheduled to be installed in Endeavour on Monday.

Endeavour's crew, led by commander Mark Polansky, plans to fly into KSC on Tuesday for three days of countdown practice.

NASAexecutives will gather Wednesday at the spaceport for a flightreadiness review that will set the 16-day mission's official launchdate.


Endeavour has no contingency days available to meet the June 13 target date.

The shuttle must launch by June 15 or wait until at least July 12.

That'sbecause NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite is slated toblast off June 17 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a UnitedLaunch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

And for several weeksafterward, the sun's angle to the space station would not generateenough power to support a shuttle mission there.

kl90

Atlantis set to take flight early Monday             
                            
The orbiter Atlantis today is being bolted atop a modified 747 jet inpreparation for a pre-sunrise takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base onMonday.

A two-day ferry flight from California is expected tobring Atlantis home to Kennedy Space Center as early as Tuesdayafternoon, depending on weather conditions.

The piggybacked vehicles are expected to depart Edwards at 8:20 a.m. EDT.

A final weather briefing is scheduled for 6:15 a.m. EDT to update conditions and plan the first of several refueling stops.


"We're still looking at various options for what route we'll take," said KSC spokeswoman Tracy Young.

Youngwill be a passenger on a C-9 pathfinder aircraft flying about 100 milesahead of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to scout out weather.

Stops will be disclosed as the 747 and its quarter-million-pound cargo take off from each location.

Thecross-country cruise, flying at altitudes between 10,000 and 16,000feet, could culminate in a swing up the Brevard County coastline ifweather permits and pilots give the OK.

Click here to see an interactive FLORIDA TODAY graphic showing the basics of a ferry flight.

Atlantis and a crew of seven astronauts landed at Edwards on May 24 after several stormy days prevented a return to KSC.

NASAestimates that a California landing adds about $1.8 million to the costof a shuttle mission, mostly in the cost of contractors that musttravel to the Mojave Desert base to prepare the shuttle for a ferryflight.

The shuttle program budgets for the cost but could otherwise apply the money and workers' time to other priorities.

A Tuesday return by Atlantis would make for a busy day at the three-mile Shuttle Landing Facility.

Theseven-person crew for Endeavour's STS-127 mission, which is targeted tolaunch June 13 to the International Space Station, is scheduled toarrive in T-38 jets around 3 p.m. Tuesday for several days ofpre-launch training.

kl90

"Voice Of NASA" Dies In New Mexico At Age 80                                         
This just in from The Associated Press:

Paul Haney, who was known as the "voice of NASA's Mission Control" forhis live televised reports during the early years of the space program,has died of cancer. He was 80.

Haney died Thursday at a nursinghome. Kent House, owner of the Alamogordo Funeral Home, confirmed thatHaney died of complications from melanoma cancer, which spread to hisbrain and was untreatable.

Haney became NASA's informationofficer in 1958, three months after the space agency was formed andwent on to manage information from the Gemini and Apollo flightprograms. He pioneered a real-time system of reporting events as theyhappened in the first manned flight program, Project Mercury.

GeorgeHouse, curator of the New Mexico Museum of Space History, said Haneyhelped work on the museum's oral history program. He also conductedtours of the museum and worked with the museum foundation.

Haney became the public affairs officer for the Office of Manned SpaceFlight in 1962 and moved to Houston to work in what became the JohnsonSpace Center. During his time there, he worked in the Mission ControlCenter, where he broadcast live to television viewers nationwide andmedia covering the launches, and became known as the "voice of NASA'sMission Control."

Haney retired from NASA in 1969 after theApollo 9 mission, and worked in London for Independent Television Newsand The Economist.

The New Mexico Museum of Space History's Web site said Haney "set the standard for all subsequent NASA information efforts."

Haneywas born in 1928 in Akron, Ohio, and earned a journalism degree fromKent State University in 1945. While in college, Haney worked nightsfor The Associated Press.

He also worked at newspapers in Erie,Pa.; Memphis, Tenn.; Charleston, S.C.; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Houstonand El Paso, Texas, and at the Evening Star in Washington, D.C.

Haney served in the Navy for two years during the Korean War.

He is survived by his wife, Jan; two daughters from a previous marriage; a stepson; a sister, and seven grandchildren.

[ 本帖最后由 kl90 于 2-6-2009 11:21 AM 编辑 ]

kl90

Cabana talks about future of KSC
Bob Cabana's worked in some of the coolest job sites NASA can offer.

First and foremost, he was an astronaut, so he's been aboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station.

He worked at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, home base of the astronauts and Mission Control. He served a tour in the leadership ranks at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where NASA test fires the rocket engines of today and tomorrow.

But Cabana has already become a Kennedy Space Center guy. Of course, that's his job as center director. And he hit all the big hometown topics at a breakfast Thursday morning with local community leaders. He tossed out some news, some opinion and some cheerleading during an hour-long speech and question-and-answer session.

Here's what perked my ears:

# The jobs picture is fluid. Cabana says the latest analysis shows a net job loss at KSC of about 4,000 people (slightly higher than last reported) in the transition from the shuttle to a replacement space transportation system. To be clear, that's a net loss. The job losses will be steeper right after the shuttles retire in 2010 or 2011, with new positions being added slowly in the years afterward.

# There are jobs to be gained in the reorganization of NASA, and Cabana aims to take advantage of the need to find efficiency to try to land Kennedy a bigger slice of the pie. For instance, he wants program engineering for the Orion spacecraft sited here, rather than the current situation where shuttle program engineering is in Houston for spaceships based here.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for the sustaining engineering to be here where the vehicle is?" Cabana said.

# A friendly war of words is on for keeping one of the retired shuttle orbiters here on the Space Coast, and Cabana is lending his political might to the fight. The privately-run Visitor Complex just outside the KSC gates is working up plans for displaying Atlantis, Discovery or Endeavour should they best other museums vying for the three orbiters.

Cabana says Florida has home-field advantage. "What the heck? It's sitting out here. How are they going to take it from us? I'm just not going to let it go." To rousing applause, he continued, "Wouldn't it be great to have one of them here, where it all happened?"

# The first test of the new Ares rocket program is on a tight schedule. While program managers tell Cabana the late August target date is achievable, the center director says September is more likely.

# The biggest threat to the new moon program is the budget, Cabana said. KSC alone faces a $26 million budget shortfall next year, prompting center-wide looks at facilities, ways to eliminate duplicated work and other cost-cutting measures. Overall, NASA needs more money to fly out the shuttles' last missions, operate the space station and keep the moon program on track.

# Much is in limbo until President Barack Obama hears back from the blue-ribbon panel he assigned to review NASA's human space flight program. The study was to last 60-90 days, but the members who will serve with chairman Norman Augustine are not all in place and the first meetings are set for mid-June.

Cabana sees signs that the review might prompt adjustments, but is optimistic the White House will not abandon goals of replacing the space shuttles and returning astronauts to the moon.

kl90

Live at NASA: Atlantis en route to Florida
                            
Atlantis and its 747 carrier aircraft lifted off from Edwards Air ForceBase in California at 11:07 a.m. EDT, starting the first leg of aplanned two-day ferry flight home to Kennedy Space Center.

The first and only planned stop for today: Biggs Army Airfield near El Paso, Texas. Landing there is anticipated at 1 p.m. EDT.


NASA says the flight will resume Tuesday, and the orbiter could reach the Space Coast by Tuesday evening if weather permits.

You can track the flight by clicking the aircraft's tail number here: NASA911. And be sure to refresh this page for periodic updates.

And check out this interactive graphic by FLORIDA TODAY's Dennis Lowe to learn the basics of the ferry flight.

Click "Read more" to see additional photos of the takeoff unfolding, and click on the pictures to enlarge them.






















NOTE ON IMAGES:Most of the pictures were captured from NASA TV. The one with betterresolution is courtesy of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center atEdwards Air Force Base.

kl90

First Full Station Crew Calls Outpost "Surreal"             

                            
The International Space Station is plenty big for six people, and lifeaboard the orbiting outpost is almost dreamlike at times, crewmemberssaid today.

"Believe me, this is a surreal world here. Isometimes feel like I'm in the middle of a Salvador Dali paintinghere," Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk said in aspace-to-ground news conference.

"My greatest fear? You know,astronauts always have fear of injury or death, but our greatest fearis of making a mistake. So I just hope I can get through this sixmonths without making any serious mistakes."

Thirsk arrived at the station last Friday with Russian cosmonaut RomanRomanenko and Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne of the European SpaceAgency, forming the second half of the station's first six-person crew.

Thethree joined Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, U.S. astronaut MichaelBarratt and Koichi Wakata of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency,marking the first time representatives of all major project partnershave been onboard.

The $100 billion station is a joint projectof the U.S., Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan. The first two buildingblocks were linked in low Earth orbit in late 1998 and the firstexpedition crew boarded the outpost in November 2000.

Thelong-awaited doubling of resident crews is expected to triple theamount of time that can be devoted to scientific research on thestation. Organizing all the work is a job itself.

"It's a littlelike herding cats for Gennady, trying to get us all organized andgetting us to all to accomplish our tasks in a day," Thirsk said. "Thelearning curve is steep. We've been here five days now and I thinkwe've learned an awful lot, so the working efficiency is coming."

A married father of five, Barratt said he is used to a crowd.

"Well,for me personally, I feel very much at home. I come from a large familyand I'm used to a lot of activity and busyness and a lot of laughter,and we certainly have that now with these guys coming," Barratt said.

ShuttleEndeavour and seven more astronauts are scheduled to launch June 13 ona mission to deliver the third and final segment of the Japanese Kiboscience research facility -- the largest lab at the outpost.

The arrival of the Endeavour crew will mark the first time 13 people have been at the station simultaneously.

"Uphere, the station is very large, and six people still don't quite fillit. It's a very comfortable venue for six people," Barratt said.

"With13 people up here, it'll be a challenge. Of course, we'll have theadded volume of the shuttle added to the stack and it will be a massivestack. But it will be busy and there will be a lot of coordination, alot of activity and a lot of patience but these are the guys to dothat."

The Endeavour crew is headed by mission commander Mark"Roman" Polansky and includes pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialistsDave Wolf, Chris Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Julie Payette ofthe Canadian Space Agency.

Payette and Thirsk will be the first two Canadians to be in space simultaneously.

Asit stands, Endeavour is due to dock at the station on June 15 anddepart on June 26. The 16-day flight will be the longest shuttlemission to the station. The outpost will be 85 percent complete whenthe astronauts head for a June 29 landing at Kennedy Space Center.