Space Shuttle Endeavour astronauts are inspecting their ship for damage after cameras caught a mysterious piece of debris that might have struck the shuttle’s nose 10 seconds after launch, AFP reports.
“It looks like it’s not coming from the orbiter, and you can’t really tell if it strikes the orbiter or not,” Flight Director Mike Moses said. “I can’t even begin to speculate on what it could be.”
The Orlando Sentinel has a story about the challenges faced by Florida’s Space Coast with the wind down of the shuttle program and potentially long gap before the Constellation program replaces it.
“According to Washington insiders, NASA — which until now has refrained from putting numbers on work-force losses — will announce in two weeks that 4,000 jobs will disappear with the shuttle in 2010,” the paper reports. “Experts anticipate another few thousand associated jobs will follow suit.”
The new Constellation program will require far fewer jobs than the space shuttle. In addition, Florida also is facing competition from Virginia, Texas and other states and countries.
The Ariane 5 lifted off successfully at 04:03 UT Sunday from the European Spaceport in French Guiana carrying ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle. The robotic spacecraft, dubbed Jules Verne, is bound for the International Space Station to deliver 7 metric tons of equipment and supplies.
The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with ISS several weeks from now after the space shuttle Endeavour completes its construction mission. Endeavour is schedule for launch on March 11 and is schedule to stay 16 days at the station.
ATV will conduct system checks for several weeks, including two approaches to the orbital outpost as well as “escape” maneuvers to back away from the station. The tests are designed to verify software and prevent any collision with ISS.
“The two approach tests will give ESA, NASA and Rocket Space Corp. Energia time to critically examine the performance of ATV’s systems,” said Brian Smith, NASA’s lead ATV flight director. “ATV must pass these tests before it will be allowed to initiate the final rendezvous and docking. The tests have been designed to verify the systems vital to ensuring the safety of the ISS and its crew perform as expected.”
NASA will be using space shuttle ceramic tiles on its new Orion spacecraft in order to save weight, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The newspaper reports that NASA originally wanted to use a “Frisbee-shaped disc of a material called PICA as Orion’s main heat shield.” However, serious thrust issues with the Ares I rocket have required engineers to go with the lightweight tiles to reduce the capsule’s weight. Officials say the tiles are safe and their use on Orion is not likely to lead to a Columbia-type accident.
“The tiles were available,” said Cleon Lacefield, who is Orion program manager for Lockheed Martin. “They gave us the heat protection we needed, and the newer generation is very tough. They increased the damage tolerance over other alternatives we were looking at.”
The continued use of the tiles will save a handful of the hundreds of tile technician jobs that now exist to service the much larger space shuttle, which is scheduled for retirement in 2010. As few of 10 tile technicians will remain. Overall, the end of the shuttle program will likely take about 5,000 jobs with it.
New space shuttle manager John Shannon said NASA should not extend operations of the vehicle beyond its planned retirement date in 2010, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Although the shuttle is an “awesome” spacecraft, it is also aging and flawed.
“I should not have to go inspect my vehicle after ascent to make sure I survived my ascent environment,” Shannon said. “Its flexibility makes it unparalleled in building a space station, but once that is complete the shuttle has completed its mission and it’s time to move on.”
Worried about a potential five-year gap in flight operations between the end of shuttle and the start of Constellation operations, some groups are advocating extending the life of the shuttle program. Florida Congressmen Dave Weldon wants to fly a limited number of additional flights to resupply the International Space Station and to bring Constellation online earlier.
When the space shuttle Endeavour lifts off next week, it will carry the first part of a sophisticated Japanese module as well as a Canadian robot to the International Space Station.
Japanese astronaut Takao Doi will help set up the Kibo, a storage module that is the first of three components of the Japanese Hope laboratory. The 4-meter (14-foot) long Kibo is built to fit eight racks of equipment.
“It may feel a little bit small inside,” Doi said. “It’s a little bit bigger than a [small] walk-in closet.”
The seven-member crew also will deliver the Canadian Space Agency’s Dextre robot, which astronauts will use for maintenance purposes on the exterior of the space station. Astronauts inside the station or on the ground will be able to use the robot for routine tasks now done during spacewalks.
MSNBC has more information about Kibo, Dextre and the flight here and here.
With the retirement of the space shuttle only 2 1/2 years away, NASA officials and Congressional representatives are increasingly worried about a possible five-year gap in flight operations until a successor vehicle can take over.
In Congressional testimony, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, who has lead the agency since 2005, referred to the gap as his “greatest regret and greatest concern….We will be largely dependent on the Russians, and that is terrible place for the United States to be. I’m worried, and many others are worried.”
NASA will not be able to independently reach a space station it has spent 25 years building. Instead, the space agency will be dependent upon Russian Soyuz spacecraft until it can bring its Ares/Orion system online around 2015.
Continue reading ‘Shuttle Gap Raises Concerns on Capitol Hill’
NASA plans to launch the space shuttle Endeavour on a 16-day mission to deliver a Japanese logistics module and a new Canadian robot to the International Space Station.
The space shuttle, set for launch on March 11, would stay at the orbital outpost for 12 days, exceeding the old record by one day. Astronauts plan to conduct five spacewalks during the mission.
NASA has official news, information and updates about the mission here. There are also profiles of Endeavour Commander Dominic Goriehere and here.
Thousands of people could lose their jobs as NASA transitions from the space shuttle to its new Ares/Orion system beginning in 2010, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin warned this week.
“Our new systems will require and should require fewer people to operate the shuttle which is an expensive system,” Griffin said.
Indian Millionaut Honored with Award of Excellence
Prospective Indian space tourist feted
Gulf Times
The man who is set to be India’s first space tourist has been honoured at a Doha ceremony. Santhosh George Kulangara was given an “award of excellence” at the function organised by the Confederation of Alumni Associations of Kerala (Caak) at the Indian Cultural Centre on Thursday.
Kulangara, a publisher, innovative photographer and [...]
Anousheh Ansari Inspires Students in Abu Dhabi
Space Traveler, entrepreneur visits ADWC
AMEInfo
An immigrant to the U.S. from Iran, Anousheh Ansari is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Prodea Systems, an IT company. Her previous technology company, founded with her husband, was sold in 2001 for over $700m. Besides her IT and business achievements, Ms. Ansari is only the fourth private space [...]
Abu Dhabi Space Tourism Confab Wraps Up
Middle East first off the mark in quest for space-related commercial opportunities
Business Intelligence Middle East
“The Middle East’s first Global Space Technology Forum drew towards a successful conclusion in Abu Dhabi today with world renowned space experts examining space policies and strategies for the region, and emerging commercial opportunities.”
Launched at a time the Middle East is [...]
Russian Space Tourist Left Behind as Kazakh Takes His Soyuz Seat
Kazakh astronaut to fly to ISS, Russian hopeful grounded
RIA Novesti
A Kazakh national will fly to the International Space Station in October 2009, a spokesman for the Kazakh National Space Agency said on Thursday. Talgat Musabayev said the Kazakh cosmonaut would fly to the “Russian segment” of the ISS, adding however, that “the financial components of [...]
NASA Raids Science Budgets to Study Launching Science Experiments on Tourism Vehicles
NASA to Study Potential of Piloted Suborbital Flight
Space News
“NASA intends to spend up to $400,000 in 2009 studying whether piloted suborbital spacecraft under development by Virgin Galactic and others have the potential to be useful for scientific research….
“[Ed] Weiler said NASA got a poor response to an unfunded request for information (RFI) it put out [...]
NASA: Off-Shore Drilling Could Interfere with Launches from Wallops
Drilling Offshore Virginia May Hurt Launches
Dow Jones Newswire
“The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is protesting a proposal to lease offshore Virginia for oil and natural gas development over concerns that drilling would interfere with rockets’ flight patterns.
“NASA fears that giant platforms would interfere with low-altitude suborbital rockets or make missile launchings from its Wallops Flight [...]
