Discovery Blasts Off One Last Time

Nearly everyone has seen a shuttle launch, on cable or regular television sometime during the last 30 years. While the program, with its successes and failures, has to many become routine, launches over the years remain a symbol of hope and pride to the American public.

The announcement last summer that the shuttle program will be ending has put a question mark on America's manned space program.

The shuttle Discovery was scheduled to launch in November, but due to a myriad of technical issues, was not launched until this past Thursday, Feb. 24.

In attendance for the historic launch were John and Susie Galer of Hillsboro, publishers of The Journal-News.

The six man crew, plus one robot, is delivering a permanent Multipurpose Module to the International Space Station. The PMM will provide additional storage for the station crew and experiments in physics, materials science biology and biotechnology.

Discovery also carries critical spare components and the Express Logistics Carrier 4 to the station. The Express is an external platform which can hold large equipment and can only be transported using the shuttle's unique large load capability.

The STS-133 mission will also feature two space walks for maintenance and installation of new components.

The Launch

There were perfect launch conditions last Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center, and the launch being Discovery's last brought thousands of media and visitors to the center, located in Cape Canaveral, FL.

Liftoff was scheduled for 4:50 p.m. EST, but the launch control was on a five minute hold because of a safety issue on the range.

At 4:48, the hold was released and the countdown started. A three minute window was allotted for Discovery's launch. It had to takeoff by 4:53 p.m. or the crew would get to start over again on Friday.

The launch team succeeded with only two seconds to spare, overcoming a technical glitch.

Watching a shuttle launch on TV, is always exciting, but nothing compares to being on the Complex 39 Press Area just three miles from the launching site.

The scenes on TV or reading about it the next day in a newspaper don't begin to give you an adequate feeling of the event.

At first as the launch starts, steam rises from under the shuttle launch tower. Water used as a sound and vibration buffer pours out when the three shuttle engines are first ignited and turns instantly to steam about two seconds prior to liftoff.

The firing of the two solid rocket boosters initiates Discovery's climb off the pad, and visually smoke and huge orange flames engulf the tower.

From our vantage, three miles from the launch pad, we watch as Discovery slowly clears the tower and starts a rotation which directs all five motors back our way. There still is no sound but the rockets burn is one of the brightest lights you can see without looking away. It is unbelievably bright.

The launch is only a few seconds under way. The crowd is silent, awestruck at the amazing display.

About 15 seconds into the launch from our vantage point, still in total silence, you begin to feel a vibration, as your pants and shirt sleeves seem to vibrate, you feel the power first. Then slowly the sound arrives, first a couple of sharp clicks, these are the ignition of the main shuttle engines, which were started prior to liftoff and created the initial steam.

Next comes the growing roar of the solid rocket boosters as they ignite for liftoff. The sound grows a little, but after the shuttle's turn, with all five rocket motors facing you, the sound grows and grows. It is incredible, to feel and hear the power of this launch and to be close to the drama of sending six crew men into space.

Visually you can see Discovery through the first four minutes of the flight. The solid rocket booster's separation is also visible. In less than seven minutes Discovery was in orbit for its 11-day mission.

Discovery's History

Discovery flew its maiden voyage in 1984, and will be retired after this flight. It flew the return to flight missions in 1988 following the loss of Challenger and again in 2005 after the loss of Columbia. It launched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, and Senator and former astronaut John Glenn flew onboard in 1998.

With this trip, Discovery will have flown in space 39 times more than any other shuttle.

Loss of the program will mean a loss of nearly 9,000 jobs for the space program. But there is current optimism at NASA, that the manned space program will adapt as private business is given the chance to fill the need in manned space flight.

Source:http://www.thejournal-news.net/articles/2011/02/28/news/news01.txt

Discovery set for final mission

CAPE CANAVERAL - After a four-month delay, space shuttle Discovery is just hours away from blasting off on its final mission ever.

NASA's most experienced orbiter – and the most-flown spacecraft ever – is set for launch at 4:50 p.m. on a resupply mission to the international space station. Among the crew of six is Clearwater's Nicole Stott, making her second spaceflight.

Discovery was supposed to make this flight last October, but a fuel leak forced a delay during which cracks in the shuttle's giant fuel tank were found. An extensive analysis led to a series of repairs that wrapped around the entire circumference of the tank.

With beefed-up supports on the tank, Discovery rolled back out to the seaside launch pad last month and has enjoyed a smooth countdown so far.

Forecasters expect this week's good weather to continue. There is now a 90-percent chance of acceptable conditions for launch, with low clouds and a stray shower being the only real concern.

But even if the weather is perfect, Discovery's launch will still hinge on the successful docking of a European cargo carrier that launched last week. The unmanned freighter is scheduled to link up with the station just six hours before the shuttle's launch; should anything go wrong, Discovery may have to stand down.

Source:http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/scitech/space/discovery-set-for-final-mission-022411

NASA studying request to combine Dragon test flights

NASA is reviewing data from SpaceX's historic December demo mission of the Dragon capsule before approving the company's request to send its next test flight all the way to the International Space Station.

SpaceX displayed the Dragon capsule in Washington last week. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

Agency and company officials say the Dec. 8 orbital test of the Dragon spacecraft was successful. NASA has already paid a $5 million award for the milestone under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program, an agreement between the agency and firms developing resupply vehicles for the space station.

But NASA officials aren't quite ready to honor SpaceX's public request to combine its next two test flights into a single action-packed mission in July to prove the Dragon's ability to service the space station.

"There were a number of observations tracked during the flight that need to be resolved before the next one," said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA's commercial crew and cargo program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Nothing major, but certainly things that need to be addressed before SpaceX attempts the next demonstration flight."

Lindenmoyer said NASA and SpaceX are studying data from the mission in a process leading up to a flight readiness review before the next launch.

"There was nothing significant I think would hold up the next flight," Lindenmoyer said. "It's just a matter of routine engineering analysis that has to be done to correct those observations."

NASA has also asked SpaceX to submit a proposal to the agency verifying the spacecraft's ability to accomplish objectives of the second and third demonstration flights originally laid out several years ago.

"We've asked a number of technical questions," Lindenmoyer said. "Do they have the propellant performance, the margin, the capabilities, the timeline and the training? There are a lot of things that have to be done because this will be an extended mission. You have to accomplish all the objectives of the second flight. It involves breakout maneuvers, multiple approaches to the station, things that are normally done on any first flight of a new vehicle to the station."

The COTS plan calls for a second Dragon test flight to rendezvous with the space station before backing away. A third demo mission was supposed to proceed within about 30 feet of the complex, close enough for the station's robot arm to grapple the craft and attach it to one of the lab's berthing ports.

SpaceX wants to consolidate the two flights and fly the next mission to a berthing on the complex. The company says an all-in-one flight would accelerate SpaceX's 12 operational space station resupply missions under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.

Combining the missions would require the Dragon to achieve the goals of both flights, including fuel-burning abort and retreat tests and extensive thruster firings. If the spacecraft is healthy and still has enough propellant, mission controllers could send the capsule closer to the space station for berthing.

The space agency expects final documentation from SpaceX in the "coming weeks," then NASA will be ready to decide on the flight test program.

"Is it technically possible? Are the crews properly trained? It spans different increment crews on-orbit, so that's a factor," Lindenmoyer said. "We had been planning for a longer period, and now we have to see if all of that planning can be done. Those are the things we're looking at right now."

Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, told Spaceflight Now last week there is not "any major question that Dragon can combine both missions."

NASA and SpaceX officials would not disclose what issues were observed during the Dragon test flight, which orbited Earth twice after launching on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The 9.5-foot-tall capsule splashed down under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean.

The growing space contractor is in the final stages of testing its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule for unmanned cargo delivery missions to the space station.

SpaceX expects to introduce solar panels, cargo racks, rendezvous sensors and a berthing mechanism on the next Dragon mission. None of

SpaceX displayed the Dragon capsule in Washington last week. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now

Agency and company officials say the Dec. 8 orbital test of the Dragon spacecraft was successful. NASA has already paid a $5 million award for the milestone under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program, an agreement between the agency and firms developing resupply vehicles for the space station.

But NASA officials aren't quite ready to honor SpaceX's public request to combine its next two test flights into a single action-packed mission in July to prove the Dragon's ability to service the space station.

"There were a number of observations tracked during the flight that need to be resolved before the next one," said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA's commercial crew and cargo program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Nothing major, but certainly things that need to be addressed before SpaceX attempts the next demonstration flight."

Lindenmoyer said NASA and SpaceX are studying data from the mission in a process leading up to a flight readiness review before the next launch.

"There was nothing significant I think would hold up the next flight," Lindenmoyer said. "It's just a matter of routine engineering analysis that has to be done to correct those observations."

NASA has also asked SpaceX to submit a proposal to the agency verifying the spacecraft's ability to accomplish objectives of the second and third demonstration flights originally laid out several years ago.

"We've asked a number of technical questions," Lindenmoyer said. "Do they have the propellant performance, the margin, the capabilities, the timeline and the training? There are a lot of things that have to be done because this will be an extended mission. You have to accomplish all the objectives of the second flight. It involves breakout maneuvers, multiple approaches to the station, things that are normally done on any first flight of a new vehicle to the station."

The COTS plan calls for a second Dragon test flight to rendezvous with the space station before backing away. A third demo mission was supposed to proceed within about 30 feet of the complex, close enough for the station's robot arm to grapple the craft and attach it to one of the lab's berthing ports.

SpaceX wants to consolidate the two flights and fly the next mission to a berthing on the complex. The company says an all-in-one flight would accelerate SpaceX's 12 operational space station resupply missions under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA.

Combining the missions would require the Dragon to achieve the goals of both flights, including fuel-burning abort and retreat tests and extensive thruster firings. If the spacecraft is healthy and still has enough propellant, mission controllers could send the capsule closer to the space station for berthing.

The space agency expects final documentation from SpaceX in the "coming weeks," then NASA will be ready to decide on the flight test program.

"Is it technically possible? Are the crews properly trained? It spans different increment crews on-orbit, so that's a factor," Lindenmoyer said. "We had been planning for a longer period, and now we have to see if all of that planning can be done. Those are the things we're looking at right now."

Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, told Spaceflight Now last week there is not "any major question that Dragon can combine both missions."

NASA and SpaceX officials would not disclose what issues were observed during the Dragon test flight, which orbited Earth twice after launching on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The 9.5-foot-tall capsule splashed down under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean.

The growing space contractor is in the final stages of testing its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule for unmanned cargo delivery missions to the space station.

SpaceX expects to introduce solar panels, cargo racks, rendezvous sensors and a berthing mechanism on the next Dragon mission. None of those systems flew on the December flight.

"This hardware is almost through qualification and should be complete no later than June," said Kirstin Brost, a SpaceX spokesperson. "Then Dragon will go through a series of virtual mission simulations with flight hardware in the loop. SpaceX will be ready to launch this summer, pending final approval from NASA's space station safety review board."

SpaceX has invested about $600 million in the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, according to Tim Hughes, the company's vice president and general counsel.

Musk says it will cost about $1 billion to modify and test the Dragon capsule for astronaut crews.

Human missions could begin in about three years, assuming SpaceX receives a NASA contract soon, according to SpaceX officials. those systems flew on the December flight.

"This hardware is almost through qualification and should be complete no later than June," said Kirstin Brost, a SpaceX spokesperson. "Then Dragon will go through a series of virtual mission simulations with flight hardware in the loop. SpaceX will be ready to launch this summer, pending final approval from NASA's space station safety review board."

SpaceX has invested about $600 million in the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, according to Tim Hughes, the company's vice president and general counsel.

Musk says it will cost about $1 billion to modify and test the Dragon capsule for astronaut crews.

Human missions could begin in about three years, assuming SpaceX receives a NASA contract soon, according to SpaceX officials.

NASA astronaut hopes to stage ‘out of this world’ concert

London, Feb 11: A NASA astronaut is hoping to stage a concert that is literally out of this world, and plans on doing it with the help of Irish band The Chieftains and British band Jethro Tull.

Astronaut Catherine Coleman said she prefers to create music with other people, but unfortunately she is the only flautist among the six aboard the International Space Station.

Coleman, who said she enjoyed creating her “own little world” with music, has now decided to put flute music on in the background, and play along before she returns to Earth in May.

She blasted off Kazakhstan in December for a six-month period orbiting the earth, and she took along a priceless Irish concert flute, given to her by a man who is considered to be a star himself by traditional music lovers.

Chieftains’ flute-player Matt Molloy met the NASA astronaut, nicknamed Cady, more than 10 years ago after playing at a concert in Houston, Texas, and after the gig, they took part as usual in a session with local musicians.

“It transpired that Cady played the flute, and we have been friends ever since,” the BBC quoted him as saying.

About Alien's life?

At least not at the planetary level. But whether there are intelligent beings on other planets remains one of humanity’s great unanswered questions.

The issue of life elsewhere in the cosmos captured new attention when NASA revealed some of the latest findings from its Kepler telescope. Launched in 2009, Kepler’s focus has been to seek out planetary systems elsewhere in the galaxy.

And it has been remarkably successful, more so than many astronomers ever expected. NASA announced recently that more than 1,200 possible planets have been discovered to date — 54 of which are at a distance from their suns that make them candidates for hosting life.

Eventually, and probably soon, scientists expect to identify specific Earth-sized planets. But that’s just a first step. Determining whether such planets host life will be a more difficult matter to resolve.

And if intelligent life is found elsewhere, then what? From a practical standpoint, communications between planets is improbable, because of the years it would take for even basic messages to transmit. Actual travel to these planets is even less feasible.

GM and NASA’s R2 humanoid robot to debut on Super Bowl Sunday

On Sunday, millions of viewers across the globe will be able to watch the television debut of GM's and NASA's dexterous humanoid robot called Robonaut 2 or R2 during the Super Bowl pre-game show on Fox network.

R2 has been developed by NASA and General Motors via a Space Act Agreement using the latest technology after its predecessor Robonaut 1. Due to edge control, sensor and vision technologies installed, these futuristic humanoid robots are capable of working side-by-side with people, helping astronauts during hazardous space missions and helping GM build safer cars and plants.

The new robot has significant technical developments over its predecessor with around 4 times faster speed range. The advanced technology spanning the model includes optimized overlapping dual arm dexterous workspace, extended finger and thumb travel, redundant force sensing, series elastic joint technology, miniaturized 6-axis load cells, ultra-high speed joint controllers, extreme neck travel, and high resolution camera and IR systems.

Both GM and NASA have developed the current iteration of Robonaut taking the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston. R2 will initially be operated inside the Destiny laboratory for operational testing, but over time its applications are likely to expand.

Gas Leak Forces NASA Evacuation

A day after the Space Shuttle Discovery reached its launch pad, a gas leak early this morning forced NASA to evacuate hundreds of people from several Kennedy Space Center buildings, according to the AP.

NASA spokesman Allard Beutel told the AP that the leak occurred when a backhoe struck a natural gas line. There were no injuries or damages and NASA staff have since returned to work.

After the leak was discovered, workers were evacuated from several key facilities, including the Orbiter Processing Facilities, hangars housing the space shuttles Atlantis and Endeavor. While crews are currently repairing the natural gas line, it's unclear whether the incident will impact the scheduled February 24 launch date.

This isn't the first time a gas leak has stymied the Discovery. In November, hydrogen gas leaks—alongside inopportune weather—delayed the launch. Cracks in the shuttle's external fuel tank pushed liftoff into the New Year, with a target February 3 launch. By early January, however, the date moved again as NASA reported that crack repairs, modifications, and checks had moved launch to February 24.

The troubles haven't just been technical, either. On January 20 astronaut Tim Kopra took a spill on a weekend biking jaunt, requiring astronaut Steve Bowe to step in as his replacement. If the past several months are any indication, Kopra will have ample time to recover before Discovery discovers anything other than its launch pad.

Last week NASA marked the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger disaster. The final mission, the 135th launch of the Atlantis Shuttle, is set for June 28—this year or next.

Shuttle Discovery returns to launch pad after tank repairs

 With repairs to its external tank complete, engineers began hauling the shuttle Discovery back to launch pad 39A Monday evening for work to ready the ship for blastoff Feb. 24 on a flight to deliver critical spare parts, supplies and a final U.S. module to the International Space Station.

Carried by a powerful crawler-transporter, Discovery and its mobile launch platform began slowly rolling out of NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building at 7:58 p.m. EST, witnessed by scores of Kennedy Space Center workers who gathered nearby to watch what is expected to be Discovery's final trip to the pad. The shuttle reached the launch complex and was secured at 2:53 a.m. Tuesday.

"I have full confidence we've done everything we need to do on that tank," Stephanie Stilson, the engineer in charge of Discovery's ground processing, told CBS News. "Seeing those guys work and knowing how hard they worked to do the modifications, I have confidence in the way the shuttle program works and the fact that they're always investigating and asking more questions, more so than I've ever heard in the past."

Shuttle program managers plan to conduct a flight readiness review Feb. 10, followed by an executive-level review by senior NASA managers Feb. 18. Assuming no additional problems develop, the agency hopes to restart Discovery's countdown at 3 p.m. Feb. 21, setting the stage for launch Feb. 24 at 4:50:19 p.m.

NASA originally hoped to launch Discovery on its 39th and final flight Nov. 1, but the mission was repeatedly delayed, first by relatively minor technical problems that pushed launch to Nov. 5 and then by a gaseous hydrogen leak in a vent arm attached to the external tank.

The hydrogen leak was quickly resolved, but engineers also discovered cracks in structural rib-like "stringers" in the shuttle's external tank that triggered what turned into a nearly four-month delay.

The stringers are used in the ribbed "intertank" compartment of the external tank that separates the liquid oxygen and hydrogen sections. Engineers initially found four stress-relief fractures in two adjacent stringers on the side of the tank facing the shuttle that apparently were the result of exposure to the extreme low temperature -- minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit -- of liquid oxygen.

Engineers repaired those cracks at the pad by splicing in pristine stringer segments and attaching "doublers" to provide additional strength.

After an instrumented fueling test Dec. 18, Discovery was hauled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for X-ray inspections of the backside of the tank, which engineers could not carry out at the pad. Additional cracks were found in three stringers, prompting NASA managers to order installation of "radius-block" doublers on most of the remaining intertank stringers.

A detailed analysis of the cracks found to that point indicated manufacturing tolerance issues and problems with a specific batch of aluminum-lithium alloy used in most of the 108 intertank stringers that left them more brittle than usual and more susceptible to stress-relief fractures.

Testing showed the radius-block modifications would provide the required margin of safety, easing concerns about the tank's structural integrity and the possible loss of foam insulation during the climb out of the dense lower atmosphere that could pose a threat to the shuttle's fragile heat shield.

When all was said and done, the five cracked stringers were repaired using a combination of doublers and radius blocks and 94 were modified with radius blocks alone. Nine stringers were not modified, one because of access issues and eight others because they were made from a different lot of aluminum-lithium alloy.

As if the crack problem wasn't enough of a headache for NASA, one of Discovery's crew members -- flight engineer Timothy Kopra -- was injured in a bicycle mishap in Houston Jan. 15. He was replaced by veteran astronaut Stephen Bowen, who will take Kopra's place in two planned space walks.

Bowen and his crewmates -- commander Steven Lindsey, pilot Eric Boe, Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt and spacewalker Alvin Drew -- plan to fly to the Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 20 for the start of their countdown to launch.