2010-04-30

Hubble Reaches 20

The Hubble Space Telescope reached a milestone last week, celebrating 20 years in orbit providing stunning images of the universe. To mark the occasion NASA released this cool video summarizing its achievements.



Enjoy!

SpaceHead
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2010-04-26

Lookout - Boobquake!

Monday, April 26th 2010. Today is Boobquake day! Participating women around the world will be wearing something revealing of the, erm, 'upper' private regions of the female form.

So, now Spacers is a smut site?
No such luck! It's just a bit of fun aimed at making a very valid scientific point - women wearing revealing clothing does not cause earthquakes. Spacers is a blog about space, so I'm not going to go into too much of the religious details, but essentially an Iranian cleric attributed what was mistakenly seen as an increase in recent earthquake activity to a deity being angry about the amount of cleavage shown by women in public. Renowned internet blogger and skeptic, Blag Hag, picked up on the story and declared today as Boobquake day - a day in which women would attempt to either prove or disprove the angry deity theory by increasing the amount of exposed female flesh and see what happens.

The source of earthquakes is revealed

So, there's some serious stuff too, right?
Of course there is. Spacers has reported before on how the frequency of earthquakes around the world is under-reported. Understandably the earthquakes that make the news are the big ones, the death and destruction causing monster quakes that devastate entire cities and communities. These are very serious incidents that are worthy of the reporting they get, and indeed of the attention and disaster relief that those communities receive afterward. The science of earthquakes is very well understood and the instances are readily available - just add the earthquake layer to Google Earth - under the "Places of Interest" layer folder there is a folder called "Geographic Features" and under that layer is an "Earthquake" layer.

There are sometimes hundreds of earthquakes every day, most of them are minor, but on occasion there is a major devastating quake. There is nothing to be gained from claiming that a deity is in some way responsible for an increase in earthquakes, it's simply untrue. The tectonic plates are constantly shifting, very slowly around the globe, driven by the heated molten core of the planet. As the plates slowly collide pressure is built up, and when that pressure is inevitably released we get an earthquake at the point where it happened. It's as simple as that.

The earth reveals its cleavage

Around the world we see patterns of earthquakes. The Pacific rim itself is an area of activity that has been coined the "Ring Of Fire" due to the clearly visible circular pattern of volcanic and seismic activity. There are also areas of land that are virtually isolated from such activity and almost never see an earthquake. We can't predict the exact moment or location of a quake, but we can monitor the buildup of pressure at known active areas and warn of potential occurrences.

What we can't do is use the amount of exposed female breast flesh as a guide to how angry a deity is and guess where that deity will send the next earthquake. Even if there is a deity it would be a futile exercise to express your anger in such a way. How would we know for sure that boobs are the reason? Well, Boobquake, of course!

Support Boobquake today by revealing as much cleavage as you dare - and there is no reason the men can't participate too.

SpaceHead
Image credit: Dune911, US Geological Survey
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2010-04-20

STS-131: Discovery Lands!

Space Shuttle Discovery has made its penultimate landing early this morning in a picture perfect scene. Turn the volume up for the twin sonic booms at 2:59. Enjoy!



SpaceHead

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2010-04-19

STS-131: Flight Day 14 Highlights

Monday weather was just too severe, so it looks like Tuesday morning landing for Discovery on her final mission. Catch up with the highlights here.



SpaceHead
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2010-04-18

STS-131: Flight Day 12 and 13 Highlights

With a small chance of rain and no threat posed by the dust plume from Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, Discovery's crew is planning for a Monday morning return to Earth. Catch up with a couple of Flight Day highlights.

Flight Day 12


Flight Day 13


SpaceHead
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2010-04-17

Obama Gives NASA Bold New Policy

President Obama paid a visit to the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday to outline his bold new vision for the future of NASA. Still reeling from the cancellation of the Constellation program and the loss of some sense of direction that resulted, NASA has been hoping for some good news as it grows painfully close to losing its primary human spaceflight option, the Space Shuttle. I reported back in February that I had mixed feelings about the cancellation, but my feelings now are alleviated somewhat as it is clear that the Obama administration is serious about the exploration of space.

At the forefront of the new policy is an increase in funding - a very, very much welcome $6 Billion increase above and beyond any increase to date. Although still a very small national expense compared to the likes of military spending, NASA has suffered through the curse of underfunding pretty much throughout its post Apollo years. This increase goes a long way to addressing that discrepancy. It paves the way for a new heavy lifting platform to be developed, for an increase in Earth observation and climate sciences, and to develop manned missions to destinations such as asteroids and Mars. Human spaceflight may take a little longer now, but it was given a shot in the arm for sure.

President Bush's Moon, Mars and Beyond incentive was a bold move at the time, but it couldn't have anticipated the recent rise in the involvement of private enterprise in space. Companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic were not even thought of and with government still the sole off-world accessor, it was a best guess effort that I applauded the president for. Times have changed and it is now time for NASA to go above and beyond the technologies that have tethered us to Low Earth Orbit for so long. This new initiative from the Obama administration puts exploration on the agenda again.

Critics are arguing about minutia, which I don't find surprising, especially given that there seems to be a penchant to just criticize Obama no matter what. To those critics I say, find the positives first before diving into the negative. That way you expose yourself to both sides of the argument and strengthen any criticism you may have by giving it a viable platform. Criticism for criticism sake is just moaning, and is so easily forgettable. Criticism for the right reasons is genuine and helpful. Just my 2 cents.

So, now that I have found the positives, its time for me to criticize. Losing the Moon is a bad idea. The Obama administration is certainly looking ahead, and this is in part fueled by private enterprise taking away a lot of the burden, but, and it's a big but - private enterprise is NOT going to the Moon. A presence on the Moon will be a huge boost to any plans to explore space, especially with the recent discovery of water there. Reaching an asteroid from the Moon will be a lot easier than from Earth, and the human sciences that we can achieve there will make the journey to Mars that much easier. Add to that the fact that other countries are looking at the Moon with renewed interest, and I think we have a bad decision.

All in all though, I am more pleased with this initiative than anything previous. Obama is a strong advocate of space exploration, and it shows.

SpaceHead
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2010-04-16

STS-131: Flight Day 11 Highlights

As the mission enters its last full day, catch up with highlights.



SpaceHead

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2010-04-15

Iceland Volcano Ash Disrupts Traffic

Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull has erupted for the second time this month, and this time its plume of volcanic ash is heading South East and is large enough to disrupt air traffic in and around the northern UK.

The Eyjafjallajökull plume seen by Terra

NASA's Terra satellite snapped the above image which clearly shows the extent of the plume. It is a large enough eruption to cause concern on the ground and evacuate surrounding areas, and disruption of the heavily used northern Atlantic air traffic lanes is beginning to cause congestion.

Still, from an orbital perspective it makes for quite a beautiful photo-op, don't you think.

SpaceHead
Image credit: NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team
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STS-131: Flight Day 10 Highlights

As the mission draws to a close, catch up on the flight day highlights.



Enjoy!

SpaceHead
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2010-04-14

STS-131: Highlights Catch-up

Two days worth of highlights to keep you occupied.

Flight Day 8 Highlights


Flight Day 9 Highlights


Enjoy!

SpaceHead
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2010-04-12

STS-131: Flight Day 7 Highlights

Half way through the mission and the the second spacewalk gets underway.



SpaceHead
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2010-04-11

STS-131: Flight Day 6 Highlights

Enjoy!



SpaceHead
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2010-04-10

ISS To Become Orbital Gas Station

Well, only for demonstration purposes at first. The International Space Station is better known as a flagship space science platform and a destination for visiting Space Shuttle crews and International space tourists, but a recent campaign at NASA to utilize the platform as a place to service satellites has gained enough ground for a demonstration to go ahead. The robotic device known as Dextre, the Dexterous Manipulator on the station will be used in the experiment which is scheduled to take place within the next year.

Dextre looking almost human

Essentially an in-orbit repair, Dextre will use its array of tools to rip into the side of a demonstration satellite, install a valve, and pump fresh hydrazine fuel into the empty tank. A demonstration that not only can satellites be serviced at the station, but also that the existing fleet can be modified on-orbit to accept refueling even though they were not designed as such.

Due for completion in October, the mock satellite is being constructed at NASA'a Goddard Spaceflight Center and will be installed on an external Express Logistics Carrier on the station's truss. Ground engineers will perform the demonstration without any intervention from the space station crew, demonstrating that the technology need not impact current station operations.

Although the ultimate goal is to provide a commercial service to satellite owners as part of a for-profit industry, this is a major step forward in the thinking of orbital utilization. So far the focus has been very heavily on the exploration and learning side, but it is good to see that now we are at a stage where commercial ventures are able to be considered. The logistics of getting a satellite to the ISS for the operation are an entirely different matter, and one that will need to be addressed for any commercial venture to be a success. The first step though is proving that this can be done, and by this time next year it looks very much like we will have that concept proven.

SpaceHead
Image credit: NASA
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STS-131: Flight Day 5 Highlights

Enjoy!



SpaceHead
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2010-04-09

STS-131: Revenge Of The Highlights

Flight Day 3 and 4 Highlights appeared today, and the universe is fun to watch again, yay!





Enjoy!

SpaceHead
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2010-04-08

Avalanche Number 3

I never tire of the images coming from the HiRISE satellite in orbit around Mars, and I especially never tire of its penchant for taking snaps of Martian Avalanches in progress. This latest clearly image shows a plume of dust billowing at the foot of the cliff after the debris fall. The falling item is most likely a chunk of carbon dioxide frost that formed on the scarp over the winter months, just now being warmed enough by the longer daylight to disrupt the coherence and initiate a collapse.


Our Mars spacecraft, landers and rovers are slowly forming a catalog of geological events such as this as they occur on Mars, which is to all intents and purposes a dead world that has lost the bulk of its internal heat and is now at a stage in its lifespan where its atmosphere is in danger of being completely stripped away too. Mars is still our closest 'habitable' neighbor, and if we are to someday live there we will need to understand what we are letting ourselves in for.

We now have so much information flowing from Mars that it is almost as if we are actually there taking these pictures ourselves, but of course we're not there yet. We have a long way to go before we are able to send people to the red planet and even further away from being able to stay there permanently. Images like this do serve to maintain the 'cool' factor of space exploration but they are sadly under exposed in the mainstream media. A mention here and there at least keeps it current in the public mind, and competing with the latest star to get booted from a dancing show is no mean feat.

If you think things like this are cool, link to Spacers on your social favorite media or say something cool about it on your status. The things that happen in space are invariably good news, so every little bit of exposure helps to keep it as the current shiny thing. And hey, you just might be saving someone from having to watch the latest reality show about famous bowel movements. You know that's next!

Here are the previous Spacers Avalanche posts.

Avalanche #1: http://spacers.blogspot.com/2008/03/spacers-is-alive.html

Avalanche #2: http://spacers.blogspot.com/2010/03/another-mars-avalanche.html

And check out the HiRISE website: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

SpaceHead
Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
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STS-131: Video Clips

A couple of cool video clips to keep the flow going while we wait for the highlights.

The backflip:


The docking:


Enjoy!

SpaceHead
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2010-04-07

STS-131: Discovery Docks To ISS

Space Shuttle Discovery has docked to the International Space Station just two days after its glorious pre-dawn launch on Easter Monday. With Commander Alan Poindexter at the controls, the docking took place at at 3:44am EDT over the Caribbean Sea.

Time-lapse of Discovery's Monday launch

As soon as the crews perform leak checks on both sides vehicles the hatches well be opened and docked operations will begin pretty much straight away. The standard procedure is for the station commander to give this visiting crew a safety briefing and a brief tour of the orbiting platform, although the crews are so familiar with the station having trained in simulators and mockups for years that it is more of a courtesy than a necessary procedure.

The first order of business is to get the robotics operations underway so that the Shuttle's cargo, the  Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, or MPLM, can be removed from the cargo bay and installed on the station for the duration of the mission. The MPLM is loaded with science racks and supplies and has flown to the station 5 times before.

After the launch there was a minor debris incident noted on the ascent imagery where a piece of thermal tile was seen to fall off from the Shuttle's tail section, but so far mission managers have not expressed concern for the Shuttle to reenter at the end of the mission.

Keep an eye on Spacers for updates as the mission progresses.

SpaceHead
Image credit: NASA/Ben Cooper
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STS-131: Flight Day 2 Highlights

NASA TV is on point with the flight day highlights this mission. Day 2 is ready for your viewing pleasure.



SpaceHead
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2010-04-06

STS-131: Flight Day 1 Highlights

Flight day 1 Highlights are now up on the NASA TV YouTube channel for your viewing pleasure.



SpaceHead
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STS-131: Launch Video HD

Enjoy!



SpaceHead
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2010-04-05

STS-131: Launch Underway

Spacers Launch!

Space Shuttle Discovery looks good for a launch at 6:21am EST. Weather looks perfect and no issues are being worked. The crew is just been strapped into the vehicle, comm checks are underway, and any moment now tanking will begin.

Astronaut Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger prepares to board

This post will be updated as the launch countdown progresses.

Happy Launching Spacers!

[update: 4:10am EST] All crew aboard and strapped in. The White Room Crew is preparing to close the hatch.

[update: 4:22am EST] Hatches closed.

The White Room Crew closing Discovery's hatch

[update: 5:07am EST] 20 minute hold entered.

[update: 5:17am EST] 20 minute hold ended. No technical issues in work, all weather indicators are green. Looking good for an on-time launch.

[update: 5:28am EST] 9 minute hold entered.

Holding at 9 minutes

[update: 5:52am EST] Possible command system technical issue being worked.

[update: 6:11am EST] All systems go and all technical issues cleared. Still looking good for launch.

[update: 6:13am EST] 9 minute hold ended.

[update: 6:21am EST] Liftoff!!

Liftoff for STS-131

[update: 6:30am EST] MECO. Discovery is in orbit.

Keep it tuned to Spacers for mission updates as Discovery closes in on the ISS for a docking early on Wednesday morning.

SpaceHead
Images credit: NASA TV
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2010-04-04

ISS Crew Arrives - Shuttle Go For Launch

The newest batch of crew arrived at the International Space station today, docking in a Soyuz TMA-18 at 1:25am EDT two days after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Hot on the heels of that event, Space Shuttle Discovery is progressing through the countdown for mission STS-131 and looks good to go for a 6:21am EDT launch just a few hours away.

The ISS crew is back to 6 people

Discovery is inspected for launch

Keep an eye on Spacers for coverage of the launch.

SpaceHead
Images credit: NASA TV
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2010-04-03

ISS Crew Set To Double

Launching today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Russia amidst heightened security after recent terrorist activity, three astronauts headed for the skies with a mission to double the occupancy of the International Space Station. Currently there are three astronauts on board as the permanent Expedition 23 crew, a temporarily reduced number as the station gets into sync with its new capacity and sole reliance on Russian launch hardware to ferry crews to and from the outpost. NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson is joined by Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko as they head for a six month tenure alongside Commander Oleg Kotov of Russia, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and NASA astronaut Timothy Creamer.

The Soyuz TMA-18 launches

Hot on the heels of the Soyuz launch, Space Shuttle Discovery is set to join the fold on Easter Monday as the STS-131 mission gets underway to continue outfitting the station for science operations now that its construction is virtually complete. This is a rare opportunity to catch sightings of human spaceflight hardware in action in the skies as they fly in syncronicity. It always amazes me how surprised people are to hear that you can actually see our man-made satellites as they follow their orbits around the planet during two time windows that occur every day. About an hour before sunrise and an hour after sunset, any satellite that passes overhead within a roughly 300 mile radius will be high enough to still be lit by the Sun, reflecting enough light to be seen from the surface Since their orbits are very predictable - we can pinpoint their position in the sky for months ahead - it is a simple matter of some well developed math to predict when such sightings will occur given any location on the globe.

Spacecraft that launch to the ISS are often seen together in close formation as they approach the outpost, giving the impression that they are following each other across the sky. It is a truly incredible sight to see, and sadly at its best with the much larger Space Shuttle which is set to retire at the end of this year - so catch a glimpse of the orbital syncronized flying while you can.

Enter your location and find the next visible pass for you at http://www.heavens-above.com

SpaceHead
Image credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
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