NASA | Universe Today

As previously reported on the Universe Today, recent parachute test-drops for the Constellation Project have brought mixed results. The Ares I drogue parachute test appeared to perform flawlessly on July 24th, but the July 31st Orion test drop was a different story. Very early on in the parachute test, the "programmer parachute" (the first small parachute to be deployed, righting the descending crew module, setting Orion up for drogue deployment) failed after not inflating in the turbulent wake of the vehicle. This event set in motion complete parachute failure, ultimately forcing a hard-landing (crash) into the Arizona desert. Now NASA has released a video and pictures of the test…
Read more…

Filed under: Constellation, NASA | 8 Comments »

NASA will add a system engineers equated to shock absorbers to Ares 1 rockets to reduce significant vibrations that could shake the Orion spacecraft and astronaut crews during early stages of the flight. Earlier, engineers had determined that at about 115 seconds into the flight, the Ares rocket would vibrate for about 5 seconds, enough to potentially make it difficult for crews to read console displays. To mitigate what's called thrust oscillation, engineers have proposed an active tuned mass absorber that would detect the frequency and amplitude of the thrust oscillation with accelerometers and internal pressure sensors, and use battery-powered motors to move spring mounted weights up and down to damp the vibration out. A spring-and-damper ring will separate the first and second stages of the rocket, and 16 actuators that act like shock absorbers will be added to the bell-shaped aft skirt at the bottom of the rocket.
Read more…

Filed under: Constellation, NASA | 12 Comments »

Topical Storm Fay has made landfall along Florida's southwest coastline and is working inland. Officials at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have decided to close down operations for 24 hours as a precautionary measure. Kennedy's 15,000 staff have been instructed to stay at home, although a small number of emergency personnel remain on site to monitor the storm's effect on the space complex. The Kennedy Visitor Center has also been closed. Fay had been forecast to make landfall as a much more powerful entity and there were concerns that the winds could reach hurricane force, but fortunately it remained classified as a tropical storm and damage has been limited…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Shuttle | No Comments »

Remember a few months ago when "space" seemed to be a non-issue for the candidates in this year's US presidential election? But now space seems to be a hot topic. John McCain was in Florida today where he met with 20 leaders from the space industry for a roundtable discussion, and Barack Obama was in Florida last week, to stump for votes. Perhaps both candidates are recalling the 2000 presidential election that hinged on the Florida vote. Hanging chads aside, an important issue in Florida these days is the projected job losses that will be incurred in the gap after the space shuttle is retired in 2010 and before the Constellation program makes its first flights in about 2015, and both candidates have met with members of NASA's workforce and other NASA officials to discuss this issue. Also, both McCain and Obama recently updated their positions on their space-related agendas on their websites, with both devoting quite a bit of "space" to space.
Read more…

Filed under: NASA | 15 Comments »

The conflict between Georgia and Russia over the disputed region of South Ossetia may have huge consequences for NASA's ability to send astronauts to the International Space Station in the future. The US has criticised the Russian military action, prompting concerns for the future NASA use of the Russian Soyuz space vehicle. This comes at a particularly critical time, as concerns were already high due to the Shuttle decommissioning in 2010. The US is only allowed to use Soyuz up until 2011 as that is when the exemption from the Iran Non-Proliferation Act runs out. If US-Russian relations turn even more sour, an extension to the exemption may not be allowed, freezing the US out of any involvement with routine manned access into space. US Senator Bill Nelson (Democrat), an outspoken critic of the government's funding of the US space program, has brought these concerns to light blaming the Bush administration for an over reliance on Russia for future space access…
Read more…

Filed under: Military, NASA, Space Station | 29 Comments »

Astronauts are usually gregarious and quite pleasant people who like to share their experiences of living and working in space. Current International Space Station resident Greg Chamitoff is no different, and he is now ready and waiting to answer any burning questions you may have about human space flight. NASA offers a "Ask the Expert" website for many of its human missions, where the public can submit questions and astronauts or other NASA personnel answer with written and/or audio replies. But the past few space shuttle missions have been so jam-packed with ISS construction activities, there hasn't been time in the schedule for astronauts to answer any questions from the public. However, Chamitoff will be on board the ISS for a couple of months, and he has some time to answer a few questions. Questions will be transmitted to Greg from Mission Control each week and his answers to a few of them will be available here.

Read more…

Filed under: NASA | 2 Comments »

At the end of last month, the Orion crew module and the Ares I rocket parachute systems underwent a series of drop tests. The "drogue parachute" that will gently slow the descent of the spent first-stage motor of the Ares vehicle appeared to function as expected over the Arizona skies. However, an Orion test failed, "programmer parachute" failing to correct the orientation of the test crew module, allowing the module to drop through the sky upside-down. The programmer parachute is intended to inflate before the main three parachutes are deployed to bring the re-entering Orion astronauts to land safely. This news has come from an internal memo referring to the Orion test drop back on July 31st; the successful Ares I drogue parachute drop was carried out on July 24th. So what went wrong with the Orion test-drop?
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Flight | 4 Comments »

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has announced his intentions to send an advanced spaceship propulsion prototype to the International Space Station for advanced testing. The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimir) is currently in an experimental phase, but Griffin hopes that a scale model will be ready for one of the remaining Shuttle-ISS missions before 2010. The Vasimir concept bridges the gap between conventional (fuel hungry, high thrust) rockets and economical (fuel efficient, low-thrust) ion engines. Vasimir achieves this by using an ingenious method of ionizing and heating a neutral gas fuel…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Flight, Space Station | 12 Comments »

Over the weekend, Democratic senator Barack Obama made a public statement during his presidential campaign trail in Titusville, Florida. Whilst responding to a question about oceanic research, Obama elaborated on his plans for the future of NASA. Previously, there have been hints that a possible Obama Presidency would see a reduction in space funding in favour of a boost in education spending. However, Saturday's statement was followed by some detailed text on Obama's campaign blog outlining his priorities for the US dominance in space, the possibility of extending the Shuttle's operations and speeding up development of the Constellation program…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA | 35 Comments »

Fifty years ago this week NASA was born. On July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the "National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958." NASA replaced NACA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, to meet the challenge of exploring beyond Earth, and in particular, to send a human into space. NASA has accomplished a lot during the last 50 years, and now its time to celebrate. To commemorate the anniversary, NASA has developed an interactive multimedia website that provides a historic tour of its first five decades of exploration. It's a fun and interesting site that offers lots of history and a little look at the future, too. The site combines historic and current video with entertaining computer animation, and the virtual exhibit takes a World's Fair approach to NASA history, with pavilions that host each decade of NASA's achievements and challenges.

Begin your personal tour here….
Read more…

Filed under: NASA | 2 Comments »

NASA has signed a landmark agreement to collaborate with emerging space-faring nations for the exploration of the Moon. This collaboration will include Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Britain and France in the aim to work with NASA developing new technologies and send a series of robotic exploratory missions to pave the way for a manned return mission. The director of NASA's planetary science division points out that these eight member states are keen to send their first astronauts to the lunar surface. Whilst some may view this collaboration as an attempt by NASA to 'spread the cost' of space travel (especially in the current climate of budget cuts), the main point of this deal is to make manned missions to the Moon more of an international effort. This will give smaller space agencies more opportunities, boost the quality of the science that can be achieved and possibly lead us to some answers about how life formed on Earth 4 billion years ago…
Read more…

Filed under: Evolution, Moon, NASA | 43 Comments »

The first thing that comes to mind when someone asks: "How do we deflect a near Earth asteroid?" is "Fire some nuclear missiles at it." However, this might not be the best course of action. Akin to opening a walnut with a sledgehammer, there might be a better, less messy option. This is what Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart thinks at least. Last year, NASA issued a report suggesting they were seriously considering a nuclear option should an asteroid threaten Earth. However, the ex-lunar module pilot believes this decision was manipulated by political pressure, possibly indicating the asteroid threat was being used to speed up nuclear proliferation in space…
Read more…

Filed under: Asteroids, NASA | 31 Comments »

During the second moonwalk of the Apollo 14 mission, Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell were hoping to walk to the 300 meter (1,000 feet) wide Cone Crater on the moon, not far from their landing site. However, the two astronauts were not able to find the crater's rim amid the rolling, repetitive terrain. Later analysis using pictures the two astronauts took determined they had come within 65 feet of the crater. People are used to having certain visual cues to judge distances, such as the size of a building or another car on the horizon, said Ron Li, who has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to develop a navigation system to be used on the moon. Since the moon has no landmarks or cues to help determine distance, getting lost, or misjudging a distant object's size and location would be easy, and extremely dangerous. New technology like sensors, inertial navigation systems, cameras, computer processors, and image processors will make the next trip to the moon easier for astronauts.
Read more…

Filed under: Moon, NASA | 7 Comments »

It looks like the hardware is gradually slotting into place for the development of the Orion capsule in NASA's Constellation Program. On July 17th, the ultimate "ejection seat" was tested by NASA and rocket contractor Aerojet: The Orion jettison motor. Should there be an emergency during Ares rocket/Orion capsule during launch, the Orion capsule will have the capability to eject (whether it is on the launchpad or travelling through the atmosphere), ensuring the safety of the crew. This is the first safety measure of its kind, so a successful engine test can only help to boost confidence in the technology behind Orion…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Flight | 2 Comments »

NASA is debating whether the new Orion capsule should land in the water, like Apollo, or on land, similar to how the Russian Soyuz capsule returns to Earth. To help them determine the potential for human injuries with each possible landing scenario, NASA has used human cadavers during their tests. At first, this revelation may seem quite morbid or even gruesome. But as Keith Cowing said in his exposé article on Space Ref and NASA Watch on this subject, "Given the potentially hazardous nature of the tests required, cadavers must be used in the place of living persons." Sometimes, crash-test dummies or computer simulations don't provide the crucial information needed, such as the forces on the spinal cord or internal organs. If NASA doesn't have that information, they can't get accurate test results. Living test subjects could possibly be killed during the landing tests. Imagine the headlines if that happened. So they have used cadavers. The cadavers NASA used were donated to science to be used for exactly this type of purpose, and NASA, of course, went through the proper channels to obtain the cadavers and treats them in an ethical manner. So while this may seem a little grisly, NASA is doing the right thing.
Read more…

Filed under: Constellation, NASA | 13 Comments »

On the heels of news about NASA engineers who feel the Constellation program is using the wrong kind of rockets comes word that efforts to build the spacecraft which will replace the shuttle and return astronauts to the moon is running behind and over-budget. NASA Watch published a leaked internal NASA document showing the Constellation Program has encountered financial and technical problems, and the Associated Press quoted Doug Cooke, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration as saying the first test flights for Orion may be delayed. However, the delay thus far is only of NASA's internal goal of having the spacecraft ready by 2013. Cooke said they are still on target for NASA's public commitment of first test flights by 2015, and returning to the moon by 2020. But unless the space agency can receive more funding, further delays may be inevitable.
Read more…

Filed under: Constellation, NASA | 11 Comments »

On July 17, 1975, something momentous and unprecedented happened: two Cold War-rivals met in space. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project saw spacecraft from the United States and the Soviet Union docking together in space, ushering in a new era of cooperative ventures between the two countries that once were rivals in the "space race." Preparing for the mission, the astronauts and cosmonauts had to visit each other's countries for training, and the two space agencies had to share classified information with each other in order for the rendezvous and docking to work successfully. A few years ago, Tom Stafford, one of the American astronauts said the Apollo-Soyuz mission "showed the whole world that if the Soviet Union and America could work together in space, they could work together on the Earth."
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Flight | 5 Comments »

A NASA contractor needs urine. And lots of it, too, about 30 liters (8 gallons) a day, even on weekends. All the details, if you need to know or need to go, of how to collect the specimens are over at SpaceRef, but the quick scoop is that contractor Hamilton Sundstrand is seeking urine from workers at the Johnson Space Center. The company is working on the new Orion space capsule that will replace the shuttle and eventually take astronauts to the moon. This is nothing new. NASA has a long-standing tradition of collecting samples from its workers to help design better space toilets because "you can't make fake urine," said John Lewis, NASA's head of life support systems for Orion.
Read more…

Filed under: NASA | 5 Comments »

More bad news for NASA: even their administrator thinks China could beat the US to the Moon. Speaking with the BBC today, Michael Griffin shared his views about the Chinese space aspirations, pointing out that the super-state could, if they wanted to, send a manned mission to the lunar surface within a decade. NASA's return mission to the Moon is planned to launch, at the earliest, in 2020, so this news is bound to knock the wind out of the US space agency's hopes to continue where it left off in 1972…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Flight | 34 Comments »

There's a group of NASA engineers who believe NASA is making a mistake with its new Constellation program to replace the shuttle, which will use the new Ares rockets for launches starting in 2014. Constellation is an all new program which requires everything to be built from the ground up. The group of engineers asks, why not use the systems we already have that work reliably? The engineers, who are working clandestinely after hours on their plans have been joined by business people and space enthusiasts, and they call the plan Direct 2.0. They believe this approach could be flying sooner than Ares, reducing the gap in the US's access to space, and providing a smoother transition for the workforce. Additionally it is more powerful than Ares, has lower risks for the astronauts, adds additional servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope, and reduces the cost to orbit by half.
Read more…

Filed under: Constellation, NASA | 25 Comments »

Explosive bolts that help detach the Russian Soyuz capsule from the International Space Station may be the source of the problems the spacecraft has encountered during the last two landings. Investigative space journalist and Jim Oberg at MSNBC, who is one of the best experts on the inner workings of the Russian space program recently wrote a very interesting article detailing Russian engineers' plans to fix the problem: have two Russian cosmonauts conduct a spacewalk on July 10 to remove one of the explosive bolts and bring it inside the space station. The bolts, Oberg says, packs twice the explosive force of an M-80 firecracker when ignited, and the cosmonauts will be handling the bolts directly during what will be a very delicate, if not dramatic, operation.
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Station | 8 Comments »

The world knows the huge potential China and Russia have for space exploration. Russia is maintaining a strong presence in space with their sturdy Soyuz program and China has set its sights on having their very first "taikonaut" EVA at the end of this year. But where does this leave NASA? The US space agency has spearheaded the exploration of space for the last 50 years, but amongst all the talk about NASA setbacks, overspending and delays, could the glory days be coming to an abrupt end? In May, the legendary astronaut John Glenn spoke out against Shuttle decommissioning and last week, US Senator Bill Nelson called a meeting at Cape Canaveral to raise concerns about announced job cuts in 2010. Now, the most famous NASA ex-employee and second man on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin has voiced warnings that the US could lose its grip on space and begin to be left behind by Russia and China…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Exploration | 34 Comments »

NASA announced on Wednesday that the original Constellation project's principle rocket, the Ares V, will need to be designed to carry a larger payload for manned missions to the Moon by the year 2020. This means the original concept will need to have a length extension of 20 feet (6 metres) and will need to use six main engines at its base, rather than the current five. This upgrade will be capable of sending far more instrumentation into space, an extra 15,600 lb (7,000 kg, or the equivalent mass of a male African elephant)…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Exploration | 18 Comments »

It's not good news, but it could be worse. On Monday, NASA announced that it anticipates shedding 3,000-4,000 jobs in two years once the Space Shuttle fleet is retired to make way for the Constellation Program. This is obviously terrible news for the staff, scientists and engineers and their families, but it is in improvement on previous estimates that up to 8,000 personnel could have lost their livelihoods. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin confirmed that about 3,000 jobs would be saved by filling positions in the new space program that will build spaceships to supply the International Space Station and eventually take man to the Moon and Mars. However, the early Shuttle retirement and late Constellation completion will increase the dependence on Russia to provide access to space…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA, Space Shuttle | 16 Comments »

Disney-Pixar and NASA have embarked on a project to promote science and technology amongst school children. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is gearing up for the premier of their new animated space adventure WALL-E on June 27th, and NASA has signed a Space Act Agreement to use this event as an opportunity to promote educational-based projects to build kids interest in space exploration. The collaboration sounds like an excellent chance to communicate NASA's endeavours in space, plus the movie and possible NASA spin-offs look very cool (besides, WALL-E looks like a very cute Mars rover)…
Read more…

Filed under: NASA | 7 Comments »