Universe Today

May 18, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

‘Tremendous Adventure’ Gives Hubble New Life

ohn Grunsfeld works on Hubble during the 5th spacewalk of the STS-125 mission. Credit: NASA

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Almost like Benjamin Button, the Hubble Space Telescope is now more vigorous and capable than with its original complement of instruments. “This is a tremendous adventure we’ve been on,” said astronaut John Grunsfeld at the end of Monday’s very successful EVA to repair and refurbish the famous space telescope. “This has been a very challenging mission. Hubble isn’t just a satellite, but it’s about humanity’s quest for knowledge.”

Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel installed a set of the observatory’s batteries, replaced a fine-guidance sensor that helps keep the telescope’s gaze precisely fixed on astronomical targets, and also replaced three thermal blankets protecting Hubble’s electronics.

“With today’s EVA Hubble is returned to flagship status with a full complement of instrument and tools for astronomers to use for the next several years,” saidJon Morse, Astrophyscis Division Director as NASA. “It is bittersweet to know this is our last visit to Hubble, but we have a saying in the science mission directorate: science never sleeps. So our work is just beginning. We have literally thousands of astronomers waiting to use Hubble, chomping at the bit to get their data.”

A view of Hubble from inside the shuttle Atlantis. Credit: NASA

Monday’s 7 hour and 2 minute-long spacewalk marked the end of the five scheduled spacewalks for the STS-125 servicing mission. However the spacewalking team of Mike Massimino and Mike Good will be ready to go outside if any issues crop up Tuesday morning when all the systems are checked out before Hubble is released by the shuttle crew. Mission managers hope to have Atlantis back on the ground by Friday.
Earlier spacewalks overcame stubborn bolts and problematic tools, but all the mission objectives were achieved, much to the delight of everyone at NASA.

“This must be what it’s like to win the superbowl,” said Preston Burch, Hubble Program Manager. “As those of you who have followed us the past five days, working in space is challenging and there is a fine line between things that look easy and things that are impossible. The crew just never gave up.”

Lead flight director, Tony Ceccacci reminded everyone at a press conference following the EVA that Monday’s spacewalk was the last planned EVA out of the shuttle airlock. “It was both a very happy day and a sad day. We looked at each other and knew that was the last planned EVA out of the shuttle airlock. We’ve been working on this for over 2 ½ years, and we looked at each other and said, ‘wow this is really over.'”

Drew Feustal floats free near Hubble, while Grunsfeld is perched on the robotic arm. Credit: NASA TV

The only glitch in the otherwise smooth EVA came at the very end when Grunsfeld – a self-proclaimed “Hubble Hugger” inadvertently bumped into one of the observatory’s two low-gain antennas with his foot, breaking off a small end cap. Grunsfeld felt terrible about the accident. “OK. I’m sick,” he said. However, the antenna still worked normally, mission control radioed up to him.

Grusnfeld and Feustel placed a protective cover over the cone-shaped device for added insulation before ending the spacewalk.

“Sorry, Mr. Hubble,” Grunsfeld said as he headed back to Atlantis’ airlock. “Have a good voyage.”

“Consider it a goodbye kiss, John,” Massimino radioed from inside the shuttle.

As Grunsfeld prepared to head back inside the shuttle he asked to say a few words.

“On this mission, we tried some things that some people said were impossible,” Grunsfeld said later. “We’ve achieved that, and we wish Hubble the very best.”

A replay of highlights from the 5th spacewalk is available.

May 18, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

First Observations of Biological Particles in High-Altitude Clouds

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A team of atmospheric chemists has moved closer to what’s considered the “holy grail” of climate change science: the first-ever direct detections of biological particles within ice clouds. Ice in Clouds Experiment – Layer Clouds (ICE-L) team mounted a mass spectrometer onto a C-130 aircraft and made a series of high-speed flights through a type of cloud known as a wave cloud. Analysis of the ice crystals revealed that the particles that started their growth were made up almost entirely of either dust or biological material such as bacteria, fungal spores and plant material. While it has long been known that microorganisms become airborne and travel great distances, this study is the first to yield direct data on how they work to influence cloud formation.

The team, led by Kimberly Prather and Kerri Pratt of the University of California at San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, performed in-situ measurements of cloud ice crystal residues and found that half were mineral dust and about a third were made up of inorganic ions mixed with nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon–the signature elements of biological matter.

The second-by-second speed of the analysis allowed the researchers to make distinctions between water droplets and ice particles. Ice nuclei are rarer than droplet nuclei.

The team demonstrated that both dust and biological material indeed form the nuclei of these ice particles, something that previously could only be simulated in laboratory experiments.

“This has really been kind of a holy grail measurement for us,” said Prather.

“Understanding which particles form ice nuclei, and which have extremely low concentrations and are inherently difficult to measure, means you can begin to understand processes that result in precipitation. Any new piece of information you can get is critical.”

The findings suggest that the biological particles that get swept up in dust storms help to induce the formation of cloud ice, and that their region of origin makes a difference. Evidence is increasingly suggesting that dust transported from Asia could be influencing precipitation in North America, for example.

Researchers hope to use the ICE-L data to design future studies timed to events when such particles may play a bigger role in triggering rain or snowfall.

“If we understand the sources of the particles that nucleate clouds, and their relative abundance, we can determine their impact on climate,” said Pratt, lead author of the paper.

The effects of tiny airborne particles called aerosols on cloud formation have been some of the most difficult aspects of weather and climate for scientists to understand.

In climate change science, which derives many of its projections from computer simulations of climate phenomena, the interactions between aerosols and clouds represent what scientists consider the greatest uncertainty in modeling predictions for the future.

“By sampling clouds in real time from an aircraft, these investigators were able to get information about ice particles in clouds at an unprecedented level of detail,” said Anne-Marie Schmoltner of NSF’s Division of Atmospheric Sciences, which funded the research.

Source: EurekAlert

May 18, 2009April 26, 2016 by Nancy Atkinson

Super-Tools Essential to Hubble Mission Success

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Astronauts from the STS-125 mission have now successfully completed all the EVAs for the Hubble Servicing Mission, accomplishing all the mission goals. Undoubtedly, the special tools the astronauts were essential to the success of the mission. In fact, at the end of today’s fifth spacewalk, astronaut John Grunsfeld called the mission “a tour de force of tools and human ingenuity.” To have any chance of completing the wide variety of tasks for this mission, NASA had to develop more than 100 new tools for removing, installing and repairing components on Hubble. “The biggest challenge for us in designing and developing tools for astronauts is to make it easy for them to use in their suit,” said Jill McGuire, manger of the CATs team (Crew Aids and Tools) for the HST mission. “EVA time is at a premium. So, any tool that we develop we develop it in order to optimize the time we have up there and make it as easy and simple for the astronauts to use.” The team built a variety of tools, from power tools to different hand tools that the astronauts used. Here’s a look at some of these super-tools:

“I like all the tools, but the one I’ll probably be using the most is the Mini-Power Tool,” said STS-125 astronaut Mike Massimino before the flight. “It’s a little drill and is a unique tool that I think is going to be used in space for a long time. So, I’m very glad we’re going to be the first ones to use it and I bet you’re going to see a lot of space crews using it for many years on new space ships. This is going to be a pretty cool tool.”

NASA has long used a cordless drill called the Pistol Grip Tool, but needed a faster tool with less torque than the PGT, and Cassisdy likened the mini power tool to what Indy pit crews used to rapidly change bolts.

The mini power tool spins at 210 revolutions per minute, as opposed to the PGT’s 15.

The pistol grip tool has been a standard instrument for spacewalkers for missions to the Hubble Space Telescope and construction of the International Space Station. Here, the tool, which resembles a cordless drill, is slung on an astronaut's spacesuit as he works on the telescope. Credit: NASA

During the spacewalks, however, the astronauts did have to re-set the power tool’s torque settings to loosen some extremely tight bolts.

Some of these components, like the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) were never designed for astronauts to fix on orbit. The instrument failed in 2004, and the problem was traced to the power supply. Justin Cassidy, the lead systems engineer for CATS team, compared the work astronauts would have to do on orbit to opening up a computer and replacing a board while wearing thick gloves on their hands and a fishbowl on their head.

“To actually open up an instrument and pull a board had never been thought of nor conceived that we would want to do that and therefore the interfaces were not very friendly to an astronaut,” said Cassidy.

In fact, there were 111 tiny screws that needed to be removed from the instrument in order to gain access to the board. Mike Massimino completed the STIS repair with the ingenious “fastener capture plate.”

Massimino practicing with the STIS capture plate before the flight. Credit: NASA

“The beauty of the fastener capture plate is, it does capture all the fasteners but it’s got a clear window,” said Cassidy. “And that clear window enables the astronaut, when he takes that power tool, he can actually see the little tiny bit going into the little tiny fastener. So, we have not blocked any of his visibility, yet when he takes that fastener out it won’t come out the little hole that the tool past through.”

It took 4-5 years to develop the mini power tool and the capture plate.

Tool for removing insulation. Credit: NASA TV

In today’s spacewalk, John Grunsfeld used a special tool to remove old insulation from the telescope so that new protective thermal insulation could be installed. The insulation protects the equipment bays on HST.

In order to replace the gyroscopes, or rate sensor units, which are located inside the Hubble Space Telescope and hard to reach while wearing a large spacesuit, engineers had to develop a tool that would work like an extension to an astronaut’s arm. Here is the Rate Sensing Units Changeout Tool, a crew member is able to reach inside the telescope without entering it, and capture and restrain a sensor unit by pulling a trigger. The tool is able to withstand temperatures ranging from -74 degrees F to 189 degrees F.

Battery extractor for HST mission. Credit: NASA

This Battery Extraction Tool allows an astronaut “grab” the batteries on Hubble, and exert additional force to remove it. This tool is capable of exerting several hundred pounds of exertion force.

“One could think you go to the hardware store and actually pick out a tool and use that in space,” said Cassidy. “The space environment is very harsh. It’s very hot, very cold, and it’s also in a vacuum and most tools, power tools for example that you pick up from Home Depot just would not survive in the environment of space.

Here are just a few things the CATs team has to consider when developing a new tool”

• The tight quarters the astronaut would have to work in with the tool.
• The brief amount of time an astronaut has to take out each fastener to release the board.
• Temperature swings of 500 degrees from the heat of direct sunlight to frigid shade. Either extreme can make the metal innards of a power tool seize up instantly.
• What would happen to each of the 111 fasteners in weightlessness.
• How much the tools weigh.
• Whether the tools can withstand the vibrations of launch.

Sources: NASA, Discovery Space,

May 18, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Poetry in Space: Final Pilgrims to the Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: Stuart Atkinson

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As today’s final spacewalk of the Hubble Servicing Mission begins, it seems very fitting to share a poem written by my friend Stuart Atkinson. Stuart is a poet, a blogger, a member of Unmanned Spaceflight.com (which means he is a Photoshopper extraordinaire!) and a passionate promoter of space exploration. Stuart has written many touching poems previously about the Mars rovers, the Phoenix lander, the Kepler mission and many other missions, but this verse about the final human mission to the Hubble Space Telescope is priceless. See below for “The Final Pilgrims” and check out Stu’s website Cumbrian Skies for more great poetry, images and information.

Thanks, Stu, for sharing your poem with Universe Today!

May 17, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Hubble Servicing Mission 4 in Pictures, Part 1

A view of the Hubble Space Telescope after it was captured by Atlantis' robotic arm. Credit: NASA

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The long-awaited Servicing Mission 4 for the Hubble Space Telescope has provided drama, nail-biting excitement, fist-pumping triumphs and ‘what else could go wrong now’ moments. But the best way to to describe the mission is to let the amazing images from the EVAs do the talking. Below are high-resolution images from NASA, highlighting the first three spacewalks.

Atlantis lifts off on May 11, 2009 for the Hubble Servicing Mission. Credit: NASA

The mission began with the picture-perfect, no-delay, long-awaited launch on May 11, 2009.

EVA #1

Astronauts John Grunsfeld (bottom) and Andrew Feustel, perched alone on the end of the Space Shuttle Atlantis remote manipulator system, perform the first of five STS-125 spacewalks. Credit: NASA — Astronauts John Grunsfeld (bottom) and Andrew Feustel, perched alone on the end of the Space Shuttle Atlantis' remote manipulator system, perform the first of five STS-125 spacewalks. Credit: NASA

The first spacewalk of the mission, performed by astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel lasted a little over 7 1/2 hours. They successfully installed the new Wide Field Camera 3 science instrument and a new Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit. Both WFC-3 and the SI C&DH passed their “aliveness” tests, which essentially means the devices powered on correctly. The WFC-3 also passed its functional test, meaning the capabilities of the instrument itself were tested. The SI C&DH unit has also received an initial OK on its functional test, pending final review of data sent down to the ground.

Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel and their reflections in HST. Credit: NASA

A stubborn bolt threatened to thwart one of the spacewalk’s main goals, replacing the venerable space telescope’s workhorse optical camera with a new and improved instrument. But after a fair amount of old fashioned elbow grease, the WFPC2 was able to be removed.

A close-up of John Grunsfeld, taken by Drew Feustel. Credit: NASA

This close-up of Grunsfeld was taken by Drew Feustel, whose reflection is visible in Grunsfeld’s visor. Feustel is attached to the end of the shuttle Remote Manipulator System, or robotic arm. Grunsfeld was the free-floating astronaut for the EVA.

Drew Feustel hauls the new WFPC3 on the robotic arm, to install the camera on Hubble. Credit: NASA

Here, Feustel, on the end of the shuttle’s robotic arm, carries the piano-sized WFPC3 to its new home inside Hubble.
EVA #2

Astronaut Michael Good works with the Hubble Space Telescope in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis along with Mike Massimino. Credit: NASA

The second EVA of the mission provided some challenges to astronauts Michael Good and Mike Massimino. However, they achieved all the objectives for this spacewalk, it just took them awhile — 7 hours and 56 minutes. They installed three Rate Sensor Units (RSUs), with a pair of gyros in each, and the first of two new battery module units.

While standing on the end of Atlantis remote manipulator system arm, astronaut Michael Good, STS-125 mission specialist, pays tribute to his commander and all his crewmates with a military-style salute. Credit: NASA — While standing on the end of Atlantis' remote manipulator system arm, astronaut Michael Good, STS-125 mission specialist, pays tribute to his commander and all his crewmates with a military-style salute. Credit: NASA

Good and Massimino were not able to get one of the three prime RSUs into its slot but were able to install a spare, giving Hubble the new gyros it needed. The gyros are used to change the orientation of the telescope and keep it fixed on a particular astronomical target during observations.

While standing on the end of Atlantis remote manipulator system arm, astronaut Michael Good, STS-125 mission specialist, works on the Hubble Space Telescope. Credtit: NASA — While standing on the end of Atlantis' remote manipulator system arm, astronaut Michael Good, STS-125 mission specialist, works on the Hubble Space Telescope. Credtit: NASA

The spacewalkers also removed one of the original battery modules from Bay 2 of the telescope and replaced it with a new unit. The batteries provide power to the telescope when Hubble passes into Earth’s shadow and its solar arrays are not exposed to the sun. Ground controllers at Goddard’s Space Telescope Operations Control Center confirmed that all six gyroscopes and the new battery passed preliminary tests.

EVA #3

John Grunsfeld hangs on to Hubble. Credit: NASA

The third EVA of the mission went like clockwork as Grunsfeld and Feustel teamed up again. They removed the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement and installed in its place the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. They also completed an unprecedented repair of the Advanced Camera for Surveys replacing an electronic card and installed a new electronics box and cable.

Drew Feustel during the third EVA. Credit: NASA

To do the repairs on ACS, Grunsfeld removed 32 screws from an access panel to replace the camera’s four circuit boards and install a new power supply. The two astronauts used specially designed tools to do a job that was never intended to be done on orbit. But they did it, and with efficiency.

Grusnfeld and Feustel work together on EVA 3. Credit: NASA

Engineers at Goddard have already performed “aliveness” tests on both COS and ACS to verify they have electrical power. However while a functional test of the ACS indicated success in reviving the instrument’s heavily used wide-field channel, officials said early Sunday that it appears the repairs failed to resolve power problem with the camera’s stricken high-resolution channel and it appears “down for the count.”

We’ll keep you posted on any developments with ACS, and provide more high-resolution images from the remainder of the mission soon!

For more images from the mission, or to download higher resolution versions of the pictures here, visit NASA’s Human Spaceflight gallery.

May 17, 2009December 24, 2015 by Tammy Plotner

M94 – The “Cat’s Eye” Galaxy by Roth Ritter

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About 13 million light-years away in the constellations Canes Venatici, there’s a cloud. No, it’s not the same clouds that most of us have been experiencing lately – but a cluster of galaxies which appear form a single large cloud-like structure. The one we’re focusing on is Canes Venatici I, just a small section of the Virgo Supercluster and just moving along with the expansion of the Universe. In it we see a galaxy that stands out from the crowd for a very good reason… it has very little or no dark matter. It’s name? Messier 94.

When the very gifted Pierre Mechain discovered this galaxy on March 22, 1781, it took two days before Charles Messier had the chance to confirm his observation and catalog it as object 94. From Messier’s notes: “`Nebula without star, above the Heart of Charles [alpha Canum Venaticorum], on the parallel of the star no. 8, of sixth magnitude of the Hunting Dogs [Canes Venatici], according to Flamsteed: In the center it is brilliant and the nebulosity [is] a bit diffuse. It resembles the nebula which is below Lepus, No. 79; but this one is more beautiful and brighter: M. Mechain has discovered this one on March 22, 1781. (diam. 2.5′)”.

While most observers and some reference guides refer to M94 as a barred spiral galaxy (Sb), the notable feature of all is a dual ring structure – evidence of a low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) galactic nucleus. The inner core is a starburst ring, where many stars form rapidly and undergo supernovae at an astonishing rate. These starbursts may also be accompanied by the formation of galactic jets as matter falls into the central black hole forming a resonance pattern. Says C. Munoz-Tunon: “The bulge and the inner bar drive disk gas motion, causing inward movements outside the H II ring and outward just inside, thereby accumulating material to trigger star formation on the ring. In the central part the bar drives the gas toward the center, which explains the substantial amount of gas in the nucleus in spite of the presence of a fossil starburst. The peculiar motions reported in the literature in reference to the ionized gas of the H II ring can be understood as infalling gas encountering the shock waves generated by the starburst knots on the H II ring and being raised above the galaxy disk. The scenario of star formation propagating from the nucleus outward used to explain the apparent expanding motion of the HI ring is not fully supported, in light of a comparison of the location of the HI ring with that of the FUV ring. The FUV ring peaks at about 45″-48″, which might point to an inward-propagating star formation scenario.”

But, the point is arguable. According to the work of John Kormendy and Robert Kennicutt, it’s possible that what we’re seeing is simply an illusion of starburst caused by our viewing angle. “The Universe is in transition. At early times, galactic evolution was dominated by hierarchical clustering and merging, processes that are violent and rapid. In the far future, evolution will mostly be secular the slow rearrangement of energy and mass that results from interactions involving collective phenomena such as bars, oval disks, spiral structure, and triaxial dark halos. Both processes are important now. This review discusses internal secular evolution, concentrating on one important consequence, the buildup of dense central components in disk galaxies that look like classical, merger-built bulges but that were made slowly out of disk gas. We call these pseudobulges.”

Regardless of what caused the dual ring structure and declining rotation curves – the true answer is still elusive. Oddly enough it was what was proposed in 2008 which made Messier 94 even more mysterious… the lack of dark matter.

So, why should dark matter “matter”? That’s easy. We know its gravitational effects on visible matter and thereby we can explain the flat rotation curves of spiral galaxies, not to mention dark matter has a central role in galaxy structure formation and galaxy evolution. We owe these findings to Fritz Zwicky who told us that a a high mass-to-light ratio indicates the presence of dark matter in galaxies – just as he taught us that dark matter plays a role in galaxy clusters as well. Dr. Zwicky’s line of thinking was radical for the time… But is there still room for radical thinking? Why not?

According to the work of Joanna Jalocha, Lukasz Bratek and Marek Kutschera, ordinary luminous stars and gas account for all the material in M94 – with no room for dark matter. “The comparison of mass functions and rotation laws at the end of the previous section, illustrates the fact that the models with flattened mass distributions are more efficient than the commonly used models assuming spherical halo. The former are better in accounting both for high rotational velocities as well as for low scale structure of rotation curves and with noticeably less amount of matter than the latter (the relation between rotation and mass distribution in the disk model is very sensitive for gradients of a rotation curve). The use of the disk model is justified for galaxies with rotation curves violating the sphericity condition. This is necessary (although not sufficient) condition for a spherical mass distribution. Rotation of the spiral galaxy NGC 4736 can be fully understood in the framework of Newtonian physics. We have found a mass distribution in the galaxy that agrees perfectly with its high-resolution rotation curve, agrees with the I-band luminosity distribution giving low mass-to-light ratio of 1.2 in this band at total mass of 3.43 × 1010M, and is consistent with the amount of HI observed in the remote parts of the galaxy, leaving not much room (if any) for dark matter. Remarkably, we have achieved this consistency without invoking the hypothesis of a massive dark halo nor using modified gravities.

There exist a class of spiral galaxies, similar to NGC 4736, that are not dominated by spherical mass distribution at larger radii. Most importantly, in this region rotation curves should be reconstructed accurately in order not to overestimate the mass distribution. For a given rotation curve it can be easily determined whether or not a spherical halo may be allowed at large radii by examining the Keplerian mass function corresponding to the rotation curve (the so called sphericity test). By using complementary information of mass distribution, independent of rotation curve, we overcame the cutoff problem for the disk model, that for a given rotation curve, a mass distribution could not be found uniquely as it was dependent on the arbitrary extrapolation of the rotation curve.”

More explanation? Then step into MOND – Modified Newtonian dynamics where a modification of Newton’s Second Law of Dynamics (F = ma) is used to explain the galaxy rotation problem. It simply states that acceleration is not linearly proportional to force at low values. But will it work here? Who knows? Says Jacob Bekenstein: “The modified newtonian dynamics (MOND) paradigm of Milgrom can boast of a number of successful predictions regarding galactic dynamics; these are made without the assumption that dark matter plays a significant role. MOND requires gravitation to depart from Newtonian theory in the extragalactic regime where dynamical accelerations are small. So far relativistic gravitation theories proposed to underpin MOND have either clashed with the post-Newtonian tests of general relativity, or failed to provide significant gravitational lensing, or violated hallowed principles by exhibiting superluminal scalar waves or an {a priori} vector field.”

So next time you’re out observing galaxies, have a look at the “Cat’s Eye” Galaxy. Even a small telescope will reveal its bright, controversial nucleus and wispy shape. And thanks to outstanding astrophotographers like Roth Ritter we’re allowed to see a whole lot more…

Our thanks go to Roth Ritter of Northern Galactic for sharing his incredible work!

May 15, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Marathon EVA for Hubble Astronauts

View from Mike Massimino's helmet camera of Mike Good using the Pistol Grip Tool. Credit: NASA TV

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The Hubble Space Telescope kept throwing curveballs at spacewalking astronauts on Friday, but with more elbow grease and a “if at first you don’t succeed, try again” attitude they were able to accomplish all the objectives for the second EVA of the repair mission. In what turned out to be the 8th longest spacewalk in US history, Mike Massimino and Mike Good replaced six gyroscopes – two wouldn’t fit, so spares had to be used — and four batteries. Both jobs were top priorities for the mission, and will give Hubble the power and control it needs to keep going until at least 2014, hopefully longer.

To start off the spacewalk, there were some tense moments when Massimino’s communication system didn’t work, and for about two minutes no one could hear him. “That was a little scary,” Good said after communication was reestablished.

Replacing the gyroscopes was the first task, and a big requirement for the mission. Three of the old gyroscopes no longer worked, and two others had been having problems recently.

Good helps Massimino out of the inside of Hubble. Credit: NASA TV

Massmino, who is over 6 feet tall, squeezed inside Hubble to begin removing the old gyros. “Trained my whole life for this,” he said.

The old gyroscopes came out with no problems, but two of the new ones didn’t “seat” correctly and couldn’t be bolted in. Two spares were retrieved and installed, but by the time the gyroscope task was completed, five hours had ticked by on the spacewalk. At one point later on in the EVA, the astronauts “plugged in” to get more oxygen to make sure they had enough for the rest of the lengthy excursion outside the shuttle.

The support crew inside the shuttle tried to keep things light to encourage the two spacewalkers. “My friend Leonidas has a couple of words for you guys that are appropriate right now,” shuttle commander Scott Altman told the spacewalkers, referring to the ancient Spartan king. “Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time.”

“We’ve got a little more work to do, but thanks,” Massimino replied.

Next on the agenda was replacing the huge batteries, which weigh over 500 lbs each. As the spacewalkers successfully finished that task, astronaut John Grunsfeld radioed, “Great job guys. Batteries ARE included on this flight!”

Good carries a replacement gyroscope to Hubble. Credit: NASA TV

Three more batteries will be replaced in an EVA next week.

The spacewalk ended after 7 hours and 56 minutes, surpassing another spacewalk back in 1993 to replace gyroscopes on Hubble.

“Every day has been ‘hold your breathe’ on this mission,” said Dave Leckrone, HST Senior Scientist at a press briefing following the EVA. “That points to the complexity of the observatory and what it takes to maintain it.”

On Saturday, the third spacewalk of the mission will replace the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, and repair the Advanced Camera for Surveys. This will be the first time a repair — and mot just a replacement — of a Hubble instrument in space will be attempted.

May 15, 2009April 26, 2016 by Nancy Atkinson

New Star Trek Movie Beamed Up to Space Station

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In a convergence of science fiction and current technology, the new Star Trek movie has been “beamed up” to the International Space Station so the three occupants can watch it while orbiting 220 miles above Earth. Paramount sent a copy of the movie to NASA’s Mission Control, which then uplinked the movie to the International Space Station. The crew plans to watch the film on a laptop computer in the Unity module.

On board the station are NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, Russian cosmonaut and expedition commander Gennady Padalka, and astronaut Koichi Wakata from Japan.

“I remember watching the original Star Trek series and, like many of my NASA co-workers, was inspired by the idea of people from all nations coming together to explore space,” Barratt said in a statement provided by Paramount. “Star Trek blended adventure, discovery, intelligence and story telling that assumes a positive future for humanity. The International Space Station is a real step in that direction, with many nations sharing in an adventure the world can be proud of.”

Watching movies is one of the favored off-duty pastimes for ISS crews. There is a collection of DVDs and uplinked movies aboard the space station, some of which were delivered during previous shuttle and station missions and which will remain aboard for the enjoyment of future crews.

It’s not even the first time Star Trek has screened in space: Former station astronaut Greg Chamitoff and his crewmates viewed the entire Star Trek series as a regular weekly event.

Of course, if you want to see the new Star Trek movie, you don’t have to travel to the ISS; it’s now playing at movie theaters and IMAX screens. Check your local listings!

Source: SciFi Wire

May 15, 2009December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

On Your Mark, Get Set, Let’s Find Planets!

Artist concept of Kepler in space. Credit: NASA/JPL

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The checkout and calibration phase for the Kepler spacecraft has been completed, and now the telescope will begin one of the longest and most important stare-downs ever attempted. Kepler will spend the next three-and-a-half years staring at more than 100,000 stars searching for telltale signs of planets. Kepler should have the ability to find planets as small as Earth that orbit sun-like stars at distances where temperatures are right for possible lakes and oceans. “Now the fun begins,” said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator for the mission. “We are all really excited to start sorting through the data and discovering the planets.”

During the checkout phase scientists have collected data to characterize the imaging performance as well as the noise level in the measurement electronics. The scientists have constructed the list of targets for the start of the planet search, and this information has been loaded onto the spacecraft.

“If Kepler got into a staring contest, it would win,” said James Fanson, Kepler project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “The spacecraft is ready to stare intently at the same stars for several years so that it can precisely measure the slightest changes in their brightness caused by planets.” Kepler will hunt for planets by looking for periodic dips in the brightness of stars — events that occur when orbiting planets cross in front of their stars and partially block the light.

The mission’s first finds are expected to be large, gas planets situated close to their stars. Such discoveries could be announced as early as next year.

We’ll be eagerly awaiting!

May 15, 2009December 24, 2015 by Tammy Plotner

Weekend SkyWatcher’s Forecast: May 15-17, 2009

Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! With the Moon just a bit more out of the early evening picture, let’s enjoy the galaxy season as we begin our studies with one of the most massive and luminous spiral galaxies known. If it doesn’t hit you in the eye, then surely our globular cluster studies will! Be sure to set your clock early for Sunday morning to catch the pretty pairing of Jupiter and the Moon and end the weekend with one of the largest and brightest of the spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. Are you ready? Then get your binoculars and telescopes out and I’ll see you in the back yard…

Friday, May 15, 2009 – Today we celebrate the 1857 birth on this date of Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming, who pioneered in the classification of stellar spectra and discovered the stars we now call white dwarfs. Now get this: she began by working as a maid for Harvard Observatory’s Edward Pickering, who then took her to the observatory to do clerical work. Fleming ended up cataloging over 10,000 stars for Harvard in a period 9 years. You go, girl!

Tonight let’s head out into space where we might get a “blackeye.” You’ll find it located just 1 degree east-northeast of 35 Comae Berenices, and it is most often called M64 (RA 12 56 43 Dec +21 41 00). Discovered by Bode about a year before Messier cataloged it, M64 is about 25 million light years away and holds the distinction of being one of the more massive and luminous spiral galaxies. It has a very unusual structure and is classified as an ‘‘Sa’’ spiral in some catalogs and as an ‘‘Sb’’ in others.

Overall, its arms are very smooth and show no real resolution to any scope, yet its bright nucleus has an incredible dark dust lane that consumes the northern and eastern regions around its core, giving rise to its nickname—the Blackeye Galaxy.

In binoculars, you can perceive this 8.5-magnitude galaxy as a small oval with a slightly brighter center. Small telescope users will pick out the nucleus more easily, but it will require both magnification and careful attention to dark adaptation to catch the dust lane. In larger telescopes, the structure is easily apparent, and you may catch the outer wisps of arms on nights of exceptional seeing. No matter what you use to view it, this is one compact and bright little galaxy!

Saturday, May 16, 2009 – Today we’d like to wish Roy Kerr a happy birthday! Born on this date in 1934, Kerr solved Einstein’s field equations of general relativity to describe rotating black holes, or the space/time around them. The solution, called now a Kerr black hole, shows a vortex-like region outside the event horizon known as the ergoregion. In this region, space and time are dragged around with the rotating parent black hole.

Tonight let’s use our binoculars and telescopes to hunt down one of the best globular clusters for the Northern Hemisphere— M3 (RA 13 42 11 Dec +28 22 31). You will discover this ancient beauty about halfway between the pair of Arcturus and Cor Caroli, just east of Beta Comae. The more aperture you use, the more stars you will resolve. Discovered by Charles Messier on May 3, 1764, this ball of approximately a half-million stars is one of the oldest formations in our galaxy. At around 40,000 light years away, the awesome M3 globular cluster spans about 220 light-years and is believed to be as much as 10 billion years old. To get a grasp on this concept, our own Sun is less than half that age! M3 is 40,000 years away, traveling at the speed of light; yet we can still see this great globular cluster.

Now let’s locate M53 (RA 13 12 55 Dec +18 10 09), near Alpha Comae. Aim your binoculars or telescopes there and you will find M53 about a degree northeast. This very rich, magnitude 8.7 globular cluster is almost identical to M3, but look at what a difference an additional 25,000 light-years can make to how we see it! Binoculars can pick up a small, round, fuzzy patch, while larger telescopes will enjoy the compact bright core as well as resolution at the cluster’s outer edges. As a bonus for scopes, look 1 degree to the southeast for the peculiar round cluster NGC 5053. Classed as a very loose globular, this magnitude 10.5 grouping is one of the least luminous objects of its type, due to its small stellar population and the wide separation between members, yet its distance is almost the same as that of M3.

Sunday, May 17, 2009 – If you’re up before dawn this morning, take a look at the close pairing of Jupiter and the Moon! Only about a finger-width apart, the magnificent duet will make starting the day a little more pleasant…

Now, as the Sun rises, salute the 1837 birth of Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer, who discovered and named the element helium that he found in the Sun’s atmosphere, even before it had been detected on Earth. Lockyer was the first to coin the term chromosphere for the Sun’s outer layer and was the co-discoverer of solar prominences!

Tonight we’ll return to 6 Coma Berenices, and head no more than a half degree southwest for another awesome galaxy— M99 (RA 12 18 49 Dec +14 25 00). Discovered by Pierre Mechain on the same night as he found M98, this is one of the largest and brightest of the spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. Recognized second after M51 for its structure, Lord Rosse proclaimed it to be “a bright spiral with a star above.” It is an “Sc” class, and unlike its similarly structured neighbors, it rotates clockwise.

Receding from us at 2,324 kilometers per second, its speedy retreat through the galaxy fields and close pass to approachingM98may be the reason that it is asymmetrical, with a wide arm extending to the southwest. Three documented supernovae have been recorded in M99—in 1967, 1972, and 1986.

Possible in large binoculars with excellent conditions, this roughly 9th magnitude object is of low surface brightness and requires clean skies to see details. For a small telescope, you will see this one as fairly large, round, wispy, and with a bright nucleus. But, unleash aperture if you have it! For large scopes, the spiral pattern is very prominent, and the western arm shows well. Areas within the structure are patchworked with bright knots of stars and thin dust lanes, which surround the concentrated core region. During steady seeing, a bright, pinpoint stellar nucleus will come out of
hiding. A worthy study!

Until next week? Dreams really do come true when you keep on reaching for the stars!

This week’s awesome images are (in order of appearance): Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming (historical image), M64: the Blackeye Galaxy, M3 and M53 (credit—Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech), Sir Norman Lockyer (historical image) and M99 (credit—Palomar Observatory, courtesy of Caltech). We thank you so much!