Atlas V and Juno spacecraft sit poised at Launch Pad 41 after roll out to the launch pad on Aug 4 ahead of Aug. 5 blastoff set for 11:24 a.m.. Credit: Ken Kremer
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The Atlas V rocket that will power NASA’s new Juno science probe to Jupiter was rolled out to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 and now sits poised for blastoff on Friday, Aug. 5 at 15:34 UT (11:34 a.m. EDT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Atlas V booster rocket was pushed out of its protective hanger, known as the Vertical Integration Facility, and towards Pad 41 this morning starting at 8:01 a.m. and took about 40 minutes to reach its destination.
Weather forecasters continues to call for a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time, but the approach of Tropical Storm Emily could throw a wrench in NASA’s plans depending on the track following by the storm over the remaining prelaunch period.
According to continuing weather updates, Emily is dissipating.
Juno Jupiter Orbiter encapsulated inside Payload Fairing atop Atlas V Rocket at Pad 41. NASA’s Juno science spacecraft sits inside the 5 meter diameter payload fairing which is bolted on top of an Atlas V rocket. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
Managers approved Juno for flight at this morning’s Launch Readiness Review. The 4 ton Juno spacecraft will embark on a five year trek to Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet and seek to understand the ingredients necessary for planetary formations.
Juno is perched inside a 5 meter diameter payload fairing and mated to the most powerful version of the Atlas V rocket – an Atlas 551 – with 2.4 million pounds of liftoff thrust. The 20 story tall Atlas 551 uses a standard Atlas booster with five solid rocket boosters in the first stage and a single engine Centaur in the second stage.
The launch window extends for 69 minutes.
The Atlas V is built by United Launch Alliance (ULA).
Juno will orbit Jupiter 33 times and search for the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter’s intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe the planet’s auroras. Each orbit lasts 11 days
The spacecraft will provide the first detailed glimpse of Jupiter’s poles via a specially designed camera. The elliptical orbit will allow Juno to avoid most of Jupiter’s harsh radiation regions that can severely damage the spacecraft systems.
See my photo album from the launch pad published here.
Atlas and Juno at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Juno is slated for an Aug. 5 blastoff to Jupiter. 465,000 gallon Liquid Oxygen tank at right. Credit: Ken Kremer A bank of remote cameras set up to record the blastoff of Juno spacecraft. Credit: Ken KremerAtlas V, Juno and the Flame Trench at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer Atlas and Juno begin wheeling out from the Vertical Integration Facilty (VIF) to launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
An artist's conception of 2007 OR10, nicknamed Snow White. Astronomers suspect that its rosy color is due to the presence of irradiated methane. [Credit: NASA]
Discovered in 2007 by former graduate student Meg Schwamb, dwarf planet Snow White orbits at the edge of the Solar System. Roughly half the size of Pluto, its color was nicknamed erroneously. At one time it was surmised the diminutive planet was a white, icy world broken away from a larger planet, but further studies show it may be the most red of all.
Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have been taking a much closer look at dwarf planet 2007 OR10. This Kuiper Belt Object is a frozen world, covered in water ice which may have originated volcanically. While the slush covered rock could be assumed to be white, a more rosy hue is in order. Why? According to the new research, Snow White may have a thin atmosphere of methane that’s methodically dissipating.
“You get to see this nice picture of what once was an active little world with water volcanoes and an atmosphere, and it’s now just frozen, dead, with an atmosphere that’s slowly slipping away,” says Mike Brown, the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor and professor of planetary astronomy, who is the lead author on a paper to be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters describing the findings. “With all of the dwarf planets that are this big, there’s something interesting about them—they always tell us something,” Brown says. “This one frustrated us for years because we didn’t know what it was telling us.”
When dwarf planet 2007 OR10 was first discovered, the best instrument at the time for study was the Near Infrared Camera (NIRC) at the Keck Observatory. But, it wouldn’t be long until Adam Burgasser, a former graduate student of Brown’s and now a professor at UC San Diego, helped design a new instrument called the Folded-port Infrared Echellette (FIRE) to study Kuiper Belt Objects. Last fall, Brown, Burgasser, and postdoctoral scholar Wesley Fraser put FIRE to the test with the 6.5-meter Magellan Baade Telescope in Chile to take a closer look at Snow White. As they had surmised, the little planet was red – but what they weren’t expecting was the presence of water ice. “That was a big shock,” Brown says. “Water ice is not red.”
Is Snow White alone in its rose garden? The answer is no. A few years earlier Brown also discovered another dwarf planet – Quaoar – which had both a red spectrum and water ice. Because of its small size, Quaoar couldn’t hold on to an atmosphere. Over its evolutionary period, the volatile compounds were lost to space, leaving only methane which appears red. Because the spectrum of both small planets are similar, the conclusion is they both share similar properties. “That combination—red and water—says to me, ‘methane,'” Brown explains. “We’re basically looking at the last gasp of Snow White. For four and a half billion years, Snow White has been sitting out there, slowly losing its atmosphere, and now there’s just a little bit left.”
But the team is being cautious for now. While findings point to water ice, the presence of methane isn’t yet documented and will need further studies with larger telescopes like Keck. If their hypothesis turns out to be true, Snow White will join Quaoar as one of two dwarfs capable of keeping their volatile natures intact. Next up for the team is renaming 2007 OR10 since “white” no longer describes it. Before the discovery of water ice and the possibility of methane, “2007 OR10” might have sufficed for the astronomy community, since it didn’t seem noteworthy enough to warrant an official name. “We didn’t know Snow White was interesting,” Brown says. “Now we know it’s worth studying.”
Original Story Source: Caltech News Release. For further reading: Mike Brown’s Planets.
To The Shuttle Workforce – Thanks for 30 Years of Adventures. Commemorative banner flown to the ISS and back by the STS-135 shuttle crew, in thanks for more than 30 years of hard work and dedication by the Space Shuttle workforce preparing the space shuttles for 135 missions to space. STS-135 Crew from left; Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim, Pilot Doug Hurley and Shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson
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Following the majestic predawn touchdown of Space Shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to close out the Space Shuttle Era, the final crew of Atlantis, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and KSC Director Bob Cabana thanked the Space Shuttle workforce for their dedication and hard work at an employee appreciation event held outside the processing hangers where the orbiters were prepared for the 135 shuttle missions flown by NASA over more than thirty years.
The four person crew of Atlantis on the STS-135 mission flew a special commemorative banner millions of miles to the International Space Station and back in honor of the thousands of workers who processed, launched and landed America’s five space shuttles. They unfurled the banner at the employee event at KSC in tribute to the shuttle workers.
“It’s great to be here in sunny Florida,” said STS 135 Commander Chris Ferguson. “Mike Leinbach [ the Space Shuttle Launch Director] said there was no way he’d let us land in California.”
“We want to express our gratitude on behalf of the astronaut office for everything you have done here at KSC, the safety you have built into the vehicles, the meticulous care that you take of the orbiter. As soon as we got on orbit, I was absolutely amazed that everything in Atlantis works so well. Everything looks beautiful on the inside.”
STS-135 crew and space flown tribute banner to Space Shuttle workforce. Credit: NASA
“I hope you all believe that every time we go, we take a little bit of every one of you with us,” Ferguson emphasized.
Atlantis was parked at the event as a backdrop for photo opportunities with the thousands of shuttle workers in attendance – along with over a hundred journalists including the Universe Today team of Alan Walters and Ken Kremer.
“Like Chris said, our one landing option was getting back to Florida and you all rather than anywhere else. It felt like being home again. Thank you for everything you have all done over the last 30+ years,” said Doug Hurley.
“We treated Atlantis with the utmost respect because we see firsthand how you process this vehicle and it is your baby,” said Rex Waldheim. “It is clean and well cared for. We did that for you because you all did such a great job preparing it for us.”
“You are such a special work force,” added Sandy Magnus. “There is no workforce like the space program workforce anywhere in the world. The pride, care, dedication and passion you take in your work is what makes it possible to have these very challenging missions and to succeed. You have to do everything right all of the time. And you DO. And you make it look easy!! Congratulations!”
The STS-135 crew then unfurled the colorful banner taken to the ISS aboard Atlantis to commemorate NASA’s Space Shuttle Era.
“We took this banner with us to space and this is our way of telling you that you guys rock ! We will present this to Mike Leinbach and Bob Cabana as just a small token of our appreciation for all the work you’ve done for us. Thank you for such a wonderful vehicle,” Ferguson summed up.
KSC Director Bob Cabana thanks the Shuttle Workforce. Credit Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com)
The crew then waved good bye to the thousands of shuttle workers, posed with Atlantis one last time and departed with their families for a homecoming celebration at their training base at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Atlantis was then towed a few hundred yards (meters) and came to rest inside the Orbiter Processing Facility to conclude her final spaceflight journey as the last of NASA’s flight worthy Space Shuttle Orbiters. She has began decommissioning activities due to last several months to prepare for her future retirement home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) just a few miles (km) away. STS-135 crew pose with Atlantis and wave farewell to shuttle workforce at KSC. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com
Atlantis permanent new abode at KSCVC is set to open in 2013 where she will be genuinely displayed bearing scorch marks from reentry and as though “In Flight” with payload bays doors wide open for the general public to experience reality up close.
For some 1500 shuttle workers, the day’s proceedings were both joyous and bittersweet – as their last full day of employment and last chance to bask in the glow of the triumphant conclusion of the Shuttle Era.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden congratulates the Shuttle Workforce. Credit Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com)STS-135 say farewell to Atlantis and shuttle workforce at KSC. Credit: Ken KremerNASA shuttle workers welcome STS-135 crew at employee appreciation event. Credit Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com)
Dawn snaps First Full-Frame Image of Asteroid Vesta. NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta with its framing camera on July 24, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers). Dawn entered orbit around Vesta on July 15, and will spend a year orbiting the body. After that, the next stop on its itinerary will be an encounter with the dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The framing cameras have been developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, with significant contributions by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, and in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering, Braunschweig, Germany. The framing camera project is funded by NASA, the Max Planck Society and DLR. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
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NASA has just released the first full frame images of Vesta– and they are thrilling! The new images unveil Vesta as a real world with extraordinarily varied surface details and in crispy clear high resolution for the first time in human history.
Vesta appears totally alien and completely unique. “It is one of the last major uncharted worlds in our solar system,” says Dr. Marc Rayman, Dawn’s chief engineer and mission manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “Now that we are in orbit we can see that it’s a unique and fascinating place.”
“We have been calling Vesta the smallest terrestrial planet,” said Chris Russell, Dawn’s principal investigator at the UCLA. “The latest imagery provides much justification for our expectations. They show that a variety of processes were once at work on the surface of Vesta and provide extensive evidence for Vesta’s planetary aspirations.”
Dawn launch on September 27, 2007 by a Delta II Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer
The newly published image (shown above) was taken at a distance of 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers) by Dawn’s framing camera as the probe continues spiraling down to her initial science survey orbit of some 1,700 miles (2,700 km) altitude. The new images show the entire globe all the way since the giant asteroid turns on its axis once every five hours and 20 minutes.
Vesta and its new moon – Dawn – are approximately 114 million miles (184 million kilometers) distant away from Earth.
“The new observations of Vesta are an inspirational reminder of the wonders unveiled through ongoing exploration of our solar system,” said Jim Green, planetary division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Dark Side of Vesta Captured by Dawn
NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image over the northern hemisphere with its framing camera on July 23, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers) away from the giant asteroid Vesta. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
Dawn was launched atop a Delta II Heavy booster rocket in September 2007, took a gravity assist as it flew past Mars and has been thrusting with exotic ion propulsion for about 70 percent of the time ever since.
Dawn will spend 1 year collecting science data in orbit around Vesta before heading off to the Dwarf Planet Ceres.
The science team has just completed their press briefing. Watch for my more detailed report upcoming soon.
And don’t forget JUNO launches on Aug 5 – It’s an exciting week for NASA Space Science and I’ll be reporting on the Jupiter orbiter’s blastoff and more – as Opportunity closes in on Spirit Point !
NASA’s groundbreaking interplanetary science is all inter connected – because Vesta and Ceres failed to form into full-fledged planets thanks to the disruptive influence of Jupiter.
Hoisting Juno at Launch Pad 41 to bolt atop most powerful Atlas Rocket. At Space Launch Complex 41, a crane is lowered over the nose of the Atlas payload fairing enclosing the Juno spacecraft in preparation for its lift to the top of the Atlas rocket stacked in the Vertical Integration Facility. Juno is scheduled to launch Aug. 5 aboard the most powerful ever United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The solar-powered spacecraft will orbit Jupiter's poles 33 times to find out more about the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core. Credit: NASA/Cory Huston
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In less than one week’s time, NASA’s $1.1 Billion Juno probe will blast off on the most powerful Atlas V rocket ever built and embark on a five year cruise to Jupiter where it will seek to elucidate the mysteries of the birth and evolution of our solar system’s largest planet and how that knowledge applies to the remaining planets.
The stage was set for Juno’s liftoff on August 5 at 11:34 a.m. after the solar-powered spacecraft was mated atop the Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral and firmly bolted in place at 10:42 a.m. EDT on July 27.
“We’re about to start our journey to Jupiter to unlock the secrets of the early solar system,” said Scott Bolton, the mission’s principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “After eight years of development, the spacecraft is ready for its important mission.”
Inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41, the Juno spacecraft, enclosed in an Atlas payload fairing, is in position on top of its Atlas launch vehicle. The spacecraft was prepared for launch in the Astrotech Space Operations' payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. Credit: NASA/Cory Huston
The launch window for Juno extends from Aug. 5 through Aug. 26. The launch time on Aug. 5 opens at 11:34 a.m. EDT and closes at 12:43 p.m. EDT. Juno is the second mission in NASA’s New Frontiers program.
JUNO’s three giant solar panels will unfurl about five minutes after payload separation following the launch, said Jan Chodas, Juno’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.
The probe will cartwheel through space during its five year trek to Jupiter.
Upon arrival in July 2016, JUNO will fire its braking rockets and go into polar orbit and circle Jupiter 33 times over about one year. The goal is to find out more about the planet’s origins, interior structure and atmosphere, observe the aurora, map the intense magnetic field and investigate the existence of a solid planetary core.
Hoisting Juno inside the payload fairing at Space Launch Complex 41. Credit: NASA/Cory Huston
“Juno will become the first polar orbiting spacecraft at Jupiter. Not only are we over the poles, but we’re getting closer to Jupiter in our orbit than any other spacecraft has gone,” Bolton elaborated at a briefing for reporters at the Kennedy Space Center. “We’re only 5,000 kilometers above the cloud tops and so we’re skimming right over those cloud tops and we’re actually dipping down beneath the radiation belts, which is a very important thing for us. Because those radiation belts at Jupiter are the most hazardous region in the entire solar system other than going right to the sun itself.”
“Jupiter probably formed first. It’s the largest of all the planets and in fact it’s got more material in it than all the rest of the solar system combined. If I took everything in the solar system except the sun, it could all fit inside Jupiter. So we want to know the recipe.”
Watch for my continuing updates and on-site launch coverage of Juno, only the 2nd probe from Earth to ever orbit Jupiter. Galileo was the first.
Remember when there was a Space Shuttle. Atlantis flew the final flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle Era on the STS-135 mission and was the last flight worthy orbiter to be towed back from the Shuttle Landing Facility. Atlantis touched down on July 21, 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Ken Kremer
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Space Shuttle Atlantis closed out NASA’s Space Shuttle Era with a safe touchdown on July 21, 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at the conclusion of the STS-135 mission, the 135th and final shuttle mission.
I was extremely fortunate to be an eyewitness to history and one of the lucky few journalists permitted by NASA to follow along as Atlantis took her historic final journey back from wheels stop at Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility as a flight worthy orbiter.
A convoy of 25 specialized vehicles safe each orbiter after landing. Some four hours later, Atlantis was towed off the runway with a diesel powered tractor for about 2 miles along the tow way leading to the Orbiter Processing Facility which lies adjacent to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at KSC.
The STS-135 crew consisted of Shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim.
Check out my Towback Photo Album below, and prior album from wheels stop at the shuttle runway earlier in the day, here:
Atlantis towed nose first from runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC.
Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com) Atlantis towback from shuttle landing strip on July 21, 2011. Credit: Ken KremerAtlantis and post landing convoy vehicles. Credit: Ken KremerImpressionistic Atlantis. Credit: Ken KremerConvoy of 25 specialized vehicles tow Atlantis from the runway to the Orbiter Processing Facility.
Credit: Ken KremerConvoy crew waves to media. Credit: Ken KremerConvoy of 25 specialized vehicles tow Atlantis two miles along tow way from the runway to the Orbiter Processing Facility. Credit: Ken KremerAtlantis heads to the Orbiter Processing Facility adjacent to Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC.
Credit: Ken Kremer
Wheels Stop ! The Space Shuttle Era Ended Here – with Atlantis touchdown on Runway 15 for the Final Flight on July 21, 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The STS-135 mission closed out NASA’s Space Shuttle Era after three decades of flight and 135 missions. Credit: Ken Kremer
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At Wheels Stop with Atlantis ! Here ended the Shuttle Era
A few short hours after the touchdown of Space Shuttle Atlantis closed out NASA’s Space Shuttle Era, myself and a small group of extremely lucky journalists and photographers were invited by NASA to journey to ‘Wheels Stop’ – Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center for a thrilling and once in a lifetime eyewitness experience to the exact spot where Atlantis rolled to a stop.
After 30 years and 135 missions, the landing of the Final Flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis on July 21, 2011 at 5:57 a.m. concluded America’s Space Shuttle Program. The Grand Finale was commemorated with banners, quilts and celebrations at Runway 15.
The STS-135 crew comprised of Shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim.
It’s truly an honor and a privilege to be granted this extremely rare and magnificent opportunity to witness history first hand by the folks at NASA and the Kennedy Space Center – and share this with the public. Thank you !
See my Atlantis ‘Wheels Stop’ photo album below and more upcoming from Universe Today colleague Alan Walters
Space Shuttle workers and NASA managers commemorate the exact spot where NASA’s Space Shuttle Era ended at the shuttle landing facility after three decades and 135 missions on July 21, 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)Atlantis - The Final Flight. Banner displayed below the nose of Atlantis at Runway 15. Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier (4th from right) poses with shuttle workers and managers at Runway 15 on July 21, 2011 at KSC. Credit: Ken KremerAtlantis - The Final Flight. Banner displayed below the nose of Atlantis at Runway 15 with shuttle workers and managers at Runway 15 on July 21, 2011 at KSC. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and KSC Center Director Bob Cabana at far right. Credit: Ken KremerAwesome Atlantis nose and crew cabin at wheels stop for the Space Shuttle Era on Runway 15 at KSC. Credit: Ken KremerQuilt with all 135 shuttle mission patches displayed with Atlantis at shuttle runway after final landing at KSC. Homemade quilt crafted by shuttle workers. Credit: Ken Kremer
Technicians at work reconfiguring Atlantis after the final landing and draining residual cryogenic fuels during normal post flight processing activities at the shuttle runway. Credit: Ken Kremer NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speaks to reporters at Runway 15. Credit: Ken Kremer
KSC Center Director Bob Cabana speaks with reporters at the Shuttle Runway. Credit: Ken KremerAssociate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier inspects Atlantis belly and wheels at KSC shuttle runway. Credit: Ken KremerKen Kremer at ‘wheels stop’ with Space Shuttle Atlantis at landing Runway 15 at KSC - a thrilling and once in a lifetime eyewitness experience at the bittersweet end of NASA’s Space Shuttle Era. Credit: Ken Kremer
Atlantis swoops in like a ghost to end NASA’s Space Shuttle Era on July 21, 2011. Atlantis and her crew of 4 speedily glided to a nearly invisible safe landing at 5:57 a.m. EDT on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Credit: Alan Walters (awalterphoto.com)
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Barely discernable in the pre-dawn twilight and appearing as an eerie, ghost like figure, Space Shuttle Atlantis and her four person crew swiftly glided to a triumphant landing at the Kennedy Space Center that closed out NASA’s three decade long Space Shuttle Era – in the wink of an eye it was all over.
Atlantis touched down almost invisibly on Runway 15 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at 5:57 a.m. EDT and rolled to a stop moments later to conclude the history making 13 day flight to the International Space Station and back. During the STS-135 mission Atlantis orbited the Earth 200 times and journeyed 5,284,862 miles.
The all veteran crew of space flyers comprised of Shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim.
The finality of it all was at once thoroughly unbelievable that the shuttles would never fly again but utterly definitive at ‘wheel stop’ that we had witnessed the end of a historic and magnificent Era in human spaceflight.
Atlantis glides down Runway 15. Credit: Alan Walters (awaltersphoto.com)
Everyone present at the shuttle landing strip let out a loud cheer and thankful applause upon the safe conclusion to the 135th and last flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program – since the first blastoff of Columbia on the STS-1 mission on April 12, 1981.
“Mission complete, Houston,” radioed Commander Ferguson. “After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle has earned its place in history. It’s come to a final stop.”
But the sinking realization that America at that exact moment had simultaneously and voluntarily lost 100% of our indigenous national capability to send humans and cargo to the International Space Station is quite troubling to say the least.
Atlantis rolling to a stop on July 21, 2011. Credit: Ken Kremer (kenkremer.com)
The end of the shuttle program also marked the end of employment for nearly 2000 highly talented shuttle workers in the midst of a continuing tough economic situation all across the US. And thousand more pink slips are looming.
The primary goal of the STS-135 mission was to deliver more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, food, water, science experiments and assorted gear to the International Space Station that were loaded aboard the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module – which functions as a ‘moving van’ in space.
All these supplies are “absolutely mandatory”, according to top NASA managers, for sustaining ISS operations for about one year into 2012. By that time NASA hopes that two US commercial space companies – SpaceX and Orbital Sciences – will have flown successful unmanned cargo flights to replace the capability completely lost with the premature retirement of NASA’s three orbiter fleet of winged Space Shuttles.
Atlantis rolling to a stop on July 21, 2011. Credit: Ken Kremer
For the return trip to Earth, the 21-foot long, 15-foot diameter Raffaello brought back nearly 5,700 pounds of valuable science samples and unneeded trash to free up coveted storage space aboard the massive orbiting outpost.
“Although we got to take the ride,” said Commander Chris Ferguson on behalf of his crew,” we sure hope that everybody who has ever worked on, or touched, or looked at, or envied or admired a space shuttle was able to take just a little part of the journey with us.”
Upon departing Atlantis at the shuttle runway, Ferguson and the entire crew were welcomed back by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other senior officials.
“They have come to be known as the ‘final four.’ They did an absolutely incredible job,” said Bolden. “They made us very proud.”
“I really want to thank the space shuttle team and the Space Shuttle Program for just a tremendous effort today and throughout the entire history of the program. We gave them a tremendous challenge to fly and execute these missions and to finish strong and I can tell you today that the team accomplished every one of those objectives,” said Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier at a post landing briefing for reports at the Kennedy Space Center. “I’d also like to thank the nation for allowing us to have these thirty years to go use the shuttle system.”
“It is great to have Atlantis safely home after a tremendously successful mission — and home to stay,” said Bob Cabana, Kennedy Space Center director.
Atlantis landing approach on July 21, 2011 at KSC. Credit: Mike Deep and David Gonzales
Atlantis future retirement home will be constructed just a short distance away at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC).
Visitor Complex COO Bill Moore told me that he expects Atlantis will be put on permanent public display in 2013 after completion of a new 64,000 sq. ft exhibition building to house the orbiter. Atlantis will be displayed as though it were “In Flight.”
“I’m unbelievably proud to be here representing the Space Shuttle Program and the thousands of people across the country who do the work,” said Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager. “Hearing the sonic booms as Atlantis came home for the last time really drove it home to me that this has been a heck of a program.”
“The workers out here and across the country in the Space Shuttle Program have dedicated their lives, their hearts and their souls to this program, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Mike Leinbach, the space shuttle launch director at KSC.
Altogether Atlantis flew 33 missions, spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Atlantis was the last of NASA three orbiters to be retired and closed out the Space Shuttle Era.
Wheels stop marked the dreaded end of American manned spaceflight from American soil for many years to come. No one can say with certainty how or when America will again launch humans to space.
From one moment to the next America’s leadership in space position has evaporated – with the utilization of the most capable spaceship ever built and now operating at the peak of its performance yielding instead to reigning uncertainly as to what comes next given the dire outlook for the NASA budget in the foreseeable future.
A new US manned launch system – most likely in the form of a commercial “space taxi” – could perhaps lift off by mid-decade, but the task is formidable and the funding obstacles are sky high.
In the meantime, America is fully dependent on the Russians to loft Americans to space. All US astronauts headed to the ISS for the next three to five years at a minimum will be forced to hitch a ride aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.
Atlantis Final Landing Photos contributed by Alan Walters, Ken Kremer, Mike Deep, David Gonzales, John L. Salsbury and Chase Clark
Up next: Wheels Stop with Atlantis on the Shuttle Landing Strip and Towback to the Orbiter Processing Facility
Atlantis STS-135 landing approach on July 21, 2011 at KSC. Credit: John L. Salsbury Atlantis landing approach on July 21, 2011 at KSC. Credit: John L. Salsbury STS-135 Post Landing Crew Briefing at the Kennedy Space Center Press Site. From Left: Shuttle Commander Chris Ferguson, Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim and Pilot Doug Hurley. Credit: Chase Clark/www.ShuttlePhotos.com
South Polar Region of Vesta - Enhanced View. NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image centered on the south pole of Vesta with its framing camera on July 18, 2011. The image has been enhanced to bring out more surface details. It was taken from a distance of about 6,500 miles (10,500 kilometers) away from the protoplanet Vesta. The smallest detail visible is about 1.2 miles (2.0 km). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. Enhanced and annotated by Ken Kremer
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NASA’s Dawn Asteroid Orbiter is now spiraling down ever closer to the protoplanet Vesta – since arriving on July 16 – and capturing magnificent new high resolution images of the huge impact basin at the South Pole that dominates the surface. See enhanced image here.
The Dawn team just released a new image taken by the framing camera on July 18 as the orbiter flew from the day side to the night side at an altitude of 10,500 kilometers above Vesta, the second most massive body in the main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft obtained this image centered on the south pole with its framing camera on July 18, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 6,500 miles (10,500 kilometers) away from the protoplanet Vesta. The smallest detail visible is about 1.2 miles (2.0 km). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA
“I find this picture very dramatic !” exclaimed Dr. Marc Rayman, Dawn Chief Engineer from the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in an interview with Universe Today.
“Dawn acquired this image after it had flown past the terminator and its orbit began taking it over the night side of Vesta.”
“After having this view, the spacecraft resumed gradually spiraling around its new home, heading for survey orbit where it will begin intensive observations of Vesta,” Rayman told me.
Dawn will reach the initial science survey orbit in early August, approximately 1700 miles above the battered surface. Vesta turns on its axis once very five hours and 20 minutes.
Vesta suffered an enormous cosmic collision eons ago that apparently created a gigantic impact basin in the southern hemisphere and blasted enormous quantities of soil, rocks and dust into space. Some 5% of all meteorites found on Earth originate from Vesta.
“The south pole region was declared to be a large impact basin after the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data and images were obtained,” elaborated Prof. Chris Russell, Dawn Principal Investigator from UCLA.
“Now that we have higher resolution images we see that this region is unlike any other large impact on a small body but much of our experience here is on icy bodies of similar size,” Russell told me.
Dawn’s new images of Vesta taken at close range from just a few thousand miles away, now vastly exceed those taken by Hubble as it circled in Earth orbit hundreds of millions of miles away and may cause the science team to reevaluate some long held theories.
“The team is looking forward to obtaining higher resolution data over this region to look for confirmatory evidence for the impact hypothesis. They are not yet willing to vote for or against the HST interpretation. Needless to say the team got very excited by this image,” said Russell.
Dawn will orbit Vesta for one year before heading to its final destination, the Dwarf Planet Ceres.
Simulated View of Vesta from Dawn on July 23, 2011. Credit: NASA
Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman asks: Can we travel faster than the speed of light? Photo Credit: Discovery Communications
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Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman has entered into its second season and is working to highlight topics as physical as space flight and as metaphysical as whether or not we have a sixth sense. The show is hosted by Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman and airs on Wednesday nights on the Science Channel. This week’s show deals with a subject that many space flight enthusiasts have wondered for some time – can we really travel faster than the speed of light?
If the universe has a speed limit – it is considered to be the speed of light – at least we think it is the limit. Ever since Albert Einstein introduced us to the Theory of Relativity – we have been seeking ways if not to break this limit – then at least to bend it – a lot. For according to Einstein – it is impossible for humans to go faster than light. Scientists working in laboratories across the globe are trying to prove Einstein wrong – but can they? Time will tell and Through the Wormhole will take a peek at their efforts.
The show tackling the question of light speed will air on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 10 p.m. EDT.
It turns out that Freeman himself has often pondered many of the questions raised on the show and he wanted to share his wonder with the rest of world.
“My love affair with science and the unknown began for me in my high school physics class,” said Freeman. “My mind sprung open – all because of the questions I asked. In this new season of Through the Wormhole, we will explore ten new mystifying questions that will change the way you look at the world around you.”
Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary are executive producers for Revelations Entertainment which produces the show. As mentioned, the show is entering its second season; this was confirmed in February of this year. The show was conceived as utilizing an element of pop culture (in this case Morgan Freeman, a celebrity, as the show’s narrator) with deep questions that have confronted mankind, in some cases since the dawn of time. By all accounts the show has been very successful.
