On Thursday, the European ATV Johannes Kepler will dock with the International Space Station. Rendezvous and docking in space has been taking place for 45 years, and happened first when Gemini 8 hooked up with the Agena Target Vehicle in 1966. Most of us take for granted how two spacecraft rendezvous while in orbit, but it is a complicated procedure involving orbital mechanics, coordination between the two spacecraft, and strict timelines. Here’s a 90-second whirlwind tour of the history of docking in space – past, present and future from ESA. If you want to read more about the history rendezvous and docking, ESA’s ATV blog has a detailed look. Below is a video that describes how the ATV docks at the ISS.
Check out the spectacular launch photo (above) of the Johannes Kepler ATV streaking skyward atop an Ariane 5 rocket as captured by astronaut Paolo Nespoli from his unparalleled vantage point looking out the windows aboard the International Space Station (ISS), in orbit some 350 km above Earth.
The launch photo shows the rising exhaust trail from the rocket just minutes after blast off of the Ariane booster on Feb. 16 from the ESA rocket base in Kourou, French Guiana, South America. The rocket was still on a vertical ascent trajectory to orbit. Additional launch photos below from space and Earth.
The photo vividly illustrates the maturity of the European space effort since the launch base, Ariane booster rocket, Kepler payload and astronaut Nespoli all stem from Europe and are crucial to the future life of the ISS.
Kepler is set to dock at the ISS on Feb. 24 and an on time arrival is essential because of an impending orbital traffic jam.
Space Shuttle Discovery is due to link up with the ISS just six hous after Kepler if the orbiter launches according to schedule on Feb. 22.
Everything is nominal with Kepler’s spacecraft systems and orbital performance at this time say European Space Agency (ESA) officials, including the deployment of ATV’s four large solar wings.
The ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle, is a European built resupply vessel designed to transport essential cargo and provisions to the ISS. It is Europe’s contribution to stocking up the ISS.
Kepler is carrying carries more than seven metric tons of supplies and cargo for the ISS and will be used to reboost the outpost to a higher orbit during its planned four month mission.
“ATV is a truly European spacecraft. Flying it requires experts from ESA, partner agencies and industry across half a dozen countries,” said ESA’s Bob Chesson, Head of the Human Spaceflight Operations Department.
“Getting it built, into orbit and operating it in flight to docking requires a lot of hard work and dedication from hundreds of people.”
The ATV is named after Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), the German astronomer and mathematician who is best known for discovering the laws of planetary motion. NASA also named its powerful new planet hunting space telescope after Kepler, which recently discovered the first earth sized planets orbiting inside the habitable zone.
After the shuttle is forcibly retired later this year in 2011, the very survival and continued use of the ISS will be completely dependent on a steady train of cargo and payloads lofted by unmanned resupply vessels including the ATV from Europe, HTV from Japan, Progress from Russia and commercial carriers such as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences.
Photos of Ariane rockets rising exhaust trail from Feb. 16 ATV launch photographed from the ISS. Credits: ESA/ NASA
The Orion crew cabin – know as the Ground Test Article or GTA – was shipped by truck and will arrive in Denver on Feb. 14 according to a Lockheed Martin spokesperson.
The next step at Denver is to install the heat shield and thermal protection backshell. The pathfinding vehicle will then be subjected to performance testing inside the acoustic and environmental testing chamber. The testing exercise ensures the vehicle can meet the challenges of ascent, on-orbit operations and safe landing.
“This is a significant milestone for the Orion project and puts us on the right path toward achieving the President’s objective of Orion’s first crewed mission by 2016,” said Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion program manager. “Orion’s upcoming performance tests will demonstrate how the spacecraft meets the challenges of deep-space mission environments such as ascent, launch abort, on-orbit operations, high-speed return trajectory, parachute deployment, and water landings in a variety of sea states.”
Engineers for Lockheed Martin successfully finished the initial construction and testing phase for this prototype Orion crew cabin at New Orleans. The final pieces of the Orion GTA were welded together in late May 2010 using a state of the art friction stir welding process. See photos below from my inspection tour of the newly welded Orion GTA.
The spacecraft underwent proof pressure testing this past fall. Several mass and volume simulators including the parachutes were installed by the technical team to ready the capsule for shipment.
In Denver, the vehicle will be bombarded with acoustic energy and vibrations to simulate flight like situations that correlate the structural environment inside and outside the vehicle. The tests will determine if the spacecraft was properly designed to survive the harsh rigors of spaceflight. Lessons learned will be incorporated into the tools and manufacturing processes that will eventually lead to a human rated production vehicle.
The GTA vehicle will then be transported to NASA’s Langley Research facility for drop tests to simulate, validate and certify a variety of water landing scenarios at the new Hydro Impact Basin. The Langley facility will be used to test and certify water landing for all human-rated spacecraft for NASA according to Lockheed.
NASA and Lockheed hope to launch the first unmanned Orion test flight in 2013 if the budget allows. Construction of the service module and other key components is in progress.
Orion has achieved other significant development milestones in the past year.
The emergency abort rocket was successfully tested on May 6, 2010 at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, N.M. The abort rocket is bolted atop the crew cabin and is designed to pull the capsule away from the launcher in a split second in an emergency and save astronauts lives.
“The Phase 1 Safety Review was completed in June 2010 and formally acknowledges that Orion’s design meets all of NASA’s critical safety requirements for a human-rated space flight vehicle for flights to low earth orbit (LEO), lunar and deep space missions,” according to Larry Price, Orion Deputy Program Manager at Lockheed Martin.
In the past year the Orion budget has been cut significantly by NASA due to lack of funding from the federal government and the outlook for future funding is uncertain. The new Congress is aiming to cut NASA’s research and development budget even further.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company is the prime contractor for Orion and designed and built the GTA as part of a multiyear contract awarded by NASA worth some $3.9 Billion US Dollars. The goal is to produce a new, US-built manned capsule capable of launching American astronauts into space in the post shuttle era.
As soon as the shuttles are retired – for lack of money – the United States will have no capability to loft American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) for at least several years. NASA – and all other ISS partners – will be wholly dependent on the Russian Soyuz capsules for launching astronauts to the ISS until either the Orion or commercially developed space taxis such as the Dragon spacecraft from SpaceX are ready for flight. The first operational unmanned Dragon was test flown in Dec 2010.
The Obama Administration sought to cancel Orion in Feb. 2010 as part of NASA’s Project Constellation Return to the Moon program, but then decided to continue Orion’s development after the cancellation proposal met strong bipartisan opposition in Congress.
Orion was to have been launched atop the Ares 1 rocket which has now been officially cancelled. NASA has started the design of a replacement for the Ares 1 which will most likely be a shuttle derived vehicle. Congress has mandated that the first test flight of the still undefined heavy lift rocket must take place by 2016.
Alternatively, Orion could be launched atop a Delta 4 Heavy booster after the rocket is man-rated.
Orion Crew Vehicle Construction Video
Watch this video to see how the first Orion spacecraft was constructed from pieces at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Credit: NASA
360 degree panorama of Orion GTA and Lockheed Martin team. Credit: nasatech.net
What do NASA, Robots, the Sun and the NFL have in common ?
Well … its Super SUNday … for Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6, 2011
The unlikely pairing of Football and Science face off head to head on Super Bowl SUNday. Millions of television viewers will see NASA’s Robonaut 2, or R2, share the the limelight with the Steelers and the Packers of the NFL. The twin brother of R2 is destined for the International Space Station (ISS) and will become the first humanoid robot in space. It will work side by side as an astronaut’s assistant aboard the space station.
The fearsome looking R2 is set to make a first ever special guest appearance during the FOX Networks Super Bowl pre-game show with FOX sports analyst Howie Long. The pre-game show will air starting at 2 p.m. EST on Feb. 6.
And there’s more.
On Super SUNday Feb. 6, NASA will publish Humankinds first ever image of the ‘Entire Sun’ courtesy of NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft. And given the stunningly cold and snowy weather in Dallas, the arrival of our Sun can’t come soon enough for the ice covered stadium and football fans. See photos above and below.
The two STEREO spacecraft will reach positions on opposite sides of the Sun on Sunday, Feb. 6 at about 7:30 p.m. in the evening, possibly coinciding with the Super Bowl half time show.
At opposition, the STEREO duo will observe the entire 360 degrees sphere of the Sun’s surface and atmosphere for the first time in the history of humankind.
The nearly identical twin brother of R2 is packed aboard Space Shuttle Discovery and awaiting an out of this world adventure from Launch Pad 39 A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Blast off of the first humanoid robot is currently slated for Feb. 24.
R2 is the most dextrously advanced humanoid robot in the world and the culmination of five decades of wide-ranging robotics research at NASA and General Motors (GM).
This newest generation of Robonauts are an engineering marvel and can accomplish real work with exceptionally dexterous hands and an opposable thumb. R2 will contribute to the assembly, maintenance and scientific output of the ISS
“R2 is the most sophisticated robot in the world,” says Rob Ambrose, Chief of NASA’s Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Robotics Division.
“We hope R2 should help to motivate kids to study science and space,” Ron Diftler told me in an interview at KSC. Diftler is NASA’s R2 project manager at JSC.
The amazingly dexterity of the jointed arms and hands enables R2 to use exactly the same tools as the astronauts and thereby eliminates the need for constructing specialized tools for the robots –saving valuable time, money and weight.
The robot is loaded with advanced technology including an optimized overlapping dual arm dexterous workspace, series elastic joint technology, extended finger and thumb travel, miniaturized 6-axis load cells, redundant force sensing, ultra-high speed joint controllers, extreme neck travel, and high resolution camera and IR systems.
R2 weighs some 300 pounds and was manufactured from nickel-plated carbon fiber and aluminum. It is equipped with two human like arms and two hands as well as four visible light cameras that provide stereo vision with twice the resolution of high definition TV.
“With R2 we will demonstrate ground breaking and innovative robotics technology which is beyond anything else out there and that will also have real world applications as GM works to build better, smarter and safer cars,” according to Susan Smyth, GM Director of Research and Development.
“Crash avoidance technology with advanced sensors is a prime example of robonaut technology that will be integrated into GM vehicles and manufacturing processes.”
Robonaut 2 flight unit poses with the NASA/GM development team inside the Space Station Processing Facility at KSC in this 360 degree panorama from nasatech.net
I was fortunate to meet R2 and the Robonaut team at KSC. R2 is incredibly life like and imposing and I’ll never forget the chance to shake hands. Although its motions, sounds, illuminated hands and muscular chest gives the unmistakable impression of standing next to a lively and powerful 300 pound gorilla, it firmly but gently grasped my hand in friendship – unlike a Terminator.
So its going to make for a mighty match up some day between the fearsome looking R2 and the NFL players.
Well apparently, R2 and Howie will be making some predictions on which player will win the MVP award and a GM Chevrolet. Stay tuned.
So come back on SUNday Feb. 6 for NASA’s release of the first ever images of our entire Sun from the STEREO twins.
Japans critical new resupply spaceship – nicknamed Kounotori2, (HTV2) – was successfully berthed today (Jan. 27) at the International Space Station (ISS). Kounotori2 – which translates as ‘White Stork’ in Japanese – was grappled by the ISS crew and then manually nested to an Earth facing docking port on the Harmony module.
Kounotori2 was launched aboard a Japanese H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan at 12:37 a.m. (2:27 p.m. Japan time) on Jan. 22 to begin a five day orbital chase of the station.
View the Video and a Photo album below of the rendezvous and docking sequence
The two ships became one as Astronaut Cady Coleman grappled the free flying ‘White Stork’ at 6:41 a.m. EST with the stations robotic arm while the vessels were flying in formation about 220 miles above the south Indian Ocean in an easterly direction.
After an automatic rendezvous early this morning, the unmanned HTV2 cargo carrier slowly approached the space station from below to a series of ever closer hold points- 250 m, 30 m and 10 m.
Mission controllers on Earth carefully maneuvered the 35,000 pound ship to the final capture distance of about 33 feet (10 meters). The HTV thrusters were disabled and it was placed into ‘free drift’ mode.
ISS astronauts Paolo Nespoli, Cady Coleman and Commander Mark Kelly crew monitored the approach from inside the ISS. The crew was deftly working at the controls of the robotics work station of the Cupola Observation dome.
Finally, Coleman gently grabbed the ‘White Stork’ with the 58 foot long Space Station Robotic arm, built and contributed by Canada.
“Grapple completed, Kounotori is grappled!” tweeted and twitpiced Paolo Nespoli from the ISS.
“This demonstrates what we can do when humans and robots work together,” radioed Cady Coleman.”We look forward to bringing HTV 2 – Kounotori – aboard the International Space Station.”
Video caption: Japanese Cargo Craft Arrives at ISS.
From: NASAtelevision | January 27, 2011 An unpiloted Japanese resupply ship, the “Kounotori”2 H-2B Transfer Vehicle (HTV2 ), was captured and berthed to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station Jan. 27, 2011. The berthing took place after an automated five-day flight following its launch on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s H-2B rocket Jan. 22 from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. The ‘Kounotori’, which means “white stork” in Japanese, is loaded with more than four tons of supplies and spare parts for the six crew members on the orbital laboratory. Expedition 26 Flight Engineers Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli were at the controls of the robotic work station in the space station’s Cupola module to maneuver the Canadarm2 robotic arm for the grapple and berthing of the HTV2, which will remain at the orbital outpost until the end of March
Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli had the honor of driving Kounotori2 to a hard dock at the station. The attachment was completed at 9:51 a.m. EST after Kelly inspected the docking mechanism and confirmed it was clear of debris and ready. 16 bolts firmly latched the cargo freighter into place a few hours later.
The crew will open the hatch to Kounotori2 on Friday, (Jan. 28) at about 7:30 a.m. This is only the second flight of the Kounotori. The barrel shaped vehicle is coated with 57 solar panels.
Kounotori2 is loaded with over 4 tons of pressurized and unpressurized cargo, including science experiments, research gear, space parts, clothing, food and water and other provisions from Japan, NASA and Canada.
HTV2 will remain docked at the ISS for about two months until late March. During that time the ISS crew will retrieve all the equipment and supplies for transfer to locations both inside and outside the ISS.
Using the Canadian robotic arm and Dextre robot, a pallet loaded with large spare parts for the station will be extracted from a slot on the side of the cargo ship robot and attached to an experiment platform outside the Japanese Kibo module.
On Feb. 18, the ISS crew will move the HTV from the Earth facing port. They will relocate it 180 degrees to the other side of the Harmony module to the space facing zenith port. This maneuver is required to provide enough clearance for Space Shuttle Discovery so that the orbiter can also safely dock at the Harmony module in late February. Discovery is set to launch on Feb. 24.
The HTV2 docking marks the start of an extremely busy time of orbital comings and goings at the ISS.
A Russian Progress resupply ship launches later today, at 8:31 p.m. EST. Following a two day chase, the Progress will dock on Saturday night (Jan. 29) at 9:39 p.m. and deliver over 6000 pounds of cargo to the station. Watch NASA TV
The European ATV cargo ship – named ‘Johannes Kepler – blasts off on Feb. 15.
HTV2 Rendezvous & Docking Photo Album: Jan 27, 2011
All photos Credit NASA and NASA TV
A Japanese rocket successfully blasted off early this morning (Jan. 22) on a vital mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The launcher carried the Kounotori2 – which means ‘White Stork’ in Japanese – cargo resupply vessel. Kounotori2, also dubbed HTV2, is stocked with over 3800 kilograms (8000 pounds) of crucial science experiments, research gear, food and provisions for the six person international crew living aboard the Earth orbiting outpost.
Liftoff of the unmanned H-IIB rocket from Launch Pad No. 2 at the Tanegashima Space Center occurred earlier today at 2:37:57 p.m. on January 22, local Japan Standard Time (12:37:57 a.m. EST), from a remote island rocket base located in southern Japan.
Watch 2 Videos of the launch below. Especially be sure to view the Japanese version (interspersed with English) which captured dramatic rear-looking video of the receding Earth and its curvature and the separation of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) – during the ascent to orbit.
The launch was flawless in all respects. The Japanese Space Agency – JAXA – confirmed that the Kounotori2 cargo carrier separated from the launch vehicle as expected at about 15 minutes and 13 seconds after liftoff.
Blast off of the 186 foot tall rocket had been delayed two days by poor weather. By the time of Saturday’s launch, the weather had cleared with a wind speed of 8.3 meters/second from the north-west and the temperature was 10.6 degrees Celsius according to JAXA.
The H-IIB is a two-stage rocket powered by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen with four strap-on solid rocket boosters (SRBs) powered by polybutadiene. The SRB’s were jettisoned as planned about two minutes into the flight (see video).
Rendezvous at the ISS is scheduled to take place on Jan. 27.
After the HTV2 arrives in close proximity, astronauts on board will manually dock the cargo ship to the station. Using the stations Canadian built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, the Expedition 26 crew of Cady Coleman and Scott Kelly from the US and Paolo Nespoli from Italy will grapple HTV2 and berth it to the Earth-facing port on the Harmony module.
Japanese Space Agency – JAXA – HTV Launch Video. In Japanese – interspersed with English
Video Caption: The H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 2 with the KOUNOTOR 2 (HTV 2) cargo transporter onboard launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan at 2:37:57 p.m. on January 22, Sat., Japan Standard Time, (12:37:57 a.m. EST) and is bound for the International Space Station (ISS). KOUNOTORI 2 translates as ‘White Stork’ in Japanese.
HTV Launch with NASA Commentary
HTV2 weighs 16,061 kilograms (35,408 pounds) and measures 10 meters long by 4 meters wide (33 feet by 13 feet). The vehicle can deliver both internal and external cargo to the station. In addition to Japanese equipment, the freighter is also loaded with over 2200 kg of experiments and supplies from NASA and Canada including both pressurized and unpressurized items.
This was the second launch of the HTV cargo carrier which was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The maiden launch occurred in September 2009 and was a test flight to demonstrate the autonomous and remotely-controlled rendezvous capabilities while also delivering cargo and supplies to the ISS.
Japan expects to construct and launch about one HTV per year with the capability to ramp up production to two vehicles per year if necessary and if the Japanese government approves funding.
JAXA is evaluating the possibility to convert the HTV into a vehicle capable of flying humans to space.
China, the other Asian superpower, has already established a human spaceflight program.
China has successfully launched three manned capsules to space and is vigorously moving forward with plans to orbit a manned space station.
After the forced retirement of the Space Shuttle later this year, NASA will be completely dependent on commercial companies and foreign governments to launch all of its future cargo requirements to the ISS.
More HTV 2 launch and launch processing photos below from JAXA
Spectacular eruptions from Mt Etna are spewing massive quantities of lava, smoke and ash many hundreds of meters high into the skies above the island of Sicily. Mt Etna is the most active volcano in Europe and one of the most active on all of Earth. The volcano rumbled to life again this week on the evening of January 12, 2011 and lit up the night sky. Mt Etna is 3350 meters high and located on the northeast coast of Sicily near the boot of Italy (see above, below).
Updated: comment or send me your Etna erupting photos/accounts to post below.
This fearsome natural wonder is providing an awe inspiring show from both Earth and Space. Local residents and lucky tourists nearby took stunning videos and photos (below) showing fountains of brilliant lava eruptions streaming mightily from the volcano.
Amazing photos from space were captured by Earth orbiting satellites from NASA and ESA. NASA’s Terra satellite took the above image on Jan. 11 as Mt Etna was spewing forth smoke or ash just prior to the volcanic eruptions on Jan. 12. The photo of Etna is NASA’s Earth Observatory Image of the Day, today, Jan. 15, 2011.
ESA’s Envisat likewise snapped a gorgeous view of the billowing plume of smoke rising to space (photo at left) and the international crew aboard the ISS, which currently includes Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli. Perhaps he’ll send us a shot !
Local news and eyewitness accounts say that tremors from the volcano began increasing on Jan. 11. Emissions of volcanic gases and water vapor have been ongoing since late September 2010. The sounds of explosive tremors from deep inside were also detected months ago.
This sizzling hot video – “Etna at Maximum Activity” – is set to music and records the magnificent flowing streams of lava and the thunderous sounds of the crackling, explosive eruptions. Be sure to view at full screen, then just sit back and enjoy !
Plumes of volcanic ash from the eruptions spread across Sicily and forced the closure of the local Fontanarossa airport – nearby to the city of Catania, which is 24 kilometers away.
Rumblings of Mt Etna have been recorded in historical documents dating back to about 1500 BC.
Another short, dramatic video with the raw sounds of the eruption from a group of German tourists visiting the beautiful city of Taormina, Sicily
Eyewitness Description:
“Mount Etna erupted in the evening of January 12, 2011 for around four hours, providing an amazing scenery. We shot this unique video from Taormina on January 12, 2011 at 11.45 p.m. and uploaded it on YouTube.
On the evening of 11th January 2011 an increase in volcanic tremor was recorded at the summit of the volcano. The recorded seismic activity reached a peak at 7 a.m. on 12th January when the source moved from north of NE crater to the SE crater. The eruption started with strombolian explosive activity at SE crater at around 9.p.m. Lava overflowed the eastern rim of SE crater and fed a flow that moved toward the western wall of the Valle del Bove (Valley of the oxen), an ancient huge uninhabited depression on the NE side of the volcano.
The Sicilian communities near the volcano were not threatened by this latest fascinating eruption. Best place to watch the fascinating eruptions of Mount Etna is the town of Taormina, nestled on a hill at 220 meters / 722 feet above the sea level and at a safe linear distance of approx. 28 Km / 17,4 miles from the top craters of the Sicilian volcano.”
A few years back, I visited Mt Etna and was incredibly lucky to witness this spectacle of nature myself. It was an unforgettable experience to see the glowing red-orange colored lava flowing out from the bowels of the Earth. It was like a living being with circulating blood.
In the excitement, I did something that in retrospect was incredibly stupid. I stood on a ledge, perhaps 50 cm thick, right above the porthole of the scalding hot lava erupting from the earth beneath my feet. Many others did too.
Sicily is a lovely place of manmade and natural wonders. Don’t pass up an opportunity to see Etna aflame
Look at Etnaweb (in Italian, but Universal) for a fantastic collection of local photos and webcams of the eruption.
Volcanic eruptions are breathtaking events to behold. The residual plumes of smoke and ash can stay aloft for many years and can also effect how we see other astronomical events such as our view of solar and lunar eclipses.
For a more tranquil view of Earth and inspiration from Carl Sagan, click here
NASA’s Spirit robot is positioned next to an ancient and extinct volcanic feature on Mars. Learn more here
Can you envision a place hotter than Etna ? … A scorching, molten hellish world where the temperatures are unimaginably hot
It has often been called a ‘100 billion boondoggle’ – yet it is also unquestionably one of the most successful international programs in human history. The International Space Station (ISS) is just now starting to produce some of the valuable science that was the station’s selling point from the beginning. However, this delay can be attributed to the numerous tragedies, economic woes and other issues that have arisen on a global scale through the course of the station’s construction.
The one thing that the world learned early on from the ISS experience is that space is a great forum for diplomacy. One time arch-rivals now work side by side on a daily basis.
With much of the nations of the world talking about stepped-up manned exploration efforts it would seem only natural that the successful model used on the space station be incorporated into the highly-expensive business of manned space exploration. If so, then one crucial player is being given a hard look to see if they should be included – China.
“International partnership in space exploration has proven its worth over the last decade. It would be a positive step if the other space-faring nation of the world, China, were to join the assembled space explorers of humankind as we march outward into the solar system,” said former NASA Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale who writes a popular blog about space matters.
China is only the third nation (behind Russia and the United States) to have a successful manned space program, having launched its first successful manned space flight in 2003. This first mission only had a single person onboard, and gave the world a new word – ‘taikonaut’ (taikong is the Chinese word for space). The country’s next mission contained two of these taikonauts and took place in 2005. The third and most current manned mission that China has launched was launched in 2008 and held a crew of three.
China has steadily, but surely, built and tested capabilities essential for a robust manned space program. Considering that China very ambitious goals for space this would seem a prudent course of action. China has stated publically that they want to launch a space station and send their taikonauts to the moon – neither of which are small feats.
China currently utilizes its Shenzhou spacecraft atop the Long March 2F booster from their Jiuquan facility. However, if China wants to accomplish these goals, they will need a more powerful booster. This has been part of the reason that the U.S. has been hesitant to include China due to concerns about the use of what are known as dual-use technologies (rockets that can launch astronauts can also launch nuclear weapons).
Some have raised concerns about the nation’s human rights track record. It should be noted however that Russia had similar issues before being included in the International Space Station program.
“In the early 1990’s, some at NASA thought having Russian cosmonauts on the Space Shuttle would mean giving away trade secrets to the competition,” said Pat Duggins, author of the book Trailblazing Mars. “It turned out Russian crew capsules saved the International Space Station when the Shuttles were grounded after the Columbia accident in 2003. So, never say never on China, I guess.”
Duggins is not the only space expert who feels that China would make a good companion when mankind once again ventures out past low-Earth-orbit.
“One of the findings of the Augustine Commission was that the international framework that came out of the ISS program is one of the most important. It should be used and expanded upon for use in international beyond-LEO human space exploration,” said Dr. Leroy Chiao a veteran of four launches and a member of the second Augustine Commission. “My personal belief is that countries like China, which is only the third nation able to launch astronauts, should be included. My hope is that the politics will align soon, to allow such collaboration, using the experience that the US has gained in working with Russia to bring it about.”
Not everyone is completely convinced that China will be as valuable an asset as the Russians have proven themselves to be however.
“It is an interesting scenario with respect to the Chinese participation in an international effort in space. The U.S. has made some tremendous strides in terms of historical efforts to bridge the gap with the Russians and the results have been superb,” said Robert Springer a two-time space shuttle veteran. “The work that has resulted in the successful completion of the International Space Station is an outstanding testimony to what can be done when political differences are set aside in the interest of International cooperation. So, there is a good model of how to proceed, driven somewhat by economic realities as well as politics. I am not convinced that the economic and political scenario bodes well for similar results with the Chinese. It is a worthwhile goal to pursue, but I am personally not convinced that a similar outcome will be the result, at least not in the current environment.”
The view from space of our home planet is often breathtaking and sobering. Lately, there has been a plethora of amazing images on NASA’s Earth Observatory website. Take the one above, for example. A swirling Van Gogh painting? No, phytoplankton blooming off of the Atlantic coast of Patagonia, and the swirls are created from two strong ocean currents stirring up a colorful brew of floating nutrients and microscopic plant life. Amazing that the tiny life joins together in huge assemblages that we can see from space. This image was taken on the southern hemisphere’s summer solstice on December 21, 2010. Scientists used seven separate different spectral bands to highlight the differences in the plankton communities across this swath of ocean.
Want more Earthly beauty? See below.
A giant dried rose laying across the ocean? No, this astronaut photograph provides a view of tidal flats and channels near Sandy Cay, on the western side of Long Island and along the eastern margin of the Great Bahama Bank. The continuously exposed parts of the island are brown, a result of soil formation and vegetation growth. To the north of Sandy Cay, an off-white tidal flat composed of carbonate sediments is visible; light blue-green regions indicate shallow water on the tidal flat. The tidal flow of seawater is concentrated through gaps in the land surface, leading to the formation of relatively deep channels that cut into the sediments. The channels and areas to the south of the island have a vivid blue color that indicates deeper water.
While those of us in the northland have had long nights, Antarctica enjoys round-the-clock sunlight. The light arrives at a low angle, however, as the Sun makes a daily circuit around the horizon, and icebergs cast long shadows over the surrounding sea ice. This image, acquired on December 13, 2010, from the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite shows icebergs along the Princess Ragnhild Coast in East Antarctica. Besides distinguishing between icebergs and thinner ice, the low-angled Sun highlights the differences between the icebergs themselves.
The icebergs with rough surfaces likely broke off from the coast, far from this area, and spent time bobbing over the open ocean. Smooth icebergs likely originated in this area and have not yet traveled far.
Millions across Earth enjoyed one of nature’s most awesomely spectacular events during today’s (Jan. 4) partial solar eclipse – the first of four set to occur in 2011. And there was nothing partial about it, for those lucky eyewitnesses where it was visible in parts of Europe, Africa and Central Asia. The eclipse reached its maximum, about 85%, in Sweden. See the maximum stunner above – taken despite pessimistic weather forecasts -by Peter Rosen in Stockholm, Sweden, with more photos from the sequence here at spaceweather.com
Probably the most technically amazing feat is the double solar eclipse captured in one image by renowned astrophotographer Theirry Legault – see below – boasting both the ISS and the Moon on the eclipsed sun’s face. Legault had traveled to the deserts of the Sultanate of Oman, near to the capital of Muscat, for this rare spectacle of nature. The ISS was calculated to be visible in a thin strip barely 11 kilometers wide, according to Astronomie Info news. The ISS transit lasted just about 1 second, speeding by at 28,000 km/sec.
See a global compilation of gorgeous eclipse photos here and comment or send us more. Update 1/6/11: this is a work in progress so please check back again.
New readers photos and eyewitness accounts added below today; as received
Click to enlarge all photos
First up: Double Solar Eclipse by renowned astrophotographer Theirry Legault in Oman
Check out this exciting gallery of images contributed by eclipse watchers from multiple locations around the world, on Flickr
Here is a collection of images and an eyewitness report sent to me by Marco Di Lorenzo, in Pescara, Italy
Marco writes; Pescara is located at 42.467°N and 14.225°E, about in the center of Italy on the Adriatic sea. I chose my location at the new pedestrian bridge because it is a modern structure which offers a nice foreground and also an open, elevated viewpoint. I used a couple of cameras plus a digital video camera. All the cameras were mounted on a tripod.
The weather was cold and the situation didn’t improve in the mid morning. Illumination was comparable to a slightly foggy day. The frigid temperature didn’t encourage people to go out and check. However some people did venture out. Someone asked me some info on eclipses and how to take pictures of it – very hard indeed, especially if you use a cellular phone !
Urijian Poernick sent these photos and description:
“Colorful Solar Eclipse” at Halley Astronomical Observatory, Heesch, The Netherlands
The weather forecast predicted overcast skies with only a few small bright intervals in all parts of The Netherlands. Nevertheless, dozens of members of Halley Astronomical Society and visitors, including many children, challenged the cold winter weather and came together on the flat roof of Halley Astronomical Observatory in The Netherlands.
After sunrise at 7:44 UT (8:44 local time) they all looked at a narrow opening in the cloud deck near the eastern horizon. At 8:00 UT the sun showed itself: first we saw the left horn of the eclipse and a few moments later the right one.
Due to the clouds and veils it was a very colorful eclipse, with all tints of red and yellow. After twenty minutes the sun and the moon disappeared behind the overcast skies again and they didn’t come back before the end of the eclipse (9:39 UT).
During this short period everyone could watch the eclipse through the telescope and we were all enthusiastic. It was a beautiful spectacle! www.sterrenwachthalley.nl
Gianluca Masi is the National Coordinator of Astronomers Without Borders in Italy and captured this pair of photos from partially overcast Rome, Italy. The clouds contributed to make for a delightfully smoky eclipsed sun
Edwin van Schijndel sent me this report from the Netherlands:
I made some pictures in the southwest of the Netherlands. The weather conditions were not so good in the early morning, most places were covered by clouds so we decided to move about 70 miles to the southwest from our hometown. Finally we stopped not far from the city of Bergen op Zoom and were able to see sunrise while most of the sun was covered. It was splendid!
Unfortunately there came more clouds so the rising sun disappeared and we drove 20 miles to the north just before Rotterdam and the sky was more clear at this place. Again we took some pictures but the maximum covering of the sun had been a few minutes before. After all this wasn’t really a pity, we were very lucky to have seen the rising of the sun and be able to make some nice pictures of the partial eclipse. Many people in the Netherlands saw less or even nothing.
Send us or comment more solar eclipse photos to post here. ken : [kremerken at yahoo.com]
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More Readers Photos and Eyewitness Accounts. Beautiful, Thanks ! ken
Story and Photos sent me by Stefano De Rosa. Turin, Italy
Early in the morning, I moved to a site close to Turin (Italy) where the forecast was not so bad as in my city to try to observe and photograph the partial solar eclipse. Unfortunately, when I arrived it was cloudy and foggy and so decided to go back home. Technical details: Canon Eos 1000d, F/22; 150-500mm lens @ 500mm; ISO. 1/1600 sec
Suddenly, as I was sadly driving on the motorway, close to the city of Alessandria, noticed a little break on the clouds from my rearview mirror: I stopped the car and, after a quick set up, managed to capture the crescent Sun!
http://ofpink.wordpress.com Well, I hope you carefully looked back before hitting the brakes ! – ken
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Story and Photos sent me by Roy Keeris, Zeist, The Netherlands
Me and a friend (Casper ter Kuile) wanted to see the eclipse from The Netherlands. If clouds should intervene, we planned to drive a little (max. a couple of hours) to a place with a better chance for a clear sky. During the night we checked weather forecasts and satellite images. We were pretty unsure if we would succeed in seeing the eclipse, because it was pretty cloudy, and especially the low clouds tend to be quite unpredictable. In the end we chose to drive to Middelkerke (near Oostende) in Belgium because of a clear spot approaching from the North Sea.
We arrived at the Belgian coast just in time before sunrise. There we witnessed the eclipse from the top of a dune. About 25 minutes after sunrise the sun appeared from behind the lower clouds, just when the eclipse was at its maximum. It was magical!
First we saw the right ‘horn’ and then the left one appeared. From then on we watched the rest of the eclipse and took many pictures. [no pics from Casper ??]
Later we heard that despite the clouds, many people in The Netherlands were able to see the eclipse. There was a long stretch with a clear zone in the clouds- near the border of Germany.
If they had a clear horizon, people could look underneath the clouds and were just able to see the sunrise. I could even have seen it at home from my apartment on the 13th floor! But the trip was fun. It’s always nice to hunt for the right place to be at these events.
Here are some pictures I took from Middelkerke. They were shot with a Canon 400D in combination with a Meade ETS-70 telescope and a Tamron 20-200mm lens.
Thanks – Yes the hunt is half the fun. ken
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Story and Photos sent me by Igal Pat-El, Director, Givatayim Observatory, Tel Aviv, Israel
We took some images of the Jan. 4 Solar Eclipse from the Givatayim Observatory, just near Tel-Aviv, Israel. We were pleased to have Prof. Jay Passachoff as a guest during the eclipse. We had a live broadcast in plan but we had to cancel it due to heavy rain from the first contact, therefore we closed the dome’s shutter and went to the balcony trying to take some quick photos of the eclipse.
We had the portable PST Coronado CaK telescope with a Ca filter On a Alt-Az mount (we could not do any alignment due to the rain). We took about 5 images against all odds in this very dim filter, using the Orion SS II Planetary imager, all of them through the haze and clouds.
Thanks, Igal. Another good lesson learned. Take a chance. You never know what you’ll get till you try !
I’ve combined Igal’s photos into a collage for an enhanced view. ken
See more photos and a video in comments section below