NASA To Preview Final Flight Of Space Shuttle Discovery

HOUSTON -- NASA will preview the next space shuttle mission, the final flight of shuttle Discovery and the next to last scheduled shuttle flight, during a series of news briefings Thursday, Oct. 21, at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA Television and the agency's website will broadcast the briefings live. Reporters will be able to ask questions from participating NASA locations.




Discovery is targeted to launch Nov. 1 on the 11-day STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. The shuttle will deliver the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), which was converted from the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo. The PMM will provide additional storage for the station crew, and experiments may be conducted inside it. Discovery also will carry critical spare components and the Express Logistics Carrier 4, an external platform that holds large equipment that can only be transported using the unique capability of the shuttle. Robonaut 2, or R2, will be the first human-like robot in space when it flies on Discovery inside the PMM to become a permanent resident of the station.



Astronaut Steve Lindsey will command Discovery. Eric Boe is the pilot. They will be joined by Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Tim Kopra, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott. Kopra and Drew are scheduled to perform two spacewalks to do maintenance work and install new components.



The schedule of briefings is (all times CDT):

8 a.m. -- Program Overview

9:30 a.m. -- STS-133 Mission Overview

12 p.m. -- STS-133 Spacewalk Overview

1 p.m. – Robonaut 2 Briefing

2 p.m. -- STS-133 Crew News Conference



The crew will be available for interviews at Johnson by phone or in person after the briefings. Reporters must contact Gayle Frere at 281-483-8645 by 5 p.m. on Oct. 18 to reserve an interview opportunity. Reporters planning to attend the briefings or interviews in Houston must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. on Oct. 14 for credentials.



For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For the latest information about the STS-133 mission and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Final External Tank Rolled Into VAB

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:55:13 -0500


The external tank for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission was taken off the Pegasus barge this morning and moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Technicians there will process and stack the tank for the launch next year. The tank was towed beginning just before 9:30 a.m. at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.



Processing also moves ahead for the STS-133 mission. Technicians will conduct leak checks today on the quick disconnects for space shuttle Discovery's forward reaction control system and auxiliary power units. The shuttle is at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the launch site of all the shuttle missions.



At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, training home to the astronauts, the STS-133 crew will practice procedures in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory for the mission's first spacewalk.

Leak Checks for Discovery Today

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 07:25:06 -0500


Technicians will conduct leak checks today on the quick disconnects for space shuttle Discovery's forward reaction control system and auxiliary power units. The shuttle is at Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the launch site of all the shuttle missions.



At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, training home to the astronauts, the STS-133 crew will practice procedures in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory for the mission's first spacewalk.

Observe the Moon

This photograph shows the Laser Ranging Facility at the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The observatory helps NASA keep track of orbiting satellites. In this image, the lower of the two green beams is from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's dedicated tracker. The other laser originates from another ground system at the facility. Both beams are pointed at the moon -- specifically at LRO in orbit around the moon.

Image Credit: NASA

Discovery Launch Preps Continue

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:17:26 -0500

Technicians at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A continue to prepare space shuttle Discovery for its STS-133 launch targeted for Nov. 1. A test of the external fuel tank's camera is complete, and hypergolic propellant servicing is coming up this week. The hypergolic system handles propellants that instantly burn when they come in contact with each other. The chemicals, which have to be handled very carefully, are used in the shuttle's steering thrusters in space.

Today at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the STS-133 astronauts are reviewing flight dynamics documents and spacewalk procedures.

STS-133: Discovery's Last Ride

09.21.10

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Like a Broadway star ready for the final performance, space shuttle Discovery took center stage as it emerged through the Vehicle Assembly Building's towering door.


The shuttle began its 3.4-mile journey to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center just after sunset, departing the mammoth building shortly before 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight time on September 20.

As it moved down the crawlerway, Discovery was illuminated by bright xenon lights during the first part of its trek.

The spacecraft -- NASA's longest-serving shuttle in the fleet -- will make its final flight on the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.

Gathering to witness one of the final space shuttle rollouts and share the moment of space history were several astronauts, as well as Kennedy employees along with their families and friends.

Stacked with its solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank on the mobile launcher platform, the shuttle's slow roll atop a crawler-transporter took about six and a half hours, reaching the seaside launch pad just before 2 a.m.

On this final flight, Discovery will carry the Permanent Multipurpose Module, Robonaut 2, and various supplies and equipment bound for the station.

A crew of six astronauts will conduct the 11-day mission, which is targeted for launch in early November.

From NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, I'm George Diller.

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Preparing for Flight

In preparation for its last planned mission to the International Space Station, shuttle Discovery was lowered onto its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The lift and mate operation began Sept. 9 and wrapped up early Sept. 10.

On Sept. 21, 2010, Discovery completed its last planned trip to the launch pad at 1:49 a.m., leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building at about 7:23 p.m. on the slow, 3.4-mile crawl to the pad.

Discovery, the oldest of NASA's three active orbiters, first launched Aug. 30, 1984, on STS-41D and is being readied for the STS-133 mission to station. Liftoff is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. EDT.

Image Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Sun Rises on Discovery at Launch pad

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:15:29 -0500

Space shuttle Discovery completed its last planned trip to the launch pad at 1:49 a.m. at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians are connecting numerous cables and checking systems at Launch Pad 39A before the rotating service structure is moved over Discovery later today. Discovery left the Vehicle Assembly Building at about 7:23 p.m. Monday night to begin the slow, 3.4-mile crawl to the pad.

 

Discovery, which first launched Aug. 30, 1984, on STS-41D, is being readied for the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. EDT. This is scheduled to be the last mission for the oldest of NASA's three active orbiters.

Astronaut Steve Lindsey commands a veteran crew for STS-133, including Pilot Eric Boe and mission specialists Alvin Drew, Tim Kopra, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott. They will take the supply- and equipment-laden Permanent Multipurpose Module to the station, along with the humanoid helper called Robonaut 2.

STS-133 Discovery Arrives at Launch Pad

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:53:51 -0500

Space shuttle Discovery’s final trip to Launch Pad 39A is complete. Discovery began the 3.4 mile rollout from Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building at about at 7:23 p.m. Eastern on Monday, Sept. 20. The shuttle was secured on the launch pad by 1:49 a.m. Tuesday.‬‪

Discovery’s STS-133 mission is targeted to launch to the International Space Station on Nov. 1 on Discovery’s last scheduled flight before it’s retired.

Discovery Begins Roll to the Launch Pad

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:56:41 -0500

Like a Broadway star ready for the final performance, space shuttle Discovery took center stage as it emerged through the Vehicle Assembly Building's towering door bathed in bright xenon lights. The shuttle began its 3.4-mile journey to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center just after sunset, departing the mammoth building at 7:23 p.m. EDT. The spacecraft -- which was the third to join NASA's shuttle fleet -- will make its final flight on the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station, targeted for launch on Nov. 1. Gathering to witness one of the final space shuttle rollouts and share the moment of space history are several astronauts, as well as Kennedy employees along with their families and friends. Stacked with its solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank on the mobile launcher platform, the shuttle's slow roll atop a crawler-transporter should take about six and a half hours.

Cosmic Ice Sculptures

In the cold vacuum of space, radiation from massive stars carves away at cold molecular clouds, creating bizarre, fantasy-like structures. These pillars of cold hydrogen and dust, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, are located in the Carina Nebula. Violent stellar winds and powerful radiation from massive stars sculpt the surrounding nebula.

This image of dust pillars in the Carina Nebula is a composite of 2005 observations taken of the region in hydrogen light (light emitted by hydrogen atoms) along with 2010 observations taken in oxygen light (light emitted by oxygen atoms), both times with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The immense Carina Nebula is an estimated 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Project (STScI/AURA)

NASA To Ship Fuel Tank For The Last Planned Shuttle Flight

NEW ORLEANS -- The external fuel tank that will power the last planned space shuttle into orbit will be shipped Tuesday to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tank has been restored to flight configuration at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans after sustaining damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.



The tank, designated ET-122, will support shuttle Endeavour's flight targeted for launch in February.

At Michoud, ET-122 was rolled out to an enclosed barge, which will carry the tank 900 miles to Kennedy Space Center during a five to six-day sea journey. ET-122 is expected to arrive at Kennedy Sunday, Sept. 26.


During the hurricane, the roof of the building that housed the tank was ripped off by high winds. After falling debris damaged the tank, it was removed from the shuttle flight manifest. Lockheed Martin engineers assessed the damage, and prepared and executed a tank restoration plan.

The Shuttle Propulsion Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the External Tank Project. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of Denver is the prime contractor. For more than 29 years of shuttle flights, Lockheed Martin workers at Michoud have built and delivered 135 flight tanks to NASA's Space Shuttle Program.


Standing 15 stories tall and almost 28 feet in diameter, the external tank is the largest element of the shuttle transportation system, which also includes the orbiter, main engines and twin solid rocket boosters. During a shuttle launch, the external tank delivers 535,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants to the shuttle's three main engines. Despite the tank's size, the aluminum skin covering it is only one-eighth-inch thick in most areas. Yet, it withstands more than 6.5 million pounds of thrust during liftoff and ascent. The tank is the only shuttle component that is not reused.

For more information about the Space Shuttle Program and the last two planned shuttle flights, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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Discovery Readied for Evening Rollout

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:41:07 -0500

Space shuttle Discovery, joined to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters, is standing on its mobile launcher platform inside the Vehicle Assembly Building today as technicians get ready to move it to the launch pad this evening. A crawler-transporter has been positioned just outside the VAB's mammoth doors and will move inside later today so the stack can be placed on its sizeable back for the move. The rollout at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will take about six hours. Discovery's crew of six astronauts are to perform an integrated entry simulation today at their training base at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Celestial Wonderland

This high forward oblique view of Rima Ariadaeus on the moon was photographed by the Apollo 10 crew in May 1969. Center point coordinates are located at 17 degrees, 5 minutes east longitude and 5 degrees, 0 minutes north latitude. The Apollo 10 crew aimed a hand-held 70mm camera at the surface from lunar orbit for a series of images of this area.

Image Credit: NASA

 

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Crescent moon

A last quarter crescent moon above Earth's horizon is featured in this image photographed by the Expedition 24 crew on the International Space Station.

NASA'S Lunar Spacecraft Completes Exploration Mission Phase

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, will complete the exploration phase of its mission on Sept. 16, after a number of successes that transformed our understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor.




LRO completed a one-year exploration mission in a polar orbit approximately 31 miles above the moon's surface. It produced a comprehensive map of the lunar surface in unprecedented detail; searched for resources and safe landing sites for potential future missions to the moon; and measured lunar temperatures and radiation levels.



The mission is turning its attention from exploration objectives to scientific research, as program management moves from NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate to the Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington.



"LRO has been an outstanding success. The spacecraft has performed brilliantly," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. "LRO's science and engineering teams achieved all of the mission's objectives, and the incredible data LRO gathered will provide discoveries about the moon for years to come."



The LRO team will continue to send data gathered during the last year to the Planetary Data System, which archives and distributes scientific information from NASA planetary missions, astronomical observations and laboratory measurements.



By the time LRO achieves full mission success in March, and its data is processed and released to the scientific community, it will have sent more information to the Planetary Data System than all other previous planetary missions combined. During its new phase of discovery, LRO will continue to map the moon for two to four more years.



"The official start of LRO's science phase should write a new and intriguing chapter in lunar research," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. "This mission is one more asset added to NASA's vast science portfolio."



The spacecraft launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying a suite of seven instruments on June 18, 2009. LRO formally began its detailed survey of the moon in September 2009.



Results from the mission include: new observations of the Apollo landing sites; indications that permanently shadowed and nearby regions may harbor water and hydrogen; observations that large areas in the permanently shadowed regions are colder than Pluto; detailed information about lunar terrain; and the first evidence of a globally distributed population of thrust faults that indicates the moon has recently contracted and may still be shrinking.



LRO also took high resolution pictures of the Lunokhod 1 rover that had been lost for almost 40 years. The rover, which carries a retroreflector, was located to within approximately 150 feet. The accurate position data enabled researchers on Earth to bounce laser signals off the retroreflector for the first time ever. The retroreflector is providing important new information about the position and motion of the moon.



LRO also supported the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite impact, a companion mission sent to determine if the moon's poles harbor water ice, by helping to select a promising impact site. LRO observed both the expanding plume that arose after the impact and the evolving temperature at the site.



NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., built and manages LRO for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. The Institute for Space Research in Moscow provides the neutron detector aboard the spacecraft. For more information about LRO, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/lro

Discovery on Track for Sept. 20 Rollout

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 08:01:02 -0500


Preparations are under way inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center to move space shuttle Discovery to Launch Pad 39A beginning Sept. 20. Liftoff of the STS-133 mission is targeted for Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. on an 11-day flight to the International Space Station.



The crew is in the fixed-base simulator today at their training home at NASA's Johnson Space Center rehearsing rendezvous and docking procedures and the installation of ELC-4 that will follow hatch opening on Flight Day 3 of the mission.‪

International Space Station Contract Extended

NASA Extends International Space Station Contract

WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded a five-year, $1.24 billion contract extension to The Boeing Co. to continue engineering support of the International Space Station through Sept. 30, 2015.

Work under the contract extension is intended to maintain the station at peak performance levels so the full value of the unique research laboratory is available to NASA, its international partners, other U.S. government agencies and private companies. NASA officially accepted the space station from Boeing at the conclusion of a March 2010 Acceptance Review Board that verified the delivery, assembly, integration and activation of all hardware and software required by the contract. The acceptance signified the transition from assembly of the station to utilization.

This action extends the space station’s Vehicle Sustaining Engineering Contract, which was originally awarded in January 1995 and most recently extended in 2008. The extension brings the total contract value through the end of fiscal year 2015 to $16.2 billion.

Work under the contract extension will include sustaining engineering of station hardware and software, and support of U.S. hardware and software provided to international partners and participants in the station program. The extension also includes end-to-end subsystem management for the majority of station systems, including materials and processes, electrical, electronic, and electromechanical parts, environments and electromagnetic effects.

NASA and its international partner agencies are in the final stages of analyzing the ability to sustain station operations through 2020 and awaiting formal confirmation of this goal by the governments of participating countries. This contract extension also includes assessment of the feasibility of extending the life of the primary structural hardware that was installed in orbit through the end of 2028.

The work will be performed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and at other domestic and international locations.

For more information about the space station, visit:  http://www.nasa.gov/station

Cannibal Star

The composite image on the left shows X-ray and optical data for BP Piscium (BP Psc), a more evolved version of our Sun about 1,000 light years from Earth. Chandra X-ray Observatory data are colored in purple, and optical data from the 3-meter Shane telescope at Lick Observatory are shown in orange, green and blue. BP Psc is surrounded by a dusty and gaseous disk and has a pair of jets several light years long blasting out of the system. A close-up view is shown by the artist's impression on the right. For clarity a narrow jet is shown, but the actual jet is probably much wider, extending across the inner regions of the disk. Because of the dusty disk, the star’s surface is obscured in optical and near infrared light. Therefore, the Chandra observation is the first detection of this star in any wavelength.

The disk and the jets, seen distinctly in the optical data, provide evidence for a recent and catastrophic interaction in which BP Psc consumed a nearby star or giant planet. This happened when BP Psc ran out of nuclear fuel and expanded into its "red giant" phase.

Jets and a disk are often characteristics of very young stars, so astronomers thought BP Psc might be one as well. However, the new Chandra results argue against this interpretation, because the X-ray source is fainter than expected for a young star. Another argument previously used against the possible youth of BP Psc was that it is not located near any star-forming cloud and there are no other known young stars in its immediate vicinity. The Chandra image supports this absence of a cluster of young stars, since multiwavelength studies show that most of the X-ray sources in the composite image are likely to be rapidly growing supermassive black holes in the centers of distant galaxies.

Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/J. Kastner et al. Optical: UCO/Lick/STScI/M. Perrin et al. Illustration: CXC/M. Weiss

Technicians Running Tests on Shuttle Stack

Now that space shuttle Discovery is stacked for launch, technicians will spend today and tomorrow testing all the connections between the shuttle, external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. The shuttle is inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which is the launch site for all the agency's crewed missions and the home of the space shuttle fleet.

Discovery's six astronauts are practicing the launch of STS-133 today at NASA's Johnson Space Center, home of the astronaut corps and mission control. Johnson is full of simulators and mock-ups to allow in-depth training, including a replica of the shuttle flight deck.

Launch is targeted for Nov. 1.

Giant planet GJ 436b

This Planet Smells Funny

Giant planet GJ 436b in the constellation Leo is missing something--and that something is swamp gas.

To the surprise of astronomers who have been studying the Neptune-sized planet using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, GJ 436b has very little methane--an ingredient common to many planets in our own solar system. This artist's concept shows the unusual, methane-free world partially eclipsed by its star.

Models of planetary atmospheres indicate that any world with the common mix of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, and a temperature up to 1,000 Kelvin (1,340 degrees Fahrenheit) should have a large amount of methane and a small amount of carbon monoxide. But at about 800 Kelvin (or 980 degrees Fahrenheit), GJ 436b it does not. The finding demonstrates the diversity of exoplanets and the need for further study.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA Assigns Crew for Final Launch on Need Shuttle Mission

NASA Assigns Crew for Final Launch on Need Shuttle Mission WASHINGTON -- NASA announced the four astronauts who will make up the crew of STS-335, the rescue mission that would fly only if needed to bring home the members of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, currently the final scheduled shuttle flight.

Chris Ferguson, a retired U.S. Navy captain and veteran of two previous shuttle missions, would command the flight. Astronaut and U.S. Marine Col. Doug Hurley would serve as pilot, and astronauts Sandy Magnus and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Rex Walheim would be the mission specialists.

Based on recommendations made after the loss of space shuttle Columbia in February 2003, NASA has trained a launch on need crew to be ready to fly in the event of irreparable damage to a shuttle while in orbit. Typically, the next crew to fly serves as the rescue crew for the current mission. The STS-335 crew will prepare for a potential rescue mission and preserve flexibility if another shuttle flight is added to the launch manifest.

“These astronauts will begin training immediately as a rescue crew as well as in the baseline requirements that would be needed to fly an additional shuttle flight," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington. "The normal training template for a shuttle crew is about one year prior to launch, so we need to begin training now in order to maintain the flexibility of flying a rescue mission if needed, or alter course and fly an additional shuttle mission if that decision is made."

If required, the STS-335 rescue mission would launch on shuttle Atlantis in June 2011 to bring home the STS-134 crew from the International Space Station. STS-134 currently is scheduled to lift off on Feb. 26, 2011, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If converted to an additional shuttle flight, STS-335 would be redesignated STS-135 and targeted to launch in June 2011.

Ferguson, who was born in Philadelphia, flew on two prior shuttle missions, STS-115 in 2006 and STS-126 in 2008. Hurley, who was born in Endicott, N.Y., but considers Apalachin, N.Y., his hometown, served as the pilot on STS-127 in 2009. Magnus, of Belleville, Ill., flew on STS-112 in 2002 and launched to the space station in 2008 on STS-126, where she served four and a half months as a flight engineer and science officer on Expedition 18 before returning to Earth on STS-119 in 2009. Walheim was born in Redwood City, Calif., and considers San Carlos, Calif., his hometown. He flew on STS-110 in 2002 and STS-122 in 2008.

Technicians Running tests on Shuttle Stack

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 07:24:09 -0500

Now that space shuttle Discovery is stacked for launch, technicians will spend today and tomorrow testing all the connections between the shuttle, external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. The shuttle is inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which is the launch site for all the agency's crewed missions and the home of the space shuttle fleet.

Discovery's six astronauts are practicing the launch of STS-133 today at NASA's Johnson Space Center, home of the astronaut corps and mission control. Johnson is full of simulators and mock-ups to allow in-depth training, including a replica of the shuttle flight deck.

Technicians Continue Stacking Discovery

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 08:22:05 -0500

Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are installing hardware and making connections on the space shuttle Discovery stack as they prepare the spacecraft for its rollout to Launch Pad 39A on Sept. 20. Workers over the weekend resolved a problem that came up when a bolt fell into the aft compartment of Discovery during connecting operations on Friday. Today's steps include readying Discovery for the shuttle interface test scheduled for tomorrow.

Next door to the VAB, the launch team will run a countdown simulation today in Firing Room 4 in the Launch Control Center.

Discovery's STS-133 astronauts will train in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab today at Johnson Space Center for the mission's first spacewalk.

Charlie Duke - Glasgow

Congratulations to Apollo Aileen, Tony et al for a fantastic event in Glasgow. Charlie Duke never fails to put on a great presentation with anecdotes, funny asides and audio/visual aids. The dinner and auction the previous night was great too. If you get the chance to attend an astronaut event of this type please do; you will not be disappointed.

Walk with Destiny

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Discovery Ready for Wednesday Morning Move

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:07:10 -0500

Mounted atop a specialized transporter, space shuttle Discovery is all set for a short drive Wednesday morning to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be joined to a waiting set of two solid rocket boosters and a fuel tank. The move, known as "rollover" to the NASA Kennedy Space Center community of space workers, is slated to begin at 6:30 a.m. when Discovery is carefully backed out of Orbiter Processing Facility-3. The 76-wheeled transport will then truck the spacecraft across a wide, concrete road and into the VAB, where a skilled team of technicians will bolt a huge sling to the orbiter so it can be safely lifted and joined to the boosters and tank.

While their spacecraft undergoes preparations in Florida, the astronauts who will fly Discovery to the International Space Station will be practicing for their arrival in space. Training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the crew will conduct a suited post-insertion simulation today.

Tool Stowage Assembly Goes into Discovery Today

Shuttle workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will install a lightweight tool stowage assembly in the payload bay of space shuttle Discovery today. The spacecraft is being readied for a targeted launch on Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. Eastern time. The shuttle will be powered down Monday for its roll to the Vehicle Assembly Building Sept. 8.

Spiral galaxy NGC 4921

Galaxy at the Edge

Spiral galaxy NGC 4921 presently is estimated to be 320 million light years distant. This image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, is being used to identify key stellar distance markers known as Cepheid variable stars. The magnificent spiral NGC 4921 has been informally dubbed anemic because of its low rate of star formation and low surface brightness. Visible in the image are, from the center, a bright nucleus, a bright central bar, a prominent ring of dark dust, blue clusters of recently formed stars, several smaller companion galaxies, unrelated galaxies in the far distant universe, and unrelated stars in our Milky Way Galaxy.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Cook (LLNL)

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Hourglass Nebula.

A Chameleon Sky

The sands of time are running out for the central star of this the Hourglass Nebula. With its nuclear fuel exhausted, this brief, spectacular, closing phase of a sun-like star's life occurs as its outer layers are ejected and its core becomes a cooling, fading white dwarf. In 1995, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to make a series of images of planetary nebulae, including the one above. Here, delicate rings of colorful glowing gas (nitrogen-red, hydrogen-green, and oxygen-blue) outline the tenuous walls of the 'hourglass.' The unprecedented sharpness of Hubble's images revealed surprising details of the nebula ejection process and may resolve the outstanding mystery of the variety of complex shapes and symmetries of planetary nebulae.

Image Credit: NASA, WFPC2, HST, R. Sahai and J. Trauger (JPL)

VAB Preps Continue for Discovery

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:33:31 -0500

At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are preparing the external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters for space shuttle Discovery's arrival and connection next week. The tank and boosters are already stacked on the mobile launcher platform. Rollover of Discovery is set to begin at 6:30 am. EDT on Sept. 8. There is no work planned over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

At NASA's Johnson Space Center, the STS-133 crew is conducting a rendezvous simulation today.‪

Discovery to move to the VAB

Space shuttle Discovery has been connected to its 76-wheel, custom-built transporter ahead of its move from Orbiter Processing Facility-3 to the Vehicle Assembly Building. That move is scheduled to take place Sept. 8. The transporter is one of several specialized vehicles that serve the shuttle fleet at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Some move payloads and solid rocket booster segments, this one moves the 100-ton orbiters. The kings are, of course, the huge, tracked crawler-transporters that carry a stacked shuttle to the launch pad. One thing they all have in common: they move really slowly, especially when carrying precious national assets on their backs.

In the VAB, the 52-story-tall landmark building at Kennedy, the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters have been assembled on the mobile launch platform and are waiting for Discovery's arrival to complete the stack.

The astronauts who will fly Discovery to the International Space Station on the upcoming STS-133 mission are also at Kennedy today for a Crew Equipment Interface Test, known as the CEIT. They will check out the Permanent Multipurpose Module and the Express Logistics Carrier that will carry critical spare parts to the International Space Station.

Orbital Sunrise

The Expedition 24 crew on the International Space Station photographed this image of polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by an orbital sunrise. Polar mesospheric, or noctilucent ("night shining"), clouds usually are seen at twilight, following the setting of the sun below the horizon and darkening of Earth's surface. Occasionally the station's orbital track becomes nearly parallel to Earth's day/night terminator for a time, allowing the clouds to be visible to the crew at times other than the usual twilight because of the station's altitude.

This photograph shows polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by the rising, rather than setting, sun at center right. Low clouds on the horizon appear yellow and orange, while higher clouds and aerosols are illuminated a brilliant white. Polar mesospheric clouds appear as light blue ribbons extending across the top of the image. The station was located over the Greek island of Kos in the Aegean Sea (near the southwestern coastline of Turkey) when the image was taken at approximately midnight local time. The orbital complex was tracking northeastward, nearly parallel to the terminator, making it possible to observe an apparent "sunrise" located almost due north. A similar unusual alignment of the ISS orbit track, terminator position and seasonal position of Earth's orbit around the sun allowed for this striking imagery of over the Southern Hemisphere.

Image Credit: NASA

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NASA and Its Partners Announce a New Space Station Crew

NASA and Its Partners Announce a New Space Station Crew

HOUSTON -- NASA and its international partners have assigned three new International Space Station crew members. They are targeted to launch to the station in November 2012 aboard the Russian Soyuz 33 spacecraft.


NASA astronaut and Statesville, N.C., native Tom Marshburn, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko will serve as flight engineers for the Expedition 34 mission.

NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin were previously announced as the other crew members for Expedition 34, which begins when Soyuz 31 undocks from the station in October 2012.

Expedition 35 will begin with the undocking of Soyuz 32 in March 2013. At that time, Hadfield will serve as station commander, with Marshburn and Romanenko continuing as flight engineers.

Three additional crew members for Expedition 35 have yet to be assigned. They will travel to the station aboard Soyuz 34 in March 2013.

For complete astronaut biographical information, visit:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios

For more information about the space station and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station