Hello folks!

Sorry for the delay in posts, its been a busy time.

I hopped over to Kingston, Ontario @ the Royal Military College for the 2009 Canadian Space Summit. Many meetings ran that weekend – including one I organized called the Canadian Space Leaders Roundtable (CSLR 2009). This was a meeting of the leadership of Canadian space awareness groups. (Full list to be published soon).

I was also fortunate to present at the Canadian Space Summit during the Education session on the Iris – Image Reversal In Space experiment on behalf of 50 students from 14 nations.

After this I dashed off to Toronto to meet some family and friends I hadn’t seen for almost a year since my last visit. Back to Calgary, and I had a gift waiting for me – in addition to the first snowfall! Check this out – the actual patches from International Space Station Expeditions 20 & 21, along with a t-shirt from my space shirt collection

NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott returned today to Earth on the Space Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA after 4 months on the ISS. Welcome Home, Nicole!

Dr. Robert Thirsk and his Increment 19 crewmates will be returning by Soyuz capsule December 1st, officially concluding Dr. Thirsk’s 6-month stay and the formal in-orbit activity of the Iris – Image Reversal In Space experiment.

The Weekend Space Review is nearly at full operation. We are working on the layouts and tweaking the site so it best displays the content presented. We are really excited about this project.

For now, we leave you with a video. This is a lunar flyover video of the moon created by one of the incredible images captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched this past June. Enjoy the video and thanks for stopping by.

Für die Raumfähre Atlantis und ihre siebenköpfige Besatzung endete mit der Landung auf der Rollbahn 33 des Kennedy Space Center in Florida um 15.44 Uhr MEZ eine elftäge Reise ins All. Die Fähre beendete den Flug der Mission STS-129 nach 171 Erdumkreisungen und 7.226.177 zurückgelegten Kilometern seit ihrem Start am 16. November.

Während der Mission unternahmen die Astronauten drei Außenbordeinätze. Sie installierten dabei zwei Plattformen an der exteren Gitterkonstruktion der Internationalen Raumstation. Für die Zeit nach der für 2010 geplanten Außerdienststellung der Shuttleflotte, dienen sie dazu, bereits jetzt größere Ersatzteile und Geräte aufzunehmen und zwischenzulagern, die zum weiteren Betreiben und zur Unterhaltung der Station erforderlich sind.

Die Besatzung lieferte insgesamt fast 14 Tonnen an Austauschteilen für die Station, darunter sowohl Gerätschaften für das Energie- und Kühlsystem der ISS, als auch Gyroskope, die die Lage und Orientierung der Station im Raum gewährleisten. Beim Abkoppeln der Atlantis hatte der Ausbauzustand der ISS – bei einer Masse von fast 345 Tonnen –  nahezu 86 Prozent der geplanten Gesamtgröße erreicht.

Die Astronautin Nicole Stott kehrte nach 91 Tagen Aufenthalt im All zur Erde zurück. Als Mitglied der Expeditionen 20 und 21 war sie 80 Tage im Einsatz an Bord der Raumstation, auf der sie Insgesamt 87 Tage verbrachte. Sie ist das letzte Besatzungsmitglied der Internationalen Raumstation, das mit einer amerikanischen Raumfähre von oder zum orbitalen Außenposten transportiert wurde.

Das Hauptfahrwerk der Atlantis hatte exakt um 15.44.23 Uhr MEZ auf der Betonpiste in Florida aufgesetzt. Das Bugfahrwerk folgte 42 Sekunden später.

* * *

Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew of seven astronauts ended an 11-day journey with a 9:44 a.m. EST landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Atlantis flew 171 orbits around Earth and traveled 4,490,138 miles since its Nov. 16 launch.

The STS-129 mission included three spacewalks and the installation of two platforms to the International Space Station’s truss, or backbone. The platforms hold large spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired.
The shuttle crew delivered about 30,000 pounds of replacement parts for systems that provide power to the station, keep it from overheating, and maintain a proper orientation in space. The shuttle left the space station 86 percent complete, weighing 759,222 pounds.
Astronaut Nicole Stott returned to Earth after 91 days in space. She had spent 87 days aboard the space station and 80 days as an Expedition 20/21 flight engineer. She is the last astronaut who will be transported to or from the space station by the space shuttle.
Atlantis’ main gear touched down at 9:44:23 a.m., followed by the nose gear at 9:44:36 and wheel stop at 9:45:05 a.m.

Für weitere Informationen : for further informations

www.raumfahrtzeitung.de

source : NASA

photo credit : NASA TV

The Space Shuttle Atlantis Landed at Kennedy Space Center at 9:44 AM EST as Scheduled. Enjoy the eye candy.

Atlantis on Approach to Kennedy	Image Credits: NASA TV
Lined up and Straight	Atlantis View from the Cockpit. Headsup Display
Landing – Looking for that 15,000 Foot Runway	Flare over the Runway
Touchdown	Chute
Slowing	Atlantis Stopped – With Eagle

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:59:25 PM GMT+0530

Mission Control Capcom Chris Ferguson radioed a “go for deorbit burn” to space shuttle Atlantis Commander Charlie Hobaugh at 8:14 a.m. EST. The three minute, seven second maneuver scheduled for 8:37 a.m. will slow Atlantis by more than 200 miles per hour and lead to a landing at 9:44 a.m. at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Image above: The STS-129 crew members show some of their Thanksgiving food items during an in-flight media interview: Photo credit: NASA TV

<!– › High-res image –>› Meet the STS-129 Crew

Crew Begins Landing Day
The crew of space shuttle Atlantis has begun what is scheduled to be the STS-129 mission’s landing day.

Atlantis will be bringing home Mission Specialist and former Expedition 20 and 21 Flight Engineer Nicole Stott, who spent 87 days on the International Space Station. Her return brings to an end nearly a decade of space shuttle use to rotate crew on the station.

With the weather in Florida looking perfect for a landing, Atlantis’ first opportunity is at Kennedy Space Center on orbit 171. It would see a deorbit burn at 8:37 a.m. EST. Landing would be at 9:44 a.m.

Atlantis is winding up a mission that included three spacewalks and more than six days at the International Space Station. The orbiter took 14 tons of cargo in its payload bay, including two large carriers with spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired next year, to the orbiting laboratory.

Tuesday at 10 a.m., European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne handed over command of the station to NASA astronaut Jeff Williams. De Winne and Expedition 21 Flight Engineers Roman Romanenko and Robert Thirsk are scheduled to leave the station for return to Earth in a Soyuz capsule on Nov. 30.

› View video of change of command ceremony

On Sunday, Bresnik told the flight controllers his new daughter, Abigail Mae Bresnik, had been born in Houston at 11:04 p.m. CST Saturday. He said his wife Rebecca and new daughter, 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 20 inches long, were doing well. Bresnik got the news by private phone patch through mission control shortly after the crew was awakened.

Bitte folgen Sie auch weiterhin unserem LIVESTREAM (by spaceflightnow)

15.44 Uhr MEZ

Landung der der Raumfähre Atlantis auf der Shuttle-Landebahn des Knnedy Space Center in Florida!

15.40 Uhr MEZ

Fünf Minuten bis zur Landung.

15.25 Uhr MEZ

Die Atlantis durchfliegt nun die dichteren Schichten der Erdatmosphäre, wodurch sie ihre Geschwindigkeit seit dem Wiedereintritt von Mach 25 auf Mach 22 abbauen konnte.

14.45 Uhr MEZ

Die entscheidende Zündung zum Verlassen der Erdumlaufbahn hat wie geplant um 14.37 Uhr etwa 350 Kilometer über Indonesien stattgefunden und die Altlantis auf den Weg zum Kennedy Space Center in Florida gebracht. Erste Wechselwirkungen mit den oberen Schichten der Erdatmosphäre werden für den Raumgleiter ab zirka 15.12 Uhr “spürbar”. Um 15.28 Uhr wird die Atlantis zum ersten Mal eine Rollbewegung ausführen, die der Verringerung der Geschwindigkeit dient. In den Messbereich der Radar-Bahnverfolgungsstation Merritt Island tritt der orbiter dann um 15.31 Uhr ein.

14.20 Uhr MEZ

Bodenkontroll-Capcom Chris Ferguson erteilte Atlantis-Kommandant Charles Hobaugh um 14.14 Uhr die Freigabe für die Bremszündung zum Verlassen der Erdumlaufbahn. Diese erfolgte um 14.37 Uhr und dauerte insgesamt drei Minuten und sieben Sekunden und verringert die Geschwindigkeit der Raumfähre um etwa 320 Kilometer pro Stunde.

12.00 Uhr MEZ

Flugdirektor Bryan Lunney und sein Team, das für den Wiedereintritt zuständig ist, haben Shuttle-Kommandant Charles Hobaugh um 11.52 Uhr MEZ  die Freigabe erteilt, die großen Ladebuchttore der Atlantis zu schließen. Wenig später wurde die Wiedereintrittssoftware des Orbiters geladen. Die Besatzungsmitglieder werden gegen 13.14 Uhr beginnen, ihre Raumanzüge anzulegen und sich 23 Minuten später auf ihren Sitzen später auch anschnallen. Sollte sich die Bodenkontrolle entschließen, der Atlantis das “Go” für die entscheidende Bremszündung um14.37 Uhr zu geben, muss der entsprechende Befehl spätestens 20 Minuten zuvor erfolgen.

Die Wetterverhältnisse am Kennedy Space Center sind gut und auch der Wetterbericht für die geplante Zeit der Landung um 15.44 Uhr lässt derzeit ein Aufsetzen der Atlantis bereits beim ersten Versuch zu.

___________________________________

Am heutigen Morgen, dem Tages der geplanten Landung, wurde die siebenköpfige Mannschaft der STS-129-Mission –  passend zum Anlass –  um 7.28 Uhr MEZ mit dem Mötley Crue Song “Home Sweet Home” geweckt.

Einen Großteil des Donnerstag – Thanksgiving Day in den USA – hatten Kommandant Charles Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore und die Missionsspezialisten Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman, Robert Stacher Jr. und Nicole Stott mit Vorbereitungen für ihre am Freitag geplante Landung zugebracht. Darüber hinaus gab es ein Thanksgiving-Essen und Interviewtermine mit Medienvertretern am Boden.

Hobaugh, Wilmore und Melvin unterzogen das Flugkontrollsystem der Atlantis einer gründlichen Prüfung. Dafür testeten sie die Funktionsfähigkeit der sogenannten Flaps und Ruder, die nach dem Wiedereintritt der Raumfähre für einen kontrollierten Flug unter den Einflüssen der Erdatmosphäre von grundlegender Bedeutung sind. Ebenfalls durchgeführte Probezündungen der Düsen des Lagekontrollsystems bringen zusätzliche Sicherheit, dass alle für den Rückflug des Shuttle erforderlichen Systeme einwandfrei arbeiten werden.

Alle Besatzungsmitglieder waren in Vorbereitung der Landung zudem damit beschäftigt, Ausrüstungsgegenstände sicher in der Kabine der Atlantis zu verstauen.

Die Landung selbst ist für 15.44 Uhr MEZ  auf der Shuttle-Landpiste des Kennedy Space Center in Florida vorgesehen. Da das Wetter in Florida gut aussieht, besteht die realistische Chance, die Altlantis bereits bei der ersten Möglichkeit in Orbit 171 herunter zu bringen. Die entscheidende Zündung zum Verlassen der Umlaufbahn würde dann um 14.37 Uhr MEZ erfolgen müssen.

* * *

14.44 GMT

Atlantis has touched down on time at 9:44 a.m. to end the STS-129 mission.

14.25 GMT

Atlantis continues to slow as it moves into the thickening atmosphere. It is going Mach 22 now, down from Mach 25 when it started its de-orbit burn.

13.45 GMT

At 8:37 a.m. EST, space shuttle Atlantis performed the deorbit burn, setting it on a course to return to Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The maneuver occurred while Atlantis was about 220 miles above Indonesia. Entry interface, the point at which Atlantis begins entering the Earth’s atmosphere, will occur at 9:12 a.m. The first roll reversal to slow the spacecraft will take place at 9:28 a.m. and Merritt Island radar tracking systems will acquire the shuttle at 9:31 a.m.

13.20 GMT

Mission Control Capcom Chris Ferguson radioed a “go for deorbit burn” to space shuttle Atlantis Commander Charlie Hobaugh at 8:14 a.m. EST. The three minute, seven second maneuver scheduled for 8:37 a.m. will slow Atlantis by more than 200 miles per hour

11.00 GMT:

At 5:52 a.m. EST, STS-129 entry Flight Director Bryan Lunney and his entry team of flight controllers gave space shuttle Atlantis Commander Charles Hobaugh a “go” to close the payload bay doors. Shortly, Atlantis will transition to the entry software program. The crew members will begin suiting up in their launch and entry suits at 7:14 a.m. and strap into their seats at 7:37 a.m. A “go-no go” call for the 8:37 a.m. deorbit burn is expected at 8:17 a.m.

Weather conditions at the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility are observed “go” and forecast “go” for the predicted landing time of 9:44 a.m. EST.

___________________________________

The seven astronaut STS-129 crew was awakened Friday morning at 1:28 a.m. EST with the song “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue.

On Thursday Atlantis crew members spent part of Thanksgiving Day preparing for their scheduled Friday landing. The seven-astronaut crew of the shuttle, Commander Charles Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman, Robert Satcher Jr. and Nicole Stott had also a Thanksgiving meal and talked with media representatives.

Hobaugh, Wilmore and Melvin tested Atlantis’ flight control system, the flaps and rudders that will guide it through the atmosphere, and test fired the thruster jets that control its orientation in space and during early re-entry.
All crew members spent time stowing items in the shuttle’s cabin in preparation for the return to Earth.

Landing is scheduled for 9:44 a.m. EST at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With the weather in Florida looking perfect for a landing, Atlantis’ first opportunity is at Kennedy Space Center on orbit 171. It would see a deorbit burn at 8:37 a.m. EST.

Für weitere Informationen : for further informations

www.raumfahrtzeitung.de

source : NASA

photo credit : NASA

(YouTube) – Ascent video highlights from ground, air, SRB and External tank assets during the launch of STS-129.  (w/ music)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxUV9Q3d64Q

There is water on the Moon.

I’m not sure if any of you caught this tidbit, as it was largely glossed over in the news, not making any of my particular local feeds. Were it not for the NBC Nightly News, I would have never known that anything had been discovered.
They smashed a probe into the moon at a ridiculous velocity to create a plume of gas, which would then be analyzed by another probe to detect if water vapor existed. Apparently it did and, from what one NASA scientist was saying on the aforementioned program, it could be drinkable as long as it was purified.
This is quite a pleasant surprise and an incredible breakthrough to add to the idea of a permanent moon base. If it’s found that there are large enough aquifers under the moon’s surface, then we can drill for water up there rather than import water from the Earth. This would be a time and money saver due to the lack of needed repetitive deliveries to the moon base and would probably allow for the development of some sort of bottled eco-system as well.
This could very well be the jumping off point for the human race’s designs of long-term, long-distance space travel. At the very least, it gives us an awesome starting point for Mars.

There are a few problems with exploiting the moon water for such a base, as I can see. And, I’m no freaking astrophysicist, so don’t take my word for it. I’m just trying to use some common sense here.

1. There will still need to be supply runs. And, unless we find a more efficient way of travelling to and from the moon (which may happen, who knows), we’re going to be kind of screwed. When you think about the rudimentary advances we’ve made in interstellar travel since the end of the Apollo missions, it kinda brings you down (I explain later, keep reading).
Though there may be water, there sure as hell isn’t food unless you decide to start the aforementioned eco-system or at least have some kind of hydroponics.

2. For these supply runs, we’re going to need efficiency. I caught an article through my relentless daily onslaught of Wikipedia regarding the Ares I Rocket. It was one of the daily featured stories and it mentioned that it was going to be tested that particular day. Clicking on it, I found out that this was to be the new rocket to carry astronauts to the moon. Intrigued, I looked further into the more modern attempts to reach the lunar surface.
Surprisingly, I found that, in 40 years since the initial moon landing, we’ve done next to nothing to even remotely make going to the moon look cooler.
The equipment, from an eyeball appraisal, is almost exactly the same. A giant rocket blasts off from the planet, separating in stages until it’s just the command module floating out there, toward the moon, with the intention of landing upon it with a similar looking capsule/module set-up.
Orion is the name of the capsule, with 2.5 times the space of the original Apollo capsule and is claimed to fit 4 – 6 astronauts.
It wasn’t until just now that I found out that this dumb little capsule is going to replace the space shuttle when the last one is retired. Patently ridiculous, I say. Why not stick with the whole “space plane” concept? It’s worked perfectly all but two times in the history of NASA. Why not just build on what works? Seems to me that NASA is going backwards here.
They’re saying that the Orion will be handling all orbital missions and will be able to dock with the International Space Station. They’re also saying that timed water landings are to be the primary method of return, complete with parachutes. What kind of retarded, backwards bullshit is that? Why is NASA wasting good government money developing something that’s going to need to be replaced twice as often and is harder to retrieve because they’ve gotta send a damn aircraft carrier to pick the bastard up out of the ocean?

I’m digressing. The topic was the moon base.

3. Moon water may not be self-replenishing. See, on Earth, we’re used to the ideas of the natural water cycle, weather, evaporation, condensation. Yeah, they don’t have that crap on the moon. They’re not even entirely sure if the moon perpetuates underground aquifers or if it’s comet ice that just happened to be hanging around (because shit on the moon tends to do that). So, we can drill (baby, drill) for all that precious moon water, but we may eventually find it used up. We may eventually need to start that supply line to Earth.

This is all hypothetical, of course. The first manned return to the moon is planned for 2020 and we won’t be seeing it before then. Would a watered moon base aid in the future of space exploration? Absolutely. The moon would hence be the jumping off point for Mars which, if it’s discovered there’s potable water there, would be the gateway to the entire solar system. This would probably be the extent of what we see in our lifetime, to be honest. I don’t share the whole Walt Disney perspective. I don’t buy that we’ll see moon colonization within the next 50 years. With the pace that the space program moves (somewhere between lethargic turtle and gimpy snail), we’re not going anywhere anytime soon. Personally, I think within the next 100 years might be blue skying.

I’m sure we’ll get there within our lifetime. Our generation may well see a man on Mars. Colonizing seems a bit presumptuous.

I know this prospect excites a lot of people. That’s great. Just make sure that your grandchildren keep up with stuff like this because they may be your only hope for a legacy on another planet. I’m enough of a nerd to want the world to be futuristic and though we have made significant technological advances within the last decade and a half, we’re still pretty damn far from where all the futurists thought we would be back in the 50s. We just can’t afford to spend that kind of money outfitting the space program when there’s so much more on Earth with which we should be concerned.

I believe in a sweet-ass space program. I just don’t believe right now is the time to be concerned about it.

Keep fighting the good fight.

—end transmission—

Hey, just another quick update from Anna-Liza.

First, Knitting Sprite, Mr. R and I just watched the space shuttle chase the space station across the sky – as I said in my Tweet, horizon to horizon in four minutes! It was really cool and also odd looking – two apparent stars moving in formation, always at the same distance from each other and visibly moving at a steady speed. Not like a meteor or the usual “is that a star or a satellite or a plane?” thing. (“Just” would mean “just before I wrote this” and not “just before I posted it”. A girl’s got to edit).

The next thing of importance is that Knitting Sprite has launched her own blog! Yep, it’s at http://knittingsprite.wordpress.com/, and I didn’t embed the link so you can see the URL. It’s called Handknits and Homebrews, and she has a couple of posts up now. Go on over and say Howdy! Marin, she’s keeping the name you bestowed on her lo these many years ago. I won’t say how many. Actually, I’m not sure I remember.

Third, I messed up the pumpkin pie. I forgot the salt, then tried to add it to the filling mixture after I’d poured it into the pie shell. I have a feeling it didn’t mix in evenly. But, as Knitting Sprite says, whipped cream fixes everything. (I’m not so sure about it fixing salty pumpkin pie, though).

Still trying to come up with a name for Significant Other of Knitting Sprite. Darlin’ K suggested Mr. Sprite, but there are a number of reasons I don’t care for that one. KS herself favors Outlaw Son, so that’s currently in the lead.

Speaking of Sprites, I was trying to come up with a nom-de-blog for one of my knitting group who is Australian, and she suggested Aussie Sprite or M.O.M. for Mother of Menagerie – her family farmlet includes 15 chickens, 5 goats, 2 llamas, 2 dogs, and will soon be joined by 2 geese.

If I spell the former phonetically as she pronounces it, it comes out Ozzy Sprite, which is a mental image that I don’t care for. If I had any proficiency in Photoshop, I would produce an image of Ozzy Osbourne with fairy wings … but no. No one really needs that image in her head.

So I think it will be M.O.M. for now. She is also mother to two kidlets, a boy and a wee girl, so it suits. She’s a fellow Burner as well as a fellow knitter, and we both still find it odd that we met through knitting rather than Burning Man-associated activities. Especially since we camped with the same camp, just in different years.

Anyway, the reason for the need for a nom-de-blog for her is that we were discussing a sock she had knitted as a gift for a friend. The sock is two inches too long in the foot, and it is a toe-up. She had done a wonderful job on the somewhat complicated leg design, and understandably did not want to rip back to the beginning.

So she asked me about snipping open the toe, ripping back (ripping forward?) from that end, and knitting back down to redo the toe shaping and length. I said “go for it”, with the caution that she should use embroidery scissors to do the snipping and, if the yarn is slippery, she should run a lifeline or DPN at the row she wants to stop unravelling. We talked about those and other practical aspects of the proposed alteration, when she asked me, “But, would doing that be sacrilege?” Except for the hyperbole, she was serious.

I set down my knitting and looked at her and said, “M.O.M. … this is knitting. What are you talking about?” She laughed.

You know what? I’ve been accused of “knitting funny”  – not sure why, I knit Continental style but that’s not odd. Or particularly funny. I’ve heard people go on and on about “the right way to knit”. I’ve read posts on forums where people have said that using the terms “throwing” and “picking” is vulgar.

Would y’all – I mean all of you who think like that – just LIGHTEN UP already?* There’s no right or wrong, there’s no correct method – there’s just what works and what doesn’t work. I’m totally with the Yarn Harlot and Elizabeth Zimmerman about this. This is knitting, it’s not brain surgery.

Although I’d be willing to bet it’s a lot the same. What works, works. What doesn’t, doesn’t. Right or wrong just don’t come into it.

*I really expect that anyone who reads this blog regularly will not be the sort of person who thinks that way. But I could be, um, wrong.

When we were travelling to the moon, the necessity of a completely reusable rocket simply wasn’t feasible, the technology wasn’t there. But, moving into the seventies and eighties, the cry was heard for the heavy load carrier that could be processed and then flown again.

So, in honor of the Atlantis flight on the 16^th, I wanted to talk a little bit about the Shuttle.

Designed in the early seventies, the Space Shuttle is made up of three parts. First is the Orbiter. Being the iconic portion that holds the crew and cargo it is commonly referred to as the “shuttle” itself. The important thing about the Orbiter is its large payload capability and that it is able to actually land like a plane would.

Attached to the orbiter is second part, and it is the orange external tank. Originally this part was painted white just as the rest of the Shuttle, but it became a non-issue as the paint did nothing for the Shuttle except add weight and therefore in the future it was left unpainted. This tank holds the liquid propulsion necessary for the launch.

In addition to the external, there are also the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB,) one on each side of the external tank. These hold solid propulsion and are expelled from the external tank and orbiter about two minutes after takeoff. They fall into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida to be processed and reused for a later mission.

All in all there have been six Orbiters. Enterprise was the test vehicle, and never made it to space. The first flight-worthy orbiter, Columbia, was constructed in 1979 and her first mission was in April 1981. In subsequent years, her sister ships Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis would join the fleet down at KSC. Following the Challenger tragedy in 1986, Endeavor was commissioned and had her first flight in 1992.

Sadly, the Shuttle is going to retire in 2010, and many of us here in Brevard County are really uncertain about our near future and the lengthy gap between the last Shuttle mission and hopefully Constellation. Nevertheless, Shuttle has been an important tool for science in the past few decades, bringing us Skylab and most notably the International Space Station which has already come into its own for discovery.

Bitte folgen Sie auch weiterhin unserem LIVESTREAM (by spaceflightnow)

Rund 350 Kilometer über dem Pazifischen Ozean, nordöstlich von Neuguinea, verließ die Raumfähre Atlantis am Mittwoch um 10.53 Uhr MEZ die Internationale Raumstation. Bis zum Abkoppeln war sie damit seit dem 18. November insgesamt 6 Tage 17 Stunden und zwei Minuten Teil ein des orbitalen Außenpostens. Shuttle-Pilot Barry E. Wilmore übernahm die Kontrolle über die Atlantis und steuerte sie in einem Kreis um die Raumstation herum, um seinen Mannschaftskameraden so die Möglichkeit zu geben, den über 300 Tonnen schweren Komplex mittels hochauflösender digitaler Fotografien umfassend zu observieren. Sie konnten dabei eine zu nunmehr 86 Prozent fertiggestellte Raumstation dokumentieren.

Nach Beendigung des kompletten 360°-”Flyaround” zündeten um 12.04 Uhr und 12.32 Uhr MEZ die Manvertriebwerke der Atlantis zwei Mal und brachten sie damit aus der direkten Umgebung der Internationalen Raumstation. Die Geschwindigkeit mit der sich der Shuttle von der Station entfernt, beträgt dabei zirka 5 Meter pro Sekunde. Damit erhöht sich der Abstand zwischen beiden Raumfahrzeugen um etwas mehr als 7 Kilometer pro Erdumkreisung.

Die Atlantis soll am Freitag um 15.44 Uhr MEZ auf der Shuttlelandbahn Nr. 33 des Kennedy Space Center in Florida landen. Die entscheidende Zündung zum Verlassen der Erdumlaufbahn muss dafür um 14.37 Uhr MEZ  erfolgen.

* * *

While flying 216 miles above the Pacific Ocean northeast of New Guinea, space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station at 4:53 a.m. EST, six days, 17 hours and two minutes after docking on Nov. 18. Shuttle pilot Barry E. Wilmore will grabbed the stick and performed a fly around of the station, enabling his crewmates to conduct a photo survey of the 759,222 pound complex. The station now is 86 percent complete.

After completing a full circle around the International Space Station, space shuttle Atlantis fired its thrusters twice, at 6:04 a.m. EST and 6:32 a.m., to depart the station’s vicinity. Atlantis is heading away from the station at about 1.5 feet per second, or about 4.5 miles per orbit.

The deorbit burn is planned for 8:37 a.m. Friday, leading to a landing at 9:44 a.m. at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility, runway 33.

Für weitere Informationen : for further informations

www.raumfahrtzeitung.de

source : NASA

photo credit : NASA TV

Bitte folgen Sie auch weiterhin unserem LIVESTREAM (by spaceflightnow)

Nach dem letzten gemeinsamen Tag im All haben die Besatzungen von Raumfähre Atlantis und Internationaler Raumstation am Dienstag um 19.12 Uhr MEZ die Luken zwischen beiden Raumfahrzeugen geschlossen. Danach begannen die Vorbereitungen für das Abkoppeln der Atlantis und ihre Rückkehr zur Erde.

STS-129 Kommandant Charles Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore und die Missionsspezialisten Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman, Robert Satcher Jr. und Nicole Stott nutzten gleich die erste Stunde nach der räumlichen Trennung von ihren Kollegen auf der ISS, um sich auf das Ablegen vorzubereiten. Sie überprüften die notwendigen Rendevouzeinrichtungen und installierten eine Navigationskamera. Die Separation beider Raumflugkörper ist für Mittwoch, 10.53 Uhr MEZ  geplant. Die erste Möglichkeit der Landung besteht für die Atlantis am Freitag um 15.44 Uhr MEZ.

Nicole Stott die nun Besatzungsmitglied der Atlantis-Crew ist, hatte zuvor 87 Tageauf der Raumstation verbracht, 80 Tage davon als Mitglied der Expeditionen 20 und 21. Sie wird nach über 90 Tagen im All auf der Erde landen. Damit wird auch der letzte Crewtausch mittels amerikanischer Space Shuttle abgeschlossen, bevor diese außer Dienst gestellt werden.

* * *

After a final day together Space shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station crew members closed the hatches linking their two spacecraft at 1:12 p.m. EST Tuesday in preparation for the shuttle’s undocking and return home.

STS-129 Commander Charles Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman, Robert Satcher Jr. and Nicole Stott used their first hour separated from the station crew to get ready for undocking. They checked out rendezvous tools and set up a centerline camera. Undocking is scheduled for 4:53 a.m. Wednesday. Atlantis’ first landing opportunity is at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:44 a.m. Friday.

Stott is returning to Earth after more than 90 days in space, including 87 days on the station, 80 of them as a member of the Expedition 20 and 21 crews.

Für weitere Informationen : for further informations

www.raumfahrtzeitung.de

source : NASA

photo credit : NASA

“The Augustine Commission for Dummies”

(Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Wrap Up.)

Given the intent of the politicians to fight for the funding their districts currently receive from the Constellation Program (CxP – the current program developing the Ares I and Ares V rockets) as well as go begging for more, and given the budget constraints the NASA faces, it is instructive to see where this course will end up. In the Senate, Richard Shelby has announced his intention to fight for Constellation and will try to increase funding to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida is fighting for Kennedy Space Center and all the jobs and funding there. In the House, Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and Pete Olson of Texas have dug in their heels and reiterated their backing of the Constellation program (See Space News, 21 November 2009).

All this is taking place against the backdrop of the Augustine Commission’s Final Report, which has made it clear that Ares I is over budget and underpowered. As Jeff Greason said at the Committee deliberations, if Santa Clause gave us Ares I and Ares V tomorrow, we would have to scrap them immediately because they would be too expensive to operate.

The Forum at NasaSpaceFlight has been for many years the authoritative site for information on all things NASA. It has been home to the rebel alliance of NASA and industry engineers that have advocated the in-line shuttle derived launch vehicle for the past four years.

The source of this concern was former Administrator Michael Griffin’s decision in 2005 to replace the dual-launch, in-line shuttle derived architecture recommended by NASA engineers, with his personal choice of a small Ares I and a very large Ares V. Instead of building one rocket using existing shuttle components as Congress had directed, he would build two brand new rockets. This decision came just two weeks before the scheduled release of the NASA document on the Constellation program.

Now, four years later in 2009, when the in-line shuttle derived launch vehicle should have been making its first flight, we are five or six years away from Ares I making its first flight. The Shuttle is scheduled for retirement next year and America will have to buy seats on the Russian Soyuz to get to the International Space Station. And the International Space Station is scheduled for de-commissioning in 2015 and would be de-orbited into the Pacific Ocean.

This reality gave birth to the Augustine Commission and its Final Report. We have covered in detail the findings of the Committee. Now we look to consider the possible outcomes.

Philip Metschan (writing as ‘Phoegh’), a long time contributor to the Forum at NasaSpaceFlight, has produced a marvelous interactive series of graphics available at directlauncher.com that illustrate the options identified by the Augustine Commission.

The Budget and Time Line for these options are given in the following table. Included are destinations beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) and the impact of each option on the existing workforce.

We can draw the following conclusions, which are illustrated in the Graphics mentioned earlier and shown below. We start with Option 1, the Program of Record (POR – Constellation) and the funding level provided in FY 2010:

• Option 1 – Ares I crew vehicle is ready a year after the ISS is de-orbited (2015) and Ares V is completed in 2028 with no funds to conduct exploration. There is no Moon in the picture.
• Option 2 – Scrap Ares I and substitute Commercial Crew Access to LEO. The money saved is used to keep the ISS operating until 2020. Ares V is completed in 2028 with no funds to conduct exploration. There is no Moon in the picture.
• Option 3 – Add $3 Billion per year to the existing program. Ares I crew vehicle is ready a year after the ISS is de-orbited (2015) and Ares V is completed in 2019. The Moon is reached in 2025, but no other destinations beyond LEO can be funded.
• Option 4 – Add $3 Billion per year to the existing program. Scrap Ares I and substitute Commercial Crew Access to LEO. The money saved is used to keep the ISS operating until 2020. Ares V is completed in 2023. The Moon is reached in 2030, but no other destinations beyond LEO can be funded.
• Option 4B – Add $3 Billion per year to the existing program. Extend the Shuttle to 2015. Scrap Ares I and substitute Commercial Crew Access to LEO. The money saved is used to keep the ISS operating until 2020. Ares V is completed in 2023. Develop the Propellant Depot by 2026. The Moon is reached in 2030.
• Option 5A – Add $3 Billion per year to the existing program. Scrap Ares I and substitute Commercial Crew Access to LEO. The money saved is used to keep the ISS operating until 2020. Scrap Ares V in favor of a smaller Ares V Lite, which is completed in 2023. Visit EML-1 or EML-2 in 2026. Visit a Near Earth Object (NEO) Sometime in the Future.
• Option 5B – Add $3 Billion per year to the existing program. Scrap Ares I and substitute Commercial Crew Access to LEO. The money saved is used to keep the ISS operating until 2020. Scrap Ares V in favor of a commercial heavy launch capability, which is completed in 2021. Develop the Propellant Depot by 2024. Visit a Near Earth Object (NEO) in 2026 and Phobos in 2028. Return to the Moon in 2029.
• Option 5C – Add $3 Billion per year to the existing program. Scrap Ares I and substitute Commercial Crew Access to LEO. The money saved is used to keep the ISS operating until 2020. Scrap Ares V in favor of a the Direct Team’s Jupiter 241, which is completed in 2022. Visit EML-1 or EML-2 in 2023. Develop the Propellant Depot by 2024. Visit a Near Earth Object (NEO) in 2027 and Phobos in 2029. Return to the Moon in 2030.

Those are the options explored by the Augustine Commission in their Final Report.

Notice, however, that there is one more slide, Option 5D. This is the architecture that was presented to the Augustine Commission during their first public session on 17 June 2009 by the Direct Team. It provides for:

• Add $1 Billion per year to the existing program.
• Extend Shuttle until 2012.
• Scrap Ares I and develop the Jupiter Core (Jupiter 130) for carrying crew on Orion to LEO and ISS by 2014.
• Develop Commercial Crew Access to LEO to replace the Jupiter 130 by 2015. Use Jupiter 130 for ferrying the few large payloads needed by ISS.
• Continue ISS operations until 2020.
• Scrap Ares V in favor of the Upper Stage for the Jupiter Core (Jupiter 241 or Jupiter 246), which is completed in 2017.
• Visit EML-1 or EML-2 in 2018.
• Orbit the Moon in 2019.
• Visit a Near Earth Object (NEO) in 2022.
• Visit Phobos in 2025.
• Develop the Propellant Depot by 2028.

The key here is that the goal of expansion of human civilization into the Solar System is better served, is accomplished sooner, and costs less. Indeed, even without the additional $1 Billion per year, only the extension of the Shuttle operation need be eliminated.

Final Conclusions

• Options 1, 2 and 3, which are favored by the politicians with space flight facilities, get us nowhere and cost far too much.
• Options 4 and 4B get us to the Moon, but neither builds infrastructure for support of future exploration.
• Options 5A, 5B and 5C builds the skills and infrastructure for space exploration, but leave us a crew to LEO gap of five to six years.
• Option 5D builds the skills and infrastructure for space exploration, reduces the crew to LEO gap to one or two years, and gives the international community the ability to descend to the surface of the Moon and Mars.

Time is of the Essence

Finally, this note about the political realities. First, if a decision is delayed for four to six months while the politicians fight for every last bit of funding they want, the infrastructure on which the Jupiter program builds will be dismantled and Options 4B, 5C and 5D will be eliminated.

Second, Congress will likely decide that the Constellation program as currently envisioned is too costly for what will be developed and not worth throwing more money down the drain. Options 1, 2, 3, 4B and 5A will be eliminated.

Thus, only commercial crew and cargo capabilities will be funded. NASA will be reduced to research and contracting for services. The Marshall Space Flight Facility will have little purpose. And the politicians will lose most of the jobs and funding that their districts currently enjoy.

(Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Wrap Up.)

Bitte folgen Sie auch weiterhin unserem LIVESTREAM (by spaceflightnow)

20.10 Uhr MEZ:

Die Astronauten Robert Satcher Jr. und Randy Bresnik haben um 20.06 Uhr MEZ ihren Außenbordeinsatz nach fünf Stunden und 42 Minuten erfolgreich beendet. Sie konnten alle auf ihrer Tagesordnung stehenden Hauptarbeiten am Äußeren der Internationalen Raumstation abschließen. Da sie bei ihren Tätigkeiten wiederum weit vor dem vorgesehenen Zeitplan lagen, konnte die Bodenkontrolle ihnen eine Reihe zusätzlicher Arbeiten zuweisen, die ebenfalls erledigt werden konnten.

Dieser letzte der drei Außeneinsätze der STS-129-Mission erhöhte die externe Aufenthaltsdauer der Besatzung während dieses Fluges auf 18 Stunden und 27 Minuten. Missionsspezialist Mike Foreman, der die ersten beiden Außeneinsätze absolvierte, hat nach Abschluss seines zweiten Raumfluges (STS-123 und STS-129) insgesamt bereits 32 Stunden und 19 Minuten außerhalb der schützenden Hülle eines Raumfahrzeuges verbracht. Dies bringt ihn auf Platz 28 der Rangliste der “Spacewalker” . Satcher und Bresnik, die bei dieser Mission ebenso jeweils zwei Einsätze durchführten, kommen insgesamt auf 12 Sunden 39 Minuten, beziehungsweise 11 stunden 50 Minuten Außenbordaktivität.

________________________________

Um 8.28 Uhr MEZ schallte der Song “Space Rise” von Larry Whitehair aus den Lautsprechern der Atlantis, um die Astronauten aus ihrer Schlafperiode zu holen. An diesem Morgen war das Musikstück speziell für Missionspezialist Mike Foreman gespielt worden.

Foreman, der bei dieser Mission bereits zwei Außeneinsätze absolviert hat und zuvor bei der Mission STS-123 mehr als neunzehneinhalb Stunden  im freien Raum verbrachte, wird heute seine Erfahrung als Koordinator für den dritten Außeneinsatz von innerhalb des Raumkomplexes  einbringen können.

Seine Kollegen Robert Satcher und Randy Bresnik, gerade erst stolzer Vater einer Tochter geworden, hatten wieder in der Luftschleuse des ISS- Moduls Quest genächtigt, um sich für ihren folgenden Einsatz im Vakuum zu aklimatisieren. Der Beginn der Arbeiten außerhalb der Raumstation ist für 13.18 Uhr MEZ vorgesehen. Foreman wird den beiden Außenarbeitern mit direkter Hilfe für ihre Arbeiten zur Seite stehen und darüber hinaus den Funkverkehr zwischen ihnen und der Bodenkontrolle koordinieren.

* * *

19:10 GMT :

Spacewalkers Robert Satcher Jr. and Randy Bresnik completed a five hour, 42 minute spacewalk at 2:06 p.m. EST. The pair completed all the primary jobs they were assigned and all the “get ahead” work that was added to their timeline.

This was the final STS-129 spacewalk. The three STS-129 spacewalks totaled 18 hours, 27 minutes. Mike Foreman now has completed five spacewalks between STS-123 and STS-129 totaling 32 hours, 19 minutes and placing him 28th on the all-time list. Satcher’s two spacewalks totaled 12 hours, 19 minutes. Bresnik’s two spacewalks totaled 11 hours, 50 minutes.

________________________________

Today’s wake up music was “Space Rise,” written and performed by Larry Whitehair and played at 2:28 a.m. EST for Atlantis Mission Specialist Mike Foreman.

Astronauts Robert Satcher Jr. and Randy Bresnik are ready to begin the third and final spacewalk of the STS-129 mission. They camped out in the Quest Airlock overnight to prepare for the task, scheduled to start at 7:18 a.m. EST. Spacewalk veteran Foreman will be the intravehicular crew member and will help direct today’s activities and coordinate communications between the spacewalkers and Mission Control in Houston.

Für weitere Informationen : for further informations

www.raumfahrtzeitung.de

source : NASA

photo credit : NASA/ NASA TV

]]> http://saythink.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/space-shuttle-astronaut-becomes-a-father/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:06:07 +0000 bleiglass http://saythink.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/space-shuttle-astronaut-becomes-a-father/

Space shuttle Atlantis launched carrying a few unexpected passengers.

Monarch butterflies, such as the one pictured above, are one of the two species of butterfly that will live in orbit aboard the International Space Station.

In addition to the hefty pumps, tanks and gyroscopes heading to the International Space Station, space shuttle Atlantis is also transporting something to delight the eyes and stoke the curiosity of children: butterflies.

NASA is flying the critters as part of a science outreach project. The butterflies, which are currently caterpillars, will be transferred to the station to live out their lives in orbit.

WATCH VIDEO: The 4th grade class from St. Joe Elementary School in the Ozark Mountain School District teaches Jorge Ribas all about Monarch butterflies.

Atlantis launched on Monday for an 11-day mission to resupply the space station. It is scheduled to reach the orbital outpost on Wednesday.

“Usually kids in school have ‘cookbook’ science where you already know the outcome before you begin,” Nancy Moreno, a biologist and science educator with the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told Discovery News.

“This is a case where we really don’t know that much about how these organisms will survive in microgravity,” she said. “That’s a unique opportunity for students.”

Pictures of the butterflies will be taken every 15 minutes and relayed to project organizers on the ground who will post the images on websites. Baylor developed teachers’ guide and curriculum to help budding scientists design their own butterfly habitats and experiments.

The butterflies, which typically have a lifespan of about a month, will remain aboard the space station until the next shuttle flight in February.

NASA attempted the experiment a year ago, but none of the critters developed past larvae, said John Uri, NASA’s deputy manager of space station payloads.

“The problem was that the food they flew was from a new vender, and it turned out it was poor quality, and that’s why the butterflies didn’t develop,” Uri told Discovery News. “They’re hoping that with brand new food that’s been totally tested that this group will do OK.”

Two species of butterflies are aboard the shuttle: painted lady and monarchs. Scientists and students will be comparing how the space butterflies grow and develop compared to butterflies on the ground.

The animals will be contained in special habitats aboard the space station.

“They’re not going to be flying around or anything,” Uri said.

More than 2,000 teachers have signed up to download the guide for the project’s website, Moreno said.

Organizations involved in the project include BioServe Space Technologies and the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to land this morning at 09:44EST on Runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center. After nearly 11 days in space, and 6 of those attached to the ISS the STS-129 crew members were able to carry out three Spacewalks, bring 14 tons of cargo to the Space Station (including two large carriers with spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired next year, to the orbiting laboratory) and bring home Expedition 20 and 21 Flight Engineer Nicole Stott (who spent 87 days on the ISS).

The De-orbit time line has already started and other systems will go as listed (all times are EST)

(04:37 AM......Begin deorbit timeline)

04:52 AM......Radiator stow
05:02 AM......Mission specialists seat installation
05:08 AM......Computers set for deorbit prep
05:12 AM......Hydraulic system configuration
05:37 AM......Flash evaporator checkout
05:43 AM......Final payload deactivation
05:57 AM......Payload bay doors closed
06:07 AM......Mission control 'go' for OPS-3
06:17 AM......OPS-3 transition
06:42 AM......Entry switchlist verification
06:52 AM......Deorbit PAD update
06:57 AM......Crew entry review
07:12 AM......CDR/PLT don entry suits
07:29 AM......IMU alignment
07:37 AM......CDR/PLT strap in; MS suit don
07:54 AM......Shuttle steering check
07:57 AM......Hydraulic system prestart
08:04 AM......Toilet deactivation

08:17 AM......MCC 'go' for deorbit burn
08:23 AM......MS seat ingress
08:32 AM......Single APU start

08:37:50 AM...Deorbit ignition
08:37:57 AM...Deorbit burn complete

09:12:50 AM...Entry interface
09:17:43 AM...1st roll command to left
09:28:07 AM...1st roll left to right
09:31:18 AM...C-band radar acquisition
09:37:46 AM...Velocity less than mach 2.5
09:39:58 AM...Velocity less than mach 1
09:40:23 AM...297-degree right turn to runway 33
09:44:18 AM...Landing

At the NASA tweet-up down at the Kennedy Space Center for the STS-129 launch a reporter asked me a question that really threw me. Here, a week later, I’m still thinking about it. He asked:

“Do you think bringing tweeters here gives NASA hope for the future.”

NASA Tweeps Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

Hope for the future? Really?

Why wouldn’t we have hope for the future? With or without Twitter in the mix?

What’s not to hope for?

Now, I get all the doom and gloom reporting about job losses with the end of the Space Shuttle program, and threats of budget cuts. Yes, the job losses are real. Yes, they are heartbreaking AND very frightening for those whose jobs are at stake. Yes, we’ll probably take some budget hits from the White House and Congress. We are, after all, in a squeezed economy…though we see signs of recovery. But none of this is new. We’ve faced all this before.

But, hope for the future? I simply can’t conceive the reverse.

We have a universe of questions out there to find answers to. We, as humans, are curious creatures. We’ll find ways to get the answers. It may or may not look like someone’s pet project. It may or may not fit on today’s calendar. Or even tomorrow’s.

But we, as a human race, WILL GO FORWARD. We will seek answers beyond our planetary borders.

NASA will play a role. What that role will be is determined by the President and Congress. That’s the way this works. But we’ll be a player, none-the-less. We’ll shape the debate. We’ll craft the solutions.

Again, what’s not to hope for?

Maybe what we need more than hope is to work harder to ignite that spark of passion in young and old alike to:

• ask big questions,
• never accept the easy answer,
• stretch beyond even our wildest dreams.

Oh we have much to hope for! Humanity has many problems yet to solve. But some of us can’t sleep until we bridge the gap between imagination and reality. And, you know what? It’s not about you and me…or what we may want out of this life — fame, fortune, power, or simply survival.

Hope is about a better tomorrow…for all of humanity.

So the real question may be: what role will NASA and the international space community play in the future? (A HUGE one, I hope!) And, how can you and I take steps to get us there?

If you ask me, I want to: Be the hope! Be the change!

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi

Cross post on OpenNASA.

]]> http://raumfahrtzeitung.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/1043/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:46:37 +0000 raumfahrtzeitung http://raumfahrtzeitung.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/1043/

Nach zwölf Jahren intensiver, der Konstruktion, Entwicklung und Montage gewidmeter Arbeit konnte die europäische Weltraumorganisation ESA am 20. November das nächste Modul der Internationalen Raumstation an seinen neuen Eigentümer NASA übergeben. Die offizielle Übergabezeremonie für den Verbindungsknoten Node 3 fand im Raumstationsmontagegebäude des Kennedy Space Center in Florida statt.

Bei der Veranstaltung waren Bernado Patti, ISS Programm Manager der ESA, sein Counterpart bei der NASA Michael Suffredini, der Direktor des Kennedy Space Center Robert Cabana, der Vizechef der NASA für ISS Operationen und den Bau von Raumfahrzeugen William Dowell, sowie Secondino Brondole, Chef für Raumfahrtinfrastruktur von Thales Alenia Space, dem Hauptauftragnehmer für den Bau des Moduls aus Italien anwesend.

Node 3 ist einer von drei Verbindungsknoten der ISS. Er wurde inzwischen von der NASA Tranquility getauft und wird in den folgenden Wochen – bis zu seinem geplanten Start im Februar 2010 mit der Raumfähre Endeavour – den letzten Vorbereitungsarbeiten unterzogen. Am Kopfende des Moduls ist mit der sogenannten Cupola (Foto oben) ein völlig neuartiges Bauteil montiert, von dem aus über sechs trapezförmige und ein großes rundes Fenster ein nie dagewesener 360°-Blick aus der Raumstation für Beobachtungen möglich sein wird.

Im Rahmen der Übergabe wies Bernoda Patti darauf hin, dass Node 3 und Cupola die letzten beiden Beiträge Europas zum Aufbau der Internationalen Raumstation darstellen und das nach Ankunft der Kombinaion im Februar mehr als ein Drittel der bewohnbaren Elemente der ISS in Eurobau gebaut wurden.

* * *

Twelve years of design, development and hard work came to fruition with the formal handover of Node 3 from ESA to NASA on 20 November. The ceremony took place in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA.
The ceremony was attended by Bernardo Patti, ISS Programme Manager in ESA’s Directorate of Human Spaceflight, NASA’s ISS Programme Manager Michael Suffredini, Robert Cabana, NASA’s Director of the Kennedy Space Center, William Dowdell, NASA’s Deputy for Operations for ISS and Spacecraft Processing, Secondino Brondolo, Head of the Space Infrastructure at Thales Alenia Space Italy and selected media organisations.
Node 3, one of the three ISS interconnecting modules, will now undergo final preparations for a February 2010 launch on Space Shuttle Endeavour together with the attached European-built Cupola (image above) observation module.

“Node 3 and Cupola are Europe’s final major hardware contributions to the ISS,” said Mr Patti. “Once attached to the ISS in February, more than one-third of the pressurised ISS elements will have been built in Europe.

Für weitere Informationen : for further informations

www.raumfahrtzeitung.de

source : ESA

photo credit : ESA