astronomy & space stuff

[Cathleen]

My uncle worked on Skylab 1, and boy oh boy did I feel like a big shot telling all the kids in the neighborhood! (His son was also a pitcher for Detroit and I sold his autograph for a quarter - he found out and made me give the money back. I guess I was ahead of the times about selling signatures, lol)

Remember how they didn't know if Skylab would fall out of the sky? The entire space program is a marvel in my mind. When folks say 'All that money, why? We have so many problems here...' But the amount of knowledge we've learned and used for our lives here is fantastic.

But, these problems are just unacceptable. I hadn't really thought about commerical sponsorship - interesting.

 

[Cathleen]

Time to wake up!! I'm addicted to watching this now. Like I needed another addiction.

 

[topale]

This is fuckin weird...I'm a HUGE fan of this stuff. But, I've been too lazy to read and catch up on this thread. I'm such a slacker that way But this for me is a whole day project.

 

[linuxgeek]

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Tower That Supported Rocket Torn Down

August 7, 2005, 1:56 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A 179-foot steel tower that supported rocket launches during the moon race in the 1960s has been demolished at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Engineers used 171 pounds of explosives Saturday to bring down the rusty orange "Complex 13" tower that stood at the air station since 1963.

The unmanned Lunar Orbiter missions blasted off from the tower, mapping 99 percent of the moon's surface to search for suitable spots for Apollo crews to make safe landings.

But in recent years, the aging steel structure had become an environmental menace, shedding contaminated paint chips and dropping dangerous chunks of metal to the ground below.

The site was last used for a Department of Defense rocket launch on April 6, 1978.

The cleanup is being jointly handled by the 45th Space Wing, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

 

[Lost Cause]

Goddamned EPA!

They don't brag much about taking the freon out of the foam on the external shuttle tank, causing the debris hit that killed the Columbia!

I hope they rust..........fuckers..

 

[linuxgeek]

PERSEID METEORS: Don't forget, the Perseid meteor shower peaks on Friday morning, August 12th. No matter where you live, the best time to look will be during the hours before local dawn when the constellation Perseus is high in the sky. [full story] [sky map]

While August 12th is best, the days before and after the 12th are good, too. Even now, sky watchers are seeing occasional bright Perseids before dawn. Jim Tegerdine of Marysville, Washington, photographed this one streaking beneath the planet Mars on August 7th:

http://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/perseids/images2005/07aug05/Tegerdine1_strip.jpg

Got clouds? If you can't see the shower, try listening to it:

live audio: Naval Space Surveillance Radar (Kickapoo, TX)
live audio: 67 MHz meteor radar (Roswell, NM)

When a Perseid flies over one of these meteor radars, they record a ghostly ping. Credit: Live audio provided by engineer Stan Nelson.

 

[Sean]

I'm looking to buy a decent telescope. 4" reflector or bigger. It must be portable (I live near London so light pollution is a bitch). Suggestions?

 

[linuxgeek]

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Landing Day Arrives

"We're looking forward to coming home," Commander Eileen Collins radioed to Mission Control upon crew wakeup at 8:30 p.m. EDT today.

Collins and her crewmates immediately began preparing the orbiter and themselves for landing. Their first landing opportunity is at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:47 a.m. Monday. If weather prohibits landing on that orbit, they will have another opportunity about 90 minutes later.

If the crew gets the go-ahead from Mission Control for the first landing opportunity, Collins and Pilot Jim Kelly will execute an engine burn that drops Discovery from orbit at 3:40 a.m.

STS-114, dubbed the most photographed spaceflight, set a new precedent for future test flights. Never-before-seen imagery aided engineers in assessing the Shuttle's external tank performance and ensuring a safe heat shield for return to Earth.

A mission of firsts, STS-114 carried the Orbiter's Boom Sensor System on its maiden flight, performed the first back-flip in spaceflight and successfully completed a first-of-its-kind repair to the Shuttle, making spacewalk history. Discovery was the first Space Shuttle to visit the Station since late 2002.

The two crews paid tribute to the astronauts and cosmonauts who have given their lives for space exploration.

 

[linuxgeek]

http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/launch/landing101.html

Landing 101

Follow along with the landing! Whether the Space Shuttle lands at the prime landing site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida or its backup landing site at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the Virtual Launch Control Center is the only place online to get breaking information directly from NASA.


When it is time to return to Earth, the orbiter is rotated tail-first into the direction of travel to prepare for another firing of the Orbital Maneuvering System engines. This firing is called the deorbit burn. Time of ignition (TIG) is usually about an hour before landing. The burn lasts three to four minutes and slows the Shuttle enough to begin its descent.

Below are some of the key events that take place at each milestone prior to touchdown.

Note: Times, distances and speeds can vary according to a variety of factors such as mission inclination, trajectory and glide slope.

TIG-4 hours
Crew members begin preparations for landing. The orbiter's onboard computers are configured for entry, as is the hydraulic system that powers the orbiter's aerosurfaces -- its rudder speed brake and wing elevons.

TIG-3 hours
The payload bay doors are closed. Mission Control gives the commander the "go" for Ops 3, the portion of the orbiter's flight control software that manages entry and landing.

TIG-2 hours
Starting with the commander and pilot, the flight crew members don their orange launch and entry suits and strap into their seats.

TIG-1 hour
Mission Control gives the "go" for deorbit burn.

DEORBIT BURN
The orbiter and crew are officially on their way home.

During reentry and landing, the orbiter is not powered by engines. Instead, it flies like a high-tech glider, relying first on its steering jets and then its aerosurfaces to control the airflow around it.

Landing-30 minutes
Roughly half an hour after the deorbit burn, the orbiter will begin to encounter the effects of the atmosphere. Called Entry Interface, this point usually takes place at an altitude of about 80 miles, and more than 5,000 statute miles from the landing site.

Early in reentry, the orbiter's orientation is controlled by the aft steering jets, part of the Reaction Control System. But during descent, the vehicle flies less like a spacecraft and more like an aircraft. Its aerosurfaces -- the wing flaps and rudder -- gradually become active as air pressure builds. As those surfaces become usable, the steering jets turn off automatically.

To use up excess energy, the orbiter performs a series of four steep banks, rolling over as much as 80 degrees to one side or the other, to slow down. The series of banks gives the Shuttle's track toward landing an appearance similar to an elongated letter "S."

As the orbiter slices through the atmosphere faster than the speed of sound, the sonic boom -- really, two distinct claps less than a second apart -- can be heard across parts of Florida, depending on the flight path.

Landing-5 minutes
The orbiter's velocity eases below the speed of sound about 25 statute miles from the runway. As the orbiter nears the Shuttle Landing Facility, the commander takes manual control, piloting the vehicle to touchdown on one of two ends of the SLF.

As it aligns with the runway, the orbiter begins a steep descent with the nose angled as much as 19 degrees down from horizontal. This glide slope is seven times steeper than the average commercial airliner landing. During the final approach, the vehicle drops toward the runway 20 times faster than a commercial airliner as its rate of descent and airspeed increase. At less than 2,000 feet above the ground, the commander raises the nose and slows the rate of descent in preparation for touchdown.

Landing-15 seconds
The main and nose landing gear are deployed and locked in place.

Touchdown!
The orbiter's main landing gear touches down on the runway at 214 to 226 miles per hour, followed by the nose gear. The drag chute is deployed, and the orbiter coasts to a stop.

 

[gypsywitch]

Don't feel bad about trying to catch up, its been very busy lately.
I just finally saw the July 4th Impact footage.

 

[linuxgeek]

http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/crew/landing.html

Planned landing track:

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/124492main_sts114_ksc201_long.gif

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/124488main_sts114_ksc201_mid.gif

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/124490main_sts114_ksc201_short.gif

 

[Cathleen]

Hey linux - you are very cool! Thanks for all the information you post and your enthusaism. I can't say I understand a darn thing about this stuff but my enthusaism is sky high.

I'm setting my alarm so I can wake up for the landing. (I'm thinking optimistically that I will get some sleep tonight.)

Thanks for the fun, it's just great.

 

[linuxgeek]

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Landing Waved Off for Monday

Due to low clouds at the Kennedy Space Center landing site, Mission Control Houston has waved off both landing opportunities for Space Shuttle Discovery today. STS-114 Commander Eileen Collins and the rest of the crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery will return the orbiter to normal flight operations for another day. The next opportunity is at 5:07 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

There are several opportunities to land tomorrow, including two at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and two at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

 

[linuxgeek]

All the possible landing paths for Tuesday are here: http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/crew/landing.html

Not going to post them like last time since there are 6 sets total.

 

[linuxgeek]

Hey linux - you are very cool! Thanks for all the information you post and your enthusaism. I can't say I understand a darn thing about this stuff but my enthusaism is sky high.

I'm setting my alarm so I can wake up for the landing. (I'm thinking optimistically that I will get some sleep tonight.)

Thanks for the fun, it's just great.

Hope you managed to get some sleep.

 

[linuxgeek]

For those who might be interested in more information on the shuttle than you likely can ever use, they have full explinations & schematics on line. http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/index.html

 

[Lost Cause]

I betcha the crew is really vhating orbiting above the earth and sightseeing!

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/images/content/107189main_chal-orbit.jpg

 

[linuxgeek]

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Discovery to take another try at landing

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Low clouds kept shuttle Discovery and its crew of seven from making their much-anticipated return to Earth, and NASA vowed to bring the spacecraft down Tuesday in Florida, California or possibly even New Mexico.

"We will attempt to land somewhere," flight director LeRoy Cain said after Monday morning's two unsuccessful landing opportunities.

The delay disappointed the astronauts' families, who were waiting at Kennedy Space Center for their loved ones' return after nearly two stressful weeks in orbit.

Discovery's astronauts woke up Monday evening to The Beatles "Good Day Sunshine" and were ready to get back home.

"It's a day for sunshine and it's a day for feet on the ground," Mission Control radioed the astronauts.

"We sure hope we get our feet on the ground today," astronaut Wendy Lawrence responded.

It is the first shuttle flight since Columbia's catastrophic re-entry in 2003, and the mission experienced a series of problems that required emergency spacewalk repairs and constant engineering analysis.

More cloudy weather was expected at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday with a chance of rain, but it remained NASA's first choice for an early morning touchdown. Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert was the next choice, followed by the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the absolute last resort.

Good conditions were expected at Edwards, while rain was in the forecast for White Sands.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin insisted "there's no agony" associated with the one-day delay in getting Discovery home. Like other space agency officials, he was waiting for "wheels stop" on the runway before even thinking about celebrating.

Come Tuesday, "We're going to land one way or another, one place or another, and all we're talking about is where," Griffin said.

"It's better to be on the safe side," astronaut John Herrington observed from the runway. In fact, a thick, dark layer of clouds hovered overhead at the designated touchdown time.

Astronaut Scott Parazynski said from the landing strip that he is certain the crew members were disappointed at having to put off their family reunions. But on the other hand, "It's another day to look out the window and savor a day in space."

Indeed, some rock 'n' roll and country music drifted down over Discovery's airwaves as the astronauts settled into their extra day in space.

"Thank you for a great day off and sure looking forward to being back on solid ground," radioed astronaut Stephen Robinson, a onetime DJ.

NASA prefers landing shuttles at the same place where it launches them, to avoid the several days and estimated $1 million in ferrying the spacecraft atop a modified jumbo jet back from the West Coast.

Of the previous 111 shuttle landings, space shuttles returned 61 times to Kennedy, 49 times to Edwards and once - way back in 1982 - to White Sands. Columbia ended up coming down in a sandstorm on that third shuttle flight and, for decades, workers were still finding sand in the ship's crevices.

Discovery had enough power and supplies to stay in orbit until Wednesday, but NASA was holding out that option only if a technical problem arose that needed time to be resolved.

During the mission, the biggest setback was the loss of a 1-pound chunk of foam insulation from the fuel tank during the July 26 launch, the same problem that ended up destroying Columbia. NASA suspended future shuttle flights just one day after Discovery took off.

Two of Discovery's crew members performed three spacewalks, the first to test tools and techniques for fixing damaged heat shields, the second to replace a broken station gyroscope, and the third to remove a couple dangling strips of filler material from Discovery's belly that NASA feared could lead to a Columbia-type disaster.

 

[linuxgeek]

7min to wheels down at Edwards Air Force Base

 

[linuxgeek]

wheels down. All stop. They're home!

 

[Lost Cause]

WHEW!

 

[linuxgeek]

SUNSET PLANETS: Looking for Jupiter? It's right beside the Moon. Step outside tonight around sunset and you can see the pair side-by-side in the western sky. Venus is in the area, too:

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/08aug05/Hodges1_strip.jpg

Above: "Venus and the Moon were a beautiful sight on August 7th," says photographer Ron Hodges of Midland, TX.

 

[Fagin]

yup, it's there. showed the kidlet.

 

[linuxgeek]

src

Aug 11, 9:06 AM EDT


NASA Postpones Launch of Mars Orbiter

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA postponed launching a spacecraft to Mars on Thursday after a glitch popped up in the computer software used for monitoring the fueling of the rocket used for liftoff.

The problem with sensors and software that measure the amount of fuel being loaded into the rocket appeared with just minutes left until liftoff. The launch was rescheduled for Friday morning.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was expected to spend at least four years circling Mars.

 

[linuxgeek]

src

Meteor 'Outburst' Expected Friday Morning

For as long as records exist, the Perseid meteor showers have always been strong. This summer's Perseid shower will be exceptional. The moon is mostly out of the way later in the night, and higher-than-normal activity rates are expected over the United States.

The Perseid shower's parent body, comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, is notable in being a comparatively huge comet in an orbit that passes close to Earth's orbit frequently. It measures 24-31 kilometers in diameter, 2 to 3 times the size of comet Halley, and is so big that the continuous ejection of water vapor and dust during its approach to the Sun does not move the comet much off course. It has spewed dust for at least 5,000 years and most likely thirty times longer. It has built a massive meteoroid stream, most of which is located just outside of Earth's orbit. Earth passes through the outer regions of that stream in July, and hits the center on August 12.

At that time, the annual Perseid shower peaks at 80 meteors per hour under ideal circumstances (no clouds or moon, dark sky, stars of magnitude +6.5 just visible).

When comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle was rediscovered in 1992, scientists noticed in alarm that a delay of 17 days in the next projected return of the comet in 2126 could cause it to collide with Earth. That fear dissipated when the orbit was recomputed using data from sightings in 188 A.D. and 69 B.C. The more precise orbit has the comet approach Earth in 2126 to within only 23 million kilometers, but there's no danger of us being hit. In September 4479, the comet will approach Earth even closer, to within about 6 million kilometers. It will then be as bright as Jupiter (-2.1 magnitude) in the sky.

The dust released will spread along the comet orbit because some dust grains make wider orbits than others and return later. When Earth encounters these dust trails, a meteor storm may be observed. But only if the very narrow trail is steered smack in Earth's path by perturbations of the planets. Most dust does wander far from the comet, which is why the best showers are observed in the years following when the comet returns, while lesser outbursts occur when dust further along the comet orbit wanders in Earth's path.

The next big shower is not expected until the next return of the comet.

For now, a nice outburst is projected for Aug. 12, 2005, at 08:18h UT (= 04:18 EDT and 01:18 PDT), when Earth will encounter the dust ejected in the return of 1479. Rates can go up four fold to about 240 per hour on top of the 80 per hour annual activity, for a brief period of time (approximately 1.2 hours).

In addition, rates may increase again around 13h UT, when Earth is slated to encounter the Filament component, rising to less than 86 per hour on top of normal, annual activity. That Filament is older dust presumably in mean-motion resonance with Jupiter.