astronomy & space stuff

[linuxgeek]

(WESH web log con't)

12:05 p.m.: It's Raining At KSC
A loud boom of thunder just cracked overhead and it's raining pretty hard at the Kennedy Space Center. However, there's still a bright spot of sun over the shuttle right now. --WESH.com Web Staff

12:00 p.m.: Crew Heads Out To Launch Pad
The crew has just exited an elevator and is getting ready to head out to the launch pad to the loud cheers of the gathered crowd. They are being loaded onto the astrovan -- the same vehicle that has been used for many years -- that will take them to launch pad 39B. They are under tight security with machine-gun equipped helicopters and ground security. The last crew to make this journey was on Jan. 16, 2003. They are walking in the steps of Neil Armstrong, John Young and all of the astronauts who have flown since the Apollo era. They've all taken the same walk. --WESH 2 News space specialist Dan Billow

11:30 a.m.: Crew Relaxed Before Launch
Discovery crew members appear to be relaxed on NASA television as they suit up and wait for liftoff. Earlier, astronaut Stephen Robinson strummed a guitar as he and fellow crew members sat around a table holding a large cake. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said he trusts the safety of the shuttle so much that he would ride it if he could. He said he has met with members of the Columbia families and assured them that NASA had learned lessons from that tragic flight. -- Associated Press

 

[Killswitch]

Check out these launch windows.

Five minutes a day.

July 13 3:51 p.m. 3:56 p.m.
July 14 3:28 p.m. 3:33 p.m.
July 15 3:02 p.m. 3:07 p.m.
July 16 2:40 p.m. 2:45 p.m.
July 17 2:14 p.m. 2:19 p.m.
July 18 1:52 p.m. 1:57 p.m.
July 19 1:26 p.m. 1:31 p.m.
July 20 1:03 p.m. 1:08 p.m.
July 21 12:38 p.m. 12:43 p.m.
July 22 12:15 p.m. 12:20 p.m.
July 23 11:50 a.m. 11:55 a.m.
July 24 11:27 a.m. 11:32 a.m.
July 25 11:04 a.m. 11:09 a.m.
July 26 10:39 a.m. 10:44 a.m.
July 27 10:11 a.m. 10:16 a.m.
July 28 9:50 a.m. 9:55 a.m.
July 29 9:28 a.m. 9:33 a.m.
July 30 9:02 a.m. 9:07 a.m.
July 31 8:40 a.m. 8:45 a.m.

 

[linuxgeek]

yeah .. only 5 min because they have to intersect the ISS orbit.

 

[linuxgeek]

(WESH web log con't)

12:53 p.m.: Launch Traffic Gets Heavy
Traffic is building as the shuttle launch nears. Most area highways are still moving, but some heavy traffic is reported on state Road 528 around Orlando International Airport as drivers head toward the coast. A reminder: Parking is not permitted on the sides of NASA causeways at Kennedy Space Center. -- WESH 2 traffic reporter Danielle Bellini

12:40 p.m.: Crew Gets Strapped Into Shuttle
The crew members are getting strapped into the shuttle. WESH 2 News anchor Jim Payne talked with Dr. Janet Voss, a veteran of five shuttle missions. She explained what happens during the strap-in process.

"The shuttle sits on its tail for launch, so the seats are lying with their backs to the floor and getting into them with all that gear on the parachutes is awkward. So we have a special strap-in crew. You have the flight deck crew and mid-deck crew going in parallel," Voss said. "They walk out with their orange suits on, but they don't have the parachute on. They don't have all their gloves and equipment on, so they get all that put on in the white room, crawl in the vehicle and get the helmet on. All that has to get organized." -- WESH.com Web Staff

12:30 p.m.: Crew Arrives At Launch Pad 39B
The shuttle crew has arrived at the launch pad, and Commander Eileen Collins is about to be the first person to step aboard Discovery. -- WESH.com Web Staff

12:10 p.m.: Sen. Nelson Talks About Return To Flight
Sen. Bill Nelson appeared with Wendy Chioji and Dan Billow on WESH 2 News' live launch coverage. Nelson talked about the risks associated with spaceflight.

"Spaceflight is risky business, but we've done everything we can to improve the shedding of this foam, the ice," Nelson said. "There are 1,500 parts on the space shuttle that are critical -- anyone of which fails, that's it. It's a catastrophe, But it's a risk worth accepting because of the untold benefits we have when we get into space." -- WESH.com Web Staff

 

[Guest]

 

[linuxgeek]

Why can't they just go up there and stop and wait for the ISS to come round again?

Probably the amount of fuel it would take to carry out that amount of maneuvering. If they just launch to insert the shuttle into the orbital path of ISS, it just takes minor in-flight adjustments to have them link up. Also, ISS does not follow the exact same path every time around the planet.

Once the external tank is dropped off, the shuttle does not have room to carry much fuel onboard. Believe the bird is near completely dry after they do their de-orbit burns and are headed in to land.

I'd have to do some diggin' for exact numbers. Been a while since I dove that deep into the shuttle info.

 

[Guest]

 

[linuxgeek]

When they get the applet back on line, this link will let you track the orbital paths of ISS & the shuttle.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html

 

[Fagin]

Launch Scrubbed due to low fuel indicator light.

 

[sticky_keyboard]

Launch Scrubbed due to low fuel indicator light.

I see that on my dash all the time...and just keep driving.

Launch anyway...they can always call AAA if they run out.

 

[linuxgeek]

(WESH web log con't)

A problem with the external fuel tank's eco-sensors has scrubbed today's planned launch. The astronauts are getting off the shuttle.

A similar problem surfaced during an earlier fueling test, reported WESH 2 News space specialist Dan Billow.

The decision came from launch director Mike Leinbach around 1:30 p.m.

"We have had to scrub the launch for today due to a low-level fuel sensor in the external fuel tank, one of a set of four, two of which need to work for launch for proper behavior of the system. Conservative engineering judgment has led us to scrub this launch for today and it will take some to go through the troubleshooting and understand really how long it will take to remedy the situation," he said.

All of the fuel will likely have to be removed from the tank so that they can test the sensors properly.

The astrovan is heading back to Launch Pad 39B to pick up the astronauts. As the astronauts exited the shuttle, many of them got hugs and pats on their shoulders from the strap-in crew.

Meanwhile, crowds up and down the coast have already started to pack up and leave their viewing spots.

A NASA briefing will be held around 4:30 p.m., and a new launch date may be announced at that time.

Stay with WESH 2 News and WESH.com for updates on this breaking story ...

1:25 p.m.: Final Astronaut Gets Strapped In
Astronaut Steve Robinson is the last person to get strapped in and to board Discovery. It's a process that has taken about 90 minutes, since they first walked out of the center and boarded the bus to the pad. -- WESH.com Web Staff

 

[linuxgeek]

NASA TV via the web:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

 

[linuxgeek]

SOLAR ACTIVITY: Yesterday [7/13], an M5-explosion above sunspot 786 hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space: movie. The CME is not heading directly toward Earth, but it could deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetic field, possibly tonight, sparking auroras over Canada and northern US states.

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/13jul05/cme_c3_big.gif

 

[linuxgeek]

SOLAR ACTIVITY: Solar activity has suddenly increased with a series of strong explosions from sunspot 786, the latest an X1-class flare at 1055 UT on July 14th. Because the sunspot is near the sun's western limb (see below), none of the blasts was Earth directed. Nevertheless, coronal mass ejections hurled into space by these explosions could deliver glancing blows to Earth's magnetic field as early as tonight and continuing through the weekend, possibly sparking geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers in Canada and northern US states should be alert for auroras.

 

[linuxgeek]

src

Scientists find planet with 3 suns

(Reuters) -- Astronomers have detected a planet outside our solar system with not one, but three suns, a finding that challenges astronomers' theories of planetary formation.

The planet, a gas giant slightly larger than Jupiter, orbits the main star of a triple-star system known as HD 188753 in the constellation Cygnus.

The stellar trio and its planet are about 149 light-years from Earth and about as close to each other as our sun is to Saturn, U.S. scientists reported on Thursday in the current edition of the journal Nature.

A light-year is about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km), the distance light travels in a year.

If you stood on the planet's surface, you would see three suns in sky, although its orbit centers around the main yellow star among the trio. The larger of the other two suns would be orange and the smaller would be red, astronomers at California Institute of Technology said in a statement.

The new finding could upset existing theories that planets usually form out of gas and dust circling a single star, and could lead scientists to look in new places for planets.

"The implication is that there are more planets out there than we thought," the commentary said.

Caltech astronomer Maciej Konacki, who wrote the research article, refers to the new type of planets as "Tatooine planets," because of the similarity to Luke Skywalker's view of his home planet by the same name, with its multiple suns, in the original "Star Wars" film.

The fact that a planet can even exist in a multiple-star system is amazing in itself, according to Konacki. Binary and multiple stars are quite common in the solar neighborhood, and in fact outnumber single stars by some 20 percent.

But so far, most extrasolar planets -- those discovered outside our planetary system -- have been detected by watching for a characteristic wobble in the stars their orbit, reflecting the gravitation pull the planets exert on their suns.

This method is less effective for binary and multiple star systems, and existing theories said planets were unlikely to form in this kind of environment.

Konacki found a new way to identify planets by measuring velocities of all bodies in a binary or multiple star system.

 

[linuxgeek]

src

Standing Down

As of this afternoon, NASA is standing down from the current launch countdown for Space Shuttle Discovery's Return to Flight mission, STS-114.

Space Shuttle Program managers are still working toward a launch this month, but the next launch attempt will happen no earlier than late next week. A more precise target launch date will be given out at a news conference scheduled for no earlier than 5:30 p.m. EDT Friday.

Managers and engineers are meeting today to review data and possible troubleshooting plans for a liquid hydrogen low-level fuel sensor inside the External Tank. The sensor failed a routine pre-launch check during the launch countdown Wednesday, causing mission managers to postpone Discovery's first launch attempt.

A countdown from this point will be a complete start over at T-43 (time minus) hours.

The STS-114 crew will return to NASA's Johnson Space Center either tonight or tomorrow.

 

[linuxgeek]

ISS FLYBY: Yes, there really are spaceships up there. On July 14th, Stefan Seip photographed this one, the International Space Station, orbiting over Stuttgart, Germany:

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2005/16jul05/seip1_strip.jpg

The horizontal streak is the ISS, "crossing the summer triangle formed by the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair," says Seip. "The inset shows ISS [as seen through] a 10-inch telescope."

Fuel sensors permitting, the ISS will be joined by the space shuttle Discovery later this month, and they will appear as a bright pair over many US and European cities. Would you like a call when they glide over your home town?

 

[linuxgeek]

AURORA ALERT: People in Canada and northern US states should be alert for auroras tonight. A display is possible when one or two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) en route to Earth arrive, sparking a geomagnetic storm. The incoming CMEs were hurled into space on July 13th and 14th by explosions above sunspot 786.

SOLAR ERUPTION: An enormous prominence has just erupted from the sun. How big was it? From end to end, it measured almost 50 Earth-diameters. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured this image at 0119 UT on July 16th:

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/16jul05/eit_360.gif

The eruption was spectacular but not Earth-directed. Our planet should experience no effects from the blast.

 

[linuxgeek]

BLANK SUN: The sun is blank today--no sunspots. That means explosions such as solar flares and CMEs are very unlikely this week.

CORONAL HOLE: Just because the sun is blank doesn't mean there's no space weather. At this moment, Earth is heading for a solar wind stream flowing from this coronal hole:

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/18jul05/coronalhole_soho_strip.gif
The peanut-shaped dark area in this UV image of the sun is a coronal hole. Credit: SOHO, July 18th.

What's a coronal hole? It is a region above the sun's visible surface where solar magnetic fields fail to hold the sun's atmosphere in place. Hot gas flows out of the hole into space as a stream of solar wind.

When this particular stream hits Earth, probably on July 20th or 21st, the impact will shake our planet's magnetic field and possibly spark auroras over Canada and some northern US states.

 

[linuxgeek]

src

Launch Countdown to Begin Saturday, July 23

NASA officials have announced plans to the begin the countdown to a July 26 launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. The countdown will start Saturday, with a test of the External Tank to follow early on launch day. If all goes well with the test, the countdown will continue to liftoff at 10:39 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.

In the meantime, technicians will work with grounding wiring associated with the liquid hydrogen engine cutoff sensor system, as well as adjust the configuration of components within Discovery's point sensor box. During a briefing held after a mission managers meeting, NASA Space Shuttle Program Manager Bill Parsons said "We've all agreed that this work is doable, and that it all takes us to a launch on the 26th" (+ View Press Release).

The engine cutoff sensors are mounted at the bottom of the External Tank and trigger the orbiter's engines to shutdown in the event liquid hydrogen levels run expectedly low. The system failed a routine pre-launch check during the countdown on July 13, causing NASA to postpone Discovery's first launch attempt.
(+ View Sensor Graphics)

The window to launch Discovery to the International Space Station extends through July 31.

 

[linuxgeek]

SOLAR FORECAST: The sun has been remarkably blank and quiet lately. Don't be surprised, though, if solar activity surges later this week. For days, something on the farside of the sun has been exploding and throwing coronal mass ejections (CMEs) over the sun's limb. One of these CMEs is pictured below:

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/24jul05/20050724_1406_c2_strip.gif

Whatever's "over there"--probably a big sunspot--might soon turn toward Earth as the sun rotates. Keep an eye on the sun's eastern limb in the days ahead.

 

[Cathleen]

Linux, how confident you do feel in tomorrow's scheduled launch? The news wouldn't be boosting my courage. Yikes! God speed to them all.

 

[linuxgeek]

Linux, how confident you do feel in tomorrow's scheduled launch? The news wouldn't be boosting my courage. Yikes! God speed to them all.

From what I've seen, the weather should behave for them. The dry, dusty air should keep storm from popping up in the morning.

It seems to mainly be a question of whether any additional sensor problem show up.

This is what one of the local news outlets has up:

http://www.wesh.com/spacenews/4764168/detail.html

NASA Considers Bending Rules To Launch Discovery

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA hopes it has fixed a fuel gauge problem as it prepares to launch space shuttle Discovery Tuesday.

Space agency managers said if the sensor problem pops up again during the shuttle's fueling, they may bend their own safety rules and launch anyway.

Technicians still don't fully understand why one of the four hydrogen sensors in the external fuel tank gave a false reading July 13, forcing NASA to scrub that day's launch attempt. Agency rules specify that all four sensors must work, although only two are needed.

NASA has re-wired some of the sensors and done extensive troubleshooting. A NASA test director said he's confident the sensor will work properly Tuesday. Discovery's flight will be the first for the shuttle program since the Columbia tragedy in 2003.

 

[linuxgeek]

from NASA:

http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/index.html

Poised for Liftoff

Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-114, NASA's Return to Flight mission, is set for Tuesday at 10:39 a.m. EDT.

The launch pad's Rotating Service Structure (RSS) was rolled away from Discovery at 3:38 p.m. on Monday. When in place, the giant enveloping appendage is used to install payloads into an orbiter's cargo bay and provide protection from inclement weather. With the RSS now out of the way, propellant loading is set to begin after midnight Tuesday morning with the pumping of more than 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen into the vehicle's orange External Tank.

The chance of Kennedy weather cooperating for the launch remains at 60 percent.

First Lady Laura Bush will join other dignitaries and VIPs at Kennedy for the Return to Flight liftoff, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced earlier today.

 

[linuxgeek]

T-2h:49m

http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/index.html

Take Your Seats

The astronauts are being seated inside Discovery's crew cabin. Commander Eileen Collins was the first crew member to enter the orbiter, taking her seat on the left side of the cockpit. Commander Collins is now busy powering-up Discovery's General Purpose Computer for flight. Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda followed a short time after Collins.

Watch Space Shuttle Discovery's countdown to liftoff on the Virtual Launch Control Center.

http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/launch/launch-vlcc.html