NASA Sets Launch Coverage for SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon Spacecraft COTS-1 Flight

Credit: SpaceX

NASA just announced that the prelaunch news conference for the COTS 1 Falcon 9 launch is planned for Monday, December 6th at 1:30 p.m., at the press site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA Television will provide live coverage and the briefing at http://www.naas.gov/ntv
The prelaunch news conference participants will be:

• Phil McAlister, Acting Director, Commercial Space Flight Development NASA Headquarters, Washington
• Alan Lindenmoyer, Manager, Commercial Crew and Cargo Program NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston 
• Gwynne Shotwell, President SpaceX, Hawthorne, Calif.
• Mike McAleenan, Falcon 9 Launch Weather Officer 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

A post-mission news conference will be held at Kennedy approximately one hour after splashdown occurs.

Audio of the prelaunch and post-mission news conferences also will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits, which can be accessed directly by dialing 321-867- 1220, 1240, 1260 or 7135.

On launch day, Dec. 7, NASA TV live coverage will begin at the conclusion of the built in hold at T-5 minutes and counting. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video,
visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv 

Prelaunch and launch day coverage of the COTS 1 Falcon 9 mission will be available on the NASA website at: http://www.nasa.gov/

Coverage will include live streaming and text updates of the final five minutes of the countdown. On-demand streaming video, podcast and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. To access these features, go to NASA's COTS website at: http://www.nasa.gov/cots
Media Advisory: M10-168

This first COTS-1 demonstration flight will carry the first operational Dragon Spacecraft and will be the second flight for the Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is now targeted for December 7th, 2010 (with 8th and 9th as back-up days) with a launch window between 8:55am and 12:05pm EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40. The mission profile calls for the dragon Spacecraft to complete three to four orbits, transmit telemetry, receive commands, maneuver, re-enter and splash down off the coast of Southern California.

Introducing Explore Mars, Inc.

"It is time that we commit to a human space program that is going somewhere! After decades of literally going around in circles in low Earth orbit, it is time to launch a program that will land humans on Mars by 2030. This is a VERY achievable goal. However, we can't just assume this will happen without constant pressure... The private sector can do REAL work to advance technology, science, and overall goal of sending humans to Mars. This is why Explore Mars, Inc. was created.

Explore Mars is a project-oriented non-profit group that was created to promote science and technology innovation and education related to Mars Exploration. Through a series of technology innovation awards, scientific symposiums and workshops, Mars analog work, technology demonstrations, and other programs, we provide a platform for scientists and "citizen scientists" to engage in meaningful space exploration research and development in the private sector.

We launched the Mars Education Challenge and will soon launch the In Situ Resource Utilization Challenge, as well as some other exciting projects. We will also announce details about a series of panels about Mars and International Space Station (ISS) Symposium, as well as the Mars Agriculture Workshop within in the next couple of months."

- Explore Mars, Inc.

Explore Mars was co-founded by Chris Carberry who is also the Executive Director. My dear friend Artemis Westenberg is President and Director. Artemis was the Mission Director for the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) during my mission to the MDRS as part of Crew 88 (Janury 2010), and most recently I served as an engineer on Crew 95 (June 2010) where Artemi personally led a MDRS engineering refit and repair mission. More information about their biographies can be found here. In addition to these two great individuals, Explore Mars has assembled a very distinguished team of advisors: Astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Dr. Penelope Boston of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, award winning film maker and writer Sam Burbank, award winning journalist and spaceflight historian Andrew Chaiken, NASA planetary scientist Dr. Chris McKay, and journalist and broadcast veteran Miles O'Brien.

Here is a video of Chris Carberry's talk (GoogleTech Talks) on the Mars Exploration Prizes.

PBS NewHour: Miles O'Brien on the retirement of the Space Shuttle and Private Spaceflight

Miles O'Brien is back!

Atlantica Expeditions: An Introduction from the Expedition Leader Dennis Chamberland

More details to follow but I wanted to share this with you.

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!

The Atlantica Expeditions - Building the First Undersea Colony

For centuries we have dreamed of colonizing the Moon, Mars, the Asteroids and someday the Solar System, but very few people know that that a small group of true pioneers have been working towards colonizing the Earth's ocean: that is planning and building the infrastructure for a permanent human colony under the sea. Their journey is chronicled in the "Atlantica Expeditions - The First Undersea Colony". I have been selected to be a part of that team. I am absolutely thrilled! It is a great honor for me and over the next couple of years I plan on blogging and keeping you updated on the progress of this great endeavour. The first expedition named Atlantica 1 is scheduled for the 4th of July 2012. Dennis Chamberland, his wife Claudia Chamberland and Art Ortolani will begin a 90 day mission. This mission will establish the world's record in an uninterrupted underwater mission, surpassing the previous record of 69 days.  The mission will utilize the Leviathan Habitat which will be the only habitat ever designed to test systems intended for permanent human residence of the undersea world of Aquatica. More on that later.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you this podcast from Dennis and Claudia during a training session on the operation of an undersea robot called "Ray" (brand name SEARAY) at the MarineLab undersea habitat in Key Largo, Florida during a filming by the Discovery Channel of Canada.

Isn't this absolutely amazing?

SpaceX Update: Falcon 9/Dragon COTS-1 Flight gets reentry license from FAA

Credit: SpaceX

NASA just sent out a press release (10-298)  a few minutes ago congratulating SpaceX on receiving a FAA reentry licence for the Dragon spacecraft. This is the first ever commercial license granted to reenter a spacecraft from Earth orbit.

This first COTS-1 demonstration flight will carry the first operational Dragon Spacecraft and will be the second flight for the Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is now targeted for December 7th, 2010 (with 8th and 9th as back-up days) with a launch window between 8:55am and 12:05pm EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40. The mission profile calls for the dragon Spacecraft to complete three to four orbits, transmit telemetry, receive commands, maneuver, re-enter and splash down off the coast of Southern California.

Congratulations SpaceX!

Leonid Meteor Shower 2010

If you missed it last night you will get another chance tonight as the Leonid meteor shower peaks during the 17th and 18th of November, 2010. The best viewing opportunity will be during the final two to three hours before dawn on November 18th. The meteors are called Leonids because they appear to originate from the constellation Leo. The Leonid meteor is cased when the Earth passes through the debris field of the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle's tail.

Credit: MSNBC

NAKED SCIENCE: "City Under The Sea" on the National Geographic Channel

Got to see this episode of Naked Science: "City Under The Sea" tomorrow on the National Geographic Channel at 7:00pm and 10:00pm PST.


"The oceans cover 70 percent of our planet. Although science fiction writers and ordinary mortals have long dreamed of life under the sea, no human has ever lived there permanently. But with the planet becoming increasingly populated, can we afford to leave such a vast space unoccupied? What if we gave ourselves 10 years to create an undersea colony where 100 families could live? How would we do it? Where would we go? In this program we develop a step-by-step approach for setting up such an undersea colony. We meet experts who believe such a bold undertaking is possible and are already developing the technology that could make it a reality."

SpaceX targets December 7th for Falcon 9/Dragon Spacecraft COTS-1 Flight

Credit: SpaceX

The Flame Trench at FloridaToday and SpaceflightNow both report a new target date for the launch of the second flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This first COTS-1 demonstration flight will carry the first operational Dragon Spacecraft. The launch is now targeted for December 7th, 2010 (with 8th and 9th as back-up days) with a launch window between 8:55am and 12:05pm EST from Cape Canveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40. The mission profile calls for the dragon Spacecraft to complete three to four orbits, transmit telemetry, receive commands, maneuver, re-enter and splash down off the coast of Southern California.

Space News reports that while SpaceX has been granted approval for the launch portion of the mission, it is still awaiting approval for the re-entry license for the Dragon Spacecraft from the FAA. This will be the very first re-entry license granted by the FAA since Congress granted the FAA authority to license commercial re-entry vehicles in 2004.

Under its $278M Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract with NASA, SpaceX is planning three demonstration flights of it's Dragon Spacecraft. The first flight is expected to test the Dragon's avionics, flight computers, guidance, navigation and control systems, heat shield, re-entry and recovery systems. A second Dragon spaceflight is currently targeted for February 2011 and is expected to maneuver within six miles of the ISS to test out the DragonEye navigation sensor system, while a third Dragon test flight will actually berth with the station. Then SpaceX will begin to fly fully operational Falcon 9/Dragon Cargo Flights as part of a $1.6B contract for 12 resupply flights to the ISS.

Dr. Chris McKay discusses "life" on Earth and "Alien Lifeforms"

Dr. Chris McKay is a planetary Scientist with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames. He received his PhD in AstroGeophysics from the University of Colorado. His current research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origin of life.

STS-133 Launch postponed unil Nov. 30th

Credit: NASA

Launch of Discovery delayed until Novembr 30th, 4:04 EST due to a leak in the gaseous hydrogen venting system.

STS-133 and Space Shuttle Discovery: A great story worth reading

Credit: Spaceflight Now.com

A great story written by William Harwood - Mission Pre-view: One Final Flight for Discovery.