THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT

This Week @ NASA: 21 October 2011

2011-10-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

Top Stories on This Week At NASA. Three new flight directors at Mission Control in Houston. The latest on micro-gravity experiments aboard the ISS, Lifetime achievement awards for the Mars Rovers and Two Governors tour NASA facilities.

The Space Shuttle

2011-07-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Credit: NASA

This feature-length documentary (narrated by William Shatner) looks at the history of the most complex machine ever built. For 30 years, NASA's space shuttle carried humans to and from space, launched amazing observatories, and eventually constructed the next stop on the road to space exploration.

Dinner at the Starship Gallery, Space Center Houston - Part 3

2011-06-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

With Harv Hartman in front of the Apollo 17 Command Module. Harv retired as Director of HR at JSC. He joined NASA towards the end of the Gemini program and stayed on until the construction of the International Space Station. He had lots of great stories to tell.

Part 3: You would think it couldn't possibly get any better, but it did! Just to recap the day. We spent the night at The Houstonion Hotel. Had breakfast with Astronaut Terry Wilcutt. Then on the way to JSC we watched episode 5 of From the Earth to the Moon. This episode was about Tom Kelly and the team at Grumman designing and developing the Lunar Module. Our first stop was the Rocket Park where we saw a Saturn V (this one was slated to fly to the Moon as Apollo 18 before the mission was cancelled). Then we walked over to the Astronaut Memorial Grove. Then listened to an awesome lunch presentation on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. We spent the afternoon at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Quite a full day so far, but there was more to come. Jeff Jackson, Dick Richardson, Matt Gray, Terry Willcutt and Harv Hartman had more in store for us. I was in orbit already!

Next, we drove to Space Center Houston (SCH) where we had a classroom session and recapped the key learning's of the day. After that we had some free time to wonder around the SCH. Harv had pointed me to the Space Shuttle Simulator and I decided to give it a shot. On my first try I ended up doing a pretty good landing. Harv was there right next to me and was my witness. Later that evening he announced to the whole class that I had "greased" the landing. I was smiling so hard all evening my jaw was aching the following morning.

We watched a movie of the Apollo 11 moon landing in the Destiny Theater. The discussion there was about the "team" effort needed to get the first men on the Moon. Everyone had a role, played their part and everyone relied on each other. What better example of this than the "1201 alarms" going on during the descent and the back room guys giving Gene Kranz the GO for landing.

Our reception at the Destiny Theater (with wine and appetizers) was followed by an amazing presentation by a scientist who talked about the research being conducted on the ISS. The ISS has been designated a National Laboratory by Congress. It is truly amazing to think that the ISS was launched in 1998 and that we have had a continuous human presence in orbit for over ten years!

We then went on for a private dinner at the Starship Gallery. Yup!

"Faith 7" Mercury Spacecraft flown by Gordon Cooper. This was the last flight of the Mercury program. Cooper flew a total of 22 orbits (May 15-16, 1962).

Apollo 17 was the 6th and last lunar landing and was crewed by Eugene Cernen (Commander), Ronald Evans (Command Module Pilot), and Harrison Schmitt (Lunar Module Pilot).

Apollo 17 Command Module "America"

Apollo EVA Space Suits

Training model of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (AKA "the Moon buggy"). Rovers were used on Apollo 15, 16 and 17.

Moon rocks. Actually touched one.

Interior of Skylab

Among the many fascinating artifacts was this training mock up of the inside of Skylab. This was our first Space Station and was launched in 1973 and deorbited in 1979 after three long duration missions.

I could easily have spent an entire day just in the Starship Gallery

Astronaut on an EVA with the ISS in the background

Training mock up of the Lunar Module (LM)

Robonaut 2 is now aboard the ISS and was launched on STS-133

The main gallery at Space Center Houston has several historical artifacts including space suits.

Prior to the Challenger explosion astronauts wore just flight suits and helmets. After Challenger they switched to the now famous orange pressure suits.

Space Shuttle space suit

Orlan space suit used by the Russians for EVA

We had an amazing day and the best was yet to come - a visit to the historical Apollo Mission Control center and the ISS Mission Control center. That's for Part 4.

The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory - Part 2

2011-06-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

At the NBL with Astronaut Col. Terrence Wilcutt

After lunch we drove to NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) also known as the Sonny Carter Training Facility. This is where the astronauts train for Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA's) - better known as "Space Walks". The NBL training facility is located near Ellington Field (that's where all those cool T-38 aircraft are hangared) and is named in honor of the late astronaut M. L. "Sonny" Carter, who was instrumental in developing many of the current space-walking techniques used by the astronauts. Could not have picked a better place to have a discussion on training and methods and techniques used to build a world class "team".

Entrance to the NBL, the Sonny Carter Training Facility

The NBL is quite impressive. It's 202 feet in length, 102 feet in width and 40 feet in depth and contains 6.2 million gallons of water that is filtered and cleaned every 24 hours. Angie Prince who is the Branch Chief of EVA training gave us a very thorough overview of the NBL and the training that her team and the crews go through. For every hour of actual EVA the astronauts go through seven hours of simulated training in the NBL. Every time they have astronauts in the water she has a full team of physicians, safety divers, camera crew/divers and "mission control" going through all of the details and choreographing every aspect of the EVA. She said that after each training session they debrief in great detail. Every astronaut is "graded" after each training session. She said that the simulations are so "real" that many astronauts have thanked her and her team while on an actual EVA because the training was so close to the real thing. The selection of the training crews and the training they go through for these simulations was at a level I have not encountered before. They set the bar pretty high and then put together a training program to pull everyone involved to that high level. It was absolutely impressive!

I asked if I could suit up - they thought I was kidding

It was truly an amazing place. While we were there two ISS astronauts were undergoing EVA training in the far side of the pool where the ISS mock ups were located. Several times I offered to help and each time I got a huge smile from Terry and Harv. Oh, they new I was quite serious. Terry told me that sometimes they come over and wear their SCUBA gear and swim around the mock ups of the Space Shuttle and the ISS. How cool is that?

The ISS mock ups are at the far end

Mock up of the Shuttle cargo bay and the robotic arm

They hoisted up two astronauts that were training for an EVA

Angie is the Chief of the EVA Training Branch

We then ended up in "mission control" at the NBL to continue our discussion on the importance of training and how leaders react during a crisis. Several important points to take away. At the NBL the astronauts train until they have gone over each step until its second nature. They sort of build up "muscle memory". Then they train through emergencies and "off nominal scenarios" (to use a NASA term). That is they train through all of those situations that can happen. This is done because there will always be the possibility that they will encounter a situation that they have not trained for. In those situations, their training kicks in to cover most of the situation while their brain now starts to "solve the problem" that is presented. This is hard to describe in a short blog nor go over in detail the entire discussion that we had. Perhaps the best example of this is what Dick and Jeff presented. When US Air flight 1549 sucked up birds and both engines died, Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger's training kicked in. If you listen to the cockpit voice recordings of his conversations with "ground" and with his "co-pilot" you can clearly note where his training had kicked in and what he was trying to "problem solve". The co-pilot made the takeoff and was "pilot in command" at the time of the bird strike (this is not unusual as the captain and the pilot take turns flying so as to give flight experience to the co-pilots) but when both engines shut down Sully said "my plane" and took charge of the situation. Now if you go on to listen to the cockpit audio you can hear him try to solve the issue of where he could put down the plane and he was going through the options of each of the near by airports and available runways including setting the plane down on the Hudson River. At no time do you hear him talk about controlling or flying the plane. That is because he had practiced "engine out" situations enough times in the simulator that his training had kicked in. He knew what to do and how to keep the plane in the air. He was not actively focusing on flying the plane but was actually focusing on going through ALL the available options to find a safe place to to set the plane down. Oh, I could go on an on about this... but it was one of those discussions that makes you really think. A lot of important tid bits to take away and makes you think how you would apply training to your engineers and organization so that they would react appropriately in time of crisis and help "solve the problem".

Next Part 3: Dinner at the "Starship Gallery" at the Houston Space Center. There is an actual Goddard rocket, Gordon Cooper's "Faith 7" Mercury capsule, Gordon Cooper's and Pete Conrad's Gemini V spacecraft, the Apollo 17 Command Module "America"... and many more...

This Week @ NASA June 17, 2011

2011-06-18T10:41:00.001-07:00

In Their Own Words: Astronaut Mike Barratt

2011-06-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

On beng selected as an astronaut to flying the Soyuz and living aboard the ISS for six months...

Apollo Leadership Experience - Part 1

2011-06-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

Next to the Saturn V. This one was slated for Apollo 18 before that mission was cancelled

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) and at the adjoining Space Center Houston (SCH) at a workshop titled The Apollo Leadership Experience. The program was hosted by The Conference Board, a non-profit organization providing in-depth research and best practices concerning management, leadership, and corporate citizenship. The company I work for is a member of The Conference Board. The Apollo Leadership Experience is one of their newest programs drawing on the leadership lessons of the manned space flight effort over the 10-year period of The Apollo Program. When this program was announced, at least six people at my company forwarded it to me knowing my interest in NASA and human spaceflight. I have participated in enough leadership and training programs to last a lifetime but this one was hard to turn down. It was about innovation (Saturn V, the Lunar Lander, the Lunar Rover), managing in a large organization and creating a culture of excellence (NASA), managing through a significant set back (Apollo 1), leadership and managing through a crisis (Apollo 13) and setting lofty goals and achieving them (Apollo 11). For those of you who know me... anyone would think that this two day program was created just for me and where I am in my professional career.

The folks at The Conference Board, especially Jeff Jackson and Dick Richardson really pulled together an amazing experience for all of us. From the NASA JSC side we had the undivided attention of four time Shuttle Astronaut Col. Terrence Wilcutt. Terry flew as pilot of STS-68 and STS-79 and as Commander of STS-89 and STS-106. He flew twice to MIR and once to the International Space Station (ISS). By the way, the folks at NASA refer to the ISS as "station". Also with us was Harv Hartman who served with NASA for 33 years and recently retired as Director of HR for JSC. He joined NASA during the Gemini program and stayed on until ISS. Can you imagine the stories he related. If I did not have a family and a job I would still be in Houston listening to him talk about NASA. Mathew Gray filled us with a ton of details on the ISS and just about any topic we presented him with. He is a Manager in the ISS Safety and Mission Assurance Branch. These people really care about NASA and human spaceflight. Amazing, amazing people and truly inspiring!

Our first topic was around innovation and the setting was the Rocket Park at JSC. We had a great discussion comparing "incremental" innovation versus "disruptive" innovation. Werner Von Bruan and team developed their rockets incrementally building bigger engines and bigger rockets going from the Redstone booster to the mighty Saturn V. We compared this type of innovation to what Tom Kelly and the Grumman Team did to develop the Lunar Lander. The design of the Lunar Lander broke all the traditional rules of aircraft design. For a good overview of the design process watch Episode 5 of From the Earth to the Moon. You will see how these managers and engineers really had to think "outside the box". Eventually, the Lunar Lander had very small windows, no seats - the crew flew it standing up, a two stage design where the lower part of the spacecraft remained on the Moon and was used as a launch pad for the ascent stage. This discussion really made me think about my own R&D team because we need to incrementally improve our current product platforms but equally we need some break through thinking to come up with the next "disruptive technology".

Dick and Harv also presented some great insight on some of the key players during the Apollo era. They talked about the leadership styles of James Webb, Werner Von Braun, Tom Kelly, George Low, and Harrison Storms. Wow! What great leaders they were. I wish we could go back in a time machine and see these great folks in action.

Several folks wanted to go visit the Astronaut Memorial Grove. First a little bit of history. The idea for the Astronaut Memorial Grove was spearheaded in 1996 by George Abbey, JSC director at the time, and then became a reality when seven live oak trees were planted in memory of the STS-51L crewmembers who perished 10 years earlier during the Space Shuttle Challenger accident. From that moment on, tree dedication ceremonies have been held in honor of every astronaut who has since departed this life.

We have lost a total of 17 astronauts (Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia) and I am sure all of you have read the harsh criticisms that NASA was complacent, or they did not care or was negligent. Let me tell you, the managers and engineers at NASA really care, and they put the the lives of their astronauts as the most important aspect of the mission. Everywhere you go you see the three mission patches of the missions where the crews were lost. From the Rocket Park, to the NLB to the JSC buildings.. they are NOT forgotten. There is a tradition in Mission Control where the mission patch of the "current" mission is placed by the door. After the mission is complete the most valuable contributor to the mission from mission control is selected to to place a ladder on the wall and the mission patch is "permanently" attached to the wall of Mission Control. This tradition dates back as far as anyone can remember. When we were looking in at the ISS Mission Control Center you can see all of the mission patches up on the wall, but the three mission patches where the crews did not return are still by the door. These people really care about the crews! It means everything to them.

We then stopped by at one of the JSC buildings for lunch. It was 100F outside but it felt like the sun had gone super nova. Yup, this is a really dedicated bunch of folks living in Houston. Meanwhile, it was 74F and blue skies in Southern California.

Jeff, Dick, Terry, Harv and Matt had a real treat for us at lunch time. Trnt Martin, "the project manager" for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) gave us a presentation on the program and status to date. Don't ask me what I had for lunch because I don't remember one bit. Martin's talk had me totally consumed. I had blogged previously about the AMS but his inside scoop of this incredible instrument and pictures of it being installed on the ISS totally rocked! (Hmm, secretly I was imagining myself on a spacewalk installing it on the ISS). Here is my advice to all my readers. Go find all of your physics text books and get ready to throw them in the trash can (no, you cant donate them) because they are soon going to be obsolete. Our view of the universe is going to change very soon. With almost a billion particles going through the detector our views of antimatter and dark matter will change very quickly and our knowledge of the natural world will soon change. This is what these folks at NASA are doing. Our understanding of the Universe is going to change very soon. This is really exciting!

Next: the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (Part 2).

International Space Station and Space Shuttle Endeavour

2011-06-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

Credit: NASA

These images of the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour, flying at an altitude of approximately 220 miles, were taken by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking on May 23, 2011 (USA time). These pictures are the first taken of a shuttle docked to the International Space Station from the perspective of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Onboard the Soyuz were Russian cosmonaut and Expedition 27 commander Dmitry Kondratyev; Nespoli, a European Space Agency astronaut; and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman. Coleman and Nespoli were both flight engineers. The three landed in Kazakhstan later that day, completing 159 days in space. Additional photographs ca be found here.

Credit: NASA

Cockpit View of TYCHO BRAHE Flight

2011-06-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

Copenhagen Suborbitals launches test rocket!

2011-06-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Rocketeers Peter Madsen and Kristian von Bengsten. Credit: Copenhagen Suborbitals

Just a small step for all mankind if you compare with NASA or SpaceX, but what a huge leap for all of us aspiring astronauts. Two guys with a vision and a strong desire for personal spaceflight and some 20+ volunteers and some $60,000 built and launched a rocket today. So it went only to a height of 2.8km and some 8+ km down range, the parachutes got tangled up... but they did it. They launched a rocket! This is so exciting.

There are so many private entrepreneurs building rockets these days ranging from Elon Musk's SpaceX, to Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic to Jeff Greason's XCOR Aerospace, and Jeff Bezo's Blue Origin to name a few... all of this has only renewed my faith that someday soon I will have my turn to live out my childhood dream of being an astronaut and flying in space. Today was a great day for all of us who dream of someday seeing the Earth from the outside. Congratulations Copenhagen Suborbitals!

Liftoff of HEAT 1X and TYCHO BRAHE. Credit: Copenhagen Suborbitals

Credit: Copenhagen Suborbitals

Launch video in Danish...

Copenhagen Suborbitals to launch a test rocket on Friday

2011-06-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

Credit: Copenhagen Suborbitals

Copenhagen Suborbitals announced today that they have completed all testing and are GO for launch tomorrow of the HEAT 1X rocket and the TYCHO BRAHE spacecraft. Designed and built by two Danish rocketeers Kristian von Bengston and Peter Madsen, the unmanned launch is scheduled at about 3:00pm Danish time. Additional information about the launch including live video can be found here and here. Additional updates from the launch team is also being posted on their Facebook page. Latest reports from the group states that the rocket and the launch platform (Sputnik) has been towed to the launch area located in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark. So far it seems that sea and weather conditions are optimal for the launch.

Overview of the TYCHO BRAHE Spacecraft: Credit: Copenhagen Suborbitals

Credit: Copenhagen Suborbitals

If all goes well tomorrow, the plan is for Peter Madsen to be on the first manned flight sometime in the near future. The eventual goal is to launch paying tourists on this single seat spacecraft on suborbital flights to altitudes of 100 kilometers (62.5 miles). The spacecraft including the astronaut is 3.5 meters long, with a 64cm diameter and a weight of about 300kg. Other data on the spacecraft specifies a 15 mm cork as a heat shield and a "personal parachute for panic egress". From the sketch above it appears that the astronaut will be standing/sitting upright in the small capsule with a clear view through the Plexiglas's dome of the entire ballistic ride. It looks like it will be one wild ride!

PS. I am hoping my wife reads this blog post. IF she does, the yellow lab puppy and the Ducati can be recategorized as a "sure shots".

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams - Space Race II

2011-06-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

STS-134

2011-05-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

Endeavour's final flight is currently underway with touch down at KSC planned for 1 June 2011 at 2:32am EDT. After decommissioning Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. So expect some detailed photographs of this amazing spaceship sometime in the future.

Alan Shepard: The First American in Space

2011-05-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard piloted the Freedom 7 mission and became the second person, and the first American, to travel into space. He was launched on a Redstone rocket, and unlike Gagarin's 108-minute orbital flight, Shepard stayed on a ballistic trajectory - a 15-minute suborbital flight which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles (187 km) and to a splashdown point 302 statute miles (486 km) down the Atlantic Missile Range. Unlike Gagarin, whose flight was strictly automatic, Shepard had some control of Freedom 7. He made his second space flight as commander of Apollo 14 from January 31-February 9, 1971, America's third successful lunar landing mission. Shepard piloted the Lunar Module Antares to the most accurate landing of the entire Apollo program.

Following Apollo 14, Shepard returned to his position as Chief of the Astronaut Office in June. He was promoted to rear admiral before retiring both from the Navy and NASA on August 1, 1974. He died of leukemia near his home in Pebble Beach, California on July 21, 1998. Alan Shepard was a true American Hero.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (STS-134)

2011-04-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is on board the Shuttle Endeavour awaiting liftoff and assembly on the International Space Station.

Space Shuttle Endeavour's Final Flight

2011-04-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Credit: NASA video

After nearly two decades of achievements in space, Endeavour makes one last reach for the stars on its final mission, STS-134. This web cast examines the mission to come and explores the storied flying career for the youngest of NASA's shuttle orbiters.

Space Shuttle Endeavour (Orbiter Vehicle Designation OV-105) is the fifth and final shuttle and was constructed as a replacement for Challenger. Structural spares from the construction of Discovery and Atlantis, two of the three remaining operating shuttles in use at that time, were used in its assembly. The decision to build Endeavour was favored over refitting Enterprise on cost grounds. The orbiter is named after the British HMS Endeavour, the ship which took Captain James Cook on his first voyage of discovery (1776-1771). Endeavour first flew in 1992 on STS-49 and during that mission it captured and deployed the stranded INTELISAT IV communications satellite. In 1993, it made the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Among other notable achievements: in 1998, on STS-89 Endeavour rendezvoused with the MIR space station for an astronaut exchange. That same year on STS-88 Endeavour flew the first assembly mission (Unity Module-Node 1) of the International Space Station. This flight will mark the 25th and final flight of Endeavour. Upon decommissioning Endeavour will be displayed at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. This means detailed photographs to follow sometime in the future.

NASA CCDev 2 Briefing 28 April 2011

2011-04-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today there was a briefing at the Kennedy Space Center detailing NASA's recent awards of more than $269 million for the continued development of a commercial transportation systems to carry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit. Four U.S. companies received the awards in the second round of NASA's Commercial Crew Development, or CCDev 2, effort. It is expected that commercial crew transport will free NASA to concentrate on developing and building new technologies for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. This is a step in the right direction for human spaceflight. This is what we all want. We want NASA to refocus on going back to the Moon, to Near Earth Asteroids and eventually to Mars.

SpaceX CCDev 2 video shows Dragon Landing on Mars

2011-04-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

No one ever said that Elon Musk doesn't dream big. GO SpaceX!

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Dennis Tito's Flight and the Birth of Space Tourism

2011-04-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

Dennis Tito

Dennis Tito launched into space and into history aboard Soyuz TM-32 on April 28, 2001, and spent 7 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes in space orbiting the Earth 128 times. He returned on Soyuz TM-31. Tito became the first to fund his own trip to space and paid a reported $20 million for his trip. The spaceflight was brokered by the space tourism company Space Adventures Ltd.

Dennis Tito has a BS in Astronautics from New York University and a MS in Engineering Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a former scientist of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 1972, he founded Wilshire Associates, a leading provider of investment management, consulting and technology services in Santa Monica, California. Wilshire relies on the field of quantitative analytics, which uses mathematical tools to analyze market risks - a methodology Tito is credited with helping to develop by applying the same techniques he used to determine a spacecrafts path at JPL.

Dennis Tito's Mission Patch

A report from Miles O'Brien.

Mission Management: Endeavour ready to fly on Friday

2011-04-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

With two days to go to launch, the six-member crew of STS-134 continued its last-minute preparations for its scheduled flight to the International Space Station on Friday. That assessment came following a meeting of the shuttle's Mission Management Team.

STS-134: "Go" for Launch on Friday April 29 at 15:47 EDT

2011-04-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

STS-134 Mission Patch

STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6) will be the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour with a scheduled liftoff at 15:47 EDT for a 14 day mission to the International Space Station (the launch window is 10 minutes long and opens at 15:42 EDT and closes at 15:52 EDT) . Touchdown is scheduled for 13 May 2011 at 9:28 EDT. This flight will be delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistic Carrier. This mission will be the 165th NASA manned spaceflight, the 134th shuttle mission and the 25th and final flight for Endeavour.

STS-134 will be crewed by : Mark Kelly (Commander), Gregory Johnson (Pilot), Michael Fincke (MS1), Roberto Vittori (MS2), Andrew Feustel (MS3) and Gregory Chamitoff (MS4). All veterans of previous spaceflights.

STS-134 Mission Poster

Endeavour and her crew will be delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2 which is a particle physics detector that is designed to search for antimatter and the origin and structure of dark matter. The ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 3 will carry several Orbital Replacement Units which include a High Pressure Gas Tank, an Ammonia tank Assembly, a S band Antenna Subsystem Assembly, a Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator Arm and a spare pallet controller avionics box. Endeavour will also carry the Sensor Test of Orion Rel-nav Risk Mitigation Detailed Test Objective (STORRMDO) kit.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

Four spacewalks (EVAs) are scheduled for this flight and are currently scheduled to be the final EVAs conducted by a shuttle crew. EVA1 will be on flight day 5, EVA2 will be on flight day 7, EVA3 on flight day 9 and the final EVA will be on flight day 11.

President Obama and the first family are expected to attend Thursday's launch. This will be the first time since 1998 a sitting president has visited the Kennedy Space Center to view a manned space launch. Another special guest will be Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., the wife of Endeavour commander Mark Kelly. Giffords was shot in the head in an assassination attempt Jan. 10 at a meeting with constituents in Tucson. The latest reports indicate that Giffords has made steady progress since the assassination attempt, and that she has secured the approval of her medical team to travel to the launch.

The best place to watch the launch on-line is at Spaceflight.com. The link to the Mission Status Center can be found here where Miles O'Brien, David Walters and former astronaut Leroy Chiao will be providing a live web cast starting at 11:00 EDT. Launch coverage is also available on NASA TV web cast and the link can be found here.

Good luck and GOD bless the crew of Endeavour. Will see you back home on the good Earth on the 13th of May.

Yuri's Night Recap: Met Astronaut Buzz Aldrin

2011-04-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

Mai, Laksen and Buzz Aldrin

We had never attended a Yuri's Night party before, but since this was the 50th anniversary celebrations of Yuri Gagarin's flight we just absolutely had to attend. Especially when the party here in Los Angeles was being hosted by none other than Yuri's Night co-founders Loretta Hidalgo-Whitesides and George Whitesides. The event was held at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles with a party to follow at the Wood and Vine Bar in Hollywood. We barely made the 7:30pm start so we were not able to get in to the main auditorium as it was full. Instead we watched the video feed of the various talks from the Depths of Space Gallery. That in it self was pretty spectacular. The first talk was by Griffith Observatory's Astronomical Observer, Anthony Cook, who gave a detailed account of Yuri Gagarin's life and his historic 108 minute orbit around the planet. Next with video and audio feeds from all over the world, everyone stood up and sang happy birthday to Loretta. Pretty cool! She is an amazing person having degrees from both Cal Tech and Standford. She is a Flight Director at ZERO Gravity Corporation and a team member of Richard Branson's new venture Virgin Oceanic. Next her husband George Whitesides, who by the way is the CEO of Virgin Galactic gave a very interesting talk on how space travel might change in the coming 50 years. He showed some great pictures and video of the test flights of Spaceship 2.

We then drove down to Hollywood to the Wood and Vine Bar. I did not realize that on the corner of Wood and Vine there is a Hollywood star dedicated to the Apollo 11 astronauts. Inside we met a bunch of really fascinating people. Rick Tumlinson was there, Robin from the Mojave Air and Spaceport and I even had a chance to talk with a couple of engineers from SpaceX. But the highlight of the evening was when we met Buzz Aldrin. I was thrilled beyond belief to meet him and talk to him. Buzz is a pretty special guy. He is a West Point graduate who went on to get a PhD from MIT. As a USAF fighter pilot (F-86 and F100) Buzz flew 66 combat missions and he shot down two MIG 15's during the Korean War. Buzz was selected by NASA in 1963 as part of the third group of astronauts. His first mission was with Jim Lovell aboard Gemini 12 which was a 4 day mission with a 5.5hr EVA. But what we all remember about him is his Apollo 11 mission where he served as Lunar Module Pilot on the first lunar landing on July 20th 1969. I have not been able to stop talking about him. After all, how many people do you meet that have walked on the Moon.

It was getting pretty late so we had to get back to Irvine. There was a long line of people waiting to talk to Loretta but standing there all by himself was George Whitesides. I am wearing my jacket with the two Mars Desert Research Station patches and he looks at me and wants to know what the mission patches are about. How cool is that? For a guy who is CEO of company that is building a spaceship... I must say that he is one of the most down to Earth people I have ever met. Just before I left I told him that I definitely will be doing a sub-orbital flight on Spaceship 2. My wife was nodding her approval which was a very good sign. The Sky is definitely NOT the limit!

PS.

Yuri's Night was celebrated in 75 countries and 566 registered events took place. Some were pretty far away. There was a party held at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan and even in McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Even the ISS astronauts participated in the celebrations (see below).

Credit: NASA - astronauts wearing their Yuri's Night T-shirts

Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed

2011-04-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009. What went through his mind as the doomed plane went down? At TED, he tells his story publicly for the first time. Ric Elias is the CEO of Red Ventures, a marketing services company that grew out of Elias' long experience in business

Tour of the International Space Station by NASA Astronaut Cady Coleman

2011-04-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

If you are really busy this weekend or you don't have $56 million to go visit the International Space Station this is probably the next best thing. This video from ReelNASA shows Expedition 27 Flight Engineer Cady Coleman flying through the International Space Station with a high-definition video camera.

SpaceX Update: "First Astronaut Mission in Three Years"

2011-04-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

Credit: SpaceX

Another huge win for SpaceX as NASA awards them $75M as part of the Commercial Crew Development initiative. This email update from SpaceX was sent out yesterday.

WASHINGTON D.C. - NASA has awarded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) $75 million to develop a revolutionary launch escape system that will enable the company’s Dragon spacecraft to carry astronauts. The Congressionally mandated award is part of the agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) initiative that started in 2009 to help private companies mature concepts and technologies for human spaceflight. "This award will accelerate our efforts to develop the next-generation rockets and spacecraft for human transportation," said Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer. "With NASA’s support, SpaceX will be ready to fly its first manned mission in 2014." Musk said the flight-proven Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft represent the safest and fastest path to American crew transportation capability. With their historic successful flight on December 8th, 2010, many Falcon 9 and Dragon components that are needed to transport humans to low-Earth orbit have already been demonstrated in flight. Both vehicles were designed from the outset to fly people.

The announcement comes at a time when the United States has a critical need for American commercial human spaceflight. After the Space Shuttle retires in a few months, NASA will be totally dependent on the Russian Soyuz to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) at a cost of more than $753 million a year -- about $63 million per seat. Musk said Dragon – designed to carry seven astronauts at a time to the space station at a cost of $20 million a seat – offers a far better deal for the U.S. taxpayer. While considerable flight testing remains, the critical-path technology Dragon needs for carrying humans to orbit is the launch escape system.

New Launch Abort System: SpaceX's integrated escape system will be superior to traditional solid rocket tractor escape towers used by other vehicles in the past. Due to their extreme weight, tractor systems must be jettisoned within minutes of liftoff, but the SpaceX innovative design builds the escape engines into the side walls of Dragon, eliminating the danger of releasing a heavy solid rocket escape tower after launch. The SpaceX design also provides crew with emergency escape capability throughout the entire flight, whereas the Space Shuttle has no escape system and even the Apollo moon program allowed escape only during the first few minutes of flight. The result is that astronauts flying on Dragon will be considerably safer. Furthermore, the integrated escape system returns with the spacecraft, allowing for easy reuse and radical reductions in the cost of space transport. Over time, the same escape thrusters will also provide the capability for Dragon to land almost anywhere on Earth or another planet with pinpoint accuracy, overcoming the limitation of a winged architecture that works only in Earth's atmosphere.

Under the award, SpaceX will modify Dragon to accommodate crew, with specific hardware milestones that will provide NASA with regular, demonstrated progress including:

Static fire testing of the launch escape system engines
Initial design of abort engine and crew accommodations
Prototype evaluations by NASA crew for seats, control panels and cabin

The December 8th, 2010, demonstration flight of Falcon 9 and Dragon was the first flight under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, which was initiated to develop commercial cargo services to the International Space Station. After the Space Shuttle retires, SpaceX will fly at least 12 missions to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract for NASA.

Atlas-5 Launch Tonight from Vandenberg Airforce Base, California

2011-04-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

If you in the Los Angeles area, tonight might be a good chance to see an Atlas-5 rocket launch. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:25pm PST from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The weather is supposed to be a little iffy due to high winds with a 30% chance of liftoff tonight. The mission is designated NROL-34 - a "classified" launch for the National Reconnaissance Office. Check in at at Spaceflightnow.com for additional mission details.

National Space Society Awards Pioneer Award to SpaceX

2011-04-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

Credit: SpaceX

NSS PR – In recognition of SpaceX’s groundbreaking year in 2010, with the successful launch of two Falcon 9 rockets, and the safe return of its Dragon capsule, the National Space Society (NSS) is today announcing that Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) will be the recipient of the NSS’s 2011 Pioneer Award for Business Entrepreneur. This award will be presented at the NSS’s annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC), which will be held from May 18-May 22, 2011 in Huntsville, Alabama. Adam Harris, SpaceX’s Vice President for Government Affairs, will accept the award on behalf of SpaceX.

Movie: "First Orbit": The First 108min of Manned Spaceflight

2011-04-12T01:59:00.000-07:00

This video created by http://www.firstorbit.org/ is a real time recreation of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering first orbit, shot entirely in space from on board the International Space Station. By matching the orbital path of the Space Station, as closely as possible, to that of Gagarin's Vostok 1 spaceship and filming the same vistas of the Earth through the new giant cupola window, astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and documentary film maker Christopher Riley, have captured a new digital high definition view of the Earth below, half a century after Gagarin first witnessed it. The film combines this new footage with Gagarin's original mission audio and a new musical score by composer Philip Sheppard.

SOURCE: http://www.firstflight.org/

50 Years Ago Today: Yuri Gagarin Became The First Man In Space

2011-04-12T01:53:00.000-07:00

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet cosmonaut who on 12 April 1961 became the first human to journey into outer space, launching to orbit aboard the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1). His call sign for the flight was "Cedar" - meaning Siberian Pine. Ground Control referred to themselves as "Dawn".

Gagarin was born on the 9th March 1934 in the village of Klushino near Gzhatsk (now known as Smolensk Oblast, Russia). In his late teens he became interested in flight and joined a local flying club near Saratov. He started military flight training at the age of 21 and had his pilot's wings the year Sputnik was launched, rising to the rank of Senior Lieutenant in the Soviet Air Force by 1959. The next year he was selected for the Soviet Space Program and trained hard for the next 12 months before he was selected as the principal cosmonaut for the first manned flight into space.

The flight of Vostok 1 began at 06:07 Universal Time (UT), boosted into orbit by a Vostok-K series rocket. Ground controllers didn't know if Gagarin had achieved a stable orbit until 25 minutes after launch, just as he was heading into the night side of the Earth and down across the Pacific Ocean. Unsure of the effect of space flight on a human being, the spacecraft's controls were run by an automatic system, with Gagarin only permitted to take control in an emergency. Hurtling into dawn just south of Argentina and on through morning light across the vast South Atlantic Ocean, the spacecraft's automatic system aligned the capsule and fired the retro rockets just as he crossed the west coast of Angola to start the descent, still 8000km from home.

Problems with the separation of an equipment module at this point in the flight meant that Gagarin experienced an uncomfortable 10 minutes as the two modules gyrated wildly before they broke free of each other and Gagarin's re-entry capsule settled into a proper orientation. Crossing over the deep dark forests and mountains of central Africa and on over the distinct red North African deserts Gagarin would have glimpsed the dark winding Nile River carved through Southern Egypt as his descent back into the atmosphere continued. On across the Black Sea streaked the capsule and Gagarin prepared to eject, since the capsule's parachute landing system was deemed too rough for a cosmonaut to risk. Over the Russian province of Saratov, not far from Engels, Gagarin jettisoned his Vostok capsule, still seven kilometers above the ground. He made his final descent on his own parachute and was back on Earth 108 minutes after launch.

SOURCE: http://www.firstorbit.org/

A Tribute to Yuri Gagarin: The First Man in Space

2011-04-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

SOURCE: Space.com

50 Years of Spaceflight

2011-04-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Yuri's Night Celebration on 12 April 2011 - Los Angeles Area

2011-04-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

"Human Spaceflight became a reality 50 years ago with the launch of a bell-shaped capsule called “Vostok 1” on April 12th, 1961. The capsule was carrying Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who took his place in history as the first human to leave the bounds of Earth and enter outer space"

This Tuesday there will be a huge bash to celebrate this historic moment hosted by none other than founders of Yuri's Night Loretta Hidalgo-Whitesides and George Whitesides. There is expected to be over 300 Yuri's Night parties in some 69 countries globally (the full list can be found here) but the official blast is a two part event here in Los Angeles. First there is a special event at Griffith Path where Griffith Observatory's Astronomical Observer, Anthony Cook will describe Yuri Gagarin's 108 minute orbital flight and then Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides will describe how space travel might change in the next 50 years. Directions and other information can be found here.

Then there will be a follow up event at the Wood and Vine Bar in Hollywood. I managed to twist Mai's arm to go to this and I am hoping she wont back out. Will post pictures later in the week.

Infographic on Cosmonaut Selection Criteria

2011-04-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

Not a whole heck of a lot of detail, but this was posted on http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20110402/163288274.html.

SpaceX: Falcon Heavy Press Conference

2011-04-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it this morning, the BIG announcement from SpaceX was about the Falcon Heavy. The following email was sent out earlier today.

SPACEX PR — Today, Elon Musk, CEO and chief rocket designer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) unveiled the dramatic final specifications and launch date for the Falcon Heavy, the world’s largest rocket.

“Falcon Heavy will carry more payload to orbit or escape velocity than any vehicle in history, apart from the Saturn V moon rocket, which was decommissioned after the Apollo program. This opens a new world of capability for both government and commercial space missions,” Musk told a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

“Falcon Heavy will arrive at our Vandenberg, California, launch complex by the end of next year, with liftoff to follow soon thereafter. First launch from our Cape Canaveral launch complex is planned for late 2013 or 2014.”

Musk added that with the ability to carry satellites or interplanetary spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons or 117,000 pounds to orbit, Falcon Heavy will have more than twice the performance of the Space Shuttle or Delta IV Heavy, the next most powerful vehicle, which is operated by United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture. 53 metric tons is more than the maximum take-off weight of a fully-loaded Boeing 737-200 with 136 passengers. In other words, Falcon Heavy can deliver the equivalent of an entire commercial airplane full of passengers, crew, luggage and fuel all the way to orbit. Falcon Heavy’s first stage will be made up of three nine-engine cores, which are used as the first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. It will be powered by SpaceX’s upgraded Merlin engines currently being tested at the SpaceX rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Falcon Heavy will generate 3.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. This is the equivalent to the thrust of fifteen Boeing 747s taking off at the same time.

Above all, Falcon Heavy has been designed for extreme reliability. Unique safety features of the Falcon 9 are preserved, such as the ability to complete its mission even if multiple engines fail. Like a commercial airliner, each engine is surrounded by a protective shell that contains a worst case situation like fire or a chamber rupture, preventing it from affecting other engines or the vehicle itself. Anticipating potential astronaut transport needs, Falcon Heavy is also designed to meet NASA human rating standards, unlike other satellite launch vehicles. For example, this means designing to higher structural safety margins of 40% above flight loads, rather than the 25% level of other rockets, and triple redundant avionics.

Falcon Heavy will be the first rocket in history to do propellant cross-feed from the side boosters to the center core, thus leaving the center core with most of its propellant after the side boosters separate. The net effect is that Falcon Heavy achieves performance comparable to a three stage rocket, even though only the upper stage is airlit, further improving both payload performance and reliability. Crossfeed is not required for missions below 100,000 lbs, and can be turned off if desired. Despite being designed to higher structural margins than other rockets, the side booster stages will have a mass ratio (full of propellant vs empty) above 30, better than any vehicle of any kind in history. Falcon Heavy, with more than twice the payload, but less than one third the cost of a Delta IV Heavy, will provide much needed relief to government and commercial budgets. In fact, Falcon Heavy at approximately $1,000 per pound to orbit, sets a new world record in affordable spaceflight.

This year, even as the Department of Defense budget was cut, the EELV launch program, which includes the Delta IV, still saw a thirty percent increase. The 2012 budget for four Air Force launches is $1.74B, which is an average of $435M per launch. Falcon 9 is offered on the commercial market for $50-60M and Falcon Heavy is offered for $80-$125M. Unlike our competitors, this price includes all non-recurring development costs and on-orbit delivery of an agreed upon mission. For government missions, NASA has added mission assurance and additional services to the Falcon 9 for less than $20M.

Vehicle Overview:

Mass to Orbit (200 km, 28.5 deg): 53 metric tons (117,000 lbs)

Length: 69.2 meters (227 ft)

Max Stage Width: 5.2 m (17 ft)

Total Width: 11.6 meters (38 ft)

Weight at Liftoff: 1,400 metric tons or 3.1 million lbs

Thrust on Liftoff: 1,700 metric tons or 3.8 million lbs

Please note that Falcon Heavy should not be confused with the super heavy lift rocket program being debated by the U.S. Congress. That vehicle is authorized to carry between 70-130 metric tons to orbit. SpaceX agrees with the need to develop a vehicle of that class as the best way to conduct a large number of human missions to Mars.

SpaceX Webcast Tomorrow

2011-04-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

Another Space X post on Facebook from a few minutes ago.

"Check out Elon tomorrow, Tuesday, April 5th at 11:20am EST at a press conference to discuss SpaceX's newest venture. You can watch live at http://www.visualwebcaster.com/spacex --this link will also be accessible from the SpaceX homepage. Can't watch live? No worries, it will be archived at:
http://www.visualwebcaster.com/spacex for future viewing :)" From SpaceX.

I have been crazy busy at work the last couple of months. I wish I can post on what I do for a living because the work my team and I are doing is changing the world of medicine and how cardiology is practiced. But because of my position in the company I cannot post what I am doing or where I am traveling. I wish I could, because I am so incredibly blessed and our work is saving thousands of lives and our work is considered the next biggest revolution in interventional cardiology and the biggest discovery since heart transplant.

I follow SpaceX because they are doing something very similar to us but in a different field. OK, because I secretly dream of flying the Dragon.

A Big SpaceX Announcement Tomorrow - Tuesday April 5th

2011-04-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

A lot of speculation. Some think it is about a Falcon Heavy. Let's wait and see. It's only 24 hours away.

My Christmas Wish

2010-12-24T23:58:00.000-08:00

Tis the night before Christmas and the whole house is silent. Everyone is finally in bed all tucked in and fast asleep. There is a plate of chocolate chip cookies and milk for Santa Clause and carrots for the reindeer right next to the fireplace. The house is beautifully decorated and the Christmas tree looks exceptionally nice this year (very symmetrical which is important for the physicist in me, not even magnetic monopoles can ruin this evening). I am here downstairs feeling extremely grateful for the life I have. My two little "blessings" - Kaitlyn and Taylor are fast asleep. They look like two angels. They had a busy day today. We went to see Disney on Ice, had family over for dinner and the anticipation of opening Christmas presents tomorrow morning was too much and it was the easiest night to tuck them in and put them to sleep.

I have had an amazing and a very blessed year. I am married to a woman who supports me in everything I do (yes, I went to MARS twice this year), the kids are healthy and cute and doing well in school. We have a beautiful home. Work is intense but fun and very rewarding. I work for a company that is a market leader. We are the best in our field. Because of my position in the company I have a policy that I will not blog about my work. This much I can share: I am part of a team that is changing the way medicine is practiced. We are passionate about what we do, we work very hard and one can say that we are quite daring in our thinking and how we go about reducing our thoughts to practice. This year we changed the "standard of care" for patients with aortic stenosis who are not suitable candidates for surgery. This year our youngest patient treated was 11 years and our oldest was 102. It's hard to believe that Justin R our youngest "compassionate use patient" who was also the first patient to receive a pulmonic valve in the US is now 5 years out. He had a short time to live before we stepped in and moved heaven and earth to get him a percutaneous valve. I have a wonderful family, get to go to work and change the world, fly planes, SCUBA dive and go on simulated Mars missions to the Mars Desert Research Station. Not a bad life at all!

All of you who know me, knows how passionate I am about human spaceflight. So as I go to sleep on this Christmas Eve, I am going to dream a little dream. I am going to dream about this. Because while my wife dreams of the girls someday spending a semester at the Sorbonne in Paris.. hee, hee. I have a different dream for the girls. I want them to spend a semester studying while in orbit around Io or Europa. I want them to see and go places that is beyond my imagination. So, tonight I am going to dream about flying the Dragon. Why? Because these guys at SpaceX are doing for human spaceflight what my team is doing for medicine. Changing the "standard".

Merry Christmas to ALL.

Animation showing the proposed flight profile of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station under NASA's NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS-D) contract.

NASA Kenndy Space Center

2010-12-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

"From touch down after a mission -- through processing for the next flight -- to liftoff again -- NASA's Space Shuttle fleet calls the Kennedy Space Center home. It takes a vast array of facilities and workers to prepare, launch, and land the Shuttles -- a process KSC has handled for more than twenty years."

NASA Kennedy

Dragon flight highlights from SpaceX

2010-12-18T20:45:00.000-08:00

Credit: SpaceX

A few days ago SpaceX sent out an email update on the COTS-1 flight of the Falcon 9 and the recovery of the Dragon Spacecraft. Here are the details.

"On December 8, SpaceX became the first commercial company in history to re-enter a spacecraft from Earth orbit. SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 10:43 AM EST from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Dragon spacecraft orbited the Earth at speeds greater than 7,600 meters per second (17,000 miles per hour), reentered the Earth’s atmosphere, and landed just after 2:00 PM EST less than one mile from the center of the targeted landing zone in the Pacific Ocean following a nominal flight profile that included a roughly 9.5-minute ascent, two Earth-orbits, reentry and splashdown. Falcon 9 delivered Dragon to orbit with an inclination of 34.53 degrees."

Credit: SpaceX

"Dragon’s first-ever on-orbit performance was 100% successful in meeting test objectives including maintaining attitude, thermal control, and communication activities. While in orbit, eight free-flying payloads were successfully deployed, including a U.S. Army nanosatellite—the first Army-built satellite to fly in 50 years."

"Liftoff marked the second flight of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which performed nominally during ascent. Nine Merlin engines, which generate one million pounds of thrust in vacuum, powered the first phase of flight. The rocket reached maximum dynamic pressure (the point at which aerodynamic stress on a spacecraft in atmospheric flight is maximized, also known as Max Q) approximately 1.5 minutes after launch. The first stage separation occurred a little over three minutes into flight. The single Merlin Vacuum engine of Falcon 9’s second stage then ignited to continue carrying the vehicle towards its targeted orbit. After stage separation, the nose cap at the front of the Dragon spacecraft safely jettisoned. The second stage fired for another four and a half minutes, until it achieved orbital velocity, and then the Dragon spacecraft separated from the second stage to begin its independent flight. After separation of the Dragon spacecraft, the second stage Merlin engine restarted, carrying the second stage to an altitude of 11,000 km (6,800 mi). While restart of the second stage engine was not a requirement for this mission (or any future missions to the ISS), it is important for future Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) missions where customer payloads need to be positioned at a high altitude."

"Shortly after separating from the second stage, the expected loss of signal occurred as the Dragon spacecraft passed over the horizon as viewed from the launch site We reacquired Dragon's video signal as expected as it passed over Hawaii, delivering the first ever video sent from Dragon on orbit. Draco thrusters, each capable of producing about 90 pounds of thrust, began the six minute deorbit burn at T+2:32. For this particular mission, we could have lost two entire quads and still returned to Earth with only 8 or 10 engines working, but all thrusters performed nominally during the COTS Demo 1 flight."

"Dragon’s PICA-X heat shield protected the spacecraft during reentry from temperatures reaching more than 3,000 degrees F. SpaceX worked closely with NASA to develop PICA-X, a SpaceX variant of NASA’s Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) heat shield. SpaceX chose PICA for its proven ability. In January 2006, NASA's Stardust sample capsule returned using a PICA heat shield and set the record for the fastest reentry speed of a spacecraft into Earth's atmosphere — experiencing speeds of 28,900 miles per hour. NASA made its expertise and specialized facilities available to SpaceX as the company designed, developed and qualified the 3.6 meter PICA-X shield it in less than 4 years at a fraction of the cost NASA had budgeted for the effort. The result is the most advanced heat shield ever to fly. It can potentially be used hundreds of times for Earth orbit reentry with only minor degradation each time – as proven on this flight -- and can even withstand the much higher heat of a moon or Mars velocity reentry. At about 10,000 feet, Dragon’s three main parachutes, each 116 feet in diameter, deployed to slow the spacecraft's decent to approximately 16-18 ft/sec, ensuring a comfortable return ride that will be required for manned flights. Oversized parachutes are critical in ensuring a safe landing for crew members. Even if Dragon were to lose one of its main parachutes, the two remaining chutes would still ensure a safe landing."

Credit: SpaceX

"This was the first flight under NASA’s COTS program to develop commercial resupply services to the International Space Station. After the Space Shuttle retires, SpaceX will fly at least 12 missions to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Resupply Services contract for NASA. The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft were designed to one day carry astronauts; both the COTS and CRS missions will yield valuable flight experience toward this goal."

The following HD video summary of the flight is posted on the SpaceX website.

NASA Year in Review 2010

2010-12-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the entire NASA team on a great year. You continue to make us proud!

Post Flight Evaluations of the X-37B

2010-12-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

Credit: Boeing/Spaceflight Now

Spaceflight Now reports on the post flight evaluations of the X-37B being conducted by the Air Force and Boeing. Full story is available here with some amazing post flight pictures. The picture above caught my attention because it shows a second X-37B which is rumored for flight in Spring 2011.

Ascent - Commemorating The Space Shuttle

2010-12-12T12:29:00.000-08:00

"Photographic documentation of a Space Shuttle launch plays a critical role in the engineering analysis and evaluation process that takes place during each and every mission. Motion and Still images enable Shuttle engineers to visually identify off-nominal events and conditions requiring corrective action to ensure mission safety and success. This imagery also provides highly inspirational and educational insight to those outside the NASA family. This compilation of film and video presents the best of the best ground-based Shuttle motion imagery from STS-114, STS-117, and STS-124 missions. Rendered in the highest definition possible, this production is a tribute to the dozens of men and women of the Shuttle imaging team and the 30yrs of achievement of the Space Shuttle Program."

The video was produced by Matt Melis at the Glenn Research Center.

Dr. Zubrin On The SpaceX Success

2010-12-11T10:39:00.000-08:00

"On October 4, 1957, Soviet engineers amazed the world by placing Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, into orbit around the Earth. Sputnik was a huge embarrassment for U.S. technological leaders, but in the end, the medicine was good for them. Shocked out of complacency, they got to work, and twelve years later Americans were walking on the Moon.

On Wednesday, Sputnik flew again. Once again the technological establishment was shown up, this time not by uppity “Russkies”, but by uppity “Yanks”. With the orbital flight and landing of its Falcon 9/Dragon combination, the SpaceX team, led by Elon Musk, accomplished a feat previously reserved for major governments. They did it on a budget one-tenth the size and a schedule one-quarter the length of that assumed as necessary by conventional bureaucratic planners in America.

The Falcon-9 medium-lift booster (capable of launching 10 tons to orbit) and Dragon capsule (potentially capable of upgrade to transporting up to 7 astronauts) system was created on a combined budget on the order of two hundred million dollars. Last year, Elon Musk told the Augustine Commission that he could develop a heavy lift vehicle (HLV) for $2.5 billion. The Commission chose to ignore him, instead insisting that HLV development would cost $36 billion, and therefore both it, and any human Moon or Mars exploration programs that might require it, are beyond the nation’s means for the coming decade. But yesterday’s flight put the lie to such counsels of despair.

They say it can’t be done, but SpaceX shows that it can. If a ten ton to orbit system can be developed for $200 million, then 100 tons for $2 billion is definitely in the cards. Those embarrassed by SpaceX should take up its challenge and resolve to raise their mettle to meet its test. A new standard has been set.

Hear the call. Beep, beep. Sputnik flies again."

Dr. Robert Zubrin is President of the Mars Society.
From The Mars Society Newsletter (December 2010)

Geminids Meteor Shower on December 13th, 2010

2010-12-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

Now for something that does not contain the words SpaceX or Arsenic :)

Credit: Starry Night Software

Perhaps the best meteor shower of 2010, the Geminids will appear starting on the evening of December 13th and peaking during the morning of December 14th. Because the meteor's radiant is nearly circumpolar they will stay in view above the horizon almost all night. So what causes a meteor shower? Most meteor showers are caused when the Earth's orbit passes through the fragmentary tail of a comet. These fragments are swept up by the Earth's atmosphere and as they burn up they become visible as long streaks of light. The Geminid meteor shower is unique in that it is not associated with a comet, but with an asteroid - 3200 Phaethon. Phaethon is odd in that it orbits very close to the Sun (closer than the orbit of Mercury) like a comet but is actually an asteroid.

The Gemenid's radiant - which is the point that the meteor shower seems to radiate from - is in the direction of the constellation Gemini. In the evening of December 13, the radiant will be low in the northeast but by 10:00pm PST the radiant will be almost directly overhead. So those of us who live in the west coast of the US will have a great chance at viewing it earlier in the night.

The Picture of the Day - The Dragon Spacecraft is back on Earth

2010-12-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

I believe this picture of the Dragon bobbing on the surface of the Pacific ocean sums up todays success. Back on Earth after a fiery launch, two orbits around the Earth and now back home. Congratulations to the SpaceX team. We are ALL cheering with you.

Credit: SpaceX

Yipee! Hooray for SpaceX! You did it! Congratulations to the Whole SpaceX team.

2010-12-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

SpaceX is the first commercial company to successfully reenter a spacecraft from orbit. Congratulations to all at SpaceX. Your pioneering spirit, dedication and tenacity made this happen. Today dawns a new era of spaceflight. This success truly changes everything. LEO access by commercial companies will allow NASA to focus on the Moon, Mars and the Asteroids. Thank you SpaceX. This is a big day for ALL of us.

Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now

Credit: Mike Howard

Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now

Credit: SpaceX - the view from the Dragon Spacecraft

If you missed the launch this morning here is the video from NASA Television.

The "live" feed from SpaceX was absolutely spectacular with the on-board camera's.

SpaceX reported that the scond stage engine cutoff at T+9 minutes with orbital insertion of the Dragon Spacecraft to a high point of 301 kilometers and an inclination of 34.5 degrees. The Dragon mission lasted two orbits and approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes. Four Draco thrusters (of the 18 thrusters each producing 90 lbs of thrust) were fired at pproximately 1:04pm EST and splashdown off the coast of Mexico was around 2:04pm EST.

The Mission Status Center at Spaceflight Now reports:
"The Dragon's performance on-orbit was 100 percent successful, according to SpaceX. The recovery crew in the Pacific Ocean has already arrived at the capsule and attached flotation devices to the spacecraft."

NASA is planning a post-flight press conference as soon as 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT) to discuss further details of the mission. The press conferenc can be viewed at www. naswww.nasa.gov/ntva.gov/ntv.

Falcon 9 & Dragon GO for Launch Wednesday

2010-12-07T15:19:00.000-08:00

Credit: SpaceX

NASA Press Release M10-170
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first demonstration flight of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program has been scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 8, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window extends from 9 a.m. to 12:22 p.m. EST.

During a routine inspection this week, SpaceX engineers observed two small cracks in the rocket's second stage engine nozzle. SpaceX completed repairs to the cracked nozzle Tuesday.

NASA Press Conference on the SpaceX COTS-1 Flight - 6 December 2010

2010-12-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

SpaceX Update: COTS Demo 1 Launch Activities

2010-12-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

Credit: Justin Ray, Spaceflight Now

Update from SpaceX: "SpaceX engineers are analyzing two small cracks in the aft end of the 2nd stage engine nozzle extension. These cracks are in a region near the end of the nozzle extension where there is very little stress and so they would not cause a flight failure by themselves. However, further investigation is warranted to ensure that these cracks are not symptomatic of a more serious problem.

A decision on whether or not to attempt launch on Wednesday will be provided this evening [Tuesday].

The bell shaped Merlin Vacuum nozzle extension is made of niobium sheet alloy, measures 9 feet tall and 8 feet at the base diameter, and thins out to about twice the thickness of a soda can at the end. Although made of an exotic refractory alloy metal with a melting temperature high enough to boil steel, this component is geometrically the simplest part of the engine.

It is important to note that the niobium nozzle extension increases the efficiency of the Merlin engine in vacuum and is installed by default on all upper stage Merlin engines, but that efficiency increase is not required for this mission. The nozzle extension is most helpful when launching very heavy satellites or to maximize throw mass to distant destinations like Mars. The most likely path forward is that we will trim off the thinnest portion of the nozzle extension, which is where the cracks are located, perform a thorough systems check and resume launch preparation."

Spaceflight Now in my opinion has the most comprehensive launch coverage for the Falcon 9/Dragon Spacecraft flight. They have a Countdown Timeline, a Launch Timeline, a Dragon Entry Schedule, and a copy of the COTS-1 Press Kit.

Falcon 9 COTS-1 launch postponed to no earlier than Thursday

2010-12-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

SpaceX: "Now targeting launch no earlier than this Thursday, Dec. 9. Taking some time to look at 2nd stage nozzle, will keep you posted on schedule as able--thanks for the support!"

I am so excited about this launch and truly want them to succeed! The SpaceX offices and factory are located right next to Hawthorne Airport and you can see the building on approach to LAX if you are seated on the left hand side of the aircraft.

Weather may delay Tuesday's launch of the Falcon 9

2010-12-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

According to Florida Today's Flame Trench:
"Strong winds Tuesday could pose a challenge for the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket on a NASA demonstration flight. A surge of wind blowing in with a cold front presents a 60 percent chance of weather violating launch criteria, according to Air Force meteorologists, with sustained winds around 20 knots and gusting to 25 knots. Conditions at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station should improve Wednesday and Thursday, with a 90 percent chance of favorable weather. The launch window is the same each day."

The official forecast can be found here.

SpaceX: Falcon 9 Rocket and Dragon Spacecraft Readied for Tuesday's Launch

2010-12-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX reports "Full duration static fire! We'll continue to review data but today's static fire appears to be a success."

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 9:00am and 12:22pm 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.

NASA will hold a prelaunch news conference on Monday, December 6th at 1:30 p.m. EST, at the press site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA Television will provide live coverage of the briefing at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. A post-mission news conference will be held at Kennedy approximately one hour after splashdown occurs which will also be broadcasted live. 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.

Live coverage of the launch will also be available at the SpaceX website. The webcast will begin approximately 45 minutes prior to the opening of the daily launch window, at 8:15 a.m. EST / 5:15 a.m. PST / 13:15 UTC. During the webcast, SpaceX hosts will provide information specific to the flight, an overview of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft and commentary on the launch and flight sequences.

SpaceflightNow will also cover the launch at their Mission Status Center with text updates and streaming video of the launch.

X-37B Post Landing Pictures

2010-12-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

Photo credit US Air Force. A second X-37B currently under development is slated to fly in 2011.

SpaceX Scrubs Static Fire Test of Falcon 9/Dragon Spacecraft

2010-12-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

SpaceflightNow reports that today's static fire test of the Falcon 9 was aborted at T-minus 1.1 seconds due to a high chamber pressure in Engine No. 6. The static fire atempt needs to reach a full 2 seconds at maximum thust to be considered succesful. A second attempt is planned for tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from today's roll out of the Falcon 9 with the Dragon Spacecraft.

Credit: SpaceX

NASA Press Conference On The Discovery Of A New Bactria That Makes DNA With Arsenic

2010-12-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the full length video of the press conference.

X-37B Returns to Earth

2010-12-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

After 225 days in orbit, the US Air Force's X-37B unmanned spacecraft deorbited and landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California at 1:16am PST on December 3rd. More details on the X-37B can be found in my previous blog posts here and here. The X-37B launched on April 22 on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission and budget for the X-37B is "classified", however SpaceflightNow.com reports that Boeing Phantom Works is building another X-37B for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Attached is a short video of the X-37B post landing.

A New Lifeform discovered on Earth: NASA Astrobiology Discovery Press Conference

2010-12-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

Credit: NASA

The NASA press conference today was about the discovery of a new life form on Earth - a bacterial strain known as GFAJ-1 found in mud taken from Mono Lake in California, that is able to use arsenic (instead of phosphorus) to make its DNA and proteins. This is the first ever organism ever found that appears to thrive in the absence of an element thought be to be critical to life as has long been defined. Life on Earth and the chemistry of life is dominated by Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen with Phosphorus and Sulfur. These are the six elements of life that are essential to life: life as we know it cannot exist without them. But Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon and colleagues found an organism on Earth that can utilize arsenic in place of phosphorus. OK, why is this such a big deal? Well, the DNA molecule is shaped like a spiral ladder with the rungs of the ladder comprising of pairs of nucleotides which spell out the genetic instructions of life. The sides of the ladder which are referred to as the backbone are long chains of alternating sugar and phosphate molecules. A phosphate molecule contains five atoms, one phosphorus and four oxygen atoms. Thus no phosphorus, no phosphate. No phosphate, no backbone. No backbone, no DNA. No DNA, No life. Yet, GFAJ-1 substituted arsenic for phosphorus to build DNA, RNA and other critical molecules to life. No such lifeform has ever been discovered to date. A lifeform that does not belong in our life tree.

What does this mean? It means that we need to relook at our definition of "Life" and how to search for it; on Earth, in our solar system and in the universe. To summarize the research of Dr. Wolfe-Simon and colleagues: "The research appears to expand the range of possibilities of habitable environments on Earth and on other planets and moons. On a more fundamental level, the findings may indicate the very definition of what is required for life to exist and may need to be to broadened to encompass a wider rang of possibilities."

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

A detailed analysis of the biochemistry to follow that will better explain this most profound discovery. I must say this Dr. Wolfe-Simon, today because of your work and your tenacity to push limits and boundaries I now live in a different universe than than the one I awoke in. Please push the limits of our understanding of "life" and the universe we are a part of. What a great day or all of humanity. An exceptional day. Thank you!

SpaceX prepares for a Static Fire test on Friday, December 3rd

2010-12-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

Credit: SpaceX

"On Friday, December 3rd, SpaceX will webcast its static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket engines at www.spacex.com. The webcast is set to begin at 8:00 AM Eastern/ 5:00 AM Pacific, with the actual static fire targeted for 9:00 AM Eastern/ 6:00 AM Pacific.

This first stage firing is part of a full launch dress rehearsal at the Space Launch Complex 40 at the U.S. Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral in preparation for the first Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) launch of the Dragon spacecraft. The rehearsal will exercise the countdown processes and end after the engines fire at full power for two seconds, with only the hold-down system restraining the rocket from flight. After the test, SpaceX will conduct a thorough review of all data as engineers make final preparations for the upcoming launch. Using rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen, the nine Merlin engines generate one million pounds of thrust in vacuum. The Merlin engine is the highest performing American hydrocarbon rocket engine ever flown. SpaceX uses a hold-before-release system — a capability required by commercial airplanes but rarely implemented on launch vehicles. After the first stage engine ignites, the Falcon 9 is held down and not released for flight until all propulsion and vehicle systems are confirmed to be operating normally. An automatic safe shut-down will occur and propellants will be unloaded if any issues are detected.

SpaceX plans to launch its Dragon spacecraft into low-Earth orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The Dragon capsule is expected to orbit the Earth at speeds greater than 17,000 miles per hour, reenter the Earth’s atmosphere, and land in the Pacific Ocean a few hours later. This will be the first attempt by a commercial company to recover a spacecraft reentering from low-Earth orbit. It is a feat performed by only 6 nations or government agencies: the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India, and the European Space Agency.

It is also the first flight under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program to develop commercial supply services to the International Space Station. After the Space Shuttle retires, SpaceX will fly at least 12 missions to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Resupply Services contract for NASA. The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft were designed to one day carry astronauts; both the COTS and CRS missions will yield valuable flight experience toward this goal.

If launch is a go, SpaceX plans to broadcast the entire launch live at www.spacex.com between December 7th and 9th. For more on the Falcon 9 visit http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php."
SpaceX Press Release, 2 December, 2010

Best wishes for a successful static test fire and launch to orbit!

NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

2010-12-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. The news conference will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov.

The participants will include: Mary Voytek, Director, Astrobiology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington. Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA Astrobiology Research Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif. Pamela Conrad, Astrobiologist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Steven Benner, Distinguished Fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Fla. James Elser, Professor, Arizona State University, Tempe

Speculation as to what NASA's Astrobiology announcement tomorrow seem to concern around Arsenic-based biochemistry and the implications for the origin of life on Earth, how it may have happened more than once on our planet, and the implications for life arising elsewhere in the universe. Attached is an article published by the UK Sunday Times on the work being conducted by Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon.

"Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a geobiologist, is interested in the lake not for its scenery but because it may be harbouring alien life forms, or “weird life”. Mono Lake, a basin with no outlet, has built up over many millennia one of the highest natural concentrations of arsenic on Earth. Dr Wolfe-Simon is investigating whether, in the mud around the lake or in the water, there exist microbes whose biological make-up is so fundamentally different from that of any known life on Earth that it may provide proof of a shadow biosphere, a second genesis for life on this planet. Arsenic is chemically close to phosphorus. While phosphorus is a primary building block of life on Earth — an essential component of DNA and ATP, the energy molecule — arsenic is a deadly poison. In Mono Lake there are micro-organisms that live with arsenic. But they don’t incorporate it into their biology. Dr Wolfe-Simon has theorised that there may be life that chose an “evolutionary pathway” to utilise arsenic. If such microbes existed, it could suggest that life started on our planet not once but at least twice. In turn this would help to support the idea that life is much more likely to have started elsewhere in the galaxy."

More on the concept of a "shadow biosphere" from Dr. Wolfe-Simon.

Credit: The Science Channel

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

2010-11-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-11-28T16:21:00.000-08:00

"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

2010-11-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

Miles O'Brien is back!

Atlantica Expeditions: An Introduction from the Expedition Leader Dennis Chamberland

2010-11-24T19:00:00.000-08:00

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

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!

The Atlantica Expeditions - Building the First Undersea Colony

2010-11-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

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"

2010-11-05T16:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

Credit: Spaceflight Now.com

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

Liftoff to Orbit in 9 Minutes - Cockpit Video of STS-122 Discovery Launch

2010-10-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is cockpit video of STS-122 on July 4th, 2006 launching Discovery to the International Space Station. Don't you wish you had the MS2 flight crew position.

Discovery Launch Rescheduled to Wednesday

2010-10-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

Credit: NASA

STS-133 launch has been postponed to Wednesday, November 3rd at 3:52pm EDT in order to complete repairs on the Helium and Nitrogen gas leaks on the right OMS pod.

A NASA Tribute to Space Shuttle Discovery

2010-10-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

Credit: NASAtelevision

STS-133 Discovery Launch Delayed by One day to November 2nd

2010-10-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

Update to earlier post: STS-133 has been delayed by one day to repair helium and nitrogen leaks found in the right hand Orbital Maneuvering Systems (OMSs) pod. Discovery now targeted for launch on November 2, 2010 at 4:17pm EDT. Flight details as well streaming video of the launch can be watched at Spaceflight Now.

A NASA History of Space Shuttle Discovery

2010-10-29T06:02:00.000-07:00

Credit: NASAtelevision

A NASA history of Space Shuttle Discovery which is scheduled to lift off on it's final mission before descommissioning.

STS-133: The Final Flight of Space Shuttle Discovery

2010-10-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

Credit: NASA

Credit: NASATelevision

The final flight of Shuttle Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on November 1, 2010. This will be the 39th flight for Discovery and the 35th mission to the ISS. The six person all veteren crew will be commanded by Steven Lindsey (Commander), Eric Boe (Pilot), Alvin Drew (MS1), Timothy Copra (MS2), Nichael Baratt (MS3) and Nicole Stott (MS4). The 11 day mission is expected to include two spacewalks by Kopra and Drew. The mission objectives include the installation of of the Leonardo Permanent Multi-Purpose Module, the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 4, Robonaut 2 and the SpaceX DragonEye sensor.

Best wishes to the crew of STS-133 for a very successful and safe mission.

Discovery has flown 38 flights, completed 5,247 orbits and has spent 322 days in orbit. Discovery first flew on August 30, 1984 and since then has flown a total of 246 crew members and traveled 142,917,535 miles. It has launched a total of 31 satellites including te Hubble Space Telescope, docked to the Russian MIR Space Station and docked to the ISS 11 times. The second and third Hubble service missions were also conducted by Discovery. It was also this orbiter that carried astronaut John Glenn back into space on STS-95 on October 29, 1998. Glenn was 77 at that time.

Discovery was named after one of the most famous British ships of exploration - HMS Discovery which was commandered by Captain James Cook durng his third and final major voyage of 1776. After decommisioning Discovery will be placed on display at the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum. Discovery will replace Space Shuttle Enterprise in the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Anousheh Ansari on Exploration

2010-10-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

Video of Anousheh Ansari's talk on "Exploration" at TEDxMidTownNY.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

2010-08-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is scheduled to launch on STS-134 currently scheduled for launch on February 26, 2011.

This week in Space

2010-08-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

"The International Space Station's antimatter detector gets ready to launch aboard the space shuttle, next Martian rover gets an arm, SpaceX drop-tests its Dragon and new planetary discoveries."

Spaceflightnow.com

A very inspiring book: My Dream of Stars - the story of Anousheh Ansari's flight to the International Space Station

2010-08-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

On September 18th, 2006 Iranian born American Anousheh Ansari achieved her dream of flying in space. Launched aboard Soyuz TMA-9 with commander Mikhail Tyurin (RSA) and flight engineer Michael Lopez-Alegria (NASA), Anousheh reached low Earth orbit and became the 4th "spaceflight participant" and the first female space tourist. TMA-9 docked with the International Space Station on September 20th. She spent the next eight days on the ISS and returned on Soyuz TMA-8 with NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov. Total mission duration was 10 days, 21 hours and 4 minutes.

I was on a eleven hour flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt and when I started reading her book My Dream of Stars (written jointly with Homer Hickam) I could not put it down. I rushed through dinner, skipped the in-flight movies had a second glass of wine and kept on reading. Her story is quite inspiring as she walks us through her life from growing up in Mashhad and Tehran to meeting her husband Hamid and her brother-in-law Amir and of co-founding Telcom Technologies, Inc. What were most interesting for me were the chapters dedicated to her selection and subsequent training at Star City. She also gives an open and honest account of her 48hr journey to the ISS. The detail she went into from her bouts of space sickness she had during the first few days, her life aboard the ISS and her conversations she had with the astronauts and cosmonauts to her landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan was absolutely amazing. I read every word and clung to all the details. While Anousheh was at the ISS she also kept a blog which was equally interesting reading.

Anousheh Ansari is quite a remarkable person and teaches us all that through tenacity, hope, innovation and hard work even the impossible can be achieved and even the wildest dreams can be made to come through. More information about her can be found on her web page.

SpaceX completes successful Dragon spacecraft high altitude drop test

2010-08-20T13:53:00.000-07:00

In an email press release today, SpaceX announced a successful parachute test of the Dragon spacecraft. Congratulations!

"The purpose of the test was to validate the Dragon's parachute deployment systems and recovery operations prior to the first flight of an operational Dragon later this year. The drop occurred on August 12, 2010 about nine miles off the coast from the scenic town of Morro Bay, CA-- 45 miles north of Vandenberg Air Force Base. An Erickson S-64F Air-Crane helicopter dropped a test article of the Dragon spacecraft from a distance of 14,000 feet, directly above the center of a 6 mile diameter Pacific Ocean test zone.

Credit: Roger Gilbertson/SpaceX

In a carefully timed sequence of events, dual redundant drogue parachutes deployed first to stabilize and slow the spacecraft. Full deployment of the drogues then triggered the release of the main parachutes, with the drogues detaching from the spacecraft, allowing the main parachutes to deploy. While Dragon will initially be used to transport cargo, the spacecraft was designed to transport crew. The parachute system validated during the drop test is the same system that would be used on a crew-carrying Dragon. The three main parachutes, designed and manufactured by Airborne Systems, are particularly large--each measuring 116 feet in diameter when fully deployed. The oversized parachutes are key in ensuring a comfortable landing for crew members. After the drogues stabilize the spacecraft, the main parachutes further slow the spacecraft's decent to approximately 16-18 ft/sec which makes for a very soft landing. Even if Dragon were to lose one of its main parachutes, the two remaining chutes would still ensure a pretty soft landing for the crew. Under nominal conditions, astronauts would experience no more than roughly 2-3 g's during this type of decent—less than you'd experience at an amusement park. While the test article landed well within the targeted zone, the landing of an operational Dragon will be even more precise. With an operational Dragon, the landing location is controlled by firing the Draco thrusters during reentry, ensuring Dragon splashes down less than a mile from the desired landing site. Even that dispersion is only due to wind drift while Dragon is under the parachutes--if winds are low, Dragon's landing accuracy will be to within a few hundred feet.

Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX

For initial crewed flights, Dragon will be recovered by helicopter and airlifted to shore. Our long term goal, however, is to land Dragon on land. Once we have proven our ability to control reentry accurately, we intend to add deployable landing gear and leverage the thrusters in order to land on land in the future.

During this particular drop test operation, Dragon was returned by boat and lifted onto its transport carrier via a bay-side crane.

Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX

A drop test is historically a very difficult test to complete successfully, so congratulations to the entire Dragon drop team for achieving 100% success on their first attempt. In addition, SpaceX thanks the numerous individuals who were incredibly helpful in assisting with the execution of this test--a test of this size requires significant coordination between numerous parties and we greatly appreciate their help. In particular, SpaceX thanks the Dynegy Morro Bay Power Plant, Erickson Air-Crane, Angel City Air Aerial Photography, Associated Pacific Constructors of Morro Bay, Castagnola Tug Service, Morro Bay Harbor, Fire and Police Departments, US Coast Guard Morro Bay Station, The Federal Aviation Administration, Morro Bay Planning Division, Protech Express Towing, SloDivers, Centurion Private Security, Coast Diving Service and Woody Wordsworth at Radio Shack Morro Bay."

Source: SpaceX

Elon Musk: Will he be the Henry Ford of Spacecraft?

2010-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

My friend Heather Archuletta (aka Pillow Astronaut) sent me an email in regards to Elon Musk asking "did you see him on the Daily Show? He could be the Henry Ford of spacecrafts... time will tell...". So the timing for this post is perfect. I am with Heather, I believe Elon Musk and his team at SpaceX will be the ones who revolutionize space travel and give the rest of us the chance to work, travel and play in space. Why do we hope that he is the Henry Ford of spacecraft? Well, Henry Ford was the founder of the Henry Ford Motor Company (1903)and is considered the father of the modern assembly line process used in mass production. He revolutionized the automobile industry by producing the first affordable mass produced automobile - the Model-T (1906). We hope that Musk and his team will do the same for commercial spaceflight.

The following is an interview with Elon Musk by the Henry Ford Foundation. The full length interview can be watched here.

This week in Space with Miles O'Brien

2010-08-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

"Spacewalkers continue working on repairs, an interview with EVA'er Dave Wolf, success for Atlas 5 rocket and a new shot from Hubble."

Spaceflightnow.com

"Thank You for Supporting the Future of Human Spaceflight" - Elon Musk

2010-08-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

"We recently asked for your help to protect the future of human spaceflight – and the response was impressive. Your phone calls and the efforts of supportive members of Congress helped stop the NASA Authorization bill from being pushed through the House of Representatives before important improvements could be made.

This bill would have authorized over five times more taxpayer dollars to fly NASA astronauts on the Russian Soyuz than to develop an American-made commercial alternative that would energize our economy and create jobs right here at home.

We still have a tough fight ahead of us, but many in Congress are starting to recognize that commercial vehicles like Dragon and Falcon 9 are the nation's best option for ending our reliance on Russia to transport astronauts to the International Space Station and preserving America's leadership role in space. It's not over yet. When the House returns from its summer recess in September, NASA Authorization bill H.R. 5781 will be up for vote again.

We hope you will continue to fight for the opportunity to show how a true public/private partnership can transform America's space program.

We thank you for your support and look forward to working together to ensure an exciting future for American spaceflight.

--Elon--"

The Perseids Meteor Shower expected to peak 12-13 August 2010

2010-08-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

During the next few days the Perseids meteor shower will peak with an expected 50 to 80 meteors per hour. Perhaps the most famous of all meteor showers, the Perseids have been observed and recorded as far back as 36 AD by the Chinese (that is almost 2000 years ago). However, credit for the discovery of the shower’s annual appearance is given to Adolphe Quetelet of Belgium, who, in 1835 reported a meteor shower that occurred in August emanating from the constellation of Perseus. Thus the name "the Perseids" because the point they appear to come from, called the radiant, lays in the constellation of Perseus. The first observer to provide an hourly count was E. Heis from Munster, Germany who recorded a maximum rate of 160 meteors per hour back in 1839. Computations of the orbit of the Perseids between 1864 and 1866 by Schiaparelli (Italy) revealed a strong resemblance to a periodic comet named 19P/Swift-Tuttle which had been discovered in 1862. This was the first time a meteor shower had been positively identified with a comet. Every 133 years this huge comet swings through the inner solar system and leaves behind a trail of dust and gravel. When the Earth passes through the debris, specks of comet debris hit the atmosphere at 140,000 mph and disintegrate in flashes of light producing “shooting stars” with long tails.

The Perseids meteor shower is visible between mid July to mid August each year and this year should be no different from years past where most observers in the Northern hemisphere observed a spectacular shower of “shooting stars”. 2010 is a good year for Perseids because the Moon won’t up during the midnight to dawn hours of greatest activity. As Perseus rises and the night deepens, meteor rates will increase. The best time to observe is during the darkest hours before pre-dawn on Friday morning, August 13^th, when most observers will see dozens of Perseids per hour. I am definitely going to stay up to observe the Perseids; I only hope that I can find a dark enough of a spot away from the city lights of Los Angeles.

If you are not sure where Perseus lies in the sky, the following sky chart from NASA Science News should help you find it in the night sky.

Thirteenth Annual Mars Society Convention (2010)

2010-08-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

The Thirteenth Annual Mars Society Convention was held this year in Dayton, Ohio August 5-7, 2010. My dear friend and MDRS-88 colleague and award winning author David Levine was invited to give a talk highlighting our mission. He attended the conference and blogged daily about the various presentations and talks given. Attached are the links to his blog "The Days Are Just Packed". Thursday, August 5th. Friday, August 6th. Saturday, August 7th.

"The Mars Diaries" edited by David D. Levine: The story of Crew 88 of the Mars Desert Research Station in their own words

2010-08-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

When we were at the MDRS, David had the great idea of taking all of our blogs and compiling them into a book that we can keep as a souvenir or gift to friends and relatives. He has completed his promise and compiled "The Mars Diaries" which is now available for purchase from lulu.com. It will also be available from Amazon.com in 6-8 weeks. I just received several copies and they look absolutely fabulous. Bianca's blog is in Dutch and Diego's is in Spanish but David had them translated into English as well. Thanks David!

Your Help Urgently Needed to Save the Future of Human Spaceflight, SpaceX

2010-07-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

NO on H.R. 5781 Effort

"If you care about the future of American space exploration, your urgent help is necessary. The only hope for the average citizen to one day travel to space is in danger due to the actions of certain members of Congress. SpaceX does not have the enormous lobbying power of the big government contractors to stop them, however with your help the day can still be saved.

NASA's Authorization bill (H.R. 5781) will be debated on the floor of the US House of Representatives tomorrow. Despite the imminent retirement of the Space Shuttle, H.R. 5781 authorizes over five times as many taxpayer dollars to fly NASA astronauts on the Russian Soyuz than it invests in developing an American commercial alternative, moreover at a time when jobs are sorely needed in the United States. Quite simply, this bill represents the sort of senseless pork politics that has driven our national debt to the point where our economy can barely service it.

The bill is expected to be brought to the House floor this Friday under a special "suspension of the rules," which is a procedure that limits debate and amendments.

Telephone your Congressional representative right away via the House Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 to vote NO on H.R. 5781, and instead support the bill unanimously agreed to in the Senate last week.

Your five minutes will make a critical difference, ensuring an exciting and inspiring future in space travel! SpaceX rarely asks you to take action, so you know it really matters when we do.

--Elon--

Look up your representative here."

Update: I sent an email to Congressman John Campbell (48th District serving Orange County, California) urging him to vote NO on this bill. I applied to NASA twice back in 2003 and in 2008. While I am a proud supporter of NASA my chances of someday going to space hinges on commercial spaceflight taking off (no pun intended). We have to support commercial spaceflight and I will proudly divert my tax payer dollars towards this effort. This is the only way I see of making my dream come through.

This week in Space with Miles O'Brien

2010-07-11T15:43:00.000-07:00

This Week: The search for hazards from unknown near-Earth asteroids, the last shuttle fuel tank leaves factory, next round of workforce layoffs and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden's Muslim comment.

Spaceflightnow.com

Robonaut 2 prepares for flight to the International Space Station

2010-07-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

Later this year the space station will have another crew member besides the standard complement of six station astronauts. The seventh crew member will be Robonaut 2 (or R2 for short) developed jointly by NASA and General Motors (GM). The primary purpose of R2 is to develop a robotic assistant that will someday work alongside astronauts both inside and outside the station. In this particular version, the 300-pound R2 consists of a head and a torso with two arms and two hands. This particular prototype of R2 will be confined to operations in the station's Destiny laboratory. However, NASA and GM expects that future enhancements and modifications may allow it to move more freely around the station's interior or outside the complex. "Testing the robot inside the station will provide an important intermediate environment. R2 will be tested in microgravity and subjected to the station's radiation and electromagnetic interference environments." Right now, NASA explains that interior operations will provide performance data about how a robot may work side-by-side with astronauts and as development activities progress on the ground, station crews will be provided hardware and software to update R2 to enable it to do new tasks.

Take a look at these pictures. GM designed and built the torso of Robonaut 2 not only to look like a human but also to work like one. With human-like hands and arms, NASA states that R2 is able to use the same tools station crew members use, especially tools that are used during EVAs.

Credit: NASA/JSC

Robonaut is scheduled to be launched to the ISS on the STS-133 mission on space shuttle Discovery. Discovery, which had been scheduled for launch Sept. 16 is now targeted for liftoff at 4:33 p.m. EDT on Nov. 1.

God Bless the USA - Happy Independence Day.

2010-07-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
From the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

Happy 4th of July!

Falcon 9: First flight highlights from SpaceX

2010-07-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

SpaceX website released this more detailed compilation of highlights from the June 4, 2010 Falcon 9 Flight 1 Mission in high definition on June 18, 2010.

Photo credit: SpaceX/Chris Thompson

I was not not able to watch the launch live via web cam as I was still at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah as part of Crew-95. However, as soon as I got to Grand Junction (civilization), I logged on and watched the launch over and over again. I was absolutely thrilled and excited that SpaceX had achieved a successful first launch of the Falcon 9 and the Dragon mock-up. With the cancellation of Constellation and the Aries rocket and the Orion spacecraft, the Falcon 9/Dragon may end up being the only manned American spacecraft in the near future that can ferry astronauts to LEO. For those of us who dream and aspire to be astronauts this now appears to be the path towards achieving that goal. I had applied to be a NASA astronaut back in 2003 and 2008, but with a large pool of highly trained astronauts with few flights as ISS astronauts and no spacecraft (after the retirement of the space Shuttle in early 2011) it appears that the path to being an astronaut through our national space effort is soon becoming very limiting. I love NASA, I am so proud of what they have achieved, I have followed the Space Shuttle and ISS programs from their first flights but it appears that a new era of space exploration is just starting with several private companies tackling the challenge of commercializing space. SpaceX is at the forefront and they are down the road located in Hawthorne in Southern California (about 40 minutes drive from where I live in Irvine, Orange County). Every time I drive to LAX I try to locate their building which is located by the 405 and Hawthorne airport. Congratulations SpaceX, and best wishes for the second flight of Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft. It is rumored that the second flight of the Falcon 9/Dragon is scheduled for some time in August/September.

Miles O'Brien's interview with Ken Bowersox of SpaceX

2010-06-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

This week in Space with Miles O'Brien

2010-06-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

"An exclusive interview with SpaceX's safety officer delves into the post-flight review of the Falcon 9 test launch. Also this week, the final shuttle missions slip out and John Glenn enters debate about the space program's future."

Spaceflightnow.com

SPECIAL EDITION: This week in Space with Miles O'Brien - interview with Elon Musk of SpaceX

2010-06-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

"In this special edition of This Week in Space, SpaceX boss Elon Musk speaks to Miles O'Brien about the successful flight of his Falcon 9 rocket and hits back at critics of the rocket's role in the Obama space plan."

Spaceflightnow.com

SpaceX targets June 4th for the first launch of Falcon 9

2010-06-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

Photo: Chris Thompson/SpaceX

In an email press release, SpaceX announced that they are targeting Friday, June 4th for its first test launch attempt of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft prototype. The schedule driver for the Falcon 9 test launch for the past several months has been certification of the flight termination system (FTS). The FTS ensures that Air Force Range safety officials can command the destruction of the vehicle should it stray from its designated flight path.

"The successful liftoff of the recent GPS satellite launch last Thursday freed up the necessary range resources to process our final documentation, and we are now looking good for final approval of the FTS by this Friday, June 4th, just in time for our first launch attempt. Today we completed end to end testing of the Falcon 9 as required by the Air Force Range and everything was nominal. Later this evening, we will finish final system connections for the FTS. Tomorrow we plan to rollout in the morning, and erect the vehicle in the afternoon."

The launch window is as follows:
Friday 4 June 2010:11:00 AM Eastern. The launch window lasts 4 hours. SpaceX has also reserved a second launch day on Saturday 5 June, with the same hours.

If the weather cooperates, SpaceX will provide a live webcast of the launch events, presently scheduled to begin 20 minutes prior to the opening of the launch window.

This Week in Space with Miles O'Brian

2010-05-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

"Neil Armstrong speaks out against Obama plan and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk fires back, Atlantis returns home home - perhaps permanently, Delta 4 and Ariane 5 rockets fly, black holes merge with a bang, and news from Mars' North Pole."

Spaceflightnow.com

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-132) on its way to the International Space Station

2010-05-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-132) launched today on its final flight carrying a crew of six veteran astronauts to the International Space Station. The crew consists of Ken Ham (Commander), Dominic Antonelli (Pilot), Garrett Reisman (MS1/EVA1), Michael Good (MS2/Flight Engineer/EVA3), Stephen Bowen (MS3/EVA2), and Piers Sellers (MS4/Loadmaster/Lead Robotics Officer). Launched this morning from Pad 39A, Atlantis reached an orbital insertion altitude of 122 nautical miles (226km) at an orbital inclination of 51.6 degrees. It will rendezvous with the ISS at an altitude of 190 nautical miles (350km). The mission is scheduled for 12 days with a landing at the Cape on May 26, 2010.

STS-132 is also designated as ISS assembly flight ULF4. The primary payload is the Russian built Rassvet Mini Research Module (MRM 1). The MRM-1 will contain an airlock and radiation heat exchanger, a spare elbow part for the European Robotic Arm (ERA) and a portable work platform for science hardware for performing experiments. The volume for cargo and science hardware storage on MRM 1 is 5 cubic meters.

Rassvet Mini-Research Module

Photo: NASA

STS-132 is also carrying the Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD) pallet holding a Ku-band Space to Ground Antenna (SGANT), SGANT boom assembly, Enhanced Orbital replacement Unit (ORU) Temporary Platform (EOTP) for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm extension, Video and Power Grapple fixtures (PVGF) and six new battery ORUs.

Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable Pallet

Photo: NASA

This will be the 163rd American spaceflight and the 132nd shuttle mission since STS-1. It will be the 32nd flight for Atlantis (and also its last flight).

Mars Desert Research Station Mission-88 Crew Journalist David Levine's GoogleTech Talk

2010-05-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here is another great talk and presentation from award winning science fiction writer, my friend, and fellow crew member David Levine on our mission to the Mars Desert Research Station in January 2010. We were all part of an international crew that comprised mission 88. The crew consisted of Dr. Stephen Wheeler (Commander), myself (Executive Officer and Chief Engineer), Bianca Nowak (Health & Safety Officer), Diego Urbina (Chief Biologist), Paul McCall (Chief Astromomer) and David Levine (Crew Journalist).

It was an incredible mission, blessed with awesome weather, science, engineering, and adventure. Oh what fun we had!