International Space Station
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July best for space station spotting
If you're out watching the twilight sky in the time frame from 45 to 90 minutes before sunrise, or 45 to 90 minutes after sunset, you'll might see a few "moving stars." They are most likely artificial satellites.
The brightest of all is the International Space Station, and this month provides some great opportunities to see it from just about anywhere.
Circling the Earth at an average altitude of 240 miles and at a speed of 18,000 mph, it can appear to move as fast as a high-flying jet airliner, sometimes taking upwards to four or five minutes to cross the sky.
During the next couple of weeks, North Americans and Europeans will have many opportunities to see the ISS flying over their homes, due chiefly to a seasonal circumstance.
Right now, the nights are still rather short and the time that a satellite in a low Earth orbit (like the ISS) remains illuminated by the sun can extend through much of the night, a situation that can never be attained during other times of the year. Because the ISS circles the Earth about every 90 minutes on average, this means that it's possible to see it not just once, but for several consecutive passes.
Moreover, because the ISS revolves around the Earth in an orbit that is inclined 51.6 degrees to the equator, there are two types of passes that are visible.
In the first case (we'll call it a "Type I" pass), the ISS initially appears over toward the southwestern part of the sky and then sweeps over toward the northeast. About seven or eight hours later, it becomes possible to see a second type of pass (we'll call it "Type II"), but this time with the ISS initially appearing over toward the northwestern part of the sky and sweeping over toward the southeast.
And between roughly July 17 through 24, thanks to the shortness of the nights, North Americans will get a chance to see the ISS undergoing a series of Type I passes after sunset in the evening sky, and then see it again the following morning before sunrise, undergoing a series of Type II passes.
For some locations, there may be as many as six chances to see the ISS during a single night! For much of North America and Europe, the "prime viewing period" for both evening and morning passes will run roughly from about July 17 through 21. After July 21, the window of opportunity for the Type II morning passes will close and only Type I evening passes will be possible, lingering into the early part of August. If you're out watching the twilight sky in the time frame from 45 to 90 minutes before sunrise, or 45 to 90 minutes after sunset, you'... more -
Interview with Astronaut Garrett Reisman
Garrett Reisman calls Parsippany, New Jersey his hometown (though he was born in Morristown), but for three months he made his home in Earth orbit. In an interview with WCBS Newsradio 880, Reisman talked about adjusting to live back on terra firma, the highlights of his mission, being a Yankee fan, being the first Jewish crew member of the International Space Station, and more. Garrett Reisman calls Parsippany, New Jersey his hometown (though he was born in Morristown), but for three months he made his home in... more
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Space shuttle Discovery heads for landing in Florida
The US space shuttle Discovery is poised to land back on Earth today, two weeks after blasting off on a mission to give Japan a permanent entry into space exploration, by delivering its 11-metre-long laboratory to the International Space Station. The shuttle is due to land at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 11.15 am (4.15 pm British time). Debris seen floating out of the ship's cargo bay during landing preparations on Friday turned out to be relatively unimportant hardware.
On board the returning shuttle is crew member Garrett Reisman, returning to Earth after three months in orbit. NASA's Greg Chamitoff replaces him, beginning a six-month mission on the multinational station. Reisman, who stands a little bit over 5 feet tall, joked that his diminutive stature should help him recover more quickly from microgravity, which shifts body fluids and leaves bones and muscles weakened.
Discovery's crew will begin its fiery descent through the Earth's atmosphere roughly an hour before the scheduled landing. Its speed as it begins its descent will exceed 17,000 mph (27,360 kph), far faster than the speed of sound. The US space shuttle Discovery is poised to land back on Earth today, two weeks after blasting off on a mission to give Japan a perman... more -
NASA's Future Spacesuits Are Made for Walking
NPR.org, June 12, 2008 · The next astronauts to step out onto the dusty gray surface of the moon will be wearing a suit that's very different from the bulky white armor worn by the Apollo explorers.
NASA has selected the company that will be designing and constructing the spacesuits for its Constellation program, which is building a new spacecraft to take astronauts back to the moon by 2020.
NASA awarded the contract, worth up to $745 million, to Oceaneering International Inc. of Houston. "We're ready to put them to work and get ready to put bootprints back on the moon," says Glenn Lutz, NASA's project manager for Extravehicular Activity Systems at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Lutz said that the current suits worn by spacewalking astronauts on the space shuttle and international space station "do great, but they are built for floating in space.
He says moon explorers need to be able to climb ladders, walk long distances and scramble over rocks. That's especially important because NASA wants future moonwalkers to spend far more time roaming about than the Apollo astronauts did during their short visits. Eventually, a moon base could let explorers live on the moon for weeks or months.
The new suits should allow far more natural movement than suits did in the Apollo era.
NPR.org, June 12, 2008 · The next astronauts to step out onto the dusty gray surface of the moon will be wearing a suit that's very di... more -
Japan's space lab about to get bigger
By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- The newest space station addition, a giant Japanese science lab, is about to get bigger. After installing TV cameras and removing covers during a spacewalk Thursday, the astronauts at the linked shuttle and station got ready for their next challenge: attaching a storage shed to the bus-size lab. The 210-mile construction job was set for Friday afternoon.
The lab, named Kibo, Japanese for hope, is so big that it had to be split into three shuttle missions to get to the international space station. Its 14-foot storage shed was delivered in March and left in a temporary parking spot. The third and final section, a porch, will be launched next spring.
Spacewalkers Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan Jr. looked like puffy white dolls Thursday against the 37-foot-long, 14-foot-wide lab, which is now the space station's biggest room.
It was their second spacewalk in three days.
"I feel like I'm on a camping trip trying to pack up a wet tent on a Sunday morning," Fossum said as he wrestled with some of the lab's insulation. He and Garan removed thermal covers from the lab's robot arm and added them to a variety of attachment points.
As the spacewalkers toiled outside, their eight colleagues hauled more experiment racks into the billion-dollar lab, and flight controllers near Tokyo monitored the power systems.
"Lots of people at work in there," astronaut Kenneth Ham informed the spacewalkers.
"No, there's not. I don't see anybody," one of the spacewalkers said.
"They got tired of your banging on the roof," Ham answered.
Even with all the racks moving in, Kibo was still noticeably bigger than the eight other rooms at the space station. "We have not seen that much space in space since Skylab," Mission Control told the astronauts in a written message. Skylab was NASA's first space station, back in the 1970s.
Space shuttle Discovery's astronauts delivered and installed Kibo earlier in the week. There are now three labs at the orbiting complex, supplied by NASA, the European Space Agency and, now, the Japanese Space Agency.
On Saturday, the astronauts will test drive Kibo's 33-foot robot arm. The two TV cameras that were set up on the lab's exterior Thursday will be instrumental in those robot-arm operations.
And on Sunday, one final spacewalk will be conducted to replace an empty nitrogen-gas tank at the space station. Fossum and Garan got a head start on that work Thursday.
Just before the seven-hour spacewalk ended, Fossum checked the solar wing rotating joint on the space station's left side. He found streaks of white grease, but no metal shavings like those that are clogging an identical joint on the right side.
Flight director Annette Hasbrook said the left joint looked to be in fine shape and noted that the leaked grease actually may be preventing a buildup of friction between the moving parts.
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On the Net:
NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer ... more -
Galaxy Dynamics
Gravitas: Portraits of a Universe is astrophysicist John Dubinski's self-published DVD containing his stunning supercomputer simulations of galactic evolution set to music. Gravitas: Portraits of a Universe is astrophysicist John Dubinski's self-published DVD containing his stunning supercomputer simulatio... more
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orbits.eoportal.org
Do you want to know whether a satellite is passing over your head right now? Switch to the Sky View, open the Location tab, select your city from the pop-down list or enter your location coordinates. Do you want to know whether a satellite is passing over your head right now? Switch to the Sky View, open the Location tab, select you... more
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Space toilet on shuttle is working again
This is good news! I mean, if you were ever in space with a malfunctioning toilet, you would agree.
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Saturday Morning Science, full length, DVD quality
Dr. Don Pettit performs a number of microgravity experiments while onboard the International Space Station.
This is a compilation of the experiments performed for the Saturday Morning Science program. Dr. Don Pettit performs a number of microgravity experiments while onboard the International Space Station. ... more -
Real time satellite tracking
... and satellite and space shuttle news.
Also of interest: world wide sighting opportunities - http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/
Another fun link: Earth and moon viewer -
http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth/action?opt=-p ... and satellite and space shuttle news. ... more -
Discovery shuttle thunders off the launch pad
Nasa's Discovery shuttle has blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a 14-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The shuttle and its crew of seven are delivering a giant cylinder for Japan's Kibo science lab but also a new pump to repair the station's toilet.
Discovery's flight is the third orbiter mission of 2008 and the first to fly the "in-line" external fuel tank.
The new fuel tank has been built from the ground up with the upgrades demanded after the Columbia disaster in 2003.
The improvements are designed to minimise the shedding of insulation foam on launch - the problem that doomed Columbia and her crew.
All missions prior to Discovery's have had the upgrades retrofitted on to tanks that were already constructed.
Nasa's Discovery shuttle has blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a 14-day mission to the International Space Stati... more -
Space station's sole toilet out of order
With nowhere to go, international space station residents are forced to piss in a toilet rigged with a bag. Fortunately the solid waste disposal of the space john are still functioning. With nowhere to go, international space station residents are forced to piss in a toilet rigged with a bag. Fortunately the solid wast... more
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Do boomerangs work in space?
Takao Doi, an astronaut with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, tested this three-armed paper boomerang while on the International Space Station. Takao Doi, an astronaut with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, tested this three-armed paper boomerang while on the Internationa... more
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It Obama wins, kiss NASA goodbye
Interesting article (with actual research!) by American Thinker showing how Obama will gut NASA.
So much for America being a leader in space, research and exploration. Fortunately, we are friends with China, and they will take over for us. Interesting article (with actual research!) by American Thinker showing how Obama will gut NASA. ... more -
Space Station Robot Asks to be Called Dextre the Magnificent
"In a surprising and potentially troubling request, the new space station robot known as Dextre demanded that astronauts refer to it in the future at 'Dextre the Magnificent.' Brandishing power tools that would make any handyperson blush, the mobile servicing system thanked humans for creating it and promised a glorious future where humans would retain an important role in the new robot order." "In a surprising and potentially troubling request, the new space station robot known as Dextre demanded that astronauts refer to it i... more
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A Marathon Mission in Space?
The crew of the shuttle Endeavor arrived back on Earth Wednesday after a sixteen day flight to the international space station.
The greatest thing about this?
"French spaceflyer Leopold Eyharts, of the European Space Agency, also landed aboard Endeavour to complete a nearly 49-day trek to the space station. Eyharts launched to the station in early February to deliver the station's ESA Columbus lab and handed his Expedition 16 crew assignment over to NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman — who arrived aboard Endeavour — before returning to Earth.
'It was a strange feeling coming back to gravity after such a long time,' Eyharts said via telephone, adding that he may need a couple of days to get back to full strength. 'I feel actually well. I think the adaptation is going as was expecting.'
I would love to have the opportunity to do something in which I would need to adapt to Earth's gravity. The crew of the shuttle Endeavor arrived back on Earth Wednesday after a sixteen day flight to the international space station. ... more -
How to do well at the reunion
Tell me having a picture of yourself like this doesn't get you laid at your high school reunion.
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Space Shuttle Landing
These folks so have it together. The Space Shuttle is a flying brick designed in 1975 by the lowest bidder on a US Government contract...once they fire the engines for landing, this thing is coming down....period.
No pressure. Look at how calm all this is.
What you don't see here are the rest of the teams. Each person in this room has a bunch of people assigned to them. This room only holds the "lead controllers".
Personal soapbox. Yup, it looks easy. Nothing to it. Anyone can do it. It's all "automated". Why are we bothering? That's the general thinking until one of these antiquated, budget-gutted things lands "hard" (crashes). These folks so have it together. The Space Shuttle is a flying brick designed in 1975 by the lowest bidder on a US Government contract... more -
Shuttle completes 16 day mission
The Space Shuttle Endeavor returned safely from a record breaking 16 day mission to the International Space Station. “Wheels stop,” were the words of Dominic L. Gorie, the commander, as the shuttle rolled to a safe stop at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
He said the end of the long mission was bittersweet. “The orbiter’s really been performing really marvelously this whole flight,” he said late Tuesday.
The shuttle delivered the first section of Japan’s large Kibo laboratory, an 18,500-pound storage compartment. The main laboratory, a unit the size of a bus, is scheduled to arrive in May aboard the shuttle Discovery. The Endeavour also ferried up a 12-foot, 3,400-pound Canadian Space Agency robot called Dextre, which is to perform maintenance outside the station.
“There really isn’t anymore a U.S. space flight program or a Russian space flight program,” Dr. Griffin, the NASA administrator said. “There is a world space flight program centered around the space station.”
Exciting times.... The Space Shuttle Endeavor returned safely from a record breaking 16 day mission to the International Space Station. “Wheels stop,” we... more -
NASA goes YouTube
Since your tax dollars already paid for this, you might as well watch!
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International Space Station
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