Russian cargo ship launches on Halloween mission to space station

From Fox News: Russian cargo ship launches on Halloween mission to space station

A robotic Russian cargo vessel blasted off Oct. 31, carrying nearly 3 tons of supplies on a Halloween delivery mission to the International Space Station.

The unmanned Progress 49 spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:41 a.m. EDT (0741 GMT) today and is slated to arrive at the orbiting lab six hours later. You can watch the rendezvous and docking activities live  on NASA TV, beginning at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT).

Progress 49 is toting 2.9 tons of supplies, including 2,050 pounds (930 kilograms) of propellant, 926 pounds (420 kg) of water, 62 pounds (28 kg) of oxygen and 2,738 pounds (1,242 kg) of spare parts, NASA officials said. There's no word yet on whether any candy corn or miniature chocolate bars made it onboard to help the space station's six astronauts celebrate the season.

Life on orbit is always busy, but this week is particularly jam-packed for station crew.

For example, today's launch comes just three days after SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule left the station, wrapping up the first-ever commercial cargo mission to the $100 billion orbiting complex. Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the Baja California coast on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 28).

Dragon will make at least 11 more flights to the station under a $1.6 billion contract that California-based SpaceX signed with NASA. Its next launch is currently scheduled for January, agency officials have said.
Dragon is unique in its ability to ferry hardware, supplies and scientific experiments both to and from the space station. All other cargo craft currently operating — including Russia's Progress ships — carry supplies to the orbiting lab but burn up upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere.

Shortly after welcoming Progress 49 to the station, crewmembers will turn their attention to another task. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, commander of the orbiting complex's current Expedition 33 mission, and Japanese colleague Akihiko Hoshide will perform a spacewalk Thursday morning (Nov. 1).

Beginning at 8:15 a.m. EDT (1215 GMT) Thursday, Williams and Hoshide will venture to the port side of the station's backbone-like truss to repair an ammonia leak in a radiator. The spacewalk should take about 6 1/2 hours, NASA officials said.

SpaceX cargo ship returns to Earth after station visit In the final phase of its first operati

From CNewt:  SpaceX cargo ship returns to Earth after station visit

In a major milestone for the space station program, a commercial cargo capsule loaded with nearly a ton of long-awaited experiment samples, broken components and other gear, returned to Earth Sunday, plunging back through the atmosphere to a Pacific Ocean splashdown to wrap up the spacecraft's first operational flight.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule is the first space station cargo ship since the shuttle capable of carrying large amounts of equipment both to and from the lab complex As such, it restores a critical capability for NASA -- the return of experiment samples from the station -- along with failed components that require troubleshooting and analysis.
"We see her moving aft and away from us out of the keep-out sphere," Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams radioed from the station as the Dragon capsule departed early today. "It was nice while she was on board. We tamed her, took her (on board) and literally and figuratively, there's a piece of us on that spacecraft going home to Earth."
She was referring to urine and other biological samples packed aboard the cargo ship that had been awaiting a ride back to researchers on the ground.
"Not only is it going to give us a consistent supply chain up, but very critical, particularly to biological research, is the return mass, to be able to have frozen samples returned home," space station Program Manager Mike Suffredini said earlier. "This really is the keystone to what is going to allow space station to do what it was built to do. It's critical to the success of the station."
Designed, built and operated by Space Exploration Technologies -- SpaceX -- under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, the Dragon capsule was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Oct. 7, loaded with nearly a half ton of supplies and equipment. It was captured by the station's robot arm three days later and attached to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.

The Dragon capsule, positioned for release from the station's robot arm.

(Credit: NASA TV)

After unloading its cargo, the station crew repacked the capsule with nearly a ton of experiment samples, station components and other gear awaiting return to Earth. Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, operating the space station's robot arm, detached Dragon from its berthing port at 7:19 a.m. ET today. The astronauts then released the capsule at 9:29 a.m. as the two spacecraft sailed 255 miles above Burma.
At that point, SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, Calif., took over active control, using thruster firings to move the capsule away from the space station. At 2:28 p.m., the capsule's braking rockets fired for nine minutes and 50 seconds, dropping the far side of its orbit deep into the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
After enduring the heat of re-entry, the capsule's two drogue parachutes deployed at an altitude of about 45,000 feet, slowing the craft enough to permit the release of three large main parachutes at an altitude of around 10,000 feet. A SpaceX team was standing by in the landing zone 250 miles off the coast of Baja California to recover the spacecraft.
"The SpaceX recovery boat sees the vehicle with three main chutes out," NASA mission control radioed the station crew at 3:16 p.m.
"Good news," Williams replied from orbit. "Thanks for the update."
A few moments later, at 3:22 p.m., the spacecraft splashed into the Pacific Ocean to complete the return to Earth.
"Station, Houston on two, Dragon is in the Pacific," mission control advised.
"Awesome," Williams said. "She made it home to Earth."
The SpaceX commercial resupply contract requires the company to deliver 44,000 pounds of equipment and supplies over 12 flights. To pave the way for operational resupply missions, SpaceX carried out two successful test flights, one that tested the capsule's systems in a solo flight and another that included a berthing at the station last May.

In orbital darkness, the SpaceX cargo ship pulls away from the station, on track for a Pacific Ocean splashdown later Sunday.

(Credit: NASA TV)

The Dragon capsule measures 14.4 feet tall and 12 feet wide, with a trunk section, jettisoned just before re-entry, that extends another 9.2 feet below the capsule's heat shield that houses two solar arrays and an unpressurized cargo bay. The spacecraft can carry up to 7,297 pounds of cargo split between the pressurized and unpressurized sections.
Under a separate $440 million contract with NASA, SpaceX engineers are working on upgrades to convert the Dragon capsule into a manned spacecraft that can ferry crews to and from the station. SpaceX managers believe they will be ready for initial manned test flights in the 2015 timeframe, assuming continued NASA funding. Two other companies, Boeing and Sierra Nevada, are developing their own spacecraft designs under similar contracts.
For Dragon's first Commercial Resupply Service mission -- CRS-1 -- the SpaceX cargo capsule delivered 882 pounds of hardware, supplies, and equipment to the space station, including 260 pounds of crew food and supplies, 390 pounds of science gear, and 225 pounds of spare parts and other station hardware.
For its return to Earth, the Dragon was packed with about 1,673 pounds of experiment samples and hardware, including 163 pounds of crew supplies, 518 pounds of station hardware, 123 pounds of computer gear and Russian equipment, and 866 pounds of science gear and experiment samples.

Dragon splashdown set for this weekend

From EE Times: Dragon splashdown set for this weekend

WASHINGTON – A commercial cargo ship that arrived at the International Space Station on Oct. 10 is due to return to Earth on Sunday (Oct. 28), ending the first commercial resupply mission to the orbiting outpost.

NASA contractor Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX, Hawthorne, Calif.) said space station crew members are expected to release the unmanned Dragon cargo ship about 6:25 a.m. PDT on Sunday. First they must use a robotic arm to detach Dragon from its docking port, then release the spacecraft a safe distance from the station.

A series of thruster burns will then move Dragon away from the station in preparation for a de-orbit burn. Prior to the burn, SpaceX controllers will jettison the spacecraft’s “trunk” and solar arrays in preparation for reentry.

 

NASA Mulls Solar Electric Propulsion for Deep Space Exploration

From Yahoo News:  NASA Mulls Solar Electric Propulsion for Deep Space Exploration

Nathan Strange, a mission formulation systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mission Concepts Section, recently gave a telecom presentation about the use of solar electric propulsion to explore the inner Solar System.

The talk was accompanied by a slide presentation.

Electric propulsion

According to a website on the subject by Northwestern University, solar electric propulsion works by generating electric power from solar arrays which is used to give a positive electric charge to atoms inside a chamber which are thrust out by magnets. Because SEP offers low but long-lasting thrust, it can build up a great deal of velocity for spacecraft traveling in deep space. SEP is also called ion propulsion and has been used by a number of space probes, such as Deep Space One and Dawn.

Solar electric propulsion to travel to the moon, asteroids, and Mars

Strange's presentation suggests combining the advantages of solar electric propulsion and chemical propulsion. Essentially, most of a deep spacecraft would be slowly moved to a point in cislunar space, such as a high Earth orbit, lunar orbit or one of the Lagrange points where the gravity of the Earth and moon cancel one another out. Then a crew of astronauts, riding an Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle launched by a Space Launch System, would ride to the deep spacecraft, dock, and board it. Chemical rockets would blast the ship out of the Earth's gravity field and then the solar electric propulsion system would take over to take the spacecraft the rest of the way.

Mission scenarios

Strange presented a number of mission scenarios that could start in the early 2020s. A deep space station would be established at the L2 point to test out exploration systems. Asteroids of increasing size and difficulty to reach could be visited. With the addition of a lunar lander, the lunar surface could be visited. The ultimate goal is a visit to the Martian moons of Deimos and Phobos, to be followed by a landing on the Martian surface.

Power considerations
The technology hurdle, according to Strange, that has to be surmounted is to develop SEP systems that generate power in the hundreds of kilowatts. Thus far 50 kilowatt SEP systems have been tested in the laboratory at NASA's Goddard Research Center. Such could be clustered together to provide the amount of thrust needed to send crewed deep space craft to their destinations.
Launch vehicle advantage

The one great advantage, according to Strange, in using SEP is that the 70 metric ton lift version of the Space Launch System would be sufficient to launch the various parts of the deep spacecraft, including the crew. NASA would not have to wait for the 133 metric ton lift version of the SLS to conduct deep space exploration. With some tweaking, Strange implied that the 53 metric ton lift Falcon Heavy might be used as well. 

______________

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

 

Overheard: Tax dollars in space - worth it?

From CNN:  Overheard: Tax dollars in space - worth it?

Comments on CNN Light Years consistently flood in about how the money spent on the space program isn't worth it. We often see the word "waste" in connection to the tax dollars that go toward exploring the rest of the universe beyond our planet.

So, we ran a story this weekend about what innovations space exploration has delivered. Examples included digital image processing used in medical scanning, GPS and state-of-the-art tires.
As expected, readers expressed a variety of opinions upon reading this story. Some were sympathetic with the viewpoint of the middle-class mother interviewed for the article, who cringes when she thinks about tax dollars going to NASA, and wishes she had more funding for her daughter's college tuition.
User 2/8 wrote:

The money would be better spent investing the future of our OWN planet, instead of floating around space, touching rocks and reporting shiny dirt.

User Whom agreed, adding:

Space exploration is a waste of time and money that should be spent on the needs of mankind here on earth, lets cure cancer first.

But others clamor for more space exploration. Tim Jackson supports the space program because he believes that our species should expand beyond our planet.

We must go into space, and soon. We need to gather more resources. We need scientific research based on the idea of getting to Luna [the moon] or Mars in a short period of time. We need all those discoveries from space age research to live better lives. We need to expand our population to live in the moon and to live on Mars.

Bill Osler expanded on this point, arguing that humans may become extinct if we restrict ourselves to Earth:

Ultimately, man must learn to live in space. At any time in the future, perhaps tomorrow, the Earth could become uninhabitable for man and every other organism on the planet. We think we have eons ahead of us, but there is also a theory that the conditions that make life possible may only exist in a tiny window of time. I cringe a little when I hear about 'space exploration'.
Exploration is important, but the primary goal needs to be survival of life itself. We need to establish self-sufficient colonies in space as soon as possible. We are the first generation to possess the technology to make it possible. If we fail to do so, we may be condemning life on Earth to extinction.

Space exploration doesn't have to involve putting human lives out there, says Sparky:

Space exploration is important. *Manned* space exploration is a waste of money.
We have had robots surveying Mars continuously for years now. More work has been done by these robots than all the astronauts who landed on the Moon.
With a manned mission, the whole point is to bring them back alive. Little or no room left for science. Robots are cheap and expendable.

Of course, there are a lot of people involved in the space program who disagree, including University of Southern California scientist Madhu Thangavelu, who wrote this commentary on the issue last year.
Reader Smartguy wrote:

Manned exploration isn't a waste. There would be a wealth of knowledge gained from health, medical, and life support. If we just ... skipped research in manned missions, we will never leave this planet.
Eventually the population and environment will get out of hand on earth will bring the need to spread out in the galaxy. Colonization is an inevitable need given enough time. Not to mention that probes and robots will be less effective at research given enough distance. The vast distances will make it difficult to control and communicate with these unmanned probes due to the limitation of the speed of light.

Several commenters voiced harsh criticisms of the mother in the article because she doesn't see the use of space exploration. RUDY respectfully responded:

She is a mom trying to keep her head above water that doesn't see the direct impact that NASA has had on her life. It is hard to see this when money is tight and you (hear) a number like $18 Billion. So while I disagree with her I understand her perspective. Let's cut her a break.

And to give us perhaps a little more perspective on the "invest at home vs. elsewhere" issue, Jim chimed in:

Way back in 1492, the average Spaniard probably argued why is King Ferdinand wasting money on Columbus sailing out over the endless sea when he/she is living in squalor and misery...

Stratos Jump and Citizen Space Exploration

From CitizensinSpace.com: Stratos Jump and Citizen Space Exploration

Baumgartner’s successful jump will help prepare the way for suborbital citizen space exploration. The Stratos team is not only testing out spacesuit technology, which will be extremely important for suborbital flights; it is also helping to set public expectations regarding risk, safety, and regulation of citizen space exploration.
To quote the Federal Aviation Administration, “[FAA regulation of skydiving] is based on the assumption that any individual who chooses to skydive has assessed the dangers involved and assumes personal responsibility for his or her safety. The regulations… are intended to assure the safety of those not involved in the sport, including persons and property on the surface and other users of the airspace. The skydiving community is encouraged to adopt good operating practices and programs to avoid further regulation by the FAA.”
This regulatory model is very close to the “informed consent” model for spaceflight participants created by the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Given the inherent risks and training requirements, spaceflight is more akin to skydiving than commercial airline travel. It will remain so for the foreseeable future. The informed consent model, therefore, is a good one. Unfortunately, it’s a model that many in the public and the space enthusiast community do not currently understand. Skydiving is an example we can point to in order to better inform the public.
The space community should also take note of the FAA’s admonition to the skydiving community. The freedom to fly does not come with out a price. We must self-regulate to ensure that best practices are followed for every aspect of operations, including equipment, maintenance, and training. If we fail to do so, we invite increased government regulation that may have negative consequences for the future of the industry.

Nearby Earth-Sized Alien Planet Could Spur Interstellar Exploration

From Space.com:  Nearby Earth-Sized Alien Planet Could Spur Interstellar Exploration

The recent discovery of an Earth-size alien planet right next door to us could help spark humanity's first true steps beyond our own solar system, scientists say.
On Tuesday (Oct. 16), a European team announced the existence of Alpha Centauri Bb, a roasting-hot world residing in the nearest star system to our own, just 4.3 light-years away. The find could spur serious and sustained efforts to explore the newfound planet and any siblings it may have in the three-star Alpha Centauri system, say researchers not involved in the discovery.
"This is a huge motivator for the future of sending probes outside of our planetary system and humans trying to figure out how to travel to another star system," MIT planetary scientist Sara Seager told SPACE.com via email. "I think the reality of a planet and the promise of more is a game changer."

5 NASA Missions You Didn't Know Were Canceled

From SFGate:  5 NASA Missions You Didn't Know Were Canceled

The days of big government funding of the space program are gone. At the end of World War II, a new era of competition between the United States and the Soviet Union began. Out of this Cold War came the Space Race. Each side was eager to prove its technological dominance by being the first to put a man on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 successfully placed two astronauts on the moon, giving the United States the edge in the Space Race.
Winning the Space Race wasn't cheap. The year of 1966 marked the largest space expenditure in government history with nearly 4.5% of U.S. government spending committed to NASA. From 1964 to 1967, more than 3% was committed to winning the Space Race.
Since the days of the Cold War, government funding of NASA has slowly declined. The 2012 projections call for only 0.5% of spending to go to NASA. Numerous missions were canceled because of the falling budget since the Cold War:
Pluto Kuiper ExpressThe Pluto Kuiper Express was a spacecraft that was planned for launch in 2004. It was slated to arrive at Pluto in 2012. The goal of the mission was to study the Kuiper Belt that sat beyond Neptune. The price tag in 2000 was $350 million. This cost was too steep for Congress to stomach. In 2006, plans to explore Pluto were again impacted when its status as a planet was removed. However, later that year NASA launched a spacecraft that will reach Pluto in 2015.
Mars Telecommunication OrbiterIn 2009, to service its growing population of rovers and other planned science vehicles, NASA was to launch an orbiter to arrive in 2010 called the Mars Telecommunication Orbiter. Its primary duty was to provide a better means of communication between Mars and Earth. Think of it as an upgrade to the planet's Wi-Fi system at a cost of $500 million. This project was canceled in 2005 because NASA shifted priorities. No longer was the anticipated volume of data enough to justify the high cost.
Comet Rendezvous and Asteroid FlybyThis project had big goals. This spacecraft, set to launch in 1995, was going to perform an asteroid flyby, but it had the loftier goal of piggybacking on an asteroid and firing a sensor into its core. The project was canceled in 1992 as a result of congressional funding cuts. Later, NASA realized some of the goals of this mission with its Stardust and Deep Impact missions.
ExoMars MissionThe ExoMars Mission was to be a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency that would have landed a mobile scientific platform on Mars. The craft was supposed to then drill deep into the subsurface of Mars and analyze those samples. Scientists know that because of the hostile environment of the planet, proving that life once existed on Mars would require drilling into the planet where erosion hasn't had an effect. The platform was to land on Mars between 2016 and 2018. According to Space.com, the United States will likely tell the ESA that it can no longer provide a launch vehicle for this mission due to budget cuts.
The MoonIn 2003, President George W. Bush laid out a vision to return human beings to the moon by 2020. In 2010, President Obama shifted the vision from landing astronauts on the moon to developing lower-cost vehicles that could act as space taxis. This vision included provisions to incentivize NASA and private companies to develop lower-cost vehicles to reach space. This emphasis came in the wake of the high-dollar space shuttle program that proved to be more costly and less versatile than originally planned.
The Bottom LineThe biggest of NASA's accomplishments and its failures are well known. Who could forget the "one small step for man" event or the Challenger and Columbia disasters? Opponents of the nation's space policy argue that the space program has gone backwards. Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, argues that NASA's priorities are in desperate need of a new vision.
Priorities are often dictated by money. In a global economy where there is little room for discretionary spending, funding for space exploration has been put on hold around the world.

Lerner: The new American heroes

From A Better Iowa:  Lerner: The new American heroes

While witnessing Space Shuttle Endeavour inching its way through the streets of Los Angeles, one can’t help but reminisce about the glory of America’s space program, and the immeasurable excitement and extraordinary pride felt by all of our nation’s citizens, young and old. The words emblazoned in the fabric of the Shuttle, and upon its mission, “United States of America,” evoke deep emotions. The recent passing of astronaut Neil Armstrong secured these same deep emotions, the emotions of a nation that honors its heroes, desperate for more of them.
Beginning with the countdown to Alan Shepard, Jr.’s heroic, historic, flight, and John Glenn’s circle of our globe, with countless additional memorable adventures into space, liftoff meant more than the launch of a rocket, more than our Country’s dominance, more than remarkable advances in science and technology—liftoff meant soaring hopes and visionary creations credited to the government of a nation, of a people, united.
President John F. Kennedy’s outer space challenge to our Country, fulfilled by our government, will have an everlasting impact upon history. Sadly, with the privatization of space exploration/travel, and government/NASA stepping aside, an era of American glory becomes history.
We are now witnessing the day when millionaires and billionaires and investors are stepping in where heroes and a nation once stood. Instead of our government launching our hopes and dreams, inspiring all of us, through our collective investment, to reach beyond the stars, individual ego, venture capital, and profiteering now rule the day.
There was a time when sports stadiums were honored with the names of American heroes, rather than wealthy corporate sponsors. There was a time when values drove us, rather than greed. There was a time when the good of the nation triumphed over the power of special interests. There was a time when Budweiser and Nike stayed off the field.
In an admittedly partisan message, but one well grounded in Romney/Ryan rhetoric, a legitimate fear for our nation is that the inscription “Bain Capital” will appear everywhere the words “United States of America” once stood. For 99% of us, the luster of the Space Shuttle will be lost, and our American heroes along with it.

 

Close(ish) encounter: Asteroid the size of house 'buzzes' the Earth - but don't worry, it is still 59,000miles away

From Daily Mail Online:  Close(ish) encounter: Asteroid the size of house 'buzzes' the Earth - but don't worry, it is still 59,000miles away

An asteroid the size of a house will pass very near the Earth today, scientists have warned.

But of course, that is very close in space terms - they insist there is no risk of actually hitting our planet.
The asteroid 2012 TC4 will pass just 59,000 miles - about a quarter of the distance to the moon - when it makes its closest point today, Fox News reported.

The asteroid was discovered by astronomers on October 4 and is around 56 feet across.

Flyby: The asteroid passed with 59,000 miles of the Earth's surface

'Small asteroid 2012 TC4 will safely pass Earth Oct 12 at just .25 the distance to our moon's orbit,' scientists with NASA's Asteroid Watch programme wrote in a Twitter update this week.

On average, the moon's orbit is about 238,000 miles.
The asteroid is large enough to be seen by amateur astronomers using a small telescope,the website Spaceweather.com claimed.
Near-Earth flybys of small asteroids such as 2012 TC4 pass inside the orbit of the moon fairly often, Asteroid Watch scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California told Fox.
On Sunday the 100ft asteroid 2012 TV also passed inside the moon's orbit, missing Earth by about 158,000 miles (255,000 kilometers).
NASA scientists and astronomers regularly watch the skies for potentially dangerous asteroids that could pose an impact threat to Earth.
A group of asteroid hunters had, coincidentally, announced on Thursday that it is on track for a 2017 launch of a private space telescope dedicated to seeking out potentially dangerous space rocks.
Officials with the B16 Foundation said their plan to launch the Sentinel Space Telescope to scan for near-Earth asteroids has passed a major review milestone.
The new space telescope is designed to search for asteroids from an observation spot near the orbit of Venus.
In September 2011, NASA announced that its surveys had found about 90 per cent of the largest asteroids that could post a threat – space rocks the size of a mountain or bigger.
Asteroid 2012 TC4 is too small to pose a risk to Earth. Past estimates by astronomers said that an asteroid about 460 feet wide (140 meters) would cause widespread damage on the planet.

SpaceX rocket glitch puts satellite in wrong orbit

From Reuters:  SpaceX rocket glitch puts satellite in wrong orbit


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Oct 9 - A prototype communications satellite flying as a secondary payload aboard a Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket was sent into the wrong orbit because of a problem during launch Sunday evening, officials said Tuesday.
One of the nine Merlin engines powering the Falcon 9 rocket shut down early, though the other engines burned longer to make up for the loss of thrust, saving the primary mission of delivering a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station for NASA.
The rocket blasted off at 8:35 p.m. EDT Sunday (0035 GMT Monday) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, restoring a U.S. supply line to the $100 billion orbital outpost, a project of 15 nations, following the end of the shuttle program last year.
The Dragon freighter is due to arrive at the space station, which flies about 250 miles above Earth, on Wednesday.
Space Exploration Technologies said its rocket, which was created by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk and his team at SpaceX, as the company is known, could lose two engines and still make its intended orbit.
"Like the Saturn 5 (moon rocket) and modern airliners, Falcon 9 is designed to handle an engine-out situation and still complete its mission. No other rocket currently flying has this ability," privately owned SpaceX said in a statement.
But that flexibility didn't help satellite communications provider Orbcomm, which owned a prototype OG2 communications satellite flying aboard the Falcon 9.
The satellite was deposited in a lower-than-intended orbit, Orbcomm said in a statement.
The company declined to release details, but Jonathan's Space Report, a website that tracks space launches, says Orbcomm expected its satellite to be placed into an elliptical orbit with a low point of 217 miles and a high point of 466 miles from Earth. That would later become a circular orbit at 466 miles from Earth.
Instead, it ended up in an orbit that ranges from 126 miles to 200 miles.
Orbcomm said an analysis has begun to determine if the satellite can use its onboard propulsion system to boost its orbit.
"Orbcomm will not be able to get to its operational 750 x 750 kilometer orbit, but there's a chance they'll get a few month's of system tests out of it," concludes Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard University astrophysicist who publishes the Space Report.
The company still plans to launch 17 more OG2 satellites on two Falcon 9 rockets in 2013 and 2014.
Those spacecraft will be primary payloads and delivered directly into their operational orbits, Orbcomm said.
SpaceX declined to release financial details of its contract with Orbcomm, and Orbcomm did not respond to requests for comment.

 

Space age treaty is born

From the Tennesseean:  Space age treaty is born

Space lawyers were born on Oct. 10, 1967, when the “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,” commonly called the Outer Space Treaty, went into effect just over 10 years after the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I.
The terms of the treaty were agreed upon in 1966, and the treaty was signed by the United States, the Soviet Union and Great Britain on Jan. 27, 1967; 101 countries have ratified the treaty, and 26 others have signed but not yet ratified it.
The treaty established the framework for space law along several principles:
• Exploration of space is for the benefit of all countries and it is the province of all mankind.
• Outer space is free for all nations (states) to explore, and no nation can appropriate it by claims of sovereignty.
• No nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction can be placed in orbit or on celestial bodies.
• The Moon and other celestial bodies are exclusively reserved for peaceful purposes.
• Astronauts are considered envoys of all mankind.
• Nations are responsible for national space activities whether performed by government or private entities.
• Nations are liable for damage caused by their space objects.
• Nations shall avoid contamination of space and celestial bodies.
The treaty is managed by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), which was established in 1958 as the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Mazian Othman of Malaysia is the eighth director of the office and has served since 2007; she was also director from 1999 to 2002. The only American director was NASA Administrator Marvin Robinson; he was the third director, serving in 1982-83.
The primary criticism of the 1967 treaty is that by declaring all of outer space a common heritage for mankind, it essentially made all of space outside the Earth’s atmosphere a wilderness preserve. The treaty removed incentive for nations or private companies to explore, claim and colonize space for exploitation and expansion. In this analysis, there is no frontier to tame, only a cosmic park for photographic safaris.
The recent excitement over the Curiosity landing on Mars represents the latent interest in space exploration, but critics point to the virtual absence of space exploration activity since the treaty came into effect 45 years ago. Certainly, there has been significant use of space for communication, mapping, research and governmental spying activities; yet, no manned exploration efforts have been attempted since the United States mothballed the Apollo program.
As professor John Hickman writes in his criticism of the treaty, “Humanity has done a fine job of confining itself to Earth and low Earth orbit and of undertaking only sporadic and anemic space exploration of other celestial bodies with unmanned vehicles.”
Proponents have only to point to the genesis of the treaty to illustrate the dangers of an unfettered race to space, when there was widespread fear that nuclear weapons would be positioned in orbit and that governments would usurp space for military purposes, leaving commercial exploration and development out of the picture.
The Outer Space Treaty has no significant penalties for withdrawal. Signatories only must give one year’s notice of intent to leave the treaty.

Private SpaceX Cargo Ship Launching 'New Era' for Space Station Today

From YahooNews:  Private SpaceX Cargo Ship Launching 'New Era' for Space Station Today

An unmanned private spacecraft is counting down to launch the first commercial delivery to the International Space Station tonight (Oct. 7), marking a major shift in how NASA sends supplies and gear to the orbiting lab.

The gumdrop-shaped Dragon space capsule built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX is set to blast off from a pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to begin a three-day voyage to the space station. Liftoff is set for 8:35 p.m. EDT (0035 Monday GMT).

"Tomorrow's SpaceX launch begins a new era for spaceflight and the International Space Station," Sam Scimemi, NASA's space station director, said in a briefing Saturday (Oct. 6). "These flights are critical to the space station's sustainment and to help begin its full utilization."

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will launch atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket carrying nearly 1,000 pounds (453 kilograms) of cargo for astronauts living on the space station. The crew plans to welcome the spacecraft on Wednesday (Oct. 10) by grappling it with a robotic arm and attaching it to the station.

The mission is the first of at least 12 cargo runs for NASA that SpaceX will perform under a $1.6 billion deal to deliver 20 metric tons of supplies to the station for the U.S. space agency. [SpaceX's Dragon Poised to Sunday Launch (Photos)]
SpaceX is also working to upgrade the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rockets to launch seven-astronaut crews into orbit. The spacecraft was designed from the start to enable future crewed flights, according to SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who founded the company in 2002.

With NASA's space shuttle fleet retired, the space agency is depending on commercial spacecraft like SpaceX's Dragon capsules to ferry cargo — and eventually astronauts —into and from low-Earth orbit. The agency is outsourcing those services to commercial companies while developing its own new rocket and spacecraft for deep-space exploration.

What goes up can come down

SpaceX is one of two companies with contracts to provide cargo shipments to the space station for NASA. The other firm, the Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp., has a $1.9 billion deal for station resupply flights using its new Antares rocket and unmanned Cygnus spacecraft. Of the two companies, only SpaceX's Dragon is capable of returning cargo to Earth for retrieval.

"We're very excited. This is the first time we're taking a powered cargo up," SpaceX President Gywnne Shotwell said. "We're quite excited about the missions both up and back."
Some notable items making the trip up to the space station: a collection of 23 student experiments; a spare urine pump for a space toilet; and astronaut food, including a special delivery of ice cream for the station's three-person crew. The ice cream will fly up inside a powered freezer along with other items, NASA officials said.
Coming back down: 500 samples of astronaut blood and urine, some that have been stored in station freezers for more than a year awaiting a ride home; space station equipment
"The SpaceX Dragon is really important in bringing research from the station back to Earth," station program scientist Julie Robinson said in a briefing. "It essentially replaces the capacity that we lost when the shuttle retired."
Building on success
Tonight's launch follows a successful May test flight that sent a SpaceX Dragon capsule to the station, then returned it to Earth with a smooth splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Southern California. But unlike the May flight, which delivered a small amount of cargo, Dragon is making a complete cargo run to and from the station. [SpaceX's 1st Dragon Flight to Space Station (Video)]
The mission take less time to reach the station, too, since SpaceX does not need to repeat some rendezvous tests that prolonged the first flight.
"This time we will be driving right to station," Shotwell said.
In fact, SpaceX and NASA mission managers plan to return nearly 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) of science experiment results, equipment and other items back to Earth when the Dragon capsule returns. That's nearly twice the amount of supplies the spacecraft is delivering.
"Some of it is for research, and some of it are [orbital replacement units] to be refurbished or repaired," station program manager Mike Suffredini said.
Having a U.S.-based cargo ship for the space station has made adding last-minute items, such as replacements for broken parts, much easier, Suffredini added. Until now, NASA has had to ship station cargo not riding on shuttles to its partners in Europe, Japan and Russia to pack aboard those countries' unmanned space trucks. With an American spacecraft, the process is faster and more flexible, he said.
"This capability is vital to the International Space Station," Suffredini said.


How to watch SpaceX launch
NASA will provide a broadcast of SpaceX's launch to the International Space Station tonight on its NASA TV channel, as well as via a webcast. You can watch the launch live on NASA TV here beginning at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT).
The Falcon 9 rocket's ascent may also be visible from the U.S. East Coast, weather permitting.
Current weather forecasts predict a 60 percent chance of good conditions for tonight's launch attempt. SpaceX also has two other backup launch windows, on Monday and Tuesday, if needed. The weather on those days is expected to be pristine, with an 80 percent chance of good conditions, mission managers said.
Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing photo of SpaceX's launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule on Sunday and would like to share it for a story or gallery, send images and details (including launch viewing location) to managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

Visit SPACE.com this week for complete coverage of SpaceX's first Dragon cargo flight to the International Space Station.

Mars rover Curiosity finds signs of ancient stream

From YahooNews:  Mars rover Curiosity finds signs of ancient stream

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NASA rover Curiosity has beamed back pictures of bedrock that suggest a fast-moving stream, possibly waist-deep, once flowed on Mars — a find that the mission's chief scientist called exciting.

There have been previous signs that water existed on the red planet long ago, but the images released Thursday showing pebbles rounded off, likely by water, offered the most convincing evidence so far of an ancient streambed.

There was "a vigorous flow on the surface of Mars," said chief scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology. "We're really excited about this."

The discovery did not come as a complete surprise. NASA decided to plunk Curiosity down inside Gale Crater near the Martian equator because photos from space hinted that the spot possessed a watery past. The six-wheeled rover safely landed Aug. 5 after a nail-biting plunge through the Martian atmosphere. It's on a two-year, $2.5 billion mission to study whether the Martian environment could have been favorable for microbial life.
Present day Mars is a frozen desert with no hint of water on its radiation-scarred surface, but geological studies of rocks by previous missions suggest the planet was warmer and wetter once upon a time.
The latest evidence came from photos that Curiosity took revealing rounded pebbles and gravel — a sign that the rocks were transported long distances by water and smoothed out.
The size of the rocks — ranging from a sand grain to a golf ball — indicates that they could not have been carried by wind, said mission scientist Rebecca Williams of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz.
Though Curiosity did not use its high-tech instruments to drill into the rocks or analyze their chemical makeup, Grotzinger said scientists were sure that water played a role based on just studying the pictures.
It's unclear how long the water persisted on the surface, but it easily could have lasted "thousands to millions of years," said mission scientist Bill Dietrich of the University of California, Berkeley.
Curiosity chanced upon the dried-up streambed while driving to Glenelg, an intriguing spot where three types of terrain meet. Its ultimate destination is Mount Sharp, a mountain rising from the center of crater floor, but it was not expected to travel there until the end of the year.

Finding past water is a first step toward learning whether the environment could have supported microbes. Scientists generally agree that besides water and an energy source such as the sun, organic carbon is a necessary prerequisite for life.

While an ancient streambed holds promise as a potentially habitable environment, scientists don't think it's a good place to preserve the carbon building blocks of life. That's why the rover will continue its trek to the foothills of Mount Sharp where there's a better chance of finding organics.

 

With Limited Budgets, Pursuing Science Smartly

From the New York TImes, an op ed:  With Limited Budgets, Pursuing Science Smartly

With the first presidential debate coming up on Wednesday, it is striking — if not surprising — how bland and predictable the candidates have been in discussing America’s role in space.

 True, President Obama and his challenger, Mitt Romney, each responded at length to a question posed by ScienceDebate 2012 about the nation’s goals in space. But while both emphasized the importance of space exploration, with Mr. Obama briefly mentioning the need for monitoring the Earth, neither candidate, and neither party, has addressed the scientific question of why we want to bother with exploring space.

The issues that were addressed explicitly — national pride, technological innovation, national security — may be interesting and relevant, but they are largely spinoffs of what is usually claimed to be a grand scientific adventure. This is not a new phenomenon. Tapes of John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office released last month made it clear that from his perspective, science was irrelevant to the space race he proclaimed back in 1962. What counted was beating the Russians to the Moon.

 Maybe scientists should simply face reality and accept that science doesn’t play a central role in the government’s equation. Yet as much as GPS navigation is of great help to me, and as fun as it looks to be an astronaut floating around the International Space Station, I suspect I am not alone in being far more excited by the images produced by NASA’s unmanned space probes — which do the science, after all.

For example, every time I see a Hubble Space Telescope photograph showing hundreds of galaxies, each containing billions of stars whose light has taken billions of years to travel to the Hubble cameras, it inspires me to ponder whether they may have been surrounded by now-frozen planets harboring long-dead civilizations. 

 And closer to home, I have to admit that I am in love with Curiosity.

When that NASA rover landed on Mars this summer, I was privileged to be near the deep-space antenna in Tidbinbilla, Australia, where the signals from Curiosity were beamed before they were forwarded to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. I haven’t been as excited to watch a spacecraft land on another body since I was a kid and stayed home to watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the Moon.

  Maybe I was more excited about Curiosity, not just because I was closer to the action but because the astounding complexity of the landing was achieved without any direct human intervention, in just nine minutes — considerably shorter than the time light takes to travel from Mars to Earth. Knowing that the spacecraft had either landed or crashed 15 minutes earlier made the anticipation seem even more pronounced.

And that is why unmanned space exploration seems to me much more exciting and scientifically worthwhile than human spaceflight, especially at a time of restricted budgets and nascent technology. Sending Curiosity to Mars cost only about 10 times what it would cost to make a movie about sending Bruce Willis to Mars — and perhaps a hundredth of the cost of actually sending humans there and back. 

Many of my colleagues are geologists who are not shy about pointing out that a human geologist could do in a few days what Curiosity may do in a year or two. But we aren’t likely to send geologists there anytime soon — and if we did, they wouldn’t be able to stay much longer than a few days, while Curiosity can silently and gently move about the planet for a decade or more, powered by its plutonium generator. Moreover, by the time we might get around to sending humans, in two to three decades at best, robots will have advanced to the point where they might easily compete in real time. 

In terms of scientific payoff, it makes far more sense to spend money on Mars rovers, since 99 percent of the cost of sending humans into space involves keeping them alive and getting them back, leaving precious little for science. 

But cost aside, I find the adventure more exciting. The thought of Curiosity braving the Martian days and nights alone — rolling slowly along, zapping rocks and occasionally picking them up, sending stunning, detailed photos of an alien terrain like a tourist using a cellphone to communicate with loved ones back home — is both heartwarming and bittersweet. Every time I go to the NASA Web site and open up a new photo of the day’s tour, I feel as if I am there. If it takes a year to get to the base of a nearby mountain, who cares? I will enjoy every step of the journey even more because it is a gentle one. 

 Over the coming decades we may send more robotic explorers to even harsher climes, maybe to explore deep oceans on Jupiter’s moon Europa, or to search on comets for telltale signs of life’s origins. We may send powerful telescopes into space that may one day photograph distant worlds that may harbor life. For me, sending these probes where no man or woman has gone before is every bit as thrilling as imagining Captain Kirk being teleported down to an alien surface. 

And while such probes may do less for national security than sending satellites to orbit the Earth to spy on our friends and enemies, I am reminded of a statement by Robert R. Wilson, the first director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. When asked during a Congressional hearing whether the particle accelerator would aid in the defense of the nation, he said it would not — but it would help keep the nation worth defending. 

Florida pursues 150 acres for commercial launch complex

From the Brownsville Herald:  Florida pursues 150 acres for commercial launch complex

Florida’s attempt to secure a 150-acre tract of land from NASA to develop a commercial launch complex signals the stiff competition Texas faces in luring a space exploration company to Cameron County, an economic development official said Friday.

Florida is not saying if it is trying to obtain the acreage from NASA to reel in Space Exploration Technologies Inc., or SpaceX, which is planning to construct its own launch pad.

“We are not at liberty to comment on who the potential customers might be,” Tina Lange — spokeswoman for Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development organization — told the Valley Morning Star Friday.

But for Brownsville Economic Development Council Vice President Gilberto Salinas, the writing is on the wall: “It’s loud and clear.”

“Florida is trying to make their incentive package better than everybody else’s,” Salinas said.

SpaceX, headquartered in Hawthorne, Calif., has been scouting at least Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico for potential sites to construct the launch pad.

The developments come as Texas continues efforts to attract SpaceX to a site near Brownsville close to Boca Chica Beach for the launch pad project.

Salinas said Florida’s move is apparent. “They wouldn’t want to lose SpaceX’s project to Texas. Amassing large tracts of land is a huge indicator of what they are trying to do.”

“This is a wake-up call for all of us working on this project in Texas,” Salinas said.

The site in Cameron County has been said to be the lead contender for the project. The Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an environmental assessment on the site near Boca Chica Beach, and SpaceX has purchased several properties in Cameron County.

This comes while talks continue between Texas and the firm on an incentives package and Cameron County researches title to properties it believes it owns that could be leased or sold to SpaceX. FFA verified that the environmental assessment is being conducted at SpaceX’s expense.

As to whether or not Florida’s move impacts Texas, “We don’t have any comment,” SpaceX spokeswoman Katherine Nelson said Friday.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Letter to NASA

Florida’s Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll chairs the Space Florida Board and on Sept. 20 she wrote a letter to NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The Valley Morning Star secured the letter from the state of Florida. Carroll enlisted their cooperation to facilitate Space Florida’s purchase of the 150 acres.

The acreage is located at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in the vicinity of the former citrus community of Shiloh and Carroll wrote that this is surplus property not needed for public use.

Carroll further noted that the state proposes to develop the property and operate the site as a commercial launch complex independent of the neighboring federal range and spaceports.

Carroll also requested that the agencies enlist the cooperation of the secretary of the interior in that Florida recognizes the environmental considerations associated with these areas of KSC and the existing management responsibilities of the Department of Interior regarding the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Canaveral National Seashore.

“Additionally, through thoughtful coordination with the Department of Interior, we believe that the proposed actions will pose no significant impacts to the environment,” Carroll wrote.

The results of the environmental assessment being conducted at SpaceX’s expense by FAA on the Cameron County site are expected to be released early next year.

Space Florida

Space Florida isn’t saying if the intent to obtain the 150-acre site from NASA is tied to SpaceX.

“There are certainly other media outlets taking some guesses, but we are not able to talk about anybody that we might be in discussions with in relation to that property,” Lange said.

The launch facilities that SpaceX has been accessing include Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

And, while Space Florida won’t provide details about its plans for the land, there is no hesitancy in its stance to do what it can to keep the commercial space exploration firm in the “Sunshine State.”

“We have been working with SpaceX for some time,” Lange said of Florida’s years’ long relationship with the firm, which she said brings significant benefits to the state. “We are thrilled to have them here and we will continue working with them,” she said.

“We are very proud to have them in our community,” she added, noting that Space Florida looks forward to continue working with the firm as it looks at Florida to expand operations.

Lange also noted that, “we certainly would want to do whatever we could to keep them . . .”

Lange said she is not aware of the conduct of any environmental assessment in Florida regarding SpaceX’s project, or of the purchase of any land associated with it.

Texas

Salinas said that the developments in Florida serve as a stark reminder for Texas to stay focused.

“That should remind all of us that we can’t solely rely on geographic location as an advantage over other states,” he said.

“It’s going to take a lot more to land this project.”