March 12 News Items

Debris Strikes Shuttle, NASA Expects No Serious Damage (Source: AIA)
NASA officials said a piece of debris may have struck Endeavour's nose after the launch on Tuesday. They said the debris probably did not do much damage to the shuttle if it did strike the nose because the shuttle's velocity was relatively slow. Experts are examining a video of the launch to learn where the debris came from.

Atlas 5 Launch Cleared for Thursday (Source: AIA)
Officials have cleared the launch of the Atlas 5 planned for Thursday. The rocket will carry a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office and will launch from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base.

ATV Propulsion Glitch Resolved (Source: SpaceToday.net)
European engineers have resolved a problem with the propulsion system on the first ATV cargo spacecraft, keeping the mission on track for a docking with the International Space Station next month. Shortly after its launch early Sunday, spacecraft controllers noticed a problem with the primary propulsion system on the ATV, where a "significant difference" in pressure between the fuel and oxidizer in the primary propulsion system caused computers on the spacecraft to shut it down. Engineers uplinked new commands to the spacecraft's electronics and, after shutting down the spacecraft's entire propulsion system, turned it back on successfully. The ATV performed a series of maneuvers on Tuesday that confirmed the propulsion system was working well. The spacecraft, the first in a series of European robotic cargo spacecraft, is still scheduled to dock with the ISS in early April after performing a number of approach and rendezvous tests after the current shuttle mission.

How to Get to Alpha Centauri (Source: Space.com)
Sending a person to Alpha Centauri within a human lifetime wouldn't be easy. Alpha Centauri is 4.37 light-years away — more than 25.6 trillion miles, or more than 276,000 times the distance from the Earth to the sun. But the lure has never been stronger. Scientists last week said the Alpha Centauri system has the ingredients for an Earth-like planet, and they think they can spot it. Conventional rockets are nowhere near efficient enough. At a maximum speed of about 17,600 mph (about 28,300 kph), it would take the space shuttle, for example, about 165,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. Visit http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/080313-tw-centauri-travel.html to learn about the various potential technologies to speed the trip.

Starship Troopers: Fleet of the Spacecraft (Source: The Independent)
A fleet of spacecraft is devoted to maintaining and supplying the ISS, delivering new crew-members, bringing astronauts home and ferrying cargo back and forth. These are the private jets, trash cans, trucks and escape modules of space, yet rarely do they attract the attention of the public on the planet below. Rockets may look explosive, but they are just the engines that deliver these craft to the edge of the atmosphere, where the real mission begins. Visit http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/starship-troopers-fleet-of-the-spacecraft-794369.html to view the article.

Cassini to Make Close Pass of Enceladus (Source: SpaceToday.net)
NASA's Cassini spacecraft will pass within 50 kilometers of the surface of the Saturnian moon Enceladus on Wednesday on a flyby that scientists hope will revolutionize their knowledge of the moon. On Cassini's closest approach to Enceladus, the spacecraft will be only 50 kilometers from the surface of the 500-kilometer-diameter moon. The spacecraft will be about 200 kilometers above the surface when it flies above geysers of water ice previously observed on Enceladus. The close flyby poses no risk to the spacecraft, mission official said, even when taking into account the particles of ice and dust ejected from the moon by its geysers. Scientists hope the close approach will help them understand the composition of the geysers.

Lawmakers Use Launch to Pitch NASA (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Space shuttle Endeavour lit up the night sky at Kennedy Space Center early Tuesday as it roared into orbit, thrilling onlookers, including a group of 19 influential members of Congress. The group was led by Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, and Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Texas, a powerful NASA booster in Washington whose district includes Johnson Space Center in Houston. Gordon and Lampson said they hoped to impress the delegation with the spectacle of a night shuttle launch. "We want members to take back the message of the importance of NASA and make them understand the agency has ripple effect throughout the economy," Gordon said.

Station a Sharing Endeavor (Source: Florida Today)
Recent flights of so many international components of the International Space Station gives the appearance the United States is outnumbered in orbit. However, agreements negotiated in the 1990s before construction began give NASA a hold on a big share of the real estate aboard the growing space laboratory. The agreements give the U.S. control of 49 percent of the Europeans' Columbus lab, which was installed last month, as well as 49 percent of Japan's sprawling Kibo complex, the first piece of which will reach the station tonight. International officials and scientists expect constructive collaboration on experiments in areas such as drug testing, growing crystals and counter-acting bone and muscle loss caused by living for long periods of time in microgravity. "We pretty much have a sharing agreement," NASA space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier said after launch.

NASA Extends Contract for Astronaut Training Facilities (Source: NASA)
NASA has issued a contract extension with a potential value of $78.25 million to Raytheon Technical Services to support facilities and operations for astronaut training at NASA's Johnson Space Center and the Sonny Carter Training Facility in Houston. The contract for operations at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory/Space Vehicle Mockup Facility will continue support to the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Constellation Programs. Work includes supporting astronauts and other subjects in an underwater, neutrally buoyant environment; maintenance and upgrade of mechanical, hydraulic, fluid and electrical systems; design and manufacture of space vehicle mockups; and operation of the two facilities. The contract's current value is $111.51 million.

NSS Chapter Plans Exhibit at KSC All American Picnic on March 29 (Source: NSS)
The National Space Society's Space Coast Chapter will sponsor an exhibit at the annual Kennedy Space Center "All American Picnic" on March 29. The picnic is a celebration open to spaceport workers and their families. Visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/215951main_03-04-08.pdf for information on the event.

China's Recoverable Moon Rover Expected In 2017 (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Beijing (XNA) Mar 12, 2008 - China will have a recoverable moon rover, which will carry back lunar soil samples, by 2017 if technical research "progresses smoothly," said the chief designer of Chang'e-1, the country's first moon probe, here Tuesday. China plans to land a probe on the moon in 2013.

EADS Goes Into Red With Loss of 446 Million Euros (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The European aerospace group EADS, which owns planemaker Airbus, went into the red in 2007 with a net loss of 446 million euros ($684.6 million), caused by delays with its A400M military plane. In 2008 EADS expects to considerably improve its earnings to 1.8 billion euros against 52 million in 2007. Late last month the US awarded an aerial refuelling tanker contract worth $35 billion to EADS and the US group Northrop Grumman, instead of to US group Boeing, which has said it may protest the decision. It was a stunning upset for Boeing, until now the sole supplier of air refueling planes to the US military.

Space Station Will Get Major Robot Arm Upgrade (Source: EE Times)
Space Shuttle Endeavour is carrying a Canadian-built humanoid robotic arm with unprecedented dexterity for a space robot. The Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, or Dextre, was launched as part of a shuttle mission to the International Space Station. The orbiter is also carrying the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. Dextre has has an upper body that pivots at the waist and shoulders that support two identical arms, each with a hand with seven joints. The crew will install and begin testing Dextre, which will become the primary tool for maintaining and servicing the space station.

India to Launch Dedicated Meteorological Satellite (Source: India PR Wire)
India is set to launch an advanced meteorological satellite by the end of this year to boost its weather forecasting capabilities. The satellite INSAT-3D will give 'quantum jump in satellite meteorology', P.S. Goel, secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said. This satellite is almost similar to GOES Satellites of the US and will have six channel imagers. The INSAT-3D data will provide quantitative outputs like vertical profiles of temperature and humidity, atmospheric motion vectors, sea surface temperature, snow cover and other related forecasts.

AIAA Applauds Initiative to Modify Nation's Export Controls (Source: AIAA)
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) welcomes the proposal by the National Security Space Office (NSSO) to prudently but meaningfully modify the federal government's export control regime, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Controls on critical technology are essential to safeguard national security, but any policy must be measured by its actual effect on economic security as well as national security. As currently implemented, ITAR has adversely affected the strength and vibrancy of the domestic space industrial base.

Many other nations are now pursuing their own space programs, from operational control of communications satellites to manned space exploration, challenging U.S. preeminence in commercial and defense space capabilities. AIAA supports the NSSO's view that a targeted, strategic revision of export control policy is needed to ensure continued U.S. leadership in space technology. To that end, a public hearing organized by the Aerospace States Association was held on prospective strategic changes to the national export control regime. Over a dozen entities from industry, academia, government and the media sent representatives.

Brown Scientist Answers How Peruvian Meteorite Made It to Earth (Source: Brown University)
It made news around the world: On Sept. 15, 2007, an object hurtled through the sky and crashed into the Peruvian countryside. Scientists dispatched to the site near the village of Carancas found a gaping hole in the ground. Peter Schultz, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and an expert in extraterrestrial impacts, went to Peru to learn more. What Schultz and his team found is surprising. The object that slammed into a dry riverbed in Peru was a meteorite, and it left a 49-foot-wide crater. Soil ejected from the point of impact was found nearly four football fields away. When Schultz’s team analyzed the soil where the fireball hit, he found “planar deformation features,” or fractured lines in sand grains found in the ground. Scientists think it was traveling at roughly 15,000 miles per hour at the moment of impact.

Scientists have determined the Carancas fireball was a stony meteorite – a fragile type long thought to be ripped into pieces as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere and then leaves little more than a whisper of its journey. Yet the stony meteorite that struck Peru survived its passage mostly intact before impact. “This just isn’t what we expected,” Schultz said. “It was to the point that many thought this was fake. It was completely inconsistent with our understanding how stony meteorites act.” Visit http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2007-08/07-113.html to view the article.

Europe to Build Lab to Study how Stars Evolve and Elements Form in Cosmos (Source: European Science Foundation)
One of the great ongoing challenges of astrophysics, to find out how stars evolve and die, is to be tackled in an ambitious European research program. This will involve studying in the laboratory over 25 critical nuclear reactions using low-energy stable beams of ions, in order to understand stellar evolution. Although astrophysicists have been studying these questions for half a century, progress has been held back by the experimental difficulties involved. But now there is the opportunity to exploit new technology to build a major laboratory that would propel Europe to the head of the field of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis. “We now want to build a state of the art facility to disentangle all these problems,” said an official.