Em Órbita, e mais Além

Projecto Constellation Cancelado pela Administração Obama!

2010-02-01T21:28:00.005Z

É o fim dos sonhos de regressar à Lua até 2020, que já eram possibilidades remotas, para ser totalmente honesto. A administração do Presidente Obama pretende agora investir em sistemas de lançamento privados para alcançar a Estação Espacial Internacional, e dirigir esforços para a exploração do resto do Sistema Solar.

Na minha muito modesta opinião, isto é o fim da NASA. O último lançamento do Space Shuttle está agendado para Setembro deste ano, e não há, neste momento, nenhuma alternativa viável de colocar astronautas norte-americanos no Espaço, na Estação Espacial Internacional ou onde quer que seja. O sector privado é ainda um sonho, e só Deus sabe quanto tempo demorará a empresas privadas conseguir colocar, fiávelmente e em segurança, astronautas em órbita!

Fonte: Email da CBS Space News

2011 NASA budget cancels moon program, endorses commercial manned space initiative

2:40 PM, 2/1/10, Update

On the seventh anniversary of the 2003 Columbia disaster, the Obama administration unveiled a sweeping change of course for the nation's civilian space program Monday, killing NASA's post-Columbia moon program and shifting development and operation of new rockets and capsules from the government to private industry.

Requesting some $19 billion for NASA in fiscal 2011, the administration announced plans to pump an additional $6 billion into NASA's budget over the next five years to kick start development of a new commercial manned spaceflight capability, including some $500 million in 2011.

Over that same five years, some $7.8 billion will be earmarked for new technology development, including autonomous rendezvous, orbital fuel transfer systems and closed-loop life support systems. Another $3.1 billion will support development of new propulsion technologies needed by future heavy-lift rockets. And another $3 billion will go to pay for a series of robotic missions to the moon and beyond to test systems needed for eventual manned flights.

"Imagine trips to Mars that take weeks instead of nearly a year, people fanning out across the inner solar system, exploring the Moon, asteroids and Mars nearly simultaneously in a steady stream of 'firsts," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told reporters. "And imagine all of this being done collaboratively with nations around the world. That is what the president's plan for NASA will enable, once we develop the new capabilities to make it a reality."

No timetables were established for human flights beyond low-Earth orbit, with deputies saying the focus instead will be on enabling technology development and innovation.

As for commercial flights to and from the International Space Station, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said she hoped a new private-sector launch system, possibly including modified versions of technology developed for the canceled moon program, could be available by around 2016 if not earlier.

"We will try to accelerate and use the great minds of industry to get a competition going and I'm sure they'll want to beat that," she said.

The Bush administration's post-Columbia initiative to finish the International Space Station and retire the shuttle by the end of 2010 remains intact, with just five more missions planned for NASA's iconic winged spaceships. Funding is available to support operations through the end of the year or early 2011 if necessary.

The new budget also extends operation of the space station through at least 2020 and increases funding for science and utilization.

But as expected, it halts development of the Ares family of rockets and the Orion crew capsules NASA was designing to carry astronauts to the station and back to the moon by the early 2020s as part of the Bush administration's Constellation program.

The cancellation of Constellation and the near-term shift to commercial launch operations is a "more radical (plan) than I expected," John Logsdon, a space policy analyst at George Washington University, told CBS News.

"It represents really a fundamental shift in the way NASA goes about doing business, from being the direct designer of our space capabilities and then having industry build NASA designs to being the customer of what industry builds," he said. "Even NASA people use the analogy to the air mail contracts the government signed in the '30s. It's going to be a very different way of doing business."

The Obama administration concluded the Constellation program, which has cost taxpayers more than $9 billion so far, "was over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation due to a failure to invest in critical new technologies," according to a budget summary.

"Using a broad range of criteria, an independent review panel determined that even if fully funded, NASA's program to repeat many of the achievements of the Apollo era, 50 years later, was the least attractive approach to space exploration as compared to potential alternatives."

The independent review, chaired by aerospace executive Norman Augustine, concluded last fall that the Constellation program, hobbled by previous budget reductions under the Bush and Obama administrations, was not workable without an additional $3 billion a year in restored funding.

The panel outlined a variety of alternatives and favored a so-called "flexible path" approach that called for relying on private industry for manned flights to and from low-Earth orbit while NASA focused on development of a new heavy lift rocket and eventual flights to a variety of possible deep space targets, including the moon, asteroids and even the moons of Mars.

The budget unveiled Monday said the Constellation program took money away from other NASA programs, "including robotic space exploration, science, and Earth observations."

"The President's Budget cancels Constellation and replaces it with a bold new approach that invests in the building blocks of a more capable approach to space exploration that includes:

-- "Research and development to support future heavy-lift rocket systems that will increase the capability of future exploration architectures with significantly lower operations costs than current systems - potentially taking us farther and faster into space.

-- "A vigorous new technology development and test program that aims to increase the capabilities and reduce the cost of future exploration activities. NASA, working with industry, will build, fly, and test in orbit key technologies such as automated, autonomous rendezvous and docking, closed-loop life support systems, in-orbit propellant transfer, and advanced in-space propulsion so that our future human and robotic exploration missions are both highly capable and affordable.

-- "A steady stream of precursor robotic exploration missions to scout locations and demonstrate technologies to increase the safety and capability of future human missions and provide scientific dividends."

In a statement, Augustine said "by allocating the technology resources highlighted in our report as being necessary, it will be possible to lay the foundation for travel beyond low-Earth-orbit. ... NASA will be able to focus on this true frontier and to regain its position as a cutting-edge research and development organization.

"While many of us who believe strongly in human spaceflight might have hoped that still further funding would have been possible, this is obviously a demanding period from a budgetary standpoint. Importantly, the president's proposed program seems to match means to ends, and should therefore be executable."

In a startling break with the past, the Obama administration ordered NASA to focus on a new initiative that would effectively outsource manned flight, turning to private industry to design and develop the rockets and spacecraft needed to carry U.S. astronauts to and from the space station.

Between the shuttle's retirement and the emergence of a new manned rocket system, U.S., European, Japanese and Canadian astronauts will be forced to hitch rides on Russian Soyuz rockets at more than $50 million a ticket.

"The budget funds NASA to contract with industry to provide astronaut transportation to the International Space Station as soon as possible, reducing the risk of relying solely on foreign crew transports for years to come," the budget summary stated.

"A strengthened U.S. commercial space launch industry will bring needed competition, act as a catalyst for the development of other new businesses capitalizing on affordable access to space, help create thousands of new jobs, and help reduce the cost of human access to space."

The only U.S. rockets currently flying that are powerful enough to step into the roll of crew transport in the near term are Boeing-built Delta 4 and Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 boosters used to launch military, scientific and commercial satellites. Neither family of rockets is certified to carry humans.

Other companies are in the process of developing new spacecraft to carry supplies to the space station after the shuttle's retirement. But it remains to be seen how long it might take any of the commercial interests to develop, test and deploy a manned rocket system.

It also is not yet clear what sort of control and oversight NASA will have in the new commercial arena, whether astronauts will remain government employees or private contractors or how the agency's decades of operational experience might be leveraged by commercial operators.

"I think the primary way it translates over is for the winners in this commercial competition to hire the people that have the institutional memory," Logsdon said. "Second, we're going to be operating station until at least 2020. So there's a core of operational folks inside NASA that will still be very much involved."

Contractors already occupy key positions in mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and at other NASA facilities, but it's not yet known how commercial manned space flights will be managed, who will have responsibility for mission design, safety and execution or how government facilities might be utilized.

But Bolden insisted safety will remain a top priority.

"NASA will set standards and processes to ensure that these commercially built and operated crew vehicles are safe," he said. "No one cares about safety more than I. I flew on the space shuttle four times. I lost friends in the two space shuttle tragedies. So I give you my word these vehicles will be safe."

Against this backdrop of uncertainty, the shuttle program is on schedule to end with a final flight to the space station in September. Up to 7,000 jobs in the Kennedy Space Center are are expected to be lost, along with several thousand more at other NASA field centers.

An administration official told CBS News last week the new initiative "could lead to as many as 1,700 new jobs in Florida ... and will catalyze the development of other new businesses that capitalize on affordable human access to space."

"We will also make strategic new investments at Kennedy Space Center that will lead to hundreds of new jobs, upgrade facilities for the 21st century, and help ensure that KSC remains a world-class launch port for decades to come," he said.

That apparently includes upgrades to launch complex 39 that would support flights by commercial rockets.

"A major focus of this effort will be to create the 21st Century launch facilities and infrastructure needed at Kennedy Space Center, transforming the facility to more effectively support future NASA, commercial, and other government launches," the budget summary said.

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the second man on the moon, strongly endorsed the new program, saying "the truth is, that we have already been to the Moon - some 40 years ago. A near-term focus on lowering the cost of access to space and on developing key, cutting-edge technologies to take us further, faster, is just what our nation needs to maintain its position as the leader in space exploration for the rest of this century."

But many NASA supporters sharply disagreed and Logsdon predicted a "vociferous" fight in Congress.

"The President's proposed NASA budget begins the death march for the future of US human space flight," said Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican. "Congress cannot and will not sit back and watch the reckless abandonment of sound principles, a proven track record, a steady path to success, and the destruction of our human space flight program."

Shelby noted the anniversary of the Columbia disaster, saying "it is ironic that Constellation, a program borne out of the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, would be eliminated in lieu of rockets repeatedly deemed unsafe for astronauts by NASA's own Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel."

Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, a Florida Democrat, welcomed increased spending at the Kennedy Space Center but added that "leaving NASA with no detailed plan or timeline for exploring beyond Earth's orbit will cede our international leadership in space."

"Though I welcome the investments in infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center, not knowing when, or even if, the next human spaceflight launches will occur makes it difficult to retain the Space Coast's highly skilled workforce and maintain America's international leadership in space.

"The President's proposal is unacceptable, and I will work with my colleagues from both parties to develop a plan for space exploration that maintains a robust human spaceflight program, minimizes the gap (between the shuttle and its replacement), and protects jobs."

Surprisingly, perhaps, astronaut Steve Robinson, scheduled for launch next Sunday aboard the shuttle Endeavour, said in an interview Friday that "we have an exciting future. It's not well defined, but it's exciting."

"I kind of refuse to be disappointed in something that hasn't shown itself to be actually disappointing yet," he said. "We don't really know how we should use the small amount of money that American citizens are willing to pay for a space program. But I do know that for at least 50 years, American citizens have wanted a space program with humans flying in space. And I really am confident that will continue in some way."

Como seria se a Terra tivesse anéis como os de Saturno!

2009-11-27T19:28:00.001Z

A História de um lançamento

2009-11-27T18:05:00.001Z

Um vídeo espetacular feito a partir das imagens captadas pelas várias cameras de vídeo instaladas no Space Shuttle.

Não podia estar um dia melhor...

2009-11-27T18:02:00.004Z

E já aterrou o Space Shuttle Atlantis, no final da missão STS 129, uma das últimas ocasiões em que poderemos ver uma nave espacial a aterrar como um avião vulgar. Algo que outrora foi considerado o futuro dos vôos espaciais.

O Lançamento do STS 129 em Alta Definição!

2009-11-16T21:34:00.000Z

Lançamento do STS-129: Imagens oficiais da NASA

2009-11-16T19:59:00.001Z

Reparem como o Sol fica por detrás do Shuttle quando este se separa do Tanque Externo!

Lançamento sensacional do Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129

2009-11-16T19:52:00.004Z

Aterragem do Space Shuttle Discovery hoje de madrugada, na Base Aérea de Edwards, na Califórnia

2009-09-12T17:37:00.001Z

Uma das aterragens mais espetaculares de que me recordo. Durante uma das curvas para se fazer à pista, vêm-se os rastos de condensação nas pontas das asas do Discovery, o que dá muito mais a sensação da velocidade real a que está a voar!

Teste do motor do Ares I

2009-09-10T20:30:00.002Z

O Ares I é o foguetão que, de acordo com os planos correntes, irá voltar a levar astronautas norte-americanos ao Espaço, a partir de 2015. Os leitores deste blog saberão que tem havido problemas e dúvidas em relação a isso, mas por enquanto os testes prosseguem. Este, em particular, decorreu há momentos, e mostra o motor principal a desenvolver só 22 milhões de cavalos!!!

Nunca a Humanidade viu tão longe!

2009-08-14T20:14:00.002Z

Sabiam? Não, em Portugal não se fala de coisas importantes. Mas há já vários anos que foram feitas estas imagens, que são das galáxias mais distantes jamais vistas por seres humanos. Apontaram o Telescópio Espacial Hubble a um ponto aparentemente sem estrelas, e fizeram uma longuíssima exposição. O resultado foi o Hubble Deep Field e, mais tarde, o Hubble Ultra Deep Field.

A Humanidade nunca viu tão longe, e estas são porventura as imagens mais importantes da História.

O sucessor do Space Shuttle

2009-08-13T17:41:00.005Z

É este o sucessor dos fabulosos Space Shuttles - o Projecto Constellation. Neste preciso momento, o futuro exacto deste projecto ainda está em dúvida. Apesar de já haver 3 anos de desenvolvimento, o certo é que ainda não foi feito nenhum lançamento - está um previsto para o ano que vem - e com os cortes orçamentais já feitos e previstos para os próximos anos, está em grande dúvida a sua entrada em funcionamento em 2015. E em relação a um regresso à Lua em 2020, essa data - e a própria missão à Lua - estão cada vez mais em dúvida!

O meu prognóstico é, neste momento, que a última missão do Shuttle não seja em 2010 mas sim em 2011, e que a primeira missão da Orion será apenas em 2017 ou, com muita sorte, 2016. Os EUA ficarão assim, durante 5 ou 6 anos, ou mais, dependentes dos Russos (!!!) para transportarem astronautas, equipamento e mantimentos para a Estação Espacial Internacional!

Quem diria que iríamos ficar assim, 40 anos depois das magníficas viagens à Lua?

Entretanto, os planos correntes de regresso à Lua consistem numa missão com este aspecto:

No entanto, este plano está em questão neste momento. Só daqui a alguns meses saberemos a direcção real da NASA para os próximos anos, e se realmente voltaremos à Lua em 2000 e vinte e tal.

O meu voto é de que serão os Chineses os próximos a irem à Lua, e apenas numa missão Orbital. Descer de facto na Lua é algo muito complexo, e não vejo Governos a quererem fazer esse investimento.

Voar a 21 Kms de altitude num U2

2009-08-10T17:15:00.001Z

Dei de caras com o vídeo da semana logo a uma segunda-feira. Ponham de lado dez minutos, aumentem a imagem para ocupar o ecrán todo, e levantem o som para ouvirem bem a música e os diálogos.

Bom vôo!

Alguns vídeos espetaculares

2008-12-15T18:03:00.003Z

Leitores de CD em gravidade zero.

Foguetão Soyuz.

Alka Seltzer em órbita!

Lançamento do Space Shuttle, de dentro.

Café em órbita.

Aterragem do Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-126

2008-12-05T21:35:00.001Z

Aqui está, com algum atraso, o vídeo da aterragem, na Base Aérea de Edwards, na Califórnia. A aterragem deveria ser na Flórida, mas foi desviada para a Califórnia devido ao mau tempo que iria persistir nos dias em que a Endeavour teria de aterrar.

O momento em que se perdeu um saco de ferramentas em órbita

2008-11-28T15:44:00.002Z

Foi mesmo um daqueles acidentes que só acontecem porque as pessoas estão habituadas a porem coisas de lado e elas não fugirem. Infelizmente, no Espaço, é diferente. Heide Piper, astronauta da missão STS 126, neste momento ainda em órbita, teve de limpar o interior de um saco de equipamento, por ter escapado óleo de uma ou mais das pistolas que seriam utilizadas para lubrificar um dos painéis solares da Estação Espacial Internacional ISS. Ao fazê-lo teve de tirar momentaneamente um saco de ferramentas desse saco maior, e o saco escapou. Vê-se perfeitamente o momento em que a astronauta ainda tenta agarrar o saco, sem sucesso.

As ferramentas foram avaliadas em cerca de 100.000 dólares.

Buran, o Space Shuttle Soviético

2008-11-24T18:32:00.003Z

Fez há dias 20 anos que se realizou o único vôo de uma máquina absolutamente revolucionária, o Space Shuttle soviético 'Buran'.

Em certos aspectos era - e é ainda - superior ao seu equivalente americano. Nomeadamente era capaz de vôos não tripulados, era capaz de transportar mais 5 toneladas de carga, por virtude de não ter os foguetes principais na nave, e podia ser lançado e aterrar em condições mais adversas que o Space Shuttle. Adicionalmente, o seu foguetão podia ser usado para transportar outras cargas que não o Buran.

Só vantagens, com 7 anos de atraso em relação ao programa americano, e ficamos com a idéia de que se desperdiçou muito génio.

Fonte: BBC

Buran - the Soviet 'space shuttle'

By Anatoly Zak
Russianspaceweb.com

Despite its looks, Buran was not a facsimile of the US shuttle

Some 20 years ago, on 30 September 1988, many readers of the Pravda newspaper - the official mouthpiece of the Soviet communist party - could not believe their eyes.

Published somewhat inconspicuously on the second page, there was a photo depicting the familiar shape of the US space shuttle, but with Soviet insignia on its wings.

Finally, years of rumours about a Soviet "copy" of the shuttle had been confirmed.

However, the official Soviet press was quick to point out that despite its superficial resemblance to the US counterpart, the Russian shuttle, dubbed Buran or "snowstorm", was better and more capable.

Within days, the new ship got a chance to prove it.

On November 15, 1988, as snowy clouds and winds were swirling around Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Buran orbiter, attached to its giant Energia rocket, thundered into the gloomy early morning sky.

" They obliterated this crowning achievement of the Soviet space programme "

Three hours and two orbits later, the 100-tonne bird glided back to a flawless landing just a few miles from its launch pad.

Despite the kind of strong winds that would rule out any launch or landing attempt by the US space shuttle, Buran touched down just 3m off the runway centreline.

And this planet-wide ballet was performed with its "pilots" safely on the ground.

Born of paranoia

Buran's pioneering mission was the culmination of an effort by more than 600 Soviet institutions which, since 1976, had secretly laboured on this largest of Soviet space projects.

Upon the spacecraft's triumphant landing, the Soviet newspapers promised a new era in space exploration. Few could predict at the time that it would be Buran's only mission.

Unlike Nasa, Soviet developers never had any grand illusions about replacing traditional rockets with a reusable space truck.

Instead, the Soviet shuttle was conceived primarily as a "symmetrical response" to the perceived military threat from America's winged orbiters.

A fully assembled Energia rocket with the first flown Buran orbiter, in 2002

Years after a sceptical Pentagon had given up on the shuttle, even as a delivery truck for spy satellites, the Russian officials continued whispering to journalists that the US orbiter had a secret capability - to make an undetected "dive" into the Earth's atmosphere and suddenly glide over Moscow dropping nuclear bombs.

Never mind that such a scenario was not supported by physics or by common sense.

Energia-Buran's chief architect, Valentin Glushko, hardly tried to educate warmongers at the Politburo about the questionable merits of the re-usable orbiter as a weapon.

Glushko was one of the first generation of Soviet rocket pioneers, who were experimenting in the 1930s under the tutelage of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky - one of the "fathers" of spaceflight. Like many of his contemporaries, he had little interest in designing weapons.

He did dream, however, about building a permanent base on the surface of the Moon.

Unfortunately, after losing the Moon race to America in 1969, Soviet leaders had little appetite for another deep-space adventure.

The launch and test facility where the Energia rocket first took off in 1987

Still, Glushko probably hoped to exploit Cold War paranoia about the threat of the US shuttle as an opportunity to lay a detour road to the Moon, and possibly even to Mars.

Glushko carefully steered the Soviet shuttle project away from being a carbon copy of the American design, which could not be easily modified.

Instead, he proposed a winged orbiter along with a fully functional rocket which could carry any cargo - including lunar landers, orbital tugs and even pieces of a Martian expeditionary complex.

In the end, Kremlin bosses had committed to the monumental expense of money and human talent with only vague hopes that real tasks for the grandiose vehicle would emerge as it came online.

Instead, after long delays and cost overruns, the Buran appeared on the scene in the last act of the Cold War and amid a crumbling Soviet economy.

The Berlin Wall had come down just a year after its first flight, and the Soviet Defence Ministry was suddenly more preoccupied with resettling thousands of troops returning from Eastern Europe than with servicing orbital anti-missile platforms and deploying killer satellites in space.

The first stage of the Energia rocket inside Building 112 in Baikonur

The collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 sealed the fate of the Energia-Buran system.

There was a flicker of hope for Buran's giant booster - Energia - when Russia joined the effort to build the International Space Station (ISS).

Still unfinished today, after a decade of efforts and dozens of assembly flights, the ISS could have been hauled into orbit by only a few Energia boosters, had international partners adopted it into the program, say the rocket's proponents.

In the mid-1990s, a flight-ready Buran orbiter, which made the historic trip in 1988, had been mounted on the back of a fully assembled Energia rocket at Baikonur's Building 112.

This eye-popping display became a popular stop for journalists and foreign tourists, who periodically "invaded" Baikonur for high-profile launches.

To the untrained eye, the gargantuan rocket and its orbiter looked all but ready for a rollout to the launch pad.

Last resting place

In 2001, this spectacle, combined with the optimistic and mis-translated comments of a Russian guide, had such a profound effect on one Western reporter that he filed a story claiming that the Energia-Buran programme was about to be re-started.

The article proved that a decade after its demise, the Buran had already become a legend.

However, if one looked closely in Building 112 it was possible to see water dripping from the high ceiling on a rainy day and accumulating on the floor, under the dead torsos of Energia rockets.

The keeper of the facility, who showed reporters around the building, said that he could hardly find money to send repair men to patch up the giant roof.

Rescue workers search the devastated hangar at Baikonur

Eventually, a repair team, believed to include eight people, did make it to the roof, climbing on top of Building 112 on May 12, 2002.

According to eyewitnesses, at about 0920 local time, the entire structure shook violently, as if hit by an earthquake, and enormous pieces of debris plunged dozens of metres to the ground below.

They obliterated this crowning achievement of the Soviet space programme.

But the Energia-Buran programme did leave a lasting legacy.

The cavernous launch facilities at Baikonur and a state-of-the-art mission control centre in Korolev have continued serving the Russian space programme and its international partners.

The rocket technology developed for Energia-Buran has been put to use in other launchers.

A mighty RD-170 engine, originally developed for the first stage of Energia, today powers the Ukrainian Zenit rocket.

This engine's scaled-down descendants - the RD-180 and RD-190 - have been adopted for the US Atlas booster and Russia's next-generation Angara rockets.

While the US space shuttle will soon share the fate of the Buran orbiter - as a museum exhibit - emerging plans for lunar exploration have revived concepts of super-heavy rockets, on both sides of the Atlantic.

If they are ever built, their creators will have to re-trace the path once made by Valentin Glushko and his colleagues.

Espectacular! Camera de carro da polícia canadiana filma queda de meteoro!

2008-11-24T18:13:00.001Z

Astrónomos estão neste momento a tentar encontrar restos do meteoro.

Vídeos amadores do lançamento do Space Shuttle

2008-11-15T16:31:00.003Z

E de acordo com a tradição, aqui vão alguns vídeos amadores do lançamento desta madrugada. Um deles é feito por um miúdo! :)

Nossa Senhora! Caramba! :D

Oxalá o Presidente Eleito dos EUA, Barack Obama, tenha a oportunidade de constatar o apoio popular a estas missões!

Deve ser uma festa do caraças ver um lançamento destes! Especialmente a uma hora acessível, como este foi - nos EUA eram 5 para as 8 da noite! Lindo!

Lançamento nocturno do Space Shuttle Endeavour - STS 126

2008-11-15T13:32:00.001Z

Faltavam 5 minutos para a uma da manhã em Lisboa quando um Sol artificial se ergueu do Centro Espacial Kennedy, em Merrit Island, na Flórida. Tratava-se do Space Shuttle Endeavour, em mais uma missão para expandir as capacidades da Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS). O vídeo abaixo mostra toda a sequência da contagem decrescente nos últimos 9 minutos, a partir da tradicional 'despedida' do director de vôo e do comandante do Space Shuttle, até à entrada em órbita. Visto tratar-se de um lançamento nocturno, a fase mais espetacular é mesmo nos primeiros segundos de vôo.

Tudo a postos para o lançamento do Space Shuttle amanhã, perto da meia-noite.

2008-11-13T19:05:00.003Z

O Space Shuttle Endeavour, uma das naves espaciais mais fantásticas alguma vez concebidas, será lançado amanhã, por volta da meia-noite e 55, hora de Lisboa. Tudo está a correr bem com a contagem decrescente, a única incógnita é o tempo, já que uma frente fria se está aproximar do Centro Espacial Kennedy. Os meteorologistas consideram haver 60% de possibilidades de condições favoráveis ao lançamento. Estaremos atentos! :)

Fonte: NASA SpaceFlight

STS-126 launch countdown begins - Atlantis heads back to OPF-1
November 11th, 2008 by Chris Bergin

The three day launch countdown for STS-126 has begun, marking the start of S0007 operations - which will hopefully conclude with the launch of Endeavour at 7:55pm local time on Friday. Meanwhile, Atlantis has been towed back to her Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-1), as a result of the rescheduling of STS-125.

Endeavour is issue free, following the confirmation that the Integrated Display Processing (CRT2 MEDS 1553) problem has been cleared for flight.

“CRT 2 troubleshooting update: No additional troubleshooting is planned prior to launch. The plan is to fly as-is and defer any further troubleshooting to next flow,” noted the latest flow report on L2.

“The problem is not expected to impact flight ops since it only occurs at MDU power up, and MDU operation has not been affected. Currently, there are no Cat I constraints, and 34 Cat II constraints.”

The only concern at present is the weather that is expected in the local area around launch time, although this remains favorable. Should there be a delay to the November 14 launch date several mission options may come into play, relating to the arrival of the Russian Progress resupply vehicle (31P) - which is due to launch to the ISS later this month.

“The MMT (Mission Management Team) Prebrief was conducted (with) the discussion focused on potential decisions that may be required during the mission,” noted the latest MOD 8th Floor memo.

“The Progress 31P loiter plan allows STS-126 to launch as late as 11/21 and still allow one day between nominal undock and 31P docking. Use of the FD4 (Flight Day 4)pane on “two-pane” days was discussed. There is only FD3 capability on the nominal launch day of November 14 so this discussion only comes into play for a launch delay.

“If launch is scrubbed, the current plan is to use the FD4 pane if required to get off the pad on November 15th. ISS may request a one day mission extension if required to accomplish important sampling activities to support go/no-go decisions for six person crew. This decision could come as late as FD10 depending on how the mission is progressing.

“The focused inspection decision timeline is slightly unique for this mission since some locations on the starboard wingtip cannot be inspected after the MPLM is installed due to insufficient clearance with the SRMS/OBSS (Shuttle Remote Manipulator System/Orbiter Boom Sensor System).

“The focused inspection meeting will be conducted at 10 pm on Sunday, 11/16, (assuming launch on 11/14) to determine whether there are any focused inspection requirements in the starboard wingtip area which would necessitate delaying MPLM installation until after the focused inspection is completed.”

An additional note related to the sensors on the Wing Leading Edge - known as the WLE IDS (Impact Detection System) which has registered a number of hits to the wing on orbit - though most aren’t actual impacts. This is due to the sensitivity of the system, which has since been refined.

“The Orbiter project also reviewed their new screening criteria for Wing Leading Edge sensor indications, which will reduce the number of false positives.”

Endeavour’s crew, led by Commander Chris Ferguson, also arrived at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, following a T-38 ride from their home base in Houston.

Meanwhiile, Atlantis - now having to wait until at least May, 09, for an opportunity to fly on the flagship mission of servicing Hubble - has completed de-stack operations from her ET-127 stack, for a return to the home comforts of OPF-1.

Following demate operations over the past few days, Atlantis was lifted over into the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), in preparation for being towed back to OPF-1 - as opposed to being placed on the OTS (Orbiter Transporter System).

Engineers lowered Atlantis’ landing gear via a ground control unit - which is also used in the OPF to raise and lower the gear for checkouts and final retraction, via an interface box in the cabin which plugs into the gear control system. This is connected via a long cable through an open panel in the hatch.

Atlantis was spotted back in OPF-1 at 23:30.

Uma Homenagem à Phoenix Mars Lander

2008-11-13T19:01:00.002Z

01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3

Depois de uma missão de enorme sucesso, a Phoenix Mars Lander deixou recentemente de emitir sinais para a Terra, tal como era previsto, com o início do Inverno Marciano. Como o Sol já não incide sobre os painéis solares da Phoenix, esta foi perdendo potência até que se tornou impossível continuar a operar. Há uma esperança, muito ténue, de que volte a funcionar no fim do Inverno Marciano. Mas isto não está previsto, deveremos considerar esta missão terminada, e de enorme sucesso! Parabéns à NASA e ao Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)!

Fonte: Wired

Mars Phoenix Lander Runs Out of Juice
By Alexis Madrigal Email
November 10, 2008

The phenomenally popular Mars Phoenix Lander mission has officially come to an end.

Originally slated for a mere 90 days near the Martian north pole, clever NASA power engineers kept the Lander doing science for nearly two months beyond that goal. But now mission officials are certain: The lander has run out of power for its internal heater and is presumed to be frozen on the arctic plain.

"At this time, we're pretty convinced that the vehicle is no longer available for us to use," said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "We're ceasing operations and declaring an end to mission operations at this point."

As late as last week, the team was still trying to eke a few more experiments out of the robotic lander, even as the declining amount of solar energy in the pole area made their task more difficult.

The mission's legacy, however, will not be defined by its longevity so much as by its problem-light successes and legions of fans. Driven by a clever social media strategy that built a huge Twitter following, the NASA mission struck a chord with space lovers, who watched with rapt attention as the lander made a picture-perfect landing and proceeded to become the first human spacecraft to "taste" Martian water.

"If we're successful, this mission will be remembered for being the first to do direct analysis of ice or water on the surface of Mars," predicted NASA's Mike Gross, who engineered the mission's scientific instrumentation, back in May.

Indeed, Phoenix primary investigator, Peter Smith, led off his eulogy for the Lander noting that his team discovered ice, before recounting the mission's success measuring Martian weather and finding perchlorate, a known energy source for some microbes on Earth.

"It's been a great mission, a highlight of my life," Smith said.

It will take months to analyze the 25,000 photographs and the data from the dozens of experiments that the Lander conducted over the last several months, but the mission is already seen as a major success for relatively cheap robotic missions. At $480 million, the Phoenix lander cost about as much as a single Shuttle mission.

In fact, the mission's biggest failure — not finding evidence of life — doesn't have much to do with the execution of the mission so much as the Red Planet itself.

"We've seen nutrients and energy sources," Smith said. "That leads to the question: Is this a habitable zone?"

But, just like the mission, Smith left the ultimate question of extraterrestrial life unanswered, saying just that his team needed time to go back to their labs and examine the data from the mission in greater detail.

@MarsPhoenix, the lively voice of the lander, sent her last message six minutes ago.

"01010100 01110010 01101001 01110101 01101101 01110000 01101000 <3,">

That's binary for "Triumph," and the herald of a new digital-savvy era for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Últimas notícias: Presidente da NASA pede para que se avalie a possibilidade de operar o Shuttle até 2015!

2008-08-30T17:27:00.002Z

A NASA está a aproximar-se de uma situação crítica para o período entre 2010 e 2015. Está neste momento previsto que o Shuttle deixe de operar em 2010, e que o seu sucessor, a Orion, só entre em funcionamento em 2015 - se tudo correr bem, o que não está a acontecer. Durante esse período, os EUA dependerão totalmente da Rússia para colocar astronautas a bordo da Estação Espacial Internacional!

Com o azedar das relações entre os EUA e a Rússia, decorrente da recente guerra na Geórgia, é bem possível que os EUA se vejam afastados da ISS durante, pelo menos, esses 5 anos! E não nos esqueçamos que a ISS foi, em grande parte, construída pelos EUA!

Assim, e contrariando as afirmações recentes de Wayne Hale (ver último post), o presidente da NASA Michael Griffin veio agora pedir que se estude a viabilidade de manter o Space Shuttle em operações durante esse período de 5 anos.

Pessoalmente considero esta uma notícia de enorme importância, e extremamente positiva. Espero que dê tempo à NASA para reavaliar (cancelar?) o desastroso projecto Orion, e lhe permita criar um novo sistema de acesso ao Espaço que seja realmente inovador e económico.

Fonte: Orlando Sentinel

EXCLUSIVE: NASA to study extending shuttle era to 2015
posted by Mark Matthews on Aug 29, 2008 12:12:22 PM

CAPE CANAVERAL -- NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has ordered his subordinates to study how the agency could fly the space shuttle beyond its planned retirement in 2010, according to an internal e-mail obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

The decision signals what could be a huge change in NASA policy. Griffin repeatedly has rejected the notion of extending the shuttle era beyond its 2010 retirement date, arguing it could cripple the fledgling Constellation program, a system of new rockets and capsules meant to replace the shuttle in 2015.

But Griffin has been under enormous external pressure. Sen. John McCain recently asked the White House to stop dismantling parts of the shuttle program for at least a year. At the same time, eroding relations with Russia have motivated lawmakers to find a way to fill the five-year gap between the shuttle's retirement and the maiden voyage of Constellation in 2015. The current plan calls for NASA to buy Russian spacecraft during the gap.

One NASA official said such "what-if studies" represent "prudent planning," especially in light of suggestions made by McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who would dictate the agency's future if he captures the White House.

But the email, sent on Wednesday, August 27, by John Coggeshall, manager of "Manifest and Schedules" at Johnson Space Center in Houston, suggested that the analysis was more than just a contingency study.

"We want to focus on helping bridge the gap of US vehicles travelling to the ISS as efficiently as possible," it said.

The upcoming study raised the idea of retiring one of the three remaining orbiters, possibly for spare parts. "(We) don't necessarily need all 3 orbiters either," said the email. "We have been encouraged not to focus on a certain set of assumptions or costs," said the email.

But cost has been the exact reason why Griffin has dismissed the idea of extending the shuttle era. To have enough money to build Constellation's Ares 1 rocket and Orion crew capsule, NASA must spending stop money on shuttle flights. At one point last year, he estimated that it would cost as much as $4 billion a year to fly the shuttle beyond 2010.

NASA' current budget is about $17 billion.

"Continuing to fly the Shuttle beyond 2010 does not enhance U.S. human spaceflight capability, but rather delays the time until a new capability exists and increases the total life cycle cost to bring the new capability on line," he told Congress in November.

Another worry: NASA already has begun unplugging parts of the shuttle system. It has already terminated many contracts with vendors who make shuttle parts and NASA facilities already have begun converting its systems to handle the new Constellation program.

Wayne Hale, a NASA deputy assistant administrator and until recently the shuttle-program manager, has said that this fall marks the point of no return. That's when NASA is supposed to start ripping out the giant welding equipment and other machinery at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, which makes the shuttle's giant external fuel tank.

In a blog posted Thursday, Hale said that flying shuttle and building Constellation would strain NASA's budgets and overextend its workforce. "Hey, I am the biggest shuttle hugger there is. I think it is the best spacecraft ever built. But I also deal in the real world," he wrote.

"Where does the money come from? Where do the people -- who should be working on the moon rocket -- where do they come from? We started shutting down the shuttle four years ago. That horse has left the barn," he wrote.

Email referido no artigo acima:

From: Coggeshall, John C. (JSC-MA)
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 4:23 PM
To: Larochelle, Joseph K. (JSC-OM); Fuller, Sean M. (JSC-OC); Gensler, Janejit T. (JSC-OM3); Feldman, Holly (JSC-OM); Overton, Thomas L. (KSC); Ford, Clark D. (KSC); Magendie, Brian (MAF-NASA_MAF)[Lockheed Martin Space Systems Com; Dwyer, Kenneth J. (JSC-MV6); Jackson, Melodie M. (KSC); 'Lemoine, Patrick K. (KSC)[USA]'; Davidson, Dennis R. (JSC-MM)

Cc: Lyons, Douglass E. (KSC); Phillips, Pepper (KSC); Wyche, Vanessa E. (JSC-ZD); Castle, Robert E. (JSC-ZD); Beck, Kelly B. (JSC-DA); Rasco, Dorothy S. (JSC-MM)

Subject: Shuttle extension assessment

The SSP program in conjunction with Cx and ISS have been asked by the administrator to put together some manifest options to assess extending shuttle flights to 2015. SSP would like to have some options developed for review by senior management by the end of September. The result of the review might be a formal budget assessment of a option(s).

We will start by using the manifest team to put together a option(s). I would like to start getting some initial thoughts next week. What I want to do is focus in on initially is what would make sense given the current conditions with ISS and Cx. We have been encouraged not to focus on a certain set of assumptions or costs. We will probably develop multiple options. In my initial discussions with John these are the things I would like to think about

- We cant just spread out the 10 flights to 2015, that does not support ISS requirements
- We will need some new ETs and that’s the long lead item so we may need a little "streching".
- We will have to put orbiters in OMDP
- We don’t want to get in the way of Cx development by holding on to facilities they need (HB3, MLP, Pad , Crawler, Engine Test stands etc)

- Flight rate is not given
- Don’t necessarily need all 3 orbiters either

We want to focus on helping bridge the gap of US vehicles traveling to the ISS as efficiently as possible.

Joe LaRochelle will have some preliminary ISS requirements for us next week, and Ken is going to work on OMDP thoughts.

Thanks, and this should actually be fun. Well as fun as anything gets if you’re a manifest dweeb.

John Coggeshall
JSC-MA / Manifest and Schedules

Wayne Hale: o programa Shuttle está a ser desmantelado há 4 anos!

2008-08-28T17:54:00.002Z

Uma grande alhada que se aproxima para a NASA e para os Estados Unidos. Há já alguns anos que a NASA se prepara para terminar o programa Space Shuttle em 2010, o que irá deixar os Estados Unidos dependentes da Rússia para colocar astronautas na Estação Espacial Internacional até que, por voltas de 2015, as cápsulas Orion estejam prontas a voar.

A alhada vem do seguinte: o desenvolvimento das Orion tem deparado com inúmeros problemas, que tem gradualmente levado o programa a reduzir a importância dos seus objectivos e a adiar a data provável da sua entrada em funcionamento.

Por outro lado, o agravamento das tensões entre o Ocidente e a Rússia vem pôr em dúvida a possibilidade dos EUA usarem as cápsulas russas Soyuz para levarem astronautas americanos até à ISS!

Ou seja, podemos vir a deparar com a situação caricata dos Estados Unidos estarem impossibilitados de tripular com astronautas americanos a Estação Espacial que eles próprios construiram!!!

Esta situação tem levado os actuais candidatos à Casa Branca a propôr o prolongamento das missões do Space Shuttle por mais um ou dois anos, por forma a minimizar este lapso de tempo.

Agora Wayne Hale, Director do Programa Space Shuttle, vem dizer que tal será impossível, ou pelo menos extremamente caro. Um reality check doloroso para a NASA! Leiam e chorem.

Fonte: Space Review

Shutting down the shuttle

I believe it was General Norman Schwartzkopf who said: "Arm chair generals study tactics; real generals study logistics".

One of the first lessons I learned in program and project management is that attention to the details of supplies, vendors, and parts manufacturers will determine success or failure more than anything else that management does. They are not glamorous, Hollywood does not make movies made about them, but logistics and supply chain are the unsung pillars on which every major project rests.

It is nice to have eloquent oratory and high flown philosophical statements, but the real way that real programs are really controlled is through the money. When the logistics and supply budget is stopped, the program is over. Momentum and warehoused supplies can carry on for a short period, but when those are exhausted, its time for the museum.

Starting four years ago, the shuttle program in its various projects made "lifetime buys". That is, we bought enough piece parts to fly all the flights on the manifest plus a prudent margin of reserves. Then we started sending out termination letters. About two years ago, we terminated 95% of the vendors for parts for the external tank project, for example. Smaller, but still significant, percentages of vendors for SSME, Orbiter, and RSRB have also been terminated.

A lot of things that go into the shuttle build up are specialty items. Electronics parts that nobody makes any more (1970's vintage stuff). Hey, if it works, why invest money in certifying new parts? Certifying new ones would be even more costly! Specialty alloys to meet the extraordinary demands of space flight, parts that are made by Mom and Pop shops mostly in the LA basin are norm rather than the exception. You might think that simple things like bolts and screws, wire, filters, and gaskets could be bought off the shelf some where, but that thinking would merely prove how little you know about the shuttle. The huge majority of supplies, consumable items, maintenance items, they are all specially made with unique and stringent processes and standards.

Our shuttle history tells us that when we try to cut corners, trouble results. Small, even apparently insignificant changes have caused big problems. For example, the unheralded end of production of a solvent caused enormous complications for the SRB folks a few years back when things started falling apart unexpectedly. It took a huge engineering detective effort to determine that small chemical changes in the new solvent were the culprit. Anything coming apart in the SRB is not good. There are hundreds of similar examples.

There is a long and arduous process to certify a vendor to produce the logistical parts for the shuttle. Not many companies do this work. Almost all of them are extraordinarily proud of the role they play in America's space program. A lot of them have been there from the beginnings in the middle 1970s. So when a Mom and Pop specialty shop gets a termination letter from the shuttle program after 35 years of production and they have other customers, guess what happens? Mom and Pop decide to close the shop, pension off their highly skilled workers, and then Mom and Pop move out of LA to their retirement cottage in the mountains or at the sea shore.

A lot of this has been happening over the last four years; most of it over two years ago.

So, just for the sake of argument, lets see what would happen if somehow we decided to fly the shuttle some more flights?

From time to time a vendor of specialty parts for the shuttle has gone out of business. Our experience then is that we have immense problems getting anybody to even bid on making replacement items. Sometimes, with hat in hand, we have to knock on doors. Always, we have to offer premium payments to get those exotic, small production run parts made.

Given time and money, anything is possible. But we are always short on time and money. Life seems to be like that.

To take one little example: if we started today to build another external tank at MAF, there are probably enough parts on the shelf. But very shortly we would exhaust supplies of some parts. Maybe on the second tank -- which we need to start in 3 months or so -- would have to get a new supply of specialty parts. Sometimes the old vendor is still there and could be persuaded to make more of the old parts. But in many cases, a new vendor would have to be found. Since the production run would be small, a premium price would have to be paid; and a certification effort requiring 6 to 12 months would start. Initial production likely would have a number of rejects as the workers learn the process. Hmm. In probably 15 to 18 months would would have the parts to build that second tank -- only a year or so later than we needed them. So a new gap would form. Not between shuttle and orion but between shuttle and shuttle.

And what would we get: even higher price per flight of an old technology which is not nearly as safe as we would like . . .

Hey, I am the biggest shuttle hugger there is. I think it is the best spacecraft ever built. But I also deal in the real world.

Where does the money come from? Where do the people -- who should be working on the moon rocket -- where do they come from?

We started shutting down the shuttle four years ago. That horse has left the barn.

Lançamento de um Space Shuttle filmado de um avião

2008-08-15T06:22:00.002Z

A missão é possivelmente a STS-124, e o lançamento foi filmado de um vôo da Air Canada.

Nota: Artigos no NASAWatch e noutros sites colocam em dúvida tratar-se de um lançamento de um Space Shuttle, apontando para a maior probabilidade de se tratar do lançamento de um satélite do sistema GPS, por um foguetão Delta.

Os Caçadores de Mitos na Lua!

2008-08-08T19:36:00.002Z

Vai haver um episódio dos 'Caçadores de Mitos' dedicado a desmentir a teoria da conspiração de que as missões à Lua foram uma fraude, e filmadas num estúdio secreto, algures. Fica aqui uma antevisão do episódio que irá para o ar em breve nos EUA. Espero que não demore muito a chegar a Portugal!

O Módulo Lunar parece-me espetacular!

Eclipse total do Sol de Sexta-Feira visto de um avião

2008-08-03T11:05:00.001Z

Estas imagens espetaculares foram captadas de um avião e mostram com grande clareza o percurso da sombra do eclipse - prestem bem atenção, porque a sombra acompanha o percurso do eclipse!

Descoberta em Marte está a ser mantida em segredo

2008-08-02T21:13:00.000Z

Ainda não se sabe o que é que a sonda Phoenix descobriu em Marte que seja tão importante que a NASA tenha decidido informar o Presidente Bush - mantendo a informação em segredo para o resto do Mundo. Mas em breve, talvez em meados do mês de Agosto, iremos saber.

Fonte: Universe Today

The White House is Briefed: Phoenix About to Announce "Potential For Life" on Mars
Written by Ian O'Neill

It would appear that the US President has been briefed by Phoenix scientists about the discovery of something more "provocative" than the discovery of water existing on the Martian surface. This news comes just as the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) confirmed experimental evidence for the existence of water in the Mars regolith on Thursday. Whilst NASA scientists are not claiming that life once existed on the Red Planet's surface, new data appears to indicate the "potential for life" more conclusively than the TEGA water results. Apparently these new results are being kept under wraps until further, more detailed analysis can be carried out, but we are assured that this announcement will be huge…

So why is there all this secrecy? According to scientists in communication with Aviation Week & Space Technology, the next big discovery will need to be mulled over for a while before it is announced to the world. In fact, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory science team for the MECA wet-chemistry instrument that made these undisclosed findings were kept out of the July 31st news conference (confirming water) so additional analysis could be carried out, avoiding any questions that may have revealed their preliminary results. They have also made the decision to discuss the results with the Bush Administration's Presidential Science Advisor's office before a press conference between mid-August and early September.

Although good news, Thursday's announcement of the discovery of water on Mars comes as no surprise to mission scientists and some are amused by the media's reaction to the TEGA results. "They have discovered water on Mars for the third or fourth time," one senior Mars scientist joked. These new MECA results are, according to the Phoenix team, a little more complex than the water "discovery." Scientists are keen to point out however, that this secretive news will in no way indicate the existence of life (past or present) on Mars; Phoenix simply is not equipped make this discovery. What it can do is test the Mars soil for compounds suitable to support life. The MECA instrument does have microscopes capable of resolving bacterial-scale life forms however, but this is not the focus of the forthcoming announcement, sources say.

This new MECA discovery, combined with TEGA data will probably expose something more compelling, completing another piece of the puzzle in the search for the correct conditions for life as we know it to survive on Mars. Critical to this search is to understand how the recently confirmed water and Mars regolith behave together under the Phoenix lander in the cold Martian arctic.

The MECA instrument had already made the landmark discovery that Mars "soil" was much like the soil more familiar on Earth. This finding prompted scientists to indicate that the minerals and pH levels in the regolith could support some terrestrial plants, indicating this would be useful for future Mars settlers.

What with the discovery of water, and the discovery that Mars soil is very much like the stuff we find on Earth, it is hard to guess as to what the MECA's second soil test has discovered. What ever it is, it sounds pretty significant, especially as NASA and the University of Arizona are taking extraordinary steps to avoid any more details being leaked to the outside world. I just hope were not getting excited over something benign…

Barack Obama promete apoiar o programa espacial da NASA

2008-08-02T20:11:00.003Z

Entre outras promessas, Obama admite que haja mais uma missão do Space Shuttle, por forma a diminuir o espaço de tempo entre a última missão do Shuttle e a primeira do Projecto Orion.

Mmmm, ver para crer. No seu projecto de campanha, Obama já referiu fazer cortes no orçamento da NASA para aumentar as despesas com a educação. Embora concorde que nos EUA se deva gastar mais - e melhor - em educação, acho pessoalmente que os EUA não devam fazê-lo sacrificando precisamente o organismo que faz a ciência e a investigação andar para a frente - a NASA.

Leiam os dois artigos abaixo.

Fontes:

Email da CBS Space News
Space Politics

Obama vows support for NASA, additional shuttle flight
CBS Space News
Posted: 2:15 PM, 8/2/08
By William Harwood
CBS News Space Consultant

2:15 PM, 8/2/08, Update: Obama vows to support NASA; supports additional shuttle flight; will work to 'close the gap' between shuttle and its replacement

Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, held a town hall meeting near the Kennedy Space Center today and vowed strong support for NASA, saying he favors at least one shuttle flight beyond the 10 missions left on the agency's manifest. Obama also said he would work to close the gap between the end of shuttle operations in 2010 and the debut of the Orion spacecraft that will replace it and said earlier reports that he would divert money from NASA's next manned spacecraft to education were unfounded.

Obama was introduced to an enthusiastic crowd of about 1,300 at the Brevard Community College by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), who flew as a payload specialist aboard the shuttle Columbia in 1986. In his opening remarks, Obama delivered his most detailed statement yet on space policy as NASA implements the Bush administration's drive to complete the space station and retire the shuttle fleet by the end of fiscal 2010.

NASA hopes to replace the shuttle with smaller Orion capsules and huge, unmanned cargo boosters, known collectively as the Constellation program. The goal is to use Orion spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from the station while developing the heavy-lift Ares 5 rocket that will help NASA establish a moon base around 2020.

Under the Bush administration's plan, the money to pay for the Constellation program primarily will come from funds that now go to the shuttle and space station programs. The Orion spacecraft and its Ares 1 booster are under development, but near-term funding shortfalls will result in a four- to five-year gap between the end of shuttle operations and the advent of routine operations with Orion. During that gap, U.S. astronauts will be forced to hitch rides to the station aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

It has been widely reported in space circles that Obama earlier vowed to reduce spending for the Constellation program in favor of education initiatives. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, said in a statement last week marking NASA's 50th anniversary that "under current plans, the United States will retire the space shuttle in 2010 after its final mission to the international space station, and thus lose the capability to send on our own, an American to space."

"While my opponent seems content to retreating from American exploration of space for a decade, I am not," McCain said in the statement. "As president, I will act to make ensure our astronauts will continue to explore space, and not just by hitching a ride with someone else. I intend to make sure that the NASA Constellation program has the resources it needs so that we can begin a new era of human space exploration. A country that sent a man to the moon should expect no less."

Today, Obama said he supports the Constellation program and will work to narrow the gap between the end of shuttle operations and the advent of Orion.

"I know it's still being reported that we were talking about delaying some aspects of the Constellation program to pay for our early education program," he said. "I told my staff we're going to find an entirely different offset because we've got to make sure that the money that's going into NASA for basic research and development continues to go there. That has been a top priority for us. This is an administration that's been anti-science. Whether it's on stem cell research, whether it's on climate change, they have rejected science. I want to reverse that trend, I want us to be a science-based society and I want us to invest in science."

Obama expanded on that theme in his opening remarks today, saying "we've got to rebuild our economy in a much more fundamental way. We've got to secure our long-term prosperity and strengthen our economy for the 21st century."

"One of the areas where we're in danger of losing our competitive edge is in science and technology and nothing symbolizes that more than our space program," Obama said. "I've written about this in my book, I grew up in Hawaii and I still remember sitting on my grandfather's shoulders as some of the astronauts were brought in after their capsules had landed in the middle of the Pacific. I could just barely see them, I was waving, I had an American flag, and I remember my grandfather explaining to me this is what America's all about, we can do anything when we put our mind to it.

"And that was what the space program described, that sense of possibility and always reaching out to new frontiers. When I was growing up, NASA inspired the world with achievements that we're still proud of. And today we have an administration that sets ambitious goals for NASA without giving NASA the support it needs to reach them. As a result, NASA's had to cut back on research, trim their program, which means that after the space shuttle shuts down in 2010 we're going to have to rely on Russian spacecraft to keep us in orbit.

"So let me be clear," he said. "We cannot cede our leadership in space. That's why I'm going to close the gap, ensure that our space program doesn't suffer when the shuttle goes out of service. We may extend an additional shuttle launch, we're going to work with Bill Nelson to add at least one more flight beyond 2010 by continuing to support NASA funding, by speeding the development of the shuttle's successor, by making sure that all those that work in the space industry in Florida do not lose their jobs when the shuttle is retired. Because we cannot afford to lose their expertise."

The additional shuttle flight presumably would be devoted to launching the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a major physics experiment that lost its ride to the space station in the push to finish the station and retire the shuttle by the end of fiscal 2010. Nelson and other NASA supporters in Congress favor the additional flight, but the Bush administration opposes the additional expense.

"But more broadly, we need a real vision for the next stage of space exploration," Obama continued. "And to help formulate this vision, I'm going to re-establish the national aeronautics and space council so we can develop a plan to explore the solar system, a plan that involves both human and robotic missions, enlist both international partners and the private sector. And as America leads the world in the long-term exploration of the moon and Mars and beyond, let's also tap NASA's ingenuity to build the airplanes of tomorrow and to study our own planet so we can combat global climate change.

"Under my watch, NASA will inspire the world once again and make America stronger and it's going to help grow the economy right here in Brevard County and right here in Florida. That's what we're going to do. That's what this election's all about. It's about raising our sights, seizing the moment, reclaiming our destiny."

Obama: cut Constellation to pay for education
November 20, 2007 at 2:06 pm

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama released today the education plan he would enact if elected. The full 15-page plan includes a variety of proposals, including reforming early education programs. The last section of the plan, titled “A Commitment to Fiscal Responsibility” explains how he would pay for these initiatives. The passage of relevance here: “The early education plan will be paid for by delaying the NASA Constellation Program for five years,” among other steps. According to MSNBC, Obama would leave in place $500 million/year for Constellation’s “manufacturing and technology base”, but would otherwise transfer the funding to the education effort. None of the campaign’s official statements or other media reports indicate any alternative measures the campaign would take to address what, on its face, would appear to be a five-year delay in the introduction of Ares 1, Orion, and the other main components of NASA’s current exploration architecture.

(A potentially ironic item, depending on your opinion on the importance of Constellation: one other section of the Obama education plan is titled “Make Math and Science Education a National Priority”.)

The Republican National Committee has criticized the move to delay Constellation, The Hill reports, quoting RNC spokesman Danny Diaz: “It is ironic that Barack Obama’s plan to help our children reach for the stars is financed in part by slashing a program that helps us learn about those very same stars.”

A Imagem do Dia

2008-07-04T11:13:00.001Z

O que é isto?

Clique na imagem para obter a explicação!

Buzz Lightyear em órbita!

2008-06-24T19:11:00.001Z

Tal como disse aqui aquando do lançamento da missão STS 124, o herói de 'Toy Story' Buzz Lightyear entrou em órbita, e aqui está a prova!

Aterragem do Space Shuttle Discovery, no Sábado

2008-06-17T18:49:00.005Z

É com algum atraso que coloco aqui as imagens e o vídeo da aterragem da missão STS-124, mas vale sempre a pena ver estes acontecimentos espetaculares! Como sempre, clique nas imagens para aumentar.

Stephen Hawking espera que haja vida inteligente no Universo, porque não há muitos sinais dela na Terra!

2008-06-11T12:53:00.001Z

Novas fotos fabulosas de Saturno e das suas luas, enviadas pela sonda Cassini

2008-06-05T16:37:00.013Z

A sonda Cassini está em órbita de Saturno há já quatro anos. Como homenagem aqui ficam algumas das imagens mais impressionantes que já vi de Saturno e das suas Luas. Clique nas imagens para as ver em tamanho maior, ou, se preferir, vá ao site do Boston.com, onde estas são apresentadas em tamanho maior.

Fonte: Boston.com

Saturno com o Sol do lado oposto.

Remoínhos nos topos das núvens em Saturno.

A superfície de Dione, a curta distância.

A pequena lua Janus, com Titã por detrás dos anéis de Saturno.

Réia

O horizonte de Saturno, visto através dos seus anéis.

Mimas.

Um 'nó' num dos anéis exteriores de Saturno.

A lua Hipérion, a curta distância.

A lua Encélado, com Saturno em 2º plano.

O Pólo Sul de Saturno.

De novo Mimas, com os anéis em segundo plano.

Vídeo do lançamento do Discovery STS-124

2008-06-01T21:31:00.004Z

Em breve colocarei neste blog a minha selecção do costume de vídeos amadores.

Neste lançamento é notável a nitidez com que foi focada a separação dos motores auxiliares de combustível sólido (SRBs - Solid Rocket Boosters). É incrível a qualidade das ópticas dos dias de hoje!

Esta missão levava como passageiro Buzz Lightyear, conhecido pela sua participação no filme 'Toy Story'. Adequadamente, passou por uma bateria de testes, com a orientação do astronauta Buzz Aldrin (o segundo astronauta a andar na Lua!)

Space Shuttle lançado com êxito

2008-05-31T21:35:00.004Z

Mais fotos e vídeos em breve.

Fonte: MSNBC

Shuttle Discovery heads to space station

Loaded aboard is $1 billion school-bus-size science lab

The Associated Press

updated 5:27 p.m. ET May 31, 2008

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven blasted into orbit Saturday, carrying a giant Japanese lab addition to the international space station along with something more mundane — a toilet pump.

Discovery roared into a brilliant blue sky dotted with a few clouds at 5:02 p.m., right on time.

The shuttle's trip to the space station should take two days. Once there, Discovery's crew will unload and install the $1 billion lab and hand-deliver a specially made pump for the outpost's finicky toilet.

The school-bus-size lab, named Kibo, Japanese for hope, will be the biggest room by far at the space station and bring the orbiting outpost to three-quarters of completion.

"It's a gorgeous day to launch," NASA's launch director, Mike Leinbach, told the astronauts just before liftoff, wishing them good luck and Godspeed. Commander Mark Kelly noted that Kibo was the "hope for the space station," then radioed: "Now stand by for the greatest show on Earth!"

Nearly 400 Japanese journalists, space program officials and other guests jammed NASA's launch site, their excitement growing as the hours, then minutes counted down.

Their enthusiasm was catchy.

"This is a real milestone," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said.

The Japanese lab is 37 feet long and more than 32,000 pounds, and fills Discovery's entire payload bay. The first part of the lab flew up in March, and the third and final section will be launched next year.

The entire lab, with all its pieces, cost more than $2 billion.

A large political contingent was also on hand led by Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who is newly married to Kelly, Discovery's commander. They invited numerous bigwigs from Arizona and Washington.

Giffords acknowledged being nervous, far more so than the day she was elected to Congress in 2006.

"It's a risky job. I'm pleased that the vehicle's in good shape, the weather is beautiful. They've had no problems," she told The Associated Press. "But you don't really relax" until the shuttle is back from its two-week mission.

Kelly's brother, Scott, didn't need an invitation to the launch — he's also a space shuttle commander. They're identical twins.

Scott Kelly said it was more nerve-racking to watch his brother launch than to be strapped in himself. Their parents and 91-year-old grandmother are always anxious on launch day, he said.

"I know my grandmother, she would rather I work at Wal-Mart," Scott Kelly said, chuckling, before liftoff.

Three spacewalks are planned during Discovery's 14-day flight, to install Kibo, replace an empty nitrogen-gas tank and try out various cleaning methods on a clogged solar-wing rotating joint. The shuttle crew is made up of six Americans and one Japanese.

The space station's two Russian residents, meanwhile, will put in the new toilet pump. For more than a week, the three occupants have had to manually flush the toilet with extra water several times a day, a time-consuming, water-wasting job.

NASA and Russian space officials are hoping that the pump — which was rushed to Kennedy Space Center from Moscow just this past week — gets the toilet back in normal working order.

One of Discovery's astronauts, Gregory Chamitoff, will move into the space station for a six-month stay. He'll replace Garrett Reisman, who will return to Earth aboard the shuttle.

Also hitching a ride to the space station is Buzz Lightyear. The 12-inch (30-centimeter) action figure — made famous in the 1995 Disney film "Toy Story" — is part of NASA's "toys in space" educational program for elementary students and their teachers.

Já viram se isto tivesse acontecido durante a aterragem da Phoenix?

2008-05-30T16:05:00.000Z

Sonda Phoenix fotografada da órbita de Marte

2008-05-28T21:14:00.003Z

Mais um trabalho da câmera HiRISE, do Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, que mostra em grande detalhe o local de aterragem da Phoenix em Marte. Clique nas imagens para aumentar.

Começou a contagem decrescente para a próxima missão do Space Shuttle

2008-05-28T21:06:00.002Z

Aqui fica a descrição da contagem, à qual devem ser somadas 5 horas para obter a hora de Lisboa.

Fonte: Email da CBS Space News

EDT...........EVENT

Wed 05/28/08

02:30 PM......Call to stations
03:00 PM......Countdown begins

Thu 05/29/08

01:00 AM......Fuel cell reactant load preps
06:30 AM......SRB master events controller power up
07:00 AM......Clear crew module

07:00 AM......Begin 4-hour built-in hold
07:00 AM......Clear blast danger area
07:45 AM......Orbiter pyro-initiator controller test
07:55 AM......SRB pyro initiator test
08:55 AM......Master events controller pre-flight BITE test
11:00 AM......Resume countdown

12:30 PM......Fuel cell oxygen loading begins
03:00 PM......Fuel cell oxygen load complete
03:00 PM......Fuel cell hydrogen loading begins
05:30 PM......Fuel cell hydrogen loading complete
06:30 PM......Pad open; ingress white room

07:00 PM......Begin 8-hour built-in hold (240-pound LO2 offload)
11:00 PM......Crew module clean and vacuum
11:30 PM......Fuel cell loading boom demate

Fri 05/30/08

01:00 AM......Secure mobile launch platform interior
03:00 AM......Countdown resumes

03:00 AM......Main engine preps
03:00 AM......Master event controllers 1 and 2 on; avionics system checkout
04:00 AM......Remove OMS engine covers, throat plugs
04:30 AM......Deflate rotating service structure dock seals; tile inspection
05:00 AM......Tile inspection
09:00 AM......Tail service mast prepped for fueling

11:00 AM......Begin 13-hour 37-minute hold
12:45 PM......Crew weather briefing
01:30 PM......OIS communications check
02:20 PM......JSC flight control team on station
03:30 PM......Comm activation
04:00 PM......Crew module voice checks
05:00 PM......Flight crew equipment late stow
05:30 PM......Debris inspection
08:30 PM......RSS moved to park position
09:30 PM......Final tile, debris inspection
10:30 PM......Ascent switch list

Sat 05/31/08

12:37 AM......Resume countdown

12:37 AM......Astronaut support personnel cockpit config
12:57 AM......Pad clear of non-essential personnel
12:57 AM......Hydaulic power unit bite test
01:47 AM......Fuel cell activation
02:37 AM......Booster joint heater activation
03:07 AM......MEC pre-flight bite test
03:22 AM......Tanking weather update
04:07 AM......Final fueling preps; launch area clear
04:37 AM......Red crew assembled
05:22 AM......Fuel cell integrity checks complete

05:37 AM......Begin 2-hour built-in hold (T-minus 6 hours)
05:47 AM......Safe-and-arm PIC test
06:30 AM......Crew wakeup
06:37 AM......External tank ready for loading
06:52 AM......Mission management team tanking meeting
07:37 AM......Resume countdown (T-minus 6 hours)

07:37 AM......Liquid oxygen (LO2), hydrogen (LH2) transfer line chilldown
07:47 AM......Main propulsion system chill down
07:47 AM......LH2 slow fill
08:17 AM......LO2 slow fill
08:22 AM......Hydrogen ECO sensors go wet
08:27 AM......LO2 fast fill
08:37 AM......LH2 fast fill
10:32 AM......LH2 topping
10:37 AM......LH2 replenish
10:37 AM......LO2 replenish

10:37 AM......Begin 2-hour 30-minute built-in hold (T-minus 3 hours)
10:37 AM......Closeout crew to white room
10:37 AM......External tank in stable replenish mode
10:52 AM......Astronaut support personnel comm checks
11:22 AM......Pre-ingress switch reconfig
11:40 AM......Crew breakfast/photo op (recorded)
12:00 PM......NASA television launch coverage begins
12:32 PM......Final crew weather briefing
12:42 PM......Crew suit up begins
01:07 PM......Resume countdown (T-minus 3 hours)

01:12 PM......Crew departs O&C building
01:42 PM......Crew ingress
02:32 PM......Astronaut comm checks
02:47 PM......Hatch closure
03:27 PM......White room closeout

03:47 PM......Begin 10-minute built-in hold (T-minus 20m)
03:57 PM......NASA test director countdown briefing
03:57 PM......Resume countdown (T-minus 20m)

03:58 PM......Backup flight computer to OPS 1
04:02 PM......KSC area clear to launch

04:08 PM......Begin final built-in hold (T-minus 9m)
04:38 PM......NASA test director launch status verification
04:53:11 PM...Resume countdown (T-minus 9m)

04:54:41 PM...Orbiter access arm retraction
04:57:11 PM...Launch window opens
04:57:11 PM...Hydraulic power system (APU) start
04:57:16 PM...Terminate LO2 replenish
04:58:11 PM...Purge sequence 4 hydraulic test
04:58:11 PM...IMUs to inertial
04:58:16 PM...Aerosurface profile
04:58:41 PM...Main engine steering test
04:59:16 PM...LO2 tank pressurization
04:59:36 PM...Fuel cells to internal reactants
04:59:41 PM...Clear caution-and-warning memory
05:00:11 PM...Crew closes visors
05:00:14 PM...LH2 tank pressurization
05:01:21 PM...SRB joint heater deactivation
05:01:40 PM...Shuttle GPCs take control of countdown
05:01:50 PM...SRB steering test
05:02:04 PM...Main engine start (T-6.6 seconds)
05:02:11 PM...SRB ignition (LAUNCH)

Space Shuttle será lançado no Sábado, com uma missão inédita

2008-05-28T10:46:00.004Z

Além da instalação do laboratório espacial Kibo, de concepção japonesa, a tripulação da Discovery, juntamente com a tripulação da ISS, irão tentar... desentupir a retrete da ISS!

Pode parecer caricato, mas um problema destes pode levar à evacuação (!!!) da ISS.

Fonte: Local 6

Astronauts To Fix Space Station Toilet
Plumbing Added To Discovery Mission

POSTED: 11:52 am EDT May 27, 2008
UPDATED: 12:28 pm EDT May 27, 2008
How do you call a plumber in space?

Space shuttle Discovery will be loaded with spare parts to fix the main toilet in the Russian segment of the International Space Station; the vacuum-powered urine-collection device failed after repeated attempts to fix it last week.

The three crew members on the station, a U.S. astronaut and two cosmonauts, are using the toilet in the Soyuz module. The situation could become problematic when Discovery arrives next week, and 10 people are required to share the toilet on the tiny Soyuz, which is a Russian capsule also designated to be used at an emergency escape lifeboat. The shuttle's toilet, however, could provide some relief until the ISS toilet is repaired, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported.

Conditions are not unsanitary, said a NASA spokesman.

Though Discovery will carry up replacement parts on Saturday, NASA is not yet sure which parts will be needed for replacement.

With the successful arrival on Mars of the Phoenix spacecraft, NASA is turning its attention to Saturday's launch of Discovery on a mission to deliver a massive Japanese laboratory to the International Space Station.

Technicians returned to work on Tuesday at launch pad 39A after most work crews had the Memorial Day weekend off. Discovery's astronaut crew arrives at Kennedy Space Center Wednesday about 11:30 a.m. The coundown begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Discovery will blast off at 5:02 p.m. on a trip to deliver the 37-foot Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. Three spacewalks will be performed during the 14-day mission.

A fotografia da Década!

2008-05-26T18:21:00.005Z

Clique para aumentar.

Esta foto, absolutamente única no seu género, mostra a sonda Phoenix (o pequeno ponto branco em baixo) a descer para Marte, ainda suspensa pelo seu pára-quedas (o ponto branco maior, em cima)! Foi tirada de órbita (!!) pela câmera HiRISE da sonda Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. É a primeira vez na História que é fotografada uma sonda a descer para Marte - ou para qualquer outro planeta, incluindo a Terra!

Fonte: Site Oficial da Phoenix

Camera On Mars Orbiter Snaps Phoenix During Landing

May 26, 2008 -- A telescopic camera in orbit around Mars caught a view of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suspended from its parachute during the lander's successful arrival at Mars Sunday evening, May 25.

The image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter marks the first time ever one spacecraft has photographed another one in the act of landing on Mars.

Meanwhile, scientists pored over initial images from Phoenix, the first ever taken from the surface of Mars' polar regions. Phoenix returned information that it was in good health after its first night on Mars, and the Phoenix team sent the spacecraft its to-do list for the day.

"We can see cracks in the troughs that make us think the ice is still modifying the surface," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "We see fresh cracks. Cracks can't be old. They would fill in."

Camera pointing for the image from HiRISE used navigational information about Phoenix updated on landing day. The camera team and Phoenix team would not know until the image was sent to Earth whether it had actually caught Phoenix.

"We saw a few other bright spots in the image first, but when we saw the parachute and the lander with the cords connecting them, there was no question," said HiRISE Principal Investigator Alfred McEwen, also of the University of Arizona.

"I'm floored. I'm absolutely floored," said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. A team analyzing what can be learned from the Phoenix descent through the Martian atmosphere will use the image to reconstruct events.

HiRISE usually points downward. For this image, the pointing was at 62 degrees, nearly two-thirds of the way from straight down to horizontal. To tilt the camera, the whole orbiter must tilt. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was already pointed toward the expected descent path of Phoenix to record radio transmissions from Phoenix.

McEwen said, "We've never taken an image at such an oblique angle before."

Monday's tasks for Phoenix include checkouts of some instruments and systems, plus additional imaging of the lander's surroundings.

Inevitável! Marcianos manifestam-se contra a invasão americana de Marte!

2008-05-26T12:24:00.003Z

Os 7 minutos de terror da Phoenix

2008-05-26T11:16:00.001Z

Vídeo que descreve os 7 minutos da fase 'EDL' - Entry, Descent, Landing - da Phoenix.

Mais imagens de Marte

2008-05-26T11:09:00.003Z

A superfície da zona ártica de Marte, mostrando vários 'polígonos',
possivelmente criados por camadas de gelo subterrâneo. Clique para aumentar.

Um dos polígonos referidos. Clique para aumentar.

As primeiras imagens da Phoenix a partir de Marte

2008-05-26T11:04:00.005Z

Estas são algumas das primeiras imagens enviadas para a Terra pela Phoenix a partir da superfície de Marte. Chegaram ontem por volta das 2:30 da madrugada (acordei com os aplausos na NASA TV!). Mostram os painéis solares abertos, um dos pés da sonda, e o horizonte de Marte. A Phoenix aterrou numa planície muito plana, com poucos rochedos. A superfície apresenta falhas em forma de polígono, possivelmente formadas pela presença de gelo subterrâneo.

A descida da Phoenix

2008-05-26T10:50:00.003Z

Vídeo da cobertura da descida da Phoenix até Marte, pela NASA TV. O vídeo começa quando a Phoenix já estava a entrar na atmosfera de Marte. A tensão era óbvia, a 'irmã' desta sonda despenhou-se no Pólo Sul de Marte em 1999, mas desta vez toda a gente estava sorridente. Pessoalmente pensei que estavam todos a deitar foguetes antes da festa, mas felizmente era só a confiança de quem fez um bom trabalho.

A narrativa de quem lia a telemetria é dramática, e simplesmente inesquecível. Um dia histórico.

Um dia Histórico - a Phoenix aterra com sucesso em Marte!

2008-05-26T00:13:00.002Z

Pela primeira vez em 32 anos, desde as sondas Viking - era eu um miúdo de 10 anos - a NASA fez aterrar em Marte uma sonda sem o auxílio de airbags - o que permitiu um controlo de aterragem muito mais preciso, mas também muito mais arriscado.

Os últimos segundos foram fantásticos, com a telemetria da Phoenix a ser lida em tempo real, com a indicação da abertura do pára-quedas, separação do pára-quedas, ligação dos foguetes, e indicações da altitude, até à confirmação da aterragem.

A aterragem foi tão perfeita que a sonda está com apenas 0,25º de inclinação em relação à horizontal!

O próximo ponto crítico será a abertura dos painéis solares, sem a qual a missão não poderá progredir a 100%.

Dentro de cerca de uma hora e meia chegarão as primeiras imagens do Pólo Norte de Marte. Não sei se estarei acordado nessa altura, mas amanhã estarão aqui as imagens!

Já bebi um Porto em homenagem à Phoenix! Parabéns NASA, parabéns JPL!

Aterragem da Phoenix em Marte dentro de poucas horas

2008-05-25T15:06:00.005Z

A transmissão em directo pela NASA TV começa hoje pelas 11 horas da noite, hora de Lisboa. A aterragem deverá ser por volta da meia-noite e 53 minutos. As primeiras imagens poderão surgir por volta das 3 da madrugada. Vamos manter os dedos cruzados e esperar que tudo corra bem. Se tal acontecer, será a primeira vez em 32 anos que a NASA consegue aterrar uma sonda em Marte só com controlo por foguetes e sem o auxílio de airbags!

Fonte: NASA

Nota - a todos os tempos abaixo deverá somar 8 horas, já que são a hora oficial da costa oeste.

NOTE: The times below for the Phoenix spacecraft events on May 25 are for a nominal scenario. Remaining navigational adjustments before May 25 could shift the times by up to about half a minute. In addition, the times for some events relative to others could vary by several seconds due to variations in the Martian atmosphere and other factors. For some events, a "give or take" range of times is given, covering 99 percent of possible scenarios from the atmospheric entry time. For events at Mars, times are listed in "Earth-receive time" (ERT) rather than "spacecraft event time" (SCET). This means the listed time incorporates the interval necessary for radio signals traveling at the speed of light to reach Earth from Mars. On landing day, May 25, the two planets are 275 million kilometers apart (171 million miles), which means it takes the signal 15 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth. For some spacecraft events, engineers will not receive immediate radio confirmation.

-- Trajectory correction maneuver opportunity (TCM6X), 8:46 a.m.
-- News briefing, noon
-- Begin non-commentary live television feed from JPL control room, 3 p.m.
-- Begin commentated live television feed from JPL control room, 3:30 p.m.
-- Propulsion system pressurization, 4:16 p.m.
-- Begin "bent-pipe" relay relay (continuous transmission of Phoenix data as it is received) through NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft to Goldstone, Calif., Deep Space Network station, 4:38 p.m.
-- Green Bank, W. Va., radio telescope listening for direct UHF from Phoenix, 4:38 p.m.
-- Cruise stage separates, 4:39 p.m.
-- Spacecraft turns to attitude for atmospheric entry, 4:40 p.m.
-- Spacecraft enters atmosphere, 4:46:33 p.m.
-- Likely blackout period as hot plasma surrounds spacecraft, 4:47 through 4:49 p.m.
-- Parachute deploys, 4:50:15 p.m., plus or minus about 13 seconds.
-- Heat shield jettisoned, 4:50:30 p.m., plus or minus about 13 seconds.
-- Legs deploy, 4:50:40 p.m., plus or minus about 13 seconds. -
- Radar activated, 4:51:30 p.m.
-- Lander separates from backshell, 4:53:09 p.m., plus or minus about 46 seconds.
-- Transmission gap during switch to helix antenna 4:53:08 to 4:53:14 p.m.
-- Descent thrusters throttle up, 4:53:12 p.m.
-- Constant-velocity phase starts, 4:53:34 p.m., plus or minus about 46 seconds.
-- Touchdown, 4:53:52 p.m., plus or minus about 46 seconds.
-- Lander radio off 4:54:52 p.m., plus or minus about 46 seconds.
-- Begin opening solar arrays (during radio silence) 5:13 p.m.
-- Begin NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter playback of Phoenix transmissions recorded during entry, descent and landing, 5:28 p.m. However, data for analysis will not be ready until several hours later.
-- Begin Europe's Mars Express spacecraft playback of Phoenix transmissions recorded during entry, descent and landing, 5:30 p.m. However, data for analysis will not be ready until several hours later.
-- Post-landing poll of subsystem teams about spacecraft status, 5:30 p.m.
-- Mars Odyssey "bent-pipe" relay of transmission from Phoenix, with engineering data and possibly including first images, 6:43 to 7:02 p.m. Data could take up to about 30 additional minutes in pipeline before being accessible. If all goes well, live television feed from control room may show first images as they are received. The first images to be taken after landing will be of solar arrays, to check deployment status.
-- News briefing, 9 p.m.

Fonte: New Scientist Space

Peanuts and Rolling Stones on hand for Mars landing

* 00:34 25 May 2008
* NewScientist.com news service
* Ivan Semeniuk, Pasadena

Bring on the peanuts; it's time to land on Mars.

One day before the Phoenix spacecraft arrives at the Red Planet, good luck charms and helpful aphorisms are on full display as engineers and scientists associated with the project deal with the stress of their mission's most critical hours.

Project manager Barry Goldstein has already ordered the peanuts that will be available tomorrow in the mission support area where his Entry, Descent and Landing team will track Phoenix's fiery plunge through the Martian atmosphere.

The peanuts are a Jet Propulsion Lab tradition, but unlike at the last Mars landing, these peanuts will still be in their shells. "I think we need to go through the process" of opening up the peanuts to calm edgy nerves, he told New Scientist.

In addition to the peanuts, lucky blueberries will also make an appearance - a nod to the Opportunity rover, which found iron-rich spherules, nicknamed blueberries, soon after it became the last spacecraft to successfully touch down on Mars.

If it lands successfully, Phoenix will dig into the soil near the northern polar cap to study ice thought to lie just below the surface. This should reveal whether Mars has maintained periodic habitability up to the present day, which would be possible if the planet periodically changes its tilt as a result of gravitational tugs by Jupiter. Such wobbles would cause the northern permafrost to melt and moisten the soil every so often.

At a press briefing today, principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona in Tucson, US, quoted poet Ralph Waldo Emerson while summing up the scientific rationale for the mission, which could be the first to touch water on Mars: "Go where there is no path; leave a trail for others to follow."

On a somewhat less poetic, but eminently more pragmatic note, Douglas McCuistion, NASA's Mars programme director, invoked a line famously sung by Mick Jagger: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you get what you need."
Course correction

Certainly, regardless of the returns that scientists want to see coming back from Phoenix in the coming weeks, the spacecraft needs to land intact or the $420 million mission will effectively be a write-off. "We bet the whole farm on landing safely," says Smith.

Later today, Goldstein and his team will decide if a course correction is needed to nudge the lander's trajectory towards a destination that is roughly 10 kilometres or so eastward of its latest projected landing site. The correction would require the spacecraft to turn itself sideways and then fire its hydrazine propellant for six seconds before resuming to its Mars-facing orientation.

According to mission manager Joe Guinn, the manoeuvre would only be executed if Phoenix appears to be drifting away from a region of the Martian northern plains that has the most desirable landing profile.

The desirable region falls in a topographic "green zone" - so-called because of its colour code in Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) images. The green zone is defined as having no more than three large boulders (1.5 metres across) per hectare.
Dust storm

In addition to the surface terrain, Phoenix's landing could also be affected by atmospheric conditions. MRO images reveal that a minor dust storm swept across the landing site earlier today, but the disturbance is expected to dissipate well before the probe's touchdown at 1653 PDT on Sunday (0053 GMT on Monday).

While Phoenix can accommodate a high-speed entry through a dusty atmosphere, a large amount of dust over the landing site would mean a reduction in the power available to spacecraft on the surface once its solar panels are deployed.

Goldstein said that a data set with updated information on atmospheric conditions can be sent to the spacecraft up to 3 hours before the landing. Such information will be crucial for determining when key events of the landing sequence take place, including deployment of the parachute that will slow the spacecraft to a point where its pulsing thrusters can take over for a soft landing.

Tudo a postos para a aterragem da Phoenix em Marte

2008-05-19T18:52:00.004Z

Será no Domingo, dia 25 de Maio.

Vamos manter os dedos cruzados. O predecessor da Phoenix, o Mars Polar Lander, despenhou-se perto do Pólo Sul de Marte em 1998. Não é garantido que esta nova sonda vá aterrar com sucesso.

Link: Site Oficial da Missão Phoenix

As formigas assassinas (de computadores) de Houston

2008-05-16T20:32:00.004Z

Uma praga de formigas está a dirigir-se para a zona de Houston, onde está localizado o centro de controlo de todas as missões tripuladas da NASA. Estas formigas têm a particularidade de 'gostarem' particularmente de computadores, alojando-se às centenas no seu interior, e causando sobreaquecimentos e curto-circuitos. Poderá estar a desenvolver-se um problema grave para a NASA!

Fonte: ComputerWorld

NASA moves to save computers from swarming ants
Sharon Gaudin

May 15, 2008 (Computerworld) A flood of voracious ants is heading straight for Houston, taking out computers, radios and even vehicles in their path.

Even the Johnson Space Center has called in extermination experts to keep the pests out of their sensitive and critical systems.

The ants have been causing all kinds of trouble in five Texas counties in the Gulf Coast area. Because of their sheer numbers, the ants are short-circuiting computers in homes and offices, and knocking systems offline in major businesses. When IT personnel pry the affected computers open, they find the machines loaded with thousands of ant bodies.

"These ants are raising havoc," said Roger Gold, professor of entomology at Texas A&M University in College Station. "They're foraging for food, and they'll go into any space looking for it. In the process, they make their way into sensitive equipment."

The ants have been dubbed Crazy Rasberry ants after Tom Rasberry, owner of Budget Pest Control in Pearland, Texas. He first tackled this particular type of ant back in 2002. Since then, the problem has only escalated.

Rasberry told Computerworld that the ants have caused a lot of trouble for one Texas chemical company in particular. Not wanting to name the company, he said the ants shorted out three computers that were running a pipeline that brought chemicals into the plant. The ants took down two computers last year and one in 2006, affecting flow in the pipeline each time.

"I think they go into everything, and they don't follow any kind of structured line," said Rasberry. "If you open a computer, you would find a cluster of ants on the motherboard and all over. You'd get 3,000 or 4,000 ants inside, and they create arcs. They'll wipe out any computer."

The Johnson Space Center called in Rasberry a month or two ago in an attempt to keep the ants out of its facilities. Too late. Raspberry said he found three colonies at the NASA site, but all were small enough to control.

"With the computer systems they have in there, it could devastate the facility," said Rasberry. "If these ants got into the facility in the numbers they have in other locations, well, it would be awful. I've been in this business for 32 years, and this is unlike anything I've ever seen. Anything. When you bring in entomologists from all over the U.S. and they're in shock and awe, that shows you what it's like."

The Johnson Space Center referred all questions about the ants to Rasberry.

The ants, which are tiny and reddish, aren't native to Texas. Officials believe they came off a ship from the Caribbean, said Paul Nester, a program specialist for the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. They were first spotted about six years ago.

Gold said in the past few years, they've spread in a radius of about 50 miles. And now they're moving into Houston, the fourth largest city in the country.

"Fifty miles might not seem like a lot until you realize they're moving into Houston," said Gold. "It could really affect a lot of people's lives."

A big problem, noted Nester, is how quickly their numbers are multiplying.

A queen fire ant, long a problem in Texas, can lay as many as 1,000 eggs a day, he said. The Crazy Rasberry ants are thought to be as prolific. However, an ant mound normally has one queen. The new ants have many queens, so they're able to multiply their ranks that much more quickly. They also don't go to the trouble of building ant hills. They simply nest under anything they can find — a log, a tire or a pet's water bowl — and then they quickly move on and spread further.

Nester said the ants swarmed into trucks at a shipping company, shorting out the radios and even some of the vehicles themselves.

Gold said the ants got into an engine compartment at a sewage treatment plant and shorted out the pumps so they couldn't move the sewage out. He added that they've also overrun a subdivision and caused a lot of electrical damage to houses there.

Part of the problem is that exterminators have found it nearly impossible to kill the ants. Oh, you can kill some of them — the first wave, maybe. However, there are so many more ants coming behind them, that the first wave falls dead in the insecticide and the subsequent waves merely walk on the dead bodies, keeping themselves out of the poison and safe from harm.

Gold warned people not to spray any pesticides inside their computers, but to simply call in professionals to avoid mixing up poisonous concoctions or storing partly used, potentially harmful insecticides.

O botão para destruír o Space Shuttle

2008-05-15T20:15:00.005Z

Como acontece em todos os veículos espaciais, também o Space Shuttle tem um botão para o destruír no ar, caso algo corra mal! Mesmo com a consciência de que isso matará todos os astronautas a bordo, se o Shuttle se desviar da sua rota (ver figura abaixo) mais do que o determinado, ou se ocorrer qualquer outra anomalia que possa pôr em risco as pessoas em terra ou no mar, este será destruído por um conjunto de cargas explosivas comandadas pelo Range Safety Officer. Os astronautas costumam dizer piadas do tipo 'nunca chatear o RSO'.

Até hoje, o RSO só teve de actuar uma vez durante o programa Space Shuttle. Após a explosão do Space Shuttle Challenger, os motores auxiliares de combustível sólido - Solid Rocket Boosters - continuaram a voar desgovernados - como decerto se recordarão os que assistiram ao trágico evento. Para evitar riscos graves, foram detonados a partir de terra poucos segundos depois de se ter constatado o que havia acontecido.

Fonte: Popular Mechanics

As Shuttle Lifts Off, NASA Will Man Destruct Switch—Just in Case
If the looming Discovery mission or any other between now and the spacecraft's retirement loses control, NASA is prepared to ditch it in the Atlantic—or blow it up.
By Joe Pappalardo
Published in the June 2008 issue.

Each time the space shuttle rises from its launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Fla., an Air Force officer waits anxiously for the first 2 minutes to pass safely. If the spaceship were to veer off course and endanger a populated area, this range safety officer would bear the terrible responsibility of flipping a pair of switches under a stenciled panel reading “Flight Termination.” The first switch arms explosives on the shuttle’s two solid rocket boosters. Flipping the second switch would detonate them, destroying the shuttle and crew.

“If something happens when it’s just off the pad, there’s only a couple of seconds [to react],” says Bryan O’Connor, a former shuttle commander and NASA’s chief of safety and mission assurance.

But the danger continues as the craft streaks upward. If a spaceship’s flight controls or engines malfunction, toxic fuel and fast-moving debris could threaten people below. After about 2 minutes, the spent solid rocket boosters drop away, taking the charges with them. After that, problems severe enough to threaten people on the ground would leave the crew with two options: Enter orbit and fly around the Earth for a landing at California’s Edwards Air Force Base, or steer into the ocean. Ditching at sea would be extremely dangerous—astronauts would need to exit the ship at 20,000 ft., without the benefit of ejection seats. “After Challenger, we installed parachutes, survival suits and individual rafts, as well as an extendable pole used to clear the escapees from the wing when they exit the hatch [while in flight],” O’Connor says.

NASA’s next space vehicles will include a rocket-powered escape pod for launch emergencies.

Voltaremos à Lua em 2020?

2008-05-15T20:00:00.003Z

Conto-me entre os que duvidam. E estou em boa companhia, entre outros os astronautas Eugene Cernan e Alan Bean, que andaram na Lua em 1972 e 1969, respectivamente, que realçam o facto de que a NASA foi colocada numa situação impossível pelo presidente Bush quando, há anos, ditou o regresso à Lua até 2020 com um novo tipo de nave espacial, e o fim dos vôos do Space Shuttle em 2010, sem qualquer acréscimo orçamental. A NASA não podia dizer que não, por isso tem estado a gastar dinheiro a desenvolver um novo sistema de foguetões, até que o dinheiro se acabe...

Esta situação já foi vista vezes sem conta. Na NASA, como em qualquer outra agência estatal de qualquer país, os orçamentos são para gastar. Se por algum milagre do destino se atinge um objectivo, é motivo para júbilo, mas isso, geralmente, não é esperado. Só quando há um grande ímpeto por parte do Governo em que esse determinado objectivo seja realmente atingido é que se veêm resultados. Foi o que se viu no final da década de 60 com o Projecto Apollo. Pelo contrário, a Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS) foi, durante décadas, apenas um projecto que sugou biliões de dólares do orçamento da NASA, porque não havia realmente a vontade política de a colocar em órbita. Só quando esse objectivo foi realmente firmado a nível do Governo dos EUA, através de múltiplos acordos com outros países, nomeadamente a Europa e o Japão, é que se começou a ver a construção da ISS a andar para a frente. Com grandes problemas pelo meio, é certo, entre os quais a tragédia do Columbia, e a mais de 10 vezes o custo inicial estimado, de acordo com alguns estudos. Mas hoje assistimos a um esforço espetacular de construír uma estação espacial útil e funcional, o que não aconteceu durante anos.

Como não é óbvia a vontade de voltar à Lua por parte do Governo dos EUA, e como o orçamento da NASA é claramente insuficiente para fazer 'a festa', muitos duvidam que em 2020 lá estejamos de novo.

Fonte: TIME

Can We Return Man to the Moon?
By Dan Cray

Once you've used the moon as your trampoline, you spend the rest of your life waiting for a second turn on the ride. It's no surprise, then, that Gene Cernan and Alan Bean, two Apollo-era astronauts who have bounded on the lunar surface, are thrilled with NASA's plans to return Americans the moon. Thrilled, but not entirely convinced it will ever happen. "To be honest with you," says Cernan, the last man to leave the moon in December 1972, "I'll be surprised if this happens [by] 2020."

Why the doubt? Motivation and money, say Bean and Cernan. Without the pressure of imminent international challenge, the astronauts say, the Constellation program — NASA's next manned mission to the moon in 2020 — will lag. "We need some kind of stimulus, a commercial or international challenge to our standing in the free world," says Cernan, 74. "And it isn't out there." That's a potentially make-or-break difference from the ambitious, Cold War–fueled days of Apollo. It's unlikely, then, that any future President will make manned lunar exploration a real priority. Which means inadequate funding for NASA and a tough bind for the agency's administrator, Michael Griffin. "If the President says you're going to the moon with this amount of money," says Bean, now 76 and an artist in Houston, "you'd better say yes, because if you don't you aren't going to have a job anymore." In effect, he says, the space agency must go through the motions of building hardware until the money runs out, knowing it won't be enough to make it to the moon.

"I see the same glint in [NASA's] eyes, the same good things that we had going for us," says Bean, who piloted Apollo 12's lunar module, "except I don't see the money that it's going to take to do the job."

Another surprising obstacle to returning man to the moon: NASA's space shuttle, a technological marvel that did little more than turn us back into Earth-orbit-bound homebodies. "We went all the way to the moon, then they closed the garage door," says Cernan. That near-sighted mindset may have carried over to Constellation, where engineers are focusing as much on developing two rockets — the Ares V cargo rocket (think Apollo's Saturn V on steroids) and the slender Ares 1 crew launcher — as on the vehicles and habitats needed for the lunar surface. NASA says Ares adapts technologies from the Space Shuttle and Saturn programs, but the astronauts wonder why we're reinventing rockets. As Cernan says, "The enemy of good is better. We don't need to make the trip fancy, let's just get there." Bean agrees. While helping to evaluate new lunar tools at Johnson Space Center, he says, "I told them we already have a hammer than can break rocks. Get that money where you're trying to solve new problems." The advice, he says, "didn't really set in."

Technology is only a boon to the extent that humans stay in control of it. What ruffles Cernan, a former Navy pilot who still flies Lear jets, is that Constellation is heading toward technology overload; engineers have already joked that the program's astronauts won't have to do much besides enjoy the ride. "If we take the human capability out of the system we're going to fail," says Cernan, suggesting the Soviets learned that the hard way when they designed automated, ground-controlled spacecraft that failed. "Technology is an aid, not a crutch." Bean is more bullish than his colleague on Constellation's possible new designs, but agrees that human control is crucial to spaceflight, particularly since a lightning strike took his Apollo 12 instruments off-line right after launch, leaving him to to regain control manually.

Despite a deep-seated skepticism, both men still consider themselves two of NASA's greatest cheerleaders. They say the agency has at least reoriented itself in the right direction — away from Earth — after too many homebound years. "I wouldn't go up on the space station for anything in the world," Cernan says. "Once you've been to the moon, staying home isn't good enough."

Vaticano diz: "Podeis crer em Extraterrestres!"

2008-05-15T19:52:00.002Z

Sim, tem a sua lógica. Afinal, se Deus criou o Universo, então, a existirem extraterrestres, estes terão também sido criados por Ele.

Fonte: Reuters

Vatican scientist says belief in God and aliens is OK
Wed May 14, 2008 2:31pm EDT

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican's chief astronomer says there is no conflict between believing in God and in the possibility of "extraterrestrial brothers" perhaps more evolved than humans.

"In my opinion this possibility (of life on other planets) exists," said Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, a 45-year-old Jesuit priest who is head of the Vatican Observatory and a scientific adviser to Pope Benedict.

"How can we exclude that life has developed elsewhere," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview in its Tuesday-Wednesday edition, explaining that the large number of galaxies with their own planets made this possible.

Asked if he was referring to beings similar to humans or even more evolved than humans, he said: "Certainly, in a universe this big you can't exclude this hypothesis".

In the interview headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," he said he saw no conflict between belief in such beings and faith in God.

"Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can't put limits on God's creative freedom," he said.

"Why can't we speak of a 'brother extraterrestrial'? It would still be part of creation," he said.

Funes, who runs the observatory which is based south of Rome and in Arizona, held out the possibility that the human race might actually be the "lost sheep" of the universe.

"There could be (other beings) who remained in full friendship with their creator," he said.

THE "BIG BANG"?

Christians have sometimes been at odds with scientists over whether the Bible should be read literally and issues such as creationism versus evolution have been hotly debated for decades.

The Inquisition condemned astronomer Galileo in the 17th century for insisting that the earth revolved around the sun. The Catholic Church did not rehabilitate him until 1992.

Funes said dialogue between faith and science could be improved if scientists learned more about the Bible and the Church kept more up to date with scientific progress.

Funes, an Argentine, said he believed as an astronomer that the most likely explanation for the start of the universe was "the big bang", the theory that it sprang into existence from dense matter billions of years ago.

But he said this was not in conflict with faith in God as a creator. "God is the creator. There is a sense to creation. We are not children of an accident ...," he said.

"As an astronomer, I continue to believe that God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the product of something casual but children of a good father who has a project of love in mind for us," he said.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella, editing by Richard Balmforth)

Anúncio de emprego: Procura-se Astronauta (m/f)

2008-05-07T17:02:00.003Z

É mesmo verdade! Chegou finalmente a oportunidade de haver um astronauta português! Um astronauta verdadeiro, e não um turista, que tenha pago 20 ou 30 milhões de dólares para ir passear à ISS a bordo de uma cápsula Soyuz. Não, este anúncio surgiu no StarTracker, uma social network em que só se entra por convite, mas reproduzo aqui o anúncio na íntegra.

Se é jovem, saudável, em forma, e está a estudar num curso relevante, e se a Conquista do Espaço o anima, sugiro-lhe que cumpra o sonho de muitos de nós, incluindo os que, como eu, são de uma geração que já não terá esta possibilidade! Quem sabe, poderá ser o primeiro Europeu a caminhar sobre a Lua! Já não é fantasia!

Job opportunity details

Role Name:	Astronauta
Company:	European Space Agency
Description:	A Ciência Viva e a Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia organizam a Sessão de Informação sobre o concurso para recrutamento de astronautas da Agência Espacial Europeia (ESA), o primeiro aberto à participação de cidadãos portugueses. Este evento, que conta com a colaboração da ESA, terá lugar no próximo dia 15 de Maio, às 10h30, no Pavilhão do Conhecimento – Ciência Viva. Esta sessão conta com a presença de Ernst Messerschmid, astronauta do Centro Europeu de Astronautas (EAC), de Horst Schaarschmidt, responsável pela divisão de astronautas do EAC e de Manuel Paiva, que coordenou numerosos projectos de investigação biomédica associados ao Espaço. Com os seus astronautas a trabalharem no laboratório Columbus, a bordo da Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS), e com o sucesso da missão ATV, a Agência Espacial Europeia está à procura de novos talentos para reforçar o seu corpo de astronautas em futuras missões. Os candidatos seleccionados passarão a integrar o Corpo Europeu de Astronautas e iniciarão a sua formação básica no Centro Europeu de Astronautas em Colónia, na Alemanha. Portugal é um dos 17 Estados-Membros cujos cidadãos podem candidatar-se a este desafio. Mais informações em http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM2SS3XQEF_Portugal_0.html
Until:	2008/08/19
Name:	Pedro Pereira
Link:	www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM2SS3XQEF_Portugal_0.html
Location:	- Global, - Global

Sugiro também que visitem o link da ESA, que contém mais informações. Os astronautas seleccionados irão participar em missões à ISS, mas também, previsivelmente, à Lua, daqui a cerca de 10 anos!

A primeira missão do Homem na Lua, comparada com um campo de futebol.

2008-04-22T19:08:00.002Z

Clique para aumentar.

Um diagrama extremamente curioso, que compara o terreno coberto pelos astronautas da Apollo 11 a um campo de futebol. Foi uma missão extremamente curta, mas absolutamente histórica, em Julho de 1969, e que abriu as portas a missões mais complexas, prolongadas, e que cobriram muito maiores extensões de terreno.

De onde assistir ao lançamento de um Space Shuttle

2008-04-22T18:51:00.005Z

Clique para aumentar.

Quem puder, aproveite. Só estão planeadas mais cerca de 10 missões da nave espacial mais fantástica que veremos em todas as nossas vidas, o Space Shuttle. A maioria dos que estão vivos hoje nunca voltarão a ver uma nave espacial a aterrar como se fosse um avião normal, num aeroporto. A NASA vai voltar a lançar cápsulas, como as do programa Apollo, que acabou em 1975, e que cairão desgovernadas no oceano!

Por isso, se tiver a oportunidade de ir à Florida na altura de um lançamento do Shuttle, eu recomendo vivamente que aproveite a oportunidade. O mapa acima, referente à última missão do Shuttle Endeavour, mas que se aplica a todas as missões, poderá servir de guia.

Tenha o seguinte em atenção:

as missões são muitas vezes adiadas por alguns dias, semanas ou mesmo meses. Vá preparado para voltar mais tarde, se necessário, ou para não ver nada, se não puder permanecer nos EUA. Mantenha-se atento à imprensa, TV e Internet.
os bilhetes no Visitor Complex do Kennedy Space Center são postos à venda com alguma antecedência, e costumam esgotar-se muito depressa - a informação que tenho é 'em minutos'!
Todos os lançamentos são cobertos pela TV e pela imprensa. Haverá centenas ou milhares de fotos e vídeos do lançamento. Por isso, se puder ver um, aproveite e veja-o com os seus olhos, em vez de se distraír a fazer mais um de centenas de vídeos ou a tirar mais uma de milhares de fotos. Leve um bom par de binóculos, e goze a vista. Se estiver acompanhado, vale a pena comprar mais um par para o/a seu acompanhante!
Se quiser tirar fotos únicas, faça-as no 'antes' e no 'depois' do lançamento. Fotografe todo o espetáculo que rodeia estes grandiosos eventos. As multidões, os equipamentos, os edifícios, tudo o que transmita a quem não puder lá estar o espetáculo magnífico a que assistiu. Depois, partilhe na net através de sites como o Picasa Web Albuns ou o Flickr. Se fôr leitor deste blog e quiser, eu fico sempre agradecido por todos os links que me possa mandar para materiais deste tipo, que serão devidamente creditados.
E divirta-se. É uma experiência única na vida!

Aterragem do Space Shuttle Endeavour ontem à noite

2008-03-27T20:27:00.003Z

Devido às nuvens, a aterragem foi adiada uma órbita em relação ao previsto ontem, pelo que teve lugar apenas às 0:39 desta madrugada, hora de Lisboa.

No vídeo da aterragem nota-se uma chama perto do leme traseiro do Shuttle, que provém do escape das unidades de alimentação hidráulicas.

Fonte: Email da CBS Space News

Fotos: Damaris Sarria

Update: Shuttle Endeavour glides to smooth night landing
8:55 PM, 3/26/08

Running one orbit late because of troublesome low clouds, the shuttle Endeavour plunged back to Earth today, dropping out of the night for a picture-perfect landing at the Kennedy Space Center to close out a marathon 16-day space station assembly mission. Joining the shuttle astronauts for the trip back to Earth was European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts, launched to the station in February and returning after 48 days in space.

Flying upside down and backward over the Indian Ocean, commander Dominic Gorie and pilot Gregory Johnson fired Endeavour's twin braking rockets for two minutes and 48 seconds starting at 7:33:14 p.m., slowing the ship by about 206 mph and dropping the far side of the shuttle's orbit deep into the atmosphere.

After a half-hour free fall, Endeavour plunged back into the discernible atmosphere at 8:07 p.m. at an altitude of 76 miles above the south Pacific Ocean. Minutes later, the shuttle's heat shield was subjected to 3,000-degree temperatures as the spaceplane decelerated from its orbital velocity of 5 miles per second.

Crossing high above Central America's Yucatan Peninsula, Endeavour's flight computers guided the shuttle across the Gulf of Mexico and then over the west coast of Florida just south of Tampa, dropping through 84,000 feet at 1,700 mph seven minutes before touchdown.

Three minutes later, at an altitude of about 50,700 feet, Endeavour's speed dropped below Mach 1 and a double sonic boom rumbled across the space center. Gorie took over manual control a few seconds later and after letting Gregory get a few moments of "stick time, guided the shuttle through a sweeping 255-degree left overhead turn to line up on runway 15.

As Gorie pulled the shuttle's nose up just before touchdown, Johnson lowered Endeavour's landing gear and the orbiter settled to a tire-smoking touchdown at 8:39:08 p.m. as jets of flame from the exhaust ports of the ship's three hydraulic power units flared in the night.

"Houston, Endeavour. Wheels stopped," Gorie radioed as the shuttle rolled to a stop.

"Welcome home, Endeavour," astronaut James Dutton called from mission control. "Congrats to the entire crew, to JAXA and CSA (the Japanese and Canadian space agencies), on a very successful mission."

"Thanks, Jim," Gorie replied. "It was a super rewarding mission, exciting from the start to the ending and we just thank you for all your help. Looking forward to seeing you guys soon."

Mission duration was 15 days 18 hours 10 minutes and 54 seconds, covering 6.6 million miles and 249 complete orbits since blastoff March 11 from nearby launch complex 39A.

Observers were startled by the hydraulic power units' exhaust jetting from vents on either side of Endeavour's vertical tail fin. The exhaust is produced by the orbiter's three auxiliary power units, which provide the muscle needed to move the ship's wing flaps, speed brake, landing gear brakes and nose wheel steering. The exhaust appeared normal in infrared views, but was more pronounced than usual in NASA's visible-light camera. NASA spokesman Kyle Herring in mission control said the APUs were operating normally.

Gorie, Johnson and their shuttle crewmates - flight engineer Michael Foreman, Richard Linnehan, Robert Behnken and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi - were expected to doff their pressure suits for a traditional runway walk-around inspection about an hour after landing.

Eyharts made the flight back to Earth resting on his back in a special recumbent seat on Endeavour's lower deck. As with all returning long-duration space station astronauts, a team of flight surgeons was standing by to monitor Eyharts as he began the long process of readjusting to Earth's gravity. The French air force general was replaced aboard the station by NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, who hitched a ride the lab complex aboard Endeavour.

Eyharts and his shuttle crewmates are expected to fly back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Thursday.

Endeavour's 16-day mission was the longest yet for a space station assembly flight and the five spacewalks carried out by Linnehan, Behnken, Foreman and Reisman set another one-flight station assembly record of 33 hours and 28 minutes.

Endeavour took off Feb. 7 and docked with the space station two days later. The day after that, Doi, operating the shuttle's robot arm, moved a Japanese storage module into position for attachment to the station while Linnehan and Reisman staged the mission's initial spacewalk.

During the next spacewalk, Linnehan and Behnken then began assembly of the Canadian Space Agency's special purpose dexterous manipulator, a maintenance robot known as Dextre. Attached to the end of the station's robot arm, Dextre can be used to replace components on the station that might otherwise require a spacewalk.

Along with mounting the Japanese module and building Dextre, the astronauts also transferred critical spare parts to the station and mounted Endeavour's heat shield inspection boom on the lab for use by the next shuttle crew, scheduled for launch in late May. That shuttle, Discovery, is carrying Japan's huge Kibo lab module and does not have enough room for the inspection boom as well.

NASA is still assessing its schedule for subsequent shuttle flights. Eleven more flights are planned before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, with four flights on tap this year, four in 2009 and three in 2010. In the near term, the shuttle Atlantis is scheduled for launch Aug. 28 on a final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Endeavour returns to orbit in October for a space station resupply mission and Discovery closes out the year in December with a flight to deliver a final set of solar arrays to the international lab.

But external tank production problems threaten to delay the next several flights. The tank needed by Discovery in late May reached the Kennedy Space Center today behind schedule and while that flight remains on track, the Hubble mission could slip into October when all is said and done, triggering domino-like slips for subsequent flights.

While sources say delays appear inevitable, NASA managers have not yet made any official changes.

Procuram-se: Astronautas

2008-03-26T19:01:00.004Z

Procuramos os candidatos mais brilhantes e em melhor forma física. Devem tolerar bem o trabalho sob stress e apresentar boa tolerância às alturas. Exige-se disponibilidade para trabalhar longe de casa. Se acha que está à altura deste desafio, envie o seu CV actualizado para a Agência Espacial Européia.

Este poderia ser o texto de um anúncio para um emprego qualquer. Mas na realidade a ESA - Agência Espacial Européia - está, pela primeira vez em 15 anos, a contratar astronautas. Existem 8 vagas, para as quais a ESA espera ter mais de 50.000 candidaturas!

Fonte: The Guardian

Situations vacant: applicants should be fit, fearless - and have a head for heights
Europe recruits astronauts for first time in 15 years
· Up to 50,000 applications expected for eight places

Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian,
Saturday March 22 2008

This article appeared in the Guardian on Saturday March 22 2008 on p3 of the Top stories section. It was last updated at 00:02 on March 22 2008.

Astronaut Piers J. Sellers participates in a spacewalk

Wanted for unique opportunity: brilliant, physically fit people. Must be cool under pressure, willing to work away from home and have a good head for heights. Free uniform included.

The wording might be a little different, but when the advert appears in newspapers in the next few weeks, it will mark the beginning of one of the most exciting recruitment drives in more than 40 years. The European Astronaut Centre (EAC) needs more astronauts, and from them it expects to choose the first European to walk on the moon.

The EAC, part of the European Space Agency (ESA), last went looking for astronauts 15 years ago. The recruitment comes at a time of enormous change in human space exploration. The space shuttle, until now a workhorse for transporting crews to and from the International Space Station, is due to be mothballed in 2010 or shortly after. And the lifetime of the space station itself is only guaranteed until 2015.

But the plans for humans in space suggest a new era is about to begin. Next year, Nasa plans the first test flight of its shuttle replacement, the Orion module, with which it intends to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. The ESA hopes to be there with them.

"The average age of our astronaut corps is 50 years old, and with that corps, we cannot master the challenges of the future," said Gerhard Thiele, head of the astronaut division at the EAC in Cologne. "I'd not be surprised if one of the candidates we select this time round will be among the first Europeans to walk on the moon."

Thiele, a former astronaut, is looking for four new astronauts plus four back-ups. Applications will be taken via a website, and will be followed by a year-long selection process of interviews, medicals and psychological tests. Up to 50,000 applications are expected.

"People have to be operationally very skilled and must be able to stay cool if things get tense. But what is important to me is that the person is a team player, a servant. They might seem a hero type with the 'right stuff', but they have to understand they are just one small part in the entire scenario. We need people who understand what it means to be humble," said Thiele.

Astronauts traditionally come from strong technical backgrounds, so scientists, engineers and doctors will be high on the list. Piloting skills - though not needed as Europeans are not allowed to fly the shuttle or the Russian Soyuz - are also desirable. The agency has a policy of not recruiting people older than 55, but the physical fitness required to make it through selection usually weeds out plenty of people who are much younger.

For Britons, getting into the astronaut corps is made all the harder by the government's opposition to human spaceflight. While Britain is the fourth largest contributor to ESA, paying €265m (£208m) this year alone, none of that goes towards the astronaut programme.

"To the best of my knowledge, there has never been an ESA astronaut from a country that wasn't supporting human space flight, but this should change in the future," said Thiele. "From the number of letters I get, I'd say almost half the applications will be coming from Great Britain and I can assure every British candidate we are absolutely blind to the colour of the passport during the application process."

At Britain's Empire Test Pilots' School at RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, a spokesman said a shift in the government's position would quickly get people talking. "Anyone in flight test probably has, deep in their soul somewhere, an ambition that it would be a great thing to do, and historically test flying is where astronauts have been recruited.

"It's not really been a topic of conversation in this country because it's not been seen as a possibility. If things changed, we would be very surprised if it didn't become a very hot topic of conversation indeed," he said.

The government recently published its space strategy for the next five years, and announced that it would review its position on human space flight.

Um dos Rovers em Marte poderá ser desactivado!

2008-03-26T18:16:00.004Z

Um dos Rovers da NASA em Marte poderá vir a ser desactivado, devido a um corte orçamental de 4 milhões de dólares. O responsável do projecto, Steve Squyres, propôs desactivar o rover 'Spirit', possivelmente por ser o que neste momento está em pior estado, para ajudar a fazer frente a este corte. No entanto o administrador da NASA, Michael Griffin, afirmou que para desactivar uma nave espacial há que seguir um procedimento determinado, o que não foi feito para o caso da MER Spirit, como tal essa desactivação está fora de questão. O grupo responsável pela exploração dos rovers Spirit e Opportunity teria assim de lidar com o corte orçamental de outra forma. Estão também previstos despedimentos e realocações de pessoal para outros departamentos do Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Faço votos para que não desactivem NADA que esteja no espaço a devolver resultados úteis. Custou muito dinheiro colocar os rovers em Marte, e não se sabe quando se poderá voltar a ter algo com tanto sucesso lá! Há que aproveitar o máximo possível que estas máquinas produzam, enquanto 'forem vivas'!

Fonte: CNN

Link de interesse: NASAWatch - apresenta um ponto de vista interessante em como o JPL poderá estar a usar o 'Spirit' para fins políticos, em vez de assumir a responsabilidade pelo 'buraco financeiro' que deu origem ao corte orçamental.

Mixed signals from NASA about fate of Mars rover
From Kate Tobin

(CNN) -- NASA sent conflicting signals Monday evening about what an official told CNN is a planned $4 million budget cut in NASA's Mars Exploration Rover program.

Initially the Rover program's principle investigator, Steve Squyres, said one of two vehicles operating on the planet will be suspended because of the cut. He said he learned he would have to trim $4 million from the program's $20 million budget.

He said the move would probably force the rover Spirit into hibernation.

But, he said, the rover could be reactivated if funding is later restored. Squyres also said the cuts would mean layoffs among a staff of 300 scientists who operate and analyze the rovers.

But shortly after CNN.com published the story, NASA administrator Michael Griffin said the agency will not shut down one of the two Mars rovers, according to spokesman Bob Jacobs.

"There is a process that has to be followed for any mission to be canceled and the cancellation of the Mars Exploration Rovers is not under consideration," Jacobs said. "There is an ongoing budget review within the agency's Mars exploration program. However, shutting down of one of the rovers is not an option."

NASAheadquarters spokesman Dwayne Brown confirmed the budget directive had been issued. The cut's purpose is to offset cost overruns with the Mars Science Laboratory, a rover set to launch next year, he said.

Spirit was designed, along with its twin, Opportunity, to be a robotic geologist. The rovers have examined Martian rocks and soil, looking for telltale signs of water.

Opportunity hit pay dirt when it found evidence that salty sea once stood in the area now called Meridiani Planum.

NASA spent $800 million to build and launch Spirit and Opportunity to Mars. They landed about three weeks apart in January 2004, on opposite sides of the planet. Both were designed for 90-day missions but are still operating more than four years later.

Squyres also said he has been told to expect an $8 million budget cut in fiscal year 2009.

Astronautas da Endeavour preparam-se para regressar à Terra, amanhã.

2008-03-25T19:45:00.004Z

A primeira oportunidade de aterragem será cerca de 30 minutos antes do pôr-do-Sol, no Kennedy Space Center. Aqui estão os tempos previstos, deve somar 4 horas para obter a hora de Lisboa.

A aterragem será, como sempre, transmitida em directo pela NASA TV.

Fonte: NASA

02:58 AM...15...00...30...Crew sleep begins
03:00 AM...15...00...32...Daily video highlights reel on NASA TV
10:58 AM...15...08...30...Crew wakeup
12:58 PM...15...10...30...Group B computer powerup
01:13 PM...15...10...45...Inertial measurement unit alignment
01:58 PM...15...11...30...Deorbit timeline begins
05:58 PM...15...15...30...Deorbit ignition (rev. 248)
07:05 PM...15...16...37...Landing

Endeavour Crew Prepares for Landing

The crew of space shuttle Endeavour is spending today getting ready for its journey home and the end of the STS-123 mission. Among the preparations is a test of the thrusters that will be used to position the orbiter for re-entry and the control surfaces for its flight through the atmosphere.

After this testing is complete, the crew members will speak to members of the media on Earth.

The STS-123 astronauts also will set up the recumbent seat for Mission Specialist Léopold Eyharts, who joined the crew of Endeavour on the International Space Station. The recumbent seat is a special seat designed to reduce the stress of gravity on those who have spent long periods of time in the weightless environment of space.

STS-123 arrived at the station March 12, delivering the Japanese Logistics Module - Pressurized Section, the first pressurized component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory, to the station. The crew of Endeavour also delivered the final element of the station’s Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator.

In addition the STS-123 astronauts delivered Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, who replaced Eyharts, a European Space Agency astronaut, on the station.

The orbiter is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., tomorrow.

Morreu Arthur C. Clarke

2008-03-18T23:19:00.005Z

Tinha 90 anos.

Faleceu um dos maiores génios da ficção - e divulgação - científica do Século XX, autor da obra que daria origem ao grande clássico do cinema '2001 - Odisséia no Espaço', entre muitas outras. Também lhe é dado o crédito por ter inventado o conceito dos satélites geoestacionários. Em sua homenagem, todos os satélites geoestacionários orbitam na hoje chamada 'órbita - ou cintura - de Clarke'.

Morreu de falência cárdio-respiratória na sua casa no Sri-Lanka, onde vivia há já mais de 50 anos.

Não perca o fenomenal vídeo (mais abaixo), gravado pouco antes do 90º aniversário de Clarke.

Uma mensagem para toda a Humanidade!

Fonte: BBC

Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.

He came to fame in 1968 when a short story called The Sentinel was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick.

Once called "the first dweller in the electronic cottage", his vision captured the popular imagination.

Sir Arthur was born in Minehead, Somerset. A close aide said he died after a cardio-respiratory attack.

'Vision'

Sir Arthur's vivid - and detailed - descriptions of space shuttles, super-computers and rapid communications systems were enjoyed by millions of readers around the world.

He was the author of more than 100 fiction and non-fiction books, and his writings are credited by many observers with giving science fiction - a genre often accused of veering towards the fantastical - a human and practical face.

A farmer's son, he was educated at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service.

During World War II, Clarke volunteered for the Royal Air Force, where he worked in the, then highly-secretive, development of radar.

I was very fond of him indeed. A man of integrity, a man of vision, a man you could trust
Sir Patrick Moore

The British astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore, had known Sir Arthur since they were teenagers.

He paid tribute to his friend, remembering him as "a very sincere person" with "a strong sense of humour."

Sir Patrick said: "So I was very fond of him indeed. A man of integrity, a man of vision, a man you could trust, and a very dear friend."

Future thinker

George Whitesides, the executive director of the National Space Society, on which Clarke served on the board of governors, also paid tribute to Sir Arthur.

He told BBC News 24: "That particular enthusiasm of his was what I think made him so popular in many ways.

"He was always thinking about what could come next but also about how life could be improved in the future.

"It's a vision that I think we could use more of today."

After a failed marriage Sir Arthur moved to Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, in 1956, where he lived, with a business partner and his family, and pursued his interest in scuba-diving.

His status as the grand old man of science fiction was threatened when, in 1998, allegations of child abuse, which he strenuously denied, caused the confirmation of a knighthood to be delayed.

Although cleared by an investigation, Sir Arthur's unconventional lifestyle continued to cause some raised eyebrows.

Fire in The Sky

2008-03-18T22:55:00.001Z

Do álbum 'To Touch The Stars'

Um iPod em órbita!

2008-03-18T13:00:00.005Z

Só espero que tenham boas colunas!

Clique na imagem para a aumentar, e olhe bem para a segunda janela da esquerda! Vê-se perfeitamente um iPod, que parece de uma geração já mais antiga. Aparentemente, os astronautas também gostam de ouvir música enquanto trabalham! Lindo!

Já houve mais iPods em órbita, uma vez que poupam muito espaço em comparação com os leitores de CD. Como as baterias de lítio têm por vezes problemas, como por exemplo... incendiarem-se, são retiradas dos iPods e substituídas por pilhas alcalinas normais, como as que podemos comprar em qualquer supermercado.

Fonte: TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Link: ABC News

Vídeos amadores do lançamento nocturno do Endeavour

2008-03-12T17:49:00.003Z

Este primeiro é espectacular! Até fiquei arrepiado quando vi como a noite foi iluminada pelo Space Shuttle, em particular as núvens! Infelizmente, claro, foi um espetáculo curto, por causa das mesmas núvens. Já houve lançamentos nocturnos mais bonitos, mas enfim, são assim as coisas.

É unânime a impressão de que o espetáculo foi curto, como se pode ouvir em alguns dos vídeos :)

Lançamento com sucesso da Endeavour

2008-03-11T11:16:00.005Z

Foi às 2:28 locais, 6:28 de Lisboa (e não 7:28 como disse ontem). Foi o segundo lançamento nocturno depois do desastre do Columbia, e viu-se muito pouco, pois o Endeavour rápidamente subiu acima de uma camada de núvens.

Dois dias espantosos para a Exploração do Espaço

2008-03-10T16:47:00.005Z

Amanhã de madrugada, por volta das 7:28, será lançada a missão STS-123 do Space Shuttle Endeavour. Levará a bordo mais um módulo para a Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS), de origem japonesa.

No dia seguinte, Quarta-feira, a sonda Cassini, em órbita de Saturno, irá passar a cerca de 50 Kms da lua Encélado, 'sobrevoando' a muito curta distância a zona desta lua onde há 'géisers' que expelem água para o espaço.

Lançamento da ATV 'Jules Verne'

2008-03-09T12:08:00.002Z

O lançamento do Automated Transfer Vehicle 'Jules Verne', hoje de madrugada, a partir de Kourou, na Guiana Francesa.

A primeira cápsula espacial européia

2008-03-07T20:48:00.003Z

Clique para aumentar.

Será lançada no Domingo uma nave espacial de concepção inteiramente européia, designada Automated Transfer Vehicle, com a função de reabastecer a Estação Espacial Internacional.

É a primeira vez que a Agência Espacial Européia (ESA) desenvolve uma cápsula capaz de albergar seres humanos. Apesar de não transportar astronautas no momento do lançamento, será capaz de os receber uma vez atracada à ISS.

Oxalá o próximo passo seja o desenvolvimento de uma cápsula ou de um veículo reutilizável capaz de transportar astronautas até à ISS, onde a Europa tem agora um investimento que não pode ser menosprezado.

Fonte: MSNBC

Link: ESA - Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs)

‘Jules Verne’ set for maiden voyage

European cargo ship will deliver fresh supplies to space station

By Tariq Malik

Senior editor

Space.com

updated 2:24 p.m. ET March 5, 2008

A European cargo ship the size of a double-decker bus is primed for its maiden flight to haul fresh supplies toward the international space station.

Jules Verne, a massive unmanned cargo ship built for the European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch Sunday, March 9 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. A modified European Ariane 5 rocket will loft the nearly 21-ton Jules Verne into orbit from its equatorial launch site on the northern coast of South America.

"It's the biggest spacecraft we've built in Europe and by far the most complicated," said John Ellwood, ATV mission manager for the ESA.

Jules Verne is the first of a new fleet of unmanned spacecraft, called Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATVs), to launch fresh supplies to station crews through at least 2015. The 32-foot (10-meter) long cylinder with a diameter of about 14.7 feet (4.5 meters) and a roomy cargo hold for food, clothes, new equipment and rocket fuel for the space station.

It is the first new spacecraft in nine years to join the flotilla of U.S space shuttles, Russia's manned Soyuz and unmanned Progress spacecraft that make station-bound flights, NASA officials have said.

"The ATV, as a logistics vehicle, carries almost three times the hardware, fuel, water and oxygen that a Russian Progress carries," said NASA's space station program manager Mike Suffredini. "It is a major contribution to the program."

For its inaugural flight, Jules Verne is packed with propellant and equipment for the station's three-astronaut crew, though ATVs are designed to haul up to 10 tons of supplies to orbit, according to ESA officials. The launch was delayed from a planned late Friday EST liftoff to late Saturday to double check work on its spacecraft separation system.

Jules Verne is due to spend about a week chasing the space station after launch, then park about 1,243 miles (2,000 kilometers) from the station to await the departure of NASA's shuttle Endeavour before proceeding with rendezvous demonstrations. The U.S. space shuttle is scheduled to launch March 11 on a 16-day construction flight to deliver a Japanese-built room and Canadian robot to the space station.

A European first
Built by France's EADS-Astrium, Jules Verne and its fellow ATV spacecraft are Europe's first spacecraft to launch and rendezvous with a crewed orbital outpost. ESA partner nations have spent $1.9 billion (1.3 billion euros) developing the spacecraft as part of a barter system to send future European astronauts and experiments to the space station.

"It's an extremely exciting vehicle for us," said ESA station program manager Alan Thirkettle, adding that the spacecraft has been under development since 1998. "It contains a number of new technologies."

Chief among those new technologies is the ATV's videometers, a visual-based navigation system that relies on lasers to home in on the space station.

Jules Verne and other ATVs will use a global positioning satellite (GPS) system to maneuver within about 816 feet (249 meters) of an aft docking port on the station's Russian-built Zvezda service module, then activate the videometer to beam laser pulses at a set of reflectors near the berth. By analyzing the light patterns reflected back, the videometer should be able determine precisely how far the ATV is from its docking port.

The spacecraft is also equipped with a secondary, radar-like sensor — called a telegoniometer — to monitor its position, mission managers said.

During two demonstration days, as well as the final docking, ESA flight controllers at the agency's new ATV control center in Toulouse, France, will put Jules Verne through its paces and test vital collision avoidance maneuvers to ensure the spacecraft won't crash into the space station should its rendezvous attempt go foul.

Unlike Russia's unmanned Progress ships, which can be remotely guided in by astronauts from a console inside the station, Jules Verne and other ATVs are fully autonomous.

"They cannot drive us in like they can a Russian Progress," Ellwood said. "All they can do is essentially press a red button if they feel we're being unsafe, and send us away."

Expedition 16 flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko, a Russian cosmonaut, and commander Peggy Whitson of NASA are the prime ATV controllers for Jules Verne's flight. Malenchenko performed the first-ever remote controlled docking of an unmanned Progress cargo ship from inside Russia's Mir Space Station in 1994.

"We're absolutely confident with the safety aspects of this spaceflight," Suffredini said.

Ellwood added that each ATV is also equipped with a complete backup system to take control of the spacecraft should its primary systems fail.

"We really have two spacecraft in the middle of this very great bird," Ellwood said.

Thirkettle said ESA plans to launch five ATVs to the space station by 2015 in order to secure a six-month slot aboard the space station for a European astronaut every other year. Astronauts recently delivered Europe's other major contribution, the Columbus laboratory module, to the station last month.

The interior of each ATV can be loaded with up to eight racks worth of equipment for astronauts to retrieve once the spacecraft reaches the space station. They are also designed to use their rocket engines to boost the station into a higher orbit and transfer new fuel into tanks inside outpost's Russian-built thrusters.

Each unmanned cargo ship is designed to stay docked at the station for about six months, then be filled with trash and other unneeded items for disposal in the Earth's atmosphere.

"We're now really feeling that Europe is really coming to the space station," Ellwood said.

NASA preocupada por depender dos russos entre 2010 e 2015.

2008-03-07T20:36:00.004Z

Uma situação complicada e embaraçosa.

Em 2010 deverá estar concluída a construção da Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS), e serão retirados de serviço os Space Shuttle. Os seus sucessores, as cápsulas Orion, só deverão estar operacionais por volta de 2015. Durante esses 5 anos, a única possibilidade que a NASA terá de colocar astronautas na ISS será pagando aos Russos, que serão os únicos em todo o Mundo com a capacidade de colocar pessoas em órbita! Num momento em que as relações diplomáticas entre os EUA e a Rússia se estão a tornar mais tensas, esta situação é tudo menos ideal. Michael Griffin, administrador da NASA, afirmou que seria possível ter as cápsulas Orion operacionais em 2013 se fossem dados 2 biliões de dólares adicionais à NASA, mas esse pedido não foi feito.

A NASA está assim na vergonhosa situação de ter de dar biliões de dólares aos russos neste período de 5 anos, por não ter gasto meros milhões quando foi preciso...

Como diria um treinador de futebol muito conhecido - 'no eggs, no omelets'!

Fonte: MSNBC

NASA wary of relying on Russia

Moscow soon to be lone carrier of astronauts to the space station

By Marc Kaufman

The Washington Post

updated 2:29 a.m. ET March 7, 2008

Tomorrow night, a European spacecraft is scheduled to blast off from French Guiana on its maiden voyage to the international space station, giving NASA and the world a new way to reach the orbiting laboratory.

For NASA, however, the launch of the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) also highlights a stark reality: In 2 1/2 years, just as the station gets fully assembled, the United States will no longer have any spacecraft of its own capable of carrying astronauts and cargo to the station, in which roughly $100 billion is being invested. The three space shuttles will be retired by then, because of their high cost and questionable safety, and NASA will have nothing ready to replace them until 2015 at the earliest.

For five years or more, the United States will be dependent on the technology of others to reach the station, which American taxpayers largely paid for. To complicate things further, the only nation now capable of flying humans to the station is Russia, giving it a strong bargaining position to decide what it wants to charge for the flights at a time when U.S.-Russian relations are becoming increasingly testy.

In addition, some fear the price will be paid not only in billions of dollars but also in lost American prestige and lost leverage on the Russians when it comes to issues such as aiding Iran with its nuclear program.

'Serious threat to our national security'
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin calls the situation his "greatest regret and greatest concern." For most of the five-year gap, he said, "we will be largely dependent on the Russians, and that is terrible place for the United States to be. I'm worried, and many others are worried."

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), chairman of the subcommittee that oversees NASA, went further. "This is a very serious betrayal of American interests," he said. "This will be the first time since Sputnik when the United States will not have a significant space superiority. I remain dumbfounded that we've allowed this serious threat to our national security to develop."

The White House, Congress and the space community have known for years that the gap was looming, but there were always other priorities.

Those most involved with the issue say that its seriousness will become more glaring this summer, when negotiations with Russia begin and Congress is likely to debate whether to grant a waiver to the law that prohibits certain kinds of commerce with nations that support the Iranian or North Korean nuclear program.

Griffin has testified that while the waiver is essential, it is "unseemly, simply unseemly, for the United States -- the world's leading power and leading space power -- to be reduced to purchasing services like this. It affects, in my view, how we are seen in the world, and not for the better."

Private spacecraft?
NASA's budget calls for spending $2.6 billion for transportation to the space station between fiscal 2009 and 2013. As it stands now, much of that would go to the Russians.

With that prospect ahead, Griffin told Nelson's committee last week that he is working with the fledgling private rocket company SpaceX to speed its efforts to build a private spacecraft that can take over some of the work of ferrying astronauts into space. Both Nelson and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) had recommended that NASA formally push ahead with that effort.

But SpaceX, while eager to do the work, has not successfully orbited even a cargo spacecraft, let alone one designed to the much higher standards needed for human flight. Nonetheless, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in a telephone interview that his company might have a manned spacecraft capability by the end of 2011 if NASA exercises its option under a 2006 agreement to provide cargo service. With that go-ahead, SpaceX would put its manned rocket program into high gear, he said.

"Is there a risk that we won't succeed? Yes, there is," said Musk, co-founder of the PayPal online payment system. "But if the United States doesn't provide any competition to the Russians, then they have a monopoly on crew transport to the station and they can dictate their terms. Do taxpayers really want all that money to go to Russia, rather than to an American company with American workers?"

In his testimony, Griffin said he is inclined to exercise the human spaceflight option, but he also said he very much doubts that SpaceX will have a spacecraft ready for astronauts by 2012.

'Starved for funds'
The gap in American capability to reach the space station is the result of factors including the 2003 breakup of the space shuttle Columbia, the subsequent decision to retire the three remaining shuttles by September 2010 and the lack of additional funds to quickly build a replacement.

NASA has let contracts to design and test a new-generation rocket and crew capsule, but it has had to go slowly because of the high cost of operating the shuttles, which are the only spacecraft able to carry large components to the still-incomplete space station. Griffin has testified that the replacement spacecraft could be ready in 2013 rather than 2015 if the agency had an additional $2 billion, but the administration has not asked for the funding.

Last year, the White House opposed a bill passed by the Senate to give NASA an additional $1 billion to make up for some of the costs incurred after Columbia broke apart -- a step similar to one taken after the Challenger disaster in 1986.

"What we have here is an agency that has been given a lot to do but has been starved for funds," Nelson said. "I think the gap is largely due to the administration's refusal to give NASA the funds it needs. And now we'll be forced to give billions to the Russians because we didn't spend millions before. It's the worst of all worlds."

Griffin, a strong advocate for manned spaceflight and a loyal member of the administration, said that past Congresses and administrations let the manned space program atrophy and that it took President Bush's 2004 "vision" for human travel to the moon and Mars to rejuvenate the program.

Still, many see Bush as having limited interest in space. Not only have NASA budgets remained tight, but Bush never visited the Johnson Space Center in Houston during his six years as governor of Texas, and as president he visited once, for a memorial service for the lost Columbia astronauts.

EU may provide counterbalance
The European spacecraft scheduled for launch tomorrow night is the first of six cargo-carrying flights by Arianespace, a public-private company, in exchange for NASA ferrying a large European lab to the station on the shuttle. Chairman and chief executive Jean-Yves Le Gall said in an interview last week that the company would like to play a larger role in supplying the space station, but it is waiting for its first successful launch before pressing its case.

The European Union is scheduled to decide in November whether to enter the field of human spaceflight, potentially joining the club that so far includes only the United States, Russia and China.

Le Gall acknowledged that the ATV -- which is the size of a London double-decker bus -- is now more expensive to build and operate than its Russian competitors, but he said that may change if Russia becomes the sole carrier. Nonetheless, the Europeans face a number of obstacles in selling their space transport services to NASA, including buy-American provisions that favor homegrown companies such as SpaceX.

"We believe we can be an important part of the solution for the space station and counterbalance to the Russians, if we are given a chance," Le Gall said.

Despite the broad concern over NASA's future dependence on Russia, Griffin said the agency's experience with its most important space station partner has been good. The Russians helped astronauts stranded on the space station after the Columbia breakup, and they have continued to provide crew and cargo transport services -- currently as part of a $780 million, multiyear contract.

Griffin also said a new deal with the Russians has to be signed by early next year. The Russians, he said, need a three-year lead time to build a sufficient quantity of their expendable, but very dependable, Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.

Fotografada avalanche em Marte!

2008-03-04T16:57:00.003Z

Talvez a foto mais incrível da história da exploração do Espaço!

Clique para aumentar.

A Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter estava a passar precisamente por cima desta zona, próxima do Pólo Norte marciano, quando se deu uma avalanche! A camera de altíssima resolução HiRISE tirou a primeira foto de uma avalanche noutro planeta, e mostra mais uma vez que Marte é um planeta muito mais dinâmico do que pensávamos até há alguns anos atrás!

Fontes:

NASA captures dynamic Martian avalanche

First-ever photo shows tan clouds billowing away from foot of a ravine

Space.com

updated 3:50 p.m. ET March 3, 2008

A NASA spacecraft has taken the first-ever image of an avalanche in action near Mars' north pole.

The High Resolution Imaging Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the photograph Feb. 19. The image, released today, shows tan clouds billowing away from the foot of a towering slope, where ice and dust have just cascaded down.

The camera was tracking seasonal changes on Mars when it inadvertently caught the avalanche on film.

HiRISE mission scientist Ingrid Daubar Spitale of the University of Arizona was the first person to notice the avalanche when sifting through images.

"It really surprised me," she said. "It's great to see something so dynamic on Mars. A lot of what we see there hasn't changed for millions of years."

The full image reveals features as small as a desk in a strip of terrain 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) wide and more than 10 times that long, at 84 degrees north latitude. Reddish layers known to be rich in water ice make up the face of a steep slope more than 2,300 feet (700 meters) tall, running the length of the image.

Mars' north pole is covered by a cap of ice, and it even snows there.

The scientists suspect that more ice than dust probably makes up the material that fell from the upper portion of the scarp.

"If blocks of ice broke loose and fell, we expect the water in them will be changing from solid to gas," said Patrick Russell of the University of Berne, Switzerland, a HiRISE team collaborator. "We'll be watching to see if blocks and other debris shrink in size. What we learn could give us a better understanding of one part of the water cycle on Mars."

What set off the landslide and whether such events are common on Mars is something else the team will be looking at.

"We don't know what set off these landslides," Russell said. "We plan to take more images of the site through the changing Martian seasons to see if this kind of avalanche happens all year or is restricted to early spring."

Oposição ambientalista à construção de nova torre de lançamento no Centro Espacial Kennedy

2008-02-27T20:05:00.004Z

A NASA tem planos para construír uma nova torre de lançamento, para ser utilizada por operadores comerciais. No entanto este plano está a deparar com resistência por parte dos ambientalistas, já que o Centro Espacial Kennedy está numa reserva natural.

Retretes no Espaço II

2008-02-26T17:03:00.002Z

Já aqui falei do problema que é ir à casa de banho no Espaço, onde não há gravidade. Este vídeo ilustra também de forma brilhante como este desafio - sério - foi vencido através da engenharia, com algum humor à mistura.

Vejam com atenção. É algo que os astronautas da Apollo 2.0... quero dizer, da Orion, não vão ter! Só na ISS é que vão ter este luxo. Os desgraçados vão ter de voltar às fraldas!

Vídeo do impacto de um míssil com o satélite de espionagem em queda

2008-02-21T22:57:00.003Z

O mais espetacular nesta operação, que tenho vindo a descrever neste blog, é o facto de o míssil utilizado não possuír uma ogiva explosiva! Ou seja, o satélite foi atingido apenas pelo impacto a altíssima velocidade!

Fonte: MSNBC, 2

A aterragem do Space Shuttle Atlantis, de vários ângulos.

2008-02-21T13:04:00.001Z

Satélite em queda atingido por míssil!

2008-02-21T12:48:00.004Z

Só se saberá se o satélite se desitegrou realmente durante o dia de hoje.

Fonte: BBC

US missile hits 'toxic satellite'

The US has successfully struck a disabled spy satellite with a missile fired from a warship in waters west of Hawaii, military officials say.

Operatives had only a 10-second window to hit the satellite - USA 193 - which went out of control shortly after it was launched in December 2006.

Officials were worried its hydrazine fuel could do harm, but it is not yet known if the fuel tank was destroyed.

The controversial operation has been criticised by China and Russia.

On Thursday, China called on the US to provide more information about the mission.

Russia suspects the operation was a cover to test anti-satellite technology under the US missile defence programme.

The US denies the operation was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race.

Precision needed

The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says this operation was hugely ambitious.

BROKEN SATELLITE

Owner: National Reconnaissance Office

Mission: Classified

Launched: 14 Dec 2006

Weight: 2,300 kg (5,000lbs)

1,134kg (2,500lbs) could survive re-entry

Carrying hydrazine thruster fuel

The operation went ahead hours after the space shuttle Atlantis landed, removing it as a safety issue for the military.

The satellite - believed by some commentators to be a radar imaging reconnaissance satellite - was passing about 130 nautical miles (250km) over the Pacific.

Earlier the military said it would use an SM-3 missile fired from the cruiser USS Lake Erie, which is posted on the western side of Hawaii along with the destroyers USS Decatur and USS Russell.

But it is not yet known how successful the operation was - the missile needed to pierce the bus-sized satellite's fuel tank, containing more than 450kg (1,000lbs) of toxic hydrazine, which would otherwise be expected to survive re-entry.

The Pentagon said confirmation that the fuel tank has been hit should be available within 24 hours.

US officials said without an attempt to destroy the fuel tank, and with the satellite's thermal control system gone, the fuel would now be frozen solid, allowing the tank to resist the heat of re-entry.

If the tank were to land intact, it could leak toxic gas over a wide area - harming or killing humans if inhaled, officials had warned.

Debris

Officials expect that over 50% of the debris will fall to Earth within the first 15 hours after the strike - or within its first two revolutions of Earth.

Left to its own devices, about half of the spacecraft would have been expected to survive the blazing descent through the atmosphere, scattering debris in a defined "corridor" which runs across the Earth's surface.

Professor Richard Crowther, a space debris expert with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said that if struck with the missile, about 25% of USA 193 is likely to survive the fall to Earth.

"The smaller the debris is the more likely you are to get burn-through. So if you fragment something before re-entry, less mass will survive to hit the Earth," he told BBC News.

Russian suspicion

But Russia's defence ministry has effectively branded the US operation a cover for testing an anti-satellite weapon.

The Russian defence ministry argued that various countries' spacecraft had crashed to Earth in the past, with many using toxic fuel on board, but that this had never before merited "extraordinary measures".

A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing, Liu Jianchao, said China was concerned about the "possible damage to security in outer space and to other countries".

"We demand that the US... swiftly brief the international community with necessary data and information in time, so that relevant countries can take preventative measures," he said.

Last year, China carried out a test using a ground-based ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space, prompting international alarm and fears of a space arms race.

On Tuesday, a US State Department spokesman stressed that the action was meant to protect people from the hazardous fuel and was not a weapons test.

The US government has also denied claims that the main aim of the operation was to destroy secret components on USA 193.

Officials say classified parts would be burned up in the atmosphere and, in any case, that would not be a reason for shooting down the satellite.

SATELLITE DESTRUCTION

1 SM-3 missile launched from a US Navy cruiser in Pacific Ocean
2 The three-stage missile headed for collision location, where the relative "closing" speed was expected to be 10km/s (22,000mph)
3 Satellite came in range at altitude of 247km (133 nautical miles), close to edge of Earth's atmosphere
4 Missile made contact with satellite with objective of breaking fuel tank, freeing hydrazine into space
5 Much of the debris will burn up but an as yet unknown amount is expected to be scattered over hundreds of kilometres

Eclipse total da Lua esta noite.

2008-02-20T14:45:00.000Z

Se o tempo ajudar, claro. Incrivelmente, em semana em que houve cheias, o céu está neste momento completamente azul!

Mais informações aqui.

Vídeo da aterragem da Atlantis

2008-02-20T14:32:00.001Z

Tal como prometido cá está. Foi rápido, desta vez. Os astronautas ainda nem saíram do Shuttle, e o vídeo já está no YouTube!

Atlantis aterra em segurança no Kennedy Space Center

2008-02-20T14:13:00.002Z

Céu azul, brisas ligeiras. Basicamente um dia lindíssimo para assistir à aterragem de mais uma missão do Space Shuttle. Irei colocar online o/s vídeo/s da aterragem assim que estejam disponíveis. Um pormenor espetacular foi a passagem pelas nuvens vista do posto do Comandante. Imediatamente após passar para baixo das nuvens viu-se a pista em frente, uma imagem espetacular que espero poder partilhar aqui em breve.

Parabéns à NASA e à tripulação da Atlantis.

Horas estimadas do regresso da Atlantis amanhã

2008-02-19T19:59:00.002Z

As tabelas abaixo listam as 4 oportunidades de aterragem amanhã - 2 na Florida e 2 na California. As horas são do Leste norte-americano, tem de se somar 5 horas para obter a hora de Lisboa.

EST...........EVENT

FIRST FLORIDA OPPORTUNITY: Rev. 202 Deorbit to Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

12:45:00 AM...Crew wakeup
03:59:54 AM...Begin deorbit timeline
04:14:54 AM...Radiators stowed
04:24:54 AM...Mission specialists seat installation
04:30:54 AM...Computers set for deorbit prep
04:34:54 AM...Hydraulic system prepared for entry
04:59:54 AM...Flash evaporator cooling system checkout
05:05:54 AM...Final payload deactivation
05:19:54 AM...Payload bay doors closed
05:29:54 AM...Mission control 'go' for OPS-3 entry software load
05:39:54 AM...OPS-3 transition
06:04:54 AM...Entry switch list verification
06:14:54 AM...Deorbit burn update
06:19:54 AM...Crew entry review
06:34:54 AM...Commander/pilot don entry suits
06:51:54 AM...Inertial measurement unit alignment
06:59:54 AM...Commander/pilot strap in; others don suits
07:16:54 AM...Shuttle steering check
07:19:54 AM...Hydraulic power system prestart
07:26:54 AM...Toilet deactivation
07:34:54 AM...Payload bay vent doors closed for entry
07:39:54 AM...MIssion control 'go' for deorbit burn
07:45:54 AM...Mission specialists seat ingress
07:54:54 AM...Single hydraulic power unit start

07:59:54 AM...Deorbit ignition (dV: 197.7 mph; dT: 02:39)
08:02:33 AM...Deorbit burn complete (altitude: 211.6 sm)

08:35:59 AM...Atmospheric entry (altitude: 75.6 sm)
08:40:59 AM...1st roll command to left
08:52:05 AM...1st left-to-right roll reversal
08:54:00 AM...C-band radar acquisition
09:01:06 AM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (altitude: 84,200 feet)
09:03:18 AM...Velocity less than mach 1 (altitude: 50,700 feet)
09:03:42 AM...Shuttle banks 301 degrees to line up on runway 33
09:07:39 AM...Landing

SECOND FLORIDA OPPORTUNITY: Rev. 203 Deorbit to Kennedy

09:15:20 AM...Mission control 'go' for deorbit burn
09:21:20 AM...MS seat ingress
09:30:20 AM...Single APU start

09:35:20 AM...Deorbit ignition (dV: 195.7 mph; dT: 02:38)
09:37:58 AM...Deorbit burn complete (altitude: 214.5 sm)

10:11:00 AM...Entry interface (altitude: 75.6 sm)
10:15:57 AM...1st roll command to right
10:27:46 AM...1st right-to-left roll reversal
10:36:05 AM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (altitude: 84,700 feet)
10:38:18 AM...Velocity less than mach 1 (altitude: 50,200 feet)
10:38:55 AM...Shuttle banks 269 degrees to line up on runway 33
10:42:35 AM...Landing

FIRST CALIFORNIA OPPORTUNITY: Rev. 204 Deorbit to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

10:45:15 AM...MCC 'go' for deorbit burn
10:51:15 AM...MS seat ingress
11:00:15 AM...Single APU start

11:05:15 AM...Deorbit ignition (dV: 195.7 mph; dT: 2:38
11:07:53 AM...Deorbit burn complete (altitude: 213.4 sm)

11:41:01 AM...Entry interface (altitude: 75.6 sm)
11:46:00 AM...1st roll command to left
11:55:55 AM...1st left-to-right roll reversal
12:06:06 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (altitude: 81,800 feet)
12:08:19 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (altitude: 49,400 feet)
12:09:24 PM...Shuttle banks 205 degrees to line up on runway 22
12:12:31 PM...Landing

SECOND CALIFORNIA OPPORTUNITY: Rev. 205 Deorbit to Edwards

12:21:25 PM...MCC 'go' for deorbit burn
12:27:25 PM...MS seat ingress
12:36:25 PM...Single APU start

12:41:25 PM...Deorbit ignition (dV: 195.7 mph; dT: 02:38)
12:44:03 PM...Deorbit burn complete (altitude: 216.9 sm)

01:16:09 PM...Entry interface (altitude: 75.6 sm)
01:21:06 PM...1st roll command to right
01:32:39 PM...1st right-to-left roll reversal
01:41:10 PM...Velocity less than mach 2.5 (altitude: 82,700 feet)
01:43:25 PM...Velocity less than mach 1 (altitude: 48,800 feet)
01:44:34 PM...Shuttle banks 189 degrees to line up on runway 22
01:47:34 PM...Landing

Inventor canadiano quer pôr um foguete de garrafas de plástico em órbita!

2008-02-19T17:11:00.002Z

Neste momento, a tecnologia revolucionária que desenvolveu permite-lhe já fabricar um foguetão de dois andares que atinge cerca de 200 metros de altitude! Só com ar comprimido, água e um pouco de detergente de louça! Já falta pouco para atingir a órbita! Visitem o site, tem por lá muita coisa gira para ser vista! E pode encomendar o seu próprio foguetão!

Fonte: CBC

Link: Antigravity Research Corporation

B.C. inventor wants to put pop bottle rocket into orbit
Published: Sunday, February 17, 2008 | 3:42 PM ET
Canadian Press: Scott Sutherland, THE CANADIAN PRESS

CHILLIWACK, B.C. - Mr. Widget wants to go to space.

Ken Schellenberg, who has adopted the alter-ego on his company website, wants to put a simple but highly engineered bottle rocket into orbit.

Ken Schellenberg, shown in a handout photo, wants to put a simple but highly engineered bottle rocket into orbit. This could be impossible, but the CEO of antigravityresearch.com already holds the altitude record for boosting an elongated pop bottle - propelled by a bicycle pump, water and a bit of soap - into the air. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

This could be impossible, but the CEO of AntiGravity Research already holds the altitude record for boosting an elongated plastic pop bottle - propelled by a bicycle pump, water and a bit of soap - into the air.

Firing the ubiquitous, two-litre plastic container usually consigned to the recycle bin into space might create a whole new definition for space junk, but the dream keeps Schellenberg going.

"I got side tracked off what I should have been doing, which is electrical engineering," said the red-headed, 49-year-old father of five.

"I named the company before I had anything to do and people still call wondering if we've got a (Star Trek-style) transporter ready or if we've been able to defy gravity in the way that people think of anti gravity.

"I tell them 'No,' but we're hoping to stumble across that sometime soon."

From a large workshop in a pasture behind his home on a wooded mountain plateau high above the Fraser River valley, Schellenberg designs and builds "state-of-the-art-technology" pop-bottle rockets.

They're made by attaching plastic or cardboard fins to an empty bottle, punching a hole in the bottle top to act as a nozzle and pressurizing the bottle with air from a bicycle pump.

Add some water before pumping in the air and the bottle will go higher. Add a squirt of dish soap to the water and it goes even higher.

Schellenberg's two-stage model is easily capable of reaching altitudes of well over 200 metres.

Several years ago, one of his "toy" rockets - actually a Kevlar-reinforced, experimental, single-stage missile pressurized with compressed nitrogen and packing high-tech instruments - flew to just under 379 metres.

Based on that research, Schellenberg is now convinced that it will be possible to put a bottle rocket into orbit. In preparation, he's working on sending a modified two-stage rocket - reinforced with ultra-strong carbon-fibre and fuelled by liquid CO2 - up about five kilometres.

"I've already got the thing half-built," he said.

But he won't be launching that from his pasture near Chilliwack.

He acknowledged he'll need a proper site where passing airplanes would not be at risk - something along the lines of the military test facility at Cold Lake, Alta.

He said he'd definitely look for an organization to sanction the attempt at a new record, but he said these things always take time.

"It always takes me 10 times longer than I thought," he admits. "On the last world record I figured it would take a month, and it was about two years."

The first record-setting launch is documented at antigravityresearch.com, where Schellenberg sells a variety of one-and two-stage rocket kits, plus accessories like his China-built bicycle pump which he says "is the best in the world."

The website also features a dozen or so madcap movies, featuring Schellenberg as Mr. Widget in a white lab coat and heavy-framed glasses with the pre-requisite adhesive tape repairs.

In person, however, Schellenberg is soft-spoken and extremely self-effacing.

A graduate of the British Columbia Institute of Technology, he spent more than 20 years as a designer in the digital world, focusing mainly on micro-controller data loggers.

But he said he got bored with the work, while becoming fascinated by bottle rockets.

"They're simple," he said.

"You fill them with a little bit of water and you pump them up with air and then they fly way up and then come back down."

His shop is filled with machines he has modified or built himself.

Think Wallace and Gromit without Gromit.

One homemade contraption turns out the rocket's three stabilizing fins. It's pieced together with masonry nails welded to motorcycle chains that pull a sheet of meat-tray material through modified, $40 pancake griddles from Wal-Mart.

The griddles heat the thin-foam plastic, then the plastic advances to where a tiny vacuum tube holds on while a heated wire cuts the outline of the piece.

The vacuum then reverses to blow the completed component into a bin. The waste is sent off the end of the machine into another bin to be recycled.

The machine isn't pretty and plywood and auto-body filler are used extensively.

"If there was a place to go and buy a machine like this I would have. But there isn't, so I had to figure it out myself."

A metre away, another contraption heats a standard two-litre bottle and an extendible steel rod stretches it into a more aerodynamic shape. The bottle is then cooled to keep its shape.

Schellenberg has been making his primary living with AntiGravity for seven years through sales almost entirely on the web, although he does some consulting and still considers himself a part-time hay farmer.

He said schools are among his customers - the rockets are ideal for teaching physics.

"Acceleration, velocity, mass, thrust, all those good things that teachers try so hard to teach the kids," he says.

He has also sold large numbers of rockets to American Honda Corp. for use in management training courses, to Whirlpool Corporation for a program with the Boy Scouts, to mechanical engineering departments of universities, and to the U.S. Army.

Part of the selling point is safety.

"With (my) rockets, there's no burning fuel. The pressurized bottle is 25 feet away from you and the pump, so if the bottle should burst it's a good safe distance and at only 60 grams, if falls and hits anyone it doesn't hurt."

He knows because he's tested it himself with rockets falling from as high as 100 metres.

"I tested it in stages," he said. "If a baseball falls 6 inches on to your head, that really hurts, whereas a rocket of this type falling 300 feet doesn't hurt a bit."

AntiGravity's motto is: "Ongoing research projects of little or no gravity."

Orbit would be the best fulfillment of that. And Schellenberg says he sincerely believe's he'll get there.

"Well, perhaps sincere might be the wrong word. Overly optimistic might be better. It certainly looks possible," he says with a grin, trailing off.

Atlantis separa-se da ISS - regresso na Quarta-Feira

2008-02-18T20:03:00.001Z

O Astronauta

2008-02-18T19:57:00.002Z

Encontrei há pouco o trailer do filme 'O Astronauta' - 'The Astronaut Farmer' no título original - e que parece ser mais uma tentativa de motivar o público para a conquista e a exploração do Espaço. Algo que está muito apagado, apesar do momento fantástico que vivemos. Temos uma estação Espacial tripulada em órbita, veículos espaciais reutilizáveis que a visitam regularmente, robots a caminhar em Marte e em órbita de Saturno. Seria motivo para um entusiasmo geral, mas continuamos a ser tratados a dietas de futebol, telenovelas e reality shows. Parece que alguém quer que as pessoas não sonhem nem tenham imaginação. Pergunto-me porquê. Mas uma coisa é certa, a nossa sociedade não avançará no meio deste marasmo.

Tripulação da Atlantis despede-se da ISS

2008-02-18T00:17:00.005Z

A tripulação do Space Shuttle Atlantis despediu-se hoje da tripulação da Estação Espacial Internacional ISS. Uma das despedidas, em particular, foi a mais emocional de todas, a do astronauta Dan Tani, que permaneceu em órbita mais dois meses do que o inicialmente previsto, período no qual infelizmente a sua mãe faleceu num acidente de trânsito.

O regresso à terra da Atlantis está previsto para quarta-feira, e estão activados os locais de aterragem na Flórida e na Califórnia. A NASA pretende assegurar a aterragem em segurança do Shuttle com alguma folga, antes da Marinha tentar abater o satélite de espionagem que está em queda há várias semanas.

No video abaixo, o astronauta Dan Tani está no centro, com a camisa verde-escura.

Shuttle astronauts bid station crew farewell
1:24 PM, 2/17/08, Update

The Atlantis astronauts gathered for a final time aboard the international space station today, bidding the lab crew farewell in a tearful ceremony that marked the end of a complex assembly mission. After one last round of hugs and handshakes, the shuttle crew floated back into Atlantis and hatches were sealed at 1:03 p.m. to set the stage for undocking early Monday.

The brief farewell was particularly poignant for Dan Tani, returning to Earth after an extended four-month stay in space. Originally scheduled to return in December, Tani's stay aloft was extended two months after Atlantis was grounded in December with fuel sensor problems. Along with missing the holidays with his family, Tani was in orbit when his 90-year-old mother was killed in a Dec. 19 car wreck.

"Dan has done a phenomenal job over the last several months," said station commander Peggy Whitson. "He was here a few months more than he had originally planned on, but he's really made up for it and done an incredible job while he was here."

Tani took a moment to describe his impressions of the space station, saying "today I feel very optimistic about our space program and our society because I'm here, I've spent time with a man from France, from Italy and from Germany and from Russia. Nations that have not always been friendly are now cooperating and we're doing great things."

"That was the first thing I was thinking about today," he said. "The other thing I was thinking about today was women, and it's been a very big topic on this flight because when I flew up there were two women commanders and for whatever reason, that was huge news. The unspoken news there was they were both fantastically great commanders and it was a privilege to fly with both of them.

"The other thing I was thinking about today was my mother... my inspiration," Tani said, choking back tears. "And of course, my job is easy compared to my wife's. Jane's the love of my life and she had the hard work while I was having fun. So I can't wait to get back to her and my two little girls.

"If we were in Russia, this would be the third toast - the toast for the women in our lives. I've enjoyed all my time here and I can't wait to get back with all my pictures and videos. So thank you so much for all your help on the ground and really, we couldn't have done it without you. We're doing magnificent things up here and it's not us, of course, we're just the tip. It's the solid foundation everybody on the ground provides for us and makes us look good. Thank you very much."

Tani was replaced aboard the space station by European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts, who plans to remain aboard the outpost until late March activating and carrying out experiments in Europe's new Columbus research module.

Taking the microphone from Tani, Eyharts said "Dan is a great guy, I've been very impressed by the experience he acquired here in the space station. It was really a pleasure and an honor to receive the handover from him and I hope that in a few weeks, I will be able to do one hundredth of what he is able to do today."

Said Atlantis commander Steve Frick: "For the shuttle crew of Atlantis, STS-122, it was our privilege to bring Leo up to his new home. ... And it's very much our privilege to take Dan home after such a long stay up here and so much hard work. We're looking forward to a very short rest of the flight and a successful landing at the Kennedy Space Center (Wednesday).

"It's been an amazing experience for us," Frick said. "We were very privileged to bring up the European Columbus laboratory module and we're incredibly excited to see it with the lights on and ready for action. So Peggy, thanks very much for being our host. We raced as hard as we could trying to keep up with you and now we need to go take a rest!"

"All right, guys, it's been great having you here," Whitson replied. The two crews then separated and hatches betwen Atlantis and the station were closed.

The shuttle astronauts are scheduled to go to bed at 4:45 p.m. Wakeup is scheduled for 12:45 a.m. Monday. For readers interested in looking ahead, here is the latest undocking timeline (in EST and mission elapsed time):

EST........DD...HH...MM...EVENT

02/18/08
03:13 AM...10...12...28...Sunrise
03:38 AM...10...12...53...Station in undocking attitude
03:43 AM...10...12...58...Noon
03:54 AM...10...13...09...ISS KU antenna parked
04:14 AM...10...13...29...Sunset
04:15 AM...10...13...30...Russian solar arrays feathered
04:20 AM...10...13...35...U.S. solar arrays feathered

04:27 AM...10...13...42...UNDOCKING

04:29 AM...10...13...44...ISS holds attitude
04:32 AM...10...13...47...Range: 50 feet
04:34 AM...10...13...49...Range 75 feet
04:39 AM...10...13...54...Russian arrays resume sun track
04:44 AM...10...13...59...Sunrise
04:56 AM...10...14...11...Range: 400 feet; start fly around
05:06 AM...10...14...21...Range: 600 feet
05:08 AM...10...14...23...Shuttle directly above ISS
05:15 AM...10...14...30...Noon
05:19 AM...10...14...34...Shuttle directly behind ISS
05:31 AM...10...14...46...Shuttle directly below ISS
05:42 AM...10...14...57...Shuttle direcly in front of ISS
05:42 AM...10...14...57...Separation burn No. 1
05:45 AM...10...15...00...Sunset
06:10 AM...10...15...25...Separation burn No. 2
06:15 AM...10...15...30...Sunrise

"I love living here on the station, it's comfortable, it's fun, it's exciting, the view, of course," Tani told reporters Saturday. "So it's going to be tough leaving here, but obviously, I want to get back to see my family.

"I look forward to some odd things," he added. "I look forward to putting food on a plate and eating several things at once, which you can't do up here. I'm looking forward to spitting my toothpaste out in a sink rather than swallowing it. And of course, the most (significant) thing I'm looking forward to is seeing my (two) girls and my wife."

Antevisão do primeiro vôo de teste do Ares I (Ares 1x-V2.1)

2008-02-15T12:18:00.003Z

Este teste deverá, supostamente, ocorrer algures durante o ano que vem, embora isso me pareça bastante duvidoso, uma vez que ainda não está a ser construído hardware nenhum para este novo sistema de foguetões. À excepção, claro, do 1º andar, derivado dos motores auxiliares de combustível sólido do Space Shuttle (SRBs - Solid Rocket Boosters). Pelo vídeo parece ser o propósito do primeiro vôo de teste verificar precisamente o desempenho desse primeiro andar.

Fonte: Constellation Program

EUA irão lançar míssil contra satélite em queda!

2008-02-14T22:47:00.003Z

A manobra, espetacular e inédita, deverá ser tentada nos próximos dias, e é uma tentativa de evitar que o satélite, com equipamento altamente sofisticado e secreto, caia em mãos alheias.

Claro que o objectivo público é evitar que o seu combustível tóxico possa eventualmente afectar a saúde das pessoas que estejam próximo do local da queda. Mas não sejamos ingénuos, uma ordem do Presidente Bush ao Pentágono nunca seria dada com objectivos tão banais, tão humanitários...

Há 20 anos foram feitos, pelos EUA, testes com armas anti-satélites (ASAT) lançadas a partir de caças F-15 (à direita). No entanto não deverá ser esta a arma usada para tentar abater o satélite em queda. Deverá ser usado um Standard Missile 3, da US Navy.

Posts anteriores: 1, 2

Fonte: MSNBC

U.S. to launch missile at broken spy satellite

Plan is to fire missiles from U.S. Navy cruiser before it hits Earth

The Associated Press

updated 3:33 p.m. ET Feb. 14, 2008

WASHINGTON - President Bush has ordered the Pentagon to use a Navy missile to attempt to destroy a broken U.S. spy satellite — and thereby minimize the risk to humans from its toxic fuel — by intercepting it just before it re-enters the atmosphere, officials said Thursday.

The effort — the first of its kind — will be undertaken because of the potential that people in the area where the satellite would otherwise crash could be harmed, the officials said.

Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey, briefing reporters at the Pentagon, did not say when the attempted intercept would be conducted, but the satellite is expected to hit Earth during the first week of March.

"This is all about trying to reduce the danger to human beings," Jeffrey said.

Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same briefing that the "window of opportunity" for such a shootdown, presumably to be launched from a Navy ship, will open in the next three or four days and last for seven or eight days. He did not say whether the Pentagon has decided on an exact launch date.

Cartwright said this will be an unprecedented effort; he would not say exactly what are the odds of success.

"This is the first time we've used a tactical missile to engage a spacecraft," Cartwright said.

After extensive study and analysis, U.S. officials came to the conclusion that, "we're better off taking the attempt than not," Cartwright said.

He said a Navy missile known as Standard Missile 3 would be fired in an attempt to intercept the satellite just prior to it re-entering Earth's atmosphere. It would be "next to impossible" to hit the satellite after that because of atmospheric disturbances, Cartwright said.

Standard Missile 3

A second goal, he said, is to directly hit the fuel tank in order to minimize the amount of fuel that returns to Earth.

Software associated with the Standard Missile 3 has been modified to enhance the chances of the missile's sensors recognizing that the satellite is its target; he noted that the missile's designed mission is to shoot down ballistic missiles, not satellites. Other officials said the missile's maximum range, while a classified figure, is not great enough to hit a satellite operating in normal orbits.

"It's a one-time deal," Cartwright said when asked whether the modified Standard Missile 3 should be considered a new U.S. anti-satellite weapon technology.

Cartwright also said that if an initial shootdown attempt fails, a decision will be made whether to take a second shot.

Jeffrey said members of Congress were briefed on the plan earlier Thursday and that diplomatic notifications to other countries would be made before the end of the day.

Shooting down a satellite is particularly sensitive because of the controversy surrounding China's anti-satellite test last year, when Beijing shot down one of its defunct weather satellites, drawing immediate criticism from the U.S. and other countries.

A key concern at that time was the debris created by Chinese satellite's destruction — and that will also be a focus now, as the U.S. determines exactly when and under what circumstances to shoot down its errant satellite.

The military will have to choose a time and a location that will avoid to the greatest degree any damage to other satellites in the sky. Also, there is the possibility that large pieces could remain, and either stay in orbit where they can collide with other satellites or possibly fall to Earth.

It is not known where the satellite will hit. But officials familiar with the situation say about half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft is expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and will scatter debris — some of it potentially hazardous — over several hundred miles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The satellite is outfitted with thrusters — small engines used to position it in space. They contain the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine, which can cause harm to anyone who contacts it. Officials have said there is about 1,000 pounds of propellent on the satellite.

Known by its military designation US 193, the satellite was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.

Imagem espetacular - F22 em vôo durante um lançamento do Shuttle

2008-02-14T21:50:00.004Z

Clique para aumentar.

Estou a tentar obter a informação de se esta foto foi ou não tirada durante o lançamento da Atlantis em 7 de Fevereiro. Obtive a imagem neste site.

Mais videos amadores do lançamento da Atlantis STS-122

2008-02-13T12:55:00.007Z

O primeiro é simplesmente fenomenal!

Neste a seguir, captado por um empregado da NASA, até se ouvem os alarmes dos carros, que dispararam por causa das vibrações que o som do Shuttle a levantar vôo faz! Notem também a sombra que o rasto do Shuttle faz na humidade da atmosfera!

O ambiente neste vídeo a seguir é demais!

Há tantos, mas tantos vídeos amadores deste lançamento, que eu gostaria que fossem todos etiquetados como 'vídeos amadores', para os poder ver todos! Como podem ver, há desde vídeos banais a vídeos espetaculares, e nem consigo imaginar o que possa estar a perder! Parabéns a todos os que se deram ao trabalho de fazer estes vídeos espetaculares!

Girl on Fire

2008-02-12T14:15:00.000Z

Hoje apeteceu-me colocar online um vídeo que já conheço há uns anos, e que acho espetacular. Uma espécie de homenagem 'rockada' ao Space Shuttle. Espero que gostem tanto como eu!

Satélite de espionagem deverá caír na primeira semana de Março

2008-02-10T15:53:00.000Z

O satélite de espionagem Norte-Americano que está fora de controlo desde o seu lançamento deverá caír no início de Março. É ainda impossível saber em que local na Terra ele irá caír, uma previsão fidedigna só será possível nas últimas órbitas.

Há dois pontos importantes nesta situação:

o satélite transporta materiais 'tóxicos'. Não foi especificado o que é que a palavra 'tóxico' quer dizer neste caso, embora se sugira que possa ser uma alusão ao combustível hipergólico hidrazina, usado no posicionamento de satélites e naves espaciais. Mas não poderemos excluír a possibilidade de ser um satélite equipado com tecnologia nuclear, como o são muitos satélites de espionagem.
o satélite está equipado com tecnologia altamente secreta, que o governo dos EUA não deseja ver caír em mãos erradas. Poderá ser de prever um certo espetáculo mediático na busca pelos pedaços do satélite, sobretudo se este caír em terra e não no mar.

Fonte: MSNBC

Dead satellite to hit Earth in early March

U.S. officials do not want secret imaging sensor to fall into wrong hands

By Eileen Sullivan and Pamela Hess

The Associated Press

updated 7:46 p.m. ET Feb. 7, 2008

WASHINGTON - A dead U.S. spy satellite in a deteriorating orbit is expected to hit the Earth the first week of March, officials said Thursday.

It is not known where on Earth the satellite will hit. But officials familiar with the situation say about half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft is expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and will scatter debris — some of it potentially hazardous — over several hundred miles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The satellite is outfitted with thrusters, small engines used to position it in space, that contain the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine. Hydrazine can cause harm to anyone who contacts it.

The satellite, known by its military designation US 193, was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.

U.S. officials do not want this equipment to fall into the wrong hands.

"The Chinese and the Russians spend an enormous amount of time trying to steal American technology," said John Pike, a defense and intelligence expert. "To have our most sophisticated radar intelligence satellite — have big pieces of it fall into their hands — would not be our preferred outcome."

Where it lands will be difficult to predict until the satellite descends to about 59 miles above the Earth and enters the atmosphere. It will then begin to burn up, with flares visible from the ground, said Ted Molczan, a Canadian satellite tracker. From that point on, he said, it will take about 30 minutes to fall.

In the past 50 years about 17,000 manmade objects have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the 78-ton abandoned space station that fell from orbit in 1979. Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia.

In 2000, NASA engineers successfully directed a safe de-orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, using rockets aboard the satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.

In 2002, officials believe debris from a 7,000-pound science satellite smacked into the Earth's atmosphere and rained down over the Persian Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would plummet.

Short-term exposure to hydrazine could cause coughing, irritated throat and lungs, convulsions, tremors or seizures, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long-term exposure could damage the liver, kidney and reproductive organs.

Vídeos amadores do lançamento da Atlantis

2008-02-10T15:30:00.000Z

Já devo ter dito aqui que sou um fã destes vídeos amadores, por muito má imagem que por vezes possam ter, porque transmitem de forma muito mais próxima o ambiente que se vive entre os espectadores destes grandes eventos. Aqui ficam um desses vídeos, com os votos que a pequena 'Gabi' se possa vir a tornar também uma astronauta :)

Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver

2008-02-10T15:18:00.000Z

Depois do acidente com o Columbia, em 2003, foram concebidas uma série de medidas de verificação do estado do sistema de protecção térmica do Space Shuttle, a fim de determinar se este se encontra em bom estado para o regresso à atmosfera, no final da missão. Isto porque o Columbia se desintegrou precisamente por danos sofridos nas 'telhas' de protecção na asa esquerda.

Uma das medidas de observação mais espetaculares é esta manobra, designada Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (RPM), que é executada antes do Shuttle atracar com a Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS). A manobra, que dura cerca de 10 minutos, consiste básicamente numa rotação completa do Shuttle, à vista da ISS, para que astronautas a bordo da Estação Espacial possam tirar o maior número de fotografias possível, com máquinas fotográficas digitais de muito alta resolução, e com teleobjetivas de grande comprimento focal, para que se possam obter o maior número de dados acerca de possíveis danos. Estas imagens são posteriormente enviadas para Terra e analisadas durante vários dias, para detectar eventuais problemas.

Aqui fica o vídeo da RPM da Atlantis, antes de atracar com a ISS ontem, Sábado.