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

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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

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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

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

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!

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.

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

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

Do álbum 'To Touch The Stars'

Um iPod em órbita!

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

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 :)