Orbit 17 +++ Space and beyond
galaxies, science, exploration, astronomy (blog)
Posts tagged United States
Space station needs ‘extension to 2020′, Europe wants a decision in 2010 on the life of the International Space Station
Jan 14th
At the moment, no programme for its use nor any funding has been put in place to support the platform beyond 2015.
But the European Space Agency’s (Esa) Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, told the BBC the uncertainty was undermining best use of the ISS.
He said he was persuaded of its worth, and expressed the desire to keep flying the station until at least 2020.
Only by guaranteeing longevity would more scientists come forward to run experiments on the orbiting laboratory, he argued.
“I am convinced that stopping the station in 2015 would be a mistake because we cannot attract the best scientists if we are telling them today ‘you are welcome on the space station but you’d better be quick because in 2015 we close the shop’,” he said.
US official questions China space intentions
Jan 14th
A senior US defense official on Wednesday voiced doubts about China’s insistence that its use of space is for peaceful means as Washington appealed for steady military ties with the rising Asian power.
“The Chinese have stated that they oppose the militarization of space. Their actions seem to indicate the contrary intention,” said Wallace Gregson, the assistant secretary of defense in charge of Asia.
“We continue to press the Chinese for explanation,” Gregson told a congressional hearing.
China says its rapidly growing military budget is for defensive purposes. Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged with US President Barack Obama at a November summit to promote the peaceful use of space.
Read more…
NASA flies Boeing 747 with big telescope door open, oh Sofia
Jan 13th
A German-built telescope is exposed during a flight of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy 747SP on Dec. 18, 2009. Credit: Carla Thomas/NASA
On Dec. 18, NASA for the first time opened the doors of its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy in flight.
The observatory, known by its acronym, SOFIA, is a modified Boeing 747 equipped with a 98-inch German-built infrared telescope and doors that open to expose the telescope in flight. The Dec. 18 flight included two minutes with the telescope doors fully opened to allow engineers to understand how air flows in and around the telescope.
NASA plans for shuttle Endeavour to liftoff as per schedule
Jan 12th
Space Shuttle Endeavour rolls to launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center January 6, 2010 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Coolant hoses on board the to-be-launched Tranquility module failed pre-launch checks. Credit: Matt Stroshane / Getty Images
NASA is still hoping to launch the shuttle Endeavour in early February as engineers scramble to repair broken hoses on the new space station module set to ride aboard the orbiter.
Endeavour is slated to launch the new Tranquility module to the International Space Station on Feb. 7 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But two of the module’s four ammonia coolant hoses have failed standard pre-launch checks, forcing engineers to come up with a repair plan while others try to build new hoses from scratch, station managers said Monday.
“Folks are working really hard to get the hoses checked out, completed, certified [and] tested,” said Pete Hasbrook, NASA manager for the Expedition 22 mission aboard the space station. “We are still working toward the Feb. 7 launch date.”
Chavez says Venezuela jets intercepted U.S. plane
Jan 9th
President Hugo Chavez said he ordered two F-16 jets to intercept a U.S. military plane that twice entered Venezuelan skies on Friday, but Washington said none of its planes flew over the South American country’s airspace.
Brandishing a photo of the plane, which he described as a P-3, Chavez said the overflight was the latest violation of Venezuelan airspace by the U.S. military from its bases on the Netherlands’ Caribbean islands and from neighboring Colombia.
“They are provoking us … these are warplanes,” he said.
Chavez said the F-16s escorted the U.S. plane away after two incursions lasting 15 and 19 minutes each.
A spokesman for the U.S. Defense Department denied Chavez’s assertion, saying in an e-mail: “We can confirm no U.S. military aircraft entered Venezuelan airspace today. As a matter of policy we do not fly over a nation’s airspace without prior consent or coordination.”
Senior Obama administration officials said the U.S. Southern Command was unaware of any incident involving U.S. government aircraft in Venezuelan airspace on Friday.
The perceived threat of U.S. intervention has become a central element of Chavez’s political discourse and a rallying cry for his supporters.
Foes say Latin America’s loudest U.S. critic is hyping the idea of a foreign threat to distract Venezuelans from domestic problems such as economic recession, rampant crime and inadequate public services.
U.S. Navy Brings Solar Power to Pearl Harbor
Jan 9th
Catch an aerial view of Pearl Harbor and it’s easy to see the potential for rooftop solar energy. Parts of the U.S. Navy base in Hawaii are open space but much of it is a dense conglomeration of buildings and facilities, and every roof could be a potential sustainable energy generator.
The Navy is turning the potential into reality by contracting with a local company, Niking Corporation, to install solar panels on five rooftops at the base. In terms of the available roof space that may seem like more of a demonstration project than a full scale installation, but it’s still significant. The Navy expects the five roofs to bring in enough solar energy to power 440 homes, and for a state that’s not rich in fossil fuels, that’s a clear demonstration of the potential for growth in sustainable solar energy.
NASA extends life of Chandra X-ray mission, funding until 2013
Jan 9th
After a decade of scanning the universe, NASA’s orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory has a new lease on life – one that could extend its mission through 2013, and possibly longer.
NASA officially extended the 10-year-old Chandra mission by extending its science support contract by $172 million, which will fund the effort through 2013 and bring its total base cost up to $545 million. Options for two more life extensions for the healthy space telescope could increase its value to $913 million, NASA officials said.
“I think it’s very good news,” said astronomer Roger Brissenden, manager and flight director of the Chandra X-ray Center overseeing the space telescope’s science operations. “It shows they really do have confidence that the spacecraft is healthy and able to do good science.”
NASA: Coolant lines a concern for February 7 shuttle launch
Jan 9th
NASA is reviewing a problem with coolant hoses that could force a delay to the planned Feb. 7 launch of Endeavour.
“We’re still targeting Feb. 7, but it has the potential to do that,” said Allard Beutel, a Kennedy Space Center spokesman. “We are looking at this as an issue.”
The ammonia coolant lines were to be attached to the Tranquility module, which is due to be delivered to the launch pad and installed in the shuttle next week, during one of three spacewalks.
But the hoses have experienced failures during pre-flight tests this week by a California supplier, and replacements are not readily available.
NASA: Hubble peers 13 billion years back in cosmic history
Jan 7th
Less than a year after getting a major overhaul, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has snapped panoramic, full-color images that let astronomers peer more than 13 billion years back into cosmic history.
The newly souped-up Hubble telescope is acting as something of a time machine that allows scientists to see galaxies as they were billions of years ago. Hubble captured images in September and October that have been stitched together to show 7,500 galaxies stretching back through most of the universe’s history.
“With the rejuvenated Hubble and its new instruments, we are now entering unchartered territory that is ripe for new discoveries,” said Garth Illingworth of the University of California and leader of the survey team. “The deepest-ever, near-infrared view of the universe has now been combined with the deepest-ever optical image to push back the frontiers of the searches for the first galaxies and to explore their nature.”
Just 5 Missions Left for NASA’s Space Shuttles
Jan 7th
The end is beginning for NASA’s three aging space shuttles, with just five more missions on tap this year before the orbiter fleet retires in the fall.
That is, unless NASA needs a few more months to fly those remaining missions or President Barack Obama chooses to extend the shuttle program to fill a looming gap in U.S. human spaceflight capability.
Though the ultimate path forward for NASA has not yet been decided, the space agency is at a turning point after nearly 29 years of shuttle flight.
“Obviously it’s the end of an era,” said Roger Launius, space history curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. “There’s a certain amount of nostalgia and a sense of loss, no question.”
The very last space shuttle flight, the STS-133 mission of the shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station, is scheduled for September 2010. The launch will be the 134th shuttle voyage since the fleet’s debut in 1981.