HUBBLE OBSERVES GALAXY 4980

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ARMED WITH SCIENCE
Written on MAY 27, 2012 AT 7:10 AM by JTOZER
A Spiral Galaxy in Hydra
This image from the NASA Hubble Space Telescope shows NGC 4980, a spiral galaxy in the southern constellation of Hydra. The shape of NGC 4980 appears slightly deformed, something which is often a sign of recent tidal interactions with another galaxy. In this galaxy’s case, however, this appears not to be the case as there are no other galaxies in its immediate vicinity.

The image was produced as part of a research program into the nature of galactic bulges, the bright, dense, elliptical centers of galaxies. Classical bulges are relatively disordered, with stars orbiting the galactic center in all directions. In contrast, in galaxies with so-called pseudobulges, or disc-type bulges, the movement of the spiral arms is preserved right to the center of the galaxy.

Although the spiral structure is relatively subtle in this image, scientists have shown that NGC 4980 has a disc-type bulge, and its rotating spiral structure extends to the very center of the galaxy.

A galaxies’ bright arms are the location of new star formation in spiral galaxies, and NGC 4980 is no exception. The galaxy’s arms are traced out by blue pockets of extremely hot newborn stars are visible across much of its disc. This sets it apart from the reddish galaxies visible in the background, which are distant elliptical galaxies made up of much older, and hence redder, stars.

This image is composed of exposures taken in visible and infrared light by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. The image is approximately 3.3 by 1.5 arcminutes in size.

Δραστηριότητα στο ηφαίστειο της Σαντορίνης παρατηρήθηκε από τον Envisat

Δραστηριότητα στο ηφαίστειο της Σαντορίνης παρατηρήθηκε από τον Envisat

SPACEX DRAGON HEADS INTO SPACE AND THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

FROM:  NASA
The Launch of SpaceX Dragon
KSC-2012-2897 (22 May 2012) --- The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars into space from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:44 a.m. (EDT) May 22, 2012, carrying the Dragon capsule to orbit. The launch is the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, Program. During the flight, the Dragon will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. If the capsule performs as planned, the cargo and experiments it is carrying will be transferred to the station. The cargo includes food, water and provisions for the station's Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries and computer equipment. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two aerospace companies to deliver cargo to the station. Photo credit: NASA

NASA RELEASES MARS ROVER IMAGE

FROM:  NASA

NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity catches its own late-afternoon shadow in this dramatically lit view eastward across Endeavour Crater on Mars. The rover used the panoramic camera (Pancam) between about 4:30 and 5:00 p.m. local Mars time to record images taken through different filters and combined into this mosaic view. Most of the component images were recorded during the 2,888th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (March 9, 2012). At that time, Opportunity was spending low-solar-energy weeks of the Martian winter at the Greeley Haven outcrop on the Cape York segment of Endeavour's western rim. In order to give the mosaic a rectangular aspect, some small parts of the edges of the mosaic and sky were filled in with parts of an image acquired earlier as part of a 360-degree panorama from the same location. Opportunity has been studying the western rim of Endeavour Crater since arriving there in August 2011. This crater spans 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter, or about the same area as the city of Seattle. This is more than 20 times wider than Victoria Crater, the largest impact crater that Opportunity had previously examined. The interior basin of Endeavour is in the upper half of this view. The mosaic combines about a dozen images taken through Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet). The view is presented in false color to make some differences between materials easier to see, such as the dark sandy ripples and dunes on the crater's distant floor. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ.

SPACEX DRAGON LIFTS OFF

FROM:  NASA
The Launch of SpaceX Dragon
KSC-2012-2913 (22 May 2012) --- On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Space Launch Complex-40 is ablaze as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at 3:44 a.m. (EDT) May 22, 2012. The launch is the company's second demonstration test flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program. During the flight, the Dragon capsule will conduct a series of check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station. If the capsule performs as planned, the cargo and experiments it is carrying will be transferred to the station. The cargo includes food, water and provisions for the station's Expedition crews, such as clothing, batteries and computer equipment. Under COTS, NASA has partnered with two aerospace companies to deliver cargo to the station. Photo credit: NASA

SUNRISE IN SPACE STATION CUPOLA

FROM:  NASA
Sunrise in Station Cupola
ISS031-E-062066 (6 May 2012) --- The International Space Station was over the central South Pacific about 240 miles northeast of the Marshall Islands when one of the Expedition 31 crew members positioned on the station's Cupola captured this image of the sun coming up.

Desvelando los secretos de Venus

Desvelando los secretos de Venus

NASA RECEIVES WIDESPREAD CONCEPTS FOR FUTURE MARS MISSIONS

FROM:  NASA
WASHINGTON -- NASA's call to scientists and engineers to help plan a
new strategy to explore Mars has resulted in almost double the amount
of expected submissions with unique and bold ideas.

About 400 concepts or abstracts were submitted to the Concepts and
Approaches for Mars Exploration Workshop in Houston, which was
organized to gather input for the reformulation of NASA's Mars
Exploration Program. Submissions came from individuals and teams that
included professional researchers, undergraduate and graduate
students, NASA centers, federal laboratories, industry, and
international partner organizations.

NASA is reformulating the Mars Exploration Program to be responsive to
high-priority science goals and President Obama's challenge of
sending humans to Mars orbit in the 2030s.

"This strong response sends a clear message that exploring Mars is
important to future exploration," said John Grunsfeld, associate
administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's
headquarters in Washington and an astrophysicist and astronaut. "The
challenge now will be to select the best ideas for the next phase."

Selected abstracts will be presented during a workshop June 12-14
hosted by the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. Selectees are
now being invited to present and discuss concepts, options,
capabilities and innovations to advance Mars exploration. Workshop
discussion will help inform a strategy for exploration within
available resources beginning as early as 2018, and stretching into
the next decade and beyond. Proceedings will be streamed live online.


"Developing abstracts is very time consuming, requiring intense
preparation, and we appreciate the fabulous response," said Doug
McCuistion, director, NASA's Mars Exploration Program in Washington.
"Even though space is limited, to ensure transparency in the process
anyone can observe the scientific and engineering deliberations via
the Web."

Based on the abstracts selected, associated working groups will
consider the ideas and concepts in depth during the workshop.
Near-term ideas will be taken into consideration for early mission
planning in the 2018-2024 timeframe, while mid- to longer-term ideas
will inform program-level architecture planning for 2026 and beyond.

The Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG), tasked with developing options
for a reformulated Mars Exploration Program, will consider the
workshop inputs for the various options, taking into consideration
budgetary, programmatic, scientific, and technical constraints.

Options developed by the MPPG are expected to advance the science
objectives in the National Research Council's Planetary Science
Decadal Survey. The survey rated the return of Mars samples to Earth
as a top scientific goal. Developed in consultation with the
scientific and technical community, the MPPG report is expected to be
delivered for NASA review at the end of the summer.

The MPPG reports to Grunsfeld, who chairs the overall, agencywide
reformulation strategy along with William Gerstenmaier, associate
administrator for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission
Directorate, NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati and NASA Chief
Technologist Mason Peck.

"Getting to Mars is hard," said Grunsfeld. "We've had successes and
losses, but the human spirit to continue exploring the Red Planet
prevails."

This August, NASA will land the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, on
the planet's surface. This roving science laboratory will assess
whether Mars was or is today an environment able to support life. In
2013, NASA will launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution
(MAVEN) orbiter, the first mission devoted to understanding the
Martian upper atmosphere.

ORS-1 BREAKING NEW GROUND

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND
1 SOPS stands up alternate ORS-1 ops floor
by Scott Prater
Schriever Sentinel
5/23/2012 - SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.  -- Operationally Responsive Space-1 has been breaking new ground since it launched in 2010, so it only makes sense that the squadrons responsible for command and control of the satellite would need to take some innovative steps during its lifespan.

Members of the 1st and 7th Space Operations Squadrons established a backup ground-system location for ORS-1 recently, creating an alternate operations floor for the system at another Air Force installation.

Since ORS-1 is a unique satellite system that was developed and implemented much faster and has a shorter life expectancy than traditional satellite systems, a backup wasn't initially planned. But, squadron engineers figured out a way to nearly double the satellite's expected lifespan after it was launched.

"Most of us have experienced some kind of computer failure," said Lt. Col. Mike Manor, 1 SOPS commander. "Unfortunately, it happens more often than most people would like and with ORS-1's expanded life it made sense to create a backup system at an alternate location. Just in case the unexpected occurs here, our crews can rapidly deploy to the backup to ensure the vehicle is safe and the mission is not impacted."

As a space asset, ORS-1 performs an intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance mission and features a modified version of the Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System-2 camera, normally employed by U-2 aircraft. The program was established during 2008 after U.S. Central Command expressed an urgent requirement for enhanced battle space awareness.

Once its lifespan grew to more than four years, redundancy of secure operations became a key priority for 1 and 7 SOPS.

Lt. Col. Robb Owens, 1 SOPS director of operations, explained the alternate location's operations floor provided a near perfect setting for the ORS-1 backup system.

"We have some mission-unique software, but since they use the same ground system architecture we can deploy our personnel and operate from there easier than we could somewhere else," Owens said. "It was an obvious fit."

The backup operations center will be activated in three phases, according to Manor.

In the first phase, which has already taken place, 1 and 7 SOPS operators, orbital analysts and engineers checked out the compatibility of systems and confirmed contact was possible with ORS-1. In the second phase, command and control crews actually contacted the vehicle via the Air Force Satellite Control Network and performed state-of-health commanding. The third phase will involve performing a station-keeping maneuver.

"If we can perform station-keeping maneuvers to maintain the vehicle's correct altitude and check the vehicle's health we know we can keep it operating," Manor said. "Those are two critical functions we need to accomplish."

Phase three, which also involves installing and testing mission-planning software, should occur later this year.

"At that point we will be able to sever ties with Schriever during an emergency situation and run operations from the backup operations floor," Manor said.

The combined 1 and 7 SOPS will not keep a permanent crew at the alternate location but will designate appropriate personnel for temporary assignment as needed.

"Our team is focused on ensuring mission operations remain uninterrupted regardless of the situation," Manor said. "The Joint force and our nation depend on our mission data, and it's incredibly important to have an extra layer of redundancy so we can deliver when needed."

SpaceX executes successful Falcon 9 launch

SpaceX executes successful Falcon 9 launch

Paolo Nespoli un anno dopo il suo rientro sulla terra - l’astronauta dell’ESA all’Università di Milano

Paolo Nespoli un anno dopo il suo rientro sulla terra - l’astronauta dell’ESA all’Università di Milano

Proba 1 weer de oude na ‘oogoperatie’

Proba 1 weer de oude na ‘oogoperatie’

Krajina pro robotické vozidlo

Krajina pro robotické vozidlo

Proba-2 captura el eclipse solar

Proba-2 captura el eclipse solar

COMPOSITE PHOTO FROM THE ISF

FROM:  NASA
This is a composite of a series of images photographed from a mounted camera on the Earth-orbiting International Space Station, from approximately 240 miles above Earth. Space station hardware in the foreground includes the Mini-Research Module (MRM1, center) and a Russian Progress vehicle docked to the Pirs Docking Compartment (right). Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit said of the photographic techniques used to achieve the images: "My star trail images are made by taking a time exposure of about 10 to 15 minutes. However, with modern digital cameras, 30 seconds is about the longest exposure possible, due to electronic detector noise effectively snowing out the image. To achieve the longer exposures I do what many amateur astronomers do. I take multiple 30-second exposures, then 'stack' them using imaging software, thus producing the longer exposure." A total of 47 images photographed by the astronaut-monitored stationary camera were combined to create this composite. Image Credit: NASA