The International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
NASA SPACECRAFT REVEALS ICE IN LUNAR SOUTH POLE CRATER
FROM: NASA
Elevation (left) and shaded relief (right) image of Shackleton, a 21-km-diameter (12.5-mile-diameter) permanently shadowed crater adjacent to the lunar south pole. The structure of the crater's interior was revealed by a digital elevation model constructed from over 5 million elevation measurements from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter. Credit:NASA/Zuber, M.T. et al., Nature, 2012
WASHINGTON -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has
returned data that indicate ice may make up as much as 22 percent of
the surface material in a crater located on the moon's south pole.
The team of NASA and university scientists using laser light from
LRO's laser altimeter examined the floor of Shackleton crater. They
found the crater's floor is brighter than those of other nearby
craters, which is consistent with the presence of small amounts of
ice. This information will help researchers understand crater
formation and study other uncharted areas of the moon. The findings
are published in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature.
"The brightness measurements have been puzzling us since two summers
ago," said Gregory Neumann of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md., a co-author on the paper. "While the distribution of
brightness was not exactly what we had expected, practically every
measurement related to ice and other volatile compounds on the moon
is surprising, given the cosmically cold temperatures inside its
polar craters."
The spacecraft mapped Shackleton crater with unprecedented detail,
using a laser to illuminate the crater's interior and measure its
albedo or natural reflectance. The laser light measures to a depth
comparable to its wavelength, or about a micron. That represents a
millionth of a meter, or less than one ten-thousandth of an inch. The
team also used the instrument to map the relief of the crater's
terrain based on the time it took for laser light to bounce back from
the moon's surface. The longer it took, the lower the terrain's
elevation.
In addition to the possible evidence of ice, the group's map of
Shackleton revealed a remarkably preserved crater that has remained
relatively unscathed since its formation more than three billion
years ago. The crater's floor is itself pocked with several small
craters, which may have formed as part of the collision that created
Shackleton.
The crater, named after the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, is
two miles deep and more than 12 miles wide. Like several craters at
the moon's south pole, the small tilt of the lunar spin axis means
Shackleton crater's interior is permanently dark and therefore
extremely cold.
"The crater's interior is extremely rugged," said Maria Zuber, the
team's lead investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in Cambridge in Mass. "It would not be easy to crawl
around in there."
While the crater's floor was relatively bright, Zuber and her
colleagues observed that its walls were even brighter. The finding
was at first puzzling. Scientists had thought that if ice were
anywhere in a crater, it would be on the floor, where no direct
sunlight penetrates. The upper walls of Shackleton crater are
occasionally illuminated, which could evaporate any ice that
accumulates. A theory offered by the team to explain the puzzle is
that "moonquakes"-- seismic shaking brought on by meteorite impacts
or gravitational tides from Earth -- may have caused Shackleton's
walls to slough off older, darker soil, revealing newer, brighter
soil underneath. Zuber's team's ultra-high-resolution map provides
strong evidence for ice on both the crater's floor and walls.
"There may be multiple explanations for the observed brightness
throughout the crater," said Zuber. "For example, newer material may
be exposed along its walls, while ice may be mixed in with its
floor."
The initial primary objective of LRO was to conduct investigations
that prepare for future lunar exploration. Launched in June 2009, LRO
completed its primary exploration mission and is now in its primary
science mission. LRO was built and is managed by Goddard. This
research was supported by NASA's Human Exploration and Operations
Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate at the agency's
headquarters in Washington.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
U.S. AIR FORCE ANNOUNCE ATLAS V LAUNCH
FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE
Air Force Officials Announce Milestone Atlas V Launch
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 20, 2012 - As part of the Defense Department's ongoing efforts to maintain assured, affordable access to space through 2030, the Atlas V rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Florida's Cape Canaveral, Air Force officials said.
"This is an exciting time for the U.S. space launch community, said Scott Correll, the program's executive officer. "From today's successful launch of the 50th EELV to the recent success of Space X's support to NASA with their Falcon 9 is clear the commercial space transportation industry is making notable strides."
The EELV program replaced the existing fleet of launch systems with two families of launch vehicles -- the Boeing Delta IV and Lockheed Martin Atlas V -- built and operated by the DOD's prime contractor, United Launch Alliance, Correll said.
An official from the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base explained that the Atlas V is a critical part of a spectrum of government missions.
"Atlas V launches space-based infrared systems, global positioning systems, the defense meteorological satellite program, and the advanced extremely-high frequency system satellites," said Air Force Col. Bob Hodgkiss, director of the launch systems directorate. "I'm pleased to report that this year we have also already launched the wideband global sat-com IV aboard a Delta IV, and the Navy's mobile user objective system satellite 1 aboard Atlas V."
Because of considerable program costs, which can run as high as several billion dollars per launch, quality assurance and the development of a competitive market are paramount, Air Force officials said.
"Since the Air Force must by law self-indemnify, we do a very rigorous evaluation of the physical, electrical and radio frequency interfaces between the rocket, the satellite and the ground systems," Hodgkiss said of the process to determine flight readiness. "My team is the government's insurance policy, so we need to be sure we have the highest probability of success in one of the riskiest activities the Air Force does."
On the business side of the program, Hodgkiss said, the program's primary users, the Air Force, NASA, and the National Reconnaissance Office are developing strategies to infuse competition into space launch as a cost reduction measure.
"We are balancing the commitment we will make to ULA with the potential to reintroduce competition to the program when one or more commercial launch companies have demonstrated to the Air Force they are reliable launch providers," the colonel said.
Correll asserts that certifying new entrants will potentially enable competition, thereby lowering costs and creating innovation in government payloads such as communications, navigation, weather satellites, and science and national security missions.
"The framework offers multiple paths to on-ramp potential new entrants and part of this strategy requires an entrant to demonstrate at least one launch of a vehicle configured as an EELV class national security space launch," he said.
ULA's next launch and the NRO's next mission, the Delta IV NROL-15, is scheduled for June 28.
"Our soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, Coast Guardsmen and intelligence community are dependent upon the warfighting capabilities we enable," Correll said. "Our priority and focus remain mission success first while controlling costs in this constrained fiduciary environment."
Saturday, June 23, 2012
NASA, FAA ADVANCE NATIONAL GOALS IN COMMERCIAL HUMAN SPACE TRANSPORTATION WITH LANDMARK AGREEMENT
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Photo: Launch of SpaceX Dragon to ISS.
Credit: NASA.
FROM: NASA
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA have
signed a historic agreement to coordinate standards for commercial
space travel of government and non-government astronauts to and from
low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station (ISS). The two
agencies will collaborate to expand efforts that provide a stable framework for the U.S. space industry, avoid conflicting requirements
and multiple sets of standards, and advance both public and crew
safety.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the two agencies
establishes policy for operational missions to the space station.
Commercial providers will be required to obtain a license from the
FAA for public safety. Crew safety and mission assurance will be
NASA's responsibility. This approach allows both agencies to
incorporate experience and lessons learned as progress is made.
"This important agreement between the FAA and NASA will advance our
shared goals in commercial space travel," said U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood. "Working together, we will assure clear,
consistent standards for the industry."
"This agreement is the next step in bringing the business of launching
Americans back to American soil," Charles Bolden, NASA administrator
said. "We are fostering private sector innovation while maintaining
high standards of safety and reliability to re-establish U.S.-crewed
access to low-Earth orbit, in-sourcing work to American companies and
encouraging the development of dynamic and cost-effective spaceflight
capabilities built to last."
"The Obama administration recognizes the scientific, technological and
economic benefits of maintaining the United States' leadership in
space travel and exploration," said FAA Acting Administrator Michael
Huerta. "This agreement between the FAA and NASA continues and
advances those vital national interests."
NASA's Commercial Crew Program aims to facilitate development of a
U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability with the goal of
achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from
low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station. The policy
established in the MOU clarifies for potential commercial providers
the regulatory environment for operational missions to the orbiting
laboratory. It also ensures that the two agencies will have
compatible processes for ensuring public safety.
The FAA is responsible for regulating and licensing all U.S. private
companies and individuals involved in commercial space
transportation. To date, the FAA Office of Commercial Space
Transportation has licensed 207 successful launches, including two
non-orbital commercial human space flights in 2004 and the recent
first launch to the ISS and re-entry of a non-manned commercial
spacecraft.
Friday, June 22, 2012
NASA SELECTS LOW COST, HIGH SCIENCE EARTH VENTURE SPACE SYSTEM
Photo: Hurricane. Credit: U.S. Navy.NASA
WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected an ocean wind study proposal led by
the University of Michigan from among 19 submitted to the agency's
Announcement of Opportunity for small spaceflight investigations of
the Earth system. The proposed mission will make accurate
measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of
tropical storms and hurricanes, which could help lead to better
weather forecasting.
The competitively-selected proposal, the Cyclone Global Navigation
Satellite System (CYGNSS), is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Chris
Ruf of the University of Michigan, and includes partnerships with the
Southwest Research Institute of Texas, Surrey Satellite Technology of
Colorado and NASA Ames Research Center.
It is the second award, and first award for space-based
investigations, in the Earth Venture-class series of rapidly
developed, cost-constrained projects for NASA's Earth Science
Division. The award will be funded during the next five years for
$151.7 million. The cost includes initial development, launch,
deployment and data analysis.
The mission will use a constellation of small satellites that will be
carried to orbit on a single launch vehicle. The CYGNSS data will
enable scientists, for the first time, to probe key air-sea
interaction processes that take place near the inner core of the
storms, which are rapidly changing and play large roles in the
genesis and intensification of hurricanes. The CYGNSS measurements
also may provide information to the hurricane forecast community.
Once in orbit, CYGNSS's eight micro-satellite observatories will
receive both direct and reflected signals from Global Positioning
System (GPS) satellites. The direct signals pinpoint CYGNSS
observatory positions, while the reflected signals respond to ocean
surface roughness, from which wind speed is retrieved.
"The CYGNSS mission is both a scientific and a programmatic advance
for NASA’s Earth science and applications program," said John
Grunsfeld, NASA's Science Mission Directorate associate administrator
in Washington. "CYGNSS will provide vital science data on tropical
cyclones, and the CYGNSS team will advance our ability to obtain
high-quality Earth science data through smaller, more affordable
space systems."
The Earth Venture missions are part of NASA's Earth System Science
Pathfinder program. The small, targeted science investigations
complement NASA's larger research missions. In 2007, the National
Research Council recommended NASA undertake these types of regularly
solicited, quick-turnaround projects. The previous Earth Venture
award was for five airborne investigations all of which are
progressing well with initial data being collected. The first
Announcement of Opportunity in the Earth Venture-Instruments series
was issued earlier this year, and proposals are now under review.
The Earth Venture program is expected to continue with awards at
regular intervals for investigations using cutting edge
instrumentation carried on airborne platforms, on small space
missions, or as secondary instruments or hosted payloads on larger
platforms. NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., manages the
Earth System Science Pathfinder program for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate. The missions in this program provide an innovative
approach to address Earth science research with periodic windows of
opportunity to accommodate new scientific priorities.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
X-37B ORBITAL TEST VEHICLE RETURNS HOME
The Air Force's unmanned, reusable space plane landed in the early morning of June 16 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., a successful conclusion to a record-setting test-flight mission that began March 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (U.S. Air Force file photo)
Air Force space vehicle comes in for a landing
by Tech. Sgt. Julie Weckerlein
Air Force Public Affairs Agency
6/18/2012 - WASHNGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force's unmanned, reusable space plane landed in the early morning of June 16 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., a successful conclusion to a record-setting test-flight mission that began March 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, one of two such vehicles, spent 469 days in orbit to conduct on-orbit experiments, primarily checkout of the vehicle itself.
"The vehicle was designed for a mission duration of about 270 days," said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, the X-37B program manager. "We knew from post-flight assessments from the first mission that OTV-1 could have stayed in orbit longer. So one of the goals of this mission was to see how much farther we could push the on-orbit duration."
Managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the X-37B program performs risk reduction, experimentation, and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies. The X-37B mission is the longest space mission only after the NASA Discovery shuttle program.
The 11,000-pound state-of-the-art vehicle, which is about a fourth the size of the shuttle, allows space technology experts to continue sending up experiments, with results returning safely to Earth for study.
"With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet, the X-37B OTV program brings a singular capability to space technology development," McIntyre said. "The return capability allows the Air Force to test new technologies without the same risk commitment faced by other programs"
The vehicle was initially a NASA initiative, but was transferred to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2004. When it first launched in 2006, it was lauded for its cutting-edge technologies, such as the auto de-orbit capability, thermal protection tiles, and high-temperature components and seals.
"The X-37B's advanced thermal protection and solar power systems, and environmental modeling and range safety technologies are just some of the technologies being tested," said McIntyre. "Each mission helps us continue to advance the state-of-the-art in these areas."
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
VOYAGER 1 AND THE NEW FRONTIER
FROM: NASA
Data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft indicate that the venerable deep-space explorer has encountered a region in space where the intensity of charged particles from beyond our solar system has markedly increased. Voyager scientists looking at this rapid rise draw closer to an inevitable but historic conclusion – that humanity's first emissary to interstellar space is on the edge of our solar system.
"The laws of physics say that someday Voyager will become the first human-made object to enter interstellar space, but we still do not know exactly when that someday will be," said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "The latest data indicate that we are clearly in a new region where things are changing more quickly. It is very exciting. We are approaching the solar system's frontier."
The data making the 16-hour-38 minute, 11.1-billion-mile (17.8-billion-kilometer), journey from Voyager 1 to antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network on Earth detail the number of charged particles measured by the two High Energy telescopes aboard the 34-year-old spacecraft. These energetic particles were generated when stars in our cosmic neighborhood went supernova.
"From January 2009 to January 2012, there had been a gradual increase of about 25 percent in the amount of galactic cosmic rays Voyager was encountering," said Stone. "More recently, we have seen very rapid escalation in that part of the energy spectrum. Beginning on May 7, the cosmic ray hits have increased five percent in a week and nine percent in a month."
This marked increase is one of a triad of data sets which need to make significant swings of the needle to indicate a new era in space exploration. The second important measure from the spacecraft's two telescopes is the intensity of energetic particles generated inside the heliosphere, the bubble of charged particles the sun blows around itself. While there has been a slow decline in the measurements of these energetic particles, they have not dropped off precipitously, which could be expected when Voyager breaks through the solar boundary.
The final data set that Voyager scientists believe will reveal a major change is the measurement in the direction of the magnetic field lines surrounding the spacecraft. While Voyager is still within the heliosphere, these field lines run east-west. When it passes into interstellar space, the team expects Voyager will find that the magnetic field lines orient in a more north-south direction. Such analysis will take weeks, and the Voyager team is currently crunching the numbers of its latest data set.
"When the Voyagers launched in 1977, the space age was all of 20 years old," said Stone. "Many of us on the team dreamed of reaching interstellar space, but we really had no way of knowing how long a journey it would be -- or if these two vehicles that we invested so much time and energy in would operate long enough to reach it.”
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 are in good health. Voyager 2 is more than 9.1 billion miles (14.7 billion kilometers) away from the sun. Both are operating as part of the Voyager Interstellar Mission, an extended mission to explore the solar system outside the neighborhood of the outer planets and beyond. NASA's Voyagers are the two most distant active representatives of humanity and its desire to explore.
The Voyager spacecraft were built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which continues to operate both. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. The Voyager missions are a part of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, sponsored by the Heliophysics Division of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012
NASA RELEASES WORKSHOP DATA AND FINDINGS ON ASTEROID 2011 AG5
FROM: NASA
WASHINGTON -- Researchers anticipate that asteroid 2011 AG5,
discovered in January 2011, will fly safely past and not impact Earth
in 2040.
Current findings and analysis data were reported at a May 29 workshop
at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., attended by
scientists and engineers from around the world. Discussions focused
on observations of potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs).
Observations to date indicate there is a slight chance that AG5 could
impact Earth in 2040. Attendees expressed confidence that in the next
four years, analysis of space and ground-based observations will show
the likelihood of 2011 AG5 missing Earth to be greater than 99
percent.
Measuring approximately 460 feet (140 meters) in size, the space rock
was discovered by the NASA-supported Catalina Sky Survey operated by
the University of Arizona in Tucson. Several observatories monitored
2011 AG5 for nine months before it moved too far away and grew too
faint to see.
"While there is general consensus there is only a very small chance
that we could be dealing with a real impact scenario for this object,
we will still be watchful and ready to take further action if
additional observations indicate it is warranted," said Lindley
Johnson, program executive for the Near-Earth Object (NEO)
Observation Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Several years ago another asteroid, named Apophis, was thought to pose
a similar impact threat in 2036. Additional observations taken from
2005 through 2008 enabled NASA scientists to refine their
understanding of the asteroid's path, which showed a significantly
reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter.
"Any time we're able to observe an asteroid and obtain new location
data, we're able to refine our calculations of the asteroid's future
path," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's NEO Program Office at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "When few
observations exist, our initial orbit calculation will include a
wider swath to account for uncertainties. With more data points, the
knowledge of the potential positions of the asteroid improves and the
swath becomes smaller -- typically eliminating the risk of an
impact."
Observations of 2011 AG5 have been limited to date because of its
present location beyond the orbit of Mars and in the daytime sky on
the other side of the sun. In fall 2013, conditions will improve to
allow space- and ground-based telescopes to better track the
asteroid's path. At that time, 2011 AG5 will be 91 million miles (147
million kilometers) from Earth but favorably located for observations
in the late evening sky.
The level of hazard will gain even more clarity in 2023, when the
asteroid is approximately 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers)
from Earth. If 2011 AG5 passes through a 227-mile-wide
(365-kilometer) region in space called a keyhole in early February
2023, Earth's gravitational pull could influence the object's orbital
path just enough to bring it back for an impact on February 5, 2040.
If the asteroid misses the keyhole, an impact in 2040 will not occur.
"Given our current understanding of this asteroid's orbit, there is
only a very remote chance of this keyhole passage even occurring,"
said Johnson.
Although scientists widely expect it to be a safe flyby, they
acknowledge the slight chance that computed odds could rise as a
result of observations to be taken from 2013 to 2016. According to
the experts at the workshop, even if the odds do increase, there is
still ample time to plan and carry out at least one of several viable
missions to change the asteroid's course.
PHAs are a subset of the larger group of near-Earth asteroids. They
have the closest orbits to Earth's, coming within 5 million miles
(about 8 million kilometers). They are large enough to enter Earth's
atmosphere intact and cause damage on at least a local scale. Damage
from an asteroid the size of 2011 AG5 could cover a region at least a
hundred miles wide.
NASA established the NEO Program in 1998 to coordinate the agency's
efforts to detect, track and characterize Earth-approaching NEOs and
comets larger than 1 kilometer in size. The program now also searches
for NEOs as small as object 2011 AG5. NASA supports NEO observation,
tracking and analysis activities worldwide. Activities are
coordinated through the NEO Program Office at JPL.
Monday, June 18, 2012
FIRST FLIGHT INSTRUMENT DELIVERED FOR JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
FROM: NASA
WASHINGTON -- The first of four instruments to fly aboard NASA's James
Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has been delivered to NASA. The
Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) will allow scientists to study cold
and distant objects in greater detail than ever before.
MIRI arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.,
May 29. It has been undergoing inspection before being integrated
into Webb’s science instrument payload known as the Integrated
Science Instrument Module (ISIM).
Assembled at and shipped from the Science and Technology Facilities
Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom, MIRI
was developed by a consortium of 10 European institutions and NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., after having
been handed over to the European Space Agency.
MIRI will observe light with wavelengths in the mid-infrared range of
5 microns to 28 microns, which is a longer wavelength than human eyes
can detect. It is the only instrument of the four with this
particular ability to observe the physical processes occurring in the
cosmos.
"MIRI will enable Webb to distinguish the oldest galaxies from more
evolved objects that have undergone several cycles of star birth and
death," said Matt Greenhouse, ISIM project scientist at Goddard.
"MIRI also will provide a unique window into the birth places of
stars which are typically enshrouded by dust that shorter wavelength
light cannot penetrate."
MIRI's sensitive detectors will allow it to observe light, cool stars
in very distant galaxies; unveil newly forming stars within our Milky
Way; find signatures of the formation of planets around stars other
than our own; and take imagery and spectroscopy of planets, comets
and the outermost bits of debris in our solar system. MIRI's images
will enable scientists to study an object’s shape and structure.
The most powerful space telescope ever built, Webb is the successor to
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Webb’s four instruments will reveal
how the universe evolved from the Big Bang to the formation of our
solar system. Webb is a joint project of NASA, the European Space
Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
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