She glided out of the styngian darkness this morning. A pale wraith wrapped in the intangible caress of lights. Her arrival was announced by twin messengers, thundering booms of sound that told the thousands of faithful she was coming. And then she was there for all to see. She wafted down to the long welcoming carpet silently. And as people held their breaths to savor the moment. It was also the final barrier that quiet between the dream they all held and the reality there would be no more such events for them to attend.
Farewell Atlantis.
Showing posts with label Space Shuttle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space Shuttle. Show all posts
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Abandon in Place
So it is stenciled at Launch Pad 34A where the crew of Apollo One - Grissom, White, Chaffee - died training to meet President Kennedy's goal to reach the Moon and return safely be the end of the decade. Today July 20th, 2011 is the anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin being the first men to set foot on the Moon. Today July 20th, 2011 marks the last time a Shuttle will leave the ISS as Atlantis undocks and prepares to return on Thursday. And unlike NASA in the post Apollo era when they knew the space shuttle was coming, there is no immediate plans for more manned missions to space. By cancelling Constellation and Ares, President Obama has turned NASA into an agency in partial violation of its charter.
(9) The preservation of the United States preeminent position in aeronautics and space through research and technology development related to associated manufacturing processes.
Because once Atlantis lands, the United States will be dependent upon Russia for manned access to the ISS. Once Atlantis lands, the workforce at KSC will stabilize at 1,000 when it used to be 17,000. Without Ares or Constellation in the pipeline, the ripple effect of the shuttle phase out will be permanent in the loss of skilled technicians throughout the aerospace industry that SpaceX or Virgin or DoD launchers will not cover. So the United States position in regards to space will be in serious doubt.
So those words found at Pad 34A should apply to the United States. For we are surrendering that preeminent position to the Peoples Republic of China that wants to reach the Moon and to Russia.
(9) The preservation of the United States preeminent position in aeronautics and space through research and technology development related to associated manufacturing processes.
Because once Atlantis lands, the United States will be dependent upon Russia for manned access to the ISS. Once Atlantis lands, the workforce at KSC will stabilize at 1,000 when it used to be 17,000. Without Ares or Constellation in the pipeline, the ripple effect of the shuttle phase out will be permanent in the loss of skilled technicians throughout the aerospace industry that SpaceX or Virgin or DoD launchers will not cover. So the United States position in regards to space will be in serious doubt.
So those words found at Pad 34A should apply to the United States. For we are surrendering that preeminent position to the Peoples Republic of China that wants to reach the Moon and to Russia.
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Apollo Reflections
Apollo 11 sees the full Earth. Photo - NASA.If you want a cool documentary about the Apollo Moon astronauts then find The Wonder of it All. They interview Gene Cernan, Alan Bean, Buzz Aldrin, Charlie Duke, Ed Mitchell, John Young, and Dr. Harrison Schmidt. These guys still amaze me and I still learn new things about the missions and especially the people.
Alan Bean talks of his space art and even discussing a Moon landing doubter. John Young relates how his wife told him he had 1 chance in 5 of coming home from the Moon but he did not remember her saying that before the mission; then he talks of his work on the Shuttle. Buzz Aldrin threw the curve ball in these interviews. He talks of the Apollo 11 astronauts receiving an award from Marquette just after returning from the Moon and anti-Vietnam protesters waving a North Vietnam flag threw eggs at them.
I will end this brief post with words from John Young, "Why do people explore? For the long term survival of people."
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Endeavour Lands for Final Time
Reuters image of Endeavour final landing in the early hours of June 1, 2011.This morning one more milestone on the path of no more NASA manned missions was achieved. After 16 days in orbit, the youngest shuttle made its 25th and final landing at Cape Canaveral this morning. Endeavour's next flight will be on the back of NASA's 747 and permanent display in Los Angeles, CA.
As Endeavour landed, sister ship Atlantis slowly crawled out to the launch pad. The launch of Atlantis on the 135th mission of the fleet will mark the end of the Shuttle era with NASA. The long and productive era began with STS-1 and Columbia lifting off Pad 39A on April 12, 1981.
The saddest part of this will be contemplating the future. Orion and Ares are in limbo, though work does proceed to make Ares a space taxi. Mission to return to the Moon has been cancelled. President Obama talks of going to Mars and asteroids, but the time frame is after 2012 and more like 2014 before NASA is supposed to be ready. Commercial space interests are expected to pick up the low-orbit slack, but Spaceship One is still in testing. Which leaves Russia and its 45 year old Soyuz design as the only way to get to the ISS and low-orbit.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Endeavour to Soar
News Update 11:35 am Central Time- NASA puts launch on hold until Sunday. Two heaters on an APU have failed, NASA is trying to solve the problem.
STS-134 is on Pad 39-A fully fueled. This is OV-105's last fight and 25th mission. Mission commander is Mark Kelly. Scheduled launch time is 3:47pm Eastern. Objective is to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer[AMS] plus spare parts to the International Space Station[ISS].
Equipment trivia for this mission. The external fuel tank for STS-134 is the last tank produced at Michoud in Lousiana, this tank survived Hurricane Katrina, and has had a couple repairs since. An upper motor part of one of the SRBs first flew on STS-1 taking Columbia[OV-102] into orbit. That seems fitting, alpha and omega wrapped in one flight.
God speed Endeavour on your 14 day mission. Soar proudly and return in glory.
Equipment trivia for this mission. The external fuel tank for STS-134 is the last tank produced at Michoud in Lousiana, this tank survived Hurricane Katrina, and has had a couple repairs since. An upper motor part of one of the SRBs first flew on STS-1 taking Columbia[OV-102] into orbit. That seems fitting, alpha and omega wrapped in one flight.
God speed Endeavour on your 14 day mission. Soar proudly and return in glory.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Back To The Past
On 22 April, 2010 from Cape Canaveral FL, the United States Air Force launched the X-37B unmanned space plane atop an Atlas booster. The mission has been cloaked in secrecy even as the ship orbits the Earth with its cargo doors open. If you read all the possible uses for the X-37 in this article, one has to think of a previous USAF project that was cancelled. The X-37 is being lauded for possibly ushering in the era of quick response time launches. To surprise someone and gather intelligence before the target is aware. How strange this all sounds and how refreshing until one thinks on that previous USAF program. What is this program? It was called the X-20 Dynamic-Soaring program. It would be launched from atop a Titan booster or even a Saturn I into low earth orbit. And it would carry out reconnaissance missions or even hypersonic bombing missions from the edge of the atmosphere. Save omitting the bombing capability and the pilot, is the X-37 really all that removed from the X-20? It's as if Apollo and the Space Shuttle never happened and the USAF is back into building the MOL with the X-20 ferrying the astronauts to it. Or the USAF being able to strike from the edge of space anyone who threatens the security of the United States. Or giving NASA that rescue capability it so desperately needed for Columbia.
I will leave you with some videos, one of David Jensen and Gregory Peck in the Martin Caiden based movie Marooned in which the X-RV, a relative of the X-20, is launched to rescue Ironman One trapped in orbit. Caiden's novel was originally written in 1964 long before the Apollo One fire. Others gives one a behind the scenes look at building the X-20 and what a mission would have looked like if it had been built.
I will leave you with some videos, one of David Jensen and Gregory Peck in the Martin Caiden based movie Marooned in which the X-RV, a relative of the X-20, is launched to rescue Ironman One trapped in orbit. Caiden's novel was originally written in 1964 long before the Apollo One fire. Others gives one a behind the scenes look at building the X-20 and what a mission would have looked like if it had been built.
The X-RV launches in the eye of a hurricane from the movie Marooned.
The X-20 carries out a spy mission.
What is the X-20 Part 1 - Official USAF film.
Building the X-20 Part 1 - Official USAF film.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Vlad Putin - Space Tycoon
I guess our smart president failed to see this one coming. With the Space Shuttle slated for only two more missions, Russia's Soyuz space capsule will soon be the only way to the International Space Station. Sensing the imminent intersection of sole source and serving some humility to the Americans who beat the USSR to the Moon, the price tag for a seat on a Soyuz is going up. The new price tag is a mere $51 million US.
Just another reason to bring Constellation, Ares, and Orion back. To prevent the US from being over a barrel to get astronauts into orbit. But I doubt the bright boffins who inhabit the Obama Administration are ever going to admit they were wrong and perhaps the US needs a manned space capability. This is a very good reason to throw the bums infesting Congress out this November.
Addedum: I can see an American astronaut in full space-suit on the road to Baikonur Cosmodrome holding up a sign that reads 'LEO or Bust.' Then will come the day that the president of the United States declares the country can no longer afford to send people into space and then the ISS will be manned by people from ESA, Russia, PRC, and whomever pays the fees to get into space. But no more Americans. Thus the distant horizon upon which Americans dreamed will become far closer and lower, until our horizon never extends beyond the field we till. And those who do look up will see a glittering light cross the heavens at night and imagine gods must be striding the heavens.
Just another reason to bring Constellation, Ares, and Orion back. To prevent the US from being over a barrel to get astronauts into orbit. But I doubt the bright boffins who inhabit the Obama Administration are ever going to admit they were wrong and perhaps the US needs a manned space capability. This is a very good reason to throw the bums infesting Congress out this November.
Addedum: I can see an American astronaut in full space-suit on the road to Baikonur Cosmodrome holding up a sign that reads 'LEO or Bust.' Then will come the day that the president of the United States declares the country can no longer afford to send people into space and then the ISS will be manned by people from ESA, Russia, PRC, and whomever pays the fees to get into space. But no more Americans. Thus the distant horizon upon which Americans dreamed will become far closer and lower, until our horizon never extends beyond the field we till. And those who do look up will see a glittering light cross the heavens at night and imagine gods must be striding the heavens.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Melancholy
Almost forty years ago a guy named Buzz Aldrin commented on why we went to the Moon, "the insatiable curiosity of mankind to explore the unknown." Aldrin should know since he had just become the second man to ever set foot on another celestial body - that same Moon.
Now it seems people are too buried in their Twitter or E! Extra over Michael Jackson to even care. On July 20th, 1969 America left a plaque on the Moon that read - HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON. JULY 1969 A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND. Golda Meir said at the time that this event might "open the way to that era of universal peace presaged by the prophets of old." Forty years on NASA tries to stay in space with three shuttles while the successor program seems to move from one crisis to another. Is anyone paying attention as Endeavour carries out another mission to the International Space Station to add the Kibo module? Thirteen people are now in orbit setting a record. That in a very short while all three remaining shuttles will be grounded to never fly again? It does not seem like it.
Nor does it seem many are paying attention to what is going on in Iran or in Honduras as despotism tries to hold sway. People are dying in foreign lands even as the satellites spawned by the Space Age bring the information to every viewer. It just seems none are programmed to receive anymore. If it does not happen within one's social network, then its not important.
Not even when it happens in their own country. We have seen multiple pieces of legislation get shoved through the Democrat Congress in the name of national emergency. Six months on the first has failed to deliver any relief. Meanwhile our President genuflects to foreign countries in apologia while they kick dirt in this country's face and continues being despots. We will see someone put on the Supreme Court of this land not because of the content of her character, but because of her gender, political views, and her being Hispanic.
We as a nation seem to have lost our way. Instead of pursuing a just society that rewards being diligent and honest, it has become a game in which large segments of the population prostrate themselves to chivvy danes geld from the government. Unfortunately the pot of danes geld is finite and when it runs dry, may there still be a country left to rebuild when the golden calf is thrown down.
But right now as I think of President Kennedy sending our nation to the Moon not because it was easy, but because it was hard; I do not sense that sense of commitment as it seems to have been destroyed by too many playing one side against the other in an illusionary zero-sum game. In the end, all of humanity will lose because they traded long term prosperity for short term games peddled by politicians only concerned for staying elected.
Now it seems people are too buried in their Twitter or E! Extra over Michael Jackson to even care. On July 20th, 1969 America left a plaque on the Moon that read - HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON. JULY 1969 A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND. Golda Meir said at the time that this event might "open the way to that era of universal peace presaged by the prophets of old." Forty years on NASA tries to stay in space with three shuttles while the successor program seems to move from one crisis to another. Is anyone paying attention as Endeavour carries out another mission to the International Space Station to add the Kibo module? Thirteen people are now in orbit setting a record. That in a very short while all three remaining shuttles will be grounded to never fly again? It does not seem like it.
Nor does it seem many are paying attention to what is going on in Iran or in Honduras as despotism tries to hold sway. People are dying in foreign lands even as the satellites spawned by the Space Age bring the information to every viewer. It just seems none are programmed to receive anymore. If it does not happen within one's social network, then its not important.
Not even when it happens in their own country. We have seen multiple pieces of legislation get shoved through the Democrat Congress in the name of national emergency. Six months on the first has failed to deliver any relief. Meanwhile our President genuflects to foreign countries in apologia while they kick dirt in this country's face and continues being despots. We will see someone put on the Supreme Court of this land not because of the content of her character, but because of her gender, political views, and her being Hispanic.
We as a nation seem to have lost our way. Instead of pursuing a just society that rewards being diligent and honest, it has become a game in which large segments of the population prostrate themselves to chivvy danes geld from the government. Unfortunately the pot of danes geld is finite and when it runs dry, may there still be a country left to rebuild when the golden calf is thrown down.
But right now as I think of President Kennedy sending our nation to the Moon not because it was easy, but because it was hard; I do not sense that sense of commitment as it seems to have been destroyed by too many playing one side against the other in an illusionary zero-sum game. In the end, all of humanity will lose because they traded long term prosperity for short term games peddled by politicians only concerned for staying elected.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Mission Hubble
This video is dedicated to the crews of Atlantis and Endeavour as both shuttles are readied for launch. Atlantis is scheduled to liftoff on October 10th to carry out another repair mission to the 18 year old Hubble Space Telescope. This mission is fraught with danger since if Atlantis is damaged the crew maybe stranded at Hubble and far away from the International Space Station. In case the seven crew of Atlantis need such a rescue, Endeavour has been rolled out to Launch Pad 39B where it will wait. If the rescue alarm is sounded, the earliest Endeavour will launch is six days after. Baring technical glitches or something as dramatic as Ironman One's rescue vehicle from Marooned - launching while in the eye of a hurricane; NASA will have as long as 25 days to effect such a rescue before air runs out aboard Atlantis.
To Altman and the crew of Atlantis, safe voyage and a successful mission to Hubble. To Leinbach and the crew of Endeavour, may your services not be needed. All of you have the Right Stuff.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
A Historic Endeavour
As OV-105 Endeavour closes in on the International Space Station carrying Barbara Morgan, the first teacher in space, there is more than one historical moment to reflect upon.
As we remember the tragedy of OV-99 Challenger's catastrophic failure 22 years ago killing McAullife, Onizuka, Scobee, and the others; lets remember another space related event that happened on August 10th.
It was on this day in 1945 that the father of modern rocketry died, his name was Dr. Robert H. Goddard. After twenty plus years launching liquid fuel rockets, first from a cabbage patch to later experiments in New Mexico and work with the US Navy to develop JATO, it was Dr. Goddard's experiments that proved the ideas first put forth by the likes of Tsiolkovsky while blazing the path Werner von Braun would use to lead the United States to the Moon.
Goddard Space Flight Center is named for this pioneer and on September 16th, 1959 Congress authorized the issuance of a gold medal in the name of Dr. Goddard.
As we remember the tragedy of OV-99 Challenger's catastrophic failure 22 years ago killing McAullife, Onizuka, Scobee, and the others; lets remember another space related event that happened on August 10th.
It was on this day in 1945 that the father of modern rocketry died, his name was Dr. Robert H. Goddard. After twenty plus years launching liquid fuel rockets, first from a cabbage patch to later experiments in New Mexico and work with the US Navy to develop JATO, it was Dr. Goddard's experiments that proved the ideas first put forth by the likes of Tsiolkovsky while blazing the path Werner von Braun would use to lead the United States to the Moon.
Goddard Space Flight Center is named for this pioneer and on September 16th, 1959 Congress authorized the issuance of a gold medal in the name of Dr. Goddard.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
News Roundup
One can not have a quick look at the news without noting the passing of Lady Bird Johnson at the age of 94.
On a more positive note, the space shuttle OV-105 Endeavour is being prepped for a mission twenty years delayed when OV-99 Challenger exploded 70 seconds after lift-off. Along with being a mission to the International Space Station; Endeavour will be carrying another teacher into space, Barbara Morgan. God speed Endeavour.
The budget defecit is shrinking faster than President Bush expected this past February, by September it will have shrunk to $205 billion. But Congress is wanting to extensively expand programs while repealing tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, President Bush is threatening to use his veto power to kill these massive increases in spending.
If we do not hear of an Osama bint Laden tape within the next two to four weeks, I think the United States can declare a 'mission accomplished.' I can say this after reading that Osama's fourth son has married a British divorcee. If this does not raise Osama from whatever moldering grave he lies in, nothing will. Especially when the divorcee, Jane Felix-Brown, is 51 and Omar is only 27.
And it seems the Big Dig in Boston has turned into a Big Can of Worms. The massive concrete ceiling panels that fell and killed a couple in 2006 were the result of widespread complacency and mis-understanding it seems from all involved in the project according to the NTSB. But I really want to know who all the people are who gave the OK on using ceiling panels in the Big Dig that are more massive than other such panels that used the suspect epoxy, there lies the true culprit it seems. The United States has seen such a tragedy before in Kansas City, where one design item was changed from continuous support rods to one set of rods supporting one walkway and then running a different set of rods through the same box to support the walkway beneath, thereby increasing the load born by the boxes and hastening the tragic failure that killed many people.
"I would have given anything to help her and there was nothing I could do to help her," Johnson said.
Johnson asked Kennedy, whose clothes were splattered with the blood of her husband, the slain president, if she could call for someone to assist her.
Johnson reported that Kennedy replied, "'I want them to see what they have done to Jack.'"
On a more positive note, the space shuttle OV-105 Endeavour is being prepped for a mission twenty years delayed when OV-99 Challenger exploded 70 seconds after lift-off. Along with being a mission to the International Space Station; Endeavour will be carrying another teacher into space, Barbara Morgan. God speed Endeavour.
The budget defecit is shrinking faster than President Bush expected this past February, by September it will have shrunk to $205 billion. But Congress is wanting to extensively expand programs while repealing tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, President Bush is threatening to use his veto power to kill these massive increases in spending.
If we do not hear of an Osama bint Laden tape within the next two to four weeks, I think the United States can declare a 'mission accomplished.' I can say this after reading that Osama's fourth son has married a British divorcee. If this does not raise Osama from whatever moldering grave he lies in, nothing will. Especially when the divorcee, Jane Felix-Brown, is 51 and Omar is only 27.
And it seems the Big Dig in Boston has turned into a Big Can of Worms. The massive concrete ceiling panels that fell and killed a couple in 2006 were the result of widespread complacency and mis-understanding it seems from all involved in the project according to the NTSB. But I really want to know who all the people are who gave the OK on using ceiling panels in the Big Dig that are more massive than other such panels that used the suspect epoxy, there lies the true culprit it seems. The United States has seen such a tragedy before in Kansas City, where one design item was changed from continuous support rods to one set of rods supporting one walkway and then running a different set of rods through the same box to support the walkway beneath, thereby increasing the load born by the boxes and hastening the tragic failure that killed many people.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Atlantis in Orbit
Right on time last night, the Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis(OV-104) lifted off into a beautiful clear sky to become the 250th manned mission to orbit and 118th Shuttle mission. This mission is to add more power to the International Space Station via a 17.5 ton truss and 240ft solar arrays to support further experiments.
For a bit of human interest there is STS-117 crew member Clayton Anderson. He was until recently part of the STS-118 crew. Astronaut Sunita Williams stay aboard the ISS was looking to extend from six months to nine months if this was not done during the Atlantis mission. Which explains the location of Anderson's name on the mission patch. Even with Anderson arriving aboard STS-117, Williams will have set the longest stay by a female astronaut by the time she comes back with the STS-117 crew.
Wake up for the crew is just a few minutes away as I blog this. This day will be spent by the crew closing in on the ISS and doing a post-liftoff inspection of the orbiter to ensure there is no damage from foam separation.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Atlantis Mission
At 7:38PM Eastern Time, the space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch for a mission to the International Space Station. May the crew have a safe and successful mission.
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