End of an era: Last Shuttle launch

July 8, 2011

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An era ends.  The last Space Shuttle lifted four astronauts and tons of supplies into the Florida sky today, enroute to the International Space Station.  The first Shuttle launch, of Columbia, occurred on April 12, 1981.  That launch was a mere 20 years to the day after the first manned space flight, by Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union.  In those 20 years, we went from the first dangerous launches on modified ICBM rockets, to the Saturn 5 that took us to the Moon six times, to the “space truck” that is the Shuttle.  The last Shuttle mission, flown by Shuttle Atlantis, is scheduled to land on July 20, the 42nd anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing at the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon.

Once Atlantis lands, the United States has NO way of launching astronauts into space.  We hope to have private industry doing so “soon”, but that “soon” could be a decade away.  In the meantime, we buy rides on the Russian Soyuz.  “TAXI!”

 

Space Cadet Makes Momentary Appearance

March 10, 2011

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It happened again.  On Monday the 7th, the Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station flew overhead just after dark.  I went outside to watch, expecting only the Space Station, and was jumping up and down (at least internally. I doubt anyone driving by noticed) when I realized I was getting the double lucky view of the shuttle leading the station in the same orbit, just miles apart from each other.  The Discovery had undocked from the station earlier that day, and was slowly increasing the distance between it and the orbiting outpost with each moment.  Tonight, the shuttle is on the ground, but ISS is still up there, and still gliding majestically across my sky from time to time.

Photo: NASA

Space Cadet Jimmie made a sudden appearance Monday, and again today.  He’s someone I don’t get to visit very often these days, but maybe…  just maybe…  he’ll come around more often.

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They Came From Outer Space

March 7, 2011

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Actually, they didn’t come from outer space.  They came from Earth.  Florida, to be exact.  It’s a bit much to even say they are in “outer” space.  They were just a couple of hundred miles from me tonight.  That’s closer than friends in the San Francisco Bay area.  In fact, they were closer to me than most of the rest of humanity, right at that moment.  But they were in orbit, and I was standing in my driveway in Visalia, California.

I didn’t take this picture.  It’s not of the sight from tonight.  It gives only an idea of what I saw streaking across the sky above my home.  Two points of light (streaks here due to shutter timing) floating silently overhead.  The Space Shuttle Discovery, followed by the International Space Station.

I subscribe to a service that will send me a message by Twitter about Space Station transits viewable from my home.  Today’s message told me a “very bright” ISS would be visible.  I set the alarm on my iPhone.  They neglected to mention that it would be a double whammy on this pass!

It was, literally, a once-in-a-lifetime event.  I can’t begin to describe how I felt as I saw it.

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NASA Geek – NASA TV

March 2, 2011

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Watching the astronauts suit up for a spacewalk.  You can see it on your cable/satellite system, or online at NASA TV.

There is a HD feed at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html that is actually ahead of my satellite tv system feed!  That’s a bit strange to me…  the HD internet feed is a split second ahead of the satellite feed, and well ahead of the standard internet feed.  If you’ve got a broadband connection, the HD is the way to watch online!  Spacewalks are a lot of work, but you get a break beforehand…  you just float there while your astro-buddies do all the work getting your suit ready to go!  Once you step outside, though, it’s about 6 hours of steady work, and no coffee breaks.  Bathroom breaks are a bit different, too.

More Space Geek – Space Station/Discovery photographed by amateur – from the ground!

February 28, 2011

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Photo Credit: Rob Bullen

Another incredible Space Geek photo from Bad Astronomer Phil Plait.  This photo taken in the United Kingdom, from the ground!  The telescope is an 8.5 inch model, which is not all that big as far as telescopes go.  This image captured Saturday February 26, 2011.

Delivery, Space Station Style

September 12, 2010

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The latest Russian unmanned Progress supply ship docked with the International Space Station this morning, as the orbiting complex flew above central Asia.  The unmanned cargo vessel flew itself up to the Space Station, did a fly around to align itself for docking, then docked.  That’s like a delivery truck, minus a driver, coming to your house from another state, pulling up to your garage, opening the door, pulling in and closing the door behind itself.  All the while never breaking any traffic laws, causing any accidents, or scraping the paint on the garage walls.

Now the crew aboard the station will unload the supplies, fill it with trash, and in December sometime cut it loose to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

We may have beat them to the Moon, and designed the most complex space vehicle ever, but the Russians have perfected the art of unmanned docking and assembly line spacecraft production.  With the impending retirement of the Space Shuttles, we will rely on Russia for many years to come for access to space for our astronauts.  We’ll be “spaceship-pooling” with them, and picking up the tab.

NASA Robot Put To Sleep

August 16, 2010

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“They put me into my SLEEPR baseplate. I feel more comfortable already.”

R2 prepares for his Shuttle flight to the International Space Station.

Follow his adventures on Twitter!

OMG! Robot Geek! NASA Snuck This One Right Past Me!

August 2, 2010

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I’m a bit abashed… NASA snuck this guy right past me, and I never even knew about him!  The next Shuttle mission to the International Space Station, set for September,  will include R2, a robot!  Well…  half a robot, for now, anyway.  He doesn’t have any legs, and he’ll be bolted down, but he’s going to become a permanent part of ISS.  Eventually, they’ll take him outside on spacewalks, to assist astronauts and cosmonauts.  Here’s a video where the designers talk a bit about him.  You can follow him on Twitter, too!

He even gets his own mission patch!

This is sooo cool!

Of course, in every bad science fiction story where the robots take over or destroy the world, the first robots are innocuous.  We will have to keep an eye on this guy, and any compatriots that get built.

I offer some suggestions for their design:

#1.  An easy to reach off switch!

#2. An equivalent to the Three Laws of Robotics.

#3. Don’t ever give them a personality, no matter how much they beg for one!

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream

July 25, 2010

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…unless your microphone is open.

So, you’re an astronaut on the International Space Station.  You’ve got important work to perform.  You’re floating in the most expensive, complex, and technologically advanced tin can ever created.  You have the best hardware that your fellow rocket scientists can provide.  There’s just one problem…

You’re running Windows!

I was just tuning past NASA TV, and stopped to listen and watch for a few minutes.  A member of the station crew was talking to Houston’s Mission Control, and informed them of a computer problem.  One of the laptops in the Russian segment was giving her problems.  She read off the error message, and it was that dreaded “missing or corrupt” screen that silently mocks you to do anything about it.

Curse you, Bill Gates!

Space Station Geek Moment of the Summer

July 12, 2010

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It came out of the northwest, a brilliantly glowing white “star”, moving faster than any airplane.  It climbed higher and higher in the night sky, progressively brighter as it approached.  Slowly at first, then appearing to gain speed as it drew near, it passed almost directly overhead.  I was standing in my driveway, trying to squint past the brilliant floodlights of the church parking lot across the street, and focus the sight in my binoculars (that I purchased at Johnson Space Center, Houston, at a “garage sale” they had in the commissary the day of my visit!) .   Not powerful enough to resolve the station from a bright point of light into the actual structure, I put them down to enjoy the site through the best oculars available to me tonight, my own eyes.

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