Bad News From the ISS
Astronauts Spot Rip on Solar Panel, AP
“Spacewalking astronauts bolted a solar power tower to the international space station on Tuesday, completing an ambitious three-day moving process that ended with elation when the beam’s giant solar panels began to unfurl. Their joy turned to concern, however, when a rip was spotted in the second solar panel. NASA needs to get the tower up and running to prevent malfunctioning station equipment from delaying the addition of a much-anticipated European research lab.”
31 Oct 2007 | 11:08 pm | Cosmoss Rus and Eng | No comments
Smile for the Camera, Mike
NASA NSSC Solicitation: The Executive and the Media
“NASA/NSSC has a requirement for a training course entitled “The Executive and the Media”. The objective of the training is to improve the ability of senior executives at the Kennedy Space Center to communicate critical messages via electronic and print media. The course shall include on camera training, simulated media interview sessions, role play or scenarios, coaching and feedback. The vendor shall be responsible for providing all training materials to include all required camera equipment, video taping devices, video tapes and cabling.
(Read the full post about ‘Smile for the Camera, Mike’…)
31 Oct 2007 | 3:11 pm | SPACE | No comments
Field Center Work Assignments for Lunar Exploration Announced Tomorrow
NASA to Announce Work Assignments to Enable Lunar Exploration, NASA HQ
“On Tuesday, Oct. 30, NASA will take another important step toward returning astronauts to the moon by assigning key future Constellation Program work to its field centers. The agency’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate will host a media roundtable at 1 p.m. EDT at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., S.W., Washington.“
30 Oct 2007 | 4:08 pm | SPACE | No comments
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News
Hoard of supermassive black holes found
Monday, 29 October 2007 Agençe France-Presse This artist’s impression shows the thick dust torus that astronomers believe surrounds many supermassive black holes and their accretion discs. When the torus is seen edge-on as in this case, much of the light and radiation emitted by the accretion disc is blocked, creating a “hidden” black hole. Image: ESA
28 Oct 2007 | 2:48 am | SPACE | No comments
ISS Rotary Joint Surprise
Spacewalkers make disturbing discovery: metal shavings inside solar wing joint, AP
“Spacewalking astronauts doing construction work outside the international space station Sunday made a disturbing discovery: what appear to be metal shavings inside a joint that is needed to turn a set of solar power panels. The rotary joint, 10 feet in diameter, has experienced intermittent vibrations and power spikes for nearly two months.
(Read the full post about ‘ISS Rotary Joint Surprise’…)
27 Oct 2007 | 8:42 pm | SPACE | No comments
Today’s Ask The Administrator Question: Shooting Down Another Rumor
From: Anonymous at Marshall Space Flight Center Question(s): An alternative launch vehicle was proposed that has many advantages to Ares I/V. The direct STS derived vehicle offers more mass to orbit at $2B less per year, minimizes changes to the STS launch infrastructure while maintaining existing workforce, provides greater flexibility for lunar architecture options including global access anytime return, enables large science missions, and allows upgrades for Mars exploration. The vehicle is described in a Sept 2007 AIAA paper “Achieving the Vision for Space Exploration on Time and Within Budget”, 2007-6231 (www.directlauncher.com).
(Read the full post about ‘Today’s Ask The Administrator Question: Shooting Down Another Rumor’…)
27 Oct 2007 | 6:56 am | Cosmoss Rus and Eng | No comments
Theron Bradley
Editor’s note: Theron Bradley died today from brain cancer.
27 Oct 2007 | 5:25 am | Cosmoss Rus and Eng | No comments
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News
Cosmic 'defect' in the universe found
Friday, 26 October 2007 by Heather Catchpole Cosmos Online Defective data: Researchers have now analysed a cold spot in the map of the cosmic microwave background and determined it has properties expected from a defect or ‘texture’. This image shows a random collection of textures taken from high-resolution, supercomputer simulations. Red indicates a positive twist in the topological charge density and blue a negative twist. Image: V. Travieso and N. Turok
27 Oct 2007 | 3:42 am | Cosmoss Rus and Eng | No comments
Bigelow Is Looking to Buy a Ride
Bigelow Aerospace to offer $760 million for spaceship, New Scientist
“Bigelow Aerospace intends to spur development of a commercial space vehicle to take people into Earth orbit by offering to sign a contract worth $760 million with any company that can meet their criteria, company president Robert Bigelow says.”
27 Oct 2007 | 1:19 am | Cosmoss Rus and Eng | No comments
