The second test flight of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket proceeded without a glitch and brought routine commercial spaceflight a step closer to reality. Image: CC Wikimedia Commons

SpaceX launched the second test flight of its Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday. Objectives of the Falcon 9 test flight included another successful launch and separation and re-entry into the atmosphere of the Dragon spacecraft. The outcome of the Falcon 9 test flight will determine how soon SpaceX can begin commercial spaceflight missions to the International space Station.

SpaceX Falcon 9 hits another bullseye

After lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the SpaceX Falcon 9 achieved orbit without a glitch and released the Dragon space capsule. About 90 minutes later, the Dragon splashed down as planned in the Pacific Ocean. Wednesday’s test flight was the second of three Falcon 9 tests required by NASA before SpaceX begins cargo deliveries to the International Space Station. SpaceX has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA for 12 missions after the space shuttle fleet is taken out of service. The space shuttle Discovery will embark on the final mission of the program in February.

Falcon 9 continues to beat the odds

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is a two-stage, 180-foot-long orbital vehicle designed to be more reliable and significantly more cost effective than the space shuttle. In June SpaceX conducted a flawless initial test flight of the Falcon 9, an unprecedented achievement in the complex, risky business of space travel. SpaceX engineers gave the second test flight a 70 percent chance of success. Wednesday’s launch was delayed after small cracks were detected in a second stage engine nozzle, but the problem wasn’t enough to abort the test flight.

The future of commercial spaceflight

After the space shuttle is retired, the U.S. will rent space aboard Russian Soyuz rockets until SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, another company NASA picked as a commercial spaceflight contractor, begin regular operations. SpaceX won the race to the launchpad in June after spending eight years and $400 million to design and build the Falcon 9. SpaceX has priced its cargo missions to the space station from $50 million to $56 million per round trip. Each shuttle flight costs NASA about $1 billion. If a third test flight is successful, SpaceX could begin flying cargo to the space station next year. The company said it will be ready to ferry astronauts to the space station in about three years.

Sources

Universe Today

CNN

Washington Post

The Shuttle Launch has been delayed again, until at least Nov. 30. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The space shuttle launch originally scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 3, has been delayed until the end of November. The shuttle Discovery launch was delayed initially for a leak of hydrogen, but further examination has revealed more problems. The mission is tentatively rescheduled for Nov. 30. There have been similar problems before. The launch of the shuttle Discovery will be the last flight for the craft.

Shuttle launch delayed by gas leak

The shuttle Discovery was slated to launch on Wednesday, Nov. 3 and dock with the International Space Station, but was delayed when NASA engineers discovered a leak of hydrogen gas from the fuel tank, according to Fox News. This came after a delay until Friday, Nov. 5, due to bad weather. Liquid hydrogen is a fuel for NASA rockets, but the fuel gives off gaseous hydrogen as it is difficult maintaining the temperature of liquid hydrogen, almost 450 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. The Discovery launch was initially delayed for several days, but NASA engineers and technicians believe the problem to be too deep seated for a quick fix. The leak was discovered during the “tanking” procedure, where the distinct orange fuel tank is filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen.

Final flight of Discovery

The Shuttle launch schedule has two more entries to scratch off the list. Only two flights of the Space Shuttle will be made before the program is officially over. The Discovery launch will be the final flight of the Discovery orbiter, which is the longest serving shuttle in existence. The last flight of the space shuttle program will be a launch of the shuttle Endeavour. Both missions are to the International Space Station.

Launch delayed until after Thanksgiving

The proposed date of the next NASA launch is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 30. The reason why the leak occurred is still being determined, and NASA does not want to send a shuttle into space without knowing for sure. The shuttle program was scuttled by then president George W. Bush in the wake of the explosion of the shuttle Columbia.

Sources

Fox News

The upcoming space shuttle launch will be the final flight of the Discovery. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Soon, the second to last NASA space shuttle launch will occur in Florida. The final entry in the shuttle launch schedule for the shuttle Discovery should be crossed off the list on Wednesday at Cape Canaveral. The space shuttle Discovery will ascend into Earth orbit and dock with the International Space Station. After the mission, Discovery will be mothballed and likely placed in the Smithsonian.

Last space shuttle launch for Discovery

On Wednesday, the final space shuttle launch for Discovery will lift off at 3:52 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, according to MSNBC. The space shuttle Discovery and the six astronauts aboard will head to the International Space Station. It is not the final shuttle mission, but it is the final mission for Discovery, the most used shuttle in all of the NASA fleet. Once this launch is wrapped up, there will be only one more NASA launch of a space shuttle. The government has not announced a replacement for the shuttle program, but it  is presumed to be looking into solutions from the private market to find a “space taxi” of sorts to ferry astronauts into orbit.

End of an era

The end of the space shuttle program was ushered in by the tragedy of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere in 2003, which caused then-President George W. Bush to cancel the shuttle program, according to ABC. The intended replacement was the Constellation program, which would reintroduce Apollo-style rockets and capsules, but that was canceled by the Obama administration. The program was cut because it was believed to use old ideas, and since the goal was to revisit the moon, it was just a rehash of the Apollo program. The Hundred Year Starship may be something entirely different, but that is only in the design stage.

Next for NASA

Currently, NASA is coordinating with various companies and contractors to find suitable transportation. One of the contenders is the Falcon series rockets from Space X, a company founded by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Sources

MSNBC

ABC

This photo of the surface of Mars shows what astronauts will be living in should the NASA and DARPA project succeed. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

A recent joint project between NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has been uncovered. The idea is to create a spaceship able to ferry not only personnel but sufficient supplies for a visit to Mars. It’s called the Hundred Year Starship, but the journey would be a bit different from the moon landings. These astronauts wouldn’t be coming back.

DARPA and NASA to colonize Mars

At the Long Conversation conference in San Francisco, Pete Worden of the NASA Ames Research Center announced a new project between NASA and DARPA. The project, according to The Telegraph, is so far called the Hundred Year Starship program, and the two government agencies are looking to enlist help. The world’s billionaires are being solicited for donations, including Larry Page, co-founder of Google. An initial design could be available next year. This project is far more ambitious than the DARPA Challenge, an endurance race for self-driving cars. The goal of this project is to come up with a spacecraft that can ferry a crew of astronauts and a large amount of cargo to Mars. However, unlike Apollo 11 or the International Space Station missions, these astronauts aren’t coming back.

One way ticket

The distances between Earth and other planets doesn’t lend itself easily to a ferry service. A journey to Mars would take nine months to complete. Anyone who lands there will have to be self sufficient. NASA has $1 million to spend, but it is anticipated the project would cost at least $10 billion to pull off. To move one pound of equipment in space, according to Fox News, four pounds of fuel are required to do it. Getting to Mars in the first place is difficult enough, and a return journey that much closer to impossible.

Colonization and the final frontier

Mars is the next great undertaking in space exploration, and colonizing other planets is perhaps next on the list. The mission would be ferrying astronauts to Mars to establish a permanent colony. They would need to adjust to living on the Red Planet. This planet, at some point, will die. Mankind, if it is to survive, must find a way to live somewhere else.

Sources

The Telegraph

Fox News

Drilling is under way for a rescue shaft that will allow the Chilean miners to be lifted to safety. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The world has been patiently watching the unfolding saga of the Chilean miners trapped in a mine. It was established early on that some miners in the Chilean mine had survived, but it would take a long time before they could be rescued. Officials and advisers from NASA have been dispatched to the site to offer any advice they can to the miners and rescue crews. It is anticipated that it could take months to retrieve the men. Drilling a rescue shaft has begun, but it will be slow going.

NASA arrives in Chile

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has sent staff to the site of the Chilean mine disaster in an advisory role. The role of NASA engineers and scientists will be assisting the delivery of necessary supplies to the miners trapped 2,200 feet underground. According to the Washington Post, there are three four inch-wide tubes that reach down to the chamber the 33 men are in. One tube pumps in oxygen, another sends supplies, and the third tube for video conferencing, so miners can communicate with loved ones. The problem is how to get everything they will need down a four inch wide tube.

Words of encouragement and advice

The Washington Post recently conducted an interview with Jerry Linenger, a former NASA astronaut. Linenger was the sole American trapped aboard the Mir space station in 1997, when a fire trapped him and two cosmonaut colleagues in space for four months. Linenger stressed that the men need to keep themselves busy, but also not to get expectations too high. He stressed that expectations that are too high lead to depression and despair if things don’t go the way they hope. He cautioned that ideas of a clear leader taking charge of the situation underground is imprudent, as the miners need to keep a cooperative mindset.

Camp Hope

Rescue workers, family members and support staff are in an encampment around the mine called Camp Hope. Meanwhile, the mining company is begging for forgiveness and near bankruptcy. The company is not paying the trapped miners’ wages.

Further Reading

Washington Post on NASA role

Washington Post interview with Jerry Linenger

The Boeing X-37b, pre-launch. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Many people are unhappy about the state of NASA’s budget under President Obama (they think the program might need corporate payday loans), and the introduction of the Boeing X-37b certainly won’t help matters. The launch of the new Boeing space plane is a scientific boon in the minds of some in that the X-37b can be a station for scientific experiments and “offer insight on transporting satellite sensors and other equipment to and from space,” reports CNET. However, there are many others who think Air Force Deputy Undersecretary for Space Programs Gary Payton’s comment that the X-37b will “push us in the vector toward being able to react to warfighter needs more quickly,” means that militarizing space is the real agenda for this exciting new craft.

The X-37b runs on auto-pilot

The 29-foot-long, 11,000-pound craft with 15-foot wingspan can stay in orbit for as many as 270 days, all without any human passengers or remote pilots on the ground. It recently launched on a classified mission, but CNET reports that internal functions will be tested and evaluated. Once the Air Force sends instructions for the X-37b to return to Earth, it will automatically return to a designated runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Maria, California.

What about the big guns?

Nothing is known for certain at this point. The X-37b will likely not be ready to serve as an airborne laser station right now, as that technology is still in its infancy. Possibilities for surveillance are many, however, as is the possibility of missile launches from space. Director of Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office David Hamilton admitted in a statement to the press that while the military still has much to learn about what the X-37b will be able to do, discussions are underway as to when the unit will be fully operational. Whether or not it will be cost effective is also vitally important to an American space program that is already shopping for corporate sponsorship and instant cash loans.

Related Video:

The unique space shuttle landing path took Discovery over many U.S. states. Image from Flickr.

At 9:08 a.m. Eastern time, the shuttle landing path came to an end when the space shuttle landing today was completed. NASA officially announced the completion of the space shuttle landing today after the shuttle landing path took Discovery and the crew over much of the United States – from state parks in Montana to a payday loan store in Georgia. This was the third space shuttle landing attempt, after two scrubbed landings yesterday.

Space shuttle landing today nearly scrubbed again

Today was the third attempt to land the Discovery space shuttle in Florida. Yesterday, two attempts were canceled because of clouds and bad weather. The space shuttle landing today had to be delayed by an Earth orbit due to nearby rain showers. After 238 complete orbits around the earth, Discovery touched down.

Shuttle landing path

The shuttle landing path that Discovery took was very unusual for NASA. Ever since the Columbia disaster in 2003, which scattered debris across California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, NASA has scheduled the shuttle landing path so that it does not go overland. However, the Discovery shuttle landing path allowed the crew to get several extra hours in space as well as a payday loans’ worth of hours of extra sleep before the space shuttle landing today. This unusual shuttle landing path also allowed people in a large swath of the United States to see and hear the Discovery space shuttle landing today.

Next NASA Space shuttle mission

The next space shuttle mission NASA has planned is supposed to lift off on May 14. The Atlantis space shuttle is the first of the last three flights of NASA space shuttles. The final Discovery space shuttle flight is currently scheduled for Sept. 16 of this year. After the current space shuttle fleet is retired, NASA has been instructed to “refocus” on longer-range and longer-term missions to space.

Watch the space shuttle landing today

If you are lucky enough to live in the path of the space shuttle landing, you could get quite the show. Image from Flickr.

NASA this morning announced that the space shuttle landing originally scheduled for this morning, April 19, was “scrubbed.” With two canceled landing attempts, the space shuttle landing will be attempted again tomorrow. The first attempt will be at 7:34 a.m. in Florida, and if needed the second attempt will aim for Edwards Air Force Base in California. Ideally, the space shuttle landing will be in Florida tomorrow morning, which will eliminate the necessity of low interest loans to pay for shuttling the space shuttle across the country.

Space shuttle landing show

This space shuttle landing will provide an airshow that is very rare. The path of the space shuttle landing will be visible from British Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Anyone under the landing path should be able to see the streak of the landing space shuttle for up to a full three minutes. Take a break from your research into secured loans and go outside to take a look if you are in the path.

Space shuttle landing may be in California

The two scrubbed space shuttle landing attempts on Monday morning were canceled because of clouds over Florida. The low, thick clouds would have blocked visibility for the space shuttle landing. Because the space shuttle is basically a giant glider when coming in for a landing, it is very important that there is good visibility for the crew to be able to safely land the space shuttle.

Space shuttle landing leaves only three missions

Once this space shuttle landing of Discovery is completed, there will be only three space shuttle landings left. This mission, as well as the three planned missions after it, were focused on upgrading and re-supplying the International Space Station. After the Discovery space shuttle is retired, NASA will be moving into other areas, including developing a program and craft designed to land on Mars. The Russian space program will shoulder the burden of shuttling astronauts, cosmonauts, and supplies to the International Space Station until further plans are made.

Watch reports of the space shuttle landing

Sources:

Associated Press at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8gpZRl3t8mV2RxsVjIuPU75dJeAD9F676T80
WNCT

The recent 8.8-magnitude Chile earthquake has caused massive devastation in the South American nation. Recovery efforts are already underway amidst turmoil and looting that required military intervention, but here’s something interesting that has nothing to do with money and property. According to media outlets like CNN, NASA scientists are speculating that the massive Chile earthquake has altered Earth’s axis. It’s currently a theory and not instant money, but think about what this could mean.

Chile earthquake 2010 brings shorter days

We aren’t talking about a minor trembler here. Magnitude 8.8 is a massive earthquake. If NASA is correct and the Earth’s axis has shifted, then the planet’s rotation could be permanently affected by the redistribution of mass. Scientists believe this means shorter days, but only slightly: 1.26 microseconds shorter, they estimate. One microsecond is one-millionth of a second, which is not enough time to mess with your beauty sleep or make you late for work. But the global impact is still amazing to contemplate.

This is NOT a scientific demonstration

Earth’s rotation determines the length of our days

Earth's rotation speed on its axis determines the length of our days. (Photo: Wikipedia)

How fast does the Earth rotate? NASA provides the following basics: Earth rotates on its axis at just over 1,000 miles per hour. Its rotation around the sun (which affects seasonal changes in climate) occurs at about 67,000 miles per hour. Now you know.

Benjamin Fong Chao of NASA said in 2005 that “Any worldly event that involves the movement of mass affects the Earth’s rotation.” A popular analogy NASA uses is a figure skater. When she pulls her arms close to her body, she spins faster. The redistribution of mass is similar to what scientists believe happened after the Chile earthquake. The Earth’s axis has changed because of the mass shift. Richard Gross of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California speculated to the media that the axis could have shifted about three inches.

The Chile earthquake 2010 isn’t unique in its effect

Back in 2004 when a 9.1-magnitude earthquake made a gigantic tsunami in the Indian Ocean, our days shortened by 6.8 microseconds. But the converse of shortened days would be if a mass shift slowed the Earth’s rotation on its axis. CNN gives an example of the Three Gorges reservoir in China. If it were to be filled in by 10 trillion gallons of water, that mass would change the rotation to the point where our days would be .06 microseconds longer. An impossible-to-discern quick loan to our days, but scientists would know based on the math involved.

So when you think of the Chile earthquake and the Earth’s axis, think of the human impact – and how many fractions of a microsecond less per day they may have to reconstruct their lives before the cataclysm.

Related Video:

Meteors! Image from Flickr.

Welcome to the holiday season during a recession. Millions of consumers rack up credit card debt every year during the holiday season, but this year an unusually high number of Americans already are in debt, but the holiday spirit will no doubt convince them to accumulate even more debt, even if it means they have to face the debt consolidation process later.

Consumers generally cut back on spending on entertainment during this period, either because of the cost of buying gifts, an aversion to the cold or both. However, a lot of people are excited about the Leonid Meteor Shower, which will be at its peak tonight. The best part is that watching a meteor shower is free.

Leonid Meteor Shower 2009 time

Reports say the Leonid Meteor Shower’s 2009 peak time will be during the very early morning hours on Nov. 17, but there are some conflicting reports regarding exactly what time star gazers will have the best view. CNN reports that NASA says the view in the U.S. will be best at 4 a.m. ET or 1 a.m. on the West Coast.

The timing is pretty inconvenient for making it a family activity, but the price is just right, as looking at the stars is free. All you need is blankets and a good spot to watch it, though many areas reportedly will be too cloudy for watching the 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower.

Leonid Meteor Shower history

The Leonid Meteor Shower comes about every three decades, according to CNN:

The Leonid shower is made of bits of debris from the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which streaks through Earth’s inner solar system every 33 years.

CNN also says people in the U.S. should be able to see 20 to 30 meteors during the Leonid Meteor Shower’s 2009 peak time. Of course, that’s if skies are clear.

Appreciating natural phenomenon

With movie ticket prices getting higher all the time and other activities such as eating out and going to other types of shows getting more expensive, I’m sure a lot of families are wishing they could TiVo a middle-of-the-night meteor shower. Though unemployment is at a 26-year high and underemployment is skyrocketing, too, inflation is continuing with no regard for people’s finances.

Interesting, free activities are hard to come by, so some individuals or families very well may be willing to lose some sleep to see the Leonid Meteor Shower tonight. A meteor shower is a great way to teach kids about space and the solar system without having to pay for tickets to a museum.

Some people believe this picture is real...and we let them vote.

Ever since NASA announced that they had lost the back up tapes from the Apollo 11 moon landing, the conspiracy theorists and peanut gallery has been touting their belief that there is an Apollo 11 Moon Landing Hoax – in that NASA filmed all of it in a studio as a cover up.  Of course, the missing tapes prove nothing, but we’ll get to that in a minute.  (I’d give some fast cash to makes this and other ill-conceived conspiracies go away.)

The tapes were backups, get over it!

The tapes in question were telemetry tapes, meaning that they were broadcast from the moon with the video signal, audio signal, and the other information being relayed from the command module, and video and audio were transferred to two inch television tape in Parkes, Australia, and broadcast world wide. The missing tapes, in essence, were negatives – back ups – it’s a non-issue, but they are having the original tapes restored. Click Here, for part one of this series.

A Conspiracy of dunces

This is a widely popular subject, and there is an extensive page on Wikipedia about it. Now to the meat of the thing:

It first started with a book written in 1974 by Bill Kaysing, a former employee of Rocketdyne, who wasn’t an engineer; he was part of their publishing unit, and held a degree in English. (English is NOT a science.) Kaysing has been denounced every step of the way, and ultimately was told by his own publisher he was full of it.

As to the tapes: NASA Flight Director Eugene Kranz (Ed Harris in the film Apollo 13) has repeatedly admitted the telemetry tapes got erased and reused, as it was procedure back then.

The science of conspiracy doesn’t add up

Certain objections are raised from a scientific point of view – for instance, the flag appearing to be waving. Several pictures exist of the flag in the same position, with Buzz Aldrin in different poses. This is because the flag was crinkled due to being folded, and didn’t completely unfurl in a vacuum due to the crease.
Aldrin has been repeatedly harassed about the conspiracy, especially by one Bart Sibrel, who viciously stalked him, and when Aldrin made it clear that he wanted to be left alone, punched Sibrel in the face.

Also, it’s been announced that a lunar orbiter has just captured pictures of the remnants of lunar landing modules, which were taken a few days ago.

Also, the peanut gallery has yet to summon a response to the following – putting the moon landing hoax on would have been far more expensive and elaborate than actually GOING to the moon.  I’d give a cash advance to hear someone explain that one….

And now, for your viewing pleasure – Bart Sibrel Punched in the Face!

Certainly some among us remember watching the moon landing on July 20th, 1969. It was one of the most watched moments in all of televisions history. Neil Armstrong descended from the Lunar Module and said those famous words, becoming the first human being to walk on the surface of a planetary body other than our own.  (Buzz Aldrin became second shortly thereafter, and sowed the seeds of sour grapes in the lunar soil.)

Recently, NASA announced that they had been searching for missing telemetry tapes that were made of the landing for some time, and that there had been no success, no matter how much fast cash they threw into the project.  The tapes in question were not the original copies, but backups with possibly better picture quality than the original two inch tape used in TV production at the time.

Throwing in the Towel; Bringing in Hollywood

Instead of giving up all hope, they have decided to take the best surviving footage, and run with it, turning to Lowry Digital, a California based film restoration company.  (Click here for the Source.)  Lowry expects the project to be completed in September, and NASA will be looking into the possibility of any other tapes left in the tracking center in Parkes, Australia, where the original signal was sent to from the Moon.

Recent Shuttle Activity

The Space Shuttle Endeavor recently lifted off from Cape Canaveral for a rendezvous and mission with the International Space Station, after 5 attempts to launch were scrubbed due to weather.  The shuttle was thought to have sustained some damage from liftoff debris, and the crew will be inspecting any damage and making repairs after docking.  The Shuttle Program is expected to be ditched in favor of a return to rockets and capsules next year, which will take a cash advance or two to get off the ground, so to speak.  (Hey, even NASA is into retro styles!) The rockets are to be dubbed Ares and Orion, respectively.

Missing tapes make conspiracy nuts go….well, nuts!

Apollo moon landing hoax theories have been circulating for years, and no matter how many facts, figures, and objective and empirical proof gets thrown their way, they still won’t keep quiet.  This tape debacle, which is a non issue, is going to fan the flames of conspiracy, which defies all manner of sound thinking and has been debunked numerous times.  Still, no matter how much evidence is provided, even a cash advance won’t silence the peanut gallery.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 – Conspiracy lovers are going to hate it!