Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known
Founder: Joseph Barone
Contributors: crookedindifference, bumerangue, propagandery, rocketmagic, rostenbach
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Happy 88th birthday to Scott Carpenter, a member of the “Mercury 7,” America’s first group of astronauts.
Water Recycling on the ISS
Water is precious on the International Space Station. CSA Astronaut Chris Hadfield demonstrates how the Water Recovery System preserves this resource to make the ISS a self-sustaining environment.
Credit: CSA
Genuine creativity needs a collision of ideas, something that will never happen if all your thoughts travel in the same direction.
Ian Gilbert on the five steps of ideation in a field guide to creativity (via explore-blog)
“The first powered flight of Virgin Spaceship Enterprise was without any doubt, our single most important flight test to date. For the first time, we were able to prove the key components of the system, fully integrated and in flight. Today’s supersonic success opens the way for a rapid expansion of the spaceship’s powered flight envelope, with a very realistic goal of full space flight by the year’s end. We saw history in the making today and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone involved.”
- Richard Branson
NASA Photo Scavenger Hunt, Item #32: Post a photo of an interesting painting.
I’m in an emotional mood tonight, so of course I’m going to post The Fantasy - Conrad, Gordon, and Bean by Alan Bean, which is probably my favorite.
Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and I were assigned by head astronaut Deke Slayton as the backup crew for Apollo 9. This was super news because this meant we would fly three missions subsequent and make one of the first Moon landings.The most experienced astronaut was designated commander, in charge of all aspects of the mission including flying the lunar module. Prudent thinking suggested that the next most experienced crew member be assigned to take care of the command module since it had a heat shield and was our only way back home. This left the least experienced to accompany the commander. Pete Conrad had flown two Gemini flights, the second with Dick Gordon as his crew mate. I had not flown at all.
During training, Pete and I frequently practiced our lunar surface activities such as emplacing experiments, gathering rock samples, or making observations. We were excited. We were going to have the ultimative adventure someone in our profession could experience. But while we did, Dick Gordon would be orbiting 60 miles above us. We often fantasized Dick joining us on the Moon for all the fun, but we could never really find a way. But now I’m an artist and in my paintings I can have it my way. Now, at last, our best friend has come the last 60 miles.
One last story. Dick was the more experienced astronaut, yet I got the prize assignment. In the three years of training preceding our mission, he never once said: “It’s not fair, I wish I could walk on the Moon too.” I do not have his unwavering discipline or strength of character.
Image: Mars in 3D
Left and right eyes of the Navigation Camera (Navcam) in NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took the dozens of images combined into this stereo scene of the rover and its surroundings. The component images were taken during the 166th, 168th and 169th Martian days, or sols, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Jan. 23, 25 and 26, 2013).
The scene appears three dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. It spans 360 degrees, with Mount Sharp on the southern horizon.
RE: Questions and Submissions
Hey everyone, just wanted to let you all know that we’re putting the questions and submissions function of our tumblr on hold for a bit because we are really backed-up and want to get to every one. We really appreciate all of your submissions! When we reestablish those features, we will strive to get to each of your submissions within a week so that we don’t run into this same issue over and over. So sit tight, YOUR posts are on the way!
- Joe
Hubble Space Telescope launched 23 years ago today.
Space Telescope or Transformer?
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope. The project is working to a 2018 launch date. JWST will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. JWST will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. JWST’s instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range.
This image shows how JWST will be folded and stowed in the Ariane 5 spacecraft. JWST’s solar panel is deployed about 1/2 hour after launch to provide power for the mission. The rest of the deployments take place in the next several days en route to it’s final destination in L2.
JWST will have a large mirror, 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) in diameter and a sunshield the size of a tennis court. Both the mirror and sunshade won’t fit onto a rocket fully open, so both will fold up and open once Webb is in outer space. JWST will reside in an orbit about 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from the Earth.
The James Webb Space Telescope was named after the NASA Administrator who crafted the Apollo program, and who was a staunch supporter of space science.
To read more about JWST go to: www.jwst.nasa.gov/
Vega’s three-satellite payload is integrated and ready for launch
The payload “stack” for Vega’s second mission from French Guiana has been completed and is ready for installation on the lightweight launch vehicle at the Spaceport.
This milestone completes the integration of all three payloads to be orbited on the May 2 mission, and underscores the capabilities of Arianespace’s latest launcher family member to accommodate a variety of satellite passengers.
The payload stack begins with Vietnam’s 120-kg. VNREDSat-1 and the 1.3-kg. ESTCube-1 Estonian student nanosatellite, which are positioned inside a dispenser container system called Vespa. Installed atop the Vespa dispenser is Proba-V, a 160-kg. spacecraft for the European Space Agency (ESA).
To complete the integration process, the payload stack was encapsulated inside Vega’s payload fairing – readying it for transfer from the S5 preparation facility to the Spaceport’s ZLV launch site.
The May 2 flight – which follows Vega’s qualification mission in February 2012 – marks the debut of Europe’s VERTA (Vega Research and Technology Accompaniment) program – which is to demonstrate the light-lift vehicle’s flexibility and versatility. At a planned minimum of two launches annually, this ESA program will allow the smooth transition of Vega into Arianespace’s commercial operations.
After its deployment by Vega on the upcoming flight, Proba-V will begin the satellite’s mission of mapping land cover and vegetation growth across the Earth every two days. The miniaturized ESA satellite is to provide data for the instrument’s worldwide scientific user community and service providers once its in-orbit commissioning is completed.
Proba-V was produced by prime contractor QinetiQ Space Belgium and carries a new, advanced version of the Vegetation instrument – the latest in a series already deployed on France’s full-sized Spot-4 and Spot-5 satellites, which have been observing the planet since 1998 after their launches by Arianespace.
The Astrium-built VNREDSat-1 will support the Vietnamese government’s initiative to create an infrastructure enabling better studies of climate change effects, improving predictions for natural disasters and optimizing the country’s natural resource management. It was built on behalf of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.
ESTCube-1 is to test electric solar wind sail technologies and help establish an Estonian infrastructure for future space projects. This satellite was produced in a collaboration of students from Tartu University, Estonian Aviation Academy, Tallinn University of Technology and University of Life Sciences – and developed in conjunction with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the German Space Center (DLR).
Once in orbit, ESTCube-1 will deploy a small conductive tether which is to be electrically charged to 500 Volts using electron guns contained within the 10 x 10 x 10-cm. cubesat.
Pandromeda by Marco Ludwig
