Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Friday, April 27, 2007

NASA'S CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE FOR IMPROVED ASTRONAUT GLOVES SET


==============================================================
http://www.ipp.nasa.gov/cc/cc_challenges.htm

The Astronaut Glove Challenge is designed to promote the development of
glove joint technology, resulting in a highly dexterous and flexible glove that
can be used by astronauts over long periods of time for space or planetary
surface excursions.

The Astronaut Glove Challenge will be conducted by Volanz
Aerospace/Spaceflight America in a format that brings all competitors to a
single location for a "head to head" competition. Each team will be required to
perform a variety of tasks with their gloves and will be scored on the glove
performance.

Snip
==============================================================

Back in July of 2005 a challenge was issued to design a better space glove.
When you pressurize your space suit your gloves want to become balloons.
Bending your fingers or extending them can wear on your fingernails and tire you
out.

Coming up we will see who might be a winner of this competition.

We see in Science Fiction our space troopers wearing skin like exoskeletons that
respond to your request for action.

Maybe someone will come up with a smart glove that will curl and extend the
fingers at the slightest urging.

Would be nice to be able to hold onto your geologist hammer while picking at a
nice lunar sample.

It wasn't fun for Geologist-Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt.
==============================================================
http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a12/a12.halo.html
Snip
/[The J-mission crews (Apollos 15, 16, and 17) each did three 7-hour
EVAs and experienced not only fatigue and soreness in the hands and
forearms but also varying degrees of abrasion and damage, particularly
to the ends of the fingers and to the fingernails. Jack Schmitt and
others, for example, had their fingernails lift off the quick as a
result of repeated contact with the inside of the gloves as he pushed
his fingers forward.]
Snip
==============================================================

Now where did I put my memory metal, muscle enhanced, smart gloves?

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://www.ipp.nasa.gov/cc/

April 27, 2007

David E. Steitz/Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600

Alan Hayes
Volanz Aerospace, Inc., Owings, Md.
202-498-6804

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-43 Corrected

NASA'S CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE FOR IMPROVED ASTRONAUT GLOVES SET

WASHINGTON - On Wednesday and Thursday, May 2-3, teams from around the
nation will compete for a total of $250,000 from NASA for an improved
astronaut glove design. The Astronaut Glove Challenge, one of NASA's
seven Centennial Challenges, will take place at the New England Air
Museum at Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, Conn. The
competition is free and open to media and the public. It begins May 2
from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. EDT and continues May 3 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

NASA is offering a total of $200,000 for the team that can design and
manufacture the best astronaut glove that exceeds minimum
requirements. An additional $50,000 goes to the team that best
demonstrates Mechanical Counter Pressure gloves.

An astronaut's gloves are among the most critical pieces of the
spacesuit. After an extended time of work using the current gloves,
astronauts' hands have bled and been bruised, and fingernails have
been damaged. This competition seeks new glove joint technologies
that make the astronauts' jobs easier, more comfortable and safer
with stronger gloves that increase flexibility and dexterity.

At no cost to NASA, Volanz Aerospace, Inc., Owings, Md., is
administering the challenge. Hamilton Sundstrand, Windsor Locks,
Conn., and ILC Dover, Frederica, Del., are sponsors of the contest.

Centennial Challenges, an element of NASA's Innovative Partnerships
Program, promotes technical innovation through prize competitions to
make revolutionary advances to support the Vision for Space
Exploration and NASA goals. For more information about the Innovative
Partnerships Program and Centennial Challenges, visit:

http://www.ipp.nasa.gov/cc

For more information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


-end-

==============================================================

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/jul/HQ_E05189_Astronaut_glove_challenge.html

Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1979/5241)

Alan Hayes
Volanz Aerospace Inc/Spaceflight America
(Phone: 301/812-0450)


July 22, 2005
RELEASE: 05-189

NASA Announces New Centennial Challenge

NASA, in collaboration with the Volanz Aerospace Inc./Spaceflight
America (Volanz), today announced a new Centennial Challenges prize
competition.

The Astronaut Glove Challenge award will go to the team that can design
and manufacture the best performing glove within competition parameters.
The $250,000 purse will be awarded at a competition scheduled for
November 2006, when competing teams test their glove designs against
each other.

For the Challenge, teams must develop the bladder-restraint portion of
an astronaut glove that is strong, easy on the hands, and gives the
operator a high degree of dexterity.

"Reducing space suit glove fatigue is a critical technological goal
that, if successful, would have an important impact on astronaut
performance and mission planning," said NASA's acting Associate
Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Douglas
Cooke.

Snip

==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Fusion energy breakthrough at Sandia Labs - SOFIA Test Flight successful -

Professor Stephen Hawking Experiences Freedom of Weightlessness Aboard Zero-Gravity Flight

Almost out of this world, the Russians help us with a fusion energy
breakthrough, the SOFIA aircraft finally completes its first test
flight, and Professor Stephen Hawking gets to experience weightlessness
aboard a Zero-Gravity Flight.

If we keep this up, we might even go back to the Moon.

Check out some of the links below. thanks to you folks and SpaceRef.

Nice to be remembered, Dr. Ann S. Dinger at NASA Ames gave me a heads up
about the SOFIA flight test so went looking for other information.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
Passed by Larry Klaes, Thanks, - LRK -.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Fusion energy breakthrough at Sandia Labs

KurzweilAI.net Apr. 25, 2007

*************************

An electrical circuit that should carry enough power to produce the
long-sought goal of controlled high-yield nuclear fusion and do it
every 10 seconds has undergone extensive preliminary experiments and
computer simulations at Sandia National Laboratories. Circuits on
an LTD device able to produce large electrical impulses rapidly and...

http://www.kurzweilai.net/email/newsRedirect.html?newsID=6722&m=25748

Snip
==============================================================
http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/rapid-fire-pulse.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 24, 2007


Rapid-fire pulse brings Sandia Z method closer to goal of
high-yield fusion reactor


Revolutionary circuit fires thousands of times without flaw

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. " An electrical circuit that should carry enough power
to produce the long-sought goal of controlled high-yield nuclear fusion
and, equally important, do it every 10 seconds, has undergone extensive
preliminary experiments and computer simulations at Sandia National
Laboratories" Z machine facility.

Z, when it fires, is already the largest producer of X-rays on Earth and
has been used to produce fusion neutrons. But rapid bursts are necessary
for future generating plants to produce electrical power from sea water.
This had not been thought achievable till now.

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory.

Snip

But, unable to produce fusion except episodically, the method has been
overshadowed by the technique called magnetic confinement --- a method
that uses a magnetic field to enclose a continuous fusion reaction from
which to draw power.

The electrical circuit emerging from the technological hills may change
the balance between these systems. Tagged as "revolutionary" by
ordinarily conservative researchers, it may close the gap between the
two methods.

The circuit is easily able to fire every 10.2 seconds in brief, powerful
bursts.

"This is the most significant advance in primary power generation in
many decades," says Keith Matzen, director of Sandia's Pulsed Power Center.

The new system, called a linear transformer driver (LTD), was created by
researchers at the Institute of High Current Electronics in Tomsk,
Russia, in collaboration with colleagues at Sandia.

Says Rick Stulen, Sandia Vice President for Science, Technology and
Research Foundations, "This new technology not only represents a
remarkable technical advance but also demonstrates the strong engagement
of Sandia's scientists and engineers in the international community."

Snip

Image
http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/images/fowler_nr.jpg
Caption:
*From Siberia, not Area 51: Sandia researcher Bill Fowler tests circuits
on an LTD device able to produce large electrical impulses rapidly and
repeatedly. *(Photo by Randy Montoya)

*Download 300dpi JPEG image, "fowler.jpg," 2.2MB
<http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2007/images/fowler.jpg>*
(Media are welcome to download/publish this image with related news
stories.)
Snip
==============================================================
SOFIA aircraft with telescope flies. - LRK -

http://www.l-3com.com/news-events/pressrelease.aspx?releaseID=991713
*PRESS RELEASE*
Airborne Observatory Integrated by L-3 Communications Completes First
Flight from Waco, Texas Modification Center

- International Project Features 20-ton, German Telescope on NASA

747 Aircraft -

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2007--L-3 Communications (NYSE:
LLL) announced today that NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared
Astronomy (SOFIA) completed its first test flight following extensive
aircraft modification and telescope integration at L-3 Integrated
Systems in Waco, Texas.

SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP, which was extensively modified to carry a
45,000-pound (20 metric ton), 98.4-inch (2.5-meter) diameter infrared
telescope assembly provided by the German Aerospace Center, DLR. SOFIA
maintains altitudes up to 45,000 feet (13.7 km), which is high above
more than 99 percent of the Earth's water vapor - to capture infrared
images and spectra that are not possible to capture using the largest
ground-based telescopes.

Snip

>>> Also at SpaceRef link. - LRK -
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=22508

* NASA SOFIA Airborne Observatory Completes First Test Flight
*

*PRESS RELEASE*
*Date Released:* Thursday, April 26, 2007
Source: L-3 Communications <http://www.l-3com.com>

*International Project Features 20-ton, German Telescope on NASA 747
Aircraft*

New York, NY ᅵ L-3 Communications announced today that NASA's
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), completed its
first test flight following extensive aircraft modification and
telescope integration at the company's L-3 Integrated Systems (L-3 IS)
Waco, Texas facility. SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP extensively modified to
carry a 45,000-pound (20 metric ton), 98.4-inch (2.5-meter) diameter
infrared telescope assembly provided by the German Aerospace Center,
DLR. SOFIA will fly at altitudes up to 45,000 feet (13.7 km) - above
more than 99 percent of the Earth's water vapor - to capture infrared
images and spectra not possible by even the largest ground-based
telescopes.

Snip
==============================================================
THE DAY IN SPACE
__________________
In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- Satellite Feed Advisory: Professor Stephen Hawking Experiences
Freedom of Weightlessness Aboard Zero-Gravity Flight
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22501
-- Florida Science Student Stand-In for Professor Stephen Hawking During
Test-Run Weightless Flight on April 25, 2007
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22500

"Zero Gravity Corporation, the provider of weightless flight experiences
for the general public, hosted renowned British cosmologist and best-selling author, Professor
Stephen Hawking, aboard a historic zero-gravity flight."


-- Climate catastrophes in the Solar System
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22502

"Earth sits between two worlds that have been devastated by climate
catastrophes. In the effort to combat global warming, our neighbours can provide valuable insights into
the way climate catastrophes affect planets".
>>>> Also see at ESA - http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM2EHMJC0F_index_0.html
- LRK -

-- First high quality wide field LOFAR image
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22499

"LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) will be the largest radio telescope ever
built, currently under construction by a consortium led by ASTRON, the Netherlands Foundation
for Research in Astronomy. When finished, LOFAR will consist of 15,000 small antennas,
distributed over 77 stations in the North East of the Netherlands and nearby parts of Germany."


-- The X PRIZE Foundation and Holloman AFB Announce Partnership to
Present World's Largest Air & Space Flight Demonstration
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22505

"Today, the X PRIZE Foundation and Holloman Air Force Base (HAFB)
announced a partnership intended to create the world's largest "Air & Space Flight
Demonstration." This year's expanded Wirefly X PRIZE Cup activities are expected to result in an 8-fold
increase in competing teams and crowds. The flights and ground events will be held in Las Cruces,
N.M. and HAFB in Alamagordo from October 24 � 28th, 2007."


-- NASA HQ Mars Exploration Program Request For Information
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.nl.html?pid=24021

"The Government is seeking information regarding lightweight, low-cost
technologies and techniques to provide safe entry and either low-g ("soft") or high-g
("hard") landing for these payloads. For purposes of this RFI, "soft" landing is defined as Entry,
Descent, and Landing (EDL)loads that are less than the launch loads, and "hard" landing is
considered EDL loads higher or significantly higher than launch loads (e.g., impactors or penetrators).
In all cases, onboard instrumentation is expected to survive landing for operations for up to
several Earth years on the Martian surface."

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Public release of the Hayabusa data archives


----------------------------------------------------------------------
April 24, 2007 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The Hayabusa spacecraft, which was launched in May 2003, arrived
at Asteroid Itokawa in September 2005, and it made observations of
Itokawa and tried touch down in about three months.
Hayabusa has four scientific instruments, that is Multi-Spectral
Telescopic Imager (AMICA), Laser Altimeter (LIDAR), Near-Infrared
Spectrometer (NIRS), and X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRS). The
data obtained by these instruments were firstly analyzed by Hayabusa
Science Team and some of the results have been published as
scientific papers. At the same time, the science team was preparing
to open them to the public and this work has almost been done.
Therefore the science team release the data archives to public from
April 24, 2007. All the scientific data that Hayabusa obtained are
open to the public.

The Hayabusa data archives can be accessed from the following web
site: (URL) http://hayabusa.sci.isas.jaxa.jp/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Check out some of the links for the Hayabusa (MUSES-C) mission.
http://hayabusa.sci.isas.jaxa.jp/index.php?frame=link

Some say just go to an asteroid and do some mining.
Not all that easy, but have to start somewhere.
- LRK -

----------------------------------------------------------------------
http://hayabusa.sci.isas.jaxa.jp/index.php
Snip
The Hayabusa (the original code name was MUSES-C) engineering spacecraft
was designed to acquire samples from the surface of near-Earth asteroid
25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36) and return them to Earth. The main objectives
of the mission were to demonstrate the performance of various technical
items such as ion engines, autonomous navigation, sampling of the
asteroid's surface, and high-speed reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.
In addition, important scientific results were expected from this mission.
Snip
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
http://www.muses-c.isas.ac.jp/
http://hayabusa.sci.isas.jaxa.jp/
http://www.hayabusa.isas.jaxa.jp/e/index.html

Larry Klaes forwarded this from JAXA MAIL SERVICE - LRK -

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/04/20070424_hayabusa_e.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** JAXA MAIL SERVICE ***
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Public release of the Hayabusa data archives

April 24, 2007 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)


The Hayabusa spacecraft, which was launched in May 2003, arrived
at Asteroid Itokawa in September 2005, and it made observations of
Itokawa and tried touch down in about three months.
Hayabusa has four scientific instruments, that is Multi-Spectral
Telescopic Imager (AMICA), Laser Altimeter (LIDAR), Near-Infrared
Spectrometer (NIRS), and X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRS). The
data obtained by these instruments were firstly analyzed by Hayabusa
Science Team and some of the results have been published as
scientific papers. At the same time, the science team was preparing
to open them to the public and this work has almost been done.
Therefore the science team release the data archives to public from
April 24, 2007. All the scientific data that Hayabusa obtained are
open to the public.

The Hayabusa data archives can be accessed from the following web
site: (URL) http://hayabusa.sci.isas.jaxa.jp/

The data in the archives are mainly for scientific use. The web
site is written in English for the access of researchers in all over
the world. Following data can be obtained:

AMICA:
More than 1600 images taken by using wide-band filters of visual,
near-ultraviolet, and near-infrared. The image of whole Itokawa and
close-up view of the surface of Itokawa as well as the earth and the
moon at the earth swinby.

NIRS:
About 120,000 spectral data in the near infrared. Mainly the spectra
of the reflected sun light from the surface of Itokawa, but also the
spectra of the earth, the moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

LIDAR:
The data of distance from Hayabusa to the surface of Itokawa obtained
by using LASER light. About 1.7 million points data are available.

XRS:
about 15,000 spectral data in X-ray. The fluorescence X-ray emitted
from the surface of Itokawa by the solar X-ray.

SPICE:
the position and attitude data of Hayabusa spacecraft

Shape Model:
Very precise shape model of Itokawa created by using the data
obtained by Hayabusa

The detailed things when the data is used are written in the Web
site. We hope that the Hayabusa data archives are used for various
kinds of research works.

Notice:
(1) All the level-1 data, which are close to the raw data, are opened
to the public.
(2) For some instruments, the level-2 data, calibrated and/or
included additional information, are also available. We will add
the level-2 data when they are ready.
(3) The precise shape model, which is not level-1 and level-2 data,
is released.
(4) The detailed information related to these data will be uploaded
when it is ready.

Reference: Examples of images of AMICA in the Hayabusa data archives
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/04/20070424_hayabusa_e.html#ref01

This page URL:
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2007/04/20070424_hayabusa_e.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Publisher : Public Affairs Department
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Marunouchi Kitaguchi Building,
1-6-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8260
Japan
TEL:+81-3-6266-6400

JAXA WEB SITE :
http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Abramovich's $300M Trip to Moon

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/04/23/015.html

Have $300 million, want to go to the Moon?
- LRK -

Have $100 million, want to go to the Moon?

Step right up, get your tickets now.

Read more below. (maybe too much below, sorry, just didn't want you to
miss the flight)

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/04/23/015.html
Monday, April 23, 2007. Issue 3642. Page 4.
Abramovich's $300M Trip to Moon
The Moscow Times

KOROLYOV, Moscow Region -- The Federal Space Agency is prepared to send
Chukotka Governor Roman Abramovich on a trip into space for $300
million, Itar-Tass reported Saturday.

Commenting on media reports that the billionaire governor was ready to
pay $300 million for a trip around the moon, agency head Anatoly
Perminov said: "It's a good sum; we like it. And if Mr. Abramovich
agrees to pay, we'll send him," Itar-Tass reported.

Perminov said his agency was "not considering a waiting list of tourists
after 2009 for the time being" because the crew of the international
space station was expected to be increased to six from that time.

Many professional cosmonauts and astronauts will fly into space, and
seats for tourists on Russian spaceships will be made available only if
their trips do not disrupt the work of professional crews, Perminov said.

� Copyright 2006. The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.

Snip
==============================================================
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/dpt-astronaut22.txt
Astronaut foresees a lunar future

Man who has orbited Earth and been to the moon thinks we will someday
live and work on the moon.

By Amanda Pennington
Reader Feedback
<http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/dpt-astronaut22.txt#blog>
- Currently 0 Comments

NEWPORT BEACH � John Young doesn't idly dream about living or working on
the moon. The six-time space traveler thinks it's an imminent reality.

Young spoke to about 60 people Saturday morning at the Radisson Newport
Beach about not only his journeys to the moon and in Earth's orbit, but
also the technologies that could allow people to live and work on the moon.

His talk was in honor of Earth Day, but came on the heels of Jeffrey
Roth's film "The Wonder of It All" screening at the Newport Beach Film
Festival.

In the film, Young and other astronauts share their experiences in space.

"The moon is really important for the future of people on this planet,"
Young said as he showed the audience slides of his trip to the moon.

Snip

A U.S. space tourist landed Saturday after spending two weeks in space
at the Russian space station. Hungarian-born Charles Simonyi paid $25
million for preflight training and the flight, the Associated Press
reported.

But Orange County residents aren't necessarily ready to spend that kind
of cash yet.

"It's scary," La Habra resident Roy Kyle said Saturday after Young
rushed off to catch a plane. "It may happen though. I hope it happens in
our lifetimes."

Snip

==============================================================
Check out this article at the Cosmos Magazine. - LRK -
--------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1163
Magazine feature

Children of Apollo

Issue 12 of Cosmos, December 2006

by Wilson da Silva

Inspired as children by the Moon missions, a new breed of entrepreneur
is bringing the dreams of youth and business smarts to the next frontier.

It was Christmas Eve 1968. Three men � Frank Borman, James Lovell and
William Anders � were coasting 100 km above the Moon, the first
astronauts to ever circle it. From inside their tiny Apollo 8 command
capsule, they pointed a TV camera toward Earth, showing millions of
viewers back home what no one had ever seen before. They snapped a
famous picture � Earthrise � of our blue world ascending above the lunar
horizon. And then they read aloud the story of creation according to the
Book of Genesis.

Back home, a record TV audience was watching. When transmission ended 17
minutes later, an announcer broke the reverie to breathlessly report
that Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan American � one of the world's
largest airlines at the time � had announced that Pan Am would start
taking reservations for commercial passenger flights to the Moon.

Snip

But it's not just about joy flights and holidays in space. Today's space
entrepreneurs see a huge market in launching satellites for
communications and remote sensing. Then there's the opportunity to
slowly take over the launch and space station resupply work of
bureaucratic space agencies and large aerospace contractors, the latter
having lost creative momentum and grown slow while living off fat
government contracts. These lean and hungry start-ups see themselves
'doing space' faster, cheaper and more efficiently than ever before.

Ultimately, the advances will trickle down to all of us and change air
travel forever. One day, sub-orbital travel will be commonplace, and you
will be able to board a flight that will take you from Sydney to London
in two hours. It will take off from a runway like a regular plane, rise
above the clouds, roar into sub-orbital space and, mere hours later,
begin descending to land on a runway at Heathrow in London.

It's a world that's probably closer than most people think. In the next
20 years, we are likely to see a boom in the development of the high
frontier of space. And like the flowering of progress that gave birth to
the airline industry in the 1920s, the age of commercial space travel
will be created by the private sector.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wilson da Silva is the founding editor of COSMOS, and one of the first
100 passengers due to fly on Virgin Galactic�s sub-orbital spaceliner
service in 2009.
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1163
Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Saturday, April 21, 2007

AGC - Apollo Guidance Computer

A question was asked, "What is AGC?"

Well having worked with communication equipment I probably would have answered, "Automatic Gain Control", but the question was in reference to the Apollo Moon Landings.

A better answer would then be , "AGC - Apollo Guidance Computer."

Pause......

What is an "Apollo Guidance Computer?"

Something that warns you when it is overloaded with data from the RADAR Altimeter when you are trying to land on the Moon.
- LRK -
----------------------------------------------------------
http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11tcdb.html*
The Apollo 11 Technical Crew Debriefing July 31st 1969*
Snip
*Aldrin*
There are no discrepancies noted in any of the systems that were checked throughout the first 4 minutes. The RCS was surprisingly high in its quantity indications. The supercritical did tend to rise a little bit after ignition and then it started back down again. I don't recall the maximum value that it reached. I guess the first indications that we had of anything going wrong was probably around 5 minutes, when we first started getting program alarm activities.

*Armstrong*
We probably ought to say that we did have one program alarm prior to this; sometime prior to ignition, that had the radar in the wrong spot. In any case, as I remember, we had a 500 series alarm that said that the radar was out of position, which I don't have any way of accounting for. Certainly the switches were in the right positions. They hadn't been changed since prelaunch. But we did, in fact, go to the descent position on the antenna and leave it there for a half a minute or so, and then go back to AUTO and that cleared the alarm. After 5 minutes into descent, we started getting this series of program alarms; generally of the series that indicated that the computer was being overloaded. Normally, in this time period, that is, from P64 onward, we'd be evaluating the landing site and checking our position and starting LPD activity. However, the concern here was not with the landing area we were going into, but rather whether we could continue at all. Consequently, our attention was directed toward clearing the program alarms, keeping the machine flying, and assuring ourselves that control was adequate to continue without requiring an abort. Most of the attention was directed inside the cockpit during this time period and in my view this would account for our inability to study the landing site in final landing location during final descent. It wasn't until we got below 2000 feet that we were actually able to look out and view the landing area.

Snip
----------------------------------------------------------

Alright, that wasn't fare.
Check out the information at Wikipedia link.
- LRK -

----------------------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
Apollo Guidance Computer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The *Apollo Guidance Computer* (*AGC*) was the first recognizably modern embedded system , used in real-time by astronaut pilots to collect and provide flight information, and to automatically control all of the navigational functions of the Apollo spacecraft . It was developed for the Apollo program by the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory under Charles Stark Draper , with hardware design led by Eldon C. Hall . Based upon MIT documents, early architectural work seems to come from J.H. Laning Jr., Albert Hopkins , Ramon Alonso ,^[1] and Hugh Blair-Smith .^[2] The actual flight hardware was fabricated by Raytheon , whose Herb Thaler ^[3] was also on the architectural team.

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Check the External links section near the bottom of the page as well. - LRK -
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I watched a show on TV this week where they showed the ladies doing the wiring on the computer modules. To hard-wire the logic, two ladies worked together, one person on the front, one at the back, with a tape controlled indexer that positioned a ring to put a needle through that pulled the wire through. After looping around the correct post the ring was indexed again for the lady on the receiving side to pass the needle back through the next spot to the person on the front side. After the wire lacing was done, the wires were stripped of insulation at the posts and spot welded. Then the whole module was run through a logic tester to check for the correct response.

This was back at the beginning of integrated circuits with only a few transistors on each chip.

I have module from a UNIVAC Digital Trainer I got to resurrect from surplus back in the early 70's and these little modules had only two NOR gates made from two transistors, some resisters and some diodes.

Many of these modules were put in a line to make up a register for holding instruction words. I gave the trainer back to surplus when I left the training command but kept one of the modules. Here is a web shot of the module.




- LRK -
http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL64-u.html
Example of an oldie.
- LRK -



Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
http://archive.computerhistory.org/search/
Search for "APG" or Apollo Guidance Computer.
Should show some of the logic modules.
- LRK -
Snip
==============================================================
http://www.computerhistory.org/corphist/view.php?s=refs&id=223&PHPSESSID=23990d493c9ac123ddc1b5ccd9aa65b2
*Title:* Fairchild Micrologic in the Apollo Guidance Computer
*Author:* Eldon Hall, et al.
*Created:* 1965 ca.
*Publisher:* Various
*Cataloguer:*
*Copyright:*

Snip
*Reference:* The decision by MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory in 1962, to design the Apollo Guidance Computer using integrated circuit logic devices was critical to the AGC success and a key moment in the history of computing.

Eldon Hall's book "Journey to the Moon" recounts this decision process:
"Journey to the Moon:The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer" (1996)
AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics & Ast) ISBN:156347185X
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/156347185X/ref=sib_dp_pt/102-5159419-4410516#reader-link

Snip
==============================================================
http://www.klabs.org/history/history_docs/mit_docs/1716.pdf

A Case History of the ACG Logic Integrated Circuits
http://www.klabs.org/history/history_docs/mit_docs/1716.pdf

This pdf is a case history of the integrated circuit used for the logic in the Apollo Guidance Circuit written by Eldon Hall in December 1965. Achieving the required goals of low weight, volume, and power coupled with extreme high reliability necessitated the use of one single, simple integrated circuit for all logic functions. A brief description of the evolution of the computer design is given along with a general discussion of some of the engineering and design problems which arise with the use of a standardized semiconductor monolithic integrated circuit.
Note: The f i r s t prototype computer was operating in July 1963 with the Raytheon built flight computer operating in January 1964.

The page notes that MIT/IL had placed an order with Texas Instruments for 64 ICs at $1000 each in 1959. They were the Kilby mesa process Solid Logic devices. That TI order was not delivered until late 1962. The document also shows copies of purchase orders placed with TI, Westinghouse, Transitron and Motorola for alternate source devices.

Snip
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http://www.klabs.org/richcontent/Misc_Content/AGC_And_History/PartsAnalysis/PartsAnalysis.htm

NASA Office of Logic Design

A scientific study of the problems of digital engineering for space
flight systems,
with a view to their practical solution.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apollo Guidance Computer

Block 2 Parts Analysis

Snip
==============================================================
You may find reading the comments under this post interesting and informative. - LRK -
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.bautforum.com/showthread.php?t=1422
Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum
Snip
I was reading JayUtah's post (CosmicDaves 32 Questions) regarding AGC code, and in my desperate impatience to see some, did some Google work. I drummed up the following link:
http://verdade.no.sapo.pt/moon/landing_hoax.html
Lists some info regarding the AGC, and also has a (rather scruffy) Jpeg of a tiny portion of code. This appears to be part of a larger hoax site I've not seen before, and discusses other conspirasist (sp?) theories. Unfortunately I cant find a way back to a 'main' page [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img]

Jay, please post any code you can! If anyone else has more info regarding the computer systems used, please post here also...

Cheers,
widoxm

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Friday, April 20, 2007

One more time - Earth Second Moon or "Other Moon"

Well something like this has happened before.

Remember the Apollo 12 booster stage that visited us?
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2790
- LRK -

==============================================================
<http://skytonight.com/news/Earth_Second__Moon.html>
Earth's "Other Moon"
April 17, 2007
by Roger W. Sinnott
Last September, when a tiny asteroid drifted into Earth�s vicinity, our
planet�s gravity captured it. The meter-size object, designated 6R10DB9,
is now making its third wide swing around Earth. It was quite faint,
magnitude 19.3, when discovered September 14th with the 0.68-meter
(27-inch) Schmidt telescope of the Catalina Sky Survey
<http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/css/> in Arizona, and it won�t get much
brighter than that.

�Certainly 6R10DB9, with a geocentric eccentricity less than 1, is
currently orbiting the Earth ,� says Gareth V. Williams of the Minor
Planet Center <http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html>, �although it
will leave the Earth-Moon system after next June�s perigee.� Williams�s
calculations show that prior to capture 6R10DB9 was in a low-inclination
orbit around the Sun with a period of about 11 months. That�s typical of
the paths followed by spent rocket boosters left over from space
missions of the 1960s and 70s.
Snip

When 6R10DB9 makes its final and closest pass in June, �threading the
needle� and dipping just inside the Moon�s orbit, astronomers will get
their best view of it for years to come. Spectroscopic studies with
large telescopes, for example, could help to reveal its true nature.
Snip
==============================================================

So that is at least two visitors that have been caught aah, �threading
the needle�.
Check out the link and see the expected loop de loops.

Then consider what one might be able to do if you could just do some
slight vector adjustments and circularize the orbit and do some mining
if this is an asteroid.

Also consider what will happen to the booster stages of the upcoming
lunar launches to the Moon.

Put them into orbit around the Sun, crash them into the Moon, or let
them fall back to Earth to burn up.

Hmmmm, as a kid I shot an arrow into the air. Came back on our shingle
roof. Dad wasn't happy.
Hope we do a better job of shooting arrows into the air in the future.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2790
Orbit shows "second Moon" may be Apollo junk

* 16:10 12 September 2002
* NewScientist.com news service
* Will Knight

A mystery object recently found orbiting the Earth is more likely to be
a used rocket booster from an Apollo spacecraft than a tiny second Moon.

NASA scientists have now analysed the object's orbit, which "indicates
that it could be a leftover Saturn V third stage from one of the Apollo
missions, most likely the Apollo 12 mission, launched on 14 November 1969".

The computer simulations were carried out by Donald Yeomans and Paul
Chodas at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. They show that the object's
orbit is consistent with a booster that circled the Earth in the 1960's
or 1970's, was then captured by the Sun and finally returned to Earth
orbit in April 2002.

The object was spotted on 3 September by an astronomer in Arizona and
was initially thought to be an asteroid passing the Earth. But further
observations revealed that a 50-day Earth orbit at an altitude rising
from 300,000 to 800,000 kilometres.

Snip
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Orbital Express Satellites Successfully Separate, Remate


Over the years folks have suggested that it would be good to have a
space tug that could work in orbit to save satellites or do other jobs
in space.

Looks like we have the beginnings of some progress in at least a
servicing test between two satellites.
- LRK -

==============================================================

-- Orbital Express Satellites Successfully Separate, Remate
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22409
-- Boeing Orbital Express Conducts First Autonomous Spacecraft-to-Spacecraft
Fluid and
Component Transfer
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22408

"The two Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Orbital Express
spacecraft,
launched March 8 in a mated configuration, yesterday successfully separated for
the first time. ..
In its first on-orbit demonstration 300 miles above the Earth, Boeing's Orbital
Express system
autonomously transferred propellant fuel and a battery from one spacecraft to another, marking
industry firsts for the revolutionary system."

==============================================================

Not an all purpose, positronic brain controlled robot tug, but a start.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=22408*
Boeing Orbital Express Conducts First Autonomous
Spacecraft-to-Spacecraft Fluid and Component Transfer*

*PRESS RELEASE*
*Date Released:* Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Source: Boeing <http://www.boeing.com/>

ST. LOUIS, April 17, 2007 -- In its first on-orbit demonstration 300
miles above the Earth, Boeing's [NYSE: BA] Orbital Express system
autonomously transferred propellant fuel and a battery from one
spacecraft to another, marking industry firsts for the revolutionary system.

Snip
==============================================================
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0704/03orbitalexpress/
*Robotic satellite servicer rehearsal underway in orbit*
*BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW*
Posted: April 3, 2007

The concept of dispatching low-cost spacecraft to repair and refuel more
expensive troubled satellites took a step closer to reality Sunday when
two first-of-a-kind orbiting testbeds began operations to validate
autonomous in-space servicing techniques.

The two craft are part of the U.S. government's $300 million Orbital
Express program, which is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, the Pentagon's primary research and development arm.

The Autonomous Space Transfer and Robotic Orbiter, or ASTRO, spacecraft
serves as the active component in the mission, while the smaller NextSat
plays both the role of a supply depot and of a client satellite to be
serviced.

Snip
==============================================================
http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=537


April 8th, 2007


Satellites mating via robotic arm
<http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=537>

Posted by Roland Piquepaille @ 10:18 am

The launch of the Orbital Express mission, with its two satellites ASTRO
and NextSat, the first one servicing the other, was widely covered a
month ago. But what is happening in space now? In "Robotic satellite
servicer rehearsal underway in orbit
<http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0704/03orbitalexpress/>,"
/Spaceflight Now/ reports about the progress done. A week ago, the two
satellites were able to link to each other to operate the first transfer
of hydrazine fuel from ASTRO's propellant tanks into NextSat. This
weekend, ASTRO's ten-foot-long robotic arm is going to be used to move
objects to NextSat. But what does it mean for international satellite
operators when they need help with their space birds? Will they use a
system designed for U.S.'s DARPA? We'll see.

Before going further, below is an image showing how the robotic arm on
ASTRO can transfer objects called Orbital Replacement Units, or ORUs, to
another satellite � NextSat in this case (Credit: Boeing).

Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Monday, April 16, 2007

Google Blogs Alert for: *"Moon Base"*


Well how interesting. I had set up a Google Blogs Alert for "Moon Base"
to tell if something new had been posted and this just popped in.
- LRK -

==============================================================

Google Blogs Alert for: *"Moon Base"*

Re: Aliens and Living in Space [by martianlunatic]
<http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=32841&forum=151>
Technically, we could have a *moon base* in 10 years and a mars base in
20. No guarentee on how good it would be or if it would be frought with
horrible disasters, but it could happen. However politically the money
is not there so it will *...*
National Novel Writing Month :: Forum - http://www.nanowrimo.org/
<http://www.nanowrimo.org/>

==============================================================

"Moon Base" and Aliens in the same link leaves things wide open and I
haven't seen any aliens or a Moon Base yet so I checked out the link.

I was pleasantly surprised by the many comments from a group of folks
that are commenting on a web site dedicated to writing a novel in a
months time.

If you like a challenge, this is to be done each year from November 1 to
November 30. You need to sign up between October 1, 2007 and 11:59:59
pm GMT, November 30, 2007.
- LRK -

http://www.nanowrimo.org/
Home

http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/xoopsfaq/index.php?cat_id=1
FAQ
Snip
Is it true there's an official guidebook to NaNoWriMo?
There is! Director Chris Baty compiled all of his tips, tricks, and
caffeine-intake strategies in a book called /No Plot? No Problem!/
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811845052/nationalnov09-20/102-4951209-
6025700
>
Along with Chris' long-winded ramblings, the book also contains
eloquent, sage, and hilarious tips from NaNoWriMo veterans, who should
probably know better by now.
Snip

http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=2
About

We could probably use some novels about a Moon Base, what do you think?

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

============================================================== *
Sorted by relevance* Sort by date
<http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ned=us&tab=nb&q=%22moon+base%22&i
e=UTF-8&scoring=d
>

Re: Aliens and Living in Space [by martianlunatic]
<http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=32841&forum=151>

2 hours ago
Technically, we could have a *moon base* in 10 years and a mars base in
20. No guarentee on how good it would be or if it would be frought with
horrible disasters, but it could happen. However politically the money
is not there so it will *...*
National Novel Writing Month :: Forum - http://www.nanowrimo.org/
<http://www.nanowrimo.org/>

NASA Airs Its Plan for a *Moon Base* by 2024
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6582960>
5 Dec 2006
NASA announces plans to build a *moon base* that would house a new
generation of lunar explorers. The plan calls for a return to the moon
by 2020, with a rudimentary base camp established by 2024. But the
ambitious plan faces stiff *...*
NPR People: Nell Boyce -
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4494969&ft=1&f=4494969
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4494969&ft=1&f=4494969>
- References
<http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ned=us&tab=nb&ie=UTF-8&q=link%3Ah
ttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php%3FstoryId%3D6582960
>


Bigelow to Build *Moon Base*
<http://www.spacepragmatism.com/2007/02/bigelow-to-build-moon-base.html>
23 Feb 2007 by Dan Schrimpsher
Robert Bigelow announced, in an interview with Alan Boyle, that Bigelow
Aerospace will be using their inflatable modules to construct "space
villages." According to Bigelow, after he launch of the first orbiting
space hotel into low *...*
Space Pragmatism - http://www.spacepragmatism.com/index.html
<http://www.spacepragmatism.com/index.html>

NASA Considers Plans for Permanent *Moon Base*
<http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/03/0911232&from=rss>
3 Feb 2007 by Zonk
el crowbar sent us a link to an MSNBC article detailing NASA's plans for
a *moon base*. The permanently staffed structure could begin
construction sometime in 2010, with six-month duty rotations the norm by
2025. *...*
Slashdot: Generated for g051051 (71145) - http://slashdot.org/
<http://slashdot.org/> - References
<http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ned=us&tab=nb&ie=UTF-8&q=link%3Ah
ttp://science.slashdot.org/article.pl%3Fsid%3D07/02/03/0911232%26from%3Drss
>


Snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Sunday, April 15, 2007

China launched a satellite Wednesday


New Launch: 2007 April 11 0327 UTC
Site: Taiyuan Space Center, PRC
Launcher: CZ-2C
International Designators(s): 2007-010A

SSC Name Owner
31113 HAIYANG-1B PRC

"China launched a satellite Wednesday to begin a three-year mission surveying the world's oceans to monitor sea color and temperature, according to state media reports.

The Haiyang 1B satellite is China's second oceanographic satellite, and it replaces an earlier craft that stopped working in 2004, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Liftoff of Haiyang 1B occurred at 0327 GMT (11:27 p.m. EDT Tuesday) from Taiyuan launch center in northeastern China's Shanxi province, Xinhua reported.

A two-stage Long March 2C rocket deployed the payload into orbit a few minutes later, completing China's second space launch of the year. The flight of the 138-foot-tall booster marked the Long March rocket family's 54th consecutive successful mission since 1996.

Haiyang 1B was delivered to a Sun-synchronous orbit circling Earth's poles. This type of orbit allows satellites to fly over much of the planet at set intervals.

The craft is the second ocean surveying satellite fielded by China, and its mission will include pushing Chinese development of ocean resources, aiding the construction of new harbors and ports, and monitoring ocean pollution, according to Xinhua."

Source: Spaceflight Now, "China launches an ocean observer spacecraft" (www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0704/11haiyang1b/)

AGI's Launch Notification e-mails will help you stay current with all new spacecraft launches. E-mails are sent after every launch and include key spacecraft information such as: the date, time, launch site, launcher, international number, name, and owner. Get more information on thousands of satellites and other vehicles by viewing STK models, animations, and our encyclopedic "Spacecraft Digest" database at www.agi.com/resources.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Report Reveals Likely Causes of Mars Spacecraft Loss


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mgs/
------------------------------------------------------------
snip

WASHINGTON - After studying Mars four times as long as originally
planned, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter appears to have
succumbed to battery failure caused by a complex sequence of events
involving the onboard computer memory and ground commands.

snip
------------------------------------------------------------

I missed sending this in time for you to listen to the teleconference
but copied the report below.
- LRK -

The Discovery News clip makes a more dramatic heading with "Human Error
Caused Mars Surveyor Loss".

It is easy to get a sun burn while laying on the beach.
It is easy to overheat the shuttle if you can't open the cargo doors.
It is easy to overheat a spacecraft if you don't allow for where the Sun is.

When Pioneer 10 was launched it needed to make attitude adjustments to
point the spin axis in the direction you needed to make a Jupiter
encounter. Normally the big antenna dish would shadow the instrument
compartment if the antenna was pointing towards Earth when far away from
the Sun but in those first maneuvers after leaving earth you had thrust
vector considerations as well as antenna pointing issues, and you did
not want the instrument compartment and batteries getting blistered by
the Sun.

In a Pioneer/Jupiter News Letter issued on March 14, 1972, the title is
"PIONEER 10 DRAWS A BEAD ON JUPITER".
It mentions that on the 6th day of the mission the initial midcourse
maneuver was performed. The objectives of this maneuver were to locate
the encounter 3 radii from the center of Jupiter 14 degree below a
parallel to the ecliptic through the planet's center and time the
arrival within one of the daily 5 hour overlaps of tracking capabilities
of the 64 meter antennas at Goldstone, Calif., and at Canberra, Australia.

During reorientation of the spacecraft to earth alignment after
injection, signal dropouts were experienced in the interference region
between forward and aft (oppositely polarized) spacecraft antennas. This
restricted the alignment to within 45 degrees of earth alignment. Also
equipment compartment temperatures were near the upper design limits, so
it was preferred not to turn the spacecraft backside towards the sun
during the maneuver. They selected the maneuver strategy 48 hours after
launch and was sustained by excellent performance of the propulsion
system and JPL's measurements during calibration maneuvers during the
next 15 hours.

Sounds like fun, huh, where is Earth, where is Jupiter, where is the
Sun, where is my coffee? Oh, Oh, where is Pioneer 10?
Earth - Spacecraft Distance 8,789,2001 km
Spacecraft - Jupiter Distance 817,799,413 km

Even Lunar Prospector going to the Moon had to worry about where was the
Sun to get power to the solar panels and don't get the Sun shining on
the Alpha Particle Spectrometer bottom face as it may have gotten a
wrinkle in its Sunglasses when the trans lunar injection module pushed
itself away with its little nitrogen jets. You also had to worry about
not flying down Earth's shadow from the Sun because it was a full Moon
[Sun behind Earth, shadow looking out towards the Moon].

Want to fly a deep space mission?


Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================

April 13, 2007

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278

RELEASE: 07-88

REPORT REVEALS LIKELY CAUSES OF MARS SPACECRAFT LOSS

WASHINGTON - After studying Mars four times as long as originally
planned, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter appears to have
succumbed to battery failure caused by a complex sequence of events
involving the onboard computer memory and ground commands.

The causes were released today in a preliminary report by an internal
review board. The board was formed to look more in-depth into why
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor went silent in November 2006 and
recommend any processes or procedures that could increase safety for
other spacecraft.

Mars Global Surveyor last communicated with Earth on Nov. 2, 2006.
Within 11 hours, depleted batteries likely left the spacecraft unable
to control its orientation.

"The loss of the spacecraft was the result of a series of events
linked to a computer error made five months before the likely battery
failure," said board Chairperson Dolly Perkins, deputy
director-technical of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt,
Md.

On Nov. 2, after the spacecraft was ordered to perform a routine
adjustment of its solar panels, the spacecraft reported a series of
alarms, but indicated that it had stabilized. That was its final
transmission. Subsequently, the spacecraft reoriented to an angle
that exposed one of two batteries carried on the spacecraft to direct
sunlight. This caused the battery to overheat and ultimately led to
the depletion of both batteries. Incorrect antenna pointing prevented
the orbiter from telling controllers its status, and its programmed
safety response did not include making sure the spacecraft
orientation was thermally safe.

The board also concluded that the Mars Global Surveyor team followed
existing procedures, but that procedures were insufficient to catch
the errors that occurred. The board is finalizing recommendations to
apply to other missions, such as conducting more thorough reviews of
all non-routine changes to stored data before they are uploaded and
to evaluate spacecraft contingency modes for risks of overheating.

"We are making an end-to-end review of all our missions to be sure
that we apply the lessons learned from Mars Global Surveyor to all
our ongoing missions," said Fuk Li, Mars Exploration Program manager
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Mars Global Surveyor, launched in 1996, operated longer at Mars than
any other spacecraft in history, and for more than four times as long
as the prime mission originally planned. The spacecraft returned
detailed information that has overhauled understanding about Mars.
Major findings include dramatic evidence that water still flows in
short bursts down hillside gullies, and identification of deposits of
water-related minerals leading to selection of a Mars rover landing
site.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages Mars Global
Surveyor for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed
Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft.

Information about the Mars Global Surveyor mission, including the
preliminary report from the process review board and a list of some
important discoveries by the mission, is available on the Internet
at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mgs

EDITORS NOTE:

NASA will hold a media teleconference today at 3 p.m. EDT, to discuss
the report.

Reporters should call 1-888-398-6118 and use the pass code "Mars" to
participate in the teleconference. International media should call
1-773-681-5826. Replays of the teleconference will be available by
calling 866-369-3645. International media may call: 203-369-0243.

Audio of the teleconference will stream live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio


-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov
To remove your address from the list, send a message to:
hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov

Snip
==============================================================
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/04/13/surveyor_spa.html?category=space&guid=2
0070413140000&dcitc=w19-502-ak-0000


Human Error Caused Mars Surveyor Loss

Alicai Chang, Associated Press

*April 13, 2007* � Human error triggered a cascade of events that caused
the battery to fail on the Mars Global Surveyor last year, according to
a preliminary report released Friday.

An internal NASA board determined that power loss likely doomed the
spacecraft after a decade of meticulously mapping the Red Planet.

But the problems actually began in 2005 when a routine technical update
to onboard computers caused inconsistencies in the spacecraft's memory.
The board concluded that engineers didn't catch the mistakes because the
existing procedures to do so were inadequate.

Scientists lost contact last November with the $154 million Global
Surveyor. Launched in 1996, it was the oldest of six different active
probes on the Martian surface or circling the planet.

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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Wednesday, April 11, 2007

NASA Targets June Launch for Space Shuttle Atlantis

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

04.10.07 - 7:45 p.m. EST
NASA is targeting June 8 as the next possible launch opportunity for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 mission to the International Space Station.

Tuesday’s decision by agency management followed a meeting that reviewed the progress in repairing insulating foam on the shuttle’s external fuel tank, which was damaged during a sudden hail storm Feb. 26 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla. That damage required engineers to repair approximately 2,660 sites on the tank.
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I hope no more ice storms.

I wonder what it will be like when you start making routine trips to the Moon.

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
April 10, 2007

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4769

Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

RELEASE: 07-83

NASA TARGETS JUNE LAUNCH FOR SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS

WASHINGTON - NASA is targeting June 8 as the next possible launch
opportunity for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 mission to the
International Space Station.

Tuesday's decision by agency management followed a meeting that
reviewed the progress in repairing insulating foam on the shuttle's
external fuel tank, which was damaged during a sudden hail storm Feb.
26 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. That damage required
engineers to repair approximately 2,660 sites on the tank.

The meeting also included an assessment of using the repaired external
tank for the STS-117 mission versus swapping to one that arrived last
week from the manufacturing plant in New Orleans. Managers decided to
finish repairs to Atlantis' current tank and use it for STS-117. The
tank that arrived Friday will be prepared for space shuttle
Endeavour's STS-118 mission to the space station and now is targeted
for launch in August.

"The workforce has done an amazing job of assessing and repairing the
tank so far, but the sheer volume of repairs dictates moving the
launch target to June," said Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne
Hale.

June 8 is the opening of the next available launch window for Atlantis
to go to the station. STS-117 Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee
Archambault and mission specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester,
Steven Swanson and John "Danny" Olivas will continue training at
NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. During the 11-day mission, the
astronauts will work with the station crew and ground teams to
install a new, girder-like truss segment, unfold a new set of solar
arrays and retract one array on the starboard side of the station.

For more information about the STS-117 crew and mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle


-end-


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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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Monday, April 09, 2007

When bad launches happen to good companies

Over the last decade the commercial launch industry has experienced a series of ups and downs. The industry was doing quite well in the late 1990s, riding the telecom boom and the development of several large constellations of low Earth orbit communications satellites. The boom went bust early this decade, and the industry went into the doldrums, with a sharp drop in launch demand and even the withdrawal of vehicles like the Delta 4, which Boeing took off the commercial launch market because prices had dropped dramatically in response to the low demand. In the last couple of years, though, the market has improved, with increased demand and rising prices (see “Is the launch industry on the rebound?”, The Space Review, February 20, 2006).


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Hope Sea Launch figures out what went wrong and can launch again soon.


LRK



Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================

Friday, April 06, 2007

LOCAD-PTS (short for Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System)


Alright, it isn't a Trcorder yet, but a beginning just the same.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricorder
- LRK -
_____________________________________________________________________
NASA Science News for April 6, 2007

A miniature biological laboratory important to the future of space
exploration has just passed an important test onboard the International
Space Station.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/06apr_locad2.htm?list965414

Snip
_____________________________________________________________________
*April 6, 2007:* "What a huge relief," says Norman Wainwright of the
Charles River Laboratories in Charleston, SC. "The whole technical team
was delighted that it worked so well."

He's talking about a miniature biological laboratory just tested for the
first time onboard the International Space Station. Called LOCAD-PTS
(short for Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System),
the mini-lab detects the presence of bacteria or fungi on the surfaces
of a spacecraft far more rapidly than standard methods of culturing.

"The ability to monitor microorganisms would be especially important on
long space voyages, not only to check the health of astronauts but also
to monitor electronics and structural materials, which can be corroded
or otherwise damaged by certain fungi and bacteria," says Wainwright,
the experiment's principal investigator. LOCAD-PTS is designed so that
"astronauts can do the analysis onboard with no need to return samples
to laboratories on Earth."

The device was launched last December 9th on board the space shuttle
Discovery, and then stowed aboard ISS until its scheduled experiment
time�which happened to be Saturday night, March 31, Marshall Space
Flight Center time. (Remember that time!)

Snip
_____________________________________________________________________

Thanks for looking up with me.

Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update

==============================================================
http://exploration.nasa.gov/programs/station/LOCAD-PTS.html
Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS)
Brief Summary

Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS)
is a handheld device for rapid detection of biological and chemical
substances on board the space station. Astronauts will swab surfaces
within the cabin, add swab material to the LOCAD-PTS, and within 15
minutes obtain results on a display screen. The study's purpose is to
effectively provide an early warning system to enable crew members to
take remedial measures if necessary to protect the health and safety of
those on board the station.

Principal Investigator

Norman R. Wainwright, Ph.D., Charles River Endosafe, Charleston SC

Co-Investigator(s)

Jake Maule, Ph.D., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC

Payload Developer


Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
Charles River Endosafe, Charleston, SC

Sponsoring Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Expeditions Assigned

14,15,16

Previous ISS Missions

LOCAD-PTS is a new investigation for space research.

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Research Summary

LOCAD-PTS is a handheld device for rapid detection of biological onboard
the International Space Station (ISS).

LOCAD-PTS analysis is immediate. Effectively providing an early warning
system to enable crew to take remedial measures if necessary to protect
themselves on board ISS.

Current testing focuses on detecting bacteria and fungi. Other sample
cartridges can be developed to detect chemical substances of concern to
crew safety on ISS (hydrazine, ammonia, etc.) and proteins in urine,
saliva and blood for aiding medical diagnoses.

Description

The Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development ᅵ Portable Test System
(LOCAD-PTS) is a handheld device, enabling crew to perform complex
laboratory tests on a thumb-sized cartridge with a press of a button.
Every thumb-sized plastic cartridge has 4 channels and each channel
contains a dried extract of horseshoe crab blood cells and colorless
dye. In the presence of bacteria and fungi, the dried extract reacts
strongly to turn the dye a green color. Therefore, the more green dye,
the more microorganisms there are in the original sample.

Tests by LOCAD-PTS will become increasingly specific with the advent of
new cartridges. Current cartridges target bacteria and fungi. New
cartridges, to be launched on subsequent flights, will target bacteria
only, then groups of bacteria and eventually individual species or
strains that pose a specific risk to crew health. Cartridges can also be
adapted to detect chemical substances of concern to crew safety on ISS
(e.g. hydrazine, ammonia and certain acids) and proteins in urine,
saliva and blood of astronauts to provide added information for medical
diagnosis. A phrase that summarizes this mode of operation is "same
instrument, just change the cartridge".

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http://www.aiaa.org/aerospace/images/articleimages/pdf/AA_Mar07_EN.pdf
Primitive creatures aid healthy space travel.
Snip

The high-tech device relies on four enzymes extracted from the blood
cells of one of Earth�s most ancient living creatures -- the horseshoe crab.
"The horseshoe crab, a species that has survived some 300 million years, has
a very primitive but sensitive immune system," Wainwright explains. A single
bacterium can be enough to trigger enzymes in the crab's immune system, which
clot the blood to seal off a wound.

The enzymes' extraordinary sensitivity and rapid response make them widely
useful in medical research to test the effectiveness of drugs and devices. With
drawing a bit of blood annually from horseshoe crabs, which are then returned to
the sea, does not injure the creatures. So far, there is no acceptable synthetic
substitute.

It is these horseshoe crab enzymes that allow LOCAD-PTS to be so small,
sensitive, and fast.

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Not all Tricorders were the same on Star Trek and other devices to aid
us in exploring space are being considered as well.
- LRK -
_____________________________________________________________________
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/nuggets.html
NASA Develops a Nugget to Search for Life in Space
07.27.05

Astrobiologists, who search for evidence of life on other planets, may
find a proposed Neutron/Gamma ray Geologic Tomography (NUGGET)
instrument to be one of the most useful tools in their toolbelt

As conceived by scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in
Greenbelt, Md., NUGGET would be able to generate three-dimensional
images of fossils embedded in an outcrop of rock or beneath the soil of
Mars or another planet. Tomography uses radiation or sound waves to look
inside objects. NUGGET could help determine if primitive forms of life
took root on Mars when the planet was awash in water eons ago.

Similar to seismic tomography used by the oil industry to locate oil
reserves beneath Earth�s surface, NUGGET would look instead for evidence
of primitive algae and bacteria that fossilized along the edges of
extinct rivers or oceans. As on Earth, these remains could lie just a
few centimeters beneath the surface, compressed between layers of silt.
If a mechanical rover that explores planet surfaces were equipped with
an instrument like NUGGET -- capable of peering beneath the surface --
then it might be able to reveal evidence of life beyond Earth.

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

Moon and Mars - Videos

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