Four high school experiments will launch Thursday, May 19, aboard a NASA helium weather balloon that will travel to the stratosphere, a near-space environment 19 to 20 miles above sea level.
Monday, May 16, 2011
NASA Ames Research Center News.
NASA to Host Video Chat Showcasing SOFIA Science
Thu, 05 May 2011 23:00:00 -0500
NASA invites the public to join an online video chat about viewing the infrared universe with the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
Three NASA Ames Employees Honored by Space Flight Awareness Program
Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 -0500
NASA's Space Flight Awareness Program recently recognized three NASA Ames Research Center employees for their outstanding support of human space flight.
President Obama Meets With STS-133 Crew
STS-133 commander Steven Lindsey, far left, presents a montage to President Barack Obama as crew members Michael Barratt, pilot Eric Boe, Nicole Stott and Steve Bowen look on during a visit to the Oval Office, Monday, May 9, 2011, in Washington.
Image Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers
Endeavour's Launch Set for May 16
Mon, 09 May 2011 14:40:11 -0500
NASA managers have set the liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour for 8:56 a.m. EDT on Monday, May 16. Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses and Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach announced the date at a news briefing Monday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Tropical Storm Aere (Western North Pacific Ocean)
Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 -0500
Tropical Storm Aere dropped heavy rainfall, created mudslides and took lives in the eastern Philippines this weekend.
Engineering Tests Leading The Way For NASA's Next Neemo Mission
Sun, 08 May 2011 23:00:00 -0500
To determine how best to explore asteroids in the future, NASA scientists and engineers are taking their experiments underwater in the 15th expedition of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO.
Comets WISE -- A Family Portrait
During its one-year mission, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, mapped the entire sky in infrared light. Among the multitudes of astronomical bodies that have been discovered by the NEOWISE portion of the WISE mission are 20 comets. This collage shows those 20 new comets together in a kind of family portrait.
The fuzzy background in each picture is due to random fluctuations in infrared light, primarily from dust in our own solar system. Stars cannot be seen because they were subtracted during the process of combining multiple WISE pictures to make this view centered on the moving comets.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA
NASA Managers Meet to Discuss Endeavour's Launch
Mon, 09 May 2011 07:37:35 -0500
NASA managers have retargeted space shuttle Endeavour's launch to no earlier than Monday, May 16. After a meeting on Friday, they also extended the length of Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the International Space Station from 14 to 16 days. If Endeavour launches on May 16, liftoff would be at 8:56 a.m. EDT.
At 3 p.m. today, NASA Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses and Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach will hold a news conference at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to discuss the progress of repairs since Endeavour's launch postponement on April 29. The news conference will air live on NASA Television and online at NASA TV.
Over the weekend, Kennedy technicians installed and checked out new wiring that bypasses the suspect electrical wiring connecting the switchbox to the heaters. They also ran the heaters for up to 30 minutes to verify they are working properly and complete retesting of the other systems powered by the switchbox. Teams will begin closing out Endeavour's aft compartment and will begin launch countdown preps today.
Space Shuttle Endeavour to Launch No Earlier Than May 16
Fri, 06 May 2011 17:30:06 -0500
NASA managers have retargeted space shuttle Endeavour's launch to no earlier than Monday, May 16. After a meeting on Friday, they also extended the length of Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the International Space Station from 14 to 16 days. If Endeavour launches on May 16, liftoff would be at 8:56 a.m. EDT.
At 3 p.m. on Monday, May 9, NASA Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses and Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach will hold a news conference at Kennedy Space Center in Florida to discuss the progress of repairs since Endeavour's launch postponement on April 29. The news conference will air live on NASA Television and online at NASA TV.
Kennedy technicians are continuing work to resolve an issue in a heater circuit associated with Endeavour's hydraulic system that resulted in the launch postponement. Technicians determined the failure was inside an aft load control assembly, which is a switchbox in the shuttle's aft compartment, and possibly its associated electrical wiring.
Although the root cause of the failure in the switchbox has not been found, technicians are replacing hardware that could have caused the problem. The faulty box was changed Wednesday, and a test of nine shuttle systems powered by the new box is under way.
This weekend, technicians will install and check out new wiring that bypasses the suspect electrical wiring connecting the switchbox to the heaters. They also will run the heaters for up to 30 minutes to verify they are working properly and complete retesting of the other systems powered by the switchbox.
The shuttle has three Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) that provide hydraulic power to steer the vehicle during ascent and entry. The hydrazine fuel lines on each APU have two heater circuits that prevent the fuel from freezing while the shuttle is in space. NASA launch commit criteria and flight rules require all APUs and heater circuits to be operational for launch. On Endeavour's first launch attempt, one of two heaters for APU-1's fuel line did not work. Engineers confirmed the circuit in the original switchbox that directed power to the heaters was shorted out.
Launch attempts are available through May 26. May 21 is the only day a launch is not an option because it would lead to a May 23 docking with the space station. May 23 is when three of the space station's Expedition 27 crew members undock and return home in their Soyuz spacecraft. Managers reviewed the STS-134 mission timeline and determined the Endeavour crew can accomplish all objectives even with the departure of the three station crew members.
NASA's Spaceward Bound Takes Teachers Trekking across the Mojave Dese
Thu, 05 May 2011 23:00:00 -0500
What clues found on Earth do NASA scientists use to help them deduce that there may be life on other planets?
Living Space: Endeavour
Fri, 06 May 2011 11:00:00 -0500
Astronauts Chris Hadfield and Stan Love discuss their flights aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Both astronauts made spacewalks during their Endeavour missions to build the International Space Station.
Endeavour Launch No EarlierThan Monday, May 16
Fri, 06 May 2011 12:41:38 -0500
NASA managers met Friday afternoon and determined space shuttle Endeavour will launch no earlier than Monday, May 16 at 8:56 a.m. EDT. This weekend, technicians will continue to repair and retest electrical circuitry that caused a postponement of Endeavour's April 29 launch attempt. NASA will air a news conference Monday at 3 p.m., to discuss the status of the work. This afternoon, NASA will issue a news release with further details about the news conference and the work that will be performed this weekend.
Tropical Depression 03W (Western North Pacific Ocean)
Thu, 05 May 2011 23:00:00 -0500
Moderate rainfall abounds in newly strengthened Tropical Depression 03W near the Philippines, according to data from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite.
Managers to Meet Today about Endeavour's Progress
Fri, 06 May 2011 06:52:19 -0500
Technicians at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A in Florida continue testing various systems inside space shuttle Endeavour associated with a newly installed power distribution box, called a Load Control Assembly 2 (LCA-2). So far, all systems have checked out. Teams will retest the LCA-2 over the weekend.
Endeavour's no earlier than launch date remains May 10, but senior NASA managers will meet today to evaluate the progress of repairs and select a new launch date for the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station.
Engineers have been doing forensic engineering testing on the failed LCA-2, which was removed from Endeavour on Tuesday. The LCA-2 feeds power to a variety of systems, including heaters on the fuel line for Endeavour's auxiliary power unit-1 (APU-1). APUs control the shuttle's hydraulic system. Teams are trying to determine what caused a circuit inside the power box to short out.
The APU-1 fuel line heaters did not work on April 29, prompting the launch team to scrub Endeavour's first launch attempt.
Sunset Over South America
The Expedition 27 crew photographed this sunset over western South America from aboard the International Space Station. The station crew sees, on average, sixteen sunrises and sunsets during a 24-hour orbital period. Each changeover between day and night on the ground is marked by the terminator, or line separating the sunlit side of Earth from the side in darkness. While the terminator is conceptualized as a hard boundary--and is frequently presented as such in graphics and visualizations--in reality the boundary between light and dark is diffuse due to scattering of light by Earth’s atmosphere.
This zone of diffuse lighting is experienced as dusk or twilight on the ground--while the sun is no longer visible, some illumination is still present due to light scattering over the local horizon. The terminator is visible in this photograph trending across the image from lower left to upper right. This panoramic view across central South America, looking towards the northeast, was acquired at approximately 7:37 p.m. local time. Layers of Earth’s atmosphere, colored bright white to deep blue, are visible extending across the horizon. The highest cloud tops have a reddish glow from the direct light of the setting sun while lower clouds are in twilight. The Salar de Coipasa, a large salt lake in Bolivia, is dimly visible on the night side of the terminator. The salar provides a geographic reference point that allows the location and viewing orientation of the image to be determined.
Image Credit: NASA
This zone of diffuse lighting is experienced as dusk or twilight on the ground--while the sun is no longer visible, some illumination is still present due to light scattering over the local horizon. The terminator is visible in this photograph trending across the image from lower left to upper right. This panoramic view across central South America, looking towards the northeast, was acquired at approximately 7:37 p.m. local time. Layers of Earth’s atmosphere, colored bright white to deep blue, are visible extending across the horizon. The highest cloud tops have a reddish glow from the direct light of the setting sun while lower clouds are in twilight. The Salar de Coipasa, a large salt lake in Bolivia, is dimly visible on the night side of the terminator. The salar provides a geographic reference point that allows the location and viewing orientation of the image to be determined.
Image Credit: NASA
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