Still Standing

From The Atlantic:

When NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009, of course scientists were hoping the spacecraft would add to the knowledge we have of our sole natural satellite -- its geography, topography, weather, and so on. But one question many were hoping the LRO would answer had little to do with the moon's environment: What had become of the Apollo sites, left behind by the humans who visited the surface between 1969 and 1972? 

For forty-odd years, the flags have been exposed to the full fury of the Moon's environment -- alternating 14 days of searing sunlight and 100° C heat with 14 days of numbing-cold -150° C darkness. But even more damaging is the intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the pure unfiltered sunlight on the cloth (modal) from which the Apollo flags were made. Even on Earth, the colors of a cloth flag flown in bright sunlight for many years will eventually fade and need to be replaced. So it is likely that these symbols of American achievement have been rendered blank, bleached white by the UV radiation of unfiltered sunlight on the lunar surface. Some of them may even have begun to physically disintegrate under the intense flux. 

From the LROC images it is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11, and it looks like he was correct!

Pretty cool, if you ask me.  And what's even cooler - and something that I keep forgetting - is that the entire span of the Apollo moon missions that actually saw man walking on the moon was only three years. 


See the LROC website here.

So Awesome It Hurts

The final space shuttle launch as seen from cameras on the solid rocket boosters - all the way until splashdown:



I never thought there would be a time in my life when there would be no more space missions in the foreseeable future. Even when the Challenger and the Columbia exploded, it always seemed like a given that it would only be a matter of time until there was another shuttle launch - once the bugs were worked out.

I think the space program will happen again, but I suspect it won't be for a decade or so. Thanks, Obama, you short-sighted piece of trash. Thanks for killing the space program. The space program is one of those things that gives our country hope. And, as in so many other ways, you sucked the hope right out of the country.

So it seems to me that once the bugs are worked out that the United States will be in space again. Once the bugs are worked out of the White House, that is...

The Right Place at the Right Time

Stefanie Gordon slept for most of her flight from New York City to Palm Beach, Florida this morning. Luckily she woke up in time to snap these pictures through her window of the space shuttle Endeavour lifting off from Kennedy Space Center on its final mission to the International Space Station.

Amazingly beautiful.

Space Shuttle Launch As Seen From the Air

Thanks to Matt!

The Secret Space Shuttle

From Discovery News:

Shrouded by darkness, the military’s miniature space shuttle -- a unmanned robotic craft -- returned early Friday from a trial run in orbit that spanned 224 days.

The Orbital Test Vehicle, also known as the X-37B, touched down at 1:16 a.m. PST at California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, becoming the first U.S. vehicle to make an autonomous runway landing from space.

Rather than hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells like the space shuttle orbiters, the X-37B is powered by gallium arsenide solar cells with lithium-ion batteries. It is designed to stay in orbit for up to 270 days, deorbit itself and land autonomously on a runway. NASA’s space shuttles can stay in space for up to about three weeks.

Fascinating.

So now there's a secret space program with a space orbiter? Well, there's this one that they're telling us about. What if there were actually two - or more?

Study: Astronauts as weak as 80-year-olds in space

From Brietbart:

A new study shows that astronauts can become as weak as 80-year-olds after six months at the International Space Station.
The research raises serious health concerns as NASA contemplates prolonged trips to asteroids and Mars. Weakness could be an issue during an emergency landing on Earth or an urgent spacewalk on the red planet.

The Marquette University biologist who led the study stresses that the accelerated space aging is temporary. Astronauts' muscles recover after a few months back on Earth.

And he thinks astronauts can avoid becoming weaklings with more research and the right exercise equipment in space.

Fascinating. And also scary because alien races obviously don't have the same problem. I mean, on any given episode of Star Trek they were strong enough to throw Ensign Pick-Your-Own-Name into a wall. And now we find out that Captain Kirk is helplessto stop them? Geez. What are we going to do now?

At least we have Spock, right? He's only half human, so that means he'd be as strong as a 40-year-old. And that's not too bad, right?

Muslims .... In ..... Space.... Space ..... Space....

From Fox News:

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" mission as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.

Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.

"When I became the NASA administrator -- or before I became the NASA administrator -- he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering," Bolden said in the interview.

Makes complete sense, right? Better interaction with the Muslim world will, of course, advance space travel. I mean, MIddle Eastern countries are known for their space programs, and we have so much to learn before we can finally join the space race. Oh, wait. Strike that. Switch it around.

It's pretty obvious that Obama's directive to Bolden is meant to further their technology and bring them into the "space club." What's in it for us? That's not clear, but my guess is absolutely nothing.

But my main gripe is... why single out the Muslim world? Why not aid the Hispanic world or the Asian world or the Jewish world or the Buddhist world? This seems like a blatantly cherry-picked target. And for Obama to tell Bolden that it was his prime directive? It not only smacks of favoritism, but also of vested interest. This from a president who keeps claiming that he isn't Muslim.

It's not that I have a problem with Muslims (my father and half my family is) per se, but it's the targeting I have a problem with. This is also the first time I can recall the United States showing favoritism to a specific religion. In the past, we've helped countries and regions, such as England or Europe. I find it wholly inappropriate for the United States to favor one religion over another around the world. Where are is "separation of Church and State" crowd now?

And one other thing that grated on me from this article...

"The NASA administrator was in the Middle East last month marking the one-year anniversary since Obama delivered an address to Muslim nations in Cairo."

He was overseas to commemorate the one year anniversary of an Obama speech? Are you freaking kidding me? What in the world is the director of NASA doing commemorating a speech outside of the United States? This is after our space program was cut earlier in the year due to funding issues. Hey, Bolden - stay here in the U.S. and apply the tens of thousands of dollars you just spent to go to the Middle East to commemorate a speech - one that was offensive to many Americans, at that - and apply that money toward R&D on new rockets.

Apollo 11 Liftoff in Slow Motion

Amazing. This was shot at 500 frames per second. And I found myself holding my breath as the rocket took off and seemed to just hang in the air.

Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8 from Mark Gray on Vimeo.

American Heroes Are Ticked Off at Obama

Three of our country's most famous astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan, have written an open letter to President Obama. It's not often that these men speak publicly (especially in the case of Armstrong), and it's even more rare that they take an open stand for or against something. So it's worth taking notice when they do.
From MSNBC:

The United States entered into the challenge of space exploration under President Eisenhower’s first term, however, it was the Soviet Union who excelled in those early years. Under the bold vision of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, and with the overwhelming approval of the American people, we rapidly closed the gap in the final third; of the 20th century, and became the world leader in space exploration.

America’s space accomplishments earned the respect and admiration of the world. Science probes were unlocking the secrets of the cosmos; space technology was providing instantaneous worldwide communication; orbital sentinels were helping man understand the vagaries of nature. Above all else, the people around the world were inspired by the human exploration of space and the expanding of man’s frontier. It suggested that what had been thought to be impossible was now within reach. Students were inspired to prepare themselves to be a part of this new age. No government program in modern history has been so effective in motivating the young to do “what has never been done before.”

World leadership in space was not achieved easily. In the first half-century of the space age, our country made a significant financial investment, thousands of Americans dedicated themselves to the effort, and some gave their lives to achieve the dream of a nation. In the latter part of the first half century of the space age, Americans and their international partners focused primarily on exploiting the near frontiers of space with the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.

As a result of the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003, it was concluded that our space policy required a new strategic vision. Extensive studies and analysis led to this new mandate: meet our existing commitments, return to our exploration roots, return to the moon, and prepare to venture further outward to the asteroids and to Mars. The program was named "Constellation." In the ensuing years, this plan was endorsed by two Presidents of different parties and approved by both Democratic and Republican congresses.

The Columbia Accident Board had given NASA a number of recommendations fundamental to the Constellation architecture which were duly incorporated. The Ares rocket family was patterned after the Von Braun Modular concept so essential to the success of the Saturn 1B and the Saturn 5. A number of components in the Ares 1 rocket would become the foundation of the very large heavy lift Ares V, thus reducing the total development costs substantially. After the Ares 1 becomes operational, the only major new components necessary for the Ares V would be the larger propellant tanks to support the heavy lift requirements.

The design and the production of the flight components and infrastructure to implement this vision was well underway. Detailed planning of all the major sectors of the program had begun. Enthusiasm within NASA and throughout the country was very high.

When President Obama recently released his budget for NASA, he proposed a slight increase in total funding, substantial research and technology development, an extension of the International Space Station operation until 2020, long range planning for a new but undefined heavy lift rocket and significant funding for the development of commercial access to low earth orbit.

Although some of these proposals have merit, the accompanying decision to cancel the Constellation program, its Ares 1 and Ares V rockets, and the Orion spacecraft, is devastating.

America’s only path to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station will now be subject to an agreement with Russia to purchase space on their Soyuz (at a price of over 50 million dollars per seat with significant increases expected in the near future) until we have the capacity to provide transportation for ourselves. The availability of a commercial transport to orbit as envisioned in the President’s proposal cannot be predicted with any certainty, but is likely to take substantially longer and be more expensive than we would hope.

It appears that we will have wasted our current $10-plus billion investment in Constellation and, equally importantly, we will have lost the many years required to recreate the equivalent of what we will have discarded.

For The United States, the leading space faring nation for nearly half a century, to be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit for an indeterminate time into the future, destines our nation to become one of second or even third rate stature. While the President's plan envisages humans traveling away from Earth and perhaps toward Mars at some time in the future, the lack of developed rockets and spacecraft will assure that ability will not be available for many years.

Without the skill and experience that actual spacecraft operation provides, the USA is far too likely to be on a long downhill slide to mediocrity. America must decide if it wishes to remain a leader in space. If it does, we should institute a program which will give us the very best chance of achieving that goal.

Neil Armstrong
Commander, Apollo 11

James Lovell
Commander, Apollo 13

Eugene Cernan
Commander, Apollo 17

Thanks to Matt for the heads up.

Cocaine Found in Space Shuttle Hangar

From the UK Sun:

A BAG of cocaine has been found in a Space Shuttle hangar - sparking a Nasa investigation.

US space chiefs fear an employee was seeking a different kind of out-of-this-world experience in the restricted area at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida.

About 200 staff and contractors have access to the hangar, which houses the shuttle Discovery.

Shameful.

Small Steps By Man

Today is the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and man's first steps on the moon.

I've always been intrigued by space and especially the Apollo moon missions, so this past week I've been somewhat obsessed with the photos and news stories leading up to the anniversary today.

I was especially interested on Saturday in this story: NASA has realeased photos taken by the lunar orbiter that NASA launched last year of the Apollo landing sites. This is Apollo 11:



But my favorite is this one, from Apollo 14, which shows the astronaut foot path back and forth between the LM and a scientific experiment site.




I've often wondered if you could see the landing module with a telescope. I learned this week that there's no telescope on Earth large enough because the machinery is so small in scale. Anyone who's been to the Johnson Space Center and seen the lunar lander display knows exactly how big the lunar lander isn't. But the satellite orbiting the moon could do it.

It looks like everything has been perfectly preserved for 40 years. I would love to be the guy at some point in the future who's out for a walk on the moon and gets to see that history first-hand. I think it would be terribly interesting to see the condition of the materials used to build the lander after 40 years in space in the moon's environment. Is it pristine? Are there signs of rust (which would open up all sorts of questions regarding water)? How is the integrity of the metal?

I think that would tell us a lot about the moon's environment over time and the viability of man's existence there. That would be a worthy reason to go back.

Moon Landing Footage Erased to Tape Episode of Mork & Mindy

Forty years ago today the Apollo 11 spacecraft launched, which would take Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon. Check out an incredible collection of photos from the mission here.

In conjunction with the anniversary of one of the greatest feats of mankind in the history of the world, NASA has also admitted that they apparently used up all their collective brain power on the moon missions and stumbled around like drunk fratdaddies in the late '70s and '80s. You see, they announced today that they are refurbishing copies of the moon landing tapes - taking out a lot of the grain and restoring detail using Hollywood film enhancement techniques. But not from the original tapes, you see. Because those don't exist anymore.

"NASA lost its original moon landing videotapes and after a three-year search, officials have concluded they were probably erased.

The original videos beamed to earth were stored on giant reels of tapes that each contained 15 minutes of video, along with 13 other channels of live data from the moon. In the 1970s and 1980s, NASA had a shortage of the tapes and erased about 200,000 of those tapes and reused them. That's apparently what happened to the famous moon landing footage."

I find it unconscionable that someone at NASA wouldn't have thought, "hey - here's perhaps the most valuable video footage ever. Perhaps maybe we should archive this in a safe place and, you know, NOT erase it."

Somebody better lose their effing pension over this.