WSpaceport
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Message Posted: May 3, 2013 2:40:08 AM
Good news for the folks in Houston today:
The Shuttle and 747 Carrier Project
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Apr 29, 2013 9:38:16 PM
Congrats to founder Sir Richard Branson, CEO George Whitesides and the entire Virgin Galactic team on a successful first powered flight test of SpaceShipTwo, aka Virgin Spaceship Enterprise -- breaking the sound barrier at Mach 1.2 during its initial 16 second run up to 55,000 feet above the Mojave Air & Space Port in California this morning.
Full story (including photos and video) here
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Apr 8, 2013 3:19:44 PM
I used to think if the astronauts knew exactly which piece of software was written while the software engineer was listening to Britney Spears they might think twice before getting on the Space Station! It was in the electrical power system and if it didn't work right the lights would all go off! Fortunately, they found the last big bug on the ground and not on-orbit!
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Feb 25, 2013 2:31:44 AM
When Challenger exploded, I was at work. We had one guy with a radio at lunch and he told us the Shuttle exploded. Being TV-less, we didn't get to see it until we got home. Since I lived in Huntsville, Alabama at the time, we probably got to see the explosion more than most.
"Take off your engineering hat, and put on your management hat." And seven died.
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runningmp
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Message Posted: Feb 19, 2013 11:17:23 PM
WSpaceport, I was born in December 1967...so Apollo 1 would have been something my parents experienced.
For STS-51L (Challenger) - I was in my senior year of high school in my Current Events class. So we were watching this as it happened.
For STS-107 (Columbia) - Was on active duty with the U.S. Navy doing my shore rotation at NAS JRB Willow Grove.
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Feb 19, 2013 9:17:48 PM
HOUSTON -- The International Space Station regained contact with NASA controllers in Houston after nearly three hours of accidental quiet, the space agency says.
Officials say the six crew members and station are fine and had no problem during the brief outage.
NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said something went wrong around 9:45 a.m. EST Tuesday during a computer software update on the station. The outpost abruptly lost all communication, voice and command from Houston.
* * * * * * * *
Hopefully, MOD didn't put S-Band in the load shed list again. They tried that stunt once and they load shedded their communication. Fortunately, the computer software was working just the way the ICD said it was supposed to and the problems were in the load shed list that the developers never even saw until it hosed up the station.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Feb 2, 2013 2:04:56 AM
For Apollo 1 (AS-204), I was eight years old, living on Oahu, HI when I read the initial details about "The Fire" in the afternoon edition of the Honolulu Star-Bullletin.
For STS-51L (Challenger), I was on active duty at Vandenberg AFB, editing "Space shuttle orbiter ground handling procedures" -- a safety training video in the event of an aborted mission/emergency landing at one of the bare bones landing strips.
For STS-107 (Columbia), I was standing outside my house, watching the orbiter re-enter the atmosphere on its way into history.
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Feb 1, 2013 7:06:41 PM
I remember where I was ten years ago. I first realized something was wrong when I tuned in our local NPR station and they didn't have "Car Talk." I got enough details to realize what was up and then I went about my Saturday morning errands (figuring there would be a while before there would be any further details). I went out and had lunch at Chili's on NASA Parkway in Webster. All the TV sets in the bar were turned to news channels. I think I watched the shuttle break up about a thousand times by the time it was all over.
In February 2006, I was off all but one day because of a medical condition. My manager asked me how my first day back went. I commented that I spent all day going through the accumulated E-mail and reading most of the report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. (I also went through some regression tests that my backup had trouble getting to run.)
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Jan 31, 2013 8:14:12 PM
Programming Note: PBS Airs SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA: MISSION OF HOPE on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Feb. 1, 2003 loss of crew.
NASA OBSERVES DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FEB. 1
WASHINGTON -- NASA will pay will tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and
space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, as well as other NASA
colleagues, during the agency's Day of Remembrance on Friday, Feb. 1,
the 10th anniversary of the Columbia accident.
NASA's Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost
their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery.
Flags across the agency will be flown at half-staff in their memory.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other NASA senior officials will
hold an observance at the astronaut memorial at Arlington National
Cemetery Friday morning.
At 10 a.m. EST, NASA Television will provide live coverage of a
wreath-laying ceremony at the Space Mirror Memorial located in the
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The observance is
hosted by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation.
Ceremony speakers include NASA Associate Administrator Robert
Lightfoot; William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for
human exploration and operations; Robert Cabana, director of NASA's
Kennedy Space Center; Thad Altman, president and chief executive
officer of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; Jon McBride, chairman
of the board of directors of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; Mick
Ukleja, chairman of the board of trustees of the Astronauts Memorial
Foundation; Evelyn Husband-Thompson, widow of Col. Rick Husband, who
was commander of space shuttle Columbia's final mission, STS-107, in
2003; and Eileen Collins, commander of shuttle Discovery for the
mission in 2005 that returned shuttles to flight after the Columbia
accident.
The Astronauts Memorial Foundation is a private, not-for-profit
organization which built and maintains the Space Mirror Memorial. The
mirror was dedicated in 1991 to honor all astronauts who lost their
lives on missions or during training. It has been designated a
National Memorial by Congress.
NASA also is paying tribute to the agency's fallen astronauts with
special online content available at:
http://go.nasa.gov/XNe5MU
For NASA Television downlink information, schedule information and
streaming video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 1/31/2013 8:17:42 PM EST]
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Sep 12, 2012 4:49:10 PM
Fifty years ago today (Sept. 12, 1962) at Rice University, the world heard poetry in a political speech:
JFK's moon speech at Rice University, Texas
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Apr 3, 2012 9:46:30 PM
Delta IV Medium+ (5,2 configuration) successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex Six (SLC-6) at Vandenberg AFB, CA Tuesday, Apr. 3 at 4:12 p.m. (local), carrying the classified NROL-25 satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Details here (with hi-resolution launch photos within 24 hrs)
In other news...
Events and operating hours for the Press Site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., are set for space shuttle Discovery's departure. A NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified 747 jet, will transport Discovery to Washington Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Va., on Tuesday, April 17.
Journalists are invited to cover the following events (all times are
EDT):
Tuesday, April 10
5:30 p.m. SCA arrival at Shuttle Landing Facility
-- Arrive at Press Site by 4 p.m. for 4:30 p.m. departure
Wednesday, April 11
9-11 a.m. Tour of SCA and interview opportunity with pilots and crew
-- Arrive at Press Site by 8 a.m. for 8:30 a.m. departure
12:10-3 p.m. Interview opportunities with United Space Alliance employees involved with shuttle transition and retirement and shuttle/SCA mate and demate operations
-- Arrive at Press Site by 11:40 a.m. for 11:55 a.m. departure
Saturday, April 14
5 a.m.-6 p.m. Discovery roll out from Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay 4 to Shuttle Landing Facility Mate/Demate Device.
SCA/Discovery mating operations through 7 p.m.
-- Arrive at Press Site by 3:30 a.m. for 4 a.m. departure
Monday, April 16
7:30 a.m. SCA/Discovery back out of mate/demate device photo opportunity
7:30-10:45 a.m. Interview opportunity with STS-133 crew members and space shuttle transition and retirement managers
-- Arrive at Press Site by 6:15 a.m. for 6:30 departure
Tuesday, April 17
Discovery departs at first light (approximately 7 a.m.)
4:45 a.m. Buses begin departing for Shuttle Landing Facility Mid-point 6:45 a.m. NASA TV live coverage of shuttle Discovery's departure
7-9 a.m. Interview opportunities with STS-133 crew members at Shuttle Landing Facility Mid-point
Any updates on departure media activities will be available at 321-867-2525.
Media Accreditation
U.S. journalists wanting to cover the arrival of the SCA must apply for credentials by Friday, April 6. Accreditation for international news media for the arrival is closed.
To cover Discovery's departure on Tuesday, April 17, the deadline for international journalists is Monday, April 9. For U.S. journalists, the deadline is Monday, April 16.
Media representatives must apply for credentials online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Kennedy Press Site Office Hours for Discovery Departure Activities Times may be adjusted in real-time depending on events and timelines.
Tuesday, April 10: 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Wednesday, April 11: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 12: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Friday, April 13: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 14: 3:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sunday, April 15: Closed
Monday, April 16: 5:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 17: 4 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Kennedy Press Accreditation Office Hours Tuesday, April 10: Noon-4 p.m.
Wednesday, April 11: 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Thursday, April 12: 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Friday, April 13: 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Saturday, April 14: 3 a.m.-9 a.m.
Sunday, April 15: Closed
Monday, April 16: 5 a.m.-1 p.m.
Tuesday, April 17: 3:30 a.m.-5:30 a.m.
After arriving at Washington Dulles, Discovery will be removed from the SCA and moved to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. for permanent public display on Thursday, April 19.
For more information on the preparations of shuttle orbiters for public display, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/transition
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 9:00:12 PM
Space Station Taxi proposals sought by NASA
Note that this is a welcome departure from traditional NASA procurement.
In the past, NASA would issue detailed specifications, and the contracting teams (private companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, etc.) would execute to those specifications, charging whatever it cost to service the contract -- and typically regardless of mission success or failure.
If it can be executed properly, the results would be lower launch costs with higher flight rates, thereby breaking the pricing monopoly now being enjoyed by the Russians (and to a lesser extent, the Chinese), once the full force of American enterprise and capital enters into the picture.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 2/8/2012 9:05:39 PM EST]
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daver39
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Message Posted: Feb 8, 2012 7:50:50 AM
not too closely though
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Oct 13, 2011 8:06:32 PM
There's yet some new hope on another front, based on mission success so far:
Secretive US X-37B Space Plane Could Evolve to Carry Astronauts
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Sep 18, 2011 5:05:49 PM
On Sep 14, 2011 8:17:49 PM, WSpaceport wrote:
>Action will actually be better than words and Powerpoint presentations.
Analysis paralysis will reign supreme.
If STS-107 would have not happened, software would likely have been the tent pole.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Sep 14, 2011 9:17:49 PM
Lot of talk the past couple of days. Action will actually be better than words and Powerpoint presentations.
NASA SLS: Space Launch System Will Take Humans To Mars
The next round in the JWST funding battle
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 29, 2011 9:47:01 PM
I think some are being a bit premature with the "doom & gloom" scenarios, considering that SpaceX is on the docket for a flight at around that time.
You can read more here.
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Aug 29, 2011 3:31:33 PM
The International Space Station may have to start operating without a crew in November if Russian engineers don't figure out soon what caused a recent rocket failure, NASA officials announced today (Aug. 29).
The unmanned Russian cargo ship Progress 44 crashed just after its Aug. 24 launch to deliver 2.9 tons of supplies to the orbiting lab. The failure was caused by a problem with the Progress' Soyuz rocket, which is similar to the one Russia uses to launch its crew-carrying vehicle — also called Soyuz — to the station.
More details...
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 28, 2011 1:06:35 AM
For the Soviets/Russians, there were two: Soyuz 10-1 (10a) in April 1975 and Soyuz TM-18-1 in September 1983, which occured on the launch pad.
Space Shuttle Challenger had an ATO (Abort to Orbit) during STS-51F in July of 1985, which was the only in-flight main engine failure of the shuttle program.
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Aug 27, 2011 11:05:03 PM
On Aug 24, 2011 6:25:17 PM, WSpaceport wrote:
>Additionally, this kind of launch failure (premature shutdown
>of the third stage) would have been survivable if there had
>been a manned Soyuz-TMA spacecraft in place of an
>unmanned Progress supply vessel.
>It that case, the mission commander of the Soyuz-TMA
>would have commanded the spacecraft to separate from
>the faulty third stage, jettisoned its orbital module and
>propulsion unit, and initiated a contingency reentry.
>It would land like a normal Soyuz-TMA return, except
>not in either of the two nominal recovery zones in
>Kazakhstan.
The Soviet/Russian space program is the only space program to ever have a successful manned abort during the initial climb to space.
I can think of at least one Gemini (stuck thruster) and Shuttle (bad fuel cell) where they had to come back early.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 24, 2011 7:25:17 PM
Preliminary reports from Roscosmos suggest that a sensor indicated a drop in propellant tank pressure, which triggered the flight computer to command an engine cutoff.
This kind of failure mode is caused more often by a faulty pressure sensor than by an actual loss of tank pressure. Sometimes pressure transducers misbehave, as we have seen countless times with the space shuttle. It's among the most common things that can go wrong with an aerospace vehicle. This would be good news in terms of minimizing any delays to future re-supply missions.
Additionally, this kind of launch failure (premature shutdown of the third stage) would have been survivable if there had been a manned Soyuz-TMA spacecraft in place of an unmanned Progress supply vessel.
It that case, the mission commander of the Soyuz-TMA would have commanded the spacecraft to separate from the faulty third stage, jettisoned its orbital module and propulsion unit, and initiated a contingency reentry. It would land like a normal Soyuz-TMA return, except not in either of the two nominal recovery zones in Kazakhstan.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/24/2011 7:31:03 PM EST]
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Aug 24, 2011 6:26:30 PM
MOSCOW, Russia -- An unmanned Russian supply ship bound for the International Space Station failed to reach its planned orbit Wednesday, and pieces of it fell in Siberia amid a thunderous explosion, officials said. A brief statement from Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, did not specify whether the Progress supply ship that was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan had been lost. But the state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Alexander Borisov, head of a the Choisky region in Russia's Altai province, as saying pieces of the craft fell in his area some 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) northeast of the launch site.
"The explosion was so strong that for 100 kilometers (60 miles) glass almost flew out of the windows," he was quoted as saying. Borisov said there were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry could not be reached for comment. A Roscosmos media officer who refused to be identified said the agency had no immediate comment.
More news...
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 18, 2011 12:09:24 PM
Yep, Canadarm has been a faithful "right-hand" assistant on the space shuttle since STS-3 in 1982. Canadarm 2 has been an important fixture on the Int'l Space Station since 1999. The Canadian Space Agency and Canadians in all territories have every right to be proud of its accomplishments.
In fact, Canadian influence on world aerospace efforts goes all the way back to contributions yielded in the aftermath of "Black Sunday" when the Ministry cancelled the AVRO Arrow (CF-105) program. The "brain drain" out of the great white north benefitted the U.S. and NASA as many made their way here to work on projects Gemini, Apollo and other space efforts around the world.
All programs, whether government funded or private venture (Enron anyone?) is going to experience a certain amount of wasted funds. It just depends on the various degrees of waste, only because humans are a part of the overall equation.
As just one example, the starving children in Somalia situation is a crime against humanity -- not because of the space program -- but because of local warlords hoarding food distribution and aid. You can send in a UN force to keep the peace (which has been done many times over), but until the Somalians decide they've had enough to beat back their own oppressors is when their lot in life will improve, especially when they apply space-based technology for water purification, crop growth and management.
I'll leave you with a couple of detailed thoughts that I alluded to earlier.
Space Exploration Technologies ("SpaceX") is one of the fastest-growing manufacturing companies in the United States. They've grown from five guys in a garage in 2002 to over 1,600 employees today. Their production line at a former Boeing manufacturing facility in Hawthorne (Los Angeles), California is tooling up to produce one Dragon spacecraft every six weeks, one Falcon upper stage every two weeks, and one Falcon booster stage per week, propelled by a production rate of up to 450 Merlin rocket engines per year. That's considerably more rocket engines than the rest of the world's producers combined.
Perhaps more importantly, SpaceX is expected to break the mythical price point of $1,000 per pound of payload to low earth orbit. Nobody else has even come close. Neither Russia nor Europe nor China can touch that price point. SpaceX has come into this extremely difficult industry as a startup from scratch and is beginning to blow away the global competition.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, a South African-American entrepreneur is trying to show that American manufacturing isn't a contradiction in terms. The Western world has just fallen victim to the sprawling globalized supply chains of horizontally-integrated production. SpaceX is slowly succeeding by doing pretty much all of their production in-house. They don't have a thousand parts suppliers around the world each trying to turn a profit. They receive raw materials at one end of the line, and finished aerospace vehicles roll off the other end. They're entirely vertical from the machine shop to mission control, basically a self-contained space program.
Check out this link for behind-the-scenes photos of SpaceX building and testing Falcon launch vehicles and Dragon spacecraft inside their Hawthorne factory and on the pad at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 40. Nothing like hard evidence of Americans (and no doubt many Canadians too) gainfully employed building real hardware.
On the other hand, your son might just appreciate this rock video from Canadian band RUSH.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/18/2011 12:13:09 PM EST]
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 18, 2011 1:31:41 AM
Wspaceport-Hey you got me, I had no idea about Canadians having an "arm" in space. Well, I suppose that doesn't really get into the mainstream media, which is exactly what the article says. I suppose you make a good arguement about over-paid athletes and actors, that is a much bigger waste of money. Well, I think you may have me all debated out on this one. You (and my son)win. I should know better, because even if they cut all these programs they'll waste the money somewhere else and still claim the country is broke.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 16, 2011 11:36:21 PM
Ahhh...now we're getting somewhere. Finally; a civil discourse.
Part of the problem why NASA "hasn't seemed to help very much" is that it has been used as a political football since the Nixon administration back in the 1970's.
True leadership requires a person of vision. There hasn't been any in the White House or on Capitol Hill (which controls the purse strings and direction for NASA) for quite a few decades. The fault of that, however, rests squarely on Main Street U.S.A. and a population more enamored in celebrity/reality TV and overpriced athletes.
As for "If anyone will do it first it will be Russia or China, not the U.S.A." -- I wouldn't bet your grandchilds' milk money if I were you.
As for your claim that "Russia is twelve years ahead technologically," I seriously doubt it, considering their Soyuz-TMA spacecraft are minor incremental improvements over the original design from 44 years ago (which killed cosmonaut Vladimir Komorov on its first flight in 1967). It rides atop an even older design of a booster based on the R-7 "Semyorka" ICBM from the late 1950s.
As for China, they have quietly sat back and watch the U.S. and former U.S.S.R. duke it out, before deciding to essentially copy the Russian technology, which is why their Shenzhou looks like Russia's Soyuz and the first segment of their space station is patterned after the Salyut/Mir complexes.
However, you underestimate the free market/enterprise system, which is why you'll want to remember these words for starters: Elon Musk, SpaceX, Falcon, Dragon, Sierra Nevada Corporation, DreamChaser, Orbital (Sciences Corporation), Cygnus, Boeing, CST-100, Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, New Shepard, Robert Bibelow, BA-330 and fixed-priced commercial space launch services.
You're also ignoring the achievements of your own country.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/16/2011 11:44:56 PM EST]
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 16, 2011 10:29:40 PM
Yeah, I read your articles, we explore and create Spacestions as stepping stones, to eventually get to Mars. Well I already knew that, and I also know it's still utterly ridiculous. If anyone will do it first it will be Russia or China, not the U.S.A. Why waste more money, your country spends and owes enough money for self created wars. They need to start paying back China and fix their economy, which NASA hasn't seemed to help very much with yet.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 16, 2011 2:50:29 AM
nayla2011: "You certainly are the most emotional when it comes to something that has no life at all."
Once again, when it comes to trying to insult me you've demonstrated you're all boost and no payload. Tu es betes comme tes pieds. On t'a bercé trop près du mur?
I also noticed you convenientlly managed to once again avoid the rest of the facts presented in the last post. I see a pattern developing with you in your quest for ignorance.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/16/2011 3:00:26 AM EST]
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 15, 2011 9:48:23 PM
WSpaceport- well, silly me, I almost forgot emotions aren't a part of anything. You certainly are the most emotional when it comes to something that has no life at all. Your picture shows how compassionate you are, might as well have a picture of an ice cube.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 15, 2011 1:12:18 AM
nayla2011: "You somehow have this elite attitude that nobody else can have a point."
No, I have an educated background and firm grasp of the subject matter to know more about it than someone flailing away emotionally as you have so far.
nayla2011:"If NASA is so glorious to you then it should be helping to fix America's economy right?"
Exactly! You see? We actually can agree on something for a change. See also, "Bringing space down to Earth"
nayla2011: "You failed to mention how Space exploration helps humans, maybe I missed that between all the Canadian name calling stuff."
Why should I? There are many others who have already said it -- and in many cases, are more well known in their support for space exploration.
See also the following (but it's going to have to require you to really read everything that's being presented here):
Why we explore
How space exploration contributes to our health
An era ends, but space exploration goes on
Why explore space? (Letter from Ernst Stuhlinger to Sister Mary Jucunda, O.P., a nun who works among starving native children of Zambia, Africa)
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/15/2011 1:16:34 AM EST]
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 14, 2011 10:31:10 PM
O.k. Spaceport, You somehow have this elite attitude that nobody else can have a point. There are hundreds of links on NASA's waste of money. Alright so America has wasted billions if that makes you feel better, so be it. Other countries have done the same, so trillions have been spent and I am against it all. You write about people wasting food to justify this. No matter what America does Russia is twelve years ahead in technology, so why bother to be in a losing race while your economy crumbles. If NASA is so glorious to you then it should be helping to fix America's economy right? Otherwise the bottom line is it is a luxury that cannot be afforded. You failed to mention how Space exploration helps humans, maybe I missed that between all the Canadian name calling stuff.
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Aug 14, 2011 4:53:49 PM
On Aug 14, 2011 1:04:34 AM, WSpaceport wrote:
>BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): The iPhones are being tested as an
>alternative to much more expensive equipment.
Still sounds like a boondoggle to me.
Or is the rumored "iPhone S" has the "S" for "Space?"
I thought the GOLDEN FLEECE AWARD died with Senator Proxmire, but TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE has kept it into perpetuity.
>Before the phones were launched into orbit, NASA reviewed its
>software one final time. Rishikof said it's safe to assume a copy
>of Angry Birds won't make its way on.
Remember, this is the same NASA that launched PCs and DVDs, but forgot to load the DVD player software.
Given all the other on-orbit astronaut toys that are known to exist... why not a few iOS games? Maybe NASA Watch is writing too much...
[Edited by: Sneakers55 at 8/14/2011 4:57:49 PM EST]
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 14, 2011 2:34:16 AM
nayla2011: "remember you dared me to respond"
Actually, I challenged you to prove your claim that NASA (or space exploration in general) is a "Waste of time and money."
So far, you haven't offered a shred of proof, other than just because you said so. You haven't cited any sources to back up your position either, other than going off-topic with wild-eyed claims from the conspiracy gallery.
On the other hand, you stated in one post, "Oh what should I prove? How many trillions have been spent?" (since proven false) while arguing against yourself stating, "Stats and numbers do not make an argument for me" -- so which is it?
I called you out for an intellectual gunfight -- and you bring a knife.
Congratulations. You lose.
Perhaps the words of reknown astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson who "gets it" might put the importance of what this country has been doing for the past 50+ years -- not just for itself, but for the rest of the world (including you Canadians) -- in proper perspective.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/14/2011 2:38:25 AM EST]
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 14, 2011 2:04:34 AM
From multiple news sources:
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): The iPhones are being tested as an alternative to much more expensive equipment.
And, no, the ISS crew aren't just looking to figure out the effects of weightlessness on their Angry Birds games. Nor will they actually use the phones to make any calls — the "phone" features of the iPhone 4s have been disabled for the voyage.
The iOS-based software, called SpaceLab, will come pre-loaded on two iPhone 4s. Testing the software isn't mission-critical, but it may lead to terrestrial commercial devices being repurposed for space in the near future.
"When Apple added gyros to the iPhone, it suddenly became a small avionics platform," said Brian Rishikof, CEO of Odyssey Space Research, the company that designed SpaceLab. "You can imagine using it to do backup functions to recover navigational state. If it has any potential life-saving functions, it suddenly becomes a whole different animal."
Getting any gadget aboard a NASA space shuttle, much less the space agency's very last mission involved a grueling certification process that typically takes up to two years. The device can't off-gas dangerous chemicals into recycled air, interfere with electronics or otherwise compromise mission performance.
The four different experiments while onboard the ISS:
1.) Limb Tracker, a navigation experiment which involves taking photographs of the Earth and matching an arc to the horizon through manipulation of an overlay. This performs the function roughly equivalent to a "manual" horizon sensor.
2.) Sensor Cal (Sensor Calibration), an experiment that uses a series of photos of a reference image, combined with propagated information using three-axis gyro and accelerometer measurements to calibrate the gyros and the accelerometers. This will improve the knowledge and accuracy of subsequent measurements.
3.) State Acq (State Acquisition), a navigation experiment uses a series of photos of a reference image and of the Earth, combined with information from the three-axis gyro and accelerometer, to estimate the position of the spacecraft (latitude and longitude). The position estimation is generated by manipulating and matching a wireframe overlay of the Earth's coastlines to the Acquired Earth image(s).
4.) LFI (Lifecycle Flight Instrumentation), an experiment that will characterize the effects of radiation on the device by monitoring certain areas of memory for Single Bit Upsets - an unintended change in value of a memory location caused by exposure to radiation.
"The potential for using iPhone 4 to both conduct and support in-space research and operations is enormous," said Rishikof. "The opportunity to make the experience accessible to anyone via the App Store will attract a new generation of space supporters."
"We're attempting to show how a commercial product that millions of people use can function as spaceflight hardware," Rishikof said. "Once you demonstrate that it's capable, you begin to wonder what else is possible."
Before the phones were launched into orbit, NASA reviewed its software one final time. Rishikof said it's safe to assume a copy of Angry Birds won't make its way on.
"We don't want to compromise astronauts’ time," he said.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/14/2011 2:11:27 AM EST]
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Aug 14, 2011 12:56:05 AM
In the "why the heck did they do that?" department, there are now two iPhones aboard the Space Station.
I can see having an iOS device on the Space Station... but why an iPhone? An iPad2 is much more useful to run apps. It's not like they have a cell tower in outer space (they may have one, there are some things you would never expect... NASA redacted some data after Expedition 1 talked too much about watching DVDs in the Soyuz) to place an iCall. If you can't place a phone call, why not an iPod Touch?
They are using it for "scientific experiments" but two of the more interesting experiments involves taking pictures of a QR Code in outer space (something I did once at IHOP, FWIW) and keeping an iPhone powered up until it crashes. The less interesting ones aren't much better.
Your tax dollars at work.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 12, 2011 3:26:13 AM
"Anyone who knows how difficult it is to keep a secret among three men - particularly if they are married - knows how absurd is the idea of a worldwide secret conspiracy consciously controlling all mankind by its financial power; in real, clear analysis."
-- Oswald Mosley
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
-- Carl Sagan
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 12, 2011 12:33:15 AM
WSpacecadet- You fear for my son well I fear for you, you tell me I have a closed mind, well you're not only stereo-typing me but you avoid any truth. You refuse any thoughts that don't fit in your tiny little small box. All five of my children are brilliant as is my grandchild. Proud to be an informed Canadian!!!!!!!! Nasa wastes money the end, remember you dared me to respond obviously you can't handle it.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 11, 2011 12:54:31 PM
nayla2011 -- Seriously? Seriously, you need to seek some professional medical assistance. I fear for your son's welfare if this is the type of paranoid belief system you have. I think your CCC (Crazy Canuck Conspiritist) aluminum hat is in need of an adjustment.
http://people.howstuffworks.com/conspiracy-theory.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory
http://www.2spare.com/item_43133.aspx
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/15-11/st_best
http://www.ukskeptics.com/article.php?dir=articles&article=what_are_conspiracy_theories.php
Don't go away angry...Just go away.
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 10, 2011 10:57:55 PM
Wspaceport-watch the documentry 'What in the World are they spraying?' then get back to me about chem-trails. You're telling me to read more, oh please. Condensation would decipate, chem-trails turn into cloud like formations and contain aluminum. Get your head out of space, back into reality. What is your country building under Denver airport, oh probably nothing because their broke, right? Governments depend on people like you.
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Aug 10, 2011 8:43:29 PM
A lot of the space exploration benefits actually came from human space flight's evil twin, the ICBM.
But all the further up we got with an ICBM was 600 miles.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 9, 2011 7:17:08 PM
nayla2011: "I'm sure America doesn't waste any food at all."
Quite to the contrary, Americans waste more than Canadians. On average, roughly $500 worth of food each year.nayla2011: "by the way I would never want for you to be impressed by me."
No worries there...
nayla2011: "You follow the hype, I don't. Maybe your not even old enough to know what is really important, maybe the chem trails gotcha."
No, I'm fine. Those "chem trails" are part of those conspiracy theorists once again -- although realists like me simply call them condensation of aircraft exhaust at high altitude (which have been around since the 1920s before Sir Frank Whittle and the advent of the Jet Age).
I'm also sure I have a couple of decades on you (I was born in 1958, back when the U.S. only had 48 stars on the flag). Therefore I'm also old enough to know what is really important, having lost a younger brother and just learning of a fellow worker (also younger than me with a family) who's just been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 9, 2011 7:05:37 PM
NAYLA2011: "the real debate is..has the world improved because of NASA, you say yes, I say no. Simple"
So, you want simple?
O.K., Remove every product, every convenience, every medical breakthrough, every *anything* that you take for granted without a second thought that simply did not exist prior to, oh, let's just say 1957 for a nice round figure.
Let's see how well you can get along without any of those improvements that were either a direct or indirect result or influence from space exploration.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 9, 2011 6:59:06 PM
nayla2011: "You trust the figures you receive from your Government, whereas I question everything."
Actually, I've been able to get my figures from other, independently produced sources besides the Government Accounting Office. None of them show NASA spending "trillions" (plural) as you assert -- but you keep on questioning, and reside in the comfort of your fantasy world with your dogs and books and cooking -- even when the cold hard facts of reality are right in front of you, telling you you're wrong.
http://www.federalbudget.com/
http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/898/1
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=684
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 9, 2011 4:32:32 PM
Stats and numbers do not make an argument for me, I'm sure America doesn't waste any food at all. That's not the real debate, the real debate is..has the world improved because of NASA, you say yes, I say no. Simple, and by the way I would never want for you to be impressed by me. You follow the hype, I don't. Maybe your not even old enough to know what is really important, maybe the chem trails gotcha.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 9, 2011 12:58:51 AM
nayla2011: "How much classified NASA information are you privy to? All of it I suppose because your tax dollars pay for it, while families starve.
-- Oh, I see . . . you're one of those Canuck Conspiracy Theorists. Forgive me, I had no idea.nayla2011: "This is just another problem with mankind you think because Americans can go into outerspace there is some type of contorted pride that goes along with someone elses' journey. You speak of the problems on Earth and you expect outer space to fix them . . . I stay realistic with an open mind."
-- I stay realistic too. I'm also well informed on many other things -- which is why I know I don't need space technology to solve the "families starving" situation -- not when Single-family households produce about 275 kilograms of food waste each year in Toronto alone.
Canadians are spending $19.5 billion dollars -- roughly equal to NASA's annual budget -- on food they don’t eat, much of which could have been eaten if people had better planned and stored their food purchases.
If the idea of this much waste wasn’t terrible as is, it is scary when put into the context of Canadian society. With over 2.7 million Canadians hungry, and almost 900,000 people visiting food banks each month, this much food waste demonstrates how out of balance the Western World's food system has become; some people are going hungry while others have the ability to waste over half of the food they purchase.
"There's too much abundance, so much food, that we don't know what to do with it," says Wayne Roberts, author and project co-ordinator of the Toronto Food Policy Council, a committee of the Toronto Board of Health that examines food issues as they relate to the environment and poverty.
-----------------------------------------------------
Is this the best you can do with your arguments about space exploration being a waste of time and money? Because so far, I'm not impressed.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/9/2011 1:04:21 AM EST]
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 8, 2011 6:23:36 PM
closed mind...I think not my son devours himself in space related information and I stay well informed. Yet I'm also well informed on many other things. You trust the figures you recieve from your Government, whereas I question everything. You believe that the public will be invited to a Space station? -Oh yeah to help with over population. How much classified NASA information are you preevy to? All of it I suppose because your tax dollars pay for it, while families starve. This is just another problem with mankind you think because Americans can go into outerspace there is some type of contorted pride that goes along with someone elses' journey. You speak of the problems on Earth and you expect outer space to fix them. Imagination overload. I stay realistic with an open mind.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 8, 2011 3:03:57 AM
nayla2011:"The reality is you are here on earth and most of what NASA discovers will never be known by us."
-- Only if you continue to keep a closed mind and don't bother to do a little reading up on the subject.
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WSpaceport
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Message Posted: Aug 8, 2011 2:58:28 AM
@nayla2011 -- Let's just take your opening remark and put it out of its misery for starters, shall we?
@nayla2011: "How many trillions have been spent?"
-- NASA has yet to break the first Trillion dollar mark after 53 years. Year-by-year breakdown in nominal dollars from 1958 to today for NASA amounts to $526.45 billion -— an average of $9.93 billion per year.
When adjusted for inflation, the figure is $843.24 billion, or an average of $15.91 billion dollars per year -- which works out to less than $60 a year per taxpayer (a little more than $1.15 a week or about $0.16 cents a day).
By comparison, the $787 billion "stimulus" package that was rammed through the House and Senate in 2009 alone for the bailout of the Banking, Mortgage and Automotive industries could have funded NASA for the next 41 years.@nayla2011: "You tell me the purpose?"
-- How about nothing less than to promote social, economic, technological, and political change in order to expand civilization beyond Earth, to settle space and to use the resulting resources to build a hopeful and prosperous future for humanity?@nayla2011: "You have the burden of proof here I'm afraid because I can see no logical reason for it, seeing that it is not a necessity. Water is a bigger concern right now, and if half that money was spent trying to clean the water then I think we'd be better off."
-- Except, of course, if this world gets hit by a gamma ray burst, or something a little closer to home that would tend to ruin your entire day.
The human species is encountering increased natural, man-made, and extraterrestrial threats, including disease, resource depletion, pollution, urban violence, terrorism, nuclear war, asteroids, and comets.
Many forms of animal and plant life on Earth are suffering increased loss of population and quality habitat because of the growing presence of humans on planet Earth via expansion, pollution, deforestation, fishing, farming, mining, and promotion of certain species of animals and plants.
Space technology provides both a means to monitor threats to life on Earth and ways to help curtail them. Space industrialization and settlement provide safety valves to relieve the pressures that cause Earth-bound threats. They also provide escape routes in case of catastrophic man-made or extraterrestrial threats. Humanity has inherited the stewardship of the planet Earth. It will therefore need the vast resources of outer space to reverse the damage it has caused to the Earth’s biosphere and ultimately enhance all life on Earth.
[Edited by: WSpaceport at 8/8/2011 3:03:32 AM EST]
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 6, 2011 11:44:30 PM
Well, I dared, now I'm waiting.
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Sneakers55
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Message Posted: Aug 6, 2011 10:21:42 PM
Saw a former co-worker (he's still working but I'm not) Monday. His major comment was ISS is running out of things to do. They stop changing the hardware, they stop changing the software.
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nayla2011
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Message Posted: Aug 5, 2011 11:19:03 PM
By the way you sound a wee bit obsessed by outer space, the reality is you are here on earth and most of what NASA discovers will never be known by us.
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