Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - March 15, 2013 and JSC Today

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: March 15, 2013 6:15:02 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - March 15, 2013 and JSC Today

Happy Friday everyone.  Have a great and safe weekend.

 

Friday, March 15, 2013

 

JSC TODAY HEADLINES

1.            JSC and WSTF Remote Access/VPN Service Outage: March 16, 8 a.m. to Noon

2.            Updates to JSC Hazard Communication and Emergency Response CBT

3.            NASA JSC: 'Engineering and Beyond' With Mike Hess

4.            JSC Annual Picnic at SplashTown on April 28 -- Tickets on Sale March 26

5.            Fly Reduced Gravity Extended

6.            Nominate Your Peer Today

7.            ExxonMobil North and South IAAP Chapters Present 'Step Up to Leadership'

8.            INCOSE Texas Gulf Coast Chapter (TGCC) March 21 Event

9.            Space Available - APPEL - Risk Management I

________________________________________     NASA FACT

" Several studies traveling to station aboard the second SpaceX Dragon involve a small flowering plant called thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana, which is essentially the lab mouse of plant research."

________________________________________

1.            JSC and WSTF Remote Access/VPN Service Outage: March 16, 8 a.m. to Noon

The JSC and White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) Remote Access/VPN services will undergo maintenance on Saturday, March 16, from 8 a.m. to noon (CDT). This outage will affect all JSC and WSTF team members and partners that use the JSC VPN, JSC R2S and WSTF VPN. JSC VPN and R2S will be unavailable during the entire four-hour window while we upgrade to new equipment. The WSTF VPN will also undergo maintenance from 10 a.m. to noon, making both systems unavailable during that time. The WSTF VPN will be available and can be used as an alternate means of remote access to JSC network resources between the hours of 8 and 10 a.m.

We apologize for the inconvenience and are working diligently to improve your VPN experience.  

For questions regarding this activity, please contact Michael Patterson.

JSC IRD Outreach x41334 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/default.aspx

 

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2.            Updates to JSC Hazard Communication and Emergency Response CBT

The annual curriculum, containing JSC Hazard Communication and Emergency Response and Environmental Responsibilities for JSC Employees, is being updated. This action triggered SATERN notices; please ignore them. If you have taken JSC Hazcomm or Environmental Responsibilities, it should be in the Learning History. What's on your Learning Plan is the next due date, since both are annually required. If you have taken JSC Hazcomm (or Environmental Responsibilities) and it's not in your Learning History, please contact JSC SAL.

Jennifer Ahmed-Alonso 281-792-7851

 

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3.            NASA JSC: 'Engineering and Beyond' With Mike Hess

On Tuesday, March 19, the South Western Professional Representatives Association will host Mike Hess, JSC associate director of Engineering. The event will be held at the Bay Oaks Country Club from 11:30 to 1 p.m. Hess' presentation will include an update on the Engineering Directorate's current projects, plans and future initiatives post-shuttle, including ongoing studies and engineering assignments. He will also address the new JETS contract.

The luncheon cost is $35 at the door or $25 for RSVPs by March 15. Please contact David L. Brown for more information.

David L. Brown x37426 http://www.linkedin.com/groups/South-Western-Aerospace-Professional-Repr...

 

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4.            JSC Annual Picnic at SplashTown on April 28 -- Tickets on Sale March 26

SplashTown is closed to the public to allow NASA family and friends to attend a private day at the water park!

Tickets will be on sale from March 26 through April 19 in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops. Tickets will be $33 each for ages 3 and up. After April 19, tickets will be $37.

A ticket includes: private-day admission at SplashTown from noon to 6 p.m., barbecue lunch, beverages, snow cones, kids' games, Bingo, face-painting, a moon bounce, balloon artist, DJ, horseshoes, volleyball, basketball and plenty of thrills!

Don't miss out on the fun, family day at SplashTown.

Event Date: Sunday, April 28, 2013   Event Start Time:12:00 PM   Event End Time:6:00 PM

Event Location: SplashTown

 

Add to Calendar

 

Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/events

 

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5.            Fly Reduced Gravity Extended

Reduced Gravity and the Minority University Research and Education Program at JSC are looking for mentors at ALL NASA centers to submit projects. This is a fantastic opportunity for mentors to develop an experiment for reduced-gravity flight, and then fly with the experiment and the minority-serving university team they will work with. University teams will apply to each of the projects collected from your center's mentors, and 14 teams will be selected. We are hoping to spread the selected projects out across all of the mission directorates, so we need proposals from ALL centers.

The deadline to apply is now close of business Tuesday, March 19.

To submit a project for the program, click here.

For more information, contact Suzanne Foxworth.

Visit our website.

Event Date: Friday, November 8, 2013   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:5:00 PM

Event Location: Johnson Space Center

 

Add to Calendar

 

Suzanne Foxworth x37185 https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/murep/index.cfm

 

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6.            Nominate Your Peer Today

The POWER of One Award has been a great success, but we still need your nominations. We're looking for standouts with specific examples of exceptional or superior performance. Our award criteria below will help guide you in writing the short write-up needed for submittal.

o             Single Achievement: Explain how the person truly went above and beyond on a single project or initiative

o             Affect and Impact: What was the significant impact? How many were impacted? Who was impacted?

o             Standout: What stands out? What extra effort? Did the effort exceed and accomplish the goal?

o             Category: Which category should nominee be in? Gold - agency impact award level; Silver - center impact award level; or Bronze - organizational impact award level.

If chosen, the recipient can choose from a list of JSC experiences and have their name and recognition shared in Inside JSC.

For complete information on the JSC Awards Program, click here.

Jessica Ocampo 281-792-7804 https://powerofone.jsc.nasa.gov

 

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7.            ExxonMobil North and South IAAP Chapters Present 'Step Up to Leadership'

The ExxonMobil North and South Chapters IAAP are excited to offer you the opportunity to "Step Up to Leadership" with valuable administrative training on Saturday, April 6. The training includes topics such as: mentoring, organizing and, of course, leadership. You will leave the university recharged and ready to step up to any challenge. The address is 233 Benmar Dr., Houston, 77060.

Register by emailing: patty.m.inzana@exxonmobil.com

The seminar costs $40 until March 15 and $50 after March 27. Non-IAAP members can pay $45 before March 27 or $50 after March 27. Cost includes breakfast and lunch, 5.5 recertification points towards your CAP designation and much more. Registration begins at 7 a.m., and the event is over at 3 p.m. If you have any questions, contact Cathy Schauffler at 281-654-8677 or Patty Inzana at 281-654-8702.

Time is running out - register today!

Event Date: Saturday, April 6, 2013   Event Start Time:7:00 AM   Event End Time:3:00 PM

Event Location: University at the Exxon Mobil Conference Center

 

Add to Calendar

 

Felicia Saenz x32389

 

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8.            INCOSE Texas Gulf Coast Chapter (TGCC) March 21 Event

The next INCOSE TGCC event on March 21 will feature David Fitts of NASA JSC's Human Systems Engineering and Development Division giving an overview of Human Systems Integration (HSI). Other agencies have integrated human concerns into their systems engineering processes, and NASA/JSC plans to leverage these efforts. The event will be held at the Jacobs Conference Center (on the corner of Medical Center Boulevard and Feathercraft Lane). Refreshments will be provided. The networking/social starts at 5:30 p.m., and the event will kick off at 6 p.m. The location map may be found here. You can email Larry Spratlin or phone 281-461-5218 for questions and to RSVP.

Larry Spratlin 281-461-5218

 

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9.            Space Available - APPEL - Risk Management I

This one-day course enhances knowledge of NASA's approach to managing risk and demonstrates the impact risks have on meeting program and project objectives. It provides an introduction to both Risk Informed Decision Making and Continuous Risk Management in the context of the policies and recommended practices that guide their application.

This course is designed for NASA's technical workforce, including systems engineers and project personnel who seek to develop the competencies required to succeed as a leader of a project team, functional team or small project.

This course is available for self-registration in SATERN until Tuesday, March 19. Attendance is open to civil servants and contractors.

Date: Wednesday, April 3

Location: Building 12, Room 152

Zeeaa Quadri x39723 https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHED...

 

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________________________________________

JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.

 

 

 

 

NASA TV:

·         12:40 pm Central (1:40 EDT) – E35 CDR Chris Hadfield with Prime Minister Stephen Harper

·         3:00 pm Central (4:00 EDT) – Exp 34 farewell & Soyuz TMA-06M hatch closure coverage

·         3:25 pm Central (4:25 EDT) –Soyuz hatch closure approximate

·         6:15 pm Central (7:15 EDT) – Soyuz undocking coverage

·         6:43 pm Central (7:43 EDT) – UNDOCKING

·         8:45 pm Central (9:45 EDT) – Soyuz deorbit burn & landing coverage

·         9:12:44 pm Central (11:04 EDT) – DEORBIT BURN (TGO 4:30 / DV 286 mph)

·         10:05:58 pm Central (11:05:58 EDT) – LANDING northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan

·         Midnight Central (1 am EDT Friday) –File of Exp 34/Soyuz landing & post-landing activities

·         10 am Central SATURDAY (11 EDT) – File of E34 post landing activities, including Interview with Kevin Ford in Kustanai, and the Return of Cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin to Chkalovsky Airfield near Star City

 

Human Spaceflight News

Friday, (Beware the Ides of) March 15, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Dismal weather prompts 24-hour delay for Soyuz landing

 

William Harwood - CBS News

 

Dismal weather in Kazakhstan forced Russian flight controllers to order a one-day landing delay for two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut who are closing out a nearly five-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Soyuz TMA-06M commander Oleg Novitskiy, flight engineer Evgeny Tarelkin and outgoing station commander Kevin Ford had planned to undock from the station's Russian Poisk module at 8:30 p.m. EDT (GMT-4), setting up a touchdown near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, just after 11:56 p.m. (9:56 a.m. March 15 local time).

 

Wintry Conditions Delay ISS Soyuz Crew Landing by 24 Hours

 

Mark Carreau – Aviation Week

 

A Russian state commission called for a rare 24 hour postponement in the scheduled landing of a Soyuz spacecraft carrying three U. S. and Russian International Space Station astronauts late Thursday, when fog and freezing rain prevented helicopter born recovery teams from positioning themselves over the landing zone in northern Kazakhstan. The TMA-06M spacecraft with NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin will undock instead on Friday at 7:43 p.m., EDT, and then prepare for a braking maneuver that will drop the capsule out of orbit at 10:12 p.m. The spacecraft should land under parachute north of Arkalyk under mostly clear conditions at 11:06 p.m., EDT.

 

Bad weather postpones return of 3 astronauts

 

Vladimir Isachenkov - Associated Press

 

Bad weather is delaying the return of three astronauts from the International Space Station. The astronauts were scheduled to land in a Soyuz capsule in central Kazakhstan early Friday morning. But fog and freezing rain prevented Russian rescue helicopters from flying to the touchdown site. NASA's Kevin Ford and Russians Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin will stay at the space station for at least another day. They've been in space for nearly five months. The astronauts had already climbed into their capsule and where waiting to close the hatch when Russian officials called off their departure at the last minute. Their return trip is now set for Saturday, when the weather is expected to be better. Three other astronauts will remain at the space station. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Space station crew landing delayed by foul weather

 

Alissa de Carbonnel - Reuters

 

Three Russian and American astronauts are stuck for one more day aboard the international space station after foul weather delayed their landing on Friday in the steppes of Central Asia. Since October, NASA's Kevin Ford and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin have been aboard the orbiting outpost, a $100 billion research laboratory that flies about 250 miles above Earth. Fog and freezing rain at the landing site in Kazakhstan prevented helicopters from setting up for the crew's return to Earth, NASA TV commentary said during live mission streaming.

 

Russian ice storm keeps trio in orbit on ISS

Flight home now planned for tonight

 

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

 

A planned return to Earth for an International Space Station crew was postponed Thursday because of stormy winter weather at a landing site in Kazakhstan. Fog and freezing rain prevented Russian helicopters and recovery forces from making a two-hour flight from the city of Kustanai to the landing site near Arkalyk in central Kazakhstan. "The weather is really horrible," Victor Solovyev, chief flight director at Russia's Mission Control Center, told the crew.

 

Space Station Crew's Landing Delayed by 'Horrible' Earth Weather

 

Miriam Kramer - Space.com

 

An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are stuck in space for one more day after freezing rain and fog on Earth prevented them from landing in Central Asia on Thursday, NASA officials say. The foul weather, which one Russian space agency official described simply as "horrible," means NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin had to delay their return from the International Space Station for at least 24 hours. The three men have been living in space for 141 days and were preparing to enter their Soyuz spacecraft for a landing on the frigid steppes of Kazakhstan tonight.

 

Briefs:

New Mexico spaceport law, NASA sequestration effects, next CNES head, Garneau drops out

 

Jeff Foust – SpacePolitics.com

 

Legislation that would extend liability indemnification to suppliers of vehicles operating from Spaceport America is now awaiting the signature of the governor of New Mexico. On Monday the New Mexico House passed unanimous a bill that previously passed in the state Senate. The bill, long sought by state officials and Virgin Galactic alike, would extend liability indemnification protections to suppliers of vehicles operating from the spaceport, instead of the just the vehicle operators themselves…

 

Europe, Russia to launch Mars mission to sample soil for signs of life

 

Alissa de Carbonnel - Reuters

 

Europe and Russia signed a deal on Thursday for a joint Mars mission which will bore beneath the Red Planet's surface for soil samples they hope will solve the mystery of whether there is life beyond Earth. Europe's space agency had hoped to work with NASA on the two-spacecraft ExoMars mission but turned to the Russians after the U.S. agency pulled out due to budget shortfalls.

 

Live the story: David Shukman on the space shuttle's final flight

 

David Shukman - BBC News

 

"The atmosphere was really tense because this was the last flight of a space shuttle, so there was a lot of emotion amongst all the NASA people. Huge crowds had turned out. It was one of the most wonderful, uplifting experiences I have ever taken part in."

 

Fly me to the moon--sort of

Space fans can geek out with a visit to Kennedy Space Center

 

Mark Stachiew - Calgary Herald (Postmedia News)

 

The last time I visited Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. was months away from launching the space shuttle for the first time. My recent visit came a little more than a year after the spacecraft was retired. Much has changed at Kennedy in the time between. While there are attempts to hype future projects like the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, which is more theoretical at this point than realistic, much of Kennedy Space Center focuses on past glories such as the Apollo program and the Space Shuttle era, which are rapidly slipping into the rear view mirror of history.

 

Legislators consider measure on rocket noise

 

Laura Martinez - Brownsville Herald

 

Space Exploration Technologies celebrated its 11th anniversary Thursday as state lawmakers continued to work on several pieces of legislation in support of SpaceX, a private space company that wants to build a rocket launchpad in Texas. State Rep. John E. Davis, R-Houston, on Thursday introduced House Bill 1791 before the Economic and Small Business Development Committee that would modify the limits of liabilities of space flight entities. Texas has one of four sites SpaceX is considering. The others are in Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico.

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COMPLETE STORIES

 

Dismal weather prompts 24-hour delay for Soyuz landing

 

William Harwood - CBS News

 

Dismal weather in Kazakhstan forced Russian flight controllers to order a one-day landing delay for two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut who are closing out a nearly five-month stay aboard the International Space Station.

 

Soyuz TMA-06M commander Oleg Novitskiy, flight engineer Evgeny Tarelkin and outgoing station commander Kevin Ford had planned to undock from the station's Russian Poisk module at 8:30 p.m. EDT (GMT-4), setting up a touchdown near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, just after 11:56 p.m. (9:56 a.m. March 15 local time).

 

But around 5 p.m., just a few minutes before the trio was to have floated into the Soyuz and closed hatches in preparation for undocking, Russian flight controllers told them to stand down.

 

"Station, (this is) Moscow," radioed Vladimir Solovyov, the chief Russian flight director. Speaking through a translator, he told the crew "the weather has not improved yet, and I talked to our colleagues in Kazakhstan last night and the weather was really horrible. ... We suggest that we delay the landing."

 

"I understand," Novitskiy replied. "So the landing will be one day later?"

 

"Yes. So please stop all of your preparation activities and resume them tomorrow."

 

The concern was low clouds and freezing rain and snow at the landing site that could have posed problems for recovery crews flying in by helicopter.

 

Assuming the weather cooperates Friday -- and forecasters expected conditions to improve overnight -- Novitskiy and his crewmates will board the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft and close its hatch around 4:25 p.m. Undocking is targeted for 7:43 p.m., setting up a landing around 11:06 p.m.

 

The trio blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 23. Assuming an on-time landing, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will have logged 144 days off planet during their first spaceflight. Ford's time aloft will stand at 158 days, including two weeks aboard the shuttle Discovery in 2009.

 

With the departure of the Soyuz TMA-06M crew, the station will be in the hands of Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield and his crewmates, Roman Romanenko and Thomas Marshburn.

 

Hadfield, a veteran of two space shuttle flights, is the first Canadian astronaut to command a spacecraft.

 

During a brief change-of-command ceremony Wednesday, Expedition 34 commander Ford played "O Canada" from a laptop computer and officially turned the lab complex over to Hadfield.

 

"We're very proud of Chris," Ford said. "We are very proud of Canada as our partner in this International Space Station. We are really proud most of all that the space station is such a fantastic example of international cooperation."

 

Hadfield said commanding the station is a "huge honor and a privilege to me but also for all the people at the Canadian Space Agency... and for my entire country."

 

"So, for the International Space Station program, all the international partners, thank you very much for giving me the keys to the family car," he said. "We're going to put some miles on it, but we'll bring it back in good shape."

 

Wintry Conditions Delay ISS Soyuz Crew Landing by 24 Hours

 

Mark Carreau – Aviation Week

 

A Russian state commission called for a rare 24 hour postponement in the scheduled landing of a Soyuz spacecraft carrying three U. S. and Russian International Space Station astronauts late Thursday, when fog and freezing rain prevented helicopter born recovery teams from positioning themselves over the landing zone in northern Kazakhstan.

 

The TMA-06M spacecraft with NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin will undock instead on Friday at 7:43 p.m., EDT, and then prepare for a braking maneuver that will drop the capsule out of orbit at 10:12 p.m. The spacecraft should land under parachute north of Arkalyk under mostly clear conditions at 11:06 p.m., EDT.

 

Forecasters, both in Russia as well as the U.S. monitored developments throughout the day Thursday in the hours ahead of an anticipated undocking at 8:30 p.m., EDT. As the three astronauts begin to board their spacecraft more than three hours ahead of the scheduled departure, Russian chief flight director Vladimir Solovyov radioed the station crew with the commission's decision to postpone the landing by a day.

 

"The weather has not improved," radioed Solovyov "The weather is really horrible."

 

The wintry conditions prevented Russian helicopters from leaving Kostanay in Kazakhstan earlier in the day for their staging site in Arkalyk.

 

The postponements of Soyuz landings are rare. The most recent occurred in April and September 2009, the first due to poor weather and the second due to a temporary issue with a Russian segment docking mechanism.

 

The delay stretches the Expedition 34 mission for which Ford served as the commander from 143 to 144 says.

 

Upon the undocking Friday, veteran astronaut Chris Hadfield is slated to become the first Canadian to serve as the ISS commander as activities shift to Expedition 35.

 

Space station crew landing delayed by foul weather

 

Alissa de Carbonnel - Reuters

 

Three Russian and American astronauts are stuck for one more day aboard the international space station after foul weather delayed their landing on Friday in the steppes of Central Asia.

 

Since October, NASA's Kevin Ford and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin have been aboard the orbiting outpost, a $100 billion research laboratory that flies about 250 miles above Earth.

 

Fog and freezing rain at the landing site in Kazakhstan prevented helicopters from setting up for the crew's return to Earth, NASA TV commentary said during live mission streaming.

 

A spokesman for the Russian space agency Roskosmos said the landing would be pushed back by one day and is now scheduled for 7:06 a.m. Moscow time (0306 GMT).

 

The crew's descent back to Earth aboard a Russia Soyuz spacecraft will take less than four hours.

 

In preparation for their departure, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield took the helm of the space station on Wednesday, becoming the first Canadian to take command of the outpost.

 

It is only the second time in the 12-year history of the station, a project of 15 nations that has been permanently staffed since November 2000, that command has been turned over to someone who is not American or Russian.

 

Hadfield will be part of a three-man skeleton crew until NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin arrive later this month.

 

Russian ice storm keeps trio in orbit on ISS

Flight home now planned for tonight

 

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

 

A planned return to Earth for an International Space Station crew was postponed Thursday because of stormy winter weather at a landing site in Kazakhstan.

 

Fog and freezing rain prevented Russian helicopters and recovery forces from making a two-hour flight from the city of Kustanai to the landing site near Arkalyk in central Kazakhstan.

 

"The weather is really horrible," Victor Solovyev, chief flight director at Russia's Mission Control Center, told the crew.

 

"It simply is not good enough to fly down to the landing zone in the predawn darkness," NASA mission commentator Rob Navias said.

 

With Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy at the controls, a Soyuz spacecraft had been slated to land around midnight. His crewmates: cosmonaut Evgeny Tarelkin and U.S. astronaut Kevin Ford.

 

A Russian state commission headed by veteran cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev ordered the delay.

The landing now is scheduled to take place at 11:06 tonight. That's 9:06 a.m. local time in Kazakhstan, or about one hour and 45 minutes after sunrise.

 

"The trio just bought a bonus day in space, and I'm sure they are not unhappy about that," Navias said.

 

The weather is expected to improve significantly by then. Mostly clear skies with a few scattered clouds are forecast and conditions are expected to be acceptable for an atmospheric re-entry and landing.

 

The delay is not unprecedented. The returns of two crews in 2009 were each postponed a day, one for bad weather and the other for technical reasons.

 

Ford, Novitzskiy and Tarelkin launched to the station in late October. If they land on Friday, their mission will have included 142 days on the station and 144 days in space.

 

Space Station Crew's Landing Delayed by 'Horrible' Earth Weather

 

Miriam Kramer - Space.com

 

An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts are stuck in space for one more day after freezing rain and fog on Earth prevented them from landing in Central Asia on Thursday, NASA officials say.

 

The foul weather, which one Russian space agency official described simply as "horrible," means NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin had to delay their return from the International Space Station for at least 24 hours. The three men have been living in space for 141 days and were preparing to enter their Soyuz spacecraft for a landing on the frigid steppes of Kazakhstan tonight.

 

"We are waving off landing," NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said during live mission commentary. "No Soyuz landing tonight."

 

The rain and fog in Kazakhstan is not a threat to the Soyuz spacecraft and crew, Navias said. But the recovery helicopters essential for retrieving the astronauts after landing would not be able to make it to their staging grounds for the landing because of bad weather conditions.

 

"I talked to our colleagues in Kazakhstan last night and the weather is really horrible, and a decision was made not to risk, and we suggest that we delay the landing." chief Russian flight director Vladimir Solovyev said through a translator on NASA TV.

 

Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin were originally scheduled to undock their Russian-built Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft at the International Space Station tonight at 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT), with an expected landing of 11:56 p.m. EDT (0356 GMT).

 

Landing is now scheduled to occur on Friday (March 15) at 11:06 p.m. EDT (0206 March 16 GMT), NASA officials said.

 

This is not the first time weather has affected a Soyuz spacecraft's landing. In 2009, another Soyuz craft had its return to Earth delayed by a day because snowy conditions on the ground made the landing potentially unsafe.

 

Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin have spent nearly five months on board the station. The mission is Ford's second spaceflight and the first trip to space for Novitskiy and Tarelkin.

 

When Ford and his two crewmates depart the station, three other spaceflyers — Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, Russian Roman Romanenko and American Tom Marshburn — will remain aboard orbiting lab to await a new set of crewmembers.

 

That new crew will launch on March 28 to ferry cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy to the space station.

 

NASA has relied on Russia's Soyuz crafts ferry astronauts between the Earth's surface and orbit since the retirement of the agency's shuttle program in 2011. Officials with the space agency hope to instead depend on privately built unmanned and crewed spacecraft to bring people and cargo to and from the space station.

 

Briefs:

New Mexico spaceport law, NASA sequestration effects, next CNES head, Garneau drops out

 

Jeff Foust – SpacePolitics.com

 

Legislation that would extend liability indemnification to suppliers of vehicles operating from Spaceport America is now awaiting the signature of the governor of New Mexico. On Monday the New Mexico House passed unanimous a bill that previously passed in the state Senate. The bill, long sought by state officials and Virgin Galactic alike, would extend liability indemnification protections to suppliers of vehicles operating from the spaceport, instead of the just the vehicle operators themselves. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, who advocated for the bill, is expected to sign it.

 

In response to budget sequestration, NASA is pulling back on conference participation and other travel. In a memo issued Wednesday, NASA administrator Charles Bolden issued new guidelines on training, hiring, and travel in light of sequestration. Attendance at conferences within the US is limited to those cases where the event "is essential and/or necessary", with no more than 50 NASA civil service and contractor employees participating. Singled out in the memo are the National Space Symposium and the Goddard Memorial Symposium and Dinner as examples of cases where NASA-funded participation is not allowed; Bolden said in the memo that neither he nor deputy administrator Lori Garver will be at the National Space Symposium in Colorado next month. In addition, participation in foreign conferences is prohibited.

 

The next head of the French space agency CNES is likely to be a familiar face to the commercial space industry. Space News reports Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and CEO of launch services company Arianespace, "is all but certain" to be picked as the next head of CNES in the new few weeks. The current president of CNES, Yannick d'Escatha, will formally retire on March 18.

 

The former president of the Canadian Space Agency and Canada's first man in space won't be seeking higher office any time soon. Marc Garneau announced Wednesday that he will no longer seek the leadership of the Liberal Party, which would have put him in line to become prime minister if the party took power in a future election. Garneau said he made the decision after polling indicated another candidate, Justin Trudeau, had an overwhelming lead.

 

Europe, Russia to launch Mars mission to sample soil for signs of life

 

Alissa de Carbonnel - Reuters

 

Europe and Russia signed a deal on Thursday for a joint Mars mission which will bore beneath the Red Planet's surface for soil samples they hope will solve the mystery of whether there is life beyond Earth.

 

Europe's space agency had hoped to work with NASA on the two-spacecraft ExoMars mission but turned to the Russians after the U.S. agency pulled out due to budget shortfalls.

 

The announcement comes amid heightened excitement over the search for life on the planet in our solar system most like Earth after scientists said analysis from NASA's own mission rover, Curiosity, showed Mars had the right ingredients for life.

 

European scientists say the two-stage mission, with the two craft to be launched in 2016 and 2018, will pave the way for what NASA has described as the "Holy Grail" of Mars exploration: a separate mission to return dirt samples from the Red Planet.

 

"Curiosity learnt us a little bit, ExoMars will bring us a step further, but bringing back those samples to Earth you can do 10 to 100 times more analysis," Rolf de Groot, head of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Robotic Exploration Coordination Office, told Reuters.

 

"That is a goal of everybody who works on Mars exploration."

 

The Europe-Russia mission hopes to take scientists beyond NASA's finding that the surface of Earth's neighboring planet had the right mix of elements to sustain life, by drilling 2 meters (6 feet) below its radiation-hit surface for samples.

 

"NASA is also drilling, but two centimeters deep," de Groot said, referring to the ongoing Curiosity mission. "It's a completely different story."

 

"ExoMars, by drilling 2 meters into the ground, might hope to identify really the big molecules because that would be a direct indication of the presence of life or that life once existed on Mars."

 

He said the ESA's Mars rover would also be equipped with a much more advanced laboratory than Curiosity has, so would be able to carry out more detailed analysis.

 

Russian Rockets

 

Russian Space Agency Roskosmos will provide the rockets to launch the ExoMars - short for Exobiology on Mars - mission and will also design the descent module and surface platform.

 

Europe turned to Russia after NASA left the $1.3 billion project in February 2012, citing a budget crunch. The ESA and Roskosmos agreed to cooperate last April, but talks to work out the details dragged on for nearly a year.

 

"This event was a long time in the making and took a great deal of collaboration," Roskosmos head Vladimir Popovkin said after signing the deal with ESA Director Jean-Jacques Dordain in Paris.

 

Russia's involvement in the ambitious mission could boost the status of its once-pioneering space agency after a litany of costly and embarrassing failures.

 

The delays in agreeing the mission hinged on the extent of Russia's participation, according to Russian space experts who said Moscow had seemed to reach its goal of full partnership.

 

"The agreement implies that Russian scientists and engineers will become full-fledged participants in all the international scientific and technical groups," Roskosmos said in a statement.

 

What was to be Russia's first deep space mission in more than two decades - the Phobos-Grunt mission to scoop up soil samples from Mars - was among five botched launches that damaged Moscow's reputation as a reliable launch partner.

 

European governments have so far committed 850 million euros to the mission. The funding cap has been set at 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) but delays and changes to the scientific aspects of the project are expected to drive up the price tag.

 

Even though NASA pulled out, it will still provide radio communications equipment, an important organics experiment and engineering and mission support.

 

The United States also plans to follow up its Curiosity rover with an identical probe, to launch in 2020. It has not yet decided if it will cache samples for a future return to Earth.

 

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2011 ranked a Mars sample return mission as its top priority in planetary science for the next decade. The long-term goal of the U.S. human space program is to land astronauts on Mars in the 2030s.

 

Live the story: David Shukman on the space shuttle's final flight

 

David Shukman - BBC News

 

"The atmosphere was really tense because this was the last flight of a space shuttle, so there was a lot of emotion amongst all the NASA people. Huge crowds had turned out. A lot of local people and tourists had gathered and there were about a million people in that part of Florida.

 

It was a very hot, sultry day. The atmosphere seemed to be made more electric because of the threat of storms out over the Atlantic.

 

We were gathered there with hundreds of media people, all wanting to be a witness to this moment of space history. My cameraman and I chose a spot that was clear of other people, with a nice view of the launch pad, across a swamp.

 

In the distance you see this enormous tower, like a scaffolding tower, and the white body of the space shuttle attached to the bright orange of the main fuel tank. A very distinctive sight, but three miles away. What I was very interested to try to capture for viewers was not just the sight, because actually we are all quite familiar with what it looks like, but what it feels like.

 

I had heard about the length of time it takes for the sound waves to reach you from the launch pad over three miles away. So, we got ready and there was the countdown. Then there was a silence and then suddenly there's this dazzling light that flashes at you from the base of the launch pad - and that's ignition.

 

Then there's a sound that starts to creep towards you a little bit later and you see the great structure rising past the launch pad and I knew at that, at roughly 20 seconds after the launch, the main waves of sound from the two solid rocket boosters, these great two long cylinders strapped to the side of the shuttle, that those would produce the most bone-shaking kind of sound and these waves of intense, deep crackling came rolling across the swamp towards me.

 

I had been warned that I would feel them inside and then I did. I mean it's one of things that is, stunning when it happens, that your insides do go jelly-like when these waves hit you and it was the most mesmerising experience.

 

The sound was deeper, louder, almost more violent than many things I have ever experienced before and a hush, obviously, fell over the crowds because everybody was just spellbound by this experience of feeling the sound and then watching the rocket just blasting off through the sky, getting lost in the clouds and then occasionally bursts of brilliant white light would come through a gap in the clouds and you knew that the shuttle was accelerating towards 17,000 miles an hour, the speed it needs to get to break free of earth's gravity and make it into orbit.

 

It was one of the most wonderful, uplifting experiences I have ever taken part in."

 

Fly me to the moon--sort of

Space fans can geek out with a visit to Kennedy Space Center

 

Mark Stachiew - Calgary Herald (Postmedia News)

 

Space fans can geek out with a visit to Kennedy Space Center

 

The last time I visited Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. was months away from launching the space shuttle for the first time. My recent visit came a little more than a year after the spacecraft was retired. Much has changed at Kennedy in the time between.

 

While there are attempts to hype future projects like the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, which is more theoretical at this point than realistic, much of Kennedy Space Center focuses on past glories such as the Apollo program and the Space Shuttle era, which are rapidly slipping into the rear view mirror of history.

 

None of that detracts from the attraction. When I visited, I managed to spend an entire day there with my family and we didn't come close to exhausting the activities we could have enjoyed during our visit. And that's on the base ticket which doesn't include upgrades, which allow you to tour special areas such as the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB) or the launch pads.

 

Visitors are free to explore the center at their own pace. Armed with a schedule of events, you can customize your visit to your own taste. The first thing you see as you enter is the "rocket garden," a display of rockets from NASA's history, such as a Jupiter-Redstone from the Mercury missions or an Atlas rocket from the Gemini program. It's the perfect place to peruse your guide as you orient yourself and a place that you will return to a few times throughout the day.

 

We started with one of the day's highlights, the astronaut encounter. People pack an auditorium to hear that day's astronaut describe his experiences. On our visit it was Marcos Pontes, Brazil's first man in space.

 

He was a charming fellow and an entertaining speaker. He told lots of interesting anecdotes and showed some home videos and photos of his time in space, which were fascinating to watch. For the inevitable question from kids in the audience about how they could one day become astronauts, he said that if they want to attain their dreams, they should study hard and persist no matter what obstacles life throws at them.

 

It's probably a lesson that still applies to grownups.

 

Next up, we went on the bus tour which takes about two hours, but can take longer depending on how long you stay at the different sites. The first part of the tour drives by the massive Vertical Assembly Building where the shuttle was coupled to its rocket boosters and external fuel tank. Before that, it was used to assemble the huge Saturn V rockets that were used by the Apollo program that took astronauts to the moon. Hardcore space fans can purchase separate tour tickets that take them inside the building for a close-up tour.

 

You also get to see the crawler that ferried the shuttle out to the launch pad from the VAB, some other launch equipment and take a drive by the Launch Control Center (LCC). Again, there are separate tours for the LCC for those NASA fans who are devoted enough to have memorized the many acronyms NASA likes to use, like the LCC and VAB.

 

From there, you drive out to an observation tower that gives you a panoramic view of launch pad 39-A that was originally built for Apollo, but later modified for use the space shuttle. You can also observe other launch pads used for earlier space missions and still in use today. As well, you can see launch pad 39-B, which is now being modified for the Orion program.

 

With the nearest launch scheduled nearly a month away, the area was quiet, but it was easy enough to imagine what it was like when throngs of people would come to cheer on the astronauts as they rode on rockets roaring into space.

 

To help you in the imagination department, visitors can hop on the shuttle bus to the next stop on the tour, which is a re-enactment of the Apollo 8 launch, the second manned Apollo mission after the disastrous Apollo I fire that claimed the lives of three astronauts. Apollo 8 also had the distinction of being the first in the program where astronauts flew to the moon and back, although they only flew around it and didn't land.

 

The climax of the tour is at the next stop, the Apollo exhibit that features an honest-to-goodness Saturn V rocket, still the largest rocket ever built. Close up, it is truly gargantuan. When I was there back in the day, the Saturn V was sitting on its side in front of the visitor center, slowly rusting in the sun. It's now housed in a modern facility that lets you admire it from stem to stern.

 

Also on display are a lunar lander that was never used, a lunar rover, a command module and even a piece of moon rock that you can touch. There is a movie theatre and several other displays of historical artifacts from the lunar program.

 

We returned to the visitor center and had our choice of two IMAX movies to watch. There was one about the Hubble space telescope and another about the International Space Station. We'd seen the latter, so we went for the former. All I can say is that seeing those dazzling space views on the towering IMAX screen in 3D makes them even more awe-inspiring.

 

The next item on the agenda, and the most popular with my kids, and probably the grownups as well, was "The shuttle experience." It's a flight simulator that is supposed to recreate the sensations of a space shuttle launch. After an amusing introductory video, visitors enter the simulator which lets them imagine they are sitting in a module in the shuttle's cargo bay.

 

There is a lot of shaking and rattling, inversions and rolls worthy of a roller-coaster ride. About the only thing missing are the high G-forces that a real astronaut would encounter, but it's still a lot of fun.

 

Once that's done, you can take a sneak peek at a real space shuttle, the Atlantis. It was only rolled out to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex on November 2 so it's still not ready for display. The special building that will house it is still under construction, but when it opens next summer, it should be a star attraction at a site that already has its share of star attractions.

 

If you go:

 

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center is located on Florida's "Space Coast." You can visit on a day trip from Orlando, but you'd be better off staying near the ocean in a place like Titusville or Cocoa Beach.

 

All the info you'll need for your visit can be found a: www.kennedyspacecenter.com

 

Legislators consider measure on rocket noise

 

Laura Martinez - Brownsville Herald

 

Space Exploration Technologies celebrated its 11th anniversary Thursday as state lawmakers continued to work on several pieces of legislation in support of SpaceX, a private space company that wants to build a rocket launchpad in Texas.

 

State Rep. John E. Davis, R-Houston, on Thursday introduced House Bill 1791 before the Economic and Small Business Development Committee that would modify the limits of liabilities of space flight entities.

 

Texas has one of four sites SpaceX is considering. The others are in Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico.

 

The Texas option is east of Brownsville at Boca Chica Beach on the eastern end of Texas Highway 4, about three miles north of the Mexican border and about five miles south of Port Isabel and South Padre Island.

 

At Thursday's committee hearing, Caryn Schenewerk, counsel and director of government affairs for SpaceX, testified that Texas is high on the list for the future site of a launch facility for the company's rockets.

 

"We have progressed the furthest in our conversations with the state of Texas as Elon (Musk) testified; it is the leader at this point" compared to the other locations, Schenewerk said.

 

According to the Federal Register, SpaceX proposes to build a vertical launch area and a control center to support up to 12 commercial launches per year. The vehicles launched include the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and smaller reusable, suborbital space vehicles. Musk said he hopes to select the launch site this year.

 

"Part of what we do is, we make a lot of noise and we are going to get a lot of attention. There is nothing more thrilling … than seeing a launch. It is a very powerful and inspiring experience," Schenewerk said.

 

"We want to be somewhere where our activity is valued." she added.

 

The SpaceX official testified that what SpaceX is doing is a capital-intensive endeavor and before the company chooses a site it wants to ensure that it will face no last-minute legal issues that might prevent rocket launches.

 

"We don't want the one-in-10,000 person who wants to stop our activities and tries to get, for example, an injunction against the noise it will create. We want to know that we come to a community and to a state that values that noise," she said.

 

The California-based company founded by billionaire Musk has a site in McGregor, Texas, that conducts rocket tests at that facility and residents there are happy to be part of SpaceX, Schenewerk said.

 

"We hear people from McGregor say, 'When I hear the sound of those rockets being tested, I hear money coming into my cash register at my business and I hear jobs being created in my county and my area,'" she told the committee.

 

Getting the state to approve legislation that will prevent individuals from filing legislation against SpaceX because of noise issues is a key for the company, officials said.

 

"We are not asking to be exempt from any liability if something should happen. … This is about noise. This is about someone being able to shut down our business over noise or that kind of activity," Schenewerk said.

 

A citizen near the McGregor site filed a complaint against SpaceX because of the noise and the company was cited for "wrongful misconduct," but it was dismissed since it was filed in the wrong county, Schenewerk said. She said the man did not pursue a civil injunction or engage the company in civil litigation; however, she added, it would have been costly if he had done so.

 

Schenewerk said the noise issue will be discussed with other sites under consideration. "It will be one of many things that we will consider and will be a component that would make any state or location more desirable than other states and locations."

 

Also testifying before the committee was Brad Parker of the Trial Lawyers Association, who cautioned lawmakers about the proposed bill. He said it could set precedence for other businesses that might try and do the same thing.

 

"We understand and appreciate what SpaceX is going to do, but what we are concerned about is that this injunction would not only apply to SpaceX but to competitors that may not be as community friendly," Parker said.

 

He said lawmakers and the Trial Lawyers Association are working on a bill that would address the issue.

 

The bill was left pending and will be discussed at a later date.

 

Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez testified one day earlier before the Special Purpose Districts in support of HB 545, also introduced by Davis, which would allow municipalities to authorize the creation of a spaceport development corporation.

 

Although Cameron County already has a spaceport corporation, the bill would give other cities and counties the opportunity to do the same.

 

Martinez said the bill gives municipalities the options to set up their own corporations rather than having to join with another entity.

 

"I think the way the space industry is going, I think you need to have a bunch of autonomy so that any possible hiccups could be solved in different ways," the mayor said.

 

This bill also was left pending and will be discussed at a future date.

 

END