Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - March 8, 2013 and JSC Today

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: March 8, 2013 7:34:02 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - March 8, 2013 and JSC Today

 

Happy Friday everyone.   Glad to see all of you that were able to join us at our monthly Retiree luncheon yesterday.  Have a great and safe weekend.

 

 

 

Friday, March 8, 2013

 

JSC TODAY HEADLINES

1.            Orion Exploration Design Challenge Annoucement for Students to be Televised Monday

2.            Communications Services Office (CSO) Desktop Mobile Video Conferencing (DMV) Pilot Service

3.            Visit the George Observatory Over Spring Break

4.            Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting: March 12

5.            AIAA March Dinner Meeting

6.            Parent's Night Out at Starport: March 29

7.            Starport's Sunrise Spinning -- Registration Now Open

8.            Russian Phase One Language Course -- For Beginners

9.            Machine Guarding Seminar ViTS: March 25

10.          Confined Space Entry - 8:30 a.m.; and Lockout/Tagout - 1 p.m. -- March 22, Building 20, Room 205/206

________________________________________     NASA FACT

" In Fiscal Year 2012, nearly $23 million was obligated to contracts performed by veteran-owned businesses in Texas."

________________________________________

1.            Orion Exploration Design Challenge Annoucement for Students to be Televised Monday

NASA and Lockheed Martin Corp. will involve students in the flight test of NASA's Orion spacecraft through an Exploration Design Challenge to be unveiled at JSC on Monday, March 11. Leland Melvin, associate administrator for education, will announce details of the STEM challenge at 10:30 a.m. CDT in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Marillyn Hewson, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, will speak.

The event will be broadcast on NASA TV. JSC employees with wired computer network connections can view NASA TV using onsite IPTV on channels 404 (standard definition) or 4541 (HD).  If you have problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367.

The Exploration Design Challenge was developed under a Space Act Agreement between NASA and Lockheed Martin, with support from the National Institute of Aerospace in Hampton, Va.

JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111

 

[top]

2.            Communications Services Office (CSO) Desktop Mobile Video Conferencing (DMV) Pilot Service

The Desktop Mobile ViTS (DMV) Pilot is an expansion of the CSO Video Conferencing Service (ViTS). It allows desktop and mobile clients to connect to our existing ViTS service. DMV users can dial-in and join existing ViTS conferences much like our ViTS conference rooms. The service will have a limited number of accounts available per center and is based on the Vidyo product, which is available for use on the following systems:

o             Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit)

o             Macintosh OS X 10.5 Leopard and later (Intel CPUs only)

o             iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad

o             Android

For the DMV Pilot, there will be a limited number of accounts available for each center.  To request an account, please request via the Enterprise Service Desk (ESD). Click on "Order Services," then click on "Collaboration Services." Select "Desktop Mobile ViTS (offered as a pilot)."

Additional information on how to download the product will be provided dependent upon approval of your request. The DMV Pilot service is at no cost to the customer during the pilot phase, but if it should become a production service, there will be a cost associated with the service. DMV Pilot users will be asked to complete surveys concerning the service and future production costs and operations.

For information, please contact the NASA Teleconferencing Center (NTC):  1-877-857-6272  or the Enterprise Service Desk: https://esd.nasa.gov/secure/main.cfm

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

 

[top]

3.            Visit the George Observatory Over Spring Break

George Observatory will be open extra hours for spring break week. The observatory will be open Tuesday, March 12, and Thursday, March 14, from 5 to 10 p.m. Stop by and look at the stars! For more information on the George Observatory, click here.

Note: Park entrance fees apply -- $7 per person for everyone over 12 years old.

Megan Hashier 281-226-4179 http://www.hmns.org/?option=com_content&view=article&id=107&Itemid=115

 

[top]

4.            Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting: March 12

"Listen and learn" is the slogan Al-Anon members use to adapt to the changes that life brings our way. Our 12-step meeting is for co-workers, families and friends of those who work or live with the family disease of alcoholism. We meet Tuesday, March 12, in Building 32, Room 146, from 11 to 11:45 a.m. Visitors are welcome.

Event Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2013   Event Start Time:11:00 AM   Event End Time:11:45 AM

Event Location: Building 32, room 146

 

Add to Calendar

 

Employee Assistance Program x36130 http://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/EAP/Pages/default.aspx

 

[top]

5.            AIAA March Dinner Meeting

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)-Houston Section would like to welcome Wayne Hale Jr. as our speaker for the next AIAA dinner meeting on the evening of March 28 at the Gilruth Center. Non-AIAA members are more than welcome to attend.

Deepwater offshore drilling rivals orbital space launch for engineering complexity, extreme environments and technological challenge. The major failure in the Gulf of Mexico mirrors the Challenger and Columbia accidents. Hale will discuss the April 2010 Macondo accident as a case study for all involved in a high-reliability organization looking to learn from past mistakes to prevent accidents in one's own field of endeavor.

Please join us for an enlightening evening by sending your RSVP and making your dinner selection at the AIAA Houston Section's website.

Event Date: Thursday, March 28, 2013   Event Start Time:5:30 PM   Event End Time:9:00 PM

Event Location: Gilruth Center

 

Add to Calendar

 

Eryn Beisner x40212

 

[top]

6.            Parent's Night Out at Starport: March 29

Enjoy a night out on the town while your kids enjoy a night with Starport. We will entertain your children with a night of games, crafts, a bounce house, pizza, a movie, dessert and loads of fun!

When: Friday, March 29, from 6 to 10 p.m.

Where: Gilruth Center

Ages: 5 to 12

Cost: $20/first child and $10/each additional sibling if registered by the Wednesday prior to the event. If registered after Wednesday, the fee is $25/first child and $15/additional sibling.

Register at the Gilruth Center front desk. Click here for more information.

Event Date: Friday, March 29, 2013   Event Start Time:6:00 PM   Event End Time:10:00 PM

Event Location: Gilruth Center

 

Add to Calendar

 

Shericka Phillips x35563 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

[top]

7.            Starport's Sunrise Spinning -- Registration Now Open

Renew your senses and invigorate your mind and body with a 60-minute outdoor Spinning class that will conclude as the sun rises. This motivational endurance ride is great for all levels. Light refreshments will be provided after class. Reserve your spot now; this class WILL fill up!

Starport's Sunrise Spinning

o             March 31

o             6 to 7 a.m.

o             Early Registration | $10 per person (March 8 to 22)

o             Regular Registration | $15 per person (March 23 to 30)

For more information about this Spinning class, or for those interested in biking or running in to the Gilruth that morning, please contract Kerri Knotts.

Event Date: Sunday, March 31, 2013   Event Start Time:5:45 AM   Event End Time:7:15 AM

Event Location: Gilruth Live Oak Pavillion

 

Add to Calendar

 

Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov

 

[top]

8.            Russian Phase One Language Course -- For Beginners

Russian Phase One is an introductory course designed to acquaint the novice student with certain elementary aspects of the Russian language and provide a brief outline of Russian history and culture. Our goal is to introduce students to skills and strategies necessary for successful foreign language study that they can apply immediately in the classroom. The linguistic component of this class consists of learning the Cyrillic alphabet and a very limited number of simple words and phrases, which will serve as a foundation for further language study.

Who: All JSC-badged civil servants and contractors with a work-related justification.

Dates: April 1 to 26

When: Monday through Friday, 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. or 4 to 5 p.m.

Where: Building 12, Room 158A

Please register through SATERN. The registration deadline is March 26.

Natalia Rostova 281-851-3745

 

[top]

9.            Machine Guarding Seminar ViTS: March 25

This course is designed to provide an overview or refresher of hazards, needs and requirements for those who may use machines and machinery during the performance of their duties. Basic requirements from NASA and Occupational Safety and Health Administration machine-guarding standards will be discussed, along with an overview of protective devices and procedures. The course includes quick review various types of common machinery used at NASA and the safety standards relating to those types of machines. The course is intended as a refresher for those who have taken SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0204, Machinery and Machine Guarding, and have the need to use machinery in the performance of their duties, and/or for those with safety oversight/inspection responsibilities for operations where machinery is used. There will be a final exam associated with this course, which must be passed with a 70 percent minimum score to receive course credit. Use this direct link for registration.

https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Shirley Robinson x41284

 

[top]

10.          Confined Space Entry - 8:30 a.m.; and Lockout/Tagout - 1 p.m. -- March 22, Building 20, Room 205/206

Confined Space Entry

The purpose of this course is to provide employees with the standards, procedures and requirements necessary for safe entry to and operations in confined spaces. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard 29 CFR 1910.146, "Confined Space," is the basis for this course. The course covers the hazards of working in or around a confined space and the precautions one should take to control these hazards. A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Lockout/Tagout

The purpose of this course is to provide employees with the standards, procedures and requirements necessary for the control of hazardous energy through lockout and tagout of energy-isolating devices. OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.147, "The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)," is the basis for this course. A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Shirley Robinson x41284

 

[top]

 

________________________________________

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.

 

 

 

 

DON'T FORGET: spring forward Sun. to Daylight Savings Time. Reset those clocks Sat. night!

 

 

Human Spaceflight News

Friday, March 8, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

House protects some billboard NASA programs in funding measure, now it's the Senate's turn to vote

 

Lee Roop - Huntsville Times

 

Two high-profile NASA programs - the Space Launch System (SLS) and commercial crew development - received funding increases, not cuts, for this fiscal year in budget legislation passed by the House Wednesday. But their fate isn't clear with the Senate also debating funding for the remainder of FY 2013. The House adjourned for the week Wednesday after passing a continuing funding resolution (CR) for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. The goal of the House was to channel the ongoing budget battles in Washington into a fight over next year's 2014 budget, not shut down the government in budget gridlock this year with sequestration already under way.

 

Is space tourism beginning to take off?

 

Mark Matthews - Orlando Sentinel

 

Sending people into space is a tough way to make a buck. Not only is it risky, but it's tough to turn a profit given the sky-high cost of rocketing into the upper atmosphere or beyond. But recently, a handful of entrepreneurs, marketers and yes, even rocket scientists, have announced plans to build private space stations, blast astronauts back to the moon and even mount the first crewed expedition to Mars. As important, they're looking at new ways to pay for it, including an Axe body spray promotion that would send 22 contest winners into space. Led by SpaceX of California, which recently delivered another round of supplies to the International Space Station, the combined efforts have given rise to hopes that the long-awaited era of private space exploration is -- finally -- about to begin.

 

Flying high: Next ISS crew set to reach station in record time

 

Russia Today

 

The next crew to set off for the International Space Station may reach it in a record six hours, far outstripping the current time of two days. The quicker trip is now possible thanks to a launch trajectory, which is currently undergoing tests. The 35th space mission to the ISS consists of a Russian-US crew and includes cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin together with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. The launch is scheduled on March 28 at 2043 GMT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

 

Space Station to Forecast Natural Disasters

 

RIA Novosti

 

The crew of a new expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) will install special equipment to monitor Earth's atmosphere and forecast natural disasters, ISS-36 Crew Commander Pavel Vinogradov said on Thursday. The new crew, which will lift off from the Baikonur space center on the night of March 28 abroad a Soyuz-TMA-08M carrier rocket, will install the equipment on the outer surface of the station's Russian segment during one of the four spacewalks, he said.

 

A Closer Look at Orbital's Antares Rocket and Cygnus Freighter

 

Doug Messier - Parabolic Arc

 

With the first launch of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Antares rocket set for about a month from now, I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a closer look about both the launch vehicle and the Cygnus freighter that will carry cargo to the International Space Station later this year. The medium-lift Antares rocket is an international collaboration. Orbital is the prime integrator and has overall responsibility for systems engineering, avionics, primary structure, testing and software. It also has responsibility for the first stage development and integration.

 

Kennedy Space Center visits by China is illegal, Wolf says

NASA chief disagrees with Va. congressman

 

Ledyard King - Florida Today

 

A congressman says NASA broke a national security law last year by failing to notify Congress about two visits Chinese officials made to the Kennedy Space Center, a charge the agency flatly denies. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said the visits — one in June and one in December — were barred by a measure he authored in 2011 requiring NASA facilities such as KSC to give lawmakers at least 14 days notice before hosting "official Chinese visitors." Wolf said he learned about the 2012 visits to KSC on Thursday, in a letter from NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. Bolden emphasized in the letter that NASA has complied with Wolf's 2011 security law by declining "all bilateral engagement with China and Chinese-owned companies."

 

Serious Intent About 2018 Human Mars Mission

 

Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week

 

 

If Dennis Tito has his way, when NASA launches a stripped-down version of the robotic Mars Curiosity rover toward the red planet in 2020, a middle-aged married couple with good mechanical skills and "resilient" personalities will be offering first-hand commentary to reporters at Cape Canaveral on what the planet looks like from 100 mi. up. Even if the Inspiration Mars Foundation that Tito is bankrolling for two years from his own deep pockets never gets its human Mars-flyby mission off the ground, the world's first space tourist believes it will have given the U.S. space endeavor a much-needed boost. Benefits will accrue via technical data for future attempts, possible medical breakthroughs needed for deep-space travel and, yes, inspiration.

 

SpaceX billionaire Musk expected at Texas Capitol as state tries landing new spaceport

 

Associated Press

 

SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk travels to the Texas Capitol as the state tries to make the Rio Grande Valley the newest launch site for private space flights. Lawmakers say Texas is competing with Florida and Puerto Rico for a commercial SpaceX spaceport. Anthony Gray, who's an aide to Democratic state Rep. Rene Oliveria, said Musk on Friday is to attend a House Appropriations Committee meeting.

 

'We the People' seek to double NASA budget – at least

Is 1% of the total US budget too much to spend on space?

 

Rik Myslewski - The Register (UK)

 

Calling all space fans: point your browser to the Obama White House's "We the People" petition website and sign onto an effort to ensure that NASA is funded to at least 1 per cent of the US annual budget. "NASA advances our nation when well-funded;" the petition argues, "by guaranteeing that no less than 1 per cent of federal spending will be on NASA, we promote job creation, encourage creativity in the economy, and gain insight on our universe."

 

Space station dream closer

 

Xin Dingding - China Daily

 

A space lab will be launched in two years ahead of a key fueling experiment vital for the building of a space station, a leading official with the manned space program said. Shortly after the lab goes into orbit, a freighter will be launched. Tests and research on the freighter technology have produced encouraging results, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the manned space program and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The space lab, Tiangong-2, will be built using backup craft for the Tiangong-1 space module. Tiangong-1 was launched in September 2011. Tiangong-2 will have a number of upgrades and modifications, the most important being its ability to refuel from the freighter, he said.

 

When NASA Blew Holes In Arizona for Apollo

 

Amy Shira Teitel - Discovery News

 

NASA knew full well that the Apollo lunar landing missions were risky, and it took steps to minimize the chances of losing astronauts in space. Redundancies were built into the spacecraft, and astronauts and technicians alike spent hours simulating missions. Mission planners also used simulations to anticipate as many aspects of a lunar mission as possible, going so far, in 1967, as recreating the moon in northern Arizona. The Arizonian landscaping was part of the Astrogeology Research Program, a joint undertaking between NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Beginning in 1963, the idea was to give Apollo astronauts as realistic a training ground as possible for their eventual EVAs on the lunar surface.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

House protects some billboard NASA programs in funding measure, now it's the Senate's turn to vote

 

Lee Roop - Huntsville Times

 

Two high-profile NASA programs - the Space Launch System (SLS) and commercial crew development - received funding increases, not cuts, for this fiscal year in budget legislation passed by the House Wednesday. But their fate isn't clear with the Senate also debating funding for the remainder of FY 2013.

 

The House adjourned for the week Wednesday after passing a continuing funding resolution (CR) for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. The goal of the House was to channel the ongoing budget battles in Washington into a fight over next year's 2014 budget, not shut down the government in budget gridlock this year with sequestration already under way.

 

In the measure passed by the House 267-151, NASA would get $2.119 billion for SLS this year, up from $1.86 billion budgeted in FY 2012, and commercial space would get $525 million, up from $406 million. NASA's center in Huntsville is developing the booster that is the core of SLS. The House made cuts to make room for those increases in overall space operations and cross-agency support, the housekeeping section of NASA's budget.

 

U.S. Reps. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, and Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, both voted for the CR, as did the remainder of the Alabama House delegation except U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, who voted against.

 

The CR is now in the Senate, where Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, is reportedly working closely with Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., on a funding bill that can pass the upper body. Mikulski is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Shelby is the ranking Republican member. Washington reports have highlighted Shelby's cooperation, saying it offers real hope that the committee will reach a funding deal that can pass.

 

But unless the Senate rubber-stamps the House bill, whatever it passes will have to go back to the House for final approval. The current CR runs out March 27, so there is time for that.

 

Reports from Washington suggest the Senate will keep the overall spending amount in the House CR, but try to add more individual agency appropriations. Mikulski has reportedly given up on her hopes for an Omnibus funding measure that would set budgets for all federal agencies.

 

What about sequestration? The measure passed by the House locks in the overall funding cuts required by sequestration, and the Senate isn't expected to roll sequestration back at this time. But the House bill does give the Pentagon some leeway in making the cuts. It allows the Pentagon to shift some money into its Operations and Maintenance account to fund critical readiness areas such as training and weapons maintenance.

 

Is space tourism beginning to take off?

 

Mark Matthews - Orlando Sentinel

 

Sending people into space is a tough way to make a buck. Not only is it risky, but it's tough to turn a profit given the sky-high cost of rocketing into the upper atmosphere or beyond.

 

But recently, a handful of entrepreneurs, marketers and yes, even rocket scientists, have announced plans to build private space stations, blast astronauts back to the moon and even mount the first crewed expedition to Mars. As important, they're looking at new ways to pay for it, including an Axe body spray promotion that would send 22 contest winners into space.

 

Led by SpaceX of California, which recently delivered another round of supplies to the International Space Station, the combined efforts have given rise to hopes that the long-awaited era of private space exploration is -- finally -- about to begin.

 

"People are thinking in big terms, which wasn't happening before," said Marco Caceres, a senior space analyst with the Teal Group, which tracks the aerospace and defense industries.

 

Consider:

 

·         The January sale of 22 suborbital flights by XCOR Aerospace to the parent company of Axe body spray. The flights are the centerpiece of a global marketing campaign, which included a Super Bowl commercial and a contest that has attracted more than 500,000 aspiring astronauts eager to win a seat.

 

·         A landmark deal in January between NASA and Bigelow Aerospace that gives the Nevada company a $17.8 million contract to attach one of its in inflatable habitats to the space station. The milestone is one step toward the construction of private space stations for use by foreign space agencies and maybe tourists -- the ultimate goal of hotelier Robert Bigelow.

 

·         The announcement in late February of a privately financed fly-by of Mars set to begin in 2018. Multi-millionaire Dennis Tito, the first space tourist, hopes to take advantage of a rare planetary alignment between Earth and Mars to send two people, a man and a woman, on the 501-day expedition. A release noted it would be "funded primarily through private, charitable donations."

 

·         Plans to resume human flights to the moon. The Apollo redux missions would cost $1.5 billion apiece and could launch by the end of the decade. Like Bigelow Aerospace, the company – Golden Spike -- aims to attract foreign space agencies and tourists. The venture would use existing spacecraft or those under development.

 

The moon effort is being led by ex-NASA official Alan Stern, who is blunt about the biggest challenge for him and other space entrepreneurs.

 

"How do you fund this? How do you make a business of this?" Stern said. "That's our Apollo."

 

Even with an annual budget of about $18 billion, NASA hasn't sent people to the Moon since 1972, and it's never attempted a manned flight to Mars.

 

By Stern's estimate, it would cost $8 billion to develop the rockets, capsules, space suits and other infrastructure needed for the first trip to the lunar surface. To pay for it, he's trying several ideas.

 

First, he's soliciting wealthy adventurers and foreign space agencies. Next, he intends to turn each lunar launch into the space equivalent of the Olympics, with plenty of advertising and sponsorship opportunities. The company even has launched a 10-week crowd-funding effort on the online site Indiegogo aimed at raising $240,000 -- roughly a dollar for every mile to the moon.

 

XCOR Aerospace, a California-based space plane and tourism company that has considered launching from Kennedy Space Center, is pioneering the marketing of space tourism.

 

XCOR's sale of 22 flights to the UK-based Unilever Group for its Axe Apollo campaign has raised the profile of its expeditions, which are designed to blast two people -- a pilot and tourist -- to about 328,000 feet for five-minute stays in the weightless environment of sub-orbital space.

 

It's a publicity boon for Axe -- which now has a way to advertise directly to the 540,000 people who've signed up for the contest – as well as for XCOR, which has yet to fly a single tourist. (Test flights are expected to start this year with "paid participant" flights, at $95,000 apiece, in early 2014).

 

"It makes a lot of sense. What captures the imagination more than spaceflight?" said Andrew Nelson, chief operating officer of XCOR.

 

His company also has a competitor – Virgin Galactic, founded by billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson – that wants to launch tourists to sub-orbital space aboard six-passenger space planes for $200,000 each. At least 530 people have made reservations with the New Mexico-based business.

 

This explosion of recent commercial ventures is due to several factors, starting with NASA's retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 without an immediate replacement, said Caceres of the Teal Group.

 

New commercial providers stepped into the void, starting with SpaceX and its founder, Internet tycoon Elon Musk. After getting seed money from NASA, SpaceX built a rocket and capsule and won a $1.6 billion contract to ferry supplies to the station.

 

Caceres said the NASA contract has allowed SpaceX to pursue its goal of lowering the cost of rocket launches, which in turn will enable other companies to orbit satellites and habitats more cheaply. These ultimately could be key in developing a space economy that could support ambitious human missions.

 

Still, Caceres cautioned that the recent spate of headline-grabbing ventures doesn't mean the "final frontier" is about to become the next economic hot spot.

 

"The potential is there but not in the short term. It's the medium term. I don't see huge amounts of money in the short term," he said.

 

Key is a better global economy -- which will free up more investment -- and the normalization of supply runs to the station and tourism trips by XCOR and Virgin Galactic to sub-orbital space.

 

"You need dreamers," said Caceres. "But you need that in unison with real commercial ventures like SpaceX that have proven themselves."

 

Flying high: Next ISS crew set to reach station in record time

 

Russia Today

 

The next crew to set off for the International Space Station may reach it in a record six hours, far outstripping the current time of two days. The quicker trip is now possible thanks to a launch trajectory, which is currently undergoing tests.

 

The 35th space mission to the ISS consists of a Russian-US crew and includes cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin together with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. The launch is scheduled on March 28 at 2043 GMT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

 

The new fast-track trajectory has the rocket launching shortly after the ISS passes overhead.

 

Normally it takes Soyuz capsules two days to reach the orbiting laboratory after launch. Vinogradov, Misurkin and Chris Cassidy are set to make the trip faster than any other astronauts before them - in just six hours. Docking is set for 0231 GMT on March 29. The planned duration of the expedition is 168 days. The crew will undertake a scientific program involving dozens of experiments, unload four Russian "Progress" cargo spaceships and also conduct a series of spacewalks.

 

One of the reasons given in the past for having the two-day or even three-day flight in the Soyuz was to allow the crew members time to acclimatize to being in zero-gravity.

 

The actions of the cosmonauts will be the same as what they do on a two-day profile, according to the participant of 35th space expedition to ISS, Chris Cassidy. Normally they go to bed and have a period of time on the next day when cosmonauts just monitor the vehicle.

 

"On our mission it all will happen in a tight sequence of six hours. We have periods of about 45 minutes or so in between these maneuvers – it's a bit of downtime, but technically that's how it's possible. There's tighter constraints on where the space station can be on launch time than on a typical profile the space station has a little more leeway on where can it be at the time of launch," added Cassidy.

 

The fast-track trajectory is not a completely new practice, with the method already being tested on cargo vehicles. But now they will 'try to do it on the manned vehicles,' head of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Sergey Krikalev told NASA TV.

 

"Now we have onboard new machinery and new software, so the vehicle is more autonomous, so it's possible to do a lot onboard the vehicle and to calculate the burns so they don't consume a lot of fuel," added the former cosmonaut.

 

Additional firings of the vehicle's thrusters early after launch are said to help shorten the time it takes to reach the station.

 

The new fast-track trajectory could become a permanent feature of ISS missions, either by the end of this year or starting from 2014.

 

Space Station to Forecast Natural Disasters

 

RIA Novosti

 

The crew of a new expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) will install special equipment to monitor Earth's atmosphere and forecast natural disasters, ISS-36 Crew Commander Pavel Vinogradov said on Thursday.

 

The new crew, which will lift off from the Baikonur space center on the night of March 28 abroad a Soyuz-TMA-08M carrier rocket, will install the equipment on the outer surface of the station's Russian segment during one of the four spacewalks, he said.

 

It is a complex system of sensors and antennas designed to study the plasma/wave processes in the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere, "which will eventually benefit mankind by forecasting earthquakes and other natural disasters," Vinogradov said.

 

Later this year a new Russian laboratory module (MLM) will be docked with the ISS to expand the Russian segment.

 

Next year, a research/power module (NEM) will be added to the ISS, which will become a key facility for conducting advanced scientific research experiments as part of the Russian program, he said.

 

A Closer Look at Orbital's Antares Rocket and Cygnus Freighter

 

Doug Messier - Parabolic Arc

 

With the first launch of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Antares rocket set for about a month from now, I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a closer look about both the launch vehicle and the Cygnus freighter that will carry cargo to the International Space Station later this year.

 

The medium-lift Antares rocket is an international collaboration. Orbital is the prime integrator and has overall responsibility for systems engineering, avionics, primary structure, testing and software. It also has responsibility for the first stage development and integration.

 

KB Yuzhnoye and PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine are providing the first stage propellant tanks and associated pressurization system. The technology is based on Zenit launch vehicle. The first stage includes two Aerojet AJ-26 engines, which are updated NK-33 motors manufactured by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau for the Soviet Union's manned lunar program.

 

The second stage incorporates Castor solid stage motors produced by ATK in the United States. Ruag of Sweden is providing the payload separation system.

 

The rocket is designed to lift more than 5,000 kg. into low Earth orbit. The first Antares launches will be from Wallops Island in Virginia, but the rocket is also compatible with launch facilities at Cape Canaveral in Florida, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska.

 

The Cygnus spacecraft is composed of two elements with spaceflight heritage. The Service Module incorporates avionics systems from Orbital's LEOStar and GEOStar satellite product lines as well as propulsion and power systems from the company's GEOStar communications satellites.

 

The Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) is being produced by Thales Alenia Space in Torino, Italy. The PCM is based upon Thale's Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, which space shuttles carried to the International Space Station (ISS) filled with supplies. One of the MPLMs was refitted and permanently docked to ISS.

 

Other non-U.S. suppliers include Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) of Tokyo for the Proximity Location System and Dutch Space of the Netherlands for its solar arrays. Draper laboratory, Odyssey Space Research, JAMSS America, and Vivace are also partners on the Cygnus vehicle.

 

Orbital will fly the inaugural Antares mission without a Cygnus freighter. If that goes well, the flight will be followed by a Cygnus demonstration mission carry some token cargo that to ISS. Both of those flights will be under the NASA-funded Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.

 

Once those two flights are successfully completed, Orbital will begin a series of eight cargo runs to the station under the space agency's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. NASA will pay about $1.9 billion for the flights.

 

The initial deliveries will feature a standard cargo module with an interior volume of 18.9 cubic meters that will be capable of delivering 2,000 kg of cargo to ISS. Missions four through eight will feature an enhanced cargo module with a volume of 27 cubic meters and improved solar panels that will deliver up to 2,700 kg to the orbiting facility. In all, Orbital is contracted to deliver 20,000 kg to the station.

 

Kennedy Space Center visits by China is illegal, Wolf says

NASA chief disagrees with Va. congressman

 

Ledyard King - Florida Today

 

A congressman says NASA broke a national security law last year by failing to notify Congress about two visits Chinese officials made to the Kennedy Space Center, a charge the agency flatly denies.

 

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said the visits — one in June and one in December — were barred by a measure he authored in 2011 requiring NASA facilities such as KSC to give lawmakers at least 14 days notice before hosting "official Chinese visitors."

 

"We say, 'Let us know. Notify us.' And they did not," Wolf said. "I do believe that was a violation of the law."

 

The visits to KSC are part of what Wolf calls a troubling pattern of security lapses at NASA centers.

 

On Thursday, Wolf said his office has given FBI officials and federal prosecutors material from a whistle-blower at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia "involving a Chinese national who was allegedly provided access and information he should have otherwise been restricted from receiving."

 

NASA spokesman David Weaver said his agency is familiar with the Langley contractor and has referred the matter to law enforcement officials. The man no longer works there.

 

Wolf chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA. He's also been one of China's loudest critics in Congress.

 

Wolf does not want the U.S. to work with an "evil" government. He said the White House also has bypassed his 2011 national security measure by using federal money to pay for joint space and technology ventures with China.

 

Last month, Wolf and Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, wrote to FBI Director Robert Mueller expressing concerns about the possible leak of information to China from the NASA Ames Research Center in California.

 

Wolf said the man was employed by a contractor "allegedly at the direction of NASA officials in an apparent attempt to circumvent appropriations restrictions the Congress has in place to prevent the hiring of certain foreign nationals of concern."

 

Wolf said he learned about the 2012 visits to KSC on Thursday, in a letter from NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr.

 

Bolden emphasized in the letter that NASA has complied with Wolf's 2011 security law by declining "all bilateral engagement with China and Chinese-owned companies."

 

The letter said the agency has not permitted "any visit to a NASA-owned or -utilized facility by any official Chinese visitors where such a visit effectuated the bilateral participation, collaboration, or coordination with China or a Chinese-owned company."

 

Bolden then mentions the two visits to KSC. He said NASA concluded the visits didn't violate the law because the law doesn't apply to meetings at NASA facilities of multilateral bodies that often include representatives from the U.S. and China. In most cases, they are students at U.S. universities or employees of NASA contractors.

 

Serious Intent About 2018 Human Mars Mission

 

Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week

 

 

If Dennis Tito has his way, when NASA launches a stripped-down version of the robotic Mars Curiosity rover toward the red planet in 2020, a middle-aged married couple with good mechanical skills and "resilient" personalities will be offering first-hand commentary to reporters at Cape Canaveral on what the planet looks like from 100 mi. up.

 

Even if the Inspiration Mars Foundation that Tito is bankrolling for two years from his own deep pockets never gets its human Mars-flyby mission off the ground, the world's first space tourist believes it will have given the U.S. space endeavor a much-needed boost. Benefits will accrue via technical data for future attempts, possible medical breakthroughs needed for deep-space travel and, yes, inspiration.

 

"You reach an age where you say 'OK, it's put up or shut up,'" says Tito, 72. "You've been successful. Now, what are you going to leave behind? What are you going to leave behind to your kids [and] to society? I have five grandsons. Should I leave them all my money, or should I do something like this."

 

Building on Mars and Venus fly-by trajectories he drafted for the Mariner program as a young engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory—before he made his fortune as a financier—and a 1998 professional paper on free-return Mars trajectories, Tito and experts he hired for the purpose have concluded that it is possible to send a two-person crew around Mars and back to Earth in 501 days, provided they leave in January 2018. The projected route will take them in toward the Sun as close as Venus before swinging around the dark side of Mars for a direct return.

 

No new technology would be needed, but existing technology would have to be "customized" for the task, and fast. Topping the list are environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS), and the thermal protection systems (TPS) needed to handle the space environment between the orbits of Venus and Mars, and the fastest reentry into the atmosphere ever attempted.

 

Tito has hired Paragon Space Development Corp., a Tucson, Ariz.-based life-support house, to work the ECLSS problem. Paragon is also the signatory on a new Space Act agreement with NASA's Ames Research Center for help with the TPS that will be necessary to protect the crew as they hurtle back into the atmosphere at 14.2 kps, and to evaluate the best strategy—including aerocapture and skip-entry—to bleed off that speed for a safe landing.

 

According to a peer-reviewed paper prepared by Tito's group for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the mission would require no maneuvers except small course corrections after a trans-Martian injection burn, and would allow no aborts. Briefing reporters at the National Press Club on Feb. 27, Tito said the mission would use low-Earth-orbit launch and human-spacecraft technology, outfitted for the long duration of a flight to Mars. The 10-ton crew vehicle—a capsule to best handle the reentry heat and an inflatable or rigid habitat—would contain all of the ECLSS and other gear the crew would need to stay alive. That would include 3,000 lb. of dehydrated food, exercise equipment to mitigate the effects of long-term weightlessness, and compact equipment derived from International Space Station gear to recycle water and maintain the atmosphere. There would be no spacesuits or airlock, and the crew would have to endure the travel in about 600 cu. ft. of volume.

 

"It's not going to be a very easy trip," says Jane Poynter, chairwoman and president of Paragon. "One way to think about it is this: It's a really long road trip. You're jammed into an RV [driving] the equivalent of 32,000 times around the Earth, and you can't get out for about a year and a half."

 

Poynter and her husband and Paragon co-founder Taber MacCallum have experience living in an artificial closed-loop environment as veterans of the Biosphere-2 experiment, where they spent two years with six other "crewmembers" simulating some of the conditions the Inspiration Mars crew will face. Among those were mood swings and loss of energy, as well as interpersonal tensions that led some members of the crew to avoid speaking to each other unless absolutely necessary.

 

Tito says the rigors of the anticipated mission—and the desire to represent all of humankind—suggest a couple with a long marriage behind them would be ideal, provided they have the mechanical skills to maintain the ECLSS and other hardware. They would also need "factors of personal accommodation and behavioral self-knowledge, sometimes referred to as resilient personalities," according to the group's IEEE paper.

 

MacCallum, who is Paragon's chief technical officer as well as its CEO, says automation will be kept to a minimum, particularly in the ECLSS hardware, for simplicity and all-important reliability. The crew will maintain and repair the hardware, which will be inside the pressurized volume to avoid the complexity and weight of spacewalking gear. He and Poynter plan to try out for the job, he says.

 

Dr. Jonathan Clark, the mission's chief medical officer, says he hopes to have a crew and backup screened and selected within a year to allow plenty of time for training and conditioning, and to develop a "tailored" medical program for each crewmember. A former NASA flight surgeon, Clark says the mission will draw on NASA's experience selecting astronauts and the latest in genetic and proteomic screening to develop medical regimens to keep them healthy.

 

One critical problem will be space radiation, long identified as a major deep-space hurdle. The crew vehicle will carry its upper stage along to interpose between the Sun and the crew, which will also probably have some sort of water-shielded shelter against high-energy solar coronal mass ejections. For cosmic background radiation, Clark says, data derived from the Mars Science Laboratory transit to Mars suggest the mission would be "in that ballpark" of the NASA lifetime limit on astronaut radiation exposure for middle-aged crewmembers, which would boost by about 3% their chance of developing cancer at some point.

 

"The real issue is in understanding the risk," says Clark, whose wife Dr. Laurel Clark was killed in the Columbia accident. "The crew would know about it. They would have to decide. But you can have an excess cancer risk from smoking, from living in certain locations. So ultimately it's going to have to be those personal decisions."

 

While post-flight cancer can be treated, the risk of returning to Earth will be acute. TPS experts at NASA Ames will be working for the mission under a reimbursable Space Act agreement. Tito says he does not know how much it will cost him personally to fund the early stages of the effort through 2014, and he concedes the biggest expense will come when it is time to begin buying a launch vehicle and other hardware.

 

The Tito group based its initial calculations on a Falcon 9 heavy rocket for launch. SpaceX, which plans to fly the 27-engine heavy-lift variant of its commercial cargo rocket for the first time this year, says although it does not have an "official relationship" with the Inspiration Mars Foundation," it "will always consider providing a full spectrum of launch services to interested customers."

 

Tito's non-profit foundation is examining a range of options for the launch vehicle, crew capsule and habitat, working under a tight deadline. To cover the overall mission, which Tito says he believes will cost less than the $2.5 billion NASA is spending on the Mars Science Laboratory operation, the foundation will raise funds from industry, individuals and others willing to make "philanthropic" donations to spark interest in the U.S. space program. "I don't think it's going to be a real difficult problem," he says.

 

By comparison, NASA officials say a planned 2020 robotic Mars landing mission, using a solar-powered version of the Curiosity rover, is capped at $1.5 billion, with room for $80 million worth of U.S. instruments and perhaps another $20 million in foreign contributions.

 

At that rate, Tito says, the next free-return Mars-flyby opportunity in 2031 could be seized by China or another spacefaring nation. But even if the obstacles to meeting the 2018 deadline prove too great, he says, "the benefits go to the public," and NASA can use them in its own deep-space human-spaceflight program later on.

 

SpaceX billionaire Musk expected at Texas Capitol as state tries landing new spaceport

 

Associated Press

 

SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk travels to the Texas Capitol as the state tries to make the Rio Grande Valley the newest launch site for private space flights.

 

Lawmakers say Texas is competing with Florida and Puerto Rico for a commercial SpaceX spaceport. Anthony Gray, who's an aide to Democratic state Rep. Rene Oliveria, said Musk on Friday is to attend a House Appropriations Committee meeting.

 

Oliveria represents the Brownsville area, where the proposed SpaceX site would be situated. He filed legislation earlier this week that would allow the state to temporarily close South Texas beaches for launches and space flights.

 

Oliveria has previously said the state has pledged $3.2 million toward enticing SpaceX.

 

Musk also is to deliver a keynote speech Saturday at the South by Southwest festival in Austin.

 

'We the People' seek to double NASA budget – at least

Is 1% of the total US budget too much to spend on space?

 

Rik Myslewski - The Register (UK)

 

Calling all space fans: point your browser to the Obama White House's "We the People" petition website and sign onto an effort to ensure that NASA is funded to at least 1 per cent of the US annual budget.

 

"NASA advances our nation when well-funded;" the petition argues, "by guaranteeing that no less than 1 per cent of federal spending will be on NASA, we promote job creation, encourage creativity in the economy, and gain insight on our universe."

 

According to the petitioners, who launched their effort on Thursday, during the heyday of the "space race" with the Soviet Union in 1961, NASA received a healthy 4.41 per cent of federal spending.

 

Ah, the good ol' days. In 2013, NASA will receive around $19bn from the feds, which is less than one half of one per cent of federal spending. "Truly this is a pittance, but one that yields vast economic and scientific rewards," the petitioners argue.

 

They also cite figures from a Space Foundation report that contends that although the feds spent only $15bn on NASA in 2005, that amount engendered $180bn in what the Foundation calls the "space economy."

 

As we click Publish on this story, the petition has quite a way to go in its drive to reach the 100,000 signatories that will catch the attention of the White House – it's 99,712 short of its goal.

 

But we do know that the White House does, indeed, keep its eye on We the People. For example, a petition decrying the recently instituted law to prevent mobile-phone unlocking may very well have had some influence on the Obama administration's decision to issue a statement on Monday in support of that law's demise.

 

Even when a petition is less than serious, if it attracts enough publicity the administration will respond. Case in point: last December a petition suggesting that US build a Death Star gained enough notoriety that the White House thought it wise to wittily reject it – a budget-based decision that was welcomed by the Galactic Empire.

 

Then there was the petition begun by the shadowy hacktivist group Anonymous, which argued that DDoS attacks should be legalized since they are actually a form of free-speech protest. Their petition, however, was rejected, having not garnered the required number of signatures – and that was before the bar was raised from 25,000 signatories to 100,000.

 

Whether the "one per cent for NASA" petition will gather that many signatures – and if it does, whether the Obama administration will see it as the will of the people – is, of course, unknown. And during these dark days of "sequestration," it's highly unlikely that anyone in Congress would push for doubling down on NASA funding, whether it feeds the "space economy" or not.

 

But as of 4pm Pacific Time on the first day of the NASA petition's existence, there are 288 people hoping that their elected representatives would loosen up their purse strings.

 

As the petition says, "1% is a small financial guarantee of progress in the final frontier!"

 

Space station dream closer

 

Xin Dingding - China Daily

 

A space lab will be launched in two years ahead of a key fueling experiment vital for the building of a space station, a leading official with the manned space program said.

 

Shortly after the lab goes into orbit, a freighter will be launched. Tests and research on the freighter technology have produced encouraging results, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the manned space program and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

 

The space lab, Tiangong-2, will be built using backup craft for the Tiangong-1 space module.

 

Tiangong-1 was launched in September 2011. Tiangong-2 will have a number of upgrades and modifications, the most important being its ability to refuel from the freighter, he said.

 

China will work to build a space station after the Tiangong-2 space lab completes its mission, Zhou added.

 

"It's like air-to-air refueling, but the technology used in weightless space poses new challenges," he said.

 

The space lab will also conduct experiments, he said, without elaborating.

 

The Shenzhou X spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, will be launched in June and dock with the Tiangong-1 module, he said.

 

Docking was successfully carried out by the unmanned Shenzhou VIII in 2011 and by the manned Shenzhou IX in 2012.

 

"After that, there will be no more manned dockings for the Tiangong-1, but it will continue to orbit Earth," he said.

 

"It is likely that the two Tiangong vehicles will be in orbit at the same time," he said.

 

China plans to build a space station around 2020.

 

Experiments were conducted last year to see if two men can survive in an enclosed space, where oxygen, water and food are partly recycled, said Ye Peijian, a lunar exploration specialist and a national political adviser.

 

New center

 

Earlier this month, Zhou was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying that China's fourth launch center, on the tropical island province of Hainan, will be ready in two years.

 

The center, under construction since 2009, will be able to launch space station capsules and cargo ships. The carrier rockets to be launched at the center include Long March-7 and Long March-5.

 

It is designed to handle as many as 10 to 12 rocket launches a year.

 

The three existing centers are used for different missions.

 

Jiuquan is located in the desert of Gansu province and is the only manned spacecraft center.

 

Taiyuan in Shanxi province is capable of launching satellites into both medium and low orbits and finally Xichang in Sichuan province is used for powerful-thrust rockets and satellites.

 

The three sites have carried out more than 100 launches. However, the centers are landlocked in western or northern plateau and mountainous regions, lack commercial development and are inconvenient for transportation.

 

Long Lehao, a carrier rocket expert with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, previously said that rockets to be launched from Wenchang in Hainan would consume less fuel to get into orbit, because of its location.

 

"A satellite launched from Hainan will be able to extend its service life by three years as a result of the fuel saved," Long said.

 

When NASA Blew Holes In Arizona for Apollo

 

Amy Shira Teitel - Discovery News

 

NASA knew full well that the Apollo lunar landing missions were risky, and it took steps to minimize the chances of losing astronauts in space.

 

Redundancies were built into the spacecraft, and astronauts and technicians alike spent hours simulating missions. Mission planners also used simulations to anticipate as many aspects of a lunar mission as possible, going so far, in 1967, as recreating the moon in northern Arizona.

 

The Arizonian landscaping was part of the Astrogeology Research Program, a joint undertaking between NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Beginning in 1963, the idea was to give Apollo astronauts as realistic a training ground as possible for their eventual EVAs on the lunar surface.

 

The program's main site was a place called Cinder Field, an area where basaltic cinders covered the natural clay landscape following the Sunset Volcanic Crater's eruption around 1064. To make it more moon-like, NASA added craters to the site with dynamite. To make each crater, a site was excavated and filled with a mixture of dynamite and ammonium nitrates. After some test explosions, a necessary step to calibrate how much power was needed to make a crater of a certain size, the real blasting began.

 

The first phase of "construction" ran from July 28 to 31, 1967. Forty-seven craters were made over those four days, varying in depth between 5 and 40 feet in a 500 square foot area. The finished product was a full scale reproduction of an area at the Sea of Tranquility that NASA had settled on as a potential landing site for Apollo 11.

 

The site was expanded between Oct. 8 and 12 of that year. Ninety-six craters were added for a total of 143 in an 800 square foot field. In all, 312.5 pounds of dynamite and 13,492 pounds of a mixture of agricultural fertilizer and fuel oil were used in those first two phases of construction.

 

A second, larger field was eventually built after the first, also in an area where basaltic cinders were deposited on top the clay by the Sunset Volcanic Crater. This created a some realistic effects as the light colored clay was excavated in the blast, a feature the site's creators used to their advantage. Several sets of explosions in sequence created craters with overlapping ejecta blankets to mimic different ages, just like exist on the moon.

 

The first round took 182 blasts and mimicked the oldest craters on the moon's surface. A second blast added the intermediate age craters with 61 blasts. A final round to simulate the youngest lunar craters comprised 111 blasts. In all, it took 1,153 pounds of dynamite, 28,650 pounds of nitro-Carbo nitrate, and 40,000 feet of Primacord to build this second field.

 

With their faux moon in place, the astronauts moved in. A simulated Lunar Module was placed on top of a ramp to give them a preview of what they would see out the small triangular coming in for a landing over certain landmarks. They practiced using specially designed tools in their bulky spacesuits and deploying scientific experiments like ALSEP. It gave them a place to test lunar rovers, first the "Explorer" and then "Grover," the Apollo prime and backup crews' main training vehicle.

 

It was also a hands-on classroom. With the exception of Apollo 17's Lunar Module Pilot Jack Schmitt, none of the Apollo astronauts was a trained geologist. They all had to learn to identify features, rock types, and most importantly they had to learn the right terminology so they could tell the scientists at NASA exactly what they were seeing up there. The Cinder Lake crater field gave them a chance to practice describing crater morphologies and the stratigraphic relationships of unconsolidated materials.

 

The real Sea of Tranquility on the moon hasn't changed since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left in 1969, but the man-made analogue didn't survive. The site has been resurfaced by wind, rain, and people. It's a shame, too. A virtual Sea of Tranquility would be a fantastic destination for space-nuts the world over.

 

END