Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Human Spaceflight News

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: May 13, 2013 6:06:27 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - May 13, 2013 and JSC Today

Monday, May 13, 2013

JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1.            This Thursday: All Hands with NASA Administrator and JSC Director
2.            Save the Date! Bring Our Children to Work Day 2013
3.            TIME and LOCATION CHANGE for Thursday's Explore IT with Wolfram Research CEO
4.            JSC Firewall Service Outage Tuesday, May 14, From 6 to 7 p.m.
5.            Attention: JSC Native American Community
6.            SPACE Brown Bag Sessions -- Civil Servant Employees
7.            Escape Your Silo: Cardiovascular Lab Tour
8.            Recent JSC Announcement
9.            White Sands Test Facility: See the Space Station
10.          Job Opportunities
11.          OSHA 30-Hour Construction Safety and Health: May 20 to 24 - Building 20, Room 304
________________________________________     NASA FACT
" NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has found the building blocks for Earth-sized planets in an unlikely place-- the atmospheres of a pair of burned-out stars called white dwarfs. These dead stars are located 150 light-years from Earth in a relatively young star cluster, Hyades, in the constellation Taurus."
________________________________________
1.            This Thursday: All Hands with NASA Administrator and JSC Director
Please plan to join NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and JSC Director Dr. Ellen Ochoa next Thursday, May 16, from 9 to 10 a.m. for an all-hands meeting in the Building 2 South Teague Auditorium.
JSC employees unable to attend in the Teague Auditorium can view it on RF Channel 2 or Omni 45. Those with wired computer network connections can view the All Hands using onsite IPTV on channel 402 (standard definition). Please note: IPTV works best with Internet Explorer. If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367.
Event Date: Thursday, May 16, 2013   Event Start Time:9:00 AM   Event End Time:10:00 AM
Event Location: Teague Auditorium

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JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111

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2.            Save the Date! Bring Our Children to Work Day 2013
The JSC External Relations Office is pleased to present JSC's "Bring Our Children to Work (BOCTW) Day" on Thursday, Aug. 15, at Space Center Houston. Guest speakers, breakout sessions, demonstration booths and hands-on activities will be scheduled throughout the day to further enhance your child(ren)'s experience! More information about the day's activities are to come, so keep your eyes out for the registration and scheduled activities announcement to come in the next couple of weeks. Registration will begin Monday, July 15, and end Friday, Aug. 2.
Off-site contractor employees should contact their company representative for information regarding the company's participation in BOCTW Day.
Glenda Johnson x30377

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3.            TIME and LOCATION CHANGE for Thursday's Explore IT with Wolfram Research CEO
Please note that the simulcast of Dr. Stephen Wolfram, founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, has been moved to 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 16, and will now be shown in the Building 30 Auditorium.
In a rare speaking appearance, Dr. Wolfram will discuss Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha and the next steps in computation. No reservations are required for this event that's open to all JSC civil servants and contractors.
James McClellan, JSC's and the Information Resources Directorate's Chief Technology Officer, arranged this collaboration event with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more, contact McClellan.
Wolfram has been a long-time innovator in science, technology and business. Building on the three revolutions he's started -- Mathematica, A New Kind of Science, and the Wolfram|Alpha Computational Knowledge Engine -- he's now launching several major new directions. Wolfram received a Ph.D. in physics from Caltech at the age of 20.
Event Date: Thursday, May 16, 2013   Event Start Time:3:00 PM   Event End Time:4:30 PM
Event Location: B.30 Auditorium

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JSC IRD Outreach x45678 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/Home.aspx

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4.            JSC Firewall Service Outage Tuesday, May 14, From 6 to 7 p.m.
The JSC Institutional Firewall is scheduled for maintenance activity on Tuesday, May 14, between 6 and 7 p.m.
During this time, there may be two momentary interruptions in all network connectivity to and from JSC. This affects access to and from other NASA centers, Russia, other international partners and contractors both around and outside the Clear Lake area.
Connectivity may also be interrupted to and from United Space Alliance and JSC internal resources, including ESA, JAXA and local-area contractors (both around and outside the Clear Lake area) connected to the DMZ Firewall.
JSC remote access (VPN and R2S) may be impacted. On-site update/sync of Outlook may also be interrupted.
For questions regarding this activity, please contact Michael Patterson.
JSC IRD Outreach x41334 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/default.aspx

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5.            Attention: JSC Native American Community
The JSC Education Office is partnering with tribal colleges and universities across the United States to increase opportunities for Native Americans in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-related fields.
If you would like to become involved, please contact the JSC Minority University Research and Education Program Office for more info.
Misti Moore x36716

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6.            SPACE Brown Bag Sessions -- Civil Servant Employees
NASA's Standard Performance Appraisal Communication Environment (SPACE) system went live May 6. To help civil servant (CS) employees transition to this new system, JSC's SPACE implementation team is offering five brown-bag sessions this month. Attendees will receive an overview of the SPACE system and be able to participate in questions and answers.
Registration for these sessions is not required, and session dates/times are below:
Monday, May 13
o             Intended Audience: CS employees
o             Building 30 Auditorium
o             Session 1: 11 a.m. to noon
o             Session 2: 1 to 2 p.m.
Tuesday, May 14
o             Intended Audience: CS employees
o             Building 30 Auditorium
o             Session 1: 1 to 2 p.m.
o             Session 2: 2 to 3 p.m.
Wednesday, May 15
o             Intended Audience: CS employees
o             Building 30 Auditorium
o             11 a.m. to noon
Lisa Pesak x30476

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7.            Escape Your Silo: Cardiovascular Lab Tour
Please join the Human Systems Academy for a tour of the Cardiovascular Laboratory on May 14 in Building 261, Room 120, from either 2 to 2:30 p.m. or 2:30 to 3 p.m. Space is limited, so please register today in SATERN:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_... or 68803
Cynthia Rando 281-461-2620 http://sa.jsc.nasa.gov/

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8.            Recent JSC Announcement
Please visit the JSC Announcements (JSCA) Web page to view the newly posted announcement:
JSCA 13-016: Key Personnel Assignments - John Saiz and Douglas Terrier
Archived announcements are also available on the JSCA Web page.
Linda Turnbough x36246 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/DocumentManagement/announcements/default.aspx

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9.            White Sands Test Facility: See the Space Station
Viewers in the White Sands Test Facility area will be able to see the International Space Station this week.
Tuesday, May 14, 5:20 a.m. (Duration: 4 minutes)
Path: 11 degrees above S to 24 degrees above E
Maximum elevation: 30 degrees
The International Space Station Trajectory Operations Group provides updates via JSC Today for visible station passes at least two minutes in duration and 25 degrees in elevation. Other opportunities, including those with shorter durations and lower elevations or from other ground locations, are available at the website below.
Joe Pascucci x31695 http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=U...

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10.          Job Opportunities
Where do I find job opportunities?
Both internal Competitive Placement Plan (CPP) and external JSC job announcements are posted on the Human Resources (HR) portal and USAJOBS website. Through the HR portal, civil servants can view summaries of all the agency jobs that are currently open: https://hr.nasa.gov/portal/server.pt/community/employees_home/239/job_opportu...
To help you navigate to JSC vacancies, use the filter drop-down menu and select "JSC HR." The "Jobs" link will direct you to the USAJOBS website for the complete announcement and the ability to apply online. If you have questions about any JSC job vacancies, please call your HR representative.
Lisa Pesak x30476

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11.          OSHA 30-Hour Construction Safety and Health: May 20 to 24 - Building 20, Room 304
This four-and-a-half day course assists the student in effectively conducting construction inspections and oversight. Participants are provided with basic information about construction standards, construction hazards, health hazards, trenching and excavation operations, cranes, electrical hazards in construction, steel erection, ladders, scaffolds, concrete and heavy construction equipment. This course is based on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Construction Safety course and is approved for award of the 30-hour OSHA completion card. The course may include a field exercise at a construction site, if feasible. There will be a final exam associated with this course, which must be passed with a 70 percent minimum score to receive course credit. Registration in SATERN is required. This may be the last time this course is offered. Use this direct link for registration. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Event Date: Monday, May 20, 2013   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:4:00 PM
Event Location: Building 20 / Room 304

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Shirley Robinson x41284

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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:
·         1:30 pm Central (2:30 EDT) – NASA Marks the 40th Anniversary of Skylab and Life Off Earth
·         2:30 pm Central (3:30 EDT) – E35 Farewells & Hatch Closure Coverage (closes at ~2:50 pm)
·         5:45 pm Central (6:45 EDT) – Soyuz TMA-07M Undocking Coverage (undock at 6:08 pm)
·         8:15 pm Central (9:15 EDT) – Soyuz Deorbit Burn & Landing Coverage (Burn at 8:37 pm)
·         9:30 pm Central (10:30 EDT) – LANDING near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan
·         11 pm Central (Midnight EDT) –File of E35/Soyuz Landing & Post-Landing Activities

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

Station Change of Command Ceremony
Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield handed command of the station over to Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov during a ceremony Sunday afternoon.

Human Spaceflight News
Monday, May 13, 2013

HEADLINES AND LEADS

NASA Worries Latest Progress Docking Damaged ATV Reflector

Dan Leone - Space News

A reflector that enables Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to perform its unpiloted approach to the international space station (ISS) may have been damaged last month when a hobbled Russian cargo ship docked with the station, a NASA spokesman said May 6. The Progress cargo ship that reached ISS April 26 had to dock without the benefit of a communications antenna used by the craft's Ukrainian-built Kurs automated docking system. The antenna failed to extend after launch, possibly leaving its undeployed bulk in the path of the laser radar reflector ATV uses as a navigation aid during its own automated rendezvous.

Battle looms as commercial space interests seek piece of federal wildlife refuge

Kevin Spear & Mark Matthews - Orlando Sentinel

The coastal ghost town of Shiloh, where the nation's rock-star rocketeer wants to build a space town, is for now a place of orphan oranges, turkey tracks and lonesome tombstones. Above all, Shiloh is surrounded by the healthiest part of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, a nationally celebrated mosaic of heavy industry and delicate environment that contains Kennedy Space Center in its southern half and some of the country's richest bird life in the northern extent that includes Shiloh.

NASA boss likes view from Langley

Hugh Lessig - Hampton Roads Daily Press

Nestled inside a cockpit simulator, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden guided a passenger jet through a pea soup fog and touched down on the airport runway with nary a bump. Workers at NASA Langley Research Center hope he can navigate a budget through Congress with equal ease. Bolden toured the Hampton facility Friday and later delivered an upbeat assessment of the center's future, even in these tight budget times. The cockpit simulator was the most hands-on of all his stops. It flies similar to a Boeing 757 but is meant to resemble the advanced technology one might see in a 787. The side stick controller is the sort found on an Airbus aircraft

Political wrangling pulls NASA in different directions

Ledyard King - Florida Today

President Obama had grand plans for NASA three years ago. He touted a "different" vision for the agency that would spur competition among private aerospace firms to develop a replacement for the space shuttle. That plan, known as the Commercial Crew Program, was designed to hold down costs and advance U.S. space interests. It seemed like an approach that would please lawmakers, including free-market-minded Republicans concerned about runaway spending and national security. But Commercial Crew has been a tough sell, politically. Lawmakers reluctantly have provided enough money for it to limp along, but not nearly enough to meet some of the ambitious deadlines the Obama administration originally set. And they question whether aerospace companies are being given too much flexibility in developing the shuttle's replacement.

Orion crack repair under scrutiny in loads testing

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

Engineers are putting NASA's first space-bound Orion capsule, set to fly in orbit in 2014, through tests to stress the capsule's structural shell and check repairs to cracks in the pressurized module's aluminum bulkhead. The static loads testing began May 3 and will run through June inside the Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The pressure shell of the Orion spacecraft, comprised of welded olive-green aluminum-lithium metal panels, is being put through the tests to verify the capsule can withstand loads it will encounter during launch, re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Chris Hadfield says Nasa's job is not to 'titillate'

Pallab Ghosh - BBC News

Space station commander Chris Hadfield has told BBC News that those calling for a quick return of manned missions to the Moon are seeking "titillation". His comments were in response to suggestions that the International Space Station (ISS) served little purpose. Commander Hadfield has been a Twitter sensation with his feed of comments, photos and videos showing what life is like in space. He is due to return to Earth on Tuesday. "We will go to the Moon and we will go to Mars; we will go and see what asteroids and comets are made of," he told BBC News. "But we're not going to do it tomorrow and we're not going to do it because it titillates the nerve endings. We're going to do it because it's a natural human progression."

ISS chief due back via Soyuz tonight
Fans cheer Hadfield's tweets, Earthly return

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

The International Space Station's first Canadian commander will return to Earth tonight in what will be an emotional end for more than one million followers on Twitter, Facebook and other websites. During his five-month tour on the space station, Ontario native Chris Hadfield became a social media superstar, posting breathtaking images of Earth along with lyrical descriptions of his hand-selected locales. He also sent back videos detailing everyday life on the outpost.

A look at Chris Hadfield's scientific efforts aboard the Space Station

Kate Allen - Toronto Star

Those only half paying attention to Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's tenure aboard the International Space Station could be forgiven for thinking his job consists of sing-a-longs, "tweet-ups," and unveiling the new $5 bill. Not so. The astronauts aboard the ISS devote a huge chunk of their time to a dizzying array of scientific efforts. Hadfield conducted more than 130 experiments during his 146 days aboard the ISS; one week last February, he and the crew set a station record by spending 71 hours on science. Some of the research takes advantage of the unique conditions of space to probe phenomena in ways that can't be achieved on Earth.

Hadfield prepares for ride home from space

Canadian Press

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is packing his bags as he wraps up his five-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Hadfield tweeted this morning that he "proudly" hands command of the station to Pavel Vinogradov, a Russian cosmonaut. He also tweeted that it's "time to rev up the Soyuz" for the trip home. Plans call for Hadfield and two other crewmembers to leave the station Monday just after 7 p.m. E-T aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. They're due to land in Kazakhstan about three and-a-half hours later. A helicopter will take them to a local airport, where a waiting NASA plane will fly them to Houston, Texas. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

How Chris Hadfield brought space travel back to us Earthlings
In space, nobody will hear you scream, but everybody wants to see your tweets

Richard Gray - The Telegraph

That appears to be the over-riding message from the phenomenal success of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. The former Army test pilot has become a global celebrity after his pithy insights into the more mundane aspects of life in the zero gravity environment of space have been lapped up by the public. Using the social media site Twitter, he has provided a running commentary of the trials and tribulations of being the 35th commander of the International Space Station. His final video dispatch from the Space Station was a cover of the David Bowie song Space Oddity. The music video, believed to be the first filmed in space, shows Cmdr Hadfield floating through various parts of the space station and playing his guitar along to a backing track.

After conquering space, what's next for Chris Hadfield?

Margaret Munro - Postmedia News

Chris Hadfield, also known as "the coolest guy in outer space," is packing up his camera, guitar and keyboard for his descent back to Earth. But what, exactly, does he return to? Is any career back on solid ground going to be enough? The 53-year-old farm boy from southern Ontario is due to blaze across the sky in a Russian Soyuz capsule Monday evening before landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan. His five-month mission to the International Space Station, where Hadfield has been both commander and seemingly non-stop entertainer, has been a sensation.

Notable Canadians who have made history in space exploration

Michelle McQuigge - Canadian Press

Chris Hadfield is the latest in a line of Canadians who have left their mark on the history of space exploration. Below is a list of notable Canadians to venture into the final frontier…

After Hadfield, no Canadian will visit space station before 2016: CSA

Peter Rakobowchuk - Canadian Press

Space station watchers who have been entertained by Chris Hadfield in orbit will have to wait at least nearly three more years to get their next fix from a visiting Canadian astronaut. Hadfield is scheduled to return to Earth on Monday after a five-month visit to the International Space Station. During the latter stages of his stay, he became the first Canadian to command the orbiting space laboratory. Gilles Leclerc, interim head of the Canadian Space Agency, says there probably won't be another Canadian travelling to the station for at least three more years.

Astronaut Mom Savors Mother's Day Before Space Travel

Megan Gannon - Space.com

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg is launching on a six-month mission to the International Space Station this month, so she's making sure to savor this Mother's Day with her 3-year-old son and her husband, who also happens to be an astronaut. Nyberg and her husband, NASA astronaut Doug Hurley, are in Moscow for Mother's Day and she described the challenges of balancing life as astronaut and a mom to Parenting Magazine while counting down to a May 28 launch to the International Space Station.

'Attitude-Control Game': The Fateful Launch of Skylab

Ben Evans - AmericaSpace.com

Four decades ago this week, America almost lost its first space station. On the morning of 14 May 1973, the last in a generation of Saturn V boosters sat on Pad 39A, ready for its journey into space. Visually, it was quite distinct from its predecessors, possessing two stages, instead of three, and in place of what would have been the final propulsive stage was Skylab, capped off by a bullet-like aerodynamic shroud. To this day, the Saturn V remains the largest and most powerful rocket ever brought to operational status, and as it entered the final hours before its last launch, it could enjoy an almost unblemished reputation: its 12 previous missions had never failed to complete their primary objectives. The ominous, brewing clouds at Cape Kennedy carried much menace, but everyone knew the Saturn's reliability: its muscle had sent men to the Moon on nine occasions, and for its final swan song there was every expectation that it would perform with perfection.

Skylab's 40th anniversary reminds us of the danger from space debris

Stuart Clark - The Guardian (UK)

Today Nasa will commemorate the 40th anniversary of Skylab, America's first space station, launched on 14 May 1973. In a televised discussion, Skylab astronauts, a current astronaut and agency managers are expected to discuss its legacy and the future of manned space flight. Skylab was a historic mission. It was part of an initiative to reuse the hardware Nasa developed to land on the moon. It was launched into space on the last of the giant Saturn V rockets to ever make it into orbit.

OTC reflects shades of NASA
The Offshore Technology Conference brings together a culture much like the space center

Houston Chronicle (Editorial)

We see a familiar sense of mission driving the offshore technology industry meeting here this week. It reminds us of the spirit of NASA, down the road a piece from Reliant Park, in Clear Lake. The similarities in culture, attitudes toward risk-taking and pushing the known limits of humans and equipment are unmistakable. The National Aeronautics and Space Agency has made its indelible mark over the past 55 years by going where no human has gone before. The Johnson Space Center continues to be a laboratory for inventing new methods to reach farther into the heavens. Today's offshore industry is sending sophisticated equipment into areas undersea that were, until recently, considered out of reach.

Brevard is still the place for space, even as diversification grows

John Kelly - Florida Today (Commentary)

Cape Canaveral's hold on American space launches seems continues to loosen as more and more of the country's "new space" companies choose to conduct testing and even flights elsewhere. This week alone, SpaceX made news about tests and launches in two states. Neither is Florida. In Texas, SpaceX and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency worked through the latest stage of a regulatory review for a potential coastal complex for launching commercial missions. SpaceX may yet decide to develop its commercial pad at Kennedy Space Center, but the firm's not waiting around to take the steps necessary for development of the Texas site.

Shuttle Landing Experience: The shuttle is gone, but the dream lives on!

Jason Rhian - AmericaSpace.com

During the space shuttle era, one of the most iconic moments of any of the missions was the orbiter's rapid drop to the hard Earth below to the Shuttle Landing Facility, or "SLF." Heralded by twin sonic booms, it served as an exciting close to a mission on orbit. This key milestone was one of many involving the program that the public had little chance of experiencing firsthand—until now. Located at Arthur Dunn AirPark, The Shuttle Landing Experience is owned by John Godfrey, a veteran pilot with 37 years of experience under his belt. Guests can pay $49 per seat (with a two-person minimum) and now fly over the Kennedy Space Center and just 100 feet above the SLF before returning to Arthur Dunn AirPark, which is located just five minutes off of I-95 and a short distance from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For visitors to Florida's Space Coast, The Shuttle Landing Experience provides a unique opportunity to see the space center in a manner that few—outside of astronauts, pilots, and NASA officials—have seen before.
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COMPLETE STORIES

NASA Worries Latest Progress Docking Damaged ATV Reflector

Dan Leone - Space News

A reflector that enables Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to perform its unpiloted approach to the international space station (ISS) may have been damaged last month when a hobbled Russian cargo ship docked with the station, a NASA spokesman said May 6.

The Progress cargo ship that reached ISS April 26 had to dock without the benefit of a communications antenna used by the craft's Ukrainian-built Kurs automated docking system. The antenna failed to extend after launch, possibly leaving its undeployed bulk in the path of the laser radar reflector ATV uses as a navigation aid during its own automated rendezvous.

Ground controllers in Moscow elected to proceed with the Progress docking despite the stuck antenna, uploading a software patch to help with proximity operations and bringing the freighter toward the station's Zvezda service module at reduced speed.

"The stowed antenna is folded up toward the lip of the docking ring on the forward end of the Progress," NASA spokesman Josh Byerly wrote in a May 7 email. "That is the part that touches the station and also in the vicinity of the navigation aids that ATV uses when it lines up for docking."

While the damage — if any — has not been confirmed, concern on the ground about the laser radar reflector is great enough that officials have decided to take a closer look, William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, told SpaceNews.

"We could use the camera on Soyuz, [or] astronauts could do it," Gerstenmaier said May 6.

The first opportunity for a Soyuz to scan for damage will be May 13, when a capsule docked with the space station is scheduled to return astronauts Tom Marshburn and Chris Hadfield and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko to Earth.

The next Russian spacewalk is not scheduled until June 22, Byerly said.

Gerstenmaier declined to speculate about how long it might take to repair or replace the laser radar reflector, if it is indeed damaged. Any fix would have to be carried out by spacewalking astronauts.

European Space Agency spokesman Pal Hvistendahl did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Just in case the laser radar reflector unit now installed on the Zvezda module is unsalvageable, "we're talking about flying a replacement up on the next Soyuz flight," Gerstenmaier said. The next crewed Soyuz launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is slated for May 28.

If the reflector does have to be replaced, it will mark the second swap out this year. The unit that might have been damaged April 26 had only been on the space station about a week. Spacewalking cosmonauts installed the device April 19 following concern on the ground that the old reflector was in poor condition.

Meanwhile, the fourth ATV is scheduled to launch June 6. The vehicle was fueled at Europe's Kourou spaceport in French Guiana and is now awaiting integration with its Ariane 5 launcher. The ATV scheduled to launch next month is the penultimate vehicle in Europe's ATV program. The fifth and final ATV is nominally scheduled to launch in April 2014.

Battle looms as commercial space interests seek piece of federal wildlife refuge

Kevin Spear & Mark Matthews - Orlando Sentinel

The coastal ghost town of Shiloh, where the nation's rock-star rocketeer wants to build a space town, is for now a place of orphan oranges, turkey tracks and lonesome tombstones.

Above all, Shiloh is surrounded by the healthiest part of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, a nationally celebrated mosaic of heavy industry and delicate environment that contains Kennedy Space Center in its southern half and some of the country's richest bird life in the northern extent that includes Shiloh.

An effort by Space Florida, a state economic-development agency, to build a 150-acre launch complex at Shiloh has confronted the Space Coast with what for many is a distressing choice: whether to steadfastly protect the natural qualities of the refuge's less-disturbed half, or to encourage the expansion there of a jobs-rich industry that other states want badly.

"Which child do you love the most?" said Truman Scarborough, a former Brevard County commissioner and mayor of Titusville who now serves on the board of the Merritt Island Wildlife Association, which advocates conservation of the refuge.

With a federal assessment of the launch-complex proposal now unfolding, some of the state's most-active environmental groups have made it a priority to defeat Space Florida's plans by ensuring that future rocket launches continue to take place at KSC or neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Generations of space workers have been both proud of launching rockets from the Cape and protective of the fishing, hunting, boating and bird-watching at the refuge and what is widely regarded as indistinguishable from the refuge, the adjoining Canaveral National Seashore.

But with the retirement of the U.S. space-shuttle fleet two years ago, the pressure has been strong to regenerate some space jobs by supporting the private launch center at Shiloh.

"If you've been in downtown Titusville lately and have seen the closed restaurants and closed banks, it's pretty sad," said refuge manager Layne Hamilton, who supports commercial ventures that bring back space-related jobs — just as long as they're not at Shiloh.

"It's not an appropriate site," she said.

An appreciation of the refuge's layout is easy to grasp from the top of the Max Brewer Bridge just outside of Titusville; most of the dramatic scenery to the east is the refuge.

To the south is the towering Vehicle Assembly Building, where moon rockets and then shuttles were prepared for launch. To the north is an expanse of green that includes what was once the town of Shiloh, an agricultural community whose residents were evicted more than a half-century ago to make way for the nation's premier launch complex.

A hike there today reveals a healthy, though not pristine, natural terrain. Live oaks, cabbage palms and saw palmettos reign once again, and sand dunes and swales remain intact. But here and there are stubborn, old citrus trees that still bear a rotting orange or two. And there are family gravesites from the late 1800s, even earlier artifacts from indigo plantations, and some prehistoric archaeological remains, Hamilton said.

The main reason Space Florida wants Shiloh is to appeal to the rocket company SpaceX of California. SpaceX is a rising star in the aerospace world, having made history last year by becoming the first commercial company to successfully blast an unmanned capsule to the International Space Station.

Although SpaceX is already committed to doing NASA launches from Cape Canaveral, chief executive Elon Musk wants a separate launch site for any commercial payloads. Musk is considering several locations, and could make a decision this year, but it's thought that Florida is running behind Texas in courting SpaceX.

The desire to pull ahead of Texas has pushed Space Florida officials to make progress on their proposal for a Shiloh site. Notably, the Federal Aviation Administration agreed recently to lead a study on the many possible effects of developing Shiloh.

The Volusia County Council (Shiloh is just over the line from Brevard County, home to KSC and Cape Canaveral's launch towers) has voted 6-1 to support the complex. The council's resolution — which has little authority — cites the loss of thousands of jobs at Kennedy Space Center following the end of the space-shuttle program as a major reason for backing the new commercial-launch site.

The lone "no" vote was Patricia Northey, who said the project would harm the refuge and the eco-tourism that has bloomed around it. "You wouldn't put a spaceport in the middle of the Grand Canyon," she said. "This is our Grand Canyon."

Proponents of a Shiloh launch complex contend the facility would do little to hurt a refuge as large as Merritt Island.

"The past 50 years have shown that launch operations and wildlife areas can co-exist very well together," Space Florida said recently in a written statement. "There are a lot of very smart people associated with the commercial launch business. We can do this right."

It's an argument many opponents eagerly challenge. Hamilton said a launch operation would most likely constrain the use of controlled burns in that part of the refuge, even though such burns are critical to maintaining the health of its ecosystems and endangered species.

Environmentalists also fear the public-closure zone for launches would be enormous, covering even the Intracoastal Waterway, the primary close-to-shore channel for commercial and recreational boats.

The Florida Natural Areas Inventory describes the 40 miles of coastline bordering the refuge and the national seashore as the longest non-urbanized stretch of Atlantic beach in Florida. "This is the last bastion of pristine coastline," said Dan Daniels, a United Waterfowlers of Florida board member. "This is stuff that there isn't any more of."

Ted Forsgren, advocacy adviser for the Coastal Conservation Association, said "the refuge is a big money maker for the county now. You're going to lose a lot of jobs if that lagoon is messed up."

Clay Henderson, an Audubon activist and founder of the Friends of Canaveral, a seashore-conservation group, said local opinion about Shiloh may be swayed by recent job losses. But nationwide opinion about a national treasure is what matters most, he said.

He is pushing for the U.S. Interior Department, overseer of federal refuges and parks, to take a formal role in the Shiloh assessment and not leave that task to the FAA only.

"We have no confidence FAA will address any environmental concerns," Henderson said. "They never met a bird they didn't want to kill."

NASA boss likes view from Langley

Hugh Lessig - Hampton Roads Daily Press

Nestled inside a cockpit simulator, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden guided a passenger jet through a pea soup fog and touched down on the airport runway with nary a bump.

Workers at NASA Langley Research Center hope he can navigate a budget through Congress with equal ease.

Bolden toured the Hampton facility Friday and later delivered an upbeat assessment of the center's future, even in these tight budget times. The cockpit simulator was the most hands-on of all his stops. It flies similar to a Boeing 757 but is meant to resemble the advanced technology one might see in a 787. The side stick controller is the sort found on an Airbus aircraft

Bolden wasn't exactly intimidated by the variety.

The NASA boss flew aboard the Space Shuttle four times and commanded two of the missions. He is a former military test pilot and flew more than 100 combat missions over North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the early 1970s. A retired Marine Corps general, he's been head of the space agency since 2009.

But now he faces a different battle in Congress. The president's 2014 budget request assumes Washington will find an answer for sequestration, the across-the-board budget cuts that have forced the Navy to delay ship deployments and the Air Force to ground some of its combat forces.

So far, NASA has not been forced to make dramatic cuts, and that is by design, Bolden said.

"We were spending at a moderate level," he said. "When we found out what the final budget was going to be – it was reduced, yes, but they were living in that environment already. We have not had to furlough people. But we can't say that's going to be the case if we don't end sequester."

Langley future

In fiscal year 2012, NASA Langley generated an economic impact in the Hampton Roads area of $886.3 million. And uncertainties in Congress aside, Bolden said he had no doubt about the future at NASA Langley.

He praised Center Director Lesa Roe for making investments to modernize buildings and spearhead new construction.

The 2014 federal budget asks for $875 million at NASA Langley. Nearly one-quarter of that – about $211 million – goes to things like aviation safety and environmentally responsible aviation. Another $177 million supports observation of the climate and other Earth systems.

"This is not a place that's wondering about its future," he said. "They're taking hold and starting their own future."

Air travel that's safer, easier

Other than spending time in the cockpit simulator, Bolden toured the Air Traffic Operations Laboratory that allows for testing of different air traffic management concepts. It includes eight traffic control stations and can simulate hundreds of aircraft. The laboratory has retired air traffic controllers on staff.

The payoff for this research is simple: If an airport has more efficient arrival paths for its planes, it translates into less fuel consumption and fewer delays.

"There have been procedures developed by the FAA to more efficiently manage these arrivals," said Will Johnson, an aerospace engineer who guided Bolden through the complex. "But the technology is not there to support it yet."

The work at NASA Langley is advancing that issue, with the ultimate goal of being able to use efficient pathing during times of heavy traffic, when it is most needed.

He ended up inside the cockpit simulator, which offered no view through the window – the "fog" was too thick.

But he gazed at a heads-up display directly in front of him, as well as another display that gave him the views he needed. The simulation depicted the sky over Memphis, Tenn. Bolden "landed" at the airport there.

"It allowed me to do a landing I could walk away from," he laughed. "It was incredibly realistic."

Political wrangling pulls NASA in different directions

Ledyard King - Florida Today

President Obama had grand plans for NASA three years ago.

He touted a "different" vision for the agency that would spur competition among private aerospace firms to develop a replacement for the space shuttle.

That plan, known as the Commercial Crew Program, was designed to hold down costs and advance U.S. space interests. It seemed like an approach that would please lawmakers, including free-market-minded Republicans concerned about runaway spending and national security.

But Commercial Crew has been a tough sell, politically. Lawmakers reluctantly have provided enough money for it to limp along, but not nearly enough to meet some of the ambitious deadlines the Obama administration originally set. And they question whether aerospace companies are being given too much flexibility in developing the shuttle's replacement.

The first crewed mission to the space station has been delayed until at least late 2017 — and that's only if Congress approves NASA's full funding request for the next three years, an unlikely scenario.

Competing interests, bruised feelings and budget-cutting have contributed to Commercial Crew's lack of funding, observers say. And they say a tug of war between the program and NASA's plans to send astronauts to an asteroid and Mars is hurting the nation's space capability at a time when tight fiscal times call for more cooperation, not less.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has been paying Russia hundreds of millions to ferry astronauts to the space station since the shuttle retired. Last week, NASA announced it had signed an 18-month contract extension with Russia for $424 million to provide transportation through June 2017.

John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said the president outraged many lawmakers, notably Republicans, by not consulting with them before scrapping a program, called Constellation, to return to the moon.

So lawmakers crafted their own plan: a Space Launch System (SLS) that would develop a heavy-lift rocket for the asteroid and Mars missions — on their terms.

"This town works on mutual trust, and the trust between NASA and Congress was broken and has not yet been re-established," Logsdon said. "The administration owns Commercial Crew, and Congress owns SLS, and each is fighting to preserve their ownership. And the result is an approach (for) the U.S space program that makes absolutely no sense, because the two aren't connected to one another."

The White House scuttled Constellation, which had been championed by George W. Bush, following a report by an independent commission that concluded it was financially unsustainable. The abrupt cancellation further inflamed tensions among lawmakers who felt the White House had already snubbed them on other issues.

"There were lots of Republicans on the Hill who believe it was done to end a Bush program," said former Pennsylvania GOP representative Robert S. Walker, who once chaired the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. "That created a competition between SLS and the Commercial Crew program."

Walker, whose lobbying firm works with Sierra Nevada Corp. on its Commercial Crew entry, Dream Chaser, said there's something else at play, too: turf.

Many key congressional players who shape space policy represent states or districts that are home to NASA space centers and aerospace firms tied to the deep-space missions.

"One of the problems has been that what we call 'old space' has dominance in the authorizing and appropriating functions on Capitol Hill," Walker said. "And 'new space' entrants are seen with suspicion, because they do not necessarily buy their programs from the traditional contractors."

Those tensions were on display last month at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, when Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, who represents Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, questioned NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. on the agency's budget request.

Shelby asked Bolden why the administration was asking $200 million less for SLS — and nearly $300 million more for the Commercial Crew program — in fiscal 2014 than it had asked for in fiscal 2013.

"This budget focuses too heavily on maintaining the fiction of a privately funded commercial launch vehicle, which diverts, I think, critical resources from NASA's goal of developing human space flight capabilities," said Shelby, the top Republican on the panel.

Bolden responded that work on the deep-space mission is well underway and that NASA's request would be enough to carry out the necessary testing. Then he ticked off the NASA centers where work on the program is taking place, including Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

Republican Rep. Bill Posey, whose Florida district includes Kennedy Space Center, wants to return to the moon and remains critical of Obama's decision to cancel Constellation because he said it has left the nation's space program in limbo.

But he's also supporting the administration's budget request for Commercial Crew. The program is expected to use Kennedy to launch privately crewed missions to the space station just as the shuttle did.

"Given where we are today with a U.S. human space flight gap, we need a robust commercial space industry to work alongside NASA to keep the United States first in space," Posey said.

The real problem, many say, is money.

Federal agencies have had to scale back because of congressional resistance to expanding the federal debt or raising taxes. And sequestration spending cuts that took effect in March leave little room to grow one program without winnowing another.

NASA's budget is expected to drop from $18.4 billion in fiscal 2011 to less than $16.7 billion this fiscal year. Agency officials have asked for $17.7 billion for fiscal 2014. They say another year of sequestration cuts would stall some of NASA's most important work.

Space Policy Institute Director Scott Pace, who served as the associate NASA administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation in the Bush administration, said the funding shortfall is fueling much of the dispute between Obama and Congress.

"If you had a $23 billion or $24 billion budget, you could paper over a lot of differences," he said.

Orion crack repair under scrutiny in loads testing

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

Engineers are putting NASA's first space-bound Orion capsule, set to fly in orbit in 2014, through tests to stress the capsule's structural shell and check repairs to cracks in the pressurized module's aluminum bulkhead.

The static loads testing began May 3 and will run through June inside the Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The pressure shell of the Orion spacecraft, comprised of welded olive-green aluminum-lithium metal panels, is being put through the tests to verify the capsule can withstand loads it will encounter during launch, re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

The capsule's first unmanned spaceflight, called Exploration Flight Test-1, is scheduled to launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket in September 2014. The Orion spacecraft will launch into a 3,600-mile-high elliptical orbit and plunge back into Earth's atmosphere at more than 20,000 mph, exposing its Avcoat ablative heat shield to temperatures greater than 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

One of the test flight's primary purposes is verifying the heat shield's ability to withstand re-entry, which will be faster than any human-rated spacecraft since the Apollo moon program.

The Orion spacecraft is designed to ferry astronauts to destinations beyond low Earth orbit. It would be instrumental in NASA missions to retrieve and study an asteroid, journey to Mars and visit manned laboratories in deep space.

The 16.5-foot-diameter spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., was delivered to Kennedy Space Center in June 2012. Engineers put the capsule through its first test at KSC in November, when they pressurized the Orion crew module to check its integrity.

The test was halted after technicians heard audible cracking sounds, and inspections showed three small cracks in the aft bulkhead on the lower half of the Orion spacecraft's pressure shell. The cracks materialized in three adjacent radial ribs of the aluminum bulkhead, according to NASA.

Engineers designed structural braces to resolve the problem, and those repairs are being tested now.

Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion program manager, said the cracks were about a half-inch long, but the fractures did not penetrate the spacecraft's pressure vessel.

NASA opted to install "doublers" and custom brackets over the cracked area to ensure the craft can sustain loads from pressure, launch and landing. The structural aids are similar to repairs often used on airplanes.

The ongoing loads test should last through June to simulate the stresses the spacecraft will encounter during launch, ascent, launch abort, launch abort system separation, re-entry and splashdown, according to NASA.

The loads testing was planned before the cracks appeared, but the stresses will double-check the repairs.

NASA and Lockheed Martin added more than 1,600 strain gauges to measure the effects of the loads testing on the spacecraft, which sits in a 20-foot-high test fixture inside the O&C Building at Kennedy Space Center.

The loads test, divided into eight phases, will first impart forces and stresses the spacecraft will experience during launch. The re-entry and landing portion of the test occurs last.

"We will start off with some tension and compressive load cases, and then we'll also put some pressure combination in there, too," said Dan Dumbacher, associate administrator of exploration systems at NASA Headquarters.

Hydraulic cylinders will slowly apply pressure to different parts of the Orion spacecraft to simulate the flight, according to NASA.

After the loads test, engineers will add avionics and computers to the Orion crew module, then turn on the spacecraft for the first time in late summer for further testing.

The spacecraft's heat shield, now being prepared by Textron Defense Systems in Massachusetts, will be delivered to Florida this summer, Dumbacher said in April.

Once engineers attach the heat shield, finish construction of a dummy Orion service module, and receive a launch vehicle adapter, the Orion spacecraft will be ready for fueling and integration with the Delta 4-Heavy rocket in March or April 2014, Dumbacher said.

That is about three months later than previously scheduled, but Dumbacher said there is still "some margin" in the schedule to meet the September 2014 launch date.

Chris Hadfield says Nasa's job is not to 'titillate'

Pallab Ghosh - BBC News

Space station commander Chris Hadfield has told BBC News that those calling for a quick return of manned missions to the Moon are seeking "titillation".

His comments were in response to suggestions that the International Space Station (ISS) served little purpose.

Commander Hadfield has been a Twitter sensation with his feed of comments, photos and videos showing what life is like in space.

He is due to return to Earth on Tuesday.

"We will go to the Moon and we will go to Mars; we will go and see what asteroids and comets are made of," he told BBC News.

"But we're not going to do it tomorrow and we're not going to do it because it titillates the nerve endings. We're going to do it because it's a natural human progression."

I met Chris Hadfield in his native Canada last year before he went into space. At the time, morale was running low within Nasa following the scrapping of the shuttle programme, the cancellation of the previous administration's plans to go back to the Moon and Mars and mounting criticism of the quality and quantity of research on the ISS.

But every inch the archetypal, twinkly-eyed, optimistic astronaut, he was having none of it.

"It's a process - we're not trying to make a front page every day and we're not planning on planting a flag every time we launch. That's just a false expectation of low-attention-span consumerism".

Those growing up in the 1960s were inspired by views of the Earth from space and the Moon landing. A new generation has become enthralled by commander Hadfield's frequent tweets on what it is like to live in space.

He has shown his nearly 750,000 followers how astronauts brush their teeth and how to eat a tortilla in zero gravity. Commander Hadfield has also sung along with schoolchildren from space and chatted with William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original series of Star Trek.

Cosmic superstar

He has probably become the most famous astronaut since the days of Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin.

And so many now want to know more about their new superstar. What, for example, does he think of the future of space travel? When I spoke to him in February 2012, I asked him whether he thought that astronauts would ever again leave low Earth orbit and go back to the Moon, or perhaps one day on to Mars, rather than simply ferrying back and forth to the space station.

It was an honest enough question, but I realised as soon as he began to answer that it was a tactless one, because it implied what he and his fellow astronauts were doing was pointless.

"That's a really self-defeating way of posing the question because you say 'get back to' and 'ferrying back and forth'," he said, clearly irked.

I felt bad that I had irritated such a nice man, but my question had spurred him to deliver a passionate and articulate case for the ISS.

"We are leaving Earth permanently," he said with zeal. "It is a huge historic step and we are trying to do it right and it takes time, it takes patience and it takes tenacity - and we're going to do it."

His argument is that the construction and utilisation of the ISS will lead to the development of technologies that will eventually enable humanity to leave Earth and settle on other worlds. But that process will be a slow and incremental one.

And he has this to say to those who want things to move much faster: "It's just an uninformed lack of patience and lack of understanding of complexity and a desire to be amused and entertained that builds a false set of expectations."

One of the key technologies that is needed is a means to recycle water from astronauts back into a drinkable form, along with radiation shielding and developing ways of working and living in space for prolonged periods.

Commander Hadfield believes that the ISS provides the perfect test bed for developing deep space travel capabilities.

Selling points

"We are slowly leaving our planet and it happens in little, [difficult-to-execute] and hard-earned steps and it makes huge sense to understand how to do it when we are only 400km (250 miles) away.

"Because we can at any moment, when we have made a stupid mistake with a design, or an emergency that we hadn't recognised or because of human health, get in our spaceship and come home."

That is a view backed by Dr Simon Evetts of the UK Space Biomedical Association.

"The operational experience is significantly important because we are learning how to live in space and so I think that the ISS probably will be a stepping stone to Mars."

But what about the science? One of the space station's key selling points was that it would be an orbiting laboratory where scientists from across the world would work in space to roll back the frontiers of knowledge.

Critics such as the UK's Astronomer Royal, Prof Lord Rees, have questioned whether the hefty £65bn ($100bn) it cost to build the ISS would be value for money.

"No one would regard the science on the space station as being able to justify more than a fraction of its overall cost," he said.

'Not justified'

"I recall in the early days there were some proposals for experiments and the [UK] research councils would not even pay for the modest, marginal cost for them so we have to ask whether people would be prepared to pay for [the experiments on the ISS] had they to be financed in competition with other work on the ground".

Lord Rees cites a $1.5bn cosmic ray experiment bolted on to the ISS as an example of money which could be better spent.

"The results from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) are still rather ambiguous and the general opinion is that the experiment has not justified its cost and would not have been flown had there not been lobbying which put it ahead of competing projects."

One of the main areas of research on the ISS is to see how materials and biological systems behave in the microgravity of space. But project proposals have been slow to emerge.

A report by the US National Research Council in 2011 highlighted that Nasa's efforts to maintain its human spaceflight programme had led to a decline in life and physical science research - "leaving it in a poor position to take advantage of the fully equipped ISS".

Faced with the embarrassing prospect of an underused multi-billion dollar space station, Congress created an independent, non-profit organisation, the Centre for the Advancement of Science in Space (Casis), later that year.

It was tasked with bringing in research projects from the US research community while Nasa concentrated its research efforts on developing technologies for long term space travel of the sort that Cmdr Hadfield describes.

But projects were slow to emerge and within a few months the organisation's director resigned abruptly citing "unrealistic expectations" by Nasa and congressional officials.

Evidence matters

A large part of the problem is that there is currently no evidence that studies on topics such as bone thinning, growing stem cells or proteins in microgravity will lead to any useful new treatments. Without this, many in the research community can't see the virtue in such research.

But Casis's upbeat new chief executive, Duane Ratliff, told BBC News that he believed that once there was evidence that these research areas might be fruitful, scientists would be falling over themselves to book a research slot on the ISS.

"You then have a compelling research pathway, [so] if we can demonstrate the significance of the ISS as an R&D platform, there will be specific industries that will want to take advantage of that."

In Europe, by contrast, there is no shortage of research ideas, many of which will be discussed at a space environments conference at the UK's National Space Centre in Leicester in November. Dr Evetts says that researchers putting proposals to the European Space Agency are aware that microgravity research is a long haul.

"We can't really assess the importance of what we are getting out of the ISS now. We'll probably understand that in the decades ahead so we should not be too quick to judge," he said.

Lord Rees, however, believes that the ISS is not a cost-effective way to do science.

"Its main [purpose] was to keep the manned space programme alive and to learn how humans can live and work in space. And here again the most positive development in this area has been the advent of private companies which can develop technology and rockets more cheaply than Nasa and its traditional contractors have done".

So the ISS's value for science and even as a staging post for deep space travel is not clear-cut.

But as Chris Hadfield has shown, its ability to inspire is undisputed and perhaps deserves the patience that he has called for to inspire a generation to learn about science and space travel.

ISS chief due back via Soyuz tonight
Fans cheer Hadfield's tweets, Earthly return

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

The International Space Station's first Canadian commander will return to Earth tonight in what will be an emotional end for more than one million followers on Twitter, Facebook and other websites.

During his five-month tour on the space station, Ontario native Chris Hadfield became a social media superstar, posting breathtaking images of Earth along with lyrical descriptions of his hand-selected locales. He also sent back videos detailing everyday life on the outpost.

"It will be a great day and a sad day when you touch down on earth! Thank you for your brilliance and for sharing your incredible journey with us!" Sara Knight-Rushton wrote this month on Hadfield's Facebook wall.

"What will we do without you to provide such a unique perspective on our planet, which is such a small part of our universe …unbelievable!" added Lori N'Scott Earle. "We will miss those amazing pictures along with their equally captivating quips."

Hadfield, U.S. astronaut Thomas Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko are scheduled to depart the space station at 7:08 p.m. EDT, just two days after an emergency spacewalk to repair a coolant leak on the outpost. They will begin a fiery atmospheric re-entry at 9:37 p.m. Landing on the central steppes of Kazakhstan is scheduled at 10:31 p.m.

Three colleagues will remain on the outpost: Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin, and U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy. Another three will launch from Kazakhstan on May 28 and dock at the station that night. They are Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, U.S. astronaut Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency.

Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko blasted off on a Russian Soyuz rocket on Dec. 19 and arrived at the outpost two days later, joining three others. Hadfield took command of the station when those three departed in mid-March.

During his 146 days in space, Hadfield became a space ambassador and arguably the world's most famous Canadian. He has more than 750,000 followers on Twitter and 236,000 likes on his Facebook page. Some 277,000 have Hadfield in Google-Plus Circles, and the astronaut-extraordinaire has tallied about 850,000 video views on his YouTube channel.

Hadfield's video repertoire includes digital demonstrations of "How To Barf, Puke And Vomit In Space;" "How To Wring Out A Washcloth In Space;" "How Astronauts Clip Their Nails In Space;" and "How To Make A Peanut Butter And Honey Sandwich In Space."

On SoundCloud, Hadfield posted audio files that include a variety of ambient sounds heard on the outpost: the station's toilet starting up and running steady; a caution-and-warning system alarm; the rickety-rackety operation of a resistive exercise machine; the "very grating" sound of a condensate pump.

An accomplished musician, Hadfield recorded and distributed the first original music produced on the station — he converted the Cupola observatory deck into an orbital recording studio.

And, strumming an acoustic guitar, Hadfield joined Ed Robertson of the alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies in the space-to-ground, live Canadian national network television premiere of a song the two wrote together: "I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)."

But it's the stunningly beautiful Earth imagery and the eloquent captions that have captivated people around the world.

"You've gained a whole host of friends the world over through your wonderful, humane, poetic, scientific, musical, quirky posts that have let us share your very different perspective on Mother Earth for a few months," Helen Carter of Southampton, U.K, wrote on Hadfield's Facebook wall.

"It has truly been an eye-opening and amazing ride, with you onboard, Sir!" wrote Pedro Nortes. "It's going to be very, very hard to find anyone with your charisma, and people skills, who also can be a poet, photographer, a writer, director, actor, musician, teacher, magician….Need I say more?"

Many will miss the presence of a renaissance man on ISS.

"I truly hope you realize how much you've done for us Earthlings to be able to understand (an) astronaut's life up among the stars," Alexander de Quimper wrote on Hadfield's Facebook wall.

Sonja Garant dubbed him: "Officially the coolest Canadian in the solar system."

A look at Chris Hadfield's scientific efforts aboard the Space Station

Kate Allen - Toronto Star

Those only half paying attention to Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's tenure aboard the International Space Station could be forgiven for thinking his job consists of sing-a-longs, "tweet-ups," and unveiling the new $5 bill.

Not so.

The astronauts aboard the ISS devote a huge chunk of their time to a dizzying array of scientific efforts. Hadfield conducted more than 130 experiments during his 146 days aboard the ISS; one week last February, he and the crew set a station record by spending 71 hours on science.

Some of the research takes advantage of the unique conditions of space to probe phenomena in ways that can't be achieved on Earth. That includes the Alpha Magentic Spectrometer, a particle detector that recently revealed tantalizing clues into the existence of dark matter.

But in many experiments — those probing the extreme physical toll that living in microgravity exacts on astronauts' bodies — Hadfield is both a partner and a guinea pig.

Starting two years before joining the ISS, Hadfield spent time training with the principal investigators of the experiments in order to properly execute each one 400 kilometres above Earth. While he started his career as a pilot, not a scientist, the researchers who have entrusted their work — and their grant money — to Hadfield praise his dedication.

"He says, 'What can I do for you. How can I make this the best possible experiment,'" says Richard Hughson, the principal investigator of two ISS experiments and Schlegel Research Chair in Vascular Aging and Brain Health at the University of Waterloo.

"The guy that you see on the Twitter feed and talking to all the school kids — he's a really personable guy. But he recognizes underneath . . . that it's a very serious job."

BCAT-C1

What do milk, paint and hair gel have in common? They are all colloids — the scientific word for particles suspended in a medium.

Space is ideal for studying colloids, as Simon Fraser University physics professor Barbara Frisken knows. When scientists want to see how colloids separate or crystallize, gravity gets in the way, making the particles settle. "You're taking out some of the complications," she says.

Frisken is the principal investigator of BCAT-C1, the Canadian follow-up to an older international colloid experiment aboard the ISS. Frisken's team sent seven colloids to the ISS in a module the size of a laptop, and invited U.S. researchers to add another three. A camera and a flash are also part of the kit.

During Hadfield's tenure on the ISS, he did five two-hour runs of BCAT-C1. Each time, he manipulated a magnet that moved a stir stick inside the colloids. He then aligned and started the camera, which recorded how the colloids separated or crystallized.

"It's very time-consuming and I'm sure it's very tedious, but it's really important to do a good job," says Frisken. "And he did a great job."

Frisken is interested in the basic properties of these materials. But the science may have practical applications for companies interested in designing colloids that don't separate as quickly — gels that can be transported farther, or paint that doesn't separate.

"You'd never make hair gel in space. That's stupid," says Frisken. "But it gives us a special lab where we can do experiments we can't do here," and the better we understand the fundamentals of these materials, "the easier it is to design new ones."

Circadian Rhythms

The ISS orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, meaning the crew sees sunrise and sunset 16 times in a 24-hour period. It's no surprise that would wreak havoc on the astronauts' circadian rhythms, the internal clock that subtly alters the body's internal temperature throughout the day and prepares it for work or sleep. The crew also works different "night" and "day" shifts, throwing things even further out of whack.

Until recently, no one had designed an experiment that would test how circadian rhythms change in astronauts. Mapping that core temperature would have involved inserting a rectal probe, says Hanns-Christian Gunga, a professor of physiology at the Charité – University Medicine Berlin. "And that's not so comfortable."

That changed when researchers discovered that the flux of heat escaping from the head could reveal internal temperature changes, and they designed a simple, non-invasive skin sensor that could monitor the flux. Gunga is now the principal investigator of a European Space Agency experiment that will investigate circadian rhythms in space flight, and Hadfield is one of the first participants.

Hadfield wore the sensor on his forehead three times before he left for space and then once a month while aboard the ISS, each time for 36 hours. On Tuesday, Gunga's team will monitor him again, and try to track him down in two weeks and in one month.

The research will help scientists learn how astronauts acclimatize — or don't — to circadian rhythm disruption. That knowledge will be crucial if humans ever make the multi-year flight to Mars. "You have to keep your rhythm, otherwise you will be exhausted and make (mistakes)." Gunga is also embarking on similar experiments that will help those who do shift work in harsh conditions, such as underground miners and researchers in Antarctica.

VASCULAR

Hadfield is the eighth astronaut to participate in VASCULAR, an experiment run by Waterloo's Hughson and designed to examine the effect of living in microgravity on the health of the body's blood vessels.

When a human is standing on Earth, the force of gravity causes that person's blood pressure to be lower in the head than the feet. If that person lies down, blood pressure equalizes — gravity is exerting the same effect on all parts of the body.

Living in microgravity mimics the effect of lying down all the time, not to mention that it's impossible to go for a long jog. Scientists know that astronauts suffer rates of bone loss four times higher than post-menopausal women. Hughson wanted to learn if space flight initiated a similar aging of the body's blood vessels.

"We're looking at the role of physical inactivity. Things happen in space a lot faster than they happen on Earth in terms of these aging-like processes," he says.

Before Hadfield left for space, Hughson's team gave him an ultrasound to measure the size and elasticity of his arteries and took blood that would show molecular markers of stiffening blood vessels. Aboard the ISS, Hadfield twice drew five vials of blood for this and other experiments. And back on Earth — at 9 a.m. Wednesday, if things go according to schedule — Hughson and his team will give Hadfield another ultrasound (he will have already given blood the previous day).

Hughson expects the results shown by the last seven astronauts involved in VASCULAR will hold true: "We're seeing a very clear pattern of increased stiffness in the arteries, and that's especially so in the artery that leads up to the brain, the carotid artery in the neck." Whether the stiffening is temporary or a lasting result of space travel is unknown. Experiments are in the works to find out.

BP-Reg

Hughson is also the principal investigator on another experiment related to health, one that looks at blood pressure.

After returning to Earth, many astronauts experience dizziness — but not all of them. Hughson designed a new experiment to try to discover who will experience dizziness when returning from a mission.

Before Hadfield left for space, Hughson tested how Hadfield's blood pressure changed when he stood up from a chair. Because it's impossible to sit down in space, Hughson designed an experiment to achieve the same effect aboard the ISS. Hadfield recorded his blood pressure as he applied a cuff to his upper leg and then three minutes later released it, sending a rush of blood into his lower leg and mimicking the effect of standing up.

On Wednesday morning, Hadfield will do the same stand-up experiment, again monitoring blood pressure. Hughson predicts that astronauts who have the highest drop in blood pressure in space compared to on Earth are the ones who will experience postflight dizziness.

"Many of the things that cause an astronauts' blood pressure to be poorly regulated post-space flight are the same things that cause an elderly person's blood pressure to be poorly regulated when he or she stands up," says Hughson. "What we learn from astronauts we can apply on Earth."

ISERV

Many satellites are capable of capturing high-resolution images of the Earth's surface. But when scientists want to see a particular point on the globe at a particular moment — say, in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake — an instrument like ISERV may be the tool they turn to in the near future.

ISERV is a camera attached to a telescope that is mounted in a window of the ISS. Right now, the instrument is an engineering exercise, an attempt to see how a more precise tool would function. Even so, it has the ability to pick out something as small as a single cow in a pasture.

"The whole idea of this was to demonstrate the utility of the station as an Earth imaging platform, so in that sense we've been successful," says Burgess Howell, ISERV's principal investigator and payload developer.

The components for ISERV were delivered to the ISS in the summer of 2012, and Hadfield and another astronaut removed everything from stowage in January. "Chris did the heavy lifting on the assembly and installation," says Burgess. The process took four hours.

ISERV, which can also be used for monitoring environmental changes or degradation, snapped its first picture on Feb. 15: the snaking mouth of the Rio San Pablo in Panama.

How Chris Hadfield brought space travel back to us Earthlings
In space, nobody will hear you scream, but everybody wants to see your tweets

Richard Gray - The Telegraph

That appears to be the over-riding message from the phenomenal success of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.

The former Army test pilot has become a global celebrity after his pithy insights into the more mundane aspects of life in the zero gravity environment of space have been lapped up by the public.

Using the social media site Twitter, he has provided a running commentary of the trials and tribulations of being the 35th commander of the International Space Station.

High-resolution images he snapped of countries as they passed more than 220 miles below the orbiting space station have also triggered great excitement from us Earthlings, who have been given a new perspective on our home.

As Hadfield himself put it: "For most people, the highest they ever get is to climb a mountain or get in an airplane to see what lies beyond the normal two dimensions on the surface of the world.

"I have the opportunity to get as far away as we are here and to go around the world every 90 minutes."

Despite the popularity of the images he regularly sends back, it has been his 60 or so videos posted onto YouTube by the Canadian Space Agency that have been the real success.

In them he has taught the world about why a candle burns with a round flame in zero gravity, why tears do not fall in space and how astronauts shave.

He has conducted mini-experiments that would appear mundane back here on Earth - such as wringing out a soaking wet cloth - which have fascinated and delighted viewers in equal measure.

Hadfield has even taught us how to prepare a sandwich in zero gravity and the importance of not making crumbs.

All have been delivered with a microphone floating freely in front of his face and a charismatic grin beneath his neat moustache.

He clearly loves what he has been doing - performing mid air spins and pirouettes as he talks. The novelty of living without gravity has not worn off.

The hour or so he spends making videos each evening give him a welcome break from the packed work schedule that he and the other five members of the crew have while on board the space station.

Yet, Cmdr Hadfield's charm and easy way with the camera are not the whole story behind his success. Long before setting off on this expedition to the space station, officials at the Canadian Space Agency were preparing him for fame.

Recognising his ability to explain complex issues easily, they gave him a video camera several years ago and asked him to begin practicing with it through his training.

Since he has been at the space station, a team back in Quebec have been dreaming up ideas for him to talk about, experiments for him to perform and writing scripts for the dozens of videos he has produced.

A professional editing team have polished the footage he has sent back, setting his antics to zany music and with fun graphics.

His final video dispatch from the Space Station was a cover of the David Bowie song Space Oddity. The music video, believed to be the first filmed in space, shows Cmdr Hadfield floating through various parts of the space station and playing his guitar along to a backing track.

Together, what Cmdr Hadfield and his team have achieved is to bring the space station alive for those back on Earth. They have transformed the ISS from being a sprawling £84 billion laboratory where just an elite few who travel, into a place of wonderment – a playground where all the things we take for granted can be turned on their head.

Being able to share in just a part of that through Cmdr Hadfield's videos has somehow helped to make the enormous building and running costs of the space station easier to swallow. It has given the world the chance to be part of something very special.

After conquering space, what's next for Chris Hadfield?

Margaret Munro - Postmedia News

Chris Hadfield, also known as "the coolest guy in outer space," is packing up his camera, guitar and keyboard for his descent back to Earth. But what, exactly, does he return to? Is any career back on solid ground going to be enough?

The 53-year-old farm boy from southern Ontario is due to blaze across the sky in a Russian Soyuz capsule Monday evening before landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

His five-month mission to the International Space Station, where Hadfield has been both commander and seemingly non-stop entertainer, has been a sensation. He has enchanted millions with quirky videos, stunning photographs and often-poetic tweets. "This man has single-handedly made space sexy again," one of his more than 750,000 followers tweeted recently. Former president of the Canadian Space Agency and now Liberal MP Marc Garneau put it this way: "What he's done is phenomenal."

There have been charming videos about sleeping, eating, even crying in space. More than 10 million people have watched Hadfield wring out a soaking wet cloth — the veteran astronaut apparently as captivated by the resulting tube of water as the 10th graders in Nova Scotia who suggested the experiment.

Hadfield's daily photographs and tweets from 350 kilometres up have been a hit, providing a refreshing take on Earth's beauty and uniqueness.

Hadfield has not said what he plans to do for an encore, but Garneau says some have suggested the spaceman could be prime minister tomorrow if he wanted to run for office.

He would be an even more serious contender for president of Canada's beleaguered space agency, which is in even worse shape now than when Hadfield left the planet in December. "Chris would be a very good candidate, but I have no idea if he is interested," Garneau said.

Hadfield's tech-savvy son Evan, 28, scoffs at the notion.

"Dad never wants to be a politician or go into the political side of things, and being head of the Canadian Space Agency is 100-per-cent politics," the younger Hadfield said bluntly this week in an interview from Germany, where he's been a major force behind his father's soaring success on social media.

Hadfield's passion has been space flight and exploration since boyhood. Indeed, his only public complaint from orbit is that he has had to waste time sleeping. "If he could stay in space another 10 years, he would," said Evan.

Yet the odds of Hadfield, who's been to space three times, getting back into orbit are slim to none — at least as an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency.

The CSA has been hit with budget cuts: it's been asked to trim another $25 million this year. And it is awaiting word on whether the Conservative government will proceed with the overhaul recommended by former Conservative cabinet minister David Emerson, who in November said Canada's space program had "foundered" and needs clear priorities and plans.

At this stage there are no more missions for Canadian astronauts on the books. And Canada's two other astronauts would be ahead of Hadfield if an opportunity were to open up.

With Canada's space program in limbo, the CSA's veteran flyers have been walking out the door.

On Wednesday Julie Payette, who was hired with Hadfield in 1992 and flew on two missions to the International Space Station, announced she's off to become the chief operating officer of the Montreal Science Centre and vice-president of the Canada Lands Company.

In January, former astronaut Steve MacLean quit, five years after the government hailed him as a "modern hero" and appointed him CSA president. MacLean is not talking, but it's well-known he was frustrated with the Conservative government, which cut his budget and shelved his plan for moving the agency into the modern age. And Dr. Robert Thirsk, who spent six months aboard the space station in 2009 — becoming the first Canadian to make a long-duration space flight — departed last summer. Thirsk is now a vice-president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in Ottawa.

It is hard to imagine Hadfield heading to the office in a grey suit. But there are not exactly a lot of Earth-bound jobs that can take full advantage of astronauts' skills. Astronauts tend to be driven, brilliant, highly trained technicians with nerves of steel — and in Hadfield's case, a love of music and entertaining.

"He's very highly regarded at NASA but he works for and is paid by the CSA," said Garneau, who worked and partied with Hadfield when they were astronauts together in Houston. "He'll be at a bit of a crossroads in terms of what he will do. NASA may offer him something, or he may decide to do something in Canada," said Garneau, noting that many retired astronauts move into the space industry.

Hadfield and his crewmates are to land in Kazakhstan at 10:31 p.m. Ottawa time. Hadfield will be whisked to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for medical tests and debriefing.

His fans are already lamenting his return. "I sure will miss you when you come back to earth," Glynis Humber posted on Hadfield's Facebook page after the astronaut posted a "breathtaking" shot of the sun.

But the tweets and Facebook posts are sure to continue as Hadfield takes his first shower, hears his first bird, and gets his first whiff of fresh-cut grass.

"I'm positive a lot of people will really enjoy what he does, especially what we've got planned for coming weeks," said Evan.

Hadfield is expected to at some point head for the family's Ontario cottage to wind down. He's already invited actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk on Star Trek, to swing by for a cigar and whiskey.

Notable Canadians who have made history in space exploration

Michelle McQuigge - Canadian Press

Chris Hadfield is the latest in a line of Canadians who have left their mark on the history of space exploration. Below is a list of notable Canadians to venture into the final frontier:
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Marc Garneau: This present-day member of Parliament for the Liberal party became Canada's first man in space when he completed a mission aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in October 1984. He returned to space twice more in 1996 and 2000, making him one of only two Canadian astronauts to make three trips into space.
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Roberta Bondar: Her mission aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia launched her into the history books as Canada's first female astronaut in January 1992. Bondar, a neurologist by training, was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame for her research into space medicine. Though she left the Canadian Space Agency months after her voyage, she remains in the public eye as a photographer and advocate for environmental protection.
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Robert Thirsk: Thirsk made his first mission in June 1996 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. His second voyage was more historic when he became the first Canadian to spend a six-month stint aboard the International Space Station. Thirsk's term lasted from late May to December 2009.
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Steve MacLean: He was selected as one of Canada's first astronauts in the early 1980s and finally made it to space aboard Columbia in October 1992. He returned in September 2006 aboard Atlantis, when he became the first Canadian to operate the Canadarm II in space. He became the head of the Canadian Space Agency in 2008, a post he held for nearly five years.
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Chris Hadfield: Hadfield's career has been defined by firsts. His initial space mission in 1995 made him the only Canadian astronaut to visit the Russian space station Mir. His second, in April 2001, saw him become the first Canadian to perform a spacewalk as he helped install the second incarnation of the Canadarm. Halfway through his third mission, a sojourn that began in December 2012, he became the first Canadian to assume command of the International Space Station. These high-profile achievements, plus his enthusiastic use of photography and social media during his most recent stint in space, have earned him a loyal online following.
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Bjarni Tryggvason: On his only space mission in August 1997, Tryggvason tested the country's Microgravity isolation mount
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Dave Williams: He became the first Canadian to be assigned as crew physician on his first space mission aboard Columbia in April 1998. Months later, he became the first non-American to hold a senior management position within NASA when he was appointed director of the Space and Life Sciences Directorate at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He held the position for four years, but maintained astronaut training and eventually returned to space in 2007. While on this second mission he performed three space walks and set a Canadian record by spending a total of 19 hours outside the International Space Station. He is also the first Canadian to have lived and worked in both space and the ocean.
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Julie Payette: The country's second woman in space made Canadian history during her two missions. She became the first Canadian to visit the International Space Station during her first voyage in May 1999. A decade later, when she returned to the station and joined fellow Canadian Robert Thirsk on board, it marked the first time two Canadians had ever been in space at the same time. She also served as the Canadian Space Agency's chief astronaut from 2000 to 2007. She went on to become a Quebec envoy to Washington, D.C., and has just been appointed head of a federal science museum in Montreal.
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Guy Laliberte: The Cirque du Soleil founder became Canada's first space tourist in 2009 when he paid $35 million for a seat on a Russian spacecraft travelling to the International Space Station.

After Hadfield, no Canadian will visit space station before 2016: CSA

Peter Rakobowchuk - Canadian Press

Space station watchers who have been entertained by Chris Hadfield in orbit will have to wait at least nearly three more years to get their next fix from a visiting Canadian astronaut.

Hadfield is scheduled to return to Earth on Monday after a five-month visit to the International Space Station.

During the latter stages of his stay, he became the first Canadian to command the orbiting space laboratory.

Gilles Leclerc, interim head of the Canadian Space Agency, says there probably won't be another Canadian travelling to the station for at least three more years.

"Right now, Canada doesn't have a slot for an astronaut on the launch manifest of NASA before 2016," he said in an interview.

A NASA spokesman said in an email the last international crew to be confirmed will launch in December 2014.

Leclerc noted that Canada collects "credits" based on its contributions to the development of the space station, with the credits traded in for trips by astronauts.

"The ISS is a big co-operative," he said. "You get in return what you put into the program and right now we still have some credits left, but we have to accumulate these credits."

Leclerc added it will be "between 2016 and 2019" that the next Canadian astronaut will travel to the space station.

That trip would go to one of Canada's two rookie astronauts: David Saint-Jacques or Jeremy Hansen.

In the meantime, the future of the entire Canadian space program is on hold as the Harper government reviews the recommendations of a report on the sector.

The report was part of a broad review of the aerospace industry commissioned by the Conservative government.

Former cabinet minister David Emerson, who headed the review, was blunt when he issued his report last November.

He said the Canadian space program had "floundered" over the last decade.

"There's been some lack of clarity around priorities and uneven performance in the implementation of projects," Emerson said at the time.

Leclerc told The Canadian Press he expects the future direction of the space agency to be decided in the coming months, adding it is involved in preparing a response to the report.

He said much will also depend on Canada's four space partners: NASA; the European Space Agency; JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

"The ultimate objective for all space agencies is to send a human to Mars and, in the interim, there are various missions and destinations, we're looking at," Leclerc said.

NASA is currently studying a plan to send humans to an asteroid in 2025.

Leclerc noted that a precursor to that mission is OSIRIS-REx, a 2016 sample return mission to a primitive asteroid, which uses a vision system provided by Canada.

"We're still at the stage with our international partners where we're studying what could be the next destination," he added.

Chuck Black, treasurer of the Canadian Space Commerce Association, doesn't see anything happening at the Canadian Space Agency before August or September, when he expects a new permanent president to be appointed.

"That'll be the first indication how things are going to move forward," he said in an interview from Toronto.

Former president Steve MacLean stepped down in February -- months before his term was to expire in August 2013.

With Hadfield returning to Earth on Monday, Black volunteered he didn't expect the space veteran to become the next president.

"Chris Hadfield and Steve MacLean and all the other astronauts are very tight, very close together," Black said.

"Hadfield is going to remember what happened to Steve MacLean and he's going to govern himself accordingly."

Black's organization is an industry group that represents about 40 small and large space companies in Canada.

He said Canadian firms have not been sitting around waiting for the Harper government to help them out.

In recent years, he noted, the Canadian space program has been moving away from the public sector toward private partnerships.

Black said Canadian companies such as MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (TSX;MDA), which builds robotic space arms, are manufacturing their components for Americans and Europeans.

He pointed to MDA's recent purchase of Space Systems/Lorel, a U.S. spacecraft manufacturer. It's described as one of the "big five" in commercial satellite construction.

"Quite frankly MDA has enough money to do what it wants, it's going to have direct access to American markets," Black said.

"There are a lot of options, but most of these options are not travelling through the Canadian Space Agency."

While he is "tremendously optimistic" about the Emerson report, Black's prediction is that the CSA will assume a smaller and smaller role over the years.

He said it would probably continue to focus on the space station, which will continue to operate until at least 2020.

Astronaut Mom Savors Mother's Day Before Space Travel

Megan Gannon - Space.com

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg is launching on a six-month mission to the International Space Station this month, so she's making sure to savor this Mother's Day with her 3-year-old son and her husband, who also happens to be an astronaut.

Nyberg and her husband, NASA astronaut Doug Hurley, are in Moscow for Mother's Day and she described the challenges of balancing life as astronaut and a mom to Parenting Magazine while counting down to a May 28 launch to the International Space Station.

Nyberg first flew in space in 2008, launching on the shuttle Discovery and spending two weeks at the space station. But that was before her son Jack, now a toddler, was born. Now she is preparing for her first long-duration mission in space, which can be tough for any parent, Nyberg said.

"The longest I've been away from him at this point is about five weeks. He's 3 years old, so it's really hard to tell exactly what he understands," Nyberg told Parenting magazine. "But we do tell him that mommy is going to live on the space station.

Nyberg told Parenting magazine that her plans for Mother's Day include relaxing with her family in Russia, where she has been completing final preparations, exams and simulations for her role on Expedition 36/37.

On May 28, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to take Nyberg and two crewmates from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to their temporary home, more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

While the Internet, weekly video conferences and an Internet protocol telephone help International Space Station crews stay in touch with family and friends on Earth, all astronauts who have logged long weeks in orbit deal with leaving loved ones back home. Many have talked about how they prepare for their separation.

"You want to make sure that your family is involved with that adventure you're about to have — that experience you're about to have," Nicole Stott, who has logged more than 100 days in space, said in a recent NASA video.

Nyberg has been doing just that. She admits it has been hard to tell what her 3-year-old really understands, be he knows his mom is headed to the space station.

She also told Parenting magazine that she's looking forward to sending him videos and showing him what everyday tasks look like on the space station — that is, when she's not taking part in one of the 200 science experiments that are planned for her mission.

Nyberg said she grappled with the idea of spending six months away from her son.

"But after going through it in my head for a long time, this is a dream I had since I was a young child, myself," Nyberg told Parenting magazine. "I don't think I would be setting a very good example for my son if I were to give up on my dream."

Karen Nyberg completed her doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 1998. That year, she joined NASA's Crew and Thermal Systems Division, working as an environmental control systems engineer on improvements in the space suit thermal control system and evaluation of firefighter suit cooling technologies.

In July 2000, she was selected as a mission specialist by NASA. She spent two weeks in space in 2008 on a space shuttle Discovery mission, STS-124, which delivered the Japan's Kibo module to the space station.

Nyberg will launch toward the space station with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. They will join Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy as the crew of Expedition 36.

Construction of the $100 billion orbiting lab began in 1998 and it has been permanently staffed with rotating crews since 2000. It is roughly the size of a five-bedroom house with a wingspan the size of a football field.

'Attitude-Control Game': The Fateful Launch of Skylab

Ben Evans - AmericaSpace.com

Four decades ago this week, America almost lost its first space station. On the morning of 14 May 1973, the last in a generation of Saturn V boosters sat on Pad 39A, ready for its journey into space. Visually, it was quite distinct from its predecessors, possessing two stages, instead of three, and in place of what would have been the final propulsive stage was Skylab, capped off by a bullet-like aerodynamic shroud.

To this day, the Saturn V remains the largest and most powerful rocket ever brought to operational status, and as it entered the final hours before its last launch, it could enjoy an almost unblemished reputation: its 12 previous missions had never failed to complete their primary objectives. The ominous, brewing clouds at Cape Kennedy carried much menace, but everyone knew the Saturn's reliability: its muscle had sent men to the Moon on nine occasions, and for its final swan song there was every expectation that it would perform with perfection.

The behemoth Saturn had been sitting on the pad for a month, undergoing checks and countdown simulations. NASA was keenly aware that the success of Skylab was totally dependent upon the success of the launch, and if anything went awry it was unlikely that Congress would stump up the $250 million needed for another attempt. The station's first crew—Pete Conrad, Joe Kerwin, and Paul Weitz—were on hand to watch the station spear for the heavens, and tomorrow, on 15 May, they would blast off atop a Saturn IB rocket for a 28-day mission.

Precisely at 1:30 p.m. EST, the five mighty F-1 engines of the Saturn V's first stage thundered to life, raising the question in everyone's mind: had the rocket risen or had Florida sunk? Conrad had flown one of these mechanised monsters to the Moon and instinctively braced himself for the immense wave of sound that washed over him, the pummelling of the soles of his feet, and the intense vibration. At length, the lumbering Saturn cleared the tower and vanished into a deck of thick, iron-grey cloud, trailing an immense tongue of golden flame.

Skylab was on its way.

"It looked great," Kerwin wrote in his book, Homesteading Space, and fellow Skylab astronauts Owen Garriott and Jack Lousma quickly headed to Patrick Air Force Base to pick up a T-38 jet for their return to Houston. Garriott and Lousma were due to fly the second mission to the space station in the late summer of 1973. As they walked towards their rental car, they happened to meet Rocco Petrone, the head of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, who advised them of "a few telemetry glitches." The two astronauts did not ponder on Petrone's words, and as they left Patrick and gained altitude, they had every hope that Skylab would soon be ready to accept its first astronaut visitors.

A minute after launch, the Saturn had gone supersonic and, shortly thereafter, passed through a period of maximum aerodynamic turbulence—nicknamed "Max Q"—during which atmospheric forces on the vehicle reached their most severe. It was a few seconds later that telemetry data indicated something was not right. The data almost went unnoticed, but indicated a premature deployment of Skylab's protective micrometeroid shield and its No. 2 solar array. If the telemetry was for real, and was not an instrumentation error, it signalled very bad news and meant that both shield and array were as good as lost and the future of the mission thrown into doubt. For now, however, the assumption was made that it was nothing more than a spurious signal.

For a while, it seemed that the assumption was correct. The Saturn was flying perfectly, its second stage picking up the thrust for the final boost into low-Earth orbit, and at 1:40 p.m. the space station was released at an altitude of 430 km, about 1,800 km downrange of the Cape, high above the Atlantic Ocean. The bullet-like shroud separated and at 1:47 p.m. electric motors rotated Skylab's massive Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) out 90 degrees, locking it into place and deploying its windmill of four solar arrays. Before the mission, the successful deployment of the ATM had been a lingering concern … and it had been executed without a whimper. In the euphoria of those first few minutes in orbit, the mysterious bit of telemetry about the micrometeoroid shield and No. 2 solar array almost went unnoticed.

Almost …

An hour later, Flight Director Don Puddy noticed erratic signals from the station. By that time, the solar arrays should have unfurled, but the data was confusing. Controllers expected their monitors to show both arrays producing around 12.4 kW—about 60 percent of Skylab's electricity—but were dismayed to learn that power levels were much, much lower … a mere 25 watts! The data indicated that the arrays had released, but had not fully extended, whilst temperature levels implied that one of them had either been torn away or had suffered severe structural failure. A virtual absence of voltage supported this nightmare scenario. As engineers watched their data over the next few hours, they concluded that, indeed, the micrometeoroid shield had failed and a malfunctioning solar array had led to a power outage. Off-duty flight director Phil Shaffer quickly set to work on a "malfunction list" to handle all the problems which were now flooding into Mission Control … and quickly found himself with nearly 50 items, all of which were critical to the survival of Skylab!

The micrometeoroid shield had a secondary duty to provide thermal control; its external face carried a black and white pattern to absorb heat, whilst its internal face and the hull of the station itself were covered with gold foil to regulate the heat flow between them. As long as the shield stayed in place, the system would have kept Skylab on the cool side of the comfort zone … but now that it was gone, or disabled, the gold would begin to absorb heat and render the station uninhabitable. Sensors indicated external temperatures of 82 degrees Celsius and, inside, around 38 degrees Celsius. Thermal engineers were already predicting that these would soon climb further to 165 and 77 degrees Celsius, respectively, endangering the astronauts' food stocks, camera film, and perhaps even the structure of Skylab itself.

There were other dangers, too. Under such high temperatures, materials inside the station could "outgas," producing contaminants which might suffocate a crew of astronauts. Lining the interior walls was a thick layer of polyurethane foam and fibreglass, one of whose constituents was a particularly nasty chemical, known as "toluene diisocynate," which is today listed as one of the dozen most hazardous substances to human health. At temperatures of around 199 degrees Celsius, it would begin to break down and release toxicity into Skylab's atmosphere. In the days that followed, a set of gas-sampling tubes were prepared for Pete Conrad's crew to measure the levels of toluene before entering the station.

Within eight hours, NASA cancelled the scheduled 15 May launch of the first crew. The countdown clock, which had been halted at T-minus 14 hours and 35 minutes, was recycled to T-59 hours and held there, indefinitely. Based on Skylab's orbital geometry, launch opportunities arose every five days and Conrad's crew was rescheduled to fly no earlier than the 20th. The primary option at this stage was for the astronauts to fly a 17-day "nominal" mission and spend the final 11 days performing "minimal activity" to gather the required four weeks of medical data.

Yet even this plan was fraught with risk, as the situation aboard Skylab worsened. In order to produce electricity, the station had to remain in a "solar inertial" attitude, with the Sun's rays perpendicular to the ATM panels … but this exposed the full length of the hull to excessive overheating. Mission Control reduced the problem for a while, by pointing the front end of the station directly towards the Sun, which lowered temperatures … but also caused power levels to drop precipitously. The best compromise, it was found, was to pitch Skylab "upwards," by about 45 degrees, towards the Sun. This allowed just enough sunlight to illuminate the ATM panels and charge their batteries, whilst also stabilising internal temperatures at a balmy 42 degrees Celsius. Conversely, temperatures in Skylab's airlock now dropped and threatened to freeze heat exchangers and coolant loops by 18 May. Manoeuvres to warm the airlock were successful, but at the expense of overheating the rest of the station.

The resultant problem of maintaining a fine balance between temperature and power proved incredibly difficult and intricate. Several of Skylab's rate gyroscopes—needed for basic attitude control—overheated, whilst others produced random errors, and propellant was being used in far larger quantities than intended. "They played this attitude-control game for ten days," wrote Joe Kerwin of the thermal engineers' sterling efforts, "and hosed out a lot of the precious propellant on the workshop, which could not be replenished. I think we had used 60 percent of it by the time we arrived, after ten days." To the astronauts, that was a scary prospect, for Skylab was designed to spend a year in orbit, and support three crews.

The arrival of Conrad and his men could not come soon enough … but before they could go anywhere, the first days of their mission and a whole plethora of repair methods would have to be developed and extensively tested. The speed and excellence with which that work was conducted transformed May 1973 from a month of despair into a shining example of NASA's can-do spirit.

Part 2
'Get Me Up There': The Plan to Save Skylab

The month of May 1973 quickly turned from one of euphoria into, potentially, one of the darkest in NASA's history. After closing out its Apollo lunar landing programme in spectacular style, the space agency turned to the launch of the Skylab orbital station … a gigantic workshop which would support three crews of astronauts for up to three months at a time. Skylab would seize the long-duration experience crown from the Soviet Union and the station's first crew—Pete Conrad, Joe Kerwin, and Paul Weitz—were destined to spend a record-breaking 28 days in space. On 14 May, they watched in awe as Skylab rose to orbit and looked forward to their own launch, early the following day. Those plans ground to an unfortunate halt when Skylab encountered its first difficulties: at some stage during ascent, the micrometeoroid shield and one of two power-producing solar arrays had somehow failed, causing the station to overheat and placing the entire mission in mortal danger.

The launch of Conrad and his men was rescheduled for no earlier than the 20th, as engineers dug in with the details to save Skylab. One saving grace was that not all of the station's exterior required protection from the onslaught of the Sun and a makeshift "shade" would not necessarily need to be tied down or composed of strong or rigid material. Proposals included spray paints, inflatable balloons, and wallpapers to window curtains and extendable metal panels, but at length ten options were short-listed for inspection. All had to be compact and lightweight, sufficient to fit inside the cabin of Conrad's Apollo command module for the ride into orbit. At length, three final options for a protective sunshade were considered: one to be extended across Skylab's exposed hull by means of a long pole, another deployed from the command module's hatch, whilst station-keeping, or a third which would be deployed through the station's solar-facing scientific airlock.

Of these, the second was the least complex, although it meant that Conrad would be forced to hold the Apollo spacecraft in position, alongside Skylab, whilst Kerwin and Weitz opened the hatch to install the sunshade. As for the other choices, the first option meant extensive EVA training and the third meant building something compact enough to fit through a small aperture, then unfurling to cover an area of several square metres. Although they were happy with the second option, Conrad's crew had done enough EVA training to feel confident about the first option, and even the third option was "doable," because it permitted them to work from the pressurised—but very hot—safety of Skylab itself. However, no one knew if the scientific airlock was clogged with debris, so the third option was ranked last and teams from the Johnson Space Center (JSC) focused on Option 2 and teams from the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) explored Option 1.

In the JSC group's plan, Paul Weitz would perform a stand-up EVA ("SEVA") in the command module's open hatch and attach the sunshade in two places along Skylab's aft section. Conrad would then manoeuvre his ship to the forward end of the station, deploying the sunshade in the process, and Weitz would finally make a third attachment at the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM). Nicknamed the "SEVA Sail," the development of the sunshade was complex: for several solid days, seamstresses stitched the orange material, parachute packers folded it for deployment, engineers attended to its fasteners … and a steady stream of public tours gaped at it from a mezzanine gallery. As for the MSFC group, their plan revolved around an EVA from the ATM itself. Their sunshade looked very much like an oversized window blind, and its design was finished by the evening of 15 May. Joe Kerwin and the backup commander for the mission, Rusty Schweickart, participated in extensive underwater EVA trials.

"We had to answer certain very basic questions," Schweickart later told the NASA oral historian. "Could we get physically around to where we had to be? Could we see certain things? These were questions which you couldn't answer just looking at drawings. We had to get into the water, get on the real vehicle, and see whether certain things could be done." Schweickart and Kerwin also verified the usefulness of hand-holds and foot restraints and identified any sharp edges upon which their suits could snag or tear.

During their time underwater, the two men evaluated the two sunshades and were able to determine the practicalities of what a spacewalker could physically see, taking into account the restricted field of view of their helmets. A debriefing was then held with the prime crew and 75 engineers, all clad in blue face masks to uphold pre-flight quarantine rules. "One by one," recalled Schweickart of the two-hour-plus session, "we eliminated things and by about midnight … we basically had the outlines of what we were going to do." The MSFC sunshade needed further work, and they eventually produced a configuration of two 14 m poles, to be "cantilevered" from the ATM. The poles were assembled from a dozen small sections, allowing them to fit inside the command module, with a rope running along their length, through a series of eyelets. It would be unfurled by tugging on the rope in a similar fashion to hoisting a ship's sail. This design came to be known as the "twin-pole" sail.

An underwater test by Schweickart and Kerwin on 18 May showed that it would work, but that its pole sections might separate under stress. A locking nut was modified, the shade's weight was reduced, and Teflon inserts were placed into the eyelets to reduce friction. Thereafter, the remainder of the work ran without a hitch.

Meanwhile, the option to deploy a sunshade from the scientific airlock had been revived and was gaining momentum, with a concept known as "the parasol." Tests showed that a combination of coiled springs and telescoping rods could fit inside a standard airlock canister and could be deployed smoothly. Jack Kinzler, chief of JSC's Technical Services Division and a close friend of Pete Conrad, jury-rigged it from a parachute canopy and telescoping glass-fibre fishing rods in hub-mounted springs.

A technician bought the fishing poles in Houston and Kinzler himself requested a tube from the sheet-metal shop and a large section of parachute material. "The machine shop fastened the four fishing rods to my base," Kinzler told the NASA oral historian. "I fastened the base to the floor of our big high-bay shop area. We fastened the cloth to the rods and long lines to the tips of each rod. I lowered the big overhead crane to floor level and swung my four lines over the crane hook. Everybody came over for a demonstration … I raised the crane back up, letting out excess line, 'til I had enough clearance, then let the crane pull all four lines simultaneously. It looked like a magician's act because our came these fishing rods, getting longer and longer. They're dragging with them fabric. They get all the way to where they're fully out and all I did was let go and it went sshum. So the springs were on each corner and they came down and laid out right on the floor just perfectly. Everybody was impressed!"

It was decided to use standard space suit material—nylon, Mylar, and aluminium—for the shade itself, although little data existed on the performance of nylon when exposed to long-term vacuum and solar ultraviolet radiation. A decision was taken to cover all three sunshade types with an ultraviolet-resistant material, known as "Kapton," but this proved problematic, because its weight might make it more difficult to stow and deploy properly.

Senior managers were in disagreement. Skylab Program Manager Bill Schneider felt that MSFC's twin-pole sail was most likely to succeed, although JSC Director Chris Kraft thought it was too heavy. Kraft felt the development of the SEVA sail should continue, in case the twin-pole should fail its tests. During a final review at the Kennedy Space Center on 19 May, Kinzler's parasol was chosen as the primary method (he would later receive a Distinguished Service Medal from NASA for his work) and on the 24th, the flight readiness review endorsed it. Having an astronaut standing in the hatch on an EVA was undesirable, since it would come at the end of a long, 22-hour day for the crew and the contamination effects of the command module's thrusters on the ATM were unknown. Equally, the twin-pole concept did not meet with the approval of flight surgeons, who were aghast at the prospect of such a complex task so early in the mission. They also felt that the work might jeopardise Skylab's medical objectives. For his part, Pete Conrad felt that Kinzler's design was the simplest, safest, and quickest method … and hence most likely to succeed.

It was expected to be more than sufficient for the 28-day mission of Conrad, Kerwin, and Weitz, although the twin-pole and SEVA sails would be carried as a backup and deployed at a later date if the condition of the parasol deteriorated. The review also postponed the launch by five days, until 25 May, thereby allowing JSC and MSFC engineers to apply finishing touches to their hardware.

Years later, Schweickart praised the efforts of the industrial and NASA workforces to save Skylab during those frantic days. "I probably got a little bit of sleep," he recalled, "but most of the team who worked with me at Huntsville never slept for four days! It was totally round-the-clock and it was not just the resources of the centre; it was all of the resources of the whole aerospace industry. Anything that we wanted, you simply called somebody and they turned inside out. Three different suppliers would manufacture some thermal material or some device overnight. They would work on it 24 hours themselves. It would be there on the company's private Learjet the next morning. It was unbelievable how hard people worked."

"Borrowing" aircraft—and cars—got a few engineers and branch chiefs into hot water. Bob Schwinghamer, head of the materials lab at MSFC, remembered lending the keys of a centre director's car to a colleague … and then promptly forgetting to return it and receiving a severe verbal roasting the following morning. On another occasion, Schwinghamer was working late, until after the security staff had locked the perimeter gates. "If I call these damn security guys, they'll be here in two hours," he recalled. He decided to climb the fence, almost twice his height and topped by an ominous overhang of barbed wire. "I cut a big gash in my butt," he concluded, "and fell off the fence and fell to the ground. Just when I hit the ground, two headlights came on. These darned security guys drove up and slammed up the brakes and jumped out." One of the guards, who had previously nailed Schwinghamer for speeding, recognised him, grinned, and let him go.

To sum up: "We didn't let anything deter us. A lot of funny stuff happened on our way to the Skylab … I was getting in hot water all the time and it was day and night. We did all kinds of stuff like that at that time, but we got [the parasol] built."

Such comic anecdotes did not detract from the physical consequences of such a punishing workload. Ed Smylie, head of the Crew Systems Division, remembered one of his branch chiefs literally collapsing with exhaustion as he left work late one evening. Yet the sense of teamwork and camaraderie was unmistakable. Joe Kerwin felt the same. "It was a great team," he reflected. "I look on Apollo 13 as the supreme test … for the Mission Control team. The Skylab problem was the supreme test for the engineering team. Both the contractors and the civil servants joined together, as one, and they figured out what the problem was." To illustrate his nostalgia for the good old days, Kerwin recalled the motel accommodation during their time at MSFC, which charged seven dollars per night for a room with black and white television and eight dollars for colour.

As NASA approached resolution on the question of how to repair the workshop, a formal inquiry into the cause of the Skylab mishap was set in motion by NASA Administrator Jim Fletcher on 22 May. He asked Bruce Lundin, head of the Lewis Research Center, to lead the investigation board. Reviews of launch data had already shed light on what had transpired. Sixty-three seconds into the Saturn V's ascent, when it was obscured from the tracking cameras by thick cloud, the micrometeoroid shield had prematurely deployed, "standing out" a few centimetres from the hull of the workshop, and had very quickly been ripped off, like the skin of a banana, in the supersonic airflow. "At this time," noted Lundin's report, published on 30 July 1973, "vehicle dynamic measurements, such as vibration, acceleration, attitude error, and acoustics indicated strong disturbances. Measurements which are normally relatively static at this time, such as torsion rod strain gauges, tension strap breakwires, temperatures, and [solar array] position indicators, indicated a loss of the [shield]."

As a result of this failure, others followed: the separation of the micrometeoroid shield caused part of it to wrap around the No. 2 solar array and break the latches on the No. 1 array. Ten minutes into the flight, as planned, the second stage of the Saturn separated, firing its retrorockets to withdraw from the payload … and the plumes of those retrorockets quickly impinged on the No. 1 array, breaking its hinge and totally shearing it off. This incident was noted in Lundin's report as "the 593 Second Anomaly." Telemetry from this point showed a sudden loss of temperature readings and inexplicable voltage dropouts, which the board took as indicators that the array had physically separated from the workshop. "The effect of retrorocket plume impingement was observed almost immediately," the report continued, "on the [No. 2 array] temperature and on vehicle body rates." Under normal circumstances, the two arrays would have been freed from their attachments by a small explosive charge and spring-loaded hinges would have automatically unfurled them. Unfortunately, the No. 1 array was gone and its companion was so clogged with debris as to be effectively "pinned" to the side of the workshop and could only partially open.

In its concluding remarks, Lundin's report settled on a number of possible causes for the failure of the micrometeoroid shield. The most likely one was an internal pressurisation of its "auxiliary tunnel"—a tunnel which served as a wiring conduit and was designed to vent pressure as the Saturn V rose through the atmosphere—due to imperfect seals and fittings. Pressures may have become high enough, about a minute after launch, to slightly raise the shield into the supersonic flow, ripping it off, with the result that it broke the latches on the No. 1 array and part of it became wrapped around the No. 2 array. When the second stage's retrorockets fired, their exhaust finally tore the No. 1 array from its hinge.

The fundamental "human" cause, Joe Kerwin told the NASA oral historian, was that the designers of the micrometeoroid shield did not communicate effectively with the aerodynamicists and properly protect it from the supersonic airstream. In fact, failure to recognise such issues during half a decade of development was blamed on a decision to treat the micrometeoroid shield as a subsystem of the Saturn V, based on a flawed presumption that it would be structurally integral to the rocket. "As a result," noted Joe Kerwin, David Hitt, and Owen Garriott in Homesteading Space, "the shield was not assigned its own project engineer, who could have provided greater project leadership. In addition, testing focused on deployment, rather than performance during launch." One of the recommendations made by Lundin's board was for more effective and comprehensive project oversight.

Of course, the state of the arrays and the reason for the No. 2 array being unable to properly unfurl could only be speculated until the arrival of Conrad's crew and the presence of human eyes to physically see what was amiss. If debris was the problem, a repair method was acutely needed and engineers from MSFC set to work on a cable cutter (which looked like a large set of tree loppers) and a universal tool with prongs to pry and pull open the jammed array. Both tools came from A.B. Chance Company, a manufacturer of equipment for power companies, and both were designed to operate on the end of a 3 meter pole.

In Homesteading Space, an interview was noted with NASA systems engineer Chuck Lewis, who made the initial contact with A.B. Chance and secured the rapid delivery of the tools aboard a light aircraft. When the A.B. Chance product manager, Cliff Bosch, arrived at MSFC, he was joined by Lewis and backup crewmen Schweickart and Story Musgrave to begin sorting out the most effective tools. "The one thing they had that was really neat," Lewis recounted, "was this scissor-like cutter that they used to clip electrical cables. The guys at re-engineered that in about a day and a half to provide some extra mechanical advantage because … we knew what sort of load it was going to take for those jaws to get through that and whether they were going to be able to pull on it."

On 19 May, the tools were successfully tested in MSFC's water tank, with the Skylab mockup specially "modified" with fragments of metal wire bundles, shards of bolts, and other objects representative of a failed micrometeoroid shield. Conrad, Kerwin, and Weitz took their turns underwater, evaluating the tools, prying debris away from the array, and completing the whole procedure safely. The tools had already left for the Kennedy Space Center when a certification review ruled that the pointed tips of the cutter were hazardous. New heads with blunt tips were quickly prepared and changes were made at the launch site.

Now, however, the time for talking was over. Years later, in her book Rocketman, Nancy Conrad related that her late husband's response to the seemingly endless testing was typically direct and to the point: "Just get me up there, goddamn it!"

Skylab's 40th anniversary reminds us of the danger from space debris

Stuart Clark - The Guardian (UK)

Today Nasa will commemorate the 40th anniversary of Skylab, America's first space station, launched on 14 May 1973. In a televised discussion, Skylab astronauts, a current astronaut and agency managers are expected to discuss its legacy and the future of manned space flight.

Skylab was a historic mission. It was part of an initiative to reuse the hardware Nasa developed to land on the moon. It was launched into space on the last of the giant Saturn V rockets to ever make it into orbit.

Skylab's greatest scientific contribution was its continuous monitoring of solar activity. The three-man astronaut crews would each control the special telescope in four-hour shifts, taking images and data that revealed the sun in a way we had never seen before.

About 160,000 images of the sun were collected during the nine months that Skylab was manned.

They discovered the coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These giant eruptions of solar gas behave like magnetic cannonballs. Usually triggered by solar flares, the CMEs charge through space carrying magnetic and electrical energy. If one hits Earth, its battle with our magnetic field can cause havoc to our communications and other electrical systems.

Skylab's first commander Charles "Pete" Conrad said that his command of Skylab meant more to him than his walk on the moon. He explained in a BBC documentary that part of his reason for this viewpoint was being able to run the solar telescope and bring back a tremendous amount of information that nobody had seen before.

Solar activity's effect on Earth's electrical systems is now a principal concern for many people. So is the danger of space debris. Here too, Skylab has a valuable lesson to teach.

In 1974, after three Skylab crews had inhabited the space station, Nasa ran out of rockets and money. All future investment was being channelled towards the space shuttle programme, which Nasa believed would launch its first mission in 1979.

So Skylab was abandoned. However, Nasa had intended that the second shuttle mission would carry a specially designed booster that would lift the space station to a higher orbit where it could await refurbishment.

The trouble was, the sun had other ideas. The very solar activity that Skylab had studied so fruitfully now turned against it.

An unexpected rise in the number of CMEs and other radiation slamming into Earth heated our atmosphere so much that it expanded. This increased the drag on Skylab and began to pull it out of orbit faster than Nasa had reckoned.

By late 1977, it was estimated that Skylab would re-enter in mid-1979. With the space shuttle rescue mission slated for July 1979, the race was on.

In December 1978, Nasa gave up. Delays meant that the shuttle programme would be years late. Nothing could prevent the 85-tonne space station from crashing to Earth.

Making matters worse was that early in 1978, a nuclear-powered Russian satellite had fallen into northern Canada, drawing media attention and generating public dismay. Although Skylab had no nuclear material on board, the world was starting to realise what goes up must come down.

Controllers aimed Skylab at the southern ocean, some 1,300 kilometres southeast of Cape Town, South Africa. But the station overshot and struck western Australia, where large chunks were collected.

Today, almost 35 years after Skylab's dramatic return to Earth, the aerospace community is still wrestling with the problem of space debris. Nasa is already discussing how to safely de-orbit the much larger International Space Station, and the Royal Aeronautical Society in the UK is holding a one-day conference in July on Space Traffic Control.

OTC reflects shades of NASA
The Offshore Technology Conference brings together a culture much like the space center

Houston Chronicle (Editorial)

We see a familiar sense of mission driving the offshore technology industry meeting here this week. It reminds us of the spirit of NASA, down the road a piece from Reliant Park, in Clear Lake.

The similarities in culture, attitudes toward risk-taking and pushing the known limits of humans and equipment are unmistakable. The National Aeronautics and Space Agency has made its indelible mark over the past 55 years by going where no human has gone before. The Johnson Space Center continues to be a laboratory for inventing new methods to reach farther into the heavens.

Today's offshore industry is sending sophisticated equipment into areas undersea that were, until recently, considered out of reach.

In the process of tweaking methods and systems for offshore production, valuable spin-offs in materials technology have been created, a la NASA.

You want extremes? How about the 350 degrees Farenheit temperatures and pressures of 20,000 pounds per square inch being encountered by BP, Royal Dutch Shell and others as they explore the Gulf of Mexico's Paleogene Region ("Time of easy oil and gas is gone," Page A1, Wednesday, May 8)?

"The time of easy oil and gas is gone," Gerald Schotman, chief technology officer for shell, told the Chronicle's Emily Pickrell.

That's an understatement. Offshore challenges call to mind those of space exploration, and are likely to become even more extreme over time. Twice as deep. Twice as far out in the Gulf. Let's make it twice as safe.

Closer to the everyday realm of such NASA-inspired creations as temper foam for pillows and reverse osmosis (the process that converts salt water to fresh) is making life on offshore platforms more comfortable. That may even have implications for thirsty Texas, where population growth projections are making state water infrastructure planning a priority in the Legislature. If improvements in technology can make desalination more cost-effective, our state's problems could one day be eased.

Isn't that the classic NASA style?

Brevard is still the place for space, even as diversification grows

John Kelly - Florida Today (Commentary)

Cape Canaveral's hold on American space launches seems continues to loosen as more and more of the country's "new space" companies choose to conduct testing and even flights elsewhere.

This week alone, SpaceX made news about tests and launches in two states. Neither is Florida.

In Texas, SpaceX and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency worked through the latest stage of a regulatory review for a potential coastal complex for launching commercial missions. SpaceX may yet decide to develop its commercial pad at Kennedy Space Center, but the firm's not waiting around to take the steps necessary for development of the Texas site.

In New Mexico, SpaceX signed a deal to continue test flights of what could be a revolutionary launch vehicle called Grasshopper at Spaceport America. The reusable booster's next missions appear to be outgrowing the company's current test facility in MacGregor, Texas.

Now SpaceX becomes the second high-profile tenant at the upstart spaceport that was, just five years ago, a desolate, undeveloped desert ranch teaming with cattle and jackrabbits. SpaceX is a new neighbor for Virgin Galactic's striking new terminal, built for coming tourist flights of its SpaceShipTwo.

SpaceShipTwo's testing continues in Mojave, Calif. Orbital Sciences has now successfully shot a new rocket off the Virginia coast. Additional snippets of news about tests and flights at other sites across the U.S. can be disconcerting for those who take the sentimental view that this is the place for space. Don't get too worked up about it.

Florida continues competing for these kinds of projects. KSC and Cape Canaveral remain a top contender in most commercial space launch endeavors in development across the U.S. The spaceport here has on its side history and tradition, existing underused facilities, and available space-ready employees.

But, as more new companies get involved in innovating space flight and designing spacecraft, it is likely that we'll see further diversifying of where tests and flights happen. The good news: an innovative drive in space launch and space flight is only good for the Space Coast. Ultimately a growth in launch vehicles, spaceships and space applications will mean more business. And the more space business there is, the more there is available for Brevard County to compete for.

Shuttle Landing Experience: The shuttle is gone, but the dream lives on!

Jason Rhian - AmericaSpace.com

During the space shuttle era, one of the most iconic moments of any of the missions was the orbiter's rapid drop to the hard Earth below to the Shuttle Landing Facility, or "SLF." Heralded by twin sonic booms, it served as an exciting close to a mission on orbit. This key milestone was one of many involving the program that the public had little chance of experiencing firsthand—until now.

Located at Arthur Dunn AirPark, The Shuttle Landing Experience is owned by John Godfrey, a veteran pilot with 37 years of experience under his belt. Guests can pay $49 per seat (with a two-person minimum) and now fly over the Kennedy Space Center and just 100 feet above the SLF before returning to Arthur Dunn AirPark, which is located just five minutes off of I-95 and a short distance from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

For visitors to Florida's Space Coast, The Shuttle Landing Experience provides a unique opportunity to see the space center in a manner that few—outside of astronauts, pilots, and NASA officials—have seen before.

I was fortunate enough to travel with Cmdr. Chris Ferguson as he practiced landing the shuttle in the NASA Shuttle Training Aircraft, or "STA," in the lead-up to the final space shuttle mission, STS-135.

The STA is a modified Grumman Gulfstream II designed to mimic the shuttle's flight profile. During STS-135's Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), Ferguson took the airplane aloft and then nosed the aircraft down, emulating what he would do on July 21, 2011. During this TCDT, Ferguson looped around and practiced landing nine times. For someone ill at ease with flying, it was a daunting experience.

Ferguson took us to about 20,000 feet and then took us into a steep dive similar to what the shuttle does upon approach. It is enough to provide the sensation of weightlessness (which was quickly countered when we pulled up for our next pass). Thankfully, Godfrey has different levels that guests can choose to better suit their flying "comfort level."

Level One: This level consists of a loop around the intercoastal waterway with sights including large portions of the space center with a low approach to the Shuttle Landing Facility at about 100 feet. After this pass, guests are returned to Arthur Dunn AirPark.

Level Two: This intermediate level, while not as dramatic as what the astronauts encountered, does offer a somewhat similar experience, taking them up to 10,000 feet and at a somewhat similar approach.

Level Three: This is for the true space enthusiast. Guests are taken up to 15,000 feet and then brought down to the SLF at a 17 degree glide angle—very similar to how the orbiter's returned to Earth.

Guests have begun to flock to The Shuttle Landing Experience in an effort to see for themselves what it was like to return to Earth in the space shuttle.

"I felt very comfortable going up with John Godfrey; he's an excellent pilot who has done everything one could to make you comfortable and to provide you with an incredible experience. I actually think he should charge more; it's well worth it," said Dean Freeman, who took his family on The Shuttle Landing Experience. "I watched the shuttle launches for years, and to be able to fly right over where they landed the shuttle … It was an absolute blast. To be able to gain such a unique perspective of Kennedy Space Center, see the beautiful beaches, and then to all but land at the SLF? You just can't beat it."

END

Keep the shuttle flying

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Monday, May 13, 2013

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