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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: December 23, 2013 9:15:46 AM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News Dec. 23, 2013
Stay warm everyone.NASA and Human Spaceflight NewsMonday – Dec. 23, 2013HEADLINES AND LEADSSpacewalkers move quickly through first stage of workISS repair could wrap up with second excursion on TuesdayJames Dean – Florida TodayA NASA spacewalker overcame a literal case of cold feet on Saturday to breeze through the start of repairs to a critical International Space Station cooling system.Spacewalk success! NASA astronauts ahead of schedule on ISS repairsDeborah Netburn -- Los Angeles TimesThe first in a series of emergency spacewalks to fix a cooling system failure on the International Space Station went off without a hitch Saturday morning.Astronauts nail first spacewalk to fix station's cooling systemIrene Klotz - ReutersCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida Two NASA astronauts, their spacesuits rigged with snorkels in case of a water leak, floated outside the International Space Station for 5-1/2 hours on Saturday, successfully completing the first steps to fix the outpost's cooling system.Spacewalkers do repairs more quickly than expected — and stay dryAlan Boyle -- NBC NewsTwo NASA spacewalkers started fixing the International Space Station's cooling system more quickly than expected on Saturday, with no sign of the helmet-flooding problem that led NASA to outfit astronauts with snorkels for the first time.Space suit issue prompts delay of second spacewalkMarcia Dunn – Associated PressAstronauts removed an old space station pump Saturday, sailing through the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks to revive a crippled cooling line.International Space Station Cooling System Repairs Off to Promising StartMark Carreau - Aviation Week,Spacewalking NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins charged through the challenging first steps of a three phase International Space Station cooling system repair campaign on Saturday, accomplishing all they set out to do and more during a 5 1/2 hour spacewalk.Spacewalking Astronauts Remove Faulty Space Station Pump Ahead of ScheduleRobert Z. Pearlman -- SPACE.comHOUSTON —Two astronauts working speedily outside the International Space Station removed a faulty pump module ahead of schedule, potentially negating the need for a planned Christmas Day spacewalk as they work to repair the outpost's critical cooling system.Six Reasons NASA Should Build a Research Base on the MoonA planetary scientist suggests we should "boldly stay" where no one has stayed before.Sarah Fecht - National Geographic Daily NewsChina's Jade Rabbit moon rover recently made history, and tracks, when it wheeled across the moon's gray surface.NASA re-creates the Apollo 8 Earthrise using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter dataAndrew Chaikin - The Planetary SocietyIf there's one thing I've learned after decades of studying the first human voyages to another world, it's that there is always more to discover about Apollo. Case in point: The Apollo 8 Earthrise photo that became one of the iconic images of the 20th century.Space Flight Revs Up in 2014Rick Merritt – EE TimesSAN JOSE, Calif. — Within a year or two, the number of humans who have been to space may double, says William Pomerantz of Virgin Galactic, the company who hopes to make that happen.Mars lander to launch from Vandenberg in 2016NASA awards mission to ULA's Atlas 5 rocketJanene Scully - Santa Maria TimesA NASA mission to Mars will head to space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in two years, becoming the first planetary spacecraft to launch from the West Coast.Washington Notebook: Congressional NASA backer calls it quitsLedyard King – Florida TodayFROM WASHINGTONNASA is losing one of its greatest champions in Congress — and one of its sharpest critics. Virginia GOP Rep. Frank Wolf announced Tuesday he will not seek re-election to an 18th term, making the 2014 session his last on Capitol Hill.COMPLETE STORIESSpacewalkers move quickly through first stage of workISS repair could wrap up with second excursion on TuesdayJames Dean – Florida TodayA NASA spacewalker overcame a literal case of cold feet on Saturday to breeze through the start of repairs to a critical International Space Station cooling system.Rick Mastracchio removed a faulty coolant pump far ahead of schedule, potentially enabling him and partner Mike Hopkins to install a spare on a second spacewalk – now planned Tuesday – and not have to go outside a third time.But given the opportunity to get further ahead Saturday, Mastracchio said he'd prefer to "call it a day" on his seventh career spacewalk.He had earlier reported feeling "very, very cold," first in his fingers and then his toes, which he could barely move with his feet fastened to the end of the station's 58-foot robotic arm."Because I'm just floating here on the arm, I've got very, very good air flow in my boots, but my toes are quite cold," he said.Mastracchio turned on spacesuit heaters, but apparently needed to return inside the station to warm up.He plans to switch to a different spacesuit for the next excursion, which had been planned Monday but will take an extra day to get ready.Despite ending an hour earlier than planned, Saturday's five-hour, 28-minute spacewalk accomplished more than expected.Mastracchio and Hopkins, who was on his first spacewalk, successfully slid a refrigerator-sized pump module from a station girder and stowed it away.Timelines had called for preparing the 780-pound box for removal but completing that work on a second spacewwalk."Early Christmas," astronaut Doug Wheelock radioed from Houston after Mastracchio released the last bolt.A valve inside the pump module failed on Dec. 11, limiting its ability to regulate temperatures in one of the two external coolant loops that dissipate heat generated by station systems.Non-essential systems were shut down in the U.S. portion of the complex, putting science research on hold and leaving the station more vulnerable to a failure of the second loop.NASA delayed the launch of a resupply mission and scheduled up to three spacewalks to replace the pump module containing the bad valve.Mastracchio got things off to a fast start, accomplishing with surprising ease what was expected to be the day's toughest task.He benefited from lessons learned in 2010 when Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson struggled to disconnect the pump module's four coolant hoses and dealt with leaks of ammonia.This time, only a few ammonia snowflakes squirted out, causing no concern that contaminated spacesuits could track the highly toxic substance back inside the station and endanger the six-person crew, which also includes three Russian cosmonauts and a Japanese astronaut.Other than Mastracchio's frosty feet, Saturday's spacewalk fared much better than the previous one in U.S. spacesuits, from a safety standpoint.Neither astronaut reported any water leaking into their helmets, a problem that threatened to drown Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano in July.Mastracchio and Hopkins set out with new absorbent pads in their helmets and "snorkels" they could breathe through as a last resort, and they periodically paused to check for signs of "squishiness."The day included moments of holiday-inspired humor, like when Mastracchio caught a small O-ring before it floated away."Don't let that go," Wheelock said. "It's a stocking stuffer.""Don't tell my wife," replied Mastracchio, who stuffed the part into a trash bag.It remains to be seen if the spacewalkers need a third spacewalk to complete their repairs. They might not, if the new pump goes in as easily on Tuesday as the old one came out on Saturday.That would be ideal, because two cosmonauts are already preparing to conduct another, unrelated spacewalk late this week.Saturday's spacewalk was the 175th supporting assembly and maintenance of the 15-year-old station, which has been inhabited continuously since 2000.Spacewalk success! NASA astronauts ahead of schedule on ISS repairsDeborah Netburn -- Los Angeles TimesThe first in a series of emergency spacewalks to fix a cooling system failure on the International Space Station went off without a hitch Saturday morning.In fact, it went so well that the two spacewalkers, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, were able to get a headstart on some of the tasks planned for their next spacewalk scheduled for Monday.The emergency spacewalks were arranged last week to fix a problem with a pump in one of the space station's two external ammonia cooling loops that help keep instruments both inside and outside the station from overheating.The space station uses ammonia in its external cooling loops, but it's far too toxic to use in the loops inside the station; the internal ones use water instead. But if the ammonia gets too cold, it could freeze the water from the internal system in its pipes. As the water turns into ice, it expands and could crack the pipes, allowing ammonia to enter and poison the system.After manipulating a problematic valve for several days to see if they could find a solution, NASA officials made the decision to send Mastracchio and Hopkins out into space to replace the refrigerator-sized pump with one of three spares located outside the space station.Saturday's spacewalk was the first of three planned to remove and replace the pump. The other two are scheduled for Monday and Wednesday. However, Mastracchio and Hopkins were so efficient that the agency said the final spacewalk on Christmas Day may not be necessary.Saturday's spacewalk began at 4:01 a.m. PST and lasted five hours and 28 minutes -- about one hour less than NASA had originally anticipated. With Mastracchio attached to the end of the ISS's 57-foot robotic arm, the two astronauts disconnected four ammonia fluid lines from the pump module and attached them to a pump module jumper box that will help keep the ammonia in a liquid state.Since they were so far ahead of schedule, Mission Control in Houston told the two astronauts to go ahead and tackle the first of Monday's tasks -- removing the old pump module and storing it temporarily out of the way.Astronauts nail first spacewalk to fix station's cooling systemIrene Klotz - ReutersCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida Two NASA astronauts, their spacesuits rigged with snorkels in case of a water leak, floated outside the International Space Station for 5-1/2 hours on Saturday, successfully completing the first steps to fix the outpost's cooling system.The spacewalk, which was broadcast live on NASA Television, was the first for NASA since July when the spacesuit helmet worn by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano began filling with water, a situation that could have caused him to drown.No such leaks were detected in Saturday's spacewalk, the first of two or possibly three that will be needed to complete the cooling system repair.The operation was prompted by the December 11 shutdown of one of the station's two U.S. ammonia cooling systems, which forced the crew to turn off non-essential equipment and shut down dozens of science experiments.While the six-member crew is not in danger, the remaining cooling system cannot support the three laboratories and other modules on the U.S. side of the $100 billion station, a project of 15 nations. The Russian side of the station has a separate cooling system.Engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston tried devising ways to bypass a suspected faulty pump valve, but with time running short, managers decided to have astronauts replace the pump, located outside the station, with a spare.The work, which began shortly after 7 a.m. EST (1200 GMT), went smoothly, with station flight engineers Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins finishing up an hour earlier than expected.They were able to not only disconnect the old pump, but also remove it from its pallet on the station's exterior truss, a task originally slated for a second spacewalk on Monday. A third spacewalk, if needed, is scheduled for Wednesday."Beautiful day. Awesome view," Mastracchio, a veteran of six previous spacewalks, said as opened the airlock's hatch and saw the view from 260 miles above the southern Atlantic Ocean.He and Hopkins wore spacesuits that were modified to protect them from another possible water leak. The problem in July was traced to contamination in piece of equipment called a fan pump separator that circulates water and air in the spacesuit and removes moisture from air.How the water-separator portion of the device became clogged remains under investigation.Hopkins, who was making his first spacewalk, wore Parmitano's spacesuit, but it had been outfitted with a new fan pump separator.In addition, both Hopkins and Mastracchio rigged their helmets with homemade snorkels, fabricated out of pieces of plastic tubing and Velcro, which they could have used for breathing in case of another water leak.The helmets also included water-absorbent pads.During Saturday's spacewalk, Mastracchio and Hopkins disconnected electrical and fluid lines and removed the 780-pound (354 kg), 5-foot (1.5 meter) wide cooling system pump.The failed pump, which was then anchored in a temporary storage site, will remain on the station for possible future repair and reuse.It was installed in 2010 during an unexpectedly difficult series of spacewalks by astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson."What makes this pump very difficult (to work on) are (the) fluid disconnects because they are so large and they are pressurized and they contain liquid ammonia, so that's a hazard for us if it were to come in contact with us or our suits," Caldwell Dyson said in an interview with a NASA TV mission commentator.Maintaining focus also can be a challenge, she added. "When you're on one of those pallets, you really have that sensation that you are sticking out on the edge of a skyscraper. Especially when you look down, you see your feet and then you see the Earth going 17,500 mph beneath you, it really does get your attention," she said.Mastracchio and Hopkins encountered no major problems during Saturday's outing."These guys really went out there and were so efficient," Caldwell Dyson said. "It may be more difficult to remove the pump because you don't know exactly what to expect," she added.Spacewalkers do repairs more quickly than expected — and stay dryAlan Boyle -- NBC NewsTwo NASA spacewalkers started fixing the International Space Station's cooling system more quickly than expected on Saturday, with no sign of the helmet-flooding problem that led NASA to outfit astronauts with snorkels for the first time.Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins finished the first of three planned spacewalks in five and a half hours — an hour ahead of schedule. They moved so quickly that they got extra work done, stowing away a coolant pump module with a faulty valve to make room for its replacement. And if their next spacewalk goes as smoothly on Tuesday, they could dispense with the third outing."Really nice work, guys," fellow NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock told the dynamic space duo from Mission Control. Wheelock was involved in a similar pump replacement operation in 2010.Last week's valve malfunction cut the station's cooling capability in half, forcing mission managers to shut down non-critical systems on the $100 billion-plus orbital outpost. Ground controllers couldn't get the valve back in service by remote control, which led to the plan for three spacewalks.Worries about waterReplacing the refrigerator-sized pump module is one of the station's expected maintenance tasks — but the job has been complicated by the fact that an Italian spacewalker, Luca Parmitano, almost drowned in July when water pooled in the helmet of his U.S.-made suit.That incident led NASA to suspend U.S. spacewalks while the station's crew and controllers worked to track down the source of the problem. They think they've identified the cause: previously undetected contamination that clogged up the system designed to remove moisture from the suit. And they gave a clean bill of health to the spacesuits Mastracchio and Hopkins are using."Water does strange things in zero gravity," said Steve Robinson, who has logged 48 days in space. Water has the potential to cause real emergencies, and astronauts are prepared with both high-tech and low-tech fixes in case something goes wrong.But just to be safe, the astronauts wore absorbent pads on their necks that should have picked up the first signs of excess moisture in the helmet — and they were primed to stop the spacewalk if those pads started feeling squishy. They also had jury-rigged snorkel tubes within easy reach of their mouths in the event that water started to cover their faces.Mastracchio and Hopkins told Mission Control they didn't feel a bit of squishiness, raising the confidence level for future spacewalks.Three spacewalks, or two?This was the seventh career spacewalk for Mastracchio — and the first one for Hopkins, who wore the suit that Parmitano used in July. During Saturday's outing, they disconnected cables and fluid lines attached to the faulty pump module, and hooked up a jumper box to keep the liquid ammonia coolant from leaking out.That took care of all the originally assigned duties. Then, with Mission Control's go-ahead, they pulled out the pump module and hooked it onto a storage fixture. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata helped out from inside the station by operating the 58-foot-long (18-meter-long) robotic arm.One of the potential perils that the spacewalkers faced was exposure to toxic ammonia. At one point, Mastracchio reported that some "very small flakes" of frozen ammonia floated out of one of the fluid lines and landed on his spacesuit. Fortunately, the ammonia contamination was "baked out" of the suit through exposure to sunlight.Mission Control told the spacewalkers they could start preparations to install the spare pump module if they wanted to, but Mastracchio said he preferred to "call it a day." The spacewalk, which was originally planned to last six and a half hours, ended at 12:29 p.m. ET — five hours and 28 minutes after it began.During the next spacewalk, the astronauts are scheduled to install the spare pump module, which has been in storage on the space station's exterior. Because they were able to work ahead on Saturday, they may be able to finish the repair job in two spacewalks and forget about the third one.The three spacewalks were initially set for Saturday, Monday and then Wednesday — which is Christmas Day. But late Saturday, NASA rescheduled the second spacewalk from Monday to Tuesday — which is Christmas Eve. In a said the extra day would give the crew time to resize a spare spacesuit for Mastracchio's use."During repressurization of the space station's airlock following the spacewalk, a spacesuit configuration issue put the suit Mastracchio was wearing in question for the next excursion — specifically whether water entered into the suit's sublimator inside the airlock," NASA said.As a result, flight controllers decided to switch to the backup suit. NASA said the issue was not related to the water leak that caused so much trouble back in July.Repercussions weighedThe cooling system problem poses no immediate danger to the crew, but it does reduce the safety margin on the station. If the second coolant loop were to fail, urgent action would be required — and in a worst-case scenario, the station would have to be abandoned.The situation already has forced NASA to delay the launch of a cargo resupply mission until Jan. 7 at the earliest. NASA sources say they are also studying whether last week's glitch resulted in damage to Europe's Columbus laboratory.And as if the six-man crew didn't have enough to worry about, NASA reported in an advisory that one of the toilets on the station has broken down.In addition to Hopkins, Mastracchio and Wakata, the space station is home to three Russian cosmonauts: station commander Oleg Kotov, Mikhail Tyurin and Sergey Ryazanskiy. The 450-ton structure has been continuously occupied since 2000.Space suit issue prompts delay of second spacewalkMarcia Dunn – Associated PressAstronauts removed an old space station pump Saturday, sailing through the first of a series of urgent repair spacewalks to revive a crippled cooling line.The two Americans on the crew, Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, successfully pulled out the ammonia pump with a bad valve __ well ahead of schedule. That task had been planned for the next spacewalk, originally scheduled for Monday but now delayed until Tuesday, Christmas Eve, because of the need for a suit swap."An early Christmas," observed Mission Control as Mastracchio tugged the refrigerator-size pump away from its nesting spot.If Mastracchio and Hopkins keep up the quick work, two spacewalks may be enough to complete the installation of a spare pump and a third spacewalk will not be needed as originally anticipated.Several hours after Saturday's spacewalk ended, Mission Control bumped spacewalk 2 to Tuesday to give Mastracchio enough time to prepare a spare suit. His original suit was compromised when he inadvertently turned on a water switch in the air lock at the end of Saturday's excursion. NASA officials said Saturday night that it's unclear whether a third spacewalk will be needed and when it might occur, if required. A third spacewalk had been slated for Christmas Day before the latest turn of events. NASA requires a day off between spacewalks for astronaut rest.The space station breakdown 10 days earlier left one of two identical cooling loops too cold and forced the astronauts to turn off all nonessential equipment inside the orbiting lab, bringing scientific research to a near-halt and leaving the station in a vulnerable state.Mission Control wanted to keep the spacewalkers out even longer Saturday to get even further ahead, but a cold and uncomfortable Mastracchio requested to go back. The spacewalk ended after 5½ hours, an hour short on time but satisfyingly long on content.Earlier, Mastracchio managed to unhook all the ammonia fluid and electrical lines on the pump with relative ease, occasionally releasing a flurry of frozen ammonia flakes that brushed against his suit. A small O-ring floated away, but he managed to retrieve it."I got it, I got it, I got it. Barely," Mastracchio said as he stretched out his hand."Don't let that go, that's a stocking stuffer," Mission Control replied."Don't tell my wife," Mastracchio said, chuckling, as he put it in a small pouch for trash.Mastracchio, a seven-time spacewalker, and Hopkins, making his first, wore extra safety gear as they worked outside. NASA wanted to prevent a recurrence of the helmet flooding that nearly drowned an Italian astronaut last summer, so Saturday's spacewalkers had snorkels in their suits and water-absorbent pads in their helmets.To everyone's relief, the spacewalkers remained dry while outside. But midway through the excursion, Mastracchio's toes were so cold that he had to crank up the heat in his boots. Mission Control worried aloud whether it was wise to extend the spacewalk to get ahead, given Mastracchio's discomfort.Not quite two hours later, Mastracchio had enough as he clutched the old pump. When Mission Control suggested even more get-ahead chores, he replied, "I'd like to stow this old module and kind of clean up and call it a day." He said a couple of things were bothering him, not just temperature, and declined to elaborate when asked by Mission Control what was wrong.Flight controllers obliged him. Once the old pump was secured to a temporary location, the spacewalkers started gathering up their tools to go in.Adding to the excitement 260 miles (418 kilometers) up, a smoke alarm went off in the space station as the astronauts toiled outside. It was quickly found to be a false alarm.The pump replacement is a huge undertaking attempted only once before, back in 2010 on this very unit. The two astronauts who tackled the job three years ago were in Mission Control, offering guidance. Mastracchio promised to bring back a wire tie installed on the pump by the previous spacewalkers. "Oh, awesome, thanks Rick," replied the astronaut in Mission Control who put it on.The 780-pound (354-kilogram) pump is about the size of a double-door refrigerator and extremely cumbersome to handle, with plumbing full of toxic ammonia. Any traces of ammonia on the spacesuits were dissipated before the astronauts went back inside, to avoid further contamination.NASA's plan initially called for the pump to be disconnected in the first spacewalk, pulled out on the second spacewalk and a fresh spare put in, and then all the hookups of the new pump completed in the third outing.In the days following the Dec. 11 breakdown, flight controllers attempted in vain to fix the bad valve through remote commanding. Then they tried using a different valve to regulate the temperature of the overly cold loop, with some success. But last Tuesday, NASA decided the situation was severe enough to press ahead with the spacewalks. Although the astronauts were safe and comfortable, NASA did not want to risk another failure and a potential loss of the entire cooling system, needed to radiate the heat generated by on-board equipment.NASA delayed a delivery mission from Wallops Island, Virginia, to accommodate the spacewalks. That flight by the private firm Orbital Sciences Corp., which should have occurred this past week, is now targeted for Jan. 7.Until Saturday, U.S. spacewalks had been on hold since July, when an Italian astronaut's helmet was flooded with water from the cooling system of his suit. Luca Parmitano barely got back inside alive.Engineers traced the problem to a device in the suit that turned out to be contaminated — how and why, no one yet knows.For Saturday's spacewalk, Hopkins wore Parmitano's suit, albeit with newly installed and thoroughly tested components.Just in case, NASA had Mastracchio and Hopkins build snorkels out of plastic tubing from their suits, before going out. The snorkels will be used in case water starts building up in their helmets. They also put absorbent pads in their helmets; the pads were launched from Earth following the July scare. None of the precautions were needed, in the end.Besides the two Americans, three Russian and one Japanese astronaut are living on the space station, all men.International Space Station Cooling System Repairs Off to Promising StartMark Carreau - Aviation Week,Spacewalking NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins charged through the challenging first steps of a three phase International Space Station cooling system repair campaign on Saturday, accomplishing all they set out to do and more during a 5 1/2 hour spacewalk.One major concern among the NASA Mission Control team that planned the three spacewalk, five day repair strategy was a possible repeat of the water leak in the helmet of the NASA space suit worn by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano during the most recent U. S. orchestrated excursion on July 16. Another was the possible leak of toxic ammonia coolant at the work site, where the two men are replacing a cumbersome pump module.The first concern never materialized. A few snow like flakes of frozen ammonia emerged as the two astronauts disconnected coolant lines. The quantities, however, were not sufficient enough to pose a hazard. The spacewalk's task list was extended for the removal of the old pump module from its perch and temporary stowage at the work site to ease the task of installing a replacement.Mastracchio and Hopkins are scheduled for the second spacewalk in the series on Monday. If they are as productive as they were on Saturday, the two men may complete the repairs without a third excursion tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, or Christmas Day.Saturday's aggressive pace came with some discomfort for Mastracchio, who received permission from Mission Control to warm up his suit to deal with cold toes. Hopkins made an airlock pit stop to top off his breathing oxygen supply. Mastracchio urged ground controllers to refrain from the opportunity to do even more.Loop A of a dual loop ISS cooling system that circulates liquid ammonia through external radiators shutdown on Dec. 11. The difficulty was traced to the electrical circuitry in a flow control valve housed within the three-year-old pump module.The circulation of ammonia through Loops A and B provides thermal control to internal as well as external ISS electrical components, including life support and scientific hardware. The Loop A ammonia draws heat from internal electronic equipment through heat exchangers in the U. S. segment Harmony and Destiny lab modules. The Dec. 11 shutdown occurred when ammonia at temperatures too low for the water loops that remove heat from the habitable crew modules threatened to reach the heat exchangers. While external cooling continued through Loop A, non-essential internal electronics in the European Columbus and Japanese Kibo science modules as well as Harmony were deactivated. Loop B took on some of the thermal control duties.Much of the station's U. S. segment research activities have been interrupted as a consequence.On Saturday, Mastracchio and Hopkins worked as much as 90 minutes ahead of schedule to:--Deactivate the old pump module with the faulty flow control valve. The task involved deftly disconnecting four pressurized ammonia coolant lines and temporarily reconnecting them to a cooling system jumper box that will maintain the external ammonia flow until the replacement pump module is installed.--Remove five electrical connectors.--Loosen four bolts securing the pump module to the station's power truss.--Take on the removal of the old pump module from its platform on the truss, a task initially planned for Monday. The 780 pound module was temporarily stowed near the work site, clearing the way for the installation of a spare on Monday. The spare pump module is stowed close to the right side solar power truss.Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, working from an internal control post, served as the Irobot arm operator, providing the spacewalkers with a 58-foot-long mobile work platform.In response to the worrisome July 16 helmet flooding incident, whose root cause remains under investigation, NASA made changes to the space suits worn by the two men.Hopkins donned the same suit worn by Parmitano. However, a fan pump separator in the personal life support system backpack of the protective NASA garment was replaced as was a secondary oxygen supply, some water filters and a valve.The old fan pump separator from Parmitano's suit was returned to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz crew transport in November as part of NASA's inquiry into the July 16th incident in which 1 to 1 1/2 liters of water pushed along by the fan pump entered the spacewalker's helmet. It appears that particulates from the water that circulates through the NASA space suits to cool the astronauts clogged small water ports in the fan pump separator. The device circulates breathing air in the space suit and extracts moisture.When the fan pump separator filled with water on July 16, it did not trip off as intended. Instead, the fan kept running and directed water into an air flow channel at the back of Parmitano's helmet. The flow channel extended over the top of his head.The planned six to seven hour July 16th spacewalk was halted a little more than 90 minutes into the outing. Parmitano and his partner, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, made their way back to the safety of the U. S. airlock with water flowing into Parmitano's helmet and massing around his eyes, ears and nose. Both men subsequently completed their tours of duty on the ISS as scheduled and returned to Earth.The source, or sources, of the particulate as well as the water chemistry behind the formation of the contaminants remain an active focus of NASA's investigation into the worrisome incident.The space suits for Saturday's excursion were equipped with absorbent pads in the helmets to soak up as much as 800 milliliters of leaking water and make shift snorkels fashioned from plastic water tubes and positioned close to the mouths of the spacewalkers. Mastracchio and Hopkins repeatedly checked for "squishiness" in the pads atop their heads at the request of NASA Mission Control, with the first check coming at 30 minutes into the excursion.No leaky water was reported, and the snorkels were not needed.During Monday's spacewalk, Mastracchio and Hopkins will return to the worksite to physically swap out the old pump module with one of three spares stored outside the station. The primary task assigned to the third spacewalk, if needed, is to move the old pump module to a permanent external storage slot. Engineers are hopeful it could be equipped with a new flow control valve at some point in the future.NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson carried out a similar swap out in August 2010, when the pump motor in an older pump module failed.The challenge is to keep it slow and steady," said Caldwell Dyson of working with the unwieldy module.Meanwhile, the Orbital Sciences Corp. "ORB-1" re-supply mission to the ISS that was postponed by the cooling system problems has been re-scheduled for lift off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia on Jan. 7 at 1:55 p.m., EST. Previously scheduled for Dec. 19, the mission is the first to be flown under a $1.9 billion, eight flight agreement between the Dulles, Va., company and NASA.Spacewalking Astronauts Remove Faulty Space Station Pump Ahead of ScheduleRobert Z. Pearlman -- SPACE.comHOUSTON —Two astronauts working speedily outside the International Space Station removed a faulty pump module ahead of schedule, potentially negating the need for a planned Christmas Day spacewalk as they work to repair the outpost's critical cooling system.NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins ventured outside the space station at 7:01 a.m. EST (1101 GMT) today (Dec. 21), just 10 days after a flow control valve malfunctioned inside the pump module that they were set to remove and replace during another 6.5-hour spacewalk on Monday. Saturday's spacewalk ended at 12:29 p.m. EST (1729 GMT), five hours and 28 minutes after it began.Originally, the astronauts were just going to prepare the faulty pump for removal today, but the spacewalkers completed the majority of the planned tasks for Saturday's spacewalk in just three hours. The astronauts were then given a go by Mission Control in Houston to press ahead with removing the faulty refrigerator-size pump module and stow it on a nearby platform."We're about an hour and a half ahead of the timeline, so, choosing your own adventure, we're going to go ahead and look forward to doing the pump module exit," Mission Control advised the astronauts.Ahead of the spacewalk scheduleThe early removal could mean that a third spacewalk planned for Dec. 25, Christmas Day, may not be needed.The faulty valve, which regulates the temperature of ammonia flowing through the pump, ceased working properly on Dec. 11. Non-critical systems and science experiments in two of the station's laboratories have been powered down since.Saturday's spacewalk was originally focused on only disconnecting the fluid lines from the failed pump module and installing a "jumper" box to keep the ammonia from over pressurizing during the pump's replacement.Working along the starboard, or right, side of the station's backbone truss, Mastracchio (riding on the end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm) and Hopkins first set about demating "quick disconnect" fluid lines from the faulty pump.As their name implies, the quick disconnects were designed to be plugged in and out, but past spacewalks, including an August 2010 outing to replace the same pump module, ran into problems getting the pressurized lines loose. Learning from previous experiences, the pressure in the lines was reduced in preparation for Saturday's spacewalk.As such, Mastracchio and Hopkins were able to disconnect the first two fluid lines with little trouble. The first of the lines was unplugged an hour and 45 minutes into the spacewalk.Space station snowAs the lines were loosened though, the spacewalkers did report seeing "snow" — flakes of frozen ammonia — floating from the connectors."I do see some snow, very little," Masstrachio said. "Very small flakes coming from the forward side of the [quick disconnect]. Very small flakes."Mastracchio, responding to an inquiry from Mission Control, confirmed that the flakes may have landed on his and Hopkins' spacesuit. One of the dangers of working with the toxic ammonia is contamination, though the small solid flakes were not of great concern.With the first two lines released from the pump module, Mastracchio and Hopkins next worked to connect them to a "jumper" box, which routes the ammonia back into the coolant loop to keep it in a liquid phase. That task was followed by the astronauts disconnecting the remaining fluid lines and five electrical lines from the pump module to be replaced."Very nice, came out beautifully," Masstracchio radioed, commenting on the release of one of the lines. "Almost no loads on that thing at all, came off very cleanly."'Very, very cold'It was the ease in which the lines were removed that allowed the time for the pump module to be removed. Mastracchio had only one note of concern for the additional work: his cold toes."The only issue that I personally am having is it's very, very cold," Mastracchio said. "Because I'm just floating here on the [robotic] arm, I've got very, very good airflow in my boots but my toes are quite cold."To remove the 780-pound (355 kilogram) pump module, four bolts holding the module in place needed to be released. Mastracchio, still riding on the arm, then pulled the bulky pump out of the space station's truss part of the way so Hopkins could install a robotic arm grapple fixture on its side.Working from inside the station, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata then controlled the arm to "fly" Mastracchio, holding the pump module, to the pump's temporary storage location, called the POA (Payload/Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodations).At the start of the spacewalk, Hopkins had also been scheduled to ready the replacement pump module to be installed on Monday, but after consulting with Mastracchio, Mission Control agreed to end the outing after the faulty pump module was stowed.Saturday's extra-vehicular activity (EVA or spacewalk) was the first to use U.S. spacesuits since July, when water unexpectedly flooded into Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet. Hopkins wore Parmitano's suit for this spacewalk but with a new filter assembly, replacing the faulty component.As a precaution, NASA engineers had both astronauts outfit their suits with absorption pads and makeshift snorkels, but they were not needed. Mastracchio's and Hopkins' helmets remained water-free throughout the spacewalk, as confirmed during periodic checks.This was Mastracchio's seventh career spacewalk and Hopkins' first. Overall, it was the 175th spacewalk in support of the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station.Monday's spacewalk will pick up where Saturday's excursion ended, with Mastracchio and Hopkins working to install the spare pump module where the faulty unit had been removed. Depending on how far they get with the new pump module's connections on Monday, a Christmas day outing planned to reconnect the quick disconnect fluid lines and stow the old pump module for possible future servicing may not be necessary.Six Reasons NASA Should Build a Research Base on the MoonA planetary scientist suggests we should "boldly stay" where no one has stayed before.Sarah Fecht -- National Geographic Daily NewsChina's Jade Rabbit moon rover recently made history, and tracks, when it wheeled across the moon's gray surface.The rover and its lander, the Chang'e 3, are the first spacecraft to soft-land on the lunar surface since 1976. Together they've made China the third nation ever to achieve a soft landing on the moon.America largely lost interest in walking on the moon after the Apollo program ended in the 1970s. But the situation is changing, says Christopher McKay, a planetary scientist with NASA. "Things are starting to really heat up in terms of exploration of the moon."In the December issue of New Space, McKay argues that America should set up a permanent manned research base on the moon. Here's why:1. Maintaining U.S. influenceFor decades, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were the only nations to land on the moon. Now several new players—including China, India, and private companies such as SpaceX and Moon Express—are interested in visiting the moon, and they're demonstrating the technological capabilities to do so.If America wants to have a say in how the international community treats the moon, McKay says, it needs to be active there."Will private companies be allowed to take tourists to visit Neil Armstrong's footprints? How close will they be able to get? And who sets those rules?" McKay asks.In 2011, NASA proposed a 194-acre (500-meter-radius) "keep-out" zone around historic lunar landing sites. This limit must be honored to win the Google Lunar X Prize, a $40 million award for the first private company to land on the moon, travel on the lunar surface, and beam video back to earth.Henry Hertzfeld, who teaches space law at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., expressed some concern about NASA's role in future missions to the moon. "We're seeing a lot of partnerships forming without the United States. It may be that we're being left out of something we started because we've pulled back and focused on other things."2. Paving the way for other applicationsThe U.S. Antarctic Program, run by the National Science Foundation, provides a good model for how a lunar research base should be run, McKay argues. The U.S. has maintained small research bases in Antarctica continuously for 60 years, and in the process helped to pave the way for Antarctic tourism.Similarly, a manned science operation on the moon could pave the way for space tourists, mining industries, refueling stations, and burgeoning private industries.3. Learning more about the moonDespite being our nearest celestial neighbor, the moon harbors many mysteries, including how it formed. From a lunar research base, scientists could potentially explore the moon's lava tube caves, look for signs of geologic activity, and investigate hints of water ice found in the dark craters of the lunar poles."Every year, new things will be discovered on the moon that will raise new questions and spawn new research," McKay says.4. Assessing the health impacts of living in spaceWhat effect would living in gravity one-sixth that of Earth's have on human health and immunity? Building a lunar base could help us learn more about the effects of disrupted circadian rhythms, isolation, and high doses of radiation—all information that would be useful for future space exploration.5. Learning how to build and operate an extraterrestrial baseIf we ever want to build a colony on Mars, the first step may be to prove ourselves on the moon.A lunar research base would give NASA expertise in engineering and operating life-support systems, sustainable energy sources, supplying food and recycling water, and troubleshooting while the base is just a three-day trip away—because a base on Mars would be six months away from help of any kind.Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society, does not agree that the moon is a necessary step on the way to Mars. He instead suggests that a base on the moon could be a side application of Mars missions. "Mars is where the challenge is," says Zubrin. "Mars is where the future is."McKay counters that building a base on the moon is like going camping in your backyard when you're preparing for a camping trip in the Sahara. "If you can camp in your backyard, it doesn't necessarily mean you're ready for the Sahara. But if you can't camp in your backyard, then you certainly aren't ready to go to the desert ... If we can't do it on the moon, there's no chance that we can do it on Mars."6. Becoming an interplanetary speciesIf humans are to become the interplanetary species we imagine ourselves to be, then it's time to stop merely visiting other worlds and start proving that we can survive on them, McKay suggests.NASA's current lunar program consists of three orbiters that are searching for water ice, studying solar wind, and analyzing the moon's tenuous atmosphere. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is seeking out potential landing sites for future manned missions, but at the moment, no such mission is planned.To date, money has been the biggest obstacle to manned moon missions. McKay says that working with private companies, utilizing innovations such as 3-D printing, and taking advantage of off-the-shelf electronics could make a moon base affordable. "It's not that much harder than supplying and operating the space station," he says.Hertzfeld added, "If we're going to have human spaceflight, the moon makes the most sense for now."NASA re-creates the Apollo 8 Earthrise using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter dataAndrew Chaikin - The Planetary SocietyIf there's one thing I've learned after decades of studying the first human voyages to another world, it's that there is always more to discover about Apollo. Case in point: The Apollo 8 Earthrise photo that became one of the iconic images of the 20th century. I thought I knew everything there was to know about that photograph and how it was made—until last spring, when I got an email from NASA's Ernie Wright of the Goddard Space Flight Center's Scientific Visualization Studio. Ernie had done some remarkable detective work comparing the astronauts' onboard mission photography with new topographic maps from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009. The superb accuracy of the LRO data makes it possible, for the first time, to know exactly where Apollo 8 was over the moon when the astronauts first saw the Earth rising above the moon's barren horizon.More important, it tells what the spacecraft's orientation was at every moment. The result, shown in NASA's new video re-creation of the event, reveals that—much to my surprise—Apollo 8 had its nose pointed at the moon and was rotating about its long axis at the moment the Earth appeared. The timing of this roll maneuver, performed by mission commander Frank Borman as dictated by the flight plan, was just right to cause the rising Earth to become visible to Bill Anders—first in his side window, then in his rendezvous window (and then the center hatch window, which is where crewmate Jim Lovell saw it). I'd always known that the spacecraft's onboard voice tapes documented the fact that Anders was the one who first saw the rising Earth. But Ernie Wright's "space forensics" work shows, for the first time, why Anders alone had that initial view and was able to record the event using the camera he was already holding—a Hasselblad outfitted with a 250-mm telephoto lens—with three pictures, a black-and-white image followed by two color ones. And there was one more surprising detail that Ernie alerted me to: You can actually hear the Hasselblad's shutter and motorized film advance on the tape (and on the new video), as Anders snaps these historic photographs. That allowed Ernie to pin down the exact moment at which each image was taken.The chance to see the Earthrise exactly as the astronauts saw it makes this Apollo 8 anniversary a very special one. Even though 45 years have passed since that incredible event, it has lost none of its power. It's the moment when we began to fully comprehend the words of the great space visionary Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: "The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in the cradle forever."Ernie Wright of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's Scientific Visualization Studio did some remarkable detective work comparing the Apollo 8 astronauts' onboard mission photography with new topographic maps from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009. The superb accuracy of the LRO data makes it possible, for the first time, to know exactly where Apollo 8 was over the moon when the astronauts first saw the Earth rising above the moon's barren horizon. This video re-creates this iconic event in humanity's history.Space Flight Revs Up in 2014Rick Merritt – EE TimesSAN JOSE, Calif. — Within a year or two, the number of humans who have been to space may double, says William Pomerantz of Virgin Galactic, the company who hopes to make that happen.Sometime in 2014, entrepreneur Richard Branson and his two children aim to be on the first commercial flight of SpaceShip Two, Virgin Galatic's rocket for propelling eight people 100 kilometers above the Earth.The flight will be broadcast on live TV, "so it has to be safe and fun," said Pomerantz, who is vice president of special projects for the company. "If Sir Richard is bored or looks uncomfortable, that's not good for business," he quipped in a talk here hosted by National Instruments.The moment may mark another milestone in the commercialization of space. To date, 542 people have been in space. Virgin has sold 660 tickets at $250,000 each, for its three-day experience which culminates in a two-hour flight, about four minutes of it floating in microgravity."I grew up watching NASA astronauts fly, so I would have thought there would have been multiple zeros at the end of this [542] number by now…[but] it's hard when everything is custom and a launch only happens once a year," said Pomerantz."NASA did amazing things, but they didn't do them very often…[in part because] the cost of failure was a congressional investigation and a decade long review," he added.Virgin hopes to get its 660 ticket holders into space within two years, and is already working on follow ups to the current SpaceStation Two design. It was created in collaboration with Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites that designed SpaceStation One, the winner of the Ansari XPrize for the first commercial space flight in a reusable vehicle.The new version, finished 18 months ago, is now doing test flights. It looks like two planes, each with its own cabin, holding the rocket like a third cabin between them. It takes off from a Virgin site in New Mexico and climbs to 50,000 feet.The plane then releases the space vehicle which plummets for about three seconds before it engages its rocket for a 6G acceleration to about 3.5 times the speed of sound out and up into space. Once it reaches peak altitude, pilots shut off the rocket. It descends as a capsule for several seconds. Then wings deploy, the rocket reignites and propels the vehicle to a landing back at the New Mexico facility."We've take a lot of pains to see both wings are actuated by the same mechanism, it's fairly redundant and surprisingly low tech," he said. "Scaled Composites is willing to go low tech" to be practical, "they are not in to technology for technology's sake," he added."Clever engineering solutions make sure passengers are in the right orientation [when in capsule or airplane mode]" so they generally are facing the G forces that "won't last long and should feel fun, like spots car ride and not a risk to you," he said.Long term "Sir Richard's ultimate interest is not going straight up and down but going from say, San Jose to London in 45 minutes -- that's a much harder problem to solve, but we are learning about it in bite-size fashion," he said.So are regulators. "Since we are doing this for the first time, the FAA requires us to educate customers and tell them risks and how we mitigate them," he said.Mars lander to launch from Vandenberg in 2016NASA awards mission to ULA's Atlas 5 rocketJanene Scully - Santa Maria TimesA NASA mission to Mars will head to space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in two years, becoming the first planetary spacecraft to launch from the West Coast.The space agency has selected United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colo., to launch the Mars mission dubbed InSight — it stands for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport."For everybody on the Central Coast this will be a kind of new and exciting event for them to have a planetary launch from Vandenberg," said NASA spokesman George Diller.InSight is set to blast off in March 2016 aboard an Atlas 5 rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 East on South Base."We could not be more honored that NASA has selected ULA to launch the InSight mission, which will be landing on the surface of Mars," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president of Atlas and Delta Programs. "This mission with be the eighth mission to Mars that ULA vehicles have launched since 2001, including Mars Science Lab and most recently MAVEN."Those earlier launches have occurred from Cape Canaveral, Fla.NASA officials solicited bids from launch providers but didn't specify a launch location, according to Diller."All we did is we put parameters we needed for the spacecraft to get to a certain point in space to get it to Mars," Diller said.ULA's winning bid proposed an Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg, a locale typically not used for planetary spacecraft because East Coast launches come with an assist from the Earth's rotation, thus requiring less fuel for the flight."The weight of this payload is such that the Atlas 5 has plenty of margin in terms of capability to overcome the additional need to getting to that point in space," Diller said.After some research, NASA officials believe this would be the first interplanetary mission from the base."We can't find any other planetary mission that has been launched from out there," he said.Another Mars mission planned to launch from Vandenberg ultimately was relocated to Florida after NASA experienced back-to-back Mars failures in 1999. A review board urged the agency return to basics and reduce risks, including launching the 2001 Mars Odyssey from Florida.The cost for NASA to launch InSight is approximately $160 million, including spacecraft processing, payload integration, tracking, data and telemetry and other launch support requirements.Along with providing work for the 350 ULA employees at Vandenberg, launches provide a boost to the local economy."Leading up to the projected launch in 2016, this will have a great impact on the local economy," added Bob Hatch, president/CEO of the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce. "In addition to the jobs provided, the local region will no doubt see an influx of visitors to the region. Local businesses, including hotels will enjoy the benefits of such a program and the many attractions will serve the needs of the many people who will come to the Central Coast."I think it's only a good thing," said Ken Ostini, president/CEO of the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce. "Anytime there's another contract out there it can only be good for the economy."InSight is scheduled to land on Mars in September 2016 to begin a two-year science mission. The newest Mars lander will address one of the most fundamental issues of planetary and solar system science — understanding the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system more than4 billion years ago, NASA said. InSight will conduct this science using two instrument packages.Washington Notebook: Congressional NASA backer calls it quitsLedyard King – Florida TodayFROM WASHINGTONNASA is losing one of its greatest champions in Congress — and one of its sharpest critics.Virginia GOP Rep. Frank Wolf announced Tuesday he will not seek re-election to an 18th term, making the 2014 session his last on Capitol Hill.Wolf said he's leaving to devote his time to "human rights and religious freedoms — both domestic and international — as well as matters of the culture and the American family," issues he advocated for in Congress.Wolf also has been an influential player in the nation's space program, currently chairing the House Appropriations subcommittee in charge of NASA funding. In that role, he's been both a fierce defender of the agency that inspired him as a young man and a pointed skeptic when he thinks it's veering off course.He's been especially critical of NASA's dealings with China, a country whose human rights record he particularly detests. Last year, he accused NASA of breaking a national security law by failing to notify Congress about two visits Chinese officials made to Kennedy Space Center, an accusation the agency denied.Wolf is not leaving quietlyTwo days after announcing he won't run for re-election, Wolf sent a letter to the president calling for the U.S. to return to the moon. He's urging the president to hold a conference at the White House to develop a mission concept for a U.S.-led return to the moon within the next decade.ENDMore detailed space news can be found at:
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