History > 2007 > USA > Space (I)

It rose on a snaking column of smoke

and a flame nearly as bright as the dipping sun.

Photograph: Philip Andrews

for The New York Times

Shuttle Atlantis Appears to Have Flawless Liftoff

NYT        9 June 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/us/09shuttle.html

NASA Probe to Explore Martian Arctic

July 30, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:10 p.m. ET
The New York Times

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A three-legged NASA spacecraft with a long arm for digging trenches is going to the Martian north pole to study if the environment is favorable for primitive life.

But before it can start its work, the Phoenix Mars Lander must survive landing on the surface of the rocky, dusty Red Planet, which has a reputation of swallowing manmade probes. Of the 15 global attempts to land spacecraft on Mars, only five have made it.

''Mars has the tendency to throw you curve balls,'' said Doug McCuistion, who heads the Mars program at NASA headquarters.

Phoenix, which is pieced from old hardware that was shelved after two embarrassing Mars failures in 1999, will blast off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard a Delta II rocket on a 423-million-mile trip. The three-week launch window opens Aug. 3.

Unlike the durable twin rovers near the equator, the Phoenix Mars Lander will sit in one place and extend its long arm to dig trenches in the permafrost and scoop up soil for analysis. Made of aluminum and titanium, the 8-foot-long arm acts like a backhoe and can dig down 20 inches and rotate.

Although Phoenix lacks the tools to detect past or current life, scientists hope it will shed light on whether the northern arctic possesses the signature ingredients for microbes to exist.

The lander should arrive at Mars 10 months after it launches and touch down in the northern plains for its three-month mission. If successful, it will be the first time since the Viking missions three decades ago that a robot will drill beneath the Martian surface.

Once it lands, Phoenix will heat the soil samples in miniature ovens to study their chemistry. The lander can detect the presence of organics, although it won't be able to tell if there's DNA or protein, said principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

The landing site was chosen because previous spacecraft found evidence that frozen water lurked below the surface. Some believe the shallow valley measuring about 30 miles wide might be the remnant of an ancient sea. However, Phoenix will look for evidence of liquid water that may have existed as recently as 100,000 years ago.

There's no water on the arid Martian surface today, but Phoenix's job is to find out whether the underground ice may have melted, creating a wetter environment. Scientists generally agree that water, along with the presence of organic materials and a stable heat source, is needed to support life.

To prevent Phoenix from accidentally bringing organisms to Mars, technicians had to take special care while prepping the lander for launch. It underwent dry heat treatment and precision cleaning to reduce the amount of germs on its surface. Its trench-digging arm was also sealed in a special wrapping to prevent contamination.

Phoenix is the first project from NASA's Scout program, a low-cost complement to pricier Mars missions in orbit and on the surface. Managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Phoenix cost $420 million compared to the hardy rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which cost $820 million to launch in 2003.

True to its name, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previous missions. It was supposed to fly in 2001 as a sidekick to the Mars Odyssey orbiter. The orbiter reached Mars, but the lander mission was canceled in the wake of back-to-back losses in 1999.

The Mars Climate Orbiter burned up as it neared Mars because Lockheed Martin/NASA mismatched metric and English measurement units. The Mars Polar Lander tumbled to its death after its rocket engine shut off prematurely as it tried to touch down on the south pole. Neither wreckage has been found.

Phoenix, built by Lockheed Martin, carries several science instruments similar to ones that flew on the ill-fated Polar Lander mission. Engineers rigorously tested the spacecraft over the last four years ''to drive out any of the problems we might have in the system,'' said Barry Goldstein, project manager at JPL.

If Phoenix survives its primary mission, it will turn into a weather station and collect data on the atmosphere.

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On the Net:

Phoenix Mars mission: http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu

Jet Propulsion Laboratory: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
 
University of Arizona: http://www.arizona.edu

NASA Probe to Explore Martian Arctic, NYT, 30.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Phoenix-Mars.html

Meteorite Impact Debris Found in Minn.

July 15, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:22 p.m. ET
The New York Times

GRAND MARAIS, Minn. (AP) -- A forest fire has led to a chance discovery of debris from the impact of a meteorite 1.85 billion years ago, more than 450 miles away at Sudbury, Ontario.

Geologists had scheduled a field trip in May along the Gunflint Trail in northeastern Minnesota, but most areas they wanted to explore were closed because of a wildfire that charred more than 118 square miles.

Geologist Mark Jirsa of the Minnesota Geological Survey went up the trail to scout new locations and, in a spot he had never visited before, stumbled across debris now linked to the Sudbury impact.

That impact created a crater more than 150 miles across, scattering rock and dust over nearly a million square miles.

''It's fairly dark rock,'' Jirsa said. ''They look like concrete, but in this concrete you would throw pieces of rock of all sizes and shapes and in all possible orientations.''

Previously, material thrown out by the impact had been found as far from Sudbury as Hibbing, about 125 miles farther to the southwest from Grand Marais. However, the tiny fragments at Hibbing were found in core samples from 800 to 1,000 feet below the surface, while the rock layer containing larger chunks at the Gunflint site lies exposed.

''I think the excitement for the people of Minnesota is that we are one place in the world where you can see evidence of an ancient meteorite impact,'' said University of Minnesota geology professor emeritus Paul Weiblen, who is studying the debris. ''This is the second-oldest and second-largest impact crater in the world.''

    Meteorite Impact Debris Found in Minn., NYT, 15.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Meteorite-Crater.html

Telescope Gives Deepest View of Space

July 11, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:21 p.m. ET
The New York Times

HILO, Hawaii (AP) -- Astronomers believe they've glimpsed light from some of the universe's first stars through the world's largest telescope on the Big Island. The astronomy team from the California Institute of Technology, which was to present its findings in London on Wednesday, said they used the Keck II telescope atop Mauna Kea volcano to see farther into space than ever before.

By magnifying the telescope's range, the scientists said they were able to see light generated by galaxies 13 billion years ago, when the universe was only 500 million years old. At that time, the universe was still in its ''Dark Ages'' because hydrogen atoms hadn't broken apart and stars hadn't yet formed.

''We have detected six faint star-forming galaxies,'' said graduate student Dan Stark. ''We estimate the combined radiation output of this population could be sufficient to break apart the hydrogen atoms in space at that time, thereby ending the Dark Ages.''

The astronomers said they were able to push the telescope to its limits by using a gravitational lens.

Team leader Richard Ellis said the group's technique was to increase the telescope's magnifying capability by focusing on a large object in the foreground and then looking around its edges into the space beyond. The bending of light around the object creates the universe's own magnification.

In this case, the scientists used a massive cluster of galaxies to do the light bending for them.

These faraway galaxies appeared to be very faint because their light has been traveling through space over these billions of years, Ellis said.

''There's not a chance we could have done it with a smaller scope,'' he said.

The researchers made their discoveries months ago after they spent 14 nights observing the sky.

They waited until completing tests to support their findings before revealing what they saw.

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Information from: Hawaii Tribune-Herald, http://www.hilohawaiitribune.com 

    Telescope Gives Deepest View of Space, NYT, 11.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Cosmic-Dawn.html

Space Shuttle Moves to Launch Pad

July 11, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:54 a.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- The shuttle Endeavour arrived at its launch pad early Wednesday for a flight that will finally carry teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan into space.

The mission, scheduled to begin Aug. 7, will take Morgan and six crewmates to the international space station.

It's been a nearly five-year wait for Endeavour, but the shuttle has nothing on Morgan: She's been waiting 22 years to reach orbit.

In 1985, Morgan was picked as Christa McAuliffe's backup to become the first teacher in space under a special NASA program. Then the Challenger carrying McAuliffe broke apart shortly after liftoff in 1986, and Morgan returned to teaching. In 1998, she was selected as a full-fledged astronaut.

On her first mission, the 55-year-old Morgan will operate the shuttle's robotic arm, coordinate the transfer of cargo and talk from space to students at three schools, if the mission is extended.

Talking to students and teachers Wednesday morning, Morgan said she was most looking forward to seeing McCall, Idaho -- where she taught elementary students -- from space. She said the Endeavour crew was training hard during their last few weeks before launch.

''There's a ton of work to be done,'' Morgan said during the forum at Johnson Space Center.

Morgan is far from being the oldest astronaut ever to fly on a space shuttle. Astronaut Story Musgrave was 61 when he flew his last mission aboard Columbia in 1996, and John Glenn was 77 when he flew aboard Discovery in 1998.

The Endeavour crew will deliver a new truss segment, 5,000 pounds of cargo and fix a gyroscope, which helps control the station's position. It also plans four spacewalks if the mission is extended to 14 days.

''It has a little bit of everything,'' said Matt Abbott, lead shuttle flight director.

Endeavour reached the launch pad shortly after 3 a.m., completing a 3.4-mile trip aboard the massive crawler-transporter from the Vehicle Assembly Building in seven hours. It was a day late because the weather had nixed plans to move it early Tuesday.

The launch would be NASA's second shuttle flight this year.

The last time Endeavour was at the pad was in November 2002, before its launch on a construction mission to the space station. It was the last shuttle flight before the Columbia disaster killed seven astronauts and grounded the space shuttle program for 2 1/2 years.

Endeavour has since undergone a major tune-up. The shuttle's structure was inspected for corrosion. Filter and seals were replaced. More than 1,900 thermal blankets were examined, and two windows were replaced with thicker panes.

''We're really excited to have Endeavour fly again,'' Kim Doering, NASA's deputy manager of the space shuttle program, said Tuesday. ''Obviously, having brand new belts and hoses and having just checked the structure and replaced all the tiles -- they're brand new -- makes this a very nice vehicle to climb on to.''

Endeavour also has a new system which allows power from the space station to be transferred to the shuttle while docked. If the new system works properly, the 11-day mission will be extended by an extra three days.

------

On the Net:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Space Shuttle Moves to Launch Pad, NYT, 11.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Asteroid Mission Postponed Until July 15

July 6, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:44 p.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- The planned weekend launch of a spacecraft to explore two of the solar system's largest asteroids was delayed to the middle of the month because of problems with a tracking ship and aircraft.

NASA had set Monday afternoon as a new launch time for the Dawn spacecraft, which will embark on a years-long journey to the asteroids Vesta and Ceres, which lie between Mars and Jupiter.

Late Friday, NASA officials announced the spacecraft would launch July 15, instead.

The spacecraft originally had been set to launch Saturday but that was nixed because thunderstorms and lightning at the launch pad prevented loading its fuel.

Also, the plane used to track the spacecraft after liftoff was having mechanical problems, and the tracking ship wasn't in the correct location.

Seeking clues about the birth of the solar system, Dawn will first visit Vesta, the smaller of the two bodies, four years from now. In 2015, it will meet up with Ceres, which carries the status of both asteroid and, like Pluto, dwarf planet.

NASA has until the end of October to launch the spacecraft before the planetary bodies begin to drift apart.

''After that, it becomes very problematic to do both Vesta and Ceres because they are moving apart in the sky,'' said Chris Russell, the mission's principal investigator. ''It takes about another 15 years before they get back together again.''

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On the Net:

Dawn mission page: http://dawn.nasa.gov

University of California, Los Angeles: http://www.ucla.edu

    Asteroid Mission Postponed Until July 15, NYT, 6.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Asteroid-Mission.html

NASA to Launch Asteroid Mission Sunday

July 5, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:15 p.m. ET
The New York Times

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- NASA this weekend is set to launch a spacecraft that will journey to the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, a mission that involves a rendezvous with two of the solar system's largest asteroids.

Seeking clues about the birth of the solar system, the Dawn spacecraft will first encounter Vesta, the smaller of the two bodies, four years from now. In 2015, it will meet up with Ceres, which carries the status of both asteroid and, like Pluto, dwarf planet.

''We're trying to go back in time as well as to go out there in space,'' said planetary scientist Christopher Russell of University of California, Los Angeles, who is heading up the mission.

Weather permitting, Dawn is set to blast off Sunday afternoon from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a Delta II rocket. The launch caps a tumultuous effort in which the $344 million mission was killed last year because of cost overruns and technical problems.

Ultimately, though, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which manages the spacecraft, appealed to NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and got the project revived.

Adding to the drama, Ceres briefly flirted with planethood during last summer's scientific debate about whether Pluto is a planet. Both Pluto and Ceres were finally classified dwarf planets.

Vesta and Ceres are believed to have evolved in different parts of the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago around the same time as the formation of the rocky planets including Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Scientists believe the asteroids' growth was stunted by Jupiter's gravitational pull and never had the chance to become full-fledged planets.

Images by the Hubble Space Telescope show Vesta and Ceres as geologically diverse.

Mysteries abound: Why are Vesta and Ceres so different? How do size and water affect planet formation? What does the evolution of the asteroids say about Earth's formation?

Vesta, which measures 326 miles across, is dry and pocked with a deep impact crater in its southern hemisphere. By contrast, Ceres, about twice as large as Vesta, has a dusty surface covered by what appears to be an ice shell and may even contain water inside.

When Dawn reaches each asteroid, first Vesta in 2011, it will orbit each body, photographing the surface and studying the asteroid's interior makeup, density and magnetism. Pictures and data will be sent back to Earth.

Dawn will be powered by ion propulsion instead of conventional rocket fuel, making it more fuel-efficient and allowing it to cruise between the asteroids and lower itself to about 125 miles above the surface to study them in depth.

Although previous spacecraft have explored smaller asteroids, researchers hope Dawn will shed light on the solar system's origins.

''If you want to understand the Earth, it's important to understand how it came to be and that's where asteroids come in. They're the building blocks,'' said Jay Melosh, a planetary geologist at the University of Arizona who has no role of the Dawn mission.

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On the Net:

Dawn mission page: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov

University of California, Los Angeles: http://www.ucla.edu

    NASA to Launch Asteroid Mission Sunday, NYT, 5.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Asteroid-Mission.html

NASA Buys $19 Million Toilet System

July 5, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:06 p.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- In space, a loo costs a lot.

NASA has agreed to pay $19 million for a Russian-built toilet system for the international space station. The figure may sound astronomical for a toilet in space, but NASA officials said it was cheaper than building their own.

''It's akin to building a municipal treatment center on Earth,'' NASA spokeswoman Lynnette Madison said Thursday, explaining the cost of the new toilet system.

Also, astronauts are familiar with how it works since it's similar to one already in use at the space station. The new system will be able to transfer urine to a device that can produce drinking water.

The new system is scheduled to be delivered to the U.S. side of the space station in 2008. It will offer more privacy than the old toilet system, which will definitely be needed: The space station crew is expected to grow from three to six people by 2009.

The system will be installed on the American side, and the current toilet system on the Russian side will remain in place.

The space station toilet physically resembles those used on Earth, except it has leg restraints and thigh bars to keep astronauts and cosmonauts in place. Fans suck waste into the commode. Crew members also have individual urine funnels which are attached to hoses, and the urine is deposited into a wastewater tank.

Crew members using the current toilet system on the Russian side must transfer tanks of their urine to a cargo ship, which burns up in Earth's atmosphere once undocked from the station.

The $19 million toilet system was part of a larger contract valued at $46 million that NASA signed this week with RSC Energia, a Russian aerospace company. The extra equipment includes software updates for the station's inventory management system, a spare air pump and engineering support for a mechanism which allows space shuttles to dock with the space station.

    NASA Buys $19 Million Toilet System, NYT, 5.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Toilet-in-Space.html

Martian Dust Storm Affecting Twin Rovers

July 5, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:31 a.m. ET
The New York Times

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- A powerful dust storm on Mars has worsened and is affecting the twin rovers' operations on the Red Planet, mission scientists say.

The storm, which has been brewing for a week, has partially blocked the sun. The rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which have solar panels, rely on sunlight to charge their batteries.

Scientists maintain that the robots, which are used to operating at low power levels, are not in danger.

''The storm is affecting both rovers and reducing the power levels on Opportunity,'' project manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement posted Tuesday on the space agency's Web site.

Solar array energy on Opportunity dropped from 765 watt-hours to 402 watt-hours as dust levels increased over the past week. The rover scaled back operations on June 30 to conserve energy.

The storm has already postponed Opportunity's descent into Victoria Crater to learn more about the planet's geologic past. Scientists hoped to send the rover into the crater this weekend, but unfavorable weather has delayed the entry until at least July 13.

The regional storm is the worst to hit the rovers since they landed on opposite ends of Mars in 2004, and scientists expect the storm to last for at least another week.

The highest dust activity is centered near Opportunity. However, weather data show the storm might have peaked, meaning the worst could be behind the rovers.

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On the Net:

Mars Rovers mission: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

    Martian Dust Storm Affecting Twin Rovers, NYT, 5.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Mars-Rovers.html

New Tasks Given to Old NASA Spacecraft

July 3, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:30 p.m. ET
The New York Times

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- NASA said Tuesday it is recycling two used spacecraft to lead new robotic missions to study comets and planets around other stars.

The encore performances of the Deep Impact and Stardust probes allow the space agency to further its solar system exploration for a fraction of the cost it would take to start a mission from scratch.

Both spacecraft successfully completed their primary missions to two different comets and their discoveries have helped scientists understand how the solar system formed.

In 2005, Deep Impact released a copper impactor that smashed into comet Tempel 1. The collision carved a crater and spilled a plume of debris from its interior into space. The surviving mothership has since been put in safe mode to conserve energy.

Stardust flew close to the comet Wild 2 and used a mitt to collect minute samples of cometary and interstellar dust. A capsule carrying the particles parachuted to Earth last year while the probe remained in space.

Scientists plan to activate Deep Impact later this year for a two-part mission that includes collecting data on extrasolar planets to determine whether they have rings, moons or other features. Deep Impact will become an observatory looking at distant stars already known to be orbited by giant planets.

After that, Deep Impact will pass the comet 85P/Boethin in December 2008. It will be the first spacecraft to explore Boethin, a small comet discovered in 1975 that orbits the sun every 11 years. Researchers hope information gathered from Boethin will shed light on how comets evolved and if they played a role in the emergence of life on Earth.

NASA plans to send Stardust to Tempel 1 to examine the crater created by the 2005 impact, making it the first comet to be revisited. Scientists failed to image the crater after the collision because the plume blocked the view, but they hope to get a second chance with Stardust when it flies by the comet in 2011.

NASA did not disclose the price tags of the follow-up projects, but the costs were expected to be significantly lower than the main missions. Deep Impact cost $333 million while Stardust was $212 million.

The Deep Impact team proposed $40 million for the encore mission, but NASA only allotted $30 million, said principal investigator Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland. While A'Hearn was disappointed with the budget, he did not want to pass up a chance to reuse the Deep Impact spacecraft.

''Clearly, I still want to fly the mission,'' he said.

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On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov

Deep Impact: http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm

Stardust: http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

    New Tasks Given to Old NASA Spacecraft, NYT, 3.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-New-Missions.html

Space Shuttle Heads Back to Florida

July 2, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:08 a.m. ET
The New York Times

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) -- Clear weather allowed a jumbo jet carrying the space shuttle Atlantis to take off Monday for Kentucky on its way back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said.

NASA officials decided the shuttle could leave Offutt Air Force Base following a 6 a.m. weather briefing, spokeswoman Jennifer Tharpe said.

''We're really ready to get where we're going,'' Tharpe said before takeoff.

A modified Boeing 747 with the shuttle mounted on its back left from Edwards Air Force Base on Sunday morning and landed at Offutt that afternoon following a refueling stop, officials said.

The jet's destination remained confidential until it was in the air for security reasons. It was to land at Fort Campbell, Ky., for refueling, 1st Lt. Matthew Miller with Offutt said.

The jet, which stops to refuel at undisclosed locations, could still arrive at Cape Canaveral on Monday as planned, but a Tuesday arrival was possible if bad weather intervened, Tharpe said.

''They aren't going to rule it out,'' Tharpe said. ''There's so many things playing into it.''

The jet made a refueling stop earlier Sunday in Amarillo, Texas, making an unusual stop on a commercial runway. Amarillo is about 500 miles south of Offutt.

Atlantis, carrying seven astronauts, landed June 22 after a 14-day construction mission at the international space station.

Unfavorable weather at its Florida launch site forced NASA to divert to the shuttle's alternate landing site in California. NASA prefers to land shuttles in Florida to avoid the cost of transporting them back.

Associated Press writer Eric Olson in Omaha, Neb., contributed to this report.

    Space Shuttle Heads Back to Florida, NYT, 2.7.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Mars Rover to Make Risky Crater Descent

June 29, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:40 a.m. ET
The New York Times

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- NASA's aging but durable Mars rover Opportunity will make what could be a trip of no return into a deep impact crater as it tries to peer further back than ever into the Red Planet's geologic history.

The descent into Victoria Crater received the go-ahead because the potential scientific returns are worth the risk that the solar-powered, six-wheel rover might not be able to climb out, NASA officials and scientists said Thursday.

The vehicle has been roaming Mars for nearly 3 1/2 Earth years. Scientists and engineers want to send it in while it still appears healthy.

''This crater, Victoria, is a window back into the ancient environment of Mars,'' said Alan Stern, the NASA associate administrator who authorized the move.

''Entering this crater does come with some unknowns,'' Stern added. ''We have analyzed the entry point but we can't be certain about the terrains and the footing down in the crater until we go there. We can't guarantee, although we think we are likely to come back out of the crater.''

Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, have been exploring opposite sides of Mars since landing in January 2004, discovering geologic evidence of rocks altered by water from a long-ago wetter period of the now-dusty planet.

Blasted open by a meteor impact, Victoria Crater is a half-mile across and about 200 to 230 feet deep -- far deeper than anything else the rovers have explored.

''Because it's deeper it provides us access to just a much longer span of time,'' said Steve Squyres, the principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover mission from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He said it's not known just how much time is represented in the crater's layered walls.

Opportunity's first target will be a band of bright material like a bathtub ring about 10 feet below the crater's rim.

''That was the original, pre-impact surface so this bright stuff is the stuff that was in contact with the Martian atmosphere at the time Victoria formed, which may have been billions of years ago,'' Squyres said.

The initial entry is expected on July 7 or 9. To get into the crater, the rover will have to safely cross a ripple of wind-formed material at the lip of the crater, the kind of feature that has given it trouble before. The team plans to initially drive only far enough to have all six wheels on the slope and then back up to the top, to analyze how it performed.

''We call that a toe dip,'' said John Callas, the rover project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Since inception, the twin-rover mission has cost more than $900 million, and now costs $20 million to $24 million annually. Planned to last 90 days, the mission is in its fourth extension and another proposal would continue operations to the end of October 2008.

    Mars Rover to Make Risky Crater Descent, NYT, 29.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Mars-Rovers.html

Atlantis Crew Reunites With Families

June 24, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:18 a.m. ET
The New York Times

HOUSTON (AP) -- Atlantis' seven astronauts reunited with their families in Texas on Saturday, a day after the space shuttle capped a two-week mission with a perfect landing in the Mohave Desert. Sunita ''Suni'' Williams was especially happy to return to Earth after spending more than six months at the international space station.

''This gravity thing takes a bit getting used to,'' she said moments after landing with the rest of the crew on a NASA Gulfstream jet around 2:45 p.m. at Ellington Field.

Williams set an endurance record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 195 days, as well as the record for most time spacewalking by a woman.

''It's just the time and the place,'' said Williams, noting she hopes her mission paves the way for more women to travel to space, during a 20-minute ceremony in an open hanger.

The crew was assembled on a stage with a giant American flag as the backdrop. Along with Williams were shuttle commander Rick Sturckow, pilot Lee Archambault and mission specialists Patrick Forrester, James Reilly, Steven Swanson and Danny Olivas. Each offered his thanks to family, ground crew and others in brief remarks.

Williams said she would spend the rest of the weekend getting reacquainted with her husband and dog, Gorby.

The homecoming was delayed by a day when NASA rerouted the shuttle from Florida to California because of bad weather. That diversion is expected to cost $1.7 million because the shuttle has to be ferried back to Kennedy Space Center atop a jumbo jet.

NASA's first manned flight of the year provided a much needed image boost for the space agency. It had been dogged by distractions this year including a bizarre astronaut love triangle and a murder-suicide involving a disgruntled contractor.

The mission certainly wasn't dull.

Atlantis delivered a 35,000-pound addition to the space station and Clay Anderson, who replaced Williams as the U.S. representative at the station. He will live with cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov for the next four months.

While at the space station, the astronauts installed a new truss segment, unfurled a new pair of power-generating solar arrays and activated a rotating joint that allows the new solar arrays to track the sun.

At one point, computers that control orientation and oxygen production on the Russian side of the space station crashed while Atlantis was at the outpost, forcing NASA officials to talk publicly about the remote possibility the station would have to be abandoned because of the problem. Engineers in Houston and Moscow worked around the clock to come up with a fix.

Atlantis' thrusters helped maintain the station's orientation until the computers resumed operating last weekend.

''It just feels great to have all this behind us,'' Sturckow said during the ceremony.

Atlantis lifted off June 8 on a 5.8-million mile journey to the space station. NASA hopes to have three more launches this year.

Two days were added to the mission so that Olivas could staple up a thermal blanket that had peeled back during launch. An extra spacewalk -- the fourth of the mission -- was added to get the task done.

The mission was then extended to 14 days after weather prevented Atlantis from landing on Thursday.

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On the Net:

Space shuttle: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Atlantis Crew Reunites With Families, NYT, 24.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Astronauts Prepare to Leave California

June 23, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:06 a.m. ET
The New York Times

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) -- Atlantis' seven astronauts prepared to return to Houston from California on Saturday to reunite with their families, a day after the space shuttle was diverted to the state but landed safely.

Families and friends gathered Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to await Atlantis' return. But stormy weather forced NASA to wave the shuttle to the backup landing site in the Mojave Desert where it glided to a picture-perfect landing.

The astronauts made brief remarks on the tarmac.

''It's just great to be back on planet Earth,'' shuttle commander Rick Sturckow said. ''There were a lot of challenges on this mission and they were all dramatic. All the solutions worked well.''

Atlantis' return was the 51st time a space shuttle touched down at the Edwards Air Force Base since 1981. It capped a two-week mission to finish construction work on the international space station and bring a crew member home from the outpost.

Atlantis will remain in California for a week before returning to Florida atop a modified jumbo jet -- a journey that will cost the space agency $1.7 million.

During the 14-day visit to the international space station, the crew installed a new truss segment, unfurled a pair of solar panels and activated a rotating joint that allows the new solar arrays to track the sun.

Astronaut Sunita ''Suni'' Williams returned to Earth after spending more than six months at the space station. She set an endurance record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman at 195 days. During her stay, she also set the record for the most time spacewalking by a woman.

Also returning were pilot Lee Archambault and mission specialists Patrick Forrester, James Reilly, Steven Swanson and Danny Olivas.

Atlantis was supposed to launch in March but engineers had to repair the insulating foam on the shuttle's external tank that was dinged during a hail storm.

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On the Net:

Space shuttle: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Astronauts Prepare to Leave California, NYT, 23.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Space Shuttle Lands in California Desert

June 23, 2007
The New York Times
By ANDREW POLLACK and KENNETH CHANG

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., June 22 — The space shuttle Atlantis glided to a smooth landing on a dry desert lake bed here Friday, ending a two-week mission to the International Space Station that had turned somewhat dramatic after key computers broke down.

“There were a lot of challenges on this mission and they were all surmounted,” the Atlantis commander, Col. Frederick W. Sturckow, said on the runway here after leaving the spacecraft.

The landing at 12:49 p.m. Pacific time came after NASA had passed up four chances on Thursday and Friday to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida because of rain and low clouds in the area.

NASA prefers to land at Kennedy, the shuttle’s base, because it costs more than $1.7 million and takes seven to 10 days to return the orbiter to Florida aboard a specially-equipped Boeing 747. But landing in rain can damage the shuttle’s delicate thermal tiles or even slow the craft down enough to affect its flight path.

Although the shuttle could have landed Saturday, NASA did not want to stretch the mission to its limit. So on Friday morning, mission managers, uncertain whether the skies in Florida would clear, took the first opportunity to land here in the Mojave Desert northeast of Los Angeles.

It is the 51st time in 118 missions that a shuttle has landed at Edwards, the last time being in 2005. The spacecraft, containing a crew of seven, passed over San Diego and Los Angeles, emitted its trademark double sonic boom after it reentered the atmosphere, and glided onto the runway under nearly cloudless skies.

Atlantis had taken off on June 8 on what was to be an 11-day mission mainly to install a new structural truss and electricity-generating solar panels on the International Space Station. The mission, the 21st to the space station, was extended by two days so that astronaut John D. Olivas could do a spacewalk to staple down a thermal blanket that had come loose during launch. It was then extended another day because of the weather in Florida.

Mission managers said the loose thermal blanket had not threatened the orbiter, but the heat of reentry might still have caused enough damage to require lengthy and costly repairs. NASA officials said after the shuttle landed that the repair appeared to have held up for most part during the reentry.

The main drama on the mission came just after the solar panels were installed, when Russian computers on the space station started to break down. The computers control the space station’s oxygen generator and the thrusters that maintain its orientation.

With the computers out of commission, the docked Atlantis and its thrusters assumed the responsibility for maintaining orientation. That raised the specter that the space station might need to be evacuated if the Russian computers could not be revived before Atlantis left.

NASA officials had expressed confidence that the Russians would be able to fix the problem, but the space agency did assemble contingency plans on how to keep an empty space station safe and sound until spare parts for the computers could be delivered.

The crisis abated when several days of troubleshooting tracked the problem to power circuitry. The Russian station crew members installed jumper cables, bypassing the troublesome circuits.

NASA officials said in a news briefing Friday that it might take three to five months to determine the root cause of the problem. But they said the space station was operating fine now and that they were developing methods to operate even without those particular computers.

“We’re stable; we’ve got a good configuration,” William H. Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations, said at the news conference at Kennedy Space Center.

The launching of a Russian Progress supply rocket to the station has been moved up to July from August to bring spare parts for computers.

During four spacewalks, Atlantis astronauts installed the 17.5-ton truss, partially retracted an earlier solar array and opened the new arrays. The astronauts accomplished almost all of their planned chores and were able to perform several “get-ahead” tasks.

One of the Atlantis crew members, Clayton C. Anderson, remained at the space station with two Russian cosmonauts. He replaced Cmdr. Sunita L. Williams, who returned to earth on Atlantis after a six-month stay that set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman.

NASA is planning three more shuttle missions this year, starting with the Endeavour in August. Atlantis is scheduled to fly again in December.

Andrew Pollack reported from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Kenneth Chang reported from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

    Space Shuttle Lands in California Desert, NYT, 23.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/science/space/23shuttleweb.html

Rain Delays Shuttle Landing in Florida

June 22, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:23 p.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- For the second day, rain prevented space shuttle Atlantis from landing Friday at Kennedy Space Center on its first try, leaving NASA managers to decide whether to try a landing in California instead.

''Our mindset down here is we're going to land you somewhere safely today,'' Mission Control told the shuttle crew Friday morning.

The first landing attempt at California's Edwards Air Force Base, the shuttle's usual backup landing site, would be at 3:49 p.m. EDT. If the weather cleared up over Florida before then, NASA could instead try bringing the shuttle into Kennedy at 3:55 p.m. EDT.

''We're going to take a hard look at (Kennedy) at the next rev ... and we'll also be looking at Edwards,'' Mission Control told Atlantis' astronauts.

Despite the initial wave off, Atlantis' astronauts took two steps in preparation for landing -- they put on their orange spacesuits and closed the shuttle's payload bay doors, which are kept opened during flights to keep heat from building up.

The crew has five chances Friday to land, the first had been at 2:18 p.m. EDT in Florida and the last at 6:59 p.m. EDT in California. If the weather spoils all those opportunities, mission managers would try again Saturday, with another backup landing site in New Mexico in the lineup.

The preferred landing site is Kennedy, where it is easier and far cheaper to get Atlantis to its hangar to be prepared for its next mission in December. If it lands in California, it would cost $1.7 million and take up to 10 days to get the shuttle home to Florida aboard a jumbo jet.

Atlantis has enough power for its systems to orbit until Sunday, but managers don't want to wait that long. The flight would be extended to Sunday only if technical problems needed to be fixed.

During Atlantis' two chances to land Thursday, showers were within 34 miles of the landing strip at Kennedy Space Center, and clouds hung below an altitude of 8,000 feet, both violations of flight rules.

During the crew's 14-day mission to the international space station, the astronauts installed a new truss segment, unfurled a new pair of power-generating solar arrays and activated a rotating joint that allows the new solar arrays to track the sun.

Originally scheduled for 11 days, the mission was extended by two days to give astronauts time to repair a thermal blanket that had peeled away during the June 8 launch. Astronaut Danny Olivas stapled it back into place during a spacewalk. An extra day in orbit was added after the weather in Florida prevented a landing Thursday.

The shuttle's visit to the space station was complicated by the crash of Russian computers that control orientation and oxygen production.

Atlantis helped the station maintain its orientation for several days until the computers were revived. Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov used a cable to bypass a circuit board.

The cosmonauts at the space station attempted to power the Russian computers Thursday without using the cable bypass, but it was unsuccessful.

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Associated Press writer Juan A. Lozano contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

Shuttle: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Rain Delays Shuttle Landing in Florida, NYT, 22.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Atlantis Prepares for Return to Earth

June 21, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:09 a.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA managers kept close tabs on the weather Thursday as thunderstorms and low clouds threatened to prevent space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts from landing after a trip to the international space station.

The shuttle's first landing opportunity was at 1:55 p.m. EDT Thursday, when predictions called for thunderstorms within 34 miles and clouds within 8,000 feet of the landing strip at Kennedy Space Center. Attempting to land so close to rain or clouds would violate flight rules.

The next chance would be at 3:30 p.m. EDT.

''Tomorrow is the first day of summer, and we know what summer brings to Florida, and that is afternoon thunderstorms,'' John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team, said Thursday.

NASA says Atlantis will have seven landing opportunities over four days.

Mission Control said opportunities at Kennedy, the primary landing site, look slightly more promising on Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, they could also consider using a backup landing site in California. That backup site plus another in New Mexico would be activated Saturday if necessary.

Atlantis has enough power for its systems to orbit until Sunday, but managers want the shuttle to land by Saturday. The flight would only be extended to Sunday if there were technical problems that needed to be fixed.

NASA managers prefer landing at Kennedy since there would be less cost and time in preparing Atlantis for its next mission in December. NASA hopes to fly a total of four missions this year.

''Obviously, we would prefer to stay at the Cape if we can,'' Shannon said.

Before signing off on the landing, mission managers held an unusual, last-minute meeting Wednesday to clear up three remaining technical issues. Material known as gap filler appeared to be sticking out of a wing, a thermal blanket had peeled back during the June 8 launch, and debris was found floating after Atlantis undocked from the international space station Tuesday.

Engineers had wanted to make sure the gap filler could withstand the heat and aerodynamics of re-entry and recheck data on the thermal blanket, which was repaired during a spacewalk last week. Mission managers have said the debris may have been ice.

During the crew's 13-day mission to the international space station, the astronauts installed a new truss segment, unfurled a new pair of power-generating solar arrays and activated a rotating joint that allows the new solar arrays to track the sun.

The mission was extended by two days to give astronauts time to repair the thermal blanket. Atlantis commander Rick Sturckow said he was confident the repair job would hold up.

''Everything looks great,'' he said Wednesday in an interview with reporters.

The shuttle's visit to the space station was complicated by the crash of Russian computers that control orientation and oxygen production.

But the computers were revived several days later after cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov used a cable to bypass a circuit board. Astronauts conserved the shuttle's power in case they needed to spend an extra day at the station.

Sturckow got a haircut from Yurchikhin before leaving the space station. Astronaut Sunita ''Suni'' Williams said a haircut was one of many things she was looking forward to when she returns to Earth on the shuttle after more than six months at the station.

Williams set the record for longest single spaceflight by a woman.

''I'm looking forward to going to the beach and hopefully taking a walk with my husband and my dog on the beach,'' she said. ''I can't wait for a good piece of pizza.''

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Associated Press writer Juan Lozano contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

Shuttle: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Atlantis Prepares for Return to Earth, NYT, 21.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Atlantis Undocks From Space Station

June 19, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:02 p.m. ET
The New York Times

HOUSTON (AP) -- The space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the international space station Tuesday for its trip back to Earth, concluding a nearly 10-day stay that included construction work and a computer meltdown.

Continuing a tradition, space station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin rang a bell and said ''Atlantis departing.''

Pilot Lee Archambault steered Atlantis on a quick trip around the station so photos could be taken of the solar power array the crew installed on the half-built home in space.

More than an hour after the undocking, a large piece of debris floated by the space station. NASA spokesman James Hartfield said it was likely ice from the shuttle and that Mission Control wasn't concerned about it. Engineers planned to review images of the debris.

''There's no problem with any systems,'' Hartsfield said. ''It could be a small piece of ice from thrusters or engines. It would not be unusual to have ice.''

Once Atlantis was 46 miles away from the station, astronauts planned to use a camera at the end of a robotic arm and boom for a final inspection of the shuttle's heat shield to make sure it is undamaged and can withstand the intense heat of re-entering Earth's atmosphere.

That inspection was added to all shuttle missions as a safety precaution after the Columbia accident in 2003 that killed seven astronauts.

Atlantis was on schedule to land Thursday at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where the weather was looking iffy. A front in the Florida Panhandle that is expected to send showers to the Kennedy Space Center.

It was a busy visit at the space station.

''There were a lot of things to overcome, but despite those surprises, we managed to do what we always do and meet our mission objectives,'' flight director Holly Ridings said Tuesday. ''The international space station is in very, very good shape.''

Atlantis might have stayed an extra day if engineers hadn't been happy with a test to see how well the Russian computers that crashed last week can control the orbiting outpost's orientation.

Monday's test was a success, said Phil Engelauf, chief of the flight directors' office.

''Yes, we think we're back to where we're supposed to be in terms of normal routine operations and reliability,'' Engelauf said.

During the test, the shuttle's thrusters were used to maneuver the joined craft before the restored space station computers commanded thrusters on the Russian side of the outpost to take control. U.S. computers then sent commands to the Russian thrusters before the station's spinning gyroscopes took over control.

The computers, revived during the weekend, had not commanded the Russian thrusters since one week earlier, when six computer processors in the two systems started crashing. During the meltdown, Atlantis' thrusters helped maintain the station's orientation.

U.S. astronaut Clay Anderson told Mission Control that the station successfully took over orientation control after the shuttle undocked.

Engelauf said engineers were still trying to pinpoint the cause of the computer failure.

The computers also control life support systems such as an oxygen generator, temperature, and a carbon dioxide scrubber. Except for the oxygen generator, all the space station systems were turned back on during the weekend. Oxygen for the crews came from other sources, such as a cargo ship on the Russian side of the station.

Atlantis arrived at the space station on June 10.

During four spacewalks, Atlantis' astronauts helped install a new truss segment, unfurled a new pair of power-generating solar arrays, repaired a peeled-back thermal blanket near Atlantis' tail and activated a rotating joint that allows the new solar arrays to track the sun.

The 11-day mission was extended to 13 days so astronauts could repair the thermal blanket.

Twelve more construction missions are needed to finish building the space station before a 2010 deadline, when the shuttles are to be grounded permanently.

The shuttle is bringing back U.S. astronaut and former space station resident Sunita Williams, whose more than six months in space set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Her replacement, U.S. astronaut Clay Anderson, was taken to the station aboard Atlantis.

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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

Shuttle: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Atlantis Undocks From Space Station, NYT, 19.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Atlantis Disconnects From Space Station

June 19, 2007
The New York Times
By KENNETH CHANG

The space shuttle Atlantis disconnected from the International Space Station this morning as the two spacecraft passed over New Guinea, a quiet end to a busy, tumultuous 10-day visit.

While the two Russian cosmonauts on the station and Russian flight controllers on the ground battled, and finally solved, problems with the station’s computers, shuttle astronauts completed a host of construction activities at the station, including attaching a 17.2-ton truss.

This morning, after Lee Archambault, the shuttle pilot, backed Atlantis 450 feet from the station, the orbiter flew around the station, taking pictures of its new configuration. Later today, the astronauts will use the shuttle’s robotic arm to do one last check of the thermal tiles on the vessel’s underside.

Atlantis is scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Thursday.

In addition to the Atlantis’s crew of six, the orbiter will bring Cmdr. Sunita L. Williams back to Earth. Commander Williams is concluding a six-month stay on the space station, where she set the record for the longest space flight by a woman. Clayton C. Anderson, who flew up to the station on Atlantis this trip, is remaining at the station as Commander Williams’s replacement.

Russian computers on the International Space Station passed a crucial test yesterday and are back in operation, following a weeklong glitch that might have led to the station’s evacuation had it not been fixed.

“We have everything working as it’s supposed to,” Philip L. Engelauf of the NASA mission operations team said at a news conference Monday evening. “We’re in good shape as we get ready to undock.”

Some of the Russian computers on the station began crashing last Tuesday, soon after the truss was installed. The affected computers control environmental systems in the Russian parts of the station; an oxygen generator; and, most crucially, thrusters that help maintain the station’s orientation.

Gyroscopes can be used to make small adjustments, but larger shifts require the thrusters. With its own thrusters unavailable for the past week because of the computer problem, the station has been relying on those of the docked Atlantis for any needed nudges. It may not have been safe to leave anyone on the station if the computer problems had not been corrected before Atlantis’s departure.

Over the weekend, though, Russian astronauts pinpointed the problem: some balky power circuitry that acts as a surge protector for the computers. Once they bypassed that circuit, all the computers on the station started up and appeared to be working normally. Engineers are continuing to look for the underlying cause.

“We still haven’t found what I think folks would call a smoking gun that could identify exactly what caused the initial problem,” Mr. Engelauf said.

In yesterday’s test, the computers and thrusters resumed responsibility for the station’s orientation.

Mission managers then gave the go-ahead for Atlantis’s astronauts to leave. The hatches between the Atlantis and the space station were closed yesterday evening in preparation for undocking today.

Despite the computer glitch, the shuttle astronauts accomplished more construction tasks on this mission than had initially been planned. The astronauts also folded down and stapled a part of the shuttle’s insulating blanket that had come loose during liftoff.

The damage was not considered a safety threat, but mission managers believed the heat of re-entry might cause damage to the underlying structure, which would then require lengthy repairs.

    Atlantis Disconnects From Space Station, NYT, 19.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/science/space/19cnd-shuttle.html

Space Station Passes Test After Repairs to Computers

June 19, 2007
The New York Times
By KENNETH CHANG

Russian computers on the International Space Station passed a crucial test yesterday and are back in operation following a weeklong glitch that might have led to the station’s evacuation had it not been fixed.

With the space station’s computers working again, the six-man crew of the space shuttle Atlantis packed up and prepared to go home. Also returning to Earth will be Cmdr. Sunita L. Williams, who is concluding a six-month stay on the space station and set the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Clayton C. Anderson, who flew up on Atlantis, is remaining at the station as Commander Williams’s replacement.

“We have everything working as it’s supposed to,” Philip L. Engelauf, a member of mission operations, said at a news conference yesterday evening. “We’re in good shape as we get ready to undock.”

The Russian computers started crashing last Tuesday soon after the installation of a 17.2-ton truss. The computers control environmental systems in the Russian parts of the station, an oxygen generator and, most crucially, thrusters that help maintain the station’s orientation.

Gyroscopes can make small adjustments, but larger shifts require the thrusters. For the past week, the station has been relying on the thrusters of the docked Atlantis for any needed nudges. Had the computer problems not been fixed before Atlantis’s departure, the station’s crew of three might also have had to leave.

But over the weekend, Russian astronauts pinpointed the problem to balky power circuitry that acts as surge protectors for the computers and bypassed the circuit. All the computers then started up and appear to be working normally, but engineers are still investigating.

“We still haven’t found what I think folks would call a smoking gun that could identify exactly what caused the initial problem,” Mr. Engelauf said.

In yesterday’s test, the computers and thrusters resumed responsibility for the station’s orientation.

Mission managers then gave the go-ahead for Atlantis’s astronauts to leave. The hatches between the Atlantis and the space station were closed yesterday evening in preparation for undocking today. The Atlantis is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday.

Despite the glitch, the shuttle astronauts accomplished more construction tasks than had been planned. The astronauts also folded back and stapled down part of the shuttle’s insulating blanket that had come loose during liftoff.

The damage was not considered a safety threat, but mission managers believed the heat of re-entry might cause damage to the underlying structure that would require lengthy repairs.

    Space Station Passes Test After Repairs to Computers, NYT, 19.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/us/19shuttle.html

Astronauts Take 4th Spacewalk

June 17, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:25 p.m. ET
The New York Times

HOUSTON (AP) -- Restoration of a failed computer system returned life to a regular rhythm on the international space station Sunday, as two astronauts completed the fourth spacewalk since space shuttle Atlantis docked with the outpost a week ago.

''We're slowly moving back into a normal mode of operations,'' station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin radioed Mission Control in Moscow.

The ''normal mode'' included the last spacewalk of the mission, a previously unscheduled fourth trip outside the space station that finished up tasks originally scheduled for last Friday's third spacewalk. Astronauts on the third spacewalk had the unplanned job of repairing a thermal blanket, which had peeled back near Atlantis' tail during the June 8 launch.

The nearly 6 1/2-hour spacewalk ended with astronauts Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson completing nearly all of their tasks.

They activated a rotating joint -- their top priority -- on the outpost's newest segment so a new pair of solar wings can track the sun and provide power to the station. The solar arrays were delivered to the space station by Atlantis.

The astronauts also set up a new camera stanchion outside the station's newest segment and a computer network cable between the United States and Russian sides of the space station. They were not able to bolt down a problematic debris shield and instead secured it in place with tethers.

Overnight, flight controllers on the ground planned to give the rotating joint a small test by moving it 5 degrees. A more thorough test to see whether the solar arrays track the sun was in store for later in the day Monday.

Flight controllers on Monday were also set to conduct a final test on the health of Russian computers aboard the space station. The computers, which control orientation and oxygen production, crashed last week.

Yurchikhin and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov got four of the six computer processors operating again on Friday. The remaining two were brought back online on Saturday but then flipped back off to be ''in cold standby mode'' so that they could be used if needed.

The testing of the space station's thrusters will determine whether the computers are ready to handle controlling the station's orientation or whether Atlantis needs to spend another day at the outpost. During the computer meltdown, Atlantis' thrusters were used to help the station maintain its position.

''That will finish checking out all the different attitude control systems, and again we're confident that it's gonna work, but it will be a good double-check just to make sure everything is in the proper configuration,'' flight director Kelly Beck said of Monday's test.

With the exception of an oxygen generator, all of the space station systems that were powered down when the computers failed were back running.

Atlantis is set to undock on Tuesday and land Thursday in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

While the seven-member crew of Atlantis and the three-man crew of the space station spent Father's Day 220 miles above Earth, the holiday didn't slip the minds of the nine fathers at the outpost who collectively have 24 children.

''Happy Father's Day to everybody downstairs,'' said U.S. astronaut Clay Anderson.

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Associated Press Writer Juan A. Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Astronauts Take 4th Spacewalk, NYT, 17.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/science/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

2 U.S. Astronauts Begin 4th Spacewalk

June 17, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:56 p.m. ET
The New York Times

HOUSTON (AP) -- Two U.S. astronauts stepped out of the international space station on Sunday on the fourth spacewalk of space shuttle Atlantis' mission to the outpost.

The top priority for the spacewalkers, Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson, was to activate a rotating joint on the space station's newest segment that would allow a new solar array to track the sun.

They also planned to install a camera, a debris shield and a computer network cable between the United States and Russian sides of the space station during the planned 6 1/2-hour spacewalk.

The spacewalk started at 12:25 p.m. EDT as the space station orbited 220 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. It began as critical Russian computers which had failed last week continued their recovery to normal operations.

Four of the six computer processors were operating, while the remaining two were turned on and then flipped back off to be ''in cold standby mode'' so that they could be used if needed, said flight director Holly Ridings.

''We can report that things are still improving,'' Ridings said.

With the exception of an oxygen generator, all of the systems that were powered down when the computers failed were back running.

The final benchmark for deciding whether the computers work properly and whether space shuttle Atlantis needs to stay docked an extra day to continue offering help will be a test of the station's thrusters on Monday. Atlantis is set to undock on Tuesday.

''We'll make sure the computers are still talking to the thrusters and prove to ourselves that we've got everything we need in order to undock safely,'' Ridings said.

Atlantis was cleared Saturday to return to Earth later this week after engineers determined the space shuttle's heat shield could survive the intense heat of re-entry.

The shuttle's 11-day space station construction mission was extended to 13 days so a thermal-protection blanket could be fixed during a spacewalk. NASA has been particularly sensitive about the space shuttles' heat shields since the Columbia accident killed seven astronauts in 2003. Atlantis is scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Thursday.

For the international space station's newest crew member, his first week aboard the orbiting outpost was anything but routine.

The failure of computers that control the space station's ability to orient itself and produce oxygen had brought up the possibility that new crew member Clayton Anderson and his Russian counterparts, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov, might be forced to abandon their orbiting home.

But Yurchikhin and Kotov, after long hours and several sleepless nights last week, got four of six processors on two computers working again on Friday. They got the remaining two on line Saturday.

''I think I'm hanging in there. It kind of reminds me of one of my first swimming lessons when I just got tossed in the water and they told me to kind of survive,'' Anderson said of his first week in space. ''We're going to get through all this, just like NASA always does.''

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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    2 U.S. Astronauts Begin 4th Spacewalk, NYT, 17.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Astronauts Prepare for Fourth Spacewalk

June 17, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:19 a.m. ET
The New York Times

HOUSTON (AP) -- Two U.S. astronauts planned to make the fourth spacewalk in a week on Sunday, as critical Russian computers which had failed last week in the international space station continued their recovery to normal operations.

Four of the six computer processors were operating, while the remaining two were turned on and then flipped back off to be ''in cold standby mode'' so that they could be used if needed, said flight director Holly Ridings.

''We can report that things are still improving,'' Ridings said.

With the exception of an oxygen generator, all of the systems that were powered down when the computers failed were back running.

The final benchmark for deciding whether the computers work properly and whether space shuttle Atlantis needs to stay docked an extra day to continue offering help will be a test of the station's thrusters on Monday. Atlantis is set to undock on Tuesday.

''We'll make sure the computers are still talking to the thrusters and prove to ourselves that we've got everything we need in order to undock safely,'' Ridings said.

The top priority for the spacewalkers, Patrick Forrester and Steven Swanson, is to activate a rotating joint on the outpost's newest segment, allowing a new pair of solar wings to track the sun.

They also planned to install a camera, a debris shield and a computer network cable between the United States and Russian sides of the space station during the planned 6 1/2-hour spacewalk.

Atlantis was cleared Saturday to return to Earth later this week after engineers determined the space shuttle's heat shield could survive the intense heat of re-entry.

The shuttle's 11-day space station construction mission was extended to 13 days so a thermal-protection blanket could be fixed during a spacewalk. NASA has been particularly sensitive about the space shuttles' heat shields since the Columbia accident killed seven astronauts in 2003. Atlantis is scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Thursday.

For the international space station's newest crew member, his first week aboard the orbiting outpost was anything but routine.

The failure of computers that control the space station's ability to orient itself and produce oxygen had brought up the possibility that new crew member Clayton Anderson and his Russian counterparts, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov, might be forced to abandon their orbiting home.

But Yurchikhin and Kotov, after long hours and several sleepless nights last week, got four of six processors on two computers working again on Friday. They got the remaining two on line Saturday.

''I think I'm hanging in there. It kind of reminds me of one of my first swimming lessons when I just got tossed in the water and they told me to kind of survive,'' Anderson said of his first week in space. ''We're going to get through all this, just like NASA always does.''

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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Astronauts Prepare for Fourth Spacewalk, NYT, 17.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Problems With Space Station’s Computers Persist

June 15, 2007
The New York Times
By JOHN SCHWARTZ

Russian engineers working with crashing computers aboard the International Space Station were not able to bring them back into full working order overnight, a NASA mission manager said this morning.

Holly Ridings, the space station flight director, said that during an overnight attempt by the engineers to bring the balky computers up, they were able to power up the computers and get what she called a "heartbeat" from one to allow communications. However, the engineers "were unable to communicate with it properly," she said in an interview on NASA TV, and "they decided they would turn the power back off again" to the computers.

NASA officials said yesterday that they fully expected engineers to resolve the unprecedented failure of computers on the International Space Station, though they cautioned that the process could take days.

“Don’t get up tomorrow and expect it all to be working,” said Michael T. Suffredini, the space station program manager, at an evening briefing for reporters on Thursday. But he added, “I feel like we’re making good progress to resolving this issue.”

The Russian computers -- which were actually built in Germany by Daimler-Benz -- began crashing on Tuesday as astronauts were connecting a new truss and solar arrays to the station. In the two-pronged system for maintaining the orientation of the $100 billion station as it circles the Earth, the American component runs gyroscopes that provide stability, and the Russian system controls thrusters that take over when the gyroscopes are overwhelmed. The Russian system is also used to shif station orientation for operations like docking. Thruster control was passed to the shuttle Atlantis, which has enough fuel to adjust the station’s positioning for several days. The shuttle is scheduled to return to Earth next week. The mission has already been extended by two days to perform a fourth spacewalk, and may be extended further to deal with the computer issue, officials said.

If the computer problem is not corrected, the station could be unable to maintain the best position for charging its solar arrays, and in the worst case, NASA and the Russian space agency would have to evacuate the station.

The leading theory of what went wrong, Mr. Suffredini said, was “noise” in the electrical system that may have been introduced with the newly installed wiring. The Russian computers, which were made in Germany, are sensitive to line noise. Engineers will try to isolate those computers from the new wiring, he said.

But that was precisely what the astronauts tried overnight, and the computers did not come up successfully, Ms. Ridings said. Attempts to isolate the system by "de-mating" electrical connectors to the new power arrays -- basically, pulling the plug -- did not bring the three navigation computers, which back each other up and are referred to as "Lanes," back into full working order.

Ms. Ridings said that astronauts monitored the electrical lines with an oscilloscope to look for evidence that the lines were noisy and shared the readings with engineers on the ground, but "nothing jumped out at them," she said. "It would have been nice to see a smoking gun, but that’s not always the way these things work."

The Russian cosmonauts aboard the station have been taken off of other scheduled work to focus on the problem, said Pat Ryan, a commentator on NASA TV, which is providing live coverage of the mission. (http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html)

In an afternoon briefing on Thursday, William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations, said that he expected the problems to be resolved before the end of the shuttle mission, but said that the station managers could find innovative ways to put the orbiting laboratory into a “stable configuration” if the solution is not found by then.

He said the situation was manageable. “I don’t see this as critical in my world,” he said. The station is complex and challenging, he said, and solving problems is what engineers do. “This is space station operations.”

He also played down the idea that the station might have to be evacuated. “We’re still a long way from that scenario,” he said.

On Friday, astronauts James F. Reilly II and John D. Olivas will take a spacewalk in which they will repair an insulating blanket that has pulled up from the area over the shuttle’s left maneuvering engine and could cause heat damage to the pod during re-entry. Mr. Olivas, who goes by Danny, will attempt to secure the blanket with a surgical stapler from the shuttle’s medical kit and metal pins. After completing that task, they will try to stow half of an older solar array that has sat atop the station for several years and which will eventually need to be moved to the side of the station. The fanfold array has proved balky, as NASA found in attempting to fold the other half of the array in December, and this one ha only been coaxed about halfway back into its shipping box with efforts from inside the station and with the hands-on work of astronauts on a previous spacewalk.

    Problems With Space Station’s Computers Persist, NYT, 15.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/science/15cnd-shuttle.html?hp

Atlantis' Return May Be Delayed

June 14, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:41 a.m. ET
The New York Times

HOUSTON (AP) -- The failure of Russian computers which control the international space station's positioning have NASA managers considering another extension of space shuttle Atlantis' visit to the orbiting outpost, officials said Wednesday.

Since the computers failed earlier this week, thrusters on the docked space shuttle have been fired periodically to help maintain the space station's positioning.

NASA managers hoped to have the computers back up before Atlantis and its seven crew members undock from the space station next Tuesday. But if the computers aren't functioning, NASA may look into extending the space shuttle's stay a day or two.

Atlantis' mission, originally scheduled for 11 days, was extended by two days already so that astronauts can go on a spacewalk to repair a thermal blanket covering an engine pod that peeled up during launch.

Space station program manager Mike Suffredini said he expected the problem to be fixed in the next couple of days. In a worst-case scenario, if at least one of the computers wasn't operating after the shuttle left, the space station's three crew members could return to Earth, he said.

''We always have an option to depart,'' Suffredini said.

On Wednesday, two astronauts went on a spacewalk to complete two tasks. They helped fold up a solar wing and tried to bring to life a rotating joint that will allow a new pair of solar arrays to track the sun.

The spacewalk began at 2:28 p.m. EDT as the astronauts were 206 miles above eastern Europe and ended more than seven hours later. Space shuttle Atlantis astronauts Patrick Forrester and Steve Swanson spent the first two hours helping to put the 115-foot solar wing away in its storage box.

The astronauts finished the spacewalk before the joint was ready to rotate because it wasn't properly responding to remote commands from Mission Control. Astronauts will have to finish the task on another spacewalk.

A few hours before the walk started, astronauts began retracting the solar wing's 31 1/2 sections by computer command.

Using specially designed tools, including one that looks like a hockey stick, the spacewalkers loosened and nudged panels on the solar wing that hadn't properly folded earlier in the day. Shuttle astronauts then resumed retracting the array, ending the day with 13 sections folded up.

''We're going to call it quits on this part of your job for today. Excellent job,'' astronaut James Reilly told the spacewalkers.

NASA hopes to finish folding up the solar wing Thursday. The wing's retraction appeared to go fairly smoothly on Wednesday.

The folding of a similar 115-foot solar array during a December shuttle mission was more problematic, because guide wires got stuck on grommets.

The solar wing needs to be folded up so a new set of solar panels, delivered to the space station this week, can follow the sun to generate electrical power for the orbiting outpost. The new array was unfolded Tuesday after being attached to the space station the day before.

With their work on the solar array done for the day, Forrester and Swanson spent the rest of their spacewalk helping to activate a Ferris-wheel-like rotating joint that allows the new solar array to track the sun.

It wasn't easy.

Forrester struggled with a difficult bolt at one point, telling Mission Control, ''I'm giving everything I have and it's just not coming.'' After a few minutes, Mission Control gave some advice that worked.

Back on the ground, NASA engineers figured out how best to repair the loose thermal protection blanket on the shuttle that peeled back during launch last week. Repairs are scheduled for Friday.

The astronauts will secure the blanket using staples found in the shuttle's medical kit and pins that come from the shuttle's tile repair kit. If those methods don't work, NASA flight controllers will have the astronauts sew it into place using a stainless steel wire and an instrument that resembles a small needle.

Engineers don't think the damaged section of the thermal blanket, which protects part of the shuttle from the blazing heat of re-entry, would endanger the spacecraft during landing. But it could cause enough damage to require schedule-busting repairs.

Since shuttle damage resulted in the 2003 Columbia disaster that killed seven astronauts, NASA has greatly focused on any problems that could jeopardize a shuttle's re-entry.

Meanwhile, a union representing 570 space shuttle program workers at Kennedy Space Center planned to strike after contract negotiations broke down Wednesday, union spokesman Bob Wood said.

A strike date has not been set, but a strike would not affect the shuttle mission, he said. A handful of union members who help at landing sites would report to their jobs and then strike.

The union, the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, and the company, United Space Alliance, would not say what the sticking points were.

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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

Shuttle mission: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Atlantis' Return May Be Delayed, NYT, 14.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Astronauts to Go on 2nd Spacewalk

June 13, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:24 a.m. ET
The New York Times

HOUSTON (AP) -- The astronauts asked to repair a loose thermal blanket on shuttle Atlantis have studied the fine points of aerospace engineering and built their strength for the strenuous task in weight rooms.

But the actual repair job may involve a skill they learned way back in their high school home economics classes -- sewing.

NASA managers said Tuesday they are leaning toward having the astronauts repair the thermal blanket using stainless steel wire and an instrument with a rounded end that resembles a small needle.

No final decision has been made on when the repair will be made, or what repair technique will be used. Engineers also have looked at using wire ties and adhesives to secure the blanket. They are testing the different methods in heat and wind tunnel tests.

The shuttle astronauts' 11-day mission was extended by two days to allow time to fix the thermal blanket, which peeled up during launch last week.

The 4-by-6-inch damaged section sits over an engine pod and will be repaired during either the mission's third spacewalk on Friday or the fourth spacewalk on Sunday.

An investigation has started into how the blanket was secured before launch. Such blankets are used to protect the shuttle from searing heat during re-entry.

Engineers don't think the intense heat could burn through the graphite structure under the blanket and jeopardize the spacecraft, but it could damage the shuttle and require schedule-busting repairs.

''This is just the right thing to do, the prudent thing to do,'' said Atlantis commander Rick Sturckow.

NASA has been cautious about any potential damage to the wing leading edge since the Columbia disaster in 2003 killed seven astronauts. Foam fell off Columbia's external fuel tank during launch and punctured the wing, allowing fiery gases to penetrate it during re-entry.

While NASA figures out how to do the repairs, two astronauts were expected Wednesday to go on the second spacewalk of Atlantis' mission to the international space station.

Before astronauts Patrick Forrester and Steve Swanson float outside the space station, Mission Control in Houston planned to send commands to begin folding up a 115-foot solar wing.

NASA struggled to fold up its twin array during a shuttle mission last December when guidewires got stuck on grommets along the way. So the space agency has taken precautions in anticipation of the retraction going less than smoothly.

The array's 31 sections will be folded up one at a time, and, if needed, the spacewalking astronauts will be asked to use specially-designed tools to push on the panels to fold them correctly.

The old array needs to be folded up so that a new pair of solar arrays delivered by Atlantis this week can follow the sun, generating enough power for 10 households. The new pair of arrays unfolded like an accordion window blind by remote commands from Mission Control on Tuesday.

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Associated Press writer Juan Lozano in Houston contributed to this report

------

On the Net:

Shuttle mission: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html 

    Astronauts to Go on 2nd Spacewalk, NYT, 13.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Space Sewing Kit May Be Used for Repair

June 12, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:25 p.m. ET
The New York Times

HOUSTON (AP) -- Atlantis astronauts may use a sewing kit normally reserved for spacesuits to repair a peeled-back thermal blanket near the spacecraft's tail, NASA managers said Tuesday.

The shuttle astronauts' 11-day mission was extended Monday by two days to allow time to fix the thermal blanket, which peeled during launch last week.

No final decision has been made on when the repair, which covers a 4-by-6-inch area over an engine pod, will be made, or what repair technique will be used.

Engineers have looked at using duct tape or other adhesives to secure the blanket, but are leaning toward a method which would use stainless steel wire as thread and an instrument with a rounded end resembling a small darning needle.

''Duct tape doesn't work in the vacuum of space,'' said John Shannon, the mission management team's chairman.

NASA engineers planned to try out the different method in heat and wind tunnel tests.

The thermal blankets are used to protect the shuttle from searing heat during re-entry. Engineers don't think the intense heat could burn through the graphite structure underneath it and jeopardize the spacecraft.

But it could damage the shuttle, requiring repairs after landing that could delay the three additional flights to the space station NASA has scheduled for the remainder of the year.

''This is the right thing to do,'' Atlantis commander Rick Sturckow told reporters from space Tuesday night.

The rest of the shuttle appeared to be in fine shape, NASA said.

Shannon said an investigation has started into how the blanket was secured before launch.

Two sensors on the shuttle wing's leading edge had detected what seemed to be an impact by space debris, but engineers don't believe anything actually hit the spacecraft's wing. The highly-sensitive sensors have been known to register ''ghost'' detections in the past from other causes.

NASA has been cautious about any potential damage to the wing leading edge since the Columbia disaster in 2003 killed seven astronauts. Foam fell off Columbia's external fuel tank during launch and punctured the wing, allowing fiery gases to penetrate it during re-entry.

Meanwhile, the international space station's newest power source -- a set of solar wings -- made its debut Tuesday.

The solar array is part of a new 17.5-ton space station segment that was connected to the orbiting outpost during a spacewalk Monday.

The solar wings were deployed one at a time, first halfway unfurled and allowed to warm in the sun about 30 minutes. This prevented the solar panels from sticking together.

''We see a good deploy,'' astronaut James Reilly, who helped connect the new segment on Monday, said after the second wing was unfurled.

''Good work,'' Mission Control said.

The new solar panels were unfolded like an accordion window blind, their orange and black colors reflecting the sunlight.

Each solar wing is 115 feet long and weighs more than 2,400 pounds. The entire solar array's wingspan is more than 240 feet. The array, which converts sunlight to electricity, is the station's third pair of solar panels.

Overnight Tuesday, while the astronauts on the shuttle slept, engineers at Mission Control began remotely unfolding the array from its storage box.

The astronauts and cosmonauts had only a brief scare when a computer software problem triggered a false fire alarm in a Russian module of the space station.

On Wednesday, an older solar array will be folded up into a box so it can be moved during a later shuttle mission. That array's retraction will allow the newly installed pair of panels to rotate and follow the sun.

The mission's second spacewalk was also scheduled to finish activating the station's new segment on Wednesday.

Tuesday's smooth unfurling of the solar wings was in contrast to last September, when a software glitch delayed the unfolding of another set of panels for hours.

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AP Writer Mike Schneider contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

Shuttle mission: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Space Sewing Kit May Be Used for Repair, NYT, 12.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/science/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Atlantis Chasing Space Station

June 9, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:18 a.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- The space shuttle Atlantis, fresh from a fiery and nearly flawless launch, was in hot pursuit of the international space station on Saturday, but won't catch up until Sunday.

Atlantis' seven-man crew was closing the gap between the two space bodies by 920 miles every 90-minute orbit. By 9 a.m. EDT, the shuttle was scheduled to be 8,630 miles away from its destination. Atlantis was to dock with the space station Sunday afternoon.

During the 11-day flight, the astronauts will deliver a new segment and a pair of solar panels to the orbiting outpost. They plan three spacewalks -- on Monday, Wednesday and Friday -- to install the new equipment and retract an old solar panel.

On Sunday, astronaut Clayton Anderson will replace astronaut Sunita Williams as the U.S. representative aboard the space station, and Williams will return to Earth aboard Atlantis. She has spent the past six months in orbit.

Much of Saturday's work was designed to set the stage for Sunday's docking and the tasks that follow. Astronauts were also going to check if the shuttle was damaged from foam debris shaken loose during Friday night's launch. It was a foam hit that caused Columbia's fatal accident in 2003; since then, NASA spends its first full day in orbit looking for potential problem spots.

About an hour after launch, NASA managers said initial checks found nothing to worry about. One piece of foam that appeared to come off the shuttle's fuel tank -- which bore ugly white patches that repaired hail damage that had delayed the flight by three months -- about 135 seconds after launch did not seem to hit the shuttle, said shuttle program manager Wayne Hale.

''The tank performed in a magnificent way, despite having several thousand repairs to it,'' Hale said at a news conference. ''(The debris) should not be a hazard that late in the flight.''

Astronaut Patrick Forrester will use the shuttle's robot arm and a boom extension to examine its wings and outer edges.

Minutes after launch, Atlantis' contrails formed an intricate and unusual knot in the Florida sky, framed by the colors of sunset and with the bright light of Venus peeking through.

Veteran shuttle watchers oohed and aahed at the second sky show of the night.

The first shuttle launch of the year helped put NASA back on track after a run of bad luck and scandal on the ground during the first half of the year.

In the past few months, NASA has seen the arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak in an alleged plot to kidnap her rival for a shuttle pilot's affections; a murder-suicide at the Johnson Space Center in Houston; and the derailment of a train carrying rocket-booster segments for future shuttle launches.

More recently, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has come under fire for suggesting that global warming may not be a problem worth wrestling with. And the agency's inspector general was lambasted at a congressional hearing Thursday by former staff members, congressmen and senators over the way he managed his office, treated his employees and investigated complaints.

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On the Net:

Shuttle mission: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/shuttle/main/index.html

    Atlantis Chasing Space Station, NYT, 9.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Shuttle Atlantis Appears to Have Flawless Liftoff

June 9, 2007
The New York Times
By JOHN SCHWARTZ

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 8 — The shuttle Atlantis thundered off the launching pad into a stunningly clear evening sky on Friday on a mission to continue building the International Space Station.

The shuttle blasted off at 7:38 p.m. Eastern time with the rattling roar of more than seven million pounds of thrust and rose on a snaking column of smoke and a flame nearly as bright as the dipping sun. Atlantis had what appeared to be a flawless ascent, though the videos that will show whether insulating foam or other launching debris hit the craft have yet to be examined thoroughly.

In a mission already delayed three months by a hailstorm that damaged the foam on the shuttle’s external tank, the preparations for launching were smooth. Weather concerns and technical glitches that often cause last-minute delays were nowhere to be found, and the launching unfolded with clockwork efficiency.

An hour before the liftoff, however, it appeared that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration might cancel because of poor weather over the emergency landing sites in Spain and France. These sites, known as Transatlantic Abort Landing sites or TAL, are needed if problems with the engines during an ascent require the shuttle to return to earth without reaching orbit.

About 40 minutes before launching time, the fog that obscured the Istres strip in France cleared enough to allow the launching to go forward.

Just before the liftoff, Michael Leinbach, the shuttle launching director, told the commander, Col. Frederick W. Sturckow, using his nickname, “O.K., C. J., it took us a little while to get to this point, but the ship’s in great shape, so good luck and godspeed. We’ll see you back here in about 12 days or so.”

Colonel Sturckow radioed back with thanks to those who had made the launching possible and added, “See you in a couple of weeks.”

Atlantis is carrying a 17.5-ton truss to the station on this 11-day mission. The truss will be added to the starboard side of the $100 billion orbiting laboratory, and will provide power through its new solar arrays.

The mission requires the astronauts to work through tasks that have, for the most part, been done on previous missions on the station’s port side. They will attach the new truss to the structure of the station and remove restraining bolts that hold a rotating joint in place. Once freed, the joint will allow the solar arrays to rotate and track the sun.

The new solar arrays will be unfurled, and an old solar array on top of the station that provided power early in the life of the station will be refolded to its compact shape, otherwise the old array would interfere with the movement of the new arrays. The folded-up array will be moved later to the main solar array truss and extended again.

The crew, led by Colonel Sturckow of the Marine Corps, includes the pilot, Col. Lee Joseph Archambault of the Air Force; James F. Reilly II; Patrick G. Forrester; Steven R. Swanson; John D. Olivas, and Clayton C. Anderson. Mr. Anderson was added to the team in April and will be traveling on Atlantis to take the place of Cmdr. Sunita L. Williams of the Navy, who is ending a six-month stay aboard the station.

The hailstorm, which occurred on Feb. 26, pocked the shuttle’s external fuel tank with thousands of dents to its delicate foam. NASA rolled the craft back to its hangar, the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building, to have the smaller dents smoothed and the large ones sanded out and refilled with new foam. NASA scrambled to deal with more damage to a single tank than the agency had ever faced, but officials noted that almost all of the repair methods had been a part of working with tanks since the beginning of the program.

In an interview on Friday, Michael D. Griffin, NASA’s administrator, said that the tank, which was left with a decidedly speckled appearance after the storm and repairs, “looks great.” Mr. Griffin said he had no worries that the mended tank would shed foam, the cause of the loss of the shuttle Columbia and its crew in 2003.

An hour after the launching, the smoke from the solid rocket boosters hung in wild loops above the cape, luminous in the dusky sky.

Then, in a briefing for reporters, NASA officials exulted. The external tank “has performed in a magnificent manner,” said N. Wayne Hale Jr., the shuttle program manager.

Although some debris was spotted about the time the solid rocket boosters were jettisoned, Mr. Hale said that this had occurred after the point when foam debris is a threat to the craft. He joked that he turned to John Chapman, the external tank project manager, and said, “Give me more speckled tanks.”

    Shuttle Atlantis Appears to Have Flawless Liftoff, NYT, 9.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/09/us/09shuttle.html?hp

Tank Lines Concern Shuttle Engineers

June 6, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:47 p.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA engineers were troubleshooting a possible problem Wednesday with lines connecting the external fuel tank to space shuttle Atlantis, the only remaining concern about the first shuttle flight of the year.

The countdown clock began ticking Tuesday night, and forecasters predicted a 70 percent chance the weather would be favorable for launching Atlantis at 7:38 p.m. EDT on Friday.

The only technical problem remaining for engineers was a concern that two lines that connect Atlantis to its external fuel tank may not fit correctly. The problem was found in the tank for space shuttle Endeavour, which is in a hangar being prepared for a launch in August. Those lines were being replaced.

Engineers wanted to make sure the same problem wasn't found on Atlantis' tank so there wouldn't be a chance of a hydrogen fuel leak.

''We're off looking at that right now,'' NASA test director Jeff Spaulding said. ''All the tests to date and all the leak checks have been satisfactory.''

Technicians planned to start fueling the shuttle's power cells, and the vehicle's payload doors were shut Tuesday.

''Everything is in excellent shape,'' said Robbie Ashley, the mission's payload manager.

Another distraction for the launch is the prospect of 569 workers at the Kennedy Space Center going on strike as early as this weekend. The workers rejected a contract offer last weekend from United Space Alliance, the space agency's primary contractor for preparing space shuttles for launch.

Few of the workers who might strike have any direct role in the final preparations for space shuttle launches, and NASA officials have said there are other employees who could fill the roles of striking workers if necessary.

The launch originally was set for mid-March but was postponed after a freak hail storm caused thousands of dings in the insulating foam on Atlantis' external tank. Technicians spent more than two months making painstaking repairs to the tank.

During the 11-day mission, Atlantis and its seven astronauts will deliver a new segment and a pair of solar arrays to the international space station and rotate out a crew member at the orbiting outpost.

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On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov 

    Tank Lines Concern Shuttle Engineers, NYT, 6.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

NASA Starts Countdown on Shuttle Launch

June 6, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:02 a.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA started a countdown Tuesday toward the first space shuttle flight of the year. Engineers reported no major technical problems and the weather forecast looked favorable for a Friday launch.

The countdown clock began ticking on schedule Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT.

There was a 70 percent chance that the weather would be suitable at 7:38 p.m. EDT Friday, NASA's first opportunity to launch space shuttle Atlantis. The shuttle will carry seven astronauts on an 11-day mission to deliver a third pair of solar wings, which help power the international space station. They also will take three spacewalks to continue construction of the orbiting outpost.

Thunderstorms are predicted for Friday afternoon -- normal for a Florida summer day -- but they should move inland by launch time, said Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer.

''For the coast here, the weather looks reasonably promising for launch,'' Winters said.

NASA test director Steve Payne said engineers faced no major glitches.

Beginning Friday, NASA has four chances to launch Atlantis in five days. If the shuttle hasn't gotten off the ground by June 12, the launch team will have to wait five days to allow an Atlas rocket to try to launch at neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Payne said.

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday also was 70 percent favorable for a launch, although the weather wasn't as promising on those days at two emergency landing sites in Europe.

The astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Monday.

About the only hiccup was the prospect of 569 workers at the Kennedy Space Center going on strike as early as this weekend. The workers rejected a contract offer last weekend from United Space Alliance, the space agency's primary contractor for preparing space shuttles for launch.

Kennedy Space Center has a 17,000-person work force, and few of the workers who might strike have any direct role in the final preparations for space shuttle launches. Payne said a strike would not affect a launch and that there are other employees who could fill the roles of striking workers if necessary.

The launch originally was set for mid-March but was postponed after a freak hail storm caused thousands of dings in the insulating foam on Atlantis' external tank.

Technicians spent more than two months making painstaking repairs to the tank.

''We're relieved that we are finally here,'' Payne said. ''It has been a long wait ... and it looks like everything is falling into place nicely.''

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On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov 

    NASA Starts Countdown on Shuttle Launch, NYT, 6.6.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

Spirit Finds Proof of Wet Past on Mars

May 21, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 9:38 p.m. ET
The New York Times

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- The Mars rover Spirit has uncovered the strongest evidence yet that the planet used to be wetter than previously thought, scientists reported Monday.

The robot analyzed a patch of soil in Gusev Crater and found it unusually rich in silica. The presence of water would have been necessary to produce such a large silica deposit, scientists said.

''This is a remarkable discovery,'' principal investigator Steve Squyres of Cornell University said in a statement. ''It makes you wonder what else is still out there.''

Spirit previously found clues of ancient water in the crater through the presence of sulfur-rich soil, water-altered minerals and explosive volcanism. But the latest find is compelling because of the high silica content, researchers said, raising the possibility that conditions may have been favorable for the emergence of primitive life.

It's unclear how the silica deposit formed. One possibility is that the soil mixed with acid vapors in the presence of water. Others believe the deposit was created from water in a hot spring surrounding.

The durable Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, have been working on overtime since completing their primary, three-month mission in 2004.

For eight months, Opportunity has explored the rim of Victoria Crater on the opposite side of the planet. Scientists are looking for a safe opening to send the rover in.

The mission is managed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

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On the Net:

Mars Rovers: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers

    Spirit Finds Proof of Wet Past on Mars, NYT, 21.5.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Mars-Rovers.html

Astronomer Reports New Evidence of Dark Matter

May 16, 2007
By REUTERS
The New York Times

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) — A hazy ring of dark matter created by a colossal cosmic crash eons ago offers the best evidence to date that vast amounts of the mysterious material reside in the universe, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins University said Tuesday.

Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope allowed astronomers to detect the ring of dark matter, which was created by the collision of two galaxy clusters five billion light-years from Earth.

Scientists came across the evidence while studying the distribution of dark matter within a galaxy cluster designated as Cl 0024+17. Wondering about the genesis of the ring, the researchers came across earlier work showing that the galaxy cluster had run into another cluster one billion to two billion years ago.

“The collision between the two galaxy clusters created a ripple of dark matter that left distinct footprints in the shapes of the background galaxies,” Myungkook James Jee, an astronomer at Johns Hopkins. Richard Massey, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology, said the findings were facing skepticism within the astronomical community.

    Astronomer Reports New Evidence of Dark Matter, NYT, 16.5.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/science/space/16hubble.html

Shuttle Rolls Back Out to Launch Pad

May 15, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:04 p.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- After 2 1/2 months of repairs to its external fuel tank, space shuttle Atlantis returned to the launch pad Tuesday in anticipation of an early June liftoff to the international space station.

The 3.4-mile, early-morning trip aboard the massive crawler-transporter took under seven hours from when the shuttle left the Vehicle Assembly Building to when it was secured at the launch pad.

The last time Atlantis made that trip was in February. The shuttle was on its launch pad when a freak hail storm swept through and pounded fuel tank with golf ball-sized hail that left thousands of dings in the tank's insulating foam.

NASA managers postponed a planned mid-March launch and ordered the shuttle returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs. Technicians sprayed on new insulation foam in some areas, hand-poured foam on other areas and sanded down spots. When the shuttle rolled out Tuesday, the orange tank had hundreds of white speckles at the top showing their work.

The launch is now planned for no earlier than June 8. A final decision will be made at the end of the month.

''It's a real success story -- almost bordering on an Apollo 13 type story to develop that in such a short time,'' John Chapman, NASA's manager of the external tank project, said last week, referring to the engineering ingenuity that delivered the moon-bound crew safely back to Earth in 1970 after an oxygen tank ruptured on the spacecraft.

Foam debris coming off the external fuel tank has been of special concern to NASA since the seven astronauts aboard Columbia perished when a piece of foam from the tank struck a wing during launch, allowing fiery gases to penetrate the space shuttle while returning to Earth.

Astronaut Clayton Anderson has been added to the previously six-man Atlantis crew so he can replace U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams on the international space station. Until the shuttle arrives, Williams and her colleagues at the space station will make do with 2 1/2 tons of fuel, air, water and other supplies that were delivered Tuesday by a Russian cargo vehicle.

NASA managers hope Atlantis' launch puts the space agency back on a regular schedule of shuttle missions after a five-month hiatus. The last space shuttle flight was in December, and three more missions are scheduled for this year after Atlantis.

The space agency has at least 14 more missions to finish building the space station and repair the Hubble Space Telescope before the shuttle fleet is grounded in 2010. The next-generation spacecraft, Orion, isn't scheduled to fly astronauts until 2015.

Last week, leaders of almost two dozen aerospace companies sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to support funding NASA an additional $1.4 billion above the administration's 2008 budget request of $17.3 billion to narrow the gap when the United States won't have manned spaceflights.

''Future U.S. leadership in space is at stake,'' the letter said.

------

On the Net:

NASA at www.nasa.gov

The letter is at http://www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid128

    Shuttle Rolls Back Out to Launch Pad, NYT, 15.5.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Space-Shuttle.html

NASA shuttle tank an eyesore but ready to fly

Fri May 11, 2007
6:40PM EDT
Reuters
By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle and its newly repaired hail-damaged fuel tank are ready to return to the launch pad for a June 8 launch, NASA managers said on Friday, even though the tank is a bit of an eyesore.

Instead of being a uniform orange color, Atlantis's tank now has a patchwork of white spots where technicians sprayed, scraped and filled fresh foam into more than 4,200 areas that were damaged during a freak hail storm in February.

"I want to prepare all of you for what this tank is going to look like when we roll it out," fuel tank manager John Chapman told reporters on a teleconference call. "It's going to look pretty speckly."

The shuttle had been due to take off on a mission to the International Space Station in March when the storm blew through and showered the shuttle and its tank with hail as they perched on their seaside launch pad in Florida.

The repair work cost NASA about three months time in its race to finish building the space station by the time the shuttle fleet is due to retire in 2010.

NASA has been particularly sensitive to issues involving the fuel tanks since the deadly 2003 Columbia accident. The shuttle was lost and seven crewmembers killed as it was returning to Earth when superheated atmospheric gases ate into a hole in the wing that had been caused by foam falling off the tank at launch.

The tank's deep orange color is caused by ultraviolet light from the sun striking the foam insulation over time. The fresh foam on Atlantis' tank is light-colored, some of it bright white and some off-white depending on what repair technique was used in a particular area.

"There's not at all a problem with this," Chapman said.

"We have total confidence in the integrity of the repairs but I'm telling you right now that your mind will have a hard time convincing your eyes."

Atlantis and a newly expanded crew of seven will be carrying a new set of solar power-producing wings for the space station. The extra crewmember, Clay Anderson, will be replacing station flight engineer Sunita Williams, who will return home aboard Atlantis.

The space station, a $100 billion project of 16 international partners, is about half finished. The shuttles are the only vehicles capable of hauling and assembling the outpost.

    NASA shuttle tank an eyesore but ready to fly, R, 11.5.2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSB10002620070511

Hubble telescope successor on target

Thu May 10, 2007
4:35PM EDT
Reuters
By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The James Webb Space Telescope, intended to peer deep into the cosmos from beyond the moon, is progressing well in development and is on track for a planned June 2013 launch, officials said on Thursday.

Edward Weiler, head of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said after cost overruns a couple of years ago, the project has met every technical, cost and schedule milestone for the past 20 months. The launch date already has slipped from 2011.

The Webb telescope is envisioned as the first of a new generation of space observatories, set to orbit nearly a million miles from Earth to allow scientists to look further into the universe than ever before in five decades of space exploration.

Scientists hope the new telescope can collect data on the early universe after the Big Bang, and on planets outside our solar system, including evidence of whether life might exist on them.

Officials from NASA and Northrop Grumman Corp., the defense contractor building the telescope, described its progress during an outdoor news conference on the National Mall.

"We're making excellent progress in meeting all of our plans and commitments for a mid-2013 launch," said Martin Mohan, Northrop Grumman's program manager, adding that NASA has endorsed all 10 new technologies developed for the telescope.

Standing in the shadow of a full-scale model of the telescope measuring 80 feet long, 40 feet (12 meters) wide and 40 feet tall, Mohan said, "There's engineering to do, but invention is done, more than six years ahead of launch."

Weiler said the telescope will cost $4.5 billion including development, deployment and operations through 10 years after launch. He said Hubble has cost between $7 billion and $8 billion, adding that the Webb project is far ahead of where Hubble was at a similar time in development in the 1980s.

The Webb telescope will be more powerful and capable than the aging Hubble, which has greatly expanded the understanding of the cosmos since its launch in 1990. The Webb is due to be placed in a more distant orbit beyond the moon.

The Webb telescope will be given a primary mirror whose surface is about six times the size of the one on Hubble. It will also have infrared-sensing cameras and spectrographs.

The future of Hubble is in doubt because the space shuttle program is winding down in the coming years and the telescope needs manned maintenance missions to continue operations.

The Webb will not be as serviceable by astronauts as the Hubble but is being designed so that a future spacecraft can dock with it to try to correct simple problems, Weiler said.

    Hubble telescope successor on target, R, 10.5.2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1045977620070510

Scientists: Storms Power Winds on Saturn

May 9, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:07 a.m. ET
The New York Times

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Scientists say they now believe rotating eddies are driving Saturn's jet stream winds, not the other way around.

The new view is based on images taken by the orbiting international Cassini spacecraft, which tracked the movement of cloud features on the ringed planet's southern hemisphere. Scientists initially believed eddies, or giant rotating storms, sapped energy out of the jets.

''Instead, what we find is that they are pumping energy into the jets,'' Cassini scientist Andrew Ingersoll of the California Institute of Technology said in a statement Tuesday.

The findings will appear in a future issue of the journal Icarus.

Jet streams are fast-moving currents that carry clouds in an eastern or western direction. By tracking the migration of clouds in images taken every 10 hours, scientists concluded the eddies were powering the jets because there were pointing in the same direction.

''The new information about how Saturn's jet streams are powered is exactly the opposite of what we thought prior to Cassini,'' said Anthony Del Genio of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

Cassini is a project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The spacecraft is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

------

On the Net:

Cassini mission: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm 

    Scientists: Storms Power Winds on Saturn, NYT, 9.5.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Saturn-Jet-Streams.html

Astronomers Report Biggest Stellar Explosion

May 7, 2007
The New York Times
By DENNIS OVERBYE

Kaboom, indeed.

In a cascade of superlatives that belies the traditional cerebral reserve of their profession, astronomers reported today that they had seen the brightest and most powerful stellar explosion ever recorded.

The cataclysm — a monster more than a hundred times as energetic as the typical supernova in which the more massive stars end their lives — might be an example of a completely new type of explosion, astronomers said. Such a blast — proposed but never seen — would explain how the earliest and most massive stars in the universe ended their lives and strewed new elements across space to fertilize future stars and planets.

“It is quite possibly the most massive star that has ever been seen to explode,” said Nathan Smith of the University of California, Berkeley, who estimated the star as “freakishly massive,” about 150 times the mass of the Sun.

“We’re really excited about this,” Dr. Smith said. “If it really is what we think it is, it forces us to rethink how massive stars die.” He led a team of astronomers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Texas, who have submitted a paper about the supernova to the Astrophysical Journal and discussed the results in a news conference from NASA headquarters today.

Astronomers have been following the star since last September, when it was discovered in a galaxy 240 million light years away in the constellation Perseus by Robert Quimby, a University of Texas graduate student, who was using a small robotic telescope at McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis, Tex., to troll for supernovas.

The star bears an eerie resemblance to one in our own galaxy, Eta Carinae, which has been burbling and bubbling in the last few centuries as if getting ready for its own outburst. The observations suggest that the troubled and enigmatic star, thought to weigh in about 120 solar masses, could blow up sooner than theorists had thought. Mario Livio a theorist at the Space Telescope Science Institute who was not involved in the research, said the death of that star could be “the most spectacular star show in history.”

Cautioning that theorists still do not know for sure what caused the explosion announced today, Dr. Livio said, “Here we have the brightest supernova we have ever observed and we don’t know the explosion mechanism. It doesn’t get any more exciting for a theorist.”

Such supermassive stars are extremely rare in the modern universe but are believed to have been common among the first stars that formed when the universe was less than a billion years old.

“We may be witnessing an example in the local universe of a process quite common in the early universe,” said Alex Filippenko, a team member also from the University of California, Berkeley. The explosion raises astronomers hopes that the next generation of bigger telescopes, like NASA’s coming James Webb Space Telescope, will be able to detect these stars by their explosions.

“Ironically, we might first detect the first generation of stars by their deaths,” Dr. Filippenko said.

Supernovas come about in two basic ways: explosions of small stars about one and half times the mass of the Sun, known as White Dwarfs, and which are uniform enough to serve as cosmological distance markers; and the collapse of the cores of more massive stars into black holes or neutron stars when their thermonuclear fuel has run out.

The astronomers first suspected that the supernova’s dramatic output was caused by the shock wave of a white dwarf exploding into a dense cloud of hydrogen. When observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory failed to find enough X-rays to support that scenario, the group was forced to consider the alternative that the luminosity was produced by the decay of radioactive nickel. But to match the observations, the star would have to produce 22 solar masses of radioactive nickel — way off scale for the core collapse model.

“To get more than 20 solar masses of nickel, you need one heck of a huge star,” Dr. Smith said. In this case, he said, “The core did not collapse, it was blown to smithereens.”

In desperation, the astronomers turned to a theory proposed nearly 40 years ago by Zalman Barkat of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his colleagues. The intensity of radiation in the cores of such supermassive stars could be so great, they said, that pairs of electrons and their antimatter opposites, positrons, would be created.

“That is bad news for the star,” Dr. Livio said, explaining that the disappearance of the radiation would sap the core’s energy and cause the star to collapse. But in this case the star still has plenty of fuel and blows up.

“The core is still composed of explosive oxygen,” explained Craig Wheeler of the University of Texas and another of the paper’s authors. “The oxygen ignites and blows the star to smithereens with no remnant, no black hole left.”

The “pair instability,” as it is known, is particularly relevant to the very first stars, made of pristine hydrogen and helium fresh from the furnace of the big bang. According to theory, they could grow to large size because they lacked the heavier elements, dubbed “metals,” which are very efficient in catching light and thus make modern stars more susceptible to fragmenting during their formation, limiting their sizes. Those metals have been produced by thermonuclear reactions in stars.

It is very convenient, as Dr. Smith and his colleagues pointed out, that the pair mechanism produces an explosion that scatters all the star’s ashes enriched by thermonuclear processing, outward into space instead to down into a black hole.

Dr. Filippenko said, “It effectively fertilizes the material from which second and third generation was made.

The astronomers stressed that this diagnosis, while thrilling, was far from definite. Dr. Wheeler said, “We don’t have a good alternative explanation for the source of luminosity, but we need some smoking gun.”

The star is now going behind the Sun but when it comes out, more observations are planned. The results of those observations could also have implications for those later generation stars, like Eta Carinae.

Astronomers had presumed that heavy stars shed heavy envelopes of hydrogen by winds and burps before reaching the final stage where they implode into black holes. It could be, however, that the most massive stars just can’t shed mass fast enough, Dr. Smith said.

Eta Carinae could blow up sooner than we thought, Dr. Smith said, noting that it could be tomorrow, it could be thousands of years from now. Astronomers have no way of telling.

Even if it did blow as the new supernova did last fall, at a distance of around 7,500 light years, Eta Carinae would be unlikely to cause any serious harm to Earth, astronomers said. The explosion would be visible in the daylight and at night you would be able to read a book by its light.

As for extinguishing life on Earth, “We can sleep quietly tonight,” Dr. Livio said, adding that the puzzle of the supernova would keep astronomers "awake for quite a while."

    Astronomers Report Biggest Stellar Explosion, NYT, 7.5.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/science/space/08novacnd.html

Walter M. Schirra Jr., Astronaut, Dies at 84

May 4, 2007
The New York Times
By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN

Walter M. Schirra Jr., one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts and the only astronaut to fly in all three of NASA’s earliest manned space programs — Mercury, Gemini and Apollo — died yesterday in San Diego. He was 84 and lived in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

His death, at a hospital in La Jolla, was caused by a heart attack, said Ruth Chandler Varonfakis, a family friend and spokeswoman for the San Diego Air and Space Museum. Captain Schirra, a Navy combat pilot in the Korean War and later a test pilot, became the fifth American in space and the third American to orbit the earth when he lifted off from Cape Canaveral in the Sigma 7 Mercury craft in October 1962.

He later took part in the first rendezvous between two spacecraft, in December 1965, flying with Thomas P. Stafford, the mission pilot, when their Gemini 6 craft came within inches of Gemini 7, carrying Frank Borman and James A. Lovell Jr., and orbited alongside it.

On his final mission, in October 1968, Captain Schirra commanded Apollo 7, the first manned mission in the Apollo program, the quest to land men on the moon. The Apollo 7 crew, which also included Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham, flew for 163 orbits and provided the first televised pictures from an American spacecraft.

The mission is also remembered for the head colds the three astronauts caught during their almost 11 days in space. They took decongestants and returned without bursting their eardrums, as NASA had feared might happen.

Captain Schirra’s death leaves former Senator John Glenn and M. Scott Carpenter as the remaining survivors of the original Mercury astronauts, figures celebrated for their courage and, in the eyes of many, for their bravado in forging a new American frontier amid the cold war competition with the Soviet Union.

These were the men profiled by Tom Wolfe in “The Right Stuff” and in the 1983 movie adaptation of the book in which Captain Schirra was portrayed by Lance Henriksen.

But for Captain Schirra, who logged more than 295 hours in space, the missions were hardly all glamour.

“Mostly it’s lousy out there,” he told The Associated Press in 1981. “It’s a hostile environment, and it’s trying to kill you. The outside temperature goes from a minus 450 degrees to a plus 300 degrees. You sit in a flying Thermos bottle.”

Walter Marty Schirra Jr., a native of Hackensack, N.J., came from a family of fliers. His father, an officer in the Army Signal Corps, flew bombing and reconnaissance missions over Germany in World War I and later performed stunts in a bi-plane at county fairs in New Jersey. His wife, Florence, sometimes stood on the wing.

Walter Jr. first took a plane’s controls at age 13, handed over by his father at 3,000 feet above Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. Captain Schirra graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1945 and became a naval aviator three years later. He flew 90 missions in the Korean War, mainly low-level bombing and ground-strafing operations, and downed a Russian MIG fighter. He later helped develop the Sidewinder air-to-air missile as a Navy test pilot.

As he told it in “The Real Space Cowboys” (Apogee Books, 1971), written with Ed Buckbee, his goal was to be “a hot shot test pilot, not just a scarf and goggles type, but one who could use his engineering confidence to work on systems and make the best airplane, ever.”

“I didn’t really volunteer for Project Mercury,” he said, but he became a candidate after being ordered to Washington to hear a presentation. “We were listening to a pair of engineers and a psychologist describing the feeling when you’re on top of a rocket in a capsule and going around the world,” he remembered. “I was immediately looking for the door, and they said, ‘Not to worry, we’ll send a chimpanzee first!’ There’s no way a test pilot would volunteer for something like that.”

On April 9, 1959, he was named a Mercury astronaut, together with Mr. Glenn, Mr. Carpenter, Alan B. Shepard Jr., Virgil I. Grissom, L. Gordon Cooper Jr. and Donald K. Slayton.

Captain Schirra specialized in developing life-support systems for the Mercury astronauts, his tasks including testing their pressurized suits. On Oct. 3, 1962, he piloted the capsule Sigma 7 on a six-orbit mission lasting a bit more than nine hours. The third orbital flight by an American, it showed that an astronaut could manage the limited amounts of electricity and maneuvering fuel needed for longer, more complex flights.

Captain Schirra later helped develop the Gemini program, and on Dec. 12, 1965, he and the pilot, Thomas Stafford, were on the launching pad in their Gemini 6 spacecraft atop a Titan II booster rocket when it ignited, then shut down. Captain Schirra had to make an immediate decision on whether to activate controls to eject the two astronauts, but he chose to remain in the craft. Technicians found that the booster was not about to explode; the problem was a loose electrical plug.

Three days later, the two astronauts lifted off, and in less than six hours they completed their nondocking rendezvous with Gemini 7 some 170 miles above the Mariana Islands in the Pacific.

Commanding Apollo 7, which lifted off on Oct. 11, 1968, Captain Schirra and two other astronauts tested systems that had been redesigned after the January 1967 Apollo 1 launching pad fire that killed Mr. Grissom and his fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee.

Captain Schirra retired from the Navy and left NASA in July 1969 to become president of Regency Investors, a financial company based in Denver. He was involved in various business enterprises after that. He is survived by his wife, Josephine; a son, Walter III, and a daughter, Suzanne.

In 1984, Captain Schirra took part in founding the Mercury Seven Foundation, which creates college scholarships for science and engineering students. On Aug. 1, 1998, he spoke at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston at a ceremony honoring Alan Shepard, the first American in space, who died at 74 the previous month.

Captain Schirra told the gathering, “The brotherhood we have will endure forever.”

    Walter M. Schirra Jr., Astronaut, Dies at 84, NYT, 4.5.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/us/04schirra.html?hp

On Trip to Mars, NASA Must Rethink Death

May 1, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:24 p.m. ET
The New York Times

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- How do you get rid of the body of a dead astronaut on a three-year mission to Mars and back?

When should the plug be pulled on a critically ill astronaut who is using up precious oxygen and endangering the rest of the crew? Should NASA employ DNA testing to weed out astronauts who might get a disease on a long flight?

With NASA planning to land on Mars 30 years from now, and with the recent discovery of the most ''Earth-like'' planet ever seen outside the solar system, the space agency has begun to ponder some of the thorny practical and ethical questions posed by deep space exploration.

Some of these who-gets-thrown-from-the-lifeboat questions are outlined in a NASA document on crew health obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request.

NASA doctors and scientists, with help from outside bioethicists and medical experts, hope to answer many of these questions over the next several years.

''As you can imagine, it's a thing that people aren't really comfortable talking about,'' said Dr. Richard Williams, NASA's chief health and medical officer. ''We're trying to develop the ethical framework to equip commanders and mission managers to make some of those difficult decisions should they arrive in the future.''

One topic that is evidently too hot to handle: How do you cope with sexual desire among healthy young men and women during a mission years long?

Sex is not mentioned in the document and has long been almost a taboo topic at NASA. Williams said the question of sex in space is not a matter of crew health but a behavioral issue that will have to be taken up by others at NASA.

The agency will have to address the matter sooner or later, said Paul Root Wolpe, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania who has advised NASA since 2001.

''There is a decision that is going to have to be made about mixed-sex crews, and there is going to be a lot of debate about it,'' he said.

The document does spell out some health policies in detail, such as how much radiation astronauts can be exposed to from space travel (No more radiation than the amount that would increase the risk of cancer by 3 percent over the astronaut's career) and the number of hours crew members should work each week (No more than 48 hours).

But on other topics -- such as steps for disposing of the dead and cutting off an astronaut's medical care if he or she cannot survive -- the document merely says these are issues for which NASA needs a policy.

''There may come a time in which a significant risk of death has to be weighed against mission success,'' Wolpe said. ''The idea that we will always choose a person's well-being over mission success, it sounds good, but it doesn't really turn out to be necessarily the way decisions always will be made.''

For now, astronauts and cosmonauts who become critically sick or injured at the international space station -- something that has never happened -- can leave the orbiting outpost 220 miles above Earth and return home within hours aboard a Russian Soyuz space vehicle.

That wouldn't be possible if a life-and-death situation were to arise on a voyage to Mars, where the nearest hospital is millions of mile away.

Moreover, Mars-bound astronauts will not always be able to rely on instructions from Mission Control, since it would take nearly a half-hour for a question to be asked and an answer to come back via radio.

Astronauts going to the moon and Mars for long periods of time must contend with the basic health risks from space travel, multiplied many times over: radiation, the loss of muscle and bone, and the psychological challenges of isolation.

NASA will consider whether astronauts must undergo preventive surgery, such as an appendectomy, to head off medical emergencies during a mission, and whether astronauts should be required to sign living wills with end-of-life instructions.

The space agency also must decide whether to set age restrictions on the crew, and whether astronauts of reproductive age should be required to bank sperm or eggs because of the risk of genetic mutations from radiation exposure during long trips.

Already, NASA is considering genetic screening in choosing crews on the long-duration missions. That is now prohibited.

''Genetic screening must be approached with caution ... because of limiting employment and career opportunities based on use of genetic information,'' Williams said.

NASA's three major tragedies resulting in 17 deaths -- Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia -- were caused by technical rather than medical problems. NASA never has had to abort a mission because of health problems, though the Soviet Union had three such episodes.

Some believe the U.S. space agency has not adequately prepared for the possibility of death during a mission.

''I don't think they've been great at dealing with this type of thing in the past,'' said former astronaut Story Musgrave, a six-time space shuttle flier who has a medical degree. ''But it's very nice that they're considering it now.''

------

On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/

    On Trip to Mars, NASA Must Rethink Death, NYT, 1.5.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Death-in-Space.html

NASA Launches Satellite to Study Clouds

April 26, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:56 a.m. ET
The New York Times

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) -- A NASA spacecraft was launched aboard a rocket Wednesday on the first mission to study mysterious clouds that float 50 miles above Earth.

The noctilucent clouds, which cluster around the polar regions and can only been seen at night, have appeared more often and grown brighter in recent years. Scientists are puzzled by the changes, but some suggest they may be due to global climate change.

The spacecraft, which will spend two years studying the ice clouds, will try to answer basic questions such as why the clouds form and whether human-caused global warming is responsible for the changes. It is dubbed AIM, short for Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere.

''We are exploring clouds literally on the edge of space,'' principal investigator James Russell of Hampton University said at a press conference earlier this month.

Mounted on a Pegasus rocket that was carried aloft by a special aircraft, it was air-launched over the Pacific Ocean and boosted into an orbit about 370 miles above Earth.

Launch and mission managers applauded after the spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket. Ground controllers continued to monitor the spacecraft's health.

Everything ''appears to be right on the money,'' said AIM launch commentator George Diller.

The Pegasus rocket, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., featured Virginia Tech logos on its side in memory of the 32 students and faculty members who died in a school rampage last week. One of the mission's scientists, deputy principal investigator Scott Bailey, works at Virginia Tech.

During the $140 million mission, AIM will photograph the high-altitude clouds and measure their size, air pressure, temperature and moisture content.

Noctilucent clouds were first spotted in the 1880s shortly after a massive volcanic eruption on the Indonesian island of Krakatoa. Space-based satellites have periodically observed the clouds since the 1980s, but the AIM spacecraft is the first devoted entirely to studying them.

------

On the Net:

AIM spacecraft: http://www.nasa.gov/mission--pages/aim/index.html

Hampton University: http://www.hamptonu.edu 

    NASA Launches Satellite to Study Clouds, NYT, 26.4.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Cloud-Mission.html

Hawking: Weightlessness Will Be 'Bliss'

April 25, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:31 a.m. ET
The New York Times

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his adult life, expects weightlessness to feel like ''bliss'' when he goes on a ''zero-gravity'' flight Thursday aboard a refitted jet.

''For someone like me whose muscles don't work very well, it will be bliss to be weightless,'' Hawking told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

Hawking, 65, who has Lou Gehrig's disease, will be the first person with a disability to fly on the one of the flights offered by Zero Gravity Corp., a space tourism company.

Flying from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., the jet creates the experience of microgravity in 25-second bursts of steep plunges over the Atlantic Ocean. Normally, the plane conducts 10 to 15 plunges for its passengers who pay $3,750 for the ride, although that fee has been waived for Hawking.

On Hawking's trip, the jet will make a single plunge. Other plunges will be made only after doctors and nurses who are accompanying the astrophysicist on the ride have made sure that he is enjoying it.

''We consider ... having him weightless for 25 seconds is a successful mission,'' said Peter Diamandis, the chairman and CEO of Zero Gravity. ''If we do more than one, fantastic.''

Unable to use his hands, legs or voice, Hawking can only use his facial expressions using the muscles around his eyes, eye brows and mouth to communicate. Otherwise, he relies on a computer to talk for him in a synthesized voice. The computer is attached to his wheelchair and allows him to choose words on a computer screen via a sensor that detects motion in his cheek.

He won't have his wheelchair and talking computer on the jet with him, although his assistant will bring a lap top in case he wants to communicate beyond facial expressions.

''I hope it goes OK,'' Hawking said. ''But there's always a chance things can go wrong.''

    Hawking: Weightlessness Will Be 'Bliss', NYT, 25.4.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Hawking-Flight.html

NASA Releases 3D Images of Sun

April 24, 2007
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:32 a.m. ET
The New York Times

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) -- NASA released the first three-dimensional images of the sun Monday, saying the photos taken from twin spacecraft may lead to better predictions of solar eruptions that can affect communications and power lines on Earth.

''The first reaction was 'Great, the instruments work,' but beyond that the first reaction was 'Wow!''' scientist Simon Plunkett said as he explained the images to a room full of journalists and scientists wearing 3D glasses.

The images from the STEREO spacecraft (for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) are available on the Internet and at museums and science centers nationwide.

The twin spacecraft, launched in October, are orbiting the Sun, one slightly ahead of the Earth and one behind. The separation, just like the distance between our two eyes, provides the depth perception that allows the 3D images to be obtained.

That depth perception is also particularly helpful for studying a type of solar eruption called a coronal mass ejection. Along with overloading power lines and disrupting satellite communications, the eruptions can endanger astronauts on spacewalks. Scientists would like to improve predictions of the arrival time from the current day or so to a few hours, said Russell Howard, principal investigator for the Naval Research Laboratory project.

STEREO program scientist Madhulika Guhathakurta said scientists have until now been ''modeling in the dark'' when it came to predicting solar storms. The twin spacecraft give researchers the vantage point to ''provide the observations needed to validate the models.''

The sun has been relatively quiet since the launch, so STEREO scientists have not predicted the arrival of any storms yet, Plunkett said.

The eruptions -- also called solar flares -- typically blow a billion tons of the sun's atmosphere into space at a speed of 1 million mph. Besides power and communications problems, the phenomenon is responsible for the northern lights, or aurora borealis, the luminous display of lights seen in the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

STEREO scientist Michael Kaiser said scientists would like to be able to predict solar disturbances, just as meteorologists are able to predict hurricane formation.

''We'd like to do the same thing with solar storms,'' Kaiser said. ''We aren't quite there yet.''

------

On the Net:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo 

    NASA Releases 3D Images of Sun, NYT, 24.4.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Solar-Eruptions.html

NASA Fires Arrested Astronaut

March 8, 2007
The New York Times
By CARMEN GENTILE

MIAMI, March 7 — Capt. Lisa M. Nowak, accused last month of attacking a romantic rival for the affections of a fellow astronaut, was fired from NASA on Wednesday, agency officials said.

According to a NASA statement. Captain Nowak was dismissed because the agency “lacks the administrative means to deal appropriately with the criminal charges” against her.

Were she a civil servant, NASA would have had the choice of placing Captain Nowak on administrative leave without pay or indefinite suspension until the charges are resolved, a NASA spokesman said. But because she was an officer, those options were not available.

Instead, Captain Nowak will return to the Navy.

James Hartsfield, a NASA spokesman, said the termination of Captain Nowak, who has been charged with attempted kidnapping, “does not reflect any position by NASA” on the criminal case against her.

Mr. Hartsfield added that he believed it was the first time NASA had asked the military to take back an astronaut. It is also the first time an active-duty astronaut stands accused of committing a felony.

Captain Nowak, a Navy veteran who flew aboard the space shuttle last year, drove more than 900 miles on Feb. 5 wearing a diaper to avoid having to stop to use the bathroom and confronted Capt. Colleen Shipman of the Air Force in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport, attacking her with pepper spray, officials say.

On her cross-country trip, she carried a compressed-air pistol, rubber tubing, a knife and a steel mallet. Captain Nowak had learned that Captain Shipman was romantically involved with Cmdr. William A. Oefelein, a shuttle pilot with whom Captain Nowak also had a relationship.

A Navy spokeswoman, Cmdr. Lydia Robertson, said Wednesday that Captain Nowak had orders to report on March 21 to work as a staff member for the chief of naval air training in Corpus Christi, Tex.

Captain Nowak is currently on leave from the Navy and living in Houston. She has been released from jail pending trial, though she must wear an electronic monitoring device.

NASA’s dismissal of her came as no surprise to her or her lawyer, Donald Lykkebak, said a spokeswoman for Mr. Lykkebak.

The Navy has decided to reserve judgment against Captain Nowak pending the outcome of her case.

John Schwartz contributed reporting.

    NASA Fires Arrested Astronaut, NYT, 8.3.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/08/science/space/08astronaut.html

Near-Earth asteroids could be 'steppingstones to Mars'

Updated 2/13/2007 7:35 AM ET
USA Today
By Dan Vergano

Asteroids are big hunks of space dust and rock that will eventually smack into Earth and end life as we know it. Or they represent the new frontier of space exploration.

Or both. It depends on how you look at it.

Experts have been wary of asteroids since they came to the conclusion that one of them ended the Age of the Dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Scientists such as Stephen Hawking warn that their relatively close proximity presents grave dangers to humankind, a point of view supported in a number of recent books, such as William Burrows' The Survival Imperative: Using Space to Save Earth and British astronomer royal Martin Rees' Our Final Hour: A Scientist's Warning.

But others consider asteroids the next landscape for scientific discovery. "We're looking at the possibilities," says Kelly Humphries, a spokesman for NASA's Johnson Space Center. With NASA planning a moon-exploring spacecraft, Humphries says, "Anything robust enough to go to the moon is going to be robust enough for lots of missions."

In December, NASA astronaut Edward Lu told Space.com that plans under study include landing on an asteroid and retrieving rock samples for return to Earth before 2020.

And at NASA's Ames Research Center, lab chief Simon "Pete" Worden, a longtime advocate of such exploration, has set aside $10 million for designing small spacecraft that could visit asteroids, according to the Jan. 19 Science magazine.

The space agency does have a few asteroid missions already planned. In its just-released 2008 budget, NASA said it is studying a mission, dubbed the Origins Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security (OSIRIS) probe, to return rock samples from an asteroid.

In June, NASA will launch the Dawn mission to orbit the two largest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta, in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

And outside NASA, others also see asteroids' scientific potential.

"They are pristine in a way, vagabonds of the solar system, leftovers from the era of the formation of the planets," says American Museum of Natural History astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of PBS' NOVA scienceNOW, and author of the new book Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries. "And as for landings, they are low-hanging fruit, or low-hanging rocks, in this case, for space exploration."

Too close for comfort?

The International Astronomical Union has given identifying numbers to nearly 150,000 asteroids; about 5,000 are discovered every month. A mix of sand piles, dust balls, metal-rich rocks and burned-out comets, they mostly congregate in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Closer to home, NASA has, as of November, tracked 855 potentially dangerous Near-Earth asteroids. These pass within about 30 million miles of Earth, with a diameter of approximately 1 kilometer (.62 miles) or larger. Astronomers regard that size as the point at which impact with Earth would threaten civilization, says Richard Binzel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

NASA operates a program, the Spaceguard Survey, to track this "cosmic shooting gallery," in the words of NASA scientist David Morrison, aiming to identify 90% of the estimated 1,100 civilization-buster Near-Earth asteroids lurking overhead before 2009. Congress has further told NASA to catalogue 90% of all Near-Earth asteroids less than 460 feet wide by 2020, and figure out ways to deflect any headed for Earth.

Tyson says such asteroids offer an intriguing array of midway points between the four-day trip to the moon and the six-month voyage to Mars.

"As steppingstones to Mars, (asteroids) are a really good way to learn to leave the comfort of the Earth-Moon system," says Binzel. "There are literally hundreds of Near-Earth asteroids that are probably easier to reach than the moon, in terms of the propellant you need to go there and back."

That's because asteroids have hardly any gravity. So fuel costs for blasting out of each one's "gravity well" are minimal. Eros, a hefty near-Earth asteroid, some 20 miles long by 8 miles across, has such light gravity that a person could toss a baseball off its surface and into orbit. In comparison, a rocket needs a 5,370 mph escape velocity to leave the moon.

And NASA's plans include building a rocket capable of sending astronauts to the moon, called Ares 1, which is scheduled to be ready for flight testing in 2014. The rocket designers aim to overcome the Earth's 39,600 mph escape velocity and deliver a 25-ton astronaut capsule to the moon, complete with the fuel needed to return. That capability should put a variety of asteroids within reach.

For something a bit sooner, Morrison will describe a Near-Earth Asteroid Trailblazing (NEAT) probe, low-cost landers designed to flit among nearby asteroids, scouting their surfaces, at a March American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics meeting.

"Landing on one would be more like docking with the international space station than a moon landing," says astronomer Daniel Durda of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Astronauts would most likely "swim" over the surface of an asteroid, he says, so lightly do things fall on a typical one, which essentially has zero gravity.

A proposal to rein them in

Of course, there is also the impact threat to consider. In 1980, geologist Luis Alvarez suggested in the journal Science that a comet or asteroid impact ended the Age of Dinosaurs. Many researchers believe the impact landed off the Yucatan peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico, and fears that there will be another such mass-extinction event stock the cabinet of modern worries.

"From a practical point of view, some time in the future, one of these things is going to threaten Earth with an impact and we'll need to do something about it," Durda says. So why not visit one to get the hang of herding them? he asks.

The Harvard-Smithsonian Minor Planet Center predicts there will be more than 5,300 "close" asteroid encounters, within 18.4 million miles, by 2040.

One of the most interesting, Apophis, grabbed headlines three years ago because of the possibility that it would smack into Earth in 2036. Improved observations lower the odds to a 1 in 45,000 chance, Binzel says, "nothing to lose sleep over."

But the asteroid's close approach in 2029 to within 22,600 miles of Earth, closer than the moon, may offer an exploration opportunity.

In 2005, Lu and another astronaut, Stanley Love, proposed a "gravity tractor" design for deflecting Apophis and other asteroids from Earth. "Our suggested alternative is to have the spacecraft simply hover above the surface of the asteroid. The spacecraft tows it without physical attachment by using gravity as a towline," they wrote in the journal Nature.

Once in orbit and gravitationally bound to a dangerous asteroid, the space tractor would gently fire its thrusters to slowly "tug" the threatening rock onto a safer trajectory. Apophis, for example, would require a one-ton tug to orbit the asteroid for a month before its 2029 close pass by Earth to put it onto a safer path.

Are they hollow or solid?

One of the great uncertainties about asteroids is what they are made of, something that might make astronauts piloting robotic surveyors more likely than actual manned landings. Some, like Eros, appear to be fairly solid objects, based on their gravity, albeit intensely dust-covered ones. The slowly-rotating Mathilde, which the NEAR-Shoemaker probe flew past in 1997, appears three times less heavy than its size would indicate, suggesting it may be hollow. And the asteroid Itokawa is just a rubble pile, a surprise that explains the 2005 failure of Japan's Hayabusa probe to land there.

As Tyson says, asteroids are thought to mostly be leftovers from the era of planetary accretion 4.6 billion years ago in the solar system. Weathered by eons of orbits around the sun and impacts with other space rocks, they still offer clues to the ingredients of today's planets and moons. "Each asteroid is a piece in the puzzle of how the planets formed," Tyson says.

Broadly speaking, inhabitants of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter are thought to come in three flavors: dark carbon-rich "carbonaceous" ones that make up about 75% of the total, iron-rich "metallic" asteroids, and fairly bright "silicaceous" asteroids built from a mix of iron and sand.

But nobody knows for sure, Binzel says, which makes exploring asteroids an exciting prospect. A few are likely burned-out comets plying their retirement years in the placid depths of space. "Water or ice might be inside them," handy for space travelers, he says. "Others might have minerals that might be useful future resources."

(Space law still has a few wrinkles to iron out first though on mining asteroids, cautions Frans von der Dunk of the International Institute of Air and Space Law at Holland's Leiden University. The United Nations' Outer Space Treaty makes nations liable for mining companies and allows mining, he says, but stops short of defining property rights, making gold mines in space a legally dicey pursuit.)

"Asteroids have been a low priority for too long," says Burrows, The Survival Imperative author, who calls for long-term space colonies to serve as a refuge for humanity if there's a catastrophic collision. "People worry about terrorism, with good reason, but while it doesn't do to get over-excited, there are bigger threats."

Asteroid defense gets a hearing next month at an American Association for the Advancement of Science symposium in San Francisco. With new telescopes in Chile and Hawaii coming online, astronomers expect Near-Earth asteroids to turn up nearly 100 times more often than today's rate of discovery.

Asteroid scares may become more common, as a result, as presenters including Lu and Morrison will discuss, but the opportunities for exploration are expected to increase, as well.

"Hundreds of exciting and strange asteroids are nearby," Binzel says. "Certainly there is scientific interest."

    Near-Earth asteroids could be 'steppingstones to Mars', UT, 13.2.2007, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-02-12-asteroid_x.htm

For Astronauts and Their Families, Lives With Built-In Stress

February 9, 2007
The New York Times
By JOHN SCHWARTZ

An astronaut’s life can stretch family ties to the breaking point, and astronauts are not immune to emotional stress.

That lesson is nowhere more obvious, experts and friends said, than in the case of Lisa M. Nowak, the Navy captain who was arrested early Monday on charges of attacking a woman in Florida.

The police say Captain Nowak considered the woman, Colleen Shipman, an Air Force captain, to be a rival for the affections of another astronaut, Cmdr. William A. Oefelein of the Navy.

Captain Nowak and her husband of nearly 20 years, Richard, separated some weeks ago, according to a statement this week from her family.

“There’s a lot of marital discord in the astronaut corps,” with the long absences and high pressure, Dr. Jon Clark, a former NASA physician whose wife, Laurel Salton Clark, died in the loss of the shuttle Columbia in 2003, said in an interview.

Dr. Clark, who said the Nowaks were good friends with whom he and his wife had a great deal in common, said that life after a mission could have been very hard for Captain Nowak.

“You’re the rock star, you’re at the high of your high, you have this great, wonderful, super-elevated moment in space,” Dr. Clark said. “You come back and you’re cleaning up your kids’ mess and cooking.” What’s more, he said, the astronaut returns to a husband who has been doing solo parenting duty and expects to get a break, only to hear, “Hey, this is your problem now.”

It could be wrenching, he said, “Some of those things can just conspire to nail you.”

The police said that Captain Nowak attacked Captain Shipman with pepper spray in the parking lot of the Orlando airport; Captain Nowak was charged with attempted murder.

The police said they found such items as a knife, a steel mallet, rubber tubing, latex gloves and garbage bags in Captain Nowak’s car, along with e-mail messages between Commander Oefelein and Captain Shipman, and Captain Shipman’s travel plans, which Captain Nowak told the police that she had obtained from Commander Oefelein’s computer.

Captain Nowak had driven more than 900 miles from Texas to Florida to confront Captain Shipman, and the police said she wore adult diapers on the trip so that she would not have to stop to relieve herself.

Since her arrest, NASA has put her on 30-day leave and removed her from mission activities; she was going to work at mission control during the space shuttle flight in March.

NASA officials announced on Wednesday that the agency was reviewing its screening and psychological evaluation, and would try to determine whether signs of trouble with Captain Nowak had been missed.

On Thursday, Captain Nowak and her parents were in her home in the Houston suburbs. It was not clear where her husband and children were.

In an official NASA interview on the space agency’s Web site from 2005, Captain Nowak, who has twin 5-year-old girls and a teenage son, talked about the way that NASA’s intense training means “a sacrifice for our own personal time and our families and the people around us.”

While the unique aspects of an astronaut’s life might draw attention, Lawrence A. Palinkas, an expert in astronaut psychology at the University of Southern California, said space travelers have sources of stress that would be recognized by many people in more earthbound careers — and a similarly elevated rate of divorce rate.

“Any occupation where you have people spending a fair amount of time away from families — perhaps the best analogy is military deployment — you’re going to have stress related to job demands,” he said.

Astronauts are not immune to stress, he said, though they are selected for emotional stability and trained to compartmentalize emotional issues and continue to perform on the job.

NASA officials said they intended to find out if they can do more to provide astronauts and their families with the support they need. In a telephone briefing with reporters yesterday, Ellen Ochoa, the director of flight crew operations at the Johnson Space Center, said that in the review of the space agency’s psychological counseling services and procedures, “we’re going to be asking ourselves, ‘Is there more that we should be doing post flight?’ ”

She said that NASA had no rules regarding relationships between astronauts, beyond general civil service, that govern relationships between bosses and subordinates.

In an interview with reporters before her July flight, Captain Nowak said that with the space shuttle program winding down, she expected that her first flight could be her last.

“There’s a good chance I won’t fly again,” she said. “They don’t need me to do another flight,” because there are many astronauts with similar skills. But when asked if that was cause for regret, she quickly said, “Of course it was worth doing it.”

Warren E. Leary contributed reporting from Washington, and Rachel Mosteller from Houston.

    For Astronauts and Their Families, Lives With Built-In Stress, NYT, 9.2.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/us/09astronaut.html

Orbiting Junk, Once a Nuisance, Is Now a Threat

February 6, 2007
The New York Times
By WILLIAM J. BROAD

For decades, space experts have worried that a speeding bit of orbital debris might one day smash a large spacecraft into hundreds of pieces and start a chain reaction, a slow cascade of collisions that would expand for centuries, spreading chaos through the heavens.

In the last decade or so, as scientists came to agree that the number of objects in orbit had surpassed a critical mass — or, in their terms, the critical spatial density, the point at which a chain reaction becomes inevitable — they grew more anxious.

Early this year, after a half-century of growth, the federal list of detectable objects (four inches wide or larger) reached 10,000, including dead satellites, spent rocket stages, a camera, a hand tool and junkyards of whirling debris left over from chance explosions and destructive tests.

Now, experts say, China’s test on Jan. 11 of an antisatellite rocket that shattered an old satellite into hundreds of large fragments means the chain reaction will most likely start sooner. If their predictions are right, the cascade could put billions of dollars’ worth of advanced satellites at risk and eventually threaten to limit humanity’s reach for the stars.

Federal and private experts say that early estimates of 800 pieces of detectable debris from the shattering of the satellite will grow to nearly 1,000 as observations continue by tracking radars and space cameras. At either number, it is the worst such episode in space history.

Today, next year or next decade, some piece of whirling debris will start the cascade, experts say.

“It’s inevitable,” said Nicholas L. Johnson, chief scientist for orbital debris at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “A significant piece of debris will run into an old rocket body, and that will create more debris. It’s a bad situation.”

Geoffrey E. Forden, an arms expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is analyzing the Chinese satellite debris, said China perhaps failed to realize the magnitude of the test’s indirect hazards.

Dr. Forden suggested that Chinese engineers might have understood the risks but failed to communicate them. In China, he said, “the decision process is still so opaque that maybe they didn’t know who to talk to. Maybe you have a disconnect between the engineers and the people who think about policy.”

China, experts note, has 39 satellites of its own — many of them now facing a heightened risk of destruction.

Politically, the situation is delicate. In recent years China has played a growing international role in fighting the proliferation of space junk. In 2002, for instance, it joined with other spacefaring nations to suggest voluntary guidelines for debris control.

In April, Beijing is to play host to the annual meeting of the advocacy group, known as the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. Donald J. Kessler, a former head of the orbital debris program at NASA and a pioneer analyst of the space threat, said Chinese officials at the forum would probably feel “some embarrassment.”

Mr. Kessler said Western analysts agreed that China’s new satellite fragments would speed the chain reaction’s onset. “If the Chinese didn’t do the test, it would still happen,” he said. “It just wouldn’t happen as quickly.”

Last week in Beijing, a foreign ministry spokeswoman failed to respond directly to a debris question. Asked if the satellite’s remains would threaten other spacecraft, she asserted that China’s policy was to keep space free of weapons.

“We are ready to strengthen international cooperation in this regard,” the spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, told reporters.

Cascade warnings began as early as 1978. Mr. Kessler and his NASA colleague, Burton G. Cour-Palais, wrote in The Journal of Geophysical Research that speeding junk that formed more junk would produce “an exponential increase in the number of objects with time, creating a belt of debris around the Earth.”

During the cold war, Moscow and Washington generally ignored the danger and, from 1968 to 1986, conducted more than 20 tests of antisatellite arms that created clouds of jagged scraps. Often, they did so at low altitudes from which the resulting debris soon plunged earthward. Still, the number of objects grew as more nations launched rockets and satellites into orbit.

In 1995, as the count passed 8,000, the National Academy of Sciences warned in a thick report that some crowded orbits appeared to have already reached the “critical density” needed to sustain a chain reaction.

A year later, apprehension rose as the fuel tank of an abandoned American rocket engine exploded, breaking the craft into 713 detectable fragments — until now, the record.

Amid such developments, space experts identified the first collisions that threatened to start a chain reaction, putting analysts increasingly on edge.

On Jan. 17, 2005, for instance, a piece of speeding debris from an exploded Chinese rocket collided with a derelict American rocket body that had been shot into space 31 years earlier. Warily, investigators searched though orbital neighborhoods but found to their relief that the crackup had produced only four pieces of detectable debris.

A year later, Mr. Johnson, the chief scientist for NASA’s orbital debris program, and his colleague J. -C. Liou, published an article in the journal Science that detailed the growing threat. They said orbits were now so cluttered that the chain reaction was sure to start even if spacefaring nations refrained from launching any more spacecraft.

“The environment is unstable,” they wrote, “and collisions will become the most dominant debris-generating mechanism.”

It was in this atmosphere of rising tension that China last month fired a rocket into space that shattered an old weather satellite — its first successful test of an antisatellite weapon.

David C. Wright, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a private group in Cambridge, Mass., calculated that the old satellite had broken into 1,000 fragments four inches wide or larger, and millions of smaller ones.

Federal sky-watchers who catalogue objects in the Earth orbit work slowly and deliberately. As of yesterday, they publicly listed 647 detectable pieces of the satellite but were said to be tracking hundreds more.

The breakup was dangerous because the satellite’s orbit was relatively high, some 530 miles up. That means the debris will remain in space for tens, thousands or even millions of years.

Mr. Kessler, the former NASA official, now a private consultant in Asheville, N.C., said China might have chosen a relatively high target to avoid directly threatening the International Space Station and its astronaut crew, which orbit at a height of about 220 miles.

“Maybe the choice was to endanger the station in the short term or to cause a long-term problem,” he said. “Maybe that forced them to raise the orbit.”

Even so, the paths of the speeding Chinese debris, following the laws of physics and of celestial mechanics, expanded in many directions, including upward and downward. As of last week, outliers from the central cloud stretched from roughly 100 miles to more than 2,000 miles above the Earth.

A solution to the cascade threat exists but is costly. In his Science paper and in recent interviews, Mr. Johnson of NASA argued that the only sure answer was environmental remediation, including the removal of existing large objects from orbit.

Robots might install rocket engines to send dead spacecraft careering back into the atmosphere, or ground-based lasers might be used to zap debris.

The bad news, Mr. Johnson said in his paper, is that “for the near term, no single remediation technique appears to be both technically feasible and economically viable.”

If nothing is done, a kind of orbital crisis might ensue that is known as the Kessler Syndrome, after Mr. Kessler. A staple of science fiction, it holds that the space around Earth becomes so riddled with junk that launchings are almost impossible. Vehicles that entered space would quickly be destroyed.

In an interview, Mr. Kessler called the worst-case scenario an exaggeration. “It’s been overdone,” he said of the syndrome.

Still, he warned of an economic barrier to space exploration that could arise. To fight debris, he said, designers will have to give spacecraft more and more shielding, struggling to protect the craft from destruction and making them heavier and more costly in the process.

At some point, he said, perhaps centuries from now, the costs will outweigh the benefits.

“It gets more and more expensive,” he said. “Sooner or later it gets too expensive to do business in space.”

Orbiting Junk, Once a Nuisance, Is Now a Threat, NYT, 6.2.2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/06/science/space/06orbi.html