Hubble Takes Perfect New Pix & Other Space News – 10/31/08

Just prior to the scheduled launch of the last Hubble Space Telescope’s repair/upgrade mission, an onboard data router failed.  The shuttle launch was delayed until next year.  Scientists and engineers worked to use an onboard backup (thank you, redundancy!).  That backup unit is up and running.  A test photo was released by NASA and things look real good!  Unfortunately, the already delayed upgrade mission was delayed a little more.  NASA wants to send up a replacement part to the unit that failed last month.  It won’t be ready for another six months.  That could delay NASA’s plans to reconfigure the launch pad to accomodate the next generation of launch vehicles.  Fortunately, Endeavour’s Nov. 14th launch to the International Space Station remains on schedule.

A Google Lunar X-Prize contestant is not only planning to send their craft to the Apollo 11 landing site, they’re planning to launch five additional missions for lunar polar exploration.  To win the Grand X-Prize ($20 million), a private company must achieve a series of goals by Dec. 31, 2010.  Astrobotic now wants to send it main craft to the moon in 2010, then two smaller rovers in 2011 and 2012.  An additional lander would also land in 2012, then another rover in 2013.  This is exactly the kind of plan I want to see: a medium-term, aggressive approach to lunar exploration.

NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander entered an inactive safe mode late Tuesday.  Very cold overnight temperatures and a dust storm has reduced Phoenix’s ability to generate enough power to conduct full science.  It’s not supposed to be a permanent condition.  Phoenix’s primary mission phase ended in August.  It has had its mission extended ever since.  Eventually, Phoenix will not be able to power itself.

NASA’s shuttle replacement might come online one year sooner than originally planned.  Plans are being drawn up to try to move the first test launch date up from 2015 to 2014.  They will be finalized in December.  This news came out prior to NASA’s announcement that the Hubble upgrade mission was going to be delayed again.  As I wrote above, the launch pad needs to be reconfigured for the Orion vehicle launch aboard the Ares rocket.

Cassini is going to pass by Saturn’s mood Enceladus for the third time tomorrow.  A number of very cool things have come from the previous two flybys.

Space and Science News Updates: 3/16/08

NASA astronauts are making good progress this weekend at the International Space Station. Work includes installation of the first portion of Kobi, Japan’s science laboratory, and assembly of Canada’s Mr. Dextre, a large robotic appendage designed to perform tasks on the outside of the ISS so that humans don’t have to suit up and do them.

Kobi

Everything has run smoothly and the initial module of Kobi was opened for the first time Friday. The hatch was opened at 7:24 MDT March 15, marking the first time the space station’s 15-nation program has full on-orbit participation. Kobi is in a temporary berth at the station, and will likely be moved prior to the arrival of the next portion.

Dextre

Not everything ran smoothly with Mr. Dextre’s installation. A power problem prevented its initial deployment. The problem was eventually traced to a flawed cable in the pallet containing the robot during shuttle delivery. Once power from the station was introduced, the robot responded to controls. The cable ended up not being the correct type for the powering system.

Last night’s work focused on attaching Dextre’s two arms. Work with the arms was temporarily slowed due to stubborn bolts, but things were wrapped up by 12:57 MDT this morning. Initial tests of Dextre and it’s two arms indicate a nominally operative piece of equipment, which is excellent news.

Cassini

I wrote a post a few days ago regarding Cassini’s planned fly-through and testing of Encaladus’ eruptive geyser. Unfortunately, a software glitch prevented instrument from determining the make-up of the geyser material during the fly-through. The good news is that cameras were operating at the critical time. They discovered that the north pole of Enceladus appears much older than the moon’s south pole.

All is not lost with regard to determining the make-up of the ejecta. NASA officials said that Cassini’s Wednesday flyby is the first of four close-up swings past the moon this year. A similar plume pass is slated for October 9th.

And that’s just Enceladus. Cassini continues to probe the remainder of the Saturnian system.

Space & Science News

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting the Saturnian system for over 3.5 years now. During that time, many exciting discoveries have been made. One of those is the moon Enceladus: it’s south polar region is ejecting frozen water vapor into space. So Cassini is being directed to fly through the edges of the geysers to determine what they’re made up of. The geysers were discovered by Cassini in 2005. Of additional interest, the material is bolstering Saturn’s E-ring.

*****

NASA has invited other nations to place instrumentation in a Lunar Network. To kick off the ILN, NASA would lob on one launcher two small landing packages, one each to the poles of the Moon. The target launch date is 2013-2014. A second pair of U.S. nodes would fly in 2016-2017. Ideally, by year’s end, what nations are joining in on the network, what core instruments are to be flown, and a landing site working group will be agreed to.

*****

It was reported last week that our nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri, might contain Earth-like planets. From the article:

“Several factors mark the system, particularly Alpha Centauri B as friendly to planet formation, [study co-author Gregory] Laughlin said. The metallicity of Alpha Centauri B (or how much of its matter is made up of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium) is higher than our Sun’s, so there would be plenty of heavier-mass material for planets to form from, he said. [...] The Doppler detection method, which has revealed the majority of the 228 known extrasolar planets, measures shifts in the light from a star to detect the tiny wobble induced by the gravitational tug of an orbiting planet.

Because Alpha Centauri B is so bright and nearby, detecting a small terrestrial planet’s miniscule wobble would be that much easier. Also, its position high in the sky of the Southern Hemisphere means it is observable for most of the year, just as the Big Dipper is observable for most of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.”