Shuttle Discovery & Obama’s Auto Plan – 3/30/09

A couple of news items I wanted to touch on today include the return of space shuttle Discovery to Earth and the Obama administration’s announcement today that GM and Chrysler’s restructuring plan fall short of their goals.

The Discovery mission to the International Space Station was mostly successful.  Astronauts installed the final set of solar panels, which will allow for fully planned power generation.  They also worked to repair the station’s water recycling sytem.  Both the solar panels and the water recycling system must work as planned if the station’s crew is to grow from 3 to 6 persons.  One negative from the mission was two external storage containers getting stuck during deployment.  The storage will hold station spare parts for the 2010-2014 time period when NASA won’t have a shuttle or their next generation craft flying.

Part of me supports the Obama administration’s rejection of the GM and Chrysler restructuring plans.  Both corporations are lacking innovation and a solid working model.  As such, they don’t deserve to receive billions of additional dollars in taxpayer money.  Another part of me recognizes that there are a lot of Americans that depend on GM and Chrysler for their jobs – directly and indirectly.  If these auto manufacturers are headed for bankruptcy reorganization, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.  Plenty of other corporations have emerged from bankruptcy changed for the better.  At the end of the day, if GM and Chrysler can’t get it done, other companies are ready and waiting to expand in the void.  Will it be painless?  Of course not.  Nobody can say that change is painless.  Is it necessary?  It’s looking increasingly like it will be.

At the same time, Wall St. firms have ripped off the government (read: taxpayers) for billions of dollars.  They’re not being held to the same standards as are GM and Chrysler.  I would support the Obama decision more wholeheartedly if those standards applied to every corporation looking for corporate welfare for their crappy decisions.  If this decision marks a new chapter in the unfolding economic disaster we’re currently experiencing, all the better.  Greedy Wall St. corporations deserve this same kind of treatment and more.  If they don’t have valid, up-to-date operating plans, they deserve no more money than GM or Chrysler do.  Enforcement of laws already on the books to control Wall St. corporations should begin immediately.  The American people would be better served by fewer financial institutions that are held accountable.

Quick Hit: Discovery Launch Postponed

This is slightly older news, but the shuttle Discovery’s launch that was set for Wednesday has been posponed due to a hydrogen gas leak.  The new launch date has been set for Monday the 16th.  Discovery is slated to deliver the last truss segment and the last set of solar panels to the International Space Station.  A replacement part to the urination recycling unit delivered in November is also supposed to go up.  The solar panels and urination system will allow the ISS crew to grow from 3 to 6 persons.

Kepler Ready for Launch, Magnetic Moon Rocks, Martian Methane, ISS Cargo, Next NASA Chief

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has had it’s pre-ship checkout and delivery to Cape Canaveral milestones completed.  It is designed to search for Earth-like planets around other stars – 140,000 stars are on tap to be examined.  The mission is currently scheduled to last 3.5 years, but if other recent NASA spacecraft are a guide, that mission could be extended.  Just look at Hubble or the Mars rovers.  Launch is set for March 5.

Earth’s moon might have had an internal magnetic dynamo, which made lunar rocks magnetic for millions of years.  A rock brought back by an Apollo 17 geologist has provided this rather surprising find.

Methane plumes have been found by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter (starting in 2003 and seen every Martian spring to summer since).  They do not automatically mean microbes are outgassing them.  Their source has not been positively identified.  One planetary science team is planning to develop a new device for a future rover to track the origin of the methane (some details here).  To do so, the future rover would have to be sent to a site where methane has been detected.

Last month, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. were chosen as the two private companies to develop and launch spacecraft to carry supplies to the International Space Station.  A third company, PlanetSpace has filed a protest with the GAO.  PlanetSpace earned a higher score and offered a lower price than Oribal Sciences.  The GAO decision will be made available by April 24.

An Earth scientist could become the next Chief of NASA, replacing Mike Griffin.

Science: 2 Wind Energy Pieces and the next Space Shuttle Mission

The credit crisis is affecting most Americans, rich and poor. It is also affecting business plans, big and small. Among those business plans are renewable energy projects. The recent run-up in fossil fuel prices have made wind power much more competitive in the marketplace than it was just a few years ago. Despite the fall in fossil fuel prices since July, wind power remains nearly competitive with oil, natural gas and coal. Solar power isn’t too much further behind wind. With a little more help from the government, the wind and solar industries could be allowed to mature further. That’s where the credit crisis monkey wrench comes into play. Projects for wind and solar have been viewed as more risky than fossil fuel projects, due to maturity differences. With banks less likely to fund risky ventures, wind projects are among those suffering. That includes T. Boone Pickens’ plan to build the largest wind project in the world. I’m not a fan of his entire plan, mostly because he doesn’t view climate change as the predominant problem that needs attention. I would classify him as a delayer due to his efforts to switch our transportation system from oil to natural gas. That would keep us dependent on his businesses and delay any serious work to stop forcing the climate system. No thanks. That also means I’m frustrated that wind projects will be downsized or delayed while the credit markets come back online.

Could off-shore wind farms alter ocean currents? Sure. Removing energy from the atmosphere would have to have an impact on wind stress placed on the ocean. As a result, upwelling could occur in places it currently doesn’t (or the magnitude of processes could shift). The specifics aren’t yet well studied. This kind of assesment would require a closer collaboration between physical oceanographers, biologists and others. It should be examined further.

NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour is preparing for a Friday afternoon launch. It is the next mission to the International Space Station. This mission will deliver infrastructure that will allow the station to house six persons, up from the current three. That would allow more science to be done. Endeavour is bringing a spare toilet, a second kitchen, new exercise equipment and a water recovery system designed to turn urine into potable water. The water technology, if successful, could make its way back down to Earth. Water is going to become a more scarce resource in the 21st century. Any method of conservation will ease the impact of that.

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.

Science News 9/30/08

NASA’s Phoenix lander detected snow falling from clouds 2 miles high.  While none reached the ground, it confirms water still precipitates from the sky in at least one form.

Folks continue to modify their Toyota Priuses to get even more performance from battery technologies.  At $7500 a pop, it’s not for everyone, but the engineering hurdles to make a car run exclusively off electricity if the driver wants has been jumped over time and time again.  My next car will be a hybrid at a minimum.  If I can convert it to be a plug-in, all the better.

A critical component of the Hubble has failed.  The Control Unit/Science Data Formatter is no longer working, meaning data can’t be sent to the ground.  A backup version is on-board, but scientists need to see if it can be brought online.  Another backup is located at the Hubble operations center.  Engineers will see if it can be made flight ready and if the system can be replaced in-flight.  Astronauts scheduled for the original Hubble repair mission will likely have to do some additional training also.  All this means the Hubble repair mission is likely to be delayed until January or February of next year.  The next International Space Station construction mission would then be moved up to mid-November.

SpaceX has successfully become the first private entity to put a liquid-fueled booster in Earth orbit.  It took four tries, but Falcon1 achieved the mark Sunday.  More Falcon1 launches are scheduled, with one next year to launch a Malaysian satellite.  SpaceX is also planning a mid-2009 launch of Falcon9, which could help deliver supplies to the International Space Station while NASA is without a vehicle between shuttle retirement and Orion coming online.

Has the next solar cycle begun?  After a brief time of no sunspots, one has developed on the sun’s surface.  If more sunspots develop in the relative near future, Solar Cycle 24 will have begun.

News Pieces 9/27/08

In a move toward improving the transparency of bills in Congress, PublicMarkup.org has put the original Bush Bailout plan and Senator Chris Dodd’s plan dealing with the same issue up for public view.  The public can also comment on the legislation.

Oh, in case you’re wondering – despite having billions of dollars worth of bad assets and paying executives millions of dollars every year, the financial institutions looking for a $700 billion handout is still paying for lobbyists.  In the millions this year alone.  While families are losing their houses.  That’s immoral.

The Republican County Clerk in El Paso is illegally trying to prevent students at Colorado College from voting this November.  Why would that be?  Could it be that young voters are breaking 65-32 for Obama over McCain?  Every vote Bob Balink prevents for Obama and other Democrats is one step closer toward his party’s success.  There are 10 days left to register to vote for this year’s election.  How many voters will be unable to vote because of this Republican’s immoral efforts?

While the summer season has drawn to a close for the Arctic, thankfully ending the horrible rate of melt this year, the Antarctic’s winter is also ending.  This winter wasn’t as good to the sea ice in the Southern Hemisphere as last winter was.  The maximum extent was 15 million sq. km, over 1 million sq. km. less than the area last year.  It appears Aug. 2008 wasn’t a good year for ice worldwide as the Southern Hemisphere actually lost over 500,000 sq. km. of ice in a two-week time period.  August also saw the fastest rate of melt of ice in the Northern Hemisphere.  After attaining a +2 million sq. km. anomaly last year, the Southern Hemisphere is lucky to be right at the 1970-2000 mean, and appears to be heading negative as the melt accelerates.

The shuttle mission to Hubble has been delayed by 4 days, from Oct. 10th to the 14th.  Most of the delay was caused by Hurricane Ike’s landfall and damage to the Houston, TX area.  Atlantis is scheduled to make the trip to Hubble.  Endeavour is waiting on a nearby launch pad in the event that Atlantis experiences damage significant enough to prevent a return to Earth.  Endeavour is scheduled to make another construction flight to the International Space Station later this year if the rescue mission is unneeded.

A potential lunar colony site has been mapped in 3-D using camera data that wasn’t meant for 3-D.  I think Mars exploration and colonies should come first, but recognize the long-term importance of the Moon as well.

Gas shortages are occurring across the southern U.S. A couple of factors are causing this situation.  Hurricanes Gustav and Ike shut down drilling and refining infrastructure as well as power delivery systems across the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana and Texas.  More disturbing is the following:

In its most recent Weekly Oil Data Review, Barclays Capital pointed out that the U.S. gasoline inventory has reached its lowest level since August 1967, when demand was a little more than half its current level of 9.3 million barrels a day. At 178.7 million barrels, inventories are 21.6 million barrels below their five-year average.

Replacing those inventories isn’t easy either.  “Once the refineries get back up and running, they’ll drain the already low crude oil inventories.”  Not discussed in the article is the impact of fuel corporations sitting on millions of acres of leased land without drilling.  Not discussed in the article is the impact of not building additional refining capacity in the last 30 years, making the drilling issue completely irrelevant.  It’s that lack of refining capacity (which are only operating at 67% of capacity right now) that has put a large region of the country in danger of running out of gasoline.  If that situation gets worse, food won’t be able to be supplied.  Then the anger over Bush’s Wall St. Bailout will seem minor in comparison.

News Items 9/7/08: Economy, Bailouts, Shuttle Delays

Larry Bartels has written an interesting book, as this write-up shows. The differences between a future Democratic president and a Republican one are stark, just in potential economic prosperity:

Data for the whole period from 1948 to 2007, during which Republicans occupied the White House for 34 years and Democrats for 26, show average annual growth of real gross national product of 1.64 percent per capita under Republican presidents versus 2.78 percent under Democrats. That 1.14-point difference, if maintained for eight years, would yield 9.33 percent more income per person, which is a lot more than almost anyone can expect from a tax cut.

Over the entire 60-year period, income inequality trended substantially upward under Republican presidents but slightly downward under Democrats, thus accounting for the widening income gaps over all. And the bad news for America’s poor is that Republicans have won five of the seven elections going back to 1980.

The two Great Partisan Divides combine to suggest that, if history is a guide, an Obama victory in November would lead to faster economic growth with less inequality, while a McCain victory would lead to slower economic growth with more inequality. Which part of the Obama menu don’t you like?

My thoughts exactly.

It was reported yesterday that the Federal government was prepared to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Between the two of them, they secure over $5 trillion in home loans. The two giants straddle the public/private divide in a way that I don’t think any other company does. The private side of the equation has, as we all have been forced to learn again, failed quite spectacularly. Well, the U.S. has seized Freddie and Fannie.

Fannie and Freddie have become virtually the only source of funding for banks and other home lenders looking to make home loans. Their ability to do so is crucial to the recovery of the battered home market and the broader U.S. economy.

Thanks to conservatives’ obsession with deregulation, American taxpayers have been forced to bail out Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae. Elections do have consequences. The billions of dollars that taxpayers will fork over could have gone instead toward programs or policies that would have made us all more prosperous. Stop falling for the false images Republicans like to put on display during campaign season. It’s how they govern that matters.

The last two space shuttle missions of 2008 are being delayed by two days due to delays associated with Tropical Storms Fay and Hanna. Atlantis will now launch no earlier than October 10. An International Space Station mission will launch no earlier than November 12.

NASA’s Cassini mission has discovered ring arcs orbiting two of Saturn’s smaller moons. The partial rings extend ahead of and behind the moons Anthe and Methone. Cassini has helped scientists discover some amazing things during its mission so far.

Lake Erie could lose 1.5 feet of water to climate change by the end of the century.  That might not sound like much, but for every inch less of water, ships have to carry 8,000 fewer tons of cargo.  That has real economic impacts over the course of just one year.  Can our economy withstand this and the countless other results of climate change?

Shuttle to the ISS and Phoenix on Mars

The Space Shuttle is scheduled to blast off this Saturday for another construction mission to the International Space Station. Discovery’s mission is the second of three to deliver elements of Japan’s massive Kibo lab. The STS-124 astronauts are planning on three spacewalks: attach the 37-foot main segment of Kibo, relocate the module’s attic-like storage compartment, and perform station maintenance. Also on the docket: parts to repair a currently non-functional pump on for the service module toilet. Hope that goes well!

*****

NASA’s Phoenix lander is prepping to move it’s 8-foot robotic arm around in preparation for digging activities near its landing site.

Photographs sent back from the lander show that it’s in a good location to search for water ice under the top layers of Martian soil.

I’m still stoked from watching the landing this weekend. A significant stride in Martian exploration and solar system knowledge can take place with Phoenix.

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.