TIANGONG 1 - Chinese Space Station

Chinese spacecraft manually docks with the TIANGONG 1 space lab, which will serve as a space station module prototype for China.

Commercial Crew Program - NASA+

An interesting combination of products from different companies that are designed for the "Commercial Crew Program" coming soon. Video from KSC.

Apollo 11, Eagle has landed.

Symphony of Science - Journey to the Moon - Remixes for the Soul - Melody Sheep

The Case For Mars

Symphony of Science has an interesting way to make the case.

Space Shuttle: The Final Flight

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Theodor Seuss Geisel

China to launch space station first phase

The newest space race has already begun, just as we retire the most prolific spacecraft fleet the world has ever known. Now we must rely on Russians, or eventually private industry to get our astronauts to space, at least until the next decade. The Long March continues while we wait for our leadership to notice.

1000 days - NASA JSC Project M

With inspired leadership, we could accomplish this in 1000 days from a Presidential "Make it so, NASA."

Riding the Unicorn, We will not rest...

Obama's Space Policy is "Drivel"

"Former NASA administrator Michael Griffin takes strong exception to most of President Obama's proposed space exploration policy, disagreeing with the major points and calling much of it "drivel."

Mission to Nowhere

The President's Take on NASA's Future: Mission to Nowhere

Tom Jones, Astronaut:

"...The cancellation of Constellation without clear endorsement of a goal to send humans on a date certain into deep space postpones the promise of the future for the brightest of our young scientists and engineers. The space talent pool will begin emptying today, as promising innovators seek careers in other industries. What student would pursue a career in space science or astronautics with the knowledge that the country is turning away from leadership in space..."

Atlantis music video

STS-129 Ascent Video Highlights from mike interbartolo on Vimeo.

Ares I-X Launch

The much anticipated launch of Ares I-X came to fruition on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at 11:30, from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
These pictures of the launch were the view from the Banana Creek VIP viewing area, where many of those who worked tirelessly for over three years to bring Ares from concept to launch, and their guests were gathered to witness the beginning of the next generation of U.S. manned spaceflight.

On the right side of the photos, above the countdown clock, you can see Space Shuttle Atlantis on pad 39A, ready for the STS-129 mission in November.

Clouds, cargo ship made NASA officials call off the test flight on Tuesday.

Here is a short piece of video from the scrubbed mission on Tuesday. Tuesday was the day when we heard the term, Triboelectrification used a lot in the audio feeds we listened to at Banana Creek. The Triboelectrification trouble is explained here, by Astroprof, and here on Wikipedia.

Ares I-X test flight

I'm looking forward to being present at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida next week to witness the first test launch of America's new next generation space flight system. The launch is scheduled to be on Tuesday morning at 8AM, with a second launch window on Wednesday morning if the weather doesn't cooperate. I hope to have some video and photos to share when I return. Ares I-X is ready to go and is currently waiting on launch pad 39B.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is also in position on launch pad 39A, being prepared for the STS 129 mission launch to the ISS on November 16. It will be interesting to observe two generations of launchers on the pads at the same time.

NASA's first flight test for the agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch vehicle system, called Ares I-X, will bring NASA one step closer to its exploration goals. The flight test will provide NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I. You can follow the Ares I-X Twitter feed here.

This Ares Quarterly Progress Report, originally released to the public September 30, 2009, includes progress updates on:

-Development Motor 1 test firing

-J-2X component manufacturing

-Upper stage manufacturing facilities and tooling

-Ares I-X vehicle stacking

More Chinese Fakery

China touts success of space launch before takeoff
"A nice little story hit the Web Thursday talking up China's long-awaited space mission and even including detailed dialogue between the astronauts, according to the Associated Press. Only problem was that the spacecraft hadn't even left the ground at the time the story came out..."

China just launched a manned mission, and the scripted coverage of an "in flight report" was released before it ever happened. Are the people in charge of checking ages of Chinese Olympic athletes also in charge of the space program? Maybe. The Chinese Space Program IS a subsidiary of the Red Army.

As Controversial as the Olympics? Fake Mission Coverage.

Total Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Total Lunar Eclipse Space.com
"...The moon will enter Earth's umbral shadow (the full shadow) at 8:43 p.m. ET (that's 7:43 p.m. Central, 6:43 p.m. Mountain and 5:43 p.m. Pacific) on Wednesday, Feb. 20. It will appear as though an ever-larger bite is being taken out of the moon.
Some 78 minutes later, the moon will slip into full eclipse. About 51 minutes later, a bright scallop will appear as the moon starts emerging. It will be completely out of the umbral shadow at 9:09 p.m. Pacific time, which is 12:09 a.m. ET on Thursday morning..."

This will be the last total lunar eclipse until 2010.
The view above was from my backyard GardenCam.

Chinese Space Race

China's military has long harbored ambitions of dominating space, as last year's satellite-targeting exercise showed. Now comes news that Chinese engineers may be much further along than previously thought in achieving one of their major goals: building a military space plane....

...At a minimum, Washington should delay the planned 2010 retirement of the Space Shuttle until a new space plane can replace it, as a way to retain a deterring potential military capability. China's unwillingness to comment on its military space plans, coupled with the Shenlong space plane, confirms its larger aversion to military transparency. The U.S. and its allies have little choice but to develop the capabilities to defend their interests and assets in space.

I agree with the author, Mr. Richard Fisher, Jr. about this. The American shuttle fleet should not be retired before a replacement is in place. Some may claim that the shuttles are relics, but for now, NASA's shuttle program is the best method we have to put astronauts and heavy cargo into near earth orbit.

Read...
"...And Races Into Space," from Wall Street Journal Asia
and more...
"Shenlong Space Plane Advances China’s Military Space Potential"

2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test

Space attack will force US to rethink tactics with spy in the sky satellites

Astronaut commercials

Just some Sunday YouTube humor.


So fired.


Find the way.

Sky watch

The clear sky Wednesday evening made for a wonderful view of the ISS and Shuttle orbital pass. With the Shuttle Atlantis about 90 miles behind the ISS, it appeared to be chasing the station across the sky. The addition of the new solar arrays during this mission has amplified the brightness of the ISS substantially. The view of the two fast moving objects only lasted about 3 minutes, but it was fascinating to watch. With some small binoculars, I could actually make out a fuzzy, general shape of the station's solar trusses, but not so much with the shuttle. I watched most of it without the binoculars, because the view of the 2 manned spacecraft streaking through the dark, star filled sky together was inspiring.
There is another viewing opportunity over Decatur tonight, but we may have clouds obscure the event. Maybe the predicted rain will hold off until late.

ISS / Atlantis
Thu Jun 21/10:13 PM
Tonight, there will be about 2-3 minutes of sighting opportunity beginning at 10:13 PM.
The ISS will appear first, rising from 11 degrees above West, and it will remain visible across the sky until about 22 degrees above SW.
The shuttle, since today's landing was scrubbed, will also be visible again tonight, chasing the station across the same trajectory.
If you get a chance to watch this tonight, weather cooperating, enjoy.