NASA is pretty renowned for screw ups that only it can manage to pull off and after re-recording on the moon landing tapes its reputation has been on a one way trip down the spiral. With the International Space Station (ISS) in eternal need of repairs and pare parts and the space shuttles at NASA’s disposal only operation for another year or so, it is now pretty desperate to launch the Atlantis into orbit on the scheduled Monday afternoon.

Atlantis will carry a cargo weighing 27,000 pounds that include spare parts a couple of refurbished gyroscopes, pumps, tanks for ammonia and nitrogen and a piece called the “trailing umbilical system reel assembly” for the railway system that moves the station’s robotic arm. (Yup, it is almost as if they are building the whole thing again!)

Atlantis will not just carry a heavy payload but will also bring back to earth a balky toilet system that recycles urine into drinkable water. Apparently there is more than enough water for the guys up there at the moment! The 11-day mission is commanded by Col. Charles O. Hobaugh of the Marines, and the pilot is Capt. Barry E. Wilmore of the Navy and if all goes to plan then NASA will be pretty relieved as time is running out quickly for their space shuttles.

Nytimes

Japan has successfully tested the state of the art unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), that has been developed to supply essential items to the International Space Station (ISS). The test was completed when the autonomous vehicle re-entered earth’s atmosphere heating the vehicle surface at 2000 degrees centigrade.

The H-II Transfer Vehicle is a disposable craft that can be launched from a space launch pad or a space port and ferry supplies to the space station. The test involved successful docking and release of the experimental delivery vehicle. As per the reports, the H-II docked with the ISS and was later undocked with the help of a robotic arm stationed at the space station.

The next flight of the HTV, that is scheduled for the year 2010, will comprise of cargo weighing upto 4.5 metric tons in the upper compartment of the craft and another separate cargo of 1.5 tons in the middle unpressurized section of the HTV. However, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has indicated the scheduled launch of the H-II Transfer Vehicle could very well be delayed as, due to the sometimes unpredictable change in ISS workings.

The successful test run of the H-II Transfer Vehicle has given its manufacturer, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation the capability of handling a $66 million project, under which the company will provide Proximity Link System (PLS) components to the Orbital Sciences Corporation. These essential PLS components are crucial Cygnus Spacecraft, that has been designated with the responsibility of re-supplying the International Space Station during its operational tenure of 4 years, i.e. from 2010 to 2014.

Speaking on the successful launch of the H-II Transfer Vehicle, Koji Yamanaka (Flight Director, HTV) said,

“We have learned a great deal from this mission, such as procedures involved in space cooperation and the fact that we can build a safe spacecraft that can be entered by astronauts in space.”

Via Aviation Week.

The Ares I-X prototype rocket, that is considered to be one of the biggest accomplishments of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) finally took off from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad after multiple weather delays. The Ares I-X rocket is expected to be the much awaited replacement for NASA’s space shuttle program and with its launch, the launch pad wrote a new piece of history in its books, as the pad had never launched any other space vehicle, besides the space shuttles in the year 1981.

The launch of the brand new prototype rocket took place at 11 a.m local time and the vehicle cleared the launch pad without any undesired events. The first stage of the Ares I-X rocket was initiated after two minutes of flight time, when the rocket separated itself with the fuel tank at an altitude of 25 miles. As this was a prototype, the Ares I-X rocket did not have a second stage, but according to NASA scientists, the actual version, will indeed be comprised of second stage engine, that will propel the rocket capsule carrying for astronauts into space and rendezvous with the international space station.

The Ares I-X rocket test flight was comprised on 700 on board sensors, that had been embedded in the vehicle for the scientists to gain crucial and valuable flight data, enabling them to make necessary corrections to the actual rocket. The entire test flight has been estimated to have a price tag of $445 million.

The initial time scheduled for the test flight was yesterday, but due to continuous bad weather, NASA had to delay the launch. What worried the scientists even more about the weather conditions was the danger of loss of communications with the spacecraft. As this was a whole new design and completely different from the space shuttles, the weather parameters were more strictly followed.

According to Jeffrey Hanley (Constellation Program, NASA) before the test launch, “

“As the rocket climbs its way through the atmosphere, what are the loads and the environment that it has to see? That’s what Ares I-X is going to inform us most about.”

Via New York Times.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA today unveiled a new rocket, named Ares 1, that has been designed for future space and moon missions, replacing the aging and the soon to be gone U.S space shuttle fleet.

The flight testing of the all new Ares-1 rocket is expected to commence from next week and is being closely monitored by the Obama administration. The Ares-1 rocket will be employed to ferry astronauts to and from space missions as well as being a transit vehicle for the International Space Station.

Apart from the Ares-1 rocket module, a presidential panel had also looked in other possible alternatives for launching the astronauts into the orbit. One of such alternatives involved the use of commercial launch vehicles, such as the Space Exploration Technology’s Falcon 9 rocket, that has been slated for a debut flight in the year 2010.

According to Bob Ess (Ares I-X Mission Manager, NASA), “It’s been a long time since NASA built a new vehicle. The whole purpose of this test is to get information so we understand and can correlate our computer models. From that, we learn how to use that data for the next launch vehicle.” NASA officials have are currently focusing on the new launch vehicle’s test flight, regardless of the fate of Ares X-1.

As per the schedule of the test flight, the Ares-1 rocket will take from     Cape Canaveral launch pad  and will be powered by solid fuel boosters, the same as used to power the space shuttles. There are more than 700 sensors placed all across the structure to relay crucial flight and statistical data to the ground control.

Via Reuters.

Exploring new frontiers and what lies beyond in space may not be fictional anymore but the endless difficulties associated with space exploring are just as real. One of these is the difficulty of refueling once a spacecraft has left the Earth’s atmosphere. Returning to Earth to refuel or finding a refueling station were the only possibilities earlier and this had posed to be a problem. Space company Ad Astra has developed a refueling process that could alleviate these problems.

Ad Astra which was started by ex-NASA employee Franklin Chang-Diaz has developed a plasma rocket which uses an electric power source to ionize hydrogen or helium instead of burning liquid or solid chemical propellants. The heated plasma is directed with magnetic fields to decide the direction of thrust. Use of hydrogen makes it possible for the rocket to be refueled nearly anywhere in the solar system and it would also shield against radiation in case of manned aircrafts.

The first prototype plasma rocket VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket) made the desired target of 200kw of power on a flight last week and the launch of a flight-capable version has been set for 2013 from the International Space Station.

Via: PopSci

There is absolutely no denying the fact that an astronaut’s job is not at all rosy. The amount of hardships an astronaut endures in the space station is perhaps beyond a layman’s imagination. Nevertheless, it appears to be very fascinating to many of us. The European Space Agency (ESA) has created a wearable augmented reality system, which is dubbed as “WEAR” in short.

This has been especially designed to use in the ISS (International Space Station), and it is able to overlay the names, purposes and instructions for items in the ISS.This makes the life easier for astronauts as the device allows hands-free and voice activation of these items in the space station.

The device comes with a camera, which is placed on top, and it captures what the astronaut looks at and then maps to the 3D map of the spaceship. As of now, the device has been successfully tested in the ISS. An astronaut used it to change an air filter and it showed positive results. I wonder what the next application will be that astronauts may be interested in upgrading.

Via: TechChee

That sounds pretty disgusting when you think about it, even though we are saying that the urine will be recycled! Irrespective of your personal tastes and fancy for delicacies, if you want to be a part of the crew that constantly keeps the International Space Station in shape and gets a fabulous view of the Earth and the vast cosmos, then you will have to get used to slight taste of Iodine in your water. But when you ask the people who have tasted the water from recycled urine on ISS, they will tell you that it tastes just fine.

Until now, space shuttle programs that constantly visit the space center have been carrying water with them, but that luxury will cease from 2010 and astronauts will have to recycle their own urine and drink it the next day. The system though produces pure water and is not at all as disgusting as it sounds. The technique of purification has been successful on earth and now will have to be fully tested in zero gravity for final approval.

The new technique of recycling allows the space station to be largely self sufficient and with the way fresh water resources are dwindling across the globe, the same process might hit our homes in a couple of generations’ time. Look, if you are putting me in space, keeping me there for several months on your own money and giving me that awesome trip of ‘once in a lifetime’, then I have absolutely no problem drinking from recycled urine. Sign me up NASA!

Via: cnet