Astronotes: December 26, 2004 - January 8, 2005

January 6

Private Rocket Liftoff Pushed to March

The launch debut of the Falcon 1 private rocket is now slipping into March.

Falcon 1 has been designed and built by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of El Segundo, California. To be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the booster is bankrolled by entrepreneur, Elon Musk, who serves as the group's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer.

More waiting for long-awaited liftoff of Falcon 1 Credit: SpaceX

"We are trying to get launched as soon as we safely and reliably can," said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX Vice president of Business Development. "The 'no sooner than' date is March 2," she told SPACE.com, "but the range is busy with two other launches in that same timeframe. So it is by no means an official date."

Shotwell said the long pole in getting Falcon 1 off the ground is engine testing. A full vehicle hold down firing on the launch pad as a final verification is still ahead, as is integration of rocket with the TacSat-1 microsatellite, built by the Naval Research Laboratory.

-- Leonard David

January 5

NASA Extends Mission for Rain-Watching Spacecraft

A trusty NASA satellite that has kept close watch on the Earth's tropical rainfall patterns will continue its mission through 2005, space agency officials said. NASA agreed to keep the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft alive at the behest of a National Academy of Sciences committee, which strongly recommended the satellite remain operational until decommission was unavoidable, a NASA report said. Data from the TRMM spacecraft has been used by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies to measure rainfall in tropical regions and develop better storm and rain predictions, as well as weather forecasts. Originally built for a three-year mission and launched in 1997, the TRMM satellite is already operating well beyond its design lifetime. In 2000, the spacecraft received a four-year mission extension after which time NASA and its mission partner the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency planned to deorbit the spacecraft. A second mission extension was granted last fall for NOAA and allowed weather researchers to use the TRMM spacecraft to study the very active hurricane season, researchers said. -- SPACE.com Staff

January 3

NASA's FUSE Spacecraft Starts New Year in Woe

A "significant anomaly" has forced NASA's FUSE spacecraft to suspend all science operations until flight controllers can work through the problem, according to a mission status report. Mission managers are still investigating why one of the two remaining reaction control wheels aboard FUSE, short for Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, stalled on Dec. 27 and kicked the space observatory into safe mode. The wheel is responsible for managing FUSE's roll axis orientation. "This is not how we wanted to start 2005," said William Blair, FUSE Chief of Observatory Operations at Johns Hopkins University, in a Jan. 3 status report. "It will take time to develop and test workarounds and to understand what our observing capabilities will be in the future." While researchers work to restart the stalled reaction wheel, FUSE's solar panels remain pointed at the Sun to provide constant power, researchers said. Of the four reaction wheels used to position the spacecraft, two failed in 2001 and stalled science operations for eight weeks while flight controllers developed a software patch to make do without the missing wheels. Launched in 1999, FUSE observes the short wavelengths of far ultraviolet light emanating from galaxies, interstellar gas clouds and other astronomical objects. --- Tariq Malik

January 2

Meteor Shower Peaks Before Dawn Monday

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks before dawn Monday, Jan. 3. The best areas to see the shooting stars will be from western parts of North America.

The shower will peak at around 7:20 a.m. ET (4:20 a.m. PT), according to the NASA-run website Spaceweather.com. Westerners with clear and dark skies could see dozens or even perhaps more than a hundred meteors per hour.

Rates will be significantly less in cities and suburbs where local light pollution drowns out fainter stars and meteors. The highest rates could come in short bursts, meaning that a rate of dozens of meteors per hour might last for several minutes or less, followed by gaps of reduced activity.

The shower is caused by an asteroid-like object catalogued as 2003 EH1. It is thought to be a chunk that broke off a comet centuries ago. Earth moves through the debris stream quickly, so nights before and after the predicted peak typically prove uneventful.

The meteors could appear anywhere in the sky, but traced back each will appear to emanate from a point in the northeast sky. Viewer's should dress warm, allow 15 minutes to adjust to the darkness, and find a location that allows scanning of a broad region of the sky.

• Meteor Watching Tips

-- Robert Roy Britt

December 31 

CalTech and JPL Go Mecha for Rose Parade

A towering robot will hit the streets of Pasadena, California Saturday, belching smoke and watching puny humans with its head-mounted camera. But don't worry, this robot - like Voltron - comes in peace. Covered in flowers, seeds and other natural materials, the 50-foot (15-meter) mecha is actually a parade float to participate in the 2005 Rose Parade. It was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to celebrate the success of nine robotic space missions managed by JPL for the space agency. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Dubbed "Family of Explorers," the robot float features models of NASA's Cassini orbiter to Saturn, the Stardust comet sample return spacecraft, the Spitzer Space Telescope and the GRACE gravity probe attached to its arms and legs. Also spotlighted are the Genesis solar wind sample return probe, Jason oceanography satellite and Galaxy Evolution Explorer spacecraft. But the robot stands tall on the shoulders of NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) Spirit and Opportunity, which serve as skates for the entire mecha-flower droid. With animated motion, strobe flights, fake rockets that spew smoke and a head-mounted camera that should provide live views of the parade during the event, the "Family of Explorers" float was designed by Raul Rodriguez and decorated by hundreds of volunteers from JPL, Caltech, local high school students and their families and friends. The Rose Parade begins at 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) on Jan. 1, 2005, though it will be 8:00 a.m. PST in Pasadena. Views from the float's head camera will be broadcast live on the Internet during the parade and can be accessed by clicking here. -- SPACE.com Staff

December 29

Robot Inspector: Idea has Legs

While there's on-going debate about robotic versus the human touch in servicing the Hubble Space Telescope, those working on NASA's "Vision for Space Exploration initiative" are steadfast in their push for androids to play pivotal roles.

NASA has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation contract money to develop an insect-like robot to inspect and repair spacecraft exteriors. The idea has legs. That is, this bolted together beast of burden would autonomously examine and take care of spacecraft exteriors.

The proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) - NASA's dream machine for dispatching humans beyond low Earth orbit - would be a candidate for the robotic maid service. The six-legged robot would improve astronaut safety by lessening human spacewalk time, freeing space travelers to perform more exacting and beneficial work.

Artist's concept shows six-legged robot from various perspectives. This android would help reduce time-consuming and dangerous human spacewalking duties. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The CEV is one element of NASA's Project Constellation Moon, Mars, and beyond program.

By evolving this key technology it "will help NASA reach its goal of implementing an integrated space exploration architecture that's technically achievable, logistically supportable and economically sustainable well into the future," said Doug Young, Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems' director of space systems and corporate lead executive for Project Constellation.

-- Leonard David

December 27

Plug-and-Play Moon Base

NASA has selected a set of ideas from the Northrop Grumman Corporation to help push forward human and robotic technologies as part of the space agency's "Moon, Mars, and beyond" agenda.

On auto-pilot, this Moon Base would be assembled and checked out prior to human arrival. Credit: Northrop Grumman

Spread out over the next four years, work assignments by Northrop Grumman engineers include a six-legged insect-like robot that would inspect and maintain exteriors of spacecraft, reducing human spacewalk duties.

The firm will also develop a restowable, heat-resistant "skirt" that deploys around a spacecraft just before reentry. In addition, an engine that uses fuel produced on the Moon is on the company's to-do list, for use on a "space ferry" that pushes people and cargo between the lunar surface and lunar orbit.

Another task is to develop ways to autonomously check out the integrity of space hardware prior to human occupation. This concept would allow "intelligent modular systems" to be assembled, disassembled, or reconfigured to create plug-and-play habitats on the Moon that would have the welcome light already on prior to crew arrival.

-- Leonard David

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