The preflight test layers of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope sunshield are meeting expected performance targets during tests by engineers at Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC). The company is under contract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for the design and development of Webb's sunshield, telescope and spacecraft.

One of the most important test milestones was successfully met for template layer five of the tennis-court-sized sunshield that keeps the telescope cold so it can image faint infrared light. Using a laser tracking instrument and a laser radar unit, engineers carefully measured the 3-D shape of the tensioned test layer in two different orientations: face up and rotated 180 degrees so it was face down. They then compared the measurements to an analytical model that predicted how the ultra-thin material will behave in an environment close to zero gravity.

"The as-built and measured membrane was within .36 inches Root-Mean-Squared of the 3-D shape the model predicted, over an area as large as a tennis court, which is remarkable," explained Jim Flynn, Webb sunshield manager, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "Our teammate, ManTech International, has done an outstanding job in sunshield fabrication and test. This result validates our ability to manufacture the sunshield layers to meet extremely demanding performance standards."

The sunshield membrane layers, each as thin as a human hair, are made of Kapton, a tough, high-performance plastic coated with a reflective metal. On-orbit the observatory will be pointed so that the sun, Earth and moon are always on one side, with the sunshield acting as an umbrella to shade the telescope (the mirrors and instruments) from the heat of the sun and warm spacecraft electronics. The sunshield passively cools the telescope to a temperature of -375 degrees F, which is needed to prevent the observatory's own heat from "blinding" its infrared sensing instruments.

Template layer five is the coldest layer, has the most curved shape and is closest to Webb's 21 ft. diameter primary mirror. Each sunshield layer has a slightly different 3-D shape, much like the petals of a flower. Each layer will be individually shape-tested to verify its performance on orbit. Shape testing is also under way for two of four template sunshield covers. These covers are coated with silicon to reduce launch and ascent temperatures and protect the folded sunshield layers when they are stowed in the Ariane 5 rocket. Engineers are using the template or test layers to validate processes and performance before fabricating the flight sunshield layers.

Qualification testing was also completed on the gearmotors or actuators that drive the mechanisms that unfurl the sunshield layers while Webb travels to its orbit nearly 1 million miles from Earth. These gearmotors are subjected to tough tests to simulate the effects of extreme temperature changes, vibrations, operating loads and performance over the life of the unit. There are six motors: two drive the sunshield mid-boom telescoping tubes that unfurl the sunshield horizontally out into space; two drive the spooler that opens the two shells that hold the folded layers; and two are used to create the tension that holds the layers in place. Successful completion of qualification testing for the gearmotors demonstrates the engineering design and allows flight hardware manufacturing to proceed.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb will be the most powerful space telescope ever built, observing the most distant objects in the universe, providing images of the first galaxies ever formed and studying planets around distant stars. The Webb telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about the Webb telescope, visit: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

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Northrop Grumman-Built Sunshield on James Webb Space Telescope Meets Fabrication and Test Milestones

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., June 27, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The preflight test layers of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope sunshield are meeting expected performance targets during tests by engineers at Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC). The company is under contract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for the design and development of Webb's sunshield, telescope and spacecraft.

One of the most important test milestones was successfully met for template layer five of the tennis-court-sized sunshield that keeps the telescope cold so it can image faint infrared light. Using a laser tracking instrument and a laser radar unit, engineers carefully measured the 3-D shape of the tensioned test layer in two different orientations: face up and rotated 180 degrees so it was face down. They then compared the measurements to an analytical model that predicted how the ultra-thin material will behave in an environment close to zero gravity.

"The as-built and measured membrane was within .36 inches Root-Mean-Squared of the 3-D shape the model predicted, over an area as large as a tennis court, which is remarkable," explained Jim Flynn, Webb sunshield manager, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "Our teammate, ManTech International, has done an outstanding job in sunshield fabrication and test. This result validates our ability to manufacture the sunshield layers to meet extremely demanding performance standards."

The sunshield membrane layers, each as thin as a human hair, are made of Kapton, a tough, high-performance plastic coated with a reflective metal. On-orbit the observatory will be pointed so that the sun, Earth and moon are always on one side, with the sunshield acting as an umbrella to shade the telescope (the mirrors and instruments) from the heat of the sun and warm spacecraft electronics. The sunshield passively cools the telescope to a temperature of -375 degrees F, which is needed to prevent the observatory's own heat from "blinding" its infrared sensing instruments.

Template layer five is the coldest layer, has the most curved shape and is closest to Webb's 21 ft. diameter primary mirror. Each sunshield layer has a slightly different 3-D shape, much like the petals of a flower. Each layer will be individually shape-tested to verify its performance on orbit. Shape testing is also under way for two of four template sunshield covers. These covers are coated with silicon to reduce launch and ascent temperatures and protect the folded sunshield layers when they are stowed in the Ariane 5 rocket. Engineers are using the template or test layers to validate processes and performance before fabricating the flight sunshield layers.

Qualification testing was also completed on the gearmotors or actuators that drive the mechanisms that unfurl the sunshield layers while Webb travels to its orbit nearly 1 million miles from Earth. These gearmotors are subjected to tough tests to simulate the effects of extreme temperature changes, vibrations, operating loads and performance over the life of the unit. There are six motors: two drive the sunshield mid-boom telescoping tubes that unfurl the sunshield horizontally out into space; two drive the spooler that opens the two shells that hold the folded layers; and two are used to create the tension that holds the layers in place. Successful completion of qualification testing for the gearmotors demonstrates the engineering design and allows flight hardware manufacturing to proceed.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb will be the most powerful space telescope ever built, observing the most distant objects in the universe, providing images of the first galaxies ever formed and studying planets around distant stars. The Webb telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about the Webb telescope, visit: http://www.jwst.nasa.gov.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit http://www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

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Northrop Grumman-Built Sunshield on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Meets Fabrication and Test Milestones, Makes ...

ASU Dust Devil research team members (left to right) Pye Pye Zaw, Emily McBryan and Dani Hoots hold on during a flight of a modified jet that simulates space flight by creating low-gravity conditions. The team participated in a NASA flight program that provided students opportunities to perform scientific experiments requiring microgravity conditions. Photo by: Courtesy of NASA

Six Arizona State University students spent a week in June conducting airborne research in low gravity under the guidance of scientists and engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Theyre members of the ASU Dust Devils, one of 14 teams of students from universities throughout the United States selected from among more than 60 teams that applied to do experiments as part of NASAs Reduced Gravity Educational Flight Program.

Each of the teams projects required performing experiments in low gravity or microgravity conditions. The work was done during flights in a modified Boeing 727-200 jet used to train astronauts that is capable of creating microgravity conditions. The aircraft is sometimes called the Weightless Wonder.

Microgravity is the extremely weak gravitational force that is experienced, for example, by people in a spacecraft orbiting the Earth, enabling them to become virtually weightless and to float inside a spacecraft.

Students from the University of Southern California, Yale University, Purdue University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Virginia Polytechnic University and the University of Washington were on some of the other teams conducting the microgravity research.

From dust to solar systems

In flights over the Gulf of Mexico, the Dust Devils were looking at dust electrification and coagulation how dust particles clump together and bond in low-gravity environments.

Understanding the ways in which dust particles stick together could be important in revealing the fundamental process that allows solar systems and planets to form, says Dust Devils member Amy Kaczmarowski, who graduated in the spring with a degree in aerospace engineering from ASUs Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

The team varied the size and composition of dust particles placed inside 12 vacuum chambers containing different combinations of particles of three materials silica, aluminum and a material believed to be similar to dust on the surface of Mars.

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Adventures in microgravity: Students experiment in simulated space-flight conditions

Public release date: 26-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rob Gutro Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov 443-858-1779 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Nearly half of the United States' airborne fire suppression equipment was operating over Colorado on June 25, 2012, CNN reported, as tens of thousands of acres burned. Fires raged in southwestern Colorado, northeastern Colorado, and multiple locations in between.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on June 23, 2012. Red outlines approximate the locations of actively burning fires. The High Park and Weber Fires produced the largest plumes of smoke.

The High Park Fire continued to burn west of Fort Collins. Started by lightning on June 9, 2012, this blaze had consumed 83,205 acres (33,672 hectares), making it the second-largest fire in Colorado history, after the Hayman Fire that burned in 2002. As of June 25, more than 2,000 people were fighting the High Park Fire, and firefighters had it 45 percent contained, according to InciWeb. Nevertheless, The Denver Post reported that the fire had destroyed 248 homes, making it the most destructive in Colorado history, even if it was not the largest.

In the opposite corner of the state, the Weber Fire started around 4:15 p.m. on June 22. As of June 25, the fire had burned approximately 8,300 acres (3,400 hectares) and was being fought by 164 personnel. The cause was under investigation. The fire had high growth potential because of possible wind gusts from thunderstorms, InciWeb reported. On the other side of Durango, the Little Sand Fire had been burning for weeks after being started by a lightning strike on May 13. As of June 25, that fire had burned 21,616 acres (8,748 hectares), was being fought by nearly 200 people, and was 31 percent contained.

West of Colorado Springs, the Waldo Canyon Fire forced 11,000 people from their homes, many of them compelled to evacuate in the middle of the night on June 23. The fire started around noon on June 23, and by June 25 it had grown to 3,446 acres (1,395 hectares). InciWeb stated that 450 firefighters were battling the blaze, which retained the potential for rapid growth.

The Woodland Heights Fire just west of Estes Park was small but very destructive, consuming 27 acres (11 hectares) and destroying 22 homes, Denver's Channel 7 News reported. That fire was completely contained by the evening of June 24.

As fires burned, Colorado also coped with extreme heat. The Denver Post reported that Denver endured triple-digit temperatures June 22 through 24, and the National Weather Service forecast temperatures of at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) for June 25 and 26, with temperatures in the upper 90s through June 29.

Colorado's fires have followed a dry spring. Although the state experienced unusually heavy snow in February, little snow followed in March and April, part of a larger pattern of low snowfall. By June 19, 2012, conditions throughout the state ranged from unusually dry to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

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NASA satellites see wildfires across Colorado

On Sunday, three Chinese astronauts manually docked their craft with the Tiangong 1 space module, which is due to be replaced by a permanent space station around 2020.

Yes, China is just repeating achievements weve already pulled off but the United States cant even launch its own astronauts these days. So the news confirms what analysts have warned about for years: America is steadily losing the race for space.

The implications are huge, especially for our national security.

Chinas equivalent of NASA isnt about scientific research or space rides; its an arm of the Peoples Liberation Army. So, while the Obama administration has largely ceded leadership in space flight to Russia and private firms like Space X, China is gearing for something that will give the phrase Star Wars a whole new meaning.

AP

Another advance: Chinas first woman in space, Lin Yang, 34, was one of the astronauts on the docking mission.

Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess of the Pentagons Defense Intelligence Agency, warns that Chinas real goal is to find ways to deny or degrade the space assets of potential adversaries like the United States, while building up their own military capabilities, including beyond the Earths atmosphere.

In that sense, the space-docking exercise is just one more landmark in an anti-satellite warfare program thats been aimed at us since 2007, when China successfully tested its first satellite-killing ballistic missile.

Then, in January 2011, it sent up a highly sophisticated out-of-the-atmosphere kinetic kill vehicle (or KKV). The Chinese said it was for anti-missile defense. Others, including in the Pentagon, noted that it would work well for shooting down satellites, too. Ian Easton, researcher at a Washington think tank that tracks Chinese military trends, said then, The implications of this test are potentially huge in expanding Chinas ability to render our satellite-based Global Positioning System useless.

GPS works by transmitting signals from satellites to receivers on earth, which then automatically coordinate signals from several satellites to give the user information on his location, speed, bearing and more. The more satellites, the more exact the data.

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China’s race to space

The NASA team at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans has completed the final weld on the first space-bound Orion capsule. The Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) Orion will be shipped to the Kennedy Space Center for final assembly and checkout operations.

The EFT-1 flight will take Orion to an altitude of more than 3,600 miles, more than 15 times farther away from Earth than the International Space Station. Orion will return home at a speed of 25,000 miles, almost 5,000 miles per hour faster than any human spacecraft. It will mimic the return conditions that astronauts experience as they come home from voyages beyond low Earth orbit. As Orion reenters the atmosphere, it will endure temperatures up to 4,000 degrees F., higher than any human spacecraft since astronauts returned from the moon.

Image Credit: NASA/Eric Bordelon. Larger image.

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Photo: Readying Orion for Flight

If Wile E. Coyote had one of these rocket engines strapped to his back, he might just have caught that pesky Roadrunner. Alas for the cartoon critter, SpaceX and not ACME devised the Merlin 1D, which the commercial spaceflight company is billing as the most efficient booster rocket engine ever built.

Luckily for us, there's footage of the Merlin 1D test firing for 185 seconds at the SpaceX rocket development facility in MacGregor, Texas (see video below) and it's anything but a cartoon. The rocket engine is an upgrade of the Merlin 1C boosters that have lifted three SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets carrying Dragon capsules into space, including last month's successful and history-making rendezvous with the International Space Station.

This week's test firing of the Merlin 1D generated 147,000 pounds of thrust, "the full duration and power required for a Falcon 9 rocket launch," according to DiscoveryNews.

The next generation of Falcon 9 rockets will be powered by nine Merlin 1D engines that can generated about 1.5 million pounds of thrust during launch, the site reported.

"This is another important milestone in our efforts to push the boundaries of space technology. With the Merlin 1D powering the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, SpaceX will be capable of carrying a full range of payloads to orbit," SpaceX co-founder and chief executive Elon Musk said in a statement after the engine test.

In May, SpaceX became the first commercial company to send a spacecraft on a docking mission to the ISS. Nine Merlin 1C engines sent the company's Dragon capsule on its way on May 22 following an aborted launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on May 19.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule, carrying about 1,200 pounds of supplies for the ISS crew, was captured by space station's Expedition crew on May 25 following a journey that took three days, six hours, and change. The spacecraft departed the space lab, de-orbited and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on May 31.

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Video: SpaceX Fires Up New Merlin 1D Rocket Engine

Public release date: 26-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rob Gutro Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov 443-858-1779 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Tropical Storm Debby continues to be a big rainmaker in Florida and southern Georgia and NASA's TRMM satellite has measured those rainfall rates from space, showing where heavy rain has fallen.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite is basically a flying rain gauge in space. Scientists use TRMM data to calculate rainfall rates and rain totals from space. TRMM imagery from June 25 showed Debby's heaviest rains were falling at a rate of over 2 inches (50 mm) per hour, and to the southeast of the center.

Debby has been a huge rainmaker. For example, Debby dumped nearly 7 inches of rain on Gainesville Sunday, June 24. That was Gainsville's second highest one day total. Numerous other reports of between 6 and 10 inches of rain have already been reported as a result of Debby.

Debby's Status Today:

Today, June 25, 2012, a tropical storm warning is in effect for the Florida Gulf coast from Mexico Beach to Englewood. At 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC), Debby had maximum sustained winds near 45 mph (75 kmh). It was still centered in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, about 85 miles (140 km) west of Cedar Key, near 28.9 north latitude and 84.5 west longitude. The estimated minimum central pressure is 991 millibars. Debby is slowly moving toward the east near 3 mph (6 kmh) and is expected to move east-northeastward in the next couple of days, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). NHC forecasters note that Debby's center will weaken to a depression while moving over northern Florida in the next day or two.

Debby's History:

Tropical Storm Debby formed on the 23rd of June 2012 in the central Gulf of Mexico, becoming the earliest 4th named storm on record. Debby began as an area of low pressure that moved out of the northwestern Caribbean and into the Gulf. After forming on the afternoon of the 23rd, Debby has moved very slowly under the influence of weak steering currents.

Debby drifted ever so slowly northward on the night of the 23rd before turning northeast later on the morning of the 24th towards the northeast Gulf Coast of Florida. Despite its slow forward progress and lack of intensification, Debby has already lashed Florida with heavy rain as well as tornadoes.

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NASA measuring Tropical Storm Debby's heavy rains from space

Suborbital space travel is on the verge of a renaissance, experts say, with short jaunts to the edge of space becoming more popular for research and soon to be available to tourists.

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Suborbital Space Ready to Take Flight, Experts Say

Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams, 46, is heading back to space on another scientific expedition. The first female astronaut to hold the longest space flight record is all set to return to the international space station.

She will be aboardthe Soyuz TMA-05Mspacecraft along with two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko and Akihiko Hoshide, on 14 July 2012. The spacecraft is scheduled to take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

"I'm just looking forward to seeing the full capability of the space station. It's an experiment, not only the things that we're doing inside but also all the engineering that has gone into allowing us to dock new vehicles, do space walks, Russian and US. So, it's a pretty complicated vehicle now and I'm looking forward to being part of it," the Times of India quoted Sunita Williams as saying.

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In 2006, Sunita Williams worked and lived in the International Space Station for six months.

Sunita will work as a flight engineer on the station's Expedition 32 crew and become commander of Expedition 33 on reaching the space station, according to a DNA report.

Once she and her crew members reach the international space station, they will do some experiments in the ISS apart from two spacewalks.The astronauts are also planning to conduct an orbital sporting event to mark the Olympics.

"We'll be growing some small fishes called 'medaka' in Japanese, and we've done that in the past on the shuttle mission, but this time it's going to be a longer mission, and the objective is by using the 'medaka', looking at bone losses and muscle loss and that would help us understand more about human physiology in microgravity," a Chinese television,NTDquoted Akihiko Hoshide, astronaut from Japan, as saying.

"Sprint' is an experiment that's trying to optimise our exercise protocol on board and trying to understand if intense exercise will take the place of long exercise. And 'ICV' is 'integrated cardio-vascular'. It's a pretty complicated experiment, and from the name you can understand it's trying to understand what is happening with your heart on board," Sunita said.

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Sunita Williams Heading Back To Space in July

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The U.S. Space & Rocket Center's bus tours of Marshall Space Flight Center were shut down after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but are now set to resume, possibly as soon as July 15.

"Public bus tours of the NASA facilities were discontinued on Sept. 11, 2001," said John Dumoulin, Marshall's liaison to the space center. "We hope starting them again will help people better understand the critical work going on behind the gates at Redstone."

"We want to showcase the work that Marshall is doing," said Dr. Deborah Barnhart, the center's CEO and executive director.

Dumoulin said one stop on the tour will be at the International Space Station Payload Operations Center, which manages data coming to and from the space station. Another stop will be at the historic Redstone test stand, designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service as a National Historic Landmark.

The tour, which will take about an hour, will also pass the engines displayed in front of Marshall's main administrative building and the Propulsion Research Development Laboratory, as well as some Army facilities, including the Sparkman Center and the Von Braun Complex.

"There will be a tour guide on each bus to answer questions," Dumoulin said.

"We may add (to the tour) as we move forward," Barnhart said.

The center will use its three 48-passenger buses and a Handi-Ride van that's being donated to the center.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle has authorized the transfer of a surplus Handi-Ride van to the space center, said Huntsville Parking and Public Transit Director Tommy Brown. The transfer will be on the agenda for Thursday's Huntsville City Council meeting. If approved, "we'll be able to give (center officials) the title and keys" the following day, Brown said.

The van seats eight passengers and has two wheelchair tie downs to secure wheelchairs.

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U.S Space & Rocket Center's bus tours of Marshall Space Flight Center set to resume

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China re-affirmed its goal of building a full-fledged space station by 2020 on Sunday, following a successful manual docking between a manned spacecraft and an experimental orbiting lab module. "Mastery of rendezvous and docking technology is a decisive step towards realizing the goals of the second stage in the development of China's manned space flight program. It also ...

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China manned docking a key step for space station

A Kickstarter project will help you dress like you belong in space, even if you can't afford an actual ticket to suborbit.

This is an earlier generation of the space suit. The Kickstarter campaign aims to fund improvements.

The commercialization of space travel is well on its way. That means you can't just pop over to NASA and borrow a space suit for your private space flight, which leaves room for some upstarts to get in on the space-clothing action.

Can't afford the whole suit? Just get a helmet. (Click to enlarge.)

Final Frontier Design is working on a lightweight, relatively inexpensive space suit and is looking for $20,000 on Kickstarter to boost the project. The company has already built two generations of suits but is looking to improve the design with a retractable helmet, better gloves, a carbon fiber waist ring, and higher operating pressure.

These suits aren't meant for floating around outside your spacecraft; they're for indoor space use. Final Frontier likens it to safety backup in case of loss of cabin pressure when you're hanging out above the planet.

A ticket on Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceship will set you back $200,000. For just $10,000, you can get a Final Frontier space suit customized for your size. Put it on and pretend you're in space, or save it for when you finally do catch a suborbital ride.

If $10,000 for an outfit you might not get a chance to put through its paces is too much, lower pledge levels include $750 for Anti-G pants for zero gravity or $3,500 for a space suit helmet and tour of the Final Frontier studio.

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Buy a sweet space suit for $10,000

21-06-2012 23:54 NASA Public Affairs Office Dan Huot interviews Jill McGuire, the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) Project Manager at Goddard Space Flight Center, about the current RRM operation taking place outside the International Space Station. Questions? Ask us on Twitter @NASA_Johnson and include the hashtag #askStation. For the latest news about the space station, visit:

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ISS Update: Robotic Refueling Mission - Video

22-06-2012 06:16 Boeing has announced the successful de-orbit and landing of the second X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) for the US Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. The vehicle, built by Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems, just completed a 469-day mission. Designed to launch like a satellite and land like an airplane, the OTV-2 holds the record for the longest mission of a reusable space vehicle. To read more -

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The Boeing X-37B lands following 2nd Space Flight - Video

(SPACE.com) Two weeks after "landing" on top of the aircraft carrier-turned-Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, NASA's prototype space shuttle Enterprise is now underneath the inflatable canopy that will house its public display.

Enterprise was covered by the opaque-white fabric shelter on Tuesday (June 19) to protect it from exposure to the elements and to meet NASA's display requirements for a climate-controlled facility. The shuttle was hoisted onto the Intrepid's flight deck by crane on June 6.

The shelter was fully inflated Thursday morning (June 21), a spokesman for the Intrepid confirmed. Some final work configuring the canopy is still underway however, including the removal of scaffolding that supported the fabric being raised, which led to it being deflated again.

The Intrepid, which is docked on Manhattan's west side, is a retired World War II aircraft carrier used since 1982 to house aerospace and maritime exhibits.

The pressurized enclosure extends over Enterprise's tail, which tops out at 57 feet (17 meters) high, and beyond the shuttle's 78-foot (24-meter) wingspan. It occupies the rear of the Intrepid's flight deck with the shuttle's nose pointed out toward the Hudson River. [Photos: Shuttle Enterprise's Sea Trek to NYC Museum]

Enterprise's display is set to open to the public on July 19. The Intrepid's "Space Shuttle Pavilion" will be give visitors the chance to closely view and circle around the prototype winged orbiter. Enterprise never flew in space, but instead was used for a series of approach and landing tests in the late 1970s.

Experience Enterprise

"View space shuttle Enterprise up-close and learn about the history of the shuttle program," promotes a sign on the Intrepid's flight deck near where the pavilion is positioned. "Surrounding exhibits will explain technical achievements and touch on the people behind the technology."

The billboard further promises "dynamic images and video presentations" during "this amazing experience."

Tickets to tour the pavilion, which are on sale now, add $6 to the general admission fee for adults.

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Space shuttle encased in inflatable shelter in NYC

China flawlesslyexecuteda manned space flight. Now, imagine if the country put that same effort into improving the food supply.

In any given week, China is capable of dazzling the world with its achievements while simultaneously undermining such progress by disappointing its own people. This was that kind of a week.

By all accounts, it has been an historic week for China, laden with several firsts. Not only did Beijing successfully complete its first manned space docking mission, the mission carried along the first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang, a veteran air force pilot. For a Communist Party that has always held grandiose technological ambitions, this was an indisputable triumph. And it did so by reflecting the Maoist ideal of gender equality captured in the commonly recited phrase "women hold up half the sky." For President Hu Jintao, whose decadal reign saw a less harmonious society, he can at least claim credit for having engineered a "Kennedy moment" by decisively taking China into the majestic heavenly ether. It is true, however, that the moon-shot plan was hatched under the previous administration, but the space program's repeated successes registered under Hu's watch will surely define a central part of his political legacy.

Although China is a latecomer to the space game by about 40 years, the sense of rapturous wonder that once captivated Apollo mission audiences in the U.S. is palpable among the Chinese public today. The official press, predictably, issued paean after paean about the momentous launch. And like all initiatives grand in scale, its success serves as an occasion to rally around the flag and inspire patriotism. (Not to mention the effusive praise of the Communist Party's achievement conveniently takes the political transition and Bo Xilai off the front pages, for a while at least.) There is reason for China to be proud of the accomplishment precisely because the program, unlike the high-speed rail, was approached methodically and has a proven track record of success. Evan Osnos of the New Yorker puts it thusly

As the Chinese public and outside world marveled at the Shenzhou-9 liftoff -- inevitably inviting comparisons to the declining U.S. space program -- pride evaporated and gave way to the old cynicism as revelations within China came to light. It turns out that the astronauts have been feted with organic food from an exclusive farm that boasts free-range chickens and "sleek and glossy haired" cows that are hormone free, according to the Chinese newspaper Beijing News.

The exclusivity of said farm (pictured above) is not surprising. In fact, they are quite common. That is, if you are fortunate enough to be counted among the elites and officialdom who have access to such gourmet feasts. As Barbara Demick of the LA Times reported on this phenomenon last year:

At a glance, it is clear this is no run-of-the-mill farm: A 6-foot spiked fence hems the meticulously planted vegetables and security guards control a cantilevered gate that glides open only to select cars.

"It is for officials only. They produce organic vegetables, peppers, onions, beans, cauliflowers, but they don't sell to the public," said Li Xiuqin, 68, a lifelong Shunyi village resident who lives directly across the street from the farm but has never been inside. "Ordinary people can't go in there."

So much for a classless, egalitarian society -- only astronauts and cadres can avail themselves of secretive supplies of natural, wholesome food. But what's supplied to ordinary Chinese? Tainted milk and irradiated pork. It is precisely this sort of privilege, entitlement, and social stratification that rile the Chinese public. And with the middle class' growing anxiety over rampant food safety violations, the "organic astronaut farm" story took on added salience, especially when juxtaposed against the splashy and expensive space program. Why not spend the money on fixing the food supply? From infant milk powder to the aptly named "gutter oil," the credibility of authentic and unadulterated food is in shambles. There is reason to believe that the reality may be much worse than what has already been exposed, so claims Caixin magazine. There is simply too much opacity to grasp the true extent of the problem. Meanwhile, mainland mothers can trek to Hong Kong to buy legitimate infant formula, which many Hong Kong vendors seem to deliberately display in front of the store to attract mainland buyers.

For a country rightfully proud of its preeminent food culture -- a major source of its soft power -- these gastronomic malfeasance are socially and politically damaging. Of course food scandals and contamination aren't unique to China, but the potential scale and rampant violations put China in a different category. It is ironic that for a government perennially preoccupied with the ability to feed 1.3 billion mouths, it has made eating a riskier proposition. Eating holds a unique position in the Chinese psyche -- not least because many Chinese still recall a period of mass starvation. And so as a matter of public policy, the government's credibility on food is no trivial matter. At this point, it is not earning much credibility on this issue.

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Hu Jintao's Kennedy Moment

Tired of monstrously long flights to Europe? A new space-based global tracking system should shave flight times by opening up new routes, including paths that take advantage of quick-forming wind streams.

Appeasing grumpy passengers is just the beginning. Shorter flights also reduce fuel consumption, which in turn cut greenhouse gas emissions, say partners in a project to outfit 72 Iridium communications satellites with equipment to track airplanes worldwide.

"It's a quantum improvement over how we operate today," said John Crichton, president of Nav Canada, a private company that provides air traffic control services in Canada.

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Nav Canada intends to be the first customer for the new service, which will be offered by an Iridium spin-off company called Aireon. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is interested as well.

The project builds on the ongoing effort to upgrade aircraft tracking systems from radars to GPS satellite navigation signals.Currently however, only about 10 percent of the planet has the GPS receivers to pick up an aircraft's signals. That limits the routes airplanes can fly, particularly those crossing the oceans or flying over the planet's poles.

Iridium intends to put GPS receivers on all of its next-generation satellites. The network, which primarily is used for global mobile communications, will include 66 operational spacecraft and six orbiting spares. They are scheduled to be launched aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets beginning in 2015.

"There won't be any more blind spots anywhere in the world," said Iridium chief executive Matt Desch.

Project adviser Russ Chew, former Jet Blue Airways president and FAA operations manager, estimates the new system will save airlines between $6 billion and $8 billion over 12 years on their north Atlantic and north and central Pacific routes.

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Read the original:

Eyes in Space Could Shave Flight Times

Thu, Jun 21, 2012

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) has enlisted seven of the nation's top scientists to serve as team leaders in its efforts to protect astronaut health during long-duration spaceflight. Each of the scientists will lead one of NSBRI's seven discipline area research teams focused on specific challenges faced by humans in space.

"NSBRI's position at the forefront of space biomedical research will be enhanced with these outstanding scientists serving as team leaders," said Dr. Jeffrey P. Sutton, NSBRI president and CEO. "Their expertise and knowledge will be beneficial to the Institute, NASA and human spaceflight in general. They will play an instrumental role in our efforts to overcome health challenges facing humans while in space and to improve health care on Earth."

The team leaders are responsible for reporting on their teams' research projects and working closely with the NSBRI Science Office and NASA to ensure alignment with operational needs. The team leaders' term is for three years and they must also have a currently funded NSBRI research project.

The NSBRI teams address space health concerns such as bone loss and muscle weakening, balance and orientation problems, neurobehavioral and psychosocial problems, radiation exposure, remote medical care and research capabilities, and habitability and performance issues during spaceflight.

The team leaders and their institutions are:

Cardiovascular Alterations Team

NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration spaceflight and developing the medical technologies needed for long missions. NSBRI's science, technology and education projects take place at more than 60 institutions across the United States.

Link:

Seven Named As Research Team Leaders For Space Biomedical Institute

by JAKE WHITTENBERG / KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on June 21, 2012 at 8:45 AM

Updated today at 9:00 AM

For Geoff Nunn, Exhibit Developer at Seattles Museum of Flight, achieving his dream comes in small chunks.

Every week, new boxes arrive from NASA carrying pieces of the space shuttle trainer, the replica space shuttle that will soon be the newest exhibit at the museum.

Every box includes small pieces of the trainer that will need to be assembled like a giant erector set. Thats Nunns job.

Its a dream come true, said Nunn. As a boy he remembers growing up in Texas and taking tours of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. I got to see how the astronauts did it behind the scenes now I get to share my experiences with the public.

Right now, NASA is boxing up the final pieces in Houston. For the past 30 years, the full replica shuttle has been used to train astronauts before flying into space.

Everything is exact, all the way down to the table cloths, says Nunn.

Continued here:

Space shuttle trainer boxed up for flight to Seattle