GMCstream: Commercial Space Flight Federation
Federation interview Michael Lopez-Algeria, FMR President, Commercial Space Flight Federation and astronaut; a veteran of three NASA Space Shuttle missions a...

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GMCstream: Commercial Space Flight Federation - Video

14 hours ago James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Northrop Grumman

Key science elements of the James Webb Space Telescope have been upgraded ahead of the observatory's launch in 2018.

The telescope, also known as JWST, is a joint project of NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency. It carries a 6.5 m-diameter telescope and four state-of-the-art science instruments optimised for infrared observations. Europe has led the development of two of the instruments.

As a general-purpose observatory, it will tackle a wide range of topics, including detecting the first galaxies in the Universe and following their evolution over cosmic time, witnessing the birth of new stars and their planetary systems, and studying planets in our Solar System and around other stars.

Installation of the four instruments in the telescope's Integrated Science Instrument Module, or ISIM, was completed last April. Since then, the module has undergone extensive testing to ensure it can withstand the stresses of launch and operation in space.

A critical part of this process saw the instruments complete cryogenic testing in a round-the-clock campaign running for 116 days last summer.

Following the campaign, several months were dedicated to replacing key components of some of the instruments already known to require additional work before the next stages.

Europe's 'NIRSpec', the near-infrared multi-object spectrograph, was one of the instruments upgraded. NIRSpec will split infrared light from distant stars and galaxies into its colour components a spectrum providing scientists with vital information on their chemical composition, age and distance.

The first generation of JWST's highly sensitive near-infrared detectors were found to suffer from a design flaw that resulted in a progressive degradation of their performance. New detectors have now been installed in all three near-infrared instruments.

"Excellent detectors are crucial to the outstanding instrument performance needed when you want to look at the extremely distant and faint early stars and galaxies that formed when our Universe was still young, and the new detectors secure this top priority of NIRSpec and JWST," says Pierre Ferruit, ESA's JWST project scientist.

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Improved vision for James Webb Space Telescope

first image from NASA's instrument provides a profile of the atmosphere above Africa

IMAGE:This cross-section of the atmosphere over Africa shows clouds, dust and smoke from fires, as well as topography returned by the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) instrument aboard the International Space... view more

From Saharan dust storms to icy clouds to smoke on the opposite side of the continent, the first image from NASA's newest cloud- and aerosol-measuring instrument provides a profile of the atmosphere above Africa.

The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System instrument (CATS), was launched Jan. 10 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, and was installed on the International Space Station on Jan. 22. From its berth on the station, CATS sends laser pulses toward Earth, detecting the photons that bounce off of particles in the atmosphere to measure clouds, volcanic ash, pollutants, dust and other aerosols.

"Everything's turned on and we're getting data, both daytime and nighttime," said Matt McGill, principal investigator of CATS from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "We can see the ground, stratus clouds, cirrus clouds and over Africa we can see desert dust. The photon-counting detection approach used in CATS appears to be more sensitive than previous lidar [light detection and ranging] sensors."

The CATS image shows a profile of particles in the atmosphere over a swath of Africa, from 30 degrees North to 30 degrees South, as the space station flew over it in the early morning of Feb. 11.

Over northern Africa, particles - likely dust kicked up by Saharan windstorms - reach heights of 2.5 to 3 miles (4 to 5 kilometers), said John Yorks, science lead for CATS at Goddard. As the space station approached the equator, the instrument picked up higher atmospheric particles - thin, wispy ice clouds as high as 10 miles above the surface (16 km). South of the cloudy tropics, aerosols appeared closer to the ground, likely smoke from biomass burning. The results from CATS can also be combined with images of Earth from instruments like the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, flown on the Terra and Aqua satellites.

The CATS team is calibrating data from the two wavelengths on the primary laser operating now - 532 nanometers and 1064 nanometers. The backup laser on CATS has three wavelengths. The different wavelengths reflect differently when they hit aerosols, so comparing the returns from multiple wavelengths allows the scientists to distinguish dust from ice, smoke or other airborne particles.

"The differences between wavelengths are subtle, but the ratio of the intensity of the reflection at different wavelengths indicate aerosol type," Yorks said. The CATS team will also look at other characteristics of the laser pulse returns to help with particle identification.

Before receiving data plots like the one over Africa, the team aligned the telescope pointing. They used motors to adjust optics inside the instrument during nighttime segments until they got the strongest signal, indicating that the telescope's field of view aligned with the reflected laser photons.

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Africa, From a CATS Point of View

Prepared Statement of Michael J. Massimino, Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering Professor, Columbia University, and Former NASA Astronaut.

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you to discuss the accomplishments of Americas space program during my missions and my perspective on our nations current goals and priorities for the future of human space flight and space exploration. Being asked to testify for this committee is an honor, and I am privileged to share my experiences and opinions here with you today.

I became an astronaut in 1996 and have been fortunate to fly on two space shuttle missions: STS-109 in March of 2002 and STS-125 in May of 2009. Both of my flights were Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. The Hubble servicing missions are vital examples of how human spaceflight can contribute to ground-breaking research being done by scientists on Earth. Based upon my experience, I believe NASAs joint focus on innovation in scientific research and its commitment to human spaceflight continues to be a worthwhile goal for our space agency. More than that, it is an noble endeavor for us as a nation and as custodians of this incredible planet we call home.

NASA has made great headlines in recent years, most notably by landing a rover on Mars, but amazing as that achievement is, putting human beings in orbit remains the single most important element of successful space exploration. My first mission set a team record of spacewalking time on a single space shuttle mission. My second mission broke that record. During each spacewalk, having an astronaut on the scene was what saved the day. For example, on one of my spacewalks I was required to improvise a solution no robot or rover could have possibly done: manually pulling off a handle that was held fast onto the telescope with a stripped fastener. This was the only way to complete the repair of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, a scientific instrument that can, among other capabilities, analyze the

atmospheres of planets in other solar systems in order to establish the possibility of finding other places in the universe capable of sustaining life.

The efforts of the human spaceflight program during my missions, in partnership with NASAs on-going ground control operations and scientific research programs, have allowed the Hubble Space Telescope Program to increase our understanding of the universe. Our servicing missions have enabled scientists from around the world to make major discoveries, including dark matter, dark energy, black holes, and the existence of planets in other solar systems. In addition to these great scientific advances, through Hubbles iconic images we have also brought the incredible beauty of the universe to the citizens of the world.

NASA has also in recent years accomplished much in terms of building and expanding international partnerships, an endeavor that I believe should continue with our nations leadership. While an astronaut from 1996 to 2014, I had the opportunity to contribute to the planning, building, and establishment of scientific operations of the International Space Station (ISS). Among the many achievements of the ISS is bringing different countries together toward a common goal. Through the ISS and its work, the United States, Russia, member countries of the European Space Agency, Canada, and Japan work together as partners on international space projects and research. We live in this world together, and working in unison to study it can only help us all. The friendships, alliances, and accomplishments of the ISS have shown that, given common scientific and exploration goals, countries can accomplish great things together.

As a Professor at Columbia University and the Senior Advisor for Space Programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York City, I have seen first hand how the space program can inspire students to pursue degrees and work in STEM fields. I have seen how space travel inspires them to dream of accomplishing great things in life. Just as I was

inspired as a small boy by my astronaut heroes in the Apollo program, todays students are inspired by NASAs accomplishments. They are excited about the opportunities that NASA and commercial space companies have waiting for them when they complete their education. I have not found any other engineering or science endeavor that can inspire students to study in the STEM fields the way that our nations space program can.

When I speak to my students about their interest in space-related STEM careers, there is a major opportunity open to them now that was not readily available when I was a college student over 30 years ago. The commercial space opportunities created by partnerships with NASA are very appealing to young people. There is still great interest in working for NASA and its contractors, but many students see themselves as future space entrepreneurs. Thanks to developments from NASA, many highly successful entrepreneurs see space as the next frontier for economic success in the private sector. I think we will continue to see major success stories in commercial space enterprise, and they will play a major role in inspiring young people to pursue STEM careers while also providing economic benefits for our country.

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Prepared Statement of Michael J. Massimino U.S. Human Exploration Goals and Commerce Space Competitiveness

NASA's Orion spacecraft continues on the agency's journey to Mars as engineers analyze data from the spacecraft's December flight test and make progress developing and building the spacecraft for its first mission atop NASA Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket. On future missions, Orion will send astronauts to an asteroid and onward toward the Red Planet.

At machine houses across the country, elements of the primary structure for the next Orion to fly in space are coming together. Avionics components are being built and simulators for the ESA (European Space Agency)-built service module that will house the spacecraft's propulsion and solar arrays are being delivered. By the end of the year, engineers hope to have the primary structure for Orion's next mission to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for processing.

Meanwhile, every piece of data and each element of the spacecraft flown in the December test is being analyzed and compared to pre-flight models to improve Orion's design.

"Orion's flight test was a big success and what we learned is informing how we design, develop and build future Orions that will help us pioneer deep space destinations," said Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion Program manager.

"Taking a look at all the flight test data is a huge part of the development process and a key part off in why we flew a test flight. We have critical work happening this year, both on the data analysis and development side, to keep us moving toward our first mission with SLS."

Engineers and technicians at Kennedy, where Orion was assembled and returned after its flight test, recently took off the back shell and heat shield that protected Orion during its reentry to Earth's atmosphere, to unload unused propellants and allow for a close-up analysis of the spacecraft's systems.

One of the main objectives of Orion's flight, which sent the vehicle 3,600 miles into space during a two-orbit, 4.5-hour test, was to test how the spacecraft would fare returning to Earth at high speeds and temperatures.

"The heat shield looks in great shape," said Michael Hawes, Orion Program manager for Lockheed Martin, NASA's prime contractor for the spacecraft.

"The char on the shield is consistent. If you look at it now, you'd see a few big holes because we've taken core samples. We've also done a total laser scan of the surface of the heat shield. That'll give us a very detailed engineering base of knowledge of what the heat shield did."

In March, the heat shield will be shipped to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the ablative material on the heat shield will be taken off.

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Orion test flight yields critical data for next mission

A private company that aims to send tourists to the edge of space in a balloon broke a record Friday, flying a parafoil higher than anyone has before.

The Arizona-based company World View sent the parafoil 102,200 feet (31,151 meters) into the air during a test flight Friday (Feb. 20), according to representatives with the organization. That is the altitude that officials hope to fly passengers to when the company starts sending people to the edge of space and back, World View added.

"The accomplishments of this flight further our two main objectives of manned spaceflight and advancing research," Taber MacCallum, World Views chief technology officer, said in a statement. "The successful flight of the parafoil at this altitude brings us closer to flying private citizens safely to the edge of space and also allows us to continue our research and education program by providing safe access to the near-space environment." [See more photos from World View]

World View plans to provide flights to the edge of space for $75,000 eachhigh enough for tourists to see the curvature of the Earth and a black of sky.

The company also announced a partnership with United Parachute Designs (as well as Performance Designs) to "design and build an advanced descent system capable of returning payloads of increasingly higher masses."

While the balloon had no people on board, it did include two university science experiments. One was from Montana State University to test high-definition video and computer equipment at high altitudes, to prepare for the 2017 United States eclipse. Also, the University of North Florida measured ozone gas using an experimental nanocrystalline gas sensor.

Last year, World View said it plans to launch customers in 2016. There is competition, however; XCOR Aerospace is creating the Lynx suborbital rocket plane (which carries one passenger) and Virgin Galactic plans flights using SpaceShipTwo, a six-passenger suborbital spaceliner.

XCOR plans powered test flights later this year. Virgin Galactic suffered a tragic setback last year when its SpaceShipTwo crashed during a test flight, killing one co-pilot and sending the other to hospital.

Follow Elizabeth Howell@howellspace. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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World View Makes Record-Setting Parafoil Flight from Near ...

With one reportedly flawless test flight already under its belt, officials are already planning a European space plane for its next test.

The manager for the European Space Agency's shuttle-like Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle(IXV)robotic space plane is getting ready for the program's next approved flight in 2019 or 2020. IXV performed its first uncrewed space test, launching to space and then landing in the ocean 100 minutes later on Feb. 11.

Officials working with IXV are hoping to bring the space plane down on land instead of in the ocean for its next test in the coming years. To do this, they will either install a landing gear or use a parachute-like "parafoil" to set it down safely. [How the IXV Works (Infographic)]

"The idea, the main element, is to have a space plane able to have payloads that will operate in orbit, to test technology for robotic exploration and microgravity," Giorgio Tumino, ESA's project manager for IXV, told Space.com.

Meetings to figure out the next phase will begin in March, with the heavy design work starting in the summer. Meanwhile, data from the first IXV test flight will be analyzed in great detail, Tumino said, focusing on elements such as the thermal protection during re-entry.

One main goal of IXV was to figure out how to bring a spacecraft back to Earth safely in order to use it again, officials have said.

During its first flight to space, the space plane soared as high as 256 miles (412 kilometers) before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, west of the Galapagos Islands and within sight of its recovery ship. Tumino remained at the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana to co-ordinate the 60 or so people involved in the mission.

"This mission was extremely precise," Tumino said. "We landed where we were supposed to be, and all the systems and subsystems worked perfectly," Tumino said. "I would say we are really happy about the mission result."

ESA's push to improve re-entry technologies saw another milestone this week when an Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) left the International Space Station loaded with sensors to track what happened as it broke up in the atmosphere.

The final flight of ATV Georges Lemaitre concluded Sunday (Feb. 15) and the data from that mission will be analyzed for future spacecraft design.

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Europe's Newly Tested Space Plane Aims for Next Launch in 2019

NASAs Orion spacecraft continues on the agencys journey to Mars as engineers analyze data from the spacecrafts December flight test and make progress developing and building the spacecraft for its first mission atop NASA Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket.

At machine houses across the country, elements of the primary structure for the next Orion to fly in space are coming together. Avionics components are being built and simulators for the ESA (European Space Agency)-built service module that will house the spacecrafts propulsion and solar arrays are being delivered. By the end of the year, engineers hope to have the primary structure for Orions next mission to NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida for processing. Meanwhile, every piece of data and each element of the spacecraft flown in the December test is being analyzed and compared to pre-flight models to improve Orions design.

Orions flight test was a big success and what we learned is informing how we design, develop and build future Orions that will help us pioneer deep space destinations, said Mark Geyer, NASAs Orion Program manager. Taking a look at all the flight test data is a huge part of the development process and a key part off in why we flew a test flight. We have critical work happening this year, both on the data analysis and development side, to keep us moving toward our first mission with SLS.

Engineers and technicians at Kennedy, where Orion was assembled and returned after its flight test, recently took off the back shell and heat shield that protected Orion during its reentry to Earths atmosphere, to unload unused propellants and allow for a close-up analysis of the spacecrafts systems.

One of the main objectives of Orions flight, which sent the vehicle 3,600 miles into space during a two-orbit, 4.5-hour test, was to test how the spacecraft would fare returning to Earth at high speeds and temperatures.

The heat shield looks in great shape, said Michael Hawes, Orion Program manager for Lockheed Martin, NASAs prime contractor for the spacecraft. The char on the shield is consistent. If you look at it now, youd see a few big holes because weve taken core samples. Weve also done a total laser scan of the surface of the heat shield. Thatll give us a very detailed engineering base of knowledge of what the heat shield did.

In March, the heat shield will be shipped to NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where the ablative material on the heat shield will be taken off. From there, the heat shield structure will be shipped to the agencys Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, where it will be reused on a test capsule for water impact testing. NASA and Lockheed Martin also are taking a look at potential modifications to the heat shields design to make it even stronger.

Evaluating how the thermal protection system fared during Orions reentry wasnt the only critical objective of the flight. The test also provided important insight into key separation events, including whether the Launch Abort System and protective fairings came off at the right times, how the parachutes assisting Orion during its descent fared and how the operations to recovery Orion from the Pacific Ocean progressed.

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NASAs Orion Flight Test Yields Critical Data

West Long Branch, N.J. This week marks the 53rd anniversary of John Glenn's first manned orbital space flight. The Monmouth University Poll finds that most Americans feel the nation's 1960s space program gave us long-lasting benefits and many say increased spending on the space program today would be a good investment. However, less than half the public supports spending billions of dollars specifically to send astronauts back to the moon or to other planets a program that is currently in the works at NASA. Interestingly, this reluctance is similar to the public mood in the 1960s. A majority of Americans do support private space exploration, though.

A majority (56%) of Americans feel that the money and effort spent on the country's quest to land an astronaut on the moon in the 1960s left society with long-lasting benefits. Another 34% feel those benefits were short-lived. Young adults age 18 to 34 (60%) are somewhat more likely than older Americans age 55 and over (51%) i.e. those old enough to remember NASA's early space flights to feel that the program had long-lasting benefits. Fifty-five percent of those age 35 to 54 feel the same. A bare majority (51%) of the country feels that increased spending on the space program today would be a good investment, while 43% think it would not. Similar numbers of Democrats (54%), Republicans (51%) and independents (51%) see benefits in increased spending on space exploration. Men (57%) are more likely than women (45%) to see this as a good investment.

NASA launched the initial test spaceship for its new Orion program two months ago. This is designed to be the first step toward long-range human exploration of space including potential interplanetary travel. Just over 4-in-10 (42%) Americans are in favor of the U.S. government spending billions of dollars to send astronauts to places like the moon, Mars, and asteroids, while half (50%) oppose such an expenditure. There are no partisan differences in this opinion, although men (50%) are more supportive than women (36%) of funding this new program.

"Half a century after NASA's heyday, America is still fascinated by the prospects of space exploration, but balk at the price tag. However, they opposed the space program's cost in the 1960s as well," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, N.J.

A Harris Survey taken in July 1967 two years before the successful Apollo 11 moon landing found that only 34% of the public felt that the space program was worth its annual $4 billion price tag at the time while 54% said it wasn't worth it. Also, the same 1967 poll found the public to be divided 43% in favor to 46% opposed over NASA's drive to land an astronaut on the moon.

The future of space travel may now lie in private ventures, which most Americans do support. A number of entrepreneurs have already begun to sell seats on private space flights, although those efforts have been set back by the crash of a Virgin Galactic test run last October. Still, nearly 6-in-10 (58%) Americans say that private companies and individuals should be able to build their own rockets to take people into space. Another 37% feel that space travel should be restricted to national governments.

Just under half of the public believes that ordinary people traveling regularly into space is very (13%) or somewhat likely (31%) in the next twenty or thirty years. Most think regular passenger flights to space are either not too (28%) or not at all (27%) likely in the next few decades. It is worth noting that public opinion has not been a very good prognosticator of the pace of space exploration in the past. A Gallup Poll taken in 1954 found that just 38% of the public believed that "men in rockets will be able to reach the moon" by the end of the 20th century. When Gallup asked in 1965 whether a moon landing would occur within twenty years, 59% said yes but 31% said no just four years before the feat was actually accomplished.

Just over 1-in-4 (28%) Americans in the current Monmouth University Poll say they would like to take a free trip on a private spaceship if it was offered to them, including 38% of men and 17% of women. This is slightly higher than the number of people who felt brave enough to attempt a space flight in the early days of the space program. A Gallup Poll taken in 1966 found that 17% of Americans were interested in hitching a ride on the first moon shot, while 80% said they would give it a pass. The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from December 10 to 14, 2014 with 1,008 adults in the United States. This sample has a margin of error of + 3.1 percent. The poll was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Polling results

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Poll: Space Travel in the 21st Century: American Public Sees Benefits But Balks at Cost

Russia launches space flight to supply the ISS
A Russian Progress supply ship packed with food, fuel and supplies has blasted off from Kazakhstan headed for the International Space Station.

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Russia launches space flight to supply the ISS - Video

Spacewalking astronauts routed more than 300 feet of cable outside the International Space Station on Saturday to prepare for the arrival of new American-made crew capsules. It was the first of three spacewalks planned for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Terry Virts over the coming week.

Altogether, Wilmore and Virts have 764 feet (233 meters) of cable to run outside the space station. They got off to a strong start Saturday, rigging eight power and data lines, or about 340 feet (105 meters). The longest single stretch was 43 feet (13 meters). "Broadening my resume," Virts observed.

NASA considers this the most complicated cable-routing job in the 16-year history of the space station. Equally difficult will be running cable on the inside of the complex.

The extensive rewiring is needed to prepare for NASA's next phase in spaceflight: the 2017 arrival of the first commercial spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to the orbiting lab. NASA is paying the Boeing Co. and SpaceX to build the capsules and fly them from Cape Canaveral, Florida, which hasn't seen a manned launch since the shuttles retired in 2011. Instead, Russia is doing all the taxi work for upwards of $70 million a seat.

The first of two docking ports for the Boeing and SpaceX vessels still under development is due to arrive in June. Even more spacewalks will be needed to set everything up.

Spacesuit concerns stalled the work by a day. NASA wanted to make certain that the suits worn by Wilmore and Virts had reliable fan and pump assemblies. Two other fan-pump units failed aboard the space station in recent months and were returned to Earth earlier this month for analysis. Corrosion was discovered, the result of water intrusion from testing. The spacewalkers' suits seemed to work fine Saturday.

First published February 21 2015, 8:23 AM

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Spacewalking Astronauts Begin Prep for Space Taxis

Ukrainian among Mars Flight Volunteers: 24 astronauts will be chosen for 2025 space flight
Ukrainian engineer Serhiy is among a group of people chosen from 200000 applicants who might fly to Mars in ten years #39; time. Now there are hundred volunteers, but the Dutch organisers of the...

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Ukrainian among Mars Flight Volunteers: 24 astronauts will be chosen for 2025 space flight - Video

Israel anxious after shuttle tragedy

JERUSALEM -- Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, lifted the spirits of a troubled country when he blasted off last month on the space shuttle Columbia. The shuttle's disintegration just before landing Saturday brought back the numbness of sudden loss. "The state of Israel and its citizens are as one at this difficult time," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said in a statement. Ronit Federman, a friend of Ramon's since high school 30 years ago, took comfort from e-mails she received from the astronaut during his flight. "I'm sure he was the most satisfied of people in his last moments," Federman told Israel's Channel 10 television. "He wrote about the divine happiness of looking at Earth. He wrote that he would like to keep floating for the rest of his life. That was the last sentence he wrote to us." Ramon, 48, was an air force colonel and the son of a Holocaust survivor. His military career included fighting in two wars and bombing an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. But those missions were carried out anonymously. He became a national hero overnight as newspapers featured him on the front page. Israel television stations carried live broadcasts of the Jan. 16 liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Ramon's 79-year-old father, Eliezer Wolferman, was being interviewed live in Jerusalem on Channel Two shortly before the scheduled landing. "I last spoke to (Ramon) via a video conference when I was still in Houston," the smiling, silver-haired Wolferman said. "It was very emotional. Our family saw him, and the children asked their dad to do somersaults in the air." Wolferman went on to say, "We write via e-mail ..." At that moment, the interviewer cut him off as the station broke away to its correspondent in Florida, who explained that the ground controllers had lost contact with the shuttle. When the broadcast returned to the Jerusalem studio, Wolferman had left. A couple of hours later, he spoke again to the media. "I think of everything from the day he was born until now," he said. "I have no son, it is very sad and I don't know what else to say." High-school science student Adar Moritz, 17, helped prepare one of the experiments Ramon performed in space. "It's like going on a trip and getting to the door of your house and falling just as you go in," Moritz said of the accident. "It's very sad." Ramon's wife, Rona, and their four children, who have lived in Texas for several years while Ramon prepared for the flight, were at Cape Canaveral for the landing. NASA took the astronauts' families to a secluded place. Ramon was selected in 1997 to be a payload specialist. He spent much of Columbia's 16-day flight aiming cameras in an Israel Space Agency study of how desert dust and other contaminants in Earth's atmosphere affect rainfall and temperature. For a few days, Ramon's journey with six American crewmates diverted attention from the grinding conflict with the Palestinians, which has reached 28 months of nonstop fighting. Ramon was not particularly religious, but chose to eat kosher food in orbit. "I'm secular in my background, but I'm going to respect all kinds of Jews all over the world," Ramon said before his flight. "For Israel and for the Jewish community, it's a very symbolic event." President Bush called Sharon and said it was a "tragic day for the astronauts' families and a tragic day for science." Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority also offered "condolences to the six American families and to the Israeli family who lost their loved ones," said Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat. Israel's enthusiasm for the shuttle flight stemmed partly from the fact that Ramon was one of the country's top air force pilots, considered among the nation's military elite. Ramon logged thousands of hours of flight time and was part of the first Israeli squad to pilot American-made F-16 fighter jets in 1980. He fought in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and in the 1982 war in Lebanon. Ramon also was one of the fighter pilots who destroyed an unfinished, French-built nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981, a senior Israeli government official said last month on condition of anonymity. Ramon, whose mother and grandmother survived the Auschwitz death camp in World War II, honored those who endured the Holocaust. During the flight, he carried a small pencil drawing titled "Moon Landscape" by Peter Ginz, a 14-year-old Jewish boy killed at Auschwitz and other mementos. Ramon's father gave him family photos to take into space and a brother had a letter stowed away in the shuttle that Ramon read in orbit.more...

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Space shuttle fleet grounded

WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCIV) -- Four Walterboro middle school girls wanted to find a way to keep astronauts healthy while in space -- and their experiment made it all the way to the International Space Station.

Through a science competition called the Students Space Flight Experiments Program they were able to test how long it takes for milk to spoil in space compared to Earth.

We tested whole milk, skim milk and one percent milk ultra-pasteurized, said Amber Avant, a seventh grader in the group. We did it because those types of milks are most common. We tested the two milks for a month.

The students got the milk back from space on Thursday. Over the past 24 hours they've been studying the difference between the two.

We found out that the milk in space lasts longer, said Avant. So far our theory is because there is less bacteria in space and it's more sanitary, and one of the necessities for milk to spoil is bacteria.

The girls started the project because they say astronauts have to drink powdered milk while in orbit.

They hope their experiment changes that.

"Astronauts in space have less bone density and the proteins in milk help strengthen your bones, said Megan Dewitt, another seventh grader in the group. So since they have less bone density, the milk will help them get stronger bones. That's why we sent it, because they have to have powdered milk up there which has no proteins in it and doesn't help them as much as the milk would."

As the group of Colleton County Middle School students continue their project, they hope to go to Washington, D.C. this summer to present their work.

To help the girls get to D.C., click here.

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Milk experiments sent to space returns to Walterboro students

This image shows an artist concept of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

Provided by Nancy Neal Jones, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center

NASAS Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution has completed the first of five deep-dip maneuvers designed to gather measurements closer to the lower end of the Martian upper atmosphere.

During normal science mapping, we make measurements between an altitude of about 150 km and 6,200 km (93 miles and 3,853 miles) above the surface, said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator at the University of Colorados Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder. During the deep-dip campaigns, we lower the lowest altitude in the orbit, known as periapsis, to about 125 km (78 miles) which allows us to take measurements throughout the entire upper atmosphere.

The 25 km (16 miles) altitude difference may not seem like much, but it allows scientists to make measurements down to the top of the lower atmosphere. At these lower altitudes, the atmospheric densities are more than ten times what they are at 150 km (93 miles).

We are interested in the connections that run from the lower atmosphere to the upper atmosphere and then to escape to space, said Jakosky. We are measuring all of the relevant regions and the connections between them.

[Related story: NASA's MAVEN now is Mars' orbit]

The first deep dip campaign ran from Feb. 10 to 18. The first three days of this campaign were used to lower the periapsis. Each of the five campaigns lasts for five days allowing the spacecraft to observe for roughly 20 orbits. Since the planet rotates under the spacecraft, the 20 orbits allow sampling of different longitudes spaced around the planet, providing close to global coverage.

This months deep dip maneuvers began when team engineers fired the rocket motors in three separate burns to lower the periapsis. The engineers did not want to do one big burn, to ensure that they didnt end up too deep in the atmosphere. So, they walked the spacecraft down gently in several smaller steps.

Although we changed the altitude of the spacecraft, we actually aimed at a certain atmospheric density, said Jakosky. We wanted to go as deep as we can without putting the spacecraft or instruments at risk.

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MAVEN spacecraft completes first Martian deep dip campaign

Newly 3-D printed wrenches, data to improve cooling systems, protein crystals and seedling samples returned Feb. 10 aboard SpaceX's fifth contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station. Researchers will use samples and data returned to improve scientific studies on Earth and build on research that will enable space exploration.

Printed parts and hardware returned from the first phase of operations for the 3-D Printing In Zero-G technology demonstration aboard the station. A study team from Made in Space and NASA demonstrated the first ever 3-D printer in space using relatively low-temperature plastic feedstock on the space station. To conclude the test phase, a ratchet wrench was printed using a design file transmitted from the ground to the printer.

"For the printer's final test in this phase of operations, NASA wanted to validate the process for printing on demand, which will be critical on longer journeys to Mars," explained Niki Werkheiser, the space station 3-D printer program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Insight from demonstrations in microgravity also may help improve 3-D printing technology on Earth.

Many physical science investigations take place aboard the space station. Hardware and data from the recent Device for the study of Critical Liquids and Crystallization Alice Like Insert (DECLIC-ALI) returned aboard Dragon.

On the orbital laboratory, researchers examined liquids at the verge of boiling to understand how the flow of heat in liquids behaves in microgravity. This is important to the development of cooling systems for space exploration with additional applications to waste disposal and recycling processes on Earth.

Samples, hardware and data from several biology and biotechnology studies returned with completion of this SpaceX contracted resupply mission. The Advancing Membrane Protein Crystallization by Using Microgravity (CASIS PCG HDPCG-2) investigation targeted producing high-quality crystals of the cystic fibrosis protein and other closely related proteins.

Since many medically relevant proteins are difficult to crystalize on Earth, researchers attempt to grow them in space to help determine their shape and structure for drug development. Scientists hope to improve drug therapies for cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes severe damage to the lungs and digestive system.

The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, or thale cress, seedlings feature heavily in these next three studies of which samples returned with the SpaceX Dragon. Growing model organisms like these to study plant biology in space may enable future space exploration by serving as a source of food and helping to create breathable air for astronauts.

Samples from the Advanced Plant Experiments 03-1 (APEX-03-1) were returned to help scientists better understand the effects of microgravity on the development of roots and cells on plant seedlings.

Researchers will conduct a detailed analysis on the returned plant samples to scrutinize the molecular and genetic mechanisms that control plant development. With this knowledge, scientists may be able to improve agricultural and bioenergy research on Earth, leading to crops that use resources more efficiently.

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Space Station 3-D Printed Items, Seedlings Return in the Belly of a Dragon

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