| | 10 new stories for 2016/01/19
Watch SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Almost Stick Droneship Landing, then Tip and Explode; Video 
[caption id="attachment_126865" align="aligncenter" width="800"]  SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage tips over and explodes on Pacific ocean droneship after landing leg fails to lock in place on Jan 17, 2016. Credit: SpaceX See landing video below[/caption]SpaceX came much closer to sticking the landing of their Falcon 9 rocket on a tiny droneship at sea than initially thought, as evidenced by a dramatic video of the latest attempt to recover the booster by making a soft ocean touchdown on Sunday, Jan. 17, after successfully propelling a US-European ocean surveillance satellite to low Earth orbit. As seen in a vivid new birds eye video view of the landings final moments released by SpaceX CEO and billionaire founder Elon Musk, the first stage booster indeed descended slowly towards the small barge in the Pacific Ocean right on target for a pinpoint upright soft landing.The rocket landed just 1.3 meters (4 feet) off center of the bullseye on the oceangoing platform as the center engine fires to slow the descent.Unfortunately it then tipped over due to a malfunctioning landing leg that failed to lock in place, possibly due to ice buildup, hit the droneship deck and quickly exploded into a raging fireball.Musk published the spectacular landing footage on Instagram - see below - showing the rocket propelled descent, droneship landing, tipover and ultimate fiery destruction of the Falcon 9 first stage after returning from a payload delivery to the edge of space, some 10 minutes earlier.https://scontent-iad3-1.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xpt1/t50.2886-16/12560150_1553924228264185_2124769001_n.mp4"Falcon lands on droneship, but the lockout collet doesn't latch on one the four legs, causing it to tip over post landing," Musk wrote in a description.The 156 foot tall Falcon 9 first stage is equipped with four landing legs and four grid fins to enable the propulsive landing atop the barge once the first stage separates and relights a Merlin 1D engine."Root cause may have been ice buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff."The four legs are folded up against the 12 foot wide (3.7 meter) rockets outer skin at launch."Touchdown speed was ok, but a leg lockout didn't latch, so it tipped over after landing," Musk tweeted.Falcon 9 successfully launched the NASA/NOAA/European Jason-3 sea level rise reconnaissance satellite on Sunday morning, Jan. 17 at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 EST) from Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC 4) on Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California, which was the primary goal of the mission.Jason-3 will measure and monitor ocean topography and wave heights of Earth's oceans to aid in hurricane forecasting and climate change research.SpaceX's own secondary goal was to recover the first stage intact to demonstrate rocket reusability.This was SpaceX's third try at a barge landing following two near miss endeavors in 2015.And SpaceX did just accomplish a historic first ever ground soft landing and intact first stage rocket recovery following the 'Return-to-Flight' Falcon 9 launch on Dec. 21, 2015 from Cape Canaveral.Two prior SpaceX attempts at a precision landing on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) barge came very close with pinpoint approaches to the oceangoing vessel in the Atlantic Ocean. But the rocket tipped somewhat sideways in the final moments and was destroyed in a hard landing.Musk's space vision is to radically slash the costs of launching people and payloads to space by recovering and reflying rockets - built individually at great expense - rather than completely discarding them after a single use.So after separating from the second stage, the first stage Merlin 1D engine was reignited for propulsive maneuvers guiding the booster back to the football field sized droneship, positioned about 170 miles (280 kilometers) southwest of Vandenberg off the California coast.The booster successfully soft landed almost dead center on the ASDS named " Just Read The Instructions" - which put out to sea the day before launch.Although SpaceX initially thought the booster made a hard landing, further data review revealed that the rocket in fact made a successful soft landing as the Merlin engine fired like a retro rocket to slow the descent as designed."After further data review, stage landed softly but leg 3 didn't lockout," SpaceX noted on Twitter. "Was within 1.3 meters of droneship center."Touchdown speed was ok," Musk tweeted.SpaceX plans many future attempts at rocket recovery at sea and on land and Musk is "very optimistic" on the chances, despite the last second tipover and explosion!"Well, at least the pieces were bigger this time! Won't be last RUD [Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly], but am optimistic about upcoming ship landing," tweeted Musk.And of course it's clearly much more challenging to land on a small ship, bouncing around in the waves vs. a large, flat and stable area on the ground - except for the nearby populated areas, businesses and buildings!"Definitely harder to land on a ship," Musk elaborated."Similar to an aircraft carrier vs land: much smaller target area, that's also translating & rotating."SpaceX has built a dedicated landing pad at Vandenberg AFB that is ready to conduct ground soft landings for returning boosters, similar to what the firm has constructed with Landing Zone-1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - and used in the successful Dec. 21, 2015 booster recovery landing.This booster could have landed on the ground at Vandenberg due to the lower ascent velocity of the Falcon 9 rocket.However, SpaceX chief engineer Hans Koenigsmann said that SpaceX did not receive the necessary environmental permits prior to the Jan. 17 blastoff with Jason-3, at the prelaunch media briefing.Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news. Ken Kremerhttps://youtu.be/jshk8ZVIgdI The post Watch SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Almost Stick Droneship Landing, then Tip and Explode; Video appeared first on Universe Today.
Watch the Moon Occult Aldebaran Tuesday Night 
"That's no moon..."But in this case, it is (sorry Ben), and that Moon is headed to temporarily obliterate (occult) the view of the bright star Aldebaran as seen from the Earth on the evening of January 19 th and into the morning of the 20 th.Here are the specifics. Not to be confused with Princess Leia's homeworld of Alderaan of Star Wars science fiction fame, the occultation of the bright star Aldebaran in the astronomical constellation Taurus occurs on the night of Tuesday, January 19 th and finds the waxing gibbous the Moon 82% illuminated and four days from the first Full Moon of the year on January 24th. This is also the first of 13 occultations of Aldebaran for the year 2016, one for even lunation. Evening occultations are particularly favorable, as the star in question always disappears along the leading edge dark limb of the Moon, to reappear along its daytime limb. Once the Moon is waning, the reverse is true, as the bright limb then leads towards New phase.We've caught occultations of bright stars very near Full, and can attest that it is indeed possible to follow a +1st magnitude star all the way to the lunar limb.The occultation footprint runs across the nighttime northern hemisphere from the early morning hours in western Europe and the United Kingdom across the northern Atlantic, across the contiguous 'lower 48' states of of U.S. to Canada and northern Mexico. It actually juuuust misses us here down in sunny Florida, one of the few states that will miss out on the event. This is the best placed occultation of Aldebaran for 2016 for most North American viewers, falling during early evening prime time hours high in the post twilight sky.Here's the timing for the ingress (beginning) and egress (end) for the occultation for selected cities; the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) has an extensive table of times for cities within the occultation path. (all quoted using Universal Time(UT), plus altitude (alt) in degrees (deg) :LondonIngress: 3:25 UT/alt: 6 degEgress: 3:57 UT/alt: 2 degAtlantaIngress: 2:22 UT/73 degEgress: 3:06 UT/70 degBostonIngress: 2:35 UT/60 degEgress: 3:47 UT/50 degLos AngelesIngress: 1:05 UT/40 degEgress: 2:13 UT/54 degMontrealIngress: 2:28 UT/59 degEgress: 3:42 UT/51 degHalifaxIngress: 2:46 UT/53 degEgress: 3:57 UT/43 degNote that precise times for the event change slightly due to the position of the observer within various time zones, as well as the parallax shift of the Moon as seen from the Earth.Occultations always give us a chance to analyze the target star for any possible close in binary companions, as the star winks out in a tell tale step-wise fashion. Aldebaran has no known close companion star, though spurious claims have been made for planets orbiting the star over the years. 65 light years distant, Aldebaran is in the direction of the Hyades star cluster in the distant galactic background, though it is physically unrelated to the group, which is 153 light years from the Earth. This also means that several bright stars in the Hyades get occulted by the Moon as well on Tuesday night, as the Moon makes its way to Aldebaran and its date with astronomical destiny.An occultation of a bright star by the Moon also allows selenographers to map out the profile of the jagged lunar limb, as light from the distant star is alternately shines through the valleys and is occluded mountain peaks along the edge of the relatively nearby Moon. This effect can be especially dramatic for observers positioned along the graze line, which on Tuesday night runs from southern Georgia through southern Texas into northern Mexico, across to Baja California.Recording the occultation is as simple as aiming a video camera coupled to a telescope at the Moon at the appointed time, and running video. Start early, and you may want to overexpose the waxing gibbous Moon a bit to bring out Aldebaran. We managed to nab the 2008 occultation of Antares by the nearly Full Moon using a simple JVC video camera and an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.  The event will be easily visible using binoculars, and should even be noticeable to the unaided eye.That's it for this week in 'things passing in front of each other...' In astronomy, lots can be learn just from analyzing light, or in this case, the absence of it. What good are occultations? Well, they might just save your not-so-secret rebel base from immediate annihilation:And watch that Moon, as there will be another good occultation of Aldebaran shifted just slightly westward next lunation on February 16th, 2016.More to come! The post Watch the Moon Occult Aldebaran Tuesday Night appeared first on Universe Today.
NASA Jason-3 Sea Level Rise Reconnaissance Satellite Successfully Blasts off on SpaceX Falcon 9; Hard Landing on Barge 
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the NASA/NOAA/European Jason-3 sea level rise reconnaissance satellite a short while ago today, Sunday, Jan. 17, from Vandenberg Air Force Base into a polar orbit around the Earth.The launch was a complete success with all first and second stage rocket firings and the Jason-3 deployment occurring precisely as planned and on time. Note: This breaking news story is being updated. Check back frequentlyThe minivan-sized Jason-3 spacecraft was delivered successfully into its intended polar orbit of 830-miles (1,336-kilometers) above Earth - the primary objective of the mission.Jason-3 will gather global measurements of ocean topography, or wave heights, using radar altimitry. These data provide scientists with essential information about global and regional changes in the Earth's seas such as tracking sea level rise that threatens the resilience of coastal communities and the health of our environment."Jason-3 will take the pulse of our changing planet by gathering environmental intelligence from the world's oceans," said Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, in a statement.SpaceX's own secondary objective of soft landing the Falcon 9 first stage, was partially successful. Although the booster was targeted precisely to an oceangoing barge in the Pacific Ocean, it ultimately crash landed when one of the four landing legs apparently failed to deploy fully causing the rocket to tip and fall on the deck - said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.Despite being almost wholly obscured by heavy coastal fog, the liftoff of the two stage 224-foot-tall Falcon 9 took place on time at the opening of the 30-second launch window on Sunday morning, Jan. 17 at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 EST) from Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC 4) on Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.The exact launch time was 10:42:18.386 a.m. PST, or 1:42:18.386 p.m. EST — "the targeted bulls-eye," according to NASA Launch Commentator George Diller.Watch this NASA countdown and launch video:https://youtu.be/m3BRi7XcELMSeparation of the 1100 pound (510 kg) spacecraft from the rocket's second stage occurred on time at about 2:36 pm EST. The solar array deployment began on time and unfolded completely to a length of 30 feet (10 meters). Ground controllers successfully acquired the spacecraft's signals, and initial telemetry reports showed the satellite was in good health, according to NASA.Jason-3 is the fourth mission in a U.S.-European series of satellite missions that measure the wave heights of the world's ocean surfaces.The mission continues over 23 years of sea level measurements begun in 1992 and gathered by the prior satellites in this series including Jason 1 and 2 and TOPEX/Poseidon.Jason-3 will measure the topography of the ocean surface for a four-agency international partnership consisting of NOAA, NASA, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France's space agency, and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat). It was built by Thales Alenia of France.What are the goals of Jason-3 and how will it operate?"The US/European Jason-3 is designed expressly to monitor sea level rise. Sea level rise is one of the clearest symptoms of global warming," said Larry Miller, Jason-3 Project Scientist for NASA, at a prelaunch media briefing on Friday, Jan. 15."Jason-3 will help us forecast hurricanes, El Nino's and other extreme weather events."The probes radar altimeter measurements help infer heat content in the oceans."Jason-3 will measure the role of the Earth's oceans in this complex process. More than 90% of the heat being trapped in the Earth's system from the green house effect is going into the ocean.""So the ocean is the biggest player in the climate change story. Jason-3 will allow us to get the big picture on sea level change in the years to come."Jason-3 was initially placed into a polar orbit about 15 miles (25 kilometers) below the still operating Jason-2.Engineers will gradually raise it to the same 830-mile (1,336-kilometer) high orbit as Jason-2, but following in a formation flying ground track several minutes behind. This will allow scientists to precisely calibrate the Jason-3 instruments over the next six months as they make near simultaneous measurements.The $180 million mission is expected to operate for at least five years."Jason-3 is a prime example of how our nation leverages NASA's expertise in space and scientific exploration to help address critical global challenges in collaboration with NOAA and our international partners," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington."The measurements from Jason-3 will advance our efforts to understand Earth as an integrated system by increasing our knowledge of sea level changes and the ocean's roles in climate."Today's blastoff also marked the final launch of the Falcon 9 v1.1 version of the SpaceX rocket first flown in Sept 2013. That flight was also the last time SpaceX launched a rocket from their California launch pad.Overall this is the 21st Falcon 9 flight and the 15th v1.1 version.From now on SpaceX aims to launch the newly upgraded 'Full Thrust' version of the Falcon 9 featuring more powerful first stage Merlin 1D engines. The initial 'Full Thrust' Falcon 9 was used during the historic rocket recovery launch on Dec. 21, 2015.SpaceX chief engineer Hans Koenigsmann said that an additional three or four Falcon 9 launches will take place at Vandenberg AFB this year.Watch this NASA video describing the Jason-3 mission and objectives:https://youtu.be/wA4XRpZ9gmsStay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news. Ken KremerThe post NASA Jason-3 Sea Level Rise Reconnaissance Satellite Successfully Blasts off on SpaceX Falcon 9; Hard Landing on Barge appeared first on Universe Today.
SpaceX Launching NASA Jason-3 Ocean Surveillance Satellite Jan. 17; with Barge Rocket Landing – Watch Live 
The joint NASA-European ocean surveillance satellite named Jason-3 is poised for blastoff from SpaceX's California launch pad on Sunday, Jan. 17 - followed immediately by another Falcon 9 rocket recovery landing on a barge at sea.The weather forecast is outstanding! And you can watch all the excitement live!The primary goal is to deliver Jason-3 to low Earth orbit, where it will gather global measurements of ocean topography, or wave heights, using radar altimitry. These data provide scientists with essential information about global and regional changes in the Earth's seas such as tracking sea level rise that threatens the resilience of coastal communities and the health of our environment. "Jason-3 is gathering environmental intelligence from the world's oceans."To top that off, SpaceX plans to move forward with their ambitious spaceflight agenda on rocket reuse. So the secondary mission goal is attempting a 2nd rocket recovery landing of the firms Falcon 9 booster in barely 4 weeks time - this time on an ocean going barge."Everything is in great shape and the vehicle is really ready to go," SpaceX Chief Engineer Hans Koenigsmann said at prelaunch media briefing on Friday.The weather prognosis for launch is currently 100 Percent 'GO' - and that's as good as it gets!Liftoff of the two stage 224 foot tall SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying Jason-3 to Earth orbit is now less than a day away.Launch is scheduled for the opening of the 30-second launch window on Sunday morning, Jan. 17 at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 EST) from Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC 4) on Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.You can watch the dramatic events unfold via a live NASA TV webcast available at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntvNASA Countdown updates begin at 8 a.m. PST, 11 a.m. EST.SpaceX will also webcast the launch live at: http://www.spacex.com/webcast/The backup launch window for a second attempt, if needed, is on Monday, January 18 at 10:31:04 a.m. PST. Monday's weather prognosis drops to only 70 Percent 'GO' according to Air Force meteorologists.The Falcon 9 rocket with Jason-3 encapsulated in the nose cone was rolled out horizontally from a processing hangar at Vandenberg AFB to the SLC 4 launch pad on Friday, Jan. 15 after it passed the Launch Readiness Review with no outstanding issues. It was raised into the vertical position on the launch pad at 11:11 a.m. PST today, Saturday, Jan. 16.Jason-3 is the fourth mission in a U.S.-European series of satellite missions that measure the wave heights of the world's ocean surfaces. The mission continues over 23 years of sea level measurements gathered by the prior satellites including Jason 1 and 2 and TOPEX/Poseidon begun in 1992.The radar altimeter measurements help infer heat content in the oceans."These measurements provide scientists with critical information about circulation patterns in the ocean and about both global and regional changes in sea level and the climate implications of a warming world," say NASA officials.The data will also be useful in hurricane intensity forecasting, and surface wave, tide and current forecasting for commercial shipping, and scientific research on marine mammals and coral reefs as well as El Nino forecasting.Jason-3 was built by Thales Alenia of France. It will measure the topography of the ocean surface for a four-agency international partnership consisting of NOAA, NASA, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), France's space agency, and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat).The launch timeline is as follows:About three minutes after launch and as the second-stage is still firing, the payload fairing will be jettisoned exposing Jason-3 to space. The first cutoff of the second-stage engine will take place nine minutes after liftoff.After coasting in an intermediate orbit for about another 46 minutes, the second-stage engine will reignite a second time some 55 minutes after blastoff for a short burn to insert Jason-3 in the desired orbit.Jason-3 will separate from the second stage about 56 minutes after liftoff. Two minutes later it will start the deployment of its power generating pair of solar arrays.The $180 million mission is expected to operate for at least five years.SpaceX is now aiming to chalk up two successful rocket launches and landings in a row over the past month - if all goes well with Sunday's Falcon 9 liftoff.The Falcon 9 first stage will be guided to a soft landing on the barge named "Just Read The Instructions," said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX vice president for mission assurance during a pre-launch media briefing on Jan. 15.The 156 foot tall Falcon 9 first stage is equipped with four landing legs and four grid fins to enable the propulsive landing atop the barge once the first stage separates and relights a Merlin 1D engine.Two prior SpaceX attempts at a precision landing on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) barge came very close with pinpoint approaches to the oceangoing vessel in the Atlantic Ocean. But the rocket tipped somewhat sideways in the final moments and was destroyed in a hard landing.The mission also marks the final launch of the v1.1 version of the SpaceX Falcon 9, first flown in Sept 2013. That flight was also the last time SpaceX launched a rocket from their California launch pad.Overall this is the 21st Falcon 9 flight.Henceforth, the Falcon 9 will launch in the newly upgraded 'Full Thrust' version featuring more powerful first stage Merlin 1D engines. The first 'Full Thrust' Falcon 9 was used during the historic rocket recovery launch on Dec. 21, 2015.Koenigsmann also confirmed that SpaceX plans another three or four Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg AFB throughout this year.Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news. Ken KremerWatch this NASA video describing the Jason-3 mission and objectives:https://youtu.be/wA4XRpZ9gms The post SpaceX Launching NASA Jason-3 Ocean Surveillance Satellite Jan. 17; with Barge Rocket Landing – Watch Live appeared first on Universe Today.
SpaceX Test Fires Recovered Falcon 9 Booster in Major Step To Reusable Rockets 
In a major advance towards the dream of rocket reusability, SpaceX successfully test fired the first stage engines of the Falcon 9 booster they successfully recovered last month - following its launch to the edge of space and back that ended with a history making upright landing at Cape Canaveral.The re-firing of the engines from history's first recovered rocket took place Friday evening, Jan. 15. And the test results were initially confirmed by Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX vice president for mission assurance during a media briefing, moments after it occurred."Apparently it went very well," said Koenigsmann, at the pre-launch briefing for NASA's Jason-3 mission set for blastoff on a Falcon 9 on Sunday, Jan. 17, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.The static fire test of the 156-foot-tall first stage involved ignition of all nine Merlin engines and was carried out at the same pad from which it launched on Dec. 21, 2015 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla and soft landed about 10 minutes later.Proving that the recovered rocket can be refurbished with minimal maintenance and eventually reflown is critical to demonstrating the rocket reuse is economically viable. The successful outcome of the test was announced by SpaceX billionaire founder and CEO Elon Musk."Conducted hold-down firing of returned Falcon rocket," Musk tweeted overnight after an initial data review."Data looks good overall."During the static fire test, the Falcon 9 was held down in place at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-40, as is customary, as the engines fire for several seconds.However the duration of this particular test firing is not known at this time.Musk noted that although the "data looks ok" there was an issue with one of the nine Merlin 1D engines, which are attached at the boosters base in an octoweb arrangement."Engine 9 showed thrust fluctuations," Musk stated."Maybe some debris ingestion. Engine data looks ok.Engineers are now inspecting the engine to precisely determine its condition."Will borescope tonight. This is one of the outer engines."Conducting the test at pad 40, amounted to a change in plans from what Musk had announced last month.During a post launch briefing on Dec. 21, Musk stated that SpaceX would conduct the test firing of the recovered first stage at the Kennedy Space Center on historic Launch Complex 39A.In fact the Falcon 9 booster was towed some 10 miles north from LZ-1 to pad 39A and brought inside a newly built SpaceX hangar for initial inspections. The rocket was then transported back to pad 40 and erected for the hot fire engine test. Musk's space vision is to radically slash the costs of launching people and payloads to space by recovering and reflying rockets - built individually at great expense - rather than completely discarding them after a single use.Musk's long term dream is to enable "A City on Mars" - as I reported earlier here.The Dec. 21 upright landing recovery of the intact Falcon 9 first stage counts as a game changing achievement in the history spaceflight on the once fantastical road to rocket reusability and "A City on Mars."The primary goal of the Dec. 21 'Return to Flight' launch was carrying a constellation of 11 ORBCOMM OG2 commercial communications satellites to low Earth orbit.The next time SpaceX will actually try to recover a Falcon 9 first stage is less than 1 day way. SpaceX is on course to try a 2nd rocket recovery landing of their Falcon 9 booster this Sunday, Jan. 17, following blastoff of the Jason-3 ocean monitoring satellite for NASA from Vandenberg AFB.Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news. Ken Kremerhttps://youtu.be/l2s9CtJdRAE Video caption: Mobius remote video camera positioned at launch pad showing blastoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Orbcomm-2 mission on December 21, 2015. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.comThe post SpaceX Test Fires Recovered Falcon 9 Booster in Major Step To Reusable Rockets appeared first on Universe Today.
Weekly Space Hangout – Jan. 8, 2016: Dr. Steve B. Howell from Kepler Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain) Special Guest: Dr. Steve B. Howell, Project Scientist on Kepler to discuss the great new results coming form the K2 mission – the repurposed Kepler mission. Guests:
Morgan Rehnberg (cosmicchatter.org / @MorganRehnberg )
Alessondra Springmann (@sondy)
Paul Sutter (pmsutter.com / @PaulMattSutter)
Kimberly Cartier (@AstroKimCartier )
Dave Dickinson (@astroguyz / www.astroguyz.com)
Their articles: KIC 8462 has been dimming for a century Sierra Nevada joins Orbital, SpaceX for ISS resupply Astronomy harassment, part 2 of n and here China to land on far side of the Moon We’ve had an abundance of news stories for the past few months, and not enough time to get to them all. So we’ve started a new system. Instead of adding all of the stories to the spreadsheet each week, we are now using a tool called Trello to submit and vote on stories we would like to see covered each week, and then Fraser will be selecting the stories from there. Here is the link to the Trello WSH page (http://bit.ly/WSHVote), which you can see without logging in. If you’d like to vote, just create a login and help us decide what to cover! We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Google+, Universe Today, or the Universe Today YouTube page. You can also join in the discussion between episodes over at our Weekly Space Hangout Crew group in G+! The post Weekly Space Hangout – Jan. 8, 2016: Dr. Steve B. Howell from Kepler appeared first on Universe Today.
Dream Chaser Spaceplane Gets 'GO' as NASA Awards Trio of Space Station Cargo Contracts 
A shuttle will soar again from American soil before this decade is out, following NASA's announcement today (Jan 14) that an unmanned version of the Dream Chaser spaceplane was among the trio of US awardees winning commercial contracts to ship essential cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) starting in 2019.In addition to the Dream Chaser mini-shuttle built by Sierra Nevada Corporation of Sparks, Nevada, NASA decided to retain both of the current ISS commercial cargo vehicle providers, namely the Cygnus from Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia and the cargo Dragon from SpaceX of Hawthorne, California. Thus with today's announcement, NASA decided to plus up the number of ISS commercial cargo providers from two to three for the critical task of ensuring the regular delivery of critical science, crew supplies, provisions, spare parts and assorted gear to the multinational crews living and working aboard the massive orbiting outpost.By adding a new third provider, NASA simultaneously gains the benefit of additional capability and flexibility and also spreads out the risk.Unlike the Cygnus which burns up on reentry and Dragon which lands via parachutes, the reusable Dream Chaser is capable of low-g reentry and runway landings. This is very beneficial for sensitive scientific experiments and allows much quicker access by researchers to time critical cargo. Dream Chaser will be capable of delivering 5,500 kg of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the ISS.Each of the three aerospace firms "is guaranteed a minimum of six cargo resupply missions through 2024," said Sam Scimemi, ISS Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in announcing the three awards at today's media briefing.Beyond the minimum of six flights, NASA has the option to award additions missions.These new awards secure continuing ISS resupply through its currently approved operational period to 2024 by all the partners except ESA - which is still evaluating its options.The award to Sierra Nevada amounts to a huge reversal of fortune for the Dream Chaser spaceplane - which lost out in its prior bid in 2014 to win a commercial crew program (CCP) contract to fly a manned version of Dream Chaser from NASA.The Boeing Starliner CST-100 and SpaceX crew Dragon ultimately were awarded the CCP contracts in September 2014 to fly astronauts to the ISS. The first crewed launches are expected in 2017.Both SpaceX and Orbital ATK suffered catastrophic launch failures during ISS resupply missions, in June 2015 and October 2014 respectively, from which both firms are still in the process of fully recovering from. The new contracts were awarded as part of NASA's long awaited second round of Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contracts to obtain regular and reliable cargo delivery services to the space station from 2019 through 2024. Other covered services include the disposal of unneeded cargo, and the return of research samples and other cargo from the station back to NASA and researchers.NASA says the total value of all the cargo awards from 2016 to 2024 is worth $14 Billion. The agency "will order missions, as needed, and the total prices paid under the contract will depend on which mission types are ordered."The first round of CRS awards to SpaceX and Orbital ATK was made in late 2008. The goal was to replace the critical cargo delivery services formerly provided by NASA's trio of manned space shuttle orbiters, that were subsequently retired in 2011. Shuttle flights ended before either of the private cargo freighters were ready to liftoff.Both SpaceX and Orbital ATK have been flying their commercial Dragon and Cygnus resupply ships to the ISS. The first cargo flight by occurred in 2012 under the initial CRS contract. "So far over 35,000 pounds of cargo has been delivered to the ISS," said Scimemi."Commercial resupply a new way of doing business. We are learning. But it has not been easy. Both original providers had launch failures."The new contracts also include funding ISS integration, flight support equipment, special tasks and studies, and NASA requirement changes."Few would have imagined back in 2010 when President Barack Obama pledged that NASA would work 'with a growing array of private companies competing to make getting to space easier and more affordable,' that less than six years later we'd be able to say commercial carriers have transported 35,000 pounds of space cargo (and counting!) to the International Space Station -- or that we'd be so firmly on track to return launches of American astronauts to the ISS from American soil on American commercial carriers. But that is exactly what is happening," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, in a statement."Today's announcement is a big deal that will move the president's vision further into the future."The new awards start today as NASA negotiates the specifics of which company will fly what cargo and when for example."The second generation of commercial cargo services to low-Earth orbit begins today," said Kirk Shireman, ISS Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston."By engaging American companies for cargo transportation, we can focus our attention on using this one-of-a-kind laboratory in the sky to continue advancing scientific knowledge for the benefit of all humanity."An increased up mass cargo capability is essential for fully utilizing the ISS research capabilities as well as providing additional science experiments and provisions to carry out NASA's plan to increase the crew size to seven."These resupply flights will be conducted in parallel with our Commercial Crew Program providers' flights that enable addition of a seventh astronaut to the International Space Station. This will double the amount of crew time to conduct research," said Julie Robinson, chief scientist for the ISS Program."These missions will be vital for delivering the experiments and investigations that will enable NASA and our partners to continue this important research."The next currently scheduled American ISS commercial cargo flights are slated to take place in the next two months or so."The next Orbital ATK mission named OA-6 will launch on March 10 from Cape Canaveral," Scimemi told Universe Today."SpaceX will announce the date of their next mission named CRS-8 soon."Other current cargo providers to the ISS include the Russian Progress and Japanese HTV vessels.Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news. Ken KremerThe post Dream Chaser Spaceplane Gets 'GO' as NASA Awards Trio of Space Station Cargo Contracts appeared first on Universe Today.
What Would Earth Look Like With Rings? 
Saturn's Rings are amazing to behold. Since they were first observed by Galileo in 1610, they have been the subject of endless scientific interest and popular fascination. Composed of billions of particles of dust and ice, these rings span a distance of about 282,000 km (175,000 miles) - which is three quarters of the distance between the Earth and its Moon - and hold roughly 30 quintillion kilograms (that's 3.0. x 10 18 kg) worth of matter.All of the Solar System's gas giants, from Jupiter to Neptune, have their own ring system - albeit less visible and picturesque ones. Sadly, none of the terrestrial planets (i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) have such a system. But just what would it look like if Earth did? Putting aside the physical requirements that it would take for a ring system to exist, what would it be like to look up from Earth and see beautiful rings reaching overhead? It is precisely this question that inspired Kevin Gill, a software engineer who performs science data visualizations for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to create " Rings Over Earth". Using vacation photos he has taken over the years, and then tweaking them with Photoshop and the 3-D animation/modeling software Maya, Gill was able to superimpose Saturn-like rings onto photographs of Earth's skies.In so doing, he was able to give viewers a realistic idea of what it would be like to look up at the skies and see a ring system similar to Saturn's - specifically from the locations of New Hampshire, the San Bernadino Valley, the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, or Pasadena, California. And as you can see from the photos, the end result is rather breathtaking and inspiring.The photos also show how the ring system would appear at different times of day. For instance, the photo of San Bernadino, CA, shows how the rings would appear in the sky at morning, with the Sun cresting the eastern horizon. The photo of Pasadena shows how the rings would appear at midday, with the Sun directly overhead and illuminating the rings.And then there are the shots taken from the Griffith Observatory that show how the rings would appear in the night sky over downtown Los Angeles. In one, we see them descending towards the glowing horizon (top), with a crescent Moon not far away. In the other (above), we see how a section of the rings has been obscured by the Earth's shadow.And last, but not least, there is how the rings would appear from orbit, which you can see below. No doubt, such a ring system would play havoc with orbiting satellites and space stations (such as the ISS). But as Kevin told Universe Today via email, the project was not an exercise in plausibility, but merely for fun."I made [the pictures] out of a curiosity of how they would look after having done a few Saturn-related renders," he said. "I rigged the camera, rings and Earth in Maya, placing the camera more-or-less where I indented the viewer to be (New Hampshire, Los Angeles, etc.) I used Photoshop to composite the Maya rendered rings over photographs I had taken over the last year. Like the angles, the lighting is more-or-less approximate."As a full-time member of the Jet Propulsion Labority who is responsible for producing visualizations, Gill certainly understands the process of bringing data to life. But as he admits, these pictures may not be an exact rendition of what a ring system would like to an Earth-bound observer. "I didn't do any math in preparation to get the angles exactly right," he said. "In fact, in one of the images, I actually moved the Moon out to the right of where it actually was to simulate a more 'southerly' view."However, there is a fair degree of scientific merit to this kind of artistic speculation. For starters, it is widely believed that at one time, Earth had a ring system of sorts, which was the result of a cataclysmic impact. This is part of what is known as the Impact Hypothesis of the Moon's formation, where a newly-formed Earth was struck by a Mars-sized object named Theia roughly 4.5 billion years ago.This collision ejected material into orbit, which would have formed into a ring around the planet. As this ring fell outside of Earth's Roche Limit, the force of mutual attraction caused thse particles to accrete to form the Moon, which was then able to hold together.Had it been outside of Earth's Roche Limit, this material would have not been able to come together and would therefore have remained as a disc. This is the case for Saturn, which maintains a beautiful ring system within it's Roche Limit, and several moons beyond it.So while Earth, in some alternate reality, could have had a ring system, we would have paid for it by never having the Moon. Hence, there would have never been an Apollo Program, and we would not be currently contemplating building settlements there someday. Doesn't exactly seem like a fair exchange does it?But I think we can all agree, the idea of a ring system around Earth (and some artistic renderings of what it would look like) makes from some pretty nice viewing! And Gill is not the first to create photos that imagine what Earth would look like if it had rings. In 2013, veteran astronomy artist Ron Miller created a series of illustrations of a ringed Earth. As former art director at the National Air & Space Museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium, Miller has been responsible for producing countless visualizations of what other planets would look like to the casual observer. You can view his artwork here.And back in 2009, information provided by NASA"s Cassini space probe led to a number of animators producing videos of what Earth would look like with rings. One such artist was Roy Prol (aka. T0R0YD), who used 3DS Max to show how the rings would appear in the sky from different latitudes on Earth. Clearly, we all wonder what our planet would look like if it were a little less "Earth-like"! Be sure to can check out Kevin Gill's gallery on Flickr, as well as other works of astronomy-related artwork. The post What Would Earth Look Like With Rings? appeared first on Universe Today.
Astronomy Cast Ep. 399: Women in Science Science is typically a male dominated profession, mostly dudes, not a lot of ladies. From researchers to professors, to law makers, woman have a tough time gaining traction in such a heavily gendered field. Today we’re going to talk about what it takes to make it as a woman in science, what additional hurdles you’ll have to navigate, and what resources are available if you’re being harassed or discriminated against.
Visit the Astronomy Cast Page to subscribe to the audio podcast! We record Astronomy Cast as a live Google+ Hangout on Air every Monday at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. You can watch here on Universe Today or from the Astronomy Cast Google+ page. The post Astronomy Cast Ep. 399: Women in Science appeared first on Universe Today.
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