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Spiegel Online 26.01.2010

MRO spacecraft: Stunning pictures from Mars




"HiWish" site: the University of Arizona researchers invite the public to place an order to the photo-"Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).




The false color photo come into being on the basis of data from the HiRise "instrument onboard the MRO spacecraft. The arrows show a dark-colored layer of rock that covers an older, lighter-colored pattern. / NASA / JPL-Caltech / University




So much for being a dead planet: at least geologically on Mars happens to this day a lot. This spectacular "HiRise" photo shows the descend of four of avalanches of debris.





Sand dunes in the Proctor Crater: The waves consist of fine sand, while the larger, dark formations are dunes. As the waves move more slowly, they are probably covered more with dust and appear therefore brighter.




Delta in Jezero Crater: He once contained a lake - just as it is likely that there were many ones on Mars. They could have located also life earlier.




Carbon cap: It is formed during the winter. In the spring, the ice sublimates and vanishes.




Sand dunes in the far north of Mars: If it is warmer in the spring, the carbon dioxide ice evaporates and frees loose sand. He rushes down the slopes and leave dark marks. / NASA / JPL-Caltech / University





Area in the northeast of Syrtis Major, a huge shield volcano: This bedrock is visible, which is more than four billion years old and thus dates from the early days of the solar system.




Craters: The false color shows where the eroded bedrock.




Carbon dioxide ice and sand dunes at the bottom of a crater: In some places, the ice is forming continuous surfaces. When it sublimates in the spring, sometimes it comes to explosion like release of gas.




Central peak in the Toro crater: So-called breccias are giving him his colors. The lump of rock form when sharp-edged debris is compacted under high pressure. In this case, this is probably due to the impact of meteorites.

HiRISE: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment The University of Arizona ... New Craters on Mars
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

HiRISE | Falling Material Kicks Up Cloud of Dust on Dunes ...
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_007962_2635

HiRISE | Image Catalog, Page 1 of 588 pages (11756 images)
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/katalogos.php

Spiegel Online 27/01/2010

Lesioned Rover
NASA leaves "Spirit" stuck on Mars


> MARS Mission - Facts, Info, Articles

"Spirit" in an autoportait: The NASA rover was six years in action on Mars


Since a few months "Spirit" is stuck in the sands of Mars. All attempts by NASA to release the little robot have failed. Now the space agency, wants to provide to the rover at least a meaningful retirement: "Spirit" will continue to work as a research station.


Washington (Translation from German) - Just a few weeks ago, NASA celebrated the sixth anniversary of "Spirits" landing on Mars. But the little Mars rover was already quite marked by its exploring of the red planet. First two of its six wheels had failed, and in May 2009 there was a mishap that will inevitably lead to the end of "Spirit". The Mars robot got stuck in the sand.

For a long time NASA did not wanted to give up their Mars rover. In month of work, the U.S. space agency, designed a program to free "Spirit" millimeter by millimeter, centimeter by centimeter from his sand trap. However, all attempts resulted therein that the vehicle sank even deeper in the sand. Ultimately, NASA had to give up the fight. On Tuesday they announced that they would abandon the efforts to free the robot.

Rest in Peace, little "Spirit"? Not at all. Also for its retirenment life NASA has some plans: The machine will now become a stationary research platform.

Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars research program in the NASA Headquarters in Washington, announcing the plans with a dash of pathos: "Spirit is not dead, it has only begun a new phase of its long life. We told the world last year, that our attempts to liberate our beloved robot, perhaps will not be successful. It looks as if Spirits current location on Mars will become also his final resting place. "

The rover and its twin brother Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004. "Spirit" quickly was making an euphoria among the scientists. Not only due to the fact that both vehicles have provided an enormous amount of fantastic images from Mars - they did this also far longer than expected by the scientists. Originally, NASA assumed for the rovers a life expectancy of only 90 days, but the two little robots ran and ran. "Spirit" came to its end when last spring its wheels broke through the crusty surface of the sand on Mars. Previously, he had to fight already with computer problems too.

Now the space agency wants to focus on "bringing Spirit" through the coming winter. It has stuck itself slightly tilted sideways and can probably not absorb in this position enough light with its solar panels in order to communicate during the winter with the earth. NASA is now trying to improve the pitch at least a few degrees.

As a research station "Spirit" can explore, among other things by using its robotic arm the soil near him - and because the name of the vehicle is evidently program "Spirit" has already begun with this.
___

ZDF Obama stutzt NASA die Flügel - US-Präsident will Raumfahrt stärker privatisieren (germ)
> Raumfahrt Mediathek > Raumfahrt und Astronomie Artikel

NASA: Good night moon, hello new rocket technology
Washington Post - Seth Borenstein, Marcia Dunn - AP -- President Barack Obama is redirecting America's space program, killing NASA's $100 billion plans to return astronauts to the moon and using much of that money for new rocket technology research.
Youtube Video: Obama is proposing to cut NASAs constellation program Russia Today
Obama budget would cut moon exploration program CNN - ABC News
CNet.com - NASA dims lights for Constellation program (photos)
Bizjournals.com - Aviation Week - PC Magazine - CBC News > all 872 news articles »


NASA's new plan: Technology comes before the destination
Washington Post - Joel Achenbach ‎
NASA has a brand-new strategy for human space flight. But now it needs to decide where to go. The dramatic decision by the Obama administration to kill NASA's Constellation program, and with it the plan to send astronauts back to the ...
Video: NASA cuts could be mixed news for NM KRQE.com
NASA Reiterates Support For Humans In Space But With Private Partnership - Allheadlinenews
NASA: We're not giving up on human space flight Computerworld -
NASA Moves Quickly to Advance Commercial Space Operations - PC World
ABC News - InformationWeek - Space.com - Spaceflight Now - Wikipedia: Constellation program - The Guardian (blog)

BBC News

The 'vision thing' and Nasa's new path
By Jonathan Amos, 1 February 2010

It's that "vision thing", or the "grand picture". We like the big ideas to be simple, easy-to-understand concepts. George W Bush's call to "go back to the Moon" was straightforward enough. The trouble was, Nasa found it very difficult to implement - and very expensive.

Some $9bn has already been spent on the Constellation programme and the first mission is still years away. And so on Monday, the current president, Barack Obama, substituted a new vision. He's killed Constellation with its two Ares rockets and Orion capsule, and replaced it with a whole new way of doing space [PDF 1Mb].

In future, Nasa will no longer lead the design and development of space vehicles. It will instead leave this to the private sector and become a customer for transport services. The market will need to be stimulated, of course. So Nasa has been given a budget to run competitions. Winning companies will be offered fixed-price contracts, with rewards triggered only when they deliver on promises. The hope is that Nasa - and by extension the US taxpayer - will get access to a broader range of space vehicles, faster and at a fraction of the cost. The immediate reaction might be to gulp, but there is actually something inevitable about all of this.

Today, when we board a plane, we don't fly "Government Air"; we fly American Airlines or British Airways. We fly with commercial operators. We take for granted the excellent safety records of the carriers and concern ourselves only with issues of price and quality of service.

This is the future of space transportation that Barack Obama and new Nasa chief Charlie Bolden want us all to embrace. Already, there is a queue of entrepreneurs waiting to seize this opportunity. Next month we will probably see the maiden flight of Falcon 9, a private rocket developed by the PayPal founder Elon Musk.

The rocket and its Dragon capsule are intended in the first instance to carry just cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). But Musk has designed his vehicles in such a way that they could carry people, also. He claims his astronaut carrier would be ready for service just two-and-a-half years from first contract, with a seat price of $20m. To put that in perspective, the Russians are currently charging $50m per seat for a Soyuz ride to the ISS, and that's a fraction of the price of the outgoing space shuttle.

As Peter Diamandis, the chairman and CEO of the X-Prize Foundation, observed on Monday: "It's been the pattern of what the US capitalist system does well - the government starts something and industry takes it over and injects innovation, brings down the cost and increases reliability. "We've seen this in every industry that's been transferred from government to the private sector. And, frankly, space needs it more than anybody else, otherwise we are going to lose the race. There's no question - China, India and other parts of the world will eat our lunch in space on a price-performance basis."
With the budget request on Monday came an announcement from Nasa that it will be giving an immediate $50m in seed money to the winners of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) competition.

This is a precursor to what will eventually be $6bn commercial crew programme. The largest award in going to Sierra Nevada Corporation which is working on a six-seat vehicle called Dream Chaser that would launch atop an Atlas rocket.

As you might expect from the themes most frequently pursued in this blog, I'm intrigued now by what impact this development is going to have in Europe. How will it change - how should it change - the business of governmental space on this side of the Atlantic? Europe has talked for years about having its own crew carrier capability but it's always been deemed to be too expensive. Is there a mechanism here that would make an independent European space transportation system finally realisable and affordable?

You can be sure journalists will be asking that question of European Space Agency and member-state officials. The next few months will be fascinating, to see how all of this develops. It's clear already that elements in Congress will try to restore Constellation. Senators and representatives from states that have Nasa centres where Constellation plays big will need a lot of convincing that "new space" offers the same job security for their constituents as "old space".

Like many, they will have winced at the revelation that just to close Constellation down will cost the government an additional $2.5bn. And coming back to that vision thing, I think we're all looking for a bit more detail on some of the long-term issues - how humans will once again go beyond the confines of Earth orbit. That really does need a big rocket or some "game changing" approach. At the moment, the talk is merely about an aggressive R&D programme on heavy-lift technologies.

I did manage to get a question to Lori Garver, the second in command at Nasa. I asked her if she thought she'd ever see a human walk on the surface of the Moon again in her lifetime. She believes "new space" could see many people manage it:

"I absolutely believe that; I believe I could still do it myself as a matter of fact. What this does is open up more people to be going more places. We're going to be investing in those technologies that allow that to happen in the future for many more people, and to do a lot of different things [like] going to the asteroids and to Mars."

Related BBC Articles
> Obama cancels Moon return project > US President Barack Obama unveils 2011 budget plans

New Scientist

NASA nixes moon plan, leaving options wide open by David Shiga, 01 February 2010




- NASA's proposed 2011 budget would cancel the Constellation programme of rockets and spacecraft intended to replace the space shuttle; so far, NASA has spent about $9 billion on Constellation. The White House says it wants to focus on developing new technologies for space flight rather than choosing specific destinations. (Illustration: NASA/MSFC)


The White House is cancelling the Bush-era plan to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, pouring billions into space technology research and development instead. But it is unclear where NASA astronauts will go next and how they will get there.

On Monday, the Obama administration announced its proposed 2011 budget for NASA. The $19 billion budget would cancel the Constellation programme that is developing rockets and other hardware to return astronauts to the moon, though the cancellation must first be approved by Congress.

The budget documents and press briefing left unclear where outside of low-Earth orbit NASA wants to send its astronauts next, and how they would get there without the vehicles being designed under Constellation.

NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver said the agency had not yet decided on what destinations to pursue next, suggesting that precursor robotic missions would help determine what locations would be most worth visiting.

"Rather than setting those destinations and timelines, we're setting goals for technologies that can take us further, faster, and more affordably into space," she said.

There were hints however, that the administration might follow the so-called flexible path proposed by a White House panel headed by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine. That option would see astronauts fly to increasingly distant locales including asteroids and the moons of Mars.

"Imagine trips to Mars that take weeks instead of nearly a year, people fanning out across the inner solar system exploring the moon, asteroids and Mars nearly simultaneously in a steady stream of firsts," said NASA administrator Charles Bolden at the briefing. Such trips would occur "once we develop the new capabilities to make it a reality", he said.

Orbiting gas stations

NASA officials gave no clear answer to questions about whether the agency had any plans to develop a "heavy-lift" rocket, which – at least with existing technology – would be necessary to send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. But deputy Garver did say some of the billions of dollars NASA plans to spend on technology development will be directed towards heavy-lift rockets.

"We all believe that the seventh time we land on the moon will be with our international partners, in a different way, with new technologies," she said, referring to the 6 Apollo landings between 1969 and 1972.

The agency plans to spend $7.8 billion over the next five years working on technology needed for human space exploration. Projects could include orbiting gas stations – which might allow relatively small rockets to send human missions beyond low-Earth orbit – and advanced-propulsion technologies, such as ion engines that could slash the transit time to Mars.

Closer to home, the administration is betting big on the ability of commercial launch providers to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) with their own vehicles, apparently giving up on the idea of using agency rockets and capsules for that purpose.

'Death march'
The ISS itself would be supported through 2020 in the new budget, rather than abandoning it after 2015 to free up money for the moon programme, as envisioned in budgets during the Bush administration.

The new plan cannot go forward unless Congress votes to approve it, and the Obama administration faces fierce opposition from lawmakers representing areas with thousands of jobs tied to the Constellation programme. Republican senator Richard Shelby of Alabama called the new plan a "death march for the future of US human space flight".

But proponents of the new plan fought back. Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin came out strongly in favour of it in a statement (pdf) posted on the website of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy.

"The truth is that we have already been to the Moon – some 40 years ago," Aldrin writes. "A near-term focus on lowering the cost of access to space and on developing key, cutting-edge technologies to take us further, faster, is just what our Nation needs to maintain its position as the leader in space exploration for the rest of this century."
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For similar stories, visit the Solar System and Spaceflight Topic Guides

Destination Phobos: humanity's next giant leap
The best way to reach Mars may be to set up base camp on its largest moon - just one small step away from the Red Planet.

> Photos Phobos

> Canada Studies Mission to Mysterious Mars Moon


> DLR Phobos flyby orbital characteristics animation.



Mars and Phobos

Legit News.com

Could NASA be Grounded Indefinitely?

According to a Time article, Obama's latest budget proposal would provide over $100 billion in funding to NASA, but does not allocate any of it to continue the Ares rocket testing through the Constellation-project which was geared toward a 21st century lunar landing and eventually Mars. Projects the $100 billion would be allocated for include extending the life of the ISS (International Space Station), better robotics, new flight techniques, and unmanned spacecraft.

The initiative, for now at least, is more about what NASA plans to cancel than what it plans to pursue. The six-year-old Constellation program, which had been focused on developing new boosters, Apollo-like orbiters and a 21st century lunar lander, all with the goal of making long-term stays on the moon possible, will be scrapped, after $9 billion and a single flight of the Ares 1 booster last October. The longer-term goal of venturing out to Mars is being tabled along with it. (more)

> fisica.cab.cnea.gov.ar Celestia screenshots gallery

Moon and Earth

National Aeronautics and Space Administration FY2011 Budget Fact Sheet
By allamericanpatriots.com, February 2nd, 2010

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) drives advances in science, technology, and exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, stewardship of the Earth, and solutions to national and global challenges. The President’s Budget invests an additional $6 billion in NASA over the next five years – an overall $100 billion commitment to the agency. » read more »


The Hindu

Obama administration seeks to outsource spacecraft
By AP, February 1, 2010


> NASA begins funding commercial space taxis > Global Media Coverage


Getting to space is about to be outsourced. The Obama administration on Monday will propose in its new budget spending billions of dollars to encourage private companies to build, launch and operate spacecraft for NASA and others. The U.S. space agency would buy its astronauts a ride into space just like hopping in a taxi.

The idea is that getting astronauts into orbit, which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been doing for 49 years, is getting to be so old hat that someone other than the government can do it. Going private would free the space agency to do other things, such as explore beyond Earth’s orbit, do more research and study the Earth with better satellites. And it would spur a new generation of private companies - even some with Internet roots - to innovate.

But there’s some concern about that - from former NASA officials worried about safety and from congressional leaders worried about lost jobs. Some believe space is still a tough, dangerous enterprise not to be left to private companies out to make money. Government would lose vital knowledge and control, critics fear.

Proponents of private space, an idea that has been kicking around for nearly 20 years, point to the airline industry in its infancy. Initially the Army flew most planes. But private companies eventually started building and operating aircraft, especially when they got a guaranteed customer in the U.S. government to deliver air mail.

That’s what NASA would be: a guaranteed customer to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station through 2020. It would be similar to the few years that NASA paid Russia to fly astronauts on its Soyuz after the Columbia accident in 2003.

“With a $6 billion program you can have multiple winners. You’ll literally have your Blackberry, your iPhone and your Android phone all competing for customers in the marketplace,” said John Gedmark, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. The White House has said it will be adding $5.9 billion to the overall NASA budget over five years; Mr. Gedmark believes most or all will go to commercial space initiatives.

Mike Gold, corporate counsel at Bigelow Aerospace, which is building the first commercial space station and is a potential spacecraft provider, believes the government should have privatized astronaut launchings decades ago.

“It will force the aerospace world to become competitive again and restore us to our glory days,” Mr. Gold said. Last year as part of the stimulus package, NASA said it would give out $50 million in seed and planning money for the idea of a commercial spaceship. Several firms expressed interest and NASA will soon pick a winner or winners.

American University public policy professor and space expert Howard McCurdy said this is not as radical as it seems. The shuttle was built not by government workers but by Rockwell International, a private company. Then in 1996 the Clinton administration outsourced the shuttle’s day-to-day launch and other operations to a private company.

“This is something that NASA has been drifting toward in the last 25 years,” Mr. McCurdy said.

But the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, created after NASA’s first fatal accident, warned that the existing private rockets are not rated by the government as safe for people to fly on. That has to be addressed with testing and study before jumping into commercial space, the panel said.

It’s not that it is impossible to certify these rockets as safe enough for astronauts but it is a long process that is not spelled out, said former NASA associate administrator Scott Pace, now a space policy professor at George Washington University.

Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize Foundation, which sponsored a competition in suborbital spaceflight, dismissed safety worries: “We don’t fly on U.S. Air Government. We fly on Southwest and JetBlue.”

The Federal Aviation Administration, which has a commercial space division, would regulate private space safety and other issues.

Mr. Pace cautioned that Clinton era efforts to privatize parts of the National Reconnaissance Organization, which builds and operates U.S. spy satellites, were a failure and this could be similar. He added that there’s such strong support in Congress for the current space program a change may be difficult to get through Capitol Hill.

New York University government professor Paul Light said: “My general caution is be careful about what you give away. It’s awful expensive to get it back.”

But there should be a lot of interest in giving astronauts the ride if the price is right, Mr. Gedmark said.

The leading contenders - most are mum at this point - to build private spaceships include established aerospace giants, such as Boeing Co. of Chicago and Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Maryland, which built most of America’s rockets and capsules. Boeing and Lockheed Martin have existing rocket families in Delta and Atlas, which launch commercial and government satellites regularly and reliably, but for the moment aren’t rated by the government to be safe enough for humans. That may change.

But it’s the newer space guard that brings some excitement to the field. Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, which facilitates online payments, may be ahead of most. His SpaceX already has a Falcon rocket and Dragon capsule. Other companies being mentioned include Orbital Sciences of Dulles, Virginia, Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas and Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nevada.

In the 1980s, Tiffany Montague grew up wanting to get into space and figured she had to work for the government to do that. She joined the Air Force and was a high-altitude pilot. But now she works for Google, running a $30 million prize to encourage private companies to build a rover that can run around the moon.

“We’re broadly interested in opening up space to everyone,” Montague said in a phone interview Friday. She said Google is “supportive of commercial spaceflight, we’re enthusiasts. But we’re not space entrepreneurs - at least not yet. Who knows what we might do in the future.”

The ISS over British Columbia

NASA: Final Space Shuttle Night Launch Feb. 7, 2010


> Photos


Jan. 27, 2010 -- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour is set to begin a 13-day flight to the International Space Station with a Feb. 7 launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is planned for 4:39 a.m. EST, making this the final scheduled space shuttle night launch.

Endeavour's launch date was announced Wednesday at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy. During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready. Endeavour's flight will begin the final year of space shuttle operations. Five shuttle missions are planned in 2010, with the last flight currently targeted for launch in September.

Endeavour's mission will include three spacewalks and the delivery of the Tranquility node, the final module of the U.S. portion of the space station. Tranquility will provide additional room for crew members and many of the space station's life support and environmental control systems. Attached to the node is a cupola, which houses a robotic control station and has seven windows to provide a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. After the node and cupola are added, the orbiting laboratory will be about 90 percent complete.

Commander George Zamka and his crew of five astronauts are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy at approximately 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, for final launch preparations. Joining Zamka on STS-130 are Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken. Virts will be making his first trip to space. STS-130 will be Endeavour's 24th mission and the 33rd shuttle flight dedicated to station assembly and maintenance. For more information about STS-130, visit: www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Patrick, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is sending updates about his training to his Twitter account. He plans to tweet from orbit during the mission. He can be followed at: www.twitter.com/Astro_Nicholas

For more information on the space station, visit: www.nasa.gov/station » read more »

CSMonitor

New Hubble images reveal Pluto's dynamic surface




The most detailed images yet of Pluto, taken by the Hubble Telescope, reveal a yellow-black sphere whose surface appears to be among the most dynamic in the solar system. The the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003 and released on Thursday. / M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute) / NASA / ESA / Reuters


New images of the distant ice ball captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and released Thursday reveal a sphere swathed in muted blotches of black, charcoal, white, and yellow-orange.

The colors testify to the nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide that are the prime ingredients in Pluto's ices and its faint wisp of an atmosphere. The images – the most detailed yet taken of Pluto – reveal a surface that is among the most dynamic in the solar system.

The new images, gathered between 2002 and 2003 and processed over the past seven years, also show large differences in surface features compared with images taken in 1994, explained Mike Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology at a NASA briefing Thursday.

On Earth, "ice caps come and go; there's Mars, where ice caps come and go," he says. "Then there's Pluto. You're looking at the surface in the solar system that has the biggest changes of anything we're ever seen." These changes appear in some images as the morphing of dark and light patches across the surface over time, and may be linked to the changing seasons on Pluto, researchers say. Pluto’s trip around the sun takes 248 years. So one would expect the march of the seasons to be closer to a snail's pace.

“But it's a little bit of a surprise to see this big a change this fast,” in surface features as well in as other aspects of Pluto's appearance, says Marc Buie, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., and the lead scientist on the project. The colors in the composite images represent "my best guess of what the true-color appearance would be if you were sitting in your spacecraft floating around Pluto," Dr. Buie says.




This is the most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003. The center disk (180 degrees) has a mysterious bright spot that is unusually rich in carbon monoxide frost. Pluto is so small and distant that the task of resolving the surface is as challenging as trying to see the markings on a soccer ball 40 miles away. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute).


The view is similar to the one humans get of the moon with the naked eye, he says. There's not enough detail to pick out individual mountains or craters, but enough to suggest significant differences in surface features. Images will help plan for fly-by

The new images of what was once the solar system's ninth planet come as NASA's first mission to Pluto, New Horizons, has passed the half-way point in its trip to Pluto and at least one other object beyond in the Kuiper Belt – a region that begins just beyond Neptune and reaches deep into the outer solar system.

Launched Jan. 16, 2006, the spacecraft is on track for a flyby of Pluto and its companion Charon. The craft will achieve its closest approach to the pair on July 14, 2015. Indeed, the new Hubble images already are helping the New Horizons team plan its observations during the flyby, Buie says.

Pluto is the key destination on the spacecraft's trip. But a fly-by allows for no do-overs. So the encounter is carefully choreographed. The Hubble images, along with others gathered by ground and space-based telescopes over the next five years, will help scientists lay out a careful time line of commands that the craft will use to ensure the right instruments are aimed at the right places at the right times.

Images took seven years and 20 computers

To build the new portraits of Pluto, Buie's team gathered 384 Hubble images of the dwarf planet between 2002 and 2003. But in each image, Pluto appears only as a tiny dot of light. So the team employed a technique called “dithering” to generate images slightly offset from each other. The individual images emerged after seven years of processing on 20 homemade computers running in parallel.

In analyzing the images, Buie’s team see other changes in Pluto beyond shifting surface features. Data gathered between 1954 and 2000 showed that Pluto's surface displayed a reddish tint – somewhere between the hue of Mars and Jupiter's moon Io, Buie says. That color remained virtually unchanged during that time. But the dwarf planet's average color during the period Buie and his team gathered their data was 20 to 30 percent redder.

The change might be hard to distinguish with the naked eye. But "it's a very marked change. Put it in the context of what the rest of the solar system's surfaces do,” this rate of change is “unprecedented,” he says.




The top picture was taken in 1994 by the European Space Agency's Faint Object Camera. The bottom image was taken in 2002-2003 by the Advanced Camera for Surveys. The dark band at the bottom of each map is the region that was hidden from view at the time the data were taken. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute) Photo No. STScI-PR10-06b

Related Stories

The Pluto Files
Beyond Pluto, a new frontier of discovery
Destination Pluto: NASA begins a 10-year voyage

> Photo Gallery Planets


› Additional background information about Pluto from Southwest Research Institute

MSNBC Endeavour’s crew takes on ‘bittersweet’ mission
SFGate Obama changes course on NASA's mission

Spiegel Pluto: Ice world of ice and stone



Pluto with moons: The photo of the "Hubble" Space Telescope from 2006 shows that the dwarf planet has more than just a companion.




Iridescent pigments on Pluto: The photos were taken from data of the years 1994, 2002 and 2003, and re-calculated on the computer for four years. Overall, the dwarf planet has become significantly redder.




Source Spiegel.de
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> Gl Med Cov Endeavour on the way to the ISS > Nzz.ch


> India to send two astronauts into space in 2016
__________________________________________________________________





Crew STS 130: Commander: George D. "Zambo" Zamka; Pilot: Terry Virts; Mission Specialists:- MS1 Kathryn P. "Kay" Hire, MS2 Stephen Robinson, MS3 Nicholas Patrick, MS4 Robert L. Behnken. Primary Payload: Tranquility (Node 3) and Cupola. > Space.gs




Feb 7: At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the astronauts on space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 crew, dressed in their orange launch-and-entry suits, pause for a group portrait in front of the Astrovan that will transport them to Launch Pad 39A for the first STS-130 launch attempt. From left are Mission Specialists Robert Behnken, Nicholas Patrick, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire; Pilot Terry Virts; and Commander George Zamka. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.


After a one day delay due to clouds, space shuttle Endeavour launched at 3:14 a.m. CST Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a new module and an attached cupola for the International Space Station that should increase human understanding of our home planet. It was the last scheduled night launch in shuttle program history. Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kay Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken began their 13-day mission with an eight and a half minute dash to orbit to begin the pursuit of the orbital outpost, lighting up the central Florida coast as Endeavour arced to the northeast en route to space.

When Endeavour lifted off, the station was traveling at almost five miles a second about 212 miles over western Romania. Endeavour is scheduled to dock with the station at 11:09 p.m. Tuesday over the northern coast of Spain. Aboard the station waiting to welcome Endeavour crew members are Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams, cosmonaut flight engineers Max Suraev and Oleg Kotov, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer. more...




http://space.gs/10/sts-130/02.html




Nov 21: Astronaut Randy Bresnik, STS-129 mission specialist, performs a task near the European Space Agency's Columbus module, on the International Space Station during the second STS-129 space walk. During the six-hour, eight-minute spacewalk, Bresnik and astronaut Mike Foreman (out of frame), mission specialist, installed a Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing Assembly, or GATOR, on the Columbus laboratory. GATOR contains a ship-tracking antenna system and a HAM radio antenna. They relocated a floating potential measurement unit that gauges electric charges that build up on the station, deployed a Payload Attach System on the space-facing side of the Starboard 3 truss segment and installed a wireless video system that allows spacewalkers to transmit video to the station and relay it to Earth. Credit: NASA




Nov 21: Astronaut Randy Bresnik, STS-129 mission specialist, performs a task near the European Space Agency's Columbus module, on the International Space Station during the second STS-129 space walk. Credit: NASA




Nov 23: Astronaut Robert L. Satcher Jr., STS-129 mission specialist, participates in the mission's third and final session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. During the five-hour, 42-minute spacewalk, Satcher and astronaut Randy Bresnik (out of frame), mission specialist, removed a pair of micrometeoroid and orbital debris shields from the Quest airlock and strapped them to the External Stowage Platform #2, then moved an articulating foot restraint to the airlock, and released a bolt on a starboard truss ammonia tank assembly (ATA) in preparation for an STS-131 spacewalk that will replace the ATA. Credit: NASA




Nov 24: Astronaut Nicole Stott, STS-129 mission specialist, takes one of her final "strolls" through the modules and hatchways of the International Space Station on the eve of her departure from the orbital outpost. Credit: NASA
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Networkworld News

NASA Endeavour set to dock with, expand International Space Station
NASA Endeavour inspects shuttle, preps for early am ISS link-up
By Michael Cooney, Network World, February 09, 2010


ISS-Modul "Tranquility"

> ABC News > ABC News Photos > Space.com > The Hindu > Gl. Med. Cov.


NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour crew is making preparations to link-up with the International Space Station after it spent most of today giving the spacecraft the once over looking for any damage that may have occurred during launch.

Such inspections to the shuttle’s thermal tile protection system are routine as the tiles have been a source of problems since the first launch of the spacecraft in 1981. According to NASA the thermal protection system is made up of various materials designed mostly to protect the craft and crew from an amazing array of temperature differences from minus 250 F in the cold soak of space to re-entry temperatures that reach nearly 3,000 F.

NASA has tons of cool space technologies that may never get to space

The astronauts pay particular attention to inspection of the shuttle’s heat-resistant tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon surfaces on the wing leading edges and the nose. The crew’s spacesuits are also given the once-over as the crew will use them for scheduled three space walks.

Endeavour is scheduled to dock with the ISS shortly after midnight Wednesday. Once docked the shuttle and ISS crews will begin removing from the space shuttle’s storage bay and docking the life support module known as Tranquility.

According to NASA, the pressurized Tranquility module will bump out the room for crew members and many of the space station's life support and environmental control systems including include air revitalization, oxygen generation and water recycling. A waste and hygiene compartment and a treadmill also will be relocated from other areas of the station, NASA stated.

Tranquility will be linked to the Earth-facing side of the ISS’ Unity node. The new node will provide an additional docking point for space shuttles and other crew vehicles visiting the station in the future.


Cupola module


Astronauts will also begin attaching the room with a view module known as the Cupola module. NASA says the Cupola node could be considered the ultimate observation deck as the small, dome-shaped module has seven windows -- six around the sides and one on top -- that can be shuttered when not in use to protect them from micrometeoroids and the harsh space environment.


Interior of the Cupola





Just under ten feet in diameter, the Cupola will accommodate two crew members and portable workstations that can control station and robotic activities. The view will let the crew monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects, NASA stated.
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Space.com Shuttle Endeavour Closes in on Space Station


NASA's Latest Mission to the International Space Station / PC World ‎- The Space Shuttle Endeavour has launched on a mission to deliver a new observation module to the International Space Station (ISS).
Reuters - Space Shuttle Endeavour Readies for ISS Docking eWeek
NASA Endeavour set to dock with, expand International Space Station msnbc.com -
- InformationWeek - Computerworld - Washingtonpost - http://www.nasa.gov/station - Aviationweek - gaetanomarano.it - Spaceref
all 3,239 news articles »
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Dailytech.com

Job Losses Concern NASA Administrator
Michael Barkoviak - February 9, 2010

NASA is concerned about job losses in Florida, Texas and other locations


Some NASA space officials have showed concern in the direction of the U.S. space agency, as President Barack Obama prepares to begin outsourcing even more of NASA's missions to private contractors. Space officials will plead to Congress to try and save up to 1,000 jobs in Washington. There is concern if Obama's new budget is approved, even more jobs could be lost in the future. NASA wants to keep part of the Constellation program active, which could help save some of the proposed 1,000 jobs that will be lost.

President Obama's 2011 budget has killed any realistic hope the U.S. space agency will be able to return to the moon in the next 10 years. "We are departing from the model of the past, in which the government funded all of human space activities," said Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator, during an interview. "This represents the entrance of the entrepreneurial mindset into a field that is poised for rapid growth and new jobs. And NASA will be driving competition, opening new markers and access to space, and catalyzing the potential of American industry. This is a good investment for America."

Both NASA and the Russian space program face similar dilemmas of upgrading aging space technology while losing precious funds. The NASA Constellation space program is currently running behind schedule, and the U.S. Government has already invested more than $9 billion to help keep the project alive longer. More recently, shuttle Endeavour partook in NASA's last nighttime shuttle launch, and the crew will work on the International Space Station (ISS) during the two-week mission.





> Latest Endeavour Flight Will Bring Tranquility to ISS


CNN Will NASA ever return to the moon? - NASA and GM Develop the Robonaut2 / 2 - Focus / 2 / 3

Feb 8: With the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin in the background, the Tranquility node in space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay, vertical stabilizer,
orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods and a shadow-covered docking mechanism are featured in this image photographed by the STS-130 crew from an
aft flight deck window. Hainan Island can be seen between the South China Sea (bottom) and Gulf of Tonkin (top). The Leizhou Peninsula of the Chinese mainland
is on the upper right. Image credit: NASA

Feb 8: George Zamka (left background), STS-130 commander; Terry Virts (right), pilot; and Stephen Robinson, mission specialist, are pictured on the flight deck
of space shuttle Endeavour during flight day one activities. Image credit: NASA

The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-130 crew member as space shuttle Endeavour and the station approach each other
during rendezvous and docking activities. Docking occurred at 11:06 p.m. (CST) on Feb. 9, 2010, delivering the Tranquility node and its Cupola. Image credit: NASA