Space and Space Travel News

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Space News

International Space Station: first 6-person crew operations begin.
By Space News, May 29th, 2009




- Expedition 20 - the first six-strong International Space Station crew - assembled in the Zvezda module for the welcoming ceremony immediately after hatch opening following the arrival of ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk with the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft on 29 May 2009. Credit: ESA


The crew of the International Space Station has increased to six for the first time today with the arrival of three new residents including ESA astronaut Frank De Winne with the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft. The Soyuz TMA-15 docked with the International Space Station at 14:34 CEST (12:34 UT). After leak checks, the hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 16:14 CEST (14:14 UT). The new crewmembers, ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, were welcomed on the ISS by the three Expedition crewmembers already in residence: Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, NASA astronaut Michael Barratt and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Together they will form the first ever six-person ISS crew - Expedition 20. With the Expedition 20 crew now together on the ISS, it is also the first time that all five ISS partners are represented by astronauts on the Station at the same time. “This is a very exciting moment for the ISS Partners and a major milestone for human spaceflight and exploration. With Frank, Roman and Bob now together with the other three ISS crewmembers, we reach a full six-crew capability on the Station. We have had a very intense two weeks in Europe: the roll out of the Node 3, the selection of six new members of the European Astronaut Corps and now this milestone,” said Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight. “This opens up new and exciting opportunities on the utilisation of the Station for scientific and research activities but also in preparation for future exploration missions to more distant destinations.”




- The Soyuz TMA-15 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:34 CEST on 27 May 2009 carrying Expedition 20 crewmembers ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk to the International Space Station. Credit: ESA - S. Corvaja, 2009


De Winne, Romanenko and Thirsk will spend the next six months on the Station. For the first four months of their stay, De Winne will be a Flight Engineer as a member of the Expedition 20 crew, reporting to Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka. With a rotation of three of the six crewmembers due in October, De Winne will take over as Commander of the Expedition 21 crew until his return to Earth in November. He is the first European to take on this role. During his mission, called OasISS, De Winne will use the scientific facilities of the ISS, especially the European Columbus laboratory, to undertake a European programme of scientific experiments and technology demonstrations.

These come predominantly from scientific institutions across Europe and include experiments in human physiology, biology, radiation dosimetry, exobiology, fluid physics and materials sciences. ESA views education as a valuable aspect of its human spaceflight missions, helping to inspire the youth of today. As such, the OasISS mission will be the prime focus of ESA’s education activities during the mission, including a live lesson given by De Winne from the ISS. The Expedition 20 crew will hold their first news conference on Monday 1 June at 16:25 CEST (14:25 UT). (more)




- The Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft docks with the ISS at 14:36 CEST on Friday 29 May 2009. Credit: ESA
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Videos (credit: ESA):

Launch: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/OasISS_Miss ... WUF_0.html
Docking: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/OasISS_Miss ... WUF_0.html
Ingress: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/OasISS_Miss ... WUF_0.html


Scienceclarified.com: The ISS—A Symbol of International Cooperation and Peacemaking • The New Age of Commercial Space Travel
• The Future Of Space Exploration? • Daily Mail: ISS Astronauts Face Most Dangerous Challenge Ever: Home Remodeling • more / 2 / 3

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Space Blog

Russia's Space Program Could Crush the U.S. Over the Next Decade
By Lauren Davis, Oct 6 2008,




- An image of Peggy A. Whitson, an American astronaut at the International Space Station, in April at mission control in Korolev, outside Moscow. A plan to suspend NASA’s capacity to fly astronauts into space has set off a geopolitical controversy.


When NASA retires its three space shuttles in 2010, US astronauts will have to rely on the Russian space program to gain entry to space and the International Space Station. Until 2015, when the Constellation program is scheduled to begin launching the Orion spacecraft, the US plans to purchase seats on the Russian Soyuz craft. Now some NASA officials are warning that America's presence in space could be hindered further by US-Russian tensions and the emerging Chinese program. In 2004, the Bush administration introduced its “vision for space exploration,” which includes retiring NASA’s existing shuttle fleet and introducing Constellation, a new launching program using an updated capsule and rocket system.

However, the administration, not wanting to inflate NASA’s budget, decided that manned space missions would go on a five-year hiatus, and that American astronauts should instead fly on Russian spacecraft. But the recent political tensions between the US and Russia have complicated this plan. Although NASA does not doubt Russia’s commitment to transporting US astronauts, the US’s commitment to manned spaceflight will be greatly tested if relations with Russia continue to deteriorate. Following Russia’s military action in Georgia, Congress was stalled the bill to approve NASA’s purchase of seats on Russian spacecraft beyond 2011. The approval for the purchase of seats through 2016 did ultimately pass, but the incident prompted NASA administrator Michael D. Griffin to speak out against the current policy, which he called "unseemly in the extreme": In an e-mail message he sent to his top advisers in August, Dr. Griffin wrote that “events have unfolded in a way that makes it clear how unwise it was for the U.S. to adopt a policy of deliberate dependence on another power.”

Griffin further suggests that the gap poses an unnecessary risk to the US space program: “In a rational world, we would have been allowed to pick a shuttle retirement date to be consistent with Ares/Orion availability,” Dr. Griffin wrote. Within the administration, he wrote, “retiring the shuttle is a jihad rather than an engineering and program management decision.” Griffin fears the consequences of any delay in the Constellation program, which comes at a time when China’s space program is rapidly advancing. Even if the current plans go according to schedule, the US will not return to the moon until 2020. Proponents fear that by then, the US will already be behind the curve.





• The N.Y.Times: The Long Countdown - One Way Up - U.S. Space Plan Relies on Russia (more)
- Star City, Russia — This place was once no place, a secret military base northeast of Moscow that did not show up on maps. The Soviet Union trained its astronauts here to fight on the highest battlefield of the cold war: space. Yet these days, Star City is the place for America’s hard-won orbital partnership with Russia, where astronauts train to fly aboard Soyuz spacecraft.

And in two years Star City will be the only place to send astronauts from any nation to the International Space Station. The gap is coming: from 2010, when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shuts down the space shuttle program, to 2015, when the next generation of American spacecraft is scheduled to arrive, NASA expects to have no human flight capacity and will depend on Russia to get to the $100 billion station, buying seats on Soyuz craft as space tourists do. Continued...

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Discover Magazine

Soviet Space Race, Round II

Nearly 40 years after Apollo, Russia eyes moon tourists--and the Red Planet.
by Eve Conant, August 1, 2006


• Russianspaceweb: Cliper spacecraft model


While NASA inches ahead with plans for a new Crew Exploration Vehicle, the Russians are racing to replace their aging Soyuz fleet with a futuristic manned spacecraft designed to give Russia the competitive edge in commercial space exploration. Russia's space program, once fueled by national pride alone, is now awash in petrodollars and big plans. Officials openly discuss blue-sky ideas—mining the moon for helium-3 fuel and reaching Mars in the next 25 years, for instance. But it will take a new shuttle service to accomplish that. There has been a fierce competition to move ahead in space without breaking the bank. "We're focused on economic efficiency, and that's why we're going to get investors," says Nikolai Sevastyanov, president of RKK Energia, one of three Russian companies that presented designs to Rosaviacosmos, the Russian space agency.

Energia, which also does a brisk side business in more mundane products like coffeemakers and vacuum cleaners, has so far created the most talked about design. Its Kliper craft can make multiple voyages and seat six passengers, three more than the aging, nonreusable Soyuz. That would allow four seats to be sold off to foreign astronauts—including Americans, the Russians like to point out—and to the new cash cows of the cosmos: space tourists. The winged Kliper craft would subject passengers to only modest launch g-force stresses and would gently glide into the atmosphere upon return, resulting in cheaper flights and shorter training periods for tourists with busy earthly schedules.

Other competitors include Molniya's Buran space plane, which can be launched in midair, and an updated version of Khrunichev's TKS manned transport ship, a partially reusable unwinged capsule first designed in the 1960s. Russia is hoping the European Space Agency will help finance or build the winning spacecraft concept, despite failing to provide research funds last winter. Russia's space budget is still less than a tenth of NASA's, but prospects look good nonetheless. "Russia without manned spaceflight would be like having Russia without the Kremlin," says Christian Feichtinger of the ESA. Energia proposes that its Kliper could be introduced by 2015, at an initial cost of $1.5 billion for five ships. (more...)


• The Frontiers of Astronomy
- Discover's panel of top astronomers and astrophysicists discuss some of the biggest questions in the universe. (more)
• A Scientist's Guide to Finding Alien Life: Where, When, and in What Universe • Discover: Russia's Dark Horse Plan to Get to Mars

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Rare Photos of the Russian "Buran" Space Program
From Darkroastedblend.com, More links


• BBC: Buran - the Soviet 'space shuttle'


It was the Largest and Most Expensive in Soviet Space Exploration History - a grand effort and a noble, if not fully realized, dream. The frustrating end to this titanic program (it was canceled in 1993 due to the political situation and a lack of funding), and some resemblance of "Buran" to the American space shuttle, make it easy to forget the impressive results that it achieved: a fully operational line of shuttles with one (unmanned) space flight in 1988 and the development of the huge "Energia" launcher, which is fully capable of lifting 200 tonnes into orbit and delivering a payload to the Moon.



• Buran's first launch


In other words, this program was something to behold while it lasted. Here are presented rarely seen photographs of the various stages in "Buran"'s development and its trial flights, compiled from numerous Russian sites, including the most authoritative Buran.ru..


• www.spacecollection.info


The exterior of "Buran" and Space Shuttle "Columbia" may look similar, but that's where the similarities end. "Buran" was just a payload for the Energia launcher (with many other types of payloads possible). "Buran" had automatic landing capability and, being a well-behaved robot, landed itself in 1988 without any problems.


• Continue Photo Gallery...
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• The Best of Russia (Series) • www.buran.ru/htm/molniya.htm

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• Videos: www.buran.ru/video / 2 / 3





• Photos: Soviet Era Buran Spacecraft Transported in Speyer, Germany, by Actros


• www.buran.ru

One of the two Soviet Buran Space Orbiter on its way to the Technic and Space Museum in Speyer, Germany.
The Buran Space Orbiter was the largest and most expensive project in the Soviet Space Exploration History.


• Photos: Technic Museum Speyer
• http://www.technik-museum.de/buran • http://www.technik-museum.de/prospekt_museum-speyer.pdf • www.buran-energia.com
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• Korolev, Mastermind of the Soviet Space Program
• Russians in South America • Buran Mission: Photos on the Web / 2
- In order to launch something into orbit, you need to achieve a minimal speed. For a 400km high orbit, that is about 7.6 kilometers per second (17,000 mph). Achieving this speed is in addition to just lifting the payload to an altitude of 400km in the first place. Most people tend to not think about the fact that Earth is rotating. Standing on the equator of the Earth, the rotation of the Earth carries you around a circle of about 40,000 kilometers every day. That works out to a speed of nearly 464 meters per second. So, you would be moving eastward at that speed. But, if you were to launch a rocket towards the east from the equator, you’d only have to increase its speed about 7140 meters per second to put it into an orbit moving eastward. Continued...

On the Net:
Guiana Space Center: www.cnes-csg.fr
Russian Space Agency: http://www.federalspace.ru - Links to all Space Agencies
Astronomy Picture of the Day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html - US Space Stations

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Space News

The space shuttle Endeavour rolls to Pad 39A in Florida's KSC; Space shuttle Atlantis ready to come home.
By Space News, May 31st, 2009.


Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett


Space shuttle Endeavour is more than halfway to NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A and is expected to be secured to the pad at approximately 10 a.m. EDT. Space shuttle Endeavour began its move from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B to Launch Pad 39A at 3:16 a.m. EDT on Sunday, May 31. The STS-125 ferry flight departure is scheduled for no earlier than Monday morning. There will be a weather briefing at 2 p.m. EDT (11 a.m. PDT) Sunday. Flight managers are looking at various options for the best route to the Kennedy Space Center. Weather remains very dynamic. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour begins its slow roll off Launch Pad 39B for the 3.4-mile rollaround to Launch Pad 39A. First motion was at 3:16 a.m. EDT.





Endeavour was on standby on Pad 39B to be used in the unlikely event that a rescue mission was necessary during space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-125 mission to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The payload on the STS-127 mission includes the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo Exposed Facility and the Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section of the International Space Station. They will be installed on the Kibo laboratory already on the station. Launch of STS-127 is targeted for June 13.


Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/astronautics

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Space News

Atlantis shuttle’ post-STS-125 ferry flight ready for takeoff on Monday.
By Space News, May 31st, 2009




- Technicians fasten down the flanges of the aerodynamic tail cone on Space Shuttle Atlantis as final preparations are made
for its ferry flight from Edwards Air Force Base to the Kennedy Space Center near completion. Credit: NASA/ Tony Landis


Post-mission servicing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and preparations for its ferry flight are nearing completion at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, and shuttle managers expect preparations to be complete by Sunday evening. If that schedule can be maintained, the ferry flight itself would depart Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California shortly before sunrise Monday morning, June 1. During a Flight Readiness Review Saturday afternoon at Dryden, ferry flight managers reviewed servicing and preparation work already completed, and found no constraints to a Monday morning departure from Edwards. The cross-country flight of Atlantis mounted atop one of NASA’s two modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will be at fairly low altitudes - about 10,000 to 16,000 feet - and will involve several intermediate stops for fuel and at least one overnight stop en route.


An unexpected thunderstorm with high winds slowed operations Friday afternoon, but work resumed Friday evening. Installation of the aerodynamic tail cone over Atlantis rocket engine nozzles was completed at mid-day Saturday, and raising of the landing gear and other closeout work was under way late Saturday. The lift onto the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft was scheduled to begin late Saturday or overnight Sunday. Atlantis’ cross-country ferry flight will be accompanied by a NASA C-9 pathfinder aircraft, which will fly about 100 miles ahead of the piggyback combo to assist the flight crew in avoiding any precipitation that could damage the shuttle’s thermal protection blankets. Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base last Sunday after being diverted from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida due to poor weather conditions there.




- The forward fuselage and crew cabin of Space Shuttle Atlantis is surrounded by work access platforms in this overhead
view taken from the top of the Mate-DeMate Device at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. Credit:NASA/Tony Landis


Atlantis’ landing at Edwards was the 53rd shuttle landing to occur at Edwards. Edwards, a restricted access military base, will not be open to the public for viewing of the shuttle’s ferry flight departure. However, there are several off-base locations where the 747-shuttle combo may be visible after takeoff. Due to the heavy load, the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft has a slower rate of climb than typical commercial aircraft, thus may be visible from surrounding areas. If Atlantis departs from Edwards’ runway 22, the initial flight path is to the southwest of Edwards generally turning to the east prior to reaching Palmdale. This has been the most common take-off direction due to local prevailing winds. When the 747-shuttle combo departs along this path, it is typically visible at many locations south of Edwards AFB. If Edwards Runway 04 is used, the climbout flight path generally travels to the northeast and passes over the towns of Boron and Desert Lake. In each case, the closest off-base viewing locations are about 10 to 12 miles from the takeoff runway. Updated information will be available the day of the ferry flight by calling 661-276-3520 or by following “NASADryden” on Twitter on the Internet.




- Space Shuttle Atlantis is shown during jacking and leveling operations while suspended from a sling in the Mate-DeMate Device at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center as post-mission servicing got under way. Credit: NASA/Tony Landis

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- June 2: Space shuttle Atlantis is carried by one of NASA’s modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft over California’s high desert after leaving NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base on a ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Jim Ross (more)




- NASA Dryden photographer Jim Ross captured this overhead view of Space Shuttle Atlantis atop NASA’s modified 747 carrier aircraft over California’s high desert from an F/A-18 mission support aircraft after departing Edwards Air Force Base on a ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Credit: NASA/Jim Ross (More photos)




More Space News: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-125 ferry flight images.


• Atlantis ready for take off.

- Space Shuttle Atlantis and its modified 747 carrier aircraft on the back ramp at NASA’s Dryden Flight
Research Center prior to departing for Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA/Monroe Conner.
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- The Soviet Buran orbiter carried atop an Antonov carrier aircraft. More: Photos

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- Sunrise over NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida finds space shuttle Endeavour half way on its 3.4-mile rollaround from Launch Pad 39B to Launch Pad 39A. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

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Space News

Two asteroids approach Earth on June 1.
By Space News, May 31st, 2009


- Image (asteroid Gaspra) credit: NASA


Asteroid “2009 KR21″ will make a close approach to the Earth at about 121,722 miles or 0.0019 AU (Astronomical Units). This is 30% closer to Earth than the average distance to the Moon. Its diameter is between ~42 and 95 feet, and it is travelling at about 28,722 mph.

An Astronomical Unit, the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, is 92,955,807.21 miles or 149,597,870.6 km. 2009 KR21 is accompanied by asteroid “2009 KLB”, whose closest distance to Earth wil be about 1.2 million miles or 0.0131 AU. This is 5.1 times the average distance of the Moon from the Earth. Measuring between ~128 and 285 feet across, it is travelling at 25,322 mph.

The asteroids’ speeds will vary according to Kepler’s second law of planetary motion. Their velocities relative to Earth will increase as they approach Earth, due to the gravitational influence of the mass of the Earth. - Space and Astronautics News, from data provided by NASA.

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AFP

Massive supernova occurred 11 billion years ago
By AFP, Wed Jul 8, 2009


Supernova remnant RCW 86.

- This NASA image received July 1, 2009 and created from data obtained from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, shows a part of the roughly circular supernova remnant known as RCW 86. Astronomers on Wednesday said they had found the farthest supernova ever detected, a giant star that ripped apart around 11 billion years ago. (AFP/NASA)


Paris (AFP) – Astronomers on Wednesday said they had found the farthest supernova ever detected, a giant star that ripped apart around 11 billion years ago. A new technique enabled the cosmologists to make the find, which should help advance knowledge into these rare phenomena and their role in generating other stars, they said in a report published by the British journal Nature.

A supernova occurs when a massive star runs out of fuel, collapses in upon itself under the force of its own gravity to become a tiny, ultra-dense object called a neutron star. The star then explodes, sending out a shock wave that reverberates around the galaxy. The blast distributes elements that are heavier than oxygen, such as iron, calcium and silicon, and enriches the molecular clouds that over the aeons cluster together and form new star systems.

The ancient supernova was found after astronomers compared several years of images taken from a portion of the sky, enabling them to look for objects that changed in brightness over time. The universe is believed to be 13.7 billion years old, so the supernova marks the death of one of earliest stars in creation. The previous supernova record was an event that happened around six billion years ago.
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Related Searches:



NASA: Supernova remnant - Neutron star - Supernova - Molecular clouds - Massive supernova

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Space.gs



- June 17: Space Shuttle Endeavour (center) is still on launch Pad 39A midday after the launch for the STS-127 mission was scrubbed at 1:55 a.m. EDT June 17 due to a gaseous hydrogen leak at the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate, the same cause for the June 13 delay. On the left is Launch Pad 39B, surrounded by lightning towers, which will be used for the Constellation Program (NASA's new Moon Project). Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

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STS-127 News


STS-127 launch team to start countdown tonight.
By Space News, July 8th, 2009

The countdown to liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on its STS-127 mission will officially begin tonight at 10 p.m. EDT when clocks begin ticking backward from T-43 hours.

Endeavour’s seven astronauts arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday afternoon and are making their final preparations for launch, scheduled for July 11 at 7:39 p.m. “At this point, I’m happy to report we are ready to proceed with the launch countdown,” NASA Test Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said Wednesday morning during a countdown status briefing at Kennedy. “We’re ready to (fuel) this vehicle on Saturday morning and proceed with our launch on Saturday evening.”

Weather is a concern for launch, according to Shuttle Weather Officer Kathy Winters. Due to the threat of thunderstorms, officials believe there is a 40 percent chance weather would cooperate for Saturday’s liftoff. (more)

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Space.gs

European Space Agency/NASA Joint Mars Exploration Initiative.
By Space News, July 8th, 2009




- The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took this snapshot of Mars 11 hours before the planet made its closest approach to Earth. The two planets are 55,760,220 kilometres apart. This image was made from a series of exposures taken between 22:20 and 23:12 UT on 26 August 2003 with Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Credit: NASA, J. Bell / M. Wolff.


On 29 and 30 June the ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, David Southwood, met NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science, Ed Weiler, in Plymouth, UK, to establish a way for a progressive programme for exploration of the Red Planet. The outcome of the bilateral meeting was an agreement to create a Mars Exploration Joint Initiative (MEJI) that will provide a framework for the two agencies to define and implement their scientific, programmatic and technological goals at Mars.

Discussions between ESA and NASA began in December 2008, driven by the ESA Ministerial Council’s recommendation to seek international cooperation to complete the ExoMars mission and to prepare further Mars robotic exploration missions. At the same time, NASA was reassessing its Mars Exploration Program portfolio after the launch of its Mars Science Laboratory was delayed from 2009 to 2011.

This provided ESA and NASA with an opportunity to increase cooperation and expand collective capabilities. To investigate the options in depth, a joint ESA/NASA engineering working group was established, along with a joint executive board to steer the efforts and develop final recommendations on how to proceed. At the bilateral meeting in Plymouth, the executive board recommended NASA and ESA establish MEJI spanning launch opportunities in 2016, 2018 and 2020, with landers and orbiters conducting astrobiological, geological, geophysical and other high-priority investigations, and leading to the return of samples from Mars in the 2020s.

The Director and Associate Administrator agreed, in principle, to establish the Initiative and continue studies to determine the most viable joint mission architectures. ESA and NASA also agreed to establish a joint architecture review team to assist the agencies in planning the mission portfolio. As plans develop, they will be reviewed by ESA member states for approval and by the US National Academy of Sciences. This unique collaboration of missions and technologies will pave the way for exciting discoveries at Mars.

NASA: www.nasaspaceflight.com
Kennedy Media Gallery: http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov
Space News Archive: www.space.gs/news/?cat=3 - www.space.gs/news -
Shuttle News archive: www.nasawatch.com/shuttle_news/ - More links

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Sky News

Mission To Map The Moon Before Man Returns
By Sky News, June 19, 2009


Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)


An unmanned rocket has blasted off for the Moon, carrying probes to map the surface and hunt for water in readiness for man's return by 2020. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is designed to provide unprecedented detail, with particular attention to the relatively unexplored polar regions. "Our knowledge of the whole Moon is actually quite poor," said Craig Tooley, LRO project manager. "We have much better maps of Mars than we do of our own Moon."

The rocket carrying the orbiter and a small second spacecraft known as LCROSS lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday night. The journey to the Moon will take four days. LRO carries seven science instruments, including several cameras, infrared detectors and a laser altimeter to measure topography.

The satellite also carries a telescope outfitted with synthetic human skin to assess how the radiation environment may affect human health. Scientists have targeted 50 potential landing sites that will be imaged with LRO's highest-quality cameras, which are capable of seeing objects as small as about 50 centimetres, or 20 inches, in diameter.


No men on the moon since the 1970s


As a curiosity, LRO is expected to look for equipment left behind during the Apollo missions of 1969-72. The spacecraft also will scout for minerals, make detailed temperature maps, find areas of maximum sunlight and chart the Moon's topography. Nasa is preparing for a new wave of human expeditions to the Moon, with bigger crews, longer stays and more flexibility to select scientifically interesting landing sites.

Of particular interest are the polar caps, where permanently shadowed craters may hide pockets of frozen water. Taking a look at the contents of a crater is the goal of LRO's companion spacecraft, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). It will use the Atlas rocket's spent upper-stage Centaur motor to crash into a crater and send up a plume of material. Flying about four minutes behind the Centaur, LCROSS will scan the material for signs of water vapour, ice and other substances. (more)
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Related News:

• Sky News Video: Nasa Heads Back To The Moon
• Space News: Lunar Reco. Orbiter and LCROSS to reach the Moon on June 23rd
• NASA LCROSS Lunar Swingby Streaming Video: www.nasa.gov/LCROSS/lunarswingby
• Space News: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter with LCROSS enters orbit around the Moon.