Harimedia Forum

NASA has recently performed an overhaul of its science website, pulling together all the remarkably varied and useful information into a slick, functional portal. Of note to GeekDads, the NASA Science for Kids section with a wealth of content for young learners, including something that caught my eye: the Earth as Art site, showing some amazing and beautiful satellite imagery of the planet. Take a look!

Link to the NASA Science site.

Link to the NASA Science for Kids site.

Link to the Earth as Art site.

Found via Greg Laden's blog.

Astronauts repair Hubble Telescope

• SOHO Photo: Earth seen beyond Sun flares




- Photo Credit: Solar & Heliospheric Observatory Spacecraft (SOHO)

On the Net:
SOHO Spacecraft Website: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov
The Very Latest SOHO Images: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/realtime-images.html


• http://fergdawg.blogspot.com



• Sun: Info and Photos

• NASA movie: Sun flares reach Earth (more)

Space.gs




- March 21: Astronaut Joseph Acaba, participates in the mission's second scheduled session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. During the six-hour, 30-minute spacewalk Acaba and astronaut Steve Swanson (out of frame), mission specialist, prepared a worksite so the STS-127 spacewalkers can more easily change out the Port 6 truss batteries later this year. On the Japanese Kibo laboratory they installed a second Global Positioning Satellite antenna that will be used for the planned rendezvous of the Japanese HTV cargo ship in September. They photographed areas of radiator panels extended from the Port 1 and Starboard 1 trusses and reconfigured connectors at a patch panel on the Zenith 1 truss that power Control Moment Gyroscopes. Credit: NASA




- March 21: Astronaut Steve Swanson, participates in the mission's second scheduled session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. During the six-hour, 30-minute spacewalk Swanson and astronaut Joseph Acaba (out of frame), mission specialist, prepared a worksite so the STS-127 spacewalkers can more easily change out the Port 6 truss batteries later this year. Credit: NASA




- March 21: Astronaut Steve Swanson, STS-119 mission specialist, participates in the mission's second scheduled session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. On the Japanese Kibo laboratory they installed a second Global Positioning Satellite antenna that will be used for the planned rendezvous of the Japanese HTV cargo ship in September. They photographed areas of radiator panels extended from the Port 1 and Starboard 1 trusses and reconfigured connectors at a patch panel on the Zenith 1 truss that power Control Moment Gyroscopes. (more)




- March 21: Astronaut Steve Swanson, STS-119 mission specialist, attired in his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit, is pictured in the Quest Airlock of the International Space Station as the mission's second session of extravehicular activity (EVA) draws to a close Credit: NASA




STS-119 mission coverage - View Animation: Crew Launches From Baikonur - Expedition arrives - Crew back on Earth


Related articles

• Columbus Laboratory (http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESAAYI0VMOC_index_0.html)
• Columbus Control Centre inaugurated in Oberpfaffenhofen (http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMU620A90E_Life_0.html)

Related links

• Columbus factsheet (pdf) (http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/users/do ... _colum.pdf)
• International Space Station (http://www.esa.int/esaHS/iss.html)
• Human Spaceflight and Exploration (http://www.esa.int/esaHS/index.html)
• Press accreditation form (http://www.esa.int/esaHS/Pr_15_2006_p_EN.html)

Esa.int

3rd Meeting of International Space Exploration Coordination Group
By ESA News, 16 March 2009


• News Blog: Universal Space Regulations Consortium


Representatives of ten space agencies from around the world met recently under the banner of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG). They adopted for further study three scenarios for conducting internationally coordinated robotic and human exploration activities on the Moon.

This was one of several results arising from a meeting held on 10-12 March 2009 in Yokohama, Japan. The meeting, which was chaired by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), focused on progress to date of various ongoing ISECG activities intended to foster cooperation in the exploration of locations in the Solar System where humans may someday live and work in the spirit of the Global Exploration Strategy (GES). The three scenarios include both short duration and extended stay missions to any lunar location, and longer duration missions for up to six months at a polar location on the Moon.

The scenarios cover the development and placement of infrastructure systems in space and on the surface of the Moon. The ISECG also discussed critical system interfaces, which, if standardised, would increase the interoperability and the long-term sustainability of the collective exploration effort. The meeting participants expect that these scenarios will ensure achievement of the broadest range of cooperative lunar exploration objectives, while accomplishing their individual objectives. They expressed interest in building upon these scenarios to define an international reference architecture.

The meeting participants also made significant progress in a number of other areas. These include means of achieving the GES Objectives through cooperation, the development of tools for sharing information on exploration capabilities and mission plans across agencies. Relationships with existing international working groups, and plans for conducting effective public engagement were discussed. The ISECG issued both its 2008 annual report that describes worldwide exploration activities and a summary of the three scenarios. Continued...
___

Related articles:

• ESA's Aurora Space Exploration Programme: Web News • Aurora: Exploring the Moon, Mars and Beyond

• ESA News: Preparing for a journey to Mars: crew locked for 105 days in simulator – Last opportunity for media
- On 31 March, a crew of six, including a French pilot and a German engineer, will embark on a 105-day simulated Mars mission. They will enter a special facility at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow, to emerge only three months later. Their mission will help in understanding the psychological and medical aspects of long-duration spaceflight. Media representatives are invited to meet the participants just before they enter the isolation facility. (more) • Mars Images made by Phoenix

Photos: Dextre robotic arm


Dextre is the final part in a three-component system built by the Canadians. The Canadarm2 was installed on an orbiting platform in 2001. (It is essentially a larger, more capable arm than the one currently used in the space shuttle's payload bay.) In 2002, it was attached to a Mobile Base System - a trolley that can carry the Canadarm2 along rails running the length of the station. Dextre is the last addition. The two-armed robot will be picked up by its "head" by Canadarm2 and taken to wherever a job needs doing. The whole system runs up and down a trolley track and is operated remotely by astronauts from inside the space station.

But putting the robot onto the station was not all fun and games. Early on, Dextre ran the risk of a premature death in space when its electrical cable went down. No power flowed into its internal heaters, needed for heating Dextre's joints, limbs and electronics. The $200 million machine could have been fatally damaged if left cold for too long. But luckily Canadian Space Agency engineers hustled and found a way to reroute power to Dextre through the space station's Canadarm2. (more)


• www.robo101.com/robot-news • Photo

The Future of Canada in Space
From Torontoist.com/blog


• Presentation


Several months ago, a group of young NASA employees set out to redefine what space exploration means for their generation, Generation Y. Unlike the Baby Boomers' mission to the Moon, our generation's experience of space has been shaped by things like the International Space Station and the horrific Columbia disaster. It is no wonder, then, that Gen Y'ers are not all that interested in space. To get them engaged, the group thought, they needed to package space in a way that appealed to a new era.

Thus, the blog Open NASA was born, and their most important work to date, no doubt, was the presentation Generation Y Perspectives. Inspired by this presentation, three Canadians have created "What Is Canada's Vision for Space?" viewable after the fold, or downloadable as a PDF (via SpaceRef Canada). The presentation raises some pretty important questions, such as, "If Canada was the third nation in space, why do we spend almost the least percentage of our GDP on space compared to other spacefaring nations?" Also, "How do we get young Canadians interested in space?" as Canadians who are young now will soon be bearing the tax burden of the space program.

While the Ottawa-based Canadian Space Agency may not be on the tip of every Canadian's tongue, big, non-governmental, space-related things are happening in The Greater Toronto Area. Check out this new CNN interview with Dr. Robert Richards to learn about Odyssey Moon, the lunar enterprise he founded, which was the first entrant in the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Bob Richards is also the head of the space division at Optech Inc., a Vaughan-based company that manufactures LIDAR instruments for satellites, among other things. The video also shows the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies' simulated lunar surface, something we didn't even know existed. There is also the Toronto-based space tourism company Dreamspace and the da Vinci Project, which is trying to get a piece of the stellar pie.

Hopefully, if private industry and the public can be successfully mobilized, space will become a big part of our lives, starting with our "eighth continent," the Moon. The question, of course, is where Canada will fit into the spacefaring future. Ideas are already flying about how to bring young Canadians to the forefront of space advocacy, like Yuri's Night Toronto, the Canadian Space Society's recent Space Day, upcoming events in Canada to celebrate the landing of the Pheonix, and SpaceCamp, a tentative "unconference" about space. Allow us to the be the first to propose that a colony on the Moon be named "New Toronto."

Steve Robinson on Canadarm2.

Dextre robotic arm

• Latest Spaceref Canada News
• (Pdf Info) What is Canada's Vision for Space • http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/index.html

• Latest Space News from: Moon Today • SpaceRef.Canada • Commercial Space Watch

- Soyuz TMA-11 transport manned vehicle was docked with the transfer compartment in the Spacecraft Assembly and Testing Facility. Credit: RSC Energia (more)

- The primary and backup crews of the ISS Expedition 16 and Taxi Mission 13 have entered into their final training phase in the processing facility. Peggy Annette Whitson (NASA, USA), Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Russia) and Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie (Malaysia) have inspected the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft, tried on Sokol-KV spacesuits and customized contoured couches, went through the on-board documentation and the launch manifest, checked their radio communications equipment, as well as conducted a training session for scientific experiments. Credit: RSC Energia (more)