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Russia Today

Voting of Eurovision in Moscow Starts from ISS
By Russia Today, 16 May 2009


• Eurovision from Moscow (more) • Votes for participants!


The 25 finalists at this year’s Eurovision in Moscow have sung their songs and voting has begun. In a live link-up with the ISS, cosmonauts invited music fans across Europe and beyond to vote for their favourite entries.

Performers from 25 countries have rocked Moscow’s Olimpiysky Stadium as they tried to convince judges and viewers at home that they have the best song in Europe. The country’s who’ve made it to this year’s final are: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK and Ukraine. MORE...


• Voice of Russia: Eurovision winners to be announced from space





Alexander Rybak from Norway wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow • Eurovision.tv • Eurovision.org.ru • http://eurovision.1tv.ru

Google: Web Photos

Endeavour approaching the International Space Station - NASA's Spaceflight Imagery: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov (more) / 2

- Endeavour Web Photos

• NASA Images: STS-113 Approaching the International Space Station




• Photo Gallery: The International Space Station turns 10

• Hubble STS-125 Mission Coverage • AOL: 146 Amazing Space Photos / 2 / 3

• Neilmatheson.com • Size of Planets • Saturn.jpl.gov • Hubble.gov/multimedia • Grin.hq.nasa.gov/apollo • Universetoday.com


• Earth.gif


• Planet. gif

• Earth Photos on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/earth
• Space Photos on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/space

• Venus and Earth are similar in size (more links)


• Size comparison: Neptun and Earth


• Size comparison: Pluto and Earth


• Size comparison: Uranus and Earth


• Size comparison: Saturn and Earth


• Size comparison: Cassini and Jupiter

• Size: Earth and Sun (more)


• www.windows.ucar.edu

"- Sunspots are very big structures. They might look small compared to the Sun, but remember the Sun has a diameter of 1.4 million km (870 thousand miles). Most sunspots could swallow a planet! Many sunspots, like the ones shown in the image on this page, are as large as Earth! Most spots range in size from about 1,500 km (932 miles) to around 50,000 km (31,068 miles) in diameter. Once in a while, huge sunspots the size of Jupiter show up on the Sun's surface." (more)

Space News

Spacewalkers Begin Final Task of STS-125 Mission.
By Space News, May 18th, 2009


• Hubble Mission Coverage / 4. Spacewalk / 5th...


The astronauts have successfully completed the Fine Guidance Sensor removal and replacement work. For the final spacewalk task of the mission, Grunsfeld and Feustel install two, maybe three, new protective thermal insulation panels - New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBL) - on the telescope’s bay 5 door, bay 8 door and, if time permits, to the bay 7 door.





They will start the work by first removing the existing insulation in that area. This task will involve removing seven clips and unhooking a wire loop holding the patch in place, and cutting two ground wires to release the original insulation. The new insulation will be installed using four latches and pressure-activated adhesive that the spacewalkers will activate by pressing a roller tool against its surface. (more)
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Telegraph: Hubble to get upgrade in risky shuttle mission

Space News

STS-125: Atlantis’ crew prepares to release Hubble today.
By Space News, May 19th, 2009




- Launched almost 18 years ago, Hubble revolutionised astronomy by looking deep into the universe.


Atlantis’ crew woke up this morning at 4:31 a.m. EDT to “Lie in Our Graves” performed by the Dave Matthews Band. It was played for astronaut Megan McArthur. The crew of Atlantis will bid farewell to the Hubble Space Telescope today. McArthur will operate the shuttle’s robotic arm today as she reaches out and grapples onto the telescope. She will then lift Hubble out of Atlantis’ payload bay and move it over the edge of the shuttle. Ground teams will command Hubble’s aperture door to open, which is the large shutter that protects the telescope’s primary and secondary mirrors.

Final release of Hubble is scheduled for 8:53 a.m. Commander Scott Altman and Pilot Greg Johnson will guide Atlantis carefully away, before subtle thruster firings place the shuttle a safe distance from Hubble. Later in the day, attention will turn to surveys of Atlantis’ thermal protection system, including its wing leading edge panels, nose cap and underside tiles. Imagery experts will evaluate the data to determine the health of the thermal protection system.





Space shuttle Atlantis’ robotic arm grappled the Hubble Space Telescope at 6:45 a.m. EDT in preparation for its release. Commander Scott Altman next will maneuver Atlantis to the correct orientation to release the observatory. The telescope’s aperture door, which protects Hubble’s ultra-sensitive optics, will be commanded open to allow starlight to fall upon its optical instruments. Working the arm, Mission Specialist Megan McArthur will maneuver Hubble to a point high above the shuttle bay before releasing the telescope from the shuttle.


• Remove of Cover Plate.

N.Y.Times

As Tasks at Hubble End, No Tears, but It Was Close
By Dennis Overbye, May 18, 2009


• Photos: Astronauts complete spacewalks


There is no crying in space, but Monday was perhaps as close as it gets to a blubberfest in space helmets. As he headed into the airlock of the space shuttle Atlantis after the fifth and final spacewalk to tune up the Hubble Space Telescope, the astronaut and astronomer John M. Grunsfeld paused to pay tribute to the telescope and the human spirit. “Hubble is not just a satellite,” Dr. Grunsfeld said. “It’s a symbol of humanity’s quest for knowledge.”

Quoting Arthur C. Clarke, the author and space visionary, he continued, “The only way to find the limits of the possible is by going past them into the impossible.” Dr. Grunsfeld’s crewmates chimed in with praise for one another and the engineers, astronomers and trainers back on Earth who had made it all possible. “Drew, you’re an incredible spacewalking partner,” Dr. Grunsfeld said at one point, referring to Andrew J. Feustel, a mission specialist. For Dr. Grunsfeld, it was not just the end of a mission, but the end of a career. Through 10 years and eight spacewalks that total 58 hours, placing him fourth on history’s spacewalking list, he has been the telescope’s repairman, the only astronomer who has both observed with the Hubble and touched it in space. It was not a role he took to easily. Once upon a time, before he became an astronaut, Dr. Grunsfeld admitted, he was not so keen on the Hubble telescope.


• Photo • Videos


As a high-energy astrophysicist not involved in classical optical astronomy, he said, “I kind of resented Hubble.” But, he said in a recent interview, “That was a pretty ignorant position I was in.” In 2004, he told a distinguished panel of scientists pondering the future of the space telescope that it was worth risking his life for. “Hubble is arguably the most important scientific instrument ever created,” Dr. Grunsfeld said. “And, you know, those are pretty strong words, and I think they’re probably true.” But astronauts will not be back to the telescope, and Dr. Grunsfeld has said this was his last spaceflight.

Most of his last day as a spacewalker was about as free from drama as anything can be while floating 350 miles above Earth. Dr. Grunsfeld and Dr. Feustel got an early start and sped through their first tasks, finishing the replacement of the telescope’s batteries and installing a refurbished star tracker an hour early. Their reward was to replace several of the telescope’s old insulating blankets, which were falling apart, with sturdier cookie-sheets. So Dr. Grunsfeld spent some of the last moments of his Hubble career up on the end of the robot arm peeling old disintegrating insulation off the side of the telescope. When he was done, he spent some time taking pictures. “This is a beautiful spaceship,” he said at one point. Dr. Feustel, a geophysicist, threw his head back once at the end of the day to marvel at the Pacific Ocean. But as it turned out, they were not quite done.


• TMV: Risky Hubble Space Telescope Repair Spacewalk

- While Americans squabble about politics here on earth, way above them the space shuttle Atlantis’ astronauts are engaging in a risky space walk to repair the Hubble Space Telescope — a high-tech repair with high stakes risks: (more)


In the sort of low comedic twist that you would not dare make up, Dr. Grunsfeld brushed an antenna on the telescope with his foot while he was chasing a piece of debris and knocked a cap off the end. Upon verifying that it was the end of the antenna, he said, “I’m sick.” The telescope controllers on the ground quickly determined that the antenna was still working fine. Dan Burbank in mission control told the disconsolate-sounding Dr. Grunsfeld: “Just to let you know, we’re feeling real good about this. We think that antenna’s going to be just fine.” But after his goodbye speech, Dr. Grunsfeld was directed back out to the telescope to put a cover on it to provide some insulation. It gave him one last moment to hug the Hubble. “Sorry, Mr. Hubble,” Dr. Grunsfeld said. “Have a good voyage.” (more)

N.Y.Times

The Last Hubble Mission

Astronauts Let Go of Refurbished Hubble
By Dennis Overbye, May 19, 2009


• Graphic: Hubble visit


Practicing a kind of catch-and-release astronomy, the astronauts of the space shuttle Atlantis oh-so-gently let the Hubble Space Telescope slip back into the heavens on Tuesday. Reporting to mission control in Houston at about 9 a.m. as the telescope and shuttle slowly drifted apart, Scott Altman, the Atlantis commander, called the last mission to refurbish the fabled telescope “an incredible journey” that demonstrated how humans could overcome challenges by working together. “And that’s the thing that I think about Hubble — we’ve done it together. And now Hubble can continue on its own, exploring the cosmos and bringing it home to us as we head for home in a few days,” Commander Altman said.

In five spacewalks over the last week, the Atlantis astronauts brought two ailing instruments on the telescope back to life, installed two new ones and replaced the orbiting observatory’s gyroscopes and batteries. The refurbished telescope, astronomers and engineers say, should be good for five to seven more years in space. “If I didn’t know better, I would have said that a miracle has happened here,” wrote Mario Livio, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, in an e-mail message. “But ‘miracles’ simply happen when you combine the ingenuity of scientists and engineers with the resourcefulness and determination of astronauts and their trainers.”


• Space.gs/index


Since its launching in 1990, the Hubble telescope has been reborn five times, by 16 astronauts performing 23 spacewalks. The total cost has been $9.6 billion, according to NASA, including the telescope itself. For that, as the astronaut and Hubble repairman John Grunsfeld has said, humanity got groundbreaking science and an icon of exploration. Robert Kirshner, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said of Hubble’s iconic cosmic postcards:

“Those fantastic images communicate the joy of finding out how the world works. I think this seeps into everything — and it makes us take more pleasure in knowing where we are in the universe, where we came from and where we are going.” The telescope’s controllers say it will be late summer before the new and repaired instruments are calibrated and beaming down science again. Once it was far enough away from Hubble, Atlantis fired its engines to drop down to a lower orbit where the danger from micrometeoroids is less than the 350-mile-high orbit of Hubble.

Astronauts were then planning to inspect their craft for damage from impacts during the week in high orbit. lthough the spacewalking is done, the astronauts have more on their schedule before their return to Earth, which is scheduled for Friday morning. On Wednesday, they will hold a full-scale on-orbit press conference. And the next day they will testify from space before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, whose chairwoman is Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland, an indefatigable supporter of Hubble.
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Related articles:

• Photo

• Space News: STS-125 crew to inspect the space shuttle's heat shield and prepare for Friday landing.


• N.Y Times: After a Yank, ‘Surgery’ on Hubble Optics
• N.Y Times: Tricky Repair Goes Well for Astronauts
• N.Y Times: Astronauts Work on Replacing Hubble’s Gyroscopes
• The Hubble Space telescope to be set free today|

• STS-125 Coverage: http://sts-125.space.gs
• Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/astronautics
• Identi.ca: http://identi.ca/astronautics
• Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/astronautics





• Space and Astronautics News home: http://www.space.gs
• Blog archive: http://www.space.gs/news (used for syndication purposes)
• Weather and Oceanographic News: http://weather.space.gs
• Weather Forecasts: http://space.gs/weather (more links)

Space News

STS-125: Atlantis crew to call Expedition 19 on the ISS.
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas, May 20, 2009





As the voyage of the space shuttle Atlantis boldly continued this morning, the crew woke up at 3:03 a.m. CDT to the theme from the television series “Star Trek,” which was composed by Alexander Courage. The song was played for the entire crew. At 9:26 a.m., the crew will talk with members of the media at different NASA centers about the mission, the Hubble Telescope and the crew’s thoughts on being a part of this fifth and final servicing mission.

At 11:06 a.m., the crew will make a ship-to-ship call to their orbital neighbors, the crew of Expedition 19 on board the International Space Station. The crew will spend the balance of the day enjoying some off duty time as they prepare for Friday’s entry and landing. The crew is due to go to sleep at 6:01 p.m. The next status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s day or earlier if events warrant.




- May 19: Astronaut Michael Good, STS-125 mission specialist, works controls on the aft flight deck of the Earth-orbiting Atlantis on the day the space shuttle parts company with the Hubble Space Telescope for the final time. Astronaut Andrew Feustel, like Good, one of four crew members who participated in a total of five space walks on this mission, looks on Credit: NASA


Photos: Hubble repaire

- May 18: Astronaut John Grunsfeld, STS-125 mission specialist, positioned on a foot restraint on the end of Atlantis’ remote manipulator system (RMS), and astronaut Andrew Feustel (foreground), mission specialist, participate in the mission’s fifth and final session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as work continues to refurbish and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. During the seven-hour and two-minute spacewalk, Grunsfeld and Feustel installed a battery group replacement, removed and replaced a Fine Guidance Sensor and three thermal blankets (NOBL) protecting Hubble’s electronics. Credit: NASA




- April 4: Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka (center), Expedition 19 commander; NASA astronaut Michael Barratt (right), Expedition 19 flight engineer; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 18/19 flight engineer, are pictured in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station while communicating with ground controllers. Credit: NASA




- May 19: A final look at the Hubble Space Telescope prior to its release following a full week’s work. Atlantis’ remote manipulator system arm, instrumental in last week’s capture and the impending release of the giant orbital observatory, is at the right edge of the frame. Credit: NASA


STS-125 coverage: http://space.gs/sts-125
Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/astronautics

• Astronauts Say Goodbye to Hubble for Good • Video: Hubble Release


• Photos: Hubble Floats Free - Again! • Interactive: How Hubble works / 2 / 3
• Spaceflightnow: Hubble scientist airs opinions on future space plans - (more)
• Mission Coverage: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts125 • NYT: Headlines around the Web
• Fox News and Photos: Atlantis Crew Grabs Hubble Space Telescope • http://www.astronomynow.com


• UPI: Queen Elizabeth II Tours NASA Center in Maryland

- Prince Philip is briefed by NASA astronauts John Mace Grunsfeld, Ph.D. (C),and Michael Massimino, Ph.D. (R) about the training they do using the mock up
power control of the Hubble Space Telescope during a tour of the NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland on May 8, 2007. (UPI Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta/POOL)





• Hubble Space Telescpe's News and Photos Release Archive: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archiv ... s/index/0/ (more)

Popgive.com

Teddies Strapped To Helium Weather Ballon Send in Space by University


• Teddy bears in space • Video

- The soft toys MAT and KMS were named after the first initials of the pupils who helped make their space suits. Along with their two intrepid colleagues, they were strapped to a beam attached to a foam-padded box containing instrumentation and cameras. After rising to an altitude of around 100,000ft, a webcam caught their 'space-walk' for posterity before the helium balloon burst. During the 2 hour 9 minute flight the radio on board broadcast the location of the craft to a chase team on the ground.The team predicted the landing site using wind speed data and arrived in time to watch the teddy bears parachute safely back to Earth in a field four miles north east of Ipswich. (more)





"Yesterday the Japanese announced the first space beer. Now the British are claiming the first teddy bear astronauts, who were photographed in space from a home-made vessel with two digital cameras, a flight computer, GPS, and radio. The four cuddly astronauts travelled on board the spacecraft for two hours and nine minutes, reaching the 19 miles high mark powered by a latex weather ballon made by the Space Flight club at Cambridge University. They were wearing special suits made by school children, which saved them from freezing at -63.4º F. No, I’m not kidding. The team was investigating what materials would protect the furrynauts better." (more)


• Teddy bear astronauts




- The teddy bears spent two hours and nine minutes in flight. Photos: Cambridge University • G.M.Coverage: Teddies in Space



- BBC: Barley grown on ISS

- Japanese beer brewed from barley which was grown on the international space station orbiting the Earth, has finally been tasted. The Space Beer will not go on sale, but should help scientists decide which crops astronauts could take with them on prolonged space flights on future missions exploring places like Mars. Cosmonaut Dr Boris Morukov who spent 11 days in space says potatoes may one day be grown, but not to make space vodka. (more) - Spike.com/blog

- http://okcalvin.blogspot.com

NASA: Space Shuttle Photo Colection


• Cockpit of the space shuttle


News: http://aubreyj818.blogspot.com • http://world-newsupdate.blog • www.astronewsnetwork.com • http://blogs.nature.com