First of three Spacewalks

While I am here, writing my blog, astronauts Steve Swanson and Richardson Arnold are on the 1st of 3 spacewalks to install the S6 truss on the ISS. The main purpose of this spacewalk is to perform a number of tasks to help install the S6 truss. Once both the space walking astronauts are in place, Koichi Wakata and John Phillips will operate the stations robotic arm to carefully move S6 to the side of the already installed S5 truss. This space walk is expected to last 6.5 hrs. Man! What an experience.

Courtesy: www.nasa.gov

Discovery docked to ISS

Discovery successfully launched, headed its way to the International Space Station (ISS) and now it has successfully docked to it and delivered the final truss segment and pair of U.S. solar arrays and a new crew member to take up residence aboard the growing orbital scientific complex at 5:20 PM EDT today. Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will now be the official resident aboard the growing orbital scientific complex.

Prime business for the crews Wednesday will be to lift the truss segment out of Discovery’s payload bay with the shuttle robot arm and hand it off to the station’s mechanical arm for an overnight stay before Thursday’s permanent installation on the station.

Courtesy: nasa.gov

Discovery is all set for Launch tomorrow

NASA managers said Saturday that space shuttle Discovery is ready for Sunday’s launch opportunity as repairs on a leaking gaseous hydrogen vent line are moving along smoothly.

The weather forecast continues to call for an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions, said Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer.

Launch controllers will begin preparing to pump fuel and oxygen into the external tank Sunday at 10:18 a.m. EDT. Launch time is 7:43 p.m.

I am desperately looking forward for the Launch... Godspeed, Discovery team.

Courtesy:nasa.gov

Up, up and away...

The Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft lifted off on time at 10:49 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spectacular nighttime launch followed a smooth countdown free of technical issues or weather concerns.

Kepler is a critical component in NASA's efforts to ultimately find and study planets where Earth-like conditions may be present," said Jon Morse. Earth like conditions may lead to “LIFE” on such planets is the understanding. Keplers mission is the first of its kind to detect and characterize such worlds around nearby stars.

Courtesy: nasa.gov

Retrograde Motion of Planets

Inferior and Superior planets: In terms of their motions in the Sky as seen from Earth, the planets are divided into two groups. The Inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, are those that orbit closer to the Sun than Earth. The remaining planets are all Superior planets.

The Retrograde that you see in the picture above is of Mars (pictures taken for more than a month) and the other faint line that you see in the background is of Uranus.

The planets generally move from West to East in the night sky. However, periodically, a planet moves from east to west for a short time.. This phenomenon is called Retrograde Motion. This is an effect of changing perspective. Superior planets such as Mars show retrograde when Earth overtakes the other planet at opposition(when Earth moves between the Superior planet and Sun). The inferior planets show retrograde motion on either side of the inferior conjunction. They overtake Earth as they pass between Earth and Sun.

Scientists map CO2 emissions with Google Earth

Interactive maps that detail carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion are now available on the popular Google Earth platform. The maps, funded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy through the joint North American Carbon Program, can display fossil fuel emissions by the hour, geographic region, and fuel type.

A science team led by researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., integrated seven primary data sets, including imagery of Earth’s surface captured by the NASA-built Landsat 5 satellite, fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy, and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Researchers from the project, named "Vulcan" for the Roman god of fire, constructed an unprecedented inventory of the carbon dioxide that results from the burning of 48 different types of fossil fuel. The data-based maps show estimates of the hourly carbon dioxide outputs of factories, power plants, vehicle traffic and residential and commercial areas.

First released to the scientific community in April 2007, the emissions data have now been integrated into an image-based format that has become a standard online viewing tool for content that spans broad geographic areas.

“The release of the Vulcan inventory on Google Earth brings this information into the living room of anyone with an Internet connection," said Kevin Gurney, an assistant professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue and leader of the Vulcan Project. "From a societal perspective, Vulcan provides a description of where and when society influences climate change through fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions."

"Users can see their county or state in relation to others, and see what aspects of economic activity are driving fossil-fuel emissions,” Gurney added. "Vulcan could help demystify climate change and empower people in the same way as seeing the miles-per-gallon number on the dashboard of a hybrid car.”

The high-resolution map, available at http://purdue.edu/eas/carbon/vulcan/GEarth , shows carbon dioxide emissions in metric tons in residential and commercial areas by state, county or per capita.

Courtesy: nasa.gov

Discovery’s STS-119 – Due for a Launch.

The flight readiness review meeting is expected to set an official launch date for the STS-119 mission to the International Space Station. For planning purposes, liftoff as of today is tentatively targeted for March 11 at 9:20 p.m. EDT.

The Space Shuttle Program moved the targeted launch a day earlier following extensive review of flow control valve inspection data and assessment of ongoing and planned work. A formal presentation of the flow control work and a thorough evaluation of all aspects of flight will be made at Friday's readiness review.

Discovery’s seven astronauts are going into quarantine tonight at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in preparation for next week’s possible launch.

Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

The Discovery crew members are set to fly the S6 truss segment and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The S6 truss will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six.

Purpose of STS-119:

The purpose of the Previous Mission: STS-126 was to delivered equipment to the International Space Station enabling larger crews to reside aboard the complex. The purpose of this Mission is to carry the S6 truss segment as well as a new station crew member to the orbital outpost. STS-119 is the 28th shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

Public Invited to Submit Questions for NASA's Space Shuttle Launch

Space enthusiasts from across the United States and around the world are invited to submit questions about space shuttle Discovery's upcoming launch, its STS-119 mission to the International Space Station, and NASA space exploration. Questions may be answered on NASA Television during the countdown to launch. Discovery and its seven astronauts are tentatively targeted to launch March 12 at 8:54 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA commentary will begin about five hours before liftoff.
Questions can be submitted online at: http://webcast.ksc.nasa.gov/

Courtesy: nasa.gov