NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 29 October 2011
Updated: 2011-10-31 13:04:37
All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below. Saturday - Crew off duty.
Some interesting new additions to the exoplanet family were announced last week by astronomers from Penn State University. While finding exoplanets these days may be considered “just another day at the office,” astronomers discovered three very unique planets and an additional “mystery” object. What’s unique about these planets is the fact that the stars they [...]
Curiosity’s clamshell has been closed. And it won’t open up again until a few minutes after she blasts off for the Red Planet in just a little more than 3 weeks from now on Nov. 25, 2011 – the day after Thanksgiving celebrations in America. The two halves of the payload fairing serve to protect [...]
Welcome to your Monday morning weather update, in which I’ll attempt to sum up the immediate past, present and future of weather on the bayou. It’s going to be another great week, with a cool front coming late Wednesday or Thursday, setting up a splendid weekend. PAST Here’s a weather tidbit that will blow your [...]
China space officials are ready to fly their first space rendezvous and docking tests with the Tiangong 1target vehicle, a craft that was lofted on September 29. An unpiloted Shenzhou 8 spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 5:58:07 a.m. (local time) on November 1st. Riding atop a Long March 2F/Y8 carrier rocket launched from [...]
Yesterday, October 30, 2011, the Russian space agency Roscosmos successfully launched a new Progress spacecraft on a Suyuz rocket, the same kind of rocket that failed in August and caused such worry. This means it looks like the Russians have indeed figured out what went wrong in the previous launch and fixed the issue. I’ll [...]
Big galaxies… Little galaxies… But how often do they meet? Thanks to information from some of the latest Hubble surveys, astronomers have been able to more closely estimate galaxy collision rates than ever before. Apparently those that have happened within the last eight to nine billion years have occurred somewhere in-between previous estimates. (...)Read the [...]
This photo of the Iridium 12 flare was captured by Riad Hamamieh on October 15, 2011 at at 7:42 PM in Beirut, Lebanon. Iridium 12 is one of the 66 active Iridium communication satellites orbiting the Earth. It was launched on June 18, 1997. Riad used a Canon Powershot SX210 IS camera with CHDK. Camera [...]
A Soyuz rocket soared into Earth orbit with the Progress 45 cargo capsule early Sunday, marking the first mission of the venerable Russian launcher to the International Space Station since the late August crash of a similar supply craft. The Aug. 24 loss led to a suspension of Soyuz launches, including those carrying three [...]
A team of six Mars explorers are ready to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and land back on terra firma. The crew will “arrive back on Earth” on November 4 and go into quarantine for four days for medical checks. The Mars500 is the first full-duration simulation of a human mission to the red planet, living [...]
Video caption: Liftoff of unmanned Russian Progress craft atop Soyuz booster on Oct. 30, 2011 from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Credit: NASA TV/Roscosmos. Photos and rocket rollout video below The very future of the International Space Station was on the line this morning as the Russian Progress 45 cargo ship successfully launched this morning from the Baikonur [...]
This image of startrails is a composite of 209 one-minute exposures captured by Rick Wainwright on July 30, 2011. He used a Canon EOS Kiss X4 camera. Check out Rick’s Flickr page for more astrophotos. Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group, post in our Forum or send us [...]
In a follow-up to a recent Universe Today article, Apollo astronaut and sixth-man-on-the-moon Ed Mitchell has agreed to return a lunar Data Acquisition Camera (DAC) that he kept from the Apollo 14 mission, rather than face a court date next year over a suit filed by NASA in June. (...)Read the rest of Apollo Astronaut [...]
When it comes to Halloween, there are some very creative people out there. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them, but I’ve been enjoying some incredible space-themed Jack-O-Lanterns that people on Twitter have been sharing. Above is an amazing re-creation of the Moon by astronomer and science writer Will Gater (@willgater) which shows the maria, craters [...]
Some people might consider this a sin, but hey: I’m no angle. This comic is from Luke Surl, who has some pretty funny geek comics on his site. … and if you don’t get it, this might help. Or you could try searching on it; secant you shall find. Tip o’ the sunscreen lid to [...]
Starting Nov. 1, NASA will offer tours of its gigantic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to visitors at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Here's what to expect.
There's a strange brightening in the Uranian atmosphere and amateur astronomers can help investigate what it is.
On November 8, an asteroid 400 meters across will pass by the Earth, missing us by the very comfortable margin of about 320,000 kilometers (200,000 miles). Named 2005 YU55, it’s been known for some time that this pass will occur, and astronomers are jumping on the chance to observe it. First off, it’s no danger [...]
The $1.5 billion NPOESS Preparatory Project mission was off to a successful start early Friday, as a Delta II rocket carrying the spacecraft and five new instruments designed to improve weather forecasting and climate change studies lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base,Calif. The two stage rocket departed at 5:48 a.m., EDT, quickly rising [...]
The future of western spaceflight is up for grabs, and it’s essentially a no-win battle between the status quo (NASA) and commercial providers trying to wrest away the job of flying astronauts to orbit after half a century of space agency dominance. On one side there’s SpaceX and other companies seeking some government support to [...]
It’s coming. The front is now moving through Conroe, and it’s expected to reach downtown Houston by around 7 p.m. Temperatures will fall slowly in its wake, as colder air moves into the region, say forecasters with the Houston/Galveston office of the National Weather Service. Saturday morning should find temperatures in the 40s for most [...]
The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations undersea asteroid analog mission off Key Largo,Fla., came to an early end on Wednesday. The six NEEMO crew members surfaced after forecasters predicted Hurricane Rina, a late season tropical storm in the western Caribbean, would grow stronger and veer toward southFlorida. There were no plans to resume what [...]
NASA has had to cut short its NEEMO experiment off the coast of Florida due to possible effects from Hurricane Rina. The mission, originally planned for 13 days to explore technologies needed to have astronauts work on an asteroid, was ended after just five days. “Despite the length, we accomplished a significant amount of research,” [...]
Hurricane Rina remains just below major hurricane strength this morning with sustained 110-mph winds. The latest track models are still not clear, with some keeping the storm near the Yucatan Peninsula before its dissipation, and other models bringing it toward Cuba or Florida. The official track forecast splits the difference and brings the system toward [...]
The German space center DLR is reporting that ROSAT — an astronomical satellite launched in 1990 — re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere just after 01:50 UTC last Sunday, October 23, burning up over the waters of the Bay of Bengal, to the southwest of Thailand. This was during the day, which is why there were no [...]
NASA’s New Horizons mission to distant Pluto and the Kuiper Belt can be followed on iPhone and iPad. Now available in the iTunes App Store: “New Horizons: A NASA Voyage to Pluto.” This app brings users the latest news and pictures from the mission, as well as details on the spacecraft and science instruments, and [...]
Take four moons, some rings, a schoolbus-sized spacecraft, and mix them together. What do you get? Magnificence. That stunning shot is from the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn. The big moon is Titan, and by big, I mean bigger than the planet Mercury. Big enough to have a thick nitrogen atmosphere, clearly visible in this picture. [...]
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Space Shuttle astronaut Ron Garan should be familiar to regular BA readers; I’ve featured a lot of the photos he’s taken from space here on the blog. He’s been posting more of them on Google+, and he just put up this gorgeous shot of the Moon over the limb of the Earth: Spectacular! [Click to [...]
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Current Price: $459.99Buy It Now Price: $505.99Bids: 0 White 70mm Computerized GPS 'Go-To' Refractor Telescope 70mm fully coated, achromatic objective lens Focal Length: 700mm 20mm Eyepiece 12mm Eyepiece 4mm Eyepiece 2x Barlow Lens iOptron SmartStar-A Computer Controlled Combination Altazimuth and Equatorial Mount with GPS GoToNova Computer Controller with 80,000 Object Database Heavy Duty Stainless Steel [...]
Current Price: $49.99Buy It Now Price: $69.99Bids: 0 THIS IS LISTING IS FOR THE MOTOR MOUNT (NOT A FULL SCOPE THANKS FOR LOOKING) MOTOR MOUNT/CLOCK DRIVE FOR REFLECTOR TELESCOPES. HAND CONTROL THE HAND CONTROLLER HAS FOUR KEYS, IF THE 8X OR 2X KEY IS PRESSED, THE MOTOR WILL TURN AT 8X OR 2X SIDEREAL RATE, [...]
Current Price: $8.99Buy It Now Price: $9.98Bids: 0 Item description & features * Item title: Flashlight/Lase?r/Scope 1" Offset Weaver Ringl Mount * Model: T-2008* Color: Black * Material: Steel with Aluminium* Rail Size( mm ): 20mm-22mm * Mount dia: 1 inch diameter* Weight( g ): 80* Designed to mount flashlight / laser / scope [...]
In July 2011, at the JREF’s TAM 9 meeting in Las Vegas, I moderated a panel discussing the future of space exploration. On that panel were some familiar faces: Bill Nye (the Science Guy), astronomers Neil Tyson and Pamela Gay, and theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss. All of us have, ah, some experience talking to the [...]
I actually kinda half-expected this would happen: the fantastic "amateur" astronomer Thierry Legault was able to observe and get video of the astronomical satellite ROSAT as it’s making its final orbits around the Earth: He also observed it on October 16th, but I think the video above from late September shows it better. To show [...]
Current Price: $8.99Buy It Now Price: $9.98Bids: 0 Item description & features * Item title: Steel 1 Inch Rail Offset Weaver Ring Flashlight/Lase?r/Scope Rifle Mount* Model: T-2008* Color: Black * Material: High Pressure Steel and Aluminium* Rail Size( mm ): 20mm-22mm * Mount dia: 1 inch diameter* Net weight( g ): 80 * Designed [...]
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: TF Exo Cassini Chandra Curiosity Earth Hubble Kepler La Silla Mars Express Mauna Kea MRO MESSENGER Paranal Solar System Spitzer Universe Webb WISE FoS TelescopeFeed Animation of the Aurora Australis From Space Flickr 1 week ago in Exo Antennae Galaxies Composite 1 week ago in Universe Telescope Feed Star Cluster NGC 2100 5 weeks ago in La Silla Observatory Feed Spiral Galaxy NGC 3393 5 weeks ago in Chandra X-ray Observatory Feed NGC 4438 and NGC 4435 2 months ago in Paranal Observatory Feed NGC 2146 2 months ago in Hubble Space Telescope Feed Martian Skylight 2 months ago in Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Feed Magnitude X6.9 Solar Flare 2 months ago in Solar System Telescope Feed Tethys and Titan 2 months ago in Cassini Orbiter Feed Curiosity's Destination : Gale Crater 3 months ago in Mars
: TF Exo Cassini Chandra Curiosity Earth Hubble Kepler La Silla Mars Express Mauna Kea MRO MESSENGER Paranal Solar System Spitzer Universe Webb WISE FoS TelescopeFeed Animation of the Aurora Australis From Space Flickr 1 week ago in Exo Antennae Galaxies Composite 1 week ago in Universe Telescope Feed Star Cluster NGC 2100 5 weeks ago in La Silla Observatory Feed Spiral Galaxy NGC 3393 5 weeks ago in Chandra X-ray Observatory Feed NGC 4438 and NGC 4435 2 months ago in Paranal Observatory Feed NGC 2146 2 months ago in Hubble Space Telescope Feed Martian Skylight 2 months ago in Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Feed Magnitude X6.9 Solar Flare 2 months ago in Solar System Telescope Feed Tethys and Titan 2 months ago in Cassini Orbiter Feed Curiosity's Destination : Gale Crater 3 months ago in Mars
The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has issued a grant to John Mankins of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions for a study of space solar power. SPS-ALPHA (Solar Power Satellite via Arbitrarily Large Phased Array) is a novel, bio-mimetic approach to the challenge of space solar power. If successful, this project will make possible the [...]
Home Advertise Blog The Sky This Month The Moon This Month Astronomy News Astrobiology Magazine News Astronomy Picture of the Day BBC Science News CNN Space News Earth Observatory News Eurekalert Astronomy Space News European Southern Observatory News European Space Agency News Gemini Observatory News Hubble Space Telescope News JPL News Kepler Telescope News Lunar and Planetary Institute News MSNBC Space News NASA Breaking News NASA PlanetQuest News NASA TV National Geographic News PBS Nova News Science at NASA News Scientific American News Space Shuttle News Space Today News STEREO Solar Mission News The Astronomer’s Telegram News The Space Show Wired Science News Astronomy Podcasts 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast Astronomy Cast Podcast Astronomy Magazine Podcast Earth Sky Podcast
Home Advertise Blog The Sky This Month The Moon This Month Astronomy News Astrobiology Magazine News Astronomy Picture of the Day BBC Science News CNN Space News Earth Observatory News Eurekalert Astronomy Space News European Southern Observatory News European Space Agency News Gemini Observatory News Hubble Space Telescope News JPL News Kepler Telescope News Lunar and Planetary Institute News MSNBC Space News NASA Breaking News NASA PlanetQuest News NASA TV National Geographic News PBS Nova News Science at NASA News Scientific American News Space Shuttle News Space Today News STEREO Solar Mission News The Astronomer’s Telegram News The Space Show Wired Science News Astronomy Podcasts 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast Astronomy Cast Podcast Astronomy Magazine Podcast Earth Sky Podcast
Humanity’s most complex ground-based astronomy observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has officially opened for astronomers at its 16,500-feet elevation site in northern Chile.
Detailed views of star-formation in the Antennae Galaxies are the first astronomical test images released to the public from ALMA, confirming that this new telescope has surpassed all others of [...]