View Full Version : [Space] ISS - International Space Station
Introduzione
Salyut (URSS)
La storia dell'espolorazione spaziale ha avuto tra la sue tappe fondamentali l'esperimento di prolungati periodi di vita dell'uomo in assenza di gravità. Il primo tentativo del genere fu fatto dall'Unione Sovietica nel 1971 (dieci anni dopo aver mandato il primo uomo in orbita) con il progetto Salyut (1971-1982). Al primo modulo, Salyut 1, ne seguirono poi altri 6, estendone le dimensioni e le funzionalità e aumentando progressivamente il tempo di permanenza dell'equipaggio, da 23 a 812 giorni. L'equipaggio era composto da 2-3 persone.
http://www.braeunig.us/space/specs/drwgs/pics/salyut.jpg
Skylab (USA)
Gli Stati Uniti risposero nel 1973 con il progetto Skylab (1973-1979). Fu costruita sulla base dello stadio S-IVB di un razzo Saturn V, già utilizzato per i lanci del programma spaziale Apollo. La grande cisterna per l'idrogeno liquido fu convertita in fabbirca in un ambiente abitabile con 2 piani e spazio sufficiente per un equipaggio di 3 persone.
http://www.braeunig.us/space/specs/drwgs/pics/skylab.jpg
Mir (URSS)
Non c'è dubbio che il passo più importante fu fatto con il progetto Mir (DOS 17KS-12701, 1986-2001). Si trattava di un cambiamento radicale del concetto stesso di stazione spaziale, prevedendo la costruzione di un complesso costituito da più moduli indipendenti lanciati in orbita con più lanci tramite il razzo Soyuz.
L'equipaggio ora era dotato di ambienti separati per vivere, mangiare, lavorare, e così via. All'estremità anteriore vi era un'unità a forma di sfera con portelli multipli per l'attracco dei moduli Soyuz e Progress (1 portello assiale) e per l'interconnessione dei moduli-laboratorio (4 portelli radiali). All'altra estremità della stazione vi era un'altro portello per un quinto modulo-laboratorio e navette tra le quali i moduli cargo Progress.
Alla fine del 1996 la stazione spaziale Mir era stata visitata da 24 moduli abitati Soyuz e uno automatico per un volo di prova, 5 moduli-laboratorio, oltre 50 moduli cargo automatici Progress e 4 missioni Shuttle. Nello stesso tempo gli equipaggi hanno speso più di 8000 giorni di volo e 22 missioni a lunga permanenza.
Il completamento della stazione Mir con l'ultimo modulo avvenne nell'aprile 1996, quando il complesso aveva già ben oltre superato la sua vita programmata, tre anni dopo gli accordi USA-Russia-UE per la costruzione di quella che sarà la Stazione Spaziale Internazionale.
Moduli:
1. Modulo di attracco (1986)
2. Modulo abitativo (1986)
3. Kvant 1 (1987)
4. Kvant 2 (1989)
5. Kristall (1990)
6. Spektr (1995)
7. Priroda (1996)
http://www.saao.ac.za/~wgssa/as3/mir.jpg
ISS - Il progetto
Il progetto ISS nasce all'inizio degli anni '90, anni di transizione per la nuova Russia e di crisi economica non solo per Mosca, ma anche per i cugini americani che si trovavano di fronte ad un'economia al rallentatore e che stentava a ripartire. Naturalmente questa diffilile situazione si rifletteva anche nei rispettivi programmi spaziali; i russi avevano non pochi problemi per mantenere operativa la stazione Mir con un budget ridotto al minimo e la NASA aveva non meno difficoltà ad trovare il finanziamento necessario per sviluppare la proprioa stazione spaziale, Freedom. Così, il 15 marzo 1993 il direttore generale dell'agenzia spaziale russa (RSA, ora RosaviaKosmos) Koptev e Semenov per NPO Energia (la prima industria spaziale russa) presentarono all'amministratore della NASA Goldin il progetto per creare una stazione spaziale internazionale.
Il piano d'intesa, firmato il 2 settembre 1993 dal primo ministro russo Chernomyrdin e il vice-presidente americano Al Gore (Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Space), fu così seguito da un piano di lavoro dettagliato (Detailed Work Plan for the ISS), sviluppato da RSA e NASA e firmato il primo novembre 1993. Il piano prevedeva queste linee principali:
- Oltre a Stati Uniti e Russia, la partecipazione alla costruzione e alla gestione della stazine spaziale internazionale era aperta ad Unione Europea, Canada e Giappone (a questi poi si aggiungeranno, separatamente, Svizzera, Francia, Danimarca, Spagna, Svezia, Belgio, Germania, Norvegia, Italia, Brasile, Olanda e Regno Unito).
- La stazione comprenderà 2 segmenti principali (uno russo e uno americano) e vari moduli orbitali.
Il prime contractor per la Russia e NPO Energia, per gli Stati Uniti è Boeing Corporation, per l'Unione Europea sono CNES e Alenia Spazio.
La costruzione prevede circa 22 lanci americani (Space Shuttle) e 11 russi (Proton). A questi vanno aggiunti tutti i lanci per il trasporto dell'equipaggio (Shuttle e Soyuz) e dei cargo (Progress e ATV). La costruzione della stazione è prevista in più fasi.
Il progetto ISS è il più importante al mondo tra i progetti di cooperazione internazionale tecnologica e scientifica.
ISS - I dati
Utilizzo: stazione spaziale civile
Costo (stima): disegno preliminare (1985-1987), $0,6 miliardi; progetto, $0,7 miliardi; sviluppo, $8,9 miliardi; totale complessivo stimato dalla NASA, $17,4 miliardi. Operazioni (2003-2012), $13 miliardi.
Orbita: 407 km, 51,6°
Equipaggio: 2-7 persone
Dimensione alare: 108,6 m
Lunghezza: 79,9 m
Volume abitabile: circa 1200 m3
Massa totale: 456,620 kg (quasi 3 volte e mezza quella della Mir)
Ambiente: 1 atm
Sequenza di assemblaggio*:
06-1998 - Flight 1A/R - Russian - Functional Cargo Block (FGB)
07-1998 - Flight 2A - US Orbiter - Node 1; Pressurized Mating Adapters -1 & -2
12-1998 - Flight 1R - Russian - Service Module
12-1998 - Flight 2A.1 - US Orbiter - Spacehab Double Cargo Module
01-1999 - Flight 3A - US Orbiter - Integrated Truss Structure (ITS) Z1; PMA-3; Ku-band; Control Moment Gyros (CMGs)
01-1999 - Flight 2R - Russian - Soyuz
04-1999 - Flight 4A - US Orbiter - ITS P6
05-1999 - Flight 5A - US Orbiter - Lab
06-1999 - Flight 6A - US Orbiter - MPLM (Lab outfitting flight); UHF antenna; Space Station Remote Manipulating System (SSRMS)
08-1999 - Flight 7A - US Orbiter - Joint Airlock; High Pressure Gas Assembly
11-1999 - Flight 7A.1 - US Orbiter - MPLM
12-1999 - Flight 4R - Russian - Docking Compartment 1
01-2000 - Flight UF-1 - US Orbiter - MPLM (ISPRs); PV Module batteries
02-2000 - Flight 8A - US Orbiter - ITS S0; Mobile Transporter (MT)
03-2000 - Flight UF-2 - US Orbiter - MPLM (ISPRs); MBS; Lab system
06-2000 - Flight 9A - US Orbiter - ITS S1; CETA Cart A
07-2000 - Flight 9A.1 - US Orbiter - SPP with four solar arrays
10-2000 - Flight 11A - US Orbiter - ITS P1, CETA Cart B
11-2000 - Flight 12A - US Orbiter - ITS P3/P4
12-2000 - Flight 3R - Russian - Universal Docking Module
12-2000 - Flight 5R - Russian - Docking Compartment 2 (DC2)
03-2001 - Flight 13A - US Orbiter - ITS S3/S4
04-2001 - Flight 10A - US Orbiter - Node 2; Nitrogen tank assembly
05-2001 - Flight 1J/A - US Orbiter - JEM ELM PS; ITS P5; High Pressure Oxygen tanks
08-2001 - Flight 1J - US Orbiter - JEM PM
11-2001 - Flight UF-3 - US Orbiter - MPLM (ISPRs)
01-2002 - Flight UF-4 - US Orbiter - Express Pallet; SLP (SPDM, ATA, HP Gas)
02-2002 - Flight 2J/A - US Orbiter - JEM EF; ELM ES; PV Module Batteries
02-2002 - Flight 9R.1 - Russian - Docking & Stowage Module-1
05-2002 - Flight 9R.2 - Russian - Docking & Stowage Module-2
05-2002 - Flight 14A - US Orbiter - Cupola & Port Rails (on SLP); 4 SPP Solar Arrays
06-2002 - Flight UF-5 - US Orbiter - MPLM (ISPRs); Express Pallet
07-2002 - Flight 20A - US Orbiter - Node 3
10-2002 - Flight 8R - Russian - Research Module 1
10-2002 - Flight 1E - US Orbiter - Columbus Orbital Facility
11-2002 - Flight 10R - Russian - Research Module 2
11-2002 - Flight 17A - US Orbiter - MPLM; Node, Lab racks
01-2003 - Flight 11R - Russian - Life Support Module 1 (LSM1)
03-2003 - Flight 12R - Russian - Life Support Module 2 (LSM2)
03-2003 - Flight 18A - US Orbiter - CRV 1
04-2003 - Flight 19A - US Orbiter - MPLM
07-2003 - Flight 15A - US Orbiter - PV Module S6
08-2003 - Flight UF-6 - US Orbiter - MPLM (ISPRs)
10-2003 - Flight UF-7 - US Orbiter - Centrifuge
12-2003 - Flight 16A - US Orbiter - US Habitation Module
NOTA: Tutti i voli di servizio di trasporto equipaggio, merci e logistica con voli STS, Soyuz, Progress, H-II Transfer Vehicle e Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), non sono elencati.
*= La costruzione della ISS è stata sospesa dopo che l'interruzione del programma STS da parte della NASA a seguito dell'incidente al Columbia, nel 2003, e di conseguenza la timeline della costruzione della ISS è in corso di modifica e verrà rielaborata non appena verranno comunicate le date ufficiali del programma RTF (Return To Flight).
http://www.promodelbuilders.com/issearth.gif
Russians launch resupply ship to space station
BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: January 29, 2004
A load of vital supplies and parts for the International Space Station was successfully dispatched from Earth today, blasting off aboard an unmanned Russian Soyuz rocket.
The Progress cargo freighter reached orbit about 9 minutes after its 6:58 a.m. (1158 GMT) launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0401/29progress/progresslaunch.jpg
Soyuz rocket lifts off today carrying the Progress freighter. Credit: Energia
Known in the station's assembly sequence as Progress 13P, the Russian-made craft is also called Progress M1-11 and No. 260.
Mission Control reported the ship had settled into an elliptical perch of 163 miles at apogee, 119 miles at perigee, an inclination of 51.65 and a period of 88.73 minutes.
Its solar arrays were unfurled and communications antennas deployed for the two-day trip to reach the station. A fully automated docking to the aft port of the Russian Zvezda service module planned for Saturday at 8:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT).
The craft will use the docking port freed up Wednesday when the Progress 12P (M-48 or No. 248) departed the station at 3:36 a.m. EST (0836 GMT) with garbage and unneeded equipment. After firing its engines to brake from orbit, the craft reentered the atmosphere at 8:46 a.m. EST (1346 GMT) to burn up harmlessly.
This latest Progress is ferrying 5,171 pounds of gear to the station, according to NASA, including a new flex hose for the Destiny laboratory's window that was causing the recent pressure leak, replacement parts for the oxygen-generating Elektron unit, an entire spare Elektron, new Solid Fuel Oxygen Generator candles, batteries for the Zarya and Zvezda modules, gas analyzer equipment, updated fire suppression and detection equipment, a new Russian Orlan spacesuit to replace one currently on the station that has exceeded its lifetime, the Matryoshka experiment package set for installation on Zvezda's exterior during an upcoming spacewalk, film, cameras and cassettes.
For the station's two-man crew, Expedition 8 commander Mike Foale and flight engineer Alexander Kaleri, Russian and American food, utensils, medical kit equipment and personal hygiene items are aboard the Progress.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0401/29progress/progressinorbit.jpg
File image of Russian Progress cargo freighter in space. Credit: NASA
In preparation for the Expedition 9 crew's arrival three months from now, this Progress is carrying the future resident's clothes, retro-reflectors to be mounted to the Zvezda module during a later spacewalk to guide approaching European cargo transporters and educational props for filming during the mission.
The Expedition 9 crew will be joined during launch April 19 by European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers who will spend about a week on the station before returning to Earth with Expedition 8. The scientific experiments Kuipers will operate went up on this resupply mission.
Today's launch was the first of several Progress missions expected this year. It also marked Russia's first space launch in 2004.
The following timeline shows the key events scheduled from launch until docking for this Progress freighter.
22/01/2004 - Il cargo Progress M1-11, caricato dei propellenti e gas compressi, è trasportato allo Spacecraft Assembly and Testing Facility per le ultime operazioni di preparazione al lancio.
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-22-01.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-22-03.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-22-04.jpg
24/01/2004 - Il cargo Progress M1-11 è caricato all'interno della capsula di volo.
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-24-03.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-24-05.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-24-06.jpg
26/01/2004 - Il cargo Progress M1-11, incapsulato nel contenitore del carico, è integrato con il lanciatore Soyuz-U nell'edificio di gestione e test veicoli.
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-26-01.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-26-02.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-26-03.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-26-04.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-26-05.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-26-06.jpg
27/01/2004 - Arrivo del transporter con il lanciatore Soyuz-U e il cargo Progress M1-11 alla rampa di lancio nel comsmodromo di Baikonur, Kazakhstan, dopo essere uscito dall'Assembly and Testing Facility.
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-27-01.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-27-02.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-27-04.jpg
http://www.energia.ru/energia/iss/iss08/progress-m1-11/im/photo_01-27-05.jpg
hai mai visto sul sito nasa.gov che è possibile sapere quando passerà la ISS sopra la propria città?? purtroppo nella lista di italiane c'è solo Roma...:cry:
Originariamente inviato da SwissRe
hai mai visto sul sito nasa.gov che è possibile sapere quando passerà la ISS sopra la propria città?? purtroppo nella lista di italiane c'è solo Roma...:cry:
si, c'è anche sul sito ESA... ma sempre solo le capitali se ricordo...
Soyuz May Be Only Transport for Future ISS Crews
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer, Cape Canaveral
And Jim Kelly
Florida Today
posted: 07:30 am ET
30 January 2004
HOUSTON -- NASA’s space station astronauts could continue hitching rides into orbit on Russian rockets even after America’s space shuttles return to flight, three agency officials said.
NASA is reviewing the 24 missions on the shuttle’s schedule and considering changes necessary to meet President Bush’s order to finish the station and retire the shuttles by 2010, the officials told SPACE.com and Florida Today .
Such a move could give NASA the option to cancel some of the eight missions in which shuttles are slated to deliver three-person crews to the station and then bring homebound tenants back to Earth. NASA officials discounted that possibility Thursday.
Shifting station crew rotation duties to Russia’s Soyuz would make it easier for shuttle crews to focus on their prime tasks -- constructing and supplying the space station.
The change also would free seats for shuttle astronauts needed to perform added safety tasks, such as the heat shield inspections mandated after last year’s Columbia accident.
"It makes the assembly missions easier if you don’t have to throw in a crew rotation on top of all the logistics of getting up there," flight crew operations director Bob Cabana told SPACE.com. But Cabana and other agency officials stressed no final decision has been made.
"It would be premature on my part to say ‘Yes, we’re going to go off and do that.’ But I will tell you it’s being evaluated," Cabana said.
With the shuttles grounded for a year now, Russia’s Soyuz has safely delivered two new crews to the space station and brought two more crews back to Earth.
During a private meeting in Houston last week, O’Keefe told U.S. astronauts that he is considering flying all future station crews on the Soyuz rather than shuttles. Cabana and two other NASA managers confirmed to SPACE.com and Florida Today a change is under consideration.
"I think what we’re looking to do is revisit the entire manifest for the space station, what assembly sequence fits best," NASA Associate Administrator William Readdy told Florida Today. "That’s going to cause us to look at crew exchange, whether that takes place on the shuttle or whether that takes place as it has this past year on board the Soyuz."
Some U.S. astronauts, including current space station commander Michael Foale, say they prefer flying on the Soyuz because it has a crew escape system not present on the shuttles.
Any decision to fly more Americans on Soyuz raises political questions here and abroad.
NASA will have to negotiate with the Russians over appropriate compensation for the valuable seats on Soyuz. The cash-strapped Russian space agency has collected multi-million dollar fares in recent years for flying other countries’ astronauts and even rich tourists.
It’s unclear whether Russia would donate more seats to NASA astronauts as a partner in the International Space Station project or whether the U.S. will buy them.
Michael Kostelnik, the NASA manager in charge of the shuttle and station programs, said agency leaders have discussed proposed changes in station operations with other partner countries. He declined to discuss specifics, saying world space agency leaders will meet later this winter.
If NASA must buy Soyuz rides, the Bush administration may first have to get Congress’ permission. A 2000 law bars "extraordinary payments" to Russia’s space agency until the U.S. proves Russia has not given missile technology or weapons of mass destruction to Iran. That ban remains in effect.
Readdy did not respond when asked if NASA will ask Congress to change the law, or waive some of its restrictions, but agency officials concede that is necessary to buy Soyuz seats.
Similar to the U.S. Apollo spacecraft of the 1960s and 1970s, Russia’s Soyuz holds three people, the size of a normal station crew before the shuttles were grounded. NASA officials also continue to study the possibility of docking two Soyuz at the station at a time, which would accommodate permanent six-person crews once assembly is complete.
che fastidio. In una giornata come oggi (ad esempio) avrei potuto vederla in modo moooolto nitido!
Fradetti
30-01-2004, 13:35
se volete provare l'emozione dell'avvicinamento alla ISS o alla Mir con un'astronave cercate su Google Orbiter
Simulatore di volo spaziale gratuito
è abbastanza realistico quindi sarà meglio che vi scarichiate anche il manuale :)
http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/~martins/orbit/orbit.html
Per chi vuole vedere il live coverage dell'attracco del Progress alla ISS:
Jan. 31, Saturday
7:30 - 8:30 a.m. - ISS 13 Progress Docking Coverage - JSC (docking scheduled at 8:19 a.m.)
EST, che per noi significa:
13:30 - 14:30
Live su NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram).
Tra 15 minuti comincia il Live commentary dell'attracco del Progress M1-11 (Mission 13P) alla ISS.
Gio perchè non apri un 3d sull'ascensore spaziale?
Sono molto curioso
Originariamente inviato da SwissRe
Gio perchè non apri un 3d sull'ascensore spaziale?
Sono molto curioso
Perchè è fantascienza allo stato attuale.
L'attracco è perfettamente riuscito, al minuto spaccato. Peccato, non si è visto un cacchio su NASA TV a causa di un problema nel segnale video.
avevo visto da qualche parte che è fattibile
Russian Officials Say They've Changed Next Crew to Station
By Simon Saradzhyan
Special to SPACE.com
posted: 01:00 pm ET
04 February 2004
MOSCOW -- Russian space authorities have decided to switch the crews lined up for the next two flights to the International Space Station after U.S. astronauts Leroy Chiao and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev developed "psychological incompatibility" during their joint training, a Russian space officials said.
NASA officials anncouned on Jan. 12 that Chiao replaced William McArthur on the Expedition Nine crew scheduled for launch April 19. McArthur was bumped from the flight because of unspecified "temporary medical issues."
Chiao then began training with Tokarev at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training in Star City, but the two didn't hit it off, one Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos) official said in a phone interview.
"One of the factors was the psychological incompatibility," said the official when explaining why the switch of the line-up has been carried out.
The official, who asked not to be named, stressed, however, Chiao and Tokarev didn't have any "quarrels. "
"It is not that one was trying to prove to the other who is smarter," he said.
The official stressed that "the factor of how compatible crew members are both psychologically and professionally" compatible factor greatly during selection of candidates by Russian space authorities.
It will be U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke and Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka -- who were previously scheduled to fly to the ISS in October as the Expedition Ten crew -- now are tentatively scheduled for the April 19 launch, according to the official.
The third person who is set to take off to ISS on that day abroad a three-seat Soyuz-TMA capsule is European Space Agency's astronaut Andre Kuipers. Kuipers will spend a few days at the station and then return to Earth with the Expedition Eight crew of Alexander Kaleri and Michael Foale.
It is Tokarev and McArthur -- who has already overcome his health problems -- that are now planned to fly to the outpost as the Expedition Ten crew, he said.
He said Rosaviakosmos will officially notify NASA of the switch once the Gagarin center drafts an official proposal, sends it Russia's lead ISS contractor -- Energia, which will then rubber-stamp it and forward to the Russian space agency. The official said it would take some two weeks, but noted that NASA officials are already aware of the switch.
However, even Padalka and Fincke may end up staying on the ground if either develops health problems or fails to pass the final exams.
It will only be when the crew arrives at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in April that an official commission will examine their preparedness and clear them for the launch, he said. Salizhan Sharipov and Chiao are now training as a back-up crew for Expedition Nine, the official said.
Rosaviakosmos spokesman Konstantin Kreydenko confirmed the crew switch when reached by phone on Wednesday, but would not elaborate on the reasons behind it.
He noted, however, that it has always been a standard operational procedure in Russia's manned space exploration crew to switch entire crews rather than replace one member if either of that crew members have developed any problems.
Hence, he said, McArthur's temporary health issues should have immediately affected replacement of the entire crew with a new one rather than replacement of that astronaut alone.
NASA spokesperson Deborah Rahn said in a phone interview on Wednesday that she "has no official information" and "is not aware" of the switch.
However, one NASA representative in Moscow said he is "aware" of the switch, but denied any knowledge of Chiao and Tokarev experiencing any personal conflicts. He asked not to be named.
Calls to the Star City's press service and Padalka's office went unanswered Wednesday.
jumpermax
05-02-2004, 00:44
Originariamente inviato da GioFX
Perchè è fantascienza allo stato attuale.
beh tecnicamente sembra essere fattibile... anche se non adesso credo. Comunque è un po' che se ne parla
http://www.bo.astro.it/~loiano/NotiziarioAstronomico/pagine/unascensoreperlestelle.htm
qua qualche info più recente
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_020327-1.html
Obbiettivamente l'idea sembra fantascienza pura, più che altro perché è un modo inconsueto di affrontare il problema. E' come la storia del mouse... non è per difendere quelli della xerox ma chi se lo poteva immaginare allora la comodità e la diffusione che avrebbero avuto? Parlare di topi con le palle in un mondo di schermate testuali e tastiere... un po' come parlare di ascensori e cavi in un mondo a reazione...
jumpermax
09-02-2004, 02:40
Anche l'esa ha allo studio la sua navetta spaziale, l'atv che qua vediamo in una foto di gruppo :D con l'apollo e la progress
http://www.esa.int/export/images/compare_atv400.jpg
che dovrebbe essere usata come cargo senza pilota per la stazione spaziale ISS. Notevoli le dimensioni se paragonate alla progress, è in grado di trasportare ben 7 tonnellate di carico contro le 2-3 circa del progress, e ha una massa di circa 20 tonnellate! Notevole
http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/ATV/index.html Dovrebbe essere messo in orbita con l'ariane 5 ragazzi qua non si parla di fantasia
la prima missione è prevista per ottobre di quest'anno...
:eek:
ne aveva comunque già parlato GIOFX qua
http://forum.hwupgrade.it/showthread.php?s=&threadid=603687
ma mi sembrava opportuno riportare la cosa anche di qua, visto che il thread si è perso...
Frank1962
09-02-2004, 03:51
Originariamente inviato da jumpermax
beh tecnicamente sembra essere fattibile... anche se non adesso credo. Comunque è un po' che se ne parla
http://www.bo.astro.it/~loiano/NotiziarioAstronomico/pagine/unascensoreperlestelle.htm
qua qualche info più recente
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/space_elevator_020327-1.html
Obbiettivamente l'idea sembra fantascienza pura, più che altro perché è un modo inconsueto di affrontare il problema. E' come la storia del mouse... non è per difendere quelli della xerox ma chi se lo poteva immaginare allora la comodità e la diffusione che avrebbero avuto? Parlare di topi con le palle in un mondo di schermate testuali e tastiere... un po' come parlare di ascensori e cavi in un mondo a reazione...
.....mi sembra un pò una cavolata :rolleyes: .....per fare 100.000Km di cavo vorebbe dire che per attuare il progretto, diciamo in 3anni, si dovrebbe produrre una roba come 100Km di cavo al giorno!
...e non un cavo qualunque, un cavo prodotto con tecniche nanotecnologiche!! :rolleyes:
Frank1962
09-02-2004, 04:05
questo è un progetto "simile" ma forse + ragionevole sia per altezza, sia per il fatto che non è attaccato a Terra!
http://digilander.libero.it/ferrariniastrofilo/fantascienza/24.jpg
link interessante (http://members.aol.com/Nathan2go/SPELEV.HTM)
Originariamente inviato da jumpermax
ne aveva comunque già parlato GIOFX qua
http://forum.hwupgrade.it/showthread.php?s=&threadid=603687
grazie jumper, in effetti il thread si era proprio perso, non lo trovavo più! :D
Cmq si, dopo il modulo Columbus questo è il maggior contributo dell'ESA alla ISS. La possibilità di lanciare con A5 l'ATV da Kourou (equatore) permetterà di sfruttare la piena capacità del cargo (che ricordo è totalmente automatico, con l'ultima fase di avvicinamento a guida laser) e di poter, in futuro, essere convertito anche per il trasporto di un equipaggio, sempre su A5 (progettato anche per missioni umane).
Per il trasporto dell'ATV è stato disegnato un nuovo stage superiore:
http://www.esa.int/export/images/atv_infairing_low,1.jpg
E proprio la missione Progress 13P ha reso possibile l'attracco dei cargo ATV alla ISS, portando in orbita le parti necessarie a modificare la docking port del modulo Zarya.
jumpermax
09-02-2004, 21:27
Beh mi sembra lontano il suo utilizzo per la messa in orbita e il rientro di astronauti. Assai verosimile invece il suo utilizzo per missioni nello spazio profondo, in fin dei conti è un vero e proprio cargo spaziale. Tra gli usi possibili si parla anche di missioni verso la luna infatti.
Per ora resta il fatto che non solo il veicolo non è riutilizzabile, ma viene fatto disintegrare nel rientro nell'atmosfera. Un veicolo per trasporto di persone quindi necessita di notevole riprogettazione... e se venisse fuori nel frattempo qualcosa di più convincente?
http://www.esa.int/export/images/corv_01858L.jpg
Per ora questo è solo un ipotesi futuristica... un nuovo tipo di veicolo riutilizzabile per la messa in orbita... se ne parla tra qualche mese per vedere cosa ne caveranno fuori.
http://www.esa.int/export/esaLA/GGGMRJF3KCC_index_0.html
Certo visto il cambio di rotta della Nasa e i costi dello shuttle un veicolo del genere per le esigue risorse europee potrebbe essere fuori portata... si rischia di tagliare troppo i fondi ad altri progetti
Ora in effetti è troppo presto per dire la direzione verso la quale andranno i progetti di esplorazione spaziale umana già avviati... un'indicazione più precisa l'avremo dopo la conclusione della costruzione della ISS e se gli Stati Uniti decideranno o meno di ritirarsi dal progetto, e non semplicemente ridurre il proprio contributo.
jumpermax
10-02-2004, 03:06
Originariamente inviato da Frank1962
.....mi sembra un pò una cavolata :rolleyes: .....per fare 100.000Km di cavo vorebbe dire che per attuare il progretto, diciamo in 3anni, si dovrebbe produrre una roba come 100Km di cavo al giorno!
...e non un cavo qualunque, un cavo prodotto con tecniche nanotecnologiche!! :rolleyes:
beh tutto dipende dall'avere o meno produzione di massa. 100Km al giorno? In un giorno in Italia produciamo 8500 tonnellate di pasta... difficile da immaginare, considerando che ha un peso specifico paragonabile a quello dell'acqua sono 8500m^3 di materiale prodotto al giorno ossia una casa di 85 metri quadri verrebbe coperta da 100 metri di pasta se venisse concentrata in un solo posto. Il problema non è tanto la produzione del cavo quanto la messa in posizione...
jumpermax
10-02-2004, 03:09
Originariamente inviato da GioFX
Ora in effetti è troppo presto per dire la direzione verso la quale andranno i progetti di esplorazione spaziale umana già avviati... un'indicazione più precisa l'avremo dopo la conclusione della costruzione della ISS e se gli Stati Uniti decideranno o meno di ritirarsi dal progetto, e non semplicemente ridurre il proprio contributo.
speriamo bene di no... non avrebbe senso per loro con quello che hanno investito e ancora hanno in programma di investire, e sarebbe un bel problema per noi, visti i costi. I giap che fanno? Hanno qualcosa per le mani, cargo navette o simili? Il loro contributo è rilevante o marginale?
Frank1962
10-02-2004, 07:30
Originariamente inviato da jumpermax
beh tutto dipende dall'avere o meno produzione di massa. 100Km al giorno? In un giorno in Italia produciamo 8500 tonnellate di pasta... difficile da immaginare, considerando che ha un peso specifico paragonabile a quello dell'acqua sono 8500m^3 di materiale prodotto al giorno ossia una casa di 85 metri quadri verrebbe coperta da 100 metri di pasta se venisse concentrata in un solo posto. Il problema non è tanto la produzione del cavo quanto la messa in posizione...
....si ma la pasta viene poi venduta a una nazione intera........con il cavo invece uno solo dovrebbe pagarsi tutta la produzione per + di 3anni consecutivi! .....astronomico! :eek:
Originariamente inviato da jumpermax
speriamo bene di no... non avrebbe senso per loro con quello che hanno investito e ancora hanno in programma di investire, e sarebbe un bel problema per noi, visti i costi. I giap che fanno? Hanno qualcosa per le mani, cargo navette o simili? Il loro contributo è rilevante o marginale?
Se viene approvato il nuovo Space Flight plan, il contributo USA sarà sicuramente ridotto dopo la fine dalla costruzione, tra il 2010 e il 2012 (difficile pensare che il programma STS sarà attuato con 6 voli l'anno e turn-over di soli 4 mesi per ciascuno dei tre Shuttle rimasti). A quel punto l'ESA sarebbe il primo contributore finanziario e il secondo tecnologico dopo i russi (RosaviaKosmos). I Giapponesi hanno aumentato il loro contributo recentemente e costruiscono ancheloro un modulo-laboratorio, ma rimane inferiore a quello russo ed europeo.
ISS Partners Delay Meeting, Soyuz Up For Discussion
By Brian Berger
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 06:30 pm ET
20 February 2004
http://a52.g.akamaitech.net/f/52/827/1d/www.space.com/images/iss_2003_030102_01.jpg
With many unanswered questions about how NASA’s new space exploration agenda will impact the International Space Station (ISS) program, an international gathering of space agency chiefs slated for March has been postponed until at least June. Space officials said more time is needed to sort through a number of interrelated issues, including how many Soyuz capsules will be needed to carry crews to and from the station and who will pay for the Russian-built vehicles.
NASA’s space station partners learned only in January that as a result of a new White House space exploration agenda the U.S. space agency is scrapping plans to build the Orbital Space Plane, a rocket-launched capsule that could have been ready by 2008 to serve as a crew lifeboat for the orbiting station. With that decision, Russia’s three-person Soyuz vehicle once again appears to be the prime option for bringing astronauts and cosmonauts back from the station in an emergency.
NASA spokeswoman Debra Rahn confirmed that the upcoming Heads of Agency meeting, previously planned for March, has been postponed until June or July. Rahn said the postponement was necessary “to allow sufficient time for the partnership to discuss at the lower technical levels the potential implications for ISS that result from the new space exploration vision.”
The chiefs of the five space agencies behind the space station program last met as a group in July 2003 in Monterey, Calif. At the meeting, the partners voiced continued support for the space station program despite the assembly delays and logistical burdens brought about by the grounding of the U.S. space shuttle fleet in the wake of the Columbia accident.
Some of the issues the partners must deal with remain virtually unchanged since a December 2002 meeting in Tokyo that yielded an agreement to find ways to make better use of the space station as a science facility. Then, as now, the partners were wrestling with how to keep a crew lifeboat docked at the space station once Russia’s commitment to supply the program with Soyuz expires.
A 1998 bilateral agreement with the United States obligates Russia to provide a total of 11 Soyuz vehicles that will be docked to the station and serve as crew lifeboats in case an emergency forces the crew to abandon the station and return to Earth.
The eight such vehicle is scheduled to be launched April 18 and transport a new two-person crew to the space station and replace the Soyuz lifeboat already there. Assuming Soyuz continue to launch at six-month intervals, Russia will have launched its final obligatory Soyuz in October 2005. The burden for providing a crew rescue capability for the space station would shift from Russia to the United States six months later -- around April 2006 -- when that final Soyuz would be due to return to Earth to make room for a fresh one.
NASA officials have been arguing that Russia owes its partners at least a slight extension because it has not had to build and launch as many Progress supply ships as expected. Close observers of the program, however, say that Russia’s obligation to pay for the Soyuz will run out eventually and the United States, which has twice scrapped plans to field a six- or seven-person rescue vehicle, will be on the hook to keep the Soyuz assembly lines rolling.
A U.S. law enacted in 2000 to discourage Russian aerospace firms from helping Iran develop long range missiles could prevent NASA from buying Soyuz directly from their manufacturer, Korolev, Russia-based Rocket Space Corporation Energia or giving the Russian Space and Aviation Agency the funds needed to pay for the vehicles.
At least one U.S. company, Houston-based Spacehab, has offered to serve as an intermediary in a NASA-backed Soyuz deal as a way around the Iran Non-Proliferation Act’s restrictions on Russian hardware buys. And some U.S. lawmakers, led by Rep. Nick Lampson of Texas, the ranking Democrat on the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee, have said they would be willing to support the legislative relief NASA would need to buy Soyuz from Russia.
NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe, testifying before the House Science Committee Feb. 12, told lawmakers that the agency was not seeking exemption from the law “at this time.”
NASA officials, however, informed their international counterparts at a space station meeting here that same day that the U.S. space agency intends to procure Soyuz vehicles, according to sources. But NASA, these sources said, could not be pinned down on how soon the United States might begin buying Soyuz for the space station.
NASA budget charts obtained by Space News indicate that 2 percent of NASA’s aggregate budget through 2020 would be spent on Soyuz and cargo services for the space station. That information is omitted in an otherwise identical budget package released to reporters.
Additionally, NASA talking points and so-called response to query documents stamped “for internal use only” say NASA “expects to acquire Soyuz or other vehicles for crew transport to and from the station” after the space shuttle is retired around 2010.
What the documents do not say is how NASA intends to deal with the so-called Soyuz gap the space station program faces once Russia delivers its final Soyuz under the 1998 bilateral agreement. But they do acknowledge that the Iran Non-Proliferation Act could be seen as a barrier to a U.S. Soyuz purchase and allow that legislative relief could be necessary.
“We understand the provisions of the Iran Non-Proliferation Act and we will work with Congress to ensure we meet the intent of that act as we implement the vision,” the NASA documents read. “We will discuss any necessary legislation or legislative changes for the vision with Congress as we proceed.”
Meanwhile, NASA is starting to see eye-to-eye with its partners again on the need to increase the crew capacity of space station from three people to six or more. NASA’s partners, the Europeans in particular, have never wavered in their insistence that full scientific utilization of the space station requires crews of six or more.
O’Keefe has publicly challenged that assumption on numerous occasions since taking the helm of NASA in 2001. But with a new exploration agenda that puts a heavy premium of understanding the long-term health consequences of space flight, NASA is once again discussing the virtues of larger crews.
Michael Kostelnik, NASA deputy associate administrator for the shuttle and space station programs told Space News in Houston that larger crews are “in our interest.”
“It is still in play, and we haven’t finally agreed to something,” Kostelnik. “But we need a larger crew aboard to prepare for long-duration human space missions.”
ISS spacewalk planned for Thursday
Posted: Mon, Feb 23 9:25 AM ET (1425 GMT)
The two-man crew of the International Space Station will perform a spacewalk Thursday, leaving the station unoccupied for several hours despite concerns from some station officials that the EVA is "a risk not worth taking." Michael Foale and Alexander Kaleri are slated to spend five and a half hours outside the station starting at 4 pm EST (2100 GMT) Thursday. The two will spend most of the EVA retrieving experiments mounted on the exterior of the station and installing new ones. They also plan to perform an general inspection of a portion of the Zvezda module during the spacewalk. The Washington Post reported Monday that some station managers last year tried to block the EVA because of the risks involved in carrying out a spacewalk on the station with no one inside to monitor the station and spacewalkers. Russian officials insisted the spacewalk take place, however, and NASA later concluded the risks were acceptable.
Crew to Exit Space Station In Exercise
By Kathy Sawyer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 23, 2004
U.S. managers of the international space station are moving ahead with plans for an unusual spacewalk this week despite misgivings last summer that the exercise was "a risk not worth taking," according to newly obtained documents.
The spacewalk, planned for Thursday, calls for the American astronaut and the Russian cosmonaut aboard the space station to be outside the craft at the same time, leaving ground-based controllers to fly the station and no one inside to monitor systems directly or assist in a crisis. Although the Russians have made about 50 such spacewalks, this would mark the first for the U.S.-led space station.
In July, according to the NASA document, space station managers wanted to "disapprove the inclusion of the EVA" -- or extra-vehicular activity, as the spacewalk is called -- even though their Russian partners were pushing for it. Today, the same managers vigorously defend the exercise, including months spent preparing for it, as an invaluable learning experience that will help them keep the station safe and lighten the work of future crews.
Some NASA insiders and others have expressed concern that the shift may reflect unwarranted acceptance of increasing risk -- one of the factors that led to the disintegration of the space shuttle Columbia just over a year ago.
However, top spaceflight official William Readdy said in an interview Friday that the reluctance embodied in the document is "an indication of the new NASA. We want to hear those concerns."
Because the space shuttle fleet was grounded after the Columbia disaster, the space station has depended on Russian cargo and passenger ships for resupply, but they can carry only a fraction of what the shuttles can. The normal space station crew of three has been reduced to two, and some medical and other equipment aboard the station has deteriorated or failed.
These circumstances have triggered a series of internal debates and decisions about how to honor safety concerns while protecting a $30 billion-plus orbital asset that took decades to get off the ground, participants said.
On Thursday's spacewalk, scheduled to begin about 4 p.m., U.S. astronaut Michael Foale and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, both experienced spacewalkers, will deploy and collect science experiments. Although their walk is supposed to last five hours and 40 minutes, they will put in at least an 181/2-hour workday, including more than four hours devoted to reconfiguring the space station so they can leave it with no one inside.
None of the work to be done on the spacewalk is urgent, NASA officials said, but it has to be done eventually. Doing it now will demonstrate the team's ability to perform this kind of outing before a crisis makes it essential.
It will also clear the way, they said, for the next crew to focus two planned spacewalks on adjustments to the station's exterior that must be made to accommodate a new European-built cargo carrier, called the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), that will augment the Russians' Progress freighters. The first launch of the ATV is set for no earlier than June 2005, according to NASA documents and officials.
A Feb. 4 flight assessment document adds that the walk "allows the Russian Partner to meet contract obligations, fund Russian Program."
The Russians, according to NASA sources and documents, have insisted on the need for the spacewalk, to fulfill their contracts with the Japanese and European space agencies and bring in money to their cash-strapped space program -- money to be used in part to build more of the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft required to keep the space station operating.
Initially, station managers at Johnson Space Center in Houston opposed the spacewalk because "Crew Safety and the vehicle while they are performing EVA without an [inside] crew is a risk not worth taking specially if the EVA tasks are not critical" to maintaining the space station, according to NASA's July review of spacewalk plans. The work "can wait until October 2004," said the July document, prepared by mission manager Pete Hasbrook and a colleague.
The recommendation last summer was to defer the spacewalk, designated #9, until the shuttles resumed flight and the station had a three-person crew.
But "the Russians refuse to sign on the document unless EVA #9 is planned for as a requirement," the July summary said. "EVA #9 is essential" to the Russians' program because it brings in funding from the European and Japanese space agencies.
The July 31 summary indicates that, at a meeting on July 25, 2003, space station program manager Bill Gerstenmaier asked for an assessment of the spacewalk preparations and potential failures that would be of enough concern "to tell the Russians that the additional risk to plan for an EVA is unacceptable." In the document, the word "plan" is underlined.
Gerstenmaier and Hasbrook, in telephone interviews Friday, said they now feel entirely comfortable with the safety planning for the spacewalk.
The July memo "overstates where we are," Gerstenmaier said. "It sounds kind of bad. . . . It sounds like [the Russians] are holding us hostage," but actually represents a normal process of give and take.
He said he typically calls for arguments against doing something even when the team wants to do it, to get full information on the table before making a decision.
Although there were initial concerns about the spacewalk's risks, Gerstenmaier said that in the months since, the U.S. and Russian experts have worked through the rationale and mitigated the risks.
It became clear, Gerstenmaier and others said, that preparing for ATV's arrival next year would have eventually required two-man spacewalks with no one inside the station. And the presence of an experienced crew, the angle of the sun on the solar arrays that power the station, and other factors made this the best time for a test run.
Managers rejected the idea of waiting for the next Soyuz to arrive with a fresh crew of two, plus a short-term third passenger, and conducting the spacewalk before the old crew departed. That, they said, would keep too many people at the space station for too long, consuming too much food and water.
Readdy noted that he had called for an extra review of readiness for the exercise early this month, to air lingering concerns. And last week , the station crew members successfully completed a test to ensure that, if they had to abandon their orbital home, they would fit into the Soyuz "lifeboat" for a return to Earth.
Some of those involved in NASA's decision-making have expressed private concerns that the situation is leading the U.S. team to accept unnecessary risk mainly to keep the Russian partners happy.
"The legerdemain that is now being performed is to consider the station to be in contingency mode because we only have a two-man crew, therefore we can rewrite all the previous safety rules that would be violated to allow the EVA to proceed," said an engineer and health expert involved in the decision-making.
"I hear an echo," he said, referring to the gradual acceptance of increased risk -- "risk creep" -- within the space flight program that preceded the shuttle accidents of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003.
With no crew member inside the space station, the risk scenarios of most concern include loss of control over the station's orientation in space and loss of power or control over onboard heating and cooling systems, according to a series of recent NASA safety reviews. Other possible but less likely emergencies include an inability to repressurize the airlock, an onboard fire or a loss of air pressure inside the station because of a leak or puncture.
To assure the safest possible spacewalk, the orbital outpost must be reconfigured in a variety of ways that affect its normal operations and, as a NASA document notes, may "introduce vulnerabilities." Gerstenmaier compared it to readying your house before you go on vacation.
The preparations include adjusting valves to maximize fire detection and sealing most hatches.
Some onboard systems, such as the jet thrusters, will be disabled during the spacewalk to prevent contamination of the crew's spacesuits. This will leave the station's motions under the control of gyroscopes in a U.S. module. One of the four gyros has failed, and of the remaining three, one has shown abnormalities.
The station has been configured in this way many times before, the officials said, while the crew moved a Soyuz vehicle from one port to another. In the case of the spacewalk, the station will be in this "caretaker mode" for 36 hours instead of 16.
If the spacewalk had to be terminated in an emergency, the crew would have to close out its work, float to the airlock and repressurize it normally. That process, according to the safety reviews, would take two hours and 15 minutes.
Station spacewalk begins
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: February 26, 2004
Astronaut Michael Foale and Alexander Kalari began a planned five-and-a-half hour spacewalk today, leaving the international space station vacant in the first such outing since crew sizes were reduced in the wake of the Columbia shuttle disaster.
The spacewalk began at 4:17 p.m. EST as the space station sailed high above the northwest Pacific Ocean. The goal of the excursion is to replace experiments mounted on the station's hull and to carry out a visual inspection of the outpost. This is the 52nd spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance, the first since April 8, 2003. Going into this spacewealk, or EVA, U.S., Russian, French and Canadian astronauts had logged 318 hours and 37 minutes of suited work time.
Foale and Kaleri, known by his nickname "Sasha," have seven earlier spacewalks to their credit.
"Sasha and I have both performed spacewalks before, on previous flights, and I have also done a spacewalk in a Russian suit on board tyhe space station Mir," Foale said last month. Today's spacewalk is, "in our minds, anyuway, pretty much a routine or regular, if any spacewalk can be, EVA to replace some science experiments from Japan and from Europe and Russia on the outside surface of the service module and to bring in some experiments that were placed out there already by previous crews for return to Earth eventually.
"This EVA is different for the international space station ... because we will not have a third person on board the space station watching over the station systems while Sasha and I are outside in our suits," he said. "But really, my take on this is not one of alarm but one of this is something we all must get used to. Just as the Apollo astronauts, when a pair of them would land on the lunar surface and venture out of their lunar module, many miles even on their rover, just the two of them in their suits with no one back in the lunar module, I think we will be in no different a situation. In fact, we will be in a much better and safer situation, less risky. To that extent, I feel we can conduct this EVA safely."
The station normally is staffed with three crew members, one of which remains inside during spacewalks to monitor station systems and to assist in case of problems that might affect the safety of the astronauts outside. But following the Columbia disaster last year, NASA and the Russian space agency were forced to reduce the station crew size to two until shuttles can resume flights.
Some at NASA initially questioned the wisdom of conducting spacewalks with just two station crew members, but those concerns were resolved last year. For their part, Russian cosmonauts routinely conducted such outings on the old Mir space station.
Live broadcast...
NASA TV (http://www1.nasa.gov/ram/35037main_portal.ram)
FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2004
Expedition 9, the next crew to live aboard the International Space Station, will depart Earth Sunday night as they launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket for the two-day journey to reach the orbiting laboratory complex.
Liftoff is scheduled for 0319 GMT (11:19 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Docking of the Soyuz TMA-4 capsule to the nadir port of the station's Zarya module is expected around 0500 GMT (1 a.m. EDT) on Wednesday.
Russian commander Gennady Padalka and NASA science officer Mike Fincke make up Expedition 9. They will be joined aboard the Soyuz by European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands who will spend nine days aboard the station performing scientific experiments under a commercial contract between ESA and the Federal Space Agency of Russia.
Kuipers will return to Earth on April 29 with Expedition 8 commander Mike Foale and flight engineer Alexander Kaleri.
The Expedition 8 crew have been station residents since last October. They will ride the aging Soyuz TMA-3 craft, in which they launched, to a landing in Kazakhstan.
After Wednesday's docking, Padalka and Fincke will conduct more than a week of handover activities with Foale and Kaleri familiarizing themselves with Station systems and procedures. They will also receive proficiency training on the Canadarm2 robotic arm from Foale and will engage in safety briefings with the off-going Expedition 8 crew as well as payload and scientific equipment training.
Padalka and Fincke will assume formal control of the station at the time of hatch closure as Expedition 8 boards its Soyuz in the hours prior to undocking and landing.
Fincke is making his first flight into space after spending several years in training in Russia while helping to develop Station crew procedures.
Kuipers is also making his first flight into space.
American and Russian planners are developing plans for two spacewalks Padalka and Fincke would conduct during their mission to continue the external outfitting of the Zvezda service module and to install cameras, communications gear and navigational aids to Zvezda for next year's arrival of the European Space Agency's unpiloted Automated Transfer Vehicle, a cargo ship similar to the Russian Progress vehicle.
Padalka and Fincke will wear Russian Orlan spacesuits to conduct the spacewalks out of the Pirs Docking Compartment airlock.
Once the Expedition 8 crew has departed, the Expedition 9 crew will settle down to work. Station operations and maintenance will take up a considerable share of the time for the two-person crew. But science will continue, as will science-focused education activities and Earth observations.
Experiments make use of the microgravity environment in the Destiny Laboratory and the orientation of the Station to conduct investigations in a variety of disciplines. Those fields include life sciences, physics and chemistry, and their applications in materials and manufacturing processes. The Station is also used to study the Earth - its environment, climate, geology, oceanography and more. Indeed, Earth observations are expected to occupy a relatively large share of this crew's time for scientific activity. U.S., Russian and Partner experiments and hardware on board the ISS could use 300 hours of crew time, which will be prioritized and scheduled as time permits surrounding the spacewalks, Progress dockings, medical operations and system maintenance activities.
The science team at the Payload Operations Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will operate some experiments without crew input and other experiments are designed to function autonomously. In addition, some Expedition 8 science activities will be continued. Many of the Expedition 9 Russian science experiments were delivered on the ISS Progress 13P resupply vehicle, which docked to the International Space Station in late January.
During more than six months aloft, Padalka and Fincke will monitor the arrival of two Russian Progress resupply cargo ships filled with food, fuel, water and supplies. They will also upgrade the software in the on-board Station computers. Progress 14P is scheduled to reach the ISS in late May, and Progress 15P is earmarked to fly to the ISS at the end of July. The Progress craft will link up to the aft port of Zvezda.
Also on the crew's agenda is work with the Station's robotic arm, Canadarm2. Robotics work will focus on observations of the Station's exterior, maintaining operator proficiency, and completing the schedule of on-orbit checkout requirements that were developed to fully characterize the performance of the robotic system.
bisogna cercare un altro metodo di propusione! non dimenticate che ancora non si sa nulla dell'iterazione fra gravità e le altre forze come il magnetismo!
Soyuz Lofts Expedition 9 Crew Toward Space Station
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 01:05 am ET
19 April 2004
A rocket carrying the next humans to live and work on the International Space Station (ISS) punched smoothly into space during the successful launch of the ninth expedition to the orbital outpost.
Despite the odd appearance of a weekend snowstorm, the first time in 20 years the stuff fell in April at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft safely delivered the two-person crew of Expedition 9 and a European astronaut into Earth orbit.
The launch appeared flawless, leaving Earth on time at 11:19 p.m. April 18 EDT (0319 April 19 GMT) from the same launch pad used by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in his historic 1961 flight to become the first human in space.
It took about 10 minutes for Expedition 9 crewmembers Gennady Padalka and Michael Fincke, joined by Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency (ESA), to escape the bonds of Earth. The three spacefarers will spend the next two days catching up to the ISS, with docking scheduled for about 1:00 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT) April 21.
“It’s just great to see this crew launch and have great weather,” said NASA ISS program manager William Gerstenmaier, who was onhand for Expedition 9’s liftoff. “It’s neat to see the continued human presence on the station.”
Padalka, a veteran Russian cosmonaut who spent 198 days aboard Mir space station in 1999, will serve as Soyuz and Expedition 9 commander. Fincke, a NASA astronaut, is the mission’s flight engineer and NASA Science Officer. Together the two will spend six months aboard ISS conducting science experiments, station maintenance and two spacewalks. Padalka and Fincke will relieve the current ISS crew, Expedition 8’s Michael Foale and Alexander Kaleri, upon arriving at the station later this week.
A critical goal of the Expedition 9 spacewalks, NASA officials said, is to prepare the ISS to receive the ESA-built Autonomous Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo ship in 2005. With three times the cargo capacity of the current Russian Progress supply ships, the ATV will allow the ability to transport more supplies and science materials to the space station.
A smooth ride
The weather was fine for Expedition 9’s flight despite cold temperatures of 36 degrees Fahrenheit (about 2.2 degrees Celsius), a gray, overcast morning and a snowstorm the day before liftoff.
The short ride into orbit was smooth enough for Fincke and his crewmates to wave into onboard cameras just two minutes after liftoff as their Soyuz rocket shed its first stage and ignited its second booster.
“It took me a long time to breathe, seeing you’re kid sitting on a ball of fire going into the heavens,” said Edward Fincke, Michael Fincke’s father, who watched his son rocket away from Earth. “Talk about a graduation day.”
Sunday’s launch was Michael Fincke’s first launch into space after spending eight years training with NASA. Four of those years were spent training with Padalka as backup crews of other ISS expeditions. The two were announced as the crew of Expedition 9 in February 2004.
The flight is also a first for Kuipers, who is the first Dutch astronaut to visit the ISS. Under the Dutch Expedition for Life Science, Technology and Atmospheric Research (DELTA) mission, Kuipers will spend nine days performing science experiments aboard the ISS before returning to Earth on April 29 with Expedition 8’s Foale and Kaleri.
http://space.com/images/h_exp9_1_crew_02.jpg
Next space station crew rockets into orbit on Soyuz
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: April 18, 2004
A Soyuz rocket carrying the international space station's next crew roared to life and rocketed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan late Sunday, kicking off the ninth expedition to the orbital outpost.
Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA flight engineer Michael Fincke and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers blasted off at 11:18:57 p.m. EST Sunday (0319 GMT Monday), from the same launch pad used by space pioneer Yuri Gagarin more than four decades ago.
Despite a surprise weekend snow storm, the sky cleared off, the Soyuz climbed away on time and slipped into orbit eight minutes and 40 seconds later. If all goes well, the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft will dock with the space station around 1 a.m. EST Wednesday after a two-day orbital chase.
"Congratulations on completion of the first stage of your flight," a ground controller radioed seconds after the Soyuz reached orbit. Live television views during the climb to space showed all three crew members in good spirits, smiling and waving at cameras, as they followed their checklists.
"It took me a long time to breathe!" said Edward Fincke, the astronaut's father. "To see your kid sitting on a ball of fire going to the heavens, it's simply more than you can imagine, more than you can ask for. It's so great that NASA and the Russian agency let us be here today. Talk about a graduation day!"
Padalka, 45, and Fincke, a 37-year-old Air Force lieutenant colonel, plan to remain aboard the outpost for six months as the lab's ninth full-time crew. Kuipers is scheduled to return to Earth on April 30 with the outgoing Expedition 8 crew, commander Michael Foale and flight engineer Alexander Kaleri.
"I think it's a great honor to begin my spaceflight career, my first launch, on the Soyuz vehicle," Fincke, a space rookie and the first NASA astronaut to make his initial flight on a Russian rocket, said during a news conference. "I didn't know that I was going to have such an opportunity, but I'm very happy that I do. I think everything's going to be great, everything's going to be in order, because I have a great commander and a great flight engineer. This is like a dream for me and I think I got very, very lucky."
Padalka and Fincke make up the third two-man crew to staff the station since the Columbia disaster last year. With the shuttle fleet grounded, NASA has no way to deliver the fresh water and other supplies necessary to support the normal complement of three crew members. But over the past year, U.S. and Russian managers and engineers have implemented procedures to keep the station going with just two crew members, along with supplies delivered by Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.
"It's very symbolic how well, what we can do as people all over the planet, when we work together," Fincke said. "We are partners - the European Space Agency, NASA, Russia and Japan. And now our Russian partners are picking up the ball and carrying the whole program on themselves. And we are very greatful for that. The Soyuz is a wonderful rocket, a very strong rocket. We have a very good ship and a good crew. We'll have a great mission."
Here is a timeline of upcoming events (in EST throughout):
Event.............................D/HH:MM:SS...DAY...EST
8S Launch.........................0/00:00:00...Sun...11:18:57 PM
Orbit insertion...................0/00:08:40...Sun...11:27:37 PM
DV1 rendezvous burn (19.86 m/s)...0/03:35:06...Mon...02:54:03 AM
DV2 rendezvous burn (20.14 m/s)...0/04:15:39...Mon...03:34:36 AM
DV3 rendezvous burn (2.00 m/s)....1/01:08:47...Sun...12:27:44 AM
Automated rendezvous start........1/23:18:35...Tue...10:37:32 PM
AR&D DV4/Impulse 1 (11.206 m/s)...1/23:40:55...Tue...10:59:52 PM
Soyuz Kurs-A activation...........1/23:58:13...Tue...11:17:10 PM
AR&D Impulse 2 (1.392 m/s)........2/00:03:42...Tue...11:22:39 PM
AR&D DV5/Impulse 3 (25.868 m/s)...2/00:25:22...Tue...11:44:19 PM
Sunset............................2/00:48:32...Wed...12:07:29 AM
Range 8 km - Soyuz TV activation..2/00:58:03...Wed...12:17:00 AM
AR&D Impulse 4 (6.664 m/s)........2/01:07:01...Wed...12:25:58 AM
AR&D Ballistic Targeting Point....2/01:08:35...Wed...12:27:32 AM
AR&D Impulse 5 (4.644 m/s)........2/01:13:13...Wed...12:32:10 AM
AR&D Impulse 6 (2.128 m/s)........2/01:15:01...Wed...12:33:58 AM
AR&D Flyaround mode start.........2/01:17:07...Wed...12:36:04 AM
Sunrise...........................2/01:23:34...Wed...12:42:31 AM
AR&D Station keeping start........2/01:26:07...Wed...12:45:04 AM
AR&D Final Approach start.........2/01:35:03...Wed...12:54:00 AM
DOCKING...........................2/01:44:03...Wed...01:03:00 AM
"When we launch, I will be sitting in the right seat of the Soyuz," Fincke said in a NASA interview. "Gennady as the commander of the vehicle will be sitting in the center seat, and Andre will be the flight engineer for the launch portion and he will be sitting in the left seat. It's a very small capsule, but on the other hand, the launch itself, once the engines start, is only about nine minutes from when we start the engines till when we reach orbit. But the time leading up to that we'll, of course, be in the capsule for several hours.
"Once we reach the main engine cutoff and that we are floating freely in space, we'll be taking off our spacesuits and getting ready for two days of communal living, for three people in a small spacecraft to get ready to dock with the international space station. Once we dock with the international space station, we will meet our friends ... the Expedition 8 crew. They will give us time to show us around, to show us the nuances of day-to-day life, and then they'll quickly go home and return along with Andre, back to planet Earth. And I know that Mike [Foale] and Sasha [Kaleri]'s families miss them very much.
"Then, Gennady and I are by ourselves," Fincke said. "We have a lot of things to accomplish and we'll work hard to see that the whole mission is done. We won't have anybody to come visit us until the next crew, the Expedition 10 crew, comes up. And on some hand it might seem that we'll be very lonely, but on the other hand, we'll have e-mail, we'll have phones, we'll be able to keep in touch with our families. And that's really important."
Two Progress supply ships will dock with the space station during the Expedition 9 mission and Padalka and Fincke plan to carry out two spacewalks. A major objective is to mount cameras, communications equipment and navigation systems on the hull that will be needed next year by the European Space Agency's unmanned Automated Transfer Vehicle, a new supply ship.
"The biggest goal for us as a crew is to keep the space station in operational condition and maintain the human presence," Padalka, a Mir veteran, told a NASA interviewer. He said a recent air leak in the outpost "showed us that if we had not had crew on board, we could have lost the space station.
"But our long-duration activities basically cover some spheres: We need to keep ability to perform preventive maintenance, to avoid serious situations with this space systems operation, and we will perform two spacewalks. Despite the space shuttle being grounded ... we have vast science programs on behalf of the Russian side, the American side, and the European Space Agency."
Critics of the space station, of course, would not use the word "vast" to describe the on-board science, limited by a reduced crew and a lack of shuttle flights to deliver experiment hardware. But for Fincke, who holds master's degrees in planetary geology and aeronautics and astronautics, there's more than enough science to keep him occupied.
"There is a lot of science happening, with as small of a cargo mass that we can send up, and it's amazing," Fincke said. "We'll be doing a lot of life sciences, to see how humans react and live in space and the effects of long-term exposure to space on [humans], and some proposed countermeasures.
"We're looking into materials science and looking into how materials react and change in space. There are fundamental fluid mechanics problems that we're solving with ingenious contraptions that are easy to operate and give real-time data back to the scientists on the ground. It's very impressive, the complement that we're being able to put together, given the short amount of time and the small amount of cargo that we actually have. "
Here are the official priorities of the Expedition 9 mission:
- Dock Flight ISS Soyuz 8 to the nadir port of Zarya.
- Rotate Expedition 8 crew with Expedition 9 crew, transfer mandatory crew rotation cargo, and perform mandatory tasks consisting of the safety briefing for all crewmembers.
- Transfer visiting crew's FE-1 cargo including Sokol suit, and transfer and install Individual Equipment Liner Kit (IELK) in Soyuz 7.
- Perform minimum crew handover of 12 hours per crewmember.
Transfer critical items.
- Undock Soyuz 7 from Docking Compartment (DC)-1 nadir port.
- Perform daily oxygen monitoring.
- Perform weekly carbon dioxide monitoring.
- Return critical equipment and environmental samples on the Soyuz 7 transport.
- Perform U.S./Russian payload operations on the ISS.
Conduct visiting crew operations.
"In life, I don't think we always get a chance for our dreams to come true," Fincke said. "But I can tell you, right here and right now, that I'm living my dream. I've always dreamed of being an astronaut, and now I'm getting a chance. And not only that, but I've always really had an affinity for the Russian space program and was always very much interested. It's such an honor to get a chance to fly aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
"During training I always felt that I was doing well with the Soyuz, and the Soyuz and I got along really well. I understood which buttons to push at the right time. You're just in a special connection. Now that we're getting an actual chance to fly in it it's a dream come true."
But the legacy of the Columbia disaster is never far from mind. And for Padalka, it's a new emphasis on safety.
"It was a great sadness," Padalka said. "It was an incredible crew, and without exaggeration I would [say] that it was a vanguard for all mankind. And, in my opinion, it wasn't only an American crew, it was an international crew because this crew represented by many, many nations: American, Indian, African-American, Israel. And, this catastrophe showed that it's very hard for only one country to explore space, and we need to join our efforts; only in this case we can surmount all difficulties, overcome all obstacles, and only in this case we can have success in space.
"The Columbia Accident Investigation Board issued a lot of requirements for the remaining space shuttles, before space shuttles resume flights again. From my perspective, there are three main ones: No. 1, safety; No. 2, safety; and No. 3, safety. You understand me? It's very important for us. No space research can justify victims, and according to these safety requirements we are committed to taking into account all safety circumstances. ... It seems to me we need to balance between the benefit from the space research and risk. And we need to weigh the balance between risk and space research."
Fincke said station research, along with the experience gained living aboard the lab complex, ultimately will help pave the way for flights back to the moon and, ultimately, on to Mars.
"Going back to the moon, going off to Mars, how exciting! And the international space station is a perfect stepping-stone for us to perfect the technology, to perfect the operational tempo, operational parameters, that we need ... in order to make those long-duration missions successful."
NASA mulls new problem with station gyroscopes
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: April 22, 2004
NASA managers are discussing repair options for an eventual spacewalk to restart a space station gyroscope that shut down Wednesday when an electronic control module malfunctioned. The massive gyroscope itself is healthy, officials say, and spare control modules are available on board. But the remote power control module, or RPCM, in question is located on an exterior truss and a spacewalk will be needed to install a replacement.
The shutdown came at an inopportune time for the station crew, with Expedition 8 commander Michael Foale and flight engineer Alexander Kaleri preparing to return to Earth next week. They're in the process of handing over control to newly arrived Expedition 9 commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Michael Fincke.
NASA's mission management team discussed the gyro issue today and when a repair spacewalk might be mounted. "It's not a matter of whether, it's a matter of when," one official said.
Padalka and Fincke already planned to carry out two spacewalks during their six-month stay and officials said the gyro repair work might be wrapped into one of those excursions. But a variety of issues remain to be resolved.
The station uses four control moment gyroscopes to maintain the lab's orientation in space without having to tap into limited supplies of on-board rocket fuel. But one gyro, CMG-1, failed in 2002 and cannot be replaced until next year, during the first post-Columbia shuttle mission.
With the shutdown of CMG-2 Wednesday, the station is down to just two operational stabilizers and one of those, CMG-3, has shown subtle signs of unusual behavior in recent months due to presumed lubrication issues. Should one of the two remaining gyroscopes shut down for any reason before CMG-2 can be brought back on line, station crews would have to begin firing rocket thrusters to maintain the lab's orientation.
But enough fuel is available to support normal station operations for six months, Russian engineers say, and a NASA official said there's no immediate urgency to mount a CMG-2 repair spacewalk. But it will need to be done at some point in the near future.
"If you guys checked the caution-and-warning panel today, you'll see CMG-2 has failed," mission control radioed the station crew early Thursday. "What's happened is the RPC that's powering CMG-2 has tripped, multiple times in fact. ... Right now, we're in two-CMG attitude control and we plan to remain in two-CMG attitude control and we're going to continue troubleshooting this on the ground and figure out a plan of attack from here. We don't expect any changes to the plan for today, at least. But there could be some changes coming."
"We copy all," Foale replied. "And yes, we'll follow the plan with great interest."
"No doubt. We'll be busy down here for the next week, for sure, looking at this and we'll keep you guys informed."
Four spare remote power control units are available on the station, including one that is brand new. Among the issues being debated are which airlock to use for a repair spacewalk. Fincke does not yet have a properly sized NASA spacesuit to permit use of the U.S. Quest airlock module, which is located close to the S0 truss where the gyros are located. Suit components are scheduled for launch later aboard a Russian supply ship. Wearing Russian suits, Padalka and Fincke could work from the Russian Pirs airlock module, but it would be more difficult to reach the gyro work site from there.
Another wild card is the lack of a third crew member to operate the station's robot arm. Replacing a remote power control module normally would require use of the arm and new procedures likely will need to be developed.
Of more immediate concern to Fincke, Padalka, Foale and Kaleri is the completion of handover operations before the Expedition 8 crew departs next week. Foale and Kaleri are giving their replacements a crash course in station operations, sharing the insights that come with six months of daily life aboard the outpost.
"Just a few days ago, I was sitting on top of the Soyuz rocket to propel us into space and nine minutes later, I looked out the window and saw our beautiful planet Earth below us and I'll tell you what, that first view of the planet was just incredible," Fincke said. "As we were coming in close (to the station), I got to see how beautiful the space station is in person. It's just absolutely wonderful, it's a magnificent machine we've built together as human beings from the planet Earth. Living on board, Mike here has been teaching me the fundamentals of just day-to-day life and he has a lot to show me. I'm really glad he's here to show me what to do and how to do it."
In recent days, Russian managers have suggested extending station stays from six months to a full year. That would free up seats on regular Soyuz rotation missions for flights by space tourists and other paying customers, pumping needed cash into the Russian space program. NASA has ruled out such extended missions, at least until after shuttles resume flights next year, but Russian managers vow to press their case.
For his part, Foale said yearlong station stays are feasible, as long as the proper planning goes into them.
"I've used the word 'busy' a number of times," he said. "That is the key to doing a long-duration mission of any type, whether it's six months or a year. For a year in particular, you need activities that can break the time as it goes by. ... The key is to have a program that's useful and active and that will let the time go by just fine.
"If you told me today , out of the blue, you're not coming home for another year, I would be pretty daunted by it and I would have to go away and think very hard about what that meant and then discuss it with my family and discuss all the implications. Because it was a surprise. If you told me a year before I made the flight, Mike you're going to go for a year, that's quite a different issue because there you have time to prepare for it, everybody gets used to the idea of it, you figure out what you're going to do and how you're going to pace yourself through the mission and it's quite achievable.
"It doesn't matter whether it's three months, four months or six know where kind of your lull is going to be in that period of time, you know when you're going to start looking forward to coming home. As long as those expectations don't get damaged or changed, you can pace yourself just fine through the mission. So yes, I could do a year's mission if I was given the preparation ahead of it."
The issue of possible year-long station stays came up primarily because of the time it is taking to return the space shuttle to flight. The first post-Columbia mission is targeted for next March, although additional delays are possible. But Foale said he has no doubt the shuttle will, in fact, return to flight at some point.
"It's a huge concern for NASA, getting the space shuttle ready," he said. "We need the space shuttle to be ready and it will be made ready to fly to the space station again. Return to flight will take place.
"It's being done in a methodical and careful fashion and as a result, I don't have concerns it will not be done. It will be done. When it will be done is something I'm not in a position to know. I have faith in the management and I have faith in the teams that are working to get the shuttle back to flight. So to that extent, it's not a big issue to me."
Right now, one big issue is beer. And egg salad sandwiches. Asked what he was looking forward to after six months in space, Foale said fresh food was at the top of his list.
"I actually do like beer," he said. "I like tuna fish, for example, in sandwiches, and brown bread, and egg salad sandwiches, I think my wife Rhonda is going to make for me when I get back. That's what I'm looking forward to. So good egg sandwiches. Milk products, for example, that are fresh, I'm looking forward to."
Ma con la costruzione non vanno più avanti?
Originariamente inviato da gpc
Ma con la costruzione non vanno più avanti?
Ovvio che no, è ferma da un anno e mezzo quasi...
I russi potrebbero andare a vanti con lanci Proton-M, ma non è fattibile perchè quasi tutti i nuovi moduli entrano solo nella payload bay dello Shuttle, e cmq lo Shuttle è spesso fondamentale se non indispensabile per la loro installazione, in linea del tutto teorica, la costruzione del segmento russo (ma non l'installazione di nuovi moduli) potrebbe proseguire con l'uso del canad-arm, ma è quasi impossibile...
Originariamente inviato da GioFX
Ovvio che no, è ferma da un anno e mezzo quasi...
I russi potrebbero andare a vanti con lanci Proton-M, ma non è fattibile perchè quasi tutti i nuovi moduli entrano solo nella payload bay dello Shuttle, e cmq lo Shuttle è spesso fondamentale se non indispensabile per la loro installazione, in linea del tutto teorica, la costruzione del segmento russo (ma non l'installazione di nuovi moduli) potrebbe proseguire con l'uso del canad-arm, ma è quasi impossibile...
E quindi che soluzione si prospetta?
Il ritorno degli shuttle nello spazio viene sempre spostato, la NASA si chiama fuori dalla costruzione della ISS a breve per dirigere gli sforzi verso Marte... la vedo lunghetta... ma per quando doveva essere completata, in teoria?
Originariamente inviato da gpc
E quindi che soluzione si prospetta?
Il ritorno degli shuttle nello spazio viene sempre spostato, la NASA si chiama fuori dalla costruzione della ISS a breve per dirigere gli sforzi verso Marte... la vedo lunghetta... ma per quando doveva essere completata, in teoria?
NASA deve rispettare il contratto internazionale del programma ISS siglato con Russia, Europa, gli altri paesi partecipanti al programma ISS, e cmq rimane un interesse strategico per loro. Il discorso della redirezione dei fondi progressivamente verso il piano Luna/Marte non significa automaticamente un disimpegno dal progetto ISS.
Ad ogni modo la data per il RTF è prevista ora per NET (Not Earlier Then) Marzo 2005, in cui vi sarà una finestra di lancio sufficentemente ampia che permetterebbe teoricamente il lancio entro un mese di un secondo orbter, in caso di emergenza (la NASA sta diventando un pò paranoica, abbastanza comprensibilmente). Il ritorno al volo è stato spostato, ufficialmente, una sola volta, da settembre 2004 a marzo 2005, per far si che siano completate tutte le operazioni tecniche per la messa a punto dei nuovi sistemi di sicurezza in modo da soddisfare tutte le richieste del CAIB redatte nel rapporto finale.
Ad ora si prevede il completamento della stazione orbitante entro e non oltre il 2009 (dato che la NASA dovrà per allora ritirare gli Shuttle e chiudre il programma STS, ricordo che altrimenti dovrebbe far ri-omologare tutti gli apparecchi per il volo, oltre che non è possibile secondo il nuovo piano di esplorazione spaziale), con 31 voli.
Le prossime missioni:
STS-114 (OV-103) NET 03/06/05
STS-300 (OV-104) NET 05/05/05
STS-121 (OV-104) NET 05/05/05
STS-115 (OV-104) NET 09/29/05
Ad ogni modo un simile impegno in termini di ciclicità delle missioni dei singoli orbiter è reso ancora più gravoso dalla difficoltà aggiuntiva di avere finestre di lancio sufficentemente grandi, ma cmq sempre di giorno (dato che il programma STS non consnete più lanci notturni, rispettando la specifica del CAIB).
Cmq ho appena avuto conferma da un ingegnere che lavora al KSC, nell'ambito del programma STS, che tecnicamente è possibile completare la ISS con i Proton russi o con la costruzione di una navetta cargo simile all'ATV, dotato di un dispositivo di auto-docking, ma economicamente irrealizzabile, dati gli altissimi costi.
Originariamente inviato da GioFX
NASA deve rispettare il contratto internazionale del programma ISS siglato con Russia, Europa, gli altri paesi partecipanti al
[...]
aggiuntiva di avere finestre di lancio sufficentemente grandi, ma cmq sempre di giorno (dato che il programma STS non consnete più lanci notturni, rispettando la specifica del CAIB).
Domanda: ma come mai ci sono questi requisiti per le finestre di lancio anche quando si tratta di andare semplicemente in orbita? Capisco per un viaggio da pianeta a pianeta, o anche dalla terra alla luna, ma solo per andare in orbita...
Cmq ho appena avuto conferma da un ingegnere che lavora al KSC, nell'ambito del programma STS, che tecnicamente è possibile completare la ISS con i Proton russi o con la costruzione di una navetta cargo simile all'ATV, dotato di un dispositivo di auto-docking, ma economicamente irrealizzabile, dati gli altissimi costi.
Azzo ma sei ammanicatissimo :D
Originariamente inviato da gpc
Domanda: ma come mai ci sono questi requisiti per le finestre di lancio anche quando si tratta di andare semplicemente in orbita? Capisco per un viaggio da pianeta a pianeta, o anche dalla terra alla luna, ma solo per andare in orbita...
Le finestre di lancio nelle missioni in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) vengono infatti decise in base al tipo di missione (altitudine, inclinazione orbitale, ecc.) e a fattori di sicurezza o esigenze tecniche o scientifiche (durata della missione, tipo di lancio: diurno o notturno, ecc.).
Nel caso dei lanci shuttle la finestra viene decisa in base alla missione (ISS o non-ISS, quindi alla relativa altitudine ed inclinzazione), alla durata, al periodo dell'anno, alle esigenze di lancio (tempi per la preparazione dell'eventuale carico, dell'equipaggio e dello shuttle, ecc.) ed alle previste condizioni atmosferiche.
chiaro ora? ;)
Azzo ma sei ammanicatissimo :D
ci si interessa dai... :p :)
Smooth Landing for Expedition 8 Crew
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 09:30 pm ET
28 April 2004
The two-man crew of the eighth expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) and a European astronaut are back on terra firma after a smooth landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz capsule carrying Expedition 8 commander Michael Foale and flight engineer Alexander Kaleri came to a final stop on time and on target at 8:12 p.m. EDT Thursday (0012 GMT Friday), ending a successful 195-day mission in space that included a number of makeshift repairs and one unprecedented spacewalk. Accompanying them in the descent was Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers, who visited the station for nine days conducing experiments for the European Space Agency (ESA).
“This was a perfect touchdown, right on the money,” said NASA spokesman Rob Navias, who arrived at the landing site in one of the first recovery helicopters to reach the spacecraft. “You could have literally painted a bullseye on the landing site.”
Expedition 8’s homecoming started early this afternoon, with Foale and Kaleri giving their goodbyes to the Expedition 9’s Gennady Padalka and Michael Fincke, the station’s new crew. The astronauts exchanged hearty embraces and goodbyes, then Foale, Kaleri and Kuipers floated into their Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft, shutting the hatch behind them at 1:47 p.m. EDT (1747 GMT).
“Thank you very much for all your support and good work,” Foale said to ISS mission controllers in a televised address from the station. “We’re looking forward to seeing you, everyone, and our families.”
The smell of Kazakhstan’s dirt was a “beautiful sensation” for Foale, who was surprised to smell the charred exterior of his Soyuz spacecraft on the way down to Earth, Navias said, adding that air vents in the vehicle open during descent, allowing charred flakes into the capsule.
Kaleri, Expedition 8’s flight engineer and commander of the return Soyuz trip, said he and Foale wished good luck to the Expedition 9 crew, hoping nothing but success for the continuing human presence aboard the ISS.
“Everything has a start, and everything comes to a completion,” Kaleri said. “We had a lot to do at the beginning of the mission, and now we’re handing it over.”
Descending to Earth
After two hours of checks to ensure their spacecraft was properly sealed, and undocked from the space station’s Pirs Docking Module right on time at 4:52 p.m. EDT (1752 GMT), the beginning of their Earth decent. Just over three hours later, the Soyuz safely landed upright just north of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan.
“It’s really gotten a lot quieter here in the International Space Station,” said Fincke after closing the hatch behind the Expedition 8 crew. “I’m sure their families are going to be happy to see them.”
The Expedition 8 crewmembers were offered tea as about 48 recovery workers helped them out of their spacecraft and into special recliners during preliminary medical tests.
Navias said that Kuipers and the Expedition 8 crew looked very well after their landing, which took place on a clear, blue Kazakhstan morning.
“I am very happy…this flight has been very good,” Kuipers told mission controllers before leaving the ISS. Kuipers, originally a medical doctor from the Netherlands, spent 11 days in space, nine of them conducting life science experiments aboard the ISS. Launched up to the space station on April 18 with the Expedition 9 crew, this mission marked his first spaceflight.
The Expedition 8 crew’s landing was not hindered in any way by a helium leak in the fuel tank of their Soyuz craft. Russian ISS mission controllers said the leak was a minor and would not affect the landing.
After completing their required medical checks, the Kuipers and the Expedition 8 crew will travel to Star City, Russia this evening, where their families and loved ones are waiting for them.
In-flight repairs and spacewalks
Among the highlights of Expedition 8 are the in-flight repairs required by Foale and Kaleri, as well as a two-man spacewalk, which left the ISS empty for the first time in its history of crewed flight.
During their time aboard the ISS, Foale and Kaleri tracked down and patched an air leak in a station window and fixed a faulty Elektron air generation device, proving that unplanned, in-flight repairs could be performed.
“Overall, we have a better space station because of this crew,” said Joel Montalbano, NASA’s lead flight director for Expedition 8, during a mission wrap up earlier this month.
The Expedition 8 crew also performed a major repair of their exercise treadmill, a critical piece of equipment that keeps the bodies of astronauts healthy in the absence of gravity. Working closely with each other and engineers on the ground, Foale and Kaleri took the treadmill’s gyroscope apart piece-by-piece, replaced a faulty bearing, then reassembled the device into working order.
The repair is something that Houston engineers would typically perform on the ground and included equipment neither Foale nor Kaleri were familiar with, ISS officials said.
Expedition 8’s success with in-flight repairs bolsters the confidence station controllers have in an upcoming repair for Expedition 9, which is expected to perform an unplanned spacewalk to repair the power system for a gyroscope in the ISS attitude control system.
Similarly, the two-person spacewalk performed by the Expedition 8 crew prepared both astronauts, as well as U.S. and Russian ISS mission controllers in how to conduct future spacewalk while operating at a reduced crew capacity.
Records to go around
During the Expedition 8 increment, Foale and Kaleri spent a total of 195 living and working aboard – and outside – the ISS. Foale set a new NASA record for logging the most time in space with 374 total days off-Earth. He is the first U.S. astronaut to spend more than a year in space and the 16th longest duration astronaut in the world. The other 15, including Kaleri, are Russian cosmonauts.
Kaleri also moved up in the cumulative spaceflight rankings. With the completion of Expedition 8, he has logged 611 days in space, placing him fifth in the world of space travelers.
But records aside, NASA and its partner space programs still have their work cut out for them if they plan to continue pushing human space exploration further away from Earth, Foale said.
“We’ve gone an awful long way, but around the Earth and not out of Earth orbit,” he said during a recent press conference. “We see the International Space Station as a base camp to mount further expeditions to the moon and then on to Mars.”
Space station resupply ship launched successfully
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: May 25, 2004
A Russian-built cargo freighter loaded with supplies, food, equipment and fuel for the orbiting International Space Station was successfully launched today from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Central Asia.
Mounted atop an unmanned Soyuz rocket, the Progress vessel roared away from its launch pad at 1234 GMT (8:34 a.m. EDT). Nine minutes later the cargo craft settled into orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas.
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp9/images/040525soyuzlaunch.jpg
The Soyuz rocket launches with Progress 14P. Credit: Energia
The craft is known in the station's assembly sequence as Progress 14P -- the fourteenth resupply mission to the outpost. It is also called Progress M-49 and No. 249.
A fully automated docking to the aft port of the space station's Russian Zvezda service module planned for Thursday at 1355 GMT (9:55 a.m. EDT).
That docking port was vacated early Monday when the Progress 13P (M1-11 or No. 260) departed the station around 0920 GMT (5:20 a.m. EDT) will a load of trash and unneeded equipment. Russian ground controllers are using the discarded Progress to perform a series of engineering tests on the motion control system and methods to conserve propellant that could benefit future missions, officials said.
The freighter is scheduled to fire its braking engines and plunge into the atmosphere where it will burn up harmlessly on June 3.
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The Soyuz rocket is rolled to its Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad for liftoff May 25 carrying the Progress 14P resupply ship to the International Space Station. Credit: Energia
With the U.S. space shuttle fleet remains grounded until at least next spring, the International Space Station program is fully reliant upon the Russian Progress ships to keep the station stocked with supplies for the resident crews and propellant for the complex's steering jets.
"The International Space Station has a great debt to the Russian side for maintaining the station during these troubled times. The Russian side has been able to bring up enough of everything. In fact, we have enough food, enough water to last us a while," the station's current flight engineer, Michael Fincke, said Monday.
Fincke and his commander, Gennady Padalka, are one month into their planned half-year voyage aboard the station as the Expedition 9 crew.
The two men heard the old Progress depart Monday but were unable to see it drifting away.
"We looked out the windows and just because of the orbital orientation we just didn't have a view that way. We both looked and looked, and we really couldn't see it leave. But we certainly heard it when the mechanical hooks that were keeping it docked to the station, when they opened up, Gennady definitely heard the hook motors...After that, it just pushed slowly off into space," Fincke said.
"Progress was a good ship for us. It brought up a lot of supplies when Expedition 8 was here, including supplies for our expedition. It also took away a lot of trash and used things that we had onboard to make room for the next Progress."
The following timeline shows the key events scheduled from launch until docking for the newest Progress freighter.
Supply ship safely arrives at International Space Station
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: May 27, 2004
The International Space Station received its latest resupply ship today as a Russian-made cargo carrier loaded with nearly three tons of fuel, food and equipment successfully docked to the outpost.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0401/29progress/progressinorbit.jpg
File image of Russian Progress cargo freighter in space. Credit: NASA
Flying entirely on computer-control, the unmanned Progress M-49 craft made its automated docking to the aft port of the station's Zvezda service module at 1355 GMT (9:55 a.m. EDT), two days after launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The station's two-man crew, Expedition 9 commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Michael Fincke, are scheduled to open up the Progress later today and begin unloading supplies tomorrow.
The freighter's cargo compartment is carrying over 2,800 pounds of food, spare parts and science experiments. Russian spacesuit hardware, a new battery for the Zvezda electrical system and a camera unit to support future European Automated Transfer Vehicle dockings are packed on the Progress.
The crew will find a few gifts from home, too.
"They were able to put some personal things aboard this Progress for us. We were so busy that I never had a chance to ask my wife or the team in Houston what they actually have onboard. So it is going to be a really big surprise," Fincke said in an interview with CBS News on Wednesday.
The ship's refueling compartment carries about 1,408 pounds of propellant for the station's thrusters. Also aboard are 62 pounds of oxygen and 924 pounds of potable water, according the spacecraft-maker RSC Energia.
This is the fourteenth resupply mission to the International Space Station, giving it the name Progress 14P in the station's assembly sequence.
The station is fully reliant upon the Russian Progress resupply ships until the U.S. space shuttle fleet returns to flight next spring. Today's docking was the fifth since the Columbia tragedy.
"The Russian side has really stepped up by sending these Progresses," Fincke said. "There is definitely enough (supplies) for two people to live comfortably aboard. We are not rationing our water. We are careful but that just makes plain sense. We are not rationing our food. We are doing good. We have enough air, we have enough everything."
While the shuttles are grounded, the station Expedition crews were reduced from three to two crewmembers to lessen the amount of supplies needed in space.
"As long as the Progresses keep coming, we will be able to maintain two people indefinitely," Fincke added.
The next Progress is expected in late July.
Mir wasn't meant to last fifteen years. To an astute observer, the fact that it survived that long doesn't neccesarily reflect well on Soviet power -- after all, it was supposed to have been replaced in the late 80s by Mir 2. Mir 2 was stalled by budget problems so long that when it was finally completed, it was with additional funds from NASA -- and it was called Zvezda. Yes, the ISS core block began life as Mir 2.
It is certainly a testament to the perseverence of the Russian space program that Mir kept going so long, though. They had no choice; the government was never going to give them the funding needed to make Mir-2 (originally meant to be the first space station in a polar orbit, serviced by Plesetsk Cosmodrome rather than Baikonur, which would have allowed the Russians to break their dependency on Kazakhstan). But they were not about to give up on spaceflight just because the government wanted to give up. They fought long and hard in the political arena, keeping things going through the fall of the Soviet Union and the political instability that followed. They made Mir work. They had their formidable foot in the spaceflight door, and they weren't about to pull it back. The engineers, beaurocrats, cosmonauts, doctors, scientists, and technicians of the Russian space program and space industry really deserve a huge amount of credit. Without their dedication, the end of communism would have been the end of Russian spaceflight.
But why did the Russian people put up with Mir being little more than a foot in the door, when the Americans won't put up with the ISS serving a similar purpose? Because Mir was a symbol of Russian pride. The ISS, however, is not a symbol of American pride. It is a symbol of international cooperation, and although it pains me to say this, I think a lot of Americans aren't really big on international cooperation. In fact, a lot of them resent it, especially in light of recent events (especially Iraq). The Russian people did not see Mir breaking down. They saw it flying on, keeping the dream alive. Americans don't see ISS flying on, keeping the dream alive -- instead, they see it breaking down. Combined with a growing distrust of international cooperation, is it any wonder many Americans don't like the ISS very much?
http://uplink.space.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=missions&Number=720021&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=
Da SpaceDaily.com (http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-04zs.html):
A Room With A View: Completion Of The ISS Cupola Observation Module
Turin, Italy (ESA) Aug 31, 2004
Development phase completion of the European-built observation module, or "cupola", for the International Space Station will be marked by a ceremony at the Alenia Spazio facility in Turin, Italy on Monday 6 September.
The cupola, currently scheduled for launch in January 2009, is an observation and control tower for the ISS, with windows that will provide a panoramic view for observing and guiding operations on the outside of the station.
The pressurised module will accommodate command and control workstations and other hardware, enabling crewmembers to control the station's robotic arm - for attaching and assembling various station elements - and to communicate with other crewmembers in other parts of the station or outside during spacewalk activities.
The cupola will also be used for observational applications in the areas of Earth observation and space science.
The cupola project is the outcome of a bilateral barter agreement between the European Space Agency and NASA, under which ESA is providing the cupola for the ISS in exchange for Shuttle transportation of European equipment and experiments to the station.
The completion of the cupola marks the end of the development phase of the project, which began with the signing of the cupola contract between ESA and Alenia Spazio on 8 February 1999.
Under the contract, Alenia Spazio acted as prime contractor for production, responsible for coordinating six other firms: CASA (Spain), APCO (Switzerland), SAAB Ericsson and Lindholmen Development (Sweden), EADS Space Transportation (Germany) and Verhaert (Belgium).
The 1.8-tonne cupola is now ready to be transported to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. There, it will go through a final set of checks before being put into storage for four years, at the end of which it will be prepared for launch.
The ceremony on 6 September will be attended by ESA's Director of Human Spaceflight, Jörg Feustel-Büechl, Alenia Spazio's CEO, Maurizio Tucci, and Infrastructures and Scientific Satellites Director, Luigi Quaglino, ESA Cupola Project Manager, Philippe Deloo, Alenia Spazio Cupola Project Manager, Doriana Buffa, and NASA ISS Program Management representative, Michael See.
http://www.spacedaily.com/images/iss-cupola-bg.jpg
Cupola will be attached to Node-3
Oxygen, Food a Prime Concern for Next ISS Crew
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 24 September 2004
7:00 p.m. ET
International Space Station (ISS) officials have listed food and oxygen supplies among their top concerns for the next astronauts bound for the orbiting facility, and are drawing up plans to de-crew the station if stores dip too low.
As the launch date approaches for the crew of ISS Expedition 10 and a visiting cosmonaut, space station managers are working to ensure the station will be able to support human occupants for the planned six-month mission.
"Things look very good, though food and oxygen will be a little tight by the Progress 16 launch," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's manager for the ISS program, during a teleconference with reporters today. Progress 16 is the first resupply mission slated for Expedition 10, and expected to dock at the ISS on Dec. 25, he added.
Expedition 10 commander Leroy Chiao and flight engineer Salizhan Sharipov are scheduled to launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 11 at 12:17 a.m. EDT (0417 GMT). Riding with them will be Russian Space Forces test cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, an ISS visitor who will return with the current station crew, Expedition 9's Gennady Padalka and Michael Fincke, on Oct 19.
Gerstenmaier said that a problematic Russian oxygen generator, known as an Elektron, prompted ISS planners to evaluate the limits of consumables like food and oxygen and determine parameters where it may become necessary to evacuate Chiao and Sharipov from the ISS. There has been little debate among ISS planners over the decision to send Expedition 10 without a working Elektron, he added.
"There was pretty good consensus today and no dissenting opinions," Gerstenmaier said of a recent ISS operations review meeting. "We have oxygen in the [storage] tanks, and then we also have a fairly good chance of having the Elektron running again."
The Elektron device failed earlier this month, and Padalka and Fincke have been working to repair it while dipping into their backup air supplies. The space station currently has a total of about 162 days worth of oxygen stored in an attached Progress cargo ship, oxygen-generating candles and in storage tanks. A red line has been drawn at the 45-day mark, though ISS officials said it's not a final deadline to abandon the station.
"It's not a hard, black and white constraint that at that point we come home," Gerstenmaier said. "If there's a Progress scheduled to come, we'll make sure we're prepared with that."
Should the ISS crew have to leave the station, they would leave it in an autonomous mode akin to that used during recent spacewalks in which two crewmembers leave the station empty, he added.
There are two supply ships scheduled to dock at the ISS during the Expedition 10 mission, Progress 16 and Progress 17, the latter expected to launch in February 2005. A new Elektron device, and additional oxygen-generating candles are not expected to be ready until at least January 2005. A U.S.-built oxygen generator should be ready for ISS use by 2006.
Russia's unmanned Progress cargo ships typically carry about 25-50 kilograms of oxygen, though that can be increased up to 100 kilograms depending on the need. In addition, other forms of oxygen, including the oxygen-nitrogen mix we call air and oxygen-generating candles can also be stuffed into a supply ship.
"There are lots of different ways to bring oxygen up," Gerstenmaier said.
ISS officials said they are also preparing the ISS for the planned arrival of NASA's Discovery space shuttle, slated to launch sometime in March 2005, by preparing new cameras to launch to the station and plans to rearrange cargo prior to the shuttle docking. A number of space station modules and other hardware based at Florida's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) have also weathered the effects of several hurricanes rather well and is wrapped up tight for this weekend's anticipated arrival of Hurricane Jeanne, Gerstenmaier said.
In addition to their science and station duties, Chiao and Sharipov are expected to conduct two spacewalks and move a Soyuz between docking ports during their expedition.
Al TG hanno iniziato con un "Abbandonati nello spazio, senza ossigeno nè cibo...".
Bah, giornalisti cialtroni...
Originariamente inviato da gpc
Al TG hanno iniziato con un "Abbandonati nello spazio, senza ossigeno nè cibo...".
:nono: :muro: :mad:
Originariamente inviato da GioFX
:nono: :muro: :mad:
Io avevo letto la notizia 'stamattina e quando ho sentito che dicevano così al TG gli avrei tirato due insolenze... bel modo di sensibilizzare l'opinione pubblica :rolleyes:
Originariamente inviato da gpc
Io avevo letto la notizia 'stamattina e quando ho sentito che dicevano così al TG gli avrei tirato due insolenze... bel modo di sensibilizzare l'opinione pubblica :rolleyes:
hai capito poi da dove nascono quelle posizioni del tipo "che li buttano a fare i soldi in ste robe..."... :muro: :p :p
Originariamente inviato da GioFX
hai capito poi da dove nascono quelle posizioni del tipo "che li buttano a fare i soldi in ste robe..."... :muro: :p :p
Sì, bravo, l'ho pensato anche io...
Poi mi pareva pure di aver letto sul forum un'uscita tipo "ma perchè invece di buttare soldi in quelle cose inutili che sono solo pericolose non fanno altro?"...
NASA May Partially Abandon Space Station
By Larry Wheeler
FLORIDA TODAY
posted: 20 May 2005
06:54 am ET
WASHINGTON - NASA may have to partially abandon the International Space Station if the Bush administration can't figure a way around a law that prevents the United States from paying Russia for future flights to the orbiting outpost.
"If we don't have (an) agreement with the Russians, then we won't be able to have people in space for long periods of time," said U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Science Committee.
Boehlert said he and other congressional leaders want a new agreement for more Russian Soyuz flights, but not if it means backing down on concerns that Russia may be passing along weapons secrets to Iran.
The Iran Nonproliferation Act bans U.S. payments to Russia for services related to the $100 billion international station unless the president confirms Russia is working to prevent its scientists and engineers from passing weapons technology to Iran.
Exempted from the 2000 ban were 11 flights of the Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft to and from the station.
The three-person Russian capsules have been the only way for the U.S. to rotate astronauts aboard the $60 billion station since the shuttle Columbia disaster in February 2003. And, for the life of the station program, the Soyuz has been the only escape system for the crew.
The last of the exempted 11 Soyuz flights to carry a U.S. astronaut launches in September and returns in April 2006.
After that, NASA must rely on its shuttles to transport astronauts to the research vessel. But the astronauts won't be able to remain for extended periods because NASA safety rules demand they have access to a "lifeboat" for emergency escape.
Under normal circumstances, a shuttle stays in orbit about two weeks. The Soyuz can dock to the station for six months. Plus, the shuttle is to retire in 2010 and, while NASA is working to speed development of a replacement vehicle, it's too soon to tell if it will be ready to start flying astronauts to and from the space station at that time.
The possibility that U.S. astronauts could not fly long-duration missions on the station could impact the initiative to send astronauts to the moon and Mars. NASA is counting on testing long-term impact of space flight on humans -- a key hurdle to flights to Mars or long stays at a lunar base -- aboard the space station.
Congressional leaders have pressured the administration to come up with a solution that will allow the U.S. to continue buying seats on Russian spaceships while maintaining a hard line on weapons proliferation.
NASA and Bush administration officials declined to discuss in detail how they plan to get around the ban on buying more space services from Russia.
At a recent Capitol Hill hearing, a top NASA official said the Bush administration won't seek a waiver from the ban, but will offer some other proposal.
"There are probably other ways where we can extract the International Space Station from the legislation," NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory said. "I cannot tell you at this point how it will be presented, but I would anticipate very soon that we will engage."
ISS Expedition 12 (TMA-7)
New space station resident crew launches to orbit
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: October 1, 2005
A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome late Friday, boosting a fresh two-man crew - and history's third space tourist - into orbit for an Oct. 3 rendezvous and docking with the international space station.
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp12/images/launch.jpg
The Soyuz rocket launches Expedition 12. Credit: Energia
Under a partly cloudy sky, the Soyuz rocket roared to life at 11:54:53 p.m. EDT, quickly climbing away toward space atop a tongue of fire from its liquid engines. Nine minutes later, the spacecraft was in orbit. Its solar arrays and antennas deployed normally and the crew reported all systems were operating normally.
On board were Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur, flight engineer and Soyuz commander Valery Tokarev and U.S. businessman Greg Olsen, who paid the Russians some $20 million to visit the international space station.
"Nowadays, everybody can fly every week," Olsen told reporters before launch. "The same will be true with space flight. There will be more tourists after me."
If all goes well, Tokarev will oversee an automated docking with the space station's Pirs airlock module around 1:32 a.m. Monday. After hatch opening three hours later, the arriving spacemen will be welcomed aboard by Expedition 11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips.
Krikalev and Phillips, accompanied by Olsen, plan to return to Earth Oct. 10 for a touchdown in Kazahstan at 9:08 p.m. Landing will end a six-month stay aboard the orbital outpost. McArthur and Tokarev will remain in orbit until next March when they will be replaced by yet another two-man crew.
McArthur originally hoped to return to Earth aboard a space shuttle. But because of on-going foam insulation problems, and delays caused by Hurricane Katrina, the next shuttle flight is now expected to slip into May at the earliest.
In past years, this would not have been a major problem in and of itself. But a 1996 "balance" agreement that required the Russians to provide 11 Soyuz spacecraft to ferry joint U.S-Russian crews to and from the space station - at no cost to NASA - ended with Friday's launching.
Enter the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, intended to deter the transfer of advanced weaponry and nuclear technology to Iran. The primary target was Russia and section 6 of the INA bars NASA from buying space station-related products or services from the Russians unless the president determines Russia is actively working to prevent proliferation.
Given NASA's current bind, an amendment to the INA is in the works, but as of this writing no changes have been approved and McArthur does not have a designated ride home.
Soyuz delivers three men to the space station
BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: October 3, 2005
A Russian Soyuz capsule swooped up and docked to the International Space Station this morning, delivering the new Expedition 12 resident crew and an American businessman flying as third tourist to the orbiting laboratory.
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp12/images/soyuzdock.jpg
File image of Soyuz approaching the space station for docking. Credit: NASA
Following a two-day trip from the launch pad in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz TMA-7 made a smooth arrival at the station's Pirs docking module at 1:27 a.m. EDT (0527 GMT) under autopilot control while cruising over central Asia.
Two orbits later, hatches between the capsule and station swung open, allowing Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev to float into their new microgravity home in space. The duo will spend six months living aboard the station.
Tourist Greg Olsen is paying millions of dollars to the Russian space agency for his grand adventure, which includes 8 days on the station. He is scheduled for return to Earth on October 10 with the outgoing Expedition 11 crew. Commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips will ride back home in their TMA-6 capsule after 179 days in space.
The tour-of-duty by McArthur and Tokarev will feature the arrival of one Russian Progress resupply ship, a spacewalk out of the American Quest airlock and a Russian EVA from the Pirs module.
"In its very broadest sense, our goals are first to maintain the operational state of the ISS; to conduct research that is targeted toward enhancing our capability to live and work in space, because we have to be able to do that, and more and more we need to be able to do that with less reliance on the ground if we're going to leave low Earth orbit; and third, we would like to see expansion of this unique laboratory environment so that future crews will have an even more capable space station to work in," McArthur said in a pre-flight interview.
Expedition 12 was supposed to host the resumption of station construction via space shuttle missions. However, continuing problems with external fuel tank foam and Hurricane Katrina's damage to key shuttle facilities along the Gulf Coast are expected to delay any assembly missions until after McArthur and Tokarev finish their flight.
Studying the impacts of spaceflight on the human body will continue on Expedition 12, as McArthur described before his launch:
"We're looking at a couple of areas. One is how we maintain adequate human performance. If you think about it, if you've seen pictures of crews, particularly returning on the Soyuz, they are, after a long stay on board ISS, they are lifted out of the capsule, if it's sitting upright -- if it's on its side again, they're sort of helped out -- immediately put in chairs, and then carried to a medical evacuation tent. The crews are discouraged from trying to walk immediately after landing. It's because our muscles are deconditioned and our sense of balance is no longer effective. It's very easy to get dizzy after having been in space for a long period of time due to the effects of gravity on the inner ear.
"Well, that's going to be pretty tough if, after a six- or nine-month flight, you land on Mars and you can't stand up. So, we really, if we want to leave low Earth orbit ... we really need to have the techniques and the tools, the exercise protocols, the medical procedures, that will ensure that when that crew lands on Mars, just a tremendous distance from the Earth, that they are physically fit to start working quickly. One, because, I mean, what a tremendous adventure! We really want to get the maximum benefit out of that, out of what will be a tremendous human accomplishment to set foot on another planet, and we want the crews to be healthy.
"So, what are we doing, to address that? Well, let's talk about what some of the effects are of being in space. You know, you walk around and all your muscles are getting some workout. Well, in space -- and this is a good thing about being up there -- you don't walk around: we float around. And it is so much fun, and it's a pleasant environment, but your muscles immediately begin to atrophy. And so we need to figure out how to maintain conditioning.
"There are two things we do on orbit: one is, we do exercise almost religiously -- we spend a lot of time each day exercising. In order to understand the effects, or the effectiveness, of that exercise, we do a lot of testing preflight; we'll do some testing on orbit; we do a lot of testing postflight. There's an experiment in which I hope to participate called Foot. My right leg and running shoes on each foot are instrumented. I've got muscle activity sensors in various places on my leg and little boxes recording data. It makes me look a little bit like the Borg from Star [Trek]: The Next Generation. What we're trying to do is measure the effectiveness of all your activity on orbit and compare it to your normal activities on the ground, to see how close they are to providing a similar workout, a similar activity level, to what we have on the ground.
"Now there are some other effects that can be even more serious on orbit. One is that in the absence of the stress of gravity, your musculoskeletal system, you know, besides the muscles becoming weaker, the bones, your actual skeleton, the bones start losing minerals over time, in some of the major weight-bearing bones, because they don't see the stress to which they're normally exposed, they're losing calcium, they become brittler. You know, gosh, I'd hate to have really brittle bones and kind of hop off the ladder on Mars and have one break. So we're studying the effects on bone density.
"But now where's that calcium going? Well, it's going into the blood, filtered through the kidneys, excreted in the urine. OK, minerals, your blood, kidneys, urine -- you know, if you've ever had a relative or know someone who's developed kidney stones, that all ought to sound familiar. We're concerned that people in weightlessness have a higher risk of developing kidney stones. I've heard they're pretty painful. Three months on the way to Mars I'd certainly hate to be the astronaut who has developed a kidney stone.
"So on this mission, we're participating in an experiment called Renal Stone. Some of us are taking potassium citrate, some are taking a placebo, and we're going to measure the effectiveness of the potassium citrate on orbit to try to determine if in fact it is effective at reducing the substances in your blood that may lead to the formation of kidney stones."
McArthur says completion assembly of the station is a necessary step on the way to future lunar exploration missions and eventually voyages to Mars.
"We don't have the answers we need in order to send people to Mars yet. We know a lot of the questions, but we need to have the space station to find the answers to those questions, to keeping people healthy for a long duration on orbit. As I mentioned before, I think we cheat a little bit right now -- we launch from Earth, we spend a long time on orbit, and we go back to Earth where we have this cadre of wonderful people there to scoop us up and keep us warm and safe. It's almost like we're the child that's peeked out of the womb, gotten a little bit scared, and we've gone back in where it's nice and safe and comfortable. Well, we need to give birth to true interplanetary space exploration. And, I would say the space station is the midwife that's going to allow us to do that.
"We need the space station to look at how we are going to get the answers to those questions: I have mentioned how much more capable I think the crew is with three people than with two. How about if we could go more than that -- what if we can go to four, five, or six? We do spend a lot of time right now maintaining and building our laboratory. This is a pretty unique laboratory. In most places I would assume that if you went, let's say, to the [Texas] Medical Center here [in Houston] and that they were working on a new laboratory. My guess is people don't go in and start doing research in that laboratory until it's complete.
"Well, we're doing research, and we're still building our laboratory. So those of us that are up there can't devote our time 100 percent to answering the questions, because we have to spend some time to taking out the trash, some time to changing the oil in the car. But if we can go to a larger crew, then we should always have a significant number of people who we can devote to the research. And I think we'll get answers to the questions we need much more quickly.
"But, we've got to do two things: We've got to finish the space station, and then we have to operate it. Then we'll be ready to give birth to interplanetary exploration."
Da Space.com (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/051010_exp11_olsen_lndg.html):
Home Again: U.S. Space Tourist, Expedition 11 Crew Return to Earth
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 10 October 2005
11:10 p.m. ET
A U.S. scientist who paid $20 million to visit the International Space Station (ISS) is back on Earth, along with two astronauts, after their Soyuz spacecraft touched down safely on the steppes of Kazakhstan Monday.
Gregory Olsen, the third space tourist to visit the ISS, and the two-astronaut crew of ISS Expedition 11 landed their Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft right on time today at 9:09 p.m. EDT (0109 Oct. 11).
"I feel great," Olsen said as he finished an apple while recovery workers conducted medical checks. "I can't wait to walk around and have some real food, and take a shower."
The landing ended a 10-day spaceflight for Olsen and a six-month mission for Expedition 11 commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips. Krikalev and Phillips launched toward the ISS in mid-April and spent 179 days aboard the orbital outpost before turning it over to their replacements - Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev – earlier today.
"Thanks for a great fireworks show," ISS Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur told NASA mission controllers in Houston, Texas, adding that he and Tokarev were able to spot the bright plasma trail from Expedition 11’s reentry. "We had a wonderful view."
Expedition 11 landed just in time for Phillips to celebrate his wife Laura’s birthday – it was 7:09 a.m. on Oct 11 at the astronaut’s Kazakh landing site – which was a happy coincidence since the he launched toward the ISS on his own 54th birthday on April 15th.
A successful flight
Expedition 11’s landing ended a day of spaceflight for Krikalev, Phillips and Olsen which began as their Soyuz spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 5:49 p.m. EDT (2149 GMT).
Krikalev guided the spacecraft manually to conserve battery power, gently easing the three-ton Soyuz away from its docking port at the space station’s Zarya control module.
"I see that we're moving smoothly," Krikalev said as the Soyuz pulled away from the ISS.
Today’s landing also capped a 179-day mission for Krikalev and Phillips, but put the Expedition 11 commander at a lifetime total of 803 days in space – the most any human has ever spent off planet. Krikalev broke the record on Aug. 16, when he surpassed 748 days in space and the previous record held by cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev. Krikalev is the only cosmonaut to make six spaceflights and the first to serve to stints aboard the ISS.
“I think this is a big adventure,” he told SPACE.com last week, adding that setting records was not his plan.
The Soyuz departure marked the end of Expedition 11’s months-long stay aboard the ISS, during which they maintained the space station, conducted one spacewalk and received the first visiting space shuttle crew since December 2002.
“I’m proud to say we’re leaving the station in excellent condition,” Phillips told SPACE.com last week during a space-to-ground interview. “I’m very satisfied with the results of our mission.”
Despite the spaceflight’s success, there were some disappointments, including the delay of a second shuttle flight due to ongoing external tank debris issues, Phillips added.
“We were expecting to be here when the second shuttle flight came, and they were going to bring us a third crewmember, which would have been huge,” Phillips said. “We were disappointed…but the important thing is to make sure we fly safely.”
NASA is currently working to reduce foam shedding from external tanks during launch, a problem that doomed the Columbia shuttle in 2003 and cropped up again during the recent Discovery STS-114 flight to the ISS, before making its next orbiter flight in spring 2006.
Expedition 11 was Phillips’ first long-duration spaceflight and included the first spacewalk of his astronaut career.
“It was a wonderful adventure and a wonderful experience…it was basically everything I thought it would be,” Phillips said of working outside the ISS, adding that he was surprised that he didn’t have to steel himself against plunging into the blackness of space. “But it felt almost routine for me. It was time to go out, and I went out.”
A space odyssey ends
For Olsen, the Soyuz landing concludes what has been a dream come true for the New Jersey resident and co-founder of the optics firm Sensors Unlimited, Inc.
Olsen launched to the ISS with the Expedition 12 crew on Sept. 30 GMT under a commercial agreement with Russia’s Federal Space Agency, arriving at the orbital complex on Oct. 3 for about eight days of weightlessness, Earth observation and medical experiments.
The U.S. scientist is the third spaceflight participant to visit the ISS under a deal brokered by the Arlington, Virginia-based space tourism firm Space Adventures, which also arranged space station flights for South African Internet mogul Mark Shuttleworth in 2002 and American entrepreneur Dennis Tito in 2001.
“Greg, how are you feeling,” Russian flight controllers asked Olsen just before undocking.
“Excellent,” Olsen replied.
Olsen overcame some hurdles to secure his multi-million dollar spaceflight, including an undisclosed medical condition that prevented him from completing his Russian cosmonaut training at Star City in 2004. But that condition was not a problem by May 2005 and he resumed his training in time to launch spaceward with the Expedition 11 crew.
With Olsen’s spaceflight completed, Russian space officials reportedly said that the next ISS-bound tourist would be either a Japanese businessman or an American.
"We now have the next, fourth candidate for space tourism, who has passed a medical test and will probably fly in a year," Alexei Krasnov, chief of the Russian Federal Space Agency’s manned space flight programs, said in an interview for the Japanese Asahi newspaper according to Russia’s Interfax news agency
Krasnov said the Japanese businessman could face some competition from a U.S. space tourist, and added that "the one who proves better prepared will fly," Interfax stated, adding that any private space flyer would launch in fall 2006, since there are no vacant seats aboard the next Soyuz to liftoff in March.
Returning home
Phillips and Krikalev said they were looking forward to resuming their terrestrial lives and welcomed such small treasures as the aroma of fresh coffee, an open sky and weather.
“It’s kind of a sterile environment,” Phillips said of the ISS during a press conference last week. “I want to experience weather, the smell of trees, even the sound of cars going by, something that’s more like the real world that I live in at home.”
In the meantime, both Expedition 11 astronauts are confident that their time aboard the ISS helped prepare it for future crews. Last month, Krikalev restored the station’s finicky Elektron oxygen generator to operation, and Discovery’s STS-114 spacewalking crew replaced one of four vital gyroscopes required to orient the orbital platform.
“I don’t have any concerns about the future months for the next [station] crew of subsequent missions,” Krikalev told SPACE.com last week. “Everyday of our flight is preparation for future missions.”
NASA Astronauts Hail Space Station's Fifth Year
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 27 October 2005
7:10 p.m. ET
Five NASA astronauts held a reunion of sorts in Houston, Texas Thursday to celebrate the upcoming birthday of a rather bulky five-year-old to be: the International Space Station (ISS) currently orbiting Earth.
The astronauts – all of them space station veterans– gathered at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) to reminisce about their experiences aboard the ISS, which will hit the five-year mark of manned operations on Nov. 2.
“It was so long ago, the memories have almost faded,” said retired astronaut Jim Voss, who flew aboard the ISS in 2001 as one of three members of the Expedition 2 crew, of his time in orbit. “It was really very special, we had prepared [for it] for over four years.”
Voss was joined by Expedition 5 astronaut Peggy Whitson, Expedition 7’s Ed Lu and Expedition 8 commander Michael Foale, with Michael Fincke – who served as flight engineer during the ninth ISS mission – appearing via video link from Russia’s cosmonaut training center in Star City. The space station’s current crew – Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev – recorded a video statement for reporters and NASA employees.
“It is a unique honor,” McArthur said of the opportunity to contribute to humanity’s ongoing presence in space. His comments came on the station’s 1,820th day of operation, NASA officials added.
Astronauts have lived and worked aboard the ISS continuously since the arrival of its first three-member crew – Expedition 1’s Bill Shepard, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev – in 2000 under an international effort that, today, relies on the contributions of 16 nations and two manned spacecraft designs; NASA’s space shuttles and Russia’s Soyuz vehicles.
“I think the International Space Station represents a big symbol [of cooperation],” said Whitson, who is hoping for another tour aboard the station. “What makes it special is that it’s not just a bunch of people who sit back and talk about cooperation, we actually built something out of it.”
Russia’s robust Soyuz and unmanned Progress spacecraft, which resupply the ISS with food, water, spare parts other necessities every six months, have proven vital to the station’s survival since the 2003 Columbia accident that stalled NASA’s shuttle flights. The agency’s shuttle fleet returned to service in July with Discovery’s STS-114 launch, though the next flight is not expected until at least May 2006.
“The Russians are, as you say, carrying a pretty fare share of the partnership at the moment, and I think that’s the value of the partnership,” Foale told reporters, adding that NASA aided Russia to continue its operation of space station Mir. “I think, actually, the favor has been returned in the last couple of years.”
The drop in NASA shuttle flights to the ISS has limited crews to two astronauts due to the decreased availability of supplies and prolonged the station’s completion, since orbiters are the only vehicles capable of launching the orbital platform’s massive components. The next ISS construction flight will not flight until after the NASA’s Discovery’s STS-121 spaceflight– the agency’s second return to flight mission – next May, NASA officials have said.
But the astronauts said Thursday that despite its troubles, the space station is a vital orbital platform for the science and human physiology experiments needed to push human explorers back toward the Moon and beyond. While the move to two-person crews has cut down the amount of science that can be performed aboard the ISS, there has never been enough time to fit in all the experiments researchers hoped for, they added.
“You can’t lose sight of the big picture,” said Lu, who served as flight engineer during 2003’s Expedition 7, marking the first two-person crew and the first manned spaceflight after the Columbia accident. “When you step back and take a look at what we’re trying to do…it’s amazing.”
Last month, NASA officials announced plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2018 aboard its planned Crew Exploration Vehicle, which could deliver four astronauts to the lunar surface or six astronauts to the ISS. Under those plans, the space station is expected to be completed by 2010, the retirement deadline for NASA’s shuttle fleet.
Fincke, who along with Expedition 9 commander Gennady Padalka performed the first spacewalk on U.S. station segment using Russian-built Orlan spacesuits, said NASA and the U.S. must continue to lead the way in space exploration.
“We’re the richest country in the world,” Fincke said. “We can’t afford not to look at this frontier.”
2010... Basta che poi non rimanga in orbita per ancora pochi anni, per poi essere distrutta... :(
Dovrebbero destinare più fondi alla ricerca e alla ingegneria spaziale... :(
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0510/30esaarm
European space station robotic arm to launch on Proton
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY NEWS RELEASE
Posted: October 30, 2005
On 27 October ESA's Director of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Mr Daniel Sacotte signed a contract for the launch preparations and first operations of the European Robotic Arm (ERA) on the International Space Station (ISS). The contract, worth 20 million Euro, was signed with Dutch Space, the Industrial Prime Contractor leading an industrial consortium of European companies.
The contract signing took place at the Erasmus User Centre at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
Originally ERA was scheduled for launch on a Space Shuttle, together with the Russian Science and Power Platform, which was intended to become its home base for operations on the station. Last year Russia introduced the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) as a new module to be added to the ISS and proposed also the possibility that ERA could be installed, launched and operated on the MLM. Since the MLM is designed for launch on a Russian Proton rocket, ERA will no longer be carried into space on a US Space Shuttle, but aboard Proton. This requires some technical, operational and contractual re-arrangements between the parties involved.
Under the contract now signed, the consortium, led by Dutch Space, will requalify the ERA flight and ground segment for a launch on Proton, and will deliver the ERA hardware to Russia. The consortium will also implement ERA training for the Russian cosmonaut instructors and will support the training of the Russian cosmonauts on ERA operations. It will also support ground processing and launch preparations in Russia. This will take place at various locations: at the Khrunichev premises, where the Proton launcher is built; at Energia, which together with Khrunichev builds the Multipurpose Laboratory Module; at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City; and at the launch site in Baikonur.
Under the new contract, in-orbit validation of the robotic arm is the final activity to be performed by the consortium. This involves participation in, and analysis of, the first operation of ERA after launch when the performance of ERA will be validated under real space and operational conditions.
"The European Robotic Arm is a good example of how spaceflight is driving new technologies", says Daniel Sacotte. "Through spaceflight we have been building up expertise in key technologies like robotics, which is not only beneficial for Europe and European industry but also demonstrates the important role Europe is playing in the International Space Station programme by contributing key elements such as the Robotic Arm."
The European Robotic Arm is over 11 metres in length and weighs 630 kg. ERA is capable of moving payloads up to a total mass of 8000 kg and is able to position itself with an accuracy of 5 mm. It will be launched from Baikonur to the ISS on a Russian Proton rocket in November 2007. For the launch ERA will be mounted on the new Russian element to be incorporated in the International Space Station - the Multipurpose Laboratory Module - which will then become the home base from which ERA operates. With its seven joints and an impressive concentration of tools and electronics, the arm can move hand-over-hand between fixed base points around the Russian ISS segments and will be used for a variety of tasks.
ERA can be used to install, remove and deploy solar arrays and radiators and can, via the new Russian equipment airlock, transfer small payloads from inside to outside the ISS and vice versa. This will reduce the time needed for extravehicular activities to the absolute minimum and save the crew having to perform preparatory tasks like carrying payloads out of or into the ISS. Another important task for ERA will be to transport astronauts from the airlock to the position where they are supposed to perform their work, which again saves time and effort. ERA is equipped with four cameras and lighting units, which provide for thorough inspection of the ISS.
The European Robotic Arm can be operated from inside the ISS. However, an astronaut outside the station can also drive the arm while performing Extravehicular Activity. Once installed on the International Space Station ERA will be operational in the harsh environment of space for at least 10 years.
http://space.com/businesstechnology/051102_techwed_iss_fifthyear.html:
The International Space Station So Far: Five Years of Service, But Incomplete
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 2 November 2005
7:00 a.m. ET
The International Space Station (ISS) hit a milestone for human spaceflight Wednesday, marking five years of continuous human habitation in Earth orbit.
On Nov. 2, 2000, the first three long-duration astronauts took charge of the ISS, beginning an unbroken chain of missions that stretches across 12 expeditions and has weathered one NASA disaster, a crew cutback and a series of construction delays.
Today, ISS Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev are approaching the end of their first month in orbit. The two astronauts are serving a six-month term aboard the ISS almost seven years after the first piece of the station – the Russian-built Zarya control module – launched into orbit on Nov. 20, 1998.
“We are proud to celebrate an important accomplishment in space,” Tokarev said during a recorded statement by the Expedition 12 crew for the station’s fifth anniversary. “This would not have been possible without the cooperation of the 16 partner nations.”
Still unfinished, the ISS is a cooperative effort between NASA, Russia’s Federal Space Agency and the multi-national European Space Agency (ESA), as well as Canada, Brazil and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
“The international nature of the thing is totally essential,” said Alan Thirkettle, head of development for the ESA’s Directorate of Human Spaceflight, in a telephone interview. “We wouldn’t have been able to build a space station ourselves.”
It’s taken about 17 shuttle flights, a series of unmanned Russian supply ships and 62 spacewalks to build and maintain the ISS so far. Expedition 12’s McArthur and Tokarev plan to make their first spacewalk on Nov. 7.
NASA spokesperson Melissa Matthews told SPACE.com Tuesday that, to date, the ISS has cost the U.S. space agency about $23.5 billion – research costs excluded – though ESA projections state the station’s total cost could exceed $100 billion spread across the participating nations. NASA hopes to launch 18 more shuttle flights to the ISS and complete construction by 2010, when the agency plans to retire the orbiters, as well as fly one Hubble servicing mission.
The unfinished outpost
Despite an interior living space about the size of a three-bedroom home, the ISS remains far from complete.
A series of truss segments and JAXA’s Kibo experiment module currently wait to launch toward the ISS aboard a future shuttle flight at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Columbus laboratory module, built for the ESA by EADS Space Transportation, sits all-but completed in its Bremen, Germany plant, ESA officials said.
Station construction has been waylaid first by NASA’s tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew in 2003, then by delays caused by multiple hurricanes and ongoing work to limit the amount of potentially harmful debris shed by orbiter fuel tanks during launch – a problem that doomed Columbia and appeared during the launch of Discovery’s STS-114 mission on July 26. Discovery’s flight marked the first shuttle to visit the ISS since the Columbia accident.
Prior to the Columbia disaster, station planners were targeting 2004 for the completion of the U.S. contribution to the project, NASA officials told SPACE.com.
NASA’s three remaining orbiters – Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour – are vital to the space station’s construction since only they can haul many of the heavy modules and supply containers to the orbital research platform. But the 2010 retirement date has limited the number of flights – once slated to require about 28 missions – that may be available.
“We’ve talked to the partners about the results of the shuttle [schedule] and station configuration options, and that is one of the key elements,” explained NASA spokesperson Debra Rahn, of the agency’s Washington D.C. headquarters. “We’re still working with the international partners on the order of the flights.”
Rahn said at least two large components – a centrifuge module built for NASA by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Russia’s Solar Power Platform – have been cut from the shuttle’s manifest. Any more changes could be discussed during a planned meeting of the “Heads of Agencies” meeting in early 2006, she added.
Other items, like the space station’s Cupola window, that sit at the end of the shuttle’s launch manifest could also be at risk of not flying should delays prompt further flight reductions, Matthews said.
International plans
Some of NASA’s international partners are looking not only toward the resumption of ISS construction, but also space station landmarks of their own.
ESA officials are eager to see NASA’s STS-121 mission launch in May 2006 since it will carry the space agency’s first long-duration astronaut, Thomas Reiter of Germany, to the orbital outpost. Reiter’s planned flight will not only extend European space science missions beyond their eight-day ISS stays, it will also allow ESA scientists a chance to perform some science originally slated for the Columbus module.
“We’re desperately anxious to get Columbus up,” Thirkettle said. “Having 10 tons of hardware sitting around in Bremen, or even in Florida, doesn’t do a lot for you.”
Thirkettle concedes that there has been some benefit from the ISS construction delays. The added time has allowed engineers to add new, up-to-date equipment to the module and address issues with the interior finishing of the Columbus module at its factory.
“It gave us the opportunity of completely cleaning that up and replacing it rather than doing a botch up and keeping our fingers crossed,” Thirkettle said, adding that science payloads are once again being reinstalled into Columbus.
ESA engineers are also recertified the space agency’s European Robotic Arm – an 36-foot (11-meter), seven-jointed robot arm – to launch aboard a Proton rocket with the Russia’s Multipurpose Laboratory Module in November 2007. The 1,388-pound (630-kilogram) arm was slated to ride a shuttle into space as part of the Russian power platform, but was reassigned to the MLM after the module’s redesign, Thirkettle said.
“It’s like the station’s arm, capable of walking from base point to base point,” Thirkettle said, adding that it will be able to pluck payloads from an airlock aboard the new Russian module’s and place them on the ISS exterior.
Meanwhile, the ESA has experienced some delays of its own. The agency’s first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), an unmanned cargo ship designed to resupply the ISS, will not launch toward the space station until at least May 2007 after inspections turned up multiple hardware and software problems.
Japan is also developing its own H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV) to deliver additional cargo to the ISS. Both the ATV and HTV will complement Russia’s unmanned Progress vehicles that steadily resupply the space station today.
Staging ground
Last week, NASA astronauts lauded the space station as a testing ground for the space agency’s goal of returning humans to the Moon and pushing out toward Mars.
During the two-year gap in ISS-bound shuttle flights, while NASA worked to recover from the Columbia accident, station crews were reduced to two astronauts, which led to the first spacewalks ever to leave the orbital platform empty of humans, additional ground control operations of the ISS, and a series of repairs that would have previously been performed back on Earth only after the faulty hardware had been shipped off the outpost. In 2004, for example, Expedition 9 flight engineer Michael Fincke demonstrated that astronauts could make unplanned, meticulous repairs of the U.S.-built spacesuits in orbit.
“One of the things we’re really learning from the space station is how things break,” said Expedition 7 flight engineer Ed Lu during the Oct. 27 event, adding that much of the equipment aboard the ISS is being flown for the first time. “The only way to get to the reliability levels we need is to have these things fail, and then iron out the bugs. I think we’re doing that.”
Lu served aboard the station’s first two-astronaut crew – down from three astronauts – which has subsequently been followed since by five others. The loss of an extra person has limited the amount of scientific research astronauts are able to perform, since much of their time is devoted to maintenance and other activities. Expedition 11 flight engineer John Phillips, who returned to Earth with mission commander Sergei Krikalev on Oct. 10, told SPACE.com that he was unable to perform all of the experiments he’d hoped due to time pressure.
“I think that with a two-person crew here, I was optimistic,” he said in an Oct. 6 interview.
But the astronauts agreed that the experience of assembling massive structures in space, learning how the human body copes with long duration spaceflight and the daunting task of many nations working together toward a single orbital goal will pave the way for future space explorers to reach beyond Earth orbit.
“We’re doing something really special that’s bigger than any one of us,” Fincke said last week. “Here’s to five more years and beyond.”
http://space.com/images/h_iss_sts114_1101_02.jpg
This full view of the International Space Station was photographed by an STS-114 astronaut aboard the space shuttle Discovery following the undocking of the two spacecraft on August 6, 2005. Credit: NASA.
http://space.com/images/v_esa_robotic_arm_02.jpg
Originally slated to launch toward the ISS aboard a NASA space shuttle with Russia's Solar Power Platform, the ESA's European Robotic Arm will now ride atop a Proton rocket and be installed at the station's Multipurpose Laboratory Module slated to launch in 2007. Credit: ESA.
http://space.com/images/v_node2_02.jpg
In the Space Station Processing Facility, the International Space Station module Node 2 is lowered toward a payload canister. The module is being transferred to the Operations and Checkout Building where it will undergo an element leak test. Credit: NASA/KSC.
razziadacqua
05-11-2005, 14:49
hai mai visto sul sito nasa.gov che è possibile sapere quando passerà la ISS sopra la propria città?? purtroppo nella lista di italiane c'è solo Roma...:cry:
felice di informarti che il web e la mente umana offrono ben altro.
In questo sito basta inserire coordinate del luogo e avrete l elenco totale degli Iridium Flare e dei passaggi della Issa,HST.... :)
http://www.heavens-above.com/
BAsta iscriversi(gratis)username e psswrd,inserire coordinate del luogo o ricercarlo nell elenco(presente pure Pesaro quindi...)...e poi cercare quel che volete:iridium flare della settimana,next24h-48h...
vi riporto un iridium flare di stanotte da PESARO(cmq l'ora è sempre quella):
05 Nov 18:39:58 mag:-5 alt43° azimuth24° (NNE) 8.7 km (W) mag.max-8 satellite: Iridium 12
anche se temo che l'ora sia sbagliata...fà riferimento alla GTM+1ora...noi adesso siamo un ora indietro no?che confusione ogni volta :D
buon dievertimento,buone osservazioni e buone FOTO :)
(foto a lunga posa del cielo intendo...sono carini i flare in foto...)
P.S. porcamiseria io sono registrato da una vita,ma non ricordo un cazzo del nome utente e passwrd :D...vedem...
edit:forse ci sono ... :D
NASA to Discuss ISS Construction with Partners
By John Kelly and Todd Halvorson
FLORIDA TODAY
posted: 28 February 2006
11:33 a.m. ET
CAPE CANAVERAL - Space leaders from around the world are gathering at Kennedy Space Center this week to finalize the launch sequence for the remaining pieces of the International Space Station.
The construction of the space station has been at a standstill since the 2003 shuttle Columbia disaster. After one more post-Columbia test flight, which is set for May, NASA plans to resume construction of the half-built station with about 15 shuttle missions.
The European Space Agency has been lobbying NASA for an earlier launch of its Columbus science laboratory, which is expected to be delivered to KSC in late May. The core of the Japanese section of the station – a pressurized laboratory module named Kibo – is in launch preparations in the Space Station Processing Facility.
In addition to schedule, the space chiefs will discuss plans for station operations, including crew size.
Meeting with NASA Administrator Mike Griffin will be: Virendra Jha, acting president of the Canadian Space Agency; Jean-Jacques Dordain, director-general of the European Space Agency; Keiji Tachikawa, president of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency; and Anatolli Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency.
Many of the international leaders were to arrive in Brevard County on Monday night or today. The key meeting among Griffin and his equals from other countries is Thursday.
Griffin has made completion of the station a high because of commitments made to other nations. The NASA chief has said he wants international participation in NASA's coming expeditions to the moon and Mars.
Da Spaceflightnow.com (http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0603/02isssequence):
NASA, partners unveil new station assembly sequence
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: March 2, 2006
NASA and its international partners unveiled a new space station assembly sequence today, one that takes into account the looming 2010 end of the shuttle program by deferring science operations in favor of construction flights to ensure completion of the orbital outpost.
While not addressed by the assembly sequence, a proposed shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, if approved, would come after the launches of European and Japanese space station modules, sources say.
The new schedule shows the station capable of supporting a crew of six by the 14th flight in the assembly sequence. Two additional flights are listed as contingency missions.
The revamped assembly sequence was unveiled by NASA Administrator Mike Griffin today after a "heads of agencies" meeting at the Kennedy Space Center. It is the first assembly plan that fully takes into account President Bush's 2004 directive to complete the station and retire the space shuttle by 2010 and develop a new spacecraft to return astronauts to the moon by the end of the next decade.
The European and Japanese space agencies lobbied NASA to accelerate the launches of their pressurized laboratory modules after years of delays, most recently due to downtime following the 2003 Columbia disaster.
The new sequence moves up launch of Europe's Columbus module to the seventh shuttle flight and moves up launch of Japan's Kibo module two flights, to the ninth mission.
Griffin said today that moving up the launches of the international modules was a "minor adjustment" to the assembly sequence.
"I think everyone is focusing on quote moving up the labs unquote inappropriately," he said. "There has been some minor adjustment of the sequence. What you're seeing today ... is the result of 10 months of work between the United States and our partners following my comments immediately after being confirmed as administrator that a 28-flight shuttle assembly and utilization sequence was not possible within the remaining lifetime of the space shuttle program, that we simply did not have the flights in the system to be able to do it. Not everyone agreed with that judgment and I regret that. But that was my judgment. And so we focused on redefining the station assembly sequence, in fact, to concentrate on assembly."
At the time of the Columbia disaster, the station assembly plan included both construction flights and so-called "utilization" missions aimed at conducting research while construction was taking place. Given the president's directive to end shuttle operations in 2010, "we are largely deferring utilization and we are paring logistics to the bone," Griffin said.
"We don't like that. But confronted with a choice between having the high confidence to be able to complete the assembly of the station and deferring utilization, or utilizing it heavily as we built it and possibly not finishing, we chose the former course. Now, as a result of taking that course of action, meaning to assemble now and utilize largely later, there has been some adjustment to the flight sequence regarding the labs."
But he said, "the main thing you're seeing here today is not adjustments in the flight sequence, but the decision to put together an assembly sequence that allows us to have very high confidence that we will finish the space station assembly by the time the shuttle must be retired."
Here is the new assembly sequence as approved by NASA and its international partners. Shuttle vehicle assignments and flight designations are under review except where shown:
1. ULF1.1 (Discovery/STS-121) - Test flight; station logistics and resupply
2. 12A (Atlantis/STS-115) - Port 3/4 solar array truss elements; second set of solar arrays
3. 12A.1 (Discovery/STS-116) - Port 5 solar array truss element
4. 13A (STS-117) - Starboard 3/4 solar array truss elements; third set of solar arrays
5. 13A.1 (STS-118) - Starboard 5 solar array truss element
(ATV1 - First flight of ESA unmanned cargo vehicle)
6. 10A (STS-120) - Node 2 connecting module
7. 1E - European Space Agency's Columbus module
8. 1J/A - Japanese experiment logistics module (pressurized section); Canadian robot arm dexterous manipulator
9. 1J - Japanese Kibo research module
10. 15A (STS-119) - Starboard 6 solar array truss element; fourth set of solar arrays
11. ULF2 - Logistics, utilization flight
12. 3R - Russian laboratory module and European robotic arm
13. 2J/A - Japanese experiment logistics module (exposed section)
14. 17A - 3 crew quarters; second treadmill; six-person crew capability
(HTV1 - First flight of Japanese cargo vehicle)
15. ULF3 - Logistics, utilization flight; spares prepositioning
16. 19A - Logistics, resupply; experiment support pallet
(ULF4 contingency flight)
17. 20A - Node 3 connecting module with cupola; ASSEMBLY COMPLETE
(ULF5 contingency flight)
(9R - Russian research module)
NASA hopes to launch the shuttle Discovery in May and two more missions before the end of the year to get station assembly back on track after delays caused by the Columbia disaster and foam insulation problems discovered during Discovery's return to flight last July. Launch is targeted for May 10, but the flight could slip into July because of time needed to complete extensive testing, analysis and hardware processing.
____________________________
Manifesto aggiornato:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html
Configurazione finale:
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/143942main_ISS_config.jpg
ma i due astranuti che erano in orbita sono scesi a terra stamattina?? :confused: :confused:
Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev took a short ride away from the International Space Station today. They flew their Soyuz spacecraft from one docking port to another.
McArthur and Tokarev left the station unoccupied for about 22 minutes as they relocated their Soyuz vehicle. Tokarev undocked the Soyuz at 1:49 a.m. EST from the Earth-facing port of Zarya while the station orbited 220 miles above the south Atlantic Ocean. He redocked to the station at the aft of the Zvezda module at 2:11 a.m. EST. As the Soyuz docked, the station was over Libya.
Tokarev, in the center seat of the Soyuz, disengaged hooks and latches holding the craft to Zarya and backed it about 114 feet away from the complex. With McArthur seated to his left, Tokarev piloted the Soyuz about 80 feet along the station and up to about 82 feet behind the aft docking port, resulting in about a 213-foot total distance traveled. Once behind Zvezda, Tokarev closed in on the docking port. A few minutes after the Soyuz linked up to Zvezda, hooks and latches engaged, establishing a firm connection. The crew is scheduled to re-enter the station around 5:30 a.m. EST after a series of leak checks are completed.
The Soyuz move will clear the Zarya port for the March 31 arrival of the Expedition 13 crew and a Brazilian Space Agency astronaut on another Soyuz vehicle. When the Expedition 12 crew leaves after handover activities on April 8, the Zvezda port will then be available for the April arrival of a Progress cargo vehicle.
On Nov. 18, McArthur and Tokarev relocated their Soyuz spacecraft from the Pirs docking port to Zarya. That move eased operations out of Pirs for a Russian spacewalk conducted on Feb. 3. For information about crew activities, future launch dates and station sighting opportunities, on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home
ma i due astranuti che erano in orbita sono scesi a terra stamattina?? :confused: :confused:
No:
Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev took a short ride away from the International Space Station today. They flew their Soyuz spacecraft from one docking port to another.
ah e quando avverrà il cambio con altri 2 astronauti? chi sono sti altri 2?
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
duchetto
25-04-2006, 10:02
Progress 21 Heads For Space Station
Roscosmos launched a pilotless Progress spacecraft toward a Wednesday rendezvous with the International Space Station.
The spacecraft lifted off at 9:03 p.m. Central Asian Time, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The 21st Progress to visit the station is carrying some small crustaceans for a Russian scientific experiment called Aquarium, which will examine the stability of closed ecological systems in microgravity. Researchers think it could provide information useful for lengthy human spaceflights.
Progress is carrying 5,040 pounds of equipment and supplies, including more than 1,900 pounds of propellant, just over 100 pounds of air and oxygen, 661 pounds of water and almost 2,360 pounds of dry cargo.
Its sister cargo carrier and predecessor at the station, Progress 20, will remain at the Pirs docking compartment until mid-June, when it will be de-orbited with a load of trash and surplus equipment and burn up after entry into Earth's atmosphere.
P21 is scheduled to dock with the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 1:40 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday. NASA Television will cover the docking live, beginning at 1 p.m.
The Progress is similar in appearance and some design elements to the Soyuz spacecraft, which periodically transports crewmembers to the station, serves as a lifeboat while they are there and returns them to Earth. The aft instrumentation and propulsion module is nearly identical.
The second of the three Progress sections is a refueling module, and the third, uppermost as the Progress sits on the launch pad, carries cargo. On the Soyuz, the descent module, where the crew sits at launch and which returns them to Earth, is the middle module and the third is called the orbital module.
http://www.spacedaily.com/images/progress-21-russian-spacecraft-bg.jpg
Russian Progress automated spacecraft. Image credit: NASA
Sì, bravo, l'ho pensato anche io...
Poi mi pareva pure di aver letto sul forum un'uscita tipo "ma perchè invece di buttare soldi in quelle cose inutili che sono solo pericolose non fanno altro?"...
io sono il primo ad essere affascinato dal volo e dai viaggi nello spazio ma.. a volte questo dubbio viene anche a me.. esattamente quale è l'obbiettivo delle missioni spaziali? e quello della iss? lungi da me la polemica è solo voglia di capire meglio :fagiano:
maggiore scia
25-04-2006, 21:52
ma è vero ke nello spazio, sono riusciti a legare insieme gomma e metallo grazie all'assenza di gravità?
io sono il primo ad essere affascinato dal volo e dai viaggi nello spazio ma.. a volte questo dubbio viene anche a me.. esattamente quale è l'obbiettivo delle missioni spaziali? e quello della iss? lungi da me la polemica è solo voglia di capire meglio :fagiano:
Ricerca Scentifica. Ci stanno soldi buttati, in maniera molto piu grave ;)
adsasdhaasddeasdd
17-07-2006, 08:48
possibile avere delle pics che cif anno vedere come mangiano dove fanno i bisogni doccie ecc..!??! :sofico:
Da Spaceflightnow.com
Space Shuttle Launch Manifest
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts115/fdf/images/manifest.gif
Una perdita di gas dal generatore di ossigeno Elektron della ISS ha causato un allarme generale, ora rientrato:
da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp13/060918elektron.html):
Oxygen generator problem triggers station alarm
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 18, 2006
The space station astronauts activated a smoke alarm in the Russian segment of the international space station this morning when fumes from an oxygen generator triggered momentary fear about a possible fire. Flight engineer Jeff Williams reported an unusual smell, possibly from an overheated rubber gasket in the Elektron oxygen generation system, but officials said there was no fire and the crew was not in any danger.
As events developed, NASA flight controllers formally declared a spacecraft emergency to ensure priority communications through the agency's communications satellite network, but there was no immediate threat to the astronauts.
Space station Program Manager Mike Suffredini said the crew never donned gas masks, but as a precaution, Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov, Williams and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter put on surgical gloves and masks to prevent contact with any contaminants.
"The crew reported at first smoke in the cabin and a smell," Suffredini said. "They discussed a leak at the oxygen vent. It turns out what was happening is we were having some sort of a leak of potassium hydroxide that's coming out of the O2 vent. We've shut down the Elektron and cleaned up the spill.
"There was never any smoke in the cabin. KOH is what we refer to as a 'tox-2' material, it's an irritant. ... The crew's doing very well. We don't quite know the nature of the spill, we'll have plenty of time to work through that. It's a stable situation, in fact all the readings ... indicate all the constituents we're concerned about have stayed very, very low. Things look very stable on board."
Potassium hydroxide is odorless, officials said, and the smell reported by Williams more likely was associated with an over-heated rubber gasket in the Elektron system.
In any case, the station's ventilation system was shut down to prevent the spread of smoke or contaminants through the rest of the lab complex. A charcoal air filter was put in place to help scrub the atmosphere of any lingering potassium hydroxide fumes.
The problem developed shortly after 7 a.m.
"We would like to have any words you might have on the concentration of smoke, whether it's increasing, decreasing." astronaut Shannon Lucid called from mission control in Houston.
"I would say the situation is stable right now," Williams replied around 7:45 a.m.. "There's an obvious smell, and it's stable. There was never any smoke, there was a smell and it was perhaps wrongly assumed to be a fire initially. Turned out to be this toxic atmospheric release."
"OK Jeff, we copy. There was not a fire, it was just this toxic liquid that was coming out."
"The reason we assumed a fire right away is ... the Elektron was very hot," Williams said.
Later, Williams called down and asked mission control to let his wife know he was not in any danger.
"Hey Shannon, could you get hold of Steve Gilmore and ask him to give a call to the house and explain what's going on ... so they find out that way and not another way?" Williams asked.
"And Jeff, that has already been taken care of," Lucid replied.
"OK, thank you."
The Elektron generates oxygen by using electricty to break water down into its atomic components. The oxygen goes into the station's air supply while the hydrogen is dumped overboard. The Elektron provides the bulk of the oxygen used by the entire station crew.
But the complex also is equipped with so-called "candles" that can generate oxygen through a different type of chemical reaction and some 90 pounds of oxygen is available in tanks attached to the U.S. Quest airlock module. The station typically has enough supplies on board to provide oxygen for a month or more regardless of the health of the Elektron.
The cause of today's problem is not yet known, or whether the Elektron can be restarted. Spare Elektron components are on board if repairs are required but the Russians have a mixed record when it comes to performing in-flight maintenance on the complex devices.
Two new space station crew members, along with a space tourist, were launched earlier today from Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. They are scheduled to dock Wednesday, boosting the station's crew to six. Suffredini said today's incident will not affect those plans.
Outgoing commander Pavel Vinogradov, flight engineer Williams and the space tourist, Anousheh Ansari, are scheduled return to Earth Sept. 28 aboard the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft. Expedition 14 commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin and Reiter, who was launched to the station in July aboard the shuttle Discovery, will remain aboard the complex.
Even if the Elektron cannot be immediately restarted, the station has more than enough stored oxygen and oxygen-generation candles on board to easily support the combined crews and the three Expedition 14 crew members once the TMA-8 undocks for return to Earth.
"If we don't ever recover the Elektron, then O2 typically would be our limiting consumable," Suffredini said in an interview. "But that's not remotely a concern for the near term, absolutely not."
E intanto è partita la Soyuz TMA-9 con l'equipaggio della spedizione 14 e Anousheh Ansari:
Da SpaceFlightNow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp14/060918launch.html):
Next space station residents rocket to orbit aboard Soyuz
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 18, 2006
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp14/images/exp14soyuzlaunch.jpg
Credit: Energia
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying the international space station's next commander, flight engineer and a U.S. entrepreneur who hopes to pioneer commercial space exploration, blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Monday and rocketed safely into orbit.
Climbing away from the same launch pad used by Yuri Gagarin 45 years ago, the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft climbed away through a clear blue sky, cheered on by Russian and NASA managers, engineers and family members who flew in from Moscow.
At the controls of the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft was veteran cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and NASA flight engineer Mike Lopez-Alegria. Along for the ride was Anousheh Ansari, an American entrepreneur and long-time space enthusiast who reportedly paid the Russians around $20 million for a visit to the space station.
"Let's go!" one of the crew members exclaimed as the Soyuz roared to life. A few minutes later, Tyurin reported, "We feel fine, insignificant vibration, the G force is rising stably, smoothly."
Nine minutes after liftoff, the spacecraft slipped into its planned preliminary orbit, deployed its two solar panels and radio antennas and set off after the international space station for a linkup early Wednesday.
"Wholeheartedly, guys, I want to extend my congratulations on the successful beginning of your mission," the lead flight director radioed. "Telemetry shows every thing is nominal. Please make sure you all feel well, especially Anousheh, make sure you take good care of her, especially during the first two days of the flight."
"OK, we copy, and we'll do that," Tyurin replied.
About half the men and women who fly in space experience space adaptation syndrome, but nausea and other symptoms typically disappear after the first two days or so in weightlessness.
In an interview with CBS News late last week, Ansari, 40, said she had dreamed of flying in space ever since she was a little girl growing up in pre-revolutionary Iran. That dream now includes a visit to the international space station and while she must first spend two days in the cramped confines of the Soyuz capsule, "it's a means to an end."
"I really want to be in space and that's the only way I can get there," she said. "But it is really small, it is a cramped space for three people.
"Mike Lopez-Alegria is a pretty tall astronaut, so it's even more difficult for him. I'm actually shorter, and I can fit in that cramped space more easily. But there are two compartments, so after the vehicle is in orbit, then we're able to get out of our suits and basically move to the habitation module. That will give us a little bit more space.
"Of course, I don't have any expectation of privacy, but both Michael and Misha are very, very considerate individuals and I'm sure each one of us, when one needs privacy, will probably move to the habitation module or the descent module to give each other the privacy we need."
Docking with the international space station is planned for 1:24 a.m. EDT Wednesday. Once on board, Lopez-Alegria will assume the duties of Expedition 14 commander and Tyurin will serve as flight engineer along with European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, who was ferried to the station in July aboard the shuttle Discovery.
Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer Jeff Williams, launched to the outpost March 30, will return to Earth Sept. 28 aboard the Soyuz TMA-8 capsule along with Ansari, the fourth so-called space tourist and the first woman to buy a ticket to space.
Vinogradov, Williams and Reiter were able to watch the Soyuz TMA-9 launch in orbit thanks to a video uplink.
"They're on their way, we're very happy," Williams radioed flight controllers in Houston. "Thanks again."
Williams and his crew mates bid farewell to the shuttle Atlantis' crew Sunday morning after a successful visit to attach a new set of solar arrays.
Monday night, the Expedition 13 crew will oversee the undocking of an unmanned Progress supply craft from the aft port of the Russian Zvezda command module. The Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft will dock at that same port Wednesday just a few hours before Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center.
"It's a busy week in space!" Williams observed today.
Here is a timeline of upcoming events (in EDT):
12:08:40 AM Launch of Soyuz TMA-9/ISS-14 from Baikonur Cosmodrome
03:25:00 AM Atlantis crew carries out final heat shield inspection
08:28:00 PM Progress M-56 undocking from ISS Zvezda aft port
11:27:00 PM Progress M-56 deorbit ignition (dT: 2:40; dV: 190 mph)
09/19/06
12:03:00 AM Progress M-56 falls into the atmosphere
02:35:00 AM Atlantis crew tests flight control system; cabin stow
09/20/06
01:24:00 AM Soyuz TMA-9 docking with ISS at Zvezda aft port
04:20:00 AM Soyuz TMA-9 hatch open
04:55:00 AM Atlantis deorbit ignition
05:57:00 AM Atlantis lands at the Kennedy Space Center
09/28/06
05:51:00 PM Soyuz TMA-8 undocking command
05:54:00 PM Hooks open, separation
05:57:00 PM Separation burn (dT: 8s; dV: 1.2 mph)
08:20:23 PM Deorbit burn (dT: 4:20; dV: 258 mph)
08:24:43 PM Deorbit burn complete
08:43:57 PM Soyuz module separation
08:46:52 PM Soyuz crew module hits discernible atmosphere
08:53:06 PM Maximum deceleration
08:55:09 PM Parachute open command
09:10:09 PM Landing (17 minutes before sunrise)
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp14/images/exp14crew.jpg
Credit: NASA
Ansari, born in Iran and a naturalized U.S. citizen, developed and sold a successful telecommunications company and helped sponsor the $10 million Ansari X-Prize competition for development of sub-orbital space flight. She hopes to build and launch sub-orbital spacecraft as a commercial venture in the next few years, although she has yet to provide any details.
She first thought about flying in space when reading about American businessman Dennis Tito, the first space tourist who flew to the international space station in April 2001.
"I had been looking for a way to make this happen and when I heard about Dennis Tito, working with Space Adventures and trying to negotiate a seat on the Soyuz, that's when I said the walls are coming down, basically," Ansari said. "If this happens, then the door is open to private citizens.
"I actually was hopeful that soon after that, maybe in a few years, NASA would offer the same thing. ... Unfortunately, I was a little too optimistic in that regard."
She trained with the Expedition 14 backup crew and was added to the prime crew when a Japanese space tourist was disqualified for medical reasons. Asked about the risk of riding a rocket into space, she said it was the means to realize a life-long dream.
"To me, there are certain things worth taking the risk for," she told CBS News in a telephone interview from Baikonur. "I am not a big adventurous person who would take risks just to have an adrenalin rush. So I'm not particularly fond of riding rockets, necessarily, but to me, that's the means for me to get to space, which is my destination.
"The risks involved are what I felt comfortable (with) and the price to pay to be able to realize my dream. It's something that's hard to describe for me. I think space travel is important enough that you can see astronauts and cosmonauts taking risks every day because they believe in it, they believe it's necessary for the future of our species. ... There are people who are the pioneers, people who are moving to take this type of early risk to pave the way for the rest of us. I'm hoping to be one of those people."
Russian willingness to sell seats on the Soyuz to generate needed cash has generated criticism in some circles from observers who believe space travel is best left to professionals. Lopez-Alegria, during a news conference the day before launch, said he initially had the same opinion. But not anymore.
"If you would have asked me that question a couple of years ago, I might have answered quite differently because I was sort of a critic of space tourism," he told a reporter, adding that "sending people to the international space station while it was still under construction was still by no means a place for the light hearted.
"But I recognize the requirements that the Russian space agency has to keep its program alive, we can't do what we're doing without them, so if that's what the correct solution is, and if somebody like Anousheh can be that person, then I have come to the realization that not only is it good from a technical standpoint, just to keep the program going, but it's also good from the standpoint that she represents a great dream and a great hope for a lot of people, not just in our country and iran, but all over the world. I think it was short sighted of me, perhaps, to think the way I did a couple of years ago so I'm somewhat of a convert."
Tyurin agreed, saying it was time for space flight to move beyond government-only sponsorship. As for Ansari's presence on the crew, "I was sincerely surprised when we started working together by the high level of professionalism she has even though she's not a professional cosmonaut. She became such a natural part of our crew we have the impression we've been working together for maybe 10 years."
Ansari pointed out that she would be taking off in a Soyuz spacecraft that is very similar to Russian capsules launched at the dawn of the space age.
"It's been over 45 years since the first human flew to space and over these 45 years, only government agencies have been working toward the goal of space exploration," Ansari said. "In order for us to make giant leaps toward space exploration ... we need private industry to get involved and help the government agencies and work collaboratively together to be able to make that lofty goal come true in the near future for us.
"So I'm hoping to be an ambassador to take this message out and get more people interested and more private investment made into space exploration."
Dal blog di Anouseh Ansari:
http://spaceblog.xprize.org
I’m finally here… the trip was long but definitely worth it… well let me start from the beginning…
The day started early for us in Baikonur. We got up at 1:00 am Baikonur time and had a short breakfast, followed by an alcohol rub down Then we were given a set of white long johns to wear under our flight uniforms to go to the launch site.
We had a brief prayer and blessing session and as we were leaving our rooms, we signed our bedroom doors. This is a tradition that they say started with Yuri Gagarin. They also say that the cleaning lady who came to clean the room the next day started scrubbing down the signature until she was quickly stopped. So, my signature now rests next to Greg Olsen, the 3rd Private space explorer and Marcos Pontes, the first Brazilian Astronaut.
I called my grandmother before I left since she could not be in Baikonur. She wished me good luck and safe return.
We then proceeded to the bus to go to the Launch site. From the Cosmonaut Hotel door to the bus is a short walkway. On both sides of the walkway there were family and friends and journalists snapping pictures and taking video footage. In the blinding lights of the cameras, I was able to identify all my family members who came for the launch. They were up in the early hours of the morning to see me off on my great adventure. My Mom was crying and everyone else was trying hard not to show their tears.
We got on the bus and headed to the launch site. During this whole time I was surprisingly calm. I thought that the morning of the launch, I would be a nervous wreck, but to my great surprise I had no fear or anxiety.
We drove to the building where we would prepare for our launch and we went in the room to get suited. One by one, we entered the room, first Misha Tyurin, then Michael L.A., and then me.
After we were all suited up, we went into a room with a glass wall on one side for the final approval from the officials and a suit leak check. On the other side of the glass wall, my mom, sister Atousa, and my husband Hamid were already in the room and seated in the front row. So were Misha’s family and Mike’s. The room was full of reporters. We sat there for a while waving and trying to talk using sign language with our family members as they would come into the room in small groups and leave to make room for the next group of people. We must have looked really funny on camera since we were making strange faces and gestures…
We did our leak check and were officially good to go. We were then escorted back to the bus as we waved to the crowd and reporters. The next tradition was the short stop of the bus for the boys to take a leak;-) This also apparently started with Gagarin and still goes on… Fortunately, I was excused from this exercise and was able to just mentally participate.
We stopped at the foot of the rocket and got out and walked up the ladder that leads to a tiny elevator barely big enough for the 3 of us. We got in and were lifted to the top section to enter the capsule. We went through a tent and then into the habitation module.
I was the first to enter. I was still very calm, excited… but calm. I don’t think my heart rate went over 100 (I’m usually in the 80’s). I had a permanent smile tattooed on my face. I was seated and strapped in.
L.A. came down next and got situated in his tiny space and last was Misha Tyurin. we were still about 2 hours away from launch and there was a series of procedures the two of them had to go through. I was responsible for three simple actions — to turn the condensation valve and switch it between habitation module and descent module, to open and close the oxygen supply valve as needed (pretty important task! ), and to hand the other crew members the flight data files that were situated next to me. Fortunately, not too complicated and I was able to perform my duties as needed.
I followed their actions step by step through the flight data files and made some personal notes on the margins of my book, when I had a chance. Finally the moment arrived and the countdown started. LA, Misha and I put our hands together and said “Ready… here we go.” I thanked God for helping me realize my dream and for everything it has given me. I asked it to fill the heart of all its beings with its love and to bring peace to this beautiful creation we call Earth.
5… 4… 3… I’m really going…2…I love you Hamid…1… and a smooth lift off.
Watching Soyuz TMA 8 launch, I never thought it would be this smooth inside the capsule… It was like an airplane takeoff — then the G’s started but very mild. I think we hit about 2 or 2.5 Gs max… then the separation and the Nose Fairing ejected. Still very smooth. A ray of light filled the capsule and warmed my heart. I think I was laughing out loud. The joy in my heart was indescribable…
The separation of final stage was the most noticeable to me and then Weightlessness…
This wonderful feeling of freedom that puts a smile on everyone’s face. I slowly lifted off my seat and continued giggling. I just couldn’t believe it… to be honest with you, the whole thing is still like a dream to me… I was strapped in so tight that I couldn’t look outside. Finally when we were safe in the orbit, we were able to open our visors and to loosen our belts…
L.A. took his glove off and it started floating in the cabin. I could not stop giggling the whole time… I was finally able to take a look outside and saw the Earth for the first time… Tears started rolling down my face. I could not catch my breath… Even thinking about it now still brings tears to my eyes. Here it was this beautiful planet turning graciously about itself, under the warm rays of the Sun… so peaceful…so full of life… no signs of war, no signs of borders, no signs of trouble, just pure beauty…
How I wished everyone could experience this feeling in their heart, specially those who are at the head of the governments in the world. may be this experience would give them a new perspective and help bring peace to the world.
I think that is enough for now… I shall let you know about the ride up here in the next entry… I’m hungry for some space food now and will catch up with you in the next orbit… right now we are flying over the Pacific Ocean approaching Mexico…
My bedroom view:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceexplorer/252460330
Da Spaceflightnow.com (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp13/060928landing.html):
Soyuz capsule returns from space with station crew
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 28, 2006
A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying outgoing space station commander Pavel Vinogradov, NASA flight engineer Jeff Williams and space tourist Anousheh Ansari undocked from the international lab complex and returned to Earth today, landing near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, around 9:14 p.m. EDT.
Russian helicopter recovery crews, flight surgeons and Ansari's husband, Hamid, were stationed nearby to assist the fliers and welcome them back to Earth.
A satellite videophone with the recovery crew captured the fiery plasma trail behind the capsule as it descended through the predawn sky and later, showed the Soyuz TMA-8 descent module resting on its side, surrounded by recovery personnel. Touchdown came about 14 minutes before sunrise.
"They're all in very good shape," said NASA spokesman Rob Navias, on the scene in Kazakhstan. He said Ansari was given a bouquet of flowers and Williams called his wife on a satellite telephone.
Vinogradov and Williams were launched to the space station last March, becoming the lab's 13th full-time crew. They were joined in July by European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, who was ferried to the outpost aboard the shuttle Discovery.
Vinogradov and Williams logged 182 days 22 hours and 44 minutes off the planet between launch and landing.
Ansari blasted off Sept. 18 aboard the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft, along with Expedition 14 commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin. Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin will remain aboard the station until next March while Reiter, who will be replaced by astronaut Sunita Williams during a shuttle visit in December, will return to Earth aboard Discovery.
"Well friends, we have completed our work," Vinogradov radioed Russian flight controllers before entering the Soyuz TMA-8 capsule for the trip home. "We have completed packing, we have handed over the operations to the next crew. Thank you very much to everyone who has been working with us. Of course, it's a little bit sad leaving this house, this home."
With all six astronauts and cosmonauts floating in the station's Unity module, Williams said "our work here is done. We leave it in good hands with Expedition 14. Just an immense 'thank you' to all on the ground who made the last six months so successful and so rewarding. We will see you soon on the ground."
Ansari is the fourth so-called space tourist to pay some $20 million for a trip to the space station.
"These 10 days have been magnificent for me," she said today. "I've had a very unique experience because of the people here, they have made me very welcome. ... I hope to be able to have this experience once again in the near future. Thank you for all your support helping me prepare for this mission."
Tyurin joked that Ansari threatened to stow away and stay on the station. All six exchanged hugs before the departing crew floated into the Soyuz capsule to prepare the craft for re-entry. The craft undockled from the station at 5:53 p.m.
A long-time space enthusiast, Ansari's family sponsored the high-profile competition to launch the first commercial suborbital spaceflight. The Ansari X-Prize, as it was known, went to Paul Allen and Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne.
Ansari has maintained a space blog during her stay aboard the station and in a downlinked video, she said the voyage had been "wonderful for me, it's been a personal and spiritual experience that I will cherish forever."
Despite anxiety before launch and motion sickness during the two days it took to reach the lab complex, "the moment I arrived on the station, it was like going to Mecca or going to Jerusalem for those who are believers," she said.
"It was like a homecoming for me to be here and be able to have this wonderful experience of floating like a feather throughout the station, getting to know all the astronauts and cosmonauts, who are truly, truly special people, to be part of this international community and learn how they interact in these really close quarters together and how they make it work. Because it could be really difficult at times as you can imagine.
"But they work so well together and I think they can be an example to all of us on Earth to learn how we can live together and work together and help each other and be an inspiration for each other. I hope to be part of that in the future, to bring that message to more people, to be able to share my experience."
E' stato collocato nella sua postazione definitiva il nodo 2 (modulo "Harmony"), dove verranno collegati i moduli europeo (laboratorio Columbus) e giapponese (laboratorio Kibo)!
Da SFN:
Harmony connecting module put in place aboard station
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: November 14, 2007
The international space station's crew today detached the new multi-hatch Harmony module, now sporting a shuttle docking port on one end, and carefully moved the 34,500-pound assembly to its permanent home on the front of the lab complex. The high-stakes robotic operation was completed without a hitch, a critical step in a complex sequence to prepare the outpost for launch of Europe's Columbus research lab next month.
Station commander Peggy Whitson, working at a computer console in the Destiny module, sent commands to drive out 16 motorized bolts, unlatching Harmony from its mounting point on the central Unity module's left port around 4:21 a.m. Flight engineer Dan Tani, operating the station's robot arm, then slowly pulled Harmony away as the lab complex sailed high above eastern Canada.
_________
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0711/14harmony/index.html
razziadacqua
17-11-2007, 10:42
hai mai visto sul sito nasa.gov che è possibile sapere quando passerà la ISS sopra la propria città?? purtroppo nella lista di italiane c'è solo Roma...:cry:
FALSO.La puoi benissimo vedere anche da casa tua
http://www.heavens-above.com/
Vai in questo sito,iscriviti,inserisci le coordinate di casa tua,utilizzando google earth magari e potrai avere i calendari dei passaggi della ISS e sapere in anticipo tutti gli Iridium Flare visibili,da casa tua e vicinato.A volte basta spostarsi anche di soli 20Km per vederne uno molto più luminoso...o anche di soli 5Km lineari.
Io personalmente tramite questo sito ne ho visti diversi di passaggi della ISS e uno persino filmato col telescopio(in elaborazione il video...).
Ab illo tempore grazie a questo sito riuscii a vedere il fulmineo et ULTIMO passaggio della MIR :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: pochi giorno dopo la distrussero :°( :cry: :cry: :cry:
Era bellissima...quella volta al volo riusci a distinguere i pannelli e i moduli,sfuocando e mettendo a fuoco in continuazione l immagine...bellissimo...
E' possibile sapere i progressi fatti grazie alla ISS ad esempio nella medicina?
albertoz85
08-03-2008, 15:17
E' possibile sapere i progressi fatti grazie alla ISS ad esempio nella medicina?
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/Publications.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/Expedition.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/index.html
Qualcuno saprebbe dire di quanto e' aumentato il volume abitabile dopo le recenti installazioni dei moduli? (Harmony, Columbus, Kibo)
Ora la vita a bordo dovrebbe essere anche piu' "confortevole" con i nuovi spazi a disposizione.
vi consiglio la lettura di questo articolo riguardo la discesa dell'ultima capsula Soyuz TMA-11 (16/04/08) con a bordo l'equipaggio dell'ISS e un turista.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=5412
albertoz85
29-04-2008, 13:29
... con a bordo l'equipaggio dell'ISS e un turista.
Non era un turista, era un'astronauta Sud Coreana "governativa". ;)
Non era un turista, era un'astronauta Sud Coreana "governativa". ;)
ops! chiedo scusa, mi pareva fosse il classico turista miliardario.. :cool:
Roma, 12:38
NASA, ISS ATTACCATA DA VIRUS INFORMATICO DALLA TERRA
Un virus informatico e' riuscito dalla Terra a raggiungere lo spazio, dopo aver fatto un giro sul pc di un astronauta. Secondo quanto riferito dalla Nasa, il virus noto come Gammina.Ag e' arrivato a bordo della Stazione Spaziale Internazionale (Iss) nel mese di luglio. Esso e' in grado di rubare password e nickname per entrare nei piu' popolari giochi online e poi li invia a un server centrale. Tuttavia, la Nasa ha precisato che il programma dannoso non puo' in alcun modo alterare i sistemi essenziali dell'Iss. Per questo l'agenzia spaziale americana l'ha definito come un semplice 'fastidio'. Il virus ha pero' finota intaccato i pc utilizzati per l'esecuzione di programmi nutrizionali e per l'invio delle e-mail degli astronauti alla Terra. La Nasa sta ora concentrando i suoi sforzi all'individuazione del 'papa" di questo virus che ha messo l'intera agenzia americana di fronte a un imbarazzante problema. Gli esperti americani ritengono che il virus abbia inizialmente infettato il portatile di un astronauta tramite una USB Flash drive, ovvero una memoria esterna, e che poi si sia diffuso su altri pc. La Nasa non ha pero' classificato l'incoveniente come qualcosa di grave e raro. ''Non e' un evento frequente - ha ammesso Kelly Humphries, portavoce della Nasa - ma questa non e' stata la prima volta''.
http://www.repubblica.it/news/ired/ultimora/2006/rep_nazionale_n_3283606.html?ref=hpsbdx1
come generare allarmismo..:rolleyes:
in ogni caso un po' di lavoro extra per i sistemisti della NASA :ciapet:
Qualcuno saprebbe dire di quanto e' aumentato il volume abitabile dopo le recenti installazioni dei moduli? (Harmony, Columbus, Kibo)
Ora la vita a bordo dovrebbe essere anche piu' "confortevole" con i nuovi spazi a disposizione.
Questa (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/isstodate.html) pagina dovrebbe rispondere ai tuoi dubbi.
mmm è da tanto che non li sento, quasi quasi rispolvero un po' di attrezzatura e li chiamo/scrivo :sofico:
Questa (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/isstodate.html) pagina dovrebbe rispondere ai tuoi dubbi.
Grazie, cercavo da un po' queste info e non sono mai "incappato" in quella pagina ;)
Serie (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/11/the_international_space_statio.html) di immagini per il decennale della ISS
http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/iss_11_24/i31_008050.jpg
http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/iss_11_24/126_008613.jpg
http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/iss_11_24/i06_5392.jpg
Ma veramente alla ISS restano soltato 3/4 anni ancora?! Poi che ne faranno?!
Ma veramente alla ISS restano soltato 3/4 anni ancora?! Poi che ne faranno?!
Se non ci saranno estensioni sarà attiva fino al 2015/2016. E' possibile un estensione fino al 2020, ma per ora non se ne sa ancora niente.
Alla fine della sua vita utile verrà fatta rientrare nell'atmosfera in modo controllato per farne finire i resti nell'oceano.
Ma quanti moduli mancano al completamento?
Ma quanti moduli mancano al completamento?
Qui (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISS_assembly_sequence) nell'immagine e/o nella lista viene indicato bene.
PhoEniX-VooDoo
09-12-2008, 12:36
nella mia ignoranza pensavo che sarebbe rimasta su come base per l'ampliamento negli anni fino a diventare sempre piu grande e "spaziosa".
e una volta che si schianta nel oceano? ne fanno una nuova? :fagiano:
nella mia ignoranza pensavo che sarebbe rimasta su come base per l'ampliamento negli anni fino a diventare sempre piu grande e "spaziosa".
I moduli che la compongono hanno una durata massima, fino al 2020 dovrebbe essere possibile un "estensione" della certificazione, dopo bisognerebbe sostituirne diversi.
e una volta che si schianta nel oceano? ne fanno una nuova? :fagiano:
Non c'è ancora nulla di certo, ma presumibilmente verrà costruita una piccola base sulla Luna.
PhoEniX-VooDoo
09-12-2008, 14:09
ho capito, eppure son sicuro che anni fa, quando erano agli inizi, nei TG andavano in onda filmati in CG dove si vedeva la ISS diventare sempre piu grande e grossa...
fanta-marketing deduco :p
gabi.2437
09-12-2008, 15:03
Azz peccato...insomma una base spaziale bisognerebbe sempre averla!
Non c'è ancora nulla di certo, ma presumibilmente verrà costruita una piccola base sulla Luna.
Dubito, uno dei requisiti per una base sulla luna credo che sia una in orbita, per una questione di vettori, di carichi, etc.
Dubito, uno dei requisiti per una base sulla luna credo che sia una in orbita, per una questione di vettori, di carichi, etc.
Per l'architettura NASA attuale a quanto ne so non è un requisito avere un base in LEO o in orbita lunare* (che sarebbe invece "necessaria" nel caso di lanci multipli con vettori più piccoli).
In un progetto (non finanziato -> al livello powerpoint insomma :D) dell'ESA veniva preferita questa: se non ricordo male era più efficiente di una in LEO e aveva interessanti sinergie col programma NASA (ad esempio aumentava la sicurezza offrendo una base sicura nel caso di problemi a Orion).
VASIMIR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_specific_impulse_magnetoplasma_rocket) verrà testato sulla ISS:
NASA and Ad Astra Rocket Company sign Agreement for flight test of the VASIMR rocket engine aboard the International Space Station.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Ad Astra Rocket Company of Webster, Texas have entered into a Space Act Agreement that could lead to conducting a space flight test of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR(TM)) engine on the International Space Station (ISS). The VASIMR(TM) engine is a new plasma-based space propulsion technology, initially studied by NASA and currently under commercial development by Ad Astra. The agreement was fully executed on December 8, 2008. It was signed on behalf of NASA by its Associate Administrator for Space Operations, William H. Gerstenmaier and on behalf of Ad Astra Rocket Company by its President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Franklin R. Chang Diaz. It is the third agreement entered into by the parties since June, 2005 relating to the VASIMR(TM) technology development.
The agreement is structured in a series of "gates," designed to allow the parties to assess the requirements on an incremental basis while proceeding to flight. Upon the successful achievement of the milestones set forth in the agreement, NASA and Ad Astra envision that VASIMR(TM) will be launched to the ISS where the rocket can be tested, for the first time, in its intended environment: the vacuum of outer space.
The NASA Authorization Act of 2005, Section 507 (P.L. 109-155) designates the US portion of the ISS a National Laboratory. While smaller projects have already been initiated for installation at interior locations of the ISS, the Ad Astra project will serve as a "pathfinder" by demonstrating a new class of larger, more complex externally-installed science and technology payloads, encouraging others to pursue similar projects and facilitating their efforts with a model for implementation.
The primary technical objective of the project is to operate the VASIMR(TM) VF-200 engine at power levels up to 200 kW. Engine operation will be restricted to pulses of up to 10 minutes at this power level. Energy for these high-power operations will be provided by a battery system trickle-charged by the ISS power system. These tests will mark the first time that a high-power, steady-state electric thruster will be used as part of a manned spacecraft. Ad Astra is developing the VF-200 payload entirely with funds from private investors. The partnership described in this agreement represents a collaboration between NASA and a private entity never before attempted.
Ad Astra is excited to partner with NASA on the goals set forth in this innovative partnership which, when successfully accomplished, will dramatically demonstrate the use, versatility and value of the ISS as a national asset.
La NASA ha assegnato (http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2008/12/spacex-and-orbital-win-huge-crs-contract-from-nasa/) i contratti per i voli "di rifornimento" commerciali verso la ISS. I vincitori sono SpaceX (12 voli - 1.6 miliardi di dollari) e Orbital (8 voli - 1.9 miliardi di dollari):
SpaceX and Orbital win huge CRS contract from NASA
December 23rd, 2008 by Chris Bergin
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation have been awarded the lucrative Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, with SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) earning 12 missions, and Orbital winning another eight missions. The details of the award - worth up to 3.5 billion dollars - equates to Orbital winning 54 percent of the funding. PlanetSpace Inc lose out on the award.
The CRS contract deals with the resupply needs of the International Space Station (ISS) after the shuttle retires. However, with a decision date coming within the next few months on extending shuttle to 2012, there remains the possibility that there could be a deferral of a quantity of CRS related launches until 2013. The contracts themselves would not be altered, should NASA decide to extend shuttle.
The award from NASA orders eight flights valued at about $1.9 billion from Orbital and 12 flights valued at about $1.6 billion from SpaceX.
Working on the premise of shuttle retirement in 2010, NASA needed to find a solution to launching up to 150,000 lbs of cargo to the ISS, without the hefty upmass of the shuttle.
The CRS contract - part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, with funding coming from NASA’s Space Act agreements - will cover at least 44,000 pounds of that requirement, joining with the cargo fleet of vehicles such as the European ATV, Japanese HTV and Russian Progress.
With Tuesday’s award, that fleet is being joined by two new launch systems from SpaceX, based in California, and Orbital Sciences Corp, based in Dulles, Va - well known for their Pegasus launch system and Minotaur family.
OSC’s Taurus II - a new medium class launch vehicle - is scheduled to carry out a COTS demonstration mission in the fourth quarter of 2010. Interestingly, the CRS award schedules the first launch to the ISS as a resupply element in October, 2011, followed up by the second launch in June, 2012. This may be related towards aligning with the projected extension of the shuttle, or funding timelines.
The Orbital system will include a new advanced maneuvering spacecraft called Cygnus, along with several interchangeable modules for pressurized and unpressurized cargo. Thales Alenia Space teamed up with Orbital on the cargo modules for the Cygnus vehicle, while the pressurized carriers - based on the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules - will be built in Italy.
The Cygnus spacecraft to be launched aboard the Taurus II rocket will be capable of delivering up to 2,300 kg of cargo to the ISS and will be able to return 1,200 kg of cargo from the ISS to Earth.
A “high-energy second stage” has also been mentioned as one option of utilizing a liquid second stage to increases the payload performance for the OSC system.
SpaceX won the majority of the CRS contract via its Falcon 9 launch vehicle - with stages of the vehicle already arriving at SpaceX site at Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, ahead of its debut flight in 2009.
Based on the Falcon 1 - which enjoyed its first successful flight on its fourth attempt this year - the Falcon 9 is a two stage, liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene (RP-1) powered launch vehicle. It uses the same engines, structural architecture (with a wider diameter), avionics and launch system.
Nine SpaceX Merlin engines power the Falcon 9 first stage with 125,000 lbs-f sea level thrust per engine for a total thrust on lift-off of just over 1.1 Million lbs-f. A single Merlin engine powers the Falcon 9 upper stage with an expansion ratio of 117:1 and a nominal burn time of 345 seconds.
Riding on the Falcon 9 is SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft - which comprises of a pressurized capsule and unpressurized trunk used for Earth to LEO transport of pressurized cargo, unpressurized cargo, and/or crew members.
The Dragon capsule is comprised of three main elements: the Nosecone, which protects the vessel and the docking adaptor during ascent; the Pressurized Section, which houses the crew and/or pressurized cargo; and the Service Section, which contains avionics, the RCS (Reaction Control System) thrusters, parachutes, and other support infrastructure.
...
Buna notizia anche per "noi": Thales Alenia collabora ai moduli cargo della capsula di Orbital e costruisce la parte pressurizzata in Italia (presumo a Torino dove sono stati realizzati molti moduli della ISS).
Tour guidato (http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4632) della ISS ( spero che diventi presto disponibile anche la versione in HD).
Da notare che a causa dei trasferimenti e delle attività di "costruzione" per preparare la ISS ad ospitare un equipaggio di 6 persone in certe zone c'è una confusione notevole :D
RED threshold late notice conjunction threat misses ISS - Crew egress Soyuz (http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/03/threat-to-iss-crew-soyuz/)
The three members of Expedition 18 carried out the contingency of “evacuation” into the Soyuz spacecraft attached to the International Space Station (ISS), following a “RED threshold late notice conjunction threat” alert, related to Object “25090 PAM-D” debris. The threat passed with no impact, allowing the crew to egress back into the Station.
Tracking of the small piece of debris/MMOD (Micrometeoroid Orbital Debris) was initially classed as a low threat of collision with the ISS. However, latest tracking suggests the threat is red.As a contingency, NASA’s Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke, Russian Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, and NASA’s Sandra Magnus were asked to “evacuate” into the Russian Soyuz, which would serve as their means of departing from the Station - had it been required.
The debris object is called a “yo weight” - which was originally part of a Delta PAM-D stage - used to launch GPS 37 in 1993. The yo weight is a small mass attached to a 1-meter-long cable, used to tumble the stage after separation from the payload so it doesn’t recontact. Although it would have a mass less than 1kg, travelling at 17,500 mph makes even the smallest object a serious threat.
Updating the current status of the threat, several memos - acquired by L2 - relay the probability level of the conjunction, with the latest noting “It’s now in the red threshold and if it doesn’t improve between now and TCA (Time of Closest Approach) at 11:39am CDT today they will put the crew in the Soyuz per the rules.”
a111“The plan that has been coordinated with MCC-M (Moscow) is that if required the crew will enter the Soyuz and be in place by 16:35 staying there until at least 5 minutes post TCA,” added another memo.
“WE will not be closing any additional hatches to enable us to immediately run the nominal depress procedures should they be needed.
“If the PC remains red the course of action will be to place the crew in the Soyuz from 5 minutes before TCA until 5 minutes after TCA. This is ~2 hours after crew post sleep activities (crew will be awake). ”
Update at 11am Central: Crew now closing the hatches and preparing to evac to Soyuz as a contingency in case of debris collision with ISS. Now in Soyuz.
Post Conjunction update: Debris passed by the ISS without impact, allowing the crew to egress Soyuz to re-open the hatches and continue with their tasks.
E come al solito la stampa italiana (http://www.forumastronautico.it/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=10168.0;attach=40216;image) non ne becca una* (fonte (http://www.forumastronautico.it/index.php?topic=10168.25))
* il titolo è stato corretto (http://www.corriere.it/scienze_e_tecnologie/09_marzo_12/nasa_evacuata_stazione_spaziale_85508a1e-0f24-11de-97ba-00144f02aabc.shtml) (anche se l'articolo contiene comunque i suoi buoni errori :D).
gabi.2437
12-03-2009, 19:53
Ma codesti "giornalisti" che sparano falsità, cioè, ma non sono, che so, denunciabili? :eek: Non so, per diffamazione (non so quanto la nasa sia contenta :rolleyes: )?
Ma codesti "giornalisti" che sparano falsità, cioè, ma non sono, che so, denunciabili? :eek: Non so, per diffamazione (non so quanto la nasa sia contenta :rolleyes: )?
Se non lo hanno fatto per le fantomatiche crepe (http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2003/02_Febbraio/03/crepe.shtml) del Columbia..
Comunque Attivissimo elenca (http://attivissimo.blogspot.com/2009/03/stazione-spaziale-evacuata-bbc-e-cnn.html) alcuni errori di varie agenzie/emittenti :muro:
gabi.2437
12-03-2009, 20:42
Noi dei forum e di internet appena diciamo qualcosa che non va però siam subito ricoperti di denuncie per diffamazione... non vale :O
Mi sembra ottimo l'articolo (http://www.lastampa.it/_web/cmstp/tmplrubriche/giornalisti/grubrica.asp?ID_blog=249&ID_articolo=60&ID_sezione=548&sezione=) della Stampa (il detrito non è un "motorino", ma lo scopo indicato è quello e ha pure azzeccato il lanciatore).
TGCOM riesce a mettere più errori che cose giuste (non che come sito abbia la minima affidabilità):
Evacuata stazione orbitante Iss
Rientrato allarme per detrito spaziale
Momenti di paura a bordo della Stazione spaziale internazionale. La navicella è stata evacuata "per misura precauzionale", dopo l'urto con un piccolo frammento spaziale. I due astronauti, un americano e un russo, sono stati fatti trasferire nel veicolo di soccorso Soyouz, nell'attesa del passaggio di frammenti spaziali del motore di un vecchio satellite. Poi, passato il pericolo, sono tornati a bordo. Lo ha annunciato la Nasa.
La procedura è stata definita sul sito della Nasa come una misura di precauzione destinata a durare solo il tempo del passaggio dei detriti. L'Ente spaziale americano non ha indicato i pericoli specifici. Secondo un portavoce della Nasa la possibilità di una collisione con il frammento era "minima" e in questo frangente si è rivelata nulla. Il detrito, probabilmente, era un vecchio motore che si sarebbe staccato dalla stazione spaziale.
Comunque se si vogliono notizie precise e affidabili il meglio rimane nasaspaceflight (http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/): il fatto che le notizie provengono da presentazioni/fonti interne alla NASA e prima della pubblicazione vengono ricontrollate da ingegneri che lavorano effettivamente nei vari programmi si sente.
comunque sti gran cazz1!!!! riuscire a vedere un frammento di 1/3 di pollice nello spazio :sofico:
+Benito+
13-03-2009, 13:00
c'è un motivo realmente valido per cui la ISS non venga, a fine vita spostata in un punto di lagrange per restare lì? perchè distruggerla?
c'è un motivo realmente valido per cui la ISS non venga, a fine vita spostata in un punto di lagrange per restare lì? perchè distruggerla?
Mah, io personalmente ne vedo un paio:
- Di natura politica: se la si lascia lì, disabitata, prima o poi potrebbe arrivare la capsula "dei Cinesi di turno" (o di qualsiasi altro paese) ed appropriarsene.
- Di natura tencica: propellente necessario per portarla fin lì e stabilizzarla.
magari ce ne sono molte altre..;)
- Di natura tencica: propellente necessario per portarla fin lì e stabilizzarla.
magari ce ne sono molte altre..
A occhio è già sufficiente: difficile giustificare i costi (molto) elevati dell'operazione senza avere nessuna utilità pratica.
gabi.2437
13-03-2009, 17:20
Mah, non so quanto durerebbe là senza manutenzione... cioè non è che la parcheggi lì e tra qualche anno/decennio la puoi riutilizzare così senza problemi...
Mah, non so quanto durerebbe là senza manutenzione... cioè non è che la parcheggi lì e tra qualche anno/decennio la puoi riutilizzare così senza problemi...
Penso intendesse tenere la struttura non funzionante come "sito storico".
Pensare di usarla non ha senso.. tutta la stazione è progettata per l'ambiente della LEO, se la si mette in L2/L1 non si riuscirebbe più a mantenere il controllo termico, la schermatura delle zone abitabili e dell'elettronica sarebbe inadeguata, ecc.
Accidenti ma è assurdo, ci sono state così tante difficoltà che alla fine gli mancano solo pochi anni di vita :rolleyes:
gabi.2437
13-03-2009, 19:02
Accidenti ma è assurdo, ci sono state così tante difficoltà che alla fine gli mancano solo pochi anni di vita :rolleyes:
Eh, questo fa capire che lo spazio non è così semplice come lo dipingono in Star Wars
+Benito+
13-03-2009, 20:20
Non so che effetto abbia la magnetosfera e se sia essenziale. Però pensavo una cosa. Uno dei punti di lagrange si trova lungo la congiungente terra-sole, in ombra (dietro la Terra), giusto? E nemmeno tanto vicino perchè deve essere qualche volta la distanza della Luna. Mantenere "in vita" la stazione, disabitata, non credo sia un enorme problema tecnologico, dal momento che non ci sarebbe da fare nulla perchè starebbe lì da sola. La spesa di carburante non penso ugualmente che sia elevata, per il semplice motivo che non essendo progettata per poter subire accelerazioni sensibili (immagino frazioni di g) sarebbe necessario una spinta iniziale per farla uscire dall'orbita e poi una lunga, dolce, decelerazione. Non conoscendo la matematica che sta dietro alla definizione del punto di lagrange, non so se l'oggetto, per poterci stare, deve avere una velocità di fuga da tale punto molto bassa o invece anche alta. Chiaro, nel caso ci dovesse essere portata "ferma", quindi frenata fino a velocità nulla relativamente al punto di lagrange, è assai probabile che il carburante richiesto sia troppo. Una tolleranza in merito ad una velocità residua ridurrebbe proporzionalmente il combustibile.
A parte il fatto che buttarla via mi sembra proprio demenziale, costruire un giocattolo costosissimo per poi schiantarlo non la trovo una scelta minimamente utile, piuttosto spenderci un altro 5% per spostarla lo vedo più sensato, ma 1000 volte), avere un approdo nello spazio cosmico penso che magari non tra uno ma tre 30 o 40 anni farà comodo.
Con i generatori a radioisotopi una vita utile del generatore di 50 anni è plausibile, e la sua sostituzione, nel caso si pensasse fosse utile, sarebbe possibile anche con un vettore automatico.
Per le emergenze, con del combustibile a bordo, la ISS potrebbe essere temporaneamente accelerata per uscire dall'ombra e utilizzare i pannelli fotovoltaici che sarebbero stati preservati dall'invecchiamento dal fatto di essere rimasti in ombra.
Non so, lo vedo così più utile di bruciarla che non vedo alternative al suo parcheggio da qualche parte. Piuttosto allora accelerarla un pochino per farla schiantare sulla Luna in modo da avere un po' di materiale raffinato nel caso ci si vada in futuro a costruire una base, è sempre alluminio titanio etc che sebbene deformato e fuso dalla violenza dell'impatto, ci sarebbe, e sarebbe meglio che niente.
Non so che effetto abbia la magnetosfera e se sia essenziale. Però pensavo una cosa. Uno dei punti di lagrange si trova lungo la congiungente terra-sole, in ombra (dietro la Terra), giusto? E nemmeno tanto vicino perchè deve essere qualche volta la distanza della Luna.
Mantenere "in vita" la stazione, disabitata, non credo sia un enorme problema tecnologico, dal momento che non ci sarebbe da fare nulla perchè starebbe lì da sola.
Il punto è che queste ipotesi di spostamento della ISS sono state scartate dagli addetti ai lavori perché non fattibili sia dal punto di vista tecnico che monetario (se ti costa di più che una stazione nuova e migliore non conviene procedere :D).
La spesa di carburante non penso ugualmente che sia elevata, per il semplice motivo che non essendo progettata per poter subire accelerazioni sensibili (immagino frazioni di g) sarebbe necessario una spinta iniziale per farla uscire dall'orbita e poi una lunga, dolce, decelerazione. Non conoscendo la matematica che sta dietro alla definizione del punto di lagrange, non so se l'oggetto, per poterci stare, deve avere una velocità di fuga da tale punto molto bassa o invece anche alta. Chiaro, nel caso ci dovesse essere portata "ferma", quindi frenata fino a velocità nulla relativamente al punto di lagrange, è assai probabile che il carburante richiesto sia troppo. Una tolleranza in merito ad una velocità residua ridurrebbe proporzionalmente il combustibile.
Se interpeto bene la tabella "Earth-Moon space budget" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta-v_budget) il delta-v per L1 e L2 dalla LEO è di rispettivamente 3.77 e 3.43 Km/s, per l'orbita lunare è circa 4 Km/s: un Saturn V porta circa 120 tonnellate in LEO e 47 in orbita lunare (la massa mancante è dovuta al propellente e al terzo stadio che lo contiene).
I costi in termini della massa di propellente richiesto mi sembrano proibitivi (VASIMIR o simili non sono fattibili perchè un passaggio lento nelle fascie di Van Allen distruggerebbe l'elettronica di bordo progettata esclusivamente per la LEO).
A parte il fatto che buttarla via mi sembra proprio demenziale, costruire un giocattolo costosissimo per poi schiantarlo non la trovo una scelta minimamente utile, piuttosto spenderci un altro 5% per spostarla lo vedo più sensato, ma 1000 volte), avere un approdo nello spazio cosmico penso che magari non tra uno ma tre 30 o 40 anni farà comodo.
Far ripartire un programma abbandonato dopo 30/40 anni non è banale/poco costoso: devi ricostruire l'infrastruttura di supporto, trovare nuovi fornitori per i pezzi ricambio, riprogettare e testare i componenti che usano tecnologie obsolete.
Inoltre i moduli della stazione sono stati progettati per durare 15 anni nello spazio:
Potentially many, and not easily identified.
The original requirement for Space Station Freedom was a design lifetime of 30 years. That was reduced to 15 years for ISS, to reduce development costs. And all that really means is that all the individual components of ISS need to be able to last at least 15 years in the orbital environment, and that the system (as a combination of individual components) also needs to last 15 years.
Complicating factors include:
1) ISS has not been assembled all at once, so for some components the "clock" started earlier than for others.
2) Ground storage has some effect on component lifetime, but the effects will differ component-to-component.
3) Russian standards for design lifetime may differ from those used by the US segment. Many components of the Russian segment are reportedly unmodified from those used on Mir, which had a design lifetime of five years (but wound up lasting fifteen).
Bottom line is that 2013 marks the 15th anniversary of ISS first element launch and beyond that point components will begin to exceed their design lifetimes. That does not mean those components will immediately fail, because there is always a factor of safety designed in. However, it does mean that the component failure rate will gradually start growing after that point and the station will become progressively more expensive to maintain.
Si sta pensando di usarli per 20 anni (estensione della vita della ISS fino al 2020), ma usarli oltre presenta rischi sempre maggiori.
Con i generatori a radioisotopi una vita utile del generatore di 50 anni è plausibile, e la sua sostituzione, nel caso si pensasse fosse utile, sarebbe possibile anche con un vettore automatico.
Per le emergenze, con del combustibile a bordo, la ISS potrebbe essere temporaneamente accelerata per uscire dall'ombra e utilizzare i pannelli fotovoltaici che sarebbero stati preservati dall'invecchiamento dal fatto di essere rimasti in ombra.
- Gli RTG nelle configurazioni usate dalle sonde producono meno di 1 Kw, uno solo dei 4 set di pannelli della ISS 32.8 kW.
- C'è veramente poco (http://www.space.com/news/080306-nasa-plutonium-shortage-fin.html) plutonio 238 disponibile (essenzialmente quello di MSL, della flagship del 2020 e per una altra missione di classe New Frontiers).
- L'elettronica dei pannelli non penso sia in grado di resistere ad anni di permanenza a temperature bassissime.
Non so, lo vedo così più utile di bruciarla che non vedo alternative al suo parcheggio da qualche parte. Piuttosto allora accelerarla un pochino per farla schiantare sulla Luna in modo da avere un po' di materiale raffinato nel caso ci si vada in futuro a costruire una base, è sempre alluminio titanio etc che sebbene deformato e fuso dalla violenza dell'impatto, ci sarebbe, e sarebbe meglio che niente.
Vedi sopra per le considerazioni sul propellente.
Non ho dati precisi, ma alle consuete velocità spaziali gli urti dubito lascino molto materiale in forma trattabile.
PS. Se sembro brusco o arrogante non era mia intenzione. Alle 2.00 dopo essere uscito le mie capacità di scrittura non sono al massimo :D
Sei stato chiarissimo!!! :D
+Benito+
14-03-2009, 10:55
Ok va bene che non è conveniente sotto nessun punto di vista.
Quindi la ISS è mero sviluppo tecnologico, un costosissimo giocattolo per creare tecnologia.
A cosa serve? Secondo il mio punto di vista, a niente e quello che si è fatto con essa lo si sarebbe potuto fare con altre soluzioni meno costose (vedi skylab).
Cioè, voglio dire, qui si sta creando una cosa modulare, non ancora finita, che tra qualche anno viene distrutta (non senza motivo, in base a quello che scrivi).
Quindi un enormemente, spropositatamente costosissimo test di componenti e tecnologie.
Se convermi questa mia visione, SPERO VIVAMENTE che non ne costruiscano mai più di queste cose.
Eh, questo fa capire che lo spazio non è così semplice come lo dipingono in Star Wars
Eh, ahimè :D
gabi.2437
14-03-2009, 11:56
Ok va bene che non è conveniente sotto nessun punto di vista.
Quindi la ISS è mero sviluppo tecnologico, un costosissimo giocattolo per creare tecnologia.
A cosa serve? Secondo il mio punto di vista, a niente e quello che si è fatto con essa lo si sarebbe potuto fare con altre soluzioni meno costose (vedi skylab).
Cioè, voglio dire, qui si sta creando una cosa modulare, non ancora finita, che tra qualche anno viene distrutta (non senza motivo, in base a quello che scrivi).
Quindi un enormemente, spropositatamente costosissimo test di componenti e tecnologie.
Se convermi questa mia visione, SPERO VIVAMENTE che non ne costruiscano mai più di queste cose.
Medioevo, stiamo arrivando, curvatura massima attivare!!!!
Guardati intorno, vedi tante cose inutili? Il laser tipo, a cosa serve? Boh, quello che l'ha inventato se lo è chiesto per qualche decennio, era una tecnologia inutile :) E qua idem, tutti gli esperimenti condotti sulla stazione, sicuramente sono inutili e parte di un complotto atto a farci sprecare soldi inutilmente :)
fabrylama
14-03-2009, 13:17
Ok va bene che non è conveniente sotto nessun punto di vista.
Quindi la ISS è mero sviluppo tecnologico, un costosissimo giocattolo per creare tecnologia.
A cosa serve? Secondo il mio punto di vista, a niente e quello che si è fatto con essa lo si sarebbe potuto fare con altre soluzioni meno costose (vedi skylab).
Cioè, voglio dire, qui si sta creando una cosa modulare, non ancora finita, che tra qualche anno viene distrutta (non senza motivo, in base a quello che scrivi).
Quindi un enormemente, spropositatamente costosissimo test di componenti e tecnologie.
Se convermi questa mia visione, SPERO VIVAMENTE che non ne costruiscano mai più di queste cose.
Faraday, che aveva acquistato una certa notorietà per i suoi esperimenti, ricevette la visita di un ministro inglese.
Questi, dopo i soliti convenevoli curiosando qua e là e facendo finta di interessarsi a quel che vedeva, osservando l"anello di Faraday" (quello che poi sarebbe diventato nientemeno che il generatore elettrico), fece la solita famigerata domanda.
Domanda che, da sempre, perseguita i ricercatori: "a cosa serve?".
La risposta di Faraday, gelida fu: "ancora non lo so, ma sono sicuro che, un giorno, il suo governo riuscirà a metterci una tassa sopra".
Eh, questo fa capire che lo spazio non è così semplice come lo dipingono in Star Wars
Mi accontenterei che fosse come in:
http://www.fantascienza.com/magazine/imgbank/NEWS/schimatrix-us.jpg
:D
Ok va bene che non è conveniente sotto nessun punto di vista.
Quindi la ISS è mero sviluppo tecnologico, un costosissimo giocattolo per creare tecnologia.
L'obbiettivo di sviluppare e testare tecnologia c'è ed è importante visto che molte missioni interessanti necessitano di sistemi di supporto vitale a ciclo chiuso, conoscenze sul comportamento di persone/organismi/tecnologia in missioni di lunga durata, ecc, ma la ISS è una stazione di ricerca (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/Expedition.html) in microgravità.
A cosa serve? Secondo il mio punto di vista, a niente e quello che si è fatto con essa lo si sarebbe potuto fare con altre soluzioni meno costose (vedi skylab).
Lo Skylab, seppur grosso, aveva molti meno rack ed energia disponibili per gli esperimenti: non è comparabile con la ISS.
Il grosso dei costi sta nel supporto logistico e nello sviluppo dei sistemi della stazione: una stazione stile Skylab con capacità da ISS non sarebbe economica.
Cioè, voglio dire, qui si sta creando una cosa modulare, non ancora finita, che tra qualche anno viene distrutta (non senza motivo, in base a quello che scrivi).
Tutti i veicoli spaziali hanno una ben precisa vita operativa: è naturale che la ISS non faccia eccezione. Sarebbe forse* possibile sostituire i moduli più vecchi, ma dopo qualche anno i costi diventeranno tali da far diventare conveniente costruirne una nuova.
In più il budget NASA non è infinito e i 2 miliardi di $ annuali dedicati alla ISS a un certo punto diventano richiesti da altre attività.
* dovendo sostituire quelli che sono il fulcro della stazione e forniscono controllo/supporto vitale/ecc. non è un operazione banale visto che se li stacchi la stazione "muore" e il sostituto non può essere attaccato in una delle altre "porte" libere (gli impianti di ogni portello di un modulo sono specializzati in base a cosa ci verrà attaccato, fare una stazione lego sarebbe molto difficile senza allargare i portelli, cosa che a sua volta presenta altre sfide non banali..).
+Benito+
14-03-2009, 15:44
Apprezzo chi ha capito cosa sto dicendo, ovvio che la ricerca è utile per i risultati a cui porterà, non nell'immediato di portare un ratto in una gabbia nello spazio.
Quello che dico è che, però, visto che sono soldi "di nessuno", è anche facile che progetti ipercostosi prendano il sopravvento per motivi diversi dalla scienza (come possono essere il prestigio internazionale, la sensazione di superiorità tecnologica etc) che hanno la loro ragione di essere, ma che se attingessero da fondiprivati, penso verrebbero valutati molto più criticamente.
Mi interessa approfondire perchè una soluzione "tipo skylab", anche costruita in un numero di esemplari usa e getta specifici per un ridotto numero di esperimenti ciascuno possa essere costosa tanto quanto una stazione orbitante composta da decine di pezzi assemblati in orbita.
Quali sono le esigenze che ne renderebbero i costi paragonabili?
Vorrei avere chiaro il punto, non si tratta di non fare ricerca, ma di spendere dei soldi e delle risorse in un modo possibilmente migliore di costruire una stazione come la ISS.
Anche perchè, verosimilmente, la prossima sarà ancora più complessa, se no vaglielo a spiegare agli elettori che hai bruciato la vecchia per costruirne una nuova che costa uguale ma è meno sofisticata.
gabi.2437
14-03-2009, 15:53
Ovvio che nessun privato finanzierebbe una cosa simile, il privato punta al profitto, perchè finanziare il laser se poi è una tecnologia che ti rimane per parecchi decenni TOTALMENTE inutilizzata? Non ha senso... il privato che fa il furbone investe quando vede guadagno (sbucano i cd e allora si che investe sul laser per vendere i lettori :D )
E qua idem, che sia skylab o ISS, se l'ISS l'hanno fatta, i motivi ci sono e no, non è per sprecar soldi visto che i soldi per la ricerca guarda caso sono sempre risicatissimi... :rolleyes: tutto quello che fanno lo spremono al massimo. Testare tecnologie? Certo, anche quello!
+Benito+
14-03-2009, 15:59
Non sognare, non è così ovvio quel che dici.
E poi i soldi per la ricerca non sono affatto risicatissimi, ma molti, moltissimi, ci sono migliaia di ricercatori anche in uno stato come l'italia mantenuti da me, e nella maggior parte dei casi, come in tutti i lavori, possono anche essere persone che non stanno facendo un lavoro per cui sono portati o per cui hanno le qualità e che quindi stanno sprecando soldi, ma guai a toccarli, ma qui si apre una voragine e lasciamo perdere.
Visto che sei così sicuro che la ISS o e le stazioni spaziali siano il miglior modo possibile di fare ricerca nello spazio, elencamene i motivi, e parimenti paragonala ad altre soluzioni possibili.
gabi.2437
14-03-2009, 16:07
Ah, mò pure devo mettermi a elencare e fare paragoni :eek: Ma è ovvio che se voglio far ricerca nello spazio DEVO andar nello spazio, e questo ha certi requisiti che vengono soddisfatti da ISS o simili. Se skylab raggiunge il limite, bisogna costruire altro, vedi ISS. Ovvio che io suggerirei la costruzione di Deep Space Nine, ma al momento è impossibile.
E per il resto ti lascio al costo dei bei bombardieri :D
fabrylama
14-03-2009, 16:12
Non sognare, non è così ovvio quel che dici.
E poi i soldi per la ricerca non sono affatto risicatissimi, ma molti, moltissimi, ci sono migliaia di ricercatori anche in uno stato come l'italia mantenuti da me, e nella maggior parte dei casi, come in tutti i lavori, possono anche essere persone che non stanno facendo un lavoro per cui sono portati o per cui hanno le qualità e che quindi stanno sprecando soldi, ma guai a toccarli, ma qui si apre una voragine e lasciamo perdere.
Visto che sei così sicuro che la ISS o e le stazioni spaziali siano il miglior modo possibile di fare ricerca nello spazio, elencamene i motivi, e parimenti paragonala ad altre soluzioni possibili.
l'intero finanziamento alla ricerca mondiale (tutta la ricerca fatta nel mondo)annuale equivarrà a ad un paio di settimane di spese dei soli americani per la guerra in iraq... direi che s', i soldi sono pochissimi. soprattutto considerando che la quasi totalità del budget va alla ricerca biomedica.
inoltre quando dici che nella maggior parte dei casi i ricercatori fanno un lavoro per cui non sono portati, commetti un errore che mi da fastidio, la ricerca è una carriera che si sceglie solo se si ha passione ed in cui si riesce soo se si è estremamente motivati, portati e capaci, sia per lo stipendio esiguo (soprattutto in italia), sia per le consizioni e orari di lavoro da schiavismo, sia per la pochezza dei posti disponibili (soprattutto in italia)...
+Benito+
14-03-2009, 17:02
l'intero finanziamento alla ricerca mondiale (tutta la ricerca fatta nel mondo)annuale equivarrà a ad un paio di settimane di spese dei soli americani per la guerra in iraq... direi che s', i soldi sono pochissimi. soprattutto considerando che la quasi totalità del budget va alla ricerca biomedica.
inoltre quando dici che nella maggior parte dei casi i ricercatori fanno un lavoro per cui non sono portati, commetti un errore che mi da fastidio, la ricerca è una carriera che si sceglie solo se si ha passione ed in cui si riesce soo se si è estremamente motivati, portati e capaci, sia per lo stipendio esiguo (soprattutto in italia), sia per le consizioni e orari di lavoro da schiavismo, sia per la pochezza dei posti disponibili (soprattutto in italia)...
I soldi sono pochissimi perchè la ricerca per sua natura è in grado di consumarne senza limite. Sono d'accordissimo che ci sono vagonate di spese per altri scopi (opinabili) che traferite sulla ricerca contribuirebbero maggiormente al benessere.
Mi spiace che tu sia infastidito da quel che ho detto, conosco ricercatori e parlo con loro, non so se tu sia ricercatore, quel che voglio dire è che in italia, spesso, non sempre sia chiaro, uno che "vuole" fare un lavoro si sente nel diritto di poterlo fare e sostenuto bene dallo stato o dal privato, ma questo è un errore di fondo nella mentalità del lavoratore italiano che vuole trattamento e garanzie da imprenditore e rischi da impiegato.
Per 10 ricercatori che centellinano le risorse con concentrazione ed impegno per ottenere lo scopo che si sono preposti (sia che ci arrivino sia che non ci arrivino), ce ne sono 100 che non si comportano così, come in qualsiasi altro lavoro.
Ho la nettissima impressione che i ricercatori si sentano "eletti" e che le normali situazioni alla loro categoria non siano applicabili, e ciò è clamorosamente FALSO.
Per lavoro mi capita di interfacciarmi con persone del mondo universitario e della ricerca e la sensazione che ho, la gran parte delle volte, è che ci sarebbe da mettersi le mani nei capelli a stipendiare persone che discutono dell'acqua calda. Per cui, calma, non sentirti infastidito, penso che ogni lavoratore serio si senta infastidito quando qualcuno della sua categoria scazza e fa fare parlare male di tutta la categoria. L'importante è essere sicuri di sè, più colti possibile per fare quello che si fa, commettere meno errori possibile.
Non penso che tu possa difendere persone che seppure amando quello che fanno non si impegnano o non ne hanno le capacità - e ci sono -
fabrylama
14-03-2009, 17:51
Ho la nettissima impressione che i ricercatori si sentano "eletti" e che le normali situazioni alla loro categoria non siano applicabili, e ciò è clamorosamente FALSO. eletti in che senso? nel senso che fanno un lavoro che nessun'altro vorrebbe fare (e pochi potrebbero) a causa di orari, stipendi e prospettive? questo non significa essere eletti, significa avere una passione
Per lavoro mi capita di interfacciarmi con persone del mondo universitario e della ricerca e la sensazione che ho, la gran parte delle volte, è che ci sarebbe da mettersi le mani nei capelli a stipendiare persone che discutono dell'acqua calda.
non so di che mondo della ricerca tu stia parlando, e non so nemmeno cosa intenda tu per acqua calda.. ma a volte l'acqua calda è molto interessante.
ma di che ricercatori e di che ricerca parli?
la cosa che mi lascia interdetto, è che tu arrivi quì e, senza alcuna preparazione specifica, ti metti ad attaccare e giudicare (il modo violento) le scelte che ha fatto la nasa (e non solo lei) nel campo della ricerca spaziale...
a me viene il dubbio che tu non sappia di cosa stai parlando
la nasa ha un budget ben determinato, e decisamente risicato. se fosse stato possibile fare gli stessi esperimenti che han fatto sulla iss su un'altro tipo di staziona spaziale, magari non modulare e molto meno costosa, non credi che lo avrebbero fatto? in tal modo i soldi risparmiati sarebbero stati usati per altre missioni... missioni che ora sono state annullate a causa dei continui tagli al bilancio
insomma, alla nasa non vengono dati tanti soldi quanti ne richiede, pertanto è nel loro interesse massimizzare il rendimento.. se hanno scelto questo tipo di stazione, è perchè era il modo più economico di raggiungere lo scopo che si erano prefissati.
oppure credi che tutti i ricercatori e tutti gli amministratori siano incompetenti?
+Benito+
15-03-2009, 08:11
Ma che dici....a me sembra il contrario, mi è stato sbottato contro solo per aver detto che a mio avviso non sono state indagate a sufficienza altre strade.
La ricerca è una cosa talmente universale che in essa ci sono persone che si adoperano in tantissimi campi, non mi sembra giusto tirare in ballo le persone che conosco, quello che ho scritto sono convinto che sia applicabile ovunque, forse si salvano pochissimi settori della ricerca dove le conoscenze necessarie per avere accesso ai posti sono di livello talmente elevato che precludono l'accesso alla stragrande maggioranza di coloro che vorrebbero diventare ricercatori in tale ambito.
Poi, passione....tutti hanno una o più aspirazioni nella vita, di fare qualcosa che li renderebbe felici, non vedo perchè un ricercatore debba essere trattato come una persona di livello sociale superiore a tante altre categorie che fanno la fame più di loro. Non ce l'ho con la categoria, ma con molte delle persone che la compongono. Spesso sento parlare di vita grama del ricercatore, ma costoro hanno idea di cosa voglia dire spaccarsi la schiena 10 ore al giorno per 1000 euro al mese?
Discorso ISS: non lavorando alla NASA non ho le conoscenze specifiche riguardo al progetto, e a maggior ragione visto che te la prendi tanto per il mio intervento e difendi a spada tratta le scelte fatte, parlami tu delle cose che non so, potresti facilmente portarmi "dalla tua parte".
Se vuoi possiamo discutere felicemente di come sia bella la iss, di come siano interessanti gli esperimenti svolti, di come sia affascinante un lancio di un Progress con un Soyuz (una delle macchine più belle mai costruite, imho) etc etc, preferirei parlare anche di contenuti.
Apprezzo chi ha capito cosa sto dicendo, ovvio che la ricerca è utile per i risultati a cui porterà, non nell'immediato di portare un ratto in una gabbia nello spazio.
Quello che dico è che, però, visto che sono soldi "di nessuno", è anche facile che progetti ipercostosi prendano il sopravvento per motivi diversi dalla scienza (come possono essere il prestigio internazionale, la sensazione di superiorità tecnologica etc) che hanno la loro ragione di essere, ma che se attingessero da fondiprivati, penso verrebbero valutati molto più criticamente
E' un discorso complesso:
- Tutti i progetti spaziali con umani sono "ipercostosi", ma vengono perseguiti perchè a lungo andare permettono ritorni molto superiori alle missioni robotiche (a parte alcune applicazioni: ad esempio se devi mappare un pianeta dall'orbita ce la fa benissimo una sonda). Steve Squyres diceva che il lavoro svolto dai MER in questi anni sarebbe stato svolto da un geologo sul campo in pochi giorni.
- Nei programmi spaziali pubblici intervengono sempre fattori politici: vista la quantità di soldi e posti di lavoro in ballo è una cosa imprescindibile e con cui bene o male bisogna convivere.
- Possono intervenire ancora altri fattori: ad esempio mantenere il know-how necessario per sviluppare certi tipi di mezzi e/o missioni potrebbe essere molto importante in previsione di un utilizzo futuro.
- Sulla carta tutti i progetti sono privi di problemi, le alternative al progetto scelto sarebbero state effettivamente meglio?
Insomma per noi non esperti è molto difficile criticare con cognizione scelte effettuate da esperti con anni di esperienza.
Mi interessa approfondire perchè una soluzione "tipo skylab", anche costruita in un numero di esemplari usa e getta specifici per un ridotto numero di esperimenti ciascuno possa essere costosa tanto quanto una stazione orbitante composta da decine di pezzi assemblati in orbita.
Quali sono le esigenze che ne renderebbero i costi paragonabili?
Lo Skylab è costato 12 miliardi* di $ (in $ del 2007) e aveva le seguenti "caratteristiche":
Skylab was not modular. Skylab was FAR more limited than ISS (or BA's projected station, for that matter) Skylab's scientific capabilities today would be really limited. Skylab was based on Apollo technology. Skylab only supported 3 manned missions. Skylab supported no assembly/expansion/ressuply/major R&R missions.
Dall'inizio della vita della stazione al 2015 ci saranno state 38 spedizioni/equipaggi sulla ISS, se verrà estesa al 2020 circa 10 di più. Il costo totale del programma ISS oscilla tra i 100 e i 120 miliardi di $.
* Producendone molti costerebbero meno singolarmente che un singolo esemplare, ma se si vuole creare un sistema più complesso/con più capacità i costi salgono.
+Benito+
15-03-2009, 09:50
Quindi il costo delle singole missioni (nel senso di "esperimenti", non di lanci di equipaggio), è inferiore nella ISS rispetto a quanto fu con lo Skylab.
Quindi il costo delle singole missioni (nel senso di "esperimenti", non di lanci di equipaggio), è inferiore nella ISS rispetto a quanto fu con lo Skylab.
Se intendi esperimenti come "set di esperimenti svolti da un equipaggio durante la sua permanenza di x mesi sulla stazione" si.
Un errore commesso con la ISS è stato costruire moduli trasportabili solo dallo Shuttle: si guadagna in capacità non dovendo i singoli moduli sopravvivere autonomamente e agganciarsi alla ISS, però in caso di problemi gravi dell'unico mezzo di trasporto si accumulano grossi ritardi.
Documento (http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090006763_2009004076.pdf) interessante:
International Space Station
Science Research Accomplishments During
the Assembly Years: An Analysis of Results
from 2000-2008
Infatti oggi non sarebbe possibile mandare su un nuovo Skylab nemmeno volendo: manca un vettore super pesante in grado di portarlo su. Chissà un domani con Ares V..
Si va verso una sostituzione (http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/04/iss-concern-s1-radiator-may-require-replacement-shuttle-mission/) del radiatore che si è delaminato (foto nell'articolo):
ISS concern over S1 Radiator - may require replacement via shuttle mission
Imagery taken of the delaminated panel on the International Space Station’s S1 Radiator has revealed a “structural risk” on the array, which has the potential to create an ammonia leak in the External Thermal Control System (ETCS). NASA managers are considering options that include flying a replacement radiator array on a downstream shuttle mission, along with bringing the damaged S1 Radiator back to Earth.
The damage was first spotted late last summer during a routine imagery survey, in order to check for any damage - usually caused by MMOD (Micrometeoroid Orbital Debris) strikes - to the outside of the Station
Imagery found that one of the eight radiator panels on the S1 array - which each have two thermal face sheets, one on each side, epoxy-glued and autoclaved to the honeycomb structure of the radiator - was observed as peeled back. These face sheets have a thermal surface coating designed to maximize heat reflection and absorption transfer to space.
il pezzo (http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16492.0;attach=125616;image) da sostituire dovrebbe essere pesante circa 1000 Kg e quindi "infilabile" in una delle missioni già esistenti (sempre che si decida effettivamente di sostituirlo).
Space Station Nears an Extension
Plan to Operate Through 2020 Offers Lift for Science; NASA May Feel a Budget Pinch
The U.S. and major foreign partners on the International Space Station have agreed in principle to keep it operating through 2020, at least five years beyond the current deadline, according to government and industry officials.
There had been looming questions about the future of the space station -- which took nearly two decades and more than $100 billion to design and build -- because until now, the major partners hadn't committed to keeping it going past 2015. An extension could give new momentum to the scientific research conducted there, which initially was delayed by false starts and problems finishing assembly of the station.
But prolonging the facility's life, particularly in the midst of the current global economic turmoil, could also force some tough question within the U.S. space program. Washington could have to spend $10 billion or more between 2015 and 2020 to continue using the space station -- potentially siphoning dollars from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's annual budget of more than $18 billion, primarily from projects intended to return U.S. astronauts to the moon by 2020.
The moon-landing initiative faces potentially significant delays unless Congress provides a fresh pot of money to support further space-station operations, according to U.S. industry and government officials. But neither Congress nor the White House wants the political flak for cutting off station operations without reaping the benefits of prior spending. Decisions have been complicated by the fact that arguments between the White House and some lawmakers have held up nominatin of the next NASA administrator.
A NASA spokesman said Thursday that the agency is developing cost estimates for extending station operations through 2020 "in the event the [Obama] administration decided to propose" that option in future budget requests. The agency also said that in the meantime, it "continues to take no steps that would preclude extending station operations."
According to NASA, high-level space officials representing the partners concluded at their last mneeting that extending the station past 2015 doesn't "pose any significant technical challenges" and space-agency heads "committed to work with their respective governments" toward that goal.
NASA'S counterparts in Russia, Japan, Canada, various European countries and most of the other partners are eager to maintain political support and funding for the station. Space agencies around the globe believe the 2020 date is "an eminently logical goal" and "momentum is heading in that direction," according to one person familiar with the discussions. In order for an extension to become official, individual governments must formally agree and come up with a funding plan.
The first part of the station was put into a 250-mile-high orbit in 1998, with more than 15 nations participating amid promises of scientific breakthroughs, in areas from medicine and biology to manufacturing microelectronic components. Scientists say the lack of gravity promises new insights into molecular structures, cell activity and medical issues such as loss of bone density.
But early construction problems, the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 and the resulting two-year halt in shuttle flights impeded scientific work. Japan didn't launch its scientific "module," which provides additional space for scientific research, until recently.
Scientists have only now begun to report advances in experiments looking at issues such as the formation of salmonella poisoning in food and how human cells react to vaccines in space.
The Obama administration hopes the station's extension will spark further international cooperation on space endeavors, including scientific breakthroughs that could be used on earth. Helped by an expanded six-person crew and an upgraded solar-power system, experiments on the station this summer will look at how gravity may affect biofuels and for "what could possibly be a vaccine for multiple viruses," said Joy Bryant, the head of Boeing Co.'s space-station team. "We're just now beginning to see the full potential" of the research, she told reporters at a recent industry conference.
NASA's replacement for the space shuttle -- designed initially to transport people to the station -- is the $40 billion-plus Constellation project, intended to develop a new family of rockets, space vehicles and lunar landers that would eventually go to the moon. Even before the latest budget pressures, Constellation faced a host of other technical and financial challenges.
For at least the first half of the next decade, NASA already expects to rely entirely on Russian rockets and spacecraft to send U.S. crews to the station. But the financial drain of continuing station operations is bound to increase pressure on the White House to rethink Constellation's timetable, according to people inside and outside NASA.
In spite of budget uncertainties, some NASA officials have spent the last two years mulling the possibility of extending the station. Michael Griffin, the agency's last congressionally-approved administrator, started signaling to U.S. scientists and aerospace companies in the spring of 2007 that an extension was probable. More recently, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed a bill authorizing NASA to draw up such a plane. Industry and government officials have said the station is structurally sound to remain in orbit years past the original deadline
But President George W. Bush's administration never officially announced support for that policy. Accordingly, Mr. Bush's budget officials didn't factor in the additional costs of extended station operations when they projected the direction of overall NASA spending through 2020. So according to current agency officials, spending profiles for various other big-ticket programs probably will have to be adjusted to compensate for continuing station expenses.
Fonte (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123940596771109777.html)
PlanetSpace: COTS Protest Denied
(http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/04/planetspace_cot.html)
PlanetSpace, a partnership set up by Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co and Alliant Techsystems Inc has had its protest denied by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Wednesday.
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp can now resume work on contracts worth up to $3.5 billion. The contracts call for a total of 20 flights to the space station to deliver cargo after the space shuttles are retired in 2010.
From the GAO Docket:
PlanetSpace, Inc. (NNJ08ZBG001R)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Outcome: Denied Date Decided: April 22, 2009
Previous: PlanetSpace Has Filed With the GAO a Protest to the Selection Decision of NASA Under the ISS Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) Competition
"After a careful review of all the facts and in consideration of all of the source selection documentation provided to date, PlanetSpace has filed a protest to NASA's award of the ISS Commercial Resupply Services Contract. PlanetSpace offered a superior proposal. It received a higher Mission Suitability score, from NASA's Source Evaluation Board (SEB), and was lower in Cost than one of the two proposals selected by NASA. Thus, the PlanetSpace proposal represented better value to the Government. We believe that the GAO will find that flaws in the procurement justify award to PlanetSpace. We look forward to the GAO's review of this case."
4chr
leggermente OT: è un mesetto che provo a contattarli via radio in packet ma non riesco ad agganciarli... sapete se hanno spento la parte radio o cosa?
Houston - Il controllo Missione ha dato agli astronauti di Expedition 19, a bordo della ISS, il “GO” per poter bere l’acqua resa potabile dal nuovo sistema di purificazione e di riciclo a bordo della Stazione Spaziale.
La conferma è stata trasmessa agli astronauti mercoledì 20 maggio, dopo l’approvazione del Recovery System team e dei responsabili del programma.
Questa decisione è una tappa importante nello sviluppo dei sistemi di supporto della stazione (ECLS) che entro fine mese dovranno supportare sei persone a bordo della ISS.
Il Comandante di Expedition 19, Commander Gennady Padalka, e gli specialisti di missione, Mike Barratt e Koichi Wakata, hanno celebrato l’evento con un brindisi nel Destiny laboratory (foto).
"Questa è una cosa da fantascienza. Tutti hanno parlato di riciclo dell’acqua in un sistema a ciclo chiuso, ma nessuno l’aveva mai fatto. Eccoci oggi con il primo ciclo di acqua potabile riciclata e purificata" ha detto Barratt; che ha aggiunto, "Siamo molto felici per questa giornata e ringraziamo il team che ha lavorato a questo strumento. Questo è il tipo di tecnologia che ci permetterà di ritornare sulla luna e di andare oltre."
Questo sistema, infatti, ridurrà sensibilmente la quantità di acqua che si dovrà spedire sulla ISS, soprattutto quando verrà ritirato lo Shuttle; getterà, inoltre, le basi per futuri sviluppi e miglioramenti ai sistemi di supporto per le missioni di esplorazione spaziale.
Il Water Recovery System è giunto sulla ISS lo scorso novembre a bordo dello Space Shuttle Endeavour nella missione STS-126. L’apparato era stato installato dal comandante di Expedition 18, Mike Fincke, e dallo specialista di missione Don Pettit, prima della partenza di Endeavour. La missione STS-119 (Discovery) ha installato, invece, l'Urine Processing Assembly.
Gli equipaggi di STS-126, Expedition 18 e STS-119 hanno riportato a Terra alcuni campioni di acqua depurata per un totale di 20 litri, che sono stati analizzati al Water and Microbiology Laboratories al JSC. Il 27 aprile una riunione straordinaria, con le analisi sottomano, ha stabilito la potabilità dell’acqua e ha annunciato che il livello di contaminazione era molto al disotto della soglia limite. Il Controllo Missione ha però deciso di posticipare il consumo di acqua fino al 18 maggio quando è stata rimossa una particolare valvola test nell'Urine Processing Assembly.
Gli astronauti sulla ISS continueranno, comunque, a monitorare la purezza dell’acqua grazie a particolari strumenti a bordo e con l’invio a Terra di campioni periodici.
fonte (http://www.forumastronautico.it/index.php?topic=10815.0)
Da segnalare inoltre:
- Il Nodo 3 è stato spedito (http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMNCEBNJTF_index_0.html) da Torino al KSC
Farewell ceremony in Turin – European-built Node 3 starts its journey to the ISS
4 May 2009
The European-built Node 3 module for the International Space Station will be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, on 17 May. Media representatives are invited to attend a ceremony on 16 May at Thales Alenia Space, Turin, Italy, to mark the departure of Node 3.
The Node 3 connecting module, built by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, is the last element of a barter agreement by which ESA supplied NASA with International Space Station (ISS) hardware, including the Cupola and two Node modules (Node 2 and 3). In return, NASA ferried the European Columbus laboratory to the ISS in February 2008.
Following the tradition to name the ISS modules, NASA has chosen to name Node 3 'Tranquility' after the Sea of Tranquility, the lunar landing site of Apollo 11 in 1969, highlighting the link between the ISS, exploration and the Moon.
Once in space, Node 3 connects to the port side of the Unity Node and provides room for eight refrigerator-sized racks, two of the locations being used for the avionics racks controlling Node 3. It will house many of the Station's Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), including an air revitalisation system, an oxygen generator system, a water recycling facility, a waste and hygiene compartment and a treadmill for crew exercise, which are currently stored in various places around the Station.
Also under construction in the cleanroom at Thales Alenia Space in Turin is the Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) for ATV Johannes Kepler, the second Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The ATV cargo carrier, Node 2 and 3 and the European Columbus laboratory all share the same structural heritage stemming from the Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules. Interested media will be able to visit both Node 3 and ATV ICC.
- Dei "photosynth (http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/photosynth/index.html)" della ISS
Soyuz TMA-15 launches for growing ISS - UPA/SPDM updates (http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/05/soyuz-tma-15-launches-for-growing-iss-upaspdm-updates/)
ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk have launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 10:34 GMT on Wednesday, with their Soyuz TMA-15 scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) at 12:36 GMT on Friday 29 May - marking the start of six crew operations on the orbital outpost.
Soyuz Launch:
The trio join Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, NASA astronaut Michael Barratt and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, with De Winne becoming 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.
De Winne’s is conducting his second spaceflight after taking part in the Odissea mission to the ISS from 30 October to 10 November 2002. He will be joined on the ISS by Swedish ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who will fly as mission specialist on the 11-day STS-128 mission scheduled for August 2009.
Dr. Thirsk flew as a payload specialist aboard space shuttle mission STS-78 in 1996, the Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) mission. During this 17-day flight aboard Columbia, he and his six crewmates performed 43 international experiments devoted to the study of life and materials sciences.
In 2004, Dr. Thirsk trained at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre near Moscow and became certified as a Flight Engineer for the Soyuz spacecraft. He served as backup Flight Engineer to European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Roberto Vittori for the Soyuz 10S taxi mission to the ISS in April 2005. During the 10-day mission, Dr. Thirsk worked as Crew Interface Coordinator (i.e. European CapCom) at the Columbus Control Centre in Germany.
“Witnessing this launch is a great moment a moment of accomplishments that opens up new opportunities and projects us all in the full exploitation of the ISS in preparation of new exploration missions to other destinations. I am looking forward to a full 6 crew onboard the ISS for a full exploitation of its scientific potential and to carry out activities in preparation of missions to future destinations,” said Simonetta di Pippo, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight.
“Last year Columbus and the Automated Transfer Vehicle Jules Verne have demonstrated the reliability and the capability of the European Space Agency in the International Space Station endeavour. The European scientific laboratories and instruments on board Columbus are now operated on a daily basis, controlled from the Control Center in Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany),” added said ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain.
“The crew of six will provide much more resources on board to make scientific and technological progress. The presence of two ESA astronauts on board the ISS this year - Frank de Winne and Christer Fuglesang - will bring a European touch to that crew.
“Even more, for the first time, the five partners of the ISS - USA, Russia, Canada, Japan and ESA - are all represented in the crew of six. I wish all of them a successful mission and I am confident that they will give once more proof that space is where international cooperation can express itself at its best, for the benefit of all of us, citizens on the Earth.”
UPA Latest:
The efforts to approve a six person crew was a logistical marathon, with consumables being the main factor to take into consideration. One of specific concerns related to water supplies for the six person crew, and the need to have a green light to consume recycled waste water from the recently installed Urine Process Assembly (UPA) - which finally received a go for crewmembers to use as drinking water.
“UPA In Flight Maintenance (IFM): This week the crew was successful at removing the malfunctioning check valve from the UPA. After reassembling and reconnecting the system components, a test was run and it appears that the UPA is once again fully functional,” noted May 26’s ISS 8th Floor News (MOD memo) on L2.
“This of course is of great interest in terms of supporting the full complement of 6 crew once the 19S Soyuz arrives. Since there is a slight chance of a subsequent failure in the peristaltic pump which could allow backflow of water into the Distillation Assembly, the flight control team will command the system to shutdown between processing cycles which protects the system from this potential backflow.
“A software patch scheduled for May 28th uplink will relieve the flight control team from taking this manual action. After completion of the first processing cycle, the crew disconnected the EDV-U jumper and connected the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) urine jumper to the UPA. The crew was then given a Go to use the WHC.
“Later in the day, Flight Controllers, Specialists from Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), ISS Management personnel and the Crew made a toast, via videocon and downlinked via space/ground, to the new Water Recovery System (WRS) and the GO for the crew to drink the ISS water. Cheers!”
Dextre Latest:
De Winne - who is taking part in the OasISS mission - will also be the main operator of the Japanese robotic arm and will be one of the two astronauts who will berth the HII-Transfer Vehicle (HTV) to the ISS using the Station’s robotic arm when the Japanese cargo spacecraft arrives at the ISS in September.
Good news was reported on another key robotic element for the Station, via the Canadian Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) “Dextre” - who’s role will be vital for the long-term health of the ISS, with his capabilities including the removal and replacement of dexterous compatible Orbit Replaceable Units (ORUs), along with the servicing of scientific payloads.
Supporting EVA-based maintenance is also part of its role, along with the preposition of ORUs or Integrated Assemblies, the provision of lighting and camera support, actuating external mechanisms, performing inspection tasks, and extending the reach of the SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System).
“Ground Controllers (ROBO) conducted another SPDM On-Orbit Checkout Requirements (OCR) in preparation for the Remote Power Control Module (RPCM) swap operation currently scheduled for Increment 20,” added the 8th Floor. “The main objective was to perform an automatic grasp operation.
“Ground controllers maneuvered the SPDM body and arm 1, while based on the Mobile Remote Servicer (MRS) Base System (MBS), and positioned the arm1 end-effecter over the Robot Micro Conical Tool (RMCT)-1. After calibrating the arm1 force/moment sensor, ROBO then maneuvered the arm over the micro fixture, and executed an auto-grasp with Force/Moment Accommodation (FMA) enabled.
“The team then opened the grippers, backed off the fixture, and the SPDM arm1 and body were re-stowed. This was the first time that we have actually grappled hardware with the SPDM so this is considered to be a major step on the road to our first R&R. Congratulations to Sarmad Aziz and the entire team for this significant achievement.”
La BBC si è un po' confusa :D :
"BREAKING NEWS: Space Shuttle takes off from Kazakhstan"!!!
http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/exp-20-2-580x464.jpg
New Era for ISS Begins As Crew Size Doubles (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/05/26/new-era-for-iss-begins-as-crew-size-doubles/)
Three astronauts set to launch on a Soyuz rocket will bring a new era to the International Space Station by doubling the permanent crew size. Also, for the first time all the ISS partners will be represented on board the station at once as astronauts from NASA, CSA, ESA, JAXA and Russia will be part of the first six-person permanent crew. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:34 p.m. local time (1034 GMT; 0634 EDT) Wednesday from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TMA-15 capsule is expected to dock with the space station about two days later.
On board the Soyuz will be a truly international contingent, with Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, and Belgium’s Frank De Winne. They will join the current crew of the orbiting laboratory: Russia’s Gennady Padalka, U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt and Japan’s Koichi Wakata.
Thirsk called the expansion from a three-person to a six-person crew a “milestone” and said one of their goals was “to prove the station can support six people for a long duration.”
“This is the most international crew we’ve ever had” said Courtenay McMillan, Expedition 20 lead flight director. “It opens up a lot more possibilities and lets us schedule more science. We also have a lot more maintenance activities that can be done. Having six people on board does present a bit of challenge in communications with the ground, as we have twice as many people but no more ‘phone lines’, but folks are getting creative. We’ve learned a lot from the handover periods.”
A current crew of three typically has only about 20 hours a week to devote to science, but with six crew members, ISS officials hope to nearly triple the amount of time spent on science experiments. “This is a big transition from where we have been short on time. Now we have time,” said McMillan. “The crew has been very active in working with science community, ground control teams and to take advantage of the time we have.” McMillan added that the crew will have the ability to do not just new science, but doing additional runs on science that is up on board the station now.”
The last few shuttle missions to the ISS and Progress re-supply ships have been bringing up enough supplies to accommodate the increase in crew size. Now that the urine recycling system is working well, food is the biggest consumable the crews have had to stockpile.
“We have good margins on consumables,” said McMillan. ” We’ve piled up more margin than we usually do, to protect against flight slips. NASA said there is enough supplies on board that the crew could have enough to eat though October, even if no shuttles or Russian ships made it to the station. However two shuttle missions and two Soyuz capsules are scheduled to arrive at the station before the end of October.
evvai ora che sono il doppio magari ogni tanto risponderanno via radio :sofico:
jumpermax
28-05-2009, 22:53
Ok va bene che non è conveniente sotto nessun punto di vista.
Quindi la ISS è mero sviluppo tecnologico, un costosissimo giocattolo per creare tecnologia.
A cosa serve? Secondo il mio punto di vista, a niente e quello che si è fatto con essa lo si sarebbe potuto fare con altre soluzioni meno costose (vedi skylab).
Cioè, voglio dire, qui si sta creando una cosa modulare, non ancora finita, che tra qualche anno viene distrutta (non senza motivo, in base a quello che scrivi).
Quindi un enormemente, spropositatamente costosissimo test di componenti e tecnologie.
Se convermi questa mia visione, SPERO VIVAMENTE che non ne costruiscano mai più di queste cose.
I piani iniziali hanno subito un pesante slittamento per via dei problemi dello shuttle, avrebbe dovuto essere completata nel 2006. Una stazione spaziale che resterà in orbita alla fine dei conti quasi 20 anni mi pare qualcosa di più di un test tecnologico, è un laboratorio di ricerca unico al mondo. Non credo sia paragonabile allo skylab come potenzialità... l'unico termine di paragone può essere la mir che però era grande circa un terzo.
E poi chissà, nel 2020 si vedrà.... la mir è durata il doppio del periodo, anche se poi alla fine i guasti erano sempre più frequenti.
+Benito+
29-05-2009, 19:41
Mi era già stato chiarito che il costo "intrinseco" delle operazioni possibili sulla ISS è minore rispetto ad un equivalente su modello skylab ;)
Saggese ha suggerito la possibilità di utilizzare l'MPLM che verrà (probabilmente) lasciato permanentemente sulla ISS come laboratorio e non solo come "magazzino":
Propositi italiani per la ISS, fra nuovi astronauti e un ''ItalianLab'' (http://www.forumastronautico.it/index.php?topic=11009.0)
Dalle parole di Enrico Saggese al Paris Air Show di Le Bourget sembra trapelare un cauto ottimismo circa le intenzioni e il destino di almeno uno dei 3 moduli MPLM costruiti dall'Italia e attualmente di proprietà NASA.
Nei prossimi anni con il pensionamento della navetta Shuttle si andrà incontro ad un periodo di forte criticità per la ISS riguardo rifornimenti e approvigionamenti.
Per cercare di alleviare tale incombenza è da alcuni mesi nell'aria l'intenzione di mantenere almeno un MPLM permanentemente sulla ISS a partire da STS-133 che sarà l'ultima o la penultima missione della navetta shuttle (attualmente è ancora in fase di valutazione lo scambio di calendario con STS-134).
Riguardo questo proposito si è espresso in questi giorni il Commissario dell'ASI Saggese, ventilando per la prima volta l'intenzione di ASI, se la NASA approvasse la messa in orbita definitiva, di voler utilizzare tale modulo prevalentemente o totalmente a scopi scientifici realizzando un vero e proprio laboratorio tutto Italiano sulla ISS da utilizzare come ricerca per il nostro Paese e come opportunità per incrementare gli slot disponibili per gli astronauti Italiani.
L'MPLM, come già dichiarato in passato, sarebbe Raffaello e "l'idea di avere un laboratorio Italiano sulla ISS sarebbe nettamente preferibile dall'avere un magazzino Italiano sulla ISS" ha dichiarato Saggese.
L'ipotesi è già stata valutata insieme a Jean-Jacques Dordain per arrivare ad un accordo che possa essere vantaggioso per entrambe le Agenzie, raddoppiando teoricamente lo spazio scientifico Europeo sulla ISS con 16 nuovi rack.
Già durante la Presidenza Bignami l'ASI si era detta pronta a spendere di tasca propria i 22 milioni di Euro necessari per adattare un MPLM alla permanenza definitiva sulla ISS, la proposta era stata in un primo momento bocciata da NASA, ma attualmente con la collaborazione di ESA sembra si possa arrivare nei prossimi mesi ad un accordo definitivo sulla questione.
Sempre nella medesima occasione Saggese ha anche manifestato "la volontà di far volare quanto prima la nuova candidata astronauta italiana Cristoforetti", senza ovviamente fare favoritismi o pre-selezioni con il connazionale Parmitano, ma quando potrà volare nello spazio sarà senz'altro "un evento di grande impatto emotivo per il nostro Paese" e l'occasione per attirare l'interesse del grande pubblico e dei media sulle attività spaziali, dimostrando il valore delle persone e delle industrie italiane impegnate in tale settore.
La prima opportunità di volo per Vittori o per uno dei nuovi candidati astronauti italiani scelti dall'ESA dovrebbe essere uno slot a metà 2013 ottenuto con gli accordi bilaterali ASI-NASA.
Altro (http://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?p=27885997) contratto per Thales Alenia Space:
Firmato contratto COTS fra Thales Alenia Space e OSC (http://www.forumastronautico.it/index.php?topic=11022.0)
E' stata annunciata oggi a Parigi, al salone di Le Bourget, la firma del contratto, all'interno del programma della NASA COTS, per la fornitura di sistemi di rifornimento e approvvigionamento alla ISS, fra Thales Alenia Space e OSC.
Thales Alenia Space e OSC, insieme a SpaceX sono risultate le due "cordate" vincitrici della gara di appalto per servizi commerciali di supporto alla Stazione Spaziale Internazionale nei mesi scorsi. La firma annunciata oggi completa la fase di "procurement" la quale ha visto stanziati 3,5 miliardi di dollari complessivi e un contratto da 1,9 miliardi di dollari per l'offerta della joint venture OSC-TAS.
Il contratto firmato oggi comprende la consegna, a partire dal Dicembre 2010 e sino al 2015, di 9 unità complete, di cui un prototipo che è al di fuori del programma di supporto alla ISS, 2 moduli da 2000kg di payload e 6 ulteriori moduli da 2700kg.
Cygnus, questo il nome del sistema proposto, è lanciato da un Taurus II ed è formato da un modulo pressurizzato, direttamente derivato dagli MPLM e ATV e costruito in Italia e da un modulo di servizio "standard" fornito da OSC.
A quanto sembra nelle giuste condizioni la ISS ora è visibile anche di giorno!
http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/iss_strip.gif
ISS Now Visible in Daytime! (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/06/17/iss-now-visible-in-daytime/)
Oh wow! I love satellite watching, and especially the International Space Station, but now I don't have to wait for nightfall anymore. We reported that the ISS had become the second brightest object in the night sky back in March 2009 with the addition of the final set of solar arrays. And now its been confirmed that the space station, under the right conditions, can be visible during the day, too. "On June 13th, I was watching a red-headed woodpecker's nest when the ISS passed overhead," said Brooke O'Klatner of Charlotte, North Carolina, who took this image, which was posted on Spaceweather.com.
And the ISS will get even brighter when the STS-127 mission arrives, hopefully in July (liftoff has been re-scheduled for July 11 after being postponed today because of a hydrogen leak.) The mission will add an addition on to the Kibo lab, and with Endeavour attached to the station, it will be quite bright. Can't wait! In the meantime, I'm going to test out my best eagle eyes and try to see the ISS during the day. If anyone is able to see it during a daytime pass, let us know! (Pictures encouraged!)
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2009/exp.21.med.crop.jpg (http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/06/iss_expedition_1.html)
:D
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2009/exp.21.med.crop.jpg (http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/06/iss_expedition_1.html)
:D
:doh: insistono!
a quando un equipaggio con un Vulcan o un Klingon? ;)
Per chi si fosse sempre domandato dove conservano i consumabili e gli altri materiali all'interno della ISS c'è un tour in HD (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1OTSbIzcwI) dedicato.
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2009/exp.21.med.crop.jpg (http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/06/iss_expedition_1.html)
:D
Non sono aggiornati con le ultime disposizione della Flotta Stellare in materia di uniformi :O
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/lores/iss020e025622.jpg (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e025622.jpg)
Japan's Portion Of The ISS Is Now On Orbit
The Japanese Experiment Module Kibo laboratory and Exposed Facility are featured in this image photographed by a crew member on the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-127) was docked with the station the other day.
Frank1962
01-08-2009, 00:23
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/lores/iss020e025622.jpg (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-20/hires/iss020e025622.jpg)
mazz quant'è grosso ....ed è tutta roba del Giappone, cioè un paese 4 volte più piccolo dell'europa!! :eek:
ps: ma la piccola parte sopra a che serve? ...è pressurizzata?
ps: ma la piccola parte sopra a che serve? ...è pressurizzata?
E' il "Japanese Experiment Logistics Module, Pressurized Section". E' pressurizzato e serve per stoccare esperimenti, campioni e ricambi (da qui il "logistic" nel nome).
Ecco come appare la ISS dopo l'ultima aggiunta:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/ISS_%26_Endeavour_Shadow_STS-127_2.jpg/800px-ISS_%26_Endeavour_Shadow_STS-127_2.jpg (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/ISS_%26_Endeavour_Shadow_STS-127_2.jpg)
+Benito+
01-08-2009, 10:26
manca solo la cupola?
manca solo la cupola?
Tralasciando i russi (che devono ancora lanciare il Multipurpose Laboratory Module, un airlock nuovo e un mini-modulo di docking per le Soyuz) "una volta" mancavano solo il Nodo 3, che adesso si chiama Tranquility, e Cupola.
Con le ultime aggiunte ci saranno anche:
- PLM (Permanent Logistic Module): ovvero un MPLM modificato per la permanenza costante in orbita e che verrà utilizzato come "magazzino".
- AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer): (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Magnetic_Spectrometer) il "famoso" esperimento di fisica delle particelle. Verrà montato sul truss della ISS.
Ammazza quanto sono piccoli i pannelli solari delle Soyuz (o progress, non vedo bene) rispetto a quelli mastodontici dell'ISS :eek:
Frank1962
01-08-2009, 12:30
E' il "Japanese Experiment Logistics Module, Pressurized Section". E' pressurizzato e serve per stoccare esperimenti, campioni e ricambi (da qui il "logistic" nel nome).
chiaro ....a differenza di noi europei non hanno proprio lesinato su nulla questi giapponesi!
Però bella come sfida tecnologica ...sopratutto adesso che si stà concretizzando ;)
ISS: Still in assembly, producing science research accomplishments (http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/08/iss-assembly-producing-science-research-accomplishments/)
The International Space Station (ISS) is fighting back at claims made during the Augustine Commission review into Human Space Flight (HSF), where it was suggested scientists have seen only a small amount of science being produced on the orbital outpost. With a media relations push to counter such claims set to take place on Sunday – NASA produced a 262 page presentation to list the science that has already been conducted, despite the Station still undergoing assembly.
ISS Science:
The International Space Station is nearing the end of that assembly phase – itself a major engineering accomplishment – ahead of a full operational period of around 10 years, providing the Station’s lifetime is extended to 2020.
That extension is expected to be one of the key recommendations of the Augustine review, despite an element of scorn being noted during the public meetings by some scientists via at least one member of the review panel - negativity centered around claims that only a small amount of science has been carried out on the US’ National Laboratory.
While that would be understandable, with the main science-producing modules having to wait their turn in the shuttle manifest for installation and outfitting, the reality is 138 major experiments have been completed on Station – prior to the recent increase of the orbital outpost’s crew to a compliment of six.
“The International Space Station (ISS) celebrated 10 years of operations in November 2008. Today, it is more than a human outpost in low Earth orbit (LEO). It is also an international science laboratory hosting state-of-the-art scientific facilities that support fundamental and applied research across the range of physical and biological sciences,” opened the large presentation, focusing on the scientific element of the Station.
The presentation, entitled “International Space Station Science Research Accomplishments During the Assembly Years: An Analysis of Results from 2000-2008,” is dated June 2009, but has yet to be released. It is expected to be made public during – or shortly after – the Sunday media drive. (However, see link at the end of the article to download the presentation that was acquired by this site).
Citing assembly delays caused by the loss of Columbia during STS-107, the presentation admitted very little real science had been carried out on Station during the first half of this decade.
“While the ISS did not support permanent human crews during the first two years of operations (November 1998 to November 2000), it hosted a few early science experiments months before the first international crew took up residence. Since that time – and simultaneous with the complicated task of ISS construction and overcoming impacts from the tragic Columbia accident – science returns from the ISS have been growing at a steady pace.”
While the presentation is heavily angled towards making inroads into the argument the ISS has failed to produce the scientific results close to a level that had previously been expected, it also makes strong points on how much damage was caused by the loss of the shuttle supply line during the post-Columbia standdown.
“Prior to the Columbia accident, more than 6,600 kg (14,600 lbs) of research equipment and facilities had been brought to ISS. Between the accident and the return to flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery in Jul 2005, 75 kg (165 lbs) of research supplies had been brought up on Russian Progress and Soyuz vehicles.
“The crew of the ISS was also reduced from three to two, and the research program was drastically adjusted to accommodate these changes. Since return to flight in 2005, the research space has grown.”
Although the European ATV has made its debut run to the ISS, with the Japanese HTV soon to follow next month, along with the Commercial partners of Orbital and SpaceX due to begin supply flights in 2012, the loss of the shuttle in 2011 is indirectly referenced via the aforementioned notes on the negative upmass capability to the Station during the standdown of the fleet ahead of Return To Flight.
Should the Augustine Commission recommend the extension of the ISS to 2020, without the extension of the shuttle fleet past 2011, such a major loss in both upmass and downmass will ironically damage the amount of scientific payload that can be launched to the ISS and returned to Earth. The presentation fails to note this problem, and the potential fallout on how much science can be conducted over the next decade as a result.
Specifically, it has been thanks to the return to regular launch operations for the shuttle that a “steady pace” of increased science has resulted in over 100 major scientific accomplishments being achieved on the Station, a number that is set to increase in growth as the six person crew take advantage of the numerous – and international – science racks that are now installed in the various modules, most of which have been launched via shuttle.
“From Expedition 0 through 15, 138 experiments have been operated on the ISS, supporting research for hundreds of ground-based investigators from the U.S. and International Partners. Many experiments are carried forward over several ISS increments, allowing for additional experimental runs and data collection,” added the presentation.
“This report focuses on the experimental results collected to date, including scientific publications from studies that are based on operational data. Today, NASA’s priorities for research aboard the ISS center on understanding human health during long-duration missions, researching effective countermeasures for long-duration crewmembers, and researching and testing new technologies that can be used for future Exploration crews and spacecraft.
“Most research also supports new understandings, methods, or applications that are relevant to life on Earth, such as understanding effective protocols to protect against loss of bone density or better methods for producing stronger metal alloys. Experiment results have already been used in applications as diverse as the manufacture of solar cell and insulation materials for new spacecraft and the verification of complex numerical models for behavior of fluids in fuel tanks.”
As mentioned in the introduction, the science experiments being conducted on the numerous racks on Station are just part of the actual science being conducted. The presentation outlined all elements of science, from the racks, to external payloads such as MISSE – and its relevance to Earth-based applications, and even studies into the mental health of crew members during long duration flights.
While MISSE was singled out for a section on the ISS’ “success stories” – due to its potential use on restoring and protecting valuable art work – the studies into the psychological health of crew members provided one of the more fascinating elements of the presentation.
“Isolated in the microgravity and vacuum of near-Earth orbit, the ISS is a potentially risky place in which to work and live. Mission success and crew safety rely on the ability of station crews to communicate and get along with their fellow crewmembers, regardless of their age, gender, nationality, or personal beliefs and preferences. It is also critical that the station crew has good interactions with members of ground operations.
“The Interactions study recorded crew and crew-ground activities in an effort to fully understand group dynamics, individual psychological health, and factors that both hinder and help daily life on station. The study consisted primarily of a computerized questionnaire that was filled out weekly by crewmembers in space and by ground personnel at NASA Johnson Space Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and the Russian Mission Control Center in Moscow.
“The questionnaire software included a series of questions from three standard mood and interpersonal group climate questionnaires as well as a critical incident log.”
“The Interactions experiment observed the day-to-day relations between the ISS crew and the ground support teams in Houston, Huntsville, Alabama, and Moscow, Russia. Data were collected over a period of 4 years during ISS Expeditions 2 through 9.”
The findings – which will prove to be priceless for when humans eventually travel out of LEO on long duration missions to a base on the moon, and missions to Mars – noted the mental health of crewmembers actually improved as their missions progressed.
“Not surprisingly, the investigation is also identifying differences in mood and group perceptions between Americans and Russians, as well as between crewmembers and Mission Control personnel. In a separate but related study that was conducted by this research team, ISS crewmembers show evidence of an improvement in mental health as they adjust to the environment (adaptation).
“The study indicates that crewmembers improve in mood and social climate over the course of their missions.”
The bulk of the presentation outlined – individually – all of the scientific accomplishments over the early lifetime of the ISS, most of which are clearly aimed at improving life back on Earth.
With the quantity of science set to continue to ramp up over the next few years, a decision not to throw away the capability of the Station in 2016 will gain yet more science from the US’ National Laboratory in space.
*Click here to download a copy of the presentation* (http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=18453.0)
4chr
Additional Lab to be Added to ISS (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/09/04/additional-lab-to-be-added-to-iss/)
Apparently the International Space Station is going to get bigger. According to an article on Flight Global, NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) are preparing to sign an agreement to add another laboratory to the ISS by using a modified multipurpose logistics module (Raffaello) during the final Space Shuttle mission. It will be attached in September 2010 during Endeavour's STS-133 mission. The idea had originally been rejected, but earlier this year ISS program manager Michael Suffredini said using an MPLM for an additional module was being reconsidered.
The Italian-designed and built – but NASA owned – logistics module will be able to bring up extra spare parts and science and equipment racks. The module has 16 equipment racks for its 9,400kg (20,600lb) of cargo that could be used for experiments.
The Italian Space Agency (ASI) will pay €22 million ($31.3 million) to upgrade the module, such as micrometeroid protection. In return the agency is guaranteed a seat on NASA's next crew transport system and six ISS mission opportunities for its Italian astronauts. These are three short-duration missions and three six-month expeditions.
Flight Global reported that "ASI says it can 'confirm that we are going to sign an agreement. One module will became a permanent element of the ISS. It will be an ASI activity with national funds co-ordinated with ESA as the main European partner of the ISS programme.'"
The crew for the final mission may have to be cut from seven to five in order to accommodate the added weight of the module.
4chr
Node 3 Location Issues (http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2009/09/node_3_location.html)
From: DELETED@jsc.nasa.gov
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 3:21 PM
To: DELETED@jsc.nasa.gov
Subject: My Notes: Final Node 3 relocation charts
From this afternoon's meeting with Mr. Suffredini concerning the Node 3 relocation plan.
Node 3 is to remain on the N1p port, and no further work is to be given to the Node 3 temp storage on N1p and later re-location to N1n plan. The PLM will be located N1n, because this location requires the least MMOD shielding (reducing launch weight, and preparation costs).
The Cupola will remain in the planned location. When it looks like Orion may fly, the program will re-look at moving the Cupola at that time to provide a back-up docking port.
The desire to relocate Node 3 was to provide a back-up port for each visiting vehicle, and also to provide 2 additional available ports for future growth of ISS. Mr. Suffredini noted that Biggalow has approached NASA about docking a module to ISS, which he would like to try to accommodate. However, the cost and risk impacts to performing the Node 3 relocation in FY2010 drove the decision to not relocate Node 3.
It was noted my many in the room that if needed in the future, the team thought they could find a way to relocate the Node 3 at that time (given more time to work on the plan and to provided the needed hardware, training and procedures, etc.).
Non mi dispiacerebbe vedere un BA 330 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BA_330) come modulo della ISS. Il ritorno di Transhab (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhab) in sostanza :D
With almost two dozen layers, TransHab’s foot-thick inflatable shell is a marvel of innovative design. The layers are fashioned to break up particles of space debris and tiny meteorites that may hit the shell with a speed seven times as fast as a bullet. The outer layers protect multiple inner bladders, made of a material that holds in the module’s air. The shell also provides insulation from temperatures in space that can range from plus 121 degrees Celsius (plus 250 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Sun to minus 128 degrees Celsius (minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade.
The key to the debris protection is successive layers of Nextel, a material commonly used as insulation under the hoods of many cars, spaced between several-inches-thick layers of open cell foam, similar to foam used for chair cushions on Earth. The Nextel and foam layers cause a particle to shatter as it hits, losing more and more of its energy as it penetrates deeper.
Many layers into the shell is a layer of super-strong woven Kevlar that holds the module’s shape. The air is held inside by three bladders of Combitherm, a material commonly used in the food-packing industry. The innermost layer, forming the inside wall of the module, is Nomex cloth, a fireproof material that also protects the bladder from scuffs and scratches.
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2009/oo2009-3277.jpg
Handing Over Tranquility (http://www.onorbit.com/node/1664)
The European Space Agency, or ESA, will transfer ownership of the Tranquility node to NASA on Thursday, Nov. 19. NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will host a commemorative ceremony at 3 p.m. EST.
Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the station's life support systems. Attached to the node is a cupola, a unique work station with windows on its six sides and top. The module will be delivered to the station during space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 mission, targeted for launch Feb. 4, 2010.
Tranquility is the last element of a barter agreement for station hardware. ESA contributed the node in exchange for NASA's delivery of ESA's Columbus laboratory to the station. Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, built the module.
NASA, ESA, Thales and Boeing managers involved in building and processing the node for flight will be available for a question-and-answer session after the ceremony. Media representatives planning to attend must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 2 p.m. for transportation to the Space Station Processing Facility. Participants must be dressed in full-length pants, flat shoes that entirely cover the feet, and shirts with sleeves.
Reporters without permanent Kennedy credentials should submit a request online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Foreign journalists must apply for credentials by 4:30 p.m., Nov. 4, and U.S. reporters must apply by 4:30 p.m., Nov. 17. For more information on the space station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
Saying Goodbye to HTV (http://www.onorbit.com/node/1685)
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/lores/iss021e016804.jpg (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/hires/iss021e016804.jpg)
Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the International Space Station's Canadarm2 grapples the unpiloted Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) in preparation for its release from the station. European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander; NASA astronaut Nicole Stott and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, both flight engineers, used the station's robotic arm to grab the HTV cargo craft, filled with trash and unneeded items, and unberth it from the Harmony node's nadir port. The HTV was successfully unberthed at 10:18 a.m. (CDT) on Oct. 30, 2009, and released from the station's Canadarm2 at 12:32 p.m.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/lores/iss021e016414.jpg (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/hires/iss021e016414.jpg)
European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander, works in the vestibule between the International Space Station's Harmony node and the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) in preparation for the release of the HTV scheduled for Oct. 30, 2009.
Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the International Space Station's Canadarm2 unberths the unpiloted Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) in preparation for its release from the station. European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander; NASA astronaut Nicole Stott and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, both flight engineers, used the station's robotic arm to grab the HTV cargo craft, filled with trash and unneeded items, and unberth it from the Harmony node's nadir port. The HTV was successfully unberthed at 10:18 a.m. (CDT) on Oct. 30, 2009, and released from the station's Canadarm2 at 12:32 p.m.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/lores/iss021e017065.jpg (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/hires/iss021e017065.jpg)
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/lores/iss021e017073.jpg
(http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/hires/iss021e017073.jpg)
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/lores/iss021e016849.jpg (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/hires/iss021e016849.jpg)
Cliccando sulle immagini si arriva alla versione ad alta risoluzione
Sbaglio o la Soyuz che si vede in una delle foto ha i pannelli danneggiati?
(non che siano di importanza fondamentale ora)
Sbaglio o la Soyuz che si vede in una delle foto ha i pannelli danneggiati?
(non che siano di importanza fondamentale ora)
Beh uddio, non dovrebbe essere una capsula di salvataggio?!
Sbaglio o la Soyuz che si vede in una delle foto ha i pannelli danneggiati?
(non che siano di importanza fondamentale ora)
A vedere un altra immagine (http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-21/hires/iss021e016836.jpg) della stessa Soyuz mi sembra più una semitrasparenza "strana" dei pannelli che un qualche tipo di danneggiamento.
(Da cosa possa dipendere questa disomogeneità non lo so..)
Beh uddio, non dovrebbe essere una capsula di salvataggio?!
Beh, a dire il vero e' IL mezzo con il quale torneranno a casa 3 dei 6 membri dell'equipaggio dell'ISS.
Space Junk May Force Crew from ISS (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/11/06/space-junk-may-force-crew-from-iss/)
A hard to track piece of space junk may come within a half a kilometer of the International Space Station later today, and the NASA managers are considering asking the crew to board the docked Soyuz capsules as a precaution. The time of closest approach is at 10:48 p.m. EST, and the object was detected too late for the station to do an evasive maneuver. Depending on the outcome of additional tracking data analysis, the crew may be awakened later directed to go into the Soyuz vehicles around 10:30 pm or given option to sleep in Soyuz tonight. NASA says they don't believe the crew is at risk, but precautions are prudent in dealing with space debris.
The crew was told about the debris, which ground stations have not been able to be track consistently, said NASA spokesman Kyle Herring. Trajectory experts are continuing to verify information about the debris. "All this is a precaution, and we do not believe the crew is in any danger at this time or at the time of closest approach, but are making preparations in the unlikely event the approach would be closer than expected," Herring said.
We'll provide more information as it becomes available.
4chr
Wayne Hale ha un parere "critico" (per usare un eufemismo :D) della cancellazione dell'X-38 (o meglio delle scelte politiche che l'hanno provocata):
Gathering Dust (http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/waynehalesblog.blog/posts/post_1257436839652.html)
By chance I was in Omaha this week when the news was announced that the X-38 was going on display in the Strategic Air & Space Museum there. What an interesting and out of the way place to display this remarkable device. My work schedule didn’t allow me the luxury of a visit to the museum, but then I’ve seen the X-38 up close before.
Disclaimer: I was a member of an independent review team for the X-38 development for a short period of time.
The X-38 was a tremendously ingenious device lead by a group of talented and unorthodox NASA employees. Their leader, John Muratore, one of the most gifted systems engineers I have ever known. These “pirates” who worked largely free of the typical government space bureaucracy in a skunk works type environment. Free to innovate, free to be highly flexible, co-located with the hardware, they were on the brink of a stunning technological achievement when politics intervened.
The X-38 was a lifting body spacecraft that was to serve as the International Space Station’s lifeboat. It was the prototype of the Crew Rescue Vehicle, the CRV. If it had been allowed to succeed, it would have been an alternative to the Russian Soyuz in that role. As a spacecraft it was the potentially evolvable beginning of new space taxis that would have been able to provide alternate ways to get humans to low earth orbit and back. Again, eliminating our sole reliance on the venerable Soyuz, but also providing a way to rotate crews without the Shuttle – which we so desperately needed after Columbia. And the X-38 would have preceded the proposed commercial human launch vehicles by almost a decade.
Unfortunately, new political leadership inside the beltway thought that NASA’s only problem was not being able to do our accounting in line with the arcane rules proposed by the OMB. The new political leadership – which by their own admission – knew nothing about the technical aspects of getting into space – needed a scapegoat, an example, something that they could “cut” to show that they were serious about keeping NASA financially in line.
So they picked the brightest star of the future of human spacecraft and killed it with extreme prejudice.
A few years later, in the Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, Admiral Gehman stated that the failure to replace the Shuttle with something safer was “a failure of national leadership.” The cancellation of the X-38 is exhibit A of that failure.
So if you get to Nebraska (Nebraska?!?) go out to the museum and see the nearly flight ready X-38 vehicle there. Think about how the history of the last decade in space exploration might have been different if the mindset inside the DC beltway was focused on achievement instead of ignorantly punishing the most successful. Penny wise and pound foolish.
There are many morals that can be drawn from this history lesson. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to see if you can come to the most obvious conclusions, and how they are still in force today.
Nebraska is a really nice state, and Omaha is a really nice town. I appreciate them providing a venue for the X-38.
And if you look up John Muratore, you will find him teaching college students about systems engineering. We need more of that.
Shame on those people who “know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/355899main_EC99-45080-25_4x3_946-710.jpg
Purtroppo sono sempre i soldi i problema, se non fosse per la guerra in Afghanistan o Irak probabilmente le cose sarebbero diverse, oppure se ai tempi dell'incidente del columbia il progetto fosse stato ancora vivo adesso avremo meno problemi.
Una fine simile l'ha fatta anche l'X-33 (anche se c'erano alcuni problemi di masse da risolvere - superati, ironia della sorte, troppo tardi per salvare il progetto)
Sono sempre stato affascinato dai Lifting Bodies (anche lo Space Shuttle e' in parte un lifting body, con in piu' le ali a delta! :cool: ).
Non sarebbe male se ri-tirassero fuori dal cappello l'X-38!
noto solo ora...
quante accidenti di missioni ha fatto quel B-52??? :eek:
noto solo ora...
quante accidenti di missioni ha fatto quel B-52??? :eek:
Hahahhah io pensavo fossero una specie sfoghi di qualcosa :D
noto solo ora...
quante accidenti di missioni ha fatto quel B-52??? :eek:
Al momento del ritiro nel 2004 era il B-52 più vecchio (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-005-DFRC.html) in attività (quasi 50 anni), ma "paradossalmente" quello con meno ore di volo (2443.8).
SFN:
Russian rocket rolls to pad with space station module
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 8, 2009
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp21/091108mrmroll/soyuz1.jpg
A Soyuz rocket topped with the new Poisk module for the International Space Station took a train ride to historic Launch Pad No. 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday morning, two days before the new component begins its trek to the orbiting complex.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp21/091108mrmroll/
SFN:
Poisk launches to add new room for space station
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 10, 2009
A Soyuz rocket blasted off from the plains of Kazakhstan Tuesday with the International Space Station's newest addition, a module doubling as a docking port for visiting spacecraft and an airlock for spacewalking astronauts.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp21/091110mrmlaunch/poiskart.jpg
The 168-foot-tall booster roared away from Launch Pad No. 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1422 GMT (9:22 a.m. EST) Tuesday, or just after nightfall Tuesday night in Kazakhstan.
The venerable Soyuz, flying for the 1,750th time in its various configurations, launched into mostly clear skies, fading from view of ground cameras as it shed four strap-on boosters.
The three-stage rocket delivered its payload, the Poisk docking compartment, to a low-altitude injection orbit about nine minutes after liftoff.
Poisk, which means "search" or "explore" in Russian, is attached to the service module of a Russian Progress resupply ship, providing electrical power and propulsion for the spacecraft during its two-day journey to the space station.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp21/091110mrmlaunch/
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/images/medium/2009-6128-m.jpg
link (http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=44135)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, members of the STS-130 crew receive familiarization training on the Tranquility node during their crew equipment interface test. The cupola, a unique work station with six windows on its sides and one on top, is attached to the end of Tranquility. Tranquility, the payload for the STS-130 mission, is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the International Space Station's life support systems. The module was built for the European Space Agency by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. The cupola resembles a circular bay window that will provide a vastly improved view of the station's exterior. Just under 10 feet in diameter, the module will accommodate two crew members and portable workstations that can control station and robotic activities. The multi-directional view will allow the crew to monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects. Endeavour is targeted to launch Feb. 4, 2010. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Foto esclusiva delle armi in dotazione all'equipaggio della ISS per combattere eventuali invasioni aliene:
http://www.russiatoday.com/s/obj/2009-11-11/razrab_obor_prom.jpg
In the photo I’m holding the latest gadget developed by our military.
The device works in two modes. One allows eavesdropping on our colleagues in the American segment. You can get into the FCB (Functional Cargo Block – ed.) and record all their conversations.
Also, the device can be used for martial arts training – to be prepared for an alien attack on the Russian segment of the ISS.
Guys, it’s just a joke, I hope you realize! It’s not some weapon or a spy gadget. Just an old pump (from the temperature regulation system – ed.) that Roma and I replaced!
Blog (http://www.russiatoday.com/About_Us/Blogs/orbital-log/)
:D
gabi.2437
19-11-2009, 12:51
In before Giacobbo prende la stringa "Also, the device can be used for martial arts training – to be prepared for an alien attack on the Russian segment of the ISS." e dice che i russi si preparano a affrontare un'invasione aliena :D :D
SFN:
NASA assumes ownership of next space station module
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 21, 2009
The European Space Agency formally handed over ownership of the Tranquility module to NASA on Friday, two-and-a-half months before the connecting node's February launch on shuttle Endeavour.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0911/21tranquility/node3.jpg
The exchange occurred in a ceremony inside the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. ESA space station program manager Bernardo Pitto signed over control of the module to Mike Suffredini, the NASA station program manager.
"We're very proud to accept this module," Suffredini said.
Tranquility and a small windowed room called Cupola will be launched together on Endeavour's STS-130 mission, currently scheduled for liftoff Feb. 4. The modules have a combined launch mass of almost 30,000 pounds.
The modules are among the last major components of the complex to be prepared for launch inside the cavernous processing building. The facility has been home to U.S., European and Japanese modules before their launch to the station.
"It's sort of a bittersweet moment, as we are tailing off of assembly," Suffredini said. "As we into operations, facilities like this one will be more barren as we put things together on orbit."
"There's no room to be sentimental," Patti said. "It would actually be worse if everything was still here."
Built by Thales Alenia Space in Italy, Tranquility measures nearly 15 feet in diameter and almost 23 feet long. The barrel-shaped module was delivered to KSC in May.
ESA and the Italian Space Agency oversaw the construction in a barter arrangement with NASA. The trade, which also included the building of the Harmony module, was in exchange for a space shuttle launch for Europe's Columbus laboratory module in 2008.
Equipment in Tranquility will help control the station's atmosphere, generate oxygen and recycle water. The COLBERT treadmill and a toilet will also be permanently located inside the module.
Tranquility allows astronauts to move most of the hardware from the Destiny laboratory, freeing up more space for research.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0911/21tranquility/cupola.jpg
The Cupola includes seven windows to give station crew members a panoramic view for Earth observation and robotics operations, including capturing incoming cargo vehicles for berthing to the outpost.
Suffredini said Tranquility will be attached to the port side of the Node 1 module, called Unity. The Cupola will eventually be attached to the down-facing side of Tranquility. A small module connector named Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 will be repositioned to the end of Tranquility, according to Suffredini.
"We are trying to optimize its location, based on where other modules ultimately end up," Suffredini said.
Tranquility was originally supposed to be located on the nadir, or Earth-facing, port on Unity. But that would cause clearance issues with docking Russian spacecraft on the nearby Zarya module.
A Russian stowage module was originally expected to launch by the time Tranquility arrived, providing an extension to clear the docking clearance concerns. The Russian component now will not launch until 2011.
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0911/21tranquility/
http://rt.com/s/obj/2009-11-25/roscosmos_shtany_big2.jpg
:D
Romka and “Chibis”
(http://rt.com/About_Us/Blogs/orbital-log/2009-11-25.html)
Romka is preparing for a trip home. He’s already started training in “Chibis” (Russian for lapwing; Russian space suits and similar equipment is traditionally given bird names – RT). It is a pair of special pants that stimulates blood flow to lower body by electric discharges. It is done to speed up recovery later on Earth. Romka wore it for half an hour, and I was taking pictures. We took medical readings too.
Also, Romka takes vitamins and salt supplements, and does extra exercises. He jogs for an hour not once but twice a day. And he spends an extra hour on strength exercises.
And now every day he has one hour for packing things. Earth radioed him a list of returnable cargo, so he takes his time in gathering them and stockpiling near the Soyuz. Plus his personal possessions… For what good they are. Russian cosmonauts take only one kilo of their own things on a return trip.
Romka is leaving soon… I feel sad…
Una nuova tecnologia per rifornire di propellente satelliti non progettati per permettere questa operazione potrebbe essere testata sulla ISS:
NASA May Test Refueling Satellites On ISS (http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2010/01/12/01.xml&headline=NASA%20May%20Test%20Refueling%20Satellites%20On%20ISS)
Engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are developing an in-orbit test bed to validate techniques for refueling satellites that weren’t designed to be refueled, using procedures growing out of the experience gained servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.
Preston Burch, the Hubble program manager, said Jan. 11 that the experiment would use the Canadian-built Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, known as Dextre, to simulate cutting into a spacecraft’s insulation, tapping into its fuel plumbing, and refilling its tanks to extend its service life.
“We’ve already developed a prototype tool that’s pretty cool that can cut through the external skin or insulation on the satellite, snip the safety wire on the cap on the fuel valve, attach the hose and turn the valve and transfer the fuel into the vehicle,” Burch said. “We’re hoping to demonstrate that on the International Space Station.”
The work started with $20 million that Congress appropriated in Fiscal 2009 to capture the lessons learned from the five Hubble-servicing missions with spacewalking astronauts, and the planning that went into a robotic servicing mission that ultimately was dropped. Burch stressed that the appropriation doesn’t cover an actual flight test, which would involve attaching a test bed to the outside of the station and putting Dextre to work on it.
“This is being proposed,” Burch said. “We’re laying the groundwork for doing that in the future funding that we expect will be coming to this team.”
The Goddard team is also soliciting ideas from industry and space agencies worldwide on how to use in-space servicing to enable “previously impossible” missions like refueling satellites. Responses to a Dec. 8 request for information are due Jan 15, with a workshop planned next month to refine the effort.
The study, which was ordered by Congress in appropriating the $20 million, will gauge how robotic and human servicing can aid several notional missions in low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit and at the sun-Earth Lagrange points about 1 million miles from Earth. In addition to refueling spacecraft, possibilities include installing new instruments and assembling spacecraft too large to launch in one piece, Burch said.
A final report on study results is due on Capitol Hill in September.
"BBC reports that the European Space Agency's (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain says that uncertainty is undermining the best use of the ISS and that only guaranteeing the ISS's longevity would cause more scientists to come forward to run experiments on the orbiting laboratory. 'I am convinced that stopping the station in 2015 would be a mistake because we cannot attract the best scientists if we are telling them today "you are welcome on the space station but you'd better be quick because in 2015 we close the shop,'' says Dordain. One of the biggest issues holding up an agreement on station-life extension is the human spaceflight review ordered by US President Barack Obama and the future of US participation in the ISS is intimately tied to the outcome of that review. Dordain says that no one partner in the ISS project could unilaterally call an end to the platform and that a meeting would be held in Japan later in the year where he hoped the partners could get some clarity going forward."
SlashDot.org (http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/01/15/2017242/ESA-Wants-ISS-Extended-To-2020?from=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot+%28Slashdot%29&utm_content=Google+International)
Ora gli astronauti sulla ISS possono accedere direttamente a internet:
NASA's space tweets are part of a larger conversation (http://gcn.com/articles/2010/02/01/technicalities-nasa-space-tweets.aspx)
ONE SMALL TWEET: It might not qualify as a giant leap for mankind — and it’s sure not up to the standards of “Mr. Watson, come here!” — but a real-time tweet has been issued from orbit. On Jan. 22, astronaut T.J. Creamer, a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, signed on to Twitter as @Astro_TJ and issued the first live missive from the great beyond, NASA said. Past tweets from space were e-mailed to the ground and then posted to a Twitter account.
True to the format, his message said nothing: "Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station — the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send your ?s" The universe might be infinite, but Twittered space messages are still limited to 140 sliced, diced and mutilated characters.
Nevertheless, the software upgrade that made it possible is pretty impressive. The system, which NASA calls the Crew Support LAN, taps into existing communications links — a Ku satellite band with 3 megabits/sec upstream and 10 megabits/sec downstream — to give astronauts Web access, along with the ability to better communicate with family and loved ones during their long stays on the space station. All that while traveling at 17,300 mph some 250 miles above the Earth.
Tweeting from space might be trendy, but it’s also a small part of NASA’s efforts toward faster space transmissions and, ultimately, a true space-based Internet.
If beings are out there, we’ll at least be ready to friend them.
Con l'installazione del Nodo 3 "Tranquility" e della Cuploa, la costruzione il segmento americano della ISS (e quindi di gran parte della stazione) è finalmente completata!
SFN:
Crew praises 'phenomenal' view from station's cupola
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: February 19, 2010
Space station commander Jeffrey Williams and George Zamka, commander of the shuttle Endeavour, cut a ceremonial red ribbon late Thursday and declared the new cupola observation deck "open for business."
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts130/100218fd12/cupola.jpg
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts130/100218fd12/index2.html
Un problema sul computer primario (C&C No. 1) di controllo della ISS ha causato un'interruzione di circa 10 minuti nelle comunicazioni (banda S) e nel donwlink della telemetria. Automaticamente, come previsto, un secondo computer ha assunto il controllo e ripristinato le comunicazioni.
Attualmente il C&C No. 3 sta operando da "prime computer", il No. 2 è in "backup position" e il No. 1 (quello che è "crashato") è in standy-by.
SFN:
Space station computer fails
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: February 21, 2010
A central computer failure aboard the International Space Station early today briefly knocked the lab complex out of contact with mission control, but a backup computer took over as programmed, officials said, and communications were restored. Engineers are investigating the failure.
"The team is on console working through a fault tree to fully recover systems on board the station, which has suffered a failure of the primary command and control computer," said NASA commentator Pat Ryan.
"Just before 9 a.m. EST "the team here in Houston lost S-band communications with the International Space Station. There was an indication that the primary C&C went down. Expedition 22 commander Jeff Williams called down when the station moved back into communications range at 8:55 (Central time) this morning and confirmed that the station had had a primary C&C failure. One of the three command and control computers, he reports, is hard failed. C&C No. 3 is now operating as the prime computer and No. 2 is currently in the backup position ready to take over for No. 3 if there is any difficulty there."
During normal operations, one of the three C&C computers, known as a multiplexer/demultiplexer, operates as the "prime" machine, allowing station astronauts and ground controllers to send commands to various systems and providing critical telemetry.
A second C&C computer operates in backup mode, ready to take over if the prime computer suffers a problem, and the third machine operates in standby in a domino-like software architecture. The computer system is critical to all aspects of space station operation.
"At this point there is still no definitive answer as to what caused the problem, but the communications with the station have been returned," Ryan said. "For the crew members themselves, today was scheduled to be an off-duty day. They've been awake since midnight Houston time and had their only real task on the schedule, the weekly housecleaning, early in the day. So the systems on orbit are working in good shape with the exception of that failed command and control computer. But the backup and the backup's backup are operating just fine."
He said the space station's systems are "stable at this time and there's no issue for the safety of the crew members."
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts130/100221isscomputer/
:eek:
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2010/ooissradarbildHiRes.jpg
TerraSAR-X Image of the Month: The International Space Station
DLR: On 13 March 2008, the International Space Station (ISS) passed across the field-of-view of Germany's remote sensing satellite, TerraSAR-X, at a distance of 195 kilometres (122 miles) and at a relative speed of 34,540 kilometres per hour (over 22,000 mph). The encounter lasted for about three seconds, but this brief moment was long enough for the synthetic aperture radar on TerraSAR-X to acquire an image of the ISS, a structure measuring about 110 metres by 100 metres by 30 metres.
http://www.onorbit.com/node/2024
http://www.ilmessaggero.it/articolo.php?id=109141&sez=HOME_NELMONDO :eek:
http://www.ilmessaggero.it/articolo.php?id=109141&sez=HOME_NELMONDO :eek:
http://www.agi.it/iphone/notizie/201007041844-est-rom0080-spazio_navicella_cargo_russa_aggancia_stazione
http://www.agi.it/iphone/notizie/201007041844-est-rom0080-spazio_navicella_cargo_russa_aggancia_stazione
Meno male :) comunque non è rimasto carburante per alzare l'orbita della stazione no?
SFN:
Japan dispatches delivery mission to space station
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: January 22, 2011
http://spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv2/110122launch/launch.jpg
LOS ANGELES -- Japan successfully launched a robotic spaceship Saturday with supplies to stock the International Space Station with scientific gear, spare parts and provisions for the lab's six-person crew.
The 35,000-pound orbital freighter blasted off aboard an H-2B rocket at 0537:57 GMT (12:37:57 a.m. EST) from Launch Pad No. 2 at the Tanegashima Space Center, an island base at the southern tip of Japan.
The 186-foot-tall rocket soared into a mostly clear sky, breaking the sound barrier about a minute after setting off from its seaside launch pad. Four solid rocket boosters jettisoned two minutes into the flight, and the launcher's twin first stage main engines cut off less than four minutes later.
A hydrogen-fueled second stage placed the H-2 Transfer Vehicle in orbit and deployed the payload 15 minutes after leaving Earth. The rocket was aiming for an orbit between 124 miles and 186 miles high with an inclination angle of 51.6 degrees to the equator.
The rocket's actual orbital parameters were not immediately available, but a NASA spokesperson reported the launch was successful and said the HTV was transmitting data back to Japanese engineers in Tsukuba, a scientific hub just outside of Tokyo.
"The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and, at about 15 minutes and 13 seconds after liftoff, the separation of the Kounotori 2 was confirmed," the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said in a written statement.
Japan is calling the spacecraft Kounotori 2, which means white stork.
JAXA confirmed the craft was controlling its orientation in space and activating key systems in the moments after reaching orbit.
The launch was delayed two days by bad weather earlier this week.
Saturday's mission is the second time Japan has launched the H-2B rocket and HTV cargo ship. JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries developed both vehicles as part of their contribution to the space station program.
NASA reserves room on HTV missions for U.S. equipment as part of a barter agreement in return for the space shuttle's launch of Japan's Kibo module, the station's largest laboratory.
The U.S. space agency provided 4,840 pounds of cargo for the HTV flight, including nearly 2,000 pounds of unpressurized gear comprising two large spare units mounted on the craft's exposed module.
Stretching 33 feet long and 14 feet wide, the unmanned cargo vessel is carrying more equipment on this flight than on its first mission in 2009. Its total cargo load amounts to nearly 8,500 pounds, according to NASA.
http://spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv2/110122launch/htvarrive.jpg
The debut HTV flight had extra batteries and propellant for several key demonstrations before approaching the space station. Those have been removed from this mission.
Japanese engineers optimized the interior of the spacecraft, relocating ventilation ducts and lights to free up space for more cargo. Another change allowed the HTV to carry more bags of small internal logistics items, according to JAXA.
Designers also modified navigation and rendezvous software used in the HTV's flight in space.
The HTV features 57 solar panels arranged on the exterior of the ship for power production. The forward end of the craft is called the pressurized logistics carrier and the mid-section contains unpressurized cargo. The back end of the HTV is the service module housing avionics and propulsion systems.
Japan is building five more HTVs for launch about once per year through about 2016. The next flight is expected in early 2012.
Kounotori 2 will fire engines early Saturday to raise its orbit and set a course to approach the International Space Station. A further series of maneuvers over the next four days will set the stage for the ship's arrival at the complex early Thursday.
Four main engines and 28 maneuvering thrusters will fine-tune the HTV's rendezvous with the station. The jets are wired to two redundant control strings.
The engine burns will place the HTV in position for its laser-guided navigation system to guide the ship to a capture point about 30 feet directly beneath the outpost's Kibo module.
Astronauts Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli will grapple the barrel-shaped spacecraft with the lab's robot arm and attach the ship to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module. Plans call for the HTV to be robotically captured at 1144 GMT (6:44 a.m. EST) Thursday. It should be firmly bolted to the station a few hours later.
In early February, the station crew will transfer two NASA payloads from the craft's external cargo hold. One unit is a box with electrical circuit breakers and video equipment, and another is a spare flex hose rotary coupler, a crucial component in the space station's cooling system.
http://spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv2/110122launch/htv2.jpg
The outpost's Canadian and Japanese robot arms will pull a cargo pallet from the HTV and place it on the porch of the Kibo lab module. Dextre, a two-armed human-like robot, will move the payloads from the HTV pallet to the space station.
Not all of the action will be going on outside the complex. Astronauts inside the station will also be unloading food, water, computers and tons of spare parts from the HTV's pressurized cabin.
Eight refrigerator-sized racks are inside the HTV. Two of the racks are Japanese science payloads that will go inside the Kibo module. The others are resupply racks containing a variety of equipment and supplies.
Once all the cargo is removed, the crew will place trash inside the craft for disposal.
The transfer work will be interrupted in late February, when the astronauts will relocate the HTV from the bottom port to the upper position on Harmony. The temporary move is scheduled for around Feb. 18, clearing room for the shuttle Discovery's visit to the complex in late February and early March.
The freighter will be returned to the Earth-facing port around March 8.
The ship is scheduled to leave the station March 28 and plunge back into the atmosphere the next day, destroying the spacecraft and getting rid of the station's waste in a fireball over the Pacific Ocean.
The first half of 2011 is a busy time for the space station. At least two space shuttle visits are planned, plus Japan's HTV and Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle will deliver supplies to the outpost. Soyuz capsules will come and go with crews and Progress spacecraft ferry cargo for the Russian segment of the station.
The next Progress freighter is scheduled to launch Jan. 27. The European Space Agency plans to dispatch the ATV to the station Feb. 15.
Late February and early March will be the only time in the station's history that all of its existing piloted and unpiloted visiting vehicles will be present at the orbiting lab. If schedules hold, the shuttle Discovery, HTV, ATV, Soyuz and Progress spacecraft should be docked to the complex at the same time.
http://spaceflightnow.com/h2b/htv2/110122launch/
+Benito+
23-01-2011, 08:13
Una bella prova per la ISS
Purtroppo ieri il primo lancio post-Shuttle di rifornimento della ISS è fallito. La capsula cargo Progress M-12M lanciata come sempre da un razzo Soyuz-U non ha raggiunto l'orbita, probabilmente a causa di un malfunzionamento nel motore RD-0110 del terzo stadio.
Si tratta del primo lancio fallito dall'avvio del programma Progress nel 1978. La ISS non è in pericolo o a corto di rifornimenti, ma attualmente ogni lancio è sospeso fino a conclusione delle indagini ed alle eventuali modifiche tecniche.
SFN:
Station partners assess impacts after cargo launch failure
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: August 24, 2011
The upper stage of a Soyuz-U booster carrying an unmanned Russian Progress supply ship malfunctioned and shut down five minutes and 20 seconds after launch Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA officials said, sending 2.9 tons of space station supplies and equipment crashing back to Earth in the first post-shuttle launch to the lab complex, officials said.
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp28/110824prog44p/launch.jpg
It was the second failure in a row for the Russian space program after the Breeze-M upper stage of a more powerful Proton rocket malfunctioned last Thursday, stranding a communications satellite in the wrong orbit. The Breeze-M is not related to the Soyuz-U's upper stage.
The Progress M-12M/44P spacecraft was loaded with 2,050 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water and 2,777 pounds of U.S. and Russian dry cargo. While the supply train to the space station is critical for supporting a full-time crew of six, the lab complex currently is in good shape, flush with supplies and equipment delivered to the outpost aboard the shuttle Atlantis in July.
But engineers want to find out what went wrong with the Soyuz-U upper stage as soon as possible because it is virtually identical to the third stage used by Russia's manned Soyuz spacecraft. Launch of the next manned Soyuz mission is targeted for Sept. 22.
"So obviously, this has implications to the vehicle on orbit and the crew as well," said Mike Suffredini, manager of the space station program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Our Russian colleagues ... will immediately begin to assess the data that's available to try to determine root cause."
But given the supplies already stored on board the space station, "we're in a good position logistically to withstand this loss of supplies," Suffredini said. "And in fact, I would tell you we can go several months without a resupply vehicle if that becomes necessary."
Three station crew members -- Expedition 28 commander Andrey Borisenko, Alexander Samokutyaev and Ronald Garan -- are scheduled to return to Earth Sept. 8 aboard the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft.
They are to be replaced by Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin and NASA flight engineer Dan Burbank, scheduled for launch Sept. 22 aboard the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft. It is not yet known what impact the Progress failure might have on that launch, but Suffredini said the departing crew can extend its stay if necessary to continue normal science operations while the Russians work to resolve the Progress anomaly.
"This particular crew, they're nominal return on the eighth of September resulted in a (156)-day period on orbit," he said. "We nominally plan for 180 days and in fact, we have about a 30-day contingency on that. So we have at least 40 to 50 days of contingency for the crew to stay on orbit that much longer to allow us to stay at six crew while they sort out the anomaly."
In a worst-case scenario, he said, the station could make it to March without any additional cargo. But Borisenko's crew would have to head home sometime in October, if the upper stage problem is not resolved by then, leaving the station with a crew of three until replacements could be launched. While that would reduce the amount of research that could be conducted, the station would be in no immediate danger.
"At some point, the vehicle on orbit that has Ron and Andrey and Sasha will time out and so we will have to bring them home," Suffredini said. "But operating at a three-crew size is something we're familiar with and able to do, although it would have implications in our ability to perform research."
Soyuz crew ferry craft are certified for between 200 and 210 days in orbit. Borisenko, Samokutyaev and Garan blasted off April 4 U.S. time, so they have nearly eight weeks of margin beyond the planned Sept. 8 landing target. If their stay is extended because of the Progress investigation, their station crewmates -- Mike Fossum, Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa -- could delay their return to Earth about six weeks past the current Nov. 16 target.
Given the safety record of the Soyuz-U rocket -- 745 successful launches and just 21 failures over nearly four decades -- NASA managers are optimistic the Russians will resolve the problem before it would be necessary to reduce the station's crew size.
The Progress mission began with an on-time liftoff at 9:00:11 a.m. EDT (GMT-4). The initial phases of flight appeared normal as the Soyuz-U rocket climbed away from its firing stand under a cloudless blue sky. But during the third stage"burn," something went wrong and "the vehicle itself commanded an engine shutdown due to an engine anomaly," Suffredini said. The spacecraft was not going fast enough to reach orbit and U.S. tracking systems never saw the Progress climb above the horizon.
Maxim Matuchen, director of the Russian mission control center, radioed the news to the station's crew.
"Following 320 seconds of flight there was a failure in the upper stage of the launch vehicle," he said. "We lost comm after a while with the launch vehicle and the vehicle itself. And we did not report stage separation. In the previous comm pass, we attempted to contact the vehicle through every possible channel, commands, orbital monitoring, telemetry, and we have just finished our second comm pass, where we invoked all of the communications facilities. We sent commands to activate the comm (equipment) on board, unfortunately in vain."
"Understood, copy," Borisenko replied from orbit.
"This is it for the moment, we'll try and figure it out, what has happened, what the cause was, I just wanted to let you know and inform you, keep you in the picture."
"Thank you," Borisenko said. "This is very important that you let us know so quickly. Thank you from the entire crew."
Here is a list of planned flights to the International Space Station through the end of 2011 (best viewed with fixed-width font):
DATE.......GMT...........EVENT
08/24/11...01:00:11 PM...Progress M-12M/44P launch
09/08/11...07:11:00 AM...Soyuz TMA-21/26S landing (Garan, Samokutyaev, Borisienko)
09/22/11...01:34:00 AM...Soyuz TMA-22/28S launch (Shkaplerov, Ivanishin, Burbank)
09/24/11...02:19:00 AM...Soyuz TMA-22/28S docking
10/26/11...11:37:00 PM...Progress M-13M/45P launch
10/28/11...12:22:00 PM...Progress M-13M/45P docking
11/16/11...04:40:00 AM...Soyuz TMA-02M/27S landing (Volkov, Fossum, Furukawa)
11/30/11...10:06:00 PM...Soyuz TMA-03M/29S launch (Kononenko, Pettit, Kuipers)
11/30/11.................SpaceX/Dragon (demo 2/3) launch (NET)
12/01/11...10:51:00 PM...Soyuz TMA-03M/29S docking (Rassvet)
12/12/11.................SpaceX/Dragon (demo 2/3) grapple
12/27/11.................Progress M-14M/46P launch
12/27/11.................SpaceX/Dragon (demo 2/3) release
12/29/11.................Progress M-14M/46P docking (Pirs)
http://spaceflightnow.com/station/exp28/110824prog44p/index2.html
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