TAKING SHAPE... Just thought I’d share these two cool photos of work being completed on the second of three towers that will provide lightning protection for NASA’s Ares I launch vehicle, which will hopefully become operational by 2015. The third and final tower, which along with the other two will be 600 feet in height once finished, should be completed by March or April...well before the scheduled test flight of the Ares I-X rocket in July. In terms of Ares I-X itself, expect a blog in the near future with photos of the vehicle as it continues to be assembled at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.



A boilerplate mock-up of the Orion spacecraft that will be attached to the top of Ares I-X is scheduled to arrive at KSC via cargo plane this Wednesday or Thursday. Nice.



All images courtesy of NASA

NASA / Kim Shiflett

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY, I’ll hopefully be heading back to Florida to see in person space shuttle Discovery (above), and changes that are being made to a nearby launch pad (below) to prepare it for NASA’s next generation launch vehicle, the Ares rocket. Can’t wait...


NASA / Kim Shiflett

NASA / Bill Ingalls

2009 INAUGURAL PARADE... Thanks to Ronsmytheiii of NASASpaceflight.com, here are a couple of screenshots from yesterday’s parade showing NASA’s contingent in the ceremony. Along with the Moon buggy above (officially called the Lunar Electric Rover), the space shuttle Endeavour crew who flew on last Fall's STS-126 mission also got to march down Pennsylvania Avenue.


NASA / Bill Ingalls


NASA / Paul Alers

Unfortunately, all the major U.S. TV networks cut away from their parade coverage well before NASA had its turn in the spotlight at the presidential reviewing stand (where Obama and his wife were viewing the parade from)...but it’s clearly obvious that the organizers were wise in saving the rover’s appearance for last. It probably would've stole the show (you see one marching band, you’ve seen them all).




CollectSPACE posted up this video on the NASASpaceflight webpage, courtesy of CNN.com.

NASA / Troy Cryder

A MILESTONE AT THE PAD... At 9:16 AM, Pacific Time today, space shuttle Discovery arrived at its seaside launch pad in Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The shuttle will now undergo final preparations as it gears up for liftoff on February 12. On a personal note, this is a significant event for me...since, as stated in this previous entry, I will hopefully be there in person to view Discovery on the pad before it rockets its way to the International Space Station a few weeks from now. NASA did its job in providing me the opportunity to view a shuttle live before its heads off into space; now it’s up to me to take advantage of the moment. Can’t wait till February 7!

GEARING UP FOR FEBRUARY... Yesterday afternoon, the space shuttle Discovery was rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Over the next week or so, Discovery will be mated to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters in preparation for its launch (on mission STS-119) to the International Space Station on February 12.


NASA / Jim Grossmann

This time around, what makes preparations for NASA’s first space shuttle flight of 2009 significant to me is that I’ll hopefully be in Florida from February 7-10. Ya’ll are probably asking, why not just stay an extra two days to see Discovery actually lift off in person? I’ll elaborate on that in future journal entries (but the main reason why I’m not gonna stay in Florida longer is because of money. Staying at a place for 4 days and not 6 or even 7 days obviously makes a huge difference, spending-wise. And I don’t exactly have a high-paying job right now, haha).


NASA / Kim Shiflett

Once mated with its fuel tank and boosters, Discovery will roll over to its launch pad, 39-A, on January 14. Speaking of the other pad, 39-B, construction continues to take place on the three huge lightning towers that will protect the Ares I rocket (shown below... Ares I will launch from 39-B) once it (hopefully) becomes operational around 2015. As you can see from the pic above, one of the towers have already been completed. Yet another thing to look forward to seeing in person exactly a month from now.



NASA

SpaceX

ENTER THE DRAGON... Yesterday, NASA offered two private aerospace companies—Orbital Sciences Corp. and SpaceX—a contract worth $3.5 billion to haul cargo and/or crew to the International Space Station (ISS) after the space shuttle retires in 2010. The reason why this interests me is pretty much implied above: the United States has the potential to have two types of manned vehicles that will take astronauts into space by 2015. Besides the Dragon capsule that's shown in the pic above, the other manned vehicle—of course—is NASA’s Orion spacecraft.


SpaceX

2009 should be an intriguing year for U.S. human spaceflight. The Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 rocket (which is also constructed by SpaceX) that will carry Dragon into space will undergo a series of test launches next year. This July will see the launch of Ares I-X, a prototype of the Ares I rocket that will ferry the Orion spacecraft to the ISS, and hopefully to more distant destinations (ahem, the Moon, Near Earth Asteroids and of course, Mars?) starting in the later half of next decade. The launch of Ares I-X, however, depends on whether or not the shuttle Atlantis will be able to get off the ground next May on a mission to service and repair the Hubble Space Telescope one last time.


NASA / Troy Cryder

One more thing: Our nation’s potential to have two manned space vehicles by 2015 also hinges on what Barack Obama does when he officially becomes the U.S. President on January 20. *Crosses fingers.*


NASA

NASA / Kim Shiflett

ENDEAVOUR LAUNCHES... Just thought I’d share these two cool photos of the full moon shining high above the space shuttle as it launched on flight STS-126 yesterday evening. Endeavour’s mission involves the installation of several important furnishings (including new sleeping quarters and a high-tech recycling system that converts astronauts’ sweat and urine—you heard right—into clean drinking water) onto the International Space Station to enhance its capability to hold a 6-person crew starting next May or June. Only 3 astronauts/cosmonauts have lived onboard the orbiting outpost since it permanently became habitable 8 years ago this month.

Endeavour is scheduled to return to Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 29.


NASA / Troy Cryder

50 YEARS AGO TODAY, America's space program officially began operations. Awesome.

NASA / Troy Cryder

TWO BIRDS, READY FOR FLIGHT... At 3:59 AM, Pacific Time yesterday, space shuttle Endeavour arrived at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B to begin preps for a potential rescue mission (STS-400) if Atlantis is found damaged during her flight to the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis herself has been at Pad 39A since September 4, and is still on track for an October 9 launch to HST.


NASA / Troy Cryder

If Atlantis is found to be unscathed during STS-125, Endeavour will be rolled over to Pad 39A, and begin preparations for her next official flight, STS-126. 39B will then officially be handed over to NASA’s Constellation program, and will be the site of next year’s launch of the Ares I-X rocket. Ares, in case you didn’t know, is the vehicle that will hopefully launch American astronauts back to the Moon by 2020. Hopefully.


FLORIDA TODAY / Michael R. Brown

BACK AT THE PAD... After several days of delays due to the approaching risk of Tropical Storm Hanna, space shuttle Atlantis finally rolled out to its Florida launch pad last Thursday. At first, I thought that NASA was being overly optimistic making this move...seeing as how there were two storms, Hurricane Ike and Tropical Depression Josephine, still brewing out there in the Atlantic. Judging from this page as of today, Josephine is gone, and Ike was only (but perilously) going to pass near the tip of southern Florida on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Atlantis is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 9:33 PM on October 9 (California time), on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope one last time. Hubble should last for 5 more years beyond 2008 if the repairs go smoothly on STS-125.


NASA / Kim Shiflett