NASA

IMAGE OF THE DAY... The illustration below is courtesy of Life's Little Mysteries...

Mark Greenberg - Virgin Galactic / Scaled Composites

PHOTOS OF THE DAY... The VSS Enterprise, a.k.a. SpaceShipTwo, conducted its first solo flight above the Mojave Desert in Southern California today. Click here to read more. Now if only I had $200,000 to make this historic commercial spaceflight news relevant to me...


Clay Observatory - Virgin Galactic / Scaled Composites


Mark Greenberg - Virgin Galactic / Scaled Composites


Bill Deaver - Virgin Galactic / Scaled Composites

Michael R. Brown / FLORIDA TODAY

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON... This will be the full title for Michael Bay’s third Giant Alien Robots movie when it gets released in theaters next July. Before folks here begin criticizing this new moniker for Transformers 3 (for syntax and otherwise), I found this interesting explanation for Dark of the Moon on this website:

"The Dark of the Moon is traditionally the last three days of the Lunar cycle, immediately preceding the New Moon, and the time when the night sky is notably absent the presence of the Moon."

If the rumors I’ve read for Transformers 3 since it started filming last Spring is any indication, then Dark of the Moon does make sense. (Apart from the fact Dark of the Moon has been a title used for several books and plays dating back over half a century; not to mention a term used in ancient Greek mythos.) TF3 will reportedly focus on the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union...and how the Transformers had an impact on the two nations’ famous race to send astronauts to the Moon in the 1960's. Also, humans will supposedly turn against the Autobots in TF3, with some prodding by the Decepticons, so it would make sense that Shockwave and Co. (and even Megatron before he ended up taking an Arctic ice nap) sneak onto Earth under a dark, Moon-less sky to wage war on the Autobots and mankind. That, and the Decepticons may have a secret base on the far side of the Moon, heh.

However, I DO think that another title—like Transformers: The Dark Moon—would’ve sounded better...but the last thing I need while watching TF3 is to think of a friggin' Twilight movie when I see this title. Anyways, here are a couple of pics of the Autobot cars and actor Tyrese Gibson at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida...where Michael Bay was filming TF3 since last weekend:


Courtesy of NASASpaceflight.com


Michael R. Brown / FLORIDA TODAY


Red Huber / ORLANDO SENTINEL


Courtesy of AceShowbiz.com

NASA

BACK AT THE PAD...for one last time. There are still 41 days left before she launches on her very last space shuttle flight, but Godspeed anyway, Discovery.


NASA / Jim Grossmann


NASA / Jim Grossmann

PHOTO OF THE DAY... Below is a God's-eye view pic of the orbiter Endeavour being transported atop a modified Boeing 747, a.k.a. a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. An orbiter relies on this jumbo jet to ferry it back to KSC whenever it lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California after a shuttle mission. In Endeavour's case, the last time this will presumably happen again will be next February...when Endeavour launches on mission STS-134. Endeavour having one last homecoming in the Golden State will obviously depend on weather conditions, both in Florida and California, on landing day. That is all.


NASA

NASA / Jack Pfaller

THE BEGINNING OF THE END...for Discovery, that is. Of course, I said the same thing about Atlantis when it launched on space shuttle flight STS-132 last May. But in Discovery’s case, today’s rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida should indeed begin the final curtain call for NASA’s oldest orbiter. Discovery will be attached to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters later today in preparation for STS-133, scheduled for launch on November 1st. The space shuttle program, as of right now, is supposed to end after next February’s STS-134 mission with Endeavour. But if NASA includes an additional flight (STS-135) to launch next June as expected, then Atlantis will be assigned to that mission. That is all.


NASA / Dimitri Gerondidakis

Matt Stroshane / Getty Images

KUDOS TO SPACEX for the successful maiden launch of its Falcon 9 rocket! Today’s historic liftoff oughta be a sign that the job of sending crew and cargo into low-Earth orbit by NASA can soon be handed over to commercial launch companies...and that NASA can focus on sending astronauts to asteroids by um, 2025...as envisioned by Obama. I’m still upset that he cancelled the Constellation moon program though.


Matt Stroshane / Getty Images


Matt Stroshane / Getty Images


Matt Stroshane / Getty Images


Matt Stroshane / Getty Images

NASA / Carl Winebarger

A CURTAIN CALL FOR ATLANTIS... At 5:48 AM, Pacific Daylight Time today, space shuttle Atlantis safely touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The successful conclusion of her flight, STS-132, means that there are only two more missions (STS-133 and STS-134) that officially remain in the shuttle program before it comes to an end...and those pair will be flown by Atlantis’ sister ships Discovery and Endeavour, respectively. If Congress and NASA do not approve an additional flight (STS-135...which would be flown by Atlantis) that's been rumored online for a while, then today will officially be the day that the second youngest orbiter in the shuttle fleet made her swan song. Below are three cool images showing Atlantis docked to and orbiting near the International Space Station...for her 11th and final (scheduled) time.


NASA


NASA


NASA

PARMAN’S PAGE Update... I’ve just added a new page devoted to this year’s Open House at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena, California. I went to the annual event last Saturday, and among the highlights of the trip (which would be my sixth visit to JPL since 1992) was seeing the Curiosity Mars Rover continuing to be built and prepared for its 2011 launch, a new venue devoted to the Juno mission to Jupiter (this spacecraft also launches next year) and seeing the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) up close in person. WFPC2 was installed onboard the Hubble Space Telescope during the STS-61 shuttle flight in December of 1993, and was brought back to Earth during the STS-125 mission last year.



Next year’s JPL Open House should be even more eventful...since along with the launches of Juno and Curiosity, the Dawn spacecraft will be arriving at asteroid Vesta in July of '11. I’m a total nerd...but you already knew that.

LINK: Photos I took at the 2010 JPL Open House

NASA

THE BEGINNING OF THE END...for Atlantis, that is. The orbiter launched on space shuttle flight STS-132 more than half an hour ago...embarking on a mission that will be its 32nd and final (scheduled) journey into space. Atlantis was responsible for being the first U.S. orbiter to dock with the Russian space station Mir in 1995, and launching two successful interplanetary spacecraft over the course of her um, career (Isn’t it awesome when I anthropomorphize a $1 billion+ space vehicle?): Magellan—which studied Venus for four years after lifting off on May 4, 1989 (I watched this launch live on TV), and Galileo—which studied Jupiter for eight years after lifting off on October 18, 1989. Godspeed, Atlantis! Only two shuttle flights remain after she safely returns to Earth on May 26.


NASA / Russian Federal Space Agency


NASA