PHOTOS OF THE DAY... In case you wanted to know how huge of an obsessive space nerd I am, here are the latest (or oldest) evidence of that. Ever since I was in 4th grade (back in um, 1989-90), I would cut out practically every space-related article from a newspaper (specifically the Los Angeles Times, since I live in SoCal) and put them in plastic report covers I bought at the local supermarket. My interest in the space program started in the 3rd grade, and increased dramatically around August 25, 1989, when the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew past Neptune and its icy moon Triton. During this flyby, I would get up early in the morning and see a photo that Voyager 2 took of the giant gas planet and its main satellite on the front page of the L.A. Times almost every day during the following week. In the photos above is the very first album (I don’t want to call it a scrapbook, despite the fact the latest albums are entitled The Space Scrapbook, haha) I worked on. As you can see, it was actually autographed by someone who worked at NASA. He visited my elementary school and gave a presentation to the entire student body when I was in 6th grade back in 1992.

TO COMMEMORATE the upcoming final flight of space shuttle Endeavour, here’s a cool infographic depicting the orbiter and other spacecraft that flew into and beyond Earth orbit since the Space Age began more than 50 years ago. Compared to the capsules (particularly the Russian-made Soyuz and the Chinese-owned Shenzhou), the shuttle is truly an elegant-looking—and giant—vehicle. Just how many Mercury capsules could fit inside its payload bay?? Anyways, this illustration comes courtesy of Space.com:


Source: SPACE.com... All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

SINCE IT’S GONNA BE quite a while till we see preliminary designs of the building that will house space shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center (considering the fact the Center—or CSC—has yet to hire an architect who will design and build the orbiter’s final home), just thought I’d post these two pics of the exhibit that will eventually surround space shuttle Atlantis at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC). You can read more about what the KSCVC has in store for NASA’s second oldest existing space-flown orbiter by clicking here. What I’m thinking is...what was the artist thinking not drawing people to scale with the shuttle in the image above? I’m trying to fit in a joke about the shuttle being in an exhibit on Pandora (as in the movie Avatar) and those folks being giant Na’vi (disguised as um, humans), but I changed my mind, haha. In terms of where to place Endeavour while the new air and space building is being built at CSC, might I suggest the Spruce Goose Dome in Long Beach? How far is that from Los Angeles International Airport (or even Long Beach Airport)? Hm.


Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

ENDEAVOUR, HERE I COME! Seeing as how I currently live only 30 miles from the California Science Center in Los Angeles, where Endeavour will find her new home in mid-2012, I am totally looking forward to seeing NASA’s youngest space shuttle orbiter on display there after she flies her final flight, STS-134, later this month. While I got to see Discovery on the launch pad when I visited Kennedy Space Center two years ago (and actually saw her up in the sky—while she was on mission STS-119—shortly after), it was Endeavour that was the first orbiter I saw in person almost 19 years ago...when she touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California after completing STS-49 in May of 1992 (see blurry pic at the end of this entry... I um, took that photo). Anyways, here’s the official press release on which museums Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour and the prototype shuttle Enterprise will be heading to next year...

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NASA Announces New Homes For Shuttle Orbiters After Retirement (Press Release)

WASHINGTON -- After 30 years of spaceflight, more than 130 missions, and numerous science and technology firsts, NASA's space shuttle fleet will retire and be on display at institutions across the country to inspire the next generation of explorers and engineers.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on Tuesday announced the facilities where four shuttle orbiters will be displayed permanently at the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program. Shuttle Enterprise, the first orbiter built, will move from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. The Udvar-Hazy Center will become the new home for shuttle Discovery, which retired after completing its 39th mission in March. Shuttle Endeavour, which is preparing for its final flight at the end of the month, will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Atlantis, which will fly the last planned shuttle mission in June, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

"We want to thank all of the locations that expressed an interest in one of these national treasures," Bolden said. "This was a very difficult decision, but one that was made with the American public in mind. In the end, these choices provide the greatest number of people with the best opportunity to share in the history and accomplishments of NASA's remarkable Space Shuttle Program. These facilities we've chosen have a noteworthy legacy of preserving space artifacts and providing outstanding access to U.S. and international visitors."



NASA also announced that hundreds of shuttle artifacts have been allocated to museums and education institutions.

- Various shuttle simulators for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum of McMinnville, Ore., and Texas A&M's Aerospace Engineering Department

- Full fuselage trainer for the Museum of Flight in Seattle

- Nose cap assembly and crew compartment trainer for the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio

- Flight deck pilot and commander seats for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston

- Orbital maneuvering system engines for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center of Huntsville, Ala., National Air and Space Museum in Washington, and Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

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SpaceX

IMAGES OF THE DAY... Meet SpaceX's newest creation, the Falcon Heavy rocket...which will become the most powerful launch vehicle to soar into the sky since the Saturn V rocket sent Apollo astronauts to the Moon more than 40 years ago. The Falcon Heavy is set to lift off on its maiden voyage from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California sometime in 2013 (which would also be the year that NASA's Orion spacecraft is suppose to undergo its first test flight onboard what is currently rumored to be a Delta IV vehicle. Is SpaceX trying to change NASA's mind on this?). For more info on the Falcon Heavy, click here.


SpaceX

NASA / Jim Grossmann

PHOTOS OF THE DAY... A day after Discovery entered retirement after completing mission STS-133, Endeavour began her own swan song by arriving on the launch pad at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center last night. The countdown to the end of the space shuttle program continues ticking.


NASA / Terry Zaperach


NASA / Jack Pfaller

NASA / Kim Shiflett

THE END BEGINS... At 8:57 AM, Pacific Time today, space shuttle Discovery safely landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida...bringing an end to her storied 26-plus year career that involved launching the Hubble Space Telescope into Earth orbit in 1990, sending John Glenn (who became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962) into space for the second time in 1998, and returning to flight the U.S. space shuttle fleet after the 1986 Challenger and 2003 Columbia disasters. Discovery is now destined to find her final home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.


NASA

On a personal note, the final mission of space shuttle Discovery is significant to me in that I actually had a presence, so to speak, onboard the orbiter. My name and face, along with 194,180 others, were digitally transmitted up to the vehicle during her flight. They were gathered as part of NASA’s Face in Space campaign that started last June. In case you missed out on having your name and face onboard Discovery, you can submit your name and face to fly on Endeavour during her final flight, STS-134—which is scheduled to launch next month. You can submit your name (and face...sorry for being repetitive) even on the day of her launch, which is April 19. That is all.


NASA

NASA / Jack Pfaller

ENDEAVOUR PREPS FOR HER FINALE... At 8:13 AM, Pacific Time today, the orbiter Endeavour rolled into the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Over the next week or so, the youngest vehicle in NASA’s space shuttle fleet will be mated to her external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters and undergo tests before being rolled out to the launch pad next month. Scheduled for liftoff on April 19, Endeavour will fly on mission STS-134...which will deliver a large physics experiment known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station (ISS). Unless NASA does find funding for STS-135 (which would involve Atlantis flying to the ISS this June), Endeavour’s voyage will mark the final flight in the 30-year-old shuttle program. That is all.


NASA / Jack Pfaller


NASA / Jack Pfaller

NASA

DISCOVERY’S SWAN SONG... At 1:53 PM, Pacific Standard Time today, space shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on her final voyage to the International Space Station (ISS). Discovery will dock with the ISS this Saturday, February 26, and undock on March 5 before returning to KSC on March 7. Eventually, the orbiter will be moved to her final home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia.

Below are several photos of Discovery when she was constructed at Rockwell International (now Boeing) in Palmdale, California during the early 1980s. The images are courtesy of Space.com.


Boeing


Boeing


Boeing


Boeing


Boeing

NASA / Kim Shiflett

BACK AT THE PAD... Not to state the obvious, but here’s hoping that the next time space shuttle Discovery leaves her pad at Launch Complex 39A, it will be to head for the International Space Station 220 miles above on February 24...and not to undergo more repairs inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. By the way, may the 7 astronauts of space shuttle Columbia rest in peace. Today marks 8 years since STS-107 ended in tragedy. The space shuttle program is 3 flights away from ending in hopeful triumph. That is all.


NASA / Jack Pfaller


NASA / Jack Pfaller


NASA / Kim Shiflett