Tile problem on Endeavour?

A three inch gouge on the belly of Endeavour was found in photos taken today. Further investigation by NASA on Sunday by the robotic arm will determine if they fix it while docked at the station.

The gouge - about 3 inches square - was spotted in zoom-in photography taken by the space station crew shortly before Endeavour delivered teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan and her six crewmates to the orbiting outpost.

"What does this mean? I don't know at this point," said John Shannon, chairman of the mission management team. If the gouge is deep enough, the shuttle astronauts may have to patch it during a spacewalk, he said.

On Sunday, the astronauts will inspect the area, using Endeavour's 100-foot robot arm and extension beam. Lasers on the end of the beam will gauge the exact size and depth of the gouge, Shannon said, and then engineering analyses will determine whether the damage is severe enough to warrant repairs.

No Drinking NASA found

No Evidence US Astronauts Drunk For Missions Says NASA
Cape Canaveral (AFP) - The US space agency NASA said it had found no evidence to support damaging reports that astronauts had turned up drunk for missions. The specialist journal Aviation Week and Space Technology quoted NASA administrator Michael Griffin as saying NASA investigations showed "zero evidence" that any astronaut had shown up for mission drunk in the past 10 years. Speaking after Wednesday evening's launch of the shuttle Endeavour on the latest US space mission, Griffin told reporters that launches of shuttles and Russian Soyuz spacecraft over the past 10 years had been reviewed and no sign of drinking found. "We can't even find where it would be a possibility," he said, in comments carried Thursday in US media. The aviation journal, which first broke the story last month, also quoted a US Air Force doctor involved in investigating the claims, Richard Bachmann, as saying that they were based on merely "anecdotal accounts."

I think this sounds like Aviation Week is doing what The National Review is doing with "Shock Troops?" Were is the background and information checks on the anecdotal accounts?

Endeavour wil reach ISS today

Shuttle approaches ISS
Endeavour will reach ISS today. Converge here at Flame Trench or NASA TV.

1998 is not the hotest year!

Here's Rush's link to yesterdays transcripts on GW and the warmest year yet. (It was 1934, not 1998).

I did a little test here. I sent this news out to some people this morning and they said, "So what? It's a NASA reporting error. Who cares? 1998 is not the hottest year on record. '34 is." That alone to me is pretty interesting because global warming has been a big deal the past 20 years, man-made, hotter and hotter and hotter. We're nowhere near as hot as we have been 75, 71 years ago. Nowhere near as hot. That alone, but then, when I tell them, guess what? New global warming forecast from scientists set in with a vengeance after 2009 with at least half of the five following years expected to be hotter than 1998. You see how this stuff works? So it is just more evidence, ladies and gentlemen, that this whole global warming thing is a scientific hoax. Newsweek has even gotten this story.

Here is the blog where Rush got the reporting errors here. The reporting of temperatures can be unreliable if the gage is sitting next to two A/C outtakes blowing hot air!

Update: Climateaudit.org and Surfacestations.org are currently not available. Not only did Rush Link but some other conservative sites linked also. (Michelle Malkin and Instapundit to name a few. And a possible DDOS from some Gororcles! HEH! I'll have to blog roll these sites.
Seriously, this correction in the data has made the "hockey stick blade less."

Endeavour Launch

T-Minus 3 hours and counting and the crew is traveling out to the pad. The Commander Scott Kelly's twin brother is also a Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly. He was taking pictures of the crew during suit up. CNN has an article about the drinking of astronauts before flight here. Commander Scott Kelly was not happy with the rumors of drinking before flight. I think the crazy astronaut love triangle hyped up the press that any tarnishing of the Right Stuff they make a big deal out of it.

"To imply that my crew or I would ever consider launching on our mission in anything but the best possible condition is utterly ridiculous," Kelly penned in the letter. "It is beyond my comprehension that anyone in the astronaut office would consider doing what is suggested in this report."

1:15 PM PDT Crew has egresses in the shuttle and now on to com checks.

From Flame Trench an article at Florida Today on Barbara Morgan here:

This time, however, the teacher is a full-fledged astronaut who will spend most of her time driving a robot arm, moving supplies and doing other astronaut work critical to Endeavour's two-week mission to continue construction of the International Space Station.

The 55-year-old rookie is Barbara Morgan, who was the backup to Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who died along with six astronaut crewmates in the 1986 Challenger explosion. Her dream of flying in space is coming true after spending another 12 years teaching school in Idaho before being selected into the astronauts corps.

From CNN "Teachers IN Space: This is our Flight!"

2:15 PM PDT Looks like hatch closing problem is a glitch. Also, cracks in foam on the external tank look ok to go for launch . More at the launch blog here.

2:26 PDT Hatch problem has been solved, the pressure is ok in the cabin.

2:35 PDT Weather is good to go, no showers at all! Hot and Humid.

3:07 PDT All White room crew are vacated and now set to launch.

3:26 PDT T-9 and counting. All systems are go and launch director gives the ok.

3:30 PDT T-6 and counting and the arm just pulled away from the shuttle.

3:33 PDT T-3 and counting and the engines have been gimbled. The vent arm is retracting.

3:35 T 1:30 and counting
3:36 PDT 5-4-3-2-1 Blast off!

It's Launch Day!

Here's the latest at NASA Right now the three hour proceedure of tanking is happening.

Endeavour's orange external tank is being loaded with 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. This process, called "tanking," takes about three hours to complete. The propellant levels in the tank will be continuously "topped off" during the remainder of today's countdown.

The Frist Lady has given Barbara Morgan a send off here:

Mrs. Bush expressed congratulations from one schoolteacher to another and noted that she and the President appreciate Ms. Morgan's commitment to America's space program, to teaching, and to students. Mrs. Bush concluded the call noting that Americans-and lots of excited teachers and students-will be watching the mission with a lot of pride.

I'll be posting during the day. Hopefully I will live blog the launch, just depends on the kids activities today!

Mars Probe launched

From CNN here:

A robotic dirt and ice digger blasted off Saturday on a 422 million-mile journey to Mars that NASA hopes will culminate next spring in the first landing within the red planet's arctic circle.

The unmanned Delta II rocket carrying the Phoenix Mars Lander rose from its seaside pad at 5:26 a.m., exactly on time, and hurtled through the clear moonlit sky. It was easily visible for nearly five minutes, a bright orange speck in a spray of stars.

NASA Press release here:

Phoenix will be the first mission to touch water-ice on Mars. Its robotic arm will dig to an icy layer believed to lie just beneath the surface. The mission will study the history of the water in the ice, monitor weather of the polar region, and investigate whether the subsurface environment in the far-northern plains of Mars has ever been favorable for sustaining microbial life.

"Water is central to every type of study we will conduct on Mars," Smith said.

The Phoenix Mars Mission is the first of NASA's competitively proposed and selected Mars Scout missions, supplementing the agency's core Mars Exploration Program, whose theme is "follow the water."

Cabin leak?

Endeavour has a cabin leak. Flame Trench has it here.

A second test confirmed that a persistent air leak is caused by a faulty positive pressure relief valve behind the orbiter's toilet, said NASA spokesman Bill Johnson at Kennedy Space Center. The valve is not part of the toilet.

"They positively identified that it is a valve they refer to as valve B," said Johnson.

Preliminary plans are to replace the valve with one now in shuttle Atlantis.

It's a leak in the craper! Jeez Louise!

Phoenix launch delay

Friday's scheduled launch of NASA's Phoenix
Mars Lander aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket has been
postponed 24 hours. The two available launch times on Saturday, Aug.
4, are 5:26:34 a.m. and 6:02:59 a.m. EDT.

Due to a forecast for severe weather around the Kennedy Space Center
launch pad in Florida on Tuesday afternoon, fueling of the second
stage will not be completed. Although fueling is expected to be
finished Wednesday morning, there is insufficient contingency time in
the schedule to move forward with the launch on Friday.

Hurricane (Non)Activity and GW

William Gray's article on Hurricane Activity and Global Warming at Wall Street Journal Online here:

Some scientists, journalists and activists see a direct link between the post-1995 upswing in Atlantic hurricanes and global warming brought on by human-induced greenhouse gas increases. This belief, however, is unsupported by long-term Atlantic and global observations.

Consider, for example, the intensity of U.S. land-falling hurricanes over time -- keeping in mind that the periods must be long enough to reveal long-term trends. During the most recent 50-year period, 1957 to 2006, 83 hurricanes hit the United States, 34 of them major. In contrast, during the 50-year period from 1900 to 1949, 101 hurricanes (22% more) made U.S. landfall, including 39 (or 15% more) major hurricanes.

The hypothesis that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases the number of hurricanes fails by an even wider margin when we compare two other multi-decade periods: 1925-1965 and 1966-2006. In the 41 years from 1925-1965, there were 39 U.S. land-falling major hurricanes. In the 1966-2006 period there were 22 such storms -- only 56% as many. Even though global mean temperatures have risen by an estimated 0.4 Celsius and CO2 by 20%, the number of major hurricanes hitting the U.S. declined.

Mr Gray attributes the 1995 in Hurricane increase in the Atlantic due to the currents strength increasing. The climate modelers don't account for ocean current activity along with the atmospheric activity.

The Weather girl....

From NYT here.

Q: Your coverage of global warming has been controversial. Are you surprised?
A: In a way, yes. To me, global warming isn’t a political issue, it’s a scientific one. But a lot of people out there think you’re being an advocate when you talk climate science.

Last December, I wrote a blog about how reticent some broadcast meteorologists are about reporting on climate change. Meteorologists — they are the forecasters — have training in atmospheric science. Many are certified by the American Meteorological Society. I suggested there’s a disconnect when they use their A.M.S. seal for on-camera credibility and refuse to give viewers accurate information on climate. The society has a very clear statement saying that global warming is largely due to the burning of fossil fuels.

The next thing I knew, I was being denounced on the Web sites of Senator James Inhofe, Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh. The Weather Channel’s own Web site got about 4,000 e-mails in one day, mostly angry. Some went, ‘Listen here, weather girl, just give me my five-day forecast and shut up.’

Q: Rush Limbaugh accused you of Stalinism. Did you suggest that meteorologists who doubt global warming should be fired?

A: I didn’t exactly say that. I was talking about the American Meteorological Society’s seal of approval. I was saying the A.M.S. should test applicants on climate change as part of their certification process. They test on other aspects of weather science.

A lot of viewers want to know about climate change. They are experiencing events they perceive as unusual and they want to know if there’s a connection to global warming. Certainly when Katrina hit, they wanted to know if it was global warming or not. Most Americans get their daily dose of science through their televised weather report. Given that fact, I think it’s the responsibility of broadcast meteorologists to provide viewers with scientific answers.

Like the 4,000 who responded to the Weather Channel website, I just want my 5 day forecast! Not a diatribe on how fossil fuels are the case of "Global Warming!"

Get the story right

Jim Oberg states what is alarming is the health issues of the Astronauts and getting on shuttle flights with medical conditions that the NASA flight surgeons don't know about. It is an example of facts vs. hearsay. Here is the Health review report from NASA.

Explosion at Mojave Spaceport

An explosion killed two people and critically injured four others at a Mojave Desert airport site used by the pioneering aerospace company that sent the first private manned rocket into space, authorities said.

The blast at a Mojave Air and Space Port facility belonging to Scaled Composites LLC also left some toxic material, said Kern County fire Capt. Doug Johnston.

Scaled is the Mojave-based builder of SpaceShipOne, the first private manned rocket to reach space, and is developing a successor for the new space tourism business Virgin Galactic.

Aerospace designer Burt Rutan, who heads Scaled, told The Associated Press he had no information and was heading to the scene.

I heard that Northup Grumman is going to purchase 100 percent of Scaled Compsites LLC (they currently own 40%)

UPDATE: More complete story over at LA Times here. HT Transterrestrial Musings.
A third worker died at the hospital. God Speed and rest in peace.

Astronauts Drunk on the job

Boy, what a bad day for the space program! From USA Today here:

Report: Astronauts flew while intoxicated

Aviation Week & Space Technology says it has obtained a draft report that says NASA allowed astronauts to fly while intoxicated on two occasions.

The respected trade publication, which doesn't identify its sources, says members of a government panel found evidence to suggest "heavy use of alcohol" by astronauts during the 12-hour period before launches. Astronauts aren't supposed to consume alcohol during that period.

The panel, established after astronaut Lisa Nowak was arrested in February, doesn't identify any pilots or crewmembers by name in its report, the trade publication says.

Aviation Week says NASA wouldn't comment on the report. The space agency is scheduled to hold a news conference tomorrow afternoon. The report will be available for download at noon tomorrow.

USA TODAY is trying to confirm this report.

I think I'll go back to reading The Deathly Hallows now.....

Sabotage of ISS computer (Not the Shuttle!)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A space program worker deliberately damaged a computer that is supposed to fly aboard shuttle Endeavour in less than two weeks, an act of sabotage that was caught before the equipment was loaded onto the spaceship, NASA said Thursday.

The unidentified employee, who works for a NASA subcontractor, cut wires inside the computer that is supposed to be delivered to the international space station by Endeavour, said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief. The worker also damaged a similar computer that was not meant to fly to space.

The sabotage occurred outside Florida. Gerstenmaier did not identify the subcontractor or where the damage took place.

NASA's inspector general office is investigating.

NASA hopes to fix the computer and launch it Aug. 7 as planned aboard Endeavour. The computer is designed for use aboard the space station, not the shuttle, and the damage would have posed no danger to either shuttle or station astronauts, Gerstenmaier said.

Flame Trench says the damage has been fixed and was not part of the United Alliance Strike at KSC.
Update: The company involved is from Houston, "Invocon, a 20-year-old company that employs about 30 people, has worked with Boeing since 2004."

UFO's over Stratford-Upon-Avon

C2C for sure!

The STS 118 Mission

This upcoming mission is called the "Barbara Morgan Mission" because she was the back up Educator in Space for Christa. This mission is special to Orange County because Tracy Caldwell is a grad from Cal State Fullerton and an OC Resident.

In 1986, Morgan returned to teaching for 12 years, while working with NASA's education program. But in 1998, she was accepted as a mission specialist. She no longer had a free ride as a teacher; she had to pull her weight to get a mission.

"I just know her as an astronaut from the astronaut office," Shuttle Commander Scott Kelly said Wednesday.

Kelly said Morgan won't focus on education during this mission.

"We could not do the flight if we had one person dedicated just to education," he said. "We need her to do space shuttle stuff."

Morgan, despite protests, has become the mission's star, a role she doesn't like.

"She has no control," Kelly said. "I know it bothers her when she hears things like, 'This is the Barbara Morgan mission.' It bothers her more than it bothers the rest of us."

While Morgan downplays her relationship with McAuliffe, Mission Specialist Tracy Caldwell openly credits the late teacher with setting her on a career path to become an astronaut.

The nation's first educator/astronaut showed Caldwell, then a high school student, that the astronaut corps wasn't limited to test pilots.

"She was a tremendous motivator," said Caldwell, who will choreograph the mission's spacewalks. "I didn't know Christa personally. It was what Christa represented.

"She was something so tangible to me."

Rovers still alive

The rovers Opportunity and Spirit are still alive despite the Mars dust storms here.

"The outlook for both Opportunity and Spirit depends on the weather, which makes it unpredictable," said JPL's John Callas, project manager for both rovers. "If the weather holds where it is now or gets better, the rovers will be OK. If it gets worse, the situation becomes more complex.

The descent of Opportunity into the Victoria crater is on hold waiting for the dust storms to subside.
Update from JPL/NASA here:

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity sent signals Monday morning, July 23, indicating its power situation improved slightly during the days when it obeyed commands to refrain from communicating with Earth in order to conserve power.

Dust storms on Mars in recent weeks have darkened skies over both Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. The rovers rely on electricity that their solar panels generate from sunlight. By last week, output from Opportunity's solar panels had dropped by about 80 percent from a month earlier.

Rover controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., commanded Opportunity last week to go into a very low-power state and to communicate only once every three days. The rover transmitted a small amount of information today. Next scheduled transmission will be Thursday, July 26, though controllers may command Opportunity to send information on Tuesday, July 24.

Meanwhile, communications from Spirit over the weekend indicated that the sky had cleared slightly at Spirit's location on the other side of Mars from Opportunity.

"The outlook for both Opportunity and Spirit depends on the weather, which makes it unpredictable," said JPL's John Callas, project manager for both rovers. "If the weather holds where it is now or gets better, the rovers will be OK. If it gets worse, the situation becomes more complex.

Saturn V restored

The Houston exhibit is not quite the caliber of the interactive museum-tourist attraction complex that was constructed around the restored Saturn 5 on display at the spaceport here at Kennedy Space Center. Still, historians and space enthusiasts are celebrating the rocket's rescue from what had been an undignified fate.

"To allow these three remaining monuments to degrade to the point of destruction would have stolen from the next generation and their descendants the opportunity to fully appreciate the sheer power and force it took to achieve landing 12 men on the moon," said Robert Pearlman, a space memorabilia expert and editor of the Web site collectspace.com.

The differences in the facility can be traced to their purpose and cost. KSC's facility was envisioned, designed and built from the beginning not just as a structure to protect the mammoth Saturn 5 rocket but to be a tourist showcase, Pearlman said.

At JSC, the facility was built as a temporary building to protect the rocket and allow for a climate-controlled environment for the restoration work. The aesthetics of a tourist destination were not the prime concern, he said.

"Hopefully, as more funding can be raised, a similar display can be built for JSC's Saturn 5, allowing a partial return to the majestic sight of the giant moon booster welcoming visitors to the home of Mission Control and the astronauts," Pearlman said.

Socal programs get more Budget dollars than NASA does

From Space Review by Jeff Brooks here:

How does NASA’s budget compare with the amount of money the federal government spends on social programs? In the 2007 budget, the funding for social programs (calculated here as the budgets for the Department of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Social Security, Agriculture, and Labor) adds up to a whopping $1.581 trillion. For every $1 the federal government spends on NASA, it spends $98 on social programs. In other words, if we cut spending on social programs by a mere one percent, we could very nearly double NASA’s budget.

Hands down social programs get more dollars than our space program does.