Discovery Space: Free Space

Free Space is Moving

2009-11-11T16:54:36-05:00

As part of the Discovery.com redesign, Free Space is now part of Discovery News Space coverage. You can follow Irene's work here, or check out the expanded Discovery News Space team. Come visit.

NASA Monkey Radiation Study Draws Group's Ire

2009-11-06T14:06:37-05:00

Our story about a NASA space radiation study that will use squirrel monkeys as subjects caught the eye -- and ire -- of a group known as the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which is petitioning NASA administrator Charlie Bolden to stop the project.

“Irradiating monkeys would be one giant leap backward for NASA,” the group’s director of research policy Hope Ferdowsian said in a statement. “The proposed experiments are cruel, unnecessary, and lack scientific merit. There are better, more humane ways of understanding the potential dangers of interplanetary travel to humans. Scientific progress can only proceed with a strong ethical foundation.”

The petition claims that the research violates several mandates of the agency’s “Principles for the Ethical Care and Use of Animals” report.

“Genetic, physiological, and anatomical differences between humans and monkeys dramatically limit the conclusions that can be drawn from the planned experiments,” the petition states.

“Ongoing studies, including those funded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy, already use nonanimal methods to determine the effects of low-dose radiation on human tissues,” Ferdowsian wrote.

The group also questions the need for this type of research, claiming that “Interplanetary human travel is, at best, a highly speculative aim for the foreseeable future. It is obviously fraught with many dangers and enormous expense, while serving goals that are not at all clear. To put animals through radiation tests now in anticipation of such an enterprise is in no way justified.”

Masten Claims $1M NASA Prize

2009-11-05T09:24:18-05:00

A NASA competition to stimulate commercial space projects has a winner -- Masten Space Systems of California is being awarded the top $1 million prize for demonstrating a lunar lander.

The race literally came down to the wire, reports the California-based X Prize Foundation, which oversaw the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge for NASA, part of the agency's Centennial Challenges program.

Over the weekend, teams gathered in Mojave, Calif., for the last round of flights. The remote-controlled vehicles had to fly for at least three minutes and make precision touchdowns on rock-strewn landing pads at least 50 meters away.

Masten was the underdog. Armadillo Aerospace of Texas had already won the first round of the competition last year and qualified for the top prize in September.

Masten's Xoie rocket landed closer to the bull's eye than Armadillo's Scorpius, achieving an average landing accuracy of 19 cm compared to Armadillo's 87 cm. Armadillo, which is owned by id Software founder John Carmack, picks up a $500,000 second-place prize.

Judges gave Masten an extra day to refly its rocket after a fire broke out and damaged the vehicle during its first attempt. That prompted a polite but pointed outcry from Carmack, who wrote:

"For the past couple weeks, as it became clear that Masten had a real shot at completing the Level 2 Lunar Lander Challenge and bettering our landing accuracy, I have been kicking myself for not taking the competition more seriously and working on a better landing accuracy. If they pulled it off, I was prepared to congratulate them and give a bit of a sheepish mea culpa. Nobody to be upset at except myself. We could have probably made a second flight in the drizzle on our scheduled days, and once we had the roll thruster issue sorted out, our landing accuracy would have been in the 20-centimeter range. I never thought it was worth investing in differential RTK GPS systems [as Masten did], because it has no bearing on our commercial operations.

"The current situation, where Masten was allowed a third active day of competition, after trying and failing on both scheduled days, is different. I don't hold anything against Masten for using an additional time window that has been offered, since we wouldn't have passed it up if we were in their situation, but I do think this was a mistake on the judges' part.

"I recognize that it is in the best interests of both the NASA Centennial Challenges department and the X Prize Foundation to award all the prize money this year, and that will likely have indirect benefits for us all in coming years. It is probably also beneficial to the nascent New Space industry to get more money to Masten than Armadillo, since we have other resources to draw upon. Permit me to be petty enough to be upset and bitter about a half-million dollars being taken from me and given to my competitor.

"The rules have given the judges the discretion to do just about anything up to and including awarding prize money for best effort if they felt it necessary, so there may not be any grounds to challenge this, but I do feel that we have been robbed. I was going to argue that if Masten was allowed to take a window on an unscheduled day with no notice, the judges should come back to Texas on Sunday and let us take our unused second window to try for a better accuracy, but our FAA waiver for the LLC vehicle was only valid for the weekend of our scheduled attempt."

An awards ceremony is taking place this morning at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C.

Ares Test Rocket Dented During Splashdown

2009-10-29T18:54:40-04:00

NASA doesn't yet know why its Ares 1-X test rocket was dented upon splashdown in the Atlantic following what appeared to be a flawless two-minute demonstration flight on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. When divers arrived to retrieve the booster, they found a significant dent at the bottom of the booster. No word yet on whether all three of the newly designed parachutes worked as planned -- NASA lost television coverage after the first chute opened. The booster was picked up by a NASA ship and will arrive back at Port Canaveral later Thursday. Let the analysis begin ... Credit: Spaceflightnow.com

Update: NASA confirmed that one of the Ares 1-X parachutes deflated, causing the booster to impact into the ocean faster than expected, likely causing the damage to the rocket casing. Space shuttle program managers say the problem won't impact the planned Nov. 16 launch of space shuttle Atlantis. The Ares rocket is based on a shuttle solid rocket motor, but the parachute system is completely different, says NASA's space flight chief Bill Gerstenmaier.

Mars Orbiter Still Sidelined After Nine Weeks

2009-10-29T08:42:57-04:00

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter remains sidelined nine weeks after a still-unexplained shutdown -- it’s fourth this year.

The problem appears to be with unexpected voltage signals or a device that measures voltages, reports the Arizona Daily Star.

Engineers are working on software fix, but no word yet on when NASA may try to resuscitate the spacecraft. MRO, which has produced detailed, unprecedented maps of the Martian surface, completed its prime science mission and has been being used to help scout landing sites for the Mars Science Lab, a roving geology station planned for launch in 2011.

Can You Say Triboelectrification?

2009-10-28T09:38:32-04:00

NASA’s demo moon rocket remains on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center this morning, but the 50-member team overseeing the countdown is sure getting a workout. In addition to the usual weather issues, there’s a new prohibition about flying through high-altitude clouds to prevent radio interference.

The Ares 1-X booster is outfitted with more than 700 sensors to measure temperatures, pressures, vibrations, acoustics -- just about everything you can think of -- during the two minutes and four seconds that the rocket motor will burn. That data needs to be relayed to ground stations real time, so NASA implemented a new flight rule to prevent what is called “triboelectrification.” Apparently flying through clouds containing ice or precipitation can generate a static electric charge that can degrade radio signals. In addition to the data collected during flight, triboelectrification can interfere with communications range safety officers need to detonate explosives on the rocket should it begin to veer off course and threaten populated areas.

The space shuttles are not susceptible to triboelectrification and most expendable rockets have protective coatings that make the issue moot.

NASA also was battling a more common type of electric charge on Wednesday. Storms passing through the area Tuesday night triggered more than 150 lightning strikes within five miles of the Ares launch pad. The team spent the first part of the morning meticulously checking over the rocket’s systems to make sure there was no damage.

By about 9 a.m., the team was ready to fly, but despite the blue skies, concerns about static electric charging is keeping Ares grounded.

Panel Pitches Public-Private Partnership for Space Taxis

2009-10-22T23:23:02-04:00

The presidential panel reviewing the U.S. space program sees little hope for NASA's Ares 1 moon rocket, though it found the program technically sound. The problem, the board said in its final report, is a question of timing.

To make up for budget shortfalls, NASA delayed development, postponing the rocket's debut until at least 2017, according to the advisory panel which was tapped to come up with options for the U.S. human space program.

By then, the International Space Station will have been removed from orbit, though the panel also recommended funding the station through at least 2020. Unfortunately for Ares 1, additional funding for station likely would delay Ares' debut another couple of years.

"I think there is argument that it was a sensible program to begin with. There is a real question as to whether it’s a sensible program today ," said space review panel chairman Norm Augustine. "The (schedule) slippage has caused a mismatch between what Ares 1 is needed for and what it’s going to be able to do.

"It’s very useful to be told that you’re on a track that you don’t have enough money to stay on, and we can continue down, but I think … a few years from now there will be a group back here saying ‘What happened?’" he added.

The favored option appears to be a public-private partnership, with NASA kicking in about $5 billion to jump-start development of commercially operated space taxis. The proposal is sure to rankle members of Congress representing districts that have work tied to the existing Constellation program.

The report was delivered on Thursday to NASA and the White House.

New NASA Rocket Arrives at Launch Pad

2009-10-20T16:14:45-04:00

p> Four years and $350 million in the making, Ares 1-X -- NASA's answer to the retiring space shuttles -- is at the launch pad, with liftoff set for Oct. 27.

1-X is really NASA's opening salvo in a bid to return astronauts to the moon. There's some competition for the job. Buoyed by the findings of a presidential-appointed space review panel, which is due to issue its final report on Thursday, commercial companies are game to take on the task of flying people into space, at least as far at the space station anyway.

The symbolism of the shuttle Atlantis on one pad and the Ares 1-X on the other was hard to miss. The shuttle is being prepared for a station resupply mission in November, one of the last six flights before the fleet is retired.

Astronauts assigned to fly on Atlantis were in town to participate in a practice launch countdown, but NASA bumped their flight a few days and rescheduled the dress rehearsal to focus on next week's Ares 1-X flight. The crew did some emergency evacuation training and spoke briefly with reporters at the launch pad, Atlantis behind them and Ares 1-X just north.

"In between this vehicle and that, we’ve spent quite a few years where we’ve had vehicles that are planned, vehicles that are on PowerPoint. We talk about doing it, but we never end up bending metal," said astronaut Randy Bresnik, one of the Atlantis crewmembers.

"Well there it," he said, pointing at Ares. "We built this vehicle. It's ready to fly and that is just a pretty awesome thing for us, the American people, to see."

(Dreams, hopes riding on Ares 1-X test vehicle. Credit: SpaceflightNow.com)

Lockheed Quietly Testing Prototype Space Plane

2009-10-16T21:49:43-04:00

A prototype winged spacecraft, intended to test new technologies for speeding up and simplifying launch services, blasted off from a nascent commercial spaceport in New Mexico last weekend, part of an ongoing secretive project by one of the country’s largest aerospace contractors.

“It’s right now a small, internal Lockheed Martin project on looking at various launch technologies,” said Slater Voorhees, project lead for the firm’s Advanced Programs.

Saturday’s launch from New Mexico’s budding Spaceport America was the third test flight of the vehicle. Voorhees declined to release the name of the project. UP Aerospace of Colorado, which operates a suborbital launch rail system at the spaceport, handled the flight under contract for Lockheed.

Test flights began in 2007 and the project is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Voorhees said it is not intended as a prototype for a crew-carrying vehicle. Rather, the project appears to be aimed at military and other space operators’ growing demand for quick and inexpensive launch services.

Flying from the still-under-development commercial spaceport provides a way for Lockheed to test non-traditional launch systems and support services, bypassing time-consuming and labor-intensive practices that may have become obsolete due to technological advances, yet remain requirements for launching on government ranges.

The Lockheed project reportedly involves a reusable, fly-back booster that takes off like a rocket and lands like an airplane.

“It’s just looking at new ways to do lean, responsive operations: How do we make a launch system more operational, leaner, less man-power? How do we provide more launch availability?” Voorhees said. “We’re looking at how to advance launch technologies.”

The prototypes are about 2.4 meters (8 feet) long, with a wingspan of about 1.8 meters -- about one-fifth the size the intended full-scale spacecraft. During a debut flight in December 2007, the spacecraft reached an altitude of about 3,000 feet. A second flight occurred in August 2008 though the craft lost control after reaching an altitude of about 1,500 feet and was damaged.

(Lockheed Martin's prototype winged spacecraft takes off on a second test flight in August 2008. Credit: Lockheed Martin.)

NASA Testing Alternative Orion Capsule

2009-10-13T11:20:34-04:00

What looks like NASA's Orion capsule, costs about the same as an Orion capsule but isn't made of metal? Why that would be NASA's Composite Crew Module, a structural prototype commissioned by NASA to determine if there would be any advantages to using new polymers to fabricate its planned replacement for the retiring space shuttles.

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center, set up in the wake of the Columbia accident to provide independent testing, analysis and assessments of the agency's high-risk programs, has been studying the alternative Orion capsule for about three years.

The NESC found that an alternative Orion was feasible but a detailed design would be needed to ascertain if it could meet mass requirements and manufacturing concerns. NASA told it to go ahead and build one.

Here's a quick synopsis of the project from NSEC's website:

The team ... focused on a design that utilizes aluminum honeycomb sandwich and solid polymer matrix laminate material systems. The design integrates the capsule backbone with the floor and pressure shell walls, which helps share the structural loads -- particularly important for water landings. The design also trims the capsule by about 150 pounds. The capsule is constructed in two major sections: an upper and a lower pressure shell.

Manufacturing of the prototype began last October and was finished in July. Testing is under way.

Preliminary results are not particularly promising, as any cost savings in weight and manufacturing are eroded by the alternative Orion's more complex design. Engineers also determined that the composite capsule would take longer to build due to manufacturing changes associated with switching from metallic materials .

NASA did like the composite's clam-shell design and is considering using it for the operational vehicles. NESC also concludes that using composites reduces the number of parts needed to manufacture and maintain the vehicles, which cuts life-cycle costs.

"Throughout the manufacturing phase, a number of 'unknown unknowns' materialized, giving the team the opportunity to evaluate and demonstrate the inspectability and repairability of the (composite) design," NESC said.

(Alternative Orion capsule, ready for pressure tests. Credit: NASA)