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Alexander Samokutyaev

2011-05-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

ISS027-E-022454 (5 May 2011) --- Russian cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev, Expedition 27 flight engineer, uses a glovebox to service the Russian Bioemulsion science payload in the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station.

The Bioemulsion experiment is attempting to develop faster technologies for obtaining microorganism biomass and biologically active substance biomass for creating highly efficient environmentally pure bacteria, enzymes, and medicinal/pharmaceutical preparations.

This Day in GovCon History, May 5: Shepard First American in Space

2011-05-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

May 5, 2011 is the 50th anniversary of Alan Shepard becoming the first American and second person to travel into space.

Shepard was originally slated to perform the mission in October 1960, but unplanned preparatory work delayed the launch so many times that cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin beat him into space on April 12. When he finally got the go-ahead on May 5 for the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission, he said to himself, "Don't [screw] up, Shepard." A paraphrased version of this later became known as "Alan Shepard's Prayer."

The space capsule Freedom 7 launches into space atop a Redstone rocket 50 years ago. NASA photo.

Launch and Recovery Systems Contractors

After the flight, he noted, "It’s a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one’s safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract."

The contractors he spoke of included McDonnell Aircraft (which later became McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing), which manufactured the Freedom 7 capsule Shepard travelled in. The capsule is now the centerpiece exhibit of the Naval Academy Visitor Center in Annapolis, Md.

The Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle which lofted the Freedom 7 capsule was manufactured by Chrysler and was based on the Redstone liquid-fueled ballistic missile, the most reliable missile at the time.

After the launch and 16-minute mission, a Sikorsky HMM-262 Seabat retrieved Shepard from the Atlantic Ocean, in one of the iconic photos from the mission:

A Marine HMM-262 Seabat helicopter retrieves Alan Shepard after his historic first American manned spaceflight on May 5, 1961. NASA photo.

Human Spaceflight and Computing

Though the launch systems were most visible part of the program, in retrospect, perhaps the most important contractor for the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission was IBM, which was hired to process flight data and to provide mission control with real-time updates and critical flight parameters. Art Cohen, the lead IBM engineer on the project, noted that the mission was "the first real-time data processing entry.

A schematic of the Mercury-Redstone Mission. NASA photo.

In Shepard’s 1998 oral history [PDF] of his career, he credited NASA computer work and contract money spent preparing for early missions to setting advanced modern computing technology in motion. While noting that computers would still exist, he said "We wouldn't be at the position we are today without that tremendous [impetus] that NASA had in making the computers."

Commemorating History

NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission by releasing a stamp yesterday showing Shepard, his space capsule and rocket. Donato Giancola and Phil Jordon were contracted to design the stamp.

In his message commemorating the 50th anniversary, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden singled out contractors, writing, "With our support and assistance, commercial companies will expand access to that rarefied area Alan Shepard first trod for America, allowing NASA to focus on those bigger, more challenging destinations and to enable our science missions to peer farther and farther beyond our solar system."

Submit your own ideas for this day in govcon history to tips@govwin.com.

Next Tuesday is earliest Endeavour could launch

2011-05-08T22:16:00.000-07:00

TUCSON - The NASA Shuttle Endeavour will launch no earlier than May 10, NASA confirmed in a news release today.

Technicians are now retesting a newly-installed power distribution box, replaced after a faulty one was removed Tuesday morning from the art compartment of the shuttle, NASA says.

Mark Kelly, husband of injured U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords, is the commander of the mission originally scheduled to launch last Friday, but he and his team were turned around as they drove up to the launch pad after the problem was detected.

Technicians are performing additional testing to figure out whether the failure came from the power distribution box, called the Load Control Assembly 2, or from another system.

Stay tuned to News 4 Tucson and KVOA.com for continuing updates on the shuttle mission, and follow NASA Kennedy Center on Twitter for the latest information: @NASAKennedy.

All systems are no-go, NASA delays space shuttle launch at least another week Continue reading on Examiner.com: All systems are no-go, NASA delays space shuttle launch at least another week - National Space news | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/space-news-in-national/all-systems-are-no-go-nasa-delays-space-shuttle-launch-at-least-another-week#ixzz1LpSbJ0qD

2011-05-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

In a development that has space shuttle Endeavour starting to look a lot like the 4 month Discovery saga, NASA has announced yet another delay to the STS-134 mission. The latest time table: Endeavour will not lift off until May 16 at the earliest. For NASA and space enthusiasts the world over, this is yet another blow to pride as another shuttle is continually being grounded by mechanical trouble.

What was once one of the most hyped-up space missions in years suddenly became became a non-event on Friday, April 29. Space shuttle Endeavour, which was scheduled to lift off at 3:47pm EDT that day, was delayed because of mechanical problems with a heater on a backup power unit. In its initial statement, NASA estimated a weekend repair, with the shuttle being able to take off the following Monday. Unfortunately, repairs could not be completed in time, causing a further delay.

Now, as that week-long delay approaches its end, NASA made another announcement, this time stating that Endeavour will not lift off until May 16 at the earliest.

As for specifics regarding the problem, two heaters designed to keep the auxiliary power unit from freezing in space are not working properly. In terms of impact on the mission, the auxiliary power unit that failed is used to power the shuttle as it goes through the all-important stage of atmospheric reentry, which is, after launch, the most dangerous part of any shuttle mission. Without the heaters to keep it warm, chances are that the power unit itself would freeze and thus be rendered unable to operate.

Naturally, one of the most-hyped space missions in years, if not decades, has gone from being day-to-day to week-to-week.

First reason for the hype: wounded Arizona representative Gabrielle Giffords, who just happens to be married to NASA astronaut Mark Kelly who, by sheer chance, just so happened to be the already-named STS-134 commander prior to the Tucson shooting. After Giffords was shot, there arose intense media speculation over what Kelly would do: would he fly or skip the mission to be with his, at the time, gravely injured wife? As things turned out, Giffords has made a surprising recovery, so much so that not only did Kelly decide to fly, but that Rep. Giffords herself will be at Kennedy to watch the launch.

As a second added piece of drama to an already big story, the First Family was planning to be in attendance for the launch. In a surprising bit of trivia, this will mark only the third time a sitting president has witnessed the liftoff of a manned space mission. The two previous times: Richard Nixon in 1969 and Bill Clinton in 1998. For a nation that prides itself on being a leader in space, the fact that only two sitting presidents have ever watched a launch is rather surprising.

In conclusion, with the mission status now anything but certain, stay tuned here and to other space news websites for updates.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: All systems are no-go, NASA delays space shuttle launch at least another week - National Space news |

Electrical Circuit Between Saturn and Enceladus

2011-04-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

This artist's concept shows a glowing patch of ultraviolet light near Saturn's north pole that occurs at the "footprint" of the magnetic connection between Saturn and its moon Enceladus. The footprint and magnetic field lines are not visible to the naked eye, but were detected by the ultraviolet imaging spectrograph and the fields and particles instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The footprint, newly discovered by Cassini, marks the presence of an electrical circuit that connects Saturn with Enceladus and accelerates electrons and ions along the magnetic field lines. In this image, the footprint is in the white box marked on Saturn, with the magnetic field lines in white and purple.

A larger white square above Enceladus shows a cross-section of the magnetic field line between the moon and the planet. This pattern of energetic protons was detected by Cassini's magnetospheric imaging instrument (MIMI) on Aug. 11, 2008.

The patch near Saturn's north pole glows because of the same phenomenon that makes Saturn's well-known north and south polar auroras glow: energetic electrons diving into the planet's atmosphere. However, the "footprint" is not connected to the rings of auroras around Saturn's poles (shown as an orange ring around the north pole in this image).

The Cassini plasma spectrometer complemented the MIMI data, with detection of field-aligned electron beams in the area. A team of scientists analyzed the charged particle data and concluded that the electron beams had sufficient energy flux to generate a detectable level of auroral emission at Saturn. Target locations were provided to Cassini's ultraviolet imaging spectrograph team. On Aug. 26, 2008, the spectrograph obtained images of an auroral footprint in Saturn's northern hemisphere.

The newly discovered auroral footprint measured about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) in the longitude direction and less than 400 kilometers (250 miles) in latitude, covering an area comparable to that of California or Sweden. It was located at about 65 degrees north latitude.

In the brightest image the footprint shone with an ultraviolet light intensity of about 1.6 kilorayleighs, far less than the Saturnian polar auroral rings. This is comparable to the faintest aurora visible at Earth without a telescope in the visible light spectrum. Scientists have not yet found a matching footprint at the southern end of the magnetic field line.

The background star field and false color images of Saturn and Enceladus were obtained by Cassini's imaging science subsystem.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The ultraviolet imaging spectrograph team is based at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The magnetospheric imaging team is based at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. The Cassini plasma spectrometer team is based at the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini .

Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL/University of Colorado/Central Arizona College/SSI

Space Shuttle Mission: STS-134

2011-04-30T00:27:00.000-07:00

Image above: President Barack Obama boards Air Force One at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida after his visit and tour of Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: NASA

The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori.

During the 14-day mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and spare parts including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for Dextre.

NASA Delays Space Shuttle Launch Until Next Week

2011-04-30T00:16:00.000-07:00

Final flight of Endeavour pushed back due to heater glitch.

Victoria Jaggard
at Kennedy Space Center

National Geographic News

Published April 29, 2011

Hours before its planned liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the space shuttle Endeavour had endured pouring rain and nearby lightning—but was still on target for launch, based on weather conditions.

Instead, it was a problem with a line of small heaters that ultimately forced NASA to scrub today's 3:47 p.m. launch attempt.

NASA's next try will be no earlier than Monday morning, launch officials said today.

A planned launch of an Atlas V rocket from Kennedy on May 6 means that the shuttle lift-off can push to no later than May 4.

After that date, the next possible launch attempt for Endeavour wouldn't come until May 9.

Shuttle Delayed by Heater Failure

Endeavour's crew of six veteran astronauts, led by mission commander Mark Kelly, had already boarded their bus for the launch pad when the scrub was announced at 12:19 p.m. ET.

The trouble was caused by failed heaters in one of the shuttle's auxiliary power units (APUs), which provide hydraulic power for the craft's engine nozzles, landing gear, and other moving parts used in flight.

The APU hydraulics are driven by a fuel called hydrazine, Mike Moses, NASA's launch integration manager for the shuttle program, said today during a press briefing.

Without heaters, hydrazine could freeze in the chilly environment of space, creating buildups of frozen fuel. This could cause problems during atmospheric reentry, as thawing chunks of hydrazine could trigger leaks of combustable fuel.

The shuttle does have two other APUs, and if one had failed after launch, "it would not have been a bad day," Moses said. Flight engineers have contingency plans in place to safely shut off a malfunctioning APU.

But since the issue was discovered before launch, shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach made the decision to scrub.

"We don't like lifting off without redundancy, especially in a critical system like this one," Leinbach said.

(Also see "Space Shuttle Launch to Put Giant Ray Detector in Space.")

Despite Scrub, Obama Makes Space Center Visit

To troubleshoot the problem, engineers first have to empty the shuttle's giant external fuel tanks—which had been filled just this morning with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen in preparation for launch.

When the tanks are empty—they take 24 hours to drain fully—technicians will be able to safely access the shuttle's avionics bay at the back of the craft to determine the extent of the APU glitch.

The problem could be a faulty thermostat, which would be relatively quick and easy to fix, Leinbach said. But if the thermostat isn't to blame, the glitch may trace to a switchbox called the load control assembly (LCA).

If something is wrong with the LCA, Leinbach said, the fix would be more expensive and time-consuming, possibly pushing the launch to May 9, at the earliest.

In the meantime, the shuttle crew has gone back into quarantine—remaining in special quarters to prevent contracting any illnesses before flight.

The delay means the crew will have a few days more to relax and spend time with their families before Endeavour makes its final flight.

The astronauts also enjoyed a post-scrub meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, who arrived at Kennedy this afternoon with his family as part of a planned visit to see the launch.

"Hopefully we can lure him back for another launch in the future," said Kennedy Space Center director Robert Cabana.

NASA Sets Endeavour's Last Launch for April 29

2011-04-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

The space shuttle Endeavour is set to blast off on its final mission at the end of this month. The U.S. space agency made the official announcement Tuesday afternoon after a thorough review of the shuttle's readiness.

NASA says space shuttle Commander Mark Kelly and his five crewmates will blast off on Endeavour's last mission on April 29.

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations, told reporters Tuesday that NASA officials gave the shuttle a clean bill of health.

"We reviewed everything," said Gerstenmaier. "We spent quite a bit of time talking about all the things, and I think the team was unanimous and we're ready to go fly."

NASA managers ran extensive tests on an external tank that was damaged during Hurricane Katrina, which struck the U.S. Gulf coast in 2005. NASA determined the tank is ready for launch, without the same metal support beams that were on the shuttle Discovery's tank. Those supports, or stringers, cracked while Discovery was on the launch pad, delaying its lift-off by several months.

Gerstenmaier also said engineers added more, tougher tiles to the underside of Endeavour's wings and fuselage for enhanced protection from launch-related debris.

NASA concluded that the shuttle and space station's equipment, as well as support systems and personnel, are ready for the mission.

The primary objective of Endeavour's 14-day journey in Earth orbit is to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. The spectrometer, or AMS, is a sophisticated detector that will help researchers study the formation of the universe.

"It will allow us to just learn more about dark matter, which makes up a large portion of the universe, which we really don't understand why it's there, or matter that we can't see with classical instruments. So it was very interesting hearing about AMS," said Gerstenmaier.

The spectrometer will look for elusive evidence of anti-matter by searching for anti-carbon and anti-helium molecules among all discernible particles.

This will be the last mission for Endeavour, and the second-to-last mission for the U.S. shuttle fleet. NASA is retiring the shuttles in order to focus on developing the next generation of spacecraft that could go beyond low-Earth-orbit.

NASA Updates OV-103/Discovery End State Requirements

2011-04-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

One month after the completion of her STS-133 mission, Discovery is nearing completion of Down Mission Processing (DMP) activities inside OPF-2 at the Kennedy Space Center. With DMP nearly complete, technicians will soon begin the initial stages of Transition & Retirement processing on the Shuttle Program’s fleet leader. With this step, technicians will follow a revised/updated Delta End State Flow Review for Discovery, as approved by the Program Requirements Control Board.

Background:

A few months ago, at the End State Flow Review (ESFR) for orbiter Discovery, “direction was given to place OV-103 into T&R (Transition & Retirement) processing as soon as practical following wheel stop” on the vehicle’s final mission: STS-133.

As such, a plan was put in place to safe and secure Discovery post-landing and to perform “minimal” DMP. This minimal DMP included the removal of Discovery’s OMS (Orbital Maneuver System) pods and Forward Reaction Control System (FRCS) pod and subsequent shipment of those pods to the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility (HMF) at KSC for initial post-career deservicing.

Upon direction of the ESFR, an investigation occurred to determine what components, if any, from OV-103 would be required for retention as spares for STS-134/Endeavour and STS-135/Atlantis SSP (Space Shuttle Program) manifest flyout.

“OPO worked with IL to determine what hardware should be protected to support flyout of SSP. An assessment was also performed for rollover to the VAB during T&R for OV-103.”

This investigation yielded a list of several select hardware elements from OV-103 for removal during DMP. To this end, all hardware removals have been identified and are planned to occur prior to OV-103′s transfer to VAB HB 4 (Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 4) in late-April/early-May for temporary storage.

All hardware elements not identified as necessary for SSP manifest flyout will remain installed on Discovery. Should their removal become necessary, however, a plan has been adopted to remove these elements either before rollover to the VAB for storage or after transfer of OV-103 in early June to OPF-1 for complete T&R processing.

This plan was approved at the PRCB (Program Requirements Control Board) meeting on March 18, 2011.

To accomplish complete protection of OV-103′s hardware elements (those not immediately identified for retention as spares through manifest flyout), Discovery will be hooked up to purge air during all DMP and T&R processing activities. She will even have purge air hook-ups during her one month of storage in VAB HB 4.

According to the late March, 2011 Delta ESFR presentation, available for download on L2, “While in the VAB, hardware can be protected by maintaining full purge on the vehicle.”

The purge would be accomplished through all three (3) purge circuits and drag on crew cabin purge. For this, the orbiter’s vent doors “will be placed in the purge configuration prior to leaving OPF-2 and moving into VAB.”

Should a purge outage occur while in storage in the VAB, no waiver will be taken; however, nominal purge will be restored as soon as possible and all necessary documentation on hardware elements taken for review by potential hardware costumers.

Furthermore, positive pressure on all vehicles compartments will be maintained during VAB storage.

DMP Operations & Maintenance Plan Updates:

As originally intended and baselined at the OV-103 End State Requirements Review (ESRR) in September 2010, Discovery was originally to be kept in flight-ready condition with only select fluid system de-servicing prior to flyout of the SSP manifest.

“With the new direction to proceed directly into T&R following DMP, updates of the OMP (Operations and Maintenance Plan) may be required.”

Therefore, any changes to the ESRR baselined plan will have to be submitted for review to the GO Project & Requirements Office. The changes will then require the signatures of USA GO / NASA System Engineers and USA Orbiter Elements Representatives prior to implementation.

USA GO Project & Requirements Office will track all changes to the OMP for OV-103, with all changes to the OMP presented to the SSP prior to the completion of DMP on Discovery.

Display Site Requirements:

With confirmation that OV-103/Discovery will be handed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum just outside Washington, D.C. expected on Tuesday, April 12 (the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight and the 30th anniversary of the launch of STS-1/Columbia), discussions regarding Discovery’s specific Display Site Requirements (DSR) and configuration for the Smithsonian can begin.

However, until those discussions are complete, Discovery’s T&R team will process OV-103 toward the SSP’s agreed upon generic orbiter DSR configuration.

As noted by the OV-103 Delta ESFR presentation, “Display Site Requirements (DSR) T&R Team has partnered the baseline display configuration. Configuration is generic to all vehicles. Any future changes or updates to the DSR [will] be handled in accordance with NSTS 07700 Volume XX.”

White Sands Test Facility OMS/RCS Processing:

For Discovery’s FRCS and OMS pods deservicing, a White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) tiger team was developed in October 2010 following a Technical Interchange Meeting to determine specific processing plans for these hardware components as well as a shipment configuration plan.

For shipment to WSTF from KSC’s HMF, all thruster jets will be removed and shipped separately from and before the FRCS and OMS pods. The thruster’s propellant supply lines will also be capped for transport.

For specific deservicing and display configuration processing, the Delta ESFR presentation notes that all “GSE (Ground Support Equipment) has been identified and is being refurbished/fabricated as required.”

Meanwhile, the specific processing plan for Discovery’s OMS pods and FRCS is still being finalized per the Project Management Plan and WSTF Test Directive. This processing flow is being mapped out as an integrated flow for not only Discovery’s OMS and FRCS pods, but Atlantis’s and Endeavour’s as well.

While no insurmountable issues have been identified for the shipment of Discovery’s OMS and FRCS pods, numerous elements for the transport are still under consideration. Not the least of which being STS-Last hardware requirements and impacts -specifically, the potential requirement/desire to keep Discovery’s FRCS and OMS pods in as close to flight-ready condition as possible until the launch of STS-135/Atlantis.

Should this be the desired course of action, Discovery’s overall T&R schedule would only be impacted by two (2) weeks.

Meanwhile, while the OMS pods and FRCS will be taken out of flight-ready condition prior their removal from Discovery, the Delta ESFR presentation notes that they can be returned to flight-ready condition if needed.

Nonetheless, if the pods are not required for future SSP use, several processing steps will need to be completed in the HMF before they can be shipped WSTF. These steps include: system draining, thruster removal & line capping, packaging for shipment, and loading onto commercial carrier vehicles.

Moreover, in terms of STS-Last Orbiter Hardware retention requirements, “JSC Engineering has compiled a list of hardware to be retained” through the flyout of the SSP manifest. This list was compiled with the assistance of KSC Engineering, SLS (Space Launch System), WSTF, and the NESC (NASA Engineering Safety Council).

These requirements have been implemented into the DMP and T&R processing schedules for Discovery.

Specifically, some of these STS-Last hardware elements are the payload bay ROUEs, ELC (Express Logistics Carrier) keels, DragonEYE DTO, LWAPA, payload bay & umbilical cameras, TSAs (Tool Stowage Assemblies), winches, PFR, and OBSS (Orbiter Boom Sensor System) sensor palates.

Replica Shuttle Main Engines Status:

Unlike the OMS pods and FRCS, which will be reinstalled onto Discovery as part of her final museum display configuration, her tell-tale and stalwart Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) will not be returned to her.

Instead, as previous reported by NASASpaceflight.com, Discovery and her sisters will be fitted with Replica Shuttle Main Engines (RSMEs).

The previously-flown SSMEs will be retained by NASA for use on the SD HLV, slated for official unveiling and contract bidding later this year.

For the RSMEs, NASA has completed dynamics/stress analysis review on the Ferry strut configuration of the RSMEs, design reviews, nozzle adaptor drawing release to vendors for bids, and OV-103 RSME installation plan.

It will take vendors ~3 months to fabricate and deliver the first set of the three (3) nozzle adaptors.

Fabrication of all nine (9) RSME nozzles for Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour is currently in-work at Canoga Park. RMSE installation and closeout plans for all three orbiters are also in-work at this time, as is the overall RMSE risk assessment.

In all, KSC need dates for the finished RSMEs for OV-103/Discovery is July 5, 2011, October 3, 2011 (coincidentally, the 26th anniversary of Atlantis’s maiden voyage) for Atlantis/OV-104, and March 5, 2012 for Endeavour/OV-105.

Forward Plan for OV-103:

With DMP currently in work on Discovery, the Delta ESFR presentation team concluded that all T&R early start work for OV-103 can be accomplished in conjunction with flight processing for sisters Atlantis and Endeavour.

Furthermore, at the conclusion of DMP, Discovery will be ready to begin T&R processing in accordance with NSTS 07700 Volume XX. As such, Discovery will not be maintained in flight-ready status through the flyout of the SSP manifest.

“The plan for full-up T&R processing is ready for implementation, and the teams are requesting approval to start T&R processing at completion of DMP.”

((Further articles will follow, as we follow Discovery all the way to the exhibition. L2 members refer to L2′s ongoing coverage sections for internal coverage, presentations, images and and updates from engineers and managers. Images via NASA.gov, L2 documentation and Larry Sullivan - MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceflight.com).

Heliophysics

2011-04-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

ped and flourished. The origins and fate of life on Earth are intimately connected to the way the Earth responds to the Sun's variations.

Understanding the Sun, Heliosphere, and Planetary Environments as a single connected system is the goal of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program. In addition to solar processes, our domain of study includes the interaction of solar plasma and radiation with Earth, the other planets, and the Galaxy. By analyzing the connections between the Sun, solar wind, planetary space environments, and our place in the Galaxy, we are uncovering the fundamental physical processes that occur throughout the Universe. Understanding the connections between the Sun and its planets will allow us to predict the impacts of solar variability on humans, technological systems, and even the presence of life itself.

We have already discovered ways to peer into the internal workings of the Sun and understand how the Earth's magnetosphere responds to solar activity. Our challenge now is to explore the full system of complex interactions that characterize the relationship of the Sun with the solar system. Understanding these connections is especially critical as we contemplate our destiny in the third millennium. Heliophysics is needed to facilitate the accelerated expansion of human experience beyond the confines of our Earthly home. Recent advances in technology allow us, for the first time, to realistically contemplate voyages beyond the solar system.

There are three primary objectives that define the multi-decadal studies needed:

To understand the changing flow of energy and matter throughout the Sun, Heliosphere, and Planetary Environments.
To explore the fundamental physical processes of space plasma systems.
To define the origins and societal impacts of variability in the Earth-Sun System.

A combination of interrelated elements is used to achieve these objectives. They include complementary missions of various sizes; timely development of enabling and enhancing technologies; and acquisition of knowledge through research, analysis, theory, and modeling.

National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958

2011-04-10T21:59:00.001-07:00

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (Space Act) established NASA as an aerospace research and development agency that sponsors and conducts flight missions to obtain data in furtherance of its objectives. In NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), flight missions range from suborbital projects—including balloons, sounding rockets, and airplanes—to interplanetary probes and flagship observatories. All investigations and missions selected and flown must respond to Agency goals and strategic objectives.

Mission opportunities are open to all proposers, within fixed rules, via public announcement, and selections are based primarily on scientific and technical merit as evaluated by independent peer review. Foreign partners are frequent and valued participants in joint missions. The partnerships are generally conducted on a cooperative, no-exchange-of-funds basis. NASA also works closely with a number of other Federal agencies to implement and support our flight missions. To learn more about mission planning and development, see section 3.3 of the Science Plan for NASA's Science Mission Directorate 2007 - 2016 (PDF 5.1 MB).

This page provides access to all SMD missions, with several options for viewing. Click on the column headers below to change your view. The "All" tab will provide you with a complete listing that can be sorted to suit your interests.

All my school friends are telling me that we are all going to die in the year 2012 due to a meteor hitting earth. Is this true?

2011-04-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

Your friends are wrong. The Earth has always been subject to impacts by comets and asteroids, although big hits are very rare.

The last big impact was 65 million years ago, and that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Today NASA astronomers are carrying out a survey called the Spaceguard Survey to find any large near-Earth asteroids long before they hit. We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs.

All this work is done openly with the discoveries posted every day on the NASA NEO Program Office website (neo.jpl.nasa.gov), so you can see for yourself that nothing is predicted to hit in 2012.

I am confused about a report on the Fox News website that in 2012 a “Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months”. They referred to a report from the National Academy of Sciences that was commissioned and paid for by NASA. If nothing is going to happen as a result of the event in 2012, why would NASA allow such nonsense to be reported?

2011-04-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

NASA is pleased with the National Research Council report on heliophysics. As you note, this report includes a worst-case analysis of what could happen today if there were a repetition of the biggest solar storm ever recorded (in 1859).

The problem is the way such information can be used out of context. There is no reason to expect such a large solar storm in the near future, certainly not in 2012 specifically. Your reference to “the event in 2012” illustrates this problem. There is no prediction of an “event in 2012”. We don’t even know if the next solar maximum will take place in that year.

The whole 2012 disaster scenario is a hoax, fueled by ads for the Hollywood science-fiction disaster film “2012”. I can only hope that most people are able to distinguish Hollywood film plots from reality.

I have heard that the Earth’s magnetic field will flip in 2012 just when the strongest level of solar storms in history is predicted to take place. Will this kill us or destroy our civilization?

2011-04-06T23:36:00.000-07:00

Near solar maximum (which happens every 11 years approximately), there are many more solar flares and coronal mass ejections than near solar minimum. Flares and mass ejections are no danger for humans or other life on Earth. They could endanger astronauts in deep space or on the Moon, and this is something that NASA must learn to deal with, but it is not a problem for you or me.

Large outbursts can interrupt radio transmission, cause bright displays of the aurora (Northern and Southern Lights), and damage the electronics of some satellites in space. Today many satellites are designed to deal with this possibility, for example by switching off some of their more delicate circuits and going into a “safe” mode for a few hours. In extreme cases solar activity can also disrupt electrical transmissions on the ground, possibly leading to electrical blackouts, but this is rare.

The last solar maximum occurred in 2001, so the next one was predicted for around 2012, 11 years later. However, the most recent solar minimum was unusual, with a period of a couple of years with almost no sunspots or other indications of solar activity, so scientists now guess that the next maximum will be delayed, perhaps to 2013. However, the details of the solar cycle remain basically unpredictable.

You are correct that the Earth’s magnetic field protects us by creating a large region in space, called the Earth’s magnetosphere, within which most of the material ejected from the Sun is captured or deflected, but there is no reason to expect a reversal of magnetic polarity any time soon. These magnetic reversals happen only once in 400,000 years on average.

I am scared about the fact that the Earth will enter the Dark Rift in the Milky Way. What will this do? Will the Earth be swallowed up?

2011-04-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

The “dark rift” is a popular name for the broad and diffuse dust clouds in the
inner arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, which block our view of the galactic
center. The entire “galactic alignment” scare is pretty crazy.

Late in
December the Sun is always approximately in the direction of the center of
the Galaxy as seen from the Earth, but so what? Apparently the con-men who are trying to scare you have decided to use these meaningless phrases about “alignments” and the “dark rift” and “photon belt” precisely because they are not understood by the public. I

t is too bad, but there is no law against lying on the Internet or anywhere else except in a court of law. As far as the safety of the Earth is concerned, the important threats are from global warming and loss of biological diversity, and perhaps someday from collision with an asteroid or comet, not the pseudoscientific claims about 2012.

When the sun and the Earth line up on the galactic plane at the same time with the black whole being in the center couldn’t that cause something to happen, due to the fact that the black hole has such a strong gravitational pull.

2011-04-06T23:20:00.000-07:00

There is a giant black hole in the center of our Milky Way galaxy, and like any concentration of mass it exerts gravitational force on the rest of the Galaxy. However, the galactic center is very far away, approximately 30,000 light years,

so it has negligible effects on the solar system or the Earth. There are no special forces from the galactic plane or the galactic center. The only important force that acts on the Earth is the gravitation of the Sun and Moon.

As far as the influence of the galactic plane, there is nothing special about this location. The last time the Earth was in the galactic plane was several million years ago. Claims that we are about to cross the galactic plane are untrue.

When most of the planets align in 2012 and planet Earth is in the center of the Milky Way, what will the effects of this be on planet Earth? Could it cause a pole shift, and if so what could we expect?

2011-04-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

There is no planet alignment in 2012 or any other time in the next several decades. As to the Earth being in the center of the Milky Way, I don’t know what this phrase means. If you are referring to the Milky Way Galaxy, we are rather far toward the edge of this spiral galaxy,

some 30,000 light years from the center. We circle the galactic center in a period of 225-250 million years, always keeping approximately the same distance. Concerning a pole shift, I also don’t know what this means. If it means some sudden change in the position of the pole (that is, the rotation axis of the Earth), then that is impossible, as noted in the answer to Question 10. What many websites do discuss is the alignment of the Earth and Sun with the center of the Milky Way in the constellation of Sagittarius.

This happens every December, with no bad consequences, and there is no reason to expect 2012 to be different from any other year.

What is the polar shift theory? Is it true that the earth’s crust does a 180-degree rotation around the core in a matter of days if not hours? Does this have something to do to do with our solar system dipping beneath the galactic equator?

2011-04-06T23:08:00.000-07:00

A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible. It has never happened and never will. There are slow movements of the continents (for example Antarctica was near the equator hundreds of millions of years ago), but that is irrelevant to claims of reversal of the rotational poles.

However, many of the disaster websites pull a bait-and-shift to fool people. They claim a relationship between the rotation and the magnetic polarity of Earth, which does change irregularly with a magnetic reversal taking place every 400,000 years on average. As far as we know, such a magnetic reversal doesn’t cause any harm to life on Earth.

A magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia, anyway. But they falsely claim that a magnetic reversal is coming soon (in 2012) and that this is the same as, or will trigger, a reversal of rotational poles. The bottom line is:

(a) Rotation direction and magnetic polarity are not related.

(b) There is no reason to expect a reversal of magnetic polarity any time soon, or to anticipate any bad effects on life when it does eventually happen. © A sudden shift in rotational pole with disastrous consequences is impossible. Also, none of this has anything to do with the galactic equator or any of the other nonsense about alignments that appears on many of the conspiracy theory websites.

Why does the Mayan calendar say the world will end in 2012? I have heard that they have been pretty accurate in the past with other planetary predictions. How can you be sure you know more than they did?

2011-04-06T23:06:00.001-07:00

Calendars exist for keeping track of the passage of time, not for predicting the future. The Mayan astronomers were clever, and they developed a very complex calendar.

Ancient calendars are interesting to historians, but of they cannot match the ability we have today to keep track of time, or the precision of the calendars currently in use.

The main point, however, is that calendars, whether contemporary or ancient, cannot predict the future of our planet or warn of things to happen on a specific date such as 2012.

I note that my desk calendar ends much sooner, on December 31 2009, but I do not interpret this as a prediction of Armageddon. It is just the beginning of a new year.

If the government knew about Nibiru, wouldn’t they keep it a secret to avoid panic? Isn’t it the government’s job to keep the population at ease?

2011-04-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

There are many objectives of government, but they do not include keeping the population at ease. My experience is that sometimes parts of the government do just the opposite, as in the frequent references to various terrorist threats or warnings about driving accidents on long holiday weekends, which are no more dangerous than any other time.

There is a long history of associating bad things with political opponents (older readers will remember the “missile gap” in the 1960 election, younger ones will note the many current references to who is or is not keeping the U.S. safe from terrorists).

Further, social scientists have pointed out that many of our concepts of public panic are the product of Hollywood, while in the real world people have a good record of helping each other in a time of danger. I think everyone also recognizes that keeping bad news secret usually backfires, making the issue even worse when the facts finally come out. And in the case of Nibiru, these facts would come out very soon indeed.

Even if they wanted to, the government could not keep Nibiru a secret. If it were real, it would be tracked by thousands of astronomers, amateurs as well a professional. These astronomers are spread all over the world. I know the astronomy community, and these scientists would not keep a secret even if ordered to. You just can’t hide a planet on its way to the inner solar system!

Can you explain the fact that the area at (5h 53m 27s, -6 10’ 58”) has been blackened out in Google Sky and Microsoft Telescope? People suggest that these have been blackened out because those are the co-ordinates where Nibiru is located at present.

2011-04-06T23:03:00.000-07:00

Several people have asked me about this blank rectangle in Orion in Google Sky, which is a presentation of images from the Sloan Digital Survey. This can’t be a “hiding place” for Nibiru, since it is a part of the sky that could be seen from almost everywhere on the Earth in the winter of 2007-08 when much of the talk about Nibiru began.

That would contradict the claims that Nibiru was hiding behind the Sun or that it could be seen only from the southern hemisphere. But I too was curious about this blank rectangle, so I asked a friend who is a senior scientist at Google. He replied that he “found out that the missing data is due to a processing error in the image stitching program we use to display the Sloan survey images. The team assures me that in the next run through, this will be fixed!”

There are many photos and videos of Nibiru on the Internet. Isn’t that proof that it exists?

2011-04-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

The great majority of the photos and videos on the Internet are of some feature near the Sun (apparently supporting the claim that Nibiru has been hiding behind the Sun for the past several years.) These are actually false images of the Sun caused by internal reflections in the lens, often called lens flare. You can identify them easily by the fact that they appear diametrically opposite the real solar image, as if reflected across the center of the image. This is especially obvious in videos, where as the camera moves, the false image dances about always exactly opposite the real image. Similar lens flare is a source of many UFO photos taken at night with strong light sources such as streetlights in the frame.

I am surprised that people don’t recognize this common photo artifact. I am also amazed that these photos showing something nearly as large and bright as the Sun (a “second sun”) are accepted together with claims made on some of the same websites that Nibiru is too faint to be seen or photographed except with large telescopes.

One widely reported telescopic photo (www.greatdreams.com/nibiru-possible.jpg) shows two views of an expanding gas cloud far beyond the solar system, which is not moving; you can see this from the fact that the stars are the same in both pictures. A sharp-eyed reader of this website identified these photos as a gas shell around the star V838 Mon. Wikipedia has a nice write-up and a beautiful photo of it from Hubble. Another high school student was initially impressed by posted images of a red blob that were said to be of Nibiru. Then he worked out in his Photoshop class how to make just such pictures starting from scratch.

One video posted in summer 2008 on Youtube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDKtkWIx00A) shows a guy standing in his kitchen claiming that one of the objects discovered by a NASA x-ray telescope is Nibiru. What is his evidence? That since this false-color x-ray image released by NASA is blue, this must really be a nearby planet with an ocean. This would be hilarious if it were not used to frighten people.

Do you deny that NASA built a South Pole Telescope (SPT) to track Nibiru? Why else would they build a telescope at the South Pole?

2011-04-06T22:59:00.001-07:00

There is a telescope at the South Pole, but it was not built by NASA and not used to study Nibiru. The South Pole Telescope was supported by the National Science Foundation, and it is a radio telescope, not an optical instrument. It cannot take images or photos.

You can look it up on Wikipedia. The Antarctic is a great place for astronomical infrared and short-wave-radio observations, and it also has the advantage that objects can be observed continuously without the interference of the day-night cycle.

I should add that it is impossible to imagine a geometry in which an object can be seen only from the South Pole. Even if it were due south of the Earth, it could be seen from the entire southern hemisphere.

Maybe we should be asking about Planet X or Eris, not Nibiru. Why does NASA keep secret the orbit of Eris?

2011-04-06T22:54:00.001-07:00

“Planet X” is an oxymoron when applied to a real object. The term has been used by astronomers over the past century for a possible or suspected object. Once the object is found, it is given a real name, as was done with Pluto and Eris, both of which were at some time referred to as Planet X. If a new object turns out to be not real, or not a planet, then you won’t hear about it again. If it is real, it is not called Planet X.

Eris is one of several dwarf planets recently found by astronomers in the outer solar system, all of them on normal orbits that will never bring them near Earth. Like Pluto, Eris is smaller than our Moon. It is very far away, and its orbit never brings it closer than about 4 billion miles. There is no secret about Eris and its orbit, as you can easily verify by googling it or looking it up in Wikipedia.

How can you deny the existence of Nibiru when NASA discovered it in 1983 and the story appeared in leading newspapers? At that time you called it Planet X, and later it was named Xena or Eris.

2011-04-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

IRAS (the NASA Infrared Astronomy Satellite, which carried out a sky survey for 10 months in 1983) discovered many infrared sources, but none of them was Nibiru or Planet X or any other objects in the outer solar system. There is a good discussion from Caltech to be found at (spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/tchester/iras/no_tenth_planet_yet.html).

Briefly, IRAS cataloged 350,000 infrared sources, and initially many of these sources were unidentified (which was the point, of course, of making such a survey). All of these observations have been followed up by subsequent studies with more powerful instruments both on the ground and in space. The rumor about a “tenth planet” erupted in 1984 after a scientific paper was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters titled “Unidentified point sources in the IRAS minisurvey”,

which discussed several infrared sources with “no counterparts”. But these “mystery objects” were subsequently found to be distant galaxies (except one, which was a wisp of “infrared cirrus”), as published in 1987. No IRAS source has ever turned out to be a planet. A good discussion of this whole issue is to be found on Phil Plait’s website (www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/science.html#iras). The bottom line is that Nibiru is a myth, with no basis in fact. To an astronomer, persistent claims about a planet that is “nearby” but “invisible” are just plain silly.