Expedition 22 Awaits Arrival of Endeavour

(NASA) - Space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 4:14 a.m. EST Monday, beginning STS-130, the 32nd shuttle flight to the International Space Station.

Commander George Zamka is leading the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station aboard Endeavour. Terry Virts is serving as the pilot. Mission Specialists are Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire. Virts is making his first trip to space.



Shuttle Endeavour and its crew [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art18437/expedition-22-awaits-arrival-of-endeavour.html

Endeavour Crew Busy with Inspections During First Full Day in Space

(NASA) - The astronauts aboard space shuttle Endeavour are into their first full day in space and on the way to install the final components of the U.S. segment of the International Space Station.

Pilot Terry Virts will assist Commander George Zamka with a firing of the shuttle?s jets to refine its approach to the International Space Station for the planned Tuesday night docking.



Mission Specialists Kay Hire and Nick Patrick will be at the controls of the shuttle robotic arm tonight [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art18440/endeavour-crew-busy-with-inspections-during-first-full-day-in-space.html

STS-130 Flight Day 2/3 Planned Activities

9:14 GMT (4:14 am EST) ? OBSS Berth
10:34 GMT (5:34 am EST) ? Centerline Camera Installation
10:44 GMT (5:44 am EST) ? Rendezvous Tool Checkout
11:04 GMT (6:04 am EST) ? ODS Ring Extension
14:14 GMT (9:14 am EST) ? Endeavour Crew Sleep Begins
22:14 GMT (5:14 pm EST) ? Endeavour Crew Wakeup (begins FD 3)
23:44 GMT (6:44 pm EST) ? Rendezvous Operations Begin
2:28 GMT (9:28 pm EST) ? TI Burn
4:05 GMT (11:05 pm EST) ? Endeavour RPM / ISS Crew Video Documentation Begins
5:0 [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art18444/sts-130-flight-day-2-3-planned-activities.html

Advisor to the planets^h^h^h stars

I was pleasantly surprised to see my old friend Kevin Grazier — planetary scientist with Cassini, and science advisor for Battlestar Galactica and Eureka — highlighted in a Eureka Unscripted blog post. It’s a two-parter, with the second one going up sometimes soon.

At the same time, it was cool to see another friend, Jennifer Ouellette, talking about the science of Eureka as well! I like the show, and while the science is sometimes warped a bit (or a lot) for story-telling, I know for a fact the executive producer and writers try to get as much right as they can. The EP, Jaime Paglia, is a smart and funny guy; I was on a panel with him at Comic Con a couple of years ago (with Kevin, too!) and moderated one that he was on as well. His role is not that of a science teacher, but a story teller. But even so, he and his team, strive to base what they do on solid science.

Plus? It’s just a fun show. That’s why I like Fringe, too. Look: I am the biggest hard case you’ll find when it comes to accuracy in science fiction, but even I know when to hang it up if the story is fun. That way I can actually sit back and enjoy stuff like Doctor Who and Star Trek without getting all twisted up into a pseudo-Riemannian 11-dimensional manifold.

See what I did there? Yeah, if you did, you’re a dork too.

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/1keZHDRCL-A/

Satellite View of "Snowmageddon"

Nicknamed ?snowpocalypse? and ?snowmageddon,? an exceptionally severe winter storm dropped several feet of snow around the Washington, DC area in early February 2010. Crashed and abandoned cars littered roads as airlines canceled hundreds of flights.

Even the DC Metro underground train system stopped functioning in places. Authorities urged residents to stay indoors, but hundreds of thousands lost electricity. The Washington Post reported that the snow-induced standstill might last u [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art18398/satellite-view-of-snowmageddon-.html

Color Between Saturn's Moons

Two of Saturn's moons straddle the planet's rings in this color view.



Mimas (396 kilometers, or 246 miles across) is closest to the Cassini spacecraft here. Epimetheus (113 kilometers, or 70 miles across) is on the far side of the rings. Saturn's shadow cuts across the middle of the rings. This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from just above the ringplane.

Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images w [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art18401/color-between-saturn-s-moons.html

Solar Dynamics Observatory: The 'Variable Sun' Mission

For some years now, an unorthodox idea has been gaining favor among astronomers. It contradicts old teachings and unsettles thoughtful observers, especially climatologists.

"The sun," explains Lika Guhathakurta of NASA headquarters in Washington DC, "is a variable star."

But it looks so constant...


"Understanding solar variability is crucial," says space scientist Judith Lean of the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC. "Our modern way of life depends upon it."

Enter the Solar Dynam [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art18405/solar-dynamics-observatory-the-variable-sun-mission.html