Expedition 28 Crew Awaits New Crew Members

With the successful completion of the STS-134 mission Wednesday at 2:35 a.m. EDT, the three-member Expedition 28 crew awaits three new crew members and the final visit of a space shuttle.

Commander Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Ron Garan have been at the International Space Station since April 6. New crew members Mike Fossum, Satoshi Furukawa and Sergei Volkov are due to arrive in the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft and join the orbiting trio June 9.

The final  [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art25915/expedition-28-crew-awaits-new-crew-members.html

Shadow of Endeavour

Endeavour is safely back on Earth. But while it was docked to the International Space Station, it cast a long, long shadow… which you can see in this astonishing picture:

[Click to ungdwarfenate.]

Cool, isn’t it? I know, it’s small — you can see it more clearly in the full-res picture — but here’s a close-up:

You can now see the ISS much better (along with a sunspot cluster — note that spot on the right is roughly the size of the Earth!); Endeavour is the long fuzzy bump on the top of the horizontal bar going between the two sets of solar panels.

This picture was taken by Spanish photographer Dani Caxete, amazingly using just a 12.5 cm (5 inch) telescope. He has a gorgeous series of photos on Flickr which is well worth checking out, including this very cool one showing a series of video frames of the ISS crossing the Moon, and a very moody shot of the ISS and Sun with some clouds adding a sense of ...

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/WPb8seUIxZY/

Camera Duo on Mars Rover Mast Will Shoot Color Views

Two digital color cameras riding high on the mast of NASA's next Mars rover will complement each other in showing the surface of Mars in exquisite detail.

They are the left and right eyes of the Mast Camera, or Mastcam, instrument on the Curiosity rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, launching in late 2011.

The right-eye Mastcam looks through a telephoto lens, revealing details near or far with about three-fold better resolution than any previous landscape-viewing camera on t [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art25908/camera-duo-on-mars-rover-mast-will-shoot-color-views.html

Endeavour Crew Prepares for Wednesday Landing

Endeavour astronauts spent much of their day getting ready for their return to Earth. Their first landing opportunity is Wednesday at 2:35 a.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center.

Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Greg H. Johnson and Mission Specialist Roberto Vittori powered up and checked out the flight control system, testing the flaps and rudder that will control Endeavour?s flight once it enters the Earth?s atmosphere. Next they test fired the reaction system thrusters that control the shuttle? [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art25910/endeavour-crew-prepares-for-wednesday-landing.html

Space Shuttle Endeavour Sails To Home Port For Final Time

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its six-astronaut crew sailed home for the final time, ending a 16-day journey of more than 6.5 million miles with a landing at 2:35 a.m. EDT on Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

STS-134 was the last mission for the youngest of NASA's space shuttle fleet. Since 1992, Endeavour flew 25 missions, spent 299 days in space, orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled 122,883,151 miles.

"We are very proud of Endeavour's legacy, an [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art25913/space-shuttle-endeavour-sails-to-home-port-for-final-time.html

Why I?m (still) not worried about my cell phone hurting my brain

I’m getting lots of notes from people about the latest press release from the World Health Organization, saying there is a "possible" link between cell phones and brain cancer. My first reaction was, "Seriously?" This keeps popping up every now and again, but this was the first time I had heard it from a group as big as WHO.

The reason for that initial reaction was that I’ve read about lots of studies showing no link at all between cell phones and health issues (besides quadrupling your odds of a car accident if you drive while using your phone), so my reaction was one of fair skepticism. I’d be surprised if a strong connection had been found.

Turns out, it seems, that’s the right call. My Discover Magazine co-blogger Ed Yong explains why on the Cancer Research UK website. Basically, the WHO put cell phones into the Group 2B category, meaning they are "possibly carcinogenic to humans". Aiiiieee! Sounds scary… except that word "possibly", it turns out, needs to be understood a little more quantitatively.

As Ed shows, the graph showing the results from several tests investigating the links between cell phones and cancer shows that ...

Full story at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/JtB5-YNDV0M/

STS-134 Flight Day 15 Planned Activities

23:26 GMT (7:26 pm EDT) ? Endeavour / ISS Crew Wake Up (Begins Flight Day 15)
3:55 GMT (11:55 pm EDT) ? Endeavour Undocks From ISS
4:22 GMT (12:22 am EDT) ? Endeavour Flyaround Of ISS Begins
5:36 GMT (1:36 am EDT) ? Endeavour STORRM Test Begins
7:28 GMT (3:28 am EDT) ? Endeavour STORRM Test Closest Re-Approach To ISS
8:38 GMT (4:38 am EDT) ? Endeavor Final Separation From ISS
14:56 GMT (10:56 am EDT) ? Endeavour Crew Sleep Begins [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art25900/sts-134-flight-day-15-planned-activities.html

Successful On-Orbit Orion MPCV Navigation System Test During STS-134 Shuttle Mission

DENVER -- In an unprecedented on-orbit maneuver, Commander Mark Kelly completed the first ever Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV)-like approach to the International Space Station at 3:24 a.m. CDT today as part of the Sensor Test for Orion Relative Navigation Risk Mitigation (STORRM). The orbital rendezvous verified the successful operation of the MPCV?s next generation docking sensor, which NASA has identified as a critical technology needed for future space exploration missions.

The N [...]

Full story at http://spacefellowship.com/news/art25903/successful-on-orbit-orion-mpcv-navigation-system-test-during-sts-134-shuttle-mission.html