NASA'S SHUTTLE PROGRAM HANDS OVER LAUNCH PAD TO CONSTELLATION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The May 31 transfer of Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida from the Space Shuttle Program to the Constellation Program is the next step in preparing the first flight test of the agency's next-generation spacecraft and launch system. The Constellation Program is developing new spacecraft -- including the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, the Orion crew capsule, and the Altair lunar lander -- to carry humans to the International Space Station, the moon and beyond.

Since the late 1960s, pad B has been instrumental in human spaceflight programs, such as Apollo, Skylab and the space shuttle. The pad originally was built for the Saturn V rockets to launch the Apollo capsules to the moon. In July 1975, the pad was modified to support space shuttle operations. The first space shuttle to lift off from pad B was Challenger in January 1986.

The handover took place Sunday after space shuttle Endeavour was moved to Launch Pad 39A. The ground operations team will finish modifying pad B for the Ares I-X rocket launch. Modifications will include removing the orbiter access arm and a section of the gaseous oxygen vent arm and installing access platforms and a vehicle stabilization system.

Orion Crew Modules from Coast to Coast

Here’s a look at just a few of the crew modules being developed around the country for Constellation’s Orion crew exploration vehicle.
Surrounded by work platforms at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, the full-scale Orion crew module is undergoing preparations for the first flight test of Orion's launch abort system, called Pad Abort 1 (PA-1), targeted for November at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test module has recently completed a series of high-intensity acoustic tests, simulating the noise made by the launch abort system motors, to evaluate how high frequency vibrations could affect the module's structure or its electronics. Image credit: NASA/Tony Landis

Come Checkout Constellation on the Move in Las Cruces,N.M.

A mockup of NASA’s nearly 45-foot long launch abort system (LAS) for the crew exploration vehicle, Orion, will be on display from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. CDT on Thursday, June 18 at New Mexico State University’s “horseshoe” area.

The system is being used to help NASA engineers prepare for the Pad Abort 1 test, which will take place in nearby White Sands Missile Range in November. When astronauts launch to the moon aboard the Orion crew exploration vehicle, the LAS will pull the crew and its module out of danger should a malfunction in the launch vehicle occur on the launch pad or during ascent atop the Ares I rocket. The 90-second Pad Abort 1 flight test will help gather information about how LAS operates in reality.

Other NASA exhibits include a large inflatable tent, handouts, a guest appearance by EVA, one of NASA’s inflatable astronauts, and models of its newest space vehicles, the Orion crew module and the Ares I and Ares V rockets. NASA’s Constellation Program is developing these vehicles, including the Altair lunar lander, to send humans to the International Space Station, moon and beyond after the shuttle retires in 2010.

NASA EDGE: LRO and LCROSS

Here is a nice little piece of advice. Download the LRO/LCROSS vodcast (http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/nasaedge/NE00_LRO_LCROSS.html), watch intently, save up some money, go buy a nice lawn chair, a good 10-12 inch telescope and invite over some friends for one of the coolest scientific events since JJ Abrams decided to make the prequel to the Star Trek TV series. My friends, witness LRO and LCROSS.

Of course, the LCROSS impact won't happen for a few months, and by that time LRO will have plowed through many of its objectives. But what you might be able to see (I'm probably not correct about the specifics of my party preparation advice) is the impact plume of LCROSS's Centaur module after it slams into the surface of the Moon. Ordinarily this kind of destructive behavior is limited to Mythbusters, but NASA stands to gain tons of scientific data that will help us understand more about our Moon. Perhaps we will bust a few myths in the process.

When you see the show, you'll know a little bit more about what I mean. Be sure to check it out. Of course, if you have questions and comments, please leave them here. I'll be checking. I'm trying to plan my own LRO/LCROSS impact party, and I could use a few good ideas.

International Space Station Imagery

JSC2006-E-08937 (16 March 2006) --- Astronaut Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Expedition 14 commander and NASA space station science officer, awaits the final touches to the training version of his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit prior to being submerged in the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near Johnson Space Center.

Mission Information

Image above: Front row, Commander Mark Polansky (right) and Pilot Doug Hurley. Back row (left to right), astronauts Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Canadian Space Agency's Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn and Tim Kopra, all mission specialists. Kopra is scheduled to join Expedition 20 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station with the STS-127 crew. Image credit: NASA

Next Mission: STS-127
Space shuttle mission STS-127 is the 32nd construction flight of the International Space Station and the final of a series of three flights dedicated to the assembly of the Japanese Kibo laboratory complex.
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+ Mission Overview

Previous Mission: STS-125
During the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, Atlantis' seven astronauts repaired and improved the orbiting observatory's capabilities.

THEMIS Overview

NASA's Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) aims to resolve one of the oldest mysteries in space physics, namely to determine what physical process in near-Earth space initiates the violent eruptions of the aurora that occur during substorms in the Earth's magnetosphere.

THEMIS is a 2-year mission consisting of 5 identical probes that will study the violent colorful eruptions of Auroras.

Understanding and predicting space weather is important to describe the environment in which spacecraft and astronauts operate and ensure their safety. Just as hail and tornadoes accompany the most severe thunderstorms, substorms accompany the most intense space storms – those that disrupt communications, cause power line transmission failures, and produce the most penetrating radiation. THEMIS will study substorms to gain insight into the most severe space storms.

Substorms occur when the magnetosphere suddenly releases vast amounts of stored solar wind energy. Substorms start from a small region in space but within minutes cover an immense region of the magnetosphere. Different possible triggers have different locations, so the key to solving this mystery is placing spacecraft in various locations in Earth's magnetic field to figure to help find the elusive substorm point of origin.

For the first time NASA will launch a constellation of five satellites to study substorms. The THEMIS probes will line up over North America once every four days. Over the mission’s two-year lifetime, the probes should be able to observe some 30 substorms.

THEMIS is the fifth medium-class mission under NASA's Explorer Program, which was conceived to provide frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from space within the Heliophysics and Astrophysics science areas. The Explorers Program Office at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., manages this NASA-funded mission. The University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory and Swales Aerospace, Beltsville, Md., built the THEMIS probes.