KOLD Climate Community Blog

Possible New Rocket For Human Space Travel Test Launches Tuesday Morning

From NASA.org

Preparations for the Ares I-X launch continue on schedule, heading toward an 8 a.m. EDT liftoff tomorrow.

Overnight at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39B, technicians installed the flight door on the fifth segment simulator. This morning, the sound suppression water system tank at the pad was filled with 300,000 gallons of water.

Launch preparations also are under way a few miles from the pad in the Launch Control Center's Young-Crippen Firing Room. In addition, at NASA's Hangar AE on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Mission Director’s Center, the Launch Vehicle Data Center and the telemetry lab are being configured for launch.

The launch team's "call to stations" will come at 12:30 a.m. tomorrow, with the seven-hour countdown beginning at 1 a.m.
The weather forecast is unchanged, presenting the launch team with a 40 percent chance of good weather for liftoff.

Follow the launch preparations with the Launch Team at NASA's Launch Blog. Plus watch the launch life at NASA TV. - First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan

Should NASA Skip Going Back To The Moon? Some Experts Say Yes.

NASA Advised to Skip Moon Mission Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

NASA needs to make a major detour on its grand plans to return astronauts for the moon, a special independent panel is telling the White House.

NASA has picked the wrong destination with the wrong rocket, the panel's chairman said Thursday. A test-flight version of the new rocket, Ares, is on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, awaiting liftoff later this month. NASA should be concentrating on bigger rockets, the panel members said.

Norman Augustine, chairman of the White House-appointed panel reviewing the agency's spaceflight plans, said it makes more sense to land on a nearby asteroid or one of the moons of Mars. He said that could be done sooner than returning to the moon in 15 years as NASA has outlined.

The exploration plans now under fire were pushed by then-President George W. Bush after the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster. The moon-Mars plan lacks enough money, thanks to budget diversions, the panel said in a 155-page report.

Starting in 2014, NASA needs an extra $3 billion a year if astronauts are going to travel beyond Earth's orbit, the panel said.

The key is where to explore space. In a report, the panel outlines eight options and leaves the choice to President Barack Obama. Three options are part of what the panel calls a "flexible path" to explore someplace other than the moon, eventually heading to a Mars landing far in the future.

Augustine said the flexible path option, which includes no-landing flights around the moon and Mars, makes more sense from both a physics and finance standpoint.

Landing on the moon and then launching back to Earth takes a lot of fuel because of the moon's gravity. Hauling fuel from Earth to the moon and then back costs money.

It would take less fuel to land and return from asteroids or comets that swing by Earth or even the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, Augustine said.

Early Morning Meteor Shower Wednesday...Set Your Alarms!

From NASA:

"Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the Orionids," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour."

The best time to look is before sunrise on Wednesday. That's when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream. Observing is easy: Wake up a few hours before dawn, brew some hot chocolate (or coffee), go outside and look up. No telescope is required to see Orionids shooting across the sky.

Orionids appear every year around this time when Earth orbits through an area of space littered with debris from the ancient comet. Normally, the shower produces 10 to 20 meteors per hour, a modest display. The past few years, however, have been much better than usual.

"Since 2006, the Orionids have been one of the best showers of the year, with counts of 60 or more meteors per hour," says Cooke.

According to Japanese meteor scientists Mikiya Sato and Jun-ichi Watanabe, 2006 marked Earth's first encounter with some very old debris. "We have found that the [elevated activity of 2006] was caused by dust trails ejected from 1P/Halley in 1266 BC, 1198 BC, and 911 BC," they wrote in the August 2007 edition of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. In their paper "Origin of the 2006 Orionid Outburst," Sato and Watanabe used a computer to model the structure and evolution of Halley's many debris streams stretching back in time as far as 3400 years. The debris that hit Earth in 2006 was among the oldest they studied and was rich in large fireball-producing meteoroids.

Repeat encounters produced good displays in 2007 and 2008—and "the meteoroids are expected to approach Earth [again] in 2009," say Sato and Watanabe. They note that these old broad streams tend to produce equally broad showers, lasting several nights around the peak. So, if clouds interfere on the 21st, try again on the 22nd or 23rd.

The phase of the Moon favors a good show. The Moon is almost new and completely absent from the pre-dawn sky at the time of the shower's peak. Bright moonlight will not be a problem.

Last but not least, the display will be framed by some of the prettiest stars and planets in the night sky. In addition to Orionids, you'll see brilliant Venus, red Mars, the dog star Sirius, and bright winter constellations such as Orion, Gemini and Taurus. Even if the shower is a dud, the rest of the sky is dynamite.

Set your alarm and enjoy the show.

Moon Mission A "Smashing Success"

From SpaceWeather.com:

There was a plume after all. Observers on Earth had their doubts after LCROSS and its Centaur booster rocket hit the Moon on Friday, Oct. 9th. The twin lunar impacts failed to produce visible plumes of debris, prompting speculation that something had gone wrong. On the contrary, members of the LCROSS science team are now calling the experiment "a smashing success."

Fifteen seconds after the Centaur hit the shadowy floor of crater Cabeus, the LCROSS spacecraft flying 600 km overhead took the following picture of a plume measuring 6 to 8 km wide:

"There is a clear indication of a plume of vapor and fine debris," says LCROSS principal investigator Tony Colaprete of NASA/Ames. "The ejecta brightness appears to be at the low end of our predictions and this may be a clue to the properties of the material the Centaur hit."

Nine cameras and spectrometers on LCROSS captured every phase of the Centaur's impact: the intial flash, the debris plume, and the creation of the Centaur's crater. "We are blown away by the data returned," says Colaprete. "The team is working hard on the analysis and the data appear to be of very high quality."

But did the impact reveal any water at the bottom of Cabeus? The LCROSS team isn't ready to say yet. Combining their data with those of other observatories and analyzing the full dataset could take weeks. According to NASA, "any new information will undergo the normal scientific review process and will be released as soon as it is available."

For more information, read NASA's Oct. 16th press release and browse the gallery of images.

Get Kids Excited About Space!

Get the kids excited about space!  Check out NASA's new Space Place. Interactive games & projects that even the grown-ups in the house will enjoy doing.  Getting kids excited about science is key to keeping the United States on top of the curve. Whether they become a scientists or not, having respect and basic knowledge of the concepts will make sure the U.S. continues to lead the world in science research. - First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan

Making A Dent In The Moon!

On Friday at4:30 AM, NASA is plunging a large projectile in to the moon! This will create another crater on the already dotted surface of the moon, along with a heck of a lot of dust. The main purpose is to determine if and how much water can be found on the moon. Check out the article below for details. - First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan

By: Jonas Dino
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission (LCROSS) based on new analysis of available lunar data, has shifted the target crater from Cabeus A to Cabeus (proper).

The decision was based on continued evaluation of all available data and consultation/input from members of the LCROSS Science Team and the scientific community, including impact experts, ground and space based observers, and observations from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Lunar Prospector (LP), Chandrayaan-1 and JAXA's Kaguya spacecraft. This decision was prompted by the current best understanding of hydrogen concentrations in the Cabeus region, including cross-correlation between the latest LRO results and LP data sets.

The general consensus of lunar experts led by the LCROSS science team is that Cabeus shows, with the greatest level of certainty, the highest hydrogen concentrations at the south pole. Further consideration of the most current terrain models provided by JAXA's Kaguya spacecraft and the LRO Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) was important in the decision process.The models show a small valley in an otherwise tall Cabeus perimeter ridge, which will allow for sunlight to illuminate the ejecta cloud on Oct. 9, and much sooner than previously estimated for Cabeus. While the ejecta does have to fly to higher elevations to be observed by Earth assets, a shadow cast by a large hill along the Cabeus ridge, provides an excellent, high-contrast, back drop for ejecta and vapor measurements.

The LCROSS team concluded that Cabeus provided the best chance for meeting its mission goals. The team critically assessed and successfully advocated for the change with the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program (LPRP) office. The change in impact crater was factored into LCROSS' most recent Trajectory Correction Maneuver, TCM7.

During the last days of the mission, the LCROSS team will continue to refine the exact point of impact within Cabeus crater to avoid rough spots, and to maximize solar illumination of the debris plume and Earth observations.

Blasting the Moon!

In 20 days, NASA is going to send a powerful projectile hurtling into the moon.  It's not really going to damage the moon, which is spotted by craters from meteorite strikes already.  The idea is to kick up some debris and see below the surface to search for water.  University of Arizona astronomers even had a hand in selecting the impact site on the sunless south pole of the moon. 

Check out the latest on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and it's mission to the moon by clicking here. - First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan

Meteorites Made Of Chocolate?

Well...they are not actually made of chocolate but NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory came up with a great way to teach kids about meteors and meteorites using, you guessed it, chocolate! So not only do the kids learn but you and your young ones get a little snack as well.  Check it out here.

Another Day In Space For Shuttle Discovery...Hopeful Landing Today

Thursday's Shuttle Discovery landing attemptwas canceled due to storms near Cape Canaveral, Florida.  Another attempt today is set for 5:48 PM Florida time (2:48 PM Arizona time) with a second attempt at 7:23 PM.  But a 60% chance of storms will likely spoil that landing attempt as well.  However, with storms in the forecast the next few days, NASA may decide to land the shuttle at Edwards Air Force Base in California.  If that is the case, it will cost about $1 million to get the shuttle back to Florida.  You can follow along landing preparations and know if the shuttle will make it back to Earth today by checking out NASA's Landing Blog. Postings begin at 11:30 AM Arizona time. Also watch the landing live on NASA TV.

Shuttle Discovery Coming Home Tonight

That is...if storms don't spoil the attempted landing of Shuttle Discovery scheduled for 7:05 PM Florida time (4:05 Arizona time) with a second attempt at 8:42 PM .  There is a 50% chance of storms at Cape Canaveral today. If the shuttle does land you can follow along all the preparations to touchdown on NASA's Landing Blog. Postings begin at 12:30 PM Arizona time. Also watch the landing live on NASA TV.