MAIN ARTICLE: Will NASA discover water on the moon?
June is the launch date for the new lunar prospector.
Page 2: White Knight Two Flight Test Summaries
Page 3: Support NASA, Mr. President
Poll Results: Yesterday's poll had a lower than average turnout but DKOS members spoke with one voice.
Star Trek: In the News. Can we live long and prosper? ‘Star Trek’ fans hope so.
Yesterday's Comments: "The President as a Vulcan - Barack of Obama" - aaraujo
Today's Poll: Do you believe the LRO-LCROSS will discover water on the moon?
WATER WATER EVERYWHERE....
NASA Eyes Water In Moon Mission
"NASA on Thursday said it was on target for a June mission to scour the Moon's surface for landing sites and water that would allow humans to work and even live on Earth's nearest neighbor.
The space agency hopes to launch a dual craft in June, part of which would survey the Moon's surface from orbit while another unit ploughs into the lunar surface in search for water.
"We had the original target of providing information back for being able to safely return to the Moon for exploration," said Mike Wargo, NASA's chief lunar scientist.
The mission will focus on the little-known lunar poles, hoping to confirm reports of hydrogen accumulation and possible water-ice not found at the equatorial regions that where famously explored by humans in the last century.
It is scheduled to lift-off, strapped to an Atlas V rocket, from Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 17."
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THE MISSION:
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
"The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is the first mission in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, a plan to return to the moon and then to travel to Mars and beyond. The LRO objectives are to finding safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.
The spacecraft will be placed in low polar orbit (50 km) for a 1-year mission under NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. LRO will return global data, such as day-night temperature maps, a global geodetic grid, high resolution color imaging and the moon's UV albedo. However there is particular emphasis on the polar regions of the moon where continuous access to solar illumination may be possible and the prospect of water in the permanently shadowed regions at the poles may exist. Although the objectives of LRO are explorative in nature, the payload includes instruments with considerable heritage from previous planetary science missions, enabling transition, after one year, to a science phase under NASA's Science Mission Directorate."
--end quote--
(Image-NASA, shows the LRO getting stacked on top of the LCROSS)
The mission is a two vehicle system, the second part is the:
Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)
"The Mission Objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) include confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon’s South Pole. The identification of water is very important to the future of human activities on the Moon. LCROSS will excavate the permanently dark floor of one of the Moon’s polar craters with two heavy impactors early in 2009 to test the theory that ancient ice lies buried there. The impact will eject material from the crater’s surface to create a plume that specialized instruments will be able to analyze for the presence of water (ice and vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated materials.
LCROSS will also provide technologies and modular, reconfigurable subsystems that can be used to support future mission architectures."
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PAGE 2:
White Knight Two Flight Test Summaries
"The following list includes summaries of the flight test activity of the White Knight Two (WK2) aircraft. White Knight Two is the mothership/ launch aircraft for SpaceShipTwo (SS2) and potentially other large payloads. It is equipped with many common system components to SS2 (cabin, ECS, speed-brake actuators, avionics, trim servos, air data, test data, video & TM). Thus, the flight test program of WK2 includes many tests that focus on SS2 systems qualification and maturity.
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Flight: 05
Date: 20 May 09 Flight Time: Aprox. 3 hours
Pilot: Siebold Copilot: Nichols
FTE: None
Objectives:
Aft center of gravity handling qualities evaluation. Initial evaluation of pressurization and environmental control systems (ECS).
Results:
All objectives completed. Pressurization and ECS worked as designed. Max altitude 20,000 ft. After landing, conducted an emergency response drill, including both Scaled and Mojave Air and Space Port resources."
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PAGE 3:
Support NASA, Mr. President
"I understand the current Administration wants a new report on NASA.
We already have an Augustine Report.
From the original Augustine report:
"The Committee, chaired by Martin Marietta chief Norman Augustine, also called for development of a new heavy lift vehicle and a phasing out of the Space Shuttle..." "
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POLL RESULTS:
Yesterday's poll had a lower turnout than normally seen here. The new average for polling is 67 votes, up from 55 from a couple months ago. Over 12000 votes, on space issues, have been collected so far.
The poll below was from (see "Scientists discover a nearly Earth-sized planet.", 'Americans in Space', Apr 22, 2009) a diary last month that refered to the victory Bigelow Aerospace had on the ITAR issue.
A couple articles about how ITAR is limiting American companies from competing globally is hopefully helping inform members of the need to tweak these rules of the road.
Can we live long and prosper? ‘Star Trek’ fans hope so
"NEW YORK — Looking around at this party to celebrate the newest Star Trek film, no one can deny that these fans are hard core.
Some guests are wearing starship uniforms. One guy just went out into the streets of midtown Manhattan in captain’s garb to pick up a pizza. Episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" are playing in the background. There’s a whole table of paraphernalia — including a snow globe containing a miniature USS Enterprise.
After a year when some of our visions for the future have veered toward the apocalyptic, the sci-fi trivia and costumes are not the only things that set this group of partygoers apart. Facing their own difficult times, the people at the events held by this New York fan group are finding inspiration for the future in Star Trek.
"People are at a very dark time right now," says one fan, Rebecca Brandt. "We have to get to the Star Trek point. We’re not there yet. ... We need replicators. ... We need to solve world hunger and solve disease."
Science fiction fans have been taking the long view for a long time. Ask a group of Star Trek followers what they see ahead in the distant future, and many still can make out a path to the tempting vision the show has offered of what could be."
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YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS:
"space elevators are dynamically unstable if you do detailed analysis the wire gets into all sorts of modes, it's undamped and there is energy loss to the cargo" - nathguy
"is there any way to damp that?
For example:
Gyroscopic devices installed along its length. These could provide a certain amount of stabilizing by themselves. Outside their upper parameter, they could trigger supplementary stabilization by ducted fan devices in Earth's atmosphere (powered by electricity carried on an attached cable), and possibly by liquid fueled thrusters at the upper end of the tether.
Seems to me that small increments of negative feedback should (heh, "should" :-) be able to counteract forces that if left unchecked might amplify.
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When we finally make a fundamental discovery that can get us out of the gravity well cheaply, we'll look back and say "darn!, that was too easy!, why didn't we think of it sooner?!"
Question is, is there anything going on in physics, both mainstream and speculative, that holds any potential in this area? How'bout in the range from "speculative" to the near end of "fringe" but not including "loony"...?" - G2geek
"Timing is everything
Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001.
24 Premiered November 6, 2001
There's also torture in the new Star Trek so maybe some people don't get it yet." - JML9999
TODAY'S POLL:
Read other NASA and Space diaries on DKOS.
