Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
-
Similar Topics
-
By Space Force
The Department of the Air Force recorded significant audit achievements in Fiscal Year 2024, securing remediation's for all three of its audit roadmap targets, including two material weaknesses and one significant deficiency.
View the full article
-
By Space Force
The Department of the Air Force selected Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado, as the preferred and final location to host Space Delta 15.
View the full article
-
By NASA
On Nov. 16, 2009, space shuttle Atlantis began its 31st trip into space, on the third Utilization and Logistics Flight (ULF3) mission to the International Space Station, the 31st shuttle flight to the orbiting lab. During the 11-day mission, the six-member STS-129 crew worked with the six-person Expedition 21 crew during seven days of docked operations. The mission’s primary objectives included delivering two external logistics carriers and their spare parts, adding nearly 15 tons of hardware to the station, and returning a long-duration crew member, the last to return on a shuttle. Three of the STS-129 astronauts conducted three spacewalks to transfer spare parts and continue assembly and maintenance of the station. As a group of 12, the joint crews celebrated the largest and most diverse Thanksgiving gathering in space.
Left: Official photograph of the STS-129 crew of Leland D. Melvin, left, Charles O. Hobaugh, Michael J. Foreman, Robert “Bobby” L. Satcher, Barry “Butch” E. Wilmore, and Randolph “Randy” J. Bresnik. Middle: The STS-129 crew patch. Right: The ULF3 payload patch.
The six-person STS-129 crew consisted of Commander Charles O. Hobaugh, Pilot Barry “Butch” E. Wilmore, and Mission Specialists Randolph “Randy” J. Bresnik, Michael J. Foreman, Leland D. Melvin, and Robert “Bobby” L. Satcher. Primary objectives of the mission included launch and transfer to the station of the first two EXPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELC-1 and ELC-2) and their multiple spare parts, and the return of NASA astronaut and Expedition 20 and 21 Flight Engineer Nicole P. Stott, the last astronaut to rotate on the shuttle.
Left: In the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers finish processing Atlantis for STS-129. Right: Space shuttle Atlantis rolls over from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Left: Atlantis rolls out to Launch Pad 39A. Right: The STS-129 crew during the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test.
Atlantis returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) from its previous mission, STS-125, on June 2, 2009, and workers towed it to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to prepare it for STS-129. The orbiter rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Oct. 6, and after mating with its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters, rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on Oct. 14, targeting a Nov. 16 launch. Six days later, the six-member crew participated in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, essentially a dress rehearsal of the actual countdown for launch, returning to Houston for final training. They returned to KSC on Nov. 13 to prepare for launch.
Left: With Atlantis sitting on Launch Pad 39A, the Ares 1-X rocket lifts off from Launch Pad 39B. Right: The payload canister arrives at Launch Pad 39A.
Left: The STS-129 astronauts leave crew quarters for the ride to Launch Pad 39A. Right: Liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis on STS-129.
On Nov. 16, at 2:28 p.m. EST, space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39A to begin its 31st trip into space, carrying its six-member crew on the ULF3 space station outfitting and resupply mission. Eight and a half minutes later, Atlantis and its crew had reached orbit. The flight marked Hobaugh’s third time in space, having flown on STS-104 and STS-118, Foreman’s and Melvin’s second, having flown on STS-123 and STS-122, respectively, while Wilmore, Bresnik, and Satcher enjoyed their first taste of weightlessness.
Left: The two EXPRESS Logistics Carriers in Atlantis’ payload bay. Middle: Leland D. Melvin participates in the inspection of Atlantis’ thermal protection system. Right: The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System grasps the Orbiter Boom Sensor System for the inspection.
After reaching orbit, the crew opened the payload bay doors, deployed the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight. The astronauts spent six hours on their second day in space conducting a detailed inspection of Atlantis’ nose cap and wing leading edges, with Hobaugh, Wilmore, Melvin, and Bresnik taking turns operating the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), or robotic arm, and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS).
Left: The International Space Station as seen from Atlantis during the rendezvous and docking maneuver. Middle: Atlantis as seen from the space station, showing the two EXPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELC) in the payload bay. Right: View of the space station from Atlantis during the rendezvous pitch maneuver, with the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System grasping ELC-1 in preparation for transfer shortly after docking.
On the mission’s third day, Hobaugh assisted by his crewmates brought Atlantis in for a docking with the space station. During the rendezvous, Hobaugh stopped the approach at 600 feet and completed the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver so astronauts aboard the station could photograph Atlantis’ underside to look for any damage to the tiles. Shortly after docking, the crews opened the hatches between the two spacecraft and the six-person station crew welcomed the six-member shuttle crew. After the welcoming ceremony, Stott joined the STS-129 crew, leaving a crew of five aboard the station. Melvin and Bresnik used the SRMS to pick up ELC-1 from the payload bay and hand it off to Wilmore and Expedition 21 NASA astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams operating the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), who then installed it on the P3 truss segment.
Images from the first spacewalk. Left: Michael J. Foreman unstows the S-band Antenna Support Assembly prior to transferring it to the station. Middle: Robert “Bobby” L. Satcher lubricates the robotic arm’s Latching End Effector. Right: Satcher’s image reflected in a Z1 radiator panel.
During the mission’s first of three spacewalks on flight day four, Foreman and Satcher ventured outside for six hours and 37 minutes. During the excursion, with robotic help from their fellow crew members, they transferred a spare S-band Antenna Support Assembly from the shuttle’s payload bay to the station’s Z1 truss. Satcher, an orthopedic surgeon by training, performed “surgery” on the station’s main robotic arm as well as the robotic arm on the Kibo Japanese module, by lubricating their latching end effectors. One day after joining Atlantis’ crew, Stott celebrated her 47th birthday.
Left: Space station crew member Jeffery N. Williams assists STS-129 astronaut Leland D. Melvin in operating the space station’s robotic arm to transfer and install the second EXPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC2) on the S3 truss. Middle: The station robotic arm installs ELC2 on the S3 truss. Right: Michael J. Foreman, left, and Randolph J. Bresnik during the mission’s second spacewalk.
On the mission’s fifth day, the astronauts performed another focused inspection of the shuttle’s thermal protection system. The next day, through another coordinated robotic activity involving the shuttle and station arms, the astronauts transferred ELC-2 and its complement of spares from the payload bay to the station’s S3 truss. Foreman and Bresnik completed the mission’s second spacewalk. Working on the Columbus module, they installed the Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing (GATOR) fixture that includes a system used for ship identification and an antenna for Ham radio operators. They next installed a wireless video transmission system on the station’s truss. This spacewalk lasted six hours and eight minutes.
Left: Randolph J. Bresnik during the third STS-129 spacewalk. Middle: Robert “Bobby” L. Satcher during the third spacewalk. Right: The MISSE 7 exposure experiment suitcases installed on ELC2.
Following a crew off duty day, on flight day eight Satcher and Bresnik exited the airlock for the mission’s third and final spacewalk. Their first task involved moving an oxygen tank from the newly installed ELC-2 to the Quest airlock. They accomplished this task with robotic assistance from their fellow crew members. Bresnik retrieved the two-suitcase sized MISSE-7 experiment containers from the shuttle cargo bay and installed them on the MISSE-7 platform on ELC-2, opening them to begin their exposure time. This third spacewalk lasted five hours 42 minutes.
Left: An early Thanksgiving meal for 12 aboard the space station. Right: After the meal, who has the dishes?
Thanksgiving Day fell on the day after undocking, so the joint crews celebrated with a meal a few days early. The meal represented not only the largest Thanksgiving celebration in space with 12 participants, but also the most international, with four nations represented – the United States, Russia, Canada, and Belgium (representing the European Space Agency).
Left: The 12 members of Expedition 21 and STS-129 pose for a final photograph before saying their farewells. Right: The STS-129 crew, now comprising seven members.
A selection of STS-129 Earth observation images. Left: Maui. Middle: Los Angeles. Right: Houston.
Despite their busy workload, as with all space crews, the STS-129 astronauts made time to look out the windows and took hundreds of photographs of their home planet.
Left: The space station seen from Atlantis during the flyaround. Middle: Atlantis as seen from the space station during the flyaround, with a now empty payload bay. Right: Astronaut Nicole P. Stott looks back at the station, her home for three months, from the departing Atlantis.
On flight day nine, the joint crews held a brief farewell ceremony. European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, the first European to command the space station, handed over command to NASA astronaut Williams. The two crews parted company and closed the hatches between the two spacecraft. The next day, with Wilmore at the controls, Atlantis undocked from the space station, having spent seven days as a single spacecraft. Wilmore completed a flyaround of the station, with the astronauts photographing it to document its condition. A final separation burn sent Atlantis on its way.
The astronauts used the shuttle’s arm to pick up the OBSS and perform a late inspection of Atlantis’ thermal protection system. On flight day 11, Hobaugh and Wilmore tested the orbiter’s reaction control system thrusters and flight control surfaces in preparation for the next day’s entry and landing. The entire crew busied themselves with stowing all unneeded equipment.
Left: Atlantis about to touch down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Middle: Atlantis touches down. Right: Atlantis deploys its drag chute as it continues down the runway.
Left: Six of the STS-129 astronauts pose with Atlantis on the runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Right: The welcome home ceremony for the STS-129 crew at Ellington Field in Houston.
On Nov. 27, the astronauts closed Atlantis’ payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats, a special recumbent one for Stott who had spent the last three months in weightlessness. Hobaugh fired Atlantis’ two Orbital Maneuvering System engines to bring them out of orbit and head for a landing half an orbit later. He guided Atlantis to a smooth touchdown at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility.
The landing capped off a very successful STS-129 mission of 10 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes. The six astronauts orbited the planet 171 times. Stott spent 90 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes in space, completing 1,423 orbits of the Earth. After towing Atlantis to the OPF, engineers began preparing it for its next flight, STS-132 in May 2010. The astronauts returned to Houston for a welcoming ceremony at Ellington Field.
Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-129 mission.
Explore More
23 min read 55 Years Ago: Apollo 12 Makes a Pinpoint Landing on the Moon
Article 4 days ago 12 min read 40 Years Ago: STS-51A – “The Ace Repo Company”
Article 1 week ago 1 min read Oral History with Jon A. McBride, 1943 – 2024
Article 2 weeks ago View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Designers at NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio work alongside researchers and scientists to create high-quality, engaging animations and visualizations of data. This animation shows global carbon dioxide emissions forming and circling the planet.Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio Captivating images and videos can bring data to life. NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) produces visualizations, animations, and images to help scientists tell stories of their research and make science more approachable and engaging.
Using the Discover supercomputer at the Center for Climate Simulation at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, visualizers use datasets generated by supercomputer models to create highly detailed, accurate, and stunning visualizations with Hollywood filmmaking tools like 3D modeling and animation.
Using supercomputing models, SVS visualizers created this data-driven animation of carbon dioxide emissions moving around the planet. The visualization is driven by massive climate data sets and highly detailed emissions maps created by NASA researchers and external partners. The resulting visualization shows the impact of power plants, fires, and cities, and how their emissions are spread across the planet by weather patterns and airflow.
“Both policymakers and scientists try to account for where carbon comes from and how that impacts the planet,” said NASA Goddard climate scientist Lesley Ott, whose research was used to generate the final visualization. “You see here how everything is interconnected by the different weather patterns.”
By combining visual storytelling with supercomputing power, the SVS team continues their work to captivate and connect with audiences while educating them on NASA’s scientific research and efforts.
The NASA Center for Climate Simulation is part of the NASA High-End Computing Program, which also includes the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility at Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
NASA is showcasing 29 of the agency’s computational achievements at SC24, the international supercomputing conference, Nov. 18-22, 2024, in Atlanta. For more technical information, visit:
https://www.nas.nasa.gov/sc24
For news media:
Members of the news media interested in covering this topic should reach out to the NASA Ames newsroom.
About the Author
Tara Friesen
Share
Details
Last Updated Nov 18, 2024 Related Terms
Ames Research Center Earth Science Division General Goddard Space Flight Center Explore More
4 min read NASA Program Aids Pediatric Patients Facing Medical Treatments
Article 1 hour ago 7 min read Six Ways Supercomputing Advances Our Understanding of the Universe
Article 3 days ago 4 min read
Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA Energy Program Manager for Facility Projects Wayne Thalasinos, left, stands with NASA Stennis Sustainability Team Lead Alvin Askew at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 30. The previous day, the Department of Energy announced NASA Stennis will receive a $1.95 million grant for an energy conservation project at the south Mississippi center. The Stennis Sustainability Team consists of NASA personnel and contract support. NASA members include Askew, Missy Ferguson and Teenia Perry. Contract members include Jordan McQueen (Synergy-Achieving Consolidated Operations and Maintenance); Michelle Bain (SACOM); Matt Medick (SACOM); Thomas Mitchell (SACOM); Lincoln Gros (SACOM), and Erik Tucker (Leidos). NASA Stennis NASA’s Stennis Space Center has been awarded a highly competitive U.S. Department of Energy grant to transform its main administration building into a facility that produces as much renewable energy as it uses.
Following an Oct. 29 announcement, NASA Stennis, located near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, will receive $1.95 million through the Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) Program. The grant will fund installation of a four-acre solar panel array onsite that can generate up to 1 megawatt of electricity.
“This is a flagship project for our NASA center,” said NASA Stennis Director John Bailey. “It will provide renewable energy to help reduce our carbon footprint, contributing to NASA’s agencywide goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.”
The AFFECT Program awards grants to help the federal government achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by all federal buildings by 2045. More than $1 billion in funding proposals was requested by federal agencies for the second, and final, phase of the initiative. A total of $149.87 million subsequently was awarded for 67 energy conservation and clean energy projects at federal facilities across 28 U.S. states and territories and in six international locations. NASA Stennis is the only agency in Mississippi to receive funding.
The site’s solar panel array will build on an $1.65 million energy conservation project already underway at the south Mississippi site to improve energy efficiency. The solar-generated electricity can be used in a number of ways, from powering facility lighting to running computers. The array also will connect to the electrical grid to allow any excess energy to be utilized elsewhere onsite.
“This solar panel addition will further enhance our energy efficiency,” said NASA Stennis Sustainability Team Lead Alvin Askew. “By locating the solar photovoltaic array by the Emergency Operations Center, it also has potential future benefits in providing backup power to that facility during outages.”
The NASA Stennis proposal was one of several submitted by NASA centers for agency consideration. Following an agency review process, NASA submitted multiple projects to the Department of Energy for grant consideration.
“This was a very competitive process, and I am proud of the NASA Stennis Sustainability Team,” NASA Stennis Center Operations Director Michael Tubbs said. “The team’s hard work in recent years and its commitment to continuous improvement in onsite energy conversation laid the groundwork to qualify for this grant. Mr. Askew, in particular, continues to be a leader in creative thinking, helping us meet agency sustainability goals.”
The NASA Stennis administration building was constructed in 2008 as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified, all-electric facility and currently has net-zero emissions.
For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/stennis
Explore More
5 min read NASA Stennis – An Ideal Place for Commercial Companies
Article 1 day ago 4 min read NASA Stennis Propulsion Testing Contributes to Artemis Missions
Article 1 day ago 5 min read NASA Stennis Test Team Supports Space Dreams with Proven Expertise
Article 1 day ago Share
Details
Last Updated Nov 14, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
Stennis Space Center Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Stennis
Multi-User Test Complex
Propulsion Test Engineering
NASA Stennis Front Door
NASA Stennis Media Resources
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.