Endeavour Lands As Space Future Considered

A lot happening on the space front this week. For one, the STS-127 Endeavour crew returned today from their busy 16 day mission to the International Space Station.

Meanwhile, the Augustine committee considering the US human spaceflight program held public meetings this week across the South, in Houston, TX, Huntsville, AL & Cocoa Beach, FL (all near NASA centers). The events included reports from its subcommittees laying out options ranging from extending the Space Shuttle Program to in-space fuel depots and various exploration strategies (including Moon, Mars, Near Earth Objects, and deep space surveys of any or all of those). Also, a recommendation to state the obvious as to what our ultimate objective in space should be.

Here's how MIT aerospace professor Edward Crawley answered the "why" question during Thursday's hearing:

"Our ultimate objective should be viewed as the exploration and eventual extension of human civilization within the solar system. We have to keep our eye on the big prize. This will take a long time, but the time has come. The political alignment is here to allow this to be a goal for our nation, and it's a goal worthy of a great nation."

XCOR's Greason added a kicker to that comment, according to Irene Klotz's account for Discovery.com: "I know this sounds terribly ambitious and dramatic, but if that is not the point of human spaceflight ... then what the hell are we doing?" Greason asked.

Finally, I'm attending this year's Mars Society convention this weekend, which is being held close by at the University of Maryland in College Park.

Heading Home Saturday

It's shortly before midnight PDT, Friday night, my last night in California for this trip. After the conference and the gala completed on Monday, Tuesday I headed up to stay in Mineral near Lassen National Park. Hiking and driving around the park were Wednesday's highlights along with a couple of nights under really starry skies to get reacquainted with the Milky Way and some of the well known (but some seldom seen in light-polluted areas) constellations. Thursday I returned to stay in Mountain View (a couple of blocks from where I lived for 17 years) for the final two nights in California for this trip.

Today, Friday, I made the pilgrimage I last made at least 14 years ago to the mother-of-all food festivals, the Gilroy Garlic Festival. As in those previous visits years ago, I tried a number of garlic-laden delicacies. By the time I got to the garlic-vanilla ice cream, my garlic-numbed tongue could only detect a hint of garlic.

Raise a Toast for the Moon

NASA

Today is the 40th anniversary of humanity's first expedition to the lunar surface. The anniversary is getting wide coverage in many media sources. Check out Rand Simberg's ceremonial commemoration of that epic voyage. Meanwhile, NASA's current Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned images of the Apollo 11 and other Apollo landing sites.


LRO image of Apollo 11 landing site. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University

I am enjoying the Space Frontier Foundation's NewSpace 2009 Conference being held this year at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Check out Clark Lindsey's recent posts covering some of the highlights here. Tonight's gala will conclude the conference by celebrating the Apollo 11 anniversary.

Today is also the sixth anniversary ('blogiversary') of the launch of this humble blog. Here is the inaugural post (Note that I was too inexperienced to think of giving it a title.) on Life at the Frontier.

Walter Cronkite, RIP

The world's most famous TV newsman, Walter Cronkite, passed away on Friday at age 92. The CBS news anchor for several decades covered the most momentous stories of that era, including wars, assassinations, political campaigns and elections, etc. But it is most poignant that his passing came just three days before the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 first human landing on the Moon, as his coverage of the exciting early days of the space age is so well remembered.

Here's a (10 min) video of Cronkite and astronaut Wally Schirra's coverage of the final breathtaking minutes of Eagle's descent and landing on the Moon. (Neil Armstrong had to search for a safe landing spot so the actual touch down took place more than 30 seconds after the CBS simulation shows the lander on the surface.)

A Giant Leap For Life

Former astronauts and other space program veterans are supporting a prolife TV ad that illustrates how our historic leap to the Moon 40 years ago shows the potential and dignity of every human life.

"For thousands of years, man has looked at the moon and the stars in awe. But forty years ago, we did the unthinkable: We landed on the moon. This new ad by CatholicVote.org captures the spirit of this historic mission by highlighting the potential of human life," Kerwin said. Gene Krantz, best known as the flight director at mission control manager during Apollo 13, was also on hand to premiere the ad.

Celebrating the Past, Planning the Future

I am off to California tomorrow to participate in the New Space 2009 conference at NASA Ames. This conference will focus on how to further enable enable human expansion into and development of space while celebrating the 40th anniversary of when humans first made landfall on another world.

Look for attention to this historic anniversary on TV, in newspapers and on the Internet. The JFK Library is providing a very informative site featuring a minute-by-minute replay of the mission.

Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Here is a (10 min) video of the final minutes of the countdown and the first few minutes of flight.



While we observe this anniversary, space endeavors continue with this evening's STS-127 launch to the International Space Station and the SpaceX Falcon 1 launch success earlier this week.

While in California, I'll also be visiting friends and places for a few days.

Caritas in Veritate

Pope Benedict XVI's new encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), covers a broad range of issues including human life, economics, the environment and justice, all in the light of Christian truth and charity. As is often the case, a papal encyclical is a complex document that can't be easily summarized in a newspaper or blog headline. This encyclical, like many others will be analyzed for years to come, but early interpretations include those of Thomas J. Reese, S.J. and George Weigel, who presents some interesting insights into how the encyclical was developed.

Galileo's Telecope

I had a good July 4th weekend visiting family up in the Philly area. While there, Saturday morning I went to the Franklin Institute to see the exhibit on Galileo, which is highlighted by one of his original telescopes (one of the original ancestors of the Hubble Space Telescope). Through the glass case, one can see a little handwritten note by Galileo on the telescope tube (near the rim on the upper end as displayed in the case). If you can be in or near Philadelphia, try to catch this exhibit, which closes September 7. (The Institute is also currently featuring a Star Trek exhibit that's worth seeing.)

July: The Fourth and an Upcoming Anniversary

Now it's July and the full range of summer experiences are all around.

As we join in the festivities of the Fourth, let's strive to keep to the values proclaimed in the Declaration that make it worth celebrating.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Also, now that it is July, expect to hear more about the upcoming 40th anniversary of the first landing of human beings on the Moon. There's already a lot of material on the Internet and Alan Boyle lists some of the highlights.

Breaking Ground for Space

Two recent groundbreakings heralded coming activities at two spaceports. Yesterday, spaceport authorities and public officials broke ground for construction of the new launch pad at Wallops Island, VA for the Taurus II rocket that will help to resupply the International Space Station. And just a couple of weeks ago, a similar ceremony was held to begin construction of Spaceport America in New Mexico, which could host suborbital tourist flights into space in two or three years.

Perfect Weather for a Weather Sat Launch

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

After a Friday night scrub and even a delay at the beginning of Saturday's launch window, both due to Florida thunder storms, the GOES-O weather satellite was launched into a bright blue sky Saturday evening.

Flawed Bill for a Unsettled Premise

The US House today narrowly (219-212) passed the Waxman-Markey energy/climate change bill which includes "Cap & Trade" provisions to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Most of the debate centered on the likely huge economic costs of the legislation and the rushed process in which the bill was passed (much like the stimulus package earlier this year). Even some who support carbon controlling legislation, as in this Washington Post editorial, questioned the process and the bill that would pass today. The bill still has to be debated and voted on in the Senate.

But as the House leadership, with the support of the Obama Administration, rushed to pass this bill, the whole premise behind it remains in question. After years of the the drumbeat that the issue of human caused global warming was "settled", the question is becoming more and more unsettled around the world, according to Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal.

Among the many reasons President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority are so intent on quickly jamming a cap-and-trade system through Congress is because the global warming tide is again shifting. It turns out Al Gore and the United Nations (with an assist from the media), did a little too vociferous a job smearing anyone who disagreed with them as "deniers." The backlash has brought the scientific debate roaring back to life in Australia, Europe, Japan and even, if less reported, the U.S.

The renewed debate is not just among politicians. More and more scientists are coming out and challenging a "consensus" that may have never really existed.

The number of skeptics, far from shrinking, is swelling. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe now counts more than 700 scientists who disagree with the U.N. -- 13 times the number who authored the U.N.'s 2007 climate summary for policymakers. Joanne Simpson, the world's first woman to receive a Ph.D. in meteorology, expressed relief upon her retirement last year that she was finally free to speak "frankly" of her nonbelief. Dr. Kiminori Itoh, a Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to a U.N. climate report, dubs man-made warming "the worst scientific scandal in history." Norway's Ivar Giaever, Nobel Prize winner for physics, decries it as the "new religion." A group of 54 noted physicists, led by Princeton's Will Happer, is demanding the American Physical Society revise its position that the science is settled. (Both Nature and Science magazines have refused to run the physicists' open letter.)

The collapse of the "consensus" has been driven by reality. The inconvenient truth is that the earth's temperatures have flat-lined since 2001, despite growing concentrations of C02. Peer-reviewed research has debunked doomsday scenarios about the polar ice caps, hurricanes, malaria, extinctions, rising oceans. A global financial crisis has politicians taking a harder look at the science that would require them to hamstring their economies to rein in carbon.

So what kind of climate policy should we have? Since change in the global or regional climates, whether natural or man-made and whether warming or cooling, can have a real impact on people, a vigorous climate research and monitoring program is warranted. And developing alternative sources of and more efficient ways of using energy is important for a number of reasons, including for security, prosperity and general environmental stewardship.

However, we should not pursue a policy of turning our economic lives upside down in an effort to address a problem about which there is not so much of a "consensus" as has been claimed.

In the interest of airing both sides of this anything but "settled" debate, here are links to a NOAA climate site and one maintained by the Heartland Institute.

UPDATE: 6/28/09 Information has been leaked about an internal dispute between two EPA employees and their superiors. The employees claim the EPA is suppressing their report documenting that the agency is blindly following the analyses of other organizations without its own evaluation in light of more recent climate research.

Carlin and Davidson go on to recite the scientific work that shows rather clearly that human activity is a minor factor, at most, in climate change--which has, of course, been occurring from the beginning of Earth's history to the present. Their report is a useful summary of the evidence for those who are not familiar with it.

If the Obama administration gets its way, Americans will not become aware of the scientific evidence: Obama's EPA suppressed the Carlin/Davidson report and tried to keep it secret for political reasons. The emails obtained by the CEI are revealing.

This is the Obama Administration that seems to be suppressing scientific evidence. Haven't we had it drummed into us by much of the media that only the Bush Administration and those evil Republicans would suppress scientific evidence?

DC Metro Rail Tragedy

An awful disaster occurred this afternoon around 5 PM EDT on the Washington, DC region's Metro Rail system on the Red Line, with at least six persons dead.

I didn't have any event to attend tonight but I often use the Red Line around that time when I do attend evening events in DC.

Let's keep in our prayers the victims and their loved ones.

Iran Protests Persist

Despite violent repression by the regime, Iranians continue to protest in large numbers following the suspicious outcome of recent elections. Despite attempts by the government to stifle independent and foreign media, videos and images are getting out.

Here's a suggestion from a friend on Facebook on how Twitter subscribers here can help brave Iranians who are trying to get information out:

If anyone is on twitter, set your location to Tehran and your time zone to GMT +3.30. Security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut Iranians' access to the internet down. Cut & paste & please pass it on.

On To the Moon!

Photo credit: United Launch Alliance/Pat Corkery

The LRO/LCROSS launch to the Moon took place late Thursday at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This is the first US lunar mission in over a decade and joins a parade of missions by Europe Japan, China and India in recent years as interest in the Moon is on the rise world wide.

Meanwhile the Augustine Committee studying the future of the US human spaceflight program held its first public meeting (which I attended) in Washington, DC on Wednesday. Clark Lindsey summarizes and provides numerous links. The presentations are provided at the committee's documentation web page.

I'll summarize my own overall impression that the committee appears to be curious and open minded while dealing with a tidal wave of reading material accompanying the public presentations and other inputs. They are considering the options for the White House, Congress and NASA to execute a robust and sustainable human spaceflight program.

Launch Two-Step This Week

Shuttle Endeavour is set to launch early tomorrow morning to the International Space Station (though stormy weather has delayed the start of fueling the vehicle). Then the robotic LRO/LCROSS lunar launch is set for Thursday at the earliest. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile I am taking the day off tomorrow to attend the first public meeting of the Augustine Human Spaceflight Plans Committee in DC. If you can't attend in person, you can watch on NASA TV (web site).

Iranians Thirst for Freedom

The outpouring of public demonstration by the people of Iran in the face of violent repression by authorities following the suspicious outcome of last week's elections is reminiscent of the mass movement in 1978-79 that deposed the Shah. Unfortunately that only replaced one dictator with a worse tyranny. May our prayers be that this time the Iranian people succeed in achieving real peace and freedom.

Milestone in Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

Alan Boyle writes on the start of science operations at the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) in California. This facility, still only partially completed, vastly expands the capabilities of searching for intelligent extraterrestrial signals, if they are there.

The Allen Telescope Array was conceived more than eight years ago, and it's been two years since the system's switches were flipped on in a remote valley near Mount Shasta in Northern California. Scientists have been tinkering with the equipment and testing the software since then. Finally, on May 28, astronomers kicked off regular rounds of SETI surveys, seven hours a day, roughly four to five times a week, according to Peter Backus, the SETI Institute's manager of observing programs.

Backus said the significance of the milestone sank in a couple of days later, when he and other members of the research team were sitting around a table for a planning meeting.

"We just looked at each other and said, 'Hey, we're actually observing again!' It was a great feeling for the whole gang," he told me.

Congratulations to the SETI team! With the ATA in operation, the Hubble Telescope upgraded, the launch of the Kepler, Herschel and Plank telescopes (and more advances to come), what wondrous discoveries await us?

Yes We...Oh, Never Mind!

President Obama may remain personally popular, but the policies he and the Democratic Congressional leadership are advancing are meeting increasing resistance from much of the public. A Rasmussen survey released this week indicates that voters favor the Republicans on six out of ten key issues, including the economy. Meanwhile, more polls appear to be confirming a trend of more Americans identifying themselves as "prolife" than "prochoice".

Beyond poll numbers, key constituencies may be realizing that they didn't get the kind of "change" they were "hope"-ing for. Michael Malone analyzes the situation of high-tech companies, big and small. (Hat tip to Rand Simberg.)

But that was in November. It’s June now, and while the big companies have largely gotten their wish when it comes to new start-ups - as I’ve said, entrepreneurship is under assault in the U.S. like we have not seen in our lifetimes - the tech giants are now discovering they may have made a devil’s bargain. The Administration’s brute force handling of the Chrysler and GM take-overs, seemingly violating contract law in the process; its mutterings about managing executive bonuses; its creation of industry czars without the need for Congressional approval; and the prospect of endless debt, economic stagnation and runaway inflation waiting in the wings - all have to be making the same CEOs pretty darn nervous these days . . . and asking themselves if they’ve made a terrible mistake.

Augustine Committee Web Site

The Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee has established a web site to enable the public to provide inputs and follow developments.

The Future Is Now

When you see this report from a San Francisco local TV newscast in 1981, your reaction may already be like that of Scotty when he encounters late 20th Century technology while visiting from the 23rd (in Star Trek IV ): "How Quaint!" (Hat tip to Jonah Goldberg.)



While I don't recall it, I was living in the SF Bay Area in 1981, so I may have actually seen this report when it was aired.

Augustine Committee Members, First Public Meeting

The membership of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee was announced today. The committee is described as an "independent review of U.S. human space flight plans", though the announcement came through NASA, so it's a little unclear exactly who selected the members. In any case, it does appear to be a well qualified group coming from diverse interests in the space community. The members are:

- Norman Augustine (chair), retired chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corp., and former member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush

- Dr. Wanda Austin, president and CEO, The Aerospace Corp.

- Bohdan Bejmuk, chair, Constellation program Standing Review Board, and former manager of the Boeing Space Shuttle and Sea Launch programs

- Dr. Leroy Chiao, former astronaut, former International Space Station commander and engineering consultant

- Dr. Christopher Chyba, professor of Astrophysical Sciences and International Affairs, Princeton University, and member, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

- Dr. Edward Crawley, Ford Professor of Engineering at MIT and co-chair, NASA Exploration Technology Development Program Review Committee

- Jeffrey Greason, co-founder and CEO, XCOR Aerospace, and vice-chair, Personal Spaceflight Federation

- Dr. Charles Kennel, chair, National Academies Space Studies Board, and director and professor emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego

- Retired Air Force Gen. Lester Lyles, chair, National Academies Committee on the Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program, former Air Force vice chief of staff and former commander of the Air Force Materiel Command

- Dr. Sally Ride, former astronaut, first American woman in space, CEO of Sally Ride Science and professor emerita at the University of California, San Diego

The details for first public event for the panel were also included in the announcement:

The committee will hold several public meetings at different U.S. locations. The first public meeting will take place June 17 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. EDT at the Carnegie Institution, located at 1530 P Street NW in Washington. Topics on the agenda for the meeting include previous studies about U.S. human space flight; national space policy; international cooperation; evolved expendable launch vehicles; commercial human space flight capabilities; and exploration technology planning.

Murder of Abortion Doctor Appalling to True Prolife People

Today's murder of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller in Kansas is an act abhorred by me and the 99.99999...% of people actively working through peaceful means to protect human life at every stage and condition. (As of this time, a suspect has been apprehended but the motive is still unclear.) Professor Robert George of Princeton University says it best in this statement:

Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing. The evil of this action is in no way diminished by the blood George Tiller had on his own hands. No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence. Rightly or wrongly, George Tilller was acquitted by a jury of his peers. "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." For the sake of justice and right, the perpetrator of this evil deed must be prosecuted, convicted, and punished. By word and deed, let us teach that violence against abortionists is not the answer to the violence of abortion. Every human life is precious. George Tiller's life was precious. We do not teach the wrongness of taking human life by wrongfully taking a human life. Let our "weapons" in the fight to defend the lives of abortion's tiny victims, be chaste weapons of the spirit.

Prolife organizations have consistently condemned this killing, so in case you don't hear it elsewhere here are statements from some of the major organizations: National Right to Life Committee, Priests for Life, Susan B. Anthony List, American Life League and the Family Research Council

May God have mercy on George Tiller's soul and provide comfort to his family.

Paul Haney, "Voice of Mission Control", RIP

Paul Haney, the most familiar "Voice of Mission Control" during the early space program (one of those voices that helped inspire my passion for space travel), has passed away at age 80.

And Then There Were Six

Soyuz TMA-15 launches Wednesday morning toward the International Space Station.
NASA

The International Space Station finally achieved its full complement of six crew members this morning when the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft and its crew of three (Expedition 20) arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) to join the Expedition 19 crew already there. With a full size crew and a full set of solar arrays for power, the ISS will finally begin to realize its full potential for scientific and technological research and development.

The World This Week

A lot of news this week. Here's a 'drive-by' look:

-North Korea Monday morning set off a nuclear weapon test, an uproar of world reaction and a new challenge for the Obama Administration. While we only have limited power to try to prevent another nation from acquiring such weapons, we should continue to vigorously develop missile defense as part of our overall national security strategy.

-The President's Supreme Court nominee (unlike his nominee for NASA Administrator) is definitely an ideological choice, in this case in favor of an activist and subjective judiciary. The role of the Supreme Court should be to judge cases based on the Constitution. Applying a criteria of 'empathy' (in President Obama's words), among other flaws, can lead to injustice because it is a subjective criteria. One party's side of a case may appear more deserving of empathy, but it would be unjust to the other party for the case to be decided on that basis.

-California's state Supreme Court upheld the law enacted by the state's voters through Proposition 8 last November confirming the long standing definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

I don't believe that position represents bigotry against those with a same sex orientation. Society can respect the dignity of each individual and address legitimate concerns (benefits, health care, etc.) through other means without undermining the function that marriage has played in every society in human history.

Further, regardless of which side one takes on the definition of marriage, a judicial override of a popular vote on a constitutional amendment like this (barring discovery of an obvious legal flaw in the process) would have aroused strong public resentment and lack of confidence in the democratic process.

ISDC in Orlando

Given the timing with planning for supporting the STS-125 Hubble servicing mission, this will be the first year since 1987 that I haven't gone to the International Space Development Conference (ISDC).

With all the developments and undercurrents going on right now in NASA, commercial space and other areas of the space community, look for news coming out of the conference from several sources: NSS Blog, Rand Simberg, Doug Messier, Clark Lindsey (remotely) and Jeff Foust, who is tweeting. Also, SpaceVidcast is posting video clips of at least some of the sessions.

One news highlight to look forward to: the advocates of the 'Direct' launch architecture will be presenting 'v.3.0' of their proposal at 4PM EDT Friday (though they probably won't have it posted at their site 'til after the conference).

Home at Last!

We can finally put a wrap on the STS-125 Hubble servicing mission with this morning's safe return of the Shuttle Atlantis and her crew in California, deterred from landing in Florida for three days straight by persistent bad weather.

I've been home for a few days but now the entire mission team can stand down and celebrate this most memorable mission. For all of us on the large team of people from government, industry, academia and international partners who worked on this mission, it is a time of celebration and gratitude for the opportunity to be part of this endeavour, with anticipation of the great scientific information and inspiring pictures to come from Hubble.

It is also a time of wondering what comes next, as this is the last servicing mission planned for the Hubble. Even from within, there is debate about the course NASA is taking. With new leadership nominated for NASA and a new commission undertaking a review of the human spaceflight program and its architecture, it can be hoped that the outcome will be a program robust enough to carry out our exploration goals, engage the commercial sector and retain the capabilities, including in-space servicing, that have been developed over the last few decades

New NASA Leadership

While Shuttle Atlantis was waved off for a second day, now set to land Sunday in Florida or California, the White House announced the selections of former astronaut Charles Bolden to be the new NASA Administrator and Lori Garver as Deputy Administrator. (Here's an additional informative article from SpaceflightNow.com) They will go through the usual congressional confirmation process before taking office.

Bolden flew on several shuttle missions, including as commander of the STS-31 mission in April 1990 to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope and has extensive military and NASA leadership experience. I know Lori from her days as Executive Director of the National Space Society and she has since served at NASA HQ and in private sector space consulting positions. This is one set of Obama Administration nominations I can applaud and I hope they will have the support of the Administration and Congress in carrying on and revitalizing our national space efforts.

Catching Up At Home

I arrived home Wednesday. Taking time off to catch up on things here. Also finally had time to go see the new Star Trek movie on Thursday, attend a breakfast Friday morning on Capitol Hill featuring Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX), whose district includes the Johnson Space Center and have lunch/dinner (whatever a meal at ~3 PM is called) in Annapolis (missing the hoopla/congestion there earlier in the day with President Obama addressing Naval Academy commencement).

Meanwhile, the Atlantis crew had their landing in Florida postponed from Friday to Saturday because of weather.

Improved Hubble On Its Own Again

Atlantis astronaut Megan McArthur unberthed and released the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit this morning after five spectacular days of repairs and upgrades by the shuttle crew, supported by a large team on the ground.

Now that Hubble is released, many of us have now been released from mission support. Tonight was the first night we could enjoy dinner here. I've moved my flight home ahead to tomorrow. There will be plenty of Hubble people on that flight back to Maryland.

This was a day for congratulations, reminiscences, good byes and speculation about the future. This last week and a half in Florida and Houston has been quite a ride. I'll probably have more to say after I get settled back home. And, of course, the mission isn't really over until the astronauts safely return (scheduled for Friday).

Meanwhile, back in the Mid-Atlantic region, another space success with this evening's launch from the spaceport at Wallops Island.

Wrapping Up Five Spectacular Productive Days

John Grunsfeld an Andrew Feustel have now entered the airlock after finishing today's final EVA tasks (summary and more links here) finishing the repairs and upgrades to the Hubble Space Telescope that are likely to yield fantastic new images and discoveries in the years to come.

More Fix-It Work Today

Today's 4th day of work on the Hubble is primarily focused on repair of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS).

A little more background on my role in the mission. I am part of a group of people from the Hubble project (NASA & contractors) who are supporting the mission at Johnson Space Center in Houston. (There are many others back at Goddard in Maryland.) I sit at a console in a large control room down the hall from the main Shuttle control room, keeping track of mission logs and other information. While there is a view of our room on one of the internal TV channels, I don't expect we'll be on NASA TV.

Meanwhile, here's a prediction on how energy from space might soon play a key role in our future.

New and Restored Science Instruments

Today's third day of work on Hubble included installation of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and repair of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

Our shifts on the ground have shifted an hour later to accommodate a revised crew sleep cycle. My shift is now 4:30 PM to 5:30 AM. While working this planning shift turns the body's sleep cycle upside down, there is an advantage in that there are more quiet moments.

During a quiet time, I can go upstairs in Building 30 to the 3rd floor and visit the old Apollo control room, where Apollo 11 videos run continuously day and night as sort of an 'eternal flame'. This allows a few moments to reflect on and celebrate the accomplishments of those pioneers (in space and on ground support) who went before us in opening this frontier.

Obama, Notre Dame and a Seminal Moment

The storm surrounding President Obama's role at Notre Dame's Sunday commencement ceremony may be a seminal moment in the history of the nation, the prolife movement and the Catholic Church. I won't have much time to follow or provide updates, but stay tuned to PewSitter.com and ProLife Blogs for developments and commentary.

Hubble Upgrades Day 2

Today's work on upgrading the Hubble is underway as three pairs of gyros are being replaced.

FYI: NASA formally labels a spacewalk as an EVA. EVA stands for Extra-Vehicular ("outside the vehicle") Activity.

Meanwhile, the rumor mill indicates there is likely to be a new head of NASA named next week.

Hubble Improvements Begin as Two New 'Scopes Enter Space

The new Wide Field Planetary Camera 3 has already been installed onto Hubble as part of the first EVA (spacewalk).

Meanwhile, Europe has launched two new powerful instruments to join Hubble in Space. What wondrous scientific discoveries await us?

Atlantis and Hubble Together

Worked my first full shift overnight. I'm on what's called the "planning shift" where activities are replanned if necessary for the next day. The astronauts are sleeping during most of this period. My shift goes from ~3:30 PM to ~4 to 4:30 AM.

The Atlantis crew spent yesterday closing in on Hubble while performing Orbiter tile inspections. Just watched the crew capture and berth Hubble on NASA TV here in the hotel room.

FYI: Background information on the various repairs and upgrades being made to Hubble during this mission can be found at this NASA link.

Atlantis Soars to a Date with Hubble!

I'm settling in in Houston now. The launch was quite an experience. Along with the visual show, the most memorable sensation was the rumbling and deep crackling sound in the air which reached our viewing site ~20 seconds after launch (given the time for the sound to travel). Here are a few of my raw pics.















Here are some links to reports on the launch. (Standing hat tip to Jeff Foust for saving me the time to search for relevant links.)

The Night Before

The prelaunch parties have wound down. People are settling into sleep awaiting Monday afternoon's launch. Above is a (highly telephotod) picture of Atlantis on Pad 39A I took while returning from the IMAX presentation at the KSC Visitors Center earlier this evening. Look closely just to the left of the white spherical tank and you can see the tip of the tank of the Endeavour stack waiting on Pad 39B in case of a rescue mission which hopefully will not be needed.

This will be my last post from Florida. If I get good launch photos I'll post a few after I'm settled in Houston. Otherwise my posts from Houston will be short and intermittent, with links to NASA or media sources for mission details. I'll be on 13 hour shifts as my real work gets underway.

Blogging from Cocoa Beach

Arrived last night. Stayed at the Super 8 over in Cocoa for one night. Did the tourist things today: a nature cruise on the Banana River, shopping at Ron Jon Surf Shop, eating seafood for lunch and dinner. Also attended the Saturday vigil mass at the local parish.

Anticipation is building for Monday's launch. (Here's a NasaSpaceflight.com report on launch preparations.) Tomorrow, I may hit the beach in the late morning. Later mid-afternoon will be helping register people for causeway buses. (I'll be a bus captain on Monday.) Then there's a special IMAX event at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Visitors Center and the the big Hubble-Huggers prelaunch party back here at the Holiday Inn.

It's Show Time!

The Shuttle mission to Hubble I’ve been working on the past few years is almost here.

I’ll be flying to Florida Friday evening, staying in Cocoa Beach over the weekend relaxing and participating in events (including the big prelaunch party) leading up to the launch of Shuttle Atlantis mission STS-125 scheduled for Monday, 2:01 PM. I’ll be part of a group on a causeway ~5 miles from the launch pad. (This will be the second Shuttle launch I see in person. The other was the first night launch in 1983.) Then it’s on to Houston where I’ll be part of a Hubble team supporting the mission down the hall from the main Shuttle control room.

This is a challenging mission that if successful, will leave HST more capable than ever and will yield more knock-your-socks-off science. Please keep in your thoughts and prayers the mission and our team and especially the safety of our seven astronauts. Thanks.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft.
One day to the next conveys that message; one night to the next imparts that knowledge.
Psalm 19:2-3


Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Photo credit: NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith (STScI) and The HUDF Team

NASA Budget and Human Spaceflight Review

The Obama Administration yesterday provided more details on its Fiscal Year 2010 $18.69 billion budget request for NASA and directed an independent review of the current human spaceflight program.

The review panel will assess a number of architecture options, taking into account such objectives as: 1) expediting a new U.S. capability to support use of the International Space Station; 2) supporting missions to the Moon and other destinations beyond low Earth orbit; 3)stimulating commercial space flight capabilities; and 4) fitting within the current budget profile for NASA exploration activities.

A particular focus is likely to be whether the current Constellation architecture under development of Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles should be retained for NASA's human spaceflight or whether a proposal for a more "Direct" Shuttle derived architecture or use of existing or upgraded Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs) like those currently used for military and commercial unmanned launches (or some combination of the later two) would be more sustainable.

This is an interesting development. I am of course wary given some of President Obama's disastrous policy and personnel choices in other areas. However, space policy doesn't always divide along ideological lines and, given the choice of the highly respected Norm Augustine to head the panel, I will remain cautiously hopeful that the result may yield some needed improvements to our space efforts.

Voice Support for Ethical and Effective Stem Cell Research

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has a web page with information and links to send a message to your senators and US representative plus the National Institutes of Health on the proposed embryonic stem cell research policy.

Following President Obama’s March 9 executive order, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proposed guidelines for federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The guidelines would - for the first time - use taxpayer funds to encourage the killing of embryonic human beings for their stem cells.

This marks a new chapter in divorcing biomedical research from its necessary ethical foundation, respect for human life at all stages

Jack Kemp RIP

Jack Kemp, one-time NFL QB and leading conservative political leader, has died at age 73.

Two Weeks and Counting

The launch of the STS-125 Hubble servicing mission has been moved ahead by one day to Monday, May 11 to accommodate other range activities in May.

STS-125 crew member Mike Massimino is "tweeting" about his preparations for flight and has gained an growing following.


Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Meanwhile, the 19th anniversary of Hubble's launch was marked with the release of another spectacular image of galaxies interacting.

“A Notre Dame Witness for Life”

That's the title of a stirring talk by William McGurn, a Wall Street Journal columnist and Notre Dame alumnus (from the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture and also the Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life).

So tonight our hearts carry a great sadness. But we do not come here this evening to rally against a speaker. We come to affirm the sacredness of life. And we come with a great hope: That a university founded under the patronage of Our Lady might be as consistent in the defense of her principles as the President of the United States has been for advancing his. In a nation wounded by Roe ... in a society that sets mothers against the children they carry in their wombs ... we come here tonight because however much our hearts ache, they tell us this: Our church, our country, and our culture long for the life witness of Notre Dame.

UPDATE: 4/27/09: Former Vatican ambassador Mary Ann Glendon, respected pro-life advocate and Harvard law professor, has declined the University of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal because of the concurrent honors being given to President Obama despite his extreme anti-life policies. Here's commentary from Hugh McNichol at Pewsitter.com.

While the Laetare Medal is indeed a great honor to receive, Glendon appropriately holds Catholic teachings on the sanctity of human life as more important. Her refusal of the award illustrates, very strongly and clearly, the larger problem, which is the secular infiltration of our Catholic educational facilities. Mary Ann Glendon should receive a papal honor from Benedict XVI for her upholding of Catholic moral and ethical principles.

Additionally, the declination of this award by Ambassador Glendon should send a message to all members of the Catholic educational establishment, namely: Catholics are no longer going to tolerate secular interpretations of our most sacred Catholic principles. Either you are Catholic in your beliefs, or you are not. There can be no middle ground.

The American Bishops should also applaud Mrs. Glendon’s refusal of the Laetare Medal. Perhaps her courageous initiative in refusing this award will inspire more American Bishops to speak out and condemn Notre Dame’s invite to President Obama.

It's time to stop trying so hard to be "reasonable" by the standards of society's conventional wisdom and stand up and fight for the most reasonable proposition of all, that all human lives at every stage and condition are deserving of protection. This issue is much bigger than Note Dame and will only become more intense in the near future.

The World According to Obama ...

...according to Mark Steyn.

Since January, President Obama and his team have schmoozed, ineffectively, American enemies over allies in almost every corner of the globe. If you’re, say, India, following Obama’s apology tour even as you watch the Taliban advancing on those Pakistani nukes, would you want to bet the future on American resolve? In Delhi, in Tokyo, in Prague, in Tel Aviv, in Bogota, they’ve looked at these first 100 days and drawn their own conclusions.

Tea Parties Mobilize American Citizens

I attended the DC Tea Party held today in a cold rain at Lafayette Park, across the street from Barack Obama's White House. There was a surge of energy there, as there has been at the at least 700 such events held across the nation today, the annual income tax filing deadline. In the spirit of the original Boston Tea Party of 1773, citizens turned out to protest huge federal spending and prospective tax increases. Look for expansive coverage of Tea Party events around the nation at Pajamas Media, Instapundit and Michelle Malkin.

Glenn Reynolds writes on how this movement has erupted from the grassroots, despite claims to the contrary by some Media and establishment types.

The protests began with bloggers in Seattle, Wash., who organized a demonstration on Feb. 16. As word of this spread, rallies in Denver and Mesa, Ariz., were quickly organized for the next day. Then came CNBC talker Rick Santelli's Feb. 19 "rant heard round the world" in which he called for a "Chicago tea party" on July Fourth. The tea-party moniker stuck, but angry taxpayers weren't willing to wait until July. Soon, tea-party protests were appearing in one city after another, drawing at first hundreds, and then thousands, to marches in cities from Orlando to Kansas City to Cincinnati.

As word spread, people got interested in picking a common date for nationwide protests, and decided on today, Tax Day, as the date. As I write this, various Web sites tracking tea parties are predicting anywhere between 300 and 500 protests at cities around the world. A Google Map tracking planned events, maintained at the FreedomWorks.org Web site, shows the United States covered by red circles, with new events being added every day.

Beyond the issues of taxing and spending, today's tea parties (and more to come) are an opportunity for citizens to assert their constitutional right to free expression to engage in debate on the great issues. That debate is alive and well today, and political officeholders in both parties better pay attention.

Space Solar Power Market Breakthrough?

An intriguing announcement was made this week that Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the utility that serves northern California including the SF Bay Area, has made a deal with an emerging energy company, Solaren, for providing solar energy transmitted from a satellite. An interview with Solaren CEO Gary Spirnak (who was a spacecraft project engineer in the U.S. Air Force and director of advanced digital applications at Boeing Satellite Systems) is also posted at PG&E's Next100 site. PG&E has wisely structured the deal so that they pay no money until power is delivered to their grid.

As this WSJ article points out, space solar power, which has been studied for several decades is a challenging prospect. Based on even the most optimistic previous studies, commercially produced space solar power by 2016 doesn't seem likely. However, Solaren's patent (which I've not had time to review in detail) indicates an innovative design based on inflatable components flying in formation, so it would be presumptuous to rule out their achieving this ambitious goal with existing launch technology.

Only time will tell how real this potential development is, but if it does pan out, it could be a major breakthrough for a new clean energy source and for development of spacefaring capabilities.

Circus on the Severn Folds Its Tent for 2009

The Maryland General Assembly adjourned its 2009 session last night. Here are summaries of the good, the bad and the ugly by the Baltimore Sun and by the Maryland Catholic Conference.

Have a Blessed and Happy Easter!

At daybreak on the first day of the week
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus
took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzling over this, behold,
two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.
They said to them,
"Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
He is not here, but he has been raised.
Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners
and be crucified, and rise on the third day."
And they remembered his words.
Then they returned from the tomb
and announced all these things to the eleven
and to all the others.
The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James;
the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
but their story seemed like nonsense
and they did not believe them.
But Peter got up and ran to the tomb,
bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone;
then he went home amazed at what had happened.

Lk 24:1-12

Holy Week 2009

This week is the one considered Holy by many with a strong Faith in God. For Christians, it is the observance of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Easter Triduum as observed in the Catholic Church is described here. Today, Pope Benedict XVI described the meaning of the observance.

In the general audience, held this morning in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope dedicated his remarks to Holy Week. "For us as Christians", he said, "this is the most important week of the year, offering us the chance to immerse ourselves in the central events of Redemption, to relive the Easter Mystery, the great Mystery of the faith".

The Holy Father explained how Jesus "did not wish to use the fact of His being God, His glorious dignity and His power, as an instrument of triumph and a sign of distance" between Him and us.

"For love", the Pope continued, "He wished to ‘empty Himself’ and become our brother. For love He shared our condition, the condition of all men and women".

This year, it also happens that tonight is the start of the Jewish observance of Passover, the celebration of the Jews' passing over to freedom from the bondage of slavery they suffered in Egypt. This event was a historical manifestation of God's power recognized by Jews and Christians alike.

May this week of Holy Days bring blessings and peace to all.

Blogging on the Road

This post and my post below on the NK launch are my first blog posts made on my new HP 1116NR netbook, one of the new breed of 'mini-laptop' type devices that are particularly convenient for portable communication/internet capability. I'm blogging from my hotel room in Houston. I'm here to support one of the final Joint Integrated Simulations in preparation for the STS-125 Hubble servicing mission.

NK Rocket Launch

North Korea launched a rocket which they claimed was an attempt to orbit a satellite, though it apparently failed. The launch did instigate a storm of reaction around the world over concern about NK's military intentions.

Yuri's Night

It's that time of year for Yuri's Night, marking the April 12 anniversaries of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering spaceflight (1961) and the first US Space Shuttle flight (1981). With Easter and Passover celebrations falling next week, many of the Yuri's Night events are being held this weekend. I will be attending the event at Goddard Space Flight Center tomorrow evening.

Atlantis on the Pad (Again) for Hubble

Image credit: NASA TV

Space Shuttle Atlantis, stacked with its external tank and solid rocket boosters, was rolled out to Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this morning for a scheduled May 12 launch to perform the final scheduled servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

Atlantis was on the pad last fall set for an October launch for the HST servicing mission but had to be rolled back for a replacement Science Instrument Command & Data Handling unit to be prepared for flight after an anomaly on-orbit. Hopefully, this time Atlantis will be able to leave the pad vertically.

Terri's Day 2009

Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of the court-imposed death by dehydration and starvation of Terri Schindler-Schiavo.

Fighting (for Life) Irish

The uproar over the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite President Barack Obama to speak and receive an honorary law degree at its May 17 commencement ceremony continues to mushroom. The action has generated protest and petition activities within the Notre Dame community and among the larger Catholic community and general public, given Obama's extreme anti-life record just two months into his administration. (If this fuss seems strange to you, just imagine a prestigious Catholic university inviting a prominent political leader whose policies promote discrimination based on race, gender, religion, etc.)

National Review Online posts an extensive symposium on the ND situation while Wall Street Journal columnist (and ND alumnus) William McGurn delivers an articulate critique of the university's invitation to Obama.

"We hope for this to be the basis of an engagement with him." So explains Notre Dame's president, the Rev. John Jenkins, as he discusses the university's choice of Barack Obama as this year's commencement speaker. In yesterday's student newspaper "The Observer," where the quotation appears, the thought is introduced with another helpful bromide: The honor accorded President Obama, it is reported, will be a "catalyst for dialogue."

Now, if the president were going to Notre Dame to engage in dialogue, that would be one thing. But Mr. Obama will not be going to Notre Dame to "dialogue." He will be going to help advance his agenda.

Given that Fr. Jenkins and others responsible are not inclined to rescind the invitation, they are likely to encounter more "engagement" and "dialogue" than they intended. An intriguing variable in this situation, according to the National Catholic Register, is another commencement participant, Mary Ann Glendon, a distinguished law professor who is receiving the university's Laetare Medal.

Few are so well equipped to teach the truths the Catholic Church proclaims about the sanctity of human life as Glendon. Among her long list of credentials are a Harvard law professorship, leadership of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Scientists and of the Vatican delegation to the U.N. Conference on Women in Beijing, and a just-concluded stint as United States Ambassador to the Holy See.

This could provide a teaching moment comparable to the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast, where Mother Teresa boldly spoke for defending the dignity of human life in front of President Bill Clinton (and First Lady Hillary) and other powers that be.

Also in play is the growing reaction among many students, parents and alumni. It will be interesting to see what kind of peaceful and dignified but highly visible sign of "engagement" may be visible among many of the participants in the commencement exercise.

Discovery Safely Lands while Soyuz Arrives at ISS

Shuttle Discovery and its crew landed in Florida this afternoon after a successful STS-119 mission that brought full power capability to the International Space Station (ISS). Meanwhile, the Expedition 19 crew (plus paying passenger Charles Simonyi) arrived at the ISS this morning to relieve the Expedition 18 crew.

The International Space Station We've Been Expecting to See

NASA

As the crew of Shuttle Discovery mission STS-119 departed from the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, they were able to view and image the fruits of their labor in adding the fourth and final truss segment and set of solar arrays. While there are still a few modules and other equipment to add, the ISS now really does resemble the illustrations we've seen over the years. The extra power provided by the new solar arrays will also enable expansion of the ISS crew size from three to six and enable much more scientific research to be conducted aboard the station.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft was launched with the Expedition 19 crew and "space tourist" Charles Simonyi, a billionaire taking his second ride to the ISS as a paying participant. He will be the last "tourist" to go to the ISS, at least for the foreseeable future, as the expansion to crew size of six leaves no room for extra passengers. However, these pioneering spaceflight participants, starting with Dennis Tito in 2001, have paved the way and given credibility to an emerging private spaceflight industry that will enable many more people too go into space.

Battle of the Hour Tomorrow Night

Tomorrow evening from 8:30 to 9:30 PM local time wherever you live, is an hour that is caught up in one of the debates of our time.

Proponents of the view that human activities, particularly emissions of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gasses", are causing a dangerous warming of the Earth's climate are promoting "Earth Hour", during which people are encouraged to turn out their lights and use as little energy as practical as a symbolic gesture of concern about global warming.

Meanwhile, as the global warming debate is far from being "settled", others are planning to participate in "Human Achievement Hour" to celebrate technological and economic progress by using more lights and energy than normal as an act of defiance against the "Earth Hour" event.

Now I believe some healthy skepticism is in order about "global warming" (I need to get around to posting more current information and comment on this topic.), but I also favor reasonable efforts to develop alternative energy sources and protect the environment, with a particular interest in curbing light pollution.

So I'm taking a pragmatic approach to this whole dispute. What I will do tomorrow night will be determined by the weather. If it turns out to be clear, I will turn out most of my lights and go out and take advantage at whatever dimming of the lights occurs to observe the night sky. If, as the current forecasts indicate, it will be cloudy and raining here, I will not sit in the dark (or candlelight) for an hour, nor will I waste extra energy to prove a point. I'll just go about my business, perhaps reading, surfing or blogging.

I believe we can have continued human achievement while protecting the environment. In particular, I believe that curbing light pollution and giving more people a view of the night sky may enable more appreciation of the space frontier that our achievement is opening up. While turning out lights for an hour is a nice gesture, more practical and effective ways of curbing light pollution without compromising public safety or personal comfort are advocated by the International Dark Sky Association, of which I am a member.

Tell HHS to Keep Conscience Protection!

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops have provided a link to make it easy to submit an opinion to the US Dept. of Health and Human Services on the proposal under serious consideration by the Obama Administration to rescind Bush Administration rules protecting medical personnel and institutions from being coerced into performing or cooperating with objectionable practices, including abortion.

This proposal is seriously un-American and definitely not "prochoice". Let's tell them to keep protection for people in the health profession who value human life. (Submission deadline for comments is April 9.)

I Can't Keep Up

The misadventures of the Obama Administration and the Congressional leadership have been coming too rapidly for this humble blog to keep up with. Mark Steyn summarizes (some of) this week's foibles here.

Larry Kudlow comments on the real lessons of the AIG scandal.

This whole AIG fiasco - where the entire political class is suddenly screaming over bonuses paid to derivative traders in AIG’s financial-products division - is just a complete farce. What it really shows is how the government has completely bungled the AIG takeover. Blame the Bush administration and the Obama administration. It also shows, once again, why the government shouldn’t run anything, because it cannot run anything.

He also points out a significant technical move by the government that probably will make a positive difference for the economy.

Nevertheless, behind the furor over AIG, there is some good news to report on the banking front. This week’s decision by the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to allow cash-flow accounting rather than distressed last-trade mark-to-market accounting will go a long way toward solving the banking and toxic-asset problem.

As President Obama has apologized for his clumsy remark regarding the Special Olympics, I won't dwell on the negative. Instead, here's a message on the topic from another political figure with more class and based on real life experience. (Hat tip to Just After Sunrise.)

ISS Now Up to Full Power

The International Space Station (ISS) and Shuttle Discovery astronauts unfurled the ISS's final set of large solar arrays today after installation of the S6 truss yesterday. This will enable the ISS crew size to soon be expanded from three to six and will also make the ISS an even brighter object as it passes through the night sky.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Artist unknown, Link by Saints.SQPN.com

Tuesday is March 17, St. Patrick's Day. Celebrations have started early over the weekend. So, be blessed, safe, and happy whenever you are celebrating Ireland's patron saint.

Catholic Forum provides links to descriptions of St. Patrick here and here.

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort me and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

In the spirit of the holiday, check out LiveIreland.com for webcasts of Irish music and other media direct from Ireland.

Taking More Power to the Space Station

NASA photo credit: Photo courtesy of Scott Andrews

Space Shuttle Discovery began mission STS-119 with a spectacular launch this evening from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The primary mission objective is to deliver the final (of four) large solar array segment to power the International Space Station (ISS). There will also be a swap of a couple of ISS crew members.