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UPDATE: 10/28/09 11:45AM: Ares 1-X has launched. Update tonight.

UPDATE 10/27/09 1:12PM: Launch scrubbed for today. Next attempt is tomorrow at 8a.m.

If your a Space geek like us, you were probably up watching NASA rollout it’s new rocket, the Ares 1 rocket early Tuesday morning. The Ares 1 is slated to be the replacement for the shuttle when the Space Shuttles are retired next year. This has been the first new human-carrying rocket to be introduced since the early 80s and is the highest rocket rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building since the Saturn V rocket was introduced for the Apollo program in the 60s. The whole rocket is is 327 feet tall (That’s 143 feet taller than the Space Shuttle!) This flight will not carry any people inside, it will just test the First stages of the rocket. The rocket is currently using a re-purposed 4 segment Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) from the Shuttle inventory with a dummy fifth segment. Lying atop of that is a dummy Orion crew capsule (often referred to as a “boilerplate“) and launch abort tower on the top. These dummy segments are used just for adding simulated weight to the top. According to NASA, this flight is only a test of the first segment and it’s parachutes, which are actually among, if not, the biggest parachutes ever made. I also have a feeling that they will be testing the vibration in the capsule as well.

I find this test really exciting but, we shouldn’t get too excited quite yet. The Augustine Commission, a commission appointed by the White House to determine the future of the U.S. space program, will submit their recommendations to president Obama tomorrow (Thursday). Some of those plans don’t even include the Ares 1 rocket. I hope that Obama does make the right decision to move on using a different, newer, mode of transportation to the International Space Station and beyond.

I would find it oddly humorous if I see the thing go “Boom” on the 27th. Lets hope not. Anyways, you can watch the Launch on NASA TV on Tuesday October 27th at 8am (Links Below). Be sure to start watching earlier than 8am because the candle will be lit exactly at 8. If the launch is scrubbed, there will be two more attempts, which will be announced accordingly.

How to watch:
Watch directly from NASA
Watch from Spacevidcast (Recommended!)

Tuesday’s launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour was scrubbed due to the same hydrogen leak that scrubbed the first attempt to launch this past saturday. The second attempt to lauch the shuttle for it’s STS-127 mission was supposed to take place at 5:15 am EDT Wednesday morning. The team decided to scrub the launch at 1:55am wednesday morning. The next attempt to launch will be on July 11,2009 at 7:39pm EDT, so that two lunar probes can launch and do their missions.

Because of the rescheduled launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour, the launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) will be delayed to Thursday at the earliest. The launch of Endeavour was delayed on Saturday due to a hydrogen leak and is rescheduled for Wednesday at 5:15 am EDT. If Endeavour launches on Wednesday, the two orbiters will launched either on Thursday or Friday. If the Shuttle launch is scrubbed again, the orbiters will launch on Thursday.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

LRO. via Wikipedia

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is a robotic spacecraft that will be placed in an orbit around the Moon.
Mission Objectives:

• Selenodetic global topography
• Characterization of deep space radiation in lunar orbit.
• study of the lunar polar regions, including water and ice deposits.
• High-res mapping to help with the selection of future landing sites.
• Provide first pictures of leftover Apollo equipment.

About LCROSS

LCROSS. via Wikipedia

The Lunar Crater Observation and sensing satellite will be piggy-backing on the launch of LRO. The LCROSS was designed to watch as the launch vehicle’s upper stage strikes  a permanently shadowed region of the moon’s south pole. After the impact, LCROSS will analyze the plume which will help confirm preliminary findings of water and ice. After this, LCROSS will, then, fly through the plume and crash into a different part of the crater. The amount of time inbetween the two impacts will be approxamately four minutes.

STS-127 will be the 29th mission to the ISS and the 23rd mission for Endeavour. This mission’s objectives will be primarily to continue the building of JAXA’s JEM (Kibo) as well as bringing up regular equipment to perform regular maintenance to the station.

Launch: July 15 6:03:10 EDT (22:03:10 UTC)

Landing: July 31

Mission Priorities:

(As listed in the Press Kit P.18)

• Crew Rotation: NASA astronaut Tim Kopra to exchange places with JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata
• Transfer of water from shuttle to ISS
• Transfer of stow critical items
• Installation of JEM-EF(External Facility) to JPM (Japanese Pressurized Module)
• Install ICC (Integrated Cargo Carrier) to POA (Payload Orbital Replacement Unit Accommodation)
• Install ELM-ES (Japanese Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section) onto JEM-EF
• Replacement of six P6 batteries
• Install Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s ICS (Inter-satellite Communications System) to POA
• Install ELM-ES (Exposed Section) onto JEM-EF(Exposed Facility)
• Install All-Sky X-Ray Images (MAXI)  and Space Environment Data Acquisition equipment -Attached Payload (SEDA-AP) on JEM-EF using the JEM’s robotic arm [Worded strangely, no clue what it means. I shall find out.]
• Return ELM-ES to shuttle’s payload bay.
• Perform crew handover of 12 hours.
• Transfer of remaining cargo items.
• Install/Activate/Checkout JEM-EF forward camera
• Deploy ANDE an DRAGONSAT payloads (Post undocking)
• Perform ISS payload research operations tasks
• Transfer of nitrogen and oxygen from Shuttle to ISS airlock high-pressure gas tanks. [In order to fulfill requirements to have them full for Shuttle retirement]
• Perform Detailed Test Objective (DTO) 701, DragonEye
• Perform DTO 695, Thrust Oscillation Seat
• Perform program-approved spacewalk get-ahead tasks:
  • Deploy S3 Upper Inboard PAS [STS-133]
  • Install Wireless Video System External Transceiver Assembly (WETA) No. 3
• Opening of Node 1 Port Centerline Berthing Camera System (CBCS) center disk cover flap.
• Perform HTV readiness tasks:
  • Install/Activate JEM-EF aft camera
  • Open Node 2 Zenith CBCS center disk cover
• Daily ISS payload status checks (as required)

Tasks scheduled but may be deferred if EVA(s) are behind Schedule:

• Removal of grounding tabs on JEM’s robotic arm end effector.
• Deployment of Port 3 Nadir Unpressurized Cargo Carrier Attach System (UCCAS) [for STS-129]
• Deployment Starboard 3 Upper Outboard PAS [for STS-129]
• Zenith 1 Patch Panel reconfiguration
• Installation of 6 Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System (SSPTS) floating power connector grounding sleeves.
• Deployment of Lower Inboard PAS and open target cover [for STS-133]
• Tuck down Lab/Node 2 cables
• Install JPM spacewalk handrails and worksite interfaces.
• Install gap spanner to replace Harmony handrail
• Reboost station (if needed)
• Perform imagery survey during fly around
• Perform an additional four hours handover per rotating crew member
• Perform Maui Analysis of Upper Atmosphere (MAUI), Shuttle Exhauster Ion Turbulence Experiments (SEITE), and SIMPLEX (payloads of opportunity – not during docked operations)
• Perform Station Detailed Test Objective 1300-U, ISS Structural Life Validation and Extension during Shuttle Mated Reboost and undocking.

Launch Date: NET March 12,2009 21:20pm EDT

Landing Date: NET March 26,2009 (14 Days)

Crew
Lee Archambault – Commander
Dominic “Tony” Antonelli – Pilot
Joseph “Joe” Acaba – Mission Specialist 1/ Educator Astronaut
Stephen Swanson – Mission Specialist 2
Richard “Ricky” Arnold – Mission Specialist 3/ Educator Astronaut
John Phillips – Mission Specialist 4
Koichi Wakata – ISS Flight Engineer – JAXA (Switching with Sandra Magnus)

Crew Swap
During this mission, Koichi Wakata will switch places with Sandra Magnus. Magnus will then become part of the STS-119 crew and Wakata will then become flight engineer 2 with Expedition 18.

Mission

• Install Starboard 6 (S6) solar arrays, which will be the last of the four solar arrays to be installed.

Experiments

“Shuttle Exhaust Ion Turbulence Experiments (SEITE) will use space based sensors to detect the ionospheric turbulence inferred from the radar observations from a previous Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) burn experiment using ground-based radar.”

Click here for more info.

Photo: NASA

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite that was supposed to measure global warming isn’t in space this morning, but somewhere in the Pacific near Antarctica. The satellite launched this morning at about 4:55am EST  from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA believes that the cause of the failure was caused when the fairing on the Taurus XL launch vehicle failed to separate. The fairing, if you don’t already know, is the two pieces of the nosecone surrounding the satellite that open up prior to the release of the satellite.

Picture: NASA