News from NASA

[WiNaDeYo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...043003118.html

NASA aims for May 11 launch of Hubble mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA has chosen May 11 as the launch date for its last repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, not seen up close for seven years.

Space shuttle Atlantis is set to blast off then on the highly awaited 11-day flight, considered one of the most challenging yet.

Senior managers met Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center and concluded that the shuttle and Hubble teams could meet a launch date that was one day earlier than planned. Liftoff had been targeted for May 12, but NASA wanted an extra day to get off the ground before a weeklong military operation gets under way May 14.

Atlantis' crew will conduct five spacewalks to replace and repair science instruments at Hubble, and install new equipment that should keep the orbiting telescope running for another five to 10 years.

The mission had been scheduled for last fall, but a breakdown at the telescope delayed everything for seven months. ...

But...

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre...uttle-layoffs/

NASA to begin layoffs as shuttle retirement nears

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Apr. 30, 2009 (Reuters) — The U.S. space agency NASA plans to eliminate 900 manufacturing jobs over the next five months as it prepares to retire its space shuttle fleet in 2010, NASA officials said on Thursday.

The first 160 layoff notices go out on Friday, primarily to contractors producing the space shuttle fuel tanks outside New Orleans and the shuttle solid rocket boosters in Utah...

And Yet...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124104302283670451.html

Budget Authorizes $2.5 Billion for NASA Shuttle Fleet

House and Senate leaders have agreed to authorize $2.5 billion to keep the U.S. space shuttle fleet flying through 2011, if such an extension is necessary to complete currently planned missions to the international space station.

But then again...

http://www.wesh.com/news/19331679/detail.html

Old Mission Control To Be Demolished

It was the mission control that watched over the launches of Alan Shepard and John Glenn.

Glenn's mission appeared doomed. But behind the consoles at mission control, flight controllers found a way to save the astronauts.

The building is now an old shell; its glory faded to darkness...

But NASA has made the decision, and after years of efforts to save the building, it now must go.

"In certain areas, it's beginning to slowly cave in, and with that leaking, of course, there's mold," NASA representative Brian Graf said.

"It takes a lot of money to do that, and we didn't have the funds at the time," NASA historian Barbara Naylor said...

Peace and Good Will!

[Orion11]

haha, not surprising that "news" from Nasa....

is nothing other than a bunch of turds who cant decide which way is up. lol

[WiNaDeYo]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,.../scitech/space

Obama Puts Entire NASA Space Program in Limbo

Friday, May 08, 2009

WASHINGTON — The White House has ordered a complete outside review of NASA's manned space program, including plans to return astronauts to the moon.

Officials want a report from an independent panel by August. White House science adviser John Holdren said Thursday that the new panel will look at the design of new spacecraft to replace the space shuttle and go to the moon, as well as consider possible alternatives to the current design.

Holdren said it will also examine the five-year gap between the shuttle's retirement and the new moon vehicles, with the first new space capsule flying in 2015.

During that time, starting in late 2010, NASA would have to rely on the Russians for space travel. The review will look at extending NASA's use of the multibillion-dollar international space station beyond 2016.....

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519382,00.html

NASA Running Out of Plutonium for Deep-Space Probes

Friday, May 08, 2009

WASHINGTON — NASA is running out of nuclear fuel needed for its deep space exploration.

The end of the Cold War's nuclear weapons buildup means that the U.S. space agency does not have enough plutonium for future faraway space probes — except for a few missions already scheduled — according to a new study released Thursday by the National Academy of Sciences.

Deep space probes beyond Jupiter can't use solar power because they're too far from the sun. So they rely on a certain type of plutonium, plutonium-238. It powers these spacecraft with the heat of its natural decay.

But plutonium-238 isn't found in nature; it's a byproduct of nuclear weaponry.

The United States stopped making it about 20 years ago and NASA has been relying on the Russians. But now the Russian supply is running dry because they stopped making it, too....

Solar power is preferable to plutonium because it is cheaper and has fewer safety concerns, McNutt and Allen said. But solar power just doesn't work in the darkest areas of space, including deep craters of the moon.

Hmmmm...so this is why "They" need more nuclear power plants...otherwise no evacuation plan for the PTB when the SHTF!