Free Republic

Technicians had worn them for decades as they prepared the space shuttles for their move from Kennedy Space Center’s three Orbiter Processing Facilities to the towering Vehicle Assembly Building, and eventually the launch pad. “Bunnysuits,” those white coveralls with floppy hoods and rubber-banded booties, were designed to keep dirt and debris from contaminating the orbiter interiors. But on this summer day in one Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians working inside Discovery’s crew module wore street clothes. No need to worry about contamination: Discovery would not be returning to space. After flying 148 million miles and orbiting Earth 5,830 times, Discovery, first...

The technology and tools already exist to allow people and robots to repair and refuel satellites in orbit. What is lacking is the recognition of that capability by senior government officials and a business model to enable commercial companies to profit from the enterprise, according to government and industry officials attending a workshop March 24-26 sponsored by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and held at the University of Maryland University College in Adelphi, Md. “It’s pretty clear,” said Frank Cepollina, NASA deputy associate director in the space service capabilities office at NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, Md. “The time for...

NASA has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Air Force to support abort flight test requirements for the Orion Project. The Air Force has contracted with Orbital Sciences Corp. of Chandler, Ariz., to provide launch services for the flight tests. The agreement with the Air Force's Space Development and Test Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., provides for abort test boosters that will serve as launch vehicles for Orion ascent abort flight tests that are set to occur from 2009 through 2011 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The first abort test is scheduled for...

The Stardust mission to bring back samples of comet and interstellar dust was more successful than they had hoped, scientists said yesterday. The 100-pound sample container from the seven-year mission, which landed on the salt flats of Utah on Sunday, captured thousands of particles, perhaps even a million, that originated at the edge of the solar system or from distant stars, they said. While they had expected mostly microscopic samples, the researchers said, a surprising number of the particles were large enough to be seen with the naked eye. "It exceeded all of our grandest expectations," Donald Brownlee of the...