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Space Station Expedition 13 Lands in Kazakhstan with Anousheh Ansari
"Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams and Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan Thursday at 9:13 p.m. EDT.
After saying their farewells to Expedition 14 then entering their Soyuz spacecraft for the ride home, they undocked from the International Space Station at 5:53 p.m."
Letter from NASA Watch, Anousheh Ansari Space Blog
"But this is just the beginning of Anoushehs journey. The real journey begins when she returns to Earth and how she takes the excitement of the moment and transforms it into long-term change - for the better."
Anousheh Ansari, a Woman of Mass Instruction, Dennis Wingo, SpaceRef
"Ms. Ansari is a Woman of Mass Instruction (WMI) in the global contest of ideas. While so many pillory the United States these days and the west in general for being in decline, decadent, yada, yada, yada, Ms. Ansari's exploits explode these myths. Would she have this opportunity if she grew up in any middle eastern country? How about South America?"
Transcript of NASA Press Conference in Beijing
"ADMINISTRATOR GRIFFIN: There are no plans on our part to work with China on the ISS construction. The ISS program is the International Space Station program. In its present form, it is now approaching 13 years old. The partnerships that led to the development of the ISS are well established. I do not propose to change any of those arrangements at the present time. If China and the United States were to cooperate in the arena of manned space flight, that would be well down the road from where we are starting today, and it would involve projects that for the United States come after the development of the International Space Station."
Editor's note: If you look at the high resolution version of this photo of the Expedition 14 crew and Anousheh Ansari eating, you will see a small scale model of Russia's proposed Soyuz replacement "Klipper" on the Service Module cabin wall to the right of Yuri Gagarin.
Of course, if you look at the high resolution version of this image above Pavel Vinogradov's head - and to the right of the Army pennant - you will see a scale model of Orion's command module.
NASA Learns How To Handle Space Tourists - and Novel Situations, SpaceRef
Editor's note: Just before the launch of STS-115, NASA held a press opportunity. Among the participants was Mike Suffredini, NASA's Space Station Program Manager. I asked Suffredini a question related to the decisons being made by Russia with regard to delays it was willing to make in the launch of the Expedition 14 crew aboard a Soyuz - and how this affected the dates on which NASA could try and launch Atlantis.
Editor's note: According to comments made in this post on her blog, Anousheh Ansari is not "blogging from space", as some of her pre-launch hype claimed she would be doing. Instead, she is simply sending emails that are eventually posted on a website/blog - one that is totally maintained by someone else. Yawn - astronauts have been doing this for years.
"So first lets take care of a few housekeeping items. I do not have realtime access to email. The email process is a batch process so it happens three times a day. I will do my best to get at least one entry in per day. I do not have access to a web browser so I cannot read all your comments. I get some of your questions and greetings forwarded to me and I know that many people are sending their well wishes and words of inspiration."
Editor's note: If you look at the upper left hand corner of this image taken inside the Unity lab module aboard ISS during the STS-115 mission, you will see a name tag and photo of NASA astronaut candidate Patricia (Patty) Robertson, M.D.
Robertson died in a plane crash in 2001.
Back on Track in Space, OpEd, NY Times
"We've never been great fans of the International Space Station, an enormously costly project that will yield such limited scientific and economic benefits that it seems destined to be considered a white elephant. Nevertheless, we had to marvel at the magnificent performance of the crew of the shuttle Atlantis, which ended an arduous 12-day mission to the station with a flawless landing yesterday."
Keep ISS Alive, Rick Tumlinson, Space Frontier Foundation
"As I write this Americans and Russians are circling overhead in a space station I opposed. The international space station (ISS) cost too much, is imperfect, too complex, in a bad orbit and I am told it smells funny. But it is there. Now I hear some want to throw it away. The folks gave us almost $100 billion to build it, and I don't think they would like that. It holds air, has power and is made of tons of processed high-value material that if it isn't up there already, someday someone else would have to carry it up or manufacture it. Once before I and others tried to save a cast-off toy from our childhood in space called Mir. We were too late, and faced too much opposition from those who wanted a shiny new toy. Now we have it. This time we have the time to make it useful. Let's do it."
Expedition 14 Arrives at International Space Station
"The Soyuz TMA 9 spacecraft carrying the Expedition 14 crew docked with the station at 1:21 a.m. EDT Wednesday. Aboard are Anousheh Ansari - and Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin who will replace Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA Science Officer Jeff Williams."
Harmful chemical leaks in space station, AP
"We don't exactly know the nature of the spill ... but the crew is doing well," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager. "It's not a life-threatening material."
"The crew first reported smoke but it turned out to be an irritant, potassium hydroxide, leaking from an oxygen vent, Suffredini said."
Spacecraft Carrying Space Tourist Anousheh Ansari and ISS Expedition 14 Crew Leaves Earth
"The International Space Station's next crew began the journey to its new home early Monday. The Soyuz rocket that carried Expedition 14 into space lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:09 a.m. EDT. Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin are scheduled to arrive at the station at 1:24 a.m. Wednesday. Flying to the station with them will be American Anousheh Ansari, the first female spaceflight participant to visit the orbiting laboratory. She is flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency."
Click on image to enlarge
NASA STS-115/12A FD 08 Execute Package Page 38 of 42:
On Mesh Bag (EMU Systems) column, add if not already transferred to Shuttle: Return List Item 710: EMU TV (ERCA) Camera ID 17 (sn1011)
3) Finally, just a reminder that all 5 EVA Mesh Bags are to be returned (yes, the bags themselves, as well as the items in them). Apparently, Mesh Bags are like "Tribbles" and have been multiplying on-board the Space Station.
NASA focus should be on moon base, not wasteful ISS, USA Today
"A lot of people think going to Mars is the best next step. But it's not. It would certainly be cool, and even inspiring, but once we came back, then what? What would it lead to? In contrast, the moon makes a lot more sense. It's close and easy to get to and we've done it before. We can attempt a base there, and if something goes wrong we'd have some chance of bringing our people home. Unlike a space stations, the moon is stable there's no danger of it leaving its orbit, and if we really can extract oxygen and other elements from the rock, that could make it the most viable long-term location for an outpost."
Editor's note: This has to be one of the most tchnically uninformed, intellectually garbled opinion pieces I have seen in a long time.
Spacewalkers Press Ahead; Controllers Deploy Radiator
"Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper are rolling through STS-115's third spacewalk. They are performing a wide-range of activities during the excursion, which is slated to wrap up about 12:20 p.m. EDT."
Anousheh Ansari's official website
Anousheh Ansari's Blog, X Prize Foundation
"This is the first blog I have ever written. Im usually a private person, but with what has happened in my life, I feel an obligation to share this experience with everyone out there."
Boston University awarded $42.5 million from NASA to study space radiation
"Boston University today announced it has received an eight-year, $42.5 million contract from NASA to study Earth's radiation belts, a region which can be dangerous to astronauts and orbiting satellites."
NASA Selects 12 Research Proposals in Radiation Biology
"NASA will fund a dozen new research proposals to better understand and reduce the risks that crews of future moon and Mars missions could face from space radiation. The total potential value of the selected proposals is approximately $14 million."
