Rewards

Last Tuesday March 16, 2010 at the Sheraton Waikiki: Geologist and Moonwalker Harrison Schmitt (in an Aloha shirt) receives a medal from the American Society of Civil Engineering. The ASCE Earth/Space Conference was attended by engineers and scientists from across the Pacific, energized by ideas of engineering in Space.

Last night March 23, 2010 at Johnson Space Center in Houston: We greet the crew of STS-130. Their mission installed a Node and viewing Cupola to the International Space Station.

Equally important, Lockheed contractor Blake Dumesnil was named winner of the Shuttle patch design contest. His patch is symbolic of the entire Shuttle program.

The view from my room at the Sheraton Waikiki. Also Tuesday I delivered a talk on lunar research to the same international audience. That girl with ideas about light will never amount to anything, will she? More pictures from Hawaii coming soon!

From Street Performer to Space

The STS-125 crew is back in town! Today this writer ended up in the JSC cafeteria line right in front of spacewalker Michael Good. Just as we reached the front of the queue the cashier ran out of pennies and he patiently waited. All one could say to the Good man was, “Welcome back!”

While Kea is in Canada, perhaps she will run into Guy Laliberte. Rumour has it that Laliberte will be the next paid spaceflight participant, going up with TMA-16 in October. He left home at age 18 to hitch across Europe, performing on street corners as a stiltwalker and fire-eater. Laliberte enjoyed street performing and considered it a perfect art form. His skills led him to found the world-famous Cirque de Soleil. Today the street performer has a billion dollars in his cup.

Laliberte’s road to Space has been seeded by risk. The life of a street performer can be a rough one. The pay is unsteady and often low. We can be harassed, robbed, attacked and even arrested. In 1984 the troupe landed a contract to perform for Quebec’s 375th anniversary. Guy recalls, “We had every problem starting a big top could have. The tent fell down on the first day. We had problems getting people into shows. It was only with the courage and arrogance of youth that we survived.”

In 1987 Laliberte bet everything to perform at the Los Angeles Art Festival opening. “If we failed,” he recalls, “there was no cash for gas to come home.” The LA appearance was a success, leading to contracts and financial success. Tonight Cirque de Soleil has 6 shows running simultaneously in Las Vegas. In addition to his circus activities, Laliberte in 2007 placed 4th in the Las Vegas World Poker Tour.

Some people complain that NASA has become risk-averse, but Guy LaLiberte is no stranger to risk. His shows have entertained huge crowds and given him the wherewithal to follow his dreams. To explore the Universe, we must take risks. Guy Laliberte’s bravery and circus skills would be a welcome addition to Space.

SpaceX Aims High

As we heard yesterday, the last flight of the Space Shuttle is scheduled for September 16, 2010. this could leave a 5-year gap before Orion is ready. Since January 10 SpaceX's Falcon 9 has been poised on a pad at Cape Canaveral. Video above shows an uncrewed Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft delivering cargo to ISS. The lack of an escape tower shows that this is an unmanned flight. SpaceX is prepared to fill the "gap" with an all-American spacecraft.

SpaceX's press release includes another cool video of humans riding a Dragon into orbit. Falcon 9 and Dragon will already be rated to carry living things like bugs or mice. Dragon will also be rated safe to carry humans in Space, as they will have to enter when Dragon is docked to ISS. The biggest item that needs to be developed is an escape tower.

SpaceX recently won a 1.6 billion+ contract to deliver cargo. If all goes well, by 2010 an unmanned Dragon will begin demonstration flights to ISS. For an additional 1.5 billion a human-rated Dragon could deliver astronauts to Space. this is a bargain that the United States should consider.

STS-134 Is On

Way back in June 2008 this blog first suggested a Shuttle mission designated STS-134 to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, A Sacrifice For AMS?Today NASA has officially put STS-134 on the launch manifest with a projected launch date of September 16, 2010. The idea of retiring a Shuttle in Space was seen as so revolting that there is now funding for a full 2-way mission with a full crew.

The person who suggested STS-134 now has an office at Johnson Space Center. Just last Monday I talked with astronaut Dave Wolf, who was heavily in favour of the added mission. Astronauts have a lot of influence on what flies--they love the AMS mission because it means new physics and seven more flight slots.

Happy birthday Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln! Today everyone considers Lincoln a great president, but in his time the country was literally divided over his leadership. Darwin was also considered crazy in his time. There are people out there today who still doubt Darwin, but we will never please everyone. 200 years from now some will still think that the speed of light is fixed, like the Earth.

Falcon 9 Aims For the Sky

75 years ago January 12, 1934 a fleet of six Navy P2Y-1 flying boats made a nonstop flight from San Francisco to Hawaii. The crossing took 24 hours and 19 minutes. In 1935 Pan American introduced the famous China Clippers on regular flights across the Pacific. Today we take flight Hawaii to the mainland for granted. Will flight into Space someday become as routine?

Saturday SpaceX's Falcon 9 was hoisted into the vertical at Cape Canaveral. A launch is coming soon. Last September, on the fourth attempt, the smaller Falcon 1 finally reached orbit. After winning a COTS contract for resupplying ISS, SpaceX may be America's best hope for closing the "Gap" in human spaceflight.

Events in this small world depend on one another. If NASA keeps reaching outward, routine flight to LEO can be left to commercial operators. SpaceX needs the COTS contract to justify the expense of developing boosters. If SpaceX is successful, the Falcon will have other customes. Bigelow's orbital habitats will need a vehicle like Falcon 9 to deliver guests. If everything comes together, the dream of commercial flight to Space will finally come true.

ISS Birthday Party

Max Q is defined as the point of maximum dynamic pressure on a spaccraft. It's also the name of the all-astronaut band! Thursday November 20 was the 10th birthday of the International Space Station. On that day in 1998 the first Zarya module was launched. Max Q celebrated by performing at a party in Space Center Houston. That's a mockup Shuttle among the exhibits. The band played many favourites including "Brown-Eyed Girl."

Among the other exhibits, one corner has been given over to Star Wars, including this spaceship.

Model of ISS hanging from the ceiling.

Many astronauts attended the party. This is Expedition 17 Commander Serge Volkov. With all the conflict in the world, it is great to see people from many nations cooperating on a big project. We should all be proud of the International Space Station.

This week the Carnival of Space starts with a bang!

Mission Control

We watched Tuesday's EVA from Mission Control in Building 30, Houston. The first spacewalk of STS-126 will probably be remembered for the lost tool bag, but most of the objectives were accomplished. Bagsat is now harmlessly orbiting below and behind ISS.

Perched on the manipulator arm, Steve Bowen hand-carries the Nitrogen Tank Assembly (NTA) from the station toward the Shuttle. The coastline below appears to be the Falkland Islands.

The Flight Director has a very busy job, so we try not to bother him. On the right-hand screen Bowen can be seen approaching the Payload Bay.

From the Shuttle's point of view, Bowen appears upside down as he fastens the NTA into place. Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper is barely visible below him and to our left. The spacewalkers are hard to tell apart in those outfits, so Heide's suit has red stripes. How many women get to launch their own satellite?

Welcome Home Expedition 17

Expedition 17 to the International Space Station began April 8 when Cosmonauts Serge Volkov and Oleg Kononenko joined astronaut Garrett Reisman from Expedition 16. Volkov (second-generation cosmonaut) and Kononenko returned to Kazakhstan October 24. During their stay they welcomed Richard Garriott, second-generation American astronaut. A ship's bell is traditionally used by navies to welcome people aboard. Monday, in a private ceremony at Johnson Space Center, veteran astronaut Michael Foale rang the bell.

Johnson Space Center Director Mike Coats welcomes the crew, who are sitting to the right in matching shirts. From the left are Commander Sergei Volkov, Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Garrett Reisman. Greg Chamitoff, who joined this crew on May 31, is still onboard ISS. Garrett presented gifts to his shipmates--a CD of 1980's heavy metal for Sergei. Oleg received a pint of his favourite ice cream, Rocky Road from the Kroger's market near JSC. In his remarks, Garrett was struck by how thin and fragile Earth's atmosphere is.

Their children present them with flowers. Coats remarked with conviction that their generation will walk on the Moon and Mars.

Check out the new Carnival of Space!

The DIRECT Route?

Government programs tend to grow in weight, size and complexity. The Space Shuttle began with the dream of a reusable Spaceship launched on a winged booster. Budget cuts eliminated the flyback booster, replaced by Solid Rocket Boosters (see Challenger) and a foam-covered external tank (see Columbia). To fit all customers the payload diameter was increased to 5 meters. Heavy drag-inducing delta wings were added to give crossrange capability, which has never been used. High wing-loading led to the TPS tiles, which are a maintenance and safety nightmare (see Columbia again). The dream of airliner-like service led to an expensive and ungainly system.

The Space Station was conceived as a stepping stone to other worlds. The US decided to save money by assigning major components to Russia. That caused delays in getting the Russian modules ready, and forced ISS into a high-inclination orbit serving Kazakhstan launch sites. The Space Station enjoyed the nice view of New Zealand we saw yesterday, but is useless as a stop for the Moon or Mars.

The Vision for the Moon and Beyond called for new boosters using existing technology. Constellation conceived of a Ares I with an SRB as the first stage and a J-2 powered second stage. A larger Ares V would have 2 SRB's attached to a center stage derived from the Shuttle External Tank. Studies then showed that 4-segment SRB's would not suffice, we would need 5 segments for Ares I and possibly 6 segments for Ares V. Building longer SRB's means a long testing process. The long skinny Ares I has vibration issues, as the rocket acts like a giant organ pipe. This may require heavy isolation machinery in the spacecraft.

Even with lengthened SRB's doubts exist whether Ares I could carry a loaded Orion, leading to a drastic effort to save weight. Capability to land on solid ground may be sacrificed for more water landings, requiring another Navy task force each time. The Essex-class aircraft carriers that recovered Apollo don't exist anymore, so a Wasp or Nimitz-class carrier might have to be diverted from the battle group's normal duties. Has anyone from the US Navy brought this up? Hello?

Ares I could not reach orbit without its J-2X powered second stage. The new engine would be an expensive and time-consuming project. Ares V now increases diameter of the External Tank, requiring new tooling. A sixth engine may be needed. The booster would be so heavy that it would exceed limits of the crawlerway leading to pads 39A and 39B. The pads themselves would have to be rebuilt to accommodate a wider vehicle, the VAB would have to be reconfigured...and so on.

The five-year gap between Shuttle and Ares I would mean thousands of NASA and contractor job losses. As happened in the 1970's, talented people would become unemployed and their expertise lost forever. Ares V would be a very expensive project that would be easy for a future administration to cut. This would leave the US where it started, stuck in Low Earth Orbit.

Presently NASA is determined to develop Ares I and V. In April 2009 an unmanned demonstration of Ares I-X is planned. This test will use 4-segment boosters, a dummy second stage and Orion that will not reach orbit. While it will be spectacular to watch, the test will be far from the vehicle that would carry humans. No doubt with enough time and money the engineering issues could be patched. The Ares I and V designs are capable of reaching the Moon, with work.

Any NASA employee would support Constellation and do whatever possible to make it work. However, a few have quietly been developing an alternative. Last month this writer was in the room for their presentation at ISDC. Yesterday the DIRECT plan reached the front page of the local Orlando Sentinel.

NASA remains silent on a rocket that could rescue the Cape.

"Indeed, an unfinished internal NASA study -- shut down and disowned by the agency last fall -- showed Direct 2.0 would outperform Ares, which the agency is designing for its Constellation program to return astronauts to the moon. The initial results showed Direct 2.0 was superior in cost, overall performance and work-force retention -- a big issue for Florida."

DIRECT 2.0 (website) would make maximum use of common hardware. Jupiter-120 would use 2 standard Shuttle SRB's, around a core built from the Shuttle ET with two currently available RS-68 engines. The crewed spacecraft would match the cargo ability of Shuttle. Jupiter-120 could easily lift Orion into orbit with payload to spare.

The larger Jupiter-232 would add a third RS-68 and an upper stage powered by a J-2 engine, to carry cargoes to the Moon and Beyond. Possibly it could be upgraded to carry payloads up to 140 tons. With a similiar footprint to Shuttle, these new boosters would use NASA's existing launch infrastructure. DIRECT backers claim the system would carry humans to the Moon by 2017, two years sooner than Ares.

Given the challenges to reaching the Moon, DIRECT 2.0 deserves official consideration. A new adminsitration will certainly reassess NASA's progress. In the 1960's a few brave engineers proposed Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, which got the US to the Moon in time to meet Kennedy's goal. Presently NASA engineers are working on DIRECT in their spare time without knowledge of their bosses. There may be time to change direction, and possibly get us to the Moon sooner.

Photos from STS-124

Photos taken during the last Shuttle mission. This is real high-rise construction, showing how big the Space Station is. Does anyone recognise the coastline below? Mission STS-124 successfully installed the Japanese Kibo module.

A Sacrifice for AMS?

Shuttle Discovery photographed from ISS during STS-124. Below is the KIBO pressurised module, and to the right is the Japanese logistics module. Discovery undocked from ISS at 0742 EDT (see below) and is due to return Saturday. The Hubble Space Telescope repair mission is scheduled for October, but may be delayed due to launch damage to Pad 39-A. Previously STS-125 was to be Atlantis' last mission, but she may be saved for STS-128 and STS-131. The three surviving Shuttles are scheduled for retirement.

Today NASA is due to announce a decision on the Constellation Space Suit Program. While we are waiting, the US Congress is considering a new NASA authorization bill. H.R. 6063 will give NASA 2.9 billion more than the White House requested. It also orders one more Shuttle flight to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. NASA administrators are resistant to AMS because of safety concerns and delays in implementing Constellation. They are eager to junk the Shuttles and make way for Orion.

There may be a way to make everyone happy. It would be cheaper, get AMS into Space without any chance of a Columbia accident, and accelerate retiring of Shuttle. Since this would be the last flight, we could use the Shuttle to deliver AMS and leave it in Space. This follows a long Navy tradition of scuttling the ship to save the mission.

While most Shuttle flights carry seven, nominal mission STS-134 could be accomplished with a crew of three: Commander, Pilot and Mission Specialist. Attaching AMS to the Station will require two crewmembers and multiple EVA's. The Mission Specialist will be responsible for installing AMS assisted by the pilot, with the ISS crew available for extra help. Once installation is complete, the Shuttle is no longer necessary.

The crew of three will return by Soyuz. There are extra seats available on returning Soyuz flights, which is how Expedition Six returned after Columbia. Hopefully the Soyuz problem of ballistic entry will be solved by 2010. NASA may even do like Sergei Brin and charter an extra Soyuz mission.

Concerning Spacesuits, the three EMU's brought by the mission would add to the ISS collection. The current EMU was designed for Shuttle and will not fit in Soyuz or Orion. Once the Shuttles stop flying the ISS crew will have to make do with the EMU's they have until those suits wear out. Any additional Shuttle mission will be valuable in bringing extra small payloads-perhaps the ISS toilet will need more parts.

At the conclusion of its mission the Shuttle will be stripped of useful equipment and cut loose from ISS. This should be done shortly before a station-keeping maneuver, which will boost ISS into a higher orbit and leave the Shuttle behind. Atmospheric drag will take care of the rest. While Mission Control has limited ability to control an unmanned Shuttle, hopefully they can steer her to come down in the Pacific.

Columbia showed us what would happen next. Uncontrolled, the Shuttle would glide in as far as ground control would take it. At a certain point she would tumble out of control and break up. Like Columbia or Captain Kirk's Enterprise, her death would be a spectacular event seen from Earth.

Since NASA is so eager to end the Shuttle programme, they might consider the same profile for STS-133. Endeavour's mission to deliver Express Logistic Carriers 3 and 4 could also be accomplished without Shuttle return. Abandoning the Shuttle would ensure that the program is not continued. Museums that were hoping to have Shuttles in their collections would be most disappointed, but the cost of "safing" a Shuttle is quite high. Giving the museums Shuttle mockups would be far cheaper, and we could easily include parts from the "real" Shuttles.

Leaving a Shuttle would be a simple and safe way to end the program while carrying AMS into Space. There may be technical details overlooked here-NASA personnel are welcome to point them out. Presently NASA is reluctant to make any plans concerning AMS; that will change if Congress gets their way. This would be a fitting end to the Shuttle era, opening the way for the future.

The Constellation Space Suit contract has just been awarded to my friends at Oceaneering. More about this soon!

Oops, I Did It Again

Interior of Soyuz spacecraft at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum

Expedition 6 was the 3-person crew Marooned on ISS in the wake of Columbia's accident. After various options were weighed, they ended up returning on a Russian Soyuz. That became a wild ride when Soyuz inexplicably went "ballistic," turning a 4 G descent into over 8 G's! Their adventure was recently turned into an experimental play at San Francisco's Magic Theatre by actor Bill Pullman.

Over the weekend the Soyuz glitch appeared again. This time it tormented Russians Fyodor Yurchikhin, Oleg Kotov and Malaysian Muszaphar Shukor. Their Soyuz went into an 8 G ballistic descent and ended up 300 kilometres West of their landing site in Kazakhstan. Fortunately all three crewmembers were found unharmed.

At 1138 EDT Shuttle mission STS-120 successfully launched from KSC commanded by Pamela Melroy. Discovery carries the Harmony node, to which the European and Japanese modules will be attached. These modules will allow more real science to be done aboard ISS. The mission will be very busy with at least 5 EVA's. Shuttle Discovery also carries an original lightsaber from STAR WARS.

Women on Top

One of the first Moon movies was Fritz Lang's FRAU IM MOND, or "Woman in the Moon." In reality there have been 12 men on the Moon but no women. Returning to the Moon could be justified to correct that omission. This week Peggy Whitson of Expedition 16 ascended via Soyuz as the first Space Station commander who happens to be female. She is pictured with the whip given to her by friends in Kazahkstan. Previously Shuttle mission STS-114 was commanded by Eileen Collins. Discovery's flight to ISS is scheduled for October 23 commanded by Pamela Melroy.

Women have adapted amazingly well to life aboard Space stations. One could propose different reasons why we can share small quarters. Shannon Lucid holds the US endurance record for her 188 days aboard Mir in 1996. Scott Horowitz told me that us fitness types don't adapt well to the confined quarters. Lucid did so well because she is a couch potato!

To become a NASA astronaut a woman must gain experience as a pilot, scientist or both. Today we have a growing number of woman pilots, even in flight test and combat. In science, we see more and more women slowly ascending the ranks. Today in the military and science a woman still encounters sexism or outright harassment. There are still precious few women in the highest ranks of science.

Tuesday's New York Times featured an interview with biologist Cindy Lee Van Dover, the first and only woman to pilot the submersible Alvin. The US Deep Submergence Facility, soon to be retired, is as valuable to science as the Space Shuttle. Observations of deep sea vents show that they could be cradles of life on Earth. Van Dover says the training would be tough for anyone, male or female. On her way to the bottom of science she encountered people who said openly, "You shouldn't be a pilot." She doesn't know why there has never been another woman Alvin pilot.

Shockingly, almost no women have won the Nobel Prize in physics since Marie Curie! Women such as Jocelyn Bell and Rosalind Franklin have done work deserving the Nobel but not received it. Cecilia Payne and Vera Rubin also come to mind. Though there is no Nobel for math, no woman has ever been awarded the Fields Medal. Congratulations to all who have won, but omission of women from the trip to Stockholm ought to be a scandal.

It is logical for society to make maximum use of its human resources. Women with talent in sciences should be encouraged. More effort should be made to promote science careers in general. It is through science that we will solve Earth problems from food to the environment. The wonders of science should not be restricted to an lucky few.

Sundancer

Bigelow Aerospace has been quietly and methodically building a presence in Space. With the success of its Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 modules currently in orbit, Bigelow has decided to go straight to a full Space Station. Inflation of launch prices convinced them to take this next giant step soon. Capable of supporting a crew of 3, Sundancer will be available for science, private industry and even hotels. It will be in orbit by 2010, about the time ISS is finally finished. You read it here first last September Inflatable Space.

Another kind of inflation has not made progress. 30 years ago when rising prices were on everyone's mind, Alan Guth suggested that the early Universe expanded at warp speed, faster than light. Speculation about inflation has kept physicists in grants for years. The idea can not be tested, and relies on an ethereal repulsive energy. As with the string enterprise, scientists are getting uneasy. Space.com continues the story:

"Inflation is an extremely powerful theory, and yet we still have no idea what caused inflation-or whether it is even the correct theory, although it works extremely well," said Eric Agol, an astrophysicist at the University of Washington.

For some scientists, inflation is a clunky addition to the Big Bang model, a necessary complexity appended to make it fit with observations. Nor was it the last such addition.

"We've also learned there has to be dark matter in the universe, and now dark energy," said Paul Steinhardt, a theoretical physicist at Princeton University. "So the way the model works today is you say, 'OK, you take some Big Bang, you take some inflation, you tune that to have the following properties, then you add a certain amount of dark matter and dark energy.' These things aren't connected in a coherent theory."

Inflation and a repulsive "dark energy" are part of cosmology's standard model. Like the epicycles of old, the model is filled of such epicycles to explain the Universe. Not all physicists are happy with this unwieldy concorde. They are just waiting to see a better theory.

Endeavour Flies Again

Here's one way to watch your planet's climate! It's not the iPhone, but here's a bit of what this blogger has been working on. The climate display shows temperature, humidity, location, date and time. Putting barometric pressure here was considered, but that fits better on the navigation display along with altitude. Spacecraft displays should be graphical and easy to read.

The next Progress resupply mission to ISS has been rescheduled from August to July to bring replacements for the computers that crashed during Atlantis' mission. Launch of STS-118 has been moved up two days from August 9 to August 7. This will be the first flight of Endeavour since 2002. Since then she has received major upgrades including flat panel displays like this one and her own GPS navigation system.

Endeavour was built in the 1980's to replace Challenger. The three remaining shuttles are very precious, for today the parts do not exist to build another even if you wanted to. Captain Cook's Endeavour was the ultimate spare part, built from a converted collier. Perhaps someone will recognise where these parts came from. It is amazing what one can accomplish by hacking existing hardware and re-adapting it for a new function.

Endeavour's crew pose in training versions of their launch and entry suits. James Cook had a continual problem with islanders, who had never seen metal before, stealing nails from his boats. Humans love shiny things! Hopefully you will like the final product.

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer In Limbo

Now that Atlantis has safely returned to Earth, she only has two scheduled missions left. Her last flight, STS-125, is scheduled for September 10, 2008. That will be the servicing mission for the Hubble Space Telescope. As part of the mission a docking adapter will be installed, making future servicing missions by Orion possible. Refurbishing HST was nearly cancelled, but was saved by support from both scientists and the public.

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is designed to be attached to ISS. It incorporates superconducting magnets to detect cosmic rays striking Earth. It may find the signatures of antimatter in the early Universe. A Space Station is an unprecedented platform for such observations. AMS is a collaboration of 16 countries who have spent 1.5 billion US on the project. It is the most important physics experiment planned for ISS.

Though they strike Earth constantly, relatively little is known about cosmic rays. These particles reach energies far higher than any human accelerator can achieve. The highest energy cosmic rays, nicknamed "Oh My God" particles, have energies far greater than physics can explain. These particles may have originated at a time near the Big Bang. Their immense energies are one more indicator that the speed of light has slowed.

Nearly everyone has experienced the power of a thunderstorm. We are taught in school that lightning originates from static discharges within storm clouds. What triggers those discharges is unknown. The tracks of cosmic rays, striking and scattering particles in the atmosphere, are very similiar to lightning. Some researchers have suggested that cosmic rays are the cause of lightning! Since cosmic rays fall nearly steadily across Earth's surface, that is a hypothesis that needs to be tested. If cosmic rays cause lightning, that is one more example of how our lives are intimately entwined with Space.

The AMS is nearly completed and sitting in a clean room. Unfortunately, with the shuttle program scheduled to end in 2010, there is no longer a flight scheduled to take AMS into Space. Alternatives have been studied, but adapting the experiment to another spacecraft would cost hundreds of millions. Grounding the experiment would be a major disappointment for scientists and international partners. Physicists have not given up; the experiment is still scheduled to be received by NASA in 2008 and prepared for flight.

There are one, possibly two hopes left. NASA has allowed two "contingency" flights to ISS in case something goes wrong with a scheduled mission. If these flights are not used up, one of them could be used to orbit AMS. More ISS missions are a good thing, for they allow more supplies and crew changes. This may mean extending the shuttle program past 2010, but with all the delays that may happen anyway.

Adding a flight will also narrow the "gap" between shuttle retirement and the first Orion flights. If shuttle is retired in 2010 and Orion does not fly until 2013 (2014? 2016?) it will be the longest gap in US human spaceflight since 1975-81. During that period ISS would be completely dependent on Russian spacecraft. We can only hope that private spacecraft can help fill the gap.

Just as scientists and the public successfully lobbied to repair Hubble, now is the time to start lobbying for AMS. As before, NASA may examine alternatives before concluding that a shuttle mission is needed. This is a very important experiment that international partners have already paid for. Leaving AMS on the ground would remove one scientific justification for ISS. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer deserves to fly.

A Spacecraft Is Taking Shape

ISS photographed by a departing Atlantis on June 19. The two spacecraft parted ways somewhere over the Coral Sea. With installation of the last truss and deployment of its solar arrays, the station is finally assuming its shape. Turning on the solar arrays was not without problems; it somehow caused the computers to crash. They were reportedly rebooted via a bypass of the surge protectors, a very risky step. A planned Progress flight in August may be moved to July 23 to bring updated computers.

Space stations have been in people's dreams since the beginning of the rocket age. Wehrner Von Braun pubished designs for an orbiting wheel in the 1950's, which inspired 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. In 1983 President Reagan proposed Space Station Freedom, involving the US with Japan and European partners. Station was intended to be a steppingstone toward the Moon and planets.

During Clinton's administration the space station was very nearly cancelled. It was revived with Russian participation as Space Station Alpha. Political justification for the project went from staying ahead of Russia to fostering cooperation with them. To allow servicing from Russian spaceports, the orbit was moved to a high inclination. This made ISS useless as a fuel stop for the Moon or Mars. From its launch site in Florida, shuttle Atlantis needed 2 days to catch up with ISS. Problems in Russia delayed the launch of the first modules, but Russian assistance was invaluable after Columbia.

The project's usefulness for science has always been doubted. Originally ISS was designed for a crew of 8, but the 8-person rescue vehicle was cancelled because of budget. Crew size is limited to three using Soyuz as an escape pod, like Expedition Six. That is barely enough people to keep the station clean, much less do a lot of science. There is still room for valuable experiments, particularly the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. Currently AMS is sitting in a clean room, its future uncertain. Amazingly ISS has survived all these hurdles.

Station is already invaluable for research on long-duration flights. Construction experience will be valuable for any large objects to be built in Space. From visions of orbiting wheels, real space stations have evolved to resemble dragonflies. The delicate network of solar panels and radiating fins has been called beautiful. It is certainly satisfying to see a big project near completion.

(On my own Space project, the parts are also being assembled. Like ISS, this was a pile of raw materiels and ideas for a years. Presently some very late nights are spent integrating the life support system and electronics. It is hard to describe how it looks, but it is quite pleasing to the eyes. This may be the only example of the technology in existence. It may change the way humans visualise spaceflight.)

Marooned

Sorry about the interruption. Often the best work is accomplished out of publicity's glare. In Martin Caidin's novel and the movie, three astronauts from an orbiting laboratory are MAROONED by a spacecraft malfunction. (Caidin also originated THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN.) Thursday I met with journalist Chris Jones. His new book TOO FAR FROM HOME tells the gripping and little-known story of Expedition Six. Astronauts Ken Bowersox, Don Pettit and Cosmonaut Nicolai Budarin were the crew stuck on ISS in the aftermath of the Columbia accident.

On November 23, 2002 three men rode as passengers in Endeavour's mid-deck to take over station. They were originally intended to return after 14 weeks in another shuttle. On February 1, 2003 Columbia's accident nixed that plan. TOO FAR FROM HOME includes many details the press omitted, like a Texas farmer finding the astronaut's recognisable bodies in a field. The shuttle squadron was grounded until July 2005. Keeping Bowersox, Pettit and Budarin alive until rescue suddenly became a big problem.

Sending another shuttle up in Columbia's wake would have been foolhardy. The crew always had an option of using the Soyuz docked at ISS as an escape pod. Abandoning ship would have been disastrous, for ISS was not designed to survive without a crew. With no humans aboard, the station would have drifted out of orbit until docking was impossible, then its orbit would decay until it fell into the atmosphere. The goal of a permanent human presence in Space would have gone down in flames.

Finally NASA and the Russians put together a plan to keep ISS alive with a minimum crew until Shuttle returned. For the relief crew, two men were chosen for their low food requirements. One of these was Edward Lu. This crew would fly up with a new replacement Soyuz, leaving Expedition Six to return in their old ship. The return to Earth was truly a rough ride, with forces exceeding 8 G's. During atmospheric entry, the plummeting Soyuz lost all radio communication.

Expedition Six landed hundreds of miles off target, somewhere in Central Asia. It would be hours before the crew would have contact with anyone. With fresh memories of Columbia, those were agonising hours for NASA and their families. After realising that rescue was not near, the three men cracked the hatch and crawled onto an alien Earth. For hours the men lay on their backs on the grass, whose very smells and sounds had become unfamiliar. Despite their trials, all three men yearn for a return to Space..

How did the US get into this mess? After the 1969 Moon landings, Von Braun designed an Apollo Applications Programme. It would have built giant space stations and a Moon base with Apollo hardware and the giant Saturn rockets. Skylab, which orbited a 3-person lab in one piece, was the only survivor. (MAROONED featured an early version of Skylab.) As Armstrong and Aldrin were stepping on the Moon, the Nixon administration was taking steps to junk Apollo in favour of the Shuttle. When I spoke with Michael Griffin in December 2005, he acknowledged what a huge mistake this was.

The US General Accounting Office concluded that Shuttle would only be cost-effective if it were the only US launch vehicle. In response NASA stopped production of Saturn and every other launch vehicle! The Air Force was forced to adopt Shuttle, which in turn forced the orbiter to have a larger diameter and wings. Serving every customer made the vehicle bigger, heavier and more expensive than it needed to be. As the old saying goes, an elephant is a horse built by committee. Since that time, our picture of Space travel has included the Shuttle.

From the disarray following Columbia, came a Vision for the Moon, Mars and Beyond. This has given NASA a true goal going where no one has gone before. It may lead to unexpected benefits, like a mission to an asteroid. After all the risks and trials that people have undergone learning to live in Space, it would be foolish to abandon ship on the Vision. Captain Kirk would say, "We've come too far to be stopped by this."