What is it with Hollywood releasing movies that coincide with NASA missions to outer space? Remember when Star Trek came out during the Hubble Telescope repair mission [read ScriptPhD coverage]? Moon, a thoughtful new science fiction indie feature from Liberty Films and Sony Pictures, featuring a near-solo bravura performance by Sam Rockwell, comes on the auspicious heels of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter mission to remap and fortify our knowledge of Earth’s Moon and surrounding solar system that got off to a spectacular start on June 18th. ScriptPhD.com reviews Moon and discusses the LRO mission, along with some of the first days-old high-resolution topographical beamed moon images and their implications for further lunar missions. To read the article, click “continue reading”.

REVIEW: Moon
ScriptPhD Grade: B

In the not-so-distant future, the Earth’s energy crisis is rendered obsolete. A megacorporation named Lunar Industries has found an innovative way to collect He³ from the Sun on lunar mining bases. Harvested much in the way we currently drill for oil, the energy is packed onto mini-rocket transporters, which are then fired back to Earth to provide for 70% of our planet’s energy needs. The mining station Sarang is manned by astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) as part of a three-year solo mission. Sam leads a banal, isolated life on the station. Between Helium harvest runs in his Moon Jeep, he occupies his time with botany, builds miniature houses, performs calisthenics, and talks to himself. His only reminders from home are video messages from his wife, Tess and baby daughter Eve, and his sole companion on the moon is GERTIE, a Hal-esque robotic assistance machine (the surprising voice of Kevin Spacey). But Sam’s mission is a noble one. He is performing a duty to his country, and the only thing standing between Sam and his sanity is that his mission is two weeks from completion.

It soon becomes apparent that something about this mission is very, very askew. Sam’s brain appears to be deteriorating under the stress of the isolation he is experiencing—he sees visions of his wife and mysterious voices taunt him throughout the ship’s living quarters. During a drive to the lunar He³ harvesting station, a strange vision leads to an accident. He wakes up in a sterile makeshift hospital to GERTIE’s palliative reassurance, but something is wrong. Secret hushed conversations between GERTIE and base control and prevention of leaving the base or his hospital bed lead Sam back to the accident site only to discover that it was no accident at all. Trapped inside the truck is his very own body double! Forming an unlikely friendship in their quest for the truth, the two Sams discover a corporate conspiracy back on Earth—they are clones of the original Sam Bell. A secret room full of “Sam” clones rests below the module’s cryogenic transporter. Tess, Sam’s wife, is long dead, and his daughter a grown woman. Recycled memories are implanted into awakened clones as a mental training regimen. As one clone’s body atrophies graphically, coinciding with the appearance of mission control to reawaken another, the two avatars must make important choices to allow one freedom back on Earth.

Moon is, above all else, a space drama that explores several universal thematic questions. What is the value of a human life? The “Sam” modules have inherent feelings, memories (albeit implanted), desires and want for freedom. Additionally, what are the boundaries of loneliness and isolation that a human being, even a clone, can tolerate under extreme conditions? In an emotionally impactful moment during the film, Original Sam Clone reaches out to his avatar to shake his hand. “I’m lonely, man,” he says. “I’ve been here all alone for three years and I just want to shake your hand.” The storyline also weaves in a covert repudiation of corporate greed and hegemony, even for the sake of “doing good for mankind”. Lunar Industries explicitly conspires in the hijacking of a man’s life and participates in a cover-up to maximize profit from a beneficial technology. Is there ever a circumstance that warrants such moral opprobrium? The film argues there is not.

As a film, Moon encounters a number of problems in its attempt to unfold an ambitious plot. The core storyline is way too slow to develop. The Sam clone isn’t introduced until solidly into the second half of the movie, negating an opportunity to enhance that part of the plot. To that extent, the movie glosses over some pretty superficial treatment of both the relationships between the Sams, as well as that of Sam and his computerized caretaker GERTIE. The film’s ultimate denouement is made possible because of a conscious self-sacrifice by GERTIE, implicating that he loves Sam and wants to do what’s best for him, but the movie stops short of delving deeper into the potential bond of man and machine. The movie borrows heavily from 2001: A Space Odyssey, in theme and style, but feels recycled, and still leaves plenty of moral ambiguity in its resolution. Nevertheless, these shortcomings are mollified by some gorgeous lunar computer graphics imagery, a stellar emotional performance by Sam Rockwell, and ultimately works best as a powerful psychological thriller. You cannot help but be eerily moved at the claustrophobic isolation of the mining base, and panic at the thought of reliving the manipulation indefinitely.

Moon is currently in wide release.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Mission and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Probe Imaging

To help astronauts prepare for future long-term lunar expeditions, NASA is launching an exploratory precursor mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to gather data on lunar environment. Using seven instruments that will be scattered along the Moon’s surface to collect data on radiation, test for resources and characterize the environment, the LRO will spend a year in low polar orbit beaming back never-before-seen pictures of lunar detail. The instruments include the critical LRO Camera, taking wide-angle black and white and ultraviolet images, the Miniature Radio Frequency, an advanced radar that will image polar regions and look for water and ice, the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, responsible for generating 3-D maps of the moon, the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector, looking for neutron maps that will reveal water near the moon’s surface, the Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project, will search for surface ice and frost in the polar regions that might be hidden in permanently shadowed regions illuminated only by starlight and the glow of interplanetary hydrogen emission, the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment, a device that will identify cold traps—areas cold enough to preserve ice for billions of years, and the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation, that will characterize the lunar radiation environment.

On July 8, the first series of LRO moon images were beamed back from the LRO camera, including the picture below of the Hahn crater (lower left), approximately 80 km in diameter.

A second, critical, component of this mission is confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon’s South Pole, an objective that is going to be accomplished using the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), a co-manifested payload aboard the LRO. Any future human activities on the Moon, including the far-off possibility of habitation, rest on the presence of water. In October of 2009, LCROSS will excavate one of the South Pole’s craters with two impacts that will eject material from the impact into outer space, creating a plume of (theoretically) water, in the form of ice and vapor, hydrocarbons, and hydrated materials that will then be analyzed by the aforementioned LRO instruments. That’s right, NASA is literally going to crash into the moon! How cool is that?

Just a few days ago, work released by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA, in concert with the Goldstone Solar System Radar in California’s Mojave Desert, will considerably facilitate LCROSS impact estimations when it crashes into the Lunar South Pole on October 9th. From observations gathered by Goldstone’s massive antenna, and subsequently reflected signals back from the moon, a distance of 231,800 miles, scientists were able to construct a new topographical map over a region 311 by 249 miles on the Moon’s South Pole. JPL scientists created a false-color map over the topography contours, revealing craters and details within those craters that are otherwise permanently shadowed, and therefore invisible to humans. NASA scientists will utilize this new map to plan impact zones for the LCROSS probe and its Centaur rocket stage.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, lifted off together aboard an Atlas V rocket on Thursday, June 18. Watch the official NASA video of the LRO launch:

One Small Step for Man…

Today marks a momentous day in the history of space exploration: the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. On this day, July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched into outer space at 9:32 AM Kennedy Space Center time, allowing Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. to fulfill a challenge from President John F. Kennedy to reach the Moon by the end of the 1960s. On July 20, 1969, the lunar module Eagle separated from the command module Columbia (in which Collins orbited above during the moonwalk), and landed on the site named Tranquility Base, located in the Southwestern corner of the lunar plain Mare Tranquillitatis. In addition to their historic first walk on the Moon, Aldrin and Armstrong preserved soil samples (22 kg total of lunar surface materials), tested various properties of the surface, the Moon’s gravitational pull (approximately 1/6th of the Earth’s), and conducted various geological experiments.

Incidentally, as a part of the current LRO mission, the LRO camera will be using its moon-circling probe as an opportunity to hone in on several Apollo 11 sites, including the famous Eagle landing site and the astronauts’ footprints, assess the state of Tranquility Base, and the long-term effects of human artifacts in a lunar environment. This should no doubt put to rest the longstanding cries of conspiracy theorists and Apollo deniers who claim that the Moon landing was a manufactured hoax.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the mission, NASA has employed the help of Hollywood digital remastering experts to restore footage of Neil Armstrong’s historic first steps on the moon, rendering the televised images clearer and in more detail than ever. The digital re-release comes with the sad news that NASA has permanently lost the original footage of the Apollo 11 moonwalk beamed back to Earth from the lunar camera aboard the Eagle. The original footage was more than likely inadvertently lost when NASA started recycling magnetic tapes from old missions during the early 1980s.

Watch the remastered footage:

NASA will also be hosting a series of events during the week-long Apollo 11 celebration. Today kicked off the series with a NASA panel hosting astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders as they discussed their adventures in space, the Cold War, and the legacy of Apollo 11. Saturday night, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC will dedicate its annual John H. Glenn lecture to the Apollo 11 mission, featuring a distinguished panel of astronauts, flight crew directors and politicians. On Monday, which will mark the 40th Anniversary of the original touchdown, all three of the original astronauts (among others) will gather for a live NASA headquarters briefing. You can listen to the entirety of the original NASA Apollo 11 audio transmissions, being replayed this week here.

ScriptPhD.com raises a glass to the occasion of this moment in history, to the men and women that made it possible, and to the new generation of scientists and astronauts shooting for the moon and rewriting our knowledge of the universe.

~*ScriptPhD*~

Review:  Star Trek

ScriptPhD Grade:  A

Still sitting atop the box office a couple of weeks after its release, the new addition to the Star Trek franchise is, quite simply, sensational.  J.J. Abrams’s stunning visual pyrotechnics in the first ten minutes are worth the price of admission alone.  The 11th film in the Star Trek movie series, arguably one of its best, goes back to the beginning to recreate the narrative of James Kirk and Spock.  As the film opens, the USS Kelvin is under attack by Captain Nero, of the Romulan mining ship Narada.  Only able to save his pregnant wife, acting Captain George Kirk is able to witness the birth of his son, James T. Kirk, before the Kelvin is destroyed.  The action picks back up as Kirk, having grown up to be the cocky daredevil that we all know and love, is urged by Captain Christopher Pike to channel his recklessness and arrogance towards joining the Starfleet Academy.  On the way to the USS Enterprise, he meets some familiar friends, Commander Spock, whose own childhood is chronicled early in the film, and Leonard McCoy.  During Kirk’s first moments on the Enterprise, an attack similar to the one that killed his father occurs, and in trying to warn Pike and the rest of the crew that it might be a Romulan ambush, he is kicked off the ship to the desolate Siberia-like Delta Vega for mutiny.  There, in the movie’s best moments, he meets an aged Spock Prime (portrayed by Leonard Nimoy), who relays events of the future to him.  In the year 2387, a particularly strong supernova threatens the entire galaxy.  Ambassador Spock is sent aboard the Jellyfish to inject a “red matter” with unstable gravitational properties into the star, thereby creating an artificial black hole to devour the supernova.  But he didn’t do it in time, and the planet Romulus was devoured instead, along with both ships, which travel into the past.  Nero arrives 154 years earlier, when he destroys the Kelvin helmed by Kirk’s father, and Spock arrives 25 years later and is marooned by Nero on the Delta Vega, a witness to the destruction of his own planet with the very same red matter.  Spock Prime convinces Kirk that he must become the Captain of the Enterprise.  They meet Montgomery Scott (always a welcome source of humor relief) at a Starfleet outpost and beam back up to the Enterprise.  Aided by Pavel Checkov, Scotty, Spock, Bones, Mr. Sulu, and Uhura, Kirk sets of on a dangerous and exciting mission to stop Nero, save the captured Captain Pike, and save the entire galaxy.  All in a day’s work!

What worked best about the movie was its updated cast, it’s wink-wink-nudge-nudge nod to little bits of the original series, and the movie’s overall approachability.  Perfectly cast, its two leads, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, sizzle with chemistry and add a fresh facelift to beloved characters of sci-fi lore.  They channel this chemistry well Of particular note was Quinto’s lone scene with Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock.  When they stood side-by-side, giving each other the Vulcan salute, I’ll admit, my nerdy little sci-fi heart melted.  Also noteworthy were Karl Urban as Bones, a hilarious Simon Pegg as Scotty, and Eric Bana who does what he can with Nero (who is a little too one-dimensionally eeeeeeeeeeevil for my taste). It’s hard for anyone to find disappointment with this movie.  There are so many wonderful “insider” Trekkie moments to the new Star Trek, with references to Treks of the past, that older fans will not feel ignored.  By the same token, by rebooting the story of Kirk and Spock’s original friendship and retelling the story of how Kirk came to be the Captain of the Enterprise, those fans who haven’t necessarily watched the series or the movies (*whistles innocently to deflect attention*) will still be able to follow the action anew.

Thanks to some first-class big-screen magic, a sleek, snazzy tricked out Enterprise set, and all the bells and whistles modern CGI can buy, I’d say the Trek franchise will live long and prosper for quite some time to come!

The Science:
I’m not here to nitpick about every little detail from the movie, like, ohhhhh, DRILLING INTO A PLANET and the considerable power it would take beyond Captain Nero’s big, bad drill.  Or that quantum teleportation, at the very basis of “beam me up Scotty”, has been accomplished only on the modest scale of atoms or light beams.  But I digress.  Instead, here are a couple of Big Items to mull over as you’re watching or re-watching the movie.

Black Hole Sun, Won’t You Come…
Let’s talk about black holes for a moment, since they get a lot of play in the Star Trek movie.  A black hole is a region of space with such a powerful gravitational field that nothing, even light can escape the pull.  That is why it is called black—it absorbs all light but emits none.  At the center of a black hole is a concentrated point called a singularity surrounded by a spherical boundary called an event horizon.  If crossed, this boundary will lead all matter and light inevitably towards the singularity.  How are they created?  Well, there’s three types of black holes.  Black holes at the center of galaxies are called supermassive black holes, because they are just that—supermassive, usually on the order of 10^5 to 10^10 solar masses.  Then you have an intermediate black hole, which is on a smaller scale than supermassive black holes, but whose formation is still a mystery to physicists.  Lastly, and most common, are stellar black holes, created by the gravitational collapse of giant stars (at least 20 times more massive than the Sun) at the end of their lifetimes.  When a star runs out of nuclear fuel—its ability to balance the gravity with pressure—gravity wins out and the star, if its massive enough, explodes as a supernova. That is the core completely collapses under its own weight to a point with zero volume and infinite density (the singularity).  The velocity required to be able to break free from this point would require exceeding the speed of light.

Now having reviewed all of this, you don’t have to be Einstein to know that getting really close to black holes—bad.  Getting trapped inside one—VERY bad.  But they don’t suck things in.  Unless you are closer than twice the diameter of the black hole, the gravitational pull is no different than anywhere else in the Universe.  Each black hole has an event horizon, a mathematical demarcation of the space-time continuum, the region from which no escape is possible.  Cross the horizon, and you are trapped, stay out of the horizon, and you are safe.  In fact, if our own Sun were to theoretically go supernova and collapse into a black hole, the Earth would not suddenly be sucked in like a Hoover, since that black hole would only be about 3 km in diameter, proportional to its mass and the radius of its event horizon.  You would have to have a very massive star or planet—definitely something bigger than Vulcan or Romulus—to create a black hole with a large enough horizon to be able to pose a danger to ships and other planets far away.  And even then, it wouldn’t be able to reach across outer space to go get them.

Escape from a black hole.  It sounds like a bad 1960’s Sci-Fi movie.  And bad science.
In the movie, the black hole that envelops Romulus spits out Spock and Nero’s ships into the past.  This is just not possible.  Assuming that the ships made contact with the supernova’s event horizon, tidal gravitational forces would carry you to the black hole’s singularity in a matter of seconds.  And since the concentration of mass per radius of a black hole is condensed such that the escape velocity—the speed with which you’d need to move to escape the gravitational pull of that object—is greater than the speed of light, nothing gets out.  The ships wouldn’t even escape as minced meat; they just wouldn’t escape.

Later in the movie, as the Enterprise is about to escape to safety from the final black hole battle, the black hole’s event horizon threatens to suck the ship in, Scotty suggests ejecting the warp core and blowing it up near the black hole, thus creating enough momentum to thrust to push the ship away.  Drop a bomb here on Earth, and the force of the explosion creates a shock wave as the exothermic reaction of the explosion travels through a chemically unstable medium, such as air (lots of oxygen, nitrogen, methane, etc.).  We’ve all seen the videos of how far away a nuclear detonation can have this effect.  The problem is, there’s no AIR in space.  The force of the explosion would just create massive amounts of electromagnetic radiation.  And even if we were to swallow this oopsie, once again, the escape velocity of an event horizon is equal to the speed of light, which the Enterprise would have to outgun.  So we would have to make some assumptions, like relativity and quantum theory being wrong, to breathe a sigh of relief at this miraculous escape.  J.J., bubbeleh, you’re killing me!

Red Matter, It Matters!
All things being equal, the scientific low-light of the entire movie had to be the “red matter” resulting in the implosion of the planets Vulcan and Romulus.  The matter was created to possess certain gravitational properties, and was originally used for a good purpose, to stop the supernova threatening the Galaxy.  Without spoiling the movie for those that haven’t seen it, the matter, having reappeared in the hands of the evil Nero, is used to create a black hole that envelops the planet Vulcan.  Now I can predict what you’re thinking I’ll say next… “You can’t create a black hole!!!”  Well, actually, yes, you theoretically can.  And recently, researchers from the University of St. Andrews did… on a tabletop!  The researchers used the refractive index of a fiber optic as an analogue for a gravitational field.  They sent a pulse of light through that fiber optic that changed that refractive index, and then followed that up with a probe beam of light that could travel faster than the pulse, but because of the local altered field, couldn’t move past it.  Boom, theoretical black hole!  This experiment was prototypic at best, though, a model for a black hole using fiberoptic analogy.  But to create something powerful enough to collapse a planet, a galaxy, especially given what we’ve discussed about getting close to a black hole, he fact of the matter is…. you need matter.  And lots of it.  The size and diameter of a black hole is directly proportional to mass of the original collapsing star.  Something the size of a droplet of red matter would create a black hole smaller than the size of a pin, and since the event horizon is twice the diameter away…. OK, you guys are starting to get it.  So the idea that a mere soupcon of mysterious “red stuff” can create a black hole core with that kind of gravitational pull?  Well, that’s Hollywood.  Shiny, dazzling Hollywood, but Hollywood no less.

Interested in reading more about the science behind Star Trek?  Dr. Lawrence M. Krauss has written a fantastic book called “The Physics of Star Trek”.

All other things being equal, however, the movie itself had way too many shiny explosions, neat special effects, a decent script, and likeable, sexy cast portraying familiar characters to divert my attention away from J.J. Abrams’s brilliance or the tight production values.  Bottom line?  Worth seeing, and definitely reinvigorates the franchise.  And hey, it got us talking about physics, right?

But you don’t have to move at warp speed or dream big on a movie screen to see stunning examples of technology and engineering taking off to the cosmos or staying right here on Earth! Click “continue reading” for more details…

JPL Open House

A couple of weeks ago, the friendly NASA scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech University in Pasadena, CA opened their doors to the general public, as they do only once a year to show the behind-the-scenes secrets of their engineering wonders and sneak peeks of upcoming projects. JPL is one of NASA’s largest laboratories, with 21 spacecraft and nine instruments on active mission, all a part of NASA’s plan to explore the Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond. The ScriptPhD waded knee-deep into Nerdvana to check it all out:

Rovers and Robots and Rockets, oh my!
One of the treats of JPL’s Open House each year is a look at the robotic critters that travel the limits of outer space, exploring planetary terrain, and giving us critical information about the makeup of our solar system.  Much of the groundwork for these prototypes happens at JPL.  A few of my personal favorites:

A full-size, full-scale model of the Phoenix Mars Lander, built at JPL, which fulfilled a five-month mission in the Martian northern plains to answer important questions about Martian life sustainability, the presence of water on Mars and how polar dynamics affects Martian climate.  The Mars Lander had some robotic “firsts” for outer space exploration:  an atomic force microscope for unprecedented views of Martian soil and a chemistry lab-in-a-box for instantaneous analysis of soil and water chemistry.

The Axel rover, a lithe new prototype capable of climbing vertical rocky terrain!

The ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra Terrestrial Explorer), a robust, rugged winnebago-like rover that will be responsible for carrying payload and habitat on top of (food, water, possible lodging) for exploration on the Moon.

High-Tech Gadgets, Low-Tech Assembly
The highlight of the trip was a look inside the belly of JPL’s Spacecraft Fabrication Facility, normally off-limits to the public, where the ittiest, bittiest components of rocket and spacecraft hardware get manufactured. I mean, sure we can all ooh and ahh at the Starship Enterprise, but someone has to put all those nuts and bolts together, right? Take a look…

All of this high-tech wizardry happens in a room that looks like your uncle Sid’s mechanics shop:

But don’t be fooled –the simplicity of this shop belies the complexity of the science involved. Each workstation (such as the one below) is comprised of highly specialized different machinery and computers to service the vast array of parts and components that make up a typical spacecraft or exploratory device.

For example, this little cone-shaped part is actually a part of a rocket’s engine brake propulsion system, and helps lower the rocket as the spool unwinds during landing.

The harmonic drive, a simple input/output gearing mechanism, was manufactured and used in NASA’s OPPORTUNITY and SPIRIT Mars rovers, with 19 harmonic gear units dispersed throughout the robot’s arms, gearing, steering system and drive mechanisms.

After assembly, all parts end up in the back room of the Fabrication Facility, which serves as the quality control and testing site, to make sure that each part is rocket-ready to withstand the temperature, pressure, terrain and other rigors of outer space. From there, they are shipped to various NASA assembly locations and then go boldly where no (hu)man has gone before!

Location, Location, Location!

Most impressive was the application of NASA-derived technology for the betterment and advancement of life right here on Earth.  In conjunction with NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program, new technologies and capabilities specifically innovated for mission objectives end up with commercial uses in health and medicine, transportation, public safety and national security, environment, agriculture and computer uses.  In fact, quite a bit of technology that looked futuristic and high-tech savvy in early Star Trek episodes is now a quotidian reality (MRI scanners, cell phones, PHASRs used by the military, Bluetooth phone devices, etc.).  A few recent NASA breakthroughs include:

•Robotic joints specifically developed at the Goddard Space Flight Center were altered to support a horse’s weight with a special harness, and will revolutionize treatment for horses with leg injuries that would otherwise kill them.  The human versions of this technology are being applied to US military personnel rehabilitating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
•The development of space suit technologies for making deep-sea diving suits capable of protecting divers called to work in extreme and dangerous conditions, such as high pressure, toxic chemical spills, and chemical warfare agents.
•Adaptation of the Mars rover Panoramic Mast Assemblies for Gigapan robotic platform for consumer cameras, allowing earthly photographers to take digital panoramas like never before.  As a photography, buff, the ScriptPhD approves!
•Design of a nanomesh by Seldon Technologies, Inc. for filtering impurities from drinking water was able to filter out >99% of viruses, bacteria, chemical contaminants, E. Coli and Salmonella.  And it does all of this at 5 gallons per minute without electricity, heat, chemicals, or environmental impact.  Viva la astronautica!
•As we talked about in our review of Caprica, virtualization technology, a sci-fi staple, is fast becoming a reality.  Technology developed for improving the telepresence of the Johnson Space Center’s Robonaut was used for high-end head-mounted virtual reality applications, including virtual surroundings, and movement sensors.  Somewhere out there, LeVar Burton is smiling!

To see more of these stunning examples of engineering applications, go HERE.

The coolest part of all?  Live-tweeting, of course!  What would 21st Century space travel be like if you couldn’t follow every step on Facebook and Twitter?  To follow the latest and greatest adventures of NASA scientists at JPL, friend them either @NASA or @NASAJPL!

Hubble Telescope Crew—20th Century Launch, 21st Century Fix
All of this Deep Space excitement, of course, culminated in this week’s completion of the last Hubble Telescope Service Mission. What’s all the Hubble hullabaloo about, anyway? 19 years ago, the Hubble was carried into space by the space shuttle Discovery in April of 1990 and positioned on the Earths upper atmosphere, allowing it to take images with little background light. Used by everyone from NASA engineers, academic physicists, mathematicians and astronomers, commercial companies and even amateur users, its gorgeous, iconic images and groundbreaking data have helped to redefine our view of the cosmos and awakened the vast possibilities of our universe. All Hubble data is transmitted to Earth twice daily via satellites in White Sands, New Mexico (is it just me or does everything happen in New Mexico?), eventually ending up at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Looking for archives of past Hubble data? They’re actually available to the public at the Space Telescope Science Institute archives. Four previous service missions have replaced, added and improved optics and camera equipment of the telescope, have allowed it to beam data streams to the Earth as they’re collected, and have performed various mechanical and instrumentation servicing. What will happen to the Hubble? Well, it was never meant to be a permanent fixture. In fact, it’s already outlasted its initial 15-year mission. Eventually, its orbit around the Earth will decay over time due to its position in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, and it will likely re-enter the atmosphere. This will either happen via a guided re-entry via another shuttle mission, or as a controlled re-entry by the future addition of an external propulsion module.

The value of the scientific information that has been obtained via the Hubble has been, well, astronomical. In addition to one of its main contributions to the field of astronomy and physics, helping to estimate the rate at which the universe is expanding and the very age of our universe, the Hubble’s sharpness and depth in telescopic photography has provided seminal pictures of distant supernovae, black holes, existing planets and objects of the solar system, including the use of Ultra Deep Field photography to capture galaxies billions of light years away.

Service Mission 4:
Service Mission 4 (SM4) is the last planned shuttle mission for the Hubble space telescope, with improvements, additions, and repairs expected to take the telescope through at least 2014, when space observation is transitioned to its NASA successors, the James Webb Space Telescope and the proposed Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope. The original servicing mission was supposed to take place in 2004, however, was delayed indefinitely due to the Columbia shuttle tragedy and the human risk involved in launching a shuttle that could not reach the International Space Station if something went wrong. After public outcry, Congressional hearings, and a new NASA chief, the mission got underway May 11, 2009. Unlike previous service missions, this one enjoyed all the perks of 21st Century technology, including a live TV stream of the Hubble Mission, updates on the official Service Mission 4 website and the first ever live tweets from space from Michael Massimino, one of the three astronauts on the Atlantis crew, better known as @astro_mike! Follow all the Hubble updates from his Twitter blog here.

Additions:
The Atlantis crew had a VERY busy 10 workdays up in space, as they performed on-orbit repair of current instruments and addition of new ones. The mission payload included:
•Two new toys: the Cosmic Origins Spectograph and the Wide Field Camera 3. These will allow the Hubble to continue its history of spectacular photography of distant stars, galaxies and universes using UV, infrared and visible light.
•Better, cleaner orbit: a fine guidance sensor for controling the telescope’s directional system, new gyroscopes for orientation and fighting upper atmoshpere drag, new batteries, a new outer blanket for better insulation, and a new lease on life!
•Safer re-entry: a soft-capture mechanism was installed onto the telescope. NASA had previously been weighing either attaching propulsion systems to the Hubble or a guided re-entry via another manned space mission. This soft-capture mechanism will allow another shuttle to grab onto the Hubble as she’s led back down to Earth after her mission is over.
•Best of all? An IMAX 3D camera was carried on the payload of the shuttle Atlantis, subsidized by IMAX and Warner Bros, for production of a new movie that will tell the story of the Hubble Telescope and be released sometime in 2010. ScriptPhD.com will, of course cover it!

To hear a podcast of President Obama’s conversation with the crew of the Atlantis upon completion of their mission, click HERE. The Atlantis was supposed to land yesterday at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL, but was been waived off due to poor visibility. It landed today at Edwards Air Force base in California. God Speed and thanks from a proud country for a job well done, Atlantis!

By the way, while the guys were up in space, what movie do you think got screened for them? Why, Star Trek, of course! (https://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/05/nasa-beams-star.html)

~*ScriptPhD*~