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Space News Update — March 25, 2013 —

Contents

In the News

Story 1:

Ever-Changing Venus Superstorm Sparks Interest

Story 2:

Ongoing Science as Crew Counts Down to Dragon Departure, New Trio

Story 3:

Powerful Private Rocket Crucial to ISS Set for Maiden April Blast Off from Virginia

Departments

The Night Sky

ISS Sighting Opportunities

Space Calendar

NASA-TV Highlights

Food for Thought

Space Image of the Week

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1. Ever-Changing Venus Superstorm Sparks Interest

Elements of a giant cyclone circling above the south pole of Venus constantly break apart and re-form,

according to new research. Scientists studying observations of the planet taken over the last six years have

concluded that the long-lived storm is constantly evolving, raising even more questions about the unusual

weather formation.

When the European Space Agency's Venus Express satellite arrived at the hot planet in April 2006, it observed

a cyclonelike structure above Venus' south pole, four times as large as similar storms on Earth. Over the past six

years, the spacecraft has collected daily observations about the storm, which resembles one spotted over Venus'

north pole by NASA's Pioneer Venus spacecraft in 1979.

"Both vortices are probably permanent features in the atmosphere of Venus," planetary scientist Itziar Garate-

Lopez, of the University of the Basque Country in Spain, told SPACE.com by email.

Using the observations taken by Venus Express, Garate-Lopez and her team concluded that the giant storm is in

constant flux. Elements of the vortex are constantly breaking apart and reforming as it circles every 2.2 days.

"The vortex is never destroyed, but it evolves continuously between morphologies" or shapes, Garate-Lopez

said.

The cause for the constant evolution remains a puzzle that the team still hopes to solve.

Using the spacecraft's Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS), the scientists probed the

upper and lower layers of the planet's atmosphere. They concluded that the two centers of rotation of the 12-

mile-high (20 kilometers) storm, which exist at different altitudes, rarely line up, a surprising find.

"Even if the small-scale structures are different at both altitude levels, the overall morphology of the vortex is

conserved, so we thought that the vortex should move as one large-scale feature in the same way in both vertical

layers," Garate-Lopez said. "However, this is not the case."

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The constantly shifting centers create what Garate-Lopez calls a "twisted tube" in the vortex.

Although VIRTIS can observe the upper and lower layers of the atmosphere, the middle section remains hidden,

keeping the team from more fully understanding the off-kilter movement.

The results were published online today (Mar 24) in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Venus spins slowly on its axis, taking 243 Earth-days for the sun to rise and set once. But Venus'

atmosphere moves significantly faster, circling the planet once every four Earth days.

"The main unsolved question about the atmosphere of Venus is precisely the reason why it super-rotates much

faster than the solid planet," Garate-Lopez said.

The relationship between the oddly moving atmosphere and the vortices also remains a mystery.

The cyclone sits 26 miles (42 km) above the surface of the planet. No rain falls from the towering storm,

because the planet's atmosphere evaporates all particles within 22 miles (35 km) of the ground. Winds are also

inconsequential far beneath the storm.

"If we were at Venus' south pole, we may observe a permanent whirl of clouds high above our heads, with no

consequences at the surface," Garate-Lopez said.

Source: Space.com Return to Contents

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2. Ongoing Science as Crew Counts Down to Dragon Departure, New Trio

Science was the main focus aboard the International Space Station while

preparations continued for the Dragon spacecraft release, now set for

Tuesday, and Thursday‘s launch and docking of three new Expedition 35

crew members. After their lunch hour, the current Expedition 35 trio

conducted an emergency drill simulating a pressure loss.

More than three weeks after arriving at the station, the SpaceX Dragon

spacecraft is ready for the trip back to Earth, now scheduled for Tuesday,

March 26. Dragon's return date, originally scheduled for March 25, was postponed due to inclement weather

developing near its targeted splashdown site in the Pacific Ocean. The additional day spent attached to the

orbiting laboratory will not affect science samples scheduled to return aboard the spacecraft. NASA Television

will provide coverage of Dragon's departure beginning at 4 a.m. EDT.

The actual removal of Dragon from the space station begins at 4:05 a.m., with release scheduled for 6:56 a.m.

Dragon will conduct a series of engine burns to take it away from the space station with the third and final

departure burn taking place around 7:06 a.m. NASA TV coverage will conclude once Dragon leaves the vicinity

of the space station.

Dragon‘s deorbit burn will take place approximately 11:42 a.m. with splashdown scheduled for 12:34 p.m.

about 246 miles off the coast of Baja California. Dragon will take about 30 hours to return to port, at which

point several critical science samples will be handed over to NASA for a return trip back to Houston that day.

Commander Chris Hadfield worked with the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) for the Coarsening of

Solids in Liquid Mixtures experiment. He vented a water line in the MSG and checked the temperature and

humidity inside the experiment device.

In advance of Dragon‘s departure targeted for Tuesday morning he swapped out research gear inside the

EXPRESS Rack 2. A Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) was removed and replaced inside

the rack with the older CGBA to be returned inside the Dragon commercial resupply spacecraft.

Hadfield also took part in proficiency training answering questions for a self-assessment test as part of his role

as the station‘s Crew Medical Officer. He later activated and checked out the functionality of a communications

unit to be used from inside the station during Dragon‘s release and separation.

Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn worked on the Gradient Heating Furnace (GHF) in the Kibo laboratory‘s

Kobairo rack. He installed alloy semiconductor sample cartridges then measured the insulation resistance of the

heating units inside the GHF which is used for high quality crystal growth experiments.

He also participated in the Energy experiment that observes the negative energy balance crew members

experience in space and explores exercise as a countermeasure. He then set up the Kubik gear, using the

European Drawer Rack‗s laptop located in the Columbus laboratory module, for telemetry downloads. The

Kubik incubator/cooler uses seeds, cells, and small animals for life science experiments.

Veteran cosmonaut and flight engineer Roman Romanenko continued his work on an ongoing suite of Russian

experiments. He copied data recorded for the Identification experiment which records the physical stress on the

space station during dynamic events such as reboosts, spacecraft dockings and spacewalk. He also continued his

photography for the Uragan and Ekon Earth observation studies.

Source: NASA Return to Contents

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3. Powerful Private Rocket Crucial to ISS Set for Maiden April Blast Off from Virginia

from Ken Kremer at Universe Today

The most powerful rocket ever to ascend near major American East Coast population centers is slated to blast

off soon from the eastern Virginia shore on its inaugural test flight in mid April.

And Universe Today took an exclusive inspection tour around the privately developed Antares rocket and

NASA Wallops Island launch complex just days ago.

NASA announced that the maiden flight of the commercial Antares rocket from Orbital Sciences is slated to

soar to space between April 16 to 18 from the newly constructed seaside launch pad dubbed 0-A at the Mid-

Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA‘s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The two stage Antares rocket is absolutely pivotal to NASA‘s plans to ship essential cargo to the International

Space Station (ISS) in the wake of the shutdown of the Space Shuttle program in July 2011.

Antares stands 131 feet tall and serves as the launcher for the unmanned commercial Cygnus cargo spacecraft.

Both Antares and Cygnus were developed by Orbital Sciences Corp under NASA‘s Commercial Orbital

Transportation Services (COTS) program to replace the ISS cargo resupply capability previously tasked to

NASA‘s now retired Space Shuttle‘s. The goal is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to

and from the ISS and low-Earth orbit (LEO).

I visited NASA Wallops for an up close personal tour of the impressive Antares 1st stage rocket erected at the

launch pad following the successful 29 second hot fire engine test that cleared the last hurdle to approve the

maiden flight of Antares. Umbilical lines were still connected to the rocket.

The pads protective seawall was rebuilt following significant damage from Hurricane Sandy, NASA Wallops

spokesman Keith Koehler told me.

Launch Complex 0-A sits just a few hundred yards (meters) from Virginia‘s eastern shore line on the Atlantic

Ocean. It‘s hard to believe just how close the low lying pad complex is to the beach and potentially destructive

tidal surges.

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Barely 400 meters (1300 feet) away lies the adjacent Launch Pad 0-B – from which Orbital‘s new and unflown

solid fueled Minotaur 5 rocket will boost NASA‘s LADEE lunar science probe to the Moon in August 2013 –

see my upcoming article.

The maiden Antares test flight is called the A-One Test Launch Mission. It will validate the medium class

rocket for the actual follow-on flights to the ISS topped with the Cygnus cargo carrier starting later this year

with a demonstration docking mission to the orbiting lab complex.

The Antares first stage is powered by dual liquid fueled AJ26 first stage rocket engines that generate a

combined total thrust of some 680,000 lbs. The upper stage features a Castor 30 solid rocket motor with thrust

vectoring. Antares can loft payloads weighing over 5000 kg to LEO.

The launch window opens at 3 p.m. and extends for a period of time since this initial test flight is not docking at

the ISS, Orbital spokesman Barry Boneski told Universe Today.

Antares will boost a simulated version of the Cygnus carrier – known as a mass simulator – into a target orbit of

250 x 300 kilometers and inclined 51.6 degrees.

Antares A-One will fly on a southeast trajectory and the Cygnus dummy will be instrumented to collect flight

and payload data.

The simulated Cygnus will separate from the upper stage 10 minutes after liftoff for orbital insertion.

―All launches are to the south away from population centers. Wildlife areas are nearby,‖ said Koehler.

The goal of the ambitious A-One mission is to fully demonstrate every aspect of the operational Antares rocket

system starting from rollout of the rocket and all required functions of an operational pad from range operation

to fueling to liftoff to payload delivery to orbit.

Antares/Cygnus will provide a cargo up mass service similar to the Falcon 9/Dragon system developed

by SpaceX Corporation – which has already docked three times to the ISS during historic linkups in 2012 and

earlier this month following the tension filled March 1 liftoff of the SpaceX CRS-2 mission.

The Dragon is still docked to the ISS and is due to make a parachute assisted return to Earth on March 26.

Antares/Cygnus will provide a cargo up mass service similar to the Falcon 9/Dragon system developed by

SpaceX Corporation – which has already docked three times to the ISS during historic linkups in 2012 and

earlier this month following the tension filled March 1 liftoff of the SpaceX CRS-2 mission.

The Dragon is still docked to the ISS and is due to make a parachute assisted return to Earth on March 26.

Source: Universe Today Return to Contents

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The Night Sky

Source: Sky & Telescope Return to Contents

Monday, March 25

Look northwest right after dark for W-shaped

Cassiopeia standing on end. The brightest part of

the W is on the bottom.

Tuesday, March 26

Full Moon tonight (exact at 5:27 a.m.

Wednesday morning EDT). The Moon this

evening is far below Leo and above Spica and

Corvus.

Wednesday, March 27

With spring under way, Algol in Perseus is

heading down in the northwest after dusk. Your

last chance to catch Algol in one of its eclipses this

season may be the one this evening or the one

Saturday evening. Tonight Algol should be at

minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its

usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 9:43 p.m.

Pacific Daylight Time. Easterners will have a

better shot on Saturday. Algol takes several

additional hours to fade and to rebrighten.

Thursday, March 28

Once the Moon rises this evening, look upper

right of it for Spica and lower left of it for Saturn,

as shown at right. You'll find more details here.

Friday, March 29

The waning Moon rises in the east quite late this

evening. Look above it for the planet Saturn.

This is the time of year when the dim Little

Dipper juts to the right from Polaris (the Little

Dipper's handle-end) during evening hours. The

much brighter Big Dipper curls over high above it,

"dumping water" into it.

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ISS Sighting Opportunities For Denver:

SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE

DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

ISS Mon Mar 25/04:49 AM < 1 12 11 above N 10 above N

ISS Mon Mar 25/06:26 AM 2 11 10 above N 10 above NNE

ISS Tue Mar 26/05:35 AM 1 10 10 above N 10 above NNE

ISS Wed Mar 27/04:45 AM < 1 10 10 above N 10 above N

ISS Wed Mar 27/06:21 AM 3 15 10 above NNW 14 above NE

ISS Thu Mar 28/05:31 AM 3 12 10 above NNW 11 above NE

ISS Fri Mar 29/04:41 AM 2 11 10 above N 10 above NNE

ISS Fri Mar 29/06:16 AM 3 25 10 above NNW 24 above NE

Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA‘s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time)

March 26, Tuesday

4 a.m. - SpaceX/Dragon Unberthing from the ISS and Release Coverage (Release scheduled at 7:06 a.m. EDT;

coverage concludes at approximately 7:30 a.m. EDT) - JSC (All Channels)

11:10 a.m. - ISS Expedition 35 In-Flight Event for the Canadian Space Agency with Societe Radio-Canada (in

native language) - JSC (Public and Media Channels)

12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 35/36 Soyuz TMA-08M Rocket Mating and Rollout to the Launch

Pad in Baikonur, Kazakhstan Plus Launch Pad Interviews - JSC via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)

2 p.m. - CNN Espanol Interview with Johnson Space Center Director Dr. Ellen Ochoa - JSC (Media Channel)

3 p.m. - Interpreted Replay of the ISS Expedition 35 In-Flight Event with Societe Radio-Canada - JSC (Public

and Media Channels)

March 27, Wednesday

3 p.m. - Russian State Commission Meeting and Final Expedition 35/36 Pre-Launch Crew News Conference in

Baikonur, Kazakhstan - JSC via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)

March 28, Thursday

12:05 p.m. - ISS Mission Control Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels)

3:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 35/36 Soyuz TMA-08M Launch Coverage (Launch scheduled at 4:43 p.m. ET;

includes video B-roll of the crew‘s pre-launch activities at 3:45 p.m. ET) - JSC via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All

Channels)

7 p.m. - Video File of ISS Expedition 35/36 Soyuz TMA-08M Pre-Launch, Launch Video B-Roll and Post-

Launch Interviews - JSC (All Channels)

9:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 35/36 Soyuz TMA-08M Docking Coverage (Docking scheduled at 10:32 p.m. ET) -

JSC (All Channels)

11:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 35/36 Soyuz TMA-08M Hatch Opening and Other Activities (Hatch Opening

scheduled at 12:10 a.m. ET March 29) - JSC and Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)

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March 29, Friday

12:45 a.m. - Replay of ISS Expedition 35/36 Soyuz TMA-08M Post-Docking News Conference in Baikonur,

Kazakhstan (Subject to cancellation) – JSC via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)

2 a.m. - Video File of ISS Expedition 35/36 Soyuz TMA-08M Docking, Hatch Opening and Other Activities -

JSC (All Channels)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website. Return to Contents

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Space Calendar

Mar 25 - Comet P/2011 UA134 (Spacewatch-PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.345 AU)

Mar 25 - Asteroid 1 Ceres Occults 2UCAC 41851891 (11.7 Magnitude Star)

Mar 25 - Asteroid 1000 Piazzia Closest Approach To Earth (1.714 AU)

Mar 26 - [Mar 23] Dragon CRS-2 Returns To Earth

Mar 26 - SatMex 8 Proton M-Briz M Launch

Mar 26 - Comet C/2013 E1 (McNaught) At Opposition (6.861 AU)

Mar 26 - [Mar 22] Asteroid 2013 FX7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.049 AU)

Mar 26 - Asteroid 7032 Hitchcock Closest Approach To Earth (1.292 AU)

Mar 26 - Asteroid 7853 Confucius Closest Approach To Earth (1.337 AU)

Mar 26 - Asteroid 6268 Versailles Closest Approach To Earth (1.454 AU)

Mar 26 - Asteroid 6827 Wombat Closest Approach To Earth (1.687 AU)

Mar 26 - Asteroid 2118 Flagstaff Closest Approach To Earth (1.718 AU)

Mar 26 - Teleconference: Committee on Radio Frequencies

Mar 26-27 - nuSTORM Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland

Mar 26-29 - 1st Solar Probe Plus Workshop, Pasadena, California

Mar 27 - [Mar 23] Comet C/2013 E1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (6.861 AU)

Mar 27 - [Mar 22] Asteroid 2013 FD8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.021 AU)

Mar 27 - Asteroid 8249 Gershwin Closest Approach To Earth (0.971 AU)

Mar 27 - Asteroid 51828 Ilanramon Closest Approach To Earth (1.836 AU)

Mar 27 - Asteroid 114703 North Dakota Closest Approach To Earth (1.854 AU)

Mar 27 - Asteroid 8722 Schirra Closest Approach To Earth (2.100 AU)

Mar 28 - [Mar 21] Soyuz TMA-08M Soyuz FG Launch (International Space Station 34S)

Mar 28 - Venus Passes 0.7 Degrees From Uranus

Mar 28 - Asteroid 9674 Slovenija Closest Approach To Earth (1.279 AU)

Mar 28 - Asteroid 8146 Jimbell Closest Approach To Earth (1.676 AU)

Mar 28-29 - 34th International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics (ICNPA 2013),

Madrid, Spain

Mar 29 - Comet P/2011 Y2 (Boattini) At Opposition (2.908 AU)

Mar 29 - Asteroid 2013 EL89 Near-Earth Flyby (0.012 AU)

Mar 29 - Asteroid 2013 EM89 Near-Earth Flyby (0.044 AU)

Mar 29 - Asteroid 9258 Johnpauljones Closest Approach To Earth (1.351 AU)

Mar 29 - 15th Anniversary (1998), Galileo, Europa 14 Flyby

Source: JPL Space Calendar Return to Contents

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Food for Thought

Database Is Shut Down by NASA for a Review

NASA has shut down a large public database and is limiting access to agency

facilities by foreign citizens as part of a broader investigation into efforts by

China and other countries to get information about important technology.

NASA announced the security procedures this week, after the F.B.I. arrested a

Chinese citizen at Dulles International Airport in Virginia who had boarded a

plane to Beijing.

The man, Bo Jiang, had been working as a contractor at NASA‘s Langley

Research Center in southern Virginia. According to an affidavit filed on Monday, Mr. Jiang is being charged

with making false statements to federal agents — failing to disclose that he was carrying a laptop, hard drive

and SIM card that were discovered after a search of his belongings.

An F.B.I. spokesman declined to comment, citing that the case was continuing. A lawyer for Mr. Jiang in

Virginia, Fernando Groene, also declined to comment.

On Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden Jr, the NASA administrator, told a House committee that he has

ordered a review of the ―access which foreign nationals from designated countries are granted at NASA

facilities,‖ and had issued a moratorium on any new requests for access from citizens of several countries,

including China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

But it is another step that General Bolden announced — shutting down a giant NASA database used by

scientists, engineers, academics and students — that some have criticized as draconian and unnecessary.

The NASA Technical Reports Server is an online repository of millions of journal articles, videos, PowerPoint

presentations and other scientific material that for decades has been an indispensable resource on aeronautics

and aerospace.

Steven Aftergood, the director of the government secrecy program at the Federation of American

Scientists called the move a ―wild overreaction,‖ and said that NASA was caving to pressure by lawmakers who

control the agency‘s budget.

During the hearing on Wednesday, General Bolden said that the database would be shut down until an

investigation was completed into whether documents containing technical information subject to American

export control laws had accidentally been put on the server.

Representative Frank R. Wolf, Republican of Virginia, who is chairman of a House subcommittee overseeing

NASA, said Monday that it was his office that originally notified the F.B.I. that Mr. Jiang might be trying to

smuggle material from the Langley center to China.

Mr. Wolf, long a critic of NASA security, said he was tipped to the case by ―whistle-blowers‖ working for the

space agency.

Source: New York Times Return to Contents

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Space Image of the Week

An Astronaut's View of the Colorado Plateau

Image Credit: NASA

The Colorado Plateau spans northern Arizona, southern Utah, northwestern New Mexico, and southwestern

Colorado. This physiographic province is well known for its striking landscapes and broad vistas—an

impression that is enhanced by the view from the orbital perspective of the International Space Station. This

astronaut photograph highlights part of the Utah-Arizona border region of the Plateau, and includes several

prominent landforms.

The Colorado River, dammed to form Lake Powell in 1963, crosses from east to west (which is left to right here

because the astronaut was looking south; north is towards the bottom of the image). The confluence of the

Colorado and San Juan Rivers is also visible. Sunglint—sunlight reflected off a water surface back towards the

observer—provides a silvery, mirror-like sheen to some areas of the water surfaces.

The geologic uplift of the Colorado Plateau led to rapid downcutting of rivers into the flat sedimentary bedrock,

leaving spectacular erosional landforms. One such feature, The Rincon, preserves evidence of a former meander

bend of the Colorado River.

Source: NASA Return to Contents