Space Shuttle Prototype & Replica Move to Displays in NYC, Houston

Space shuttle hardware is on the move in Houston and NYC

One moves by land, one moves by sea: Find out where and when to watch

Eduardo Munoz  /  Reuters

The space shuttle prototype Enterprise is hoisted onto a barge at John F. Kennedy International Airport's harbor on Saturday for its journey to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York.

 

By Tariq Malik

updated 2 hours 52 minutes ago

 

A NASA space shuttle prototype and high-fidelity shuttle replica will make some big moves in New York and Houston on Sunday, and residents in both cities have a chance to spot the winged spacecraft — one by sea and the other by land.

In New York City, NASA's space shuttle Enterprise will be visible from some of the city's beaches and coast when it takes a barge from Jamaica Bay to the New York Harbor. The prototype shuttle, which never flew in space but was used in pivotal aerodynamic tests, is destined to go on public display at Manhattan's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. On Saturday, a crane hoisted the shuttle onto its barge for the upcoming sea ride.

While New Yorkers will get to see Enterprise sailing on a barge, the sight of a space shuttle on the water is one some Houston residents have already seen. The space shuttle replica Explorer arrived at a dock in Houston's Clear Lake on Friday, and on Sunday the shuttle will parade its way from the lake to Space Center Houston, a visitor's center for NASA's Johnson Space Center. NASA's Texas facility serves as the home of the agency's astronaut corps and its mission control center for the International Space Station.

MORE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47660950/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T8rSbvmitk0

June 5 - Safe Public Viewing of Rare Astronomical Event:
>>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/venustransit/notices/Poster-VenusTransit2012.html 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
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Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Space Code of Conduct Dispute Between Congress, President

The House version of a defense authorization bill would effectively block the ability of the administration from enacting a space code of conduct without Congressional consent. (credit: J. Foust)

Separation of powers battle over a space code of conduct heats up

by Michael Listner
Monday, May 21, 2012

Comments (5)

Last week, the House of Representatives debated H.R.4310, the Defense Department authorization act for fiscal year 2013. The bill contains a provision concerning the implementation of a code of conduct for outer space activities. Specifically, Section 913 prohibits the Department of Defense from uses funds to implement an international agreement on space activities that has not been ratified by the Senate or otherwise authorized by federal statute.

In H.R. 4310, Congress is taking a different approach to prevent implementation of the International Code of Conduct, or its cousin, the EU Code, through its power of the purse.

The bill, which undoubtedly takes aim at the International Code of Conduct, is the latest attempt by Congress to curtail the Obama Administration’s efforts to implement a code of conduct without the consent of Congress. Congress opened its first salvo against the Administration on January 18, when several members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama. The letter, signed by Congressmen Michael Turner and Joe Heck and Senators John Kyl and Jeff Sessions, all Republicans, extended support for the administration’s decision not to sign on to the measure but, at the same time, expressed concern about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s announcement that the United States intended to negotiate a similar measure using the European Code as a starting point. (See “Congressional opposition to a Code of Conduct for space”, The Space Review, February 6, 2012.)

MORE: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2084/1

June 5 - Safe Public Viewing of Rare Astronomical Event:
>>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/venustransit/notices/Poster-VenusTransit2012.html 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

X-Ray Space Telescope Readies for Launch in June

NASA Preparing to Launch Its Newest X-Ray Eyes

ScienceDaily (May 31, 2012) — NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is being prepared for the final journey to its launch pad on Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. The mission will study everything from massive black holes to our own sun. It is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 13.

---

"We will see the hottest, densest and most energetic objects with a fundamentally new, high-energy X-ray telescope that can obtain much deeper and crisper images than before," said Fiona Harrison, the NuSTAR principal investigator at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., who first conceived of the mission 20 years ago.

NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has a complex set of mirrors, or optics, that will help it see high-energy X-ray light in greater detail than ever before. These images show different views of one of two optic units onboard NuSTAR, each consisting of 133 nested cylindrical mirror shells as thin as a fingernail. The mirrors are arranged in this way in order to focus as much X-ray light as possible. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

 The observatory is perched atop an Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket. If the mission passes its Flight Readiness Review on June 1, the rocket will be strapped to the bottom of an aircraft, the L-1011 Stargazer, also operated by Orbital, on June 2. The Stargazer is scheduled to fly from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California to Kwajalein on June 5 to 6.
After taking off on launch day, the Stargazer will drop the rocket around 8:30 a.m. PDT (11:30 a.m. EDT). The rocket will then ignite and carry NuSTAR to a low orbit around Earth.

MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531135424.htm

June 5 - Safe Public Viewing of Rare Astronomical Event:
>>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/venustransit/notices/Poster-VenusTransit2012.html 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Moon Orbiters Finish Prime Mission Ahead of Time

NASA lunar spacecraft complete prime mission ahead of schedule

The GRAIL mission has gathered unprecedented detail about the internal structure and evolution of the Moon.

By Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. — Published: May 30, 2012

An artist's depiction of the twin spacecraft that comprise NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission. During the GRAIL mission's science phase, spacecraft (Ebb and Flow) transmit radio signals precisely defining the distance between them as they orbit the Moon in formation. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MIT

 A NASA mission to study the Moon from crust to core has completed its prime mission earlier than expected. The team of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, with twin probes named Ebb and Flow, is now preparing for extended science operations starting August 30 and continuing through December 3, 2012.

The GRAIL mission has gathered unprecedented detail about the internal structure and evolution of the Moon. This information will increase our knowledge of how Earth and its rocky neighbors in the inner solar system developed into the diverse worlds we see today.


MORE: http://www.astronomy.com/en/News-Observing/News/2012/05/NASA%20lunar%20spacecraft%20complete%20prime%20mission%20ahead%20of%20schedule.aspx

June 5 - Safe Public Viewing of Rare Astronomical Event:
>>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/venustransit/notices/Poster-VenusTransit2012.html 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Volcanic Lightning Mystery Studied

Eruptions give up secrets of volcanic lightning storms

Mount Redoubt measurements let scientists monitor entire sequence of blast for first time

Bretwood Higman

Composite photographs show lightning above Mount Redoubt eruption in Alaska.

By Charles Q. Choi

OurAmazingPlanet

updated 6/1/2012 11:48:57 AM ET

 

The searing hot plumes of ash rising above explosive volcanic blasts often burst with lightning storms, the largest of which rival the most powerful thunderstorms known on Earth. Now the most complete and detailed measurements of volcanic lightning are yielding insights into the roots of these electrical discharges, and could potentially help avert threats to global air traffic.

Lightning is often seen crackling in the plumes of explosive volcanic eruptions, such as that of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull. However, active volcanoes are often quite remote from civilization and their outbursts are sudden and unpredictable, which is why scientists have rarely investigated the origins of this lightning in detail. Even when scientists can get a close view of eruptions, the intensely murky nature of volcanic clouds hides most of their lightning from view.
Fortunately, due to seismic activity two months in advance of the explosive eruption of Alaska's Mount Redoubt in 2009, scientists were able to install four portable lightning mapping stations around the volcano to monitor lightning during the entire sequence of an eruption for the first time.

MORE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47647091/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.T8oM9vmitk0

June 5 - Safe Public Viewing of Rare Astronomical Event:
>>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/venustransit/notices/Poster-VenusTransit2012.html 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Astronomical Calendar: 2012 June

Astronomical Calendar for 2012 June:

>>> http://buhlplanetarium4.tripod.com/astrocalendar/2012.html#jun:

The current month's Astronomical Calendar can also be found on the cover page of the History of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, Pittsburgh web site at this link:

>>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/index.html#astrocal

June 5 - Safe Public Viewing of Rare Astronomical Event:
>>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/venustransit/notices/Poster-VenusTransit2012.html 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

2 Mauna Kea Observatories May Close

NEWS by Kelly Beatty

Closure Nears for Two Hawaiian Observatories

Faced with too many telescopes and too little funding, U.K. officials have decided to close the country's two observatories atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

Today officials at the United Kingdom's Science and Technology Facilities Council announced their decision to stop funding two of the oldest observatories atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Unless some other organization takes over their operation, the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) will cease operations in September 2013 and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope will close a year later.

MORE: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Closure-Nears-for-Two-Hawaiian-Observatories-156110105.html

June 5 - Safe Public Viewing of Rare Astronomical Event:
>>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/venustransit/notices/Poster-VenusTransit2012.html 

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
  < http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
  < http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
  < http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >