NASA News September 17, 2014

NASA is getting ready to build what it calls the next generation rocket. The new system will be called the SLS which is short for Space Launch System and ironically we are being told some of the same things about it we were told about the shuttle, those being how cheap it will make space launches, how safe it will be and how sustainable. If you remember the space shuttle turned out to be the most expensive way to launch anything, was not really all that dependable and at times was deadly. Is this going to be a repeat of those problems? I certainly hope not, but as private companies enter the field of space hardware and exploration why must we spend far move to have the government develop rockets when we should be developing craft which can take off and land on runways like planes such as some of the projects being refined by private companies? Is it just a question of wanting a huge powerful vehicle to send up secret projects for the military, or are we really interested in space exploration. Remember this, once we are out of the earth’s atmosphere it doesn’t take much energy to power a space vehicle, so all this power is really only useful for launching from earth. 6.8 billion dollars is already being set aside for the project and you can be sure there will be the traditional cost overruns. Boeing is the prime contractor.

NASA is now claiming it is going to try and search for alien life. They say they are using researchers at the NASA Astrobiology Institute Virtual Planetary Laboratory to simulate the atmospheric chemistry of alien worlds. The alien worlds have had no life for over four years in their test. The aim is to find what type of environments are best suited to extraterrestrial life. I hope you don’t mind if I say this sounds like a bunch of bunk to me. First of all, since we supposedly have never seen alien life, we really don’t have any idea of what they would breathe or even if they would breathe. Testing atmospheres on a computer which would be capable to support alien life seems like a huge waste of time and money. We would be better off testing alien words to see if they support human life.

NASA is claiming it has a tight budget and now the rift on Capitol Hill has muddied their missions. The politicians are preventing NASA from making long range plans. Notice it didn’t stop Boeing from getting the huge SLS contract. Politicians want NASA to give contracts to their constituents and with them pulling in many different directions it makes it very difficult for NASA to plan projects. Boeing has very powerful lobbyists and apparently a lot of “friends” in congress.

NASA is launching a giant balloon with a telescope aboard. The mission for the telescope is to spot black holes in space. The balloon is scheduled to reach 120,000 feet above the earth. This is about 23 miles high. The idea is to test what they find against Einstein’s theory of relativity. The project is called X-Calibur.

A presentation will take place on September 20, 2014 by Nicholas Patrick, the former NASA Shuttle Astronaut. He will speak about the Orion Program and how it is different from the former shuttle program. The presentation will take place at the Museum of Flight, William M. Allen Theater on Saturday at 2 p.m. There will be a live feed on December 4, 2014 of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle mission.

NASA has issued a contract for private companies to take astronauts to and from the International Space Station by 2017. The 3 billion dollar contract will probably go to Boeing, but the other contenders are SpaceX, and Sierra Nevada. There could be others I don’t know about. NASA had indicated there could be more than one winner. This could be indicated by past contracts such as the one which was awarded to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. to haul cargo to the space station. The three companies which I mentioned have each been given money by NASA. SpaceX received 400 million dollars to perfect its Dragon V2 capsule, Boeing was given 480 million dollars toward it CST-100 capsule and Sierra Nevada was given 219.5 million dollars to perfect it winged orbiter design.

Every two years a review is conducted by NASA of its long-running scientific missions. NASA says it wants to justify their cost. Two of these mission are the Mars rovers and the Cassini spacecraft exploring Saturn. NASA says the reviews are conducted by outside experts. The consensus was all should continue if NASA has the funding.Β  The Cassini mission will now orbit Saturn for at least another three years. Curiosity, the latest Mars rover will continue to search Mars. The panel did criticize the rover’s mission, they said the mission, “lacked scientific focus and detail.”

NASA has been examining the atmosphere of Venus and has found giant holes. The atmosphere is said to have an electrically charged layer called the ionosphere. It is said there is a more complex magnetic environment in Venus than we had suspected. A scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center stated, “The ionosphere can conduct electricity, which makes it basically transparent to the magnetic field lines. The lines go right through down to the planet's surface and some ways into the planet."

NASA wants to launch a mission in 2016 called OSIRIS which will go to the surface of an asteroid named Bennu. The idea is to release a burst of gas driving rocks and dust into the probe's collector. A sample is to be returned to earth in 2023. NASA had calculated there were only five asteroids which fit their criteria for this type of mission and Bennu was the best fit. The OSIRIS probe will have at least three high resolution cameras aboard, so we should get quite a show, if we are allowed to see streaming video.

The first Orion space capsule is ready for its December flight.

It is being said NASA cut is live feed from the International Space Station on September 12, 2104 because a donut shaped UFO flew in front of one of the cameras. Here is an address to YouTube where you can see the UFO just copy and paste it into your browser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUhMP5nRHcz0RxoMm0qRR2uw&v=Cy689GC-jyM