A newly installed webcam is giving the public an opportunity to watch technicians assemble and test the next NASA Mars rover, one of the most technologically challenging interplanetary missions ever designed.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the Curiosity rover, is in a clean room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The webcam, affectionately called “Curiosity Cam,” provides the video feed, without audio, from a viewing gallery above the clean room floor. The video will be supplemented periodically by live Web chats featuring Curiosity team members answering questions about the rover. Currently, work in the clean room begins at 8 a.m. PDT Monday through Friday.

Assembly engineers and technicians have been busy adding new avionics and instruments to the rover. Beginning Friday, viewers will see the assembly team carefully install the rover’s suspension system and its six wheels. On Tuesday, the rover’s 7-foot-long robotic arm will be carefully lifted and attached to the front of the rover.

The camera shows a portion of the clean room that is typically active; but the rover, spacecraft components and technicians may move out of view as work shifts to other areas of the room. When activity takes place in other testing facilities around JPL, the clean room may be empty. The camera may also be turned off periodically for maintenance or technical issues.

Months of assembly and testing remain before the car-sized rover is ready for launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The rover and spacecraft components will ship to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in spring of 2011. The launch will occur between Nov. 25 and Dec. 18, 2011. Curiosity will arrive on Mars in August 2012.

Curiosity is engineered to drive longer distances over rougher terrain than previous rovers with a science payload 10 times the mass of instruments on NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity. The new, large rover will investigate whether the landing region has had environments favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving evidence about whether life existed on the Red Planet.

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It has flown to space more than any other craft, and it has carried more crew members to orbit. It was the first spacecraft to retrieve a satellite and bring it back to Earth. It has visited two space stations. It launched a telescope that has seen deeper in space and in time than ever before. And twice it has demonstrated the United States’ will to persevere following devastating tragedy, returning America to orbit following the two worst accidents in space history.

Although all five vehicles that have comprised NASA’s space shuttle fleet are unmatched in achievements, space shuttle Discovery is unique among the extraordinary.

In 38 trips to space, Discovery has spent 351 days in orbit, almost a full year. Discovery has circled Earth 5,628 times, all the while speeding along at 17,400 miles per hour. It has traveled almost 143 million miles. That equals 288 round trips to the moon or about one and a half trips to the sun.

Discovery has carried more crew members — 246 — than any space vehicle. Those have included the first female to ever pilot a spacecraft, the oldest person to fly in space, the first African-American to perform a spacewalk, the first cosmonaut to fly on an American spacecraft and the first sitting member of Congress to fly in space.

It took four years to build Discovery, the third shuttle orbiter built. Named for past sailing ships of exploration, it rolled out of its Palmdale, Calif. assembly plant in October 1993 and was delivered via piggyback airplane flight to NASA’ s Kennedy Space Center the next month. Discovery’s first launch was Aug. 30, 1984 on mission STS-41D. That flight launched three communications satellites and tested an experimental solar array wing. The mission was commanded by astronaut Henry W. Hartsfield.

On its second mission, Discovery became the first spacecraft to retrieve a satellite and bring it home. Through a spectacular series of spacewalks using the free-flying Manned Maneuvering Unit jetpacks, two malfunctioning satellites were retrieved and tucked into Discovery’s payload bay for the trip home.

In 1985, Discovery became the only shuttle orbiter to fly four times in a single year. One of those missions, STS-51D, counted the first sitting member of Congress among its crew, Utah Senator Jake Garn.

After more than a two and a half year hiatus to add safety improvements throughout the shuttle systems following the January 1986 Challenger accident, Discovery took America back to orbit on mission STS-26 in September 1988. Commanded by astronaut Rick Hauck, the mission tested safety improvements and launched a NASA communications satellite. It was Discovery’s seventh flight and the nation’s first return to flight.

One-time cold war adversaries found common ground above the Earth aboard Discovery in February 1994 on mission STS-60, as Sergei Krikalev of Russia became the first cosmonaut to fly on a U.S. spacecraft. The eight-day research flight was commanded by astronaut Charles F. Bolden, Jr.

Discovery moved the fledgling partnership closer on mission STS-63 one year later as it became the first shuttle to rendezvous with the Russian Mir Space Station. As Discovery flew to within 40 feet of the orbiting complex, the mission broke other barriers as well. Commanded by astronaut James D. Wetherbee, the crew included the first female to pilot a U.S. spacecraft — astronaut Eileen Collins.

Discovery’s only other visit to Mir came on mission STS-91 in June 1998, a docking with the space station that ended the Shuttle-Mir Program. The cooperative effort had seen nine shuttle missions dock to the Russian station since Discovery’s trailblazing rendezvous in 1995.

In October 1998, Discovery flew a science mission that again broke barriers on Earth and in space. The crew included the oldest astronaut to fly to space — astronaut John Glenn, who at age 77 made his second trip to orbit on Discovery’s STS-95 mission. In 1962, Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. In addition to other duties with the STS-95 crew, Glenn was a test subject for a host of experiments that studied aging.

In October 2000, Discovery launched on the 100th mission of the Space Shuttle Program, a flight to the new and growing International Space Station on mission STS-92. The 12-day mission installed a shuttle docking port on the station and the first piece of the station’s exterior truss structure, setting the stage for the arrival of its first resident crew only a few weeks later.

In February 2003, the world again mourned as the shuttle Columbia and her crew were lost during reentry. America resolved to continue the shuttle program and again improve the safety of flight, and NASA again turned to Discovery to return the nation to space on mission STS-114 to the International Space Station. The mission, commanded by Eileen Collins, included new procedures to ensure the shuttle heat shield was in good condition for the trip home, among them a first of its kind “back flip” as Discovery approached the station to enable the station crew to capture high resolution imagery of the shuttle’s heat shield.

NASA’s final mission of 2006 was expected to be one of its most challenging. Discovery’s STS-116 mission to the space station called for installation of the port five truss segment and a major overhaul of the station’s electrical power system. Problems arose while retracting one of the station’s solar arrays, which was to be relocated on a future flight. During the retraction, the array snagged. During two spacewalks, astronauts Bob Curbeam, Suni Williams and Christer Fuglesang assisted in the retraction by hand, successfully troubleshooting the problem and folding the array.

Discovery participated in another space milestone in October 2007 as mission STS-120 marked the first time that two female commanders were in space together. Discovery Commander Pam Melroy flew the shuttle to dock with the space station, which was under the command of astronaut Peggy Whitson. The mission installed the Harmony module on the complex and relocated and deployed the solar array that had been folded on STS-116. The crew and ground had to improvise as the array was unfolded, installing straps that mended and stabilized the panel.

On STS-124 in May 2008, Discovery headed back to the station to deliver the centerpiece of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo experiment laboratory. STS-124 was the second of three shuttle flights that delivered the elements to complete the Japanese lab.

On its final flight in November 2010, Discovery will deliver a final module to the U.S. segment of the station, the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module, as well as the first humanoid robot to fly in space, Robonaut2. The new module will be a storeroom and provide additional research space. Robonaut2 is a technology demonstration to learn how humanoid robots can assist crews in orbit. Discovery also will carry a host of spare equipment to be stored aboard the complex. Befitting the milestones that have punctuated Discovery’s career, its final visit to the station will coincide with the 10-year anniversary of a permanent human presence aboard the outpost.

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NASA and Gowalla are bringing people one small step closer to the universe. Anyone who uses Gowalla, a mobile and web service, now has the opportunity to find and collect four NASA-related virtual items — a moon rock, a NASA patch, a spacesuit and a space shuttle.

Gowalla’s mission is to inspire discovery by connecting people with the places around them. When Gowalla users virtually “check-in” at NASA-related venues via their iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Palm or iPad, they now have a chance to find one of the four items.

Virtual moon rocks can be found when Gowalla users check in to any location where a real one is on display. The United States successfully brought lunar samples back to Earth during the Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 missions. NASA provides a number of these moon rocks for display and public viewing at museums, planetariums and scientific expositions around the world.

To help people find the lunar samples, Gowalla and JESS3, a creative agency that specializes in data visualization, created a special edition NASA+Gowalla Map: Search for the Moon Rocks.

Gowalla users can find the virtual NASA patch, spacesuit and space shuttles by checking in to NASA visitor centers, agency-related locations, or one of the more than 400 museums, science centers, planetariums, observatories, parks, nature centers, zoos and aquariums that are part of NASA’s Museum Alliance.

The partnership also enables a NASA account on Gowalla and an account for astronaut Mike Massimino, both linked to their respective Twitter accounts, @NASA, and @Astro_Mike. NASA and Massimino also will drop virtual items for users to find and collect throughout the nation.

Anyone with a Gowalla account who collects three of the four items will receive a special pin in their Gowalla Passport. In addition, the first 100 people to collect three items will receive a poster of the map in the mail.

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Over the years, the National Air and Space Museum has been the repository for many historically significant NASA artifacts. And in a ceremony today, it received a unique new addition. NASA scientist and Nobel Laureate John Mather and NASA astronaut Piers Sellers presented a replica of the Nobel Prize for Physics medal to John R. Dailey, director of the museum. The replica flew aboard space shuttle Atlantis during its STS-132 mission in May.

Mather won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2006 for his groundbreaking astrophysics research using NASA’s Cosmic Background Explorer satellite. And Sellers is one of the six NASA astronauts who flew on STS-132, Atlantis’ last planned mission. During the white-glove hand-off – necessary to preserve the integrity of the artifact – it was noted that this was the first time a Nobel Prize medal (or a replica) had flown in space. The medal is now part of the museum’s permanent collection.

Following the medal presentation, the crowd of about 300 that had gathered in the museum’s Moving Beyond Earth gallery was treated to a special event. The entire STS-132 crew shared with the audience their experiences during their flight to the International Space Station. After showing the audience a 10-minute video of mission highlights, Commander Ken Ham and his five crewmates answered questions from the audience. The crowd included about 50 middle school students participating in NASA’s Summer of Innovation program at the University of the District of Columbia. The Summer of Innovation initiative strives to keep students engaged in science, technology, engineering and math activities during their summer break from classroom studies. You can learn more here: http://www.nasa.gov/soi. The astronauts’ advice to students: Pursue something that is a personal passion and then study hard, particularly science and math. With hard work and dedication, anything is possible.

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Space shuttle Atlantis thundered away from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 5, 2010 at 2:20 p.m. The on-time liftoff under a picturesque Florida sky was a perfect beginning to Atlantis’ last scheduled mission, STS-132. The Final Planned Flight of Atlantis Delivers New ‘Dawn’

shuttle carried a six-person crew on a journey to deliver a new Russian module and several critical spare parts to the International Space Station.

“There are thousands of folks out there that have taken care of this bird for a long time,” Commander Ken Ham said after Atlantis was cleared for launch. “We’re going to take her on her 32nd flight, and if you don’t mind, we’ll take her out of the barn and make a few more laps around the planet.”

Tucked into the shuttle’s payload bay was the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 known as “Rassvet,” meaning “dawn.” Nearly 20 feet long and weighing more than 17,700 pounds including its cargo, the module features eight workstations designed for a variety of science experiments and educational research.

The ambitious tasks ahead would be taken on by a crew of experienced space fliers. Ham was joined by Pilot Tony Antonelli, Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers.

During the astronauts’ first full day in orbit, the standard inspection of the orbiter’s protective thermal coverings was completed using a backup camera system when a snagged cable temporarily prevented use of the intended laser and digital cameras. Both the primary and backup systems are part of the orbiter boom sensor system that attaches to the shuttle’s robotic arm.

Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on May 16, two days after liftoff. Ham guided the orbiter through a graceful backflip known as a “rendezvous pitch maneuver,” giving station crew members the chance to take nearly 400 photos of the shuttle. Finally, the two spacecraft linked up at 10:28 a.m. EDT as the pair sailed 220 miles above the South Pacific Ocean.

The hatches between shuttle and station were opened at 12:18 p.m. and the six STS-132 astronauts were welcomed aboard by the station’s six residents: cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, Expedition 23 commander, Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, and U.S. astronauts T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

“We’ve been here before, but it’s bigger than we remember — and, speaking for myself, better than I remember,” Ham said as docked operations officially began. “I love this place!”

The combined crew got right to work, using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to remove a cargo carrier from Atlantis’ open payload bay to the station’s mobile transporter. Mounted on the carrier were important new equipment and spares to be installed during the mission’s three spacewalks, including a backup space-to-ground antenna and six 375-pound batteries.

The first of the mission’s three spacewalks started the next morning at 7:54 a.m. when Reisman and Bowen switched their spacesuits to battery power and floated out of the station’s Quest airlock. Riding the station’s robotic arm, Reisman carried the boom for the new antenna from the cargo pallet up to the Z1 truss and returned to the cargo pallet to grab the six-foot-wide

The pair then installed the antenna on the waiting boom, where it will help provide two-way data, voice and video communications for station residents. Reisman and Bowen added a spare-parts platform to the station’s Dextre robotic arm and loosened the bolts holding the new batteries to the cargo carrier before wrapping up the 7-hour, 25-minute outing.

Installation of the Rassvet research module was the crew’s next assignment. Ham and Antonelli used Atlantis’ robotic arm to lift the nearly-20-foot-long component from the shuttle’s payload bay, then handed it off to the station’s robotic arm. Reisman guided the new module into the Earth-facing port on the Zarya module, achieving a flawless docking with one millimeter of clearance on either side of Rassvet’s docking probe.

“Looks like a pretty good docking,” Sellers reported to Mission Control. “Straight down the middle, got capture and contact.”

Good joined Bowen for the second spacewalk, which got off to a head start at 6:38 a.m. May 19. First, Bowen fixed the snagged cable that had interfered with the early inspection of Atlantis’ heat shield. After adjusting the cable and using a plastic tie to keep it in place, Mission Control announced the fix was successful.

Next, the astronauts installed four of six new batteries on the station’s port 6 truss, the station’s backbone, transferring the old batteries to the cargo carrier for the return trip to Earth. Good and Bowen tightened the bolts on the new space-to-ground antenna before coming back inside as the 7-hour, 9-minute spacewalk ended.

Hatches between the station and Rassvet were opened the following day, as Atlantis and crew finished the mission’s first week and enjoyed a few hours of off-duty time.

The final two port 6 truss batteries were installed during the mission’s third and final spacewalk. Good and Reisman swapped out the remaining batteries and installed a backup ammonia coolant line between the port 4 and port 5 truss segments. They also left a new power and data grapple fixture inside the Quest airlock. The fixture will be installed by the station crew on the exterior of the Zarya module this summer.

With all the mission’s major tasks accomplished, Good and Reisman headed back to the airlock after working outside the station for 6 hours and 46 minutes.

The astronauts finished transferring equipment and supplies from Atlantis to the space station as the docked portion of the STS-132 mission drew to a close.

“Thank you, Ken, and thank you to the whole crew,” said station Commander Kotov as the Atlantis and station crews prepared to part ways. “Thank you for an excellent job, for your patience, for your work — for everything.”

Ham answered, “Through our entire docked timeframe here, we were a 12-person crew that operated together, and that was the only way we got everything done. …We’ve had a great time together.”

Atlantis undocked from the station May 23 at 11:22 a.m. after a weeklong stay at the orbiting complex. The shuttle circled the station at a distance of 400 to 600 feet and finally pulled away with a separation burn an hour and 15 minutes later.

The late inspection of Atlantis’ protective skin went off without a hitch, and the shuttle was cleared to land.

Atlantis touched down at 8:48 a.m. May 26, gliding smoothly along Kennedy’s Runway 33 after 186 orbits and nearly 12 full days in space. With Ham and Antonelli at the controls, the orbiter returned to its home port for what was planned to be the last time. During its 25 years of spaceflight, Atlantis completed 32 missions and traveled more than 120 million miles.

“We’ve all flown on Atlantis now, and some of us have flown on her a couple of times. She’s a great ship,” Antonelli said hours after landing, adding that it was a “real honor” to be on what may be its last flight. “We’re happy to bring her back home to you here in Florida.”

Anna C. Heiney
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center

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