NASA Planed To Save Future 'Armageddon' !!

It sounds like a Hollywood film script, but NASA has revealed plans to land a spacecraft on an asteroid. British scientists have designed a spacecraft which they claim is capable of saving Earth from a catastrophic asteroid collision.

A team at British space company EADS Astrium has made the spacecraft, called “gravity tractor”, which will be deployed when an orbiting rock is detected on a collision course with Earth — in fact, it will intercept the asteroid and position itself to fly alongside it, just 160 feet from its surface.And, from this position, the ten-tonne craft will exert a small gravitational force on the rock, pulling the asteroid towards it. By gradually modifying its course, over several years, the gravity tractor will slowly shift the asteroid’s trajectory enough to ensure it misses the Earth.

According to the scientists, the spacecraft could divert asteroids that are up to 430 yards across
— big enough to release 100,000 times more energy than the nuclear bomb dropped by the US on Hiroshima in 1945.

The plans were revealed in a NASA study by scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Ames Research Center in California, which is due to be published next month.

The experts envisage sending a small team of astronauts on a three-month journey to the asteroid, spending a week or two on the rock’s surface. The capsule would have to attach itself because asteroids, unlike the moon, have almost zero gravity.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has designed a nuclear-warhead-carrying spacecraft, to be launched by the US agency's proposed 's Ares V cargo launch vehicle, to deflect an asteroid that could threaten all life on Earth.The 8.9m (29ft)-long "Cradle" spacecraft would carry six 1,500kg (3,300lb) missile-like interceptor vehicles that would carry one 1.2MT B83 nuclear warhead each, with a total mass of 11,035kg.

A kinetic "bullet" version would use this interceptor design, but have an inert warhead instead of a nuclear one. In both cases the lidar would acquire the target NEO at 5,000km (3,100 miles) distance, with TRP closing velocities of up to 10,000m/s (1,968,503ft/min).

The Marshall study also has a solar collector option that has a very different vehicle design to the warhead and kinetic vehicles. The collector, which is more like an orbiter probe, would maintain station near the NEO and use a 100m-diameter inflatable parabolic collector membrane to focus sunlight into a "thruster" that directs that energy on to the NEO's surface. The heating of surface material evaporates it generating thrust and deflection.

The spacecraft's target near-Earth object (NEO) is the Apophis asteroid, which will pass by the Earth within the orbit of the Moon in April 2029.

For the study, however, its orbit was changed to bring it into a "dead-centre" collision course with Earth and its mass was assumed to be 1,000,000kg. The spacecraft's possible launch dates were 2020 and 2021.

By the 2020's NASA concluded that "the nuclear interceptor option can deflect NEOs of (100-500m diameter) two years before impact, and larger NEOs with at least five years warning".

Team member Ralph Cordey was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying: “Anything bigger than 30 metres across is a real threat to the Earth. Unfortunately it is a matter of when rather than if one of them hits us. The gravity tractor exploits the principals of very basic physics —every object with a mass has its own gravity that affects objects around it. It can move fairly large objects 300 metres to 400 metres across”.

“These asteroids are hurtling around our solar system at 10km per second, so when you scale that up, you just need a tiny nudge to send it off course”, he added.

The team has designed the gravity tractor and planned details of the mission. The craft can be built in a relatively short time, using existing technologies, if an asteroid were detected on a collision course. But, it is likely that it would require an international agreement to send a mission in space.

“We’ve designed the mission using the technology we currently have available, so it could be put into practice at any time,” Christian Trenkel, who has worked on the mission plans, said.

The Lander would have a constant thrust motor to keep it in contact with the NEO's surface in the low-gravity environment and have three seismic sensors on the end of three long legs with surface penetrating spikes. The seismic sensors would detect the effect of the observer's impactors' arrival.

NASA's Spacesuits Revolution To Rule The Space...Over The Year !!

Just one day to go to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. On this grate occasion we can't forget the the important role of NASA's spacesuits.

Time has changed and so the NASA's spacesuits.Take a quick look how these spacesuits help astronauts to rule on space..

Gordon Cooper, one of NASA's original seven astronauts chosen in 1959, poses in his Mercury
flight suit. A modified version of a US Navy High Altitude Jet aircraft pressure suit, it had an
inner layer of Neoprene-coated nylon and an outer layer of aluminised nylon

John Glenn, who became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, poses in a Mercury suit.
Glenn is the only astronaut to fly in space wearing a both a Mercury suit and a shuttle suit

Future moonwalker Neil Armstrong in his Gemini G-2C Training Suit. Unlike the 'soft' Mercury
suit, the whole Gemini suit was made to be flexible when pressurized

Gus Grissom and John Young flew the first Gemini mission in March 1965. Here they pose in their flight suits with the portable suit air conditioners connected

The Gemini spacesuit was Ed White's personal spacecraft when he left the Gemini IV capsule for
the first American spacewalk on June 3 1965

Engineer Bill Peterson fits test pilot Bob Smyth in an Apollo space suit with a Lunar Excursion
Module restraint harness during testing in 1968. The Apollo suits brought a host of new challenges, with astronauts needing protection against lunar terrain and temperatures as well as
the ability to stoop and bend to pick up moon rocks

Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard during suit checks before his trip to the lunar surface in 1971. Shepard was also the first to wear the Mercury suit into space on the first American flight
in 1961

Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon, July 20 1969. Apollo 11 commander
Neil Armstrong is seen reflected in Aldrin's visor

Space shuttle: When the first shuttle flight, STS-1, lifted off on April 12 1981, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen wore the ejection escape suit modelled here. It's a modified version of a US Air Force high-altitude pressure suit

The familiar orange launch and entry suit worn by shuttle crews, nicknamed the "pumpkin suit"
for its colour. The suit includes the launch and entry helmet with communications gear, parachute pack and harness, life raft, life preserver unit, gloves, oxygen manifold and valves, boots and survival gear

Floating Free: In February 1984, shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless became the first astronaut to float in space untethered, thanks to a jetpack-like device called the Manned Manoeuvring Unit. MMUs are no longer used, but astronauts now wear a similar backpack device in case of emergency

The Future: Artist’s concepts depict a futuristic launch and entry suit (left) and a spacewalk suit. NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2020

Dr Dean Eppler wears the MKIII advanced demonstration spacesuit during a 2002 field test of
futuristic technology in Arizona

With his back to a lunar truck concept vehicle, an astronaut captures the scene at Moses Lake,
Washington, during a lunar robot demonstration in June 2008. NASA took their latest concepts to Moses Lake for a series of field tests based on mission-related activities for NASA’s planned
return to the moon by 2020

Astronauts, engineers and scientists wearing prototype spacesuits, driving prototype lunar
rovers and simulating scientific work at Moses Lake, as part of NASA’s demonstration of concepts for living and working on the lunar surface

Space Shuttle Endeavour Ready To Touch The Sky... Again !!

Countdown clocks resumed ticking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday in preparation for NASA's third attempt to launch space shuttle Endeavour on a construction mission to the International Space Station.

Liftoff is scheduled for 7:39 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Two previous launch attempts in June were canceled due to potentially dangerous hydrogen fuel leaks.

"We're all eager to get Endeavour and her crew on their way to the International Space Station," said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, a shuttle launch manager. "We're ready to fly this mission."

Technicians fixed the leak and last week filled the fuel tank with 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to test if the repair was successful.

The leak did not reappear, prompting managers to clear Endeavour for launch on a 16-day mission to deliver the final piece of Japan's Kibo complex to the space station.

The Endeavour crew plans to conduct five spacewalks during their stay at the station to install a porch onto Kibo for science experiments, as well as to replace batteries in a solar panel wing and perform other maintenance tasks.

The three-day launch countdown began on Wednesday. The only remaining obstacle appeared to be the weather. Meteorologists predicted only a 40 percent chance that conditions would be suitable for a launch attempt on Saturday.

"We're expecting we'll see some afternoon thunderstorms in the area around launch time," said shuttle weather officer Kathy Winter.

NASA has eight flights remaining to complete construction of the $100 billion station, a project of 16 nations. The agency plans to retire the shuttle fleet next year and develop new spaceships that can travel to the moon and other destinations as well as the space station.

The space shuttle Endeavour, seen here in June 2009, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The
shuttle this week will make a third try at launching for a rendezvous with the International Space Station, after potentially hazardous hydrogen gas leaks twice delayed the mission, space
officials said.

Space shuttle Endeavour commander Mark Polansky makes a few comments after the he and the Endeavour crew arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, July 7, 2009. Endeavour and its crew, scheduled for a July 11 launch, will deliver and install the final elements of Japan Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette, a mission specialist on space shuttle Endeavour, arrives with the rest of the crew at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, July 7, 2009. Endeavour and its crew, scheduled for a July 11 launch, will deliver and install the final elements of Japan Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.

The crew of space shuttle Endeavour, from left, flight engineer Timothy Kopra, mission specialist's Thomas Marshburn and Christopher Cassidy, commander Mark Polansky, mission specialist David Wolf, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette and pilot Douglas Hurley arrive at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Cananveral, Fla., Tuesday, July 7, 2009. Endeavour and it's crew, scheduled for a July 11, launch, will deliver and install the final elements of Japan Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.

In this image provided by NASA the afternoon sun creates shadows on space shuttle Endeavour's external fuel tank as workers remove the seal from the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate on the tank Wednesday June 24, 2009. A hydrogen leak at the location during tanking for the STS-127 mission caused the launch attempts to be scrubbed on June 13 and June 17. NASA plans a fueling test Wednesday July 1, 2009 of shuttle ahead of July 11 launch attempt.

The space shuttle Endeavour sits on launch Pad 39A following a scrubbed launch attempt at the
Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 17, 2009. NASA canceled the launch of space shuttle Endeavour on Wednesday for the second time after a potentially dangerous hydrogen gas leak surfaced while the ship was being fueled for flight. The next opportunity to launch Endeavour will be on July 11.

A NASA security officer patrols the waters near the space shuttle Endeavour as it sits on launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 16, 2009.

The International Space Station as seen from the Space Shuttle Discovery. The European Space
Agency said it was in talks to extend the life of the International Space Station and get seats
for its astronauts on future flights to the orbital outpost.

NASA Astronauts Are Never Gonna Fly Again !!

NASA on Monday unveiled the nine Americans making up its newest class of astronaut candidates, a group that will never fly on the space shuttle.The six-man, three-woman astronaut class of 2009 is NASA's first batch of new spaceflying recruits in five years. The candidates are expected to report to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in August to begin two years of training.

"This is a very talented and diverse group we've selected," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief, in a statement. "They will join our current astronauts and play very important roles for NASA in the future."

NASA's three aging space shuttles are due to retire in 2010 after completing construction of the International Space Station. The new astronaut candidates, therefore, will likely only train to fly aboard the space station, Russian Soyuz vehicles, and NASA's shuttle replacement - the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and its Ares rockets tapped to ferry spaceflyers to orbit and back to the moon by 2020. The 11 astronauts of NASA's 2004 class are all expected to have flown once on a shuttle by the fleet's retirement next year, NASA officials have said.

"In addition to flying in space, astronauts participate in every aspect of human spaceflight, sharing their expertise with engineers and managers across the country," Gerstenmaier said.
The 2009 astronaut class is a relatively young group, with ages ranging from 30 to 43. NASA selected the nine from a field of 3,500 applicants to make up the new class, its 20th group since the original seven Mercury astronauts were unveiled in 1959.

The group is a mix of military and civilians that includes: a technical intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), two NASA flight surgeons, a space station flight controller, a sprint-running molecular biologist, as well as two Navy test pilots, a U.S. Air Force test pilot and the special assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the
Pentagon.

Meet NASA's new 2009 astronaut class, starting on the top row from left; Serena Aunon, Jeanette Epps, Jack Fischer; in the middle row from left, Michael Hopkins, Kjell Lindgren, Kathleen (Kate) Rubins, and in the bottomrow from left, Scott Tingle, Mark Vande Hei, Gregory (Reid) Wiseman.

1. Serena M. Aunon, 33, of League City, Texas; University of Texas Medical Branch-Wyle flight surgeon for NASA's space shuttle, International Space Station and Constellation programs; born in Indianapolis, Ind. Aunon holds degrees from George Washington University, the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, and UTMB.

2. Jeanette J. Epps, 38, of Fairfax, Va.; technical intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency; born in Syracuse, N.Y. Epps holds degrees from LeMoyne College and the University of Maryland.

3. Jack D. Fischer, Major U.S. Air Force, 35, of Reston, Va.; test pilot; U.S. Air Force Strategic Policy intern (Joint Chiefs of Staff) at the Pentagon; born in Boulder, Colo. Fischer is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

4. Michael S. Hopkins, Lt. Colonel U.S. Air Force, 40, of Alexandria, Va.; special assistant to the Vice Chairman (Joint Chiefs of Staff) at the Pentagon; born in Lebanon, Mo. Hopkins holds degrees from the University of Illinois and Stanford University.

5. Kjell N. Lindgren, 36, of League City, Texas; University of Texas Medical Branch-Wyle flight surgeon for NASA's Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Constellation Programs; born in Taipei, Taiwan. Lindgren has degrees from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado State University, University of Colorado, the University of Minnesota, and UTMB.

6. Kathleen (Kate) Rubins, 30, of Cambridge, Mass.; born in Farmington, Conn.; principal investigator and fellow, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT and conducts research trips to the Congo. Rubins has degrees from the University of California-San Diego and Stanford University. Rubins is not the youngest person to be selected for NASA's astronaut corps. Astronauts Sally Ride and Tammy Jernigan were both 26 at the time of their selections in 1978 and 1985, respectively.

7. Scott D. Tingle, Commander U.S. Navy, 43, of Hollywood, Md.; born in Attleboro, Mass.; test pilot and Assistant Program Manager-Systems Engineering at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Tingle holds degrees from Southeastern Massachusetts University (now University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) and Purdue University.

8. Mark T. Vande Hei, Lt. Colonel U.S. Army, 42, of El Lago, Texas; born in Falls Church, Va.; flight controller for the International Space Station at NASA's Johnson Space Center, as part of U.S. Army NASA Detachment. Vande Hei is a graduate of Saint John's University and Stanford University.

9. Gregory R. (Reid) Wiseman, Lt. Commander U.S. Navy, 33, of Virginia Beach, Va.; born in Baltimore; test pilot; Department Head, Strike Fighter Squadron 103, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, based out of Oceana, Va. Wiseman is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Johns Hopkins University.