Featured, News - Written by Kirk Kittell on Saturday, May 31, 2008 2:07 - 0 Comments

AAS Statement on STS-124 and ISS

American Astronautical Society Statement on the International Space Station Partners’ Accomplishment

(May 31, 2008) The American Astronautical Society (AAS) today hailed the launch of NASA’s Space Shuttle flight STS-124 which successfully placed two new Japanese elements, the “Kibo” (Hope) pressurized Japanese Experiment Module and Remote Manipulator System, into orbit for rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). This mission is a landmark event as all the major partners’ pressurized elements for the ISS have now been launched into Earth orbit. AAS members celebrated the accomplishment of the ISS partners whose commitment to a continuous human presence in space will enable further scientific research on the effects of the space environment and micro-gravity on physical and biological systems.

In 2007, AAS recognized the International Space Station Partnership with the prestigious Advancement of International Cooperation Award for its contribution to pioneering the space frontier through the design, development, assembly, management and operation of the ISS.

AAS President Frank Slazer recognized the historic STS-124 launch stating, “We salute this major accomplishment by the international partners to build an orbiting laboratory for the benefit of humankind.” Slazer added, “This important launch shows what can be achieved through real and lasting international cooperation in space.”

The achievement comes 10 years after the signing of the Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on January 28, 1998 by 15 governments including the United States, Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation, and eleven Member States of the European Space Agency. That agreement established a long term cooperative framework for the development and utilization of the ISS.

The launch of the two new Japanese elements on STS-124 and the subsequent launch of the Exposed Facility to the ISS next year completes the full complement of orbiting partner laboratories and adds to a scientific platform which is already the largest man-made object ever to circle the Earth. The Russian Zarya (Functional Cargo Block), Zveda (Service Module) and Pirs Docking Module, together with the American Unity (Node 1), Destiny (Laboratory), Harmony (Node 2) and Quest Joint Airlock, European Columbus (Laboratory), Canadian (Dextre Robotic Arm), and Japanese Kibo (Pressurized Laboratory, Exposed Facility, Logistics Module and Robotic Arm), comprise the core ISS elements. The main elements, launched over ten years beginning in November 1998 with Zarya, now constitute over 245 metric tons in orbit.

Once the full complement of international elements, power and life support equipment are installed, the ISS will be able to host a crew of six people. Active work has already begun in numerous scientific fields focusing on areas such as the effect of near-weightlessness on the development and growth of plants and animals, the growth of human-like tissues and protein crystals as well as the effects of long-term space exposure on the human body. The experience gained from work on the ISS will also be utilized in plans for future space colonization and lengthy space exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The ISS is now opening the door to a new era of human space exploration.



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Looking Ahead - Key Space Events

Jul 27 — Deadline for AAS Awards Nominations

Aug 9-13 — AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sep 14-17 — Space 2009 Conference & Exposition
Space: New Opportunities for a New Era
Pasadena Convention Center
Pasadena, California

Oct 12-16 — International Astronautical Congress
Space for Sustainable Peace and Progress
Online registration now open.
Daejeon, Korea

Oct 20-21 — 2nd Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium
Von Braun Center
Huntsville, Alabama

Dec 2-3 — AAS Imagine ‘09: Ideas at Work
JSC Gilruth Center
Houston, Texas

Feb 5-10 — AAS Guidance and Control Conference
Breckenridge, Colorado

Feb 14-18 – AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Winter Meeting
San Diego, California

Mar 10-11 — Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium
Greenbelt, Maryland

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AAS National Conference, Featured - Dec 2, 2008 10:35 - 0 Comments

2008 Conference Slide Presentations Posted

Thank you to everyone who attended the 2008 AAS National Conference in Pasadena, California. The slide presentations are now archived on the web site; see astronautical.org/conference/conference-2008.

Mark your calendar for the annual Goddard Memorial Symposium, and corporate sponsorship opportunities are now available.

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Corporate Members, JPL - Mar 25, 2009 11:28 - 0 Comments

Cassini Provides Virtual Flyover of Saturn’s Moon Titan

PASADENA, Calif. — “Fly me to the moon”-to Saturn’s moon Titan, that is. New Titan movies and images are providing a bird’s-eye view of the moon’s Earth-like landscapes.

The new flyover maps show, for the first time, the 3-D topography and height of the 1,200-meter (4,000-foot) mountain tops, the north polar lake country, the vast dunes more than 100 meters (300 feet) high that crisscross the moon, and the thick flows that may have oozed from possible ice volcanoes.

The topographic maps were made from stereo pairs of radar images. They are available at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini.

Cassini radar team member Randy Kirk with the Astrogeology Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz., created the maps. He used some of the 20 or so areas where two or more overlapping radar measurements were obtained during 19 Titan flybys. These stereo overlaps cover close to two percent of Titan’s surface. The process of making topographic maps from them is just beginning, but the results already reveal some of the diversity of Titan’s geologic features.

“These flyovers let you take in the bird’s-eye sweeping views of Titan, the next best thing to being there,” said Kirk. “We’ve mapped many kinds of features, and some of them remind me of Earth. Big seas, small lakes, rivers, dry river channels, mountains and sand dunes with hills poking out of them, lava flows.”

Kirk will present these results today at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas.

High and low features are shown in unprecedented detail at about 2.4-kilometer (1.5-mile) resolution. The maps show some features that may be volcanic flows. These flows meander across a shallow basin in the mountains. One area suspected to be an ice volcano, Ganesa Macula, does not appear to be a volcanic dome. It may still have originated as a volcano, but it’s too soon to know for sure. “It could be a volcanic feature, a crater, or something else that has just been heavily eroded,” added Kirk.

The stereo coverage includes a large portion of Titan’s north polar lakes of liquid ethane and methane. Based on these topographical models, scientists are better able to determine the depth of lakes. The highest areas surrounding the lakes are some 1,200 meters (about 4,000 feet) above the shoreline. By comparing terrain around Earth to the Titan lakes, scientists estimate their depth is likely about 100 meters (300 feet) or less.

More 3-D mapping of these lakes will help refine these depth estimates and determine the volume of liquid hydrocarbons that exist on Titan. This information is important because these liquids evaporate and create Titan’s atmosphere. Understanding this methane cycle can provide clues to Titan’s weather and climate.

Launched in 1997, Cassini completed its primary four-year mission in 2008 and is now in extended mission operations, which run through September 2010. Over the course of the mission, Cassini plans to map more than three percent of Titan’s surface in 3-D. About 38 percent of Titan’s surface has been mapped with radar so far. On March 27, Cassini will complete its 52nd targeted flyby of Titan.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a corporate member of the American Astronautical Society.

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News - Sep 12, 2008 0:02 - 0 Comments

NASA’s Future Forum in Boston, 18 September

The sixth NASA’s Future Forum will be held at the Museum of Science, Boston, on 18 September. The Future Forum is a series of events between NASA personnel — administrators, scientists, engineers — and business, technology, and academic leaders in selected cities as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of NASA. The Future Forum in Boston will focus on space exploration benefits the economic and academic sector in Massachusetts.

Previous forums were held in Seattle, Columbus, St. Louis, Miami, and San Jose. The next and final NASA’s Future Forum will be held in Chicago on 10 October 2008.

Source: NASA Press Release

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