I made this Pluto flyby gif from the NASA video. I'm having a little problem reducing the HD so it will download on Ihub. It's only 30meg. LOL

I'd say they will, the barge-landings are tough, though. The booster's coming in too 'Hot'...coming in slower may require additional fuel. Maybe a drogue-chute deployed would help.
More views of the attempt,

Stayed up last night to watch Elon on the late night show. He was constantly laughing and he was great. He showed a video of of the last booster hitting the drone ship and just laughed. Who else can can hit a ship with their booster. LOL

At the end of his interview he made it clear He WILL BE flying people into space with in the next 2-3 years.

Russia IS unlikely to try (IMO) but China is a different story.
China has the know-how, or has stolen the know-how Via hack-attacks. Everything is for sale nowadays, no info is truly secret.

NASA is avoiding the water, not following it as they were stating.
It's about politics, control, and who's going to be first to step foot on Mars.

The subject about Mars being a free nation is slowly heating up. NASA doesn't seem to believe China or Russia can take that giant leap to Mars.

Fascinating!...I wonder if any probes/rovers will go there.

In the aftermath of losing 3 supply ships there seems to be a rush in publishing discoveries. Or is it that more people are getting involved in private space flight ?

My ability to post what I want to post here is quite limited. As I approach the point of being able to support myself by writing and posting science articles, look for more articles being posted on Ihub. This being posted here on Ihub before it's on any of the major Space flight sites shows my Lagrange City news room is starting to work.

Martian Salt lake found. The study, published Thursday in the journal Geology, examined an 18-square-mile chloride salt deposit (roughly the size of the city of Boulder) in the planet’s Meridiani region near the Mars Opportunity rover’s landing site. As seen on Earth in locations such as Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, large-scale salt deposits are considered to be evidence of evaporated bodies of water.



- See more at: http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2015/08/07/salt-flat-indicates-some-last-vestiges-surface-water-mars-cu-boulder-study-finds#sthash.MwGqWfuN.dpuf

Yep, interesting pics and science coming back.
For stocks I have a few to hold, news for me is mostly the political Circus going on now..and the lion thats loose in Milwaukee, about 45 minutes from us.

Pluto approach

I've been totally burried in news. Love the debates going with Pluto.
Lot better than arguing over penny stocks.
http://www.space.com/30046-amazing-pluto-photos-glaciers-atmosphere.html#ooid=h2aTRodjoIs5-W2fQJ0i0nVgdjbeuduv

No news?

Scrubbed. fillanddrain valves issue. Better to scrub than go-ahead and have to hit the destruct moments later.
There will be another day.

Orion holding at T-4:00 min. You still have time to tune in.
http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html

Ist hold due to boat in range
2nd hold from wind gust.

Since the NASA shuttles were eliminated, very little news of space-related endeavors are covered by mainstream-media.
...if it weren't for private-company's press releases...one would think spaceflight was a lost-Art.

Additive-printing, (3D-Printing) Cuts time, cost from development programs?

"This type of injector manufactured with traditional processes would take more than a year to make but with these new processes it can be produced in less than four months, with a 70 percent reduction in cost."

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/NASA_Industry_Test_Additively_Manufactured_Rocket_Engine_Injector_999.html

Crashed Proton-M launch vehicle had "angular-rate-sensors" installed "upside-down".

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Angular_rate_sensors_at_crashed_Proton_M_rocket_were_installed_upside_down_999.html

NASA's "LADEE" probe, set to launch september 6th, 2013 @ 11:27pm.
The probe-mission will study dusts and atmophere of the Lunar surface, several flyby orbits and then de-orbited to impact the Lunar-surface...simulating a meteor-strike.
Those close to the eastern-seaboard may be able to view the launch, the launch site is located on Wallop's Island, VA.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ladee/main/index.html

Sometime between dec 11th of this year and jan 10th of next year, PPL in eastern Va should be able to see the cargo-launch from Wallop's Island.

SpaceX CRS-2 Mission Launch March 1, 2013, Utube

Blue Origin LOX engine test.
I thought it was neat seeing this engine test without the nozzle.
Blue Origin is starting to come out of it's shell.

They're sticking to the LOX engines too.

http://moonandback.com/2013/02/01/dream-chaser-the-destination-is-low-earth-orbit/ Great news here

http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av036/status.html I thought You might like to watch this night time launch tonight at 848 eastern time should light up the sky nicely keep in touch ...

http://moonandback.com/2013/01/20/martian-crater-may-once-have-held-groundwater-fed-lake/

NASA's commecial spaceflight partner, Blue Origins, test oxygen/hydrogen engine, pix...


http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/blue-origin-be3.html

I've been holding back on somethings in hope that I would have Lagrange City on line by now.

This is the 2012 in flight SEV mounted to an operational air sled so they can drive it around and check out the attachments. The air sled detaches and is replace by a jet pack. It's the closest thing to an Enterprise shuttle so far, and it's operational.

That write up pretty much deals with money that is being transferred into projects already under way. The space suit was actually unveiled last march but is just now catching the eye of the public.

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/630142main_1-Sylvester_ETD_03_7_12_508.pdf NASA latest developmental projects

Everyone is getting a kick out of the new space suites. LOL

http://moonandback.com/2012/12/21/nasas-z-1-spacesuit-looks-remarkably-like-buzz-lightyears-videos/ Awesome New space suit designs check out the videos Awesome //Have a great day

SPACE MEDICINE
Health Concerns Could Ground Citizen Astronauts
by Staff Writes for Voice of America
Washington DC (VOA) Dec 19, 2012


Space health guidelines could also help doctors treat those who might suffer the ill effects of space travel while in flight.

A group of former NASA executives plans to offer excursions to the moon to anyone who can afford the $1.4-million-dollar-per-couple ticket price.

Golden Spike Co. is the latest private company to join the burgeoning space tourism industry.

Once operations launch, the public demand for seats on commercial spacecraft is expected to grow from 373 seats in the first year, to 533 seats in the 10th year, for a ten-year total of 4,518 seats, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.

Aside from money, health might be a factor in deciding whether or not to take a space vacation. Professional astronauts go through rigorous testing and conditioning before jetting into space.

A study in the British Medical Journal suggests the medical community should establish a set of health screening standards for potential space tourists to determine whether they can withstand the rigors of space travel.

At the moment, there is no standard outlining how medical professionals should advise patients about the health implications of space travel.

"We all have questions from patients related to air travel," said the study's lead author Dr. S. Marlene Grenon from the University of California, San Francisco. "In the short future, we may be getting questions from our patients about space travel."

Medical doctors and other scientists have researched the impact of space travel on the human body ever since the space race between the USA and the former USSR began in 1957. A half-century later, scientists have found space travel does profoundly affect humans, both physically and mentally.

"In a zero-gravity outer-space environment, humans go through very unique physiological changes," said Grenon. "They experience bone loss, muscle atrophy, increased risk of certain heart problems, a decrease in immune function, kidney stones and motion sickness. These significant changes in the body and how it functions need to be considered."

Space health guidelines could also help doctors treat those who might suffer the ill effects of space travel while in flight.

So far, commercial space tourism has served only a few passengers and they've all gone through the rigorous screening and training given to professional astronauts.

"The changes that occur in zero gravity happen for several reasons," Grenon said. "This includes volume redistribution towards the chest and head, decrease use of the lower extremities, and the lack of gravitational stimuli on the cells."

The study's senior author Millie Hughes-Fulford, also from UCSF, knows a bit about the impact of space flight on the human body. She was the first woman to travel into space as a working scientist on board the shuttle Columbia in 1991.

"It feels like you're on top of a roller coaster while you're in outer space. That feeling, in the pit of your stomach, is what you'll experience the entire time," said Hughes-Fulford. "You must check with your doctor to see if your heart and other vital organs are up for this type of adventure."

Grenon said a new field of medicine could open up as a result of the expected rapid growth of the space tourism industry.

"In the future, I think we can expect space medicine doctors will be needed specifically for the commercial space sector as demand increases," she said. "And these experts would likely link with specialists on Earth in different fields such as cardiology, vascular surgery or neurology when it comes to specific questions on a condition in space or recommendations on how to best manage a medical problem prior to a flight.

ROCKET SCIENCE
Fast20XX research project - ideas for travelling at hypersonic speed
by Staff Writers
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 13, 2012


SpaceLiner vision.

The vision is enticing - board in Europe, sit back, and disembark 90 minutes later on the other side of the world, in Australia. But before the SpaceLiner, which is being developed by the Institute of Space Systems at the German Aerospace Center, can fly a route like this for the first time, new technologies still have to be tested and basic requirements defined.

Scientists from Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Sweden have been carrying out research for the Fast20XX (Future high-Altitude high-Speed Transport) project, which is supported by the EU, for three years.

The results of the project, which has now been concluded, will influence the future design of the DLR SpaceLiner and the Aerospace Innovation GmbH ALPHA aircraft.

Flying like a space shuttle
The concept already exists; the DLR SpaceLiner is intended to stand upright like a space shuttle before launch and take off on its journey using rocket engines. After the initial burn, the reusable booster stage will separate from the orbiter, in which there will be a capsule with a capacity of 50 passengers. The glide phase will start eight minutes later, at 20 times the speed of sound.

The landing, around 80 minutes later, will take place on a normal runway like a conventional aircraft. It is a project for which there are no existing examples: "We are having to define the dimensions ourselves and use computer models of the SpaceLiner to feel our way," says DLR project coordinator Martin Sippel.

"The SpaceLiner is a challenge in terms of both technology and operations." So it is that the 17 partners in the Fast20XX research project have not been designing an aircraft, but rather investigating important interdisciplinary aspects for an aircraft capable of air and space travel.

Multiple DLR institutes have been involved in the project; besides the Institute of Space Systems, the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, the Institute of Structures and Design and the Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology have also contributed digital and experimental results.

Computer simulations
One important issue is cooling the space plane during flight. After the drive phase, the SpaceLiner glides, during which time it encounters friction from Earth's atmosphere. At this stage, temperatures can reach up to 1800 degrees Celsius. The solution is active cooling on the aircraft nose and the leading edges of the wings. The idea is that water will escape from porous ceramic components and provide cooling as it evaporates.

The DLR Institute of Structures and Design is developing and manufacturing suitable ceramics for this transpiration cooling and is simulating their flow on computers. Following work on Fast20XX with tests in the plasma wind tunnel at the DLR site in Cologne, the engineers are now certain that active cooling is possible using porous ceramic materials.

The scientists are also researching the airflow around the aircraft itself and are using computer programmes to model this.

"The SpaceLiner will reach a flight altitude where atmospheric pressure is very low, so the flow phenomena change," explains Sippel. Models were tested in a special wind tunnel at the DLR site in Gottingen and compared with digital simulations from Italian partner organisation CIRA.

The agreement between the measurements and the simulations was sufficiently high that the simulations are being used to support the future design of the space plane.

Basic requirements for the high-speed aircraft
Besides researching the aerodynamics, materials and cooling, projects such as the SpaceLiner require numerous other types of research as well. For example, is flight at hypersonic speed even tolerable for the passengers? The Institute of Aerospace Medicine has given a green light. What approval requirements do the constructors of high-speed aircraft face?

To what extent will the environment be affected - even though the SpaceLiner will only emit water as it flies? The 17 partners in the Fast20XX research project are also collating data and researching these topics.

"Moreover, we have also worked out the situations in which a flight will need to be aborted and how to respond to situations such as an engine failure," says Sippel. It is already clear that the SpaceLiner can only be launched far from inhabited areas - and that high-speed flight must take place at high altitudes in order to protect inhabited regions from sonic booms.

Many questions are still unanswered; how can the rocket engine be made to operate reliably and safely? What should the tank pressurisation system look like? How must the thermal protection system for the entire aircraft be designed? And what requirements must the passenger cabin meet, since it will also act as a rescue capsule in the event of an emergency? Then, the network of rescue centres on the ground would have to function flawlessly.

From space tourism to scheduled flights
For Martin Sippel, a first step on the road to transportation for long haul flights is Project ALPHA by Aerospace Innovation GmbH. This space plane, which was also researched in Fast20XX, is intended to be launched from an Airbus A330 at an altitude of 14 kilometres with two passengers and one pilot, and then reach an altitude of 100 kilometres.

"Space tourism like this might be the first step and be achieved this decade - it is a test to see whether the market for such space vehicles exists," explains the DLR researcher. The SpaceLiner is not intended for short flights in space, but for transporting passengers and goods in point-to-point travel over large intercontinental distances, and is to be principally privately financed, as normal flight is today.

This is a long-term vision, according to Sippel, that will not start to happen before 2050. "We want to acquire a new, big market for spaceflight technology and so significantly reduce the costs for transporting satellites into space."

Best of Vista
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=151669301

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn-akm.vmixcore.com/vmixcore/js?auto_play=0&cc_default_off=1&player_name=uvp&width=512&height=332&player_id=1aa0b90d7d31305a75d7fa03bc403f5a&t=V00JuQxznM8slqMV3Uaq_44Hs7moyGAXxd"></script>;

The ultimate challange right now is to reduce this into a more usefull form for the general public without using flash.
This one uses 50meg.


http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/latest/mpeg/latest_1024_0304.mpg

Unfortunatly it looks like that is about to get the axe with the budgit cuts. I found a list of things expected to be cut the other night. But untill they actually get some real plans for thr the fiscal budget, all cuts and additions are just talk.

They're working too. It's amazing something new works on Ihub. LOL
I figured if I can make something work on Ihub then even the people using older systems with XP will be able to view them.
I added the time to the larger pix and it has elasped by 5 hours. By morn the changes should stand out on the smaller pictures. These are made from 1 gig TIFF real time pictures coming from the Sat.

http://suborbitalcoalition.org/research/ Fly Me Safely to space

Excellent High Resolution Picture

JPEG showing date and time

Start time 2012-12-06 00:44:44 UT
SDO/AIA 304

Heliospheric realtime Jpeg test
realtime


still/start


Both pictures current at the time the post was made.

After reading that last article I just posted, I think there's more mud slinging coming from Space.com. I suppose I shouldn't let it bother me since I'm the one getting the attention from NASA.

More News on Lagrange L2

The following article was writen by someone at Space.com. It seems we still disagree on mans role in space and how to accomplish it. But if I have NASA and the Whitehouse talking about building a Lagrange City, I think I'm winning !!!

Admiral Lagrange

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite speculation to the contrary, NASA's ambitious plans for a manned space station beyond the moon have not yet been cleared by the White House, a senior administration official told SPACE.com.

Over the past year or so, NASA has been drawing up plans for a manned outpost beyond the moon's far side, at a gravitationally stable location known as the Earth-moon Lagrange point 2 (EM-L2). The station would establish a human presence in deep space, serve as a staging ground for lunar operations and help build momentum for exploring more far-flung destinations, such as asteroids and Mars.

Word about the potential outpost has begun leaking out in press reports and from space exploration officials over the last several months, leading some experts to suspect that the White House may already be on board — and that an official announcement could be coming soon, especially since President Barack Obama won re-election on Nov. 6.



But such speculation is inaccurate, said the official, who was not authorized to speak on the record.


Where should the first permanent space colony be built?
The Moon - It's our nearest neighbor after all. Mars - The Red Planet should be the next giant leap. Deep Space - Orbiting outposts are the only way to go.Asteroid Waystation - We should hitch a ride on a space rock.
View Results Share This Return To Poll Share This NASA has not cleared the EM-L2 outpost with the White House, and the space agency has not requested funding for it in the current fiscal year or the subsequent one, the official told SPACE.com.

"So it's kind of just one of those one-off projects that [NASA hopes if it goes] to the press, or to [Capitol] Hill, that it'll get funded," the official added. "But I don't think that's going to be the case."

NASA would rely on its Orion crew capsule and huge Space Launch System rocket — both of which are under development — to build and staff the outpost at EM-L2. The agency wants the capsule-rocket combo to be ready to carry astronauts by 2021.

An EM-L2 space station could serve as a stepping stone to near-Earth asteroids and Mars, two destinations that are officially on NASA's docket. In 2010, Obama directed the space agency to get astronauts to a space rock by 2025, then on to the vicinity of the Red Planet by the mid-2030s.

The new directive marked a change of course for NASA's human spaceflight efforts, which had been geared toward going back to the moon under the Constellation program.

Constellation began in 2004 under President George W. Bush. Obama cancelled Constellation in 2010 after a review panel known as the Augustine Committee deemed it significantly behind schedule and over budget.

SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall

Rocknest 1st sample

http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/eutelsat70b/status.html Next

Toned Down Yes

The implications here are tremendous. No wonder they toned down that Press release.

i must repost the launch manifest the locations all seem to be jumbled = a total misprint on my part

seeing the need for safe power in the future space program this system surely seems to fit the need