Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean dies at 86

May 26, 2018 TopSpacer 1 Comment

Astronaut, Moon walker and artist, Alan Bean has passed away at the age of 86 following an illness that came on two weeks ago while traveling : Alan Bean Family Obituary Statement | NASA

Bean was the lunar pilot on the Apollo 12 mission and he and mission commander Pete Conrad explored the Moon’s Ocean of Storms in November 1969.

Bean became an accomplish artist after retiring from the astronaut corps. See galleries of his works at Alan Bean Art. He had been allowed to keep the name patch from his Apollo EVA suit and it turned out to be saturated with space dust. He would crush a tiny bit of the patch into the paints used for his lunar renderings.

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Another NASA video about Bean:

Mars

Video: Mars reports

May 25, 2018 TopSpacer

Here’s a report from NASA JPL on what’s been happening on Mars:

Bob Zimmerman is keeping track of where the Mars rovers are roving:

As noted in these reports, Curiosity is drilling in rock again:

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Meanwhile, the Onion reports on a new discovery on the Red Planet: NASA Says Presence Of Diving Board On Mars Confirms Planet May Have Once Contained Water

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Living in Space, Space Systems, SpaceCasts

Videos: “Space to Ground” ISS report for May.25.2018

May 25, 2018 TopSpacer

Here is the latest Space To Ground report from NASA on activities related to the International Space Station:

And here’s a report on what’s been happening at Kennedy Space Center

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Living in Space, Space Systems

Videos: Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft arrives at the ISS

May 24, 2018 TopSpacer

The Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft launched on Monday made its scheduled rendezvous with the International Space Station this morning. NASA astronaut Scott Tingle controlled a robotic arm on the station to capture the craft and bring it up to the Unity module where it was attached.

A brief overview of some of the research payloads delivered to the station:

This diagram shows where the Cygnus is berthed on the station as well as where other vehicles are located:

May 24, 2018: International Space Station Configuration. Four spaceships are attached to the space station including the Orbital ATK Cygnus resupply ship, the Progress 69 resupply ship and the Soyuz MS-07 and MS-08 crew ships.

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Rockets, Space Systems

Videos: Rockets launched by SpaceX and Orbital ATK

May 23, 2018 TopSpacer

Two launches by US commercial rocket companies took place this week:

** A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched on Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the coast of California with seven satellites. First released after reaching a low earth orbit were the two GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on) research spacecraft sponsored by NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). After a coast period and a brief firing of the upper stage engine, five Iridium NEXT communications satellites were deployed successfully.

The GRACE-FO spacecraft

will continue a study begun by the original GRACE mission, which proved that water movement can be tracked with high precision by its effect on Earth’s gravitational field. GRACE-FO will continue the record of regional variations in gravity, telling us about changes in glaciers, ground water, sea levels and the health of our planet as a whole.

The five NEXT satellites join 50 others launched previously by SpaceX, ten at a time. There will be two more F9 launches of NEXT satellites this year to complete the constellation.

Another video of the mission:

also find lots of great pictures of the launch at Official SpaceX Photos | Flickr

** An Orbital ATK Antares rocket launched early Monday morning from Wallops Island, Virginia with a Cygnus cargo spacecraft that is carrying over 3.3 tons of supplies, equipment, and science and technology R&D payloads to the International Space Station. The Cygnus will reach the ISS on Thursday morning. See the OA-9 Mission Page for updates.