Houston Snubbed For Retired Shuttles

On the 30th anniversary of the launch of the first space shuttle flight NASA decided which four cities will get one of the four retired space shuttle orbiters once the program finally comes to a close with the launch of the final shuttle missions..

There were 30 applications submitted for the shuttles, and when the smoke cleared, the shuttles were dispersed in the following manner.  

Atlantis will go to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Discovery to Washington DC, Endeavor to Los Angeles and the Enterprise which never flew in space to New York.


I can understand KSC because the majority of the missions were launched into space from there.  DC makes sense because it's the home of the National Air and Space Museum.   The California Science Center in Los Angeles even makes sense because it was designed in that state plus it's only fair that one be on the West Coast.  

But New York?    Hell, naw.   It doesn't have the history or the deep connection with the United States space program like Houston does.   Johnson Space Center and NASA Mission Control are not only in the Houston metro area in Clear Lake City, but the astronauts train at JSC.  Four of the shuttle astronauts who died in the Challenger and Columbia accidents were Houston residents.    We had a downtown rally April 6 and a petition drive that collected 90,000 signatures that demonstrated our desire to have one of those shuttle here

And don't even go there with the disrespectfully snarky 'Texas got the Columbia in 2003' comment.

If any place deserves one of those shuttles, it was Houston, and the decision is getting bipartisan condemnation from local and state politicians.    Of course the Lone Star conservafools are blaming President Obama, which if it came down to politics, their partisan Hate on Obama antics may be one of the reasons we didn't get one in the first place.

And by the way, Houston and Harris County voted for Obama in the 2008 election.

Mayor Annise Parker definitely thinks politics had a hand in the shuttle snubbing..  

"This is certainly disappointing, but not entirely unexpected as the Administration has been hinting that Houston would not be a winner in this political competition," Mayor Parker said in a statement. "I am disappointed for Houston, the JSC family and the survivors of the Columbia and Challenger missions who paid the ultimate price for the advancement of space exploration.   "There was no other city with our history of human space flight or more deserving of a retiring orbiter. It is unfortunate that political calculations have prevailed in the final decision."

Yeah, needless to say we're more than a little pissed here about how this played out. 

Astronaut Alvin Drew On Last Discovery Mission

As I continue to point out, every month is Black History month.   Sometimes Black history is being made in our current timeframe and isn't as obvious as the first Black president and FLOTUS occupying the White House
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One such instance is the current STS-133 mission of the space shuttle Discovery.  One of the astronauts taking part in this mission is African-American.

Air Force Colonel B. Alvin Drew is on his second shuttle mission to the International Space Station, and one of the 14 African-Americans who have been launched into space.  

On February 28 when he ventured outside the ISS with astronaut Steve Bowen, he not only became the fifth African American astronaut to perform an EVA, but the 200th person to walk in space.

This STS-133 mission is also notable for the fact it is the last one for the space shuttle Discovery, which will be decommissioned and sent to a museum after the completion of this flight.

It is cool to know that an African-American astronaut is taking part in not only writing another chapter of our nation's spacefaring history, but Black history as well.

First Native Houstonian In Orbit

Despite the fact that Houston kids have grown up since the 1960's with NASA's Johnson Space Center in our backyard and being immersed in space flight news, it was only yesterday that we had our first native Houstonian launched into space.

Astronaut Shannon Walker accomplished that historical footnote when she blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock and cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin from the Baikonur Cosmodrome yesterday afternoon.

Her launch from Baikonur was also the 100th combined launch to the space station, including Soyuz and Russian Progress vehicles as well as the space shuttle. During Walker’s mission the ISS will mark 10 years of continual habitation.

They will dock with the International Space Station on Thursday and stay on board the ISS until November.

When the Rice University grad arrives and joins Tracy Caldwell Dyson on board the ISS, it will mark the first time that two women have served together as long-duration station residents.

But it's also cool that a native Houstonian gets an opportunity to make some of that space history.

Hubble Space Telescope Launch 20th Anniversary

Today is the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, named for renowned astronomer Edwin Hubble.

On April 24, 1990 the Hubble Space telescope was launched on the STS-31 mission. It was the culmination of the dreams of many astronomers and astrophysicists to have a telescope in low Earth orbit free of the distortion of our atmosphere.

It was designed to be serviced in space, and that part of its design turned out to be fortuitous.

Not long after its deployment in space, it was discovered that one of the mirrors had a flaw that caused fuzzy images instead of the promised clear ones.

But after five repair missions starting in 1993, the Hubble was repaired, and we Earthlings began to be treated to some spectacular photos.

It also provided scientists with answers to some questions about our universe, debunked others and created new ones.

The Hubble 20 years later has exceeded expectations. Its lifespan has been extended until a new and improved space telescope can be deployed in 2014.

So happy launch anniversary Hubble. And keep those beautiful photos coming.

One Giant Leap For Women Astronauts

I've been a big fan of space missions and space exploration ever since I watched the 1968 Apollo 8 mission and the Apollo 11 moon landing. I followed the drama of Apollo 13, the last Apollo mission, the three Skylab missions and the beginning of the Space Shuttle program.

No matter what country launches it, whether it's mine, Russia or now China, I've always been one of these people that feels that humankind needs to begin exploring space ASAP in order for humankind to survive and continue evolving.

Unfortunately I missed this morning's 6:21 AM EDT launch of Discovery and its seven person crew. Madame Space Junkie needs to be paying closer attention to the remaining launch schedule since there are only four more shuttle launches that will happen before the fleet is retired in September.



But back to STS-131 news. This is a 14 day resupply mission to the International Space Station that will have three planned spacewalks.

This mission is also notable for the women's history it is making. This is the third time NASA has launched a shuttle with three women in the crew and the women taking part in STS-131 are Japan's Naoko Yamazaki, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, and Stephanie Wilson.

Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson has already etched her name in the history books as the second African-American woman to be launched into space. She achieved that feat during the 2006 STS-121 mission. This is her third shuttle flight, having also flown on STS-120 in 2007.

Dr. Mae Jemison was the first, Dr. Joan Higginbotham was the third. US Air Force Colonel Dr. Yvonne Cagle is part of the astronaut corps as well but has yet to be assigned to a shuttle flight crew.

There is a fourth woman currently in space on the ISS, Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson. When she and the other three women on board Discovery meet up after the shuttle docks on Wednesday, it will result in the largest gathering of women in space in history.

In all there have been 54 women out of the 517 people that have reached space, with hopefully more to come.

Will definitely be keeping with what's happening with STS-131 until the mission is completed.

STS-129 Mission Includes Two African-American Astronauts

The TransGriot will be tuned in later today to watch the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis at 2:28 PM EST assuming there are no delays or problems.

STS-129's all male crew for this 11 day mission includes two African-American astronauts, Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Robert Satcher, Jr. It is also Melvin and Satcher's first trips into space.

STS-129 also has experiments on board created by the minds at Texas Southern University, the HBCU in my hometown.

STS-129 is slated to be the 31st and final space shuttle crew rotation flight to or from the space station. In addition to transporting parts and a spare gyroscope to the International Space Station, it will include three spacewalks.

Atlantis will be returning station crew member Nicole Stott to Earth.

You space junkies like me will only have five more opportunities after today to watch a shuttle launch before they retire the shuttle fleet in 2010.

NASA Finds Water On The Moon!

There's water on the moon!

More precisely, there's frozen water in the permanently shadowed Cabeus Crater at the lunar South pole.

Project lead investigative scientist Anthony Colaprete announced at a midday NASA news conference at the Ames Research Center about the LCROSS Centaur project, I'm here today to tell you that indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn't find just a little bit; we found a significant amount" -- about a dozen, two-gallon bucketfuls, he said, holding up several white plastic containers.

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, back on October 9 intentionally crashed into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus crater near the moon's south pole.

So what's the significance of this discovery that has the scientific world buzzing?

Finding significant frozen water amounts means that a permanent manned lunar base just made a giant leap forward toward becoming a reality by 2020.

That's assuming NASA's effort to establish a US base gets properly funded by the federal government

The Chinese space program has set a goal of placing taikonauts on the moon by 2020 as well.

Water on the moon means we humans don't have to transport it up there from Earth. It is also one of the ingredients for making rocket fuel.

Previous spacecraft have detected the presence of hydrogen in lunar craters near the poles, which could be evidence of ice. In September, scientists reported finding tiny amounts of water mixed into the lunar soil all over the lunar surface.

"We've had hints that there is water. This was almost like tasting it," said Peter Schultz, professor of geological sciences at Brown University and a co-investigator on the LCROSS mission.

Mission scientists said it would take more time to tease out what else was kicked up in the mile high moon dust plume the impact temporarily stirred up.

"The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon," the space agency said in a written statement shortly after the briefing began.

Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, said the latest discovery also could unlock the mysteries of the solar system.

Yeah, if we can get the funding to do so past the GOP Know-Nothings and Neo-Luddites in Congress.