Recently in Space & Planetary Science Category

Obama's budget would cut Mars, solar system exploration, Washington Post

"The budget coming Monday from the Obama administration will send the NASA division that launches rovers to Mars and probes to Jupiter crashing back to Earth. Scientists briefed on the proposed budget said that the president's plan drops funding for planetary science at NASA from $1.5 billion this year to $1.2 billion next year, with further cuts continuing through 2017. It would eat at NASA's Mars exploration program, which, after two high-profile failures in 1999, has successfully sent three probes into Martian orbit and landed three more on the planet's surface."

Europe and Russia Plan Trips to Mars--But Maybe Without NASA, Science

"The European Space Agency (ESA) and its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, are making plans to carry out the international ExoMars exploration program without help from one of the project's original partners: NASA. The U.S. space agency may have to pull out of the project if the Obama Administration's 2013 budget request to Congress, to be released on Monday, includes expected cuts in the agency's funding for Mars programs."

ExoMars cooperation between Nasa and Esa near collapse, BBC

"Nasa has told Esa it is now highly unlikely it will be able to contribute to the endeavours, which envision an orbiting satellite and a big roving robot being sent to the Red Planet. The US has yet to make a formal statement on the matter but budget woes are thought to lie behind its decision. Europe is now banking on a Russian partnership to keep the missions alive. A public announcement by Nasa of its withdrawal from the ExoMars programme, as it is known in Europe, will probably come once President Obama's 2013 Federal Budget Request is submitted."

NASA is too poor to help Europe go to Mars, io9.com

"But now, it looks as though NASA could be just days away from officially pulling out of the joint project, depriving the ESA of a major source of financial, technological, and experiential backing."

Has NASA Scuppered Europe-led Exomars Mission? , Discovery News

"It is now hoped Russia might be able to step in where NASA left off. Unfortunately, this decision will raise a few eyebrows considering Russia's recent bad luck with getting stuff into space and keeping it there. Also, Roscosmos' track record with getting stuff to Mars is abysmal."

Keith's note: Details of the FY 2013 NASA budget are starting to trickle out. One of the most prominent changes will be the substantial cut to planetary science at SMD - specifically its future Mars exploration program. Sources report cuts of 50-60% in this area. At the same time, the agency has to eat $1 billion in Webb telescope overruns - half of which will come out of SMD. Stay tuned. It isn't going to be pretty. This certainly promises to be a rather depressing event: Second International MEPAG (Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group) Meeting 27-28 Feb 2012.

Meanwhile the James Webb Space Telescope crowd is eerily quiet. They know that the cost being covered for their latest overrun grossly eclipses the cuts that are being made elswhere. Alas, the grossly over-budget and oft-delayed MSL is on its way to Mars...

50 years of doing this - and NASA still can't figure out what things will actually cost?

NASA science chief advocates ties with human spaceflight, SpaceflightNow

"Grunsfeld told Spaceflight Now he met with Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA's human exploration division, in his first week in office. "One of the reasons I'm in this job now is because NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden believed that teaming with human spaceflight on those things that make sense, on our exploration program, for science to take advantage of the resources of human spaceflight, for human spaceflight to be informed by the science we can do at planetary destinations, for instance, can make the whole program stronger," Grunsfeld said."

Report Endorses NASA's Proposed Contribution to Euclid Mission

"A new National Research Council report responds to a request from NASA to evaluate this possible U.S. contribution to Euclid and concludes that the investment of approximately $20 million in hardware would be a valuable first step toward meeting the scientific goals of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), which is one of the top-ranked priorities recommended in New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics, the National Research Council's recent decadal survey of research priorities in astronomy and astrophysics. However, the new report concluded, the Euclid mission on its own is not sufficient for achieving the broader decadal survey goals for the WFIRST mission, nor will it seek to accomplish the more ambitious goals for WFIRST's dark energy measurements."

Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)

Keith's note: According to the official web page for the proposed InSight mission to Mars at NASA JPL: "The InSight mission will fly a near-duplicate of the Mars lander that the Phoenix mission used successfully in 2007 to study ground ice near the north pole of Mars. The reuse of this technology, developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, CO, will provide a low-risk path to Mars without the added cost of designing and testing a new system from scratch." No cost numbers are provided to verify the cost cutting claim.

The highly successful Mars Phoenix is (logically) mentioned as a way to claim cost savings. But when Phoenix was proposed the cost savings from heavy reuse of failed Mars Polar Lander heritage hardware were cited - but never fully explained. If this mission is approved there is no doubt that JPL and SMD PAO will once again try and claim massive cost savings and simultaneously not mention the money spent to develop the hardware for previous missions.

Keith's update: Gee, that was fast. Spin control has begun. JPL PAO's Veronica McGregor just tweeted "@NASAWatch MPL was a different design from the 2001 lander." The University of Arizona's Phoenix site says "The Phoenix Mission uses the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, built in 2000, but later administratively mothballed." According to the NASA NSSDC entry on Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander: "The mission will be based on the Mars '98 Polar Lander". Here we go again, JPL is trying to have it both ways - they want you to accept the fact that InSight uses Phoenix heritage (i.e. the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander) - but they do not want you to know that Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander was very, very closely based on the Mars Polar Lander design - indeed, modifications to what became Phoenix were the direct result of the failure analysis of MPL - that is how closely they were related.

- NASA SMD's Cost Overrun Coverup (updated with Telecon notes), earlier post
- Yet Another Mars Phoenix Cost Figure, earlier post
- The Actual Cost of Mars Phoenix is $520 Million, earlier post
- Why Does The Official Cost of Mars Phoenix Keep Changing?, earlier post
- NASA Has a Problem Calculating - and Admitting - What Space Missions Really Cost, earlier post

Geomagnetic Storm Expected Tuesday, Jan 23

"As the strongest Solar Radiation Storm (S3) since May, 2005 continues, the associated Earthward-directed Coronal Mass Ejection is expected to arrive about 1400 UT (9am EST) Jan 24. SWPC has issued a Geomagnetic Storm Watch with G2 level storming likely and G3 level storming possible, with the storm continuing into Wednesday, Jan 25. All of this activity is related to a moderate (R2) Radio Blackout x-ray flare that erupted Sunday night (11pm EST)."

Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity 23 January 2012

"Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to isolated severe storm levels on day one (24 January). Mostly quiet levels are expected through midday on 24 January when the anticipated arrival of the 23 January CME is expected to affect the field. Active to major storm levels, with isolated severe storm periods, are expected for the remainder of day one."

An astronaut and a scientist (interview with John Grunsfeld), Nature

"I would like NASA to articulate a plan to explore the Solar System with humans and associated science investigations, because I see them going hand in hand. We're not going to send people anywhere, unless we're out there doing science or enabling science as a part of an exploration framework. My desire is to work more closely with the human spaceflight programme so we can take advantage of synergy."

NASA Cassini Significant Events 12/21/11 - 1/3/12

"Friday, Dec. 23 (DOY 357) - No signal was detected from the spacecraft today at the beginning of track at Deep Space Station (DSS) DSS-43, the Canberra 70 meter station. Additional tracking was obtained at Canberra's DSS-45 and Goldstone's DSS-14 to no avail. The 2-way coherent signal was acquired at the one round trip light-time point into the track as usual, indicating it was a spacecraft problem and not a ground system error. Incident Surprise Anomaly (ISA) #50901 and Discrepancy Report (DR) C108400 were submitted to document this spacecraft anomaly. Commands were sent on Dec. 25 to inhibit the ultra-stable oscillator (USO) and use the auxiliary oscillator as the frequency source for the downlink signal. The spacecraft has operated in this mode for every pass starting on Dec. 27, and telemetry is being received for entire passes again. Data loss was limited to two round-trip light time periods. Analysis of the problem has been delayed because of the holidays with many of the key engineers being unavailable, but it is now well underway."

The Milky Way Contains At Least 100 Billion Planets According to Survey

"Our Milky Way galaxy contains a minimum of 100 billion planets according to a detailed statistical study based on the detection of three extrasolar planets by an observational technique called microlensing. Kailash Sahu, of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., is part of an international team reporting today that our galaxy contains a minimum of one planet for every star on average. This means that there should be a minimum of 1,500 planets within just 50 light-years of Earth."

A Wealth of Habitable Planets in the Milky Way

"Our results show that planets orbiting around stars are more the rule than the exception. In a typical solar system approximately four planets have their orbits in the terrestrial zone, which is the distance from the star where you can find solid planets. On average, there are 1.6 planets in the area around the stars that corresponds to the area between Venus and Saturn."

Kepler Discovery Establishes New Class of Planetary Systems

"Using data from NASA's Kepler Mission, astronomers announced the discovery of two new transiting "circumbinary" planet systems -- planets that orbit two stars. This work establishes that such "two sun" planets are not rare exceptions, but are in fact common with many millions existing in our Galaxy."

Discovery of the Smallest Exoplanets: The Barnard's Star Connection

"The discovery of the three smallest planets yet orbiting a distant star, which was announced today at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society, has an unusual connection to Barnard's star, one of the Sun's nearest neighbors. .. The team used data from NASA's Kepler mission combined with additional observations of a single star, called KOI-961, to determine that it possesses three planets that range in size from 0.57 to 0.78 times the radius of Earth. This makes them the smallest of the more than 700 exoplanets confirmed to orbit other stars."

Underfunding doomed Russian Mars probe, lawyer says, USA Today

"Russia's Phobos-Grunt ("grunt" is Russian for ground or soil) mission aimed for a first landing of a probe on the Martian moon Phobos. Launched Nov. 8, the spacecraft reached Earth orbit but failed to fire the rocket that would send it on an eight-month interplanetary trip to Mars. It's likely to fall to Earth around Jan. 15, the Russian Defense Ministry concluded, the victim of a steadily dropping orbit. "Way too ambitious and way too underfunded to reach its goal," space law attorney Michael Listner says."

Russia's Phobos-Grunt probe heads for fiery finale, USA Today

"... the 29,100-pound spacecraft, stuffed with 8.3 tons of hydrazine fuel, will likely come down around Jan. 15, the Russian Defense Ministry has concluded."

First Look at Kepler SETI Candidate Signals

"The signals below are undoubtedly examples of terrestrial radio frequency interference (RFI). ... These signals look similar to what we think might be produced from an extraterrestrial technology. They are narrow in frequency, much narrower than would be produced by any known astrophysical phenomena, and they drift in frequency with time, as we would expect because of the doppler effect imposed by the relative motion of the transmitter and the receiving radio telescope."

Keith's note: Wow - looks like NASA can fund and support SETI again. This is great news! For decades NASA has been afraid to fund anything that even hints at SETI due to a supposed Congressional prohibition on funding SETI with NASA funds. Yet no one has ever managed to produce the public law or actual legally binding Congressional document that actually states that such a prohibition does indeed exist. I never understood the logic in this SETI ban - especially when you note that many of the highest grossing films of all time (i.e. things that voters/taxpayers willingly pay to see) deal with SETI, Astrobiology, and life on other worlds.

NASA LRO Lunar Image: A Detailed Look at the Walls of Crater Aristarchus

"No wonder planners for the Apollo missions put this plateau high on its list of targets for human exploration. This amazing image was acquired on 10 November 2011 as LRO passed north-to-south about 70 km east of the crater's center."

First Of NASA'S Two Grail Spacecraft Enters Orbit Around Moon

"The first of two NASA spacecraft to study the moon in unprecedented detail has entered lunar orbit. NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)-A spacecraft successfully completed its planned main engine burn at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) today. As of 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST), GRAIL-A is in a 56-mile (90-kilometer) by 5,197-mile (8,363-kilometer) orbit around the moon that takes approximately 11.5 hours to complete."

NASA's Twin Grail Spacecraft Reunite in Lunar Orbit

"The second of NASA's two Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft has successfully completed its planned main engine burn and is now in lunar orbit. Working together, GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B will study the moon as never before."

Photo: Titan and Dione As Seen by Cassini

"Saturn's third-largest moon Dione can be seen through the haze of its largest moon, Titan, in this view of the two posing before the planet and its rings from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Titan (3200 miles, 5150 kilometers across) and Dione (698 miles, 1123 kilometers across). North is up on the moons. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from just above the ring plane."

NASA Twin Spacecraft on Final Approach for Moon Orbit

"NASA's twin spacecraft to study the moon from crust to core are nearing their New Year's Eve and New Year's Day main-engine burns to place the duo in lunar orbit. Named Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), the spacecraft are scheduled to be placed in orbit beginning at 1:21 p.m. PST (4:21 p.m. EST) for GRAIL-A on Dec. 31, and 2:05 p.m. PST (5:05 p.m. EST) for GRAIL-B the next day."

Christmas Comet Lovejoy Captured at Paranal

"The recently discovered Comet Lovejoy has been captured in stunning photos and time-lapse video taken from ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile. The comet graced the southern sky after it had unexpectedly survived a close encounter with the Sun."

Image: Peering Through Titan's South Pole Haze

"These views from NASA's Cassini spacecraft look toward the south polar region of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and show a depression within the moon's orange and blue haze layers near the south pole. The close-up view was captured with the narrow-angle camera. Another view taken a second later with the wide-angle camera is also included here for context."

NASA Discovers First Earth-size Planets Beyond Our Solar System

"NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star to be in the so-called habitable zone where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface, but they are the smallest exoplanets ever confirmed around a star like our sun."

First Earth-sized Planets Found, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

"The paper describing the finding will be published in the journal Nature."

Keith's 20 Dec note: How cool. Yet NASA PAO only offers less than 24 hours advanced notice about this announcement and the event is scheduled while people are on vacation or holiday shopping? Yes, I know all about Nature magazine's archaic and self-imposed rules regarding publication, etc. NASA is apparently powerless to challenge the way that external publications release news of its own discoveries. Why NASA cannot simply dictate TO these publications how NASA wishes announce its own taxpayer-funded discoveries simply baffles me. These journals ought to be competing with one another to publish astonishing news like this - not telling NASA if/when it can. These "first" announcements only happen once. I simply do not understand why NASA rushes to put out half-baked news and then misses a chance to fully promote and explain astonishing gems such as this news.

US asks scientific journals to censor bird flu studies, Guardian

"The US government has asked the scientific journals Nature and Science to censor data on a laboratory-made version of bird flu that could spread more easily to humans, fearing it could be used as a potential weapon. The US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity asked the two journals to publish redacted versions of studies by two research groups that created forms of the H5N1 avian flu that could easily jump between ferrets - typically considered a sign the virus could spread quickly among humans. The journals are objecting to the request, saying it would restrict access to information that might advance the cause of public health."

Keith's 21 Dec update: Hmm, the government asks Science and Nature to restrict the publishing of certain information and they object. Yet they refuse to allow NASA to discuss its own research in advance of a publication embargo. These journals want to have it both ways.

Of course, the odd thing about this Kepler story is that Nature story embargoes do not normally lift several days in advance of publication - this week's issue comes out on 22 December. If NASA and Nature stuck to their usual process the press conference would have been held after 1:00 pm EST today. What's up with that?

Word has it that NASA got wind of a paper - in the same edition of Nature "A compact system of small planets around a former red-giant star" which says "Here we report the presence of two nearly Earth-sized bodies orbiting the post-red-giant, hot B subdwarf star KIC 05807616 ... KIC 05807616 (also known as KPD 194314058) is a seemingly isolated pulsating hot B subdwarf (sdB) star that has been monitored by the Kepler satellite primarily for the study of its oscillations". They used Kepler archival data and it would seem that NASA did not want to have someone else scoop them on finding the first Earth-sized planets without NASA making the announcement.

So, Kepler has found two more Earth-sized extrasolar planets. But not a peep from NASA.

Discovery of two Earth-size planets raises questions about the evolution of stars, University of Montreal

"While analyzing the data obtained with the NASA Kepler mission ..."

Astronomers, Iowa State's Kawler Discover Planets That Survived Their Star's Expansion, Iowa State

"Kawaler said NASA's Kepler mission, launched in March 2009, is a tremendous tool for studying stars and planets. So much so, astronomers are working to extend the Kepler mission another four years, from 2012 into 2016."

Astronomers Discover Deep-Fried Planets, University of Arizona

"... the team used data obtained from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope for this study."

Physicist and Former Astronaut John Grunsfeld to Head NASA Science Directorate

"NASA has named physicist and former astronaut John Grunsfeld as the new associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington. Grunsfeld will take the reins of the office effective Jan. 4, 2012. He succeeds Ed Weiler, who retired from NASA on Sept. 30."

Keith's note: Keith's note: Click here or on the image and you will see why John is the perfect choice for SMD AA.

NASA Reaffirms Agency Scientific Integrity Policy

"Specifically, it  is NASA policy that NASA employees wishing to speak to the media or  the public about their work shall notify their immediate supervisor and  coordinate with their public affairs office in advance of interviews  whenever possible, or immediately thereafter, and are encouraged, to the  maximum extent practicable, to have a Public Affairs Officer present  during interviews. If Public Affairs Officers are present, their role will be  to attest to the content of the interview, support the interviewee, and  provide post-interview follow up with the media, as necessary."

U.S. climate agency NOAA loosens media restraints, Reuters

"The lead U.S. government agency for climate and weather research unveiled a new policy that will allow its scientists to speak freely to the media and the public about their research without prior permission, the agency's administrator said on Wednesday."

NASA Scientific Integrity Response Under Fire, earlier post

"The present document responds to the May 5, 2011, request. As NASA demonstrated in its April 2011 report to OSTP, NASA already has a variety of policies in place to ensure scientific and engineering integrity."

Keith's note: This is in sharp contrast to NOAA's newly revamped science integrity policy. This could not be more stark: NASA employees "are required" to coordinate with PAO in advance, NOAA employees are not.

NASA POLICY: "(f) All NASA employees are required to coordinate, in a timely manner, with the appropriate public affairs officers prior to releasing information that has the potential to generate significant media, or public interest or inquiry."

NOAA POLICY "Researchers are encouraged (but not required) to take advantage of the media expertise of their operating unit's public affairs office and/or to provide that office with advance notice. The role of the public affairs office is to assist with presentation, style, and logistics of the communication, not to alter its substance."

"Ensuring Scientific Integrity at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration", released today, says "NASA employees may, but are not required to, speak to the media and the public about their work (14 CFR 1213.105(c) and (h)). Specifically, it is NASA policy that NASA employees wishing to speak to the media or the public about their work shall notify their immediate supervisor and coordinate with their public affairs office in advance of interviews whenever possible, or immediately thereafter, and are encouraged, to the maximum extent practicable, to have a Public Affairs Officer present during interviews.

Keith's note: In this document NASA employees "shall notify their immediate supervisor and coordinate with their public affairs office". At NASA "shall" = "required". NOAA employees are only "encouraged" to inform their PAO about any comments they make i.e. its optional.

Low Energy Nuclear Reactions Is there better way to do nuclear power? Dr. Joseph M. Zawodny NASA Langley Research Center

"So What is LENR? LENR is a form of nuclear power However, LENR is NOT cold fusion"

Overview of Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) as Implemented by Andrea Rossi and Francesca Piantelli 2011 LENR Workshop at GRC September 22, 2011

"Andrea Rossi came to MSFC with officials from Ampenergo, US Aerospace Contractor, other interested parties"

NASA and LENR, Dennis M. Bushnell, Chief Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center

"In Short, LENR, depending upon the TBD performance, appears to be capable of Revolutionizing Aerospace across the board. No other single technology even comes close to the potential impacts of LENR upon Agency Missions."

Slides From Sept. 22 NASA LENR Innovation Forum Workshop, New Energy Times

"On the second day, when the former NASA staff member asked Rossi if his device had an internal reservoir, Rossi became enraged. Quantum's engineers left but NASA engineers offered to come back in a few days to give Rossi time to fix the flow. Rossi declined their offer. He said he was "too busy."

Cold Fusion #1 Claims NASA Chief

"A Chief NASA scientist, Dennis Bushnell has came out in support of Andrea Rossi's E-Cat technology, but denies any type of nuclear fusion is taking place, saying it is probably beta decay per the Widom Larson Theory. Repackaging the terminology to avoid embarrassment will not erase over twenty years of suppression and the reality of cold fusion!"

How to Make Cold Fusion Work: Use Unobtainium, Forbes

"In my last post I said I'd steer clear of the whole cold fusion thing until something interesting happens. Well, in the last week something interesting has happened ... Once again, let me do a quick recap: An Italian inventor, Andrea Rossi, claims to have created a Low Energy Nuclear Reaction, or LENR, device (otherwise called a "cold fusion" device) called the Energy Catlyzer or E-Cat. All an E-Cat system requires is hydrogen gas passing over nickel powder in the presence of an undisclosed catalyst and, it is claimed, the device will generate a significant amount of energy in the form of heat."

Keith's note: Why NASA LaRC and/or HQ management knowingly allows overt quackery such as this to go on in NASA-sanctioned meetings using NASA personnel time while budgets are being slashed on "science" missions simply baffles me. Maybe Dennis Bushnell ( dennis.m.bushnell@nasa.gov 757.864.8987 ) can explain.

NASA Statement on Roscosmos, NASA, ESA, and Future Mars Missions

According to NASA PAO: "Representatives from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) met in Paris on 7 December 2011 to explore partnership opportunities involving future Mars missions. Further technical discussions will continue over the coming months to confirm the interest of all three partners...."

Panel Discussion: U.S. Leadership in Astronomy: Space Telescopes Today, Tomorrow and Beyond

"Featuring: Eric Smith, NASA Headquarters, Dr. John Grunsfeld, Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Dr. Meg Urry, Yale University, and Pam Whitney, House Committee on Science & Technology (invited)."

House Science, Space & Tech Committee Hearing - Assessing the James Webb Space Telescope

"Witnesses:
- [Statement] Rick Howard, Program Manager, James Webb Space Telescope, NASA,
- [Statement] Roger Blandford, Professor of Physics, Stanford University,
- [Statement] Garth Illingworth, Professor & Astronomer, UCO/Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz,
- [Statement] Jeffrey D. Grant, Sector Vice President & General Manager, Space Systems Division, Northrup Grumman Aerospace Systems"

Tyson criticizes common views on space exploration, Daily Princetonian

"American participation in the space race represented the beginning of the "militarization of space," Tyson said. Likening this struggle for celestial turf to the games that schoolchildren play in sandboxes, he further criticized modern reverence for the Apollo program because it leads to the glorification of antiquated technology rather than to the acknowledgement of improvements made since then.

This appreciation for outdated technology has led to a modern cultural apathy for space exploration, Tyson explained. NASA's budget has remained about the same for the duration of its existence while its operations have become less efficient over time -- but this diminished performance hasn't perturbed post-Kennedy administrations, Tyson said, because "NASA has never been about science" and was originally created in response to geopolitical pressures."

Keith's note: Gee Neil, Apollo stuff may well be antiquated but recent experience shows that it is harder for NASA to do the same thing now than it was when the agency did it half a century ago. Perhaps some of that antiquated hardware is worth a second look and can still teach us a few lessons today. As for the quote wherein you seem to be saying "NASA has never been about science" that is simply false. Explain the planetary missions, space and earth science missions - especially the telescopes you are so fond of. These things are not there for "science"? I am baffled.

NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity Had Planetary Protection Slip-Up, Space.com

"The issue involves a set of drill bits carried by the Curiosity rover, which launched Nov. 26 to Mars. When project developers made an internal decision not to send the equipment through a final ultra-cleanliness step, it marked a deviation from the planetary protection plans scripted for the Mars Science Laboratory mission."

Is Something Wrong With the Drill on MSL?, earlier post

"The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, including the Curiosity rover and the rock-sampling drill on the rover, has passed all functional testing, and final preparations for launch on Nov. 25 are on schedule."

An United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft was launched 10:02 a.m. EST. First stage and second operations were nominal. Spacecraft is in coast phase until second engine burn to send it on its way to Mars.

Watch Launch Live on NASA TV

More MSL information

ESA station unable to establish new link with Phobos-Grunt

"After establishing contact with Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mars mission earlier this week, ESA's tracking station in Australia received no signal from the spacecraft last night. ESA engineers are investigating the cause in close collaboration with Russian mission controllers. Despite listening intently during four scheduled communication passes during the night of 24-25 November, ESA's 15 m-diameter dish antenna at Perth, Australia, did not receive any signals."

ESA station keeps contact with Russian Mars mission Phobos-Grunt, ESA

"Following the first successful contact on Tuesday, ESA's tracking station in Australia again established two-way communication with Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft on 23 November. The data received from the spacecraft have been sent to the Russian mission control centre for analysis. Telemetry typically includes information on the status and health of a spacecraft's systems. "The signals received from Phobos-Grunt were much stronger than those initially received on 22 November, in part due to having better knowledge of the spacecraft's orbital position."

ESA tracking station receives signal from Russia's Phobos Mars mission, ESA

"On Tuesday, 22 November at 20:25 UT, ESA's tracking station at Perth, Australia, established contact with Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft. This was the first signal received on Earth since the Mars mission was launched on 8 November. ESA teams are working closely with engineers in Russia to determine how best to maintain communications with the spacecraft."

Astronaut tipped to lead NASA science division, Nature

"John Grunsfeld, an astrophysicist and astronaut who fixed the Hubble Space Telescope, has been chosen to lead NASA's science mission directorate, according to several sources with knowledge of the selection. Grunsfeld is currently deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which operates Hubble. He would replace Ed Weiler, who resigned his post as NASA associate administrator in September."

Keith's note: Click here or on the image and you will see why John is the perfect choice for SMD AA.

According to NASA PAO: "The launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has been delayed one day to allow time for the team to remove and replace a flight termination system battery. The launch is rescheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The one hour and 43 minute launch window opens at 10:02 a.m. EST."

Keith's 18 Nov 12:25 pm EST update: NASA PAO just provided the following response: "The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, including the Curiosity rover and the rock-sampling drill on the rover, has passed all functional testing, and final preparations for launch on Nov. 25 are on schedule. Testing indicates that the rover can meet all of its mission success criteria. Experiments continue on engineering models of the rover's sampling system, including the hammering drill, to refine understanding of the best ways to use the system once Curiosity is on Mars. Continued testing on Earth will study which aspects of the drill performance will degrade during the mission and how to exercise operational workarounds. An example is that the percussion mechanism in the rotary-percussion drill can develop electrical shorts after prolonged use (beyond that required for mission success). The drill will be used in rotary-only mode on some rocks to prolong availability of hammering. The potential also exists for material to come off the drill bit as it wears and to complicate analysis of the powdered sample. In both cases, workarounds exist including the use of rotary-only drilling, replacing the bit, and using the scoop to provide soil samples directly to the analytic laboratory."

Earlier posts below.

Conferees OK $17.8 Billion For NASA, Aviation Week

"I have had the opportunity to engage in conversation with individuals in the Office of Management and Budget [OMB]," said Steven Squyres of Cornell University, the Mars expert who headed up the planetary science decadal survey at the National Academy of Sciences, when asked if OMB is willing to commit to a joint Mars program with ESA. "In those conversations I have been told the administration is not ready to make such a commitment." Pressed by Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Squyres said Sally Ericsson, OMB program associate director for natural resources, energy, and science, told him of the White House's unwillingness to commit to the deal tentatively struck between NASA and ESA in 2009. Ericsson declined an invitation to testify before the House Science subcommittee on space and aeronautics."

Will Tight Budgets Sink NASA Flagships?, Science (subscription required for full access)

"One big question that needs to be answered relatively soon is where NASA will find the money to complete the Webb telescope by 2018, provided Congress does not terminate the project. NASA officials have declared the $8.7 billion instrument an agency-wide priority and would like to take half of the addition $2 billion needed over the next 5 years from within the Science Mission Directorate. (The rest would come from other parts of the $18.5 billion agency.) That plan is causing consternation among researchers outside astrophysics, who say that it is unfair for the planetary, earth science, and heliophysics programs to support an over-budget astronomy mission. "JWST has been held up as the most important thing to be done, at all cost," says Mark Sykes of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. "But it is not scientifically responsible to undermine other programs to cover JWST."

Russia's Mars Mission May Be In Trouble, Discovery News

"We had a difficult night," Russian space agency head Vladimir Popovkin told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, RussianSpaceWeb.com reports. "We could not locate the spacecraft for a very long time. Now we know its coordinates."

Russian Mars mission halted by glitch in low Earth orbit, SpaceflightNow

"A subsequent story in Novosti late Tuesday night said such a problem could be due to software or hardware issues. If it was a software glitch, the odds of recovery are good, while a hardware anomaly could have more dire consequences for the mission, the report said."

NASA Acknowledges James Webb Telescope Costs Will Delay Other Science Missions, Space News

"In the report, NASA also acknowledged for the first time that building and operating the long-delayed flagship telescope for five years will now cost $8.835 billion, or about $100 million more than the agency conceded in August."

This tweet is just one example of a long string of lobbying tweets: "All Webb Telescope #science supporters,new ACTION ALERT on my web page. Senate & House to conference in <10 days; http://bit.ly/qvBITx #JWST"

Keith's note: So, this officially-branded AURA twitter account is utilized by AURA personnel during work hours to lobby for projects of clear interest to AURA and .... who pays their salary to do this lobbying? Hmmm ... where does their funding come from? Either NASA or NSF.

New Radar Image: Asteroid 2005 YU55 Approaches Close Earth Flyby

"This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was obtained on Nov. 7, 2011, at 11:45 a.m. PST (2:45 p.m. EST/1945 UTC), when the space rock was at 3.6 lunar distances, which is about 860,000 miles, or 1.38 million kilometers, from Earth. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech."

The Highest Resolution Image of the Sun's Surface Ever Obtained in Visible Light

"The 1.6-meter aperture New Solar Telescope (NST) at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO), has captured the highest resolution image of the surface of the sun ever obtained in visible light. The image was acquired with adaptive optics."

Budget pressures squeeze the dreams of Mars explorers, Washington Post

"At a White House meeting during the last week of October, administration officials "were clearly not very keen on signing up" for unmanned Mars missions in 2016 and 2018, said Daniel Britt, who attended the meeting as head of the planetary science division of the American Astronomical Society. ... White House officials said no decision to kill the Mars program has been made. The administration is deliberating how to mete out NASA's uncertain budget, said Rick Weiss, a spokesman for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy."

NASA Funding Added to Must-pass Minibus, Space News

"NASA funding is among the differences House and Senate conferees must resolve before the two chambers can give final approval to the so-called minibus the week of Nov. 14. House appropriators voted this summer to fund NASA at $16.8 billion -- about $1.6 billion below this year's level -- and recommended canceling the overbudget James Webb Space Telescope. The Senate bill, in contrast, would fund NASA at $17.9 billion and include additional money for Webb."

Senate Passes Budget With Full Funding for James Webb Space Telescope

"The Senate today passed its Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) 2012 Appropriations Bill, which includes full funding for the embattled James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble successor that will be run largely out of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STscI) in Baltimore."

NASA Acknowledges JWST Replan Will Delay Science Missions, Space News

"Saving the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) -- an infrared deep space observatory now expected to cost $8.8 billion -- means that some other NASA science missions slated for launch after 2015 will have to be delayed, the U.S. space agency acknowledged in a report delivered to Congress in late October. NASA, however, did not say in the report which missions might be delayed."

Obama readies to blast NASA, Bob Zubrin, Washington Times

"Word has leaked out that in its new budget, the Obama administration intends to terminate NASA's planetary exploration program."

NASA Planetary Science Not Being Killed, Says NASA Official, Universe Today

"This would all be horrible if true, but the director of NASA's Planetary Science division, Jim Green assured members of the NASA Advisory Council's Planetary Science subcommittee that it is not."

Planetary Science Lives, NASA Official Says, Space News

"Speaking at an Oct. 27 meeting of the NASA Advisory Council's Planetary Science subcommittee, Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science division, took issue with an opinion piece claiming the agency was gutting its robotic exploration program following a pair of upcoming missions."

Keith's note: OK Bob. Please show show us the budget documents wherein OMB intends to "terminate NASA's planetary exploration program." No one else seems to know about this. Maybe you can reveal hard proof to support your claim next week at your event with the Planetary Society.

In Memory: Planetary Geologist Ronald Greeley

"Ronald Greeley, a Regents' Professor of planetary geology at Arizona State University who has been involved in lunar and planetary studies since 1967 and has contributed significantly to our understanding of planetary bodies within our solar system, died Oct. 27, in Tempe. He was 72. Greeley, a pioneer in the planetary geology field, served as the director of the NASA-ASU Regional Planetary Image Facility and principal investigator of the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory at NASA-Ames Research Center."

Special Facebook Page

Budget fight rages over James Webb Space Telescope, Washington Post

"But if Congress provides less than the $530 million that NASA says the project needs next year, the schedule will slip further and costs will continue to rise. In 2006, NASA estimated that Webb would cost $2.4 billion and could launch in 2014. In 2008, the price tag rose to $5.1 billion. A congressionally mandated report released last year found that NASA had underestimated costs and mismanaged the project. This summer, NASA said it had already spent $3.5 billion on the project and needed a total of $8.7 billion to launch in 2018."

NASA head visits Baltimore to show off Webb telescope

"Bolden said Friday he does not intend to cut any single program to make sure that Webb proceeds as planned. Instead, NASA is working with the White House to provide Wolf and his subcommittee with a list of cuts across the agency, he said. "We didn't want to reward Webb by killing a program that was doing well," said Bolden, who became the head the agency about two years ago. The cuts would be proposed from both the institutional and science sectors of NASA, he said."

ROSAT re-entry, DLR

"Currently, the re-entry date can only be calculated to within plus/minus three days. This time slot of uncertainty will be reduced as the date of re-entry approaches. However, even one day before re-entry, the estimate will only be accurate to within plus/minus five hours. All areas under the orbit of ROSAT, which extends to 53 degrees northern and southern latitude could be affected by its re-entry. The bulk of the debris will impact near the ground track of the satellite. However, isolated fragments could fall to Earth in a 80 kilometre wide path along the track."

@DLR_en Tweet earlier today: Current prediction of #ROSAT re-entry: 20 to 25 October 2011

Editorial: Identify JWST's Bill Payers, editorial, Space News

"... the Space Launch System, which per the House and Senate spending bills is slated to receive nearly $2 billion next year, is an appropriate bill payer for JWST. Given that NASA has no established exploration destination requiring the heavy-lift rocket on the schedule mandated by Congress, stretching out its development to help fund an observatory of undeniable scientific merit -- its substantial problems notwithstanding -- is a fair trade."

JWST and SLS: Dueling Giant Money Sponges, earlier post

"So, we have one giant money sponge (JWST) already sucking up dollars with yet another money sponge (SLS) on the drawing board. Since the money simply is not there to do either project to begin with, trying to do both of them together will devour funds from smaller NASA programs. It will also pit these money sponges' ever-growing chronic need for dollars against the other's similar insatiable appetite. And all of this will happen while the Federal budget is almost certainly going to be constrained - regardless of who wins the 2012 election. So, will someone explain to me how NASA is going to build and launch both JWST and SLS and have money left over to do all of the other things that it is both chartered to do - and directed to do - by Congress?"

Keith's note: This time lapse film by Dustin Farrell is best viewed in HiDef. First noticed on Gizmodo. The music on this video is from the soundtrack of the film "Sunshine". Crank up the audio. Wake up the person in the cubicle next to you. Savor the moment. Relish the planetary and celestial goodness. NASA creates similar stuff on a daily basis - yet they stumble when it comes to doing so a coordinated way to leverage their websites and brand visibility so as to get things out to the widest audience possible.

Have a look at this photo and this photo taken by this photographer at NASA Desert RATS. I am certain the video will be amazing.

NASA employee advice: Walk down the hallway and tell the bureaucrat jerk who stands in your way of telling taxpayers what it is you do - and tell them to go pound sand. If NASA does not start to promote things like this - then others will. NASA does not have an exclusive license on promoting what is cool ... NASA runs the risk of becoming irrelevant - despite its accomplishments.

NASA, ESA: No Agreement on Mars Mission, Aviation Week

"NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and his European Space Agency counterpart, Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, failed to settle their differences on restructuring the two agencies' joint robotic Mars exploration program at a meeting Oct. 3, and now hint that it may be time to bring Russia or another partner into the mix. At issue is how much of the joint program that was worked out when the two agencies had a brighter fiscal outlook can be salvaged in today's tougher economic environment."

3 U.S.-born scientists win physics Nobel for revealing universe's expansion is getting faster, Washington Post

"Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for overturning a fundamental assumption in their field by showing that the expansion of the universe is constantly accelerating. ... Riess, 41, is an astronomy professor at Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland."

Keith's note: Nothing from NASA PAO. NASA funds the Space Telescope Science Institute. All three have used Hubble and other NASA resources.

NASA Internal Memo: Director of the SMD Heliophysics Division

"The Office of Personnel Management and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency have completed the process of selection for the position of Director, Heliophyiscs Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. The newly selected director is Dr. Barbara Giles. I am taking this opportunity to inform you of this action prior to more formal announcements by the Directorate and the Agency."

Geological Society of America Planetary Geology Division: NASA Funding and James Webb Space Telescope

"... advocates such as the American Astronomical Society have identified JWST as their highest priority (it was the top major initiative for U.S. astrophysics in the 2001 & 2010 NRC Astrophysics Decadal Surveys). That prioritization is among activities only within astrophysics, not planetary science, Earth science or heliophysics. Because astronomers have been so strongly supportive of JWST for the current and future budgets, it is only appropriate that they be responsible for the consequences of such a choice. The biggest concern of planetary scientists, therefore, is that our own current and planned planetary missions, and supporting research and data analysis funding, will be severely reduced over the next decade to pay for the JWST overruns (JWST is now scheduled for a 2018 launch with a total cost approaching $8.7 billion)."

Letter from Rep. Frank Wolf to OMB Director Jacob Lew Regarding James Webb Space Telescope

"In the coming weeks, the House and Senate will sit down to negotiate final appropriations bills for fiscal year 2012, and the appropriate level of funding for JWST will be one of the most significant issues considered. For us to make a truly informed decision that takes into account both the value of JWST and the value of opportunities that may be precluded by the JWST replan, we must have the offset information. If such information is not provided by the time that conference negotiations begin, I will consider that to be an indication that JWST is no higher in priority than any other existing or planned NASA activity."

FY2012 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee Mark - NASA Excerpt

* The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funded at $17.9 billion, a reduction of $509 million or 2.8 percent from the FY2011 enacted level.

* The bill provides funds to enable a 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope.