Open Phoenix Mission for Wednesday

Hello All,
The Phoenix will run a 2.5 hour Private Mission on Wednesday, November 30th. You can sign up to attend individually or with a friend or two. Call the Space Center for a reservation. 801.785.8713. The cost is $13.00 per person. Money is collected at the door Wednesday night. This is open to anyone between the ages of 10 and 16.

Foreign Affairs: Russian Curse vs. Chinese Success

Phobos-Grunt being prepared for launch.

Russia continues to suffer under a curse. The Phobos-Grunt satellite, launched on November 9, remains in Earth orbit suffering a profound silence. The Zenit rocket carrying Phobos-Grunt had placed the exploration robot in a temporary orbit before heading out towards Mars and the Martian moon Phobos. However, the necessary signals to send the craft outward from Earth did not ignite the engines and the craft went silent. Russian and international scientists have struggled intensely to repair communications in the last couple of weeks. Suddenly, a signal got through a few days before Thanksgiving, and there was some hope communications could be restored as telemetry got through on our holiday. Thanks should be given to technicians at the European Space Agency station near Perth in Australia. Sadly, this success was not repeated and the robotic explorer remains silent now.

Phobos-Grunt launches on a Zenit rocket.

Recently Russia has had some mishaps with the Soyuz rocket series, prompting a temporary grounding of spaceflights to the ISS while engineers worked to solve the problem. With the success of recent launches to ISS, the problem seemed solved, but now the Phobos- Grunt satellite remains stranded in orbit, with the fear that it could crash back to Earth with a significant supply of toxic fuel on board.

This was Russia's 4th attempt to reach Mars. It had not launched an interplanetary probe in 15 years. The other three launches to Mars also met with failure. In 1988, Russia sent Phobos 1 and Phobos 2 to reach the planet. Phobos 1 failed soon after launch. Phobos 2 reached MArtian orbit, only to go suddenly silent and was never heard from again. In 1996, the launch of a Mars probe went wrong and the satellite crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Are the Russians cursed when it comes to reaching Mars? Actually it goes to prove how difficult an interplanetary probe mission really is, and how amazing the American results have been.

Meanwhile, China keeps launching satellites with uneventful regularity.

Long March 2D blasts off from China.

So far this year, China has made 15 satellite launches, and only one was a failure. China usually uses the Long March 2D rocket. Years ago China would have suffered more failures, but since their "acquisition" of American rocket and satellite technology from Loreal and other American space firms, they have had a much higher success rate. While some of the technology was improperly transfered to China as a result of Clinton administration "deals", some has been determined to be lost to China as a result of Chinese computer hacking and corporate spying.

This week China launched 2 satellites from the Jinquan Satellite Launch Center, testing new technologies and observing environmental situations in China.

Posted by Mark Daymont

Saturday

MSL On its Way to Mars!

Atlas V liftoff from Launch Complex 41.

At 8:02 a.m. MST, NASA ignited the engines of the Atlas V rocket carrying the MSL (Mars Science Laboratory) on its way to Mars. The launch has proceeded very well so far, with the separation of the nose cone fairings. The second stage Centaur rocket is expected to fire at about 8:45 a.m. (Update: Stage firing and spacecraft separation confirmed - MSL is on its way to MARS!).

MSL rover in the lab with scientists.

The MSL rover (named Curiosity) is the largest that has been sent to Mars. Its wide variety of sensors and controls will enable it to explore terrain unaccessible to prior rovers such as Spirit, Opportunity and Pathfinder. Scheduled to land on Mars in August 2012, Curiosity is expected to run a mission length of 23-24 months. Those of you who have been watching Mars rovers so far understand that the craft may last MUCH longer than that.

You can download a PDF fact sheet from NASA at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/mars-science-laboratory.pdf

Posted by Mark Daymont

The Child Who Survived

Hello Troops,
Strange not to be at the Space Center on a Saturday. I feel like I should be doing something or talking to someone. The room is too quiet. There are no explosions or sirens or children laughing, screaming or applauding. I'm not surrounded by scores of young people moving to and from the simulators, some taking a moment or two to talk while others ask for the M and M drawer as they fill their prescription bottles. It's 4:23 P.M. according to the clock I should be wandering through the school dispensing Meadow Gold Ice Cream Sandwiches. The halls should echo with Rogers automatic floor cleaner, the one that resembles an ice rink's Zamboni. Twenty one years of conditioning brings an uneasiness when routine is disrupted.

Don't worry about me. I'll weather this disturbance in the Force. My chores are never done. It's all part of being an adult, even in a land of Imagination where kids reign supreme.

Canyon Lake Elementary School. Rapid City South Dakota

Childhood goes by so quickly. Wasn't it just a couple long years ago I was a fifth grader at Canyon Lake Elementary School? We moved mid year from South Canyon to Canyon Lake. It was tough changing schools, but I had a talent for making friends quickly. It was that year I went on my favorite elementary school field trip to KOTA, Rapid City's local television station. Instead of Alice's looking glass, I had stepped through the television screen and met the people whose black and white pixels lit my small living room every evening. I saw the large cameras and the wooden sets used for the news and the children's Saturday morning shows. That simple rural TV studio was magic for a ten year old.

There I am, Top Row. 1968.
I like to think I Survived.

A kindly woman with heavily lacquered hair called us over to a large table next to a room filled with panels of dials, switches and knobs. A couple dozen 8 by 10 black and white photographs of KOTA's Saturday morning cartoon characters covered the table top. She told us we could take one photograph of our favorite cartoon character.

"How nice, let's all say thank you to the nice lady." My teacher spoke perfect Teacher Talk .

Teacher Talk notwithstanding, we didn't hear a word she said. It was our Walmart Black Friday moment, circa 1968. We rushed forward, ignoring the teacher's shouting for order. Everyone pushed and shoved to get to the table first, none more so than me. There at the center of the table lay a picture of my cartoon hero, Johnny Quest. I pushed Derek Leonard down. Tom Patnoe shoved and I shoved back with all the shove a ten year old could muster. Five empty hands strained toward the prize. Only one came back fulfilled. Johnny Quest was mine.


I have many fond school memories from my childhood. For most children today, the Space Education Center is their best remembered field trip. We bring magic into their lives. It is a responsibility we take seriously. It is a duty that motivates me, and I hope everyone on our staff, to go above and beyond. We will continue to honor a commitment to quality and do our part to ensure more children will survive into adulthood.

Mr. Williamson

P.S.
Many have asked about the title pictures seen on this blog. Many of them come from my collection of old black and white pictures of kids, adults and seniors living in times gone by. I organized a few of my favorites showing kids from times passed. Today they are either in the winter of life or gone. It is a reminder of how quickly life passes. Enjoy your childhood. Cherish the memories and let your childhood survive into adulthood.