Space shuttle: The long goodbye At 11.26am (EDT) on Friday, the space shuttle Atlantis will begin its final mission into space. It will be the 135th and last mission of the shuttle programme, known formally in Nasa circles as the Space Transportation System (STS). The first mission was launched in April 1981 and, just over 30 years later, the bright dream of having a reusable spacecraft to ferry people and goods into space and back will finally fade away. In addition to regular features from the Guardian throughout the week, this blog will bring you the best of the shuttle-related articles, pictures, audio and video from elsewhere on the web. Do share any thoughts and links with us in the comments below and we will include the best here for everyone to read. If all goes to plan, on Friday Atlantis will embark on a 12-day mission to the International Space Station, carrying commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim on what will be the last American-controlled flight into space for the foreseeable future. In the shuttle's cargo bay will be the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module, which contains supplies and spare parts for the space station and its crew. For anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of what happens in the next few days, Nasa's guide to the countdown is a useful starter. The famous countdown clock for the mission will begin ticking around 43 hours before the scheduled launch time and you can also see it in action here and also access up-to-the-minute status reports of the entire mission. Magazines, newspapers and websites have been filled with pre-emptive shuttle eulogies in the past week, and the mood is bittersweet. Tim Radford's essay on the highs and lows of the shuttle programme is a good place to begin: "The space shuttle broke all records," he says. "But in the end it all but broke Nasa." Over at the Observer, science editor Robin McKie examines the compromises in structure and design that Nasa had to make in order to get the shuttle programme approved and on budget. The Economist talks of the launch of Atlantis as the end of the Apollo era dreams and "the heroic phase of space exploration, with chiselled-jawed astronauts venturing where no man has gone before, inspiring schoolchildren and defending democracy (or socialism)". Ever wondered what it feels like to be thrown around as the shuttle falls to the ground from space? Reuters correspondent Irene Klotz describes her recent trip aboard a Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA). Shuttle pilots have to practise hundreds of landings before they are allowed to land the orbiter itself: An article in the Los Angeles Times examines the kind of people who volunteer for this sort of mission, the 358 people who became shuttle astronauts. Lacking the "star power" of their predecessors in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programmes, writes Ralph Vartabedian, the shuttle astronauts' biggest headlines came in tragedy, when seven died in the 1986 explosion of Challenger and seven more perished in the fiery reentry breakup of Columbia in 2003. The New York Times examines the uncertain future of the scientists and engineers who have devoted themselves to the shuttle programme. Nasa already seems worried about a "brain drain" of talent once the shuttle has been mothballed. As the programme draws to a close, it is worth keeping in mind the design and engineering accomplishment of the people who brought us the shuttle. This set of images on Space.com, taken from the archives of Nasa, show how handmade and delicate each shuttle is, a testament to the ingenuity of the engineers, scientists and designers who crafted these extraordinary space vehicles. Source : The Guardian
Space shuttle launch: infographic video history of the NASA space shuttle As NASA prepares for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis, the last ever launch of a NASA space shuttle, let's take a look back at the 30 year history of space shuttle launches, featuring 135 launches, 355 astronauts and 870 million kilometres of space flight. To watch the videos follow Link : Infographic video history of the NASA space shuttle by The Telegraph
Facebook launches Skype-powered video chat You only need to install a Plugin & You can Start from http://www.facebook.com/videocalling Source : CBC NEWS
Saturn storm pictured A giant storm raging on Saturn which is producing lightning bolts 10,000 times stronger than those on Earth has been captured by scientists in unprecedented detail. The 'Great White Spot' (GWS) consisted of bright white ammonia clouds and spanned 17,000 kilometres. Photo: NASA/PA The storm has caused a 'Great White Spot' on the planet which is visible from the Earth. Observations from the Cassini spacecraft - combined with images from ground-based telescopes - reveal the electric spectacle which is producing a tempest so intense the flashes are occurring at the rate of up to ten times a second, say researchers whose findings are published in two papers in Nature. Great White Spots are so-called because they are large enough to be visible by telescope from Earth and break out rarely - about once every thirty years. This outburst began last December as Cassini orbited the usually calm ringed planet while a network of ground-based observers also monitored the storm's evolution. Planetary scientist Professor Agustin Sanchez-Lavega, of the School of Engineering of Bilbao, and colleagues said: " Huge storms known as Great White Spots, which are ten times larger than the regular storms, are rarer and occur about once per Saturnian year (29.5 Earth years)." It is only the sixth time the once-in-a-generation phenomenon - which occurs as spring comes to the 87,000 mile wide planet's northern hemisphere - has been spotted since 1876. The storm has a latitude and longitude of 6,200 and 10,500 miles respectively - meaning it would spread across half of the Earth. Dr Georg Fischer, of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Graz, and colleagues said in a second study: "The visible plume consists of high-altitude clouds that overshoot the outermost ammonia cloud layer owing to strong vertical convection, as is typical for thunderstorms. "The flash rates of this storm are about an order of magnitude higher than previous ones, and peak rates larger than ten per second were recorded. "This main storm developed an elongated eastward tail with additional but weaker storm cells that wrapped around the whole planet by February 2011. Unlike storms on Earth, the total power of this storm is comparable to Saturns total emitted power." They said the appearance of such storms in the northern hemisphere could be related to the change of seasons. Physicist Professor Peter Read, of Oxford University, reviewed the papers for the journal and said they present "some of the most detailed observations so far of such a dramatic event." He said: "These observations reveal with great clarity that the GWS comprises a massive complex of convective thunderstorms, upwelling heat energy and moisture from levels deep within Saturn's atmosphere, accompanied by huge and almost continuous lightning discharges. "It will be a major challenge to the next generation of atmospheric models to predict when (and where) storm clouds will next appear to brood over Saturn's normally bland and hazy face." Source : The Telegraph
Iconic computer game 'Civilization' joins Facebook Long before "FarmVille" there was "Civilization," the iconic computer game in which players build a civilized world over thousands of years. Now, the game's designer, Sid Meier, is bringing his creation to Facebook. In the Facebook adaptation, players cooperate to build cities and engage in diplomacy, scientific discovery and economics as they advance civilization throughout the ages. Source : USA Today More Info : GamesBEAT
Boxee QWERTY remote available for PC and Mac With Internet TV on the rise, everyone is looking for a good way to control entertainment from afar with the power of a keyboard. The Boxee Box remote is one of our favorite stabs at this. It fluidly combines a thumbable QWERTY keyboard with a wireless remote simple enough to control an Apple product. Well, those who don’t want to get a Boxee Box can now buy a USB version of the remote from D-Link, which is compatible with PC and Mac. “The Boxee Remote Control is ideal for home theater enthusiasts who have customized their home entertainment environment with a specialized PC or Mac media center, but still want the Boxee Box’s unique viewing experience on their TV,” said Daniel Kelley, D-Link’s Associate Vice President of Consumer Marketing, North America. “We are thrilled to offer this complementary tool to consumers already using Boxee’s software on their home computers – enabling people to more easily search, browse and type from the couch.” The Boxee Remote by D-Link (DSM-22) is available on Amazon, TigerDirect, NewEgg, and Buy.com for $49.99. Source : Yahoo News
Storms casting shadow on last shuttle launch A dragon fly perches at the edge of the lagoon near Launch Pad 39A where space shuttle Atlantis stands ready for flight. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Space shuttle Atlantis is set to liftoff July 8 on the final flight of the shuttle program, STS-135, a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis will carry a crew of four and the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module containing supplies and spare parts for the space station. The STS-135 astronauts are: Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.