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Archive for the 'ISS' Category
Weekly Links
Down to Earth
Last week, on Wednesday, March 11th, Orbital ATK conducted a successful static test fire of one of the solid propellant rocket motors that will be used for the SLS rocket.
This is too cool! This is our rocket Booster test as seen from an airplane! #SLSFiredUp #JourneyToMars #OrbitalATK pic.twitter.com/tOctJRTB48
— Gordie (@BoosterBud) March 12, 2015
The next day, on the 12th, the Soyuz carrying Butch Wilmore, Elena Serova, and Alexander Samokutyaev returned to Earth. Check out these incredible pictures of their descent and landing. Looks like it was a beautiful (cold) day in Kazakhstan.
With Butch and crew on the ground, Expedition 43 is underway with only three crew members onboard – Terry Virts, Samantha Cristoforetti, and Anton Shkaplerov. They are a good trio to have onboard together, as they are all very active on Twitter, providing us awesome views of Earth from on orbit! However, they will be joined very shortly by Scott Kelly, Gennady Padalka, and Mikhail Korniyenko who are launching next Friday, March 27th.
On March 18th, many space fans celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first ever spacewalk, conducted by Alexei Leonov on the Voskhod 2 mission.
First space walk 50 years ago today. Congratulations Major General Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov! pic.twitter.com/zbpO0W6cVR
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) March 18, 2015
Поздравляю, Алексеи Архипович Леонов! 50 years ago today; the first #spacewalk; March 18, 1965 http://t.co/V1ftY2jROw pic.twitter.com/iLBYhKQNrP
— Douglas H. Wheelock (@Astro_Wheels) March 18, 2015
Leonov is 80 years old, and did a press circuit for the occassion!
Leonov interviewed in front of Sergei Korolov's house in Moscow. The 50-yr 1st EVA celebration continues today pic.twitter.com/DCnIaVdlcE
— Christer (@CFuglesang) March 19, 2015
In less fun news, there has been a lot of talk about a couple of space-related hearings in Washington, D.C. that happened earlier this month. Let me break it down into the biggest talking points for you:
1. On March 4th, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden appeared before the "House Appropriations Committee" for a budget hearing. Some folks latched on to a discussion between Bolden and Congressman John Culbertson about whether NASA has a plan for ISS if Russia decides to no longer participate. Given that the program is a joint venture that depends on both parties, it seems to me like an unfair premise.
2. On March 12th, Bolden appeared before the "Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness". One of the big takeaways was Bolden's comments about why the Opportunity's rover's budget is being cancelled in 2016. The Planetary Society has a pretty good explanation of why that is a bad idea.
3. In the same hearing, Bolden was asked by Texas Senator Ted Cruz why NASA spends so much time on Earth science instead of exploring space. Of course, Earth science is part of NASA's core mission. Parabolic Arc explains why Ted Cruz doesn't seem to know what he is talking about.
4. Lastly, the senate held an "Army and Air Force hearing" on March 18th. There was some discussion about the RD-180 engine issues (see my earlier post) and whether the Air Force could provide a replacement by the 2019 deadline. USAF and ULA officials say it is not possible. Some of the senators scolded that no progress has been made. However, Aerojet recently conducted a test of their new AR1 engine, which may be a starting point for a replacement.
In Orbit
I will optimistically put this news in the "in orbit" section: with bids on the CRS-2 (commercial resupply services) contract due, both Lockheed Martin and Sierra Nevada have been promoting their ideas for how to get cargo to and from the ISS. Lockheed Martin has a unique design involving a reusable cargo ferry that stays in orbit and transfers cargo to a rocket stage with a robotic arm. Sierra Nevada is proposing an unmanned variant of their Dreamchaser spaceplane, which recently lost out on the ISS crew transfer contract (CCtCAP).
Speaking of ISS cargo, NASA has extended the contracts with SpaceX and Orbital ATK by a few additional flights in 2017 to close the gap between CRS and CRS-2.
Alright, back to the fun stuff. Up in space, the pretty pictures from the ISS crew just keep on coming:
Captivating view… Progress cargo spaceship ablaze in a ghostly green and red glow. #OurOutpostInSpace pic.twitter.com/bkEykYCM93
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) March 18, 2015
#HappyStPatrickDay with best wishes from the #E43 crew! From space you can see the "Emerald Isle" is very green! pic.twitter.com/cMdhCd0zCb
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) March 17, 2015
An unusual self-portrait in the #cupola. pic.twitter.com/THPGTXvcjE
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) March 16, 2015
#Europe fisheye https://t.co/C5B5lbvKnD
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) March 13, 2015
Today there is a total solar eclipse in the Northern Atlantic and Arctic. Hopefully the astronauts can get some views from the ISS! In fact, Cristoforetti just posted the below picture just a few minutes ago, as I write this.
I think this is it: the umbra. Looking aft on our flightpath around maximum obscuration time. #SolarEclipse pic.twitter.com/rYz7UTpHLv
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) March 20, 2015
Around the Solar System
Recent observations of Jupiter's moon Ganymede using the Hubble Space Telescope confirms the presence of a sub-surface ocean. Wicked.
Meanwhile, Cassini has discovered evidence or hydrothermal activity below the surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.
The MAVEN spacecraft has discovered ultraviolet aurora at Mars.
Out There
There is a new nova in the constellation Sagittarius bright enough to see with binoculars. It was too cloudy this morning in Houston to spot it but I will keep looking!
Weekly Links
Before I get into my recap of what has happened over the past week and a half, I want to make sure to note that tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, there will be two big events covered on NASA TV. First, Orbital ATK will conduct a test firing of a solid rocket motor in support of SLS development. The coverage will start at 11 AM Eastern with the test firing at 11:30 AM. Secondly, Soyuz TMA-14M will undock from the ISS at 6:44 PM Eastern and land at around 10:07 PM in Kazakhstan. There is NASA TV coverage throughout the day, including at 3 PM for hatch closing. Here is the change of command ceremony from earlier today:
Down to Earth
Sci-fi icon Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock on Star Trek) died on February 27th.
"Of all the souls I have encountered.. his was the most human." Thx @TheRealNimoy for bringing Spock to life for us. pic.twitter.com/mE12wLQKrU
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 28, 2015
One of Chris Hadfield's old flight suits (not worn in space) was bought at a random Toronto thrift store. Seriously.
Although SpaceX's lawsuit against the USAF seems to have been resolved, there has been another interesting piece of space legal work going on. SpaceX is suing over Blue Origin's patent on landing a rocket stage on a platform at sea.
United Launch Alliance plans to retire the Delta IV launch vehicle (but not the Heavy variant).
China has made some of their future manned spaceflight plans public, including the launch of a new larger space station next year.
I don't know what to call this other than a "trailer". Check out this video about the LHC starting up again this year:
In Orbit
A USAF weather satellite known as DMSP-13 broke apart at a 500 mile altitude in early February.
On March 1st, SpaceX launched its third Falcon 9 launch of the year. Quite a good pace so far in 2015…
Also on March 1st, astronauts Terry Virts and Butch Wilmore completed the third of their trilogy of spacewalks outside the ISS to "wire up" the US segment for the new docking ports to be delivered starting later this year.
ISS Commander Butch has been posting some excellent Vine's in his last few weeks aboard. Here is a sample (follow @space_station on Twitter or Vine):
"Rise and shine! Full #moon over the Gulf of Mexico. Less than one week before I come home." #AstroButch https://t.co/3nMdEYcdkp
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) March 5, 2015
"From sea to shining sea, the #UnitedStates is a beautiful place to be." #AstroButch #SpaceVine https://t.co/VIQpeTlTop
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) March 8, 2015
Of course, Samantha Cristoforetti has been just as busy on social media. Here is a shot she got of some cubesats recently launched from the Japanese robotic arm on the ISS.
And here they start to go their separate ways! #Cubesats pic.twitter.com/WhbmyL1pZR
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 27, 2015
Around the Solar System
The Dawn spacecraft has reached Ceres! However, as you can see in the animation below, the spacecraft is in a bit of an odd "orbit" above the dark side of the asteroid until early April. That is why we won't get better sunlit images of the asteroid for several weeks.
Check out this awesome shot of Mars' moon Phobos in silhoutte, by India's MOM.
Check out this picture that the Rosetta spacecraft took of its own shadow.
Some scary news from Mars at the end of last month – a short circuit in the instruments at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm caused the missions's flight control team to halt operations for troubleshooting. It sounds like as of this week, they have determined it is safe to continue operations. Excellent!
2015 in space: the year of ______
In my first post looking back on 2014 in space, I discussed how the year in spaceflight might be remembered. A few major events happened that may stick in the public's mind – Rosetta/Philae's comet encounter and the first Orion capsule launch. For the average person, that may be all they remember from last year. Definitely not a banner year for space, although the world rightly celebrated the triumph of landing on a comet for the first time. So not a bad year either. Overall, as I concluded in that earlier post, 2014 was a building year. For those of us who pay closer attention to space news, 2014 was also a year to worry about policy, budgets, and the future of the launch sector, as I wrote about in my second post.
While 2014 was a building year, 2015 looks to be a year of action. Action that goes beyond just NASA and extends to the "New Space" sector, as SpaceX plows forward aggressively, Virgin Galactic attempts to regroup from last year's tragedy, and some lesser-knowns like XCOR might have their first flights.
2015 looks to be an exciting year. The question is not whether it will be an exciting or busy year, but rather, what will grab the public's attention more? Will the old childlike excitement over new discoveries be stirred up by NASA's ambitious missions arriving at Pluto and the asteroid Ceres? Or will the sexy sleek SpaceX rockets – launching ever more frequently – grab the most headlines?
The Year of the Dwarf Planet?
This will be a big year for NASA's planetary science program. 2014 had a lot of great action at Mars. Unfortunately, Mars has a "been there, done that" tone for the general public (perhaps the 2015 release of Ridley Scott's The Martian will help turn that around?). Mars makes headlines if there is a daring rover landing or a manned mission, or of course if we discovered life. Otherwise, Mars is cool, but not front page cool. ESA's Philae landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko proved that robotic exploration is still front page cool, but that it takes a new destination these days. That's exactly why 2015 is exciting. Two robotic missions launched almost a decade ago will rendezvous with their destinations: two unexplored worlds, both newly classified as "dwarf planets" back in 2006. There's a whole new category of world out there which we will get to see for the first time this year.
As I write this, the Dawn spacecraft is mere days away from the March 6th rendezvous with dwarf planet Ceres, king of the asteroid belt. Dawn will go into orbit around the asteroid, where it will stay for the rest of its mission. The popular space blogs have already been getting pretty excited about the high(er) resolution images coming back from the probe, including mysterious bright spots in a crater. Could they be ice geysers? Or something else unexpected?
Much farther from home, the New Horizons probe is now only months away from a July flyby of distant dwarf planet Pluto. New Horizons was launched in 2006; so long ago that the probe was actually launched before the International Astronomical Union (IAU) made its controversial decision to change the definition of "planet." Of course, this sets up for the pithy quip that the probe took so long to get there that when it left, Pluto was a planet! I suppose we will be hearing that line a lot more, come July.
The public loves Pluto. So much so that it make front page news back in 2006 just due to a classification debate. I have no doubt that the public will get pretty excited over the upcoming encounter. The mission has all the drama a good space rendezvous needs: the promise of views of a new world and new discoveries with the very real danger of the probe being destroyed by some rogue undiscovered moon. Success or failure, it's a win-win for the media. People love the tension.
If rendezvous goes well for both Dawn and New Horizons, the American public will be reminded how exciting it is to discover new worlds. That excitement can likely be funneled by NASA and organizations like The Planetary Society into support for future missions like the Europa Clipper. 2015 is a chance for NASA's crown jewel, planetary science, to take center stage.
The Year of SpaceX?
Unfortunately for NASA, Dawn and New Horizons may get overshadowed by the new kid on the block. Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) stands poised to have their busiest year yet. Their manifest calls for somewhere between 12 and 18 launches in 2015. SpaceX only launched 3 rockets in 2013 and doubled that to 6 in 2014. With 3 launches already this year as of March 2nd, I am starting to believe they can double their launch rate again this year.
Of course, a bunch of rocket launches isn't by definition more exciting than the first flyby of Pluto or Ceres. The reason NASA stands to get overshadowed is the story of SpaceX. SpaceX isn't just another rocket company out for profit – they are a product of one billionaire's crazy vision of the future. And 13 years after their founding, with thousands of employees and billion dollar government contracts, the company has somehow stayed focused on their longterm goals. Other startups with dreams of Mars have been called "scams". Meanwhile, SpaceX has proven their technical expertise with the reliability of their Falcon 9 rocket and has become a major player in the industry, continuing to snap up government and private launch contracts. Sexy rockets, an eccentric billionaire, and dreams of Mars. Usually the news is full of negative stories – airplane crashes, war, corrupt politicians, police brutality, racial tensions – but SpaceX is exactly the kind of positive story people love. And SpaceX has manages to hook us in by being just transparent enough to make us take them seriously, but also keep us guessing. For instance, the SpaceX twitter feed was fairly silent through much of December as they tried to launched their fifth resupply flight to ISS. Then 6 days after this launch they posted this incredible Vine of their failure to land the first stage safely on their autonomous drone ship. I don't know about you, but I've watched it about a thousand times.
Close, but no cigar. This time. https://t.co/JowUE6a1D7
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 16, 2015
Besides a record number of launches, here are a few of the things SpaceX is planning to do this year:
- four missions to resupply the International Space Station
- build a new hangar and launch tower for crew launches in Florida
- build a new spaceport near South Padre Island in Texas
- pad abort tests for new Dragon V2
- land a rocket on an autonomous drone ship (minus the explosion)
- the first demo launch of the new Falcon Heavy rocket
New Space has been on a slow crawl for years, full of promise but few results. With Virgin Galactic likely out of commission for at least many more months and no planned launches in the Google Lunar X Prize competition until 2016, SpaceX is seemingly alone in the New Space business – at least as far as going to space is concerned. All the buzz about mining asteroids, billionaire funded flybys of Mars, and crowd-sourced space missions seems to have faded into the background noise. A lot of people seem to have the attitude of "I'll believe it when I see it," myself included. But even the cynics and naysayers have to be impressed by SpaceX's continued progress. If they can achieve most of their goals for this year while continuing to fly safely and reliably, it just might be the year of SpaceX.
The Year of ISS?
As if dwarf planets and SpaceX aren't enough, I think there is a third possibility for the biggest story of 2015. In fact, it made front page news before 2015 even started. In case you missed it, here was the cover of Time for their "2015: the year ahead" issue.
What's the big deal? Astronauts have been living and working on the ISS non-stop since November 2000. The following major world events have all happened with a continuous human presence in space (from Futuretimeline.net and Wikipedia): George Bush sworn in, terrorist attack on 9/11/01, iPod launched, iPhone launched, Space Shuttle Columbia lost, invasion of Iraq, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, three summer Olympic Games, four FIFA World Cup Finals, the Great Recession, Barack Obama sworn in, Burj Khalifa constructed, two new Popes, and all 7 Harry Potter films released.
Ok, maybe I got a little carried away. The point is, astronauts living and working on the ISS is nothing new. Even the story of the Kelly twins – a major focus of the Time issue – is not new. Scott Kelly already commanded the ISS once during Expedition 26 and Mark Kelly, husband of Gabby Giffords, commanded STS-134. But just like the two NASA probes visiting new worlds this year, Scott Kelly's missions is new territory for NASA. His stay aboard the ISS of almost a year will beat the next longest flight by an American by over four months. America loves a hero figures and pioneers. So when Commander Kelly got a personal invitation to the State of the Union Address, he got the biggest ovation of the night.
Having a single human face to connect with the space program this year may bring more attention to NASA than we have seen in a while. Only half a decade ago, the ISS was thought of by a good segment of the space community as a "white elephant" that sucked up money and the public largely didn't know it existed (or would be reminded and then promptly forget). Now the ISS is featured in major motion pictures like Gravity and video games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. NASA public affairs has embraced social media and at least one member of every space station crew regularly tweets stunning views and thoughts from space. When school kids or the morning news shows get to interview the astronauts on ISS, no one ever asks "is the space station a waste of money?" Instead they ask, "what is it like?"
Scott Kelly won't be the only famous face people will connect with the ISS this year. In September 2015 the next space tourist, Sarah Brightman, will launch to the ISS as part of a "ferry crew". She will spend less than 2 weeks in space while crews and Soyuz capsules are shuffled on the ISS – Scott Kelly's long stay will mess up the regular and predictable 4 month cycle of 3-person crews. Brightman will be the first tourist on the ISS since Guy Laliberte in 2009. While she is not exactly a household name, people love to talk about rich people and the expensive things they buy. What is more glamorous than paying your way into space? A human story is just what NASA needs to bring attention to the ISS, and NASA has two of those stories this year. If Mark Kelly is open to media interviews while he goes through the same experiments as his brother, it may even make an interesting recurring story in the media, if it gets picked up. It could be a big story – or maybe the ISS was only front page news for one week at the beginning of the year? We will have to wait and see!
Of course, there is a lot more that might happen this year. The XCOR Lynx spaceplane may take flight finally; Virgin Galactic may return to flight; Curiosity may continue to build a case for organics on Mars; the Philae lander may wake up as comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko approaches the sun. Going in to 2014, it was predictable that the Rosetta mission and Philae lander would be a big story. But nobody predicted that 2014 would be largely remembered for two major spaceflight accidents, nor that a lot of sweat would be spent on the impacts to the launch sector from deteriorating international relations in Eastern Europe.
Although the unexpected may happen, I'm kind of hoping for a predictable year with lots of success and increasing media and public attention. I want to learn some new and surprising things about Ceres and Pluto while also checking Twitter every day for some stunning Earth views posted by Commander Kelly. I want to see thousands of people flock to the Space Coast for an on time launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Space exploration of all kinds is a great positive endeavor for us to share as a society, especially as a seemingly improving economy opens up space in our culture to look outward. I think a good year in all sectors of spaceflight could lead to even more bipartisan support of manned and robotic exploration alike in the NASA budget, and we can start to see a way out of the woods towards a clear space policy. Or I could be wrong, and distractions like the upcoming 2016 US presidential election could keep us in limbo for a while longer. What I like about the future is that anything is possible. Either way, I get to find out what those bright spots on Ceres are in just 4 days. Are you excited too?
Weekly Links
Down to Earth
Hungary is the newest member of the European Space Agency (ESA). With the addition of Hungary and Estonia, ESA will need to revise their astronauts' flag-covered shoulder patch (seen below on Andre Kuipers' flight suit).
Since I mentioned ESA, it is always nice to share their Week in Images post.
The Intelsat 603 satellite, which was rescued to a higher orbit on the first 3-person EVA on STS-49 in 1992, has been disposed of in a "graveyard orbit".
Eddie Redmayne, who won the Oscar for best actor last weekend, is a NASA supporter.
It's a rare week that goes by without some news related to SpaceX worth mentioning. A few things this week. First, SpaceX has a new contract with SES for the launch of two communications satellites which may be the first to launch from the new facility in the Southernmost part of Texas. Secondly, SpaceX has started construction of their hangar near launchpad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. 39A is one of the two historic launchpads built for the Apollo program and also used during the Space Shuttle program. Lastly, SpaceX will be launching their next Falcon 9 rocket in a few days. The current date is listed by Spaceflight Now with an uncertain "March 1/2″. This launch is of commercial payloads and will liftoff from Florida.
In Orbit
No notable rocket launches this week, except for a Russian military satellite on a Soyuz rocket, which launched this morning. Instead, there was another spacewalk up on the ISS. Terry Virts and ISS Commander Butch Wilmore have one more spacewalk this coming weekend to finish out their tasks laying cable for future commercial crew dockings.
#AstroButch in the vacuum of space today. #spacewalk pic.twitter.com/kXcdvk4t7e
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 25, 2015
Speaking of the ISS, the Russian Federal Space Agency (I'm not sure what to call it, as they are in the middle of a re-organization) announced this week that they now intend to continue ISS operations through 2024. Previously, Russia had only committed through 2020, so this is good news.
The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, launched by NASA on a Delta II rocket earlier this year, deployed its impressive sensing array this week and is getting ready to start its science campaign. Here's an animation of what it would have looked like.
Around the Solar System
NASA's Curiosity rover took an impressive self-portrait (or "selfie", if you must) of its current location on the foothills of Mount Sharp on Mars. Curiosity is currently at a site called Pahrump Hills where it has been drilling various rocks.
Meanwhile, out in the asteroid belt, NASA's Dawn spacecraft is just a week away from entering orbit around Ceres, the largest asteroid. The pictures coming down are already remarkable and include a strange pair of bright spots in a crater.
Weekly Links
Down to Earth
A ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony at Cape Canaveral signaled the start of construction on a new crew access tower for eventual manned launches of the Boeing CST-100 atop United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets. The tower is at Launch Complex 41, which is technically on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, not Kennedy Space Center.
Also at the Cape in Florida, SpaceX has signed a lease with the U.S. Air Force to land Falcon 9 rocket stages at Launch Complex 13, which is currently not used for anything else.
The Mars One project has reduced their list of candidates for the first one way trip to Mars down to 100 candidates. If you forgot who Mars One is, they are the company that will air the last rounds of astronaut selection as a reality TV show as a way to fund their mission. However, you can color me skeptical whether that is a sound financial plan to fund a multi-billion dollar mission. Here is the list of 100 candidates from the Mars One website.
A recent poll reveals that most Americans apparently would not take a free ride to space.
In Orbit
Some more action up on the ISS last week. A Russian Progress resupply spacecraft launched from Kazakhstan and docked just 6 hours later.
Then on Saturday the first of three spacewalks of Expedition 42 went off with out a hitch when Butch Wilmore and Terry Virts spent almost 7 hours reconfiguring the front docking port of the ISS. There is a great detailed summary at AmericaSpace. The next spacewalk will be this coming Wednesday.
Finally, at very end of the spacewalk @AstroTerry was visibile from the Cupola. Now time to get them back inside! pic.twitter.com/PzodrL1C0H
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 21, 2015
On my way inside at the end of a long and successful #spacewalk- thanks #AstroButch for a great pic! pic.twitter.com/4t4RTKEMOy
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 22, 2015
My first ever spacewalk today- AWESOME!!! pic.twitter.com/yYzQcasJ6L
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 22, 2015
Around the Solar System
If you have heard the strange news about an unexplained "plume" seen high in the Martian atmosphere, you heard right. Astronomers aren't sure what it is… could it be a high altitude dust storm or auroral activity? I hope they can figure it out!
Check out this "trailer" for a mission concept from NASA for a submarine on Titan. Awesome.
Weekly Links
Down To Earth
Some good stuff from NASA's astronaut office this week. First, the members of ISS Expeditions 48, 49, and 50 were announced. The crews have some veterans such as Jeffrey Williams and Peggy Whitson but also some rookies such as Katie Rubins and Takuya Onishi. Then, the Expedition 45 crew gave us this awesome mission promo poster.
Arianespace scooped some recent commercial launch contracts that SpaceX probably would have liked to win. Interestingly, the two companies each won 7 new contracts last year.
Items from a long-forgotten bag of odds and ends from the Apollo 11 mission are on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The bag was found in Neil Armstrong's closet by his widow. You can't make this stuff up!
In Orbit
It has been a busy week in space! On Tuesday, SpaceX brought home a Dragon capsule from the ISS and then a day later launched another Falcon 9 rocket, this time with NOAA's DSCOVR spacecraft. The launch was at just about sunset making for some great pictures, which are all over the internet: Spaceflight Now has some good ones, or you can just browse Twitter.
Relive Wednesday's sunset launch in photos → http://t.co/TTlXYEaKHV pic.twitter.com/JIOwsPcJGm
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 13, 2015
Also on Wednesday, ESA launched a Vega rocket on a suborbital test mission of a small reusable spaceplane-like spacecraft (technically a "lifting body"). Watch how fast this rocket jumps off the pad!
#IXV safely aboard recovery ship, in great shape! Heading back to Europe for full analysis. http://t.co/TRovBGUlCS pic.twitter.com/5t39ZXM57L
— ESA (@esa) February 12, 2015
The excitement extended into the weekend, with the departure of ESA's last ATV cargo vehicle from ISS this morning. Here is the final status report from the ATV mission manager from prior to undocking. Unfortunately, the undocking was during orbital night so it is hard to find any good pictures. Here you can see ATV's navigation lights shining in the darkness.
Hey #SpaceInvader, #ATV5 just left #ISS… wasn't that the spacecraft that brought you up here? #space2iss pic.twitter.com/LtUxXO4raR
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 14, 2015
Next week a new Progress cargo vehicle will launch from Kazakhstan taking ATV's place at the aft port of ISS. Then late in the week, Barry Wilmore and Terry Virts will step outside on the first of three upcoming spacewalks.
With such a busy and memorable week for ESA, it would be remiss of me not to share their Week in Images post!
And of course Terry and Samantha continue to take amazing photos of the Earth and post them quickly on Twitter for us to enjoy! Here is your weekly selection:
Not far from Timbuktu in Mali, the river Niger splits in many streams, highlighted by the sunglint. pic.twitter.com/1n1fmTUaDZ
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 11, 2015
Final stretch for the #Ganges river, most sacred river to Hindus.#HelloEarth pic.twitter.com/8xUQdQkYh1
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 13, 2015
There are things that only the darkness can frame. Turn off the light and turn on the imagination. #MilluminoDiMeno. pic.twitter.com/kHzNRZrcFW
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 13, 2015
bright and sunny day in #NewOrleans pic.twitter.com/UZvsj1kfkt
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 13, 2015
#LongIsland pic.twitter.com/2vjHrcX4CA
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 14, 2015
#Boston pic.twitter.com/braEhRU0Of
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 14, 2015
And a #Florida pic after all the snow, to give people hope for spring. Pitchers and catchers report soon… pic.twitter.com/FDUnkczZ8x
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 14, 2015
Around the Solar System
As always, the rover Opportunity is slowly trudging along on Mars. She is approaching "Marathon Valley," the point where her odometer will reach 26.2 miles. At over 11 years, her time won't break any records; but she sure is determined.
Because it's Cool
Two new episodes of Phil Plait's Crash Course Astronomy are up!
Weekly Links
Down to Earth
Last week the European Space Agency welcomed Estonia as their newest member.
Last Monday, February 2, was "Budget day" with the President of the United States announcing his budget proposal for 2016, which includes an $18.5 billion request for NASA. The 2015 budget is at just over $18 billion – so this would be a welcome increase, if approved. Some of the highlights were the apparent canceling or shutting down of the Mars rover Opportunity, the continued commitment to a mission to Europa, and a request for a significant increase to "commercial crew" funding. Here's the detailed dollar-by-dollar breakdown from NASA if you are interested.
While waiting for the commercial crew program to bear fruit, NASA has purchased additional Soyuz seats to the ISS for 2018, just in case.
ESA's IXV test vehicle is now atop the Vega rocket for launch later this week.
In Orbit
Today is shaping up to be "SpaceX day". SpaceX's Dragon is still in orbit at the International Space Station for a few more hours. Later today it will be leaving the ISS and splashing down in the Pacific near a waiting recovery ship. Less than two hours earlier a Falcon 9 rocket will launch from Florida putting NOAA's DSCOVER mission on its way to the Earth-Sun L1 point. Another recovery team will be waiting in the Atlantic for the rocket's first stage to hopefully touch down on their "autonomous spaceport drone ship".
Back on February 2nd, Iran successfully launched a test satellite to orbit, marking the 6th successful launch of 2015 and Iran's second orbital launch (the first was in 2009).
And of course the busy astronauts on the ISS have continued to share their perspective with us:
I never get tired of taking pics of the #Bahamas! / (IT) Non mi stanco mai di fotografare le #Bahamas! #HelloEarth pic.twitter.com/FOvcX5tNqb
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 10, 2015
Hello #California! Salton sea and the Imperial Valley. What a contrast of landscapes. pic.twitter.com/PoPKPM6MX6
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) February 9, 2015
.@AstroSamantha and I kick off a year of "reconfig", preparing for multiple docked cargo and manned vehicles pic.twitter.com/9dWcGXKXnn
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 9, 2015
The white dots in the blue water are a group of South Atlantic icebergs pic.twitter.com/HPmk0W6qNi
— Anton Shkaplerov (@AntonAstrey) February 9, 2015
#Moscow shining like a bright star under the aurora pic.twitter.com/8W0MUoj1Mj
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) February 8, 2015
Around the Solar System
The New Horizons probe sent back some awesome new photos of Pluto and its moon Charon.
The always impressive Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) took a picture of the Curiosity rover on Mars, busy at work at the Pahrump Hills. Here's the ground-level view from the rover:
Weekly Links
Down to Earth
February 2nd is "budget day": when NASA will announce the preliminary 2016 budget request for the agency as proposed by the White House.
Rookie European astronaut Andreas Mogensen has been posting video blogs of his training for launch. The latest entry is posted from Moscow and focuses on the Sokol spacesuit which is worn in the Soyuz.
The European Space Agency has a new unmanned spaceplane they plan to launch on a technology demonstration on February 11th. The IXV, or Intermediate Experimental Vehicle, has been undergoing launch preparations at the launch site in French Guinea.
Speaking of ESA, here's their Week In Images, which is always a good click.
SpaceX has announced in a statement on their website that they are essentially dropping their lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force over the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) contract which awarded 36 rocket launches to United Launch Alliance (ULA). SpaceX and USAF have apparently made a deal which allows USAF to honor current contracts with ULA but also work to certify SpaceX's rockets soon and open competition to them for future payloads.
SpaceX also released a new animation to stir up excitement for the first test flight of their Falcon Heavy rocket later this year.
And in the last SpaceX news from last week, the company completed a static fire test on the launch pad in Florida in preparation for their next launch on February 8.
The Planetary Society has secured a launch aboard an Atlas V rocket this May for their LightSail solar sailing prototype. I am super excited for this mission! Check out this great video explaining the spacecraft.
In Orbit
Last week Wednesday, the ISS did a "deboost", or an orbital correction maneuver to slow/lower the orbit. Usually we do reboosts to keep the orbit higher as the ISS is slowly degraded due to drag. In this particular case, the trajectory officers found a deboost the best solution for upcoming trajectory needs, and we had the extra propellant that we could afford it. I was lucky enough to be assigned the early morning shift on Wednesday to command the OPM (Optimized Propellant Maneuver) to spin the ISS around in preparation for the burn – which went well later in the day.
ISS astronauts got some nice photography of the blizzard that hit the US east coast last week:
And here is a selection of a few other great shots from ISS over the last week. If you want to follow Twitter posts from the ISS, follow my list, "people in space," which I will always have updated with any astronauts who are tweeting from ISS.
I wish I could bring all of you up to see this! pic.twitter.com/V1AizkRjqj
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) January 31, 2015
Tropical cyclone #Eunice this afternoon. Sinister look! Il ciclone tropicale Eunice, ha un aspetto sinistro! pic.twitter.com/5bYj2AUwjl
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) January 30, 2015
The beginning of the outback- central Australia looking west pic.twitter.com/dw8UGbeB92
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) January 29, 2015
Three little atolls in a row – jewels of the ocean! / (IT) Tre piccoli atolli in riga come gioielli nell'oceano! pic.twitter.com/szhL45QGVm
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) January 28, 2015
The ISS over Mauritania. Eye of the Sahara (The Richat Structure) is easy to see even from the space. pic.twitter.com/cpxZU6VrmW
— Anton Shkaplerov (@AntonAstrey) January 27, 2015
Three launches occurred in the last week, bringing this year's total up to 5 launches. NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Earth-observing satellite was the third launch of the year – and third from the US – but almost didn't beat a Japanese launch and then a Russian launch due to a scrub first for weather and then for technical issues. They finally got off the ground from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday morning. Here's a video.
The other two launches were this morning, Sunday, February 1st. Japan launches a spy satellite on an H-2A rocket (the same rocket that sends the HTV cargo vehicle to ISS) and Russia launched a communications satellite on a Proton rocket from Kazakhstan. This was the 5th successful Proton flight since their most recent failure last May.
Around the Solar System
Newly released high resolution images from the Rosetta spacecraft reveal a rather large crack in the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Could the comet split in two when it gets closer to the sun? Exciting!
The image release also included some new shots of the Philae lander descending to the comet from the perspective of the orbiter.
Last Monday a rather large asteroid named 2004 BL86 flew by the Earth at about 3 lunar distances (750,000 miles). The asteroid is 325 meters (1,066 feet) in diameter and has a tiny moon! Check out this radar imagery from NASA's Goldstone antenna:
As NASA's Dawn spacecraft gets closer and closer to the solar system's largest asteroid, Ceres, it is now returning images of the world that are better than what Hubble has shown us in the past.
Pop Space
Adidas is releasing a spacesuit-inspired shoe.
Phil Plait's Crash Course Astronomy Episode 3 is up:
Weekly Links
Down to Earth
Last week SpaceX secured a $1 billion dollar investment from Google and Fidelity. Google's interest in the company is supposedly tied to their plans for an Earth-wide satellite internet system.
Orbital Sciences has signed a contract with RSC Energia (the Russian state-owned corporation which includes NPO Energomash) to purchase enough RD-181 rocket engines to power 10 Antares flights. The engine replacement is needed to replace the AJ-26 engines which are implicated in the loss of an ISS cargo resupply mission last October.
British singer Sarah Brightman has started her cosmonaut training in Russia. She will launch to ISS for ten days later this year.
In Orbit
If you aren't on Google+, one reason to join is to follow Samantha Cristoforetti's posts from the ISS. She posts almost-daily updates on how her mission is going, which is a pretty good read. Her most recent posts include a summary of the false emergency last week and a cool student robotics competition they hosted onboard.
These nighttime photos of cyclone Bansi are some of the most amazing pieces of Earth photography I have ever seen from the ISS.
#Bansi a few days ago, w/ lighting brightening up the eye of the cyclone. #Bansi con l'occhio del ciclone illuminato. pic.twitter.com/jzgUT4v6sc
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) January 17, 2015
And a look from above into the eye of the cyclone! E uno sguardo dall'alto nell'occhio del ciclone. #Bansi pic.twitter.com/1IKScsJekl
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) January 17, 2015
Here is an interesting pair of photos from Terry Virts.
A beautiful night pass tonight over Seoul, South Korea pic.twitter.com/hsKZ7izTK3
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) January 20, 2015
And here is Pyongyang, North Korea. pic.twitter.com/iewBFc4zYc
— Terry W. Virts (@AstroTerry) January 20, 2015
The Atlas V launch of a Navy communications satellite was successful on January 20th. This was the second orbital launch of the year, following SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch on January 10th.
Coming up this week, NASA's Soil Moistive Active Passive (SMAP) satellite will launch on a Delta II rocket from Florida on Thursday, January 29th.
Pop Space
Phil Plait's new web series, Crash Course Astronomy, kicked off. Here are links to episodes 1 and 2:
Patrick Stewart was announced as the narrator for the new Journey to Space film which is coming out next month. Here is the trailer, which was released last month (and does not feature Stewart). I am excited for this!
2014 in review – Part II
This is the second in a series of posts reviewing the year 2014 in spaceflight. Here is a link to Part I.
If you read my blog it's because you are a lover of space, or you are my mom (hi mom!). So I assume you are not offended by the limited focus of this small slice of the internet. There are of course other things going on in the world besides rockets launching and people flying in space. And even I admit that in many cases those things are more important. For instance, the January 7th terrorist attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo commanded the world's attention, and rightly so. Such a tragic and visible event is an important moment in the history of our culture – the way we choose to respond says something about how we value our free speech (or not).
The year of 2014 had its share of world events that command more attention than what I write about in this blog. From the threat of ISIS in the middle east, the winter olympics in Sochi, Russia, Ebola virus outbreaks in West Africa, the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and the normalization of US-Cuba relations, it was a busy year (it's nice to see the Rosetta comet mission on some lists of major world events).
In the same way that my space blog almost completely ignores these events to stay on point, I think the space community at large tends to insulate itself from the outside world. As you might imagine, this can have its downsides. The world is connected, and as much as we want, the fun things we do in space are affected by the rest of the world. Fans of NASA know this as they watch the yo-yo-ing of NASA's slice of the federal budget over the years. I think 2014 drove this lesson home in a way fans of spaceflight hadn't been expecting. When Russia invaded Crimea in late February, most space fans weren't thinking of a connection. We were busy talking about Orbital Sciences' successful cargo mission to ISS or looking at pictures of SpaceX's new rocket with legs. It took until April for "reality" to catch up with us.
Part II – Of trampolines and rockets
In early April, the US state department instructed NASA to cut all contact with Russia. This would of course be very concerning – and hard for the space community to tune out – except for that the ISS program was exempted. The ISS of course being the one major ongoing collaboration between our two space programs. The only other example I can think of is that NASA and Roscosmos are both involved in the ESA-led ExoMars mission.
Things really got interesting when Dmitri Rogozin, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, tweeted "After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest to the USA to bring their astronauts to the International Space Station using a trampoline." Most Americans wouldn't have even heard about it – after all, it was tweeted in Cyrillic – except it was too pithy a jab to go unnoticed by American media. In light of the geopolitcal tensions between our nations that had been brewing since February, it was a juicy new angle – Russia might not let American astronauts fly on their Soyuz. It didn't matter that most Americans hadn't heard of Rogozin before, if he was saying that he would cut America off from the ISS, it must mean he could. He said it on Twitter, after all.
Проанализировав санкции против нашего космопрома, предлагаю США доставлять своих астронавтов на МКС с помощью батута http://t.co/8zGQhr9GVi
— Dmitry Rogozin (@Rogozin) April 29, 2014
It seemed that although the US had exempted the ISS program, Russian officials weren't taking it off the table as a political chess piece. Rogozin's anger stemmed from the fact that he was individually targeted in the recent sanctions from the US against Russia for their actions in Ukraine. As ABC News reported,
The sanctions freeze any assets under American jurisdiction and prevent American banks from doing business with the named individual, essentially freezing them out of the international banking system. The sanctions also impose a ban on their travel to the United States.
As Deputy Prime Minister, Rogozin is responsible for the entire Russian space program, including the state-owned corporation NPO Energomash, which produces the RD-180 rocket engine used by the American company United Launch Alliance (ULA) to launch US Department of Defense satellites with the Atlas V rocket… see where this is going?
However, nowhere in the sanctions against Rogozin are the companies and agency's he manages directly called out. Business was going on as usual in the space industry up to this point (the NASA ban on Russian cooperation doesn't apply to a private company, ULA, buying rocket engines). So, the question still stands, what set off Rogozin to author the trampoline tweet?
Enter Elon Musk and his company SpaceX, whose lawyers filed a lawsuit against the government (specifically, the U.S. Air Force) challenging a 36-rocket "block buy" contract with ULA. The main premise of the suit was that the contract was unfair and lacked competition (meaning of course, that SpaceX did not have a chance to offer a bid). Among other statements at the press conference announcing the suit, Musk is quoted as saying (from SpacePolitics.com):
How is it that we're sending hundreds of millions of US taxpayers' money at a time when Russia is in the process of invading Ukraine? It would be hard to imagine that Dmitry Rogozin is not benefiting personally from the dollars that are being sent there. On the surface of it, it appears that there's a good probability of some kind of sanctions violation.
It seems that Elon Musk stoked the fire here, complaining that ULA's use of the RD-180, a powerful engine built and sold by NPO Energomash, should not be allowed during this time of geopolitical tension with Russia. Hard to argue with his logic, isn't it? A few days after the lawsuit was filed and Elon Musk's press conference, Rogozin posted his famous tweet. The next day, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued an injunction saying that ULA could not purchase more RD-180 engines from NPO Energomash for Department of Defense rocket launches, citing the sanctions against Rogozin. Your move Dmitri.
How is it that Elon Musk, with his 12-year-old rocket company, had amassed enough influence to directly affect international relations between two of the biggest world powers? Granted, Musk is a billionaire, but his company is just a rocket company, not a media conglomerate or oil company, the traditional ways to have political influence as a rich guy. Founded in 2002, you wouldn't think that SpaceX has a huge share of the world launch market. They have only 19 launches under their belt (a few of which were failures); compare that to the 14 successful launches from ULA just in 2014[1]. A big part of SpaceX's quick rise surely comes from the intriguing personality of Elon Musk, whose vision and ideas capture the imagination of the young generation. His tenacity and commitment to his dreams make it hard to root against him – his three current big ventures (SpaceX, Tesla, and Solar City), if successful, seem to have a clear benefit for society. But this really only explains the cult of SpaceX, not its influence on a political level. To understand why SpaceX is in such a position of influence takes a revelation about the "launch services sector" (or, the rocket business), that I don't think most people understand; I don't think I got it until last year either.
Not to get too technical, but the revelation becomes clear with just a little bit of Wikipedia research. Forgive me for making you look at a data table, but I think it tells the story better than a bunch of links. Let's say you work for Iridium, the satellite phone service company, and you need to buy a rocket to launch a new satellite. If your satellite weighs around 689 kg, then there are only 21 types of rockets in the world that have the power, and a lot of them aren't for sale. Here's the list:
The first thing that should jump out at you is that there are only three companies from the United States that can launch medium-sized satellites. Fortunately for the folks at Iridium, their satellites are not military, and the company has utilized American, Russian, and even Chinese rockets to build their global sat-phone network.
In another scenario, you work at the Pentagon and need to find a large rocket to launch a secret spy satellite that weighs between 2,000 and 3,000 kg. Not only do your options get more limited (the Indian GSLV and Orbital Minotaur fall off the list, among others) but you are going to have to use an American company. You won't be allowed to ship a secret satellite out of the country for launch, obviously.
So now your options are down to the three American companies, all of which have rockets that can launch your big spy satellite. However, if our scenario occurs before 2008, before the first Falcon 9 or Antares flight, there was only one choice – ULA. This is the revelation that 2014 made clear to me. We are 50 years into the "space age" but our grasp on space is hanging on by one company's monopoly and just a few rocket designs. Until the Falcon 9 and Antares rockets, every major government launch – NASA, Air Force, NOAA, or other military – was on either a ULA rocket (or predecessors), or a Space Shuttle. If space is the frontier, then ULA is Union Pacific at Promontory Point.
So, three choices is pretty good, right? It's better than we get in our presidential elections here in the US. Well, the problem is that although 2008 is 7 iPhone versions ago, it is very recent in terms of the space industry. As of April 2014, Orbital Sciences was not pursuing military payloads and SpaceX had not yet received certification from the USAF for their Falcon 9 version 1.1 rocket. ULA was the only game in town for the Pentagon, but SpaceX expected that to change soon, as they had successfully launched the CRS-3 mission to the ISS on April 18th, the all-important third flight needed as part of the certification process. The Russian sanctions and push back from Rogozin could not have been happening at a better time for SpaceX, who appeared to be on the verge of becoming a real direct competitor to ULA. SpaceX is an American company, using American-built rocket engines, seen to be on the verge of being able to fully replace America's areas of dependence on Russia in space. Keep in mind that the Atlas V was also in the pipe to be the launch vehicle for both Boeing and Sierra Nevada if they were to be awarded commercial crew contracts to the ISS. It seemed everything about the US launch sector was wrapped up in this issue. You can bet Musk was going to take advantage of it.
Sounds like this might be a good time to unveil the new Dragon Mk 2 spaceship that @SpaceX has been working on w @NASA. No trampoline needed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2014
The story didn't end on April 30th with the injunction against he RD-180 engine. That should be obvious from the way Rogozin responded to Elon Musk's comments days before. Unfortunately for SpaceX's political goals, the injunction against the RD-180 engines was lifted by the court about a week later. Just as things were seeming to thaw out, Rogozin hit Twitter again.
Russia is ready to continue deliveries of RD-180 engines to the US only under the guarantee that they won't (cont) http://t.co/xsr0zuGxBY
— Dmitry Rogozin (@DRogozin) May 13, 2014
Russia is ready to continue deliveries of RD-180 engines to the us only under the guarantee that they won't be used in the interests of the Pentagon."
@fka_roscosmos doesn't plan to continue cooperation with the US on the ISS after 2020
— Dmitry Rogozin (@DRogozin) May 13, 2014
Roscosmos doesn't plan to continue cooperation with the US on the ISS after 2020
It may be tempting to dismiss Rogozin's comments as just posturing on Twitter. However, they came after the topics were discussed at more length at a Russian press conference, and led directly to debate in the U.S. Senate and a letter from Congressmen to NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden questioning how he plans to deal with these threats. It just goes to show that what's most important is who says something, not how. And although a National Reconnaissance Office payload launched on an Atlas V on May 19 with no apparent political repercussions, Rogozin's inflammatory remarks had done their job. An "RD-180 Study Group" was busy investigating the impacts of a potential loss of the RD-180 engine, which recommended allocating funds to develop a new engine. This would turn into a funding debate for the rest of 2015. Ultimately, the 2015 budget passed in December included $220 million to start designing an RD-180 replacement.
In the meantime, over at NASA, things never got much more heated than they were back in April and May. In fact, in August there were reports out of Russia from Roscosmos officials that ISS would likely be operated past 2020. But the "trampoline tweet" was ingrained in the community's mind. Fortunately, optimism was available later in the year when NASA announced that the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts would go to Boeing for the CST-100 and SpaceX for the Dragon V2. It's no surprise that SpaceX was included as one of the remaining two options – if NASA had gone with both Boeing and Sierra Nevada then NASA astronauts would be flying atop Atlas V's starting in 2017, powered by RD-180 engines. Sierra Nevada immediately protested the award, but the protest was recently thrown out in January 2015.
Optimism turned to shock when on October 28th an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket, carrying cargo to the ISS, exploded spectacularly just seconds after liftoff.
If you remember from our earlier chart, the Antares is the other large US rocket powered by foreign technology. The first stage engine for the Antares is the AJ-26, which is really just the Ukranian NK-33 imported by Aerojet Rocketdyne and refurbished. These imported engines were literally built decades ago, but are an affordable and well-built option. The seemingly excessive use of Russian or Ukranian engines in the US launch sector isn't for nothing – the Soviets were darn good at building rocket engines, and that expertise has continued to today.
Earlier in the year an AJ-26 blew up on a test stand, but a successful launch of a mission to ISS in July eased everyone's concerns. Things seemed to be going well for "commercial space" – SpaceX had recently launched their sixth and final Falcon 9 flight of the year – but everyone immediately thought of that old Soviet NK-33 engine the moment they saw the Antares rocket raining down in flames.
The loss of that Antares rocket unfortunately will be the lasting memory of 2014, a year of uncertainty and debate for rocket companies in the US. While Orbital Sciences has announced a path forward, it doesn't help answer many of the questions raised by events of the past year. Orbital announced in December that it would fly at least its next ISS resupply mission on an Atlas V (yes, that Atlas V) while it works on a plan to replace the aging AJ-26 engines on its own Antares rocket. And finally, in January 2015, Orbital announced it had made a deal with NPO Energomash (yes, that NPO Energomash) to purchase RD-181 engines to power future versions of the Antares, hopefully with a first flight sometime in 2016.
So you can see the tricky spot the industry is left in at the beginning of 2015. Despite Russia not being a political ally of the United States, Russian rocket engines continue to be an important workhorse for American launches – both military and civil – and operations of the ISS cannot continue without Russian cooperation (by design). The good news is that the issues from 2014 are mostly reasons just to be cautious and concerned about the future, and to lay plans accordingly. No scary outcome, like an actual embargo against NASA astronauts flying on a Soyuz, seems at all likely. ISS operations continue as always, and those of us working on the program have not seen any real signs that that won't continue for the life of the space station. Atlas V rocket launches – powered by Russian RD-180 engines – continue apace with no signs of stopping. In fact, an Atlas V will launch from Florida tomorrow night with the MUOS-3 reconnaissance payload.
In 2015, the Falcon 9 rocket is expected to achieve Air Force certification, and hopefully the ongoing lawsuit that SpaceX started in April of last year will be resolved. Will SpaceX win and break the monopoly held by ULA? Also, the next phase of the ISS commercial cargo contract will be awarded by NASA. Will the award go to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to maintain the status quo? Or will Orbital's launch vehicle uncertainty open the door for a new player like Sierra Nevada? Either way that contract goes, the only fully domestic option available to NASA seems to be SpaceX. All of these questions involve SpaceX in one way or another and the answers will color the future of the rocket launching business in America.
[1] – ULA has actually only existed since 2006, but the parent companies – Lockheed Martin and Boeing – have a long-standing relationship with the U.S. Air Force. The current suite of ULA rockets are part of the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program (EELV) which was started in the mid 1990's.


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Gender: Female
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Bio: Bio? ok... Im a fun chick that loves rock music!!! and totally loves ythe outdoors!!! yet i can be girly sometimes hehe. i sappose im fun, otherwise i wouldnt have friends hahaha. but my friends say im phsycho... They are probably right haha, but yeah, got to live life to the max!!!!

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What's the fastest way to serve static files in Python? I'm looking for something equal or close enough to Nginx's static file serving.
I know of SimpleHTTPServer but not sure if it can handle serving multiple files efficiently and reliably.
Also, I don't mind it being a part of a lib/framework of some sort as long as its lib/framework is lightweight.


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Ryan Fitzpatrick QB NYJ Nov 02 '782 Comments
WR Stevie Johnson said he wants the Bills to bring in competition for Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Gridiron-IQ Nov 04 '78
Ohhh BURN!!!!
joegibbskins07 Nov 02 '78
so what he is saying without outright saying it is he dont like his QB or his QB is not good enouph. dont be scared Stevie. just say it.


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If you see a property you're interested in, contact a Hutto real estate agent to arrange a tour today!
Learn more about Hutto Real Estate.
Beautiful like new Megatel built home in the desirable Park at Brushy Creek. Popular open plan with gorgeous oversized covered patio and designer architectural details throughout. Gourmet kitchen includes granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, tiled backsplash with 42" upper cabinets and under mount sink. Luxurious Master bedroom and bath with garden tub and separate shower and HUGE walk in closet. Great neighborhood amenities with quick access to 130 toll and shopping. Don't miss this one!
BEAUTIFUL finishes inside. Landlord is large breed friendly! Refrigerator, Washer, Dryer available if needed.
This quality built, beautiful two story Redwood design comes with lots of upgrades. The large kitchen has a center island and granite countertops with upgraded cabinets and tile. The community has a large park with fun play scape.
This quality built, beautiful two story Sycamore design comes with lots of upgrades. The large kitchen has a center island and granite countertops with upgraded cabinets and tile. The community has a large park with fun play scape.
NO pets. Available for immediate move in. Prefer lease to run to June 30,2015. Walking distance to Nadine Elementary and Hutto High New flooring and paint throughout. No carpet! Nice open floor plan with in-law layout. Large Kitchen and extra room up front for a study or formal dining.
Stylish stone exterior 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home in Hutto.This home offers a spacious kitchen with black appliances and streamlined cabinet spaces. Master is down with an upstairs loft which can be used for a game room/office, 2nd living. Ceramic tile entry, storage under stairs and water softener.
Better than new! This beautiful home has ceramic tile that looks like hardwood on the entire downstairs. Soaring ceilings create a very open feel, Master suite is located downstairs and features a huge closet, separate shower and garden tub and upgraded ceiling fan. Upstairs bedrooms are nice sized with a full bath and computer nook/niche. The kitchen has granite counters, upgraded appliances and opens to the living/dining. The backyard has a covered patio & sprinkler system. Water Softener conveys!
Tall Ceilings, Master down with 3 bedrooms up with loft/ gameroom area, Study/office, Very Open Plan, Custom Cabinets with 40" raised panel uppers, Ceramic Tile backsplash, Center Island with breakfast bar, Energy Star Certified, Covered patio with paver stone uncovered addition.
NEW Scott Homes 3 Bed, 2 bath, 1-story home. Popular open plan with Gorgeous brick/stone elevation and covered patio. Elegant architectural details thru-out home. Gourmet kitchen includes granite countertops, stainless appliances, tiled backsplash w/deco, 42"raised panel upper cabinets, undermount sink. Luxurious Master w/garden tub; separate shower and spacious closet. Energy Audit with HERS certification. Great neighborhood amenities!!
Real Living Lifestyles Realty
4520 Spicewood Springs Road, #150
Austin, TX 78759
Email Us | Visit our Real Estate Website


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MLK Day of Service: Building Bridges Alongside Casa Youth Shelter
January 7, 2014 by Guest contributor
In the days leading up to MLK Day of Service, HRC and its partners, like Casa Youth Shelter, are working to increase national attention about LGBT youth homelessness through service activities in over 15 cities.Continue Reading ►
MLK Day of Service: Toward A "Beloved Community" & "One America"
January 6, 2014 by HRC staff
Considered as a "day on, not a day off," hundreds of HRC's members, supporters, and allies will unite for MLK Day of Service events to bring attention to the issue of LGBT youth homelessness.Continue Reading ►
United We Serve LGBT Homeless Youth for MLK Day of Service
December 18, 2013 by HRC staff
HRC is calling its members, supporters, and allies to participate in a Day of Service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Continue Reading ►
HRC attends National Action Network's Breakfast Honoring Martin Luther King Day
January 18, 2012 by HRC staff
Founder, Rev. Al Sharpton led his organization, the National Action Network in the annual breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Day in Washington, DC. The event's motto was: King, Don't Just Celebrate, EMULATE. There were over 100 civil rights leaders, Union representatives, and dignitaries attending. Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama gave the opening remarks for the occasion. She contended that if President Obama is to be re-elected every vote will matter, and everyone should be welcomed and included in voter registration efforts. HRC has participated in NAN's Hate Crimes rallies and Remembrance of King's March on Washington Speech.Continue Reading ►
MLK Day Reflections: Equality
January 13, 2012 by Guest contributor
As I reflect on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 20th-century Civil Rights movement, I am reminded that he uncompromisingly claimed the identities of Southern, black, American, and Baptist minister, among others.Continue Reading ►
Top Posts
HRC Arkansas to Governor Asa Hutchinson: Veto SB202 Now
February 18, 2015
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February 14, 2015
Epidemic of Anti-LGBT Violence Continues with Murder of Ohio Youth
February 16, 2015
"Love Has No Labels" Ad Campaign Celebrates Diversity and Inclusion
February 18, 2015


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Pizza Hut has introduced what it's calling one of it's most anticipated new products ever – Crazy Cheesy Crust.
The crust includes 16 dough pockets as the outer edge, each filled with a blend of five Italian cheeses.
"At Pizza Hut, food innovation is at the center of our brand and we work hard to develop creative new spins on the classic pizza," said Kurt Kane, chief marketing officer at Pizza Hut. "By surrounding our Hand Tossed Crust with 16 pockets of cheese, we feel we have a product worthy of the name 'Crazy Cheesy Crust' – and encourage our consumers to let loose and go a little crazy with their next Pizza Hut order."
According to Pizza Hut executive chef, Wiley Bates III, the inspiration for Crazy Cheesy Crust Pizza was simple: deliver more of what consumers want with a focus on taste.
"Pizza Hut encourages our food innovation team to push the envelope on new products that are fun, taste great and that consumers will love. We have done this with our latest product — Crazy Cheesy Crust Pizza. It takes everything people love about pizza to the next level," Bates said.
Crazy Cheesy Crust is the latest in a lineage of crust-focused products at Pizza Hut, including the Stuffed Crust Pizza, Ultimate Stuffed Crust Pizza and Cheesy Bites. Pizza Hut has also innovated with its crusts overseas, with hot dog-stuffed crusts, cheeseburger-stuffed crusts and more.
The Crazy Cheesy Crust will be available for a limited time only. A large, one-topping Crazy Cheesy Crust Pizza is available for $12.99. Additional toppings are $1, extra cheese is $2 and Specialty pies are $3 more.
Read more about food and beverage innovations.
Topics: Dough , Food & Beverage , Marketing / Branding / Promotion , Pizza Hut
Let's Pizza vending machine ready for U.S. debut
Domino's debuts American Legends specialty pizzas
Marco's offers free pizza on National Spinach Day
Domino's adds Fiery Hawaiian pizza to American Legends line
Extra! Extra! How the odd paring of newspapers and pizza built a successful brand for Pizza Press
Pizzeria Planning: Designing and Maintaining an Efficient Pizza Kitchen
Infographic: Think Mobile First
Three Ways a POS System Can Maximize Restaurant Profits
Squadle and Triton Partnership Provides Easy Access to Essential Data for Restaurants
Virtual Currency: The Next Disruptor in Payments
Why Traditional Hiring Platforms Do Not Work for Restaurants
Mobilize: The Guide to Running a Successful Mobile RFP Process
© 2015 Networld Media Group All rights reserved.


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After bottling are there any side effects to drinking up too early. I waited 14 days. I may or may not have had some nasty side effects.
No real side effects. The beer just may not be fully carbonated, and most brewers say that beer tastes better when it ages longer. Personally, I usually can't wait longer than 10 days before I start drinking my homebrew. But I do notice the beer tasting better every next time I try it. I say if it tastes good, drink it.
3 weeks in the bottle is recomended for carboantion to be complete. For most beers that is.
I may not be an expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express........ 6 months ago.http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/denn...9/#post1766281http://groups.homebrewtalk.com/Tapro...ook_Repository
No nasty effects. I just drank a Texas Blond after 2.5 weeks and it was wonderful. The only bad thing is that the flavor has probably not fully developed.
Grinders Island Brewery - Pipeline
Bottled! Award winning East India Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Milk Stout, Saison fermenting at a nice controlled 85 degrees (up from 70) as it should be - weird isn't it.
I try to wait 2-4 weeks unless I have no beer on tap. I'll keg and tap one of the two 5 gallon cornys asap cause I am impatient. Definitely not as good but still tasty and dirt cheap when you are talking all grain (I am at .20-.35 per beer). I always choose premature, inexpensive homebrew. over $8-$10 microbrewed six packs. That's just me though.
Heros are made 10 gallons at a time.Kegged/On Tap - Double IPAConditioning - Orange Ale


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LA JOLLA - Happy New Year, everybody, and God bless America.
Maxine C. Rogers, 101, died Dec. 29 at Great Bend Regional Hospital. Born March 27, 1911 in Larned, she was the daughter of John William and Salina Ann (Ferree) Grizzle. On Jan. 2, 1932 she married Preston James Rogers in Ellinwood. He died on May 3, 1988. A resident of Great Bend since 1929, coming from Larned, she was a homemaker.
And so we bid a not-so-fond farewell to the bow of another large unwieldy year as it sinks slowly over the horizon wobbling unsteadily towards the graveyard of memory. And cheers erupt from we folks on shore waving the double-handed "L for loser" sign above our heads. "So long. See ya. Don't let the door slam you in the butt on the way out. And if you got any brothers or sisters, don't give them this address."
Norman W. Chakir, 94, died Dec. 30, 2012, at Great Bend Regional Hospital. He was born Sept. 8, 1918, at Ellis, the son of William A. and Louise (Schoenthaler) Chakir. Norman married Mildred Kohlmeier in 1944, in Ellinwood. She passed away in 1974. He then married Hilda Griffith on March 10, 1981, at Miami, Okla. She survives.
Lela Wilson, 102, died Dec. 31, 2012, at Sterling House Of Great Bend, Great Bend. Services are pending with Bryant Funeral Home, 1425 Patton Road, Great Bend.
SALINA - Curtis T. Smith, 60, of Salina, passed away Dec. 28, 2012, at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. Born May 8, 1952, in Hays, he was the son of Charley T. and Della Lorene (Musselman) Smith. He worked as an engineer with Union Pacific for 41 years. A skilled craftsman, he enjoyed building things, loved to play golf and was politically passionate.
Returning from the holiday break, the Barton Community College women's basketball team has been rejuvenated.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - One of the first questions Oregon coach Chip Kelly was asked after arriving in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl was about the possibility of coaching in the NFL.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Clark Hunt is regarded as an intensely private man, someone who prefers to operate behind the scenes and away from the spotlight that comes with owning an NFL franchise.
ATLANTA - Kansas State's Bill Snyder, who guided the Wildcats to an 11-1 regular season, is the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year.
When NFL coaching jobs open, the names Jon Gruden, Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy immediately surface as potential candidates.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Arthur Kenneth Christiansen, 80, died Dec. 25, 2012, at Colorado Springs, Colo. He was born Feb. 7, 1932, at Great Bend, the son of August and Alice Christiansen. He married Hanne in 1976.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Two short years ago, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen sent out a letter to season ticket holders. "You deserve more from this franchise," he wrote.
It's colorless, odorless and the No. 1 cause of accidental poisoning in the United States. And, it worsens in the winter.
How would you like a free refund of your last three years' of taxes? A promise that you won't have to pay any possible back taxes or penalty? Would you have any objection if the IRS chooses not to ask for income verification?
This year marks the 20-year anniversary of Hillary Clinton's speech at the Fourth World Conference on Women titled, "Women's Rights Are Human Rights." It was 1995 when then-First Lady Clinton went to Beijing and challenged the world to see women's issues as not separate from the rest of humanity.
ELLINWOOD- Oliver Glenn Jackson, 90, died March 16, 2015 at Abilene Memorial Hospital in Abilene. Born June 24, 1924 in rural Bronson, he was the son of Arthur Glenn and Esther Ruth (Reynolds) Jackson.
Larned VFW Auxiliary
OSAGE CITY - Larry "Doc" Holliday, 73, formerly of Vassar, passed away March 16, 2015 at his home in Burlington.
HOISINGTON - Leona Cecelia Robinson, 93, died March 17, 2015 at NHC Healthcare, in Town and Country, Mo.
HOISINGTON - Mary Michael Looman, 58, died unexpectedly on March 8, 2015 at her home.
ELLINWOOD - Jean Robinson, 98, passed away peacefully at Ellinwood District Hospital on March 17, 2015.
Senator Bob Menendez will soon be indicted on corruption and obstruction of justice charges stemming from his relationship with Salomon Melgen, a West Palm Beach eye doctor. Melgen thought he could get away with Medicare fraud because he gave Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's Super PAC $700,000 and lavished Menendez with private jet flights to his luxury resort. Given the known public facts, Harry Reid should return Melgen's money to the taxpayers he stole it from and should ask Menendez to resign.
I was a fairly intense child, passionate in my love (Bobby Sherman, white chocolate,) and my hatred (the Dallas Cowboys, mayonnaise.)
Great Bend Kids Wrestling Club traveled to Pratt on Saturday to compete against other western Kansas teams. The kids battled all day long at the Sub-Districts tournament and finished 3rd place out of 23 teams.
Ahmad Walker established himself as one of the top players in the Jayhawk West during a terrific sophomore season. The coaches in the conference felt he was the best, selecting the Barton Community College guard as the Most Valuable Player in the conference this season.
The Great Bend Recreation Commission will be hosting a free Stop 'N Learn Session titled "Cooking With Gloria" from noon to 1 p.m. today at the Great Bend Recreation Center, 1214 Stone St. During this class, Gloria Hernandez, will be teaching how to prepare a few healthy dishes for your family. For more information, call the Recreation Commission office at 793-3755 ext. 2 or e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Teen Takes On Donor's Immune System 231
from the you-will-be-assimilated dept.
We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).
Of course, ABC News isn't exactly a peer-reviewed journal, so I'll reserve full analysis for such time as this patient is written up in the literature, but I'm not seeing anything outside the realms of modern medicine here.
Bone marrow transplant isn't what happened to this girl.
Yes, I realize that. But once you look past the sensationalist headline of "entire immune system" and understand where those cells come from you'll realize that what happened to her is fundamentally no different than what happens to someone who undergoes a bone marrow transplant. The notable things about this case are: (1)the donor's liver cell(s) migrated and differentiated to replace the hematopoietic stem cells and (2) the replacement of the hematopoietic stem cells was not the directed or intended result of any human intervention.
Her entire immune system replaced itself w/o help or pain. This is what the GP was refering to. So why the
First of all, what happened to this girl was a fluke. The article said as much. Her amazing case was the result of a series of unlikely (and clinically undesirable/risky) events and circumstances. Specifically, she was: taking immuno-suppressants, received an organ transplant from a special organ in the body known to regrow itself, was probably infected with cytomegalovirus, and even then benefited from an unusual migration of donor cells into the bone marrow that just happened to differentiate correctly and (even more amazingly) out-compete the host hematopoietic stem cells. She's lucky to be alive and most certainly didn't have a pleasant experience getting through it.
I'm sorry if my post came off as snarky, but I cannot disagree more with the GP. In fact, I'm almost positive that he doesn't have the slightest clue what he's talking about. Tay Sachs and CJD (which he butchered the spelling for, by the way) has nothing to do with the article at all. I honestly think it's an embarrassment that on a scientifically-centered forum that his comment is rated +5.
Even his speculation is, in my opinion, is entirely baseless and ill-conceived. It's unlikely that any sort of preventative treatment will ever come out of this case. We already have established methods for "replacing" an "immune system," which, by virtue of its drastic nature would almost certainly be much more reliable. And even if you thought you could replicate the circumstances of this case, there's absolutely no way you could get a human trial ethics board to sign off on giving immuno-suppressants and intentionally infecting people with CMV to develop a preventative measure against an STD, of all things. And even IF you could develop such a treatment you could never give it to the entire population because there would be the obviously disastrous problem of creating an immunological monoculture.
All great ideas are controversial, or have been at one time.


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Summer Class Schedule Now Available
The summer 2015 class schedule is now available to view under the class schedule tab. This summer we will be offering the following sessions:
The summer 2015 class schedule is now available to view under the class schedule tab. This summer we will be offering the following sessions:
This is your last chance to add an additional class this spring, or start your academic year by enrolling in one of the 8-week classes being offered at Saddleback College. Courses begin on Monday, March 30. To view the class offerings visit the class schedule page.
Don't wait until your grades have sunk to seek free tutoring. As of Monday, January 26, the LRC Tutoring Center at Saddleback College will now be holding Saturday hours. Hours during the spring semester are:
Monday – Thursday, 8am - 8pm
Fridays, 8am - 2pm
Saturdays, 9am – 2pm
Click here to get more info about their services and make an appointment.
Interested in public service and leadership? Apply to be SOCCCD's Student Trustee! Applications for the election process will be accepted starting on Monday, February 2 and must by submitted by Thursday, April 9 at 5 pm. Click here for more information and the application. Please email email@example.com with questions.
Not sure what to pursue as a career? Consider making an appointment with a career counselor at Saddleback. Career Counseling appointments are available by calling 949-582-4575 or visiting SSC 140, Career Guidance Services. Make your reservation today!


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About MarcyI'm tackling a series of challenges, and I'm becoming less timid and squeamish in the process. I'm also writing my memoirs, one scene at a time. Read more.
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"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
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101 things in 3 minutes
Tag Archives: Roadside-America
Kitschy Connecticut
A fun day of road tripping lay ahead when I picked out five Roadside America attractions to check out in my area. My husband was a good sport as we traveled around in between going out to eat and getting … Continue reading
Posted in 101 Things, Connecticut Tagged Connecticut, Roadside-America 3 Comments


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New to our website? Start with these video clips!
Bosnia and Herzegovina Ranked 91st in Prosperity Worldwide
Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked as the 91st most prosperous country in the world, according to the 2014 Legatum Prosperity Index.
According to their website, the Legatum Prosperity Index is an annual ranking, developed by the Legatum Institute, of 142 countries. The Index is unique in defining prosperity as a combination of wealth and wellbeing.
The Legatum Prosperity Index provides data on Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2012, when it was ranked 99th overall. In 2013, it was ranked 97th, which means that it rose by six places this year.
2014 ESFL Regional Conference in Sarajevo - Videos
Videos from the 2014 European Students for Liberty regional conference in Sarajevo.
YouTube Playlist here
2014 Sarajevo Regional ESFL Conference
27. September, 2014.
Conference: 9 -19h
Social: 22h
Ekonomski fakultet
Trg oslobođenja - Alija izetbegović 1
2014. Free Market Road Show in Sarajevo
Daniel Hannan: Bosnia: a Brussels Protectorate
"Bosnia has been turned into kind of a EU in miniature, where democratic self determination is struck down, so as to preserve at all costs the ideal of a multinational state. Right down to the blue star with a flags on, and a paraphernalia and symbolism that they've downloaded from Brussels." Source: DanHannanMEP YouTube channel.


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Dawn Patrol Yoga Series Starts April 1st!
Enjoy a mid-week sunrise yoga session with Jacky Challenger this Spring, every Wednesday 6:30-7:30am from April 1st-May 6th.
In this 6 week Yoga Series we will focus on building heat and invigorating the body with dynamic movement and simple breathwork. Expect a fun and energetic class that leaves you feeling refreshed and ready to take on the rest of your day!
When: 6 week series
Wednesdays 6:30-7:30am, April 1st-May 6th
Cost: $55+gst
*Limited Drop In Space will be available
Vision Board Craft Night later this Month!
Join with friends at Coastal Bliss Yoga Studio for an evening of cut and paste crafting fun! Vision boarding is a fun and creative way to set positive intentions for your future and to envision things that you would like to attract to your life.
A vision board is a collage that you make with images, words and phrases that represent how you envision your ideal future. We will use magazine cut outs, old posters, newspaper clippings or even your own photographs from the past.
We will provide some supplies including old magazines, scissors, poster board and glue sticks.
Please bring additional materials and any other materials you would like to use if you have any as we will have a limited supply.
*Bring your own mug for tea!
When: Friday March 27th 7:30-9:30pm
Cost: By Donation
Free class with April at Pharmasave Tofino!
Join Coastal Bliss yoga teacher April Robson for a Spring inspired flow class. Suitable for all levels of yoga practitioner this class will highlight the importance of alignment and body mechanics while drawing inspiration from the changing seasons. Expect a graceful flowing practice sprinkled with twists, juicy hip openers and energising backbends.
When: Wednesday, March 25th 8-9am
Location: Pharmasave Tofino - 131 1st Street, Tofino
Cost: Free!
*Pre Register at Pharmasave Tofino as space is limited.
Kirtan with Ricardo and Pete this Saturday!
Please join us at Coastal Bliss Yoga for Kirtan with guests Ricardo and Pete!!
Kirtan is a joyful, melodious mantra meditation in a simple call and response style – the leader sings a mantra and the crowd responds. Accompanied by beautiful instruments including the Harmonium and Guitar, this is sure to be an amazing experience!!
Open to everyone, no musical experience necessary.
When: Saturday, February 28th, 6:30-8pm
Cost: By Donation, All Proceeds to Yoga Gives Back!
Spring Series with Dede Monette
Dede Monette has something to offer for everyone this Spring Season at Coastal Bliss Yoga!
~Mama & Baby Yoga
Saturdays 12-1pm March 7-28th
~Spring Cleanse Yoga
Saturdays 2-4pm March 7-28th
~Yoga for Beginners
Sundays 4:30-5:30pm March 8-29th
*each series runs for 4 weeks
Please check out our Events Page to learn more and to Sign up!
Join us at Wanderlust Whistler this Summer!
"From July 30 – August 3, we pepper Whistler with happy little yogis and adventurers who enjoy striking views and heart-felt connection with a community that won't quit. We get to hang out with the likes of Nahko, Shiva Rea, Sarah Neufeld, Gina Caputo and so many more." – Wanderlust Headquarters
We had so much fun at Wanderlust Whistler last year and can't wait to explore the beautiful mountains and forests again this summer! Get your early bird tickets here today, prices rise February 18th (that's tomorrow)!
Click here for tickets and more info.
Free Yin/Yang Yoga Class next Tuesday morning!
To introduce her new class to the community, Morgan will be offering a free intro to Yin/Yang Yoga next Tuesday, February 16th 8-9:30am. Hope to see you there!
This will continue as a regular weekly class on our Winter/Spring schedule.
Plant the seed of Yoga!
Reflections on a Saturday morning.
Starting a yoga practice is like planting a seed, it will bring you an abundant harvest with the right amount of commitment, love and patience.
Have you been thinking about starting a yoga practice?
We offer Yoga Class Passes at discounted rates to help you get started on your journey.
Price breakdown:
20 Class Pass: $192 = $9.60/class
12 Class Pass: $128 = $10.66/class
8 Class Pass: $95 = $11.87/class
5 Class Pass: $72 = $14.40/class
All passes are valid for a whole year.
Plant a seed today.
You can purchase a pass here, by dropping into the studio or at Pharmasave Tofino.
New Schedule for Winter/Spring!
We've just updated our Winter Schedule, effective immediately!
Some changes to note:
Sunday Stretch Class with Amanda is back on as of this Sunday, February 1st 1-2:15pm!
Tuesday mornings 8-9:30am is now an all levels Yin/Yang Yoga Class taught by Morgan.
Wednesday Power Flow 10-11:15am is back! Also taught by Amanda.
Look forward to seeing you around the studio this season!
the Coastal Bliss Yoga Teachers
Workshops with Nicole Walford in February
Yoga for Anxiety & Depression
Your true nature is neither Depressed, nor Anxious. Yoga offers mood management support to people dealing with Anxiety and Depression with evidence-based yoga tools that can help you live more fully.
We look forward to welcoming Nicole Walford back into our Studio to offer these two workshops February 21st &22nd!


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Re: [soapbuilders] Urgent help needed
Expand Messages
- For client apps use low level API
--- Shishir Shah <shishiratyash@...> wrote:
> hello allfinish.
> This is shishir from indore/MP/India.....
> i am working on Apache SOAP.....i have created a
> soap service using apache 2.3 and i am running it
> using Websphere App Server 5.1
> it is working fine with http.....
> but i want to enable SSL support and want to run the
> same service using https.....
> i know that i have to use the JSSE
> support..........but i don't know the what other
> changes i have to do with my client proxy and app
> server.......
> can any body tell me how to run soap over SSL using
> https protocol.........
> thanks in advance
> Regards
> Shishir Shah
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
Your message has been successfully submitted and would be delivered to recipients shortly.


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For your convenience, we accept many schemes of payment. Please view the options available by downloading it in our Homepage (Downloads button) or visit our Fb page for more details. Thank you.
You may now view the Academic Calendar SY 2014-2015. Please click the Downloads button found on the top portion of the Homepage. For other activities affected by the postponement of classes due to the typhoon, please wait for further announcement. Thank you.
This coming Saturday, January 10, 2015, will be very busy for SSI. Such activities as the 1st Batch Testing, a whole-day MTAP session, and the Grade 4 First Holy Communion are scheduled on this day at the following time slots:
Batch Testing (Grades 1 to 10) 8:00 am to 12:00 noon
MTAP (Grades 1 to 10) 8:00 am to 3:00 pm
First Holy Communion 9:30 am to 11:30 am
Hence, to avoid inconvenience that may result from the expected big number of vehicles entering the campus, parents of students attending the MTAP are being advised to just drop-off their children in the morning and picked them up at the following staggered time: Grades 1 and 2 at 2:30 pm, Grades 3 to 6 at 2:45 pm and Grades 7 to 10 at 3:00 pm.
Parents of communicants will have to proceed immediately to the gymnasium.
We appeal for patience, understanding and cooperation.
Several Summative Tests and Performance Tasks had to be moved and re-scheduled because of the suspension of classes due to Typhoon Ruby. Hence, the Parents and Teachers Interaction (PTI) will have to be moved as well to January 30 for Preschool and High School and January 31 for Grade School.Please be guided by the following schedule:
Nursery & Junior Kinder AM Classes- January 30, 2015 (7:30AM- 9:30AM)
Nursery & Junior Kinder PM Classes- January 30, 2015 (10:00AM- 12:00NN)
Senior Kinder- January 30, 2015 (9:30AM- 12:00NN)
Grade 1 to 6- January 31, 2015 (9:00AM- 12:00NN)
Grade 7 to 9- January 30, 2015 ( 4:30PM- 6:30 PM)
Grade 10 - January 30, 2015 (5:30PM- 7:00PM)
Note: Grade 7-10 will be dismissed at 1:50PM.
There will also be meetings of parents for the graduating levels at Dr. PAZ M.I. Center:
Classes and work are suspended on January 15 and 16 in observance of the Papal visit. Thank you.
We invite all High School Parents to join us tomorrow, February 7 at our HS Parenting Seminar entitled " Understanding Teenagers Nowadays", 8:30AM- 12NN at the Dr. PAZ MI Center. See you there!
Please see details of our Summer Pleasures and Activities (SPA) program in our facebook page. Thank you.
EARLY ENROLMENT for SY 2015-2016
The release and distribution of Report Cards for Preschool and Graduating students (Grades 6 and 10) shall be on April 7, 2015. On the same day up to April 8 will be the enrolment for incoming Grade 1 and Grade 7 students. Please be guided accordingly
7 Distribution of report cards for Preschool, Grade 6, and Grade 10; 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 nn
10 Distribution of report card for non-graduating students; 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 nn
13 to 14 Recognition Practice for non-graduating students
15 Recognition Day for non-graduating students
Please visit our FB page for the Enrolment Schedule. Thank you
Congratulations SSI, now PAASCU accredited and a winner in the 2nd Excellence in Educational Transformation Award (EETA) for Outstanding in Innovations in Curriculum Design and Development & Learning Methodologies for Learning Effectiveness.
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