Pioneer 10 was part of the Pioneer program from the NASA Ames Research Center. It was about 260 kg where most consisted of instruments and fuel. It is fueled by radioisotope thermoelectric generators containing plutonium-238. NASA, assuming that Pioneer 10 will eventually lose signal with them, placed a plaque that identified humans and the earth in case of extraterrestrial  life. Eric Burgess believed that a Pioneer spacecraft should carry a plaque featuring humanity in case the spacecraft be intercepted by extraterrestrial life. After Dr. Carl Sagan’s lecture on communication with extraterrestrial intelligence at a conference in Crimea, Eric Burgess collaborated and they both decided to present the idea to NASA. NASA approved the plan and gave  three weeks to prepare the message. During that time, Dr. Sagan and Dr. Frank Drake designed the plaque where afterward, Dr. Sagan’s wife created the artwork. The plaque is made out of 6061 T6 gold-anodized aluminum and weighs about 0.120 kilograms. It has a width of 229 mm and the length of 152 mm, and about 1.27 thick. The plaque contains two nude people which Dr. Sagan and Dr. Frank Drake believed that extraterrestrials should know the true body of humans. It also engraves the solar system and notifies the earth on the plaque. A small spacecraft is visible in the solar system where it leaves a trail from Earth which represents the Pioneer 10. There is a silhouette of the Pioneer 10 behind the man and woman. Again, this plaque was created in order to communicate with extraterrestrial life forms.

Pioneer 10 is currently tracked by the Deep Space Network and very weak signals were produced by the spacecraft on April 27, 2002. People believe that the reason behind the weak signals were not caused by physical damage on the craft but the slowly increasing distance and its very weak power source.  The Deep Space Network continued to be alert for a signal from Pioneer 10 when on January 23, 2006, Pioneer 10 sent its last signal notifying that he was 7.5 billion miles away from the Earth. The Deep Space Network tried to track the spacecraft March 4, 2006 but resulted in failure. However, the DSN is continuously checking their instruments to track their project that was launched about 30 years ago. It is clearly shown that the DSN do not want to give up their very old and successful Pioneer project.

Information from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/pioneer/index.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_10, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_plaque, http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2003/03_25HQ.html, and http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast03may_1.htm

The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) will have the job to ferry astronauts and scientists to the International Space Station from Earth. However, its main purpose in the future is to carry astronauts to other worlds beyond Earth’s orbit. Its ancestor, the Apollo Command Module also had the capability to reach beyond Earth’s orbit which it did and reached the moon. The Orion CEV will be the first to reach beyond Earth’s orbit since 1972. The CEV will have the shape of its Apollo ancestors but will contain twice the volume of an Apollo Command Module. Engineers believe that the interior of the CEV must be large enough to support a crew of six astronauts to the ISS and a crew of four for a long period of time for its future journeys to Mars.

The 16.5 feet wide Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle will be sent to space by the Ares V rocket also known as the Cargo Launch Vehicle or CalV. The Ares V rocket will consist of two types of propulsion, liquid and solid. The first stage of launch will be fired by liquid propulsion from two SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters) already used from prior shuttle launches and an upgraded external tank. These components of the Ares V rocket provide liquid propulsion but this isn’t enough to thrust through Earth’s gravitational pull. The second stage which provides solid propulsion will have a single J-2X rocket engine that will cause the Ares V to have a continuous circular orbit. The Earth Departure Stage that contains the Orion CEV will then use the single J-2X engine to head in a trajectory line towards the moon. The Earth Departure Stage will then disconnect the Orion CEV and the Service Module. As the Orion CEV and the Service Module reach the moon, the Service Module will land on the moon while the Orion CEV orbits in the moon’s gravitational pull. After the astronauts resolve their experiments, they will board the Service Module and connect with the Orion CEV. With the Service Module’s propulsion, they will both reach the Earth where the Orion CEV will disconnect and fly through Earth’s atmosphere. As the Orion CEV is in a strong gravitational pull, it will open parachutes to decrease hard compact against Earth’s oceans.The Orion CEV’s first manned flight to the ISS is no later than 2014. Its first manned flight to the moon will be no later than 2020. A reason why the U.S. government decided to approve the Orion CEV and its launch rocket, Ares V, is because NASA will end its use of space shuttles at 2010. The shuttle’s main purpose was to transport people and space components to low-Earth orbit.

 Not only is Project Constellation developing new plans to transport people and objects into low-Earth orbit but is also developing advanced ways to send people and objects to the moon and eventually, to Mars. The reason why Project Constellation even started was not to create a new highly advanced spacecraft that overpowered the space shuttles but because of President Bush’s attempt to inspire the United States after the Columbia Disaster. After the Columbia Disaster, President Bush declared his Vision for Space Exploration to represent his will to continue space exploration regardless of the accidents that may occur. I, personally, share my opinion with President Bush. I believe that space exploration should continue regardless of accidents that may occur. For example, Christopher Columbus risked his life to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. If he had died, I believe that another expedition would be organized and sent. During times of discovery, risk is always experienced since the unknown is never fully revealed until it is too late. The same reason applies to space exploration. Exploration is to reveal the unknown which simply tells that anything can happen during explorations. Based on my brief personal thoughts, I agree with President Bush’s will to continue space exploration regardless of risks. Besides, exploration is exploration.

Information thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28spacecraft%29, http://www.space.com/news/cs_060823_orion.html, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/index.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_V, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/index.html, and http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.htmlOrion about to be connected onto the ISS. Orion re-entry.

The Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System (STS), is a currently used manned spacecraft purposely created to transport astronauts and space components into space. It consists of two white Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), a rust colored external tank (ET), and the Orbiter Vehicle (OV). These major components in a space shuttle each have their roles and technological benefits for a successful shuttle launch and allow astronauts to return to Earth safely. The Space Shuttle is the first orbital spacecraft that has reusable components. For example, the shuttle´s Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) reinforce the thrust into the atmosphere but eventually both SRBs parachute into the ocean where it can be reused. Another reusable component is the orbiter where after each mission, the orbiter carries its astronauts back to Earth and lands on an airstrip safely. Before the creation of space shuttles, the government realized that they were spending too much money on rockets that were not reusable. As a result, Maxime Faget designed the Space Transportation System where it consisted of reusable solid rocket boosters and orbiters which decreased the financial expenses on space exploration as requested by the Nixon administration. The creation of space shuttles was a major achievement in space exploration because of its unique reusable system which caused lower costs for space exploration in contrast of the rocket systems that were not reusable which caused a large financial expense to the government.

The “Stack” in the space shuttle consists of the Orbiter Vehicle (OV), the two white Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), and the external tank (ET). Each of these major components in the space shuttle carries a role during a mission. The orbiter, a white winged space plane, carries astronauts and loads such as satellites and space station parts into low orbit located in the thermosphere. The crew in an orbiter is usually five to seven astronauts each contributing different roles in the STS´s specific launch. Usually, the crew is made up of a commander, pilot, several mission specialists, and rarely, a flight engineer. In some occasions, there are some exceptions such as an extra astronaut or in an emergency mission where eleven astronauts are fit in. The orbiter´s wings contain four elevons located at the edge of the wings that helps the orbiter´s pitch and roll stabilization. It also possesses a rudder brake and a body flap that controls the orbiter during the descending and landing process. Most of the orbiter´s body is the cargo bay measuring 15 by 60 feet.  There are three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) in the OV located on the fuselage. The engines allow the orbiter to thrust itself through the atmosphere and use a bit of its thrust during the descending process to change direction and for steering to be possible. Aluminum alloy is the material used in the OV´s structure but exceptionally, titanium alloy is used for the engine´s thrust structure. The Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) are rocket boosters located at the sides of the external tank. The SRB´s role in a launch is to thrust the shuttle enough for it to escape the gravitational pull from Earth and also give enough thrust to have sufficient speed to break through the atmosphere very quickly. The SRBs help the shuttle for the initial two minutes and afterwards separates itself from the external tank, and dropping into the Atlantic Ocean with parachute. They are picked up by ships and brought back to the space centers to be reused. The solid rocket motor in the SRBs is the largest solid propellant motor ever developed for space flight. It consists of a solid motor case loaded with solid propellants, an ignition system, a movable nozzle, and instrumentation and integration hardware. Each of the SRBs contains 1,000,000 lbs of propellant which requires special mixing in special plants located in Utah. The propellant is actually powdered aluminum similar to the aluminum foil wraps at home but mixed with oxygen provided by a chemical called ammonium perchlorate. In total, each SRB weighs 1,300,00 lbs including the propellant which weighs about 1,107,00 lbs. The external tank (ET) is the major backbone of the space shuttle. Without it, the shuttle´s structural design would be different. The ET is the component that puts the OV and SRBs together. The SRBs are stuck together onto the ET and the ET disconnects them after the initial two minutes of launch. Before the shuttle reaches the boundaries of Earth, the ET disconnects from the OV(orbiter) and falls to the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast of the OV and SRBs, the ET is not reusable and is design to break up before impact into the oceans. STS-1 and 2´s ET have been painted white in order for all the three major components to look alike. However, scientists noticed that the white paint gave a huge amount of additional weight onto the shuttle which meant one worrying thought to the government, money loss. The extra paint caused the scientists to use more propellant in order for the shuttle to carry the weight into space. As a result, from STS-3 and on, the ET remained rust colored. This caused less propellant to be applied during shuttle missions. The ET´s major role in a shuttle launch is to hold the main components together and contribute its propellant in order for the shuttle to escape the gravitational pull and reach the boundaries of the Earth. After the ET releases itself from the OV, the OV uses its thrusters to adjust itself in low orbit.

The creation of Space Shuttles allowed a variety of options for the government to use in space exploration and knowledge. Satellites were transported by the STS missions and satellite repairing was possible due to manned STS missions. Also, one of a minor purpose the space shuttle was created was the government´s desire for its people to get excited about space exploration. Although the creation of space shuttles was not as exciting as the space race and the landing of the moon. However, the space shuttle reduced expenses for the government and lots of new knowledge can be revealed through the research in space stations located in Earth´s orbit. The space shuttle´s job in the conquest of space knowledge is to be a STS, a Space Transportation System. However, many people believe that the space shuttles do more than transport astronauts and components to space, but also, an icon of hope for future space knowledge seekers.

Information thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_program, www.nasa.gov, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_tank. Shuttle cargo bay opened. SRBs being carried back. SRB releasing process

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry over the Earth’s atmosphere. The disaster was caused because of a piece of foam insulation that broke off the shuttle’s external tank during launch and allowed hot gases to enter the internal wing structure which eventually destroyed the shuttle during re-entry. Although the disaster happened about five years ago, Jon Edwards, a data-recovery specialist from Kroll Ontrack, managed to recover information from a melted 400 MB hard-disk drive manufactured by Seagate that survived the explosion of the shuttle and fell from the sky along with hundreds of other debris during the Columbia Disaster. According to MSNBC, Jon Edwards has a record of recovering data from computers that has been damaged from floods, fires, and even computers dumped in lakes. During the STS-107 mission, the Space Shuttle Columbia crew was experimenting the properties of liquid xenon and stored valuable data into the disc drive. The series of tests and experiments of liquid xenon revealed the way xenon gas flows without the use of Earth’s gravity. The 370 hours of testing cost the government millions of dollars and the valuable information could have been lost along with the seven crew members during the Columbia Disaster. Although lots of the information was radioed back to Earth from the shuttle, the remainder of the information stayed hidden for five years until Jon Edwards managed to discover the rest of the information. The remainder of the information from the disc drive allowed researchers to publish the experiment about liquid xenon without gravity in the April issue of a science journal called Physical Review E. 

Physical Review E not only did it contain information about liquid xenon, it retold the salvage efforts of Kroll Ontrack. They said that six months after the disaster, a NASA contractor sent the disc drive to Kroll Ontrack because of their specialization in data recovery. However, the particular job was assigned to Jon Edwards, an engineer at Kroll Ontrack, because of his record of data recovery against innumerable odds. As I stated before, he has been able to recover data from computers that has been affected by floods, fires, and computers dumped in lakes. Because of his unique reputation, Jon Edwards was given the challenge which was to extract data from a disc drive that survived an explosion of a space shuttle and fell from the sky that landed in Texas. Edwards states, ‘When we got it, it was two hunks of metal stuck together. We couldn’t even tell it was a hard drive. It was burned and the edges were melted. It looked pretty bad at first glance, but we always give it a shot.’ (MSNBC) During the beginning of the data recovery operation, Edwards was thinking negatively and believed that the results would not be positive. I feel that he had good reasons to be very negative. For example, the drive’s metal and plastic was melted but the seal on the sides that kept dust and dirt out was also melted. This made the drive exposed to particles that could affect tiny materials in the drive that holds data and depending on the magnetic charge of the particles, it can destroy the tiny material’s ability to contain data. Since the drive was only half full, the magnetic particles only affected the part that did not contain data and fortunately for Edwards, the data in the drive remained in the drive. He later used a chemical solution to clean the platters of the drive and restored the data into another disc drive. This process took two days and he managed to extract 99% of the data into the disc drive. After Edwards was rewarded by Kroll Ontrack, he was given two more disc drives from the Columbia Disaster but unfortunately, the disc drives were severely blasted by the entry from the atmosphere and the metals no longer had a magnetic charge thus, the disc drive contained no data. However, the discovery of lost data from the Columbia Disaster saved the government millions of dollars from preventing another shuttle launch in order to receive information that had been lost from the Columbia Disaster and it also completed the crew of STS-107’s purpose of research to gain and spread knowledge to people.Information from www.wikipedia.org, www.news.softpedia.com, www.msnbc.msn.com, and www.cnn.com   

Since the birth of the Soviet Union’s Salyut and Mir space stations, the United States began developing a counterpart space station. However, it was cancelled due to the end of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Cold War. After the space race, the U.S. began negotiating with international partners from Europe, Russia, Japan, and Canada in the 1990’s to develop a huge international space station. As the project continued till now, 16 nations, Canada, Japan, Russia, 11 countries from the European Space Agency, and Brazil, began contributing technological and scientific resources. The International Space Station (ISS) is a research facility where it gives scientists the opportunity to experiment using zero gravity. The size of the ISS is equivalent to a football field and therefore, is currently being assembled in orbit. The ISS is split into many different parts where different research modules are owned by different countries. For example, Japan owns the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module but American or Russian space shuttles will transport it to the space station. Currently, the ISS is 70% complete and an estimated time for ISS´s finished construction is in 2010. The U.S. again estimates that the ISS will be used till 2017. Till then, many people contributing to the program believes it is a research benefit to the developing space exploration program.

The ISS uses the sun to power electricity with its numerous solar panels. The solar panels are programmed to adjust its angle towards the sun’s rays to maximize its power supply. However, some countries such as Russia, needs to depend on American solar panels for energy. The Environmental Control and Life Support System aboard the ISS provides and controls the atmospheric pressure, oxygen, water, and among others. It can store water and waste used by the resident crew and can even recycle urine and water used by the showers. This system is used to achieve more time a crew will be able to operate since waste is a big problem in long-termed orbits. However, this system can also remove human sweat from the air which will prevent it from neutralizing or disturbing technological equipment. Another important system in the ISS is the altitude control. As many people know, we still have gravitational pull outside our atmosphere and it is how space stations can become orbited. When a satellite is launched into orbit, gravity slowly pulls it closer to the Earth’s atmosphere and as a result, the satellite burns in the atmosphere. Its remains will be scattered somewhere in the oceans since engineers calculate the designated re-entry area. Contrasting from ordinary satellites, the ISS will have an altitude control where it is thrust several kilometers higher. This process must be done several times each year since the ISS is very close to the atmosphere (ISS can be visible with the naked eye) which results in a stronger gravitational pull. Every month, the ISS is pulled 2.5 kilometers.

The purpose of the construction of the International Space Station is to research many different things that cannot be done without the support of zero-gravity. One of the things that scientists want to research aboard the ISS is to invent a new combustion form. They believe that combustion is a major part in human’s way of life but it increases pollution and global warming. Because of their observations of combustion in daily life, they want to try and develop a new form of combustion in zero-gravity. Another very unique research the scientists want to perform is the development of protein crystals. According to astronaut Dan Bursch, “The National Institute of Health has said that protein crystal growth is the number one research tool that we’ll be using in the next century…” These protein crystals are imperfect during its creation in a gravity environment. However, in zero-gravity, the protein crystals have a perfect form and content. These crystals can be useful in food and medicine. Although the ISS is not fully constructed, it is still habitable. Dennis Tito, an American billionaire, paid 20 million dollars for a trip to the ISS and became the first space tourist ever. As shown in the example, the ISS is a very expensive tourist site where beforehand, must pass G-force tests and must be able to perform various tests in order to support the launch and 0-gravity. Many people believe that “floating in space” is very cool and want to try it. I, personally, wouldn’t go to space even if I had the chance. Zero-gravity is equivalent to the highest freefall rollercoaster in the world and the feeling you acquire from it, multiply it by four. When in orbit, you are basically “falling” to Earth because of the fact that gravity is pulling you except in a long distance. For example, when you jump inside our atmosphere, we fall very quickly since the Earth is really close to us. However, in orbit, gravity is pulling you with less force therefore, you fall very slowly. As you are falling, you will feel the same feeling as if you jumped from the highest building in the world and had that feeling for your duration of the trip. Because of this problem, space tourists such as Dennis Tito, must be able to cope with the feeling and must take tests if he is able to resist zero-gravity in space.

The ISS project will cost about 157 billion dollars. However, many different space agencies and organizations will all contribute money in order to receive the 157 billion. NASA will contribute 100 billion dollars since they will construct most of the key components of the station. Also, the space shuttle launches to transport components of the station will be paid by NASA. The European Space Agency (ESA) will contribute 9 billion euros since they are in charge of the Columbus Control Center and the Ariane 5 launches. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will contribute over 10 billion dollars to ISS program. Their main contribution is the Japanese Experiment Module which will cost them about 2.8 billion dollars. The Russian Space Agency has contributed many different key components of the space station, however, since the exchange rate of the ruble and US dollars are not accurate, people currently does not know how much Russia is contributing in dollars. Canada is contributing 1.4 billion dollars to the program and is currently developing the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, a very unique and important component of the ISS. All of these nations are contributing billions of dollars for the development of the International Space Station. As you can see, lots of NASA´s funds are going into the ISS program. However, many people criticize that the money used towards the ISS program could be used for robotic space exploration. Others argue that the program produces very little research that does not help space exploration. Many others argue about the excess use of maintenance and risky space shuttle docking procedures where more than once, docking problems occurred that could have caused the destruction of the ISS. Others with their opinions against the ISS have not been revealed however, the final performance from the ISS will determine the amount of benefit from NASA´s spent money.Because of the ISS´s size and reflections from the gigantic numerous solar panels, a human’s naked eye will be able to see the ISS. NASA provides the public with a schedule where it tracks the ISS´s location. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/index.html(For Costa Rican residents, every Tuesday at 3:50 AM [unfortunately], the ISS will approach from the north)The ISS is a currently under construction space station that will be achieved with the cooperation from 16 different nations, each contributing money and technological resources. Since a large amount of money is taken out from NASA´s funds, many people argue over the excess use of money towards a single project. However, if NASA wants to prove that their decision to participate in the ISS program was beneficial, the completion of the ISS and further research benefits will altogether prove its effectiveness.Information from www.wikipedia.org and http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/benefits/index.html

 Construction of International Space Station