CURIOSITY LAND ROVER LANDS ON MARS

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

NASA's attempt to land Mars rover, Curiosity this morning, was a huge success. There was much cheering and congratulating in Mission Control at NASA in California. The rover, and the thousands of NASA workers, survived the dreaded "seven minutes of terror" when so many things could have gone wrong, but nothing did!

The landing process, involved a sky crane and the world's largest supersonic parachute, allowing the spacecraft carrying Curiosity to target the landing area that scientists have chosen. This type of landing had never been attempted before.

The rover began its journey to Mars 8 months ago. Today it begins its mission to investigate Mars, searching for signs of life from the past and sending information to scientists to evaluate the possibility of it sustaining life in the future. Curiosity's first stop will be Gale Crater, which may have once contained a lake. After at least a year, the rover will arrive at Mount Sharp, in the center of the crater. The rover will drive up the mountain examining layers of sediment. This process is like looking at a historical record because each layer represents an era of the planet's history.

Sally Ride, American Hero, Dead at 61

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

National hero, Sally Ride, died of pancreatic cancer yesterday. Ride was a former astronaut and physicist. After her space flights, Ride continued to inspire young people all over the world through her company, Sally Ride Space.

Sally’s first space flight was aboard the shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983. Her second, also on Challenger, was October 5, 1984, logging 343 hours in space. A third flight was cancelled when Challenger exploded in 1986. She was on the commission investigating that accident and later served on the panel for the 2003 Columbia shuttle accident, the only person on both boards. She also was on the president's committee of science advisers. Ride was a physicist, writer of five science books for children and president of her own company, which motivates youngsters to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. She had also been a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego.

"People around the world still recognize her name as the first American woman in space, and she took that title seriously even after departing NASA," Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle commander, said in a statement. "She never sought media attention for herself, but rather focused on doing her normally outstanding job."

When Ride first launched into space, feminist icons such as Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda were at Kennedy Space Center and many wore T-shirts alluding to the pop song with the refrain of the same name: "Ride, Sally Ride."

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, said Ride "broke barriers with grace and professionalism -- and literally changed the face of America's space program."

"The nation has lost one of its finest leaders, teachers and explorers," he said in a statement.

One of Ride's last legacies was allowing middle school students to take their own pictures of the moon using cameras aboard NASA's twin Grail spacecraft in a project spearheaded by her company.

"Sally literally could have done anything with her life. She decided to devote her life to education and to inspiring young people. To me, that's such a powerful thing. It's extraordinarily admirable," said Maria Zuber, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who heads the Grail mission.

Ride's obituary said she is survived by Tam O'Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years and a co-founder of Sally Ride Science; her mother, Joyce; her sister, Bear, a niece; and a nephew.

WELCOME HOME ENDEAVOR!

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

Endeavor ended its 122 million mile career with a bang this morning at around 2:35 am. I was sitting at my computer typing when two shotgun like blasts scared about 2 years off my life before I realized that the shuttle was due back. I switched on the TV to witness a smooth landing for Endeavor and the end of its 16 day mission.

Commander Mark Kelly spoke of the amazing design of the shuttle and how Endeavor, even though its career is at an end, leaves a great legacy.

Even as Endeavor landed for the last time at KSC, Atlantis sits on the pad awaiting its final flight and the end of an era in Space Travel.  I don’t know how it is elsewhere, but here on the Space Coast, there is great sadness and disappointment at the coming end of the shuttle program.

We hope that new plans and programs will soon help restore our area to the vital, thriving, center for space exploration and research that it has been since President Kennedy first set the goal of reaching the moon. We also hope that people everywhere will remember all the advances in Science, Medicine, Technology, Diet and Nutrition, and so many other areas that came about because of the work that was done in the space program.

THE END OF SPACE TRAVEL

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

The White House announced that President Barack Obama and the First Family plan to attend the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on Friday April 29^th. This will be the second to last mission for the cancelled shuttle program. The commander of the mission, Mark Kelly, wish of hoping his wife Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will be able to attend the lift off looks promising. Giffords was shot through the head in January and has reportedly made amazing progress and may attend.  The Congresswoman, who served on the House Science and Technology Committee and took on NASA affairs while heading the space subcommittee, had made repeated attempts in the past to have the President attend a launch, but to no avail. When she was told he would be present on the 29^th she was said to have smiled and said “Awesome”.

Whether the people of the Space Coast and NASA employees will be as pleased at the President’s visit remains to be seen. United Space Alliance, who is the primary contractor for the shuttle, announced that 2,000 workers have been laid off. A total of 7,000 workers at Kennedy Space Center are expected to lose their jobs after the launch of the last shuttle, Atlantis, in June. When the President visited KSC about a year ago, he pledged to spend $40 million to provide new jobs for laid off shuttle workers. Unfortunately, funding is now uncertain as Congress and President Obama enact the recent budget deal that will fund the Federal Government through September. It looks like we’ll be hitching a ride with the Russians if we hope to continue participation in the work at the International Space Station.

How do you feel about the President’s cancellation of the Constellation Program?  If it were up to you, what would you do about America’s Space Program? Comment and let us know. (Opinions welcome, but please no trashing of people or parties. Thank you.)

While you’re thinking about it, check out one of our Lunch Time Polls: Are we really alone?

http://delayedreactionlounge.blogspot.com/2011/04/lunch-time-poll_21.html