Galaxy NGC 1512 image taken by Hubble (Source: NASA)
NASA prepares the final hardware addition to Hubble; Richard Garriott prepared to spend most his fortune to fly into space; and Space Coast prepares for job cuts
NASA is
quietly prepping the final addition to the aging Hubble Space Telescope,
with NASA space shuttle Atlantis launching to repair the telescope. The
24,000-pound camera and spectograph stored at the Goddard Space Flight Center
is en route to Cape Canaveral, where it will undergo additional testing.
In total, two new instruments, six batteries and six gyroscopes will be ferried
to Hubble aboard shuttle Atlantis.
It will be taken into space and installed during an 11-day mission that is
expected to start on October 8. The mission will have at least five
spacewalks to install the new camera and repair failing hardware, in an attempt
to help extend Hubble's life for at least 10 more years.
Astronomers were previously worried that the government would simply abandon
Hubble and simply switch focus and wait until 2013, which is the tentative
launch date of the James Webb Space Telescope. The larger James Webb
space telescope will be able to help astronomers study a larger portion of the
universe, and will have more advanced telescopes and other hardware.
Video game master Richard Garriott is said to have spent
most of his fortune on an estimated $30 million trip into space this
fall. He'll launch to the International Space Station aboard a Russian
Soyuz spacecraft and stay in orbit for at least 10 days.
Garriott is an investor in Space Adventures, a private company that charges
interested clients as much as $30 million to fly into space.
Garriott, who is the son of Owen Garriott, will be the first child of an
American astronaut who will also fly in space. The father flew into space
and used a ham radio talk to his children, and this time it will be Richard
Garriott who will carry a ham radio into space with him.
As the current generation of space shuttle gets ready for retirement, looming
job cuts have the area around Kennedy Space Center on pins and needles.
Workers in Florida's "Space Coast" have already been told by NASA
that as many as 6,400 employees and shuttle contractors will lose their jobs -
and now Lockheed Martin confirmed it will begin to scale back its team of 2,445
employees who build external fuel shuttles. The company plans
to cut at least 200 jobs in the first wave of job terminations in October,
and will likely continue to scale back employees until its board is satisfied with
the size of the team.
Some employees will be kept by Lockheed Martin for development of the Orion
spacecraft, which is currently in development.
Tourism to the area also is expected to decrease until the next generation of
space technology is rolled out in 2015.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
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