Date: September 16th 2009

There are 2 messages totalling 126 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

NASA TV PROVIDES COVERAGE OF NEXT SOYUZ LAUNCH AND LANDING EVENTS
NASA CONCLUDES ROBOTICS TESTS FOR THE MOON IN ARIZONA

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:12:18 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA TV PROVIDES COVERAGE OF NEXT SOYUZ LAUNCH AND LANDING EVENTS

September 15, 2009

Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #M09-176

NASA TV PROVIDES COVERAGE OF NEXT SOYUZ LAUNCH AND LANDING EVENTS

HOUSTON -- NASA Television will air the launch of the next two residents of the International Space Station, a spaceflight participant and the return of two members of the current station crew Coverage begins with a broadcast of prelaunch activities Sept 17 and continues through the landing on Oct 11

Soyuz Commander Max Suraev, NASA Flight Engineer Jeff Williams and spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte are scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:14 a m CDT on Wednesday, Sept 30 Laliberte, a Canadian citizen and founder of Cirque du Soleil, will fly to the station under an agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency

After a two-day trip, the Soyuz will dock to the station at 3:36 a m on Friday, Oct 2 Aboard the orbiting laboratory, Williams and Suraev will be greeted by Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA's Mike Barratt and Nicole Stott, the European Space Agency's Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and the Canadian Space Agency's Bob Thirsk After Padalka and Barratt depart the station, De Winne will become commander of the next station mission, designated Expedition 21

Padalka, Barratt and Laliberte will return to Earth at approximately 11:29 p m on Saturday, Oct 10, in the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft docked to the station Padalka and Barratt have been aboard the orbiting laboratory since March 2009

Upcoming NASA TV Soyuz launch and landing programming events (all times CDT):

Sept 17 11 a m - Expedition 21 and spaceflight participant video file of departure in Star City, Russia, for Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Sept 28 11 a m - Video file of crew activities in Baikonur, Soyuz rocket mating and rollout

Sept 29 11 a m - Prelaunch news conference, Russian State Commission video file feed from Baikonur

Sept 30 12:45 a m - Prelaunch activities and arrival at launch pad video file from Baikonur 1:30 a m - Launch coverage and replays from Baikonur (Launch scheduled at 2:14 a m ) 5 a m - Prelaunch activities, launch and post launch interviews from Baikonur

Oct 2 3 a m - Coverage of Soyuz docking to station (docking scheduled at 3:36 a m , post-docking news conference follows) 6:15 a m - Hatch opening, welcoming ceremony (hatch opening scheduled at 6:40 a m ) 9 a m - Video file of the docking to the station, hatch opening and welcoming ceremony

Oct 6 9:10 a m - Joint crew news conference of Expedition 20, 21 and spaceflight participant

Oct 10 4:30 p m - Expedition 21, 20, spaceflight participant farewells and Soyuz TMA-14 hatch closure (scheduled at 5 p m ) 7:45 p m - Coverage of Expedition 20 and spaceflight participant undocking from station (scheduled at 8:05 p m ) 10:15 p m - Deorbit burn (scheduled for 10:36 p m ) and landing coverage (scheduled for 11:29 p m ) in Kazakhstan

Oct 11 4 a m - Landing video file 12 p m - Barratt post-landing interview, return to Star City and Kazakhstan welcoming ceremony video file

For NASA Television streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

For more about the space station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

#

NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: "unsubscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) or from another account, besides the account used to subscribe: "unsubscribe hsfnews youremail@yourdomain com" (no quotes)

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:46:57 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA CONCLUDES ROBOTICS TESTS FOR THE MOON IN ARIZONA

September 15, 2009

Brandi Dean Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-244-1403

Ashley Edwards/Grey Hautaluoma Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1756/0668

Report #H09-214

NASA CONCLUDES ROBOTICS TESTS FOR THE MOON IN ARIZONA

WASHINGTON -- NASA has concluded two weeks of technology development tests on two of the agency's prototype lunar rovers The Desert RATS-- or Research and Technology Studies -- in the Arizona desert at Black Point Lava Flow allow NASA to analyze and refine technologies and procedures in extreme environments on Earth

"These tests provide us with crucial information about how our cutting edge vehicles perform in field situations approximating the moon," said Rob Ambrose, Human Robotic Systems project lead at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston "We learn from them, then go back home to refine the technology and plan the next focus of our research "

The annual studies featured an intensive, simulated 14-day mission Two crew members, an astronaut and a geologist, lived for more than 300 hours inside NASA's prototype Lunar Electric Rover The explorers scouted the area for features of geological interest, then donned spacesuits and conducted simulated moonwalks to collect samples The crew also docked to a simulated habitat, drove the rover across difficult terrain, performed a rescue mission and made a four-day traverse across the lava

Throughout the test, the crew provided updates via Twitter and posted pictures and video online To see the images and videos and read about the simulated mission, visit:

http://www nasa gov/exploration/analogs

Prior to the test, NASA's K10 scout robot identified areas of interest for the crew to explore NASA's heavy-lift rover Tri-ATHLETE -- or All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer -- carried a habitat mockup to which the rover docked

The Desert RATS tests have been held for more than a decade, as engineers from NASA centers work with representatives from industry and academia to determine what will be needed for human exploration of the moon and other destinations in the solar system This year's work built on the investigations of previous years and increased the scope and length of the tests

Eight NASA centers were involved in the project Desert RATS participants from outside NASA include the Smithsonian Institution in Washington; the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz ; Arizona State University in Tempe; University of Texas at El Paso; University of Colorado at Denver; Brown University in Providence, R I ; the Mars Institute at Moffett Field, Calif ; and the Challenger Center for Space Science Education in Alexandria, Va

For more information about NASA's exploration efforts, visit:

http://www nasa gov/exploration

#

End of HSFNEWS Digest - 12 Sep 2009 to 16 Sep 2009 (#2009-106)

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