Higher.-

Cygnus Arrives at the Space Station. The Cygnus spacecraft is an unmanned resupply spacecraft being developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) developmental program.

Over the Gulf of Mexico.-

NASA astronaut Ron Garan flies his last flight for now in a T-38 prior to starting a temporary position with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Ron will be on loan to USAID to help apply space technology to the challenges facing the developing world.

Space Shuttle Launch.-

Mars landing radar.-

Photo By NASA.

A NASA Dryden Flight Research Center F/A-18 852 aircraft makes a 40-degree dive toward Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., during June 2011 flight tests of a Mars landing radar. A test model of the landing radar for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission is inside a pod under the aircraft's left wing.

A series of test flights on the F/A-18 simulated what the radar on the Mars Science Laboratory descent stage will see while the spacecraft is on a parachute descending through the Martian atmosphere. Earlier tests, with a helicopter carrying the test radar, simulated the lower-altitude portion of the spacecraft's descent to the surface of Mars.

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-131) Landing.

"Good news, there's a 'go' forecast at KSC," CAPCOM Rick Sturckow radioed from Mission Control.

"No precipitation concern inside of 30 miles, all the shower activity's kind of to the east of that 30-mile circle. The main concern is going to be fog. Fog is not in the forecast, but that's what we're having Fergie (astronaut Chris Ferguson) look at for the T-38 (weather assessment) flight."

"So it's going to be few (clouds) at 2,000 (feet), scattered 5,000, scattered 12,000, seven miles vis and the winds are zero-eight-zero (at) four, peak six knots," Sturckow said. "So that's all good news. We'll keep an eye on the fog for the first opportunity."

"We understand, Houston, thanks a lot", commander Alan Poindexter replied from Discovery. "That sounds like a great forecast".

Trailing the Canary islands.-



The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite looked down on the Canary Islands on June 15, 2013.

The play of light on water can reveal overlooked details and nuances to photographers and artists on Earth. The same thing can happen when looking from space. The Atlantic Ocean has a silvery or milky color in much of the image, the result of sunglint. Sunlight is being reflected off of the ocean surface directly back at the satellite imager, revealing details about the water surface or circulation that are otherwise invisible.

In the image above, wavy, windsock-like tails stretch to the southwest from each of the islands. The patterns are likely the result of winds roughening or smoothing the water surface in different places. Prevailing winds in the area come from the northeast, and the rocky, volcanic islands create a sort of wind shadow—blocking, slowing, and redirecting the air flow. That wind, or lack of it, piles up waves and choppy water in some places and calms the surface in others, changing how light is reflected. Ocean currents, oil or pollution slicks, and internal waves can also alter surface patterns, though none are necessarily visible in this image.

According to sailors’ guides to the area, winds on the leeward side of the Canary Islands often blow in the opposite direction of the prevailing winds. The play of land and wind can also create a funnel effect, speeding up air flow around the coasts. The swirling nature of the leeward wind field is shown in a long, helical trail of clouds stretching southwest from Tenerife (the second island from the right).

The Right Stuff.-

Photo By NASA.

NASA officials selected an Airman as one of the eight military and civilian candidates to become an astronaut trainee. After a 1 ½ year search, officials chose Lt. Col. Tyler N. Hague, the Department of Defense deputy chief of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, out of more than 6,100 applicants. Hague is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The selected group will receive a wide array of technical training at space centers around the globe to prepare for missions to low-Earth orbit, an asteroid and Mars. These new space explorers asked to join NASA because they know we're doing big, bold things here, developing missions to go farther into space than ever before. The new astronaut candidates will begin training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston in August.

"This year we have selected eight highly-qualified individuals who have demonstrated impressive strengths academically, operationally, and physically" said Janet Kavandi, the director of Flight Crew Operations at Johnson Space Center. "They have diverse backgrounds and skill sets that will contribute greatly to the existing astronaut corps. Based on their incredible experiences to date, I have every confidence that they will apply their combined expertise and talents to achieve great things for NASA and this country in the pursuit of human exploration."

(Courtesy of NASA)

Endeavour Mated to SCA.-

At the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Endeavour is mounted atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, in preparation for its ferry flight to California. The SCA, a modified 747 jetliner, will fly Endeavour to Los Angeles where it will be placed on public display at the California Science Center. This is the final ferry flight scheduled in the Space Shuttle Program era.

Next generation.-

Esta ronda va..., por todos nosotros.-

Photo By NASA.

Photo By NASA.

During re-entry from flight training at 207,000 feet in an X-15-3, Neil Armstrong inadvertently established a positive angle of attack during pull-out, and overshot Edwards Air Force Base in California, heading south at Mach 3 and 100,000 feet altitude. He finally managed to turn back while over the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, and had just enough energy to land on the south end of Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards. In the debriefing, someone asked how much clearance the X-15 had from the Joshua trees on the edge of the lakebed. “Oh, at least 100 feet...on either side,” said the chase pilot.

Photo By NASA.

Photo By NASA.

New York City welcomes the Apollo 11 crew in a ticker tape parade down Broadway and Park Avenue. Pictured in the lead car, from the right, are astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. The three astronauts teamed for the first manned lunar landing, on July 20, 1969.

Photo By NASA.

Photo By NASA.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong received the first Congressional Space Medal of Honor from President Jimmy Carter, assisted by Captain Robert Peterson. Armstrong, one of six astronauts to be presented the medal during ceremonies held in the Vehicle Assembly Building, was awarded for his performance during the Gemini 8 mission and the Apollo 11 mission when he became the first human to set foot upon the moon.

Armstrong died on Aug. 25, 2012, at the age of 82.

 

Cada vez que algo con cierta importancia en nuestras vidas ocurre, con el tiempo solemos recordar dónde estábamos entonces. La marcha de Neil Armstrong me sucedió en aguas sudafricanas, y con un día de retraso, no empaña mi corazón en estos momentos de descanso junto a la mejor compañía. Todo lo contrario, hoy tendré un motivo más para brindar junto aquellos a los que más quiero, mi familia, mis amigos, por todo aquello que nos une, la libertad de vivir, la libertad de elegir, la libertad de ser.

 

Neil sin duda escogió, a lo largo de su vida, lo que quiso ser. Por eso se ha marchado en paz y nosotros brindamos por él y por lo que representó y fué, por lo que nos une a todos los que compartimos el don y la pasión de volar. Brindamos por todos aquellos que compartimos el don y la pasión de vivir en paz con los nuestros y con nosotros mismos. Porque aquel que comparte la pasión por el espacio, no alberga en su corazón mayor oscuridad que el infinito del cielo. Por eso esta ronda va..., por todos nosotros.









Los tipos del Dryden son cojonudos.-

Durante este pasado mes de julio, un pequeño equipo del personal de Río Patx hemos sido invitados a colaborar codo a codo con la gente del Dryden. Mi conclusión después de treinta días por esas tierras es que hay Aliens entre nosotros y trabajan, todos, allí. Por cierto, que se vuelvan locos con una buena paella dice mucho acerca de su inteligencia, todo lo contrario a que no sepan apreciar "tres sietes y figura".

En fín, ha sido un verdadero placer y todo un honor.

Riding the storm.-

Photo By Lori Losey.

NASA's Hurricane Severe Storm Sentinel Mission, or HS3, will be studying hurricanes at the end of the summer, and there will be two high-altitude, long-duration unmanned aircraft with different instruments flying over the storms.

The unmanned aircraft, dubbed "severe storm sentinels," are operated by pilots located in ground control stations at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., and NASA's Dryden Flight Center on Edwards Air Base, Calif. The NASA Global Hawk is well-suited for hurricane investigations because it can over-fly hurricanes at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet with flight durations of up to 28 hours.

Using unmanned aircraft has many advantages. Hurricanes present an extreme environment that is difficult to sample. They cover thousands of square miles in area, and can also extend up to 50,000 feet in altitude. Second, they involve very high winds, turbulence and heavy precipitation. Third, ground conditions (high winds that create heavy seas or blowing material) make surface observations difficult.

Two NASA Global Hawks that will be flying during the HS3 mission. Each will have different payloads, or collections of instruments aboard. Necessary observations are winds, temperature, humidity (water), precipitation, and aerosol (particle) profiles from the surface to the lower stratosphere.

Both Global Hawks will be flying out of NASA Wallops Flight Facility in September, the peak month for the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

NASA ACAT.-

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center has concluded flight tests of an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS) under the joint U.S. Air Force/NASA F-16D Automatic Collision Avoidance Technology, or ACAT, project. The project is designed to develop collision avoidance technologies for fighter/attack aircraft that would reduce the risk of ground and mid-air collisions.

Los UAS del Dryden.-

NASA Dryden has a heritage of developmental and operational experience with unmanned aircraft systems. Work on Boeing's sub-scale X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft, X-48 Blended Wing Body and full-scale X-45 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle technology demonstrators, helped pave the way for current use of Global Hawk and Ikhana (Predator B) UAS for environmental and aeronautical research.

Astronautas.-

Los astronautas de la STS-135 realizando operaciones de vuelo con los T-38 de Ellington Field.

Can you touch your dream?.-