Producer:  Jon Baime

Reporter:  Miles O’Brien

Executive Producer:  Kate Tobin

Editor:  Roger Mahr with Biscardi Creative Media

John Grunsfeld

Miles just finished a great Skype interview with Mr. Hubble Space Telescope himself, astronaut (ahem! now former astronaut) John Grunsfeld.  Fresh off last summer’s hugely successful STS-125 Hubble Servicing Mission, Grunsfeld has stepped down from the astronaut corps to join the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, better known as Hubble Central.  He’s pretty jazzed to be taking on a leadership role now that the newly refurbished Hubble has cranked into high gear for another go ’round re-writing the science textbooks.

They talked all about the challenges and triumphs of STS-125, reminisced a little about the pre-flight SCUBA dive Miles took with him in the big pool at the Johnson Space Center whike he was practicing on the Hubble mock-up they have there, and of course got his thoughts on Hubble’s future.  You can watch the whole thing on our next edition of “This Week In Space.”  A little taste…check out Grunsfeld’s favorite image from the newly installed Wide Field Camera 3!

In the mean time, our “This Week In Space” team is hard at work, evaluating stories and deciding what to include in our next show. Right now, the plan includes a report on the hard work going on inside an old McDonalds at NASA Ames to reprocess lunar images that predate Apollo, an interview with Hubble spacewalker John Grunsfeld – who has just departed the astronaut corps and signed on as a bigwig at the Space Telescope Science Inst. (a/k/a Hubble Headquarters), and possibly a story on moonwalker and artist Alan Bean, who is just wrapping up an exhibition of his paintings at the Smithsonian.

And that’s just for starters. On the space beat, the fun never stops! Watch this space for more on “This Week In Space.”

Shuttle Endeavour in the Vehicle Assembly Building. Source: NASA

Happy New Year, everyone!

January is always a good time for fresh starts…and I’m making one.  I’m taking part in a grand experiment along with my friends Miles O’Brien, David Waters and Steven Young.  We’re putting together a weekly show called “This Week in Space,” hosted by Miles and powered by Spaceflight Now.  We aim to provide comprehensive coverage of all things space for folks who are interested in the beat and are not finding what they are looking for elsewhere on TV or the web.  Check us out, drop us a line at TWIS@spacefightnow.com, let us know what you think!

Come Wednesday the shuttle Endeavour will be on the move  – rolling out to launch pad 34A at the Kennedy Space Center.  First movement is currently scheduled for 4am EST (0900 GMT).  If you were there,  you would not have to worry about blinking and missing it.  The 3+ mile trip from the VAB to the pad typically takes about 8 hours with the massive crawler/transporter moving at literally snails pace.

Hard to believe there are only five scheduled flights remaining in the program.  This mission, STS-130, will be the next to last for Endeavour.   It’s enough to make a hard-bitten veteran space producer a little misty.

Watch for comprehensive coverage of this and much more on “This Week In Space.”   And join us there for marathon live coverage of Endeavour’s launch, currently set for 4:39AM EST (0939 GMT) on February 7.  You will need to set your alarm clock.  I will be setting mine.

Wrong.

When people ask me,  I always say a shuttle launch is a three-fer.  First you see it lift off the pad, completely silent.  Then a few seconds into it, you hear it — it builds like a bass roar, like someone turned the volume on the stereo down, cranked the bass up as high as it will go, and then slowly turns the sound up.  And then you feel it — a pressure wave that hits you like a hot wind in the face, growing so intense your teeth almost start to chatter.  And the fire coming out of the business end of the rocket!  It is as bright as staring at the sun…tears stream down my face as I look at it and try not to turn away.  Well, Ares I-X matched shuttle step for step…maybe even more intense (if that is possible!).  And the sight of it!  Shuttles launching on a rendezvous trajectory to the International Space Station take off and head northeast across the Atlantic.  From our viewing point at the Kennedy Space Center Press Mound, they seem to arc away from you.  But Ares I-X, on a more easterly trajectory, arced across the sky from left to right in a grand sweep that we could follow for what seemed liked ages (though it was only a few minutes).  It was a heart-in-the-throat experience.

Was it the start of a new era in manned spaceflight, or a one-off “streak across the sky” for a rocket that is not meant to be?  I don’t have a crystal ball on that.  The ball is in the Obama Administration’s court.  Whatever the future holds, I was unexpectedly stirred by this launch.  At KSC there was a sense of hope and possibility in the air that is just plain missing as the shuttle program winds down.  It was different.  A good different.

As for our webcast on launch day, I’m one of the folks behind-the-scenes, trying to keep the show online and the trains running on time.  I was absolutely thrilled with  our production this time around — I really think we are hitting our stride now.  I’m looking forward to our STS-129 coverage on November 16!  It is hard to believe there are only six more missions left in the shuttle program…each orbiter will fly two more times.  And then, no matter what, there will be a gap — probably a long one — before the U.S. is flying our astronauts to space on our own vehicles again.  I’m on the edge of my seat:  will there be an Ares I-Y?

Courtesy Spaceflight Now

Bad news:  the weather remains 60% no-go for launch on Tuesday.  Weather officer Kathy Winters says rain is expected throughout the morning, but the real issue is something called “triboelectrification.”  That’s a word unfamiliar to much of the NASA press corps, judging by the questions asked during today’s Launch Status Briefing.  “Triboelectrification” occurs when the rocket flies through rain, creating friction and generating static charges.  That static can interfere with communications.

Winters indicated that, while they may get a 10 or 15 minute break in the rain clouds over the pad on Tuesday and go intermittently “green” for precipitation, the cloud deck in the vicinity is likely to be dense enough that they’ll likely stay “red” for the “triboelectrficiation” rule all morning.  She feels better about Wednesday, when she expects the cloud deck to be more scattered.

For much (much!) more, watch the Spaceflight Now launch webcast starting at 6am Tuesday, October 27 with Miles O’Brien, David Waters, and Leroy Chaio – produced by Yours Truly.

Here’s the forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base:

-Launch day overall probability of violating weather constraints:   60%     Primary concern(s):    Flight through precipitation, ground winds, triboelectrification

-24-hour delay overall probability of violating weather constraints    40% Primary concern(s):    Flight through precipitation, triboelectrification

-48-hour delay overall probability of violating weather constraints    40% Primary concern(s):    Flight through precipitation, triboelectrification

Source: NASA

“Triboelectrification,” you ask?  I looked it up:  “The production of electrostatic charges by friction.”  So now we know.

If you want to check the launch weather forecast for any launch from the Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, here’s where to look.

NASA has a three day launch window from October 27 – 29 to get this rocket aloft.  Let’s hope the forecast improves over the next couple of days.

Check out our launch webcast at Spaceflight Now with Miles O’Brien, David Waters and Leroy Chiao.  We’ll get started at 6am EDT (1000 GMT) on Tuesday morning.

For more on this stories and other Science Nation reports, check out the official site.

Producer: Jon Baime
Reporter: Miles O’Brien
Executive Producer: Kate Tobin
Editor: Roger Mahr with Biscardi Creative Media

Be sure to watch out live coverage of the Ares I-X Launch at Spaceflight Now.  Our show starts at 6am EDT (1000 GMT) on Tuesday, October 27.  Miles O’Brien, David Waters and astronaut Leroy Chaio will be joined by great line-up of guests from ATK, United Space Alliance, and the Coalition for Space Exploration.

Produced for the National Science Foundation by Kate Tobin Productions, Science Nation is a cool little series that you really should check out – and I speak with with complete objectivity!

A big shout out to all the outlets who have picked us up so far, including our good friends at Live Science!  Watch for us soon on public television stations around the U.S.