Question – what is the fire ahead of the tail?

Flames from the tail are normal. The APU which powers the hydraulics vents excess energy after landing. The hydraulics system is what helps the crew to land since they have no engine thrusters at that point. The flames are only visible during night landings. For more information on the APU, click through to NASA

NASA – Shuttle Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses said that space shuttle Endeavour’s landing capped off a flawless mission. “The crew did an outstanding job,” Moses said, referring to the complex task of installing Tranquility and its seven-windowed cupola to the International Space Station. “The landing today went as smooth as you can hope for — by the numbers.”

Moses wrapped up his remarks about the STS-130 mission by saying, “It was an outstanding mission — I can’t be happier with the success we had and look forward to repeating that on our next mission.”

Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach was extremely pleased with Endeavour’s condition.”One of the most magical things we get to do here at Kennedy Space Center is walk around the orbiter after a mission from space. She looks really, really good,” Leinbach said.

Leinbach also congratulated Norm Knight and his team in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a job well done.

Video and text from NASA – both are public domain as works of the US Government

Flames from the tail are normal. The APU which powers the hydraulics vents excess energy after landing. The hydraulics system is what helps the crew to land since they have no engine thrusters at that point. The flames are only visible during night landings. For more information on the APU, click through to NASA

Shuttle Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses said that space shuttle Endeavour’s landing capped off a flawless mission. “The crew did an outstanding job,” Moses said, referring to the complex task of installing Tranquility and its seven-windowed cupola to the International Space Station. “The landing today went as smooth as you can hope for — by the numbers.”

Moses wrapped up his remarks about the STS-130 mission by saying, “It was an outstanding mission — I can’t be happier with the success we had and look forward to repeating that on our next mission.”

Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach was extremely pleased with Endeavour’s condition.”One of the most magical things we get to do here at Kennedy Space Center is walk around the orbiter after a mission from space. She looks really, really good,” Leinbach said.

Leinbach also congratulated Norm Knight and his team in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a job well done.

Video and text from NASA and public domain

The burn of 2 minutes slows down the Endeavour as a braking maneuver. This is the final move than means Endeavour will be landing shortly, about 1 hour from now.

After undocking from the ISS, Endeavour performed a orbit of the ISS and flyby that produced stunning images of space. I stayed up late Friday night to capture this live. This is definitely for space nuts.

The joint docked mission, STS 130, between the crews of the International Space Station and space shuttle Endeavour ended at 7:54 p.m. EST with the undocking of Endeavour. Shuttle undocks from ISS and heads home Video

After backing away from the ISS very slowly and carefully, Endeavour moved to about 450 feet from the ISS. The ISS crew do a video and visual inspection of the Shuttle.

Pilot Terry Virts is at the stick using jets to maneuver Endeavour.

Then the shuttle is moved to between 650 and 700 feet from the ISS and it orbits once.

The Canadarm2 is used by the shuttle crew to inspect the heat shield one more time. Endeavour changed its path to begin orbiting the Earth in preparation for landing Sunday at 10:16 PM EST

Sometimes the shuttle launches have seem esoteric. This one has been all business.

Endeavour has been almost 10 days in space, delivered the new Tranquility Module and its cupola and the water from urine recovery system.

The shuttle mission team seem keen to come home. How do the ISS crew handle being left behind?

The video is public domain from NASA like all US Government video. We edited the footage. Thanks for watching.

Earlier in the day, Endeavour crew said good bye to the ISS crew. There were smiles all around as the ISS crew thanked them for bringing Tranquility module and the cupola.

What has seemingly had been 11 effortless days in space is now getting complicated. It’s not like Star Wars where the space ships glide in to a docking and hanger door, taxi to a stop, a door opens and people get out.

Hatches between Endeavour and the International Space Station were closed at 2:08 a.m. CST. All communications between the Endeavour and ISS had to be disconnected.

After that it’s an endless routine of checking the space shuttle, checking lists, confirming everything with ground control in Houston. All Endeavour systems had to be fired up and checked to ensure a safe flight home.

We hear “Go for un-docking” the “Endeavour you are go for un-docking.” Then nothing happens and not a word is spoken for ten minutes.

In the video the ISS is above the Shuttle docking bay.

The un-docking is a slow motion ballet 207 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. It is meant to ensure safety and keep the shuttle from colliding with the ever expanding space station with its long solar array panels.

“At undocking, the Orbiter Docking System let go of the mating adapter and springs gently pushed the two vehicles apart. The ISS seems to drift upwards since the camera is on the space shuttle.

“Goodbye and a wave”

“Thanks for the hospitality.”

Pilot Terry Virts flew the shuttle manually about 450 feet in front of the ISS using steam jets. They are moving away at 1.3 feet per second.

All of the instructions and “copy” responses seem redundant until Virt misheard the Pitch setting from Houston who repeated it for him to correct.

The crew took some last pictures of the newly configured ISS and Tranquility module before Virts fired up the jets to move away from the ISS.

Next the shuttle circled around the ISS to check the underside heat shield one more time at about 600 to 700 feet from the ISS.

The Shuttle is scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral on Sunday.

Story with portions from NASA. More video to follow.

During the Day 10 space walk of astronauts Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken, mission crew inside were hard at work finishing the connections between the Tranquility module, the cupola and the International Space Station.

Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire works with Commander George Zamka connecting, checking and re-checking.

Despite the problems of the weekend, the Mission STS 130 was headed for success as everyone inside and outside spent the day doing their jobs.

This video gives you the inside view of the work.

Once the windows were opened, you can here the astronauts thrill to the new 360 degree view of the world. Everyone was in high spirits as jokes and good humor passed between the shuttle commander, his crew and ISS team and mission control.

It was an exciting moment that gives a view of space that was up to now reserved only for space walkers in their bulky suits.

The Italian built Tranquility module will be the new hideaway on the ISS. Zamka can be heard joking that when you can’t find someone on the ISS, check the cupola.

Hats off the the ISS crew, STS 130 crew, all the ground support team at NASA and their international partners like Italy for the Tranquility module and cupola. Hats off to Canada with the Canadarm2 which is an essential part of the shuttle and ISS programs.

The video was produced by NASA and is public domain as are all US government videos. Editing was by NJN Network. No copyright is claimed.

At the end of the third day of working in space, astronauts Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken had completed the installation of the cupola.

They took off the shields and ISS crew inside were able to open the cupola shutters for that 360 degree 3D view of earth and space.

President Obama had a video conference at 5:30 PM today to congratulate them on their mission success.

The Italians who built the Tranquility Module with its cupola should be celebrating tonight.

Video is public domain produced by NASA and edited by NJN Video

The International Space Station got one day closer to the installation of 2,600 cubic feet of Italian style living space on Day 5 of STS 130

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick stepped outside the relative safety of the ISS to complete the physical installation of the new Italian built Tranquility Module. They spent the next 6 hours and 32 minutes moving the 27,000 pound module from the space shuttle cargo bay to the earth side of the ISS. The video from NASA condenses the full space walk into about 30 minutes.

The actual heavy lifting was done by the robotic Canadarm2 which was being controlled from inside the ISS by Mission Specialist Kay Hire and Terry Virts. In the video you can see the Canadarm2 moving over, being secured on the Tranquility Module and moving it seemingly effortlessly across space.

The astronauts are dwarfed by the 21 foot long and 14 foot in diameter Tranquility Module. However, assisted by the Canadarm2 they are able to maneuver it into place and secure the module. During today’s EVA2, the final connections between Tranquility and the ISS will be made.

Tranquility is a unique module that has pressurized quarters and is almost self-supporting with oxygen generation and the urine recycling system that was installed yesterday. Once the testing is complete, the urine recycling system will be moved to Tranquility. The urine system is being tested. Samples will be returned to earth for approval.

Cupola on the Italian built Tranquility Module

Tranquility also has a special Cupola with a new 360 degree half-dome that provides outstanding. panoramic views to the astronauts. They will use the cupola when observing earth, the heavens, and the movement of the Canadarm2 robot.

Behnken and Patrick secured the 16 remote controlled bolts. The air lock between the module and ISS passed initial inspection. They also connected the heater and data cables.

Final connection of Tranquility will be done during EVA 2.

The full video is about 27 minutes long and found at this link

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick stepped outside the relative safety of the ISS to complete the physical installation of the new Italian built Tranquility Module. They spent the next 6 hours and 32 minutes moving the 27,000 pound module from the space shuttle cargo bay to the earth side of the ISS. The video from NASA condenses the full space walk into about 30 minutes.

The actual heavy lifting was done by the robotic Canadarm2 which was being controlled from inside the ISS by Mission Specialist Kay Hire and Terry Virts. In the video you can see the Canadarm2 moving over, being secured on the Tranquility Module and moving it seemingly effortlessly across space.

The astronauts are dwarfed by the 21 foot long and 14 foot in diameter Tranquility Module. However, assisted by the Canadarm2 they are able to maneuver it into place and secure the module. During today’s EVA2, the final connections between Tranquility and the ISS will be made.

Tranquility is a unique module that has pressurized quarters and is almost self-supporting with oxygen generation and the urine recycling system that was installed yesterday. Once the testing is complete, the urine recycling system will be moved to Tranquility. The urine system is being tested. Samples will be returned to earth for approval.

Cupola on the Italian built Tranquility Module

Tranquility also has a special Cupola with a new 360 degree half-dome that provides outstanding. panoramic views to the astronauts. They will use the cupola when observing earth, the heavens, and the movement of the Canadarm2 robot.

Behnken and Patrick secured the 16 remote controlled bolts. The air lock between the module and ISS passed initial inspection. They also connected the heater and data cables.

Final connection of Tranquility will be done during EVA 2.

This is the first major video of STS 130 and a must for space nuts. The video is about 27 minutes long which might tempt some people’s patience.

We’ll try to edit down a 3 minute version later on today if there is time. It will take almost 3 hours to download the video from NASA, do basic editing, convert to flash and upload.

NASA – The Solar Dynamics Observatory was the first mission to be launched for NASA’s Living With a Star (LWS) Program, a program designed to understand the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth.

SDO is designed to help scientists understand the Sun’s influence on Earth and Near-Earth space.

Scientists will measure the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time and in many wavelengths simultaneously.

SDO’s goal is to understand, driving towards a predictive capability, the solar variations that influence life on Earth and humanity’s technological systems by determining how the Sun’s magnetic field is generated and structured and how this stored magnetic energy is converted and released into the heliosphere and geospace in the form of solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar irradiance.

Launch

SDO was ready in February 10th, 2010, for launch but was delayed one day on account of wind. The launch took place at 10:23 am EST on an Atlas V from SLC 41 at Cape Canaveral.

Science

“SDO will study how solar activity is created and how Space Weather comes from that activity. Measurements of the interior of the Sun, the Sun’s magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the irradiance that creates the ionospheres of the planets are our primary data products.”

Read more about SDO Science

Instruments

SDO will fly three scientific experiments: Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI).

Each of these experiments perform several measurements that characterize how and why the Sun varies. These three instruments will observe the Sun simultaneously, performing the entire range of measurements necessary to understand the variations on the Sun.

Read more about SDO’s instruments.

Specs

SDO is a sun-pointing semi-autonomous spacecraft that will allow nearly continuous observations of the Sun with a continuous science data downlink rate of 130 Megabits per second (Mbps). The spacecraft is 4.5 meters high and over 2 meters on each side, weighing a total of 3100 kg (fuel included). SDO’s inclined geosynchronous orbit was chosen to allow continuous observations of the Sun and enable its exceptionally high data rate through the use of a single dedicated ground station.

Read more about specs.

Mission Brochure

A brochure that outlines mission overview, objectives, and science investigations SDO Mission Brochure