Cutting Edge

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--The shuttle Endeavour was hauled to a launch pad Wednesday for work to ready the ship for a planned February 7 launch on a space station assembly mission, the first of a final five flights planned for 2010.

Endeavour, mounted atop a mobile launch platform carried by an Apollo-era crawler-transporter, began the 3.4-mile trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch complex 39A at 4:13 a.m. EST. The MLP was "hard down" at the pad at 10:37 a.m.

The shuttle Endeavour approaches pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.

(Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now)

A program-level flight readiness review is planned for January 19 and 20, followed by an executive-level review January 27 to assess launch processing and set an official launch date.

"February 7th is looking great," Dana Hutcherson, the Endeavour flow director, said Wednesday. "We got a little bit of contingency time (in the processing schedule), so everything is looking well. We're not tracking any major issues or concerns."

Endeavour's crew--commander George Zamka, pilot Terry Virts, Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken--plans to fly to the Kennedy Space Center January 19 to review emergency procedures and participate in a practice countdown Januar 21.

If all goes well, the real countdown will begin at 2 a.m. on February 4. Liftoff on the 130th shuttle mission currently is targeted for 4:39 a.m. on February 7.

The primary goal of the flight is to deliver and attach a final major U.S. pressurized module, a roomy addition known as node 3, or Tranquility, that will house life support equipment and exercise gear currently located elsewhere in the lab complex.

Sporting a multiwindow cupola that will permit spectacular panoramic views, Tranquility will be attached to the left-side port of the central Unity module, directly across from the station's Quest airlock.

Assuming an on-time launch, Endeavour will dock with the space station around 1:23 a.m. on February 9. Tranquility will be attached during a spacewalk by Behnken and Patrick on February 10. Two more spacewalks are scheduled for February 12 and 15 before undocking February 17 and landing back at the Kennedy Space Center two days later.

Endeavour's flight is the first of five station-bound missions planned for 2010, the final five shuttle flights before NASA's orbiters are retired. Here is the current schedule (times in EST/EDT and subject to change):

• 02/07/10, 04:39 a.m.: STS-130/ISS-20A - Endeavour
• 03/18/10, 01:34 p.m.: STS-131/ISS-19A - Discovery
• 05/14/10, 02:28 p.m.: STS-132/ISS-ULF 4 - Atlantis (final flight)
• 07/29/10, 07:51 a.m.: STS-134/ISS-ULF 6 - Endeavour (final flight)
• 09/16/10, 11:57 a.m.: STS-133/ISS-ULF 5 - Discovery (final flight)

NASA's depiction of an exoplanet discovered last year.

(Credit: NASA)

NASA's Kepler space telescope, which searches for Earth-like planets in habitable zones beyond our solar system, has found five new exoplanets.

NASA said on Monday that the exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system, are called Kepler 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b, and 8b. Finding those planets, NASA says, justifies using Kepler as a means of finding another Earth-like planet. The space agency also said the telescope "will meet all its science goals."

NASA's Kepler mission, which launched on March 6 last year, is designed to observe more than 150,000 stars to find Earth-like planets. NASA said in a statement that although it has announced five discoveries, Kepler has already identified "hundreds of possible planet signatures that are being analyzed." In the end, Kepler's goal is to determine if we really are alone in our galaxy.

The five planets NASA found are being called "hot Jupiters" by scientists and range from the size of Neptune to even larger than Jupiter. Their orbits range from 3.3 days to 4.9 days. They get their "hot" moniker thanks to temperatures ranging from 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, that means that all five planets are too hot for human life.

"It's gratifying to see the first Kepler discoveries rolling off the assembly line," Jon Morse, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in a statement. "We expected Jupiter-size planets in short orbits to be the first planets Kepler could detect. It's only a matter of time before more Kepler observations lead to smaller planets with longer period orbits, coming closer and closer to the discovery of the first Earth analog."

Kepler is one of NASA's most sophisticated tools for identifying planets. The instrument looks for planets by measuring dips in the brightness of stars. As planets move around their stars, they block starlight, a phenomenon that can therefore be used as an indication of their presence. Kepler will continue searching until at least November 2012. NASA believes it could take at least three years for it to locate and verify an Earth-size planet.

Which should it be? The moon, Venus, or a nearby asteroid?

(Credit: NASA)

NASA has chosen three options it will consider as its next target for future scientific space exploration--Venus, the moon, or an asteroid.

The three areas of focus are finalists in a competition designed to help the space agency determine where it should spend its time and money to get the most scientific value out of research about our solar system. It's part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, which already has two missions under way. The first is the New Horizons mission, a spacecraft that's currently on its way to Pluto and has already sent back images from a quick flyby of Jupiter. The second is called Juno, a large-scale survey of Jupiter that's planned for launch in 2011. This competition will determine the focus of New Frontiers' third mission.

The three final proposals being considered are:

• Venus: The Surface and Atmosphere Geochemical Explorer, or SAGE, mission designed by Larry Esposito of the University of Colorado at Boulder would send a probe to Venus. The probe's instruments would collect data as it descends through the planet's atmosphere, then collect and analyze geological and minerological content after landing on Venus' surface.
• An asteroid: The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer spacecraft, called Osiris-Rex and designed by Michael Drake of the University of Arizona at Tucson, would instead set its sights on a nearby asteroid. Osiris-Rex would collect material from the surface of an asteroid and return the samples to Earth for NASA to analyze.
• Moon: The Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return Mission, devised by Bradley Jolliff of Washington University in St. Louis, would entail dropping a lander near the south pole of the moon. The lander would collect material from the lunar surface, believed to have come from the moon's mantle, and return it to Earth for further study.

NASA will give $3.3 million to each of the three teams so they can conduct year-long studies to devise their mission's feasibility, cost, and management and technical plans. A final selection will be made in 2011 after those studies are complete.

The future of U.S. involvement in space exploration was the subject of much debate in 2009 and remains up in the air. NASA's current shuttle program is due to be retired this year, and a replacement program is not likely to be put in place for at least another seven years, according to a presidential panel that recently analyzed several possible strategies for manned spaceflight. And NASA currently has no money in its projected budget to operate the International Space Station beyond 2015.

A veteran Russian cosmonaut, a Japanese shuttle flier, and a NASA astronaut making his first space flight docked with the International Space Station Tuesday after a two-day orbital chase, donning Santa hats to mark the holiday season.

With Commander Oleg Kotov monitoring a problem-free automated approach to the huge lab complex, the Russian Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft docked at an Earth-facing port on the Russian Zarya module at 5:48 p.m. EST, as the two spacecraft sailed 220 miles above the Atlantic Ocean east of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov, left, chats with family members after docking with the International Space Station. Timothy Creamer and Soichi Noguchi look on to his left, while Maxim Suraev and station Commander Jeff Williams float in the foreground.

(Credit: NASA TV)

Hatches were opened about an hour and a half later, after leak checks to make sure the Soyuz was firmly latched in place.

Expedition 22 Commander Jeffrey Williams and cosmonaut Maxim Suraev were standing by to welcome Kotov and his two crewmates--Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and NASA astronaut Timothy Creamer--on board to boost the lab's complement back up to five.

"It's great to see all you guys on orbit," Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's chief of space operations, radioed from the Russian mission control center near Moscow. "Have a great Christmas, a good New Year. I can't think of a better family to have in space than you. I'm here with your families in the control center, so have a great expedition."

"Thank you, Gerst, it's good to hear your voice, it's great to have these guys on board," Williams replied. "It completes the complement of Expedition 22."

"Oleg, hello, we're so happy to see you aboard the station one more time," a family member radioed Kotov. "Daddy, I'm so proud of you. You're the best father in the world! We wish you the best of luck."

The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft slowly approaches its docking port on the International Space Station after an automated approach.

(Credit: NASA TV)

"Thanks to you for coming, thank you for your words, I love you very much and I'll talk to you soon," Kotov replied.

Said Creamer: "Everything's doing really great here. It's better than great, it's 154 times better than great. So thanks for the well wishes."

Williams and Suraev have had the station to themselves since December 1 when cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, and Canadian Robert Thirsk returned to Earth after a six-month stay in space.

Kotov, Creamer, and Noguchi plan to remain aboard the lab complex for a six-month tour of duty. Williams and Suraev will return to Earth in late March, but three more crew members are scheduled for launch in early April to boost the crew to six.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three fresh crew members bound for the International Space Station blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Monday local time, lighting up a cold, pre-dawn sky with a torrent of flame visible for miles around.

With Soyuz commander Oleg Kotov, a station veteran, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, a shuttle veteran, and rookie astronaut Timothy Creamer strapped into the Soyuz TMA-17 capsule, the rocket roared to life at 4:52 p.m. EST Sunday (3:52 a.m. Monday local time) and quickly climbed away from the same pad used by Yuri Gagarin at the dawn of the space age.

The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

(Credit: NASA)

Liftoff was timed for roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried the launch pad into the plane of the space station's orbit. Kotov, seated in the spacecraft's center seat, was flanked by Creamer to his right and Noguchi on his left.

The climb to space appeared normal and live television views from inside the TMA-17's central module showed all three crew members relaxed and at ease as they monitored their cockpit instrument displays. Noguchi flashed a thumbs up and Creamer waved.

A little less than nine minutes after liftoff, the spacecraft slipped into its planned preliminary orbit and Kotov reported "everyone feels great, no problems." Later this evening, Kotov planned to oversee two rendezvous rocket firings to fine-tune the craft's approach to the lab complex.

A third rocket firing is planned for Monday and if all goes well, the TMA-17 spacecraft will execute an automated approach to the Earth-facing port of the station's Zarya module Tuesday for a docking around 5:54 p.m.

Waiting to welcome the new crew members on board will be Expedition 22 commander Jeffrey Williams and Maxim Suraev, launched to the outpost Sept. 30. Suraev and Williams, who has a previous station flight to his credit, have had the lab to themselves since December 1, when cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne and Canadian Robert Thirsk returned to Earth after a six-month stay in space.

"One of the things we've learned over the last couple of years is it's really beneficial to have (experienced) crew members (on board) when a new crew arrives," said Kirk Shireman, deputy manager of the space station program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"So while it'll be a new experience for these guys, the fact that Max and Jeff have already been up there, they'll know where everything is, they'll know how things work and that'll allow these three guys to quickly adapt and be able to hit the ground running."

According to an Associated Press report, Creamer told reporters he would miss his family over the Christmas holidays, but "we are going as a family together to a family in space." He has been using Twitter to keep friends, family and the public up to date and plans to continue posting from space.

"I thought if I can give you the status of what I am doing, what we are hoping for, what we are looking forward to seeing, those would be good little teasers," he said.

The Soyuz TMA-17 crew, bound for the International Space Station. Left to right: Soyuz commander Oleg Kotov, Timothy Creamer, Soichi Noguchi.

(Credit: NASA)

After a break for Christmas and the New Year holidays, the crew will face a busy month in January.

Using the station's robot arm, a NASA pressurized mating adapter currently attached to the left side of the central Unity module will be relocated Jan. 5 to clear the way for attachment of a new U.S. module in February.

Suraev and Kotov plan a spacewalk January 14 to finish outfitting a new Russian docking port known as Poisk, or MRM-2, that was recently attached to the Zvezda command module's upward-facing hatch. Once that work is done, the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft now docked to Zvezda's aft port--the capsule that carried Williams and Suraev to the station--will be moved to Poisk on January 20.

The shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for launch from the Kennedy Space Center on Fabruary 7 to deliver Tranquility, or Node 3, a roomy module that will be attached to Unity's left-side port. Once installed and checked out, a toilet now installed in the Destiny lab module will be moved into Tranquility, along with exercise equipment and other life support gear that has been temporarily housed elsewhere.

"This increment really sets the stage for the last year of the shuttle program," Shireman said. "It's a big growth year...the last major growth spurt for the International Space Station...We're looking forward to a really, really exciting year."

As it currently stands, four Soyuz flights to the station are planned in 2010, NASA's final five shuttle missions and up to six unmanned Progress supply ships. Along with Tranquility, a new Russian module will be delivered by the shuttle, along with a cargo transfer module that will be left aboard the station after the final shuttle visit.

"This is the beginning of another phase where we learn to operate with a larger crew size, more demands on the hardware, more demands on the space station," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associated administrator of space operations. "So for the systems to work right requires a lot of extra preparation and this is the beginning of that preparation."

Said chief astronaut Peggy Whitson: "It's obviously very complicated. I think we have done in the past several years a fantastic job of making very difficult things look easy. We always have problems, but we always seem to be able to overcome them and I think that's kind of NASA's theme for survival.

"We expect that adding on a new module, two new modules this year ... it's going to be pretty exciting, expanding the station even further. I know when I was up there when we increased the station volume with three new modules it was just really exciting, opening up this huge new space to live in and explore."

UPDATED at 5:30 p.m. EST with Soyuz launch.

Science buffs got an early Christmas present when rare video was released showing a spectacular undersea volcanic eruption deep in the Pacific Ocean.

The West Mata volcano sits nearly 4,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific in an area bordered by Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. It was discovered in May by scientists with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation. Lucky researchers managed to catch high-definition video of the eruption with the help of a remotely-operated underwater robot named Jason.

Jason's cameras captured masses of lava bubbling up into the cold seawater, chunks of debris breaking off vents and falling to the seafloor, and enormous clouds of volcanic ash billowing into the water.

The discovery is significant for several reasons. For one, it is the deepest erupting volcano ever seen. As marine geologist Bob Embley said, "Since the water pressure at that depth suppresses the violence of the volcano's explosions, we could get the underwater robot within feet of the active eruption. On land, or even in shallow water, you could never hope to get this close and see such great detail."

It's also the first deep-water eruption observed in the last 25 years of submarine volcano research by NOAA and the NSF. In addition, the kind of lava spewing from the West Mata volcano is rare. Known as boninite lava, it's believed to be among the hottest on the planet. Prior to the West Mata discovery, it had only been seen on extinct volcanoes that were more than a million years old.

Despite the volcano's incredible depth and an environment as acidic as battery acid, the area is far from lifeless. Tim Shank, a biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (which operates the Jason robot), discovered shrimp thriving in the area of the eruption. He is now comparing the DNA of the West Mata shrimp to that of shrimp found in similar environments 3,000 miles away to determine whether they are the same species.

Scientists presented their work Thursday at an annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Explosive deep-ocean volcano (photos)

(Credit: ATR)

A humanoid robot has been deployed to a supermarket in Japan to help senior shoppers with their grocery purchases.

The modified version of the Robovie II robot developed by Japan's Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, or ATR, is working as a temporary shopping assistant at Apita-Seikadai supermarket in Kyoto until March. It's another experiment to test the viability of advanced personal robots in everyday situations.

Robovie can wirelessly receive a list of items selected beforehand by the customer, carry the shopping basket, and make recommendations about what to buy.

In the video below, the robot slowly follows a 67-year-old woman around the supermarket, carrying her basket, as they are followed by reporters. Robovie keeps telling the lady that the fruit she puts in the basket looks delicious, to which she agrees. It then suggests lettuce for a salad.

ATR's Robovie series has been developed into several machines. Some have been used as crowd monitors to detect people who are lost, while others have been miniaturized as hobby robots.

Via Pink Tentacle

The MQ-1 Predator.

(Credit: U.S. Air Force)

Iraqi insurgents have reportedly intercepted live video feeds from the U.S. military's Predator drones using a $25.95 Windows application that allows them to track the pilotless aircraft undetected.

Hackers working with Iraqi militants were able to determine which areas of the country were under surveillance by the U.S. military, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, adding that video feeds from drones in Afghanistan also appear to have been compromised.

Meanwhile, a senior Air Force officer said Wednesday that a wave of new surveillance aircraft, both manned and unmanned, were being deployed to Afghanistan to bolster "eyes in the sky" protection for the influx of American troops ordered by President Obama.

This apparent security breach, which had been known in military and intelligence circles to be possible, arose because the Predator unmanned aerial vehicles do not use encryption in the final link to their operators on the ground.

Read more of "U.S. was Warned of Predator Drone Hacking" at CBSNews.com.

Earlier this week I had the very awesome opportunity to attend the first flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in Seattle. This is usually Daniel Terdiman's beat, but knowing that I'm a huge airline geek, CNET let me take a break from cell phones to cover the first flight. Daniel wrapped up the event with blogs and great photos of the take-off and landing--I helped by shooting the take-off video--but I also had the opportunity to visit the Dreamliner Gallery.

The gallery, which is located in Everett, Wash., just near Paine Field where the 787 was built and took off, offers potential customers a chance to check out the Dreamliner's interior features. A series of rooms display various seating arrangements, galleys, lavatories, and crew rest areas. You also can view mockups of the cockpit and a section of the passenger cabin. So for your own glimpse into the Dreamliner Gallery, check out the slideshow below.

Inside the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Gallery (photos)