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Archived Features: May 2009
  
 
PHARMASAT IN ORBIT
MAY 20, 2009
 
NASA Ames' PharmaSat launched

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NASA Ames' PharmaSat was launched into orbit on the evening of May 19 from Wallops Island, Virginia. This biological nanosatellite rode as a secondary payload on a USAF Minotaur launch of TacSat-3. PharmaSat will investigate the effects of antifungal agents on the growth of yeast in microgravity. This research could improve the understanding of how microbes may become resistant to the drugs used to treat sick astronauts on long-duration missions.


Image credit: NASA.
 
 
LCROSS LAUNCH RESCHEDULED
MAY 20, 2009
 
LCROSS The launch of LCROSS, a secondary payload aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, has been rescheduled for June 17 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The small delay allows engineers to study a potential thrust anomaly associated with the fill/drain valves on the Centaur upper stage. The Centaur will be carried to the Moon, where it serves as the primary impactor in the search for water ice in a permanently shadowed polar crater. With the new launch date, impact is predicted for October 8. The accompanying image shows LRO sitting atop LCROSS at the Astrotech processing facility in Titusville, Florida.



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Image Credit: NASA



 
 
KEPLER STARTS ITS SEARCH FOR PLANETS
MAY 12, 2009
 
A TRUE-LIFE INDIANA JONES

At 5.01pm (PDT) on May 12, Kepler concluded its 2-month commissioning phase and started its 3.5-year prime science mission. The Kepler spacecraft is nearly seven million kilometers distant in its Earth-trailing solar orbit. Science data will routinely be downlinked to Earth every month, with the first transmission scheduled for about June 18. A vital component of the Kepler mission is subsequent ground-based observations to rule out false positive detections. Observing time has been secured on the Keck Telescopes in August to follow-up the early Kepler results. These observations will be biased towards the discovery of "hot Jupiters," massive planets with orbital periods of a few days. The primary science objective, to discover the frequency of terrestrial-sized planets in the habitable zone, will take 3 or more years to complete.


Image credit: NASA.
 
 
PHARMASAT PREPARES FOR LAUNCH
MAY 12, 2009
 
Kepler

PharmaSat, a secondary payload on a USAF launch, is still awaiting launch from Wallops Island, Virginia. There were three unsuccessful attempts to launch last week, with thunderstorms responsible for two missed opportunities. Because of the prioritization of downrange resources to support the STS-125 Shuttle launch, the PharmaSat launch has been rescheduled for the week of May 18. When available, schedule updates will be made available at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/pharmasat.html


Image Credit: NASA Ames Research Center



 
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