Keeble Observatory
February 2010 Sky from the Keeble Observatory
This will be our final look at the “Augustine Commission” report, which seeks to lay out a broad plan for the future of human spaceflight for the United States. We have seen that they suggested that such a program should be goal driven, rather than destination driven.
With primary goals of developing capabilities for long term space flight while fostering advanced technology and international cooperation, the Augustine Commission considered three possible long-term scenarios, all of which seem to place Mars exploration as the ultimate goal:
- Mars First, with the objective of landing on Mars, perhaps after brief testing in the lunar environment.
- Moon First, with the objective of exploring the lunar surface and perhaps building permanent bases. Mars exploration would come only after we are fully invested in the Moon.
- Flexible Path, with the objective of exploring the inner solar system without landing on large bodies. This would include, perhaps, a lunar orbit station, landing on asteroids or the moons of Mars, with lunar and Martian landings and exploration.
And, they were emphatic that neither current nor projected budgets for NASA made possible accomplishing any of these on schedule. An additional $3 billion annually would be needed. The current NASA budget includes the $3.5 billion Constellation program, intended to replace the Shuttle with a crew vehicle called Orion, and a pair of launchers collectively called Ares. Ares I is intended to ferry astronauts to and from low Earth orbit, e.g. to the Space Station. Ares V is a “heavy lift” booster able to send large payloads to orbit and beyond, say to the Moon or Mars. Ares I is behind schedule and over budget, largely because of technical problems. Work on Ares V is in very preliminary design.
The decision appears to have been made by President Obama to follow the Flexible Path. Work on Ares I would be stopped to begin seriously designing and building a heavy lift vehicle, which could be ready to launch by 2018. Partnerships with Europe, Japan, and Canada would be asked to work on a lunar lander and modules for moon base – relieving NASA of the need to find those billions of dollars. Commercial companies would be asked to take over the task of getting humans and supplies to low orbit.
Note: the above paragraphs were written before the February 1 announcement of the President's plan for moving forward. So, what did the President decide? His budget calls for dramatic changes in mission and priorities for NASA, going beyond even the Augustine committee's recommendations. If approved by Congress (not likely, given the political realities) the agency will no longer operate its own spacecraft, but will contract with commercially operated launch providers. He recommends cancelling not just Ares I, but the entire Constellation program, including both the Ares V and the Orion crew vehicle. He seeks to cancel the program of return to the Moon and would seek international cooperation and financing for future deep space missions. Stay tuned ... this proposal will garner much opposition, especially from members of Congress in whose districts the cancelled programs provide substantial employment.
Lunar phases for February: Last Quarter on the 5th, at 6:48 pm; New Moon on the 13th, at 9:51 pm; First Quarter on the 21st, at 7:42 pm; Full Moon on the 28th at 11:38 am.
Saturn and mercury are visible in the predawn twilight early in the month. Look for Mercury low to the southeast, about 13 degrees above the horizon. It rises to the east about an hour before sunrise. Saturn is still bright to the west-southwest, about 30 degrees off the horizon. Later in February, Mercury will disappear into the Sun’s glare, returning next month to the evening skies. Saturn will drift to the west relative to the horizon, appearing low in the west by month’s end as the Sun rises to the east.
This is the best time to observe Mars – it’s just past opposition, so it rises at sunset and stays visible all night. It’s at its closest approach to Earth in its regular cycle of about two years. Jupiter is low at sunset, just west of the southwest point on the horizon. Venus is technically visible, but it will be very low to the west at sunset. Later in the month it will be higher, perhaps 10 degrees above the horizon as the Sun sets, and bright enough to pick out of the early twilight. By month’s end look for Mars about 40 degrees above the eastern horizon, eventually setting about two hours before sunrise.
Our overhead view in the middle of February, about two hours after sunset, finds the constellation Auriga (the Charioteer) at zenith. Its brightest star, Capella, lies about 10 degrees north of zenith. The bright star at 10 degrees south of zenith is Elnath, which is in the constellation Taurus. Facing east and casting our vision down from zenith, we encounter the bright pair of Castor and Pollux in Gemini, about 60 degrees above the horizon. Mars is 10 degrees lower, in the constellation Cancer, close to the Beehive Cluster. This makes a nice target for binoculars. Leo is rising, and you’ll see bright Regulus about 20 degrees above the horizon. Unmistakable to the south is the familiar and magnificent Orion. That bright blue star to the left of Orion is Sirius, the “dog star” and the brightest star visible other than the Sun. Turning to the northwest we see the familiar shape of Cassiopeia, here tipped to look like an upper case Greek letter sigma. With binoculars, if you follow the imaginary line through the upper pair of stars back toward the west, you should find the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest large spiral to our own home Galaxy, the Milky Way.
Copyright 2010
George Spagna