Japan Shares Space Station SMILES via Atmospheric Data Distribution

The coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, typically produced by solar flares might pose a danger, if not for the Earth's protective atmosphere and magnetosphere. Using International Space Station research and technology, scientists continue to learn more about the atmosphere, adding important new data to the collective understanding of this important defensive veil.

Atmospheric gasses, held in place by gravity, surround our planet and keep us safe from extreme temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, and the vacuum of space. Meanwhile, the magnetic fields generated by and surrounding the Earth  the magnetosphere help to shield us from the ever-present, solar wind-increased radiation events resulting from CMEs.

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, developed a high-precision technology that resides outside the station, mounted on the Japanese Experiment Module–Exposed Facility, or JEM-EF, as part of an investigation to study the chemical makeup of the Earth's middle atmosphere. Known as the Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder, or SMILES, this hardware uses a superconducting detector cooled down to 4 Kelvins (-269 degrees Celsius) and is the first of its kind in space.

Hayabusa Spacecraft Returns Asteroid Artifacts From Space

Scientists involved with the first space mission attempting to sample asteroid surface material and return to Earth, have confirmed presence of particles collected from a small container aboard the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa spacecraft. On June 13, 2010, Hayabusa visited the near-Earth asteroid, called Itokawa. The spacecraft landed at Australia's remote Woomera Test Range in South Australia, concluding a remarkable mission of exploration one in which NASA scientists and engineers played a contributing role. Initial research from an electron microscope reveals about 1500 grains identified as rocky particles, and judged to be of extraterrestrial origin from the asteroid. Their size is mostly less than 10 micrometers. Handling these grains requires very special skills and techniques.

JAXA is developing the necessary handling techniques and preparing the associated equipment for further analyses. Launched May 9, 2003, from the Kagoshima Space Center, Uchinoura, Japan, Hayabusa was designed as a flying testbed. Its mission: to research several new engineering technologies necessary for returning planetary samples to Earth for further study. With Hayabusa, JAXA scientists and engineers hoped to obtain detailed information on electrical propulsion and autonomous navigation, as well as an asteroid sampler and sample reentry capsule. The 510-kilogram (950-pound) Hayabusa spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid Itokawa in September 2005. Over the next two-and-a-half months, the spacecraft made up-close and personal scientific observations of the asteroid's shape, terrain, surface altitude distribution, mineral composition, gravity, and the way it reflected the sun's rays.

On Nov. 25 of that year, Hayabusa briefly touched down on the surface of Itokawa. That was only the second time in history a spacecraft descended to the surface of an asteroid. The spacecraft departed Itokawa in January 2007. A team of Japanese and American navigators guided Hayabusa on the final leg of its journey. Together, they calculated the final trajectory correction maneuvers Hayabusa's ion propulsion system had to perform for a successful homecoming. To obtain the data they needed, the navigation team frequently called upon JAXA's tracking stations in Japan, as well as those of NASA's Deep Space Network, which has antennas at Goldstone, in California's Mojave Desert; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. In addition, the stations provided mission planners with near continuous communications with the spacecraft to keep them informed on spacecraft health.

NASA And Partners Assign Crews For Upcoming Space Station Missions

NASA and its international partners, the Russia Federal Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), have assigned four new International Space Station crews. The crews include NASA astronauts Joe Acaba, Sunita Williams and Kevin Ford. Acaba was born in Inglewood, Calif., and raised in Anaheim, Calif. Williams was born in Euclid, Ohio, but considers Needham, Mass., her hometown. Ford was born in Portland, Ind., and considers Montpelier, Ind., his hometown.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Konenenko, European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers and NASA astronaut Don Pettit were previously announced as Expedition 31 crew members. Expedition 31 begins when Soyuz 28 undocks from the station in March 2012.

Soyuz 30 is set to launch in April 2012 with the following crew members who have been added to Expedition 31:
-- NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, flight engineer
-- Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, flight engineer
-- Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Valkov, flight engineer (Soyuz 30)

For More News: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jul/HQ_10-161_New_ISS_Crews.html

Hayabusa Asteroid Mission Comes Home

The Hayabusa capsule and bus entered the Earth's atmosphere over Woomera, Australia, on June 13 at 11:21 p.m. local time. From the perspective of NASA's DC-8 airborne observation team, the capsule moved below and slightly ahead of the bus and stayed clear of the spectacular breakup of the bus.

After the bus had disintegrated, the capsule continued to create a wake, before reaching peak heating and then fading gradually. That's when the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) expects the sample return capsule of the agency's technology demonstrator spacecraft, Hayabusa, to boomerang back to Earth.

The capsule, along with its mother ship, visited a near-Earth asteroid, Itokawa, five years ago and has logged about 2 billion kilometers (1.25 billion miles) since its launch in May 2003. With the return of the Hayabusa capsule, JAXA concluded a remarkable mission of exploration -- one in which NASA scientists and engineers played a contributing role.