Story written for CBS News by William Harwood. As the incoming Obama administration considers whether to accelerate development of the Ares 1 rocket that will replace the space shuttle- or possibly change course and switch to a different system or even extend shuttle operations-NASA is pressing ahead with plans to launch a critical sub-orbital test flight to show off the new rocket and collect valuable engineering data."One test is worth a thousand opinions," said Jon Cowart, a ground systems manager at the Kennedy Space Center. "It's brand new, it's a long, thin rocket. We want to make sure we can guide this thing. Balance a broomstick on the end of your finger, you'll get some idea of what we're dealing with here."
Because the unmanned test rocket features a dummy upper stage and a less-powerful version of the shuttle-heritage solid fuel first stage intended for the eventual manned rocket. Space insiders and myself feel that the $330 million test flight is little more than an expensive show to see if they can balance a broomstick on the edge of their fingers. What is your opinion? Please comment.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
NASA to award $1 billion-plus contract for GOES weather satellite.
NASA next month will award a $1 billion contract for a GOES weather-observation constellation satellite to one of three aerospace companies. Boeing Co., Lockheed-Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. are locked in a pricing battle to build the next-generation GOES system. There are currently over 3,500 weather satellites in orbit, why do we need another unit that will cost $1 billion-plus. Why doesn't NASA use that amount of money into research finding an alternative fuel that will not deplete the ozone layer after every launch? How will another weather satellite help in predicting the weather? NASA and the other 45 countries that are launching some type of satellites every 3.7 days are the culprits that are causing the disastorus climate changes throughout this planet.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
2008 Sees Fifth Largest Ozone Hole
Total ozone image for September 12 2008. Credit NOAA November 3, 2008
The ozone hole over Antarctica, which fluctuates in response to temperature and sunlight, grew to the size of North America in a one-day maximum in September that was the fifth largest on record, since NOAA satellite records began in 1979.
Satellite total ozone observation from the Solar Backscatter Ultra Violet (SBUV/2) instrument.
NOAA scientists, who have monitored the ozone layer since 1962, have determined that this year’s ozone hole has passed its seasonal peak for 2008. Ozone data is available online.
The primary cause of the ozone hole is human-produced compounds called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which release ozone-destroying chlorine and bromine into the atmosphere. Earth’s protective ozone layer acts like a giant umbrella, blocking the sun’s ultraviolet-B rays. Though banned for the past 21 years to reduce their harmful build up, CFCs still take many decades to dissipate from the atmosphere.
According to NOAA scientists, colder than average temperatures in the stratosphere may have helped play a part in allowing the ozone hole to develop more fully this year.
“Weather is the most important factor in the fluctuation of the size of the ozone hole from year-to-year,” said Bryan Johnson, a scientist at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, which monitors ozone, ozone-depleting chemicals, and greenhouse gases around the globe. “How cold the stratosphere is and what the winds do determine how powerfully the chemicals can perform their dirty work.”
NASA satellites measured the maximum area of this year’s ozone hole at 10.5 million square miles and four miles deep, on Sept. 12. Balloon-borne sensors released from NOAA’s South Pole site showed the total column of atmospheric ozone dropped to its lowest count of 107 Dobson units on Sept. 28. Dobson units are a measure of total ozone in a vertical column of air.
South Pole ozonesonde measurements for 2006, 2007, and 2008.
South Pole ozonesonde measurements for 2006-2008. Credit NOAAIn 2006, record-breaking ozone loss occurred as ozone thickness plunged to 93 Dobson units on Oct. 9 and sprawled over 11.4 million square miles at its peak. Scientists blamed colder-than-usual temperatures in the stratosphere for its unusually large size. Last year’s ozone hole was average in size and depth.
Starting in May, as Antarctica moves into a period of 24-hour-a-day darkness, rotating winds the size of the continent create a vortex of cold, stable air centered near the South Pole that isolates CFCs over the continent. When spring sunshine returns in August, the sun’s ultraviolet light sets off a series of chemical reactions inside the vortex that consume the ozone. The colder and more isolated the air inside the vortex, the more destructive the chemistry. By late December the southern summer is in full swing, the vortex has crumbled, and the ozone has returned—until the process begins anew the following winter.
The 1987 Montreal Protocol and other regulations banning CFCs reversed the buildup of chlorine and bromine, first noticed in the 1980s.
South Pole ozonesonde measurements for 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Credit: NOAA
South Pole ozonesonde measurements for 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Images of ozone concentration from an animation showing the development of the ozone hole during 2008.
“These chemicals—and signs of their reduction—take several years to rise from the lower atmosphere into the stratosphere and then migrate to the poles,” said NOAA’s Craig Long, a research meteorologist at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction. “The chemicals also typically last 40 to 100 years in the atmosphere. For these reasons, stratospheric CFC levels have dropped only a few percent below their peak in the early 2000s.“
“The decline of these harmful substances to their pre-ozone hole levels in the Antarctic stratosphere will take decades,” said NOAA atmospheric chemist Stephen Montzka of the Earth System Research Laboratory. “We don’t expect a full recovery of Antarctic ozone until the second half of the century.”
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
Relevant Web Sites
* South Pole Baseline Observatory
* South Pole Ozone Hole Data
* Climate Prediction Center SBUV Analyses
* NASA Ozone Hole Watch
U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Earth System Research Laboratory
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/news/2008/ozonehole.html
Privacy Policy Accessibility Disclaimer USA.gov
South Pole ozonesonde measurements for 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Images of ozone concentration from an animation showing the development of the ozone hole during 2008.
“These chemicals—and signs of their reduction—take several years to rise from the lower atmosphere into the stratosphere and then migrate to the poles,” said NOAA’s Craig Long, a research meteorologist at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction. “The chemicals also typically last 40 to 100 years in the atmosphere. For these reasons, stratospheric CFC levels have dropped only a few percent below their peak in the early 2000s.“
“The decline of these harmful substances to their pre-ozone hole levels in the Antarctic stratosphere will take decades,” said NOAA atmospheric chemist Stephen Montzka of the Earth System Research Laboratory. “We don’t expect a full recovery of Antarctic ozone until the second half of the century.”
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
Relevant Web Sites
* South Pole Baseline Observatory
* South Pole Ozone Hole Data
* Climate Prediction Center SBUV Analyses
* NASA Ozone Hole Watch
U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Earth System Research Laboratory
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/news/2008/ozonehole.html
Privacy Policy Accessibility Disclaimer USA.gov
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
