Spacewalkers Install Wide Field Camera 3

Relief in the Control Room

Relief in the Control Room
05.14.09 - Take a peek inside Mission Control during the first spacewalk of Servicing Mission 4. Tension runs high as a single bolt briefly threatens Hubble's future.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Summary Points from Thursday's Mission Status Briefing
from Hubble Servicing Mission Update
We had an issue on today's spacewalk with a bolt critical to removing the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. We tried using different tools and were eventually able to remove the bolt using a reconfigured ratchet tool.
If the bolt broke, there's nothing else we could have done. We would not have been able to install The Wide Field Camera III.
The WFPC 2 will eventually end up at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.

Hubble Servicing Mission Update
First Spacewalk of STS-125 Mission Complete
Thu, 14 May 2009 15:17:11 -0500
The STS-125 mission's first spacewalk concluded at 4:12 p.m. EDT. During the 7 hour, 20-minute excursion, Grunsfeld and Feustel removed the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, or WFPC 2, and installed the Wide Field Camera III, or WFC III. They also swapped out the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit, installed a soft capture mechanism, lubricated three of the shroud doors, and one of the three latch-over center kits.
They had some difficulty with the other two, installing a latch repair on one of the bolts, and partially installed a second Lock. That door is now secure for when it's revisited on the mission's third spacewalk.

Spacewalkers to Begin Final Task of First Spacewalkfrom Hubble Servicing Mission Update
The spacewalkers have successfully completed the installation of the new SIC&DH into the telescope and the old unit into its carrier in the space shuttle's payload bay. Grunsfeld also installed a soft capture mechanism, which will allow future vehicles to attach to the telescope. The mechanism was attached to the flight support system that connects the shuttle to the telescope.
Their final scheduled task for the day will be to install three latch-over-center kits that will allow for faster opening and closing of the telescope doors during the third spacewalk.

Spacewalkers Swapping Hubble Computersfrom Hubble Servicing Mission Update
Grunsfeld is removing the new Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit from its carrier by releasing eight bolts, while Feustel removes the old computer from the telescope by releasing 10 bolts. Feustel will carry the old computer to Grunsfeld at the carrier, where the two will swap. Feustel will then carry the new computer back to the telescope and install it, while Grunsfeld stores the old one inside the carrier.

Spacewalkers Install Wide Field Camera 3
Thu, 14 May 2009 11:26:40 -0500
The spacewalkers have successfully installed the Wide Field Camera 3 on Hubble and stowed the old camera, WFPC 2, inside its protective enclosure for the return trip home.
The spacewalkers’ next major task will be the replacement of the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit. The computer sends commands to Hubble’s science instruments and formats science data for transmission to the ground.
The on orbit unit experienced computer anomalies in September 2008. NASA decided that the prudent thing to do was to delay the planned October 2008 launch of Atlantis on the Hubble servicing mission until this ground spare was ready to fly.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

A New Drake Equation? Other Life Not Likely to be Intelligent
As for intelligent life, give it time, he said. Though it may be hard to think of it this way, at roughly 14 billion years old, the universe is quite young, he said. The heavy elements that make up planets like Earth were not available in the early universe; instead, they are formed by the stars. Enough of these materials were available to begin forming rocky planets like Earth just 7 billion or 8 billion years ago. When one considers that it took nearly 4 billion years for intelligent life to evolve on Earth, it would perhaps not be surprising if intelligence is still rare.
http://www.universetoday.com/2009/05/13/a-new-drake-equation-other-life-not-likely-to-be-intelligent/

Russia to charge NASA $51 million per space flight
Wed May 13, 2009
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will charge U.S. astronauts $51 million per return trip to the International Space Station (ISS) from 2012 and will resume selling seats to space tourists, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNewsMolt/idUKTRE54C48520090513

J-PARCの全実験施設稼働東海村からニュートリノビーム！ News@KEK 5.14
ニュートリノには電子型、ミュー型、タウ型の３種類がありますが
３種類のニュートリノがそれぞれどのように種類が入れ替わるのかを精密に測定することで、宇宙がビッグバンで始まった時にニュートリノが果たしていた役割を知ることができるようになります。以前ご紹介したK2K実験やカムランド実験などでミュー型とタウ型、電子型とタウ型の入れ替わりは調べることができるようになりましたが、ミュー型と電子型の入れ替わりを調べることが次の研究テーマになっています。
http://www.kek.jp/newskek/2009/mayjun/J-PARCT2K.html

違法DLでネット切断の「スリーストライク法案」、仏議会で可決 - ITmedia News
"この法案は、違法ダウンロードユーザーに2度警告し、3度目の違反でそのユーザーのネット回線を切断するというもの。
High Authority of Diffusion of the Art Works and Protection of Rights on the Internet（Hadopi）という新たな政府機関を設け、この機関が違法ダウンロードユーザーの身元を突き止めて警告する。2度警告を受けても違反を続けたユーザーは、最高で1年間インターネット接続を停止される。さらにブラックリストに載せられて、別のISPに移行したり、新しいアカウントを取得したりできなくなる。"
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/0905/14/news050.html

ミャンマー/ビルマ:スーチーさんを起訴毎日新聞
軍事政権は１４日、同国の民主化運動指導者、アウンサンスーチーさん（６３）を、自宅軟禁の条件を守らなかったとして「国家転覆防御法」違反の罪で起訴した。
米国人男性（５３）が先週、ヤンゴン市内にあるスーチーさんの自宅に侵入した事件について、当局の許可を得ずに外部の人間と接触した「軟禁の条件違反」とした。
スーチーさんの自宅軟禁処分は今月末、期限を迎えるはずだった。
ＡＦＰ通信によると、侵入した米国人男性も起訴された。
軍事政権は０３年、「民主化ロードマップ」を発表。行程表の最終段階として来年に総選挙を実施し、民政移管を実現するとしている。
軍事政権はスーチーさんの総選挙参加を確実に阻止するため、米国人男性侵入事件を口実に、選挙後までスーチーさんの拘束を継続する措置に出た可能性が強いhttp://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20090514-00000150-mai-int