The milestones of STS-133 Space Shuttle Discovery launch (reverse order):

03:50 GMT (Feb. 25) – Crew sleep begins
02:15 GMT (Feb. 25) – ET video downlink
02:10 GMT (Feb. 25) – ET photo
22:40 GMT – Post insertion timeline begins
22:30 GMT – OMS-2 rocket firing (orbit circularization)

~ 22:03:34 GMT @ T+09:00 – Nominal MECO, OMS-1 not required. With a direct insertion ascent, the main engines are burned slightly longer to achieve the desired apogee altitude, such that an OMS-1 maneuver (which would supply the additional thrust needed to reach orbit) is not required.

- 22:03:07 GMT @ T+08:33 – External Tank (ET) separation.

External Tank Separation

- 22:03:04 GMT @ T+08:30 – Zero Thrust.

- 22:02:58 GMT @ T+08:24 – Main Engine Cut-off (MECO). Discovery has reach the planned orbit and is schedule to dock with the International Space Station on Flight Day 3.

- 22:02:15 GMT @ T+07:41 - Negative Istres.

- 22:01:54 GMT @ T+07:20 - Negative Moron.

- 22:00:47 GMT @ T+06:13 – Press to MECO and Single Engine Zaragoza 104 – Discovery can now reach planned orbit in case of a single SSME failure and the Zaragoza TAL site on a single engine at 104.5% throttle.

- 22:00:04 GMT @ T+05:30 – Single Engine OPS-3, select Zaragoza – Discovery could now reach the designated TAL site in Zaragoza Spain with a single engine at Full Power Level (FPL), i.e 109% throttle, should two of the SSME‘s fail (the OPS-3 software mode will be used for re-entry) – Prior to this point, the loss of two engines requires contingency abort procedures and OPS 6 software.

- 22:00:02 GMT @ T+05:28 – Roll to heads-up.

- 21:59:42 GMT @ T+05:08 – Press to ATO select Zaragoza – Discovery could now reach a safe orbit (circular / 194.5 km) with two Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) throttled at Typical Mission Power Level (104.5%) in case of a single SSME failure. Should one of the engines fail the crew could execute the Abort To Orbit (ATO) maneuver (in case of TAL abort, the landing facility in Zaragoza would be used).

- 21:59:02 GMT @ T+04:28 – End of OMS Assist.

- 21:58:28 GMT @ T+03:54 – Negative Return – Discovery has used too much fuel and is traveling too fast (9,310 km/h), too high (95 km) and is too far (191 km) to return to the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for a potential Return To Launch Site (RTLS) abort.

- 21:57:26 GMT @ T+02:52 – 2 engine Istres. Discovery can now reach the Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) site in Istres in the case of a single engine failure.

- 21:57:15 GMT @ T+02:41 – 2 engine Zaragoza. Discovery can now reach the TAL site in Zaragoza in the case of a single engine failure.

- 21:57:10 GMT @ T+02:36 – 2 engine Moron. Discovery can now reach the TAL site in Moron in the case of a single engine failure.

- 21:56:47 GMT @ T+02:13 – Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) assist.

- 21:56:37 GMT @ T+02:03 – Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) separation. Discovery is at the altitude of 45.08 km, 40.87 km down range from the KSC, traveling at 5 838.70 km/h (Mach 4).

SRB SEP

- 21:54:35 GMT @ T+01:01 – Max-Q (the point of the greatest dynamic pressure).

- 21:54:27 GMT @ T+00:53 –Throttle up back to 104.5% engine power level.

- 21:54:22 GMT @ T+00:48 – Mach 1.

- 21:54:14 GMT @ T+00:40 – Throttle down from 104.5% to 72.0% engine power level at Mach 0.9.

- 21:53:52 GMT @ T+00:18 – Roll maneuver finished.

- 21:53:45 GMT @ T+00:11 – Start the roll program.

- 21:53:34 GMT @ T-00:00 – Lift-off. Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) ignition and lift-off of the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 (ISS assembly flight 20A) mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Lift-off of Space Shuttle Discovery

- 21:50:20 GMT @ T-00:06.6 (and 06.48, 06.36) – The three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) start.

Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) start

- 21:50:18 GMT @ T-00:09 – The hydrogen burn-off system begins to eliminate free hydrogen exhausted into the main engine nozzles during the start sequence to prevent small, but potentially dangerous, explosions when the main engines ignite.

The hydrogen burn-off system begins to eliminate free hydrogen

- 21:50:12 T-00:15 – The Sound Suppression Water System has been activated to protect Discovery and the launch pad from acoustical energy and rocket exhaust reflected from the flame trench and Mobile Launcher Platform during launch.

- 21:49:56 GMT @ T-00:31 – Auto-sequence start. Discovery’s on-board computers have primary control of all vehicle’s critical functions.

- 21:45:32 GMT: Terminate LO2 replenish
- 21:48: GMT: T-5 minutes and counting

T-4 minutes and 59 seconds and counting

- 21:45:27 GMT: Launch window opens, T-5 minutes and holding (the launch window expires at 21:55:27 GMT)

- 21:41:27 GMT: The countdown clock resumes at T-9min and counting.

T-8 minuts and 59 seconds and counting

- 21:21 GMT: NASA Test Director (NTD) launch status verification.
- 20:56 GMT: Begin final built-in hold (T-minus 9m)

- 20:45 GMT: Resume countdown (T-minus 20m)
- 20:35 GMT: Begin 10-minute built-in hold (T-minus 20m)

- 19:45 GMT: Shuttle Discovery’s hatch has been closed and latched for flight, the six STS-133 astronauts are strapped into their seats.

- 19:20 GMT: Astronaut comm checks.

- 18:00 GMT: The STS-133 crew leaves the crew quarters at the Operations and Checkout Building and board the Astrovan to head to the Pad 39A.

- 17:55 GMT: Resume countdown (T-minus 3 hours).

T-3 hours and holding

- 15:25 GMT: The shuttle tanking went into a stable replenish and the countdown entered a 2.5 hour long inbuilt hold at T-3 hours. During the hold the closeout crew will proceed to white room at the pad and the astronauts will suit up.

- 15:20 GMT: The liquid hydrogen tanking has reached 98% and will transition from fast-full to top-off at 2700 l per minute.

- 13:15 GMT: Liquid oxygen tanking changes to fast-fill mode at almost 6,000 l per minute. Liquid hydrogen is also in fast-fill phase adding almost 32,000 liters every minute into the external tank (ET).

- 13:05 GMT: Launch teams began liquid oxygen tanking in the slow-fill phase adding 1,200 liters every minute.

- 12:25 (Feb. 24) GMT: Fueling of the External Tank began with liquid hydrogen (at 20K) in the slow-fill mode. Liquid oxygen (at 90.188 K) will follow at 13:05 GMT. Resume countdown (T-minus 6 hours)

- 10:13 GMT: The crew wakes up in the crew quarters inside the Operations & Checkout Building at KSC
- 10:25 GMT: Begin 2-hour built-in hold (T-minus 6 hours)
- 05:25 (Feb. 24) GMT: Resume countdown at T-11 hours

The Mission Click at T-minus 11 hours and holding with Launch Pad 39-A and Space Shuttle Discovery in the background

February 24, 2011 at 21:53:34 UTC, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Discovery on its last journey into space after a series of 5 scrubs in November 2010. Six crew members of STS-133 (ISS assembly flight ULF5), commanded by NASA astronaut and Air Force officer Steven W. Lindsey (STS-87, STS-95, STS-104, STS-121), will stay in space 10 days and 19 hours and land at the Kennedy Space Center on 7 March 2011 at approximately 16:50 UTC. Mission Specialists Benjamin Alvin Drew, Jr. (STS-118) and Steve Bowen (STS-126, STS-132) will spend a total of 13.0 hours outside the station on flight days 5 and 7 (Bowen replaced astronaut Tim Kopra, who was injured in a bicycle accident in January). Discovery will spend two days heading toward its rendezvous with the International Space Station. On the second day of the flight, the crew will perform the standard scan of the shuttle’s thermal protection system using the orbiter boom sensor system attached to the end of Discovery’s robotic arm. On the third day of the flight, Discovery will approach and dock with the space station.

Lift-off of Space Shuttle Discovery

The mission will transport the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo and the third of four ExPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELC4) to the ISS. The Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) is a large, reusable pressurized element, carried in the space shuttle’s cargo bay, originally used to ferry cargo back and forth to the station. For STS-133, the PMM, known as Leonardo, was modified to become a permanent module attached to the International Space Station. Once in orbit, the PMM will offer 70 additional cubic meters of pressurized volume for storage and for scientific use. The module is carried in the cargo bay of Discovery and will be connected to the Unity node on the station.

Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, these six astronauts take a break from training to pose for the STS-133 crew portrait. Pictured are NASA astronauts Steve Lindsey (center right) and Eric Boe (center left), commander and pilot, respectively; along with astronauts (from the left) Alvin Drew, Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt and Steve Bowen, all mission specialists. - Credit: NASA

Almost 200 people from 15 countries have visited the International Space Station, but so far the orbiting complex has only ever had human crew members – until now. Robonaut 2, the latest generation of the Robonaut astronaut helpers, is set to launch to the space station aboard space shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 mission. It will be the first humanoid robot in space, and although its primary job for now is teaching engineers how dexterous robots behave in space, the hope is that through upgrades and advancements, it could one day venture outside the station to help spacewalkers make repairs or additions to the station or perform scientific work.

R2 inside the EMI Chamber at Johnson Space Center waiting to move on to the next set of environmental tests. Photographer: Kris Kehe

R2, as the robot is called, will launch inside the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module. Once R2 is unpacked – likely several months after it arrives – it will initially be operated inside the Destiny laboratory for operational testing, but over time, both its territory and its applications could expand. There are no plans to return R2 to Earth.

A Shuttle Back Flip at the Space Station - Credit: ISS Expedition 11 Crew, STS-114 Crew, NASA

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities. NASA opened the selection process to the public for the first time for STS-133. The public was invited to vote on two songs used to wake up astronauts on previous missions to wake up the STS-133 crew.

Space Shuttle Discovery as it approaches the International Space Station (ISS) during the STS-105 mission. Visible in the payload bay of Discovery are the Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo at right, which stores various supplies and experiments to be transferred into the ISS; at center, the Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) which carries the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS); and two Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) containers at left. - Credit: NASA

On flight day 5, Drew and Bowen will install a power extension cable between the Unity and Tranquility nodes to provide a contingency power source. The spacewalkers will move a failed ammonia pump module that was replaced in August 2010 from an attachment bracket to a stowage platform adjacent to the Quest airlock. Drew and Bowen will install hardware under a camera on the truss that will tilt the camera to provide clearance for a spare part to be installed on a future mission. They next will replace a guide for the rail cart system used for moving cargo along the truss. The guides were removed when the astronauts were performing work on the station’s starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, which rotates the solar arrays to track the sun.

On flight day 7, Drew will remove thermal insulation from a platform while Bowen swaps out an attachment bracket on the Columbus module. Bowen then will install a camera assembly on the Dextre robot and remove insulation from Dextre’s electronics platform. Drew will install a light on a cargo cart and repair some dislodged thermal insulation from a valve on the truss then remove other insulation from Tranquility. The final task will be to “fill” a special bottle with space for a Japanese education payload. The bottle will be part of a museum exhibit for public viewing.

Time-lapse photography captures space shuttle Discovery's path to orbit. Liftoff from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida was at 6:21 a.m. EDT April 5 on the STS-131 mission. The seven-member crew will deliver the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, filled with supplies, a new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be transferred to the International Space Station's laboratories. - Credit: NASA/Ben Cooper

Discovery was NASA’s third space shuttle orbiter to join the fleet at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery also is known inside the space agency by its designation Orbiter Vehicle-103, or OV-103. Construction of Discovery began on Aug. 27, 1979 and was completed four years later. Discovery rolled out of the assembly plant building in Palmdale, California, October 1983 and was first launched Aug. 30, 1984 (STS-41D).

Discovery flew its maiden voyage on Aug. 30, 1984, on the STS-41D mission. Later missions included NASA’s return to flight after the loss of Challenger (September 1988) and Columbia (July 2005), launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990, the final Shuttle/Mir docking mission in June 1998 and Senator John Glenn’s shuttle flight in October 1998.

When first flown, Discovery became the third operational orbiter, and it currently is the oldest orbiter in service. It was named after two historic, Earth-bound exploring ships of the past. One was a vessel used by Henry Hudson in the early 1600s to explore the Hudson Bay and search for a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The other was one of two ships used by the British explorer James Cook in the 1770s. Cook’s voyages in the South Pacific led to the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. Another of his ships was the Endeavour, the namesake of NASA’s newest shuttle.

After STS-133 Discovery will be the first space shuttle to retire from NASA’s fleet, having flown in space 39 times – more than any other shuttle.

Discovery’s numbers prior to STS-133:

Discovery at Night - Xenon lights illuminate space shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A following the retraction of the rotating service structure - Credit: NASA/Troy Cryder

Become an Exoplanet Hunter With Newest Zooniverse Citizen Science Project – Planet Hunters is the latest in the Zooniverse project, and users will help scientists analyze data taken by NASA’s Kepler mission, the biggest, badest exoplanet hunting telescope in space. The project goes live on December 16 at http://www.planethunters.org. -Nancy Atkinson / Universe Today

Could This be the Start of a New Space Shuttle? – All is not lost for the space shuttle idea. Richard Branson is thinking big again and along with orbital sciences Corp, Sierra Nevada Corp and some others they may build a reusable taxi to space just like the space shuttle. NASA will find $200 million to help with the development. -Weirdwrap

A delicately violent celestial shell game – One of my favorite types of objects in space are the thin, ethereal shells of gas stars create when they die. So I was thrilled* to see this new image of one taken in exquisite detail by the Hubble Space Telescope: -Phil Plait / Bad Astronomy

X-rays From Lightning – What Superman would See – Using a custom-built camera the size of a refrigerator, Florida researchers have made the world’s first crude pictures of X-rays streaming from a stroke of lightning. -Daily Galaxy

Bright White Storm Raging on Saturn – About a week ago, a bright white storm emerged on Saturn’s northern hemisphere, and amateur astronomer/planet astrophotographer extraordinaire Anthony Wesley from Australia has captured a few images of it. “This is the brightest Saturn storm in decades,” Anthony said on his website, Ice In Space. “If you get a chance to see it visually then take it, as it may be one of the rare “Great White Spot” (GWS) outbreaks on Saturn.” -Nancy Atkinson / Universe Today

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Discovery on the pad

ISS through clouds

Erupting Volcano

Geminid in Death Valley

Gallery Pick of the Day

Soyuz lift-off with ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli together with Dmitri Kondratyev and Catherine Coleman for a challenging 6-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS) as members of Expeditions 26/27. They were launched in the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 15 December at 19:09 GMT. Paolo’s MagISStra mission will be Europe’s third long-duration mission on the ISS. Between December 2010 and June 2011 he will be part of the ISS crew as a flight engineer. - Credit: ESA - S. Corvaja, 2010

The photo above is “Pick of the Day” from one of the three galleries: Astronomy Gallery, Space Shuttle Gallery and Space Station Gallery.

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NASA Discovers Asteroid Delivered Assortment of Meteorites – An international team of scientists studying remnants of an asteroid that crashed into the Nubian Desert in October 2008 discovered it contained at least 10 different types of meteorites. Some of them contained chemicals that form the building blocks of life on Earth, and those chemicals were spread through all parts of the asteroid by collisions. -NASA

Near-Synchronous Explosions Connect Across the Vast Distances on the Sun – For several decades, scientists studying the sun have observed solar flares that appear to occur almost simultaneously but originated in completely different areas on the Sun. Solar physicists called them “sympathetic” flares, but it was thought these near-synchronous explosions in the solar atmosphere were too far apart – sometimes millions of kilometers distant – to be related. But now, with the continuous high-resolution and multi-wavelength observations with the Solar Dynamics Observatory, combined with views from the twin STEREO spacecraft, the scientists are seeing how these sympathetic eruptions — sometimes on opposite sides of the sun — can connect through looping lines of the Sun’s magnetic field. -Nancy Atkinson / Universe Today

Galaxy Cluster Reveals Farthest Known Galaxy – Almost all of the bright objects in this Hubble Space Telescope image are galaxies in the cluster known as Abell 2218 -a cluster so massive and so compact that its gravity bends and focuses the light from galaxies that lie behind it. As a result, multiple images of these background galaxies are distorted into long faint arcs. -The Daily Galaxy

No Asteroid Particles Found in Second Hayabusa Compartment, But More in First – No visible material from asteroid Itokawa was found inside the second compartment of a canister returned to Earth by the Hayabusa spacecraft. However, JAXA also announced that more micron-sized grains have been found in the first compartment, opened earlier this year. -Nancy Atkinson / Universe Today

93rd Birth Anniversary of Sir Arthur Clarke – Let’s cherish the 93rd birth anniversary of Sir Arthur Clarke, who rendered an immense service to the world, by means of his innovative concepts on telecommunication + thrilling scientific books, We should do something to remind the world about his being in a day like this, as what his imagination has rendered, continues to grow day by day -IYA 2009 / Sri Lanka

A Majestic Galaxy in One of the Largest Known Structures in the Observable Universe – This image shows a majestic face-on spiral galaxy located deep within the Coma Cluster of galaxies, which lies 320 million light-years away, in the northern constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy, known as NGC 4911, contains rich lanes of dust and gas near its center. These are silhouetted against glowing newborn star clusters and iridescent pink clouds of hydrogen, the existence of which indicates ongoing star formation. -The Daily Galaxy

Dec 14/15 Meteors (night after the Geminids peak) – What a difference 24 hours makes! Only a day removed from the Geminids peak and rates have crashed to a fraction of their peak. During the past 5 nights SALSA3 detected 12, 22, 69, 124 and now 20 Geminids. This is a characteristic of the Geminids in that the post-peak rates fall off much more rapidly than the pre-peak increase. -Carl Hergenrother

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H-alpha Orion mosaic

Geminid bolide

IC1848 - Soul Nebula

Slewing

Venus Rising

Toronto, Ward’s Island

Lake Como, Italy

Waxing Gibbous Moon

Gallery Pick of the Day

Geminids over Kitt Peak - Credit & Copyright: David A. Harvey

The photo above is “Pick of the Day” from one of the three galleries: Astronomy Gallery, Space Shuttle Gallery and Space Station Gallery.

All set for Paolo Nespoli launch tomorrow – The next spaceflight by a European astronaut is about to begin: ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli and his crewmates will be launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 15 December at 19:09 GMT to the International Space Station. -ESA

Meteors and the Geminids Peak – The Geminids did not dissapoint! Though the IMO ZHR Live page doesn’t seem to be updating observations made by myself and Salvador show ZHRs that equaled or even exceeded the expected value of 120. Over the course of about 3.33 hours I averaged about 1 meteor per minute under skies that range from a limiting magnitude of +5.0 (when the Moon was still up) to +5.7 (before the break of dawn).-Carl Hergenrother / Transient Sky

Qatar Led Team Discovers Exoplanet – When listing the major scientific powers, the tiny nation of Qatar is not one that generally comes to mind. However, a Qatar astronomer, partnered with teams from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) as well as other institutions has just discovered a new exoplanet, dubbed Qatar-1b. -Jon Voisey / Universe Today

Total Lunar Eclipse – December 21, 2010 – Both lunar and solar eclipses can only occur when the Earth, Sun and Moon are directly aligned… and that alignment is about to happen just four days before Christmas! While the winter treat of totality will lend itself to North America, many other parts of the world will be able to enjoy a partial eclipse as well. -Tammy Plotner / Universe Today

Cassini Spots Potential Ice Volcano On Saturn Moon – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has found possible ice volcanoes on Saturn’s moon Titan that are similar in shape to those on Earth that spew molten rock. -NASA

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NGC 6934

Lunar hole in one

Wham! Asteroids collide in space!

Sunset of the Shuttle

Gallery Pick of the Day

Every space mission from the last 50 years on one map

The photo above is “Pick of the Day” from one of the three galleries: Astronomy Gallery, Space Shuttle Gallery and Space Station Gallery.

Breaking News: Space Shuttle Discovery to Be Rolled Back from Launchpad – NASA managers made the decision on Monday afternoon that space shuttle Discovery will be rolled back from the launchpad for inspections and/or repairs. There’s no word from NASA yet on the reason for the decision, but presumably it has to do with the cracks on the “stringers,” or structural ribs of the shuttle’s external tank. -Nancy Atkinson / Universe Today

NASA Probe Sees Solar Wind Decline En Route To Interstellar Space – The 33-year odyssey of NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached a distant point at the edge of our solar system where there is no outward motion of solar wind. -NASA

SpaceX Looking to Launch Next Dragon Spacecraft – to the ISS – With the success of the first and second launches of the Falcon 9 rocket as well as the successful recovery of the Dragon spacecraft, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has stated its intent to accelerate the pace of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program that the private space firm has with NASA. The company has been inspecting various elements of the Dragon spacecraft that launched to orbit on Dec. 8, to make potential changes to the next Dragon – in preparation for its flight. -Jason Rhian / Universe Today

Mystery on Saturn’s Satellite: Icy Debris Formed Iapetus’ Ridge? – As space-based probes and telescopes continue to reveal new and seemingly unimaginable features of our universe, a geological landmark on Saturn’s moon Iapetus ranks high on the list of things particularly peculiar. -www.jhuapl.edu

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Geminid Meteor

Geminid and M45

Tripple Eruption

Discovery on the launchpad

Gallery Pick of the Day

A nice Geminid during a large gap just after midnight - Credit: Richard Fleet

The photo above is “Pick of the Day” from one of the three galleries: Astronomy Gallery, Space Shuttle Gallery and Space Station Gallery.

That’s no asteroid! – On the evening of 21 February 1906, A. Kopff discovered asteroid 596 Scheila. It was found to have a fairly typical Main Body orbit, meaning that it lives comfortably in the middle of the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. Beyond that, it never attracted much notice, being just one amongst billions of asteroids. -Urban Astronomer

Incredible Engineering Camera Views of the Space Shuttle in Action – Whenever there is any issue with the space shuttle, you’ll hear talk about the engineering camera footage that NASA can look at to review with a fine-tooth comb everything that took place during launch and ascent. Here is a look at some of that footage — in high resolution, and in super slow-motion — to provide a glimpse of the intricate details engineers look for. -Nancy Atkinson / Universe Today

Geminids – First Session Results – was able to spend ~40 minutes watching the Geminids so far tonight. This first session lasted from 11:43 pm (6:43 UT) till 12:28 am (7:28 UT). With a limiting magnitude of +5.4, I counted 23 meteors with 13 being Geminids and 10 being non-Geminids -Carl Hergenrother

Saturn Rings Formed From Moon Gone – Saturn’s rings are one of the most awe-inspiring features in the solar system but they may have had a violent creation 4.5 billion years ago according to a new theory advanced by astronomer Robin M. Canup at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, published in Nature. -Spaceports

Comet C/2010 X1 (ELENIN) discoverd Dec 10, 2010 by H15 ISON-NM Observatory, Mayhill. Observer L. Elenin. 0.45-m f/2.8 astrograph + CCD

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(596) Scheila

Geminids

Filament Eruption

The Moon Last Night

Gallery Pick of the Day

This picture of NGC 6572 shows the intricate shapes that can develop as stars exhale their last breaths. Hubble has even imaged the central white dwarf star, the origin of the dazzling nebula, but now a faint, but hot, vestige of its former glory. - Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

The photo above is “Pick of the Day” from one of the three galleries: Astronomy Gallery, Space Shuttle Gallery and Space Station Gallery.

Preview of the 2010 Geminids – In the contest for best meteor shower of the year two showers are perennial candidates, the Perseids of August and next week’s Geminids. It’s usually a toss up as to which is better though over the past few years the Geminids have been better more times than not. If the sky is clear where you live, this Tuesday morning will provide one of the few nights of the year when it’s almost guaranteed that you will be able to observe a meteor after about 10-20 minutes of observing. -Carl Hergenrother

The SpaceX Business Plan: Help Build a Spacefaring Civilization – Elon Musk conceded that the space business world is an extraordinarily difficult place to make money. But that isn’t his main priority anyway. -Nancy Atkinson / Universe Today

Venus Has a Moon? – Astronomers have been busy trying to determine the spin period and composition of Venus’ moon. December 8, 2010, results were announced by JPL/Caltech scientists, led by Michael Hicks. -Mike Simonsen / Universe Today

Technicians Set Up Tank for Test Next Week – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians at Launch Pad 39A have installed an environmental enclosure on space shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank for a tanking test planned for no earlier than Wednesday, Dec. 15. -NASA

Odyssey Orbiter Nears Martian Longevity Record – By the middle of next week, NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter will have worked longer at Mars than any other spacecraft in history. -NASA/JPL

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Venus by Akatsuki

Small Magellanic Cloud

NGC 6334 - Cat's Paw Nebula

The hidden arms of M94

Gallery Pick of the Day

Snow Storm across the U.S. Midwest - The blast of snow and cold air that moved across the Midwestern United States in early December 2010 is visible in this true-color image. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired the image at 11:00 a.m. Central time on December 7, two days after the weekend snow storm. - Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.

The photo above is “Pick of the Day” from one of the three galleries: Astronomy Gallery, Space Shuttle Gallery and Space Station Gallery.

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Spectacular meteor ‘fireball’ explosion over Britain leaves stargazers buzzing ahead of Geminid space shower – The “very bright” meteor lit up the skies from Somerset to Aberdeen, leaving the astronomy world abuzz. Despite lasting just five seconds, witnesses thought they were watching a rare meteor shower because it was such a dazzling display. -Andrew Hough / The Telegraph

How to Settle, Once and for All, the Whole “What’s a Planet?” Debate – When I was a kid, I knew exactly what a planet was: It was something big and round, and it orbited the sun. There were nine such beasts in the celestial menagerie. We knew Pluto was a misfit—smallish, distant, and orbiting on a weird elliptical path—but we had no doubt it was part of the family. The other planets certainly fit my description, and all was well. -Phil Plait / Bad Astronomy

Keck Observatory Pictures Show Fourth Planet in Giant Solar System – Astronomers announced the discovery of a fourth giant planet joining three others orbiting a nearby star with information that challenges our current understanding of planet formation. The dusty young star named HR8799, located 129 light years away, was first recognized in 2008 when the research team presented the first-ever images of a planetary system orbiting a star other than our sun. -Keck Observatory

Stunning ISS View of Volcanos on Earth – What a view! This photograph taken by one of the astronauts on the International Space Station shows several snow-covered volcanoes on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula -Nancy Atkinson / Universe Today

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What would happen if the sun went dark – Perhaps you caught the moon last night in the southwestern sky – a thin crescent lit by sunlight. If your timing was right, with the sky not too bright and moon not too low, you may have also seen the entire outline of the moon. -Astrobob

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Photos

NGC 6960 - Veil Nebula

NGC 1499 - California Nebula

NGC 2239 - Rosette Nebula

M81 and M82

Launch of SpaceX Falcon9

Launch of SpaceX Falcon 9

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Gallery Pick of the Day

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lift off from Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 10:43 a.m. EST, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010. In orbit, the Dragon capsule went through several maneuvers before it re-entered the atmosphere and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles west of the coast of Mexico. This is first demonstration flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, which will provide cargo flights to the International Space Station in the future. - Credit: NASA/Tony Gray and Kevin O'Connell

The photo above is “Pick of the Day” from one of the three galleries: Astronomy Gallery, Space Shuttle Gallery and Space Station Gallery.

Japanese spacecraft fails to enter orbit around Venus – Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft missed its chance Monday to enter orbit around Venus, and the next opportunity will not come for another six years, according to statements by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. -Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

Arsenic and old Universe – Two news updates, both of which are pretty interesting. 1) The arsenic-utilizing bacterium is still in the news… Last week, a paper made the rounds on various sites that Roger Penrose and a collaborator had found circular patterns in the cosmic background radiation that might point to clues about what happened before the Big Bang. -Phil Plait / Bad Astronomy

SpaceX Dragon capsule set for launch – A US capsule that could soon be hauling cargo and even astronauts to the space station is set to make its first demonstration flight on Wednesday. -Jonathan Amos / BBC

One Hundred Days until Mercury Orbit Insertion – One hundred days from now, MESSENGER will execute a 15-minute maneuver that will place the spacecraft into orbit about Mercury, making it the first craft ever to do so, and initiating a one-year science campaign to understand the innermost planet. – MESSENGER Mission News

Sneak Attacks from the Sun – Our Sun can be a menace when it sends out powerful solar blasts of radiation towards the Earth. Astronomers keenly watch the Sun to learn more about what powers these solar eruptions, in hopes of being able to predict them. New research shows that one-third of the Sun’s blasts are “sneak attacks” that may occur without warning. -Center for Astrophysics

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P/2010 V1 (Ikeya-Murakami) outburst development

The photo above is “Pick of the Day” from one of the three galleries: Astronomy Gallery, Space Shuttle Gallery and Space Station Gallery.