Jan 6 2005
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(New page: The ISS Expedition 10 crew, comprising Leroy Chiao and Salizhan S. Sharipov, successfully reactivated the station's Elektron oxygen generator, w...)
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The ISS Expedition 10 crew, comprising Leroy Chiao and Salizhan S. Sharipov, successfully reactivated the station's Elektron oxygen generator, which had shut down on 1 January because of air bubbles in the system's lines. Flight Engineer Sharipov made three unsuccessful attempts to repair the Russian-built unit. While the ISS crew continued to work on the problem, flight controllers in Russia used oxygen stores aboard the Progress 16 supply ship to repressurize the station. Russian engineers then instructed the crew to hook up a backup liquid unit to infuse fresh electrolytes into the oxygen generator's system. The crew reactivated the Elektron generator without incident. Engineers planned to monitor the system's performance to ensure that it continued to function properly. (Tariq Malik, “Repaired Oxygen Generator Fails Again Aboard ISS,” Space.com, 5 January 2005, http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/exp10_elektron_050104.html (accessed 18 August 2009); William Harwood, “Space Station's Oxygen Generator Back in Action,” Spaceflight Now, 6 January 2005.)
The White House Office of Science and Technology released the Vision for Space Exploration, the new policy for transportation in space and the first wholesale revision of space policy since 1994. The new policy detailed broad principles and national security goals for providing access to space for military satellites, spy spacecraft, and other government missions, emphasizing the creation of a robust program for space exploration. The policy called for astronauts to return to the Moon by 2020, planned for future human missions to Mars, and supported the commercialization of large parts of the space industry. Under the new policy, the government would fund Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation rockets to launch government satellites through the end of the decade. At that time, the White House expected that the private sector would have developed launchers that were less costly and more flexible. The policy also reiterated President George W. Bush's plan for the retirement of the Space Shuttle at the completion of ISS construction~ estimated to occur at the end of the decade. The projected retirement of the fleet required that the DOD and NASA recommend the best option for replacing the Space Shuttle. According to the new policy, the two agencies would work closely to determine long-term funding plans. In addition, the agencies would use heavy-lift rockets, which the military was developing, for satellites and other robotic missions. (U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, “U.S. Space Transportation Policy Fact Sheet,” 6 January 2005, http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=15010 (accessed 18 August 2009); Gwyneth K. Shaw, “Space Policy Goes Private,” Orlando Sentinel (FL), 7 January 2005; Amy Pasztor, “White House Releases New Space Strategy,” Wall Street Journal, 7 January 2005.)
NASA announced the completion of the most extensive global topographic map ever created, using data collected during Endeavour's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) in February 2000. NASA and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) had processed the collected data for more than four years, creating digital elevation maps that encompassed 80 percent of Earth's landmass and revealed, for the first time, large, detailed swaths of topography previously obscured by persistent cloud cover. The data covered Australia and New Zealand in unprecedented, uniform detail, as well as the more than 1,000 islands comprising much of Polynesia and Melanesia in the South Pacific and the islands in the South Indian and Atlantic oceans, including many that geographers had never topographically mapped. The low topography typical of the islands makes them vulnerable to tidal effects, storm surges, and long-term rise in sea level. Mission Project Scientist at NASA's JPL, Michael Kobrick, remarked that the maps would help mitigate the effects of future disasters of the magnitude of the Indian Ocean tsunami, because scientists would now be able to see where rising waters would go. Kobrick also commented that the SRTM was among the most significant missions the Shuttle had performed and, probably, the most significant mapping mission of any single type. (NASA, “NASA Goes 'Down Under' for Shuttle Mapping Mission Finale,” news release 05-007, 6 January 2005, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/jan/HQ_05007_srtm_update.html (accessed 11 May 2009).)
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