Shuttle contrails and sunrise meet: what a beautiful canvas!

In the past 72 hours I’ve been misquoted in print and added as a signatory to a policy letter I never saw in draft form (and really didn’t agree with; my name has since been removed). Although I’m certainly not a government policy or budget maker, for some reason I get asked my opinion on the future of human spaceflight on an increasingly frequent basis. If you’re interested in my opinion on this emotionally charged issue (for some), feel free to read on. Otherwise, please enjoy the great photo that my friend Dave Strome took soon after the launch of STS-131: the high altitude contrails of Discovery are lit with a dramatic sunrise, a view unlike any I’ve ever seen.

So what does this former Space Shuttle astronaut think of the double whammy of Shuttle retirement and Constellation Program (CxP) cancellation? And what of the future of Commercial Spaceflight (CSF), the gap in US access to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and long range planning for Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO)? Although I think our nation will really miss the capabilities of the Space Shuttle, and I’m concerned about the impacts to our talented aerospace workforce in the short term, I think there’s a silver lining in all of this for our Space Futures.

Times of change can be very uncomfortable, and this is a time of unprecedented — but not unexpected — change. In the aftermath of the Columbia tragedy, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board set the wheels in motion for Shuttle retirement in 2010 (else undergo a major and prohibitively expensive recertification process). Developing a new spacecraft architecture like the CxP, even though solid rocket booster segments were being repurposed for the Ares-1 launch vehicle, is technically challenging and expensive in its own right. With Constellation costing more and taking longer to develop, it didn’t surprise me that it would at least be on the budget cutters’ radar screen during this current recession.

From my perspective as an extreme high altitude construction worker on the International Space Station (ISS), we would be crazy not to reap proper rewards from our investment in this National Laboratory, particularly since we’ve essentially completed its construction and now have a full 6-person crew to take advantage of its science capacity. Flying ISS until 2020 or beyond is a no brainer, provided we have affordable access for crews and their science. The Augustine Commission and the budget proposal also see it this way.

With Russian Soyuz seats running a cool $50M and likely to rise (simple supply vs. demand, coupled with Russian capitalism), affordable access isn’t necessarily assured. To the extent possible, closing the gap in US access to LEO is an imperative. I’m encouraged by the investment the Administration’s new budget makes in CSF, especially if it is spread between several of the viable candidates, ultimately resulting in options to LEO. NASA and other space agencies may one day be able to shop a la carte for LEO transportation, weighing safety margins, price and other factors into their decision making process. There will be setbacks to be sure, with cost overruns and schedule delays for these new launch vehicles as well, but ultimately a few of them will succeed in human-rating their vehicles for LEO. Since the frontrunners in this launch industry are all American companies, the US industrial base will maintain and even extend its leadership in aerospace, not spiral into oblivion as some suggest. Moreover, having NASA focus on the technologies and architecture for BEO exploration leverages what the agency does best.

Where I differ from the Administration (and from how I’ve recently been misquoted), I’d prefer to see us garner as much as we can from our investment-to-date in the CxP: possibly launching an Orion-derived capsule on an EELV as one of the commercial options, for example, and accelerating our work on a heavy lift vehicle for BEO. Moreover, we need a milestone- and destination-driven program if it’s to last beyond the attention span of the current Congress. Anything that lacks definitive goals and milestones is by definition discretionary spending, and therefore imminently deferrable/cancelable. NASA has done a great job developing a lunar architecture that one day could form the basis of our life-searching exploration on Mars. I’d like to see us incrementally test these on the moon first, just 3 short days away from home, rather than risk their failure several months away on Mars.

I understand the doom and gloom being expressed by some in the human spaceflight industry, particularly with the way in which the budget was first rolled out, but I see an opportunity for a brilliant American future in space. I believe that if we deliberately move ahead with ambitious stated goals (moon, near earth objects, Mars), realistic milestones (even if many years out) and proper funding (included in the current budget proposal), America can retain its technological leadership in space and inspire our kids to dream of and pursue space as a realistic destination for their talents. This wouldn’t be transient “Cash for Clunkers” spending, but rather an intelligent expenditure on high tech industry and people, with an enormous potential return on investment… 

In closing, I’ll refer you to a couple of amazing videos that capture the essence of why human spaceflight is so important to our collective futures. One is of my friend Lars’ son Adam, observing the recent Space Shuttle launch: http://bit.ly/cWKy5g If we could only find a way for every American family to see a launch, there would be no question as to how motivating human spaceflight is to young people. I vividly remember seeing Apollo IX launch from Cocoa Beach as a young boy, and it obviously had a lasting impact on my life…! The second clip is from the incredibly eloquent Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, explaining why NASA is so vital to our prosperity: http://tinyurl.com/yepv7wp

So there you have it. My opinion comes free, and it’s worth every penny…

Bob in the Cupola, Space Rocks in view…

GREAT VIDEO: Dedication of the Cupola: Space Rocks and a tribute to Lacy Veach

These photos aren't easy to take! It's hard to "drop" an object perfectly still and quickly take a photo...

Space Rocks on permanent display aboard ISS

Space Rocks Plaque, repackaged for flight

"Space Rocks," hermetically sealed...

Like a proud father, here’s a family photo album of the Space Rocks a.k.a. nuggets on-orbit, and as they were repackaged just before launch. The resin in which the lunar samples were embedded turned out to be more flammable than we’d like in a closed environment like the International Space Station. Thanks to a number of hard-working and wonderful people — Louis Parker, Doug Peterson, Ven Feng, Richard Guidry, Christopher Mcelroy, Rob Lazaro, Abigail Cassell, Paul Miller, Steve Huning, Shelby Lawson, Scott Wolf, Nathan Vassberg, Tony Brown and probably several I’m not even aware of — it was repackaged and manifested on the last Space Shuttle mission, STS-130. Much gratitude to the folks listed above, as well as the onboard crew, some of whom took the amazing photos in this post!

High Altitude Hydration System

Often the most difficult part of invention is just identifying the unmet need. Once you figure this out, bringing technology to bear on the problem is generally pretty simple. Having suffered mightily from dehydration on long hikes, treks and climbs in the past, I knew performance and good hydration were closely linked. From a climb of Cerro Aconcagua in South America, just shy of 23,000 feet, I also learned how quickly water bottles can crust over (despite being inside my down jacket), and eventually become blocks of useless weight! I’ve long been a fan of Camelback-type hydration systems, where you can take a swig of water whenever you need to, but the neoprene insulation commercially available for the tubing can’t come close to handling even modest cold, as I demonstrated to myself on the approach to Alaska’s Denali. In an effort to stay healthy and hydrated on Everest, some NASA colleagues of mine and I built the HAHS, a.k.a. High Altitude Hydration System. Check it out: http://www.fuentek.com/technologies/HighAltHydration.htm

Karen Hizer of Fuentek (NASA’s commercialization consultant) took my Everest HAHS to the Outdoor Retailers convention in Salt Lake this week, and several companies expressed great interest in licensing the technology. Patent pending, and coming soon to a mountain near you!

http://fuentek.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-from-outdoor-retailer-show-in-salt.html

P6 Solar Array: 2 years "post-op" and still looking healthy

The crew of STS-129 took this nice photo of the P6 solar array repair the STS-120 Team did way back in November 2007. Exciting to see it hasn’t changed one bit!

The lunar and Everest rock samples (and fancy Pringles/duct tape holder) with Zambo

The past few weeks have been a blur of Everest-related activity, and hypoxia is not to blame! The Discovery Channel’s “Everest: Beyond the Limit” series detailing the 2009 summit season went live just after Christmas. Last week we held the official hand-off of the “nuggets” — the small Apollo 11 lunar samples I took to the top, and a summit rock I brought down — over to NASA.

The “Everest BTL” episode in which I was featured, along with buddies Dawes, Danuru, Mingma, Ed, Mike, Louis and Paul, is mega-dramatically entitled: “Deadly Countdown!” If you missed one of the dozen times it played that week, fear not! All is not lost! Assuming you don’t have a heart ailment or fear of heights, here is the full episode online: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/everest-beyond-the-limit-deadly-countdown-full-episode.html

Last week three great friends joined me for probably the last pages of the “Everest chapter” in my life… Keith Cowing and Miles Obrien flew into Houston for a ceremony to formally hand over the small rocks, picked up literally worlds apart. The recipient was my good friend George “Zambo” Zamka, about to command the STS-130 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Keith and Miles, both fellow Directors of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education (www.challenger.org), were driving forces in sharing the expedition with countless thousands of kids around the world through our blogs and videochats. They encouraged me and helped me find sponsorship despite the longest of odds, and I’m eternally grateful. Zambo flew with me on my final Shuttle mission, STS-120, and he and his new crew will now be the couriers of what I consider to be precious cargo. Although this is  a very minor duty on a very complex mission (!), I hope that having these tangible objects of exploration will help inspire future astronaut explorers as they venture off to places even more distant in the years ahead. You can see the hand-off ceremony (Miles was MC) and a presentation on my Everest years on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3St_RRXZLU

Apollo 11 lunar samples and a piece of the "Roof of the World" mounted and ready for a trip to the International Space Station; they will eventually reside in the appropriately-named "Tranquility Module."

Everest summit gear on display at Space Center Houston

Other mentions of recent events (Big Thanks to Robert Pearlman for the photos above!):

• collectSPACE (Robert Pearlman’s great site): http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-010610a.html
• Air & Space Magazine photo of the day: http://www.airspacemag.com/snapshot/80860072.html
• MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34757736/ns/technology_and_science-space/
• Mother Nature Network: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/rocks-from-the-moon-and-from-everest-join-crew-of-the

Happy New Year to one and all,

Scott

http://spacetweeps.podbean.com/2010/01/01/episode-201-can-you-spotscott-we-did/

I recently had the chance to speak with Stéphane Sebile, who I’d met a few years ago in Paris, and now has a very nice space blog at http://spacemen1969.blogspot.com/ He asked me to dig way back into the memory banks and recollect my thoughts on my first trip into space. After dusting off the cobwebs, this is what I had to say:

Q : How many years were you connected to the space program before your 1st flight?

A : I was very fortunate to wait just 2 years from selection to first flight — the first year spent as Astronaut Candidate, and then almost immediately transitioning to STS-66 training (including two of my Class of 1992 crewmates, Joe Tanner and Jean-Francois Clervoy).

Q : How did you feel prior the flight ?

A : I felt well trained, but somewhat apprehensive before my first flight. I wanted to perform well, and there were so many unknowns: how would I feel? Would I have Space Motion Sickness? You can only simulate so much on Earth — so the first time in space is a very big life experience.

Q : What kinds of sensations did you experience during the take-off?

A : I was on the flight deck in the MS1 seat, so I had a great view out the forward AND overhead windows. I remember having a mirror positioned on my knee, and I was therefore able to see the waves crashing on the beach below as Atlantis performed its roll maneuver to a heads-down position — and then noting the clouds getting progressively smaller as we rushed to space. Lots of vibration and adrenalin these 8.5 minutes…

Q : What does weightlessness feel like, and what did you think about during the flight?

A : Weightlessness is a beautiful sensation, very similar to being submerged on a SCUBA dive with your buoyancy compensator perfectly adjusted, such that you neither float up nor sink down. Pushing off with fingertips allow you to fly like Buzz Lightyear wherever you desire, and the views are more beautiful than any photo can capture. I concentrated on doing the best very job I could, but also thought about home quite a bit: I wanted to memorize the experience, such that I could share the experience with my family and friends.

Q : What were some of the problems you encountered and how did you fix them?

A : Most of my missions were ”textbook”, thankfully, although they were complicated operations. The one significant exception was during STS-120, when we had to go out and repair a live solar array. There’s some additional information on my website, http://www.parazynski.com. I’m very proud of how the entire team, Mission Control and our on-orbit crew, handled the very serious challenge before us.

Q : What did you eat, and did it taste real?

A : I’ve always had a great appetite, so the ”camping” rehydratable food was just fine; we also had a Frenchman aboard, so we had a few treats from France to round out our menu. On my subsequent flights I always had International Partner astronaut with me, so I’ve dined on French, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Spanish and Canadian specialties in space…

Q : What was Re-entry like?

A : Reentry on STS-66 (my first flight) was very eye-opening, as I was on the middeck with Ellen Ochoa with just a wall of lockers in front of us. We had M&M’s with us, and would toss them gently upwards and try to guess the g-level we were experiencing. The guys on the flight deck would tell us we were almost always right on… And then slowing down through the speed of sound, the whole vehicle vibrated like a train running out of control, thankfully smoothing out shortly thereafter. We felt really heavy, almost like a 100 year-old man, having to carry our body weight and spacesuit for the first time in 11 days…

Q : Were you glad to be back on Earth, or did you feel you could have spent the rest of your life up there?

A : I loved space, and would be thrilled to go back. That said, everything and everyone I love was back on Earth — So I couldn’t have stayed up there forever. I was anxious to get back home and share the experience with others!

Several weeks ago, my friend Wayne Hale asked his Tweet community: “Space Policy forum is debating the definition of exploration. Is Scott Parazynski climbing Mt Everest “exploration”?”

An excellent, thought-provoking question that I hadn’t had time to properly address while on the mountain. Here is my take on the matter, having recently taken journeys to both space and Everest’s top…

Fundamentally, Exploration involves two key elements: innate curiosity and a willingness to accept some degree of risk to pursue this curiosity. Curiosity — scientific, commercial or just plain wanting to see something with one’s own eyes — is pretty self-explanatory. Risk can take on many shades, from simple financial loss to the threat of bodily injury or death.

Most of us think of the term “Exploration” in the context of huge budgets and audacious projects, typically government-sponsored: Lewis and Clark’s continental traverse, Apollo’s lunar excursions, Trieste’s journey to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the assembly of the International Space Station and so on. It does not have to be this way, however, and often is not! Much smaller efforts can be highly successful and meaningful, although they may not garner the same level of media spotlight. This year on Everest I met Mr. Paul Giorgio, like me a member of the Explorers Club (which often sponsors significant expeditions to all corners of the globe), who was leading a fascinating “mountaineering archaeology” expedition to Hillary’s and Norgay’s high camp on Mount Everest.

Meanwhile, my colleague Keith Cowing and I conducted a number of research studies on the mountain, ranging from assessments of ultraviolet radiation (aiding scientists who study extremophile life forms) to field tests of ruggedized, specialized gear for extreme environments.

Do the benefits of our scientific studies and engineering assessments warrant the risks we took living on the side of Mount Everest for two months? Was my life-long curiosity to see the world from the very top worth the risk of climbing it? Obviously this is a facetious question, but it is also a personal one: for us, we took the risks willingly because we believe our potential gains exceeded the risks (which we carefully managed, by the way…!). Even if we had gone to Everest without this intent to advance science and technology, the yearning to explore a domain new to us might have been worthy of risk — as it is for many, many climbers each year.

You asked your readership a question, so I’ll reply with another one or two questions for them:

Do you explore? If not, why not?

Warm regards,

Scott

Two months ago, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski ascended Mount Everest, carrying a lunar rock brought back by the Apollo 11 mission that landed on the moon 40 years ago tomorrow.

“Any time you explore … you learn things you never expected,” Parazynski said. “Any country that doesn’t explore is going to ultimately recede.”

Scott Parazynski and Keith Cowing answer questions from students at the Challenger Learning Center of Manhattan about his attempt to climb Mt. Everest and his career as an astronaut.