Astronaut Leroy Chiao's Blog

2011-12-01T09:29:00.001-08:00

Human Spaceflight, The World and YouTEDx Presentation at Alva Park, Henry Ford Innovation Institute on November 2, 2011http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMRJkydAtNo

2011-12-01T09:28:00.001-08:00

Originally Published in Air and Space Smithsonian Online Magazine in September 2011China and Human Spaceflight: One Look Back and Another ForwardLeroy Chiao9/30/11On September 29, 2011, a Long March 2F rocket roared to life, and lifted Tiangong-1 (TG-1, “Heavenly Palace”) into orbit. TG-1 was designed for a two-year life, and will be used as a docking target and as a small human-tended space station. This launch marked the beginning of China’s next phase in human spaceflight (HSF).China’s foray into human spaceflight began in the late 1960’s, with Chairman Mao’s selection of the first group of Chinese National Astronauts. Economic and technologic realities prevented China from then achieving human spaceflight, but the legacy was born. Fast-forward twenty-five years, to the beginning of Project 920. This program sought initially to place China’s first astronaut into orbit in 1999, to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of The People’s Republic of China. Project 920 did achieve the dream, albeit four years late. But, it was a significant achievement nonetheless. In October 2003, Yang Liwei became the first Chinese national astronaut, and China became only the third nation in the world capable of launching her own astronauts into space. Now, nearly eight years later, China’s HSF program is on a steady course. One could argue that the pace of achievement has been slow, but we should consider the landscape to understand why. First: The main reason that any country gets into the HSF business is national prestige. The former Soviet Union struck first with the flight of Yuri Gagarin, on April 12, 1961. They wished to demonstrate their technological prowess, against the backdrop of the Cold War. The United States countered several weeks later, with Alan Shepard’s suborbital Mercury flight, followed by Gus Grissom, and then by John Glenn’s orbital mission. The Space Race was born, and the United States had not looked back, until now. Second: The United States has terminated the Space Shuttle program, and now has no ability to launch astronauts into space. Russia has become the only launch service for crews to the International Space Station (ISS), and their program recently suffered a launch failure of a Soyuz rocket, thus temporarily grounding their fleet. True, the United States has called for, and is funding, commercial ventures that seek to take over the crew and cargo transportation services to the ISS. But these efforts are realistically still at least five years away from Initial Operational Capability (IOC), and the jury is still out on whether or not they will be successful at all.Taking these facts into account, it is easy to understand why China has acted slowly and deliberately. The three flights that they have flown to date have all been demonstrations in advancing capability. Yang Liwei’s mission showed their initial HSF ability. Shenzhou-7 demonstrated that their spacecraft and crews were capable of mounting missions of several days in duration. Shenzhou-8 demonstrated their first EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity, or spacewalk), even if it only lasted about seventeen minutes (as opposed to American and Russian EVA’s, which typically are planned for six-and-a-half hours). They have maximized public exposure of their missions, and limited their exposure to risk of failure, by flying only once every few years. This is not the most efficient path for growth, but one could argue that they have been successful.What does China have planned for the future? They have made no secret of their desire to build a space station. Indeed, China had, in their early days of HSF, talked openly about joining the ISS program. Their overtures were rebuffed by the United States. First, on the grounds that China’s technology was not mature. This is simply not true. In 2006, I became the first American to visit the Astronaut Center of China (ACC). There, I met the Center Director, and several of their first astronauts, including Yang Liwei. I toured firsthand, their center and saw examples of their advanced technological state [REFERENCE A&S ARTICLE THAT I WROTE IN JANUARY 2007?]. The control panel of the Shenzhou spacecraft simulator was modern, featuring multiple display screens which appeared to be re-configurable. The Center itself was up-to-date and clean. What they lack is operational experience. The second reason given for not working with China had to do with the fear of military technology theft. This is illogical, since our partnership with Russia has not resulted in any such technology transfer, in either direction. Why then, would it occur with China?In any event, China’s actions have made it clear that they will continue with HSF. Each successive mission has built on the experience of the previous, and has represented a step forward in capability. Yang’s one-day flight aboard Shenzhou-5 achieved HSF for China. Shenzhou-6 demonstrated China’s ability to fly a crew of two for several days. Shenzhou-7 featured a crew of three, and demonstrated China’s first spacewalk, using their own spacesuit. Now that Tiangong-1 has been placed into orbit, two subsequent un-crewed Shenzhou missions will test Automated Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (ARPO) and docking technologies. These flights will be followed next year with crewed demonstrations of ARPO and docking capabilities. If successful, these missions would give China the same operational rendezvous and docking capabilities as the Russian have with their Progress and Soyuz vehicles. Going forward, China has announced plans to use TG-1 as a human-tended station, where visiting crews would live and work aboard the laboratory for periods of around two weeks. China is continuing with the development of the Long March 5 (LM-5) rocket, a heavy-lift vehicle, which features a cryogenic core stage. The development of cryogenic engines is another indicator of advanced technical capability. China’s launch site on Hainan island, which is currently being developed, will give China the ability to easily launch into a five-degree inclination, which is ideal for lunar trajectories. China has announced that in 2020, once the LM-5 and the Hainan launch facility are completed, they will launch their first space station core module, which is approximately the size and shape of the core module of the ISS. However, this will be no mere copy. They are working on an advanced closed-loop life support system, and other capabilities, and have released drawings show multiple modules that would be added as their program progresses.What should the United States do? I believe that we have an opportunity right now to again seize the leadership role in HSF, by bringing China into the ISS program, and to include them, with our other international partners, in future exploration missions. The US has the unique ability to integrate the world’s space programs. China sent the Chang’e-1 space probe to the Moon in 2007, which returned striking high-definition images. It’s sister spacecraft Chang’e-2 was launched to the Moon in October 2010. Although there have been no official announcements, I believe that China has lunar HSF ambitions. The Moon is an important part of Chinese culture, and landing on the Moon would demonstrate technological and operational expertise. This of course, would return enormous national prestige. Doesn’t it make sense for the United States to lead these explorations? After all, we are the only people who have been there.Leroy Chiao served as a NASA astronaut from 1990-2005. During his 15-year career, he flew four missions into space, three times on Space Shuttles and once as the copilot of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. On that flight, he served as the commander of Expedition-X, a six and a half month mission. Dr. Chiao has performed six spacewalks, in both US and Russian spacesuits, and has logged nearly 230 days in space. He has performed scientific investigations in orbit, and helped to construct the International Space Station. Dr. Chiao was the first Chinese-American professional astronaut, spacewalker and mission commander.

2011-12-01T09:25:00.001-08:00

Spacy HalloweenLeroy ChiaoOctober 5, 2011July 20, 1969. I will remember that day forever. I was an eight-year-old kid, living in Danville, California. Although Danville is now a thriving small city, back in the late sixties it was just a small town located about thirty miles east of Berkeley, with maybe two stoplights. When my family moved there in 1967 from Wichita, Kansas, my sisters and I were amazed at what we thought were mountains (they were actually hills). These exciting forms were lush and green. We were thrilled about our new home. Although I was born in Milwaukee, Danville is my hometown. It was a great place to live and grow up. My friends and I used to slip through the barbed wire fences and go exploring in the hills. There was a small pond, where we would bring our model boats to float, and catch tadpoles and frogs. My family frequently went hiking in Rock City on Mount Diablo, a trail of sandstone formations that leads to a peak, which offers a great view of the valley. I had my first Mexican food in Danville, in a wonderful little restaurant called El Dorado. Although it is long gone, I remember the bean dip they served that had little bits of blue cheese mixed in. I always ate so much of the chips and dip that I was never hungry when my meal arrived. Two of my best friends, Russ and Mike Miller were over at my house that day. It was a warm Sunday, and our house didn’t have an air conditioner. So, my father had sprayed water on the back patio, which was partially shaded, and moved our black and white TV outside (complete with rabbit ear antennae). We were eating Spam and peanut butter sandwiches (one of my Dad’s specialties), which is surprisingly not bad. Shortly after lunch we all watched the scene in the Mission Control Center, and listened in awe to Neil Armstrong’s radio transmission coming from the Moon announcing that Eagle had landed. Wow! Walter Cronkite threw his glasses on the table and was almost speechless. Even as a kid, I knew the world had just changed. And, I knew that I wanted to be one of those guys.So, it was natural that for Halloween that year, I went as an astronaut! I had already built a command module underneath the workbench in our garage. This left the workbench still functional (it was the site of many model airplane and rocket constructions, not to mention wooden projects of all kinds, including an almost-working hang glider, but that’s another story). So, I set about making my costume. A cardboard box made up the hard upper torso (HUT, in space parlance) of my spacesuit. I cut head and arm holes in it, cut the bottom out for my legs, and glued a wooden display and control module (in NASA-speak, a DCM) in the front. I did have gloves, but no helmet. I’ve always been a pragmatic guy, and suffocating for an authentic look just didn’t resonate with me. Even the candy bag fit, since astronauts do carry bags to hold tools and equipment on real spacewalks.While wearing my spacesuit on that Halloween, I didn’t see too many creepy or eerie things. But, thirty-five years later while wearing a Russian Orlan spacesuit, I did see something that raised the hairs on the back of my neck! Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and I were conducting a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station (ISS). In between installing navigation antennas, I looked to my right. We were just in twilight, so I couldn’t discern the Earth. Everything was lighting up as the sun started to rise. Suddenly, I saw five lights, flying in formation go past! “Salizhan, do you see that?!” Do you see the lights flying past us?” I asked. He didn’t, and the lights were gone.While I do believe that there is life elsewhere in the universe, I don’t think we’ve yet been visited. So, these lights were perplexing. Enthusiasts heard my transmissions, and quickly there were stories posted that I had seen UFO’s. Could this be proof that NASA and the Air Force really had been covering up Roswell and Area 51 for decades? Thanks to other enthusiasts and the Internet, the answer was quickly found. These folks worked out the position of the ISS at the time of my radio calls, and determined that we were flying over the coast of South America at the time, and that it was twilight. What I actually saw, were squid fishing boats along the coast, strung out in formation. These fishermen use very bright lamps to attract the squid, and the rotation of the Earth, which I could not discern in the twilight, made it appear that the lights “flew” past us!Living now in Houston, my Halloweens are filled with new excitement. The current talk at the dinner table is what our four-year-old twins want to dress up as this year. I’m thrilled to say that astronaut is one of the candidates. Maybe we will make the spacesuits together. And when my wife isn’t looking, maybe I’ll introduce the twins to Spam and peanut butter sandwiches.Leroy Chiao served as a NASA astronaut from 1990-2005. During his 15-year career, he flew four missions into space, three times on Space Shuttles and once as the copilot of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. On that flight, he served as the commander of Expedition 10, a six and a half month mission. Dr. Chiao has performed six spacewalks, in both US and Russian spacesuits, and has logged nearly 230 days in space. He has performed scientific investigations in orbit, and helped to construct the International Space Station. He remains a big Halloween enthusiast, but has gone only once dressed as an astronaut.

2010-10-14T05:45:00.000-07:00

On Space Exploration, Radiation and Monkeys!

So, I’m sitting here at the sixteenth conference on Solid State Dosimetry (SSD16), thinking about monkeys, radiation and space exploration. The conference is only held every three years, so it’s been going on now for nearly fifty! That’s how hard it is to measure radiation, and come up with meaningful interpretations of the results.

The main purpose of the conference involves neither monkeys nor space exploration. Most of the dosimeter work is focused on medical applications, to advance the state of the art for more precise radiation treatment of cancer patients. But the part in which I am involved, specifically deals with space exploration applications.

Radiation is the single biggest threat to astronaut health in long duration flight. This is especially true for flights that would occur away from the Van Allen Radiation Belts, which offer significant protection to all of us, who are safely cocooned in it’s warm embrace. Even in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), astronauts are still protected to a large degree from charged particles. The heavy artillery still gets through (gamma rays, neutrons, some protons), but the electrons and other charged ions are caught in the electromagnetic field lines. Astronauts who ventured to the Moon were outside of the belts, as would be astronauts who travel to Near Earth Objects (NEO’s), Lagrange Points or any other far destination (Mars, anyone?). A solar flare (or event, in the parlance of the field) could be fatal. NASA worried quite a bit about that possibility during the Apollo program.

It was announced in this morning’s conference session, that last night we had a solar event. I immediately thought of my friends aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Misha and his crew are due to return to Earth tomorrow. They were a day late, and could be exposed to elevated radiation levels.

We had a solar event during my stint as the Commander of ISS Expedition 10. It was eerie. We got the call from Mission Control, and were advised during which specific times we were to retreat to the “more heavily shielded” portions of the station. More heavily shielded? Uh huh…..For me, that meant the sleep station in the US Segment, which had plastic shielding inserted into the fabric walls. They are supposed to catch a few heavy particles, but they seemed awfully thin to me. Salizhan was directed to the middle of the Zvezda core module, which was where there was more machinery around the middle. Great. After the event had passed, the radiation detectors were still registering levels about ten times normal. Great again. Well, what could we do? This was one of the prices we had to pay, for the privilege of spaceflight. At least we had detectors, which allowed estimates of the cumulative doses that we received (we were told “all good!” post-flight, by the NASA folks. Uh huh……).

There are three things we need to figure out radiation wise, in order to explore in a sustained fashion, beyond LEO: (1) Detection; (2) Shielding; (3) Treatment. This conference deals with the first, detection. There is ongoing work in the other two fields as well. Shielding is a tricky deal. It would seem that one simply would need to find a pile of lead and hide inside of it. Not so simple. Gamma rays and protons punch into high-Z materials and cause secondary emissions, which could actually be much more harmful to biologics like us. As for treatment, there are researchers working on drugs and nano-materials, which would scoop up free radicals in our blood, caused by radiation exposure. Good work in all three, but plenty more to do.

So, where then do the monkeys come in? Monkeys have played an important role in space exploration, since the beginning. The first “American” in space was Ham the monkey, who flew inside of a Mercury capsule before Alan Shepard. You may have heard about planned monkey radiation experiments, and the recent protests against them. I understand the necessity of animal experiments in developing drugs and treatments, but I must admit that this one has me scratching my head a bit.

I have no doubt that some advances in scientific knowledge would be realized through these planned experiments, but I’m an operational guy (despite my Ph.D.). How would these experiments help us to survive in deep space? I don’t see it. The bottom line, is that exposure to high levels of radiation is bad. We need to figure out how to detect for, and protect against exposure, as well as to treat for exposure, if it occurs.

I’m a big fan of Curious George. Let’s leave him alone this time.

Leroy Chiao
9/23/10

Trinity Test Site

2010-05-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to visit the Trinity Test Site today, courtesy of General Regan, of the White Sands Missile Range. It was almost sixty five years ago, when the United States tested the world's first atomic bomb.

It made me think of what that time must have been like, as I was standing there at ground zero. The dedicated teams working fiercely to develop this weapon, which was intellectually interesting, and critical to the United States war effort. It undeniably shortened the war, and saved many lives, on both sides.

However, what went through the minds of the people doing it? Oppenheimer had somewhat of a crisis of conscience. Who wouldn't? At least to some degree? Even Edward Teller must have wondered sometimes, about what he had helped to develop. Yet, it would be naive to believe that had the United States not developed nuclear weapons, that no other country would have. The Germans were working on atomic weapons research during the last days of the war. Does anyone doubt that Hitler, with his V2 rockets to deliver these weapons, would not have used them?

It is not only about war and weapons. What advances came out of this time of crisis and conflict? It is interesting to consider all of this.

Leroy Chiao

End of an Era

2010-03-07T23:38:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, I was at the Kennedy Space Center, reporting on the last scheduled night launch of the Space Shuttle program. Endeavour lifted off into the false dawn that she herself created, and rose majestically into the sky, lighting up the wispy cloud layer that was creeping onshore. It was one of the most beautiful space launches I have ever experienced. There are only four more Shuttle launches, before the end of Her Era.

Space Shuttle was born out of this nation, coming off of the highs of Apollo, Skylab, and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Her proponents promised inexpensive, regular access to space, aboard this then modern-day “space truck.” These were lofty goals to be sure, that we never got close to reaching. Instead of fifty-odd flights a year, the best we did was just south of ten. Instead of inexpensive flights, each costs somewhere north of five hundred million dollars.

Nevertheless, Space Shuttle is a magnificent flying machine, unparalleled in the history of human spaceflight. The Soviet Union tried to copy her, and failed; their program consisted of exactly one unmanned flight, which ended after one orbit. No other program featured an operational vehicle, which launched into orbit on her own power, loitered in space for two-plus weeks, re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, and landed on a conventional runway like an airplane. No other manned vehicle could even come close to carrying her nearly-sixty-thousand-pound payload capacity. There has never been another operational reusable space system, ever.

When she is put out to pasture, we will have nothing new with which to replace her; after she is decommissioned, the United States will have no independent means to launch astronauts into space. It is unclear when we will have a new crew vehicle, the only thing certain is that we will have a capability gap that will last at least five years, and probably longer.

I was a member of the Review of US Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, chaired by aerospace veteran, Norm Augustine. Appointed by the White House, we worked last summer to evaluate plans and formulate options for the new Administration. It was a difficult conclusion to accept, but we found nothing, not even practically unlimited funding, would minimize the gap between the Space Shuttle and the next US crewed space vehicle, except for extending Shuttle operational life. So then, why is the Space Shuttle going away? Three reasons: She is too expensive to operate, there is a higher risk involved in Shuttle flights than we originally calculated, and because of the last reason, it is politically untenable.

The Augustine Committee, as we came to be known, put forward the option to spur development of commercial, crewed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) access. Why does this make any sense? Commercial may not reduce the gap, but it may offer a better long-term solution for LEO access, since by definition, commercial solutions need to be cost effective, and government systems do not. The technology to get astronauts to LEO has existed for nearly fifty years. The trick is to find a safe, yet commercially viable structure. I didn’t foresee the recent announcement of the cancellation of the NASA Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV); the commercial option was for LEO access, not exploration. I expected that CEV, along with either a heavy lift vehicle, or a man-rated expendable launcher would serve as a complimentary system to commercial LEO efforts. Details of the US plans for the future of NASA human spaceflight remain to be revealed, but I remain cautiously optimistic. Sometimes it takes dramatic change, even temporary chaos, to affect the possibility of a quantum jump in improvement.

I flew on three Space Shuttles: Columbia, Endeavour and Discovery. This is a bold, new world, but Shuttle will always have a special place in my heart. I will remember them fondly, and I will miss them.

Leroy Chiao

We are Ready for Commercial Human Spaceflight

2010-02-04T12:26:00.001-08:00

US Policy on access to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is on the edge of a dramatic shift. Currently, only three governments have the independent capability of launching astronauts into LEO: The United States, Russia and China. After the US Space Shuttle is decommissioned from service, there will be only two. The Review of US Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, headed by the highly respected former aerospace executive, Norm Augustine, included in their report, the option of stimulating commercial efforts to provide access to LEO. It makes sense: We have been flying to LEO for almost fifty years, so the technology is quite mature and available. The challenge is to make this a commercial practicality.

The idea of private, commercial space access has been around for decades. It is not a new one, and it is not one that has yet found success. The advent of SpaceShip One winning the Ansari X-prize in 2004, was an important milestone. Although the privately built vehicle was only designed for suborbital flight, it proved that a non-government spacecraft was possible. Commercial orbital flight will be much more difficult, but I believe it is possible.

Many of my colleagues and peers have written articles and pieces, deriding the idea of commercial LEO access. Indeed, the track record of the self-described “New Space” companies has thus far, been marked generally with failure and arrogance. Not all, but many of these folks, before they run their companies into the ground, seem to spend the bulk of their time attending self-serving, self-aggrandizing conferences where openly slinging mud at NASA is sport. This is hardly constructive, and it brings discredit to others who have serious aspirations for the future of commercial spaceflight.

However, I respectfully disagree with my colleagues who believe that only governments can and should engage in human spaceflight. We members of the Augustine Commission (as the review committee came to be known) fully intended for the commercial LEO efforts to include contributions from the traditional aerospace companies. These companies, or their predecessors, built every US crewed spacecraft to date. They have much to offer. To exclude them entirely would be foolish and valuable knowledge wasted.

The time is right for commercial human spaceflight. Private companies should learn the lessons from NASA and traditional aerospace, and then try to apply them in a more efficient manner. It is understandable how and why the processes for government/contractor space programs have evolved into what they are today: Bureaucratic and inefficient, but safe. The key is to work in a smart manner to provide efficiency, without sacrificing safety, perhaps in partnership with traditional aerospace companies.

Anytime there is significant change in the air, the establishment gets nervous. This is to be expected. Sometimes dramatic change is necessary to achieve fresh results. Time will tell if the private companies will achieve LEO access, but I for one, remain optimistic. Americans have always been innovative, flexible and doggedly determined. If it can be done, the citizens of the US still embody the creativity and courage to find the way.

Leroy Chiao

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today....

2010-01-16T22:19:00.001-08:00

Twenty years ago, NASA selected the Group 13 astronauts. I was one of the proud and excited twenty three new faces who reported to CB (the mail code at NASA for the Astronaut Office) that summer in 1990.

It had been my childhood dream to become an astronaut, since watching the Apollo 11 Moon landing as an eight-year old, in Danville, California. 1990 was an exciting time to be starting an astronaut career. President Bush had requested a twenty four percent increase in the NASA budget, to perform the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). SEI called for a return to the Moon, and a human landing on Mars, by the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. The President had a Budget Director who was in favor of the new program, and he also activated the National Space Council and made it again a Cabinet-Level appointment, run by the Vice President. President Bush announced SEI on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Apollo 11. Last year, we passed Apollo 11's 40th anniversary.

Back in that hot 1990 summer in Houston, the Moon seemed to be again within our grasp. I dared to think that some members of my class had a chance of making it to the Moon (me?) and perhaps even a small chance of going to Mars! But, because 2019 seemed so far away in 1990, and because estimates of the program cost were somewhere North of $400 Billion (a big number today, and an even bigger number back then), SEI ended up going nowhere. Today, 2019 doesn't seem so far away, and the price tag of SEI doesn't seem too bad, when compared to the cost of the two wars which the US is waging. What would have, should have, could have been done differently, to make SEI a success? I don't know the answers to that question, but I think about it sometimes.

I didn't get to go to the Moon, which would have been coming full circle to complete my childhood dream. But, I could not have asked for more in a flying career. I spent fifteen years at NASA, and had the good fortune to fly four space missions, logging almost 230 days in space. I've performed six spacewalks, including two using Russian spacesuits. I flew on Space Shuttle, and once as the copilot of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and served as the Commander of the International Space Station. I look back at those days with pride, gratitude and humble acknowledgment of my fantastic good luck to have had the opportunities.

Back in those heady days of 1990, the twenty-nine-year-old me had taken that huge first jump to getting into space, and had landed on my feet. nothing else mattered.

Leroy Chiao

What is going to happen (for Space) in 2010?

2009-12-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

The Augustine Committee briefed the White House on August 14th, released a summary report at the end of August, and released a full report at the end of October. We are well into the holiday season, and the President has many other issues to deal with. What this means, is that no decision on space is likely before the New Year.

So, what will happen in 2010? Decisions will need to be made as to the future direction of US human spaceflight. I have my own predictions, but we Committee members agreed to not make our personal views known until after the White House sets the direction.

But, what do you think?

Leroy Chiao

On the Future of US Human Spaceflight

2009-10-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

There was a historic event the other day. For the first time since 1981, a new rocket was fired from one of Launch Complex 39’s launch pads at Cape Canaveral. This was a flight test of a part of a rocket under development, called Ares-1.

The flight appeared to be flawless. After battling weather constraints, Ares-1x leaped off of Pad 39B and accelerated into the Florida sky. Reaching an apogee of just a bit over 20 nautical miles, the single stage burned out and separated from the dummy second stage, and descended by parachute to the recovery area in the Atlantic.

What is the future of US Human Spaceflight? Will it include the Ares family of rockets?

This summer, I served as a member of the Review of US Human Spaceflight Plans Committee, chaired by respected aerospace veteran, Norm Augustine. Our charter was to review the current NASA programs, and to present options for the US to move forward. President Obama, through his Science Advisor, wanted a reality check. Our job was not to provide recommendations, but rather to come up with options.

The Augustine Committee, which is how we quickly came to be known, was formed in late May. We presented our options to the White House on August 14, 2009. Later that month, we issued a summary report, and just a week ago (October 22nd), issued our final report.

Since August, the Committee and our reports have come under public attack by the former NASA Administrator, and several members of Congress. Lobbying efforts on behalf of some of the big aerospace companies supporting the program of record have produced videos and other products, vociferously supporting said program. Some members of the “New Space” movement have been loudly complaining that they should get a large piece of the space budget, although most of them haven’t produced anything of significance to date. All of this tells me that the Committee did it about right.

What is surprising to me is that most media and other folk appear confused by what is written in the report. There are headlines and accusations that the Committee called for the end of Ares, the end of Constellation, the throwing of human access to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to the unproven commercial space arena, and other incorrect assertions. Let me try to set the record straight.

Program of Record (Constellation): The Constellation program was a reasonable way to implement the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), which was announced by President Bush in 2004. However, it never received anticipated funding, and has suffered several technical and programmatic problems. As a result, estimates show that substantial funding would be required to correct these problems. These high levels of funding would be unreasonable to expect at this time. Moreover, the designs would require large recurring costs to operate, a problem, which plagues NASA. The current program evolved from the original VSE and became almost an exclusively Moon-focused program, and then, presumably in the face of budget shortfalls, almost exclusively an Ares/Orion focused program. The baseline option fits the program of record to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 budget, by moving the milestone dates significantly into the future. No matter how we got to where we are today, it is a valid question to ask, whether America should continue down this path, or whether a different option would be more reasonable. Frankly, public opinion seems ho-hum on a return to the Moon, with a common theme that we have already been there, forty years ago. Even scientists are for the most part, much more interested in Mars, than the Moon.

Space Shuttle: The Space Shuttle is a magnificent flying machine. Although it fell well short of many of its advertised promises, it is a technological marvel. However, its operating costs are very high, and it has had two fatal accidents in almost one hundred thirty flights. In most options, the Committee stated that the current manifest should be flown out, at a reasonable rate. This is estimated to be executable by mid-2011. In one option, the Shuttle would be operated at a minimum flight rate (one to two flights per year) through 2015.

International Space Station (ISS): The ISS is the largest space structure ever assembled. It is a premier microgravity research platform, but also has high costs. One of the most remarkable aspects of the ISS program is the highly successful international framework that has evolved. This framework can and should be expanded, and serve as a basis for future space cooperation. Most options call for operation of the ISS through at least 2020. In the two options, which include the Ares family of rockets, ISS is de-orbited at the end of 2015, because the funds to continue ISS would need to be transferred to the Constellation program. This would have a negative effect on the relationships between the United States and the international partners. In this case, significant doubt would exist, on whether international partners would want to cooperate with the US in future programs. This would also affect other areas of cooperation between the US and these countries.

Heavy Lift Vehicle (HLV): An HLV is needed for exploration beyond LEO. The program of record uses the Ares V vehicle (160 metric tons to LEO), which would require a five and a half segment solid rocket booster, plus a six engine cluster of advanced RS-68 engines, and a ten meter external tank, all three of which have not yet been developed. Shuttle derived options (approx. 85 metric tons to LEO) would use existing Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters, existing 8.3 m external tank and existing Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME). Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) options (approx. 75 metric tons to LEO) would use variants of the Delta IV and possibly Atlas V. A simplified version of Ares V, which the Committee called Ares V Lite (140 metric tons to LEO) would use five segment solid rocket boosters (already tested), a five engine cluster of existing RS-68 engines and a ten meter external tank, which has yet to be developed.

Crew to LEO: The program of record uses Ares-I to launch the Orion crew capsule to LEO. The recurring Ares-I cost has been estimated to be around $300 M per rocket. Indeed, the Ares-Ix test cost was estimated to be approximately $445 M. In alternative options, the Committee put forward the proposition that commercial companies should be given incentives to create a commercial capability to launch astronauts to LEO. The technology has existed for almost fifty years, and several startup companies are working towards that goal. The Committee proposes that the commercial option be created such that it would be attractive, not only for startup aerospace companies, but also for traditional aerospace companies to participate. There is skepticism in the community on whether the startups will be able to deliver, but there should be no doubt that the traditional aerospace companies, who’s predecessors created all US crew vehicles and rockets in the past, could be successful in this effort, if the proper environment was created. The hope in promoting a commercial crew to LEO access would be the saving of funds for NASA in this arena, as well as freeing up NASA resources to concentrate on beyond LEO exploration.

The Committee put forward three classes of options: Options constrained to the FY 2010 budget, Moon first options, and flexible path options. The Committee agreed that the overall goal should be a crewed mission to Mars. Moreover, there should be a balance between human and robotic exploration missions. Scientific research funding should have firewalls, to prevent their funding from being transferred to exploration programs. The Committee also agreed that international partnerships should be expanded, strengthened and applied to future exploration programs. There should be a technology development program to enable efficient, future crewed exploration, beyond LEO. The table below contains a summary of these options.

The Constrained Options fit the FY 2010 budget, but illustrate that the funding would be insufficient to allow significant exploration progress.

The other options call for a funding increase of $3 B per year. The difference within both the Moon First and Flexible Path options, are the choice of HLV, which also affects Crew to LEO choices.

The Moon First options call for concentrated efforts towards Lunar exploration, with an eye towards Mars sometime later. A variation of the program of record is included in this option set. The Moon First options build infrastructure that could be used for future Mars exploration, but the emphasis is on the establishment of infrastructure for Lunar research and exploration.

The Flexible Path options call for building infrastructure for beyond LEO exploration, by traveling to near Earth objects (NEO), Lagrange points, and other interesting flight profiles. The Moon would be included as a destination, but primarily to test hardware and operations. The intention of the Flexible Path options, is to build infrastructure and capability, to enable sustainable Mars exploration in the future.

All options, except for options one and three, include a technology development program. The Committee felt that it was important to develop new capabilities for exploration. The ISS could be used as a test bed for these efforts. As an example, space refueling of cryogenic propellants would be an enabling technology.

This is a simplified, high level, explanation of the results that the Committee has submitted to the White House and NASA. I hope that this helps to make the full report easier to understand. I hope that it is at least clear that the charter of the review committee was to present options to the Administration, not recommendations. I, like everyone else in the business, look forward to the decisions that will be made by the Administration.

An Inspirational Place: NASM

2009-09-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I did something that I haven't done in many, many years. I went over to the National Air and Space Museum and simply wandered around for several hours. It is one of my favorite places, and I was there as recently as July, for the 40th anniversary celebration of Apollo 11. But, during official events, there is no time to simply wander and enjoy the displays.

It was a nice time to relax, dream and remind myself of the magic of flight!

Leroy Chiao

Augustine Committee Work Update

2009-09-07T01:18:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the long hiatus, it's been a busy summer!

For those of you who have been following along, you know that the Augustine Committee presented options to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and NASA on August 14, 2009. Since then, we have been busy writing our report.

You can see detailed transcripts of our meetings under the Human Space Flight Plans Review section on www.nasa.gov. We hope to have our report out soon!

Leroy Chiao

The 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11: Reflections of a Professional Astronaut

2009-07-21T22:45:00.000-07:00

A Spam and peanut butter (chunky) sandwich: That was what I had for lunch, forty years ago, today. After that, I watched along with the rest of the world, as Eagle touched down on the surface of the Moon.

It was a hot summer day in Danville, California. My family lived in a nice house, in a nice neighborhood. Nevertheless our home, like many built in that era, didn’t have air conditioning. So, my father moved the family TV set (19” black and white, rabbit ear antennae) out onto the partially shaded back patio. He sprayed water onto the concrete, which helped make it surprisingly cooler.

My friends, two brothers Mike and Russ, were visiting. We had been friends for a long time (two years was long time to an eight year old). So, they had become accustomed to being served odd concoctions at my house, invented by my Dad. Spam and peanut butter sandwiches was one of those. It was surprisingly, not too bad. I had experimented once with a plain Spam sandwich. I quikly went back to including the chunky peanut butter.

I can remember like it was yesterday, watching that grainy black and white TV and listening in as Eagle approached the surface of the Moon and landed. Even as a young boy, I knew that the world had just changed. I also knew that I wanted to be like those guys on the Moon. I wanted to be an astronaut!

Twenty years later, I found myself in Houston, interviewing at NASA to be a member of the thirteenth astronaut group. What a heady time to become an astronaut! President Bush (41) had just announced the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI), calling for a return to the Moon to stay, followed by a crewed mission to Mars. And, we had astronauts in key NASA management positions, including that of the Administrator.

SEI fell flat, soon after the President failed to win reelection. The $400 billion price tag quoted by NASA might also have had something to do with it. Fifteen years after the SEI announcement, I found myself standing with a small group of fellow astronauts at NASA Headquarters, as President Bush (43) announced the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) in the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. The Vision called for, among other things, a crewed return to the Moon by 2020, and a crewed mission to Mars, on an indefinite schedule.

The Constellation program, which grew out of the VSE, was described by then-NASA Administrator Mike Griffin as “Apollo on Steroids.” Indeed, it called for the creation of a capsule spacecraft (albeit, much larger). Five years into Constellation, the Nation stands at a crossroads. The program has had its share of challenges and controversy and the budget is universally agreed to be inadequate. Newly inaugurated President Obama has ordered a review and a report, outlining a set of options for NASA and the agency’s new Administrator (I am a member of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Committee).

Today, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, our return to the Moon is tenuous, at best. Who, in 1969, could have imagined that we would not have regular travel to and from Moon bases by the 20th anniversary of Apollo 11? The announcement of the SEI in 1989 gave us hope that we would be back on the Moon to stay, within another twenty years. Those twenty years have now passed.

Tonight, I was an invited guest at the 40th Apollo anniversary celebration at the National Air and Space Museum. Everything was perfect: The Apollo 11 crew - Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were elegant and stately against the backdrop of historic air and spacecraft. Other Apollo-era astronauts, like my friend Walt Cunningham, were also shining honorees. They were all a part of it!

It was a reminder of old times, of the past grandeur and wonder of the Apollo era. The time when we, as a nation, felt like nothing was impossible! A time, when Spam and peanut butter (chunky), tasted better than almost anything.

Should we look back at the last forty years and be disappointed? I believe that would be a mistake. Skylab was a resounding success. Despite the challenges, the Space Shuttle and ISS are marvelous flying machines. We started down the road of international cooperation with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, and led the formation and maturation of the current, highly successful international partnership. We have not had the big home run since Apollo, but we have made steady progress.

Where will the next twenty years take us? Against all odds, Spam is still going strong. Let’s keep moving forward too.

Leroy Chiao

This post appeared yesterday on Gizmodo.com

Augustine Committee Work Continues

2009-06-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has provided input to the Committee through this blog, direct emails and other means. Our work continues, and I can assure you that I have read everything that has come in.

We will consider all options and points of view. We have and will continue to ask a lot of questions, and have analyses done by NASA and independent outfits. We plan to issue our report by the end of August.

One thing to emphasize: Our charter is not to make recommendations, but to present options to the Administration. We have a good group of folks, with different backgrounds. We are all dedicated to this work, and promise a careful and thoughtful report with several well-explained options.

Thank you for your continuing support!

Leroy Chiao

Augustine Human Space Flight Review Commission

2009-06-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

Today, I was named as a member to the Augustine Commission. We have been tasked to develop options for the next NASA Administrator (Congratulations on your nomination, Charlie Bolden!) and the White House.

I have my ideas, some of which have been expressed in this blog. But, I have an open mind and have never thought that i knew it all, about anything. So, let me know what you think! Where should America's manned space program go? How can we do it within the proscribed budget?

Leroy Chiao

North Korean Miscalculation?

2009-06-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, North Korea conducted a nuclear test, barely fifty miles from the Chinese border. They also are currently gearing up for a long range missile test. The threat is clear. True, their last missile test was less than successful, and by most accounts, their nuclear test was crude (experts appear unanimous in their belief that the North Koreans do not yet have the ability to make a small warhead, that could be fitted onto one of their missiles). However, it is a matter of time and will.

But, have the North Koreans miscalculated? China is, for the first time in my memory, publicly angry with North Korea for their hijinks, especially the bomb test. Especially so close to the border. North Korea is TOTALLY dependent on China for raw materials and supplies as basic as food, fuel and electrical power. Does it really pay to bite the hand that feeds you, especially when you've burned your bridges with almost the rest of the world (I suppose Venezuela might come to the rescue)?

Has Kim Jong Il totally lost it, or are these the death throes of a nation destroyed from the inside?

Leroy Chiao

Life in Space – The Rest of the Story

2009-05-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Last time, I asked if any of you could imagine how you might clip your nails in space. Anyone thought this through? Here’s how I did it.

First, get a strip of duct tape, and make a loop out of it, with the sticky side out. Find a place to do the clipping, next to an air intake filter. This way, any errant nails should be caught in the air filter, for later removal. Find a good place on the wall to stick your tape loop, and then carefully clip each nail, trying to keep the pieces big, so that you have a chance of holding onto them, instead of having them fly off into the cabin somewhere. Fix each piece of nail onto the sticky tape loop.

When you are finished, remove the tape loop, and fold it onto itself, to contain the nail clippings. Then, use the resulting tape double loop to clean off the air filter, of any nail debris, which got caught there. Wad up the tape ball, and discard it into a dry trash receptacle.

Yes, there are wet trash receptacles too, mostly to contain food package trash. Wet trash bags differ from the ones for dry trash, in that they are rubberized and tightly sealed, in order to keep the odors in the bag.

Simple, right?

So, what do you really want to know about life in space? What else might be difficult (or fun) in that environment? What do your enquiring minds want to know? Let me guess: Using the potty, and sex. Even the audiences who don’t ask, I can tell they really want to know.

In the early days, there were no restroom facilities onboard spacecraft. The first flights were only supposed to last minutes, so it was thought that there was no need. The story of Allen Shepard having to relieve himself in his suit became common knowledge, after the event was dramatized in the movie, “The Right Stuff.” Later spacecraft, including the Apollo spacecraft, also had no toilet facilities. The crews of these vehicles used modified piddle packs (used by the military), which utilized a condom, attached to a hose and bag, for collecting urine. What about women? Back in those days, there weren’t any in the space programs (except for Valentina Tereshkova, who probably used a diaper), so it wasn’t an issue.

For collection of number two, modified sealable bags were used. There was no privacy aboard the Gemini and Apollo capsules, so imagine doing all of this in close quarters with your buddies! To make matters worse, these bags were (are) clear. They are still carried aboard US spacecraft, for use in the event of irreparable toilet failure.

Fortunately, things got a lot more civilized in the Shuttle program. As I mentioned before, the Shuttle is a business class affair. It contains a relatively large toilet area, which features a privacy screen.

The Soyuz capsule also has a toilet in the upper living module. When someone has to use it for number two, the other two crewmembers can retreat to the descent module, to give the third guy a little privacy. Usually, that toilet is not used for that purpose, though. Crews go through a preflight enema, which usually is enough to clean you out for the two days of flight it takes for the Soyuz to phase, rendezvous and dock with a space station.

The toilet aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is the same as the one that flew on the MIR station. This is also a civilized affair, in a relatively large area, with a privacy screen.

So, how do these toilets work? They all basically work the same way. In the absence of gravity to help you, airflow is used to try to collect everything and point it in the proper direction. To urinate, it is pretty simple. Use the long hose, which has a funnel attached to the end. Turn on the system, and make sure there is good airflow before relieving yourself. Make sure not to actually contact the funnel with your valuable parts; it’s a disgusting thought first of all, and second of all, you wouldn’t be able to shut the system down before you really regretted getting the life sucked out of you, so to speak! By the way, this system works for women too. The suction is adequate to make sure that the liquids go to the right place.

For number two, the seat lifts up, revealing a small hole. You’ve really got to get to know yourself, and get good at lining things up for this operation! The system again uses airflow to collect and hold things down where they’re supposed to go. After you’re finished, the bag is tied off and pushed down into the replaceable silver can.

Accidents do happen, and by international agreement, you clean up your own mess!

Is it worth it? One of my crewmates on Space Shuttle once told me that he wished that we could land every morning, so that he could take care of business there, before launching back into orbit. Yeah, it’s not pleasant, but you get used to the hassle of doing these hygiene tasks. It’s not so bad.

Besides, the view of the Earth from space is way worth it! Here are just a few examples of what I saw from the ISS.

This is the southern tip of Florida.

Here is the Salamat Basin.

We do have DVD’s and E-books onboard. Sometimes we use them, but who needs them? The greatest show is right outside the window!

Ok, so onto the question burning in your mind: Has anyone had sex in space? To date, I can tell you emphatically, no. Why am I so sure? It’s simple. Guys are guys. If a guy had sex in space, he would not be able to stand not bragging about it. Am I right, or am I right? Sorry to disappoint you, but there it is. We would ALL know about it. Or, I should say, we WILL all know about it when it happens.

So, what’s the deal? Do we have blow up dolls or robots to take care of business?

No, and not that we’d really want such a thing! The human looks a lot better.

Besides, would sex in space, bragging rights aside, really be so great? This week, I’ve given you a look at the difficulties of doing things in microgravity, and the potential for making some pretty disgusting messes. So, apply all you’ve learned, and honestly assess whether or not sex would be better up there. You’d have to anchor yourselves, somehow (in all six degrees of freedom), otherwise it would be more than the headboard you might bang up against. And, some objects, while not sharp (we are careful about that), might really hurt to run into during a moment of passion!

So what do we have? What do you think? There is a rule that even alcohol (for drinking) is not allowed onboard, because NASA is worried about bad PR. Can you imagine NASA wanting to address the issue of sex? Ha!

What about the future, as we fly longer and farther into space? That’s easy. Crews are already mixed, and crews will become larger. As this happens, there will be a gradual transition from crew to colony (for example, a permanent moon base). Just like in your office now, romances will sprout (which the participants will think are secret) and things will take their natural course.

And, people back on Earth (the guys friends) will know about it, almost instantly after it happens. The news will quickly spread from there. And then, you’ll know.

People are people, even in space!

Leroy Chiao

Leroy Chiao is a professional astronaut. He served for fifteen years at NASA, flying on four space missions. Dr. Chiao is available for speaking engagements, through the Leading Authorities Speakers Bureau: www.leadingauthorities.com/24172/leroy_chiao.htm

Originally posted on Gizmodo, during the week of 5/3/09

Life in Space –Onboard Basics

2009-05-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so someone wanted to know what the International Space Station smells like. After we opened the hatch, I noticed a moderate smell of plastics, not unlike that new car smell. That’s from the various synthetic materials onboard, outgassing. It’s not too bad, and after an hour, I stopped noticing it.

We do scrub the atmosphere, though. We have carbon dioxide removal systems,

as well as a micro-impurities removal device. Oxygen is added of course, as it is consumed. We use an electrolysis device to crack water, dumping the hydrogen overboard.

That device is a bit cantankerous, so we also have oxygen candles, which we “burn” periodically. These are the same kinds of systems that are onboard nuclear submarines, which face similar technical requirements.

One interesting fact, is that nitrogen is not replaced, except to compensate for leakage. The human body does not really utilize the inhaled nitrogen, so it is recycled.

What else? What is the temperature onboard? The temperature was set by the Mission Commander (me). I live in Houston, so I like air conditioning. The cabin was set to about 70 degrees F.

You have all read about how to brush your teeth in space. Anyone want to take a stab at how to clip your nails? I’ll write about answer in the next installment.

And, I’ll address what you really want to know, on Friday.

Leroy Chiao

Originally posted on Gizmodo, during the week of 5/3/09

Life in Space – The Beginning (Soyuz)

2009-05-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last time, I wrote about what launching aboard a Space Shuttle is like. This time, let’s consider the Russian Soyuz rocket and spacecraft. Why? Isn’t a rocket a rocket? Is it really that different? Yes and no, no and yes. They both get astronauts into space in around nine minutes. But, they are very different.

First, consider the two spacecraft. They look pretty different from each other. One is a part of a missile, the other a winged vehicle, attached to a rocket assembly.

If the living space inside of the Space Shuttle is Business Class,

then the Soyuz is decidedly economy.

However, I must say that the Soyuz has a very special place in my heart. It is a robust, capable spacecraft and launcher. It has the best-demonstrated safety record of any manned spacecraft. And, it just feels hearty.

But, how does it feel to launch on a Soyuz?

Well first, you almost wear the Soyuz rather than strap into it. Squeezing down the hatchway into my seat, I got an idea of what claustrophobia must feel like. If anyone is the least bit claustrophobic, this would bring it out. Your legs are bent up into your chest. It’s not very comfortable. Like with the Shuttle, you strap in about two and a half hours before launch. But, it gets worse. The Soyuz requires two orbits to get enough telemetry to the ground, for the Mission Control Center to verify that the spacecraft is healthy. During that time, you must remain strapped into your seat, in case you have to perform an emergency deorbit. Total time in that position? About six hours.

So, there’s no dozing off in the Soyuz, you’re too uncomfortable. You wait. And follow along in the checklist, of course. T-Zero is totally different - there is no kick, since there are no solid rocket strap-on boosters. The liquid engines are very smooth. The thrust builds up gently until the rocket simply rises off of the pad. You have to go by your watch, and the announcement from the launch control bunker to know that you are flying!

There is a deceleration just prior to staging, and then a muffled “bang!” as the four liquid strap on boosters separate. Same for the third stage. What surprised me (startled the Hell out of me, actually), was the very loud “BANG!!” followed by an instant flash of bright light. Just for a split second, I thought we were exploding, but it was just the shroud and escape tower separation! I could now see through the porthole, and look down at the familiar view of the Earth, and the bright, fluorescent blue line of the atmosphere on the Earth limb.

You know the rest.

Leroy Chiao

Originally posted on Gizmodo during the week of 5/3/09

Life in Space – The Beginning (Space Shuttle)

2009-05-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Today, I was going to write about how to do something else in space. But, I changed my mind. Let’s back up to the beginning of a mission. What’s it like to go through a launch? How does it feel? Are you able to sleep the night before? Do you get scared? What do you eat before?

Steak and eggs. Medium rare, and over easy. This is what the first astronauts ate before launch and why not? I remember during one of my launch counts, the ladies were taking our prelaunch breakfast orders, going around the table. I was hearing things like, dry toast. A little yogurt. Cereal. You gotta be kidding me, what kind of panty-waists am I flying with? They got to me and I replied firmly and evenly, “steak and eggs, medium rare, and over easy.” Everyone looked at me funny. I stated the obvious. “Hey, we might go out tomorrow and get blown up. I’m going to have steak and eggs!” Immediately, three guys changed their orders to steak and eggs. I was doing all of us a favor, really. You need a hearty breakfast before launch, you’re going to be really busy. Yogurt? Come on.

Sleep wasn’t really a problem either, although I tended to wake up a few times at night in anticipation, just like when I have other important morning appointments. We usually wake up about four hours before launch, and hit the ground running.

After breakfast and cleanup, it’s time to get suited up. Walk down the hall and meet up with the suit technicians. Seasoned professionals, your suit tech has been with you all through training. He or she makes sure that everything is just right, and after the pressure checks are complete, sends you on your way.

From that point, it’s a bit of a blur, as you walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center, to the applause of the employees who have gathered at the entrance. You climb onto the Astrovan, which is a converted Airstream RV from the Apollo days. Crews typically joke and banter a bit, the atmosphere is light hearted, during the short drive to the launch pad. Everyone falls silent, as the bird comes into view. She is beautiful. She is ready, as are we.

At the pad, we climb out and ride the elevator to the 195 foot level, where we are greeted by the ingress crew. Time for one more quick pee. Maybe for good luck, but more, so that I won’t have to use the adult diaper that I’m wearing! After all, we strap into the Space Shuttle about two and a half hours before launch.

Is this when the jitters hit? Actually, no. This is kind of a time to relax a bit. The environment is totally familiar, thanks to the hours upon hours spent in the simulators. For once, nobody is talking to you. Nobody is asking you for something. It’s not unusual to doze off.

As the launch count proceeds, there is a point at which things get serious. Certainly as we come out of the T-20 minute hold. After we come out of the T-9 minute hold, the cockpit is sterile. No unnecessary chatter on the intercom. Is this when it becomes real? Not just yet. For me, it is not until the T-90 second point, when the Launch Director says something like “Columbia, close and lock your visors, initiate O2 flow, have a good flight.” That it becomes very suddenly, very real.

What did I feel at T-Zero? The answer might surprise you. I felt relief.

Certainly, I was keyed up. After all, we were sitting on top of a bomb, being accelerated to orbital velocity of 17,500 mph in less than nine minutes. Pretty heady stuff! But the thing of which astronauts are most afraid, is not getting the chance to launch into space. What if I get hit by a car? What if the doctors find something wrong with me at the last minute? What happens if…..All of those worries go away, the instant the boosters light!

First stage on the Space Shuttle is shaky. You can’t really read the instruments and screens very well. At T-Zero it feels like someone kicks the back of your seat really hard, the Shuttle seems to leap off of the pad. You hear the wind noise build into a high-pitched whine. You see the blue sky start to get dark, fairly quickly. You don’t so much hear the rumble of the engines, as feel them. Everything is oddly orderly, even quiet. That’s because we are accustomed to the simulators, when all the warning and emergency lights and klaxons are going off, as we deal with the failure scenario presented to us by the training team. On launch day, pretty much everything usually works!

On my first flight, I was up on the flight deck for launch. I had a small mirror, through which I could look out of the overhead windows, which were pointed more or less towards the Earth (The Shuttle rolls into launch azimuth and heels over as the ascent proceeds). I saw the ground rushing away, through the flames of the engines.

After about two minutes, the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB’s) tail off as the last bits of fuel in them are consumed. You feel the deceleration, and then see the flash of bright light as the separation motors fire, peeling them away from the stack. It is suddenly very smooth and quiet. My heart leapt into my throat when this happened to me the first time. My first thought was that the main engines had also stopped and we were about to go down! But, that was not the case, I just hadn’t expected second stage to be so smooth.

During the last few minutes of launch, the vehicle accelerates to orbital velocity. You are under three G’s of loading, so it feels like a small gorilla is sitting on your chest. It takes a little effort to breath, but it’s ok.

Suddenly, right on cue (you’re always watching the clock), the main engines cut off, and you are instantly weightless! As I looked out the windows and for the first time beheld the awesome beauty of the Earth from space, I was almost overcome with emotion. I had made it, I had realized my childhood dream. I allowed myself to revel in this moment for just a few seconds. Yes, I was in space, but it was also time to get to work!

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll tell you about the Soyuz.

Leroy Chiao

Originally posted on Gizmodo, during the week of May 3, 2009

Life in Space – A Day (or at least, the beginning of one)

2009-05-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

On a Space Shuttle, music is piped up from the Mission Control Center. On the Space Station, you set your watch alarm. Or, as is sometimes the case on Earth, you awake early, all on your own, wondering “What the H..?!”

A typical day in space (is there such a thing?) starts a lot like a day on the ground, except that you are floating. Turn off the alarm. Unzip yourself out of your sleeping bag. Open the doors to the sleep station, haul yourself out.

You can do it however you like, but on the International Space Station, I fell into a routine of cleaning up in the evening before bed, and then wearing a clean T-shirt and underwear for sleep. In the morning, I was already half dressed. I would pull on a pair of Nomex shorts and white cotton gym socks, ready to get going. This was the typical uniform onboard, except for when the cameras were going to be on.

When we had a scheduled video interview, we would wear a polo-type crew shirt, or in the case of a serious event, don a flight suit.

What’s the first thing you do in the morning on Earth? Well, it’s not so different onboard a spacecraft. Why should it be? However, I will dedicate another entry to the issue of space toilets and leave it alone for now.

How about something like brushing your teeth? In zero gravity (or more accurately, microgravity, if you’re a stickler for such things), some things are easier, like moving medium or large mass items around, but many things are more difficult. It is unbelievably easy to lose things. Get distracted for a moment, and that toothpaste cap is gone! Even if you are good about anchoring such things behind a rubber bungee, some rookie going by could knock it loose for you.

So, how do you brush your teeth in space? Long ago, NASA started buying only toothpaste without detachable caps, thus solving the lost cap problem. So, start by filling a drink bag with water and bring it with you to the hygiene area. Tuck it behind a rubber bungee. Remove your hygiene kit from behind its bungee and unzip it. Find your toothbrush inside of your hygiene kit, safely tucked away inside of a fabric pouch with a Velcro top. But first, take out your toothpaste tube, and stick it to the wall, using the Velcro dot on it. Secure your hygiene kit behind a rubber bungee, after partially zipping it up, so that things don’t accidentally float out.

Still have your toothbrush between a couple of your fingers? Hopefully yes. Remove your drink bag, and with one thumb, flip open the straw clamp (which keeps liquid from seeping out of the bag), and gently squeeze out a bead of water onto your toothbrush, watch it get sucked into the bristles. Hold the straw of the drink bag in your teeth, and with one hand, fix the straw clamp in place, and replace the bag behind the bungee.

Almost all of the rest is fairly straightforward. Flip open the cap of the toothpaste tube, squeeze some out on your toothbrush, go to work on your teeth. Ok, you’re done. Now what? Where are you going to spit? There’s no sink……..So, into a tissue? Then you’ve got a wet tissue, and what are you going to do with that?? So, I swallowed. Filled my mouth with water and swallowed again. Drew some water onto the toothbrush and sucked the water out. Dried the toothbrush onto a towel and replaced it, and the toothpaste, into the kit.

What’s left? Any idea? Yep, the drink bag. That, I would bring to bed with me, so that I would have something to sip on in the middle of the night, should I wake. Just like back home on Earth, except a bit more complicated. And, brushing your teeth is one of the simpler tasks that you’ll perform in space.

Leroy Chiao

Originally posted on Gizmodo during the week of May 4, 2009

Life in Space – The Basics

2009-05-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

“So, what’s it like?” Living in space is all at once wonderful, and a royal pain. During my first mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, I marveled at the sensation of freedom that came right after Main Engine Cut Off (MECO). I watched as tethered checklists floated gently back and forth, and it quickly became normal to release a camera lens in midair, as I removed the old one off of the camera to be replaced.

There was also a sense of dizziness, since the inner ear balance system wasn’t working so well. My head felt a little full, as if I were laying down on an incline, since there was no longer any gravity to pull fluids down to my extremities. In fact, the human body carries about two liters less water in space, than on the Earth.

But, it was amazing how quickly it became normal, just to fly head first down a hatchway, or to spin myself with a push off using just a few fingers. With a little practice, most astronauts get pretty graceful at flying through the spacecraft. Just don’t try it at home, back in gravity!

Large masses are easily moved around slowly, and it becomes second nature, to orient yourself using only your vision. However, what about all that other stuff?

For example, imagine how easy it is to lose something! Where did that pen go? Where is my thumb drive? Where is that photograph of my family? First place to check is the air filters. But, there are plenty of dead zones of air inside, and things can be lost for a few minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or forever. If it’s critical, you had better keep it inside of a sealed bag, safely contained inside of a second, large mesh bag, tied off to a handrail.

What about eating in space? Hygiene? What is the coolest thing about being in space? What is the most difficult? Stay tuned, I’ll be writing about all of it.

Originally posted on Gizmodo, during the week of May 4, 2009

UFO's?

2009-04-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Who's seen a UFO? I have, on two of my space missions. However, I figured out what the first one was, and I have a pretty good idea what was the second.

On another mission, Houston called to inform us that an expendable launch was about to take place from Cape Canaveral. After the third stage burned out, we watched a wonderfully beautiful rainbow in space that expanded into a huge oval, as the excess fuel was vented into space and caught the sunlight just right. If Houston had not warned us, I would not have been able to explain this, and would have found it very eery!

I firmly believe that there is other life in the universe. What I am more skeptical of, is whether we have been visited by extraterrestrials.

I must admit to being a bit intrigued when well-known colleagues come out and publicly accuse the US Government of covering up UFO evidence. Edgar Mitchell and the only other Leroy in the history of the program (Gordo Cooper) have both claimed that this is the case.

If we have been visited by aliens, I don't have a problem believing that the US Government would try to cover it up. However, would they really be able to do it? Have they done a very good job of covering up other things in the past?

What do you think? Have you seen one?

Leroy Chiao

North Korea Missile Test - So What?

2009-04-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

North Korea has launched a Taepodong 2 missile, in what appears to be at least a partially successful test. The world, led by U.S. President Barak Obama, has condemned the test. Analysts and media pundits warned of a destabilization of the area, and indicated that it signaled a threat to U.S. Homeland Security.

Was the flight a success? In an earlier test (2006), the first TP-2 missile exploded about 40 seconds into flight. The North Koreans seem to have fixed that problem, but the U.S. and South Korean military have both stated that the current rocket failed to put anything into orbit. That seems to indicate at least a third stage failure.

In theory, the test shows that the North Koreans could fire a missile and possibly hit Japan, the United States and any number of other countries. Of course this is cause for concern, but how concerned should we really be?

First, the test was not completely successful. One could argue that the North Koreans were lucky to get as far as they did. What would happen if they launched another missile today? They are maybe 2/3-1 for a record so far.

Second, as in the Iranian tests, what can they hit? Their guidance systems, by all accounts, are not very sophisticated.

Third, how many could they build and launch? The North Korean infrastructure is pretty thin. Does anyone think that they could not be stopped at any time militarily, should the need arise? Even if left alone, when could they launch another missile? Do they even have one ready to go? It took them almost three years to launch their second test.

Fourth, we all know why they did this. It's just to get attention and try to squeeze more money out of the West.

I must admit to feeling that this is a "So What" moment.

Leroy Chiao

Spaceflightnow.com Launch Coverage

2009-03-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the Cape. I was covering the STS-119 launch, with Miles O'Brien and David Waters. We were trying something completely new, streaming in real time from the Kennedy Space Center, through the web site: www.spaceflightnow.com.

What a neat experiment this was! With a few technical difficulties (which we hope to have worked out for the next time), we had an amazingly successful test of the system. We were receiving real time twitter and chat messages, which enabled us to respond to viewer questions and to get feedback. All of the feedback was very positive, it was clear that we were reaching people who were thirsting for this kind of coverage! We were reaching people all over the world, including places like Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Finland, Nigeria, just to mention a few.

This is clearly the future. We had a blast, our overhead was minimal (just a fraction of what a network would spend for television coverage) and we had real time interaction with our audience. We reached tens of thousands of people and hope to reach even more as this matures!

Leroy Chiao

Launch Delays

2009-03-12T17:45:00.001-07:00

I'm at the Orlando airport, after the latest Space Shuttle launch attempt. I am covering this with Miles O'Brien and David Waters, for Spaceflightnow.com. We are streaming video over the web site, which also features instant updates and chat.

Launch delays are inevitable. While disappointing, everything must be operating correctly before the engines light. This time, it was a bit frustrating, because the weather was perfect, the bird was ready to fly, but we had a problem with a piece of ground support equipment. Anyway, NASA will try again, possibly as early as March 15.

Join us at www.spaceflightnow.com for live streaming coverage, starting about four hours before launch!

Leroy Chiao

Faked?

2009-02-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

I am laughing out loud! There is a thing going around the internet these days (a Powerpoint presentation, actually), which purports to show that the Chinese faked their spacewalk last September. I received it from people who work for NASA!!

There are many technical inaccuracies in the presentation, the folks who put it together know nothing about EVA, or about how to train for an EVA. This reminds me of the people who claim that the moon landings were all faked.

It's a good way to generate some controversy among the uninformed, and perhaps, make a few dollars. But, other than that, it is just wonderful to watch. You've got to enjoy a con that has even professionals in the business asking questions.

Really, it has to do with not wanting to believe that the Chinese did a spacewalk. But, as I wrote in my last post, the winds are shifting. Secretary of State Clinton is in Asia at this moment. Things are going to change. Who knows? Maybe China will become a partner in the ISS after all?

The bottom line, is that moonwalk or spacewalk, it would be more difficult to fake. Just think of the army of people who would have to be in on the conspiracy, who would have to keep their mouths shut.

Don't believe it!

Leroy Chiao

New Winds Blowing, North and South.

2009-02-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

Wow, Secretary of State Clinton spoke today to the Asia Society. She is leaving on Sunday for a big Asia tour, and emphasized the importance of Asia to the US and the world at large. She particularly mentioned that a positive and cooperative relationship with China was key to peace and prosperity. What a difference an administration makes!

I think that space exploration would be a good place to find common ground between the US and Asia, just as it has been for the US and Russia. True, that relationship has been rocky, but overall, I'd say that it's worked out a whole lot better than the US or world economies of late!

Speaking of which, what do you think of the Obama stimulus package? I am generally against big government and big government spending, but I'm not at all certain that tax cuts would do it either. I really don't know what to think about all of this.

Where did all of the value in the markets go? Right up into thin air. Think about it and you will realize that perception IS everything. If one thinks something is real, then it is. Once a few no longer believe, it can quickly domino into what we have today.....A big, fat recession, which is worldwide. It's even being felt in Dubai! I just read a story about foreigners dumping their nice cars in the airport parking lots, to flee the country. Just amazing.

I do think things will get better, these things go in cycles. It's just that this is the biggest one yet.

Buckle up!

Leroy Chiao

Let's Get to Work!

2009-01-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, maybe I'm the only one, but I've never been one to love a parade. Sure, I understand them, I've been in them, I've even had to watch a few. But, I don't really enjoy them so much. I certainly understand the hoopla surrounding the inauguration today, especially with the historic significance of President Obama's ascendency. BUT, I cringe when I think about how much money is spent on these kinds of events. Of course, businesses profit a great deal, which is good for everyone, to a point.

While the celebrations were going on, bank stocks took a huge tumble. Big players like Bank of America (down 29% today) and Royal Bank of Scotland (down 69% today) were hard hit. President Obama has rightly made the economy his number one priority. I look forward to an aggressive and coordinated set of actions to bring on the recovery.

Did I mention that I'm working on my tax return? I suppose that at least I won't have much capital gains to report (I've never considered that good news!). Always good to try to keep a sense of humor. Reminds me of the food shortage during Expedition 10, when E9 ate our stuff. Salizhan and I joked about it, as a way to cope. Maybe it will be funny one day, but not yet!

;)

Leroy Chiao

PS: Oh, and it looks like Mike Griffin is officially retired from NASA, as of today. Piers owes me a dollar!

New Year, New Directions

2009-01-12T21:57:00.000-08:00

2009 is firmly underway! In the next few days, the new US President will take power, government officials, including the current NASA Administrator, will resign, and everything will change.

How will 2009 be different for you? Many of the people I know felt that 2008 was a pretty lousy year. For me, it was mixed, but I can't complain. I am however, like everyone, looking forward to a better year. Prognosticators have been saying that the world economic situation will not improve much during 2009, although there is hope that the absolutely huge bailout/stimulus packages will help to keep things from getting much worse.

So why is there optimism in the air? Maybe just because there is certainty that change will happen in 2009. Many folks just want to put last year behind them. Who knows? Maybe this will become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Leroy Chiao

Farewell, 2008

2008-12-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

Well, it's that time of year again, the end of it, that is! Did you have a good 2008, despite the financial crisis and other world events?

Of course, one of the most significant events was the election of a new US President, who will take office in just a few weeks. He will face challenges for sure, but the general mood of the country, indeed the world, seems to be one of cautious optimism. Even Russian President Medvedev is on record as being positive about improved relations with the United States.

In the narrow area of space exploration, which greatly interests me, what will happen? The biggest question is who will lead NASA? It seems highly unlikely that Mike Griffin will be asked to stay on, but will the new Administration have NASA high enough on its priority list to make a decision quickly? One of my astronaut colleagues actually made a bet with me that Griffin will be asked to stay on. I understand that another of my colleagues started a keep Mike petition online, and it appears that Mrs. Griffin has also sent out emails urging support for her husband (please see www.nasawatch.com).

All very interesting and surreal. I personally doubt that Mike will be asked to stay. But, I've been wrong before!

What is going to happen to NASA? I don't know, nor do I have any insider information. I do think that whatever happens, NASA will be dramatically changed. This is more of a feeling than anything else.

I am worried that NASA will lose its place as the world leader in manned space flight. Russia will, by default, become the leader after the Space Shuttle is retired in 2010. China is coming up fast.

What do you think?

Leroy Chiao

What's Going On At NASA?

2008-12-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

The Orlando Sentinal and other publications reported recently that NASA, at the very highest levels, is not cooperating with President-Elect Obama's NASA Transition Team. There was reportedly a very public, unfriendly exchange at a book publication event at NASA HQ between Administrator Mike Griffin and Transition Team Leader Lori Garver.

There seems to have been enough eyewitnesses to this and other incidents, that it would be fair to conclude that something bad is happening. What's going on at NASA? It's hard to know for sure, but it sure smells like a combination of desperation and frustration. No matter what one's opinion happens to be, the fact is that there will be a new President in just a few weeks and his transition team for space is going to be advising him on everything that should be done with NASA.

If Mike is afraid that the Constellation Program is about to be canceled or radically altered, the best course of action would be to calmly make his arguments to the Transition Team, to try to persuade them that his course is best. They are the ones who will be calling the shots. There are rumors that Ms. Garver herself may be in line to become the next NASA Administrator.

It may be a losing strategy for Mike to simply try to persuade, but it's going to be a lot better than confrontation.

And, who is Ms. Garver? She was the NASA Associate Administrator for Policy and Plans when Dan Goldin was NASA Administrator. Not many of us in the space business had really heard of her until after she had left NASA in 2001, when she publicly campaigned for contributions in an unsuccessful attempt to become what she called the "First Soccer Mom" to fly in space. She had hoped to use the money to buy a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

She may not have technical credentials, but she doesn't necessarily need any, so long as she takes the advice of qualified specialists. What she does have, is political clout and savvy, especially with the incoming Administration.

One thing is for sure. Change is coming to NASA. Best for everyone if all play nicely.

Leroy Chiao

On Cooperation with China

2008-11-26T14:07:00.000-08:00

The Case for Cooperation

Leroy Chiao, Ph.D.
Astronaut

November 25, 2008

In October 2003, Yang Liwei became the first Chinese National astronaut to launch into space. He flew aboard the Chinese Shenzhou 5 spacecraft, atop a Long March 2F rocket, launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in central China. This historic event marked China’s entrance into the manned space game, only the third nation in the world to have that capability. China recently completed their third manned space mission, Shenzhou 7. During that flight, Chinese National astronaut Zhai Zhigang performed an eighteen-minute spacewalk, using a Chinese-built spacesuit.

As the first American to be allowed to visit the Astronaut Center of China in September 2006, I saw firsthand, the program’s high-level sophistication and technology. I met with Yang Liwei and Fei Junlong, the commander of China’s second space mission, Shenzhou 6. After a day of tours and meetings, it became apparent to me that the Chinese didn’t lack technology or sophistication, what they had not yet accrued was operational experience. This is something that will come with time.

Having said that, I am impressed with the deliberate, steady pace of their manned space program. Some might say that they have been conservative (their first spacewalk was a short one, and the astronauts never disconnected their electrical umbilicals), but I see it as a series of well-planned quantum steps.

China has, on at least two occasions, publicly announced desires to join the International Space Station (ISS) program. They have thus far, been rebuffed. In 2003, the reason given by the United States was that the Chinese program was too far behind technically and lacked sophistication. In 2007, they were simply ignored. Indeed, I was the lone American astronaut at the International Academy of Astronautics meeting that year in Beijing, China’s first international manned space conference. Except for a few individuals who were able to sign their own travel orders, NASA completely ignored the international assembly of Russian, European, Japanese, Canadian and Chinese astronauts, cosmonauts and space specialists.

Today, the U.S. space program is facing enormous challenges. The Constellation moon program has continuing technical and budget difficulties, and it is not at all clear what course the new administration will chart when it takes over early next year. The Space Shuttle, arguably a beautiful, magnificent, yet complex vehicle, will be retired in late 2010, barring major budget and political commitments. The United States will have no capability of its own to launch astronauts into space. We will be totally dependent on foreign partners with manned capability. Currently, only Russia is such a partner. China could be the second.

It makes sense politically and programmatically to cooperate with China, in all areas. Space would be a good place to symbolically signal such a shift in policy. The United States did this with Russia in the early 1990’s. At the time, as a skeptic, I didn’t see the point of cooperating with our former enemy and I objected to using our nation’s space program as a foreign policy tool. I thought that the Russians were technically backward. Having grown up during the Cold War, I “knew” these things to be true. It was not until I started training for Expedition 10, that I came to respect the Russians, their technology and their culture. I began to understand the benefits of using U.S. assets and programs to further political friendship through cooperation.

There have been arguments that cooperation in space with China would benefit their missile and weapon capability. Nothing could be farther from the truth. There is nothing in manned space cooperation that would make a ballistic missile more accurate, or a nuclear warhead more powerful. In fact, trying to isolate China might motivate them to further develop their own technology.

Having been rebuffed by the United States on the International Space Station program, China announced plans for a space station of their own. In order to loft this station into orbit, China is developing the Long March 5 rocket, a true heavy lift launcher. This is the most advanced rocket that they have undertaken to create. It features a sophisticated cryogenic core with liquid strap-on boosters. If the U.S. had cooperated with China earlier on ISS, would they have committed their resources to make this 800 metric ton rocket, which by the way, could also lift a huge warhead?

China is emerging as a true world power, economically and technically. Does it make more sense for the United States to engage China, or to try to keep China at arm’s length? I believe that the answer is obvious. It is important to take the global view. Isolationism has been long obsolete. One good way to deal with an adversary is to find common and mutually beneficial areas of cooperation, and turn that adversary into a friend.

Leroy Chiao served as a NASA astronaut from 1990-2005. During his 15-year career, he flew four missions into space, three times on Space Shuttles and once as the copilot of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. On that flight, he served as the commander of Expedition 10, a six and a half month mission. Dr. Chiao has performed six spacewalks, in both US and Russian spacesuits, and has logged nearly 230 days in space. He has performed scientific investigations in orbit, and helped to construct the International Space Station. Dr. Chiao was the first Chinese-American professional astronaut, spacewalker and mission commander.

Chinese Space Suit

2008-11-08T23:57:00.000-08:00

On November 7th, I was privileged to be shown the Chinese EVA suit before it was put on display at the Beijing Military museum. I believe that no Americans had seen this suit before. It was a functional suit, though obviously not the one that was worn on the actual EVA in September. That suit was thrown away and destroyed during reentry, except for the gloves that were worn by Zhai Zhigang.

I was impressed with the suit. It has obvious Russian Orlan heritage, with some differences. The Display and Control Module looked similar, as did the pressure regulators and the oxygen injector switch. The hatch latching mechanism also looked similar. So did the umbilical interfaces. In fact, it is reasonable to assume that the spacecraft interfaces are identical to the Russian system, since the second suit worn my Liu Boming was in fact an Orlan.

There is nothing wrong with this approach. It is arguably optimal to take an existing design and improve upon it, while retaining critical systems that are proven. In my view, China is taking a very logical course in developing their manned space capability.

Leroy Chiao

What a Difference a Year Makes!

2008-11-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

Wow, I am blogging to you from China! Only a year ago, I was having dinner with the President of Google China. He told me then, that Google blogs were not turned on here.

Now, they are working just fine. I am glad to see that things are improving. I am encouraged that things seem to be going in the direction of more openness.

China cannot and should not be ignored. We are on the edge of a new era in the United States and the world. Cooperation is the best way to move forward.

Leroy Chiao

Taking a Global View

2008-10-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

India has launched a Lunar probe in recent days. Another Soyuz TMA spacecraft has safely landed on Earth (this time with no down-moding of the entry profile). The US is poised to launch a Shuttle in a few weeks. Together with many countries, we operate an International Space Station.

World economies are inextricably linked. Financial crisis spread instantly worldwide. The crash of 1929 affected really only the US. Not this time. Asian stock markets were down 10% overnight. Russia's stock market is down 70% from it's high in May. The US market is down around 40% from a year ago.

Technology has made instant communication possible, to almost any major population center around the globe. How many people do you know who don't have an iPhone or Blackberry? Or at least a cell phone?

Is there any doubt that we live in a time when one must take the global view? Along with that global view, we should look to engage rather than confront. Understanding of other cultures is critical. Learning to put yourself in the other's shoes. When I was in Russia right after their invasion of Georgia, it was interesting to see their point of view. In no way do I endorse or defend their military actions, but my experiences in Russia allowed me to understand.

Through understanding, my hope is that we can all make the world a better place. I'm not naive, if anything, I am a hardened realist. But, everyone should have hope and should strive to help make positive contributions.

Leroy Chiao

Lowell Thomas Award

2008-10-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Just last week, I was honored by the Explorers Club with a Lowell Thomas award. I was one of six honorees, including a hero from my childhood, Chuck Yeager. Chuck is 85 years old, but he is sharp and gets around easily. I found him a nice man during the few minutes that we spoke on stage. It really was neat to finally meet him.

Leroy Chiao

Congratulations Space X!

2008-10-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Space X successfully launched a Falcon 1 rocket, boosting a dummy payload into Low Earth Orbit. Congratulations to the Space X team!

This was the fourth attempt. The first three ended in explosions with loss of vehicle and actual payloads. Space X has been learning that spaceflight is neither easy nor inexpensive. If Elon Musk is willing to continue to spend a lot of money, I am sure he will have more successes in the future with follow on rockets. But, he should expect more problems and more expenses.

This raises into question on how much cheaper he might be able to offer launch services. He also needs to build up a record of demonstrated reliability.

I wish Space X luck. We need more launchers out there to drive down costs!

Leroy Chiao

Congratulations China on EVA and 3rd Mission!

2008-09-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigong, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng for the completion of China's third manned space mission, and for Zhai and Liu's successful first EVA for their space program! This was a huge step for the Chinese program towards building and operating long-duration spacecraft.

The EVA lasted only about eighteen minutes, but it accomplished the goals of demonstrating EVA capability, testing of the suit, and stoking national pride. Zhai left the airlock, while Liu waited inside, poking his head out to take a look around.

Zhai's spacesuit was designed and made in China, while Liu wore a Russian Orlan suit. The two systems are clearly compatible, since they were used together. Indeed, the Chinese suit looks a lot like the Orlan, except that it is white in color and there is no "moon roof" window on the top of the helmet.

One interesting thing that I observed, is that what appears to be Zhai's electrical umbilical remained attached to his suit during the entire EVA. I'm not sure why the Chinese specialists would have done it that way. I would have thought that they would have wanted to test the suit's battery and the function of the systems on battery power. Perhaps they were just being ultra conservative. Zhai had clearly disconnected his water/oxygen umbilical. The Orlan suit features an emergency oxygen connector, but I didn't see one on Zhai's suit. It may have been tucked away in a pocket.

There is talk that China's next mission will feature rendezvous and docking, probably with the upper living module from this Shenzhou 7 spacecraft. The plan appears to be to conncect two or more of these modules together to form a mn-tended lab or hab, as a precursor to a full up space station. Although they've backed off publicly on a manned moon mission, you can bet that's in work. The moon is important culturally to China and it would be historic and a public-relations coup if they become the first to be back to the moon with astronauts since the Apollo program.

Leroy Chiao

Shenzhou 7, and Hurricane Recovery!

2008-09-23T01:04:00.000-07:00

Finally back at home after hurricane Ike! Fortunately for us, damage was minimal. Trying to get caught up and get things back on track.

I'm getting ready to do a bunch of TV interviews for the Shenzhou 7 launch and the first spacewalk by a Chinese national! This will be very interesting and quite a step for the Chinese program.

Also interesting, is that NASA has reopened talks with the Chinese about space. They swear that it has nothing to do with Russia's invasion of Georgia, but please, it is insulting to think that we believe that. Will this work? Probably not. I don't think this administration is serious about space cooperation with China and that this is a feeble attempt to strike fear into the Russians. The Russians know better. Even if NASA were to cooperate with China in the ISS program, there would have to be Russian buy-in. Besides, the Shenzhou could only dock with the Russian segment, so Russian buy-in would be a hard requirement.

The first Chinese EVA is supposed to feature an all-Chinese spacesuit. The second suit is said to be a Russian Orlan, like the one I wore on my two ISS EVA's. This is significant. It means that the Chinese suit is totally compatible, support system wise, with the Russian Orlan. It is reasonable to assume that the suits are very similar. Kind of like the way the Chinese pressure suit looks like the Russian Sokol.

Nothing wrong with making an advanced version of a tried and true system. This only makes sense, especially for a program that is leap-frogging it's way to catch up with the US and Russia.

Leroy Chiao

US-Russian Relations

2008-08-31T17:59:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Moscow for a few meetings this week. It's always nice to come back, having lived a second life here during the years of training for Expedition 10.

It's interesting to see the Russian news coverage of the continuing events in Georgia. Not surprisingly, it paints a different picture than western news coverage.

In thinking about this, it seems to me obvious in hindsight that this conflict was not about South Ossetia or Abkhazia. The West, led by the US has been working to bring Georgia and other former Soviet Satellite countries into NATO for some time now. It is easy to see how this would make Russian leaders uncomfortable. The Russians were sending the US and Europe a message with the invasion. Even though the invasion appears to have had a negative effect for Russia (driving countries like Poland and Ukraine into the arms of the US), the message was clear. I doubt the Russian leaders expected anything else.

The Soviet Union lost the cold war and the resulting Russian Federation had a difficult time getting on it's feet through the Yeltsin years. There is a national sense of resentment and Putin reestablished Russian pride in the population. Now, Russia is striving to again be seen as a superpower.

It is important to consider all sides in any situation. If we can understand how the other guy feels, we should be able to more effectively engage them and come to a solution. However, It is difficult to see how the current crisis might end well. Russia is a significant part of the world economy (the Russian stock market felt the pain of the invasion) and our space programs are inextricably linked for at least the next few years. The US Presidential candidates have to come across as being forceful and strong against Russia at least before the election.

Russia is flexing it's newfound muscles. There are calls in the US Congress to punish Russia. An effect of this might be the end of US astronauts flying aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft. As soon as the Space Shuttle is retired in 2010, the US would then have no way to get astronauts into space. Members of Congress are now calling for an extension of the Space Shuttle, but this would be very expensive at this point, since the system has been going through a systematic dismantling since 2005.

The US has backed itself into a corner on this one. How do we get out of it? I don't think anyone really wants a return to the cold war. But, stay tuned, that may be the result.

Leroy Chiao

Georgia on My Mind

2008-08-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

Recent Georgian and Russian military action have me thinking about the region. Strategically vital (oil pipeline), a convenient friend for the US (good way to poke Russia, having Georgia threaten to join NATO) and a historically volatile ethnic region (the Caucasus) all added up to create the situation for the current conflict in the region.

Russia will no doubt withdraw, having taught the Georgians a "lesson." I don't think they are foolish enough to want to occupy Georgia (do you remember Afghanistan?).

Was Southern Ossetia really worth going to war over? Remember that World War One started in tiny Serbia, when Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assasinated there. When tensions are high, it just takes one final spark to ignite the fire.

Unfortunately, I think the Caucasus and Russia will continue to have a stormy relationship, as they always have. Not unlike other regions in the world. It's just so sad and such a waste for people who are already in bad conditions to become further victimized by war.

Will the US and other Western powers apply sanctions to Russia? I doubt it. Russia is much more important to the US than Georgia. The US will probably make some kind of symbolic protest and then move on. After all, this war didn't stop President Bush from sitting and smiling with Vladimir Putin at the Olympics.

My thoughts go out to the victims in this war, the innocent civilians caught in the middle.

Leroy Chiao

Astronauts, the Olympics and Politics

2008-08-08T17:48:00.001-07:00

8/08/2008, the lucky numbers that mark the start of this year's Olympic games in Beijing! Several space explorers participated in the opening event and/or the run up to it. Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova and the first Malaysian in space, plus the first three Chinese National astronauts all played parts.

Conspicuously absent were US, European and Japanese astronauts. Although the Olympics were created to be a purely sporting event, the games, for the past several decades have become political arenas and a way to make political statements. This, for better or for worse.

I for one, hope that relations between the Western countries (especially the US) and China will improve soon. It doesn't make any sense to ignore or to try to isolate China. I don't defend China for much of what the country's leadership has done in the last century and the beginning of this one, but it seems more effective to engage rather than not.

Call me naive or idealistic, but my hope is that through engagement, we can improve life for everyone on the planet.

Leroy Chiao

Space X Launch Failure

2008-08-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

Just hours ago, Space X lost it's third Falcon 1 launch vehicle. This is a shame, but it highlights the fact that rockets and spaceflight are complex, difficult endeavors. One of the puzzling facts of this launch, is that it was called Space X's first operational launch. The company had suffered two launch failures in a row, yet felt confident enough to actually put three satellites onto the third and declare the vehicle operational. That doesn't make sense to me. It reminds me of the maiden launch of the Ariane V, which also carried satellites. That rocket too was destroyed early into the flight, with the loss of all payload.

Despite all of this, I do applaud their efforts. Space X was founded in 2004 with the noble idea that there had to be a better and more efficient way to get to orbit. At the time, one major stated goal of the company was to create operational launchers by 2006 which were so efficient that the cost per pound of payload would be reduced by a factor of ten, from $10,000 per pound to $1000 per pound.

Now we are in the second half of 2008 and Space X has not yet successfully launched a rocket to orbit, let alone successfully launch payload for $1000 per pound.

All of the nations which developed successful rocket programs had spectacular failures before getting it right, including Germany, the US, Soviet Union, China, Japan and France. Currently, several countries including India, Iran and North Korea have naescent rocket programs.

If Space X stays at it, I am sure that they too, will be successful. I remain a big believer in the potential for commercial space, including commercial manned spaceflight. But, it's not going to be an easy or quick journey to success.

Leroy Chiao

Wristwatches

2008-07-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

Pilots, astronauts and their wristwatches, right? There is something about a nice wristwatch. From the beauty of its design to the beauty of it's engineering to the combination of elegance and functionality, a wristwatch to many of us is more than a practical tool.

I recently did a detailed interview and podcast with Jake Ehrlich, who is a Rolex afficianado. You can check out his blog and my interview/podcast at:

http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/story-of-nasa-astronaut-leroy-chaio-his.html

I've worn a few different watches in space, including Rolex, Omega and Breitling. But, it is a Rolex GMT Master that I own. That watch flew with me on every space mission. I acutally bought the watch in Davos, Switzerland, before I was selected as a NASA astronaut.

After leaving NASA at the end of 2005, a friend of mine at Rolex had it inscribed for me with my name and space mission designations.

Do you have a favorite timepiece?

Leroy Chiao

UFO's, Aliens, Coverups?

2008-07-26T12:46:00.000-07:00

This week, I read a news article, where Ed Mitchell, an Apollo moonwalker, claimed that the US Government has known about and covered up alien encounters for the last sixty years. This is astounding and one's first thought is whether or not this person is thinking clearly.

I found these asserions interesting, because another early astronaut, Gordo Cooper (whose first name was Leroy, I being the only other astronaut with that name) made the same assertions years ago. Gordo and Ed both claimed to have chased UFO's in their interceptor jets while on active duty in the US military. Ed claims to have received top secret briefings on the existence of aliens. He also claims that the Roswell incident was a real UFO encounter and that the aliens who have allegedly visited are small in stature with large heads and eyes.

During my four missions in space, I saw a few strange things, but these were probably explainable as either natural phenomena or man-made hardware. I never thought for a minute that any of my sightings were alien spacecraft with living creatures aboard.

Ed's assertions, along with those earlier from Gordo give me reason to pause for a moment. I absolutely believe that there is life elsewhere in the universe, I am however, skeptical that that other life has found and visited us. I do maintain an open mind though.

What do you think?

Leroy Chiao

Mobile Me and Other Improvements?

2008-07-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

Mac users who used dot Mac got "upgraded" to Mobile Me a few days ago. To date, the dot Mac page, which was supposed to seamlessly connect one to the Mobile Me page, doesn't work and hasn't for almost three days now. I can get to my email, since I figured out that I can go directly to the "me" page. However, the mail is SO SLOW that it is almost unusable. Also, there are issues with trying to print. This and the site was quite unstable today, locking up and crashing several times. I finally reverted to doing Email on my iPhone, which was a LOT faster and worked. That's quite a statement.

What happened to Apple? Usually, their releases are relatively well-tested and stable. This is strange. Couple this with the fact that a friend of mine bought one of the very first iPhone 3G's, lining up outside the local Apple Store. As employees tried to port over her phone number from her old iPhone to the new, the process froze. She was caught in transition. Now, neither phone works and the Apple Store had no answer. The same happened to several customers and the store suspended sales of the new iPhone.

When is better the enemy of good enough? What is the right balance of moving forward and staying with the tried and true? Some time ago, I wrote about getting Microsoft Word 2008 for the Mac. It is terrible and I make all efforts not to use it. I only use it when I receive a file that requires 2008 to open. It is much slower and cumbersome, in addition to being A LOT slower to start and to do other operations.

This is why software on spacecraft are only upgraded after extensive testing. Also, modifications are only made when really necessary. This is prudent because lives are literally on the line. The same standards should not be applied to commercial software, but I can't help but observe that Apple dropped the ball on this one. Clearly, the product was not adequately tested and/or is simply too cumbersome. I hope they get their act together, as I am a long-time Apple supporter.

Leroy Chiao

Life in the Universe

2008-06-21T00:51:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Phoenix team! It is exciting to read about the apparent discovery of ice on Mars. This has vast implications of course, with one being the possibility that life once existed there.

I firmly believe that there is life elsewhere in the Universe. I believe that we will discover other Earth-like planets in addition to discovering life in remote, hostile areas like Mars.

Now, the question on whether or not Earth has been visited by aliens is different topic. Although an intriguing idea, I am skeptical that we have been visited by other intelligent beings. I myself have seen odd things, including in space, but they have all turned out to be explainable events.

What do you think? Are we alone in this Universe? Will someone invent the warp drive soon and allow us to explore farther with probes and astronauts?

Leroy Chiao

Congratulations, Japan

2008-06-17T00:58:00.000-07:00

The Japanese Experiment Module Kibo is now on orbit and installed onto the ISS and activated. Congratulations Japan and their newest astronaut, Aki Hoshide! My good friend Koichi Wakata will be flying the first Japanese long duration flight early next year. Enthusiasm there is very high.

What is the future of government space? China will launch the Shenzhou 7 mission later this year (probably October), after the Olympics. The US will retire the Shuttle in 2010. What will become of the Constellation program and Orion after the elections in November? Countries like Japan and the members of ESA are totally dependent on US and Russian assets for manned access to space. After 2010, the Russians will be the only government game in town, except for China, which has so far been rebuffed in their desire to be an ISS partner.

What does the future hold?

Leroy Chiao

Phoenix on Mars!

2008-05-25T21:24:00.001-07:00

Wonderful news! The Phoenix spacecraft has safely touched down on Mars. Phoenix was launched in August 2007 and has finally arrived at its destination, at 6:53 PM Houston time. The main purpose of the mission is to search under the surface for water ice to determine if conditions may have supported life.

Congratulations and continued good luck to the Phoenix team!

Leroy Chiao

Soyuz Entry

2008-04-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

On April 19th, a Soyuz TMA spacecraft returned to Earth in the backup ballistic mode. This was the second Soyuz in a row to return in that mode. What does it all mean?

I flew on Soyuz TMA-5 to and from the International Space Station for Expedition 10. I was trained as the copilot, so I was intimately familiar with the spacecraft, it's operation, the backup modes and emergency procedures. Normally, the Soyuz descent module returns to Earth in an automatic mode, which flies a determined flight profile with closed-loop guidance. That is, the spacecraft is maneuvering to hit a defined point in the sky, where the parachute is deployed. In this maneuvering, the spacecraft profile is also designed to minimize the G-loading of the crew, usually to less than five G's. This was the case for TMA-5.

There are a number of failures that can cause a ballistic entry. In these cases, the spacecraft descent module spins and a rate of between thirteen and eighteen degrees per second, depending on the specific mode. There is no closed-loop guidance, the capsule is descending in a stable, but uncontrolled mode, to land where it is pointed. Thus, the footprint on possible landing sites is much larger. The crew is also subjected to higher G-loading, since the autopilot is not flying to minimize this loading. The maximum reported G on the last Soyuz was 8.2 G. This is a high level, but it is certainly tolerable. Anyone who flies on a Soyuz is run through the centrifuge to this level as a medical evaluation.

The real question is why did two Soyuz TMA's enter in ballistic mode? In the case of the first one, there appeared to be at least two failures, with a frayed wire causing a short being officially blamed for the downmoding of the spacecraft. We will have to wait for the incident report to find out what caused the latest downmode.

Is the Soyuz safe? I think so. I have met the people who work on the vehicles, I have seen for myself the environment in which they are created and processed. These are a dedicated group of specialists and they are very serious about what they do. The Soyuz design has been around for decades. It is the single most reliable spacecraft (with the largest number of flights) in history, to date.

I will be following this story closely.

Leroy Chiao

47th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's Flight!

2008-04-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

Do you remember Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin's flight? Gagarin became the first human to be launched into space in April 12, 1961. I was only about eight months old at the time, so I don't remember the actual event. But, I grew up during the space race and followed all of the missions once I was old enough to understand.

Gagarin's flight set off the chain of events that led to the Apollo program and the landing of Americans on the moon. Nobody has been back there since 1972. When will we be there again? Will the Constellation program survive under the new US Administration (no matter who wins the election)?

Leroy Chiao

COTS?

2008-04-06T15:48:00.000-07:00

Do you believe in COTS? By COTS, I mean the commercial program competition that NASA has committed about $500M towards. The idea is to stimulate commercial outfits to develop an unmanned resupply system for the International Space Station. Sounds good, but let's take a short look.

Two competitors won big NASA COTS awards in late 2006. One of them consequently missed funding milestones and had their award taken away. This award has now been given to a third company. Inside conversations with NASA folks usually involve rolling of the eyes and comments such as "we've been told to believe in COTS." At least one company (not selected for an award) has publicly accused NASA of "not being serious" about it.

I think it is a good idea, but I must admit to being skeptical. NASA is going to make any commercial outfit go through the same safety, testing and review process that a government vehicle must pass. This process is not simple, quick nor inexpensive. How will a commercial company be able to do all of that and still expect to make a profit?

As a reference point, the French ATV recently successfully docked to ISS. It was many, many years in development and in the end, the published program cost was 1.3 billion euros, or about $1.9 B!

What do you think?

Leroy Chiao

PS: The photo above is of Progress 17P as it approached to dock with ISS during Expedition 10. I snapped this photo of it at a range of about 50 meters.

Have Spacesuit Will Travel

2008-03-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

I am the new Heinlein Prize Trust spokesperson and leader of the Have Spacesuit Will Travel program (HSSWT). The idea is to inspire young people to be interested in space exploration. Robert Heinlein wrote a series of stories for young people. The quintessential story is called Have Spacesuit Will Travel. It is about a young man who enters a contest and wins an old spacesuit. He fixes it up and embarks on an accidental series of adventures. It is a wonderful story and remarkable, because Heinlein got most of the spacesuit technical features essentially correct many years before the first spacesuit was made!

We plan to create a lesson plan of sorts for school kids and have them read the book. Following a learning activity, they will be rewarded with a Sokol pressure suit in their school for two weeks. They will be allowed to touch the suit and try on the gloves.

What do you think? Please let me know your suggestions on how to make this program a success!

Thanks,

Leroy Chiao

Does Anyone Else Wonder About Microsoft?

2008-03-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

Reluctantly, because it was offered to me free (since I am a professor at LSU), I "upgraded" my MS Office Suite to 2008. Then the fun began.

First, every time I hit a return in MS Word 2008, it double spaces for me. I could not for the life of me figure out how to make it stop. Finally, after searching on the internet, I found the solution was to edit the normal style settings. Why was something that was default Ok, "improved" for this version? Frustrating and silly. How about a little consistency?

Similarly, I am now stymied about the automatic link creation. In Office 2004, MS Word would create a hyperlink when one typed ".com" or similar ending. Now, I can't figure out how to make MS Word do it for it's 2008 version. Maddening. This time, an internet search was fruitless.

Does anyone have an answer for me? Oh, how I long for the days of MacWrite. I wrote my doctoral thesis using it and a Mac 1MB back in 1987!

Oh, and Office 2008 takes noticeably much longer to launch.

Leroy Chiao

Article in Commerce Magazine

2008-02-22T18:48:00.000-08:00

Back in Japan

2008-02-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

I am back in Japan doing some work with my good friends at Japan Manned Space Systems. They are a supporting contractor for the Japanese Space Agency, doing work on operations, planning and commercialization. I've known these folks for fifteen years now, since they supported my first Space Shuttle Mission, STS-65 the Second International Microgravity Laboratory.

Leroy Chiao

US to Shoot Down Derelict Satellite

2008-02-14T21:14:00.003-08:00

Wow. I read the news today about the decision by the US to shoot down a derelict reconaissance satellite, sometime in the next week. This strikes me as very odd. The story is that this satellite is going to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere soon and we cannot predict with sufficient accuracy where the large pieces will fall. Included in the expected debris, might be hydrazine fuel tanks which could land with hydrazine still in them.

While this is a legitimate concern, I must wonder about the decision to shoot it down. This action could actually make the situation worse, since we can't predict the trajectories of the pieces once the satellite is broken up. We might actually send debris back up into orbit which could threaten other objects. Or, we may cause pieces to hit areas of the Earth that they would not have, if we had done nothing. That is, we might divert debris onto populated areas that otherwise would not have been affected.

Could it be a political statement? Last year about this time, the Chinese tested an anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) and successfully shot down one of their own aging satellites. This caused international outrage and complaints about the creation of more orbital debris. Why did China do it? Maybe it was a response to the US space policy which had just been released. In this policy, the US stated that we would deny access to space to powers that we deemed a threat. Could the Chinese test been a nose-thumb at us?

Enter today's decision. Could our derelict satellite be a target of opportunity to send a message back to the Chinese?

I hope for better relations between the two countries in the future. It is only through cooperation that we can achieve better understanding.

What do you think?

Leroy Chiao

Why I Love Teaching

2008-02-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

I just finished giving my first lecture of the semester here at LSU! I love the interaction with the students and having to prepare lectures (which makes one really learn or re-learn the topic).

I suppose that I always wanted to be a Professor. It was my second career choice after being an astronaut. I remember in graduate school how rewarding it was to give presentations that students understood and appreciated. I guess I also remembered the awful professors and teaching assistants that I sometimes endured. This experience made me dedicated to presenting quality products to my students.

It's important to keep perspective on what's important and to remember what bothered you.

Leroy Chiao

USA Weekend Magazine

2008-01-14T21:42:00.001-08:00

Wow! I was just honored with a cover story in last Sunday's USA Weekend Magazine!

http://www.usaweekend.com/08_issues/080113/080113astronauts.html

21st-century pioneer

Astronaut Leroy Chiao achieved his ambition for adventures in space. Now he's trying to open the skies to his fellow dreamers back on Earth.

By Mike Hammer

"I was 8 when I knew what I wanted to do with my life."

The wind whipped 7-year-old Sandy Chiao's hair as she stood nervously atop an imposing pile of sand, strapped into an elaborate hang glider designed by her 12-year-old brother, Leroy.

He had slaved over the homemade flying machine and had high hopes for the mission. When he commanded his little sister to run and leap into the air, they both were confident she would soar into the heavens. After all, Leroy was so good at constructing model planes.

Then came the crash.

"It was OK," Sandy recalls, four decades later. "I didn't get hurt. Besides, it was an adventure."

It was the first of many -- and one of the few failures -- for Sandy's exceptional big brother. Since then, Leroy Chiao's preoccupation with the heavens has led to his becoming a leading member of two of the most elite and exclusive groups on Earth: NASA astronauts and, now, one of many pioneers in the frontier of commercial space flight. If he has his way, flying to the moon will be as common for our kids as hopping a flight to Grandma's.

BRINGING SPACE TRAVEL DOWN TO EARTH

The tug to explore beyond our physical boundaries seems intrinsic, a race to space that transcends nations and is rooted deep in our DNA. This new quest to bring space travel down to earth, so to speak, so that anyone can book a flight to the stars has captured the imagination of a new generation of private entrepreneurs.

In many ways, the ambitious Chiao exemplifies this handful of dreamers determined to commercialize space. The most famous is British billionaire Richard Branson, who is selling $200,000 seats to space in 2009 (see box, next page).

At the same time, Chiao is unique. As a first-generation American whose parents fled China for Taiwan in 1949 on the roofs of speeding trains and in fishing boats, he may not seem the obvious modern-day version of the legendary Wright brothers. But as a highly experienced former astronaut, he has one of the most impressive rŽsumŽs in the history of space travel -- as well as a populist notion of space travel.

"We are on the edge of the barn-storming era of space flight," says Chiao, 47, who lives in Houston with his wife, Karen, and their 13-month-old twins. "There are several companies racing to make commercial space travel a reality sooner than most people think."

Chiao's fantastic voyage really dates back to the mid-1950s, a few years before he was born, when his parents came to the United States to study. When he was 7, the family settled in Danville, Calif., a mostly white community where the Chiaos wanted their children to be fully American in their day-to-day lives but culturally Chinese at home. "I always told them, 'We want to have the best blend of American and Chinese,' " says Chiao's father, Tsu Tao.

The young Chiao found a model for his lofty aspirations in 1969, when he watched Neil Armstrong step on the moon. "I was 8, and I knew what I wanted to do with my life," Chiao says. Soon after, "he made his own rocket," says his mother, Cherry Chu. "It had wheels, so it was really more of a go-cart. He always gave the neighborhood kids rides on it."

Too small to excel in many sports, he focused on academics and his goal of becoming an astronaut. The hard work paid off when he was accepted at the University at California, Berkeley. "I had to hit the books hard and took abuse from the other guys for not partying enough," he says. "I told one friend that I wanted to be an astronaut, and he teased me by joking about wanting to be a policeman, firefighter or Indian chief."

Years later, after he applied at NASA and landed an interview in 1989, Chiao waited four months for a decision, only to learn he had not been accepted. "I was disappointed," he recalls. "I had a couple of drinks. The next morning, NASA called again and indicated there had been some kind of mix-up and invited me to join the 1990 astronaut class. That woke me up in a hurry. I almost didn't believe it!"

In his astronaut class, at age 29, he exuded confidence, a colleague recalls. "He walked in the door and announced that he wanted to do a space walk," says former astronaut Don Thomas, a crewmate on Chiao's first shuttle mission, the 1994 Columbia shuttle. Two shuttle missions later, he had distinguished himself so greatly that NASA asked him to fly with Russian cosmonauts and command a six-month mission on the International Space Station in 2004.

LEAVING THE MOTHER SHIP

The Space Station flight was his last mission. After President Bush signed the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act in December 2004, intended to promote the development of U.S. commercial space flight, Chiao felt the challenge: He decided to move from astronaut to space entrepreneur.

"I had done all I could do in a flying career," he says of his decision to leave the space agency. For Chiao, "the real future of space travel and exploration was in the private sector."

Chiao's Russian experience helped lead him to Excalibur Almaz space company, a private, international space venture planning to operate its own spacecraft and space stations commercially. "We hope people will be able to travel as easily on a spacecraft in the same way they do on an airline," says Chiao, who's in charge of Excalibur Almaz's space operations, which include training potential passengers.

The private sector has long had access to space, however, communication satellites piggybacking on government rockets is a long way from what's hoped for. To date, only five "tourists" have flown to the International Space Station, and they were on Russian, not American, capsules.

Now you can buy a ticket to ride -- for a price
Chiao claims that "in the next few years," Excalibur Almaz will offer week-long flights that deposit tourists at modernized, Russian-designed space stations. His mission is to make sure such journeys are safe and economically efficient. The price of a seat is still up the air.

"We're going to take things further and faster by using proven technology and spacecraft, which will ultimately bring down costs and make space flight available to more people," Chiao insists. "This [is] a chance to enter a new, exciting and growing area that [allows] me to share my amazing experiences with other people."

Fifty years after the first U.S.-launched rocket, commercial space travel takes off.

Fifty years ago, on Jan. 31, America launched its first satellite, Explorer 1. That historic moment in the annals of space travel spurred fantasies that, some day, everyone might have the chance to blast off from Earth.

Now, that opportunity is available -- if you have $40 million to spare. That's the price of a ride to theInternational Space Station in a Russian Soyuz space capsule. (Only a handful of very wealthy people have taken the trip, becoming the world's first "space tourists.")

The rest of us are still dreaming, but affordable space travel is getting closer. In 2004, SpaceShipOne, built by famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan, claimed the$10 million Ansari X Prize for innovation. It is the first commercially built manned craft to reach space.

Now, Virgin Galactic, the company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson that's behind SpaceShipOne, is selling tickets. For only $200,000, you can experience weightlessness, get a view of the Earth from space and, we hope, enjoy one heck of an in-flight meal. Possible departure date: as early as 2009.

Several other companies also are planning spaceship flights, with the cost for passengers expected to be roughly in the same price range.

Of course, a trip that costs as much as a starter home is still far from making space travel available to the masses. More affordable space voyages may be as little as 10 years away, when prices could fall to $30,000, Virgin Galactic's Rutan has estimated. That's about the price of a well-outfitted Toyota Camry. Start saving today.

Mike Hammer is the former editor of "Shock" and "Stuff" magazines. His longest flight involved a layover in Pittsburgh. Cover and cover story photographs of Leroy Chiao by Robert Seale for USA WEEKEND

Leroy Chiao

China's Space Activities

2008-01-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

China is planning to launch their third manned space mission near the end of this year. They have announced a three-man crew and the mission will feature their first spacewalk. This should be interesting to watch.

In addition, China announced a robust launch schedule for 2008. Research and development continues too. Particularly intriguing is a spaceplane project. Some details were published recently, including this photo.

What do you suppose they are planning for a spaceplane? It's called Shenlong, which means Divine Dragon.

Leroy Chiao

NASA Aviation Safety Data Release

2008-01-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

NASA has released a redacted version of a database of an anonymous survey of commercial airline pilots and mechanics. There has been controversy over these data, since they were collected three years ago and were not released until now. The original Freedom of Information Act request made by the Associated Press was denied, with the strange justification that release might cause concern among the flying public. Administrator Griffin has publicly stated that "the data are not credible" because it paints a far riskier picture than he feels is realistic.

I am perplexed by all of this. First, any scientist or engineer should know better than to dismiss data based on a personal opinion that they are not realistic. Second, if the data might cause concern, then they should be released and analyzed. Third, I believe that any agency or company should operate in a transparent manner.

I don't think NASA has handled this one very well. Read more about this at: www.nasawatch.com

Leroy Chiao

ECO Sensors

2007-12-13T23:39:00.000-08:00

NASA resisted the urge to launch STS-122 with less than well understood Engine Cut Off sensor anomalies last week. Was this the right thing to do? I think so, it showed courage and good engineering sense to delay the launch and figure out the root cause of the erratic sensor readings.

There are those who argue that we really don't need the ECO sensors in the Space Shuttle system. These sensors shut the main engines down if they detect an impending fuel depletion before planned Main Engine Cutoff (MECO). If the main engines were not cut off and allowed to run the fuel tanks dry, an explosion would almost certainly result, with a catastrophic loss of vehicle and crew. The argument is that the burn and fuel loading calculations are precise enough that such a situation could not happen realistically.

On the other hand, we have data that appear to indicate that we have come close to such events in the past.

In light of this uncertainty, I think NASA made the right call. What do you think?

Leroy Chiao

Going to China Again

2007-11-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

I will be going to China again at the end of November. This time, I will be a member of delegation from the Committee of 100 (C100). The organization was started by famed architect I.M. Pei and musician Yo Yo Ma almost twenty years ago as body of prominent Chinese Americans who can serve as bridges for understanding between the US and China.

I was invited to join this prestigious group almost a year ago. This will be my first major role in C100 and I look forward to meeting with senior Chinese leaders to discuss current issues.

For more information, see: www.committee100.org

Leroy Chiao

Risk Symposium Coming Soon to LSU

2007-09-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

I am co-chairing a symposium on risk and exploration, which will be held at Louisiana State University from October 28-30 this year. Admission is free and open to the general public. This will be a follow-on conference to the one held by NASA in September 2004. We will have a wide range of explorers from mountain climbers to deep sea divers to endurance sailors to astronauts.

Check out the website for more information:

www.riskexplore2007.com

See you in Cajun Country!

Leroy Chiao

Renaissance Weekend Conference

2007-09-02T23:44:00.000-07:00

I just finished my first Renaissance Weekend conference. This is an organization that was started and run by Phil and Linda Lader. Phil is a former US Ambassador to the UK. They put on five conferences a year in different locations across the US. Invited folks include politicos, Nobel Laureates, scientists, engineers, business leaders, professors, you get the idea. Very interesting sessions and discussions. Most everyone is quite impressive and has done much with their lives.

Discussions ranged from how the US might get out of Iraq to how to balance career and family. I was impressed with the folks who came here.

All this against the beautiful backdrop of Monterey Bay. Hard to beat!

Leroy Chiao

The Lisa Nowak Situation

2007-08-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

This week's news included Lisa Nowak in court, asking that her ankle GPS bracelet be removed. This whole story is sad for all involved. Lisa and I overlapped by about ten years at NASA. She was a capcom during one of my Space Shuttle missions and during my long-duration flight aboard the International Space Station. I didn't know her well, but found her to be a serious and well-intentioned person.

Some say that this case reflects badly on all astronauts. I disagree. As I stated in a previous posting, astronauts are professionals. However, we are human and fallible. There have been a few cases of bad judgment by astronauts over the years, it's just that most of these incidents never made it into the national news. I don't think people judge the entire astronaut corps based on a few unfortunate incidents.

I don't know what will come of her case, but it appears that she is expressing regret and remorse for her actions. I am glad that this is so and that she appears to be in a better state of mind than before. I really do wish her the best.

Leroy Chiao

Flying Airplanes

2007-08-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

I went out and flew a tailwheel airplane today. It was the first time for me in about twelve years! My landings were actually quite good. I think I surprised my instructor and I certainly surprised myself!

What is it about flying that gives a certain satisfaction? Is it the satisfaction of doing something well? Doing something that if not done well, can be dangerous? I don't know the answer, really. I've been flying airplanes for about twenty three years now.

I learned in Cessna's and have flown in many different models of aircraft, including Piper's, Beechcraft's, Socata's, Grumman's, a few experimentals as well as NASA T-38 jets. All are different and many give a different sense of satisfaction.

Here is a photo of me with my Grumman Tiger. I don't know what it is, but there is something about flying airplanes that I like.

Leroy Chiao

Tile Repair Decision

2007-08-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

NASA has decided not to repair Space Shuttle Endeavour's heat shield before the vehicle returns next week. Was this the right decision?

I think so and I am glad to see that the process worked to arrive at this conclusion. The facts are that we have seen similar tile damage postflight in the past. The damage is in an area that does not contain critical systems or wiring underneath. Modeling (although I take modeling results with a healthy grain of salt) has shown that heating will not be severe in this area.

Sure, it would have been a good data point on repair techniques and effectiveness. However, one maxim that we live by in the space business, is that no matter how bad it is, you can always make it worse! Thus, any decision like this needs to be weighed carefully. A bump by a helmet or a tool could easily cause much worse damage in a much worse area.

Like all other enthusiasts, I eagerly await Endeavour's return next week!

Leroy Chiao

The Future of Space Exploration

2007-08-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

STS-118 is in orbit! After a beautiful, on time and nearly flawless countdown, Endeavour roared into space at about 6:36 EDT on August 8th. I was doing the live CNN coverage with Miles O'Brien.

Now that the crew is in orbit, I've been reflecting on the future of space exploration. There are fourteen shuttle missions left on the roster before the scheduled decommissioning of the space shuttle fleet, in 2010. What's next? The new NASA spacecraft, dubbed the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and named Orion, is due to fly no sooner than 2014. It is over 5000 pounds overweight and I hear that the toilet has already been deleted, as well as some of the radiation shielding, in order to cut down on the weight. The Ares 1 rocket is also having significant design issues and the Associate Director for Spaceflight, Scott "Doc" Horowitz, who is the main proponent of what has come to be called the "Scotty Rocket" has announced that he will leave NASA in the next few months.

Add to that the fact that we will elect a new President very soon. No matter who wins, something is bound to change. Will Mike Griffin still be administrator? He has pretty much ensured that the shuttle program cannot be restarted without significant costs, in order to leave no alternate path to the one that NASA is going down. Is the US finished in government space programs?

The wild card is the commercial sector. There are a lot of private companies trying to do manned spaceflight. Some are credible, others much less so. There have been many false starts along these lines in the past. This time, it seems that the critical mass is here, with the advent of SpaceShipOne in September of 2004.

Is the future of spaceflight going to be in the private sector? Send me your thoughts!

Leroy Chiao

STS-118 Launch

2007-08-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'll be going to Florida to watch the STS-118 launch! Barbara Morgan will finally get her chance to fly in space. We will be rooting her on from the beach. Barbara trained as Christa McCaullife's backup in the mid-1980's. Next week, she is scheduled to be the first school teacher to fly in space.

I think it's great. Tell me what you think!

Leroy Chiao

Astronauts are Professionals

2007-07-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

This has been a rough week for NASA and for the astronauts. A report has been released which alleges that on at least two occasions, NASA astronauts have been allowed to board spacecraft for launch, despite opposition from flight surgeons and other astronauts on the scene, because of concerns of alcohol consumption.

I must say that in my fifteen years at NASA, I never had even a whiff or hint of anything like this ever happening. First and foremost, astronauts are professionals. We pride ourselves on doing a good job. High personal standards are what got us into the corps in the first place. I'm not saying that there is no way that this has happened, but it seems farfetched. Flying into space is such a fantastic experience that I cannot imagine anyone wanting to be in anything but the most alert state.

The astronauts are not all above reproach. We've had our share of scandal and examples of poor judgment. In any population, especially of high-performing people under stress, there will be a few instances of excess. We are all human after all. Who of us has not ever had too much to drink at one time or another? What I'm talking about though, is that in general, when it comes time to do the job, astronauts, like other professionals, step up to the plate and take the job very seriously.

The allegations are very serious and possibly true. However, in the absence of any specifics, it is impossible to determine the veracity of the comments. NASA will conduct it's own investigation, I'm sure. We'll just have to wait and see what comes of it.

Leroy Chiao

Heading Home

2007-07-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

We've had a very successful expedition up here on Devon! It is time to go home. I've taken down my tent and packed my gear. The airplane arrives this afternoon to take us back to Resolute. From there, reverse track back to Ottawa and finally home to Houston on Sunday night. I'll miss this place. Nice folks, smooth operations and a productive and fun time. I hope to return someday!

Leroy Chiao

Photos of Devon

2007-07-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

We inspected several special areas on Devon Island today by helicopter. They are inside of Inuit owned land and special permission is required. Our stops included Saphire Lake, Stoker Falls and Astronaut Canyon. The scenery is quite spectacular. What is odd is the absence of obvious life. There is the occasional small flower, but no bugs, no algae in the water. There are fish, but we didn't see any. The occasional polar bear is also known to roam through!

Leroy Chiao

Memorial to the Space Shuttle Challenger Crew

2007-07-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

Inukshuks are a part of Inuit culture. They are used to mark trails and also points of significance. Two years ago, Keith and others built an Inukshuk to honor the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia. On this expedition, we created an Inukshuk near the Columbia memorial with the help of some of the Inuit who are currently at the HMP.

We are shown with a Challenger Center flag and an Explorers Club flag in front of the completed Inukshuk. It is appropriate that these memorials be built here on Devon Island. What a great way to remember these crews, who gave their lives in the pursuit of space exploration. Here at HMP, research and testing work will help further exploration of the cosmos as we reach out past low earth orbit to the moon and on to Mars!

Leroy Chiao

Resupply

2007-07-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

Resupply is critical, whether on Earth, in space or on another planet! During my mission onboard the International Space Station, we were resupplied at three month intervals by unmanned Progress resupply vehicles. They brought us food, water, oxygen, fuel, repair equipment, tools, research experiments and supplies.

Here on Devon Island, we are resupplied by Twin Otter aircraft. Just like the Progress, they bring food and other supplies, as well as repair and building materials, scientific equipment and experiments.

On Mars, regular resupply of the bases there will also be critical to operations.

Leroy Chiao

Rover Testing

2007-07-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Rover Team from NASA-Ames is testing software for future rovers. They have two here, equipped with different sensors. The software processes imaging data and compares it to uploaded topography data to determine the best way to get from point to point. In addition, the rovers are able to image and map their surroundings.

Leroy Chiao

Cool Sun Time Lapse Clip

2007-07-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a time lapse movie clip of the sun that Matt created. It tracks the sun as it moved between 2 AM and 6 AM the other morning. Here in the Arctic during this time of year, it is light all day (and night). The sun simply moves around the sky in a circle.

Check it out!

http://motorbikematt.com/images/HMP/suntent.wmv

Leroy Chiao

First Challenger Center Webcast

2007-07-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

We made our first live webcast to a series of Challenger Learning Centers today! All went well. Today's webcast was about the HMP in general and the kind of work that is done up here. Matt and I hosted the show, while Keith asked the questions and ran the video equipment. We had a guest appearance from "Robot Matt," from the NASA-Ames robotics team.

Prominent in our broadcast was Explorers Club flag number 162!

Leroy Chiao

Out on a Short EVA

2007-07-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

The HPT leader, Pascal Lee (and his dog, Ping Pong) led our team out on a four hour traverse today on all-terrain vehicles. We explored a section of the Haughton crater rim and also visited some of the Columbia Astronaut Memorials.

Pascal posited and I agreed, that this seems an ideal way for astronauts to explore the Moon and Mars. Instead of creating one or two complicated and large rovers, which may break down and force the astronauts to walk back to base (which severely limits the operational range of the rover), why not create a fleet of small ATV's for exploration? Each ATV would be capable of carrying two suited astronauts, in the event that one or more of the ATV's failed. Moreover, the ATV's would be more agile, flexible and faster than a large rover. More exploration could be accomplished and EVA time would be used very efficiently.

Leroy Chiao

Arthur C. Clarke Greenhouse

2007-07-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of Keith and Matt next to the Arthur C. Clarke greenhouse, which Keith and others installed two years ago. It is of course used to conduct horticulture experiments. However, the cook has found it to also be an excellent place to allow bread dough to rise!

Leroy Chiao

The Explorers Club

2007-07-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Keith and I are both Fellows of The Explorers Club. We are carrying flag number 162 with us on this expedition. We will shoot some photos of the flag with us in some special locations on Devon Island in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Leroy Chiao

Devon Expedition Team

2007-07-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of me with Matt Reyes, the third member of our expedition, on Devon Island. Matt is a horticulture scientist as well as a whiz with video processing.

Leroy Chiao

NSBRI and Devon Island

2007-07-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute funds research that is conducted on Devon Island. I carried a plaque of the NSBRI logo with me on this expedition.

Leroy Chiao

Risk Symposium at LSU, Oct 28-30, 2007

2007-07-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Keith Cowing and I are co-chairing a Risk Symposium, which will be held at Louisiana State University from October 28-30 of this year. It is a follow-on conference to one that was held by NASA in 2004. The conference will feature prominent explorers and their expeditions, both on earth and in space! Check out the web site:

www.riskexplore2007.com

Here is a photo of Keith and me on Devon Island in our LSU garb. This is probably the farthest north the colors have been! Devon is less than 1000 miles from the North Pole.

Leroy Chiao

On Devon Island

2007-07-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

I arrived on Devon this morning. This place looks like what I would expect Mars to look like! Also, there is a lot of very fine dust, as there would be on Mars, which gets into everything.

The base consists of different modules and is arranged logically, as a base would be on Mars. There is a central mess tent, a central core area, communications, storage and workshop spaces. The hygiene stations are shared and the people live in a tent city.

After arrival, we received safety briefings, a tour of the base and communications briefing. We then set up our tents and unpacked our gear. After lunch, our team discussed our activities for the next several days.

We arrived with the rover team from NASA Ames. We will follow them as they conduct operational tests of their two rovers. The two are equipped with different sensors and will be used to map out areas under controlled and semi-autonomous conditions.

Leroy Chiao

Today Resolute, Tomorrow Devon!

2007-07-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

After a multitude of flights, stops in Detroit, Ottawa, Iqaluit, Hall Beach and Nanisivik, I've arrived in Resolute. I am told that Resolute is the SECOND most northerly city. Who's counting? Apparently at least one person from a place called Grise, which is pronounced 'grease.'

Charming little place, Resolute! About 250 people live here full time. The Inkeepers, Amanda and Duncan, are delightful folks.

Leroy Chiao

Leaving Tomorrow to Devon Island

2007-07-11T01:11:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a two week trip to China late last night and I am leaving for Devon tomorrow. Scrambling around to make sure that I have all of my gear and get it all packed!

Note the two other sites that I have listed in the Devon Island Expedition photo caption:

spaceref.com/blogs/earthclassroom
www.marsonearth.org

Also, please see our press release for the expedition at this link:

spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=24644

Cheers!

Leroy Chiao

Best Wishes From Barbara Morgan

2007-06-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

We just received this message from Barbara Morgan, who is preparing to fly on STS-118 in August!

Best wishes to Leroy, Reads [Bill Readdy], Matt, and Keith on their Teaching
Expedition to Devon Island. I look forward to learning all about it
when I return from space!

Barbara Morgan
Educator Astronaut
STS-118

Devon Island Camera Feeds

2007-06-11T23:33:00.000-07:00

Keith Cowing alerted me that these two links will show updated images of the Arthur C. Clarke greenhouse which was set up on one of his most recent expedition to the HMP. The photos are updated once every 24 hours. Ignore the dates on the clocks, which stopped over the winter:

Greenhouse Internal
http://www.marsonearth.org/images/2006/CAM6-
image.jpg

Greenhouse External
http://www.marsonearth.org/images/2006/CAM1-
image.jpg

Leroy Chiao

Devon Island Expedition and Preparation

2007-06-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

The Haughton Mars Project (HMP) base camp is located on Devon Island, which is a part of Canada up on the Arctic Circle. Devon Island is used as a Mars analog. Several programs have been up to HMP, to test space hardware and operations concepts.

Keith Cowing wrote our research proposal and will lead the expedition. Other members of our team will be Bill Readdy and Matt Reyes. Our program will be educational in nature. We will write blogs to describe our experience and how HMP is used to further efforts towards Mars exploration.

Going up to the Arctic Circle will be a new experience for me. In preparation, I had to buy the proper gear as well as arrange travel. Fortunately, Keith has been to HMP twice before and provided detailed lists and contacts.

From Houston, I will fly to Ottawa via Continental Airlines. From there, I will fly to Resolute on First Air, which calls itself The Airline of the North. Resolute to Devon will be in a Twin Otter. Quite a long trek North!

I've bought most of my gear, which includes:

Convertible, three season, three person tent
Zero-degree sleeping bag
Sub-zero boots
Sub-zero gloves
Plenty of warm clothing

Now, I just have to learn how to set up the tent!

Leroy Chiao