Kapal Discovery tiba di ISS

WASHINGTON 18 Mac - Kapal angkasa Discovery berlabuh di stesen Angkasa Lepas Antarabangsa (ISS) kira-kira pukul 5.19 pagi waktu Malaysia pagi ini, bagi misi menghantar krew makmal pertama Jepun bersama panel suria untuk melengkapkan pembinaan stesen tersebut.

Kapal tersebut berlabuh enam minit lewat daripada waktu jangkaan asal. Biarpun berlaku sedikit masalah komunikasi antara ISS dengan pusat kawalan misi di Houston, percantuman Discovery dengan ISS berjalan lancar.

Ketibaan Discovery itu disambut tiga krew terdiri daripada dua angkasawan Amerika Syarikat (AS) dan seorang dari Rusia.

Komander Discovery, Lee Archambault mula mengendalikan kapal angkasa itu ke posisi merapati ISS satu jam sebelum berlabuh.

Sepanjang 13 hari misi, krew Discovery termasuk Koichi Wakata yang bakal menjadi angkasawan Jepun yang pertama paling lama tinggal di ISS, akan memasang dua panel solar di stesen itu, satu daripada peringkat penting terakhir dalam pembinaannya yang telah mengambil masa lebih sedekad.

Menurut pelan asal Pentadbiran Aeronautik dan Angkasa Lepas Kebangsaan (NASA), kerja-kerja pemasangan panel solar itu memerlukan masa selama lebih enam jam setiap satu oleh dua kumpulan angkasawan dalam empat perjalanan angkasa lepas.

NASA berkata, selepas pelancaran Discovery ditangguhkan minggu lalu berikutan kebocoran hidrogen, panel solar terbabit dijadual dipasang dalam tempoh tiga perjalanan angkasa lepas bermula dengan bahagian pertamanya esok.

Sepasang panel solar tersebut mengandungi 32,800 sel solar dan berukuran 35 meter panjang.

Setelah siap dipasang kelak, ia mampu menyalurkan bekalan elektrik yang cukup bagi eksperimen-eksperimen saintifik selain menyokong pertambahan enam lagi krew stesen itu yang dijangka tiba pada Mei depan. - AFP

ISS Bakal Diperluas

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida 16 Mac - Kapal angkasa Discovery berjaya dilancarkan dari Pusat Angkasa Kennedy di sini awal pagi ini dengan membawa bersama panel suria yang akan dipasang bagi memperbesar ruang bagi persediaan penambahan krew di Stesen Angkasa Lepas Antarabangsa (ISS).

Kapal angkasa Discovery dilancarkan pada pukul 7.43 malam (7.43 pagi ini waktu Malaysia) dan memasuki orbit lapan minit kemudian. Perjalanan ke stesen ISS dijangka mengambil masa selama dua hari.

Pengarah Misi Pelancaran, Mike Leinbach berkata, pelancaran itu berjalan dengan sempurna.

"Saya telah melihat banyak pelancaran... dan ini merupakan pelancaran yang paling cantik dilihat. Ia menakjubkan," katanya pada pemberita dalam satu sesi taklimat di sini.

Misi ke ISS itu, merupakan tugasan utama terakhir dalam usaha selama sedekah untuk membina stesen tersebut telah tertangguh berikutan kebocoran hidrogen minggu lalu, setelah dijadualkan berlepas pada Rabu lalu.

Pegawai-pegawai NAS berkata, masalah itu telah diperbaiki dan tiada kerosakan berulang yang dikesan.

Penangguhan tersebut bermakna Discovery telah tertangguh pelancarannya sebanyak lima kali sejak 12 Februari lalu.

Apabila panel solar itu dipasang kelak, stesen ISS itu akan beroperasi sepenuhnya dan boleh menempatkan enam angkasawan sekali gus berbanding tiga sekarang.

Tenaga tambahan daripada panel solar berkenaan akan membekalkan tenaga untuk makmal-makmal di dalam ISS.

Misi terbaru ini juga membolehkan pertukaran angkasawan iaitu menukarkan angkasawan pertama Jepun, Koichi Wakata dengan angkasawan AS, Sandra Magnus yang telah bertugas di ISS selama empat bulan. - AFP

Hubble Snaps Close-up Views of Diverse Galaxies

These images taken with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are close-up views of four galaxies from a large survey of nearby galaxies.

The galaxies have very different masses and sizes and showcase the diversity of galaxies found in the ANGST study. Although the galaxies are separated by many light-years, they are presented as if they are all at the same distance to show their relative sizes.

The images, taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, reveal rich detail in the stellar populations and in the interstellar dust scattered between the stars. Hubble's sharp views reveal the colors and brightnesses of individual stars, which astronomers used to derive the history of star formation in each galaxy.

In the composite image at the top, NGC 253 is ablaze with the light from thousands of young, blue stars. The spiral galaxy is undergoing intense star formation. The image demonstrates the sharp "eye" of the Advanced Camera, which resolved individual stars. The dark filaments are clouds of dust and gas. NGC 253 is the dominant galaxy in the Sculptor Group of galaxies and it resides about 13 million light-years from Earth.

In the view of the spiral galaxy NGC 300, second from top, young, blue stars are concentrated in spiral arms that sweep diagonally through the image. The yellow blobs are glowing hot gas that has been heated by radiation from the nearest young, blue stars. NGC 300 is a member of the Sculptor Group of galaxies and it is located 7 million light-years away.

The dark clumps of material scattered around the bright nucleus of NGC 3077, the small, dense galaxy at bottom, left, are pieces of wreckage from the galaxy's interactions with its larger neighbors. NGC 3077 is a member of the M81 group of galaxies and it resides 12.5 million light-years from Earth.

The image at bottom, right, shows a swarm of young, blue stars in the diffuse dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 4163. NGC 4163 is a member of a group of dwarf galaxies near our Milky Way and is located roughly 10 million light-years away.

These galaxies are part of a detailed survey called the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury program (ANGST). In the census, Hubble observed roughly 14 million stars in 69 galaxies. The survey explored a region called the "Local Volume," and the galaxy distances ranged from 6.5 million light-years to 13 million light-years from Earth. The Local Volume resides beyond the Local Group of galaxies, an even nearer collection of a few dozen galaxies within about 3 million light-years of our Milky Way Galaxy.

The natural-color images were constructed using observations taken in infrared, visible, and blue light. The observations of NGC 253 and NGC 300 were taken in September 2006; of NGC 3077 in November 2006; and of NGC 4163 in December 2006.