November 23, 2015 - EASE of ACCESS

EASE of ACCESS The space shuttle Atlantis rocketed into orbit thirty years ago this week, carrying a crew of seven and a cargo bay filled with satellites and building materials. Early in the STS-61B mission, three communications satellites (Morelos-B, AUSSAT-2, and Satcom K-2) were deployed, and all three later reached geostationary orbit. Two spacewalks also took place during the flight. Astronauts Jerry Ross and Woody Spring spent two days evaluating ACCESS (Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures) and EASE (Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA). The 14-meter tall (45-foot) ACCESS tower, shown above next to astronaut Ross, was assembled twice as part of an exercise to gain experience doing construction in space as a prelude to the International Space Station.

Image credit: NASA

Weekly Calendar

November 23-29, 2015

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 23

Moon at perigee

1977: Meteosat 1 launched
1983: 149-day Salyut 7 mission ends
2002: STS-113 Endeavour launched

Tuesday 24

1947: First Aerobee rocket launch
1991: STS-44 Atlantis launched

Wednesday 25

Full Moon 5:44 PM ET

1970: First powered flight of M2-F3 lifting body

Thursday 26

Thanksgiving Day

Aldebaran 0.7° south of Moon

1965: France becomes third nation to launch a satellite
1975: Final X-24B lifting body flight
1985: STS-61B Atlantis launched
1989: Kvant 2 module launched
2011: Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity launched

Friday 27

1885: First photo of a meteor shower
1971: Mars 2 probe becomes first artificial object to hit Mars
1997: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission launched