NASA - STS-134 Mission patch.
July 24, 2012
Report by Orbiter.ch
Arrive at the conference at the Theater du Leman at 20:30 with my Canadian cousin Steve (who is on vacation one week in Geneva), we attended the conference of the crew of Mission STS-134.
The topic of the conference was the Mission STS-134, the last flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, taking off May 16, 2011 from Cape Canaveral, carrying on board AMS-02, the hunter of dark matter and antimatter, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). AMS-02 was installed on the International Space Station (ISS) May 20, 2011.
The theater was packed!
Astronauts arrive on the theater stage, astronaut Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency, pilot Greg Johnson, Commander Mark Kelly, Mission Specialist Mike Fincke, Canadian astronaut Greg Chamitoff and the specialist Mission Drew Feustel.
The conference began with Prof. Samuel Ting of MIT, Nobel Prize in Physics, explained that the AMS is the subject of an international collaboration led by himself, the project proponent. It includes 60 laboratories from 16 countries, with major contributions from the United States, Europe (Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland), China and Taiwan.
The conference begins
Then, Professor Samuel Ting removed through projections of photos and diagrams the operation of the AMS (it felt like an amphitheater in a university, except that the seats are more comfortable).
The six astronauts us (the public in the audience) explained one by one in detail the preparations and conduct of the mission. Starting with the Commander of the mission the Astronaut Mark Kelly, the preparations for the mission that lasted three years, their trip to Switzerland at Geneva to meet with Prof. Samuel Ting at CERN.
Professor Samuel Ting removed through projections of photos and diagrams of operation of the AMS
This first meeting has been the subject of an anecdote: six Astronauts have preferred advantage of their presence in the region to complete their training by going around the Mont Blanc (the highest mountain of the Alps in Europe, with a height of 4810.45 meters) rather than go directly at CERN.
Professor Samuel Ting tells the story of the Mont Blanc Tour
The meeting finally took place in between the Astronauts and Professor Samuel Ting, who showed them to the AMS-02 on completion of installation at CERN. Michael Fincke and Andrew Feustel are described in detail the sensations felt during takeoff of a Space Shuttle, Michael Fincke began twitching in his chair, mimicking the severe vibration of takeoff, general laughter in the theater.
Astronauts describe the feeling during the launch
Once in Earth orbit, the astronauts describe the feeling of weightlessness that are confusing to the human body (especially the first time), usually it's the first day or they must learn to move in the Space Station or notions of high and low do not exist, welcome to the fourth dimension.
The film begins mission STS-134, we witness the entire procedure for launch, the approach of the Space Station (which in the final meters, is 1.5 cm per second), stowage and life on board during the mission. They recovered to 12 in total with the Cosmonauts and Astronauts already present in the station.
Commander of the mission the Astronaut Mark Kelly speech
The implementation of the AMS-02 has not been easy handling apparatus as delicate as the AMS with a robotic arm (Canadarm) in weightlessness, but there are come with success, last year that this detector of cosmic particles has been installed on the International Space Station (ISS), it returns its data from space at CERN.
The conference concludes with questions from the public, including one by a little boy who spoke only French, and who complained that the astronauts do not speak his language, which the vast amusement of the whole theater and astronauts.
An autograph session with the crew who had been initially planned for the children present, but adults (including my cousin and me) were also precipitated on the photos to autograph.
Autographs of the STS-134 Crew
Tomorrow, July 25, the astronauts will visit all of CERN, which was not the case during their first visit, they will discover the giant two main detectors Atlas and Alice, the enormity of this nuclear research complex with LHC is 27km in diameter at one hundred meters deep underground.
Sorry for the blurry pictures and bad shooting, but I must admit that we come to this conference a bit late and I had not had time to go home and get a camera (I used my smartphone), besides, I had nothing, or confirmation of registration, or my press card .. This report has been a little be Rock N 'Roll (those who know me will say, normal for a biker!).
Conference organized by CERN, supported by Geneva Airport and among others.
Images, Text, Credit: Orbiter.ch
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
