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@astro_wheels has some amazing pictures from the space station, a new slew of movies about the moon will be coming out soon, some art you can see from space, a correction, Hayabusa SUCCESS and more on this 37th live show for 2010!

While the official word from NASA is that Space Shuttle Discovery will launch No Earlier Than November 30th, the chances of the agency actually making that particular window are dwindling. The last launch attempt of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-133 was scrubbed and the orbiter grounded November 5th, 2010. The reason the vehicle couldn’t launch was a leak in the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate or GUCP which allows the flow of super cooler liquid hydrogen to enter the orange external tank. Basically, Discovery had a fuel leak. As engineers were working on a solution another issue cropped up: the orange external tank had a crack filled with ice. This is bad because if a large chunk of the foam falls off during ascent it can cripple the black Thermal Protective System or heat shield thats on the under side of the orbiter. NASA called off the launch until No Earlier than November 30th. While repairing the initial crack in the external tank NASA decided to cut away some of the foam to do an inspection. It was found that there were two additional 9 inch cracks in a flat attachment plate for an underlying stringer. To repair this NASA decided to attach a ‘doubler’ plate on top of the stringer to give it more strength and we should be good to go. But NASA wanted to be sure and decided to cut away more foam, just to take a peek. On Friday, November 12th engineers found a third crack on another stringer directly to the left of the previous crack. Then over the weekend a forth crack was found on yet another stringer. As we sit right now it looks like the GUP issue may be repaired, so Discovery shouldn’t have any more leaks. NASA managers would like to run some tanking tests to make sure that when the final countdown does start we won’t have to abort for yet another leak. However we still have the issue of the cracks in the external tank, 4 of them now. Engineers will work on adding doubling plates to repair the problem, but we’re only 13 days away from the opening of this launch window and that’s not a lot of time to carry out all the required work, verify and start the countdown. NASA does not need to launch on November 30th, they just can’t launch before then. The available window is open from the 30th until December 5th and they can schedule T0 for any day within that window, so long as the launch pad is in the proper position under the space station. So basically 1 shot per day. Once we hit December 6th there will be a restriction called a Beta Angle Cutout. What is a beta angle cutout? When the International Space Station is at a certain beta angle, usually over 60 degrees it will cause a beta angle cutout. This is because the percent of time that the shuttle spends in sunlight will cause solar power generation and thermal control problems due to the fact that they can’t maneuver the orbiter when it is docked to the space station. So they can’t move it in or out of the sun as needed. The shuttle could overheat, underheat, not get enough power, or generally do really bad things. The beta angle needs to be acceptable for the entire duration of the mission, not just the launch or docking. And on December 6th the beta angle is no longer acceptable for this mission. Lets say we miss this window and can’t make the final available launch day of December 5th. What then? Well Discovery would get pushed back to a No Earlier Than February 2011 launch date and that would certainly impact the final launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-134. Additionally we would no longer have a night launch and the window would probably open up again around 3:30pm Eastern Standard Time. While we all want to see one final night launch of Discovery, and how cool would that be, more than that we want this to be a safe and successful flight. So if it takes NASA a few more weeks to get the kinks worked out, then it takes a few more weeks. But we can still hope for a late November launch. And to pass the time,

We have a news packed version of our weekly live show! STS-133 is delayed, but can NASA make their Nov 30th target launch date? The first and last launch of a Delta II rocket. LEGO bricks are cool as is sex in space? All that and waaay more on this action packed adventuresode of Spacevidcast Live!

Discovery is being a diva - The final flight of OV-103 -- delayed on your SpacePod for November 8th, 2010. Kennedy Space Center in Florida was a flurry of activity this last week. NASA held a TweetUp hosting 160 people from 5 different continents. Press was not only broadcasting live to local television stations but also nationally and online. There was a general excitement and buzz in the air as the final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery was slated to lift off from Pad 39a on November 1st. Then, a leak was found in the right Orbital Maneuvering System or OMS Pod pushed the launch to November 2nd. A minor electrical glitch pushed the launch back two more days to November 4th. Then on the 4th abysmal weather pushed the launch back yet again to the 5th, but that was looking to be it. That was the day. That was going to be the final flight of Discovery. But Space Shuttle Discovery was having none of that! As fuel started loading in to the external tank a hydrogen leak was detected. This stopped the countdown, and threatened to push the launch back yet another 24 to 72 hours. As NASA was attempting to find and repair the leak a second issue cropped up. Part of the external tanks foam was cracked and ice had formed. This was on the side of the tank that faces the underbelly of Discovery, so if that foam were to fly off at say 300 miles per hour and hit the orbiter, very bad things could happen. Ultimately NASA has decided to push off the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery until no earlier than November 30th. That doesn’t mean it will launch on the 30th, it just means it CAN NOT launch before then. While many of the tweeters at the press site didn’t get a chance to see Discovery launch on her final mission, there is some good news to come out of all of this. First, it shows that NASA is not cutting corners and will launch when they are ready. Hey, human space flight IS hard and it IS rocket science. Second, until now there were no additional night launches scheduled. Now that Discovery has been pushed back in to late November to early December the launch time has changed as well. We’re looking at a 4:05am Eastern Standard Time launch, which means it will be completely dark when those boosters finally do ignite! Hey if Discovery is going to go out, she clearly wants to go out in style. If you thought you had missed your opportunity to see a shuttle night launch, well, you may have been presented with a golden ticket. There is NOTHING like seeing and feeling a shuttle launch in person. We will keep you updated with additional launch details, but if you can find a way to make it to Florida to see this final launch, make it happen! You don’t need to buy viewing tickets, Space View Park in Titusville has an amazing view and it is completely free. This is your chance to see history in the making and possibly see one final night launch of the most awesome vehicle humans have ever built. If you simply can’t make it down to Florida, then Spacevidcast will be covering the launch in HD quality online, sponsored by Perforce who got us the new broadcasting system able to not only get you 720p live HD streaming, but also mobile streaming to your smartphones, roku boxes and computer. So no matter what you’ll have awesome seats for this last flight of the fleets workhorse: Orbital Vehicle 103 also known as Discovery.

Author Pat Duggins joins us for our Live Show episode 3.35. We talk about his book "Trailblazing Mars: NASA's Next Giant Leap" as well as where we are today and where we're going. This is the main part of the show, but epic subscribers get even more! Sign up or sign in to epic now to get the rest of this live interview.

One of three remaining space shuttles, OV-103 or Discovery will fly one last time. Currently scheduled for November 1st, 2010 this will be a historic event in the making. Make sure you don't miss this, and check it online in High Definition only on Spacevidcast.com sponsored by Perforce Software

SPACEPORT RUNWAY DEDICATION INCLUDES SIR RICHARD BRANSON AND NM GOVERNOR RICHARDSON UPHAM, NM – The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) today dedicated the nearly two-mile long “Governor Bill RIchardson Spaceway” at Spaceport America, representing...

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center came under attack from the merciless Decepticons this week. However, Optimus Prime and his valiant band of Autobots fended them off, and then stood watch over the space center for the remainder of the week - along with the cast and crew of “Transformers 3, The Dark of the Moon.” Although the set was closed – there were some interesting revelations about what one can expect to see in the third installment of the highly-successful film franchise – including a very special guest star. Journalists that were present on Oct. 7, for the delivery of STS-133’s payload were treated with the sights and sounds of Hollywood. Although these reporters and correspondents were kept on a very short leash the journalists present still managed to see the Autobots leader in truck mode, some actors in black soldier gear and some other tantalizing tidbits. Numerous KSC employees have been selected to act as extras in the film. This serves the purpose of creating added realism to the film. Instead of training someone to “look” they know what they’re doing – more-likely-than-not those are the actual workers who do that job at America’s spaceport everyday. Outside of this film being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to appear in a big budget summer blockbuster, it also provided an opportunity to rub shoulders with real and upcoming movie stars. Already, John Turturro, the actor that portrays Agent Simmons in the film has been spotted wheeling in and around the Vehicle Assembly Building. Shia LaBeouf (Sam Witwicky) has been seen with his character’s new love interest Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (Carly) wandering the set. There is however one star whose presence in the film has been kept top secret. Her identity however, is crucial to the plot of the film which is said to revolve around the space age. She is none other – than the space shuttle Discovery. That’s right, the orbiter that returned America to flight twice is revealed to actually be a transformer. That is at least what sources close to the film are saying. Michael bay, the film’s director, had his computer hacked during the filming of the first Transformers movie and has been notorious about spreading disinformation. For NASA, having a motion picture film at KSC is a no-brainer. The Transformers series of movies is very popular with children and young people and this allows them to relay the NASA story to a whole new audience. “This does give us the chance to open up what we do, real space exploration to audiences that we may not already have in a blockbuster film,” said NASA’s KSC News Chief Allard Beutel. “We’re talking about a worldwide audience and it’s a natural fit in the sense that it is sci-fi and real space exploration but also it allows us to get into the theatres and let kids see what we do, inspire them to look into what NASA is all about and reach an audience we may not normally reach.”

Since Cariann is not around for this show, that gives Benjamin a chance to jump on his soapbox and have a slightly disjointed conversation about 2010 and the status of human space flight.

I cheated in todays SpacePod. This is the Virgin Galactic B-Roll footage for their first manned glide flight. We didn't do a whole lot of editing, but did add a bit of SVC flare. Remember, no live show tonight as we're on our way to BlogWorld. Enjoy and we'll see you next week! Original Press Release: VIRGIN GALACTIC'S SPACESHIPTWO ACHIEVES MAJOR MILESTONE IN ITS PROGRAM TO BECOME WORLD'S FIRST MANNED COMMERCIAL SPACE VEHICLE. VSS Enterprise achieves manned free flight from over 45,000 ft (13,700 metres) and successfully glides to land at Mojave Air and Spaceport. 10th October 2010, Mojave, CA. Virgin Galactic, the US company developing the world’s first commercial manned space flight system and tourism business, is delighted to announce the successful completion today of the first piloted free flight of SpaceShipTwo, named the VSS Enterprise. The spaceship was released from its mothership at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 metres). During its first flight the spaceship was piloted by Pete Siebold, assisted by Mike Alsbury as co-pilot. The two main goals of the flight were to carry out a clean release of the spaceship from its mothership and for the pilots to free fly and glide back and land at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Other detailed objectives of the flight were successfully completed, including; verification that all systems worked prior and following the clean release of Enterprise; initial evaluation of handling and stall characteristics; qualitative evaluation of stability and control of SS2 against predictions from design and simulation work; verification of performance by evaluating the lift-to-drag ratio of the spaceship during glide flight; practice a landing approach at altitude and finally descend and land. Preparations for the milestone flight were extensive. The WhiteKnightTwo mothership (Eve) flew 40 times including 4 captive carry flights of spaceship and mothership mated together. The most recent captive carry was on Sept 30th. The most recent solo flight was on October 5th and demonstrated that all the systems required for a free flight by the VSS Enterprise were functioning correctly without any safety issues. Commenting on the successful flight Scaled Composites pilot, Pete Siebold, said “The VSS Enterprise was a real joy to fly, especially when one considers the fact that the vehicle has been designed not only to be a Mach 3.5 spaceship capable of going into space but also one of the worlds highest altitude gliders.” Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, who was present during the first successful flight, added “This was one of the most exciting days in the whole history of Virgin. For the first time since we seriously began the project in 2004, I watched the world’s first manned commercial spaceship landing on the runway at Mojave Air and Space Port and it was a great moment. Now, the sky is no longer the limit and we will begin the process of pushing beyond to the final frontier of space itself over the next year.” Virgin Galactic is now well on the way to becoming the world’s first commercial space line with 370 customer deposits totalling $50 million. Future commercial operations will be at Spaceport America in New Mexico where final preparations are taking place for a finished runway inauguration ceremony on Friday 22nd October 2010. National Geographic channel in the United States will be showing a documentary on the build up and preparation for the first flight of VSS Enterprise on Monday, 18 October at 10.00pm ET/PT. George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic who was also present at the historic flight, added “To see the world’s first manned commercial spaceship landing on a runway is a sight I always dreamed I would behold. Now, our challenge going forward will be to complete our experimental program, obtain our FAA licence and safely bring the system into service at Spaceport America, New Mexico.”

CAPE CANAVERAL – The space shuttle Discovery, its nosed pointed to the sky, its belly attached to the massive, orange External Tank (ET) and twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) slowly but surely emerged from the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building at 7:24 p.m. EDT on Sept. 20. This marks the final time Discovery is scheduled to make the 3.4 - mile trip to Launch Complex 39A (LC39A) in preparation for her last planned mission – STS-133. Bathed in spotlights Discovery’s last rollout was a bittersweet moment for workers that have cared for the orbiter. Discovery was rolled out four hours earlier than normal so that workers could take pictures. Rollout is conducted in the evening hours to prevent potential damage from possible lightning strikes. The crawler-transporter moves at a blistering mile-an-hour, but despite this slow speed, the vehicle and its precious cargo create an amazing spectacle. Discovery is currently scheduled to lift off from LC39A on Nov. 1 at 4:40 p.m. EDT. Afterward Discovery will be maintained in flight ready condition in case the orbiter is needed to fly a possible rescue mission. After the end of the shuttle era, Discovery will go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum located in Washington D.C. There are two crawler-transporters that NASA has used to transport spacecraft from the VAB to LC39A. They were originally used to transport the mighty Saturn family of rockets during the Apollo era. The crawler-transporters were designed by Bucyrus International and built by Marion Power Shovel. The vehicles cost $14 million a piece and are the largest self-powered track vehicles in the world. STS-133 marks the 35th flight to the orbiting outpost and the 39th flight for Discovery and the 133rd flight in the space shuttle program. The crew members for this mission are Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Tim Kopra and Nicole Stott. Discovery will deliver and install the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM), the Express Logistics Carrier 4 as well as deliver critical spare components to the ISS. Also onboard is the first humanoid robot to fly in space, Robonaut-2.

The Space Race is back on... But this time it doesn’t involve the US or Russia. This is your SpacePod for October 11th, 2010 We’re back! Maybe we should take a break more often. While Spacevidcast was on hiatus we found an exoplanet that could be earth like, Discovery rolled out to the pad, and China launched a lunar probe. Yup, China’s going to the moon. Er... I mean they are already there. On October 1st The China National Space Administration launched Chang'e 2 aboard a Long March 3C rocket. Once in space the satellite would do a pretty direct beline to the moon and is the first time the Chinese space program has put a satellite in to earth-moon transfer orbit without having to circle the Earth first. This of course meant that the vehicle had quite a bit of oomph when reaching the moon and it would need to successfully carry out 3 braking maneuvers to get in to a stable lunar orbit. On Saturday, October 9th that’s exactly what it did as it successfully carried out the third and final braking maneuver putting Chang'e 2 in to a 100km high position above Luna. Now that China has their second satellite around the moon they will carry out recon for their next phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. Chang'e 2 is the last craft in phase 1 then Phase 2 will have Chang'e 3 which will put lunar rovers on the moon some time around 2013. Phase 3 will continue building upon their previous missions with Chang'e 4 automating the return of lunar soil back to Earth some time around 2017. What does all of this add up to? Well China is looking to put humans on the moon some time around 2025. But hang on! This space race can’t just have one contestant! India is not going to let China beat them to the punch! The Indian Space Research Organization has targeted 2020 as the date that they want to put humans back on the moon. Back in 2008 India had a successful unmanned lunar mission with Chandrayaan-1 and in 2013 they are looking to expand on that success with Chandrayaan-2. This is all great news! We’ll be watching with baited breath to see who really puts humans back on the moon first: China, India or maybe a possible third as of yet unknown variable such as SpaceX or Armadillo or Masten Space Systems. Who knows, but it sure is fun to watch! For now we’ll just wait for some of the high-resolution imagery from Chang'e 2 to come back. China will be taking a close look at the lava-flooded Bay of Rainbows as that could be a possible landing site for Chang'e 3. And by the way... Does anyone else want to hit a big red button to launch a giant rocket? I know I do!

For our 1 year anniversaryasode of LCROSS we are joined by Jim Munger, Craig Elder, Jose Cabinallas and Emory Stagmer. Great behind-the-scenes stories of this little mission that could as well as some details as to how it all worked out. The rest of this live show is available via Spacevidcast epic.

Space Adventures has been busy setting up new partnerships to get YOU in to space, Boeing is making good use of their Orion tech, Armadillo Aerospace not only wants to put you in to space, but they also have awesome video of their Super Mod vehicle. As mentioned in the show, this is the new Virgin Galactic video that we decided not to air: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPJSlI4XXhE If you're a space geek, that is certainly worth the 9 minute watch!

Expedition 6 Astronaut Don Pettit took some stunning timelapse imagery ;during his time on the International Space Station. This is a compilation of those videos as seen on YouTube, put to some music. Enjoy the beauty, and here's hoping some day we all get to experience this in person!