Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - January 11, 2013 and JSC Today

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: January 11, 2013 7:16:27 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - January 11, 2013 and JSC Today

 

 

Happy Friday everyone.   Have a great weekend.   

 

For a little more retirement news,  I have seen email in the past two days about a couple of other folks retiring:   Mike Lutomski in the ISS Program office and Brent Jett - Commercial Crew Program====guess they should appear on the losses Actual list soon.

 

 

 

Friday, January 11, 2013

 

JSC TODAY HEADLINES

1.            Hear About a Major Orion Milestone at an All Hands on Jan. 16

2.            JSC Receives National FLC Technology Transfer Awards

3.            STS-107 Columbia 10-Year Commemoration -- Hemphill, Texas

4.            TODAY: Carlos Dominguez - The TechNowist

5.            What is Intracranial Pressure? *** New Location ***

6.            NASA@work: Start the New Year Off With a Solution

7.            New RLLS Secure Login Process Begins Jan. 19

8.            Is Your New Year's Resolution Weight Loss? Join 'Just Lose It' -- Starts Jan. 23

9.            Control Team/Crew Resource Management: Jan. 23-25 - Building 20, Room 205/206

10.          Machinery and Machine Guarding: May 21 - Building 20, Room 205/206

________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY

" I will not change just to court popularity. "

 

-- Margaret Thatcher

________________________________________

1.            Hear About a Major Orion Milestone at an All Hands on Jan. 16

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) recently signed an agreement to provide a service module for the Orion spacecraft's Exploration Mission-1 in 2017.

Join the Orion team to learn more the new partnership from NASA and ESA managers at an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 9 a.m. in the Teague Auditorium.

If you can't make it to the event, employees can catch it on RF Channel 2 or by using onsite IPTV on channels 202 and 402. If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367.

JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111

 

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2.            JSC Receives National FLC Technology Transfer Awards

JSC has been notified that two outstanding technologies developed at the center were selected as winners of prestigious Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer for 2013.

The high-caliber awardees, the "Endothelium Preserving Microwave Treatment for Atherosclerosis" and the "Robotic Glove," were recognized as two of the very select number of recipients.

A distinguished panel of technology transfer experts from industry, local and state government, academia, and the federal laboratory system evaluated numerous nominations. The selection of JSC's technologies as superlative choices by such a broad cross-section of evaluators undoubtedly enhances the FLC awards' significance.

JSC recipients will be recognized at an award ceremony on April 25 at the FLC national meeting in Westminster, Colo. JSC's participation is being coordinated by Arlene Andrews, the Strategic Opportunities and Partnership Development Office's JSC Awards liaison officer.

Holly Kurth x32951

 

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3.            STS-107 Columbia 10-Year Commemoration -- Hemphill, Texas

Feb. 1, 2013, marks the 10th anniversary of the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and the crew of STS-107. The Sabine County Columbia Memorial Committee and the Patricia Huffman Smith Museum - "Remembering Columbia" would like to invite everyone to attend the commemorative events being held in Sabine County from Jan. 30 through Feb. 2. We will be honoring the STS-107 crew, as well as the legacy of Columbia. This year's theme is "The Legacy Lives On - Remembering Columbia." Please mark your calendars for those days and come be a part of the events this year. Further details will be forthcoming as they are finalized and posted on the museum's website.

Event Date: Wednesday, January 30, 2013   Event Start Time:2:00 PM   Event End Time:6:00 PM

Event Location: Hemphill, Sabine County TX

 

Add to Calendar

 

Belinda Gay 936-201-8421 http://patriciahuffmansmithcolumbiamuseum.org/

 

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4.            TODAY: Carlos Dominguez - The TechNowist

The Human Health and Performance Directorate is pleased to welcome Carlos Dominguez, senior vice president at Cisco Systems and technology evangelist, as our next Innovation Lecture Series speaker. Dominguez speaks to and motivates audiences worldwide about how technology is changing how we communicate, collaborate, and especially, how we work. He gives humorous, highly animated presentations full of deep insight into how technology and the right culture can create winning companies.

All are encouraged to attend! Register now in SATERN https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_... to receive Human Systems Academy credit.

Event Date: Friday, January 11, 2013   Event Start Time:2:00 PM   Event End Time:3:30 PM

Event Location: Teague Auditorium

 

Add to Calendar

 

Carissa Vidlak 281-212-1409 http://sa.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

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5.            What is Intracranial Pressure? *** New Location ***

Please join the Human Systems Academy in a lecture introducing participants to the concepts of Intracranial Pressure. This lecture will provide insight into documented changes in visual acuity and eye anatomy that have been experienced by several astronauts after long-duration missions. Specifically, we will analyze the relationship to intracranial pressure and discuss how this translates into a human long-duration spaceflight risk.

For registration, please go to: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Event Date: Thursday, January 17, 2013   Event Start Time:2:00 PM   Event End Time:4:00 PM

Event Location: B15/267

 

Add to Calendar

 

Cynthia Rando 281-461-2620

 

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6.            NASA@work: Start the New Year Off With a Solution

Check out our active challenges: Protection of the Human from Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) Challenge (just opened!); Human Systems Integration (HSI) Metrics (deadline: TODAY); Seeking Inflight Calcium Isotope Measurement Device (deadline: Jan. 18); and NASA@work Survey 2012: Year in Review (still time to submit feedback - open until Jan. 31). To view challenge details and submit your solutions, simply to go the NASA@work site.

Are you new to NASA@work? NASA@work is an agencywide, collaborative problem-solving platform that connects the collective knowledge of experts (like YOU) from all centers across NASA. Challenge owners post problems, and members of the NASA@work community participate by responding with their solutions to posted problems. Anyone can participate! Check it out and submit your solution today.

Kathryn Keeton 281-204-1519 http://nasa.innocentive.com/

 

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7.            New RLLS Secure Login Process Begins Jan. 19

On Jan. 19, the RLLS portal will be updated with the latest integrated Microsoft Unified Access Gateway security application, which will require users to validate their credentials using the secure login process as soon as they attempt to connect to the RLLS portal. As soon as the website connects, users will immediately be presented with a secure two-line login window.

To complete a successful login, please use your current RLLS User ID for the user name field and type your current password in the pass code field (user names and passwords are not be affected by this update).

Individuals that do not have an existing RLLS account will be able to request system access by selecting the "Sign Up" link located just above the pair of keys within the login window.

For questions, contact the RLLS Application Support Center at 281-333-7918.

James Welty 281-335-8565 https://www.tti-portal.com

 

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8.            Is Your New Year's Resolution Weight Loss? Join 'Just Lose It' -- Starts Jan. 23

"Just lose it" with the help of the Exploration Wellness 12-week weight management program. JSC's registered dietitian and exercise scientist will help you set a weight loss goal and empower you to reach it. The professional expertise and group support will keep you on track and help you avoid common pitfalls along your personal weight-loss journey. Weekly meetings will encourage and educate you on various exercise and nutrition topics.

o             There is a fee for this program of $100 due by close of business Jan. 21. This fee is refunded if you meet these criteria: Meet your weight goal and receive 100 percent refund; or 50 percent is refunded for 100 percent attendance.

o             Please enroll first, then wait for your confirmation email before going to the Gilruth to pay.

o             Classes will be held on Wednesdays from 11 to 11:40 a.m. in Building 8, Conference Room 248.

Greta Ayers x30302

 

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9.            Control Team/Crew Resource Management: Jan. 23-25 - Building 20, Room 205/206

Two-and-a-half days. This training directly addresses human factors issues that most often cause problems in team and crew interaction. No one working on a team or a crew, especially in high-stress activities, is immune to these effects. The Control Team/Crew Resource Management course deals with interpersonal relations, but doesn't advocate democratic rule or hugging fellow team members to improve personal relations. Rather, this course provides awareness of human factors problems that too often result in mishaps and offers recommendations and procedures for eliminating these problems. It emphasizes safety risk assessment, crew/team coordination and decision-making in crisis situations. This course is applicable both to those in aircrew-type operations and also to personnel operating consoles for hazardous testing or on-orbit mission operations, or any operation involving teamwork and critical communication. It is preferable that "teams" experience course as a group, if possible. SATERN Registration Required. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Polly Caison x41279

 

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10.          Machinery and Machine Guarding: May 21 - Building 20, Room 205/206

 

This three-day course provides the student with an in-depth understanding of NASA and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements for machinery and machine guarding. It is based on the OSHA Training Institute Machinery and Machine Guarding course and provides the foundation for meeting our goal of contributing to improving the overall safety of NASA operations. The course also includes an overview of various types of common machinery used at NASA and the safety standards relating to those types of machines. There will be a final exam associated with this course, which must be passed with a 70 percent minimum score to receive course credit.

Target audience: Safety, Reliability, Quality and Maintainability professionals; and maintenance repair supervisors, fabrication shop personnel and anyone working around or with machinery.

Use this direct link for registration:

https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Event Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2013   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:4:00 PM

Event Location: Safety Learning Center

 

Add to Calendar

 

Shirley Robinson x41284

 

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JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.

 

 

 

 

NASA TV: 8:45 am Central (9:45 EST) – E34's Tom Marshburn with Eastern Kentucky University

 

Human Spaceflight News

Friday – January 11, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

NASA: May the Best Kids' Code Win

 

Kathleen Miller - Bloomberg News

 

NASA plans to upload code developed by teens to control bowling ball-sized satellites aboard the International Space Station. The off-the-wall experiment Friday is part of a contest sponsored by the elite Pentagon research unit known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

 

A tale of two congresspeople

 

Jeff Foust - SpacePolitics.com

 

On Wednesday evening, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) hosted a "Space Science and Public Policy" event as part of its conference this week in Long Beach, California. The featured speakers were two members of Congress: Reps. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Their comments on policy issues for space science and related issues were markedly different and, in Rohrabacher's case, generated some controversy.

 

US firms target astronaut flights

 

Jonathan Amos - BBC News

 

California's SpaceX company says it expects to start launching humans into orbit in its Dragon capsule in 2015. Its intention is to be able to deliver a crew to the International Space Station by the end of that year. The first flights would carry the company's own test pilots - not US space agency (Nasa) astronauts. "We're not selling tickets. Don't call our toll-free number," joked Garrett Reisman, SpaceX's commercial crew project manager.

 

Space station astronaut uses social media to engage the world

 

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

 

The astronaut destined to be the International Space Station's first Canadian commander says new technology is enabling him to share the inside story of life aboard the outpost. Veteran space flier Chris Hadfield arrived at the station Dec. 21, and in just 20 days, he has tallied more than 3,000 Tweets on Twitter. Some 159,979 people are following his voyage on the popular social media site.

 

Space Rock Star: Astronaut Chris Hadfield Becoming Canadian Celebrity

 

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

 

While Chris Hadfield continues to rack up mileage in space, the Canadian captain-to-be of the International Space Station also reached a different milestone Wednesday: 150,000 Twitter followers. Hadfield's growth on the social network exploded since launching to the space station Dec. 19. According to the Canadian Space Agency, Hadfield's followers numbered about 20,000 at the start of his five-month mission. Hadfield's pithy observations of life in orbit — and his now-famous joke with William Shatner, who portrayed Capt. James T. Kirk on "Star Trek" — helped propel him on to the world stage, one Canadian reporter said.

 

Chris Hadfield aims to inspire 'global awareness' from space

 

CBC News

 

Canadian astronaut and prolific tweeter Chris Hadfield is hoping to inspire a "global awareness" with images from space. In the past few weeks aboard the International Space Station, Hadfield has tweeted dozens of photos. His following has grown to 160,000 people from 20,000. "To go around the whole world in just slightly over 90 minutes … you see it absolutely as one place," he told reporters in his first press conference live from the International Space Station Wednesday afternoon.

 

Russia facing no access to space for first time since Cold War

Could find itself without access to space for the first time since space travel began if a property row with neighboring Kazakhstan goes unresolved

 

Roland Oliphant - London Telegraph

 

The Kremlin has formally demanded an explanation for comments by the head of the Kazakh space agency about the future of the Baikonur Cosmodrome – the main connection between earth and the International Space Station. The move is the latest escalation in a growing dispute about rent has led to speculation that Russia could be booted out of the base for good.

 

Doc, Am I Fit To Fly Into Space?

 

Dr. Julielynn Wong - Forbes

 

(Wong , an alumnus of Singularity University, edited a textbook entitled "Surgery in Space" and trained in space medicine at NASA Johnson Space Center)

 

Doctors may soon face requests to provide medical clearance for commercial space travelers and these decisions could impact the growth of the private space industry, according to a new analysis. This article, published in the Christmas 2012 issue of the British Medical Journal, reviewed industry reports and medical studies to help guide physicians who may have to answer questions and fill out fitness to fly certificates for the growing ranks of aspiring space travelers.

 

5 things fake Mars mission says about space travel (and office life)

 

Michael Belfiore - Popular Mechanics

 

It sounds like the setup for a horror movie: Lock six people up on a confined space together for 17 months and see what happens. But the Russian Academy of Sciences and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, put together the Mars-500 project in the interests of science—and the half-dozen participants managed to avoid killing one another. The project organizers' goal was to identify the biggest challenges for building long-duration space habitats, like the kind you'd need for a 500-plus-day mission to Mars. Researcher Mathias Basner of the University of Pennsylvania tells PM that the team came up with some surprising results.

 

Virgin Galactic to make first Spaceport America rent payment

 

Diana Alba Soular - Las Cruces Sun-News

 

Virgin Galactic will make the first-ever rent payment this month for use of Spaceport America, state officials said Wednesday. Also, they said a funding shortfall to build a southern road to the spaceport, important to Las Cruces, is prompting them to seek another $3 million from the Legislature for the project. Virgin Galactic rent will begin accruing Jan. 15, said Christine Anderson, executive director for the New Mexico Spaceport Authority.

 

A rap video becomes NASA's most popular ever

 

Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle

 

Eric Sim didn't come to Johnson Space Center to become an Internet sensation. But the junior from North Carolina State University is now one all the same after the Internet video he and other students produced about activities at the center became NASA's most popular video on its YouTube site. A parody of the wildly popular "Gangnam Style" video by the South Korean rapper Psy, "NASA Johnson Style" has attracted more than 4 million views. It has also reinforced for the agency the importance of using social media - such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook - and a dash of creativity to reach a wider audience.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

NASA: May the Best Kids' Code Win

 

Kathleen Miller - Bloomberg News

 

NASA plans to upload code developed by teens to control bowling ball-sized satellites aboard the International Space Station.

 

The off-the-wall experiment Friday is part of a contest sponsored by the elite Pentagon research unit known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

 

The software code was developed by teams of U.S. high school students as part of the fourth annual student robotics challenge, according to a NASA press release today.

 

The top 45 teams had their code sent last week to the space station, where an astronaut plans to command the satellites to run the teams' flight programs.

 

The best-performing code wins.

 

In return, the winning team of students will receive certificates and a flight patch that was flown aboard the space station, according to the release.

 

A tale of two congresspeople

 

Jeff Foust - SpacePolitics.com

 

On Wednesday evening, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) hosted a "Space Science and Public Policy" event as part of its conference this week in Long Beach, California. The featured speakers were two members of Congress: Reps. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Their comments on policy issues for space science and related issues were markedly different and, in Rohrabacher's case, generated some controversy.

 

Chu, whose new district now includes the city of Pasadena, spoke primarily in general terms about supporting NASA and science research. "I do not believe that research and development in science or space exploration is a luxury. It should never be an afterthought" even in current austere fiscal times, she said. "That's why I'm deeply committed to protecting the funding for NASA this year and many years to come."

 

One space topic she spoke specifically about was restoring funding for NASA's Mars program. "This is one area where there is bipartisanship. It was very, very interesting to see how people from both parties did embrace this particular cause," she said. The originally proposed cut, she said, "shows we have a public relations job to do about space exploration, about the Mars program, and about NASA as a whole." Later, she argued that if the public knew more about the technological spinoffs from NASA, "I think that they would definitely be enthusiastic about funding for space exploration."

 

Rohrabacher offered a very different message to attendees about funding. The growing national debt "is part of our life, and those who choose to ignore are going to face some serious consequences," he warned. Scientists, he said, can't expect to get "a little bit more" each year in the future. "That doesn't work anymore for the scientific community or any other community that relies on federal funds. What we have to do now is find out how we can do the job that's necessary more cost effectively, and eliminate things that are not necessary."

 

If that message wasn't clear, he was more blunt a short time later. "Saying 'NASA deserves more money' ain't going to cut it," he said. "The fact is, NASA does not have a good track record" in managing major programs. He expressed particular opposition to plans for the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket, claiming it will cost at least $30 billion to develop. "This is going to defund every other space and science program that you can imagine. It's up to you to know the sad details that we can't afford everything."

 

Rohrabacher covered some familiar ground later in his talk, supporting increased commercialization and international partnerships as ways for NASA to be more efficient, and promoting concepts such as orbital debris cleanup, planetary defense, and propellant depots. His comments, through, probably weren't that familiar to many of the scientists in the audience, who reacting with varying degrees of bewilderment as he went on. He also ruffled some feathers when he said NASA shouldn't be tasked with "feel-good responsibilities" like education. "NASA's job is not to educate the children of the United States," he said. Later, when he claimed that many scientists had doubts about global warning, the audience reacted with groans. (On top of that, the brief question-and-answer session that followed was dominated by a couple of people representing 21st Century Science and Technology, a magazine affiliated with Lyndon LaRouche.)

 

After the talk, I asked Rohrabacher about one particular issue of interest to those attending the AAS meeting: the James Webb Space Telescope. He indicated he wasn't confident that the program was back on track after cost and schedule overruns. "We will hold hearings on that early on, and we'll find out" how well it's doing, he said, referring to the House Science Committee, of which he is the new vice-chairman.

 

US firms target astronaut flights

 

Jonathan Amos - BBC News

 

California's SpaceX company says it expects to start launching humans into orbit in its Dragon capsule in 2015.

 

Its intention is to be able to deliver a crew to the International Space Station by the end of that year.

 

The first flights would carry the company's own test pilots - not US space agency (Nasa) astronauts.

 

"We're not selling tickets. Don't call our toll-free number," joked Garrett Reisman, SpaceX's commercial crew project manager.

 

The company is already in receipt of a contract from the agency to deliver cargo to the ISS using an unmanned version of Dragon, but it is working on adapting the vehicle so that it can carry people as well.

 

This involves installing life-support systems and developing the necessary emergency procedures to protect astronauts should anything go wrong on launch.

 

To that end, SpaceX is working on abort technologies that would lift the capsule away from its rocket during flight, allowing it to drop safely back to Earth via parachutes.

 

Mr Reisman, who himself flew twice to the space station as a Nasa astronaut, said the company would conduct an important test of these abort procedures later this year.

 

This would involve putting a Dragon on top of one of its Falcon rockets on the launch pad and then firing the capsule's own thrusters to push it clear into the sky. This demonstration would be followed later in 2014 by an in-flight abort test.

 

Mr. Reisman was coy about whether he would be in the initial SpaceX test crews in 2015. "It's not important that I go but I have to be willing to go because I'm not strapping somebody else into it if I'm not willing to strap into it myself," he told reporters.

 

He was speaking at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center where the agency had brought together a panel of companies to update the media on the progress they were making in developing crew transportation systems to low-Earth orbit.

 

Since the retirement of the shuttles in 2011, America has had no means of launching its own astronauts into space and has been purchasing rides in Russian Soyuz vehicles at the cost of $60m a seat.

 

Nasa is trying to seed an indigenous commercial market in crew transport services. It has so far committed about $1.5bn to the initiative. The companies are also investing their own funds.

 

SpaceX is the most advanced in its plans, but the Boeing company and the Sierra Nevada Corporation hope also to grab a sizeable part of this nascent market.

 

Boeing is building a conical capsule known as CST-100 that will fly atop an Atlas 5 rocket. It proposes to conduct a three-day orbital mission in 2016. Like SpaceX, Boeing will use its own employees for the early demonstration flights.

 

"It's really emotionally and strategically important that this country is a spacefaring nation and we're really excited to get back to that point," said John Mulholland, Boeing's commercial programs space exploration vice president.

 

Sierra Nevada Corporation is more reticent in setting a target date for its first foray into orbit. The Colorado-based company is developing a small shuttle-like vehicle known as the Dream Chaser. This also would use the Atlas 5 rocket.

 

In the coming months, SNC intends to drop an unmanned test version of Dream Chaser from a carrier plane to make an automated glide and approach to a runway.

 

"It's not outfitted for orbital flight; it is outfitted for atmospheric flight tests," explained Mark Sirangelo, Sierra Nevada Corp vice president and SNC Space Systems chairman.

 

"The best analogy - it's very similar to what Nasa did in the shuttle programme with the Enterprise, creating a vehicle that would allow it to do significant flights whose design then would filter into the final vehicle for orbital flight."

 

Mr. Sirangelo emphasised SNC's stepwise approach to getting into space, with the first launches going only suborbital (a short hop above the atmosphere) followed eventually by fully orbital sorties. The programme called for a mixture of autonomous and piloted flights, he added.

 

The Blue Origin company, which received funds from Nasa for some of its early development work, said it continued to work on a crew transport system even though it was no longer getting any financial support from the agency. The firm, established by Amazon entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, has a design for a capsule and two-stage rocket. It has already conducted test firings on its all-new liquid-hydrogen/liquid-oxygen rocket engine, known as the BE-3. It has also done an abort test of a capsule structure, blasting it into the sky from the ground and then recovering it on parachutes.

 

Nasa would like to be purchasing crew services from one or more companies by 2017. Whether this target is achievable will depend on how much money it has available to invest in its commercial crew initiative.

 

The sums requested for the programme by President Barack Obama have routinely been adjusted downwards by Congress. He is due to make his Federal Year 2014 request in the next few weeks.

 

"The budget is going to be an extremely challenging topic, not only for this programme but for all Nasa programmes," said Phil McAlister, the agency's commercial spaceflight development director.

 

Space station astronaut uses social media to engage the world

 

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

 

The astronaut destined to be the International Space Station's first Canadian commander says new technology is enabling him to share the inside story of life aboard the outpost.

 

Veteran space flier Chris Hadfield arrived at the station Dec. 21, and in just 20 days, he has tallied more than 3,000 Tweets on Twitter.

 

Some 159,979 people are following his voyage on the popular social media site.

 

"It's very interesting for me, and for Canada, and for the rest of the world actually," Hadfield told Canadian reporters today in his first space-to-ground news conference.

 

"We have technology that is better to communicate what we are doing here exploring space, said Hadfield, a veteran of two shuttle missions.

 

"It's not just TV. It's not just e-mail. Now we can use the other social media such as Twitter so that immediately people can know what we're doing here on the space station."

 

Hadfield's tweets so far have shed light on what it's like to shower in space, to float in weightless, to exercise on the outpost, and to view Earth from a perch 250 miles above the planet.

 

"Since my first flight to the Russian space station Mir back 17 years ago, I've always maintained that the favorite pastime of astronauts is looking at the world out the window," he said.

 

"It is so fundamentally beautiful, and mesmerizing, and I've been doing my best with words to describe it ever since I first saw it from onboard space shuttle Atlantis just after we launched" on Nov. 12, 1995, he said.

 

"And now, I can directly, as I see beautiful things, send those pictures to the ground, and you can see the reaction. It has captured the eyes – and therefore, the minds and imaginations – of so many people. It's such a wonderful place to better understand our planet."

 

Hadfield launched to the station Dec. 19 with U.S. astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko.

 

A former Royal Canadian Air Force Fighter pilot, he was one of four people selected by the Canadian Space Agency to serve as astronauts. The four were chosen from a field of 5,300 applicants in June 1992.

 

He tallied 20 days in space during his two missions – one to the Russian space station Mir and the other to the International Space Station.

 

Current station skipper Kevin Ford will turn over command of the outpost to Hadfield when he and two cosmonaut colleagues – Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin -- return to Earth in March.

 

Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko will live and work aboard the outpost until May.

 

Space Rock Star: Astronaut Chris Hadfield Becoming Canadian Celebrity

 

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

 

While Chris Hadfield continues to rack up mileage in space, the Canadian captain-to-be of the International Space Station also reached a different milestone Wednesday: 150,000 Twitter followers.

 

Hadfield's growth on the social network exploded since launching to the space station Dec. 19. According to the Canadian Space Agency, Hadfield's followers numbered about 20,000 at the start of his five-month mission.

 

Hadfield's pithy observations of life in orbit — and his now-famous joke with William Shatner, who portrayed Capt. James T. Kirk on "Star Trek" — helped propel him on to the world stage, one Canadian reporter said.

 

"I think the fact that a real Canadian space commander was tweeting a fake Canadian space commander, that's a pretty one-of-a kind event," said Jennifer MacMillan, a senior communities editor at the Toronto-based Globe and Mail whose job in part focuses on interacting with readers.

 

MacMillan was not able to speak to how much Hadfield — who also reached orbit on space shuttle missions in 1995 and 2001 — is resonating among the audience of the national Canadian newspaper, though. Also, a story charting the captains' interaction did not get that many clicks from readers, she said.

 

However, other institutions said Hadfield's coverage is making waves among ordinary Canadians.

 

'A quintessential speaker'

 

The Canada Aviation and Space Museum, which is based in Canada's capital in Ottawa, ran special programming over the holidays to coincide with the first few days of Hadfield's space mission. Reports from the museum indicated the programming was popular with the young student audience.

 

Stephen Quick, director-general of the museum, admitted it is difficult to quantify how much of an impact Hadfield — who will become commander of the International Space Station's Expedition 35 in March — has on the popularity of particular exhibits.

 

But for what it's worth, the Living in Space exhibit, which devotes extensive coverage to Hadfield's high-flying exploits, attracts children and adults alike, he said. Hadfield also draws a crowd during his appearances at the museum, Quick added.

 

"The man is a quintessential speaker, and he can talk to 10-year-olds or he can talk to a group of adults, and they come out spellbound. It's amazing," he said.

 

A flat cutout of Hadfield at the museum, set up as part of an ongoing Canadian Space Agency contest, always seems to have somebody beside it getting his or her picture taken, he added.

 

The museum, which sees 60 percent of its 195,000 attendees every year come from outside of Ottawa, plans to extend its space coverage due to the popularity of the Living in Space exhibit. In May, it will open a "spaceflight experience" that brings attendees through a simulated training experience for space.

 

Holidays helped with tweeting time

 

One key to Hadfield's success in orbit — besides his innate eloquence — might have been the timing of his launch, the Canadian Space Agency noted.

 

Because his launch day fell so close to both Christmas and Russia's Orthodox Christmas, there was extra time off for the astronauts in orbit. This gave Hadfield more time to set up his Internet connection and take pictures, said Anna Kapiniari, the CSA's strategic communications manager.

 

"We knew that if he had spare time he'd use it communicate the experience," she added, pointing out that Hadfield used to spend lunch breaks during his training days in Russia doing video chats with student groups.

 

While the CSA has not performed a formal media analysis, Kapinari has noted an uptick in media coverage. Officials are also seeing a few more questions from followers of the CSA's Twitter feed. "But I think most of the action is happening on [Hadfield]'s Twitter page," she added.

 

National magazine Maclean's is seeing reader action as well, however. The publication, which mostly has Canadian readership, saw one story about Hadfield rocket to the site's most popular entry this past weekend. In a hockey-hungry country, the story surpassed readership of another article about the NHL lockout being resolved.

 

Hadfield has also emphasized Canadiana while in orbit, whether it be tweeting about popular Canuck foods or doing collaborations with Canadian musicians, pointed out Maclean's associate editor Kate Lunau.

 

After writing a feature article about Hadfield in the fall, Lunau said she received a lot of reader mail praising the astronaut's accessibility to the public.

 

"You get the sense Hadfield is a Canadian celebrity," said Lunau, who frequently writes about science. "People really admire the work that he's done."

 

Chris Hadfield aims to inspire 'global awareness' from space

 

CBC News

 

Canadian astronaut and prolific tweeter Chris Hadfield is hoping to inspire a "global awareness" with images from space.

 

In the past few weeks aboard the International Space Station, Hadfield has tweeted dozens of photos. His following has grown to 160,000 people from 20,000.

 

"To go around the whole world in just slightly over 90 minutes … you see it absolutely as one place," he told reporters in his first press conference live from the International Space Station Wednesday afternoon.

 

"So when we look down at a place that's in great turmoil, it's hard to reconcile the inherent patience and beauty of the world with the terrible things that we do to each other and to the Earth."

 

Earth 'beautiful and mesmerizing'

Hadfield said he's grateful he can share photos so easily with people on Earth.

 

"The favorite pastime of astronauts is looking at the world out the window," he said. "It is so fundamentally beautiful and mesmerizing."

 

Hadfield told reporters that his photos of noctilucent clouds are the most significant to him.

 

The high-altitude clouds were first noticed in 1885, about two years after the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa sent plumes of volcanic ash into the Earth's atmosphere.

 

"As the sun rises, the light bounces off those clouds directly into our eyes," said Hadfield. "And we can see a part of the earth's atmosphere that's basically invisible to people on the surface."

 

An 'incredible privilege'

For the first time in his 20-year career as an astronaut, Hadfield said he feels like he is not only visiting space, but living there.

 

On Dec. 19, Hadfield launched aboard a Russian Soyuz vehicle. Two days later, he docked at his new orbital home for a five-month stay.

 

In March, he will become the first Canadian Commander of the station — which is seen as a milestone for Canadian space exploration.

 

Prior to this mission, Hadfield had spent a total of 20 days in space.

 

During his stay, he has learned that some things remain the same as on earth.

 

"I've discovered you can be clumsy in weightlessness … I bump into things," he said.

 

News of the end to the NHL lockout had reached the International Space Station. Hadfield said he is pleased he will be able to watch games in space.

 

"What I really like is people that are taking themselves to the limits of their capability to do something which is barely possible, which happens in hockey …. it's what I respect about this place, too," he said.

 

Hadfield said he will be cheering for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

Russia facing no access to space for first time since Cold War

Could find itself without access to space for the first time since space travel began if a property row with neighboring Kazakhstan goes unresolved

 

Roland Oliphant - London Telegraph

 

The Kremlin has formally demanded an explanation for comments by the head of the Kazakh space agency about the future of the Baikonur Cosmodrome – the main connection between earth and the International Space Station.

 

The move is the latest escalation in a growing dispute about rent has led to speculation that Russia could be booted out of the base for good.

 

Baikonur, a vast complex in the middle of the Kazakh steppe, has been at the heart of Russia's connection with space ever since the beginning of the space race in the 1950s.

 

It was from here that Yuri Gagarin blasted off on his historic 1961 flight into space. Since the retirement of the Shuttle, Soyuz rockets launched from the base provide the only connection between Earth and the International Space Station.

 

Russia inherited the base after the fall of the Soviet Union, renting it from Kazakhstan for $115 million a year under a lease that runs until the year 2050.

 

It is a Russian-speaking city operating under Russian law, with a Russian police force, in the middle of the Kazakhstan. But growing tensions have led some to fear all that may soon come to an end.

 

Last month Talgat Musabayev, the head of the Kazakh space agency, said in an address to the country's parliament that Kazakhstan would seek cut the number of launches of Proton-M rockets, which Russia uses to put satellites into orbit. He went on to accuse Moscow of reneging on an agreement to build a new launch center at the base for new Angara rockets, and most significantly called for the leasing agreement on Baikonur to be revised.

 

At the time Russian officials brushed off Musabayev's remarks as "his personal interpretation" of on going negotiations.

 

But government sources have told Russian press that the Kremlin took the threat seriously enough to send a formal note to Tashkent demanding an explanation of Musabayev's comments just before New Year.

 

Officially, both countries say discussions about the future of the base are "on going." Maintaining Baikonur is identified as a key part of a 2.1 trillion ruble (£43 billion) space program to 2020 signed off by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev last month.

 

That has not stopped gloomy speculation amongst industry watchers that Russia may one day have to leave.

 

The result, according to some, would be near apocalyptic.

 

"If Russia leaves Baikonur, it would end up looking like the 'zone' in the Strugatsky Brother's Roadside Picnic," Space industry expert Yuri Karash told the BBC Russian service last month, in a reference to the book that inspired the dystopian Andrei Tarkovsky film Stalker.

 

Doc, Am I Fit To Fly Into Space?

 

Dr. Julielynn Wong - Forbes

 

(Wong , an alumnus of Singularity University, edited a textbook entitled "Surgery in Space" and trained in space medicine at NASA Johnson Space Center)

 

Doctors may soon face requests to provide medical clearance for commercial space travelers and these decisions could impact the growth of the private space industry, according to a new analysis.

 

This article, published in the Christmas 2012 issue of the British Medical Journal, reviewed industry reports and medical studies to help guide physicians who may have to answer questions and fill out fitness to fly certificates for the growing ranks of aspiring space travelers.

 

"Commercial investment is bringing space tourism closer to reality," said study lead author Dr. S. Marlene Grenon, a cardiovascular surgeon and assistant professor of surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. "Suborbital flight opportunities are currently being planned by companies such as Virgin Galactic, Armadillo Aerospace, and XCOR."

 

A July 2012 Federal Aviation Administration report estimates the market demand for reusable suborbital vehicles could grow to a total of 13,134 seats over a decade and bring in over $1.6 billion.

 

"With more opportunities for space tourism, an increasing number of less healthy individuals can be expected to fly," Grenon said, adding that the exact nature of the effects of spaceflight on medical conditions are yet to be determined.

 

"Dr. Grenon and colleagues have emphasized the difficulties in commenting upon the fitness — or lack thereof — of potential candidates for spaceflight," said Dr. Andrew W. Kirkpatrick, a military trauma surgeon and professor of critical care medicine at the University of Calgary and Foothills Medical Center in Alberta.

 

Passengers should be informed of the lack of advanced medical and surgical care capabilities in current commercial spaceflight platforms, said Kirkpatrick, who was not involved with this study.

 

Just how far can the medical envelope be pushed? Consider that Stephen W. Hawking — the ventilator-dependent, wheelchair-bound British physicist with longstanding motor neuron disease — is slated to fly onboard a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight.

 

Space medicine experts say that suborbital flights are less risky than orbital missions because suborbital passengers experience about one to five minutes of microgravity.

 

"Most people with well controlled medical conditions are capable of withstanding the acceleration forces involved with the launch and landing of commercial spaceflight vehicles," Grenon said.

 

The FAA has not made any specific statements on medical requirements for commercial space passengers, the BMJ authors noted. Instead, the FAA has opted to leave the medical screening process up to the commercial space vehicle operators. "Experience in aviation medicine has shown that over-regulation could inhibit development of the sector," Grenon said, adding that a delicate balance — between prioritizing passenger safety and avoiding overly strict medical criteria that could decrease the market — is needed to make the commercial spaceflight industry viable.

 

"If a potential space traveler asks his or her physician for a medical letter of clearance for space travel, the physician will share responsibility for determination of suitability with the commercial space operator," she said.

 

While the International Space Station is currently the only orbiting space tourist destination, other extended stay commercial spaceflight opportunities could exist in the future, the authors wrote.

 

"It may be possible to fly to an orbiting Bigelow Aerospace hotel or laboratory in the future," Grenon said.  "Mining companies may send employees to the Moon or near-Earth asteroids to mine planetary resources."

 

Once a passenger has disembarked from their space vehicle, there are much greater uncertainties that complicate medical decision making, Kirkpatrick said.

 

"Adverse physiological changes that increase susceptibility to critical injury or illness may be established within hours of leaving Earth's gravity," he said.  "Chronic medical conditions may be exacerbated and unexpected acute emergencies may be more serious than on Earth."

 

As extended stay commercial spaceflight opportunities develop, doctors will likely adjust the medical standards governing who can live and work in space.  Disabled individuals could adapt and perform as well as their able-bodied counterparts in space, said one former physician-astronaut.

 

"People with disabilities will be able to fly in space just fine," said Dr. Dan T. Barry, a retired NASA astronaut and physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, who was not involved with this study.  "Many mobility impairments will be gone in the space environment."

 

5 things fake Mars mission says about space travel (and office life)

 

Michael Belfiore - Popular Mechanics

 

It sounds like the setup for a horror movie: Lock six people up on a confined space together for 17 months and see what happens. But the Russian Academy of Sciences and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, put together the Mars-500 project in the interests of science—and the half-dozen participants managed to avoid killing one another.

 

The project organizers' goal was to identify the biggest challenges for building long-duration space habitats, like the kind you'd need for a 500-plus-day mission to Mars. The 520-day mission, in which the participants were sealed inside a faux spaceship near Moscow, concluded back in November 2011. But the published results and scientific discoveries based on the experiment are still trickling in.

 

In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute in Houston, and other U.S. research groups collaborating with the Russian Academy of Sciences looked at the sleep and activity patterns of the Mars-500 crew members. Researcher Mathias Basner of the University of Pennsylvania tells PM that the team came up with some surprising results.

 

1. Not Everyone Is Up for It

 

During the 520-day mission, participants from Russia, Europe, and China—all men—lived aboard a habitat the same size and dimensions that might be expected for a Mars-bound spacecraft. They limited their contact with the outside world to what they would experience on their journey, with ever-increasing communications lags as they drifted further from Earth, up to the 14-minute lag that the Curiosity rover currently experiences when trying to talk to Earth from the surface of Mars.

 

"One of our major findings is that there are huge inter-individual differences in how well subjects cope . . .over this sort of long period of confinement and isolation," Basner says. The Mars-500 project showed the feasibility of sending humans to our neighboring planet, he says. But it also demonstrated the importance of weeding out future astronauts who won't cope well on long-duration voyages, and helping those who do make the cut adapt to extended confinement in an artificial environment.

 

2. You Can't Predict in Advance How a Person Will Cope

 

Even though the crew was carefully screened in advance and all were highly trained professionals—including a trauma surgeon, a psychologist, and a Russian navy diver—they still had problems.

 

One person on the Mars-520 crew developed mild depression. Another became chronically sleep deprived, with a corresponding degradation in performance in alertness tests. Another began napping frequently during the time when all crew members were supposed to be awake, while another somehow became adapted to an internal 25-hour clock rather than the normal 24-hour cycle. That meant, says Basner, that that crew member (who, like the others, is designated by a letter in the study to protect his privacy) was in exact opposition to the rest of the crew every 12 days, fully awake during their sleep period.

 

Future Mars-bound astronauts will be expected to perform at their best not only at the start, during midpoint activities on Mars, and at the conclusion of the mission—when novelty and excitement is at a high—but also during what is likely to be a long stretch of monotony that could be punctuated by unforeseen emergencies. But without being put to the test, no one can tell who will remain at his or her best during extended confinement.

 

Things get weird in isolation.

 

3. The Worst Comes Early

 

One bit of pleasant news from the Mars-500 experiment: The effects of living in a can under artificial light don't change much after the first two or three months. So, while future astronauts will have to endure long stretches cooped up in a spaceship, it probably won't be necessary to subject them to testing like this experiment that duplicates the duration of the mission. The worst of any negative effects are likely to show up within the first few weeks of a simulated journey.

 

4. Mars Is Just Different Enough to Be Annoying

 

Earth has a 24-hour day/night cycle. Mars' cycle is 24.6 hours. Those 36 minutes might not seem important, but they add up day after day. The Mars-500 team made a simulated Martian-surface excursion, but it lasted just 12 days, not long enough for the "astronauts" to adapt. Some proposed mission profiles have astronauts staying on Mars for months at a time before returning home. In that case, the astronauts would find themselves out of sync, which could invite the kind of sleep disturbances and other problems exhibited on the Mars-520 mission unless they adjusted.

 

5. Earthbound Office Drones Need to Get Out More Too

 

If you're feeling some of the same symptoms that the Mars-500 team suffered, such as disrupted sleep, lethargy, and degraded performance, the causes could be similar to those that made the cooped-up cosmonauts loopy.

 

"I'm lucky enough to have a window in my office," Basner says, "but a lot of people don't. They are exposed to the same artificial fluorescent lighting that the surrogate astronauts were on our Mars mission. We're not exposing ourselves to enough daylight during the day." The lesson for the rest of us: Get outside more during the day.

 

Virgin Galactic to make first Spaceport America rent payment

 

Diana Alba Soular - Las Cruces Sun-News

 

Virgin Galactic will make the first-ever rent payment this month for use of Spaceport America, state officials said Wednesday.

 

Also, they said a funding shortfall to build a southern road to the spaceport, important to Las Cruces, is prompting them to seek another $3 million from the Legislature for the project.

 

Virgin Galactic rent will begin accruing Jan. 15, said Christine Anderson, executive director for the New Mexico Spaceport Authority.

 

The company's payment will be $85,833 monthly, according to a calculation based on information from the spaceport. The amount due is one-twelfth of the $1 million per-year charged to Virgin Galactic for use of the facilities, Anderson said. Plus, another $2,500 per month is rent for land.

 

The step is a positive one because it's the first toward greater financial independence for the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, said authority board member David Buchholtz.

 

"We're hoping those can start very soon," he said. "Certainly I look to that as a significant source of operating revenue going forward, so that we don't have to draw on other public sources, as opposed to revenue-related sources, to be able to operate."

 

Still, Virgin Galactic said late last year it will re-think its plans in New Mexico, if a bill that would prevent lawsuits against spaceflight parts manufacturers fails once more to clear the legislature. Spaceport supporters have said the law change is crucial to the facility's future.

 

Virgin Galactic could break its lease agreement with a relatively small penalty, ranging between $500,000 and $2 million, according to the lease.

The $35 million terminal-hangar, dubbed the Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space, is the main facility that will be used by the company to launch tourists to suborbital space, once operations start. The first flights could happen late this year.

 

The rent payments are triggered by benchmarks in Virgin Galactic's lease with the state, Anderson said. A certificate of occupancy was awarded for the terminal-hangar in September, and the building was deemed complete by the architect on Nov. 15, Anderson said.

 

"Based on the lease agreement, it's 60 days from that date when rent commencement will start," she said. "That's how we got to that date."

 

Since November, contractors have been working on the minor building details, part of what's known as a "punch list," Anderson said. There may be a few things left to do even after Jan. 15, she said.

 

"We'll have a plan to complete the rest; there's no loose ends after that date," she said.

 

Once Virgin Galactic takes the keys to the building, it still has potentially months of fit-out work to customize the interior to prep for operations, officials said.

 

The London-based Virgin Galactic must pay another type of lease payments, once it starts flights.

 

Anderson gave an update the spaceport authority board during a regular meeting in Las Cruces.

 

In addition to the terminal-hangar, the other major component of the spaceport's Phase 1 construction is the installation of communications and security technology. That should wrap up in March, she said.

 

"The phones are in, the Internet is in," Anderson said. "It's just the mission control consoles and the security they're still working on."

 

Southern road

 

Meanwhile, spaceport authority officials said unexpected costs that have cropped up in the budget for building the 23.7-mile southern road to Spaceport America are behind a request for an extra $3 million for that Phase 2 project.

 

Anderson said 31 archeological sites that need mitigation along the route, a surprise buried utility cable that tracks the route and about 47 miles of fencing to address concerns of livestock ranchers make up the list of new costs. They'll push the budget for the road beyond the initial $12 million originally called for.

 

"It's unfortunate that all of those things we couldn't have known," she said. "We didn't know there were 31 archeological sites. We didn't know there was a buried CenturyLink cable."

 

The fact that the overall, $200 million spaceport construction is winding down makes it nearly impossible to rearrange the budget to get more money for the road, Anderson said.

 

"If it had been earlier in the project, you might have made some trades, but at this point, there are hardly any trades to make," she said.

 

Buchholtz and Anderson said they've already met with a panel of state administrators and staff about the request. Buchholtz said he's optimistic about the chances for getting the award because it is a capital outlay request and not for operational money. And, he said, it's a project that's important to the Las Cruces area economically.

 

Spaceport America board member Ben Woods noted that funding for the southern route to the spaceport wasn't in the original spaceport budget. It was added later on after savings from other spaceport construction, he said.

 

"I just want to make sure we're clear, so that people don't assume it was promised since Day 1," he said. "We recognize it as a need. We're doing the best we can with the assets we have."

 

Gov. Susana Martinez previously has said that there's been enough public spending on the spaceport.

 

A 60-day legislative session begins this month in Santa Fe.

 

Doña Ana County government is the lead agency handling the construction of the road, but the spaceport is paying the bill.

 

Even if the $3 million is granted, dealing with the surprise design issues will push the road completion date to the spring of 2014, Anderson said. That's about three or four months longer than initially expected, she said.

 

A rap video becomes NASA's most popular ever

 

Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle

 

Eric Sim didn't come to Johnson Space Center to become an Internet sensation.

 

But the junior from North Carolina State University is now one all the same after the Internet video he and other students produced about activities at the center became NASA's most popular video on its YouTube site.

 

A parody of the wildly popular "Gangnam Style" video by the South Korean rapper Psy, "NASA Johnson Style" has attracted more than 4 million views. It has also reinforced for the agency the importance of using social media - such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook - and a dash of creativity to reach a wider audience.

 

"It tells the story in a fun way," said John Yembrick, social media manager at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Sometimes NASA sucks the cool out of things by being too technical in how we communicate, and this is something a bunch of people probably sat around their computers, watched and they learned something from it."

 

NASA has had other success in social media. The agency's official Twitter feed, @NASA, received a Shorty Award for the best government use of social media in 2012.

 

The student-produced video takes viewers around the Clear Lake- area campus, interacts with astronauts and provides an overview of the activities at the space center after the space shuttle's retirement.

 

NASA has had other success in social media. The agency's official Twitter feed, @NASA, received a Shorty Award for the best government use of social media in 2012.

 

The student-produced video takes viewers around the Clear Lake- area campus, interacts with astronauts and provides an overview of the activities at the space center after the space shuttle's retirement.

 

Video: See 'NASA Johnson Style' for yourself

 

"What the team wanted to do was to get rid of the myth that NASA is not doing a whole lot right now," said Veronica Seyl, manager of Johnson Space Center's Career Exploration Program.

 

"We have so much going on. This allows the public to see what we're doing in a different light. "

 

And it was entirely the brainchild of college students like Sim.

 

He and about 150 others are participating in the agency's Pathways Intern Program, spending half of their college tenure at the center working on projects. About 90 percent of graduates go on to work at NASA.

 

"I'm definitely hoping to do that," Sim said. "The reason I went into aerospace engineering is because working at NASA was a childhood dream for me."

 

The song - with lyrics written by students and approved by the agency's public affairs office - only took a day to record. Filming and editing took about four weeks.

 

Sim said other "Gangnam Style" parody videos had done well on YouTube, so he was hopeful the agency's video would get some attention.

 

"We kind of were thinking in the back of our minds that it would take off, but nonetheless we were very pleasantly surprised by how well it's done," he said.

 

The space center's new director, Ellen Ochoa, said she'd like to inspire the kind of passion Sim has for NASA in other bright students.

 

"We're always looking for new ways to get information about what we're doing to a larger audience," she said. "With this video I just got myself a very effective marketing tool to recruit the best and the brightest."

 

END