Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Human Spaceflight News

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: January 22, 2013 7:03:15 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - January 22, 2013 and JSC Today

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1.            Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
2.            Day of Remembrance -- This Thursday
3.            Help 'NASA Johnson Style' Reach 5 Million Views
4.            Starport Sports -- Dodgeball, Kickball and Ultimate Frisbee
5.            This Week at Starport - Rodeo Tickets Still Available & Birthday Discounts
6.            YODA Formal Mentoring Program Kickoff Rescheduled to Feb. 5
7.            Technology Transfer Strategies: Increasing the Impact of YOUR R&D Efforts
8.            Let's Make 2013 an SNS Year
9.            Baker Institute Lecture Series: The Need for a Definitive U.S. Space Policy
10.          INCOSE Texas Gulf Coast Chapter January 2013 Meeting
11.          Reminder: Society of Women Engineers-Texas Space Center New Year Meeting
12.          Sustainability -- Make a Difference Today
13.          Job Opportunities
14.          System Safety Fundamentals Class: March 11 - 15, Building 20 Room 205/206
15.          Certified Pressure Systems Operator and Refresher Training
________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY
" Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it. "

-- Martin Luther King Jr.
________________________________________
1.            Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
Jan. 21 marked the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. Taking place each year on the third Monday in January, this milestone is a perfect opportunity for Americans to honor King's legacy through service. The MLK Day of Service empowers individuals, strengthens communities, bridges barriers, creates solutions to social problems and moves us closer to King's vision of a beloved community. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems. For more information about the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, please click here.
To view or print 2013 MLK poster, please visit the JSC Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity's website.
T.Q. Bui x30607 http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oeod/

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2.            Day of Remembrance -- This Thursday
On Thursday, Jan. 24, NASA will commemorate the men and women lost in the agency's space exploration program by celebrating their lives, their bravery and advancements in human spaceflight. All employees are encouraged to observe a moment of silence at their workplace or the commemorative tree grove located behind and adjacent to Building 110 to remember our friends and colleagues.
At 9 a.m., we will honor our NASA families and conclude by honoring the Columbia crew on the 10-year anniversary. A T-38 flyover is planned during the remembrance in the grove as tribute to the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia.
These astronauts and their families will always be a part of the NASA family, and we will continue to honor their contributions. Our Day of Remembrance commemorates not only the men and women lost in NASA's space exploration program and their courage, but celebrates human space exploration since then.
-- Apollo 1 (Jan. 27, 1967): Astronauts Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Edward H. White Jr.
-- Challenger (Jan. 28, 1986): Astronauts Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, Gregory B. Jarvis and S. Christa McAuliffe
-- Columbia (Feb. 1, 2003): Astronauts Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel B. Clark and Ilan Ramon
JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111

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3.            Help 'NASA Johnson Style' Reach 5 Million Views
Viral video "NASA Johnson Style" has become a Web phenomenon. Since its release on Dec. 14, the video has garnered more than 4 million views, making the video the most-watched clip on the agency's "Reel NASA" YouTube channel. If you haven't seen "NASA Johnson Style," check it out here and help the video reach 5 million views!
Ciandra Jackson x32924

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4.            Starport Sports -- Dodgeball, Kickball and Ultimate Frisbee
Starport's three newest leagues are still looking for more teams! We are going to keep the prices as low as possible for all of these leagues. Don't delay, sign your team up for one of these awesome sports before registration closes.
Kickball - Monday nights
- Registration closes Jan. 24 | $175 per team
Ultimate Frisbee - Monday nights
- Registration closes Jan. 24 | $200 per team
Dodgeball - Thursday nights
- Registration closes Jan. 31 | $200 per team
Free-agent registration is now open for all leagues.
All league participants must register here.
For detailed information about each league, please click here or call the Gilruth information desk at 281-483-0304.
Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/Sports

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5.            This Week at Starport - Rodeo Tickets Still Available & Birthday Discounts
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo concert tickets are still available at the Building 11 Starport Gift Shop for many performances. Prices are $26, $25 and $22. Carnival Packs, Barbecue Cook-off and Reliant Admission tickets are now available. Checks are not accepted for ticket sales. Payment options are cash, Visa, MasterCard and Discover only. Supplies are limited. Get your rodeo tickets at Starport today!
The Starport Gift Shops appreciate you with a 10 percent discount on your birthday. Simply show proof that it is your birthday to receive your special discount on store merchandise. Customers whose birthday falls on Saturday and Sunday will receive their discount on Friday and Monday, respectively. Some exclusions do apply (tickets, flowers, Hallmark, and James Avery charms, etc.). Shop Starport on your birthday and let us show you that you are special at Starport.
Cynthia Kibby x35352 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

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6.            YODA Formal Mentoring Program Kickoff Rescheduled to Feb. 5
The Formal Mentoring program is gearing up for the kick-off event. All participants in the program are encouraged to attend to meet your protégé and/or mentor. We scheduled the kickoff to end prior to lunch, that way everyone can go out or to a café for lunch to begin your mentoring relationship.
Event Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2013   Event Start Time:9:30 AM   Event End Time:11:00 AM
Event Location: Teague Auditorium

Add to Calendar

YODA Mentoring Team 281-792-7831 http://mentoring.jsc.nasa.gov

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7.            Technology Transfer Strategies: Increasing the Impact of YOUR R&D Efforts
The Human Systems Academy is pleased to announce a panel discussion entitled: Technology Transfer Strategies: Increasing the Impact of YOUR R&D Efforts. Through this campfire style discussion, the panelists will convey their experiences with the technology transfer process, important technology transfer considerations, application to research and development at the Agency, application of collaborations and commercialization while safe guarding Intellectual Property, and real world examples including potential benefits to society. Space is limited so register today!

For registration, please go to https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Event Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2013   Event Start Time:1:00 PM   Event End Time:3:00 PM
Event Location: B30 Auditorium

Add to Calendar

Cynthia Rando 281-461-2620 http://sa.jsc.nasa.gov

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8.            Let's Make 2013 an SNS Year
Are you familiar with JSC's SNS program? SNS, or "Safe, Not Sorry," encourages employees to recognize each other's safety actions. Did you witness someone wiping up a spill before a fall could take place? Help a fellow employee in distress? Save a life? Big or small, the person went out of their way to perform a safety action and deserves an SNS pin.
Qualifying is simple -- when someone is spotted doing something of safety significance, or goes out of the way to correct a hazard or help others, any employee can recognize him or her on the spot or recommend more formal acknowledgement to their supervisor.
Have you spotted someone being Safe, Not Sorry? Let us know by calling x45078 or emailing.
Tell us your story and we'll send you a pin. You can even request a supply of pins to keep on hand.
Rindy Carmichael x45078

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9.            Baker Institute Lecture Series: The Need for a Definitive U.S. Space Policy
Rice University's Baker Institute will bring together a panel of six space policy experts to review the present status and future of NASA and the nation's civil space program.
For additional info, please click here.
Event Date: Thursday, January 24, 2013   Event Start Time:5:30 PM   Event End Time:7:00 PM
Event Location: Rice University Baker Institute

Add to Calendar

Rice University 713-348-6775 http://www.bakerinstitute.org/events/lost-in-space-the-need-for-a-defini...

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10.          INCOSE Texas Gulf Coast Chapter January 2013 Meeting
Jan. 24 will be the first INCOSE Texas Gulf Coast Chapter meeting of 2013. We will introduce the 2013 board of directors and discuss the vision, goals and direction that the chapter will take in 2013. What are you most interested in? What topics would you like to hear about? What should we be doing that we are not doing now, and what could we do better? This will be an informal discussion, but it will be a very important one.
The meeting will be held in the Jacobs Conference Center (located at 455 E. Medical Center Blvd., Webster, 77598). Refreshments will be provided. Networking starts at 5:30 p.m., and the meeting will start at 6 p.m. Directions and live meeting instructions are posted on the INCOSE Texas Gulf Chapter website.
Pleaese RSVP to Larry Spratlin 281-461-5218 or via email.
Larry Spratlin 281-461-5218

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11.          Reminder: Society of Women Engineers-Texas Space Center New Year Meeting
Here's your chance to join fellow engineers, SWE-TSC members and friends over:
•         Engineering games
•         A leadership development webinar
•         Potluck fare - please bring a side/sweet/drinks to share, too
Please RSVP to tsc-secretary@swe.org and tsc-president@swe.org the item you would like to bring for the potluck. The location address will be provided in response to your RSVP.
This event is open to all -- please feel free to invite your family and colleagues.
See you Sunday!
Event Date: Sunday, January 27, 2013   Event Start Time:12:30 PM   Event End Time:3:30 PM
Event Location: Private residence of SWE member

Add to Calendar

Irene Chan (713) 933-6892 http://www.swe.org/swe/regionc/sections/c008/

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12.          Sustainability -- Make a Difference Today
Please join the Human Systems Academy in a lecture that introduces attendees to sustainability. What does "sustainability" mean? What can you do to be more sustainable at work and at home? Is sustainability a requirement? What can I do to make a difference right now? These questions and more are answered in the JSC Sustainability Engagement Strategy and will be addressed in this course. Learn how to make a difference in your life, both at work and at home, that will ultimately make a difference to our existence on the "Blue Marble."
For registration, please go to: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Event Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2013   Event Start Time:9:00 AM   Event End Time:11:00 AM
Event Location: B35/1958 Innovation Space

Add to Calendar

Cynthia Rando 281-461-2620 http://sa.jsc.nasa.gov/

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13.          Job Opportunities
Where do I find job opportunities?
Both internal Competitive Placement Plan (CPPs) and external JSC job announcements are posted on the Human Resources (HR) portal and USAJOBS website. Through the HR portal, civil servants can view summaries of all the agency jobs that are currently open at: https://hr.nasa.gov/portal/server.pt/community/employees_home/239/job_opportu...
To help you navigate to JSC vacancies, use the filter drop-down menu and select "JSC HR." The "Jobs link" will direct you to the USAJOBS website for the complete announcement and the ability to apply online. If you have questions about any JSC job vacancies, please call your HR representative.
Lisa Pesak x30476

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14.          System Safety Fundamentals Class: March 11 - 15, Building 20 Room 205/206
This course instructs students in fundamentals of system safety management, hazard analysis of hardware, software, and operations. Basic concepts and principles of the analytical process are stressed. Student are introduced to NASA publications that require and guide safety analysis, as well as general reference texts on subject areas covered. Types and techniques of hazard analysis are addressed in enough detail to give the student a working knowledge of their uses and how they're accomplished. Skill in analytical techniques is developed through the use of practical exercises worked by students in class. This course establishes a foundation for the student to pursue more advanced studies of system safety and hazard analysis techniques while allowing students to effectively apply their skills to straightforward analytical assignments. This is a combination of System Safety Workshop and System Safety Special Subjects. Students who've taken those classes shouldn't take this class. SATERN Registration Required. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Polly Caison 281-244-1279

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15.          Certified Pressure Systems Operator and Refresher Training
Certified Pressure Systems Operator and Refresher Training covers updated pressure systems requirements, lessons learned, and written hazard analysis.
Date: January 31
Location: Safety Learning Center - Building 20, Room 205-206
Use this direct link to SATERN for course times and to register.
Certified Pressure Systems Operator - Time (CST) 9:00 to 11:00 AM
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Certified Pressure Systems Operator and Refresher - Time (CST) 11:01 AM to 12:01 PM
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Aundrail Hill x36369

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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.

Human Spaceflight News
Tuesday – January 22, 2013

Curiosity and Orion take part in Inaugural Parade (photos by NASA's Carla Cioffi & Bill Ingalls)

HEADLINES AND LEADS

With Obama Inauguration, NASA's Deep-Space Mission Continues

Tariq Malik - Space.com

With President Barack Obama taking the oath of office to begin his second term today, it kicks off four more years for NASA to pursue its audacious goal of sending astronauts farther into deep space than ever before. Two major pieces of NASA's deep-space exploration program — full-size replicas of the agency's new Orion space capsule and Mars rover Curiosity — will make an appearance during Obama's inaugural parade Monday.

NASA's Orion Program Addressing Weight, Cracking Issues

Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily

NASA's Orion project will pursue an aggressive strategy to reduce the mass of the four-person capsule that serves as a centerpiece of U.S. efforts to develop a new human deep space exploration capability, according to participants in the first phase of a long-running integrated systems definition review of the multi-element initiative that kicked off this week. The agency and its Lockheed Martin-led Orion team have also developed a repair strategy for small cracks that surfaced in the first flight test capsule during an early November pressure test. "We know we need to get lighter," says Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion project manager. "Mass is something we are going to watch every day until we fly people. It's part of the engineering of making this happen. It's not a simple system."

Deep Space Industries will venture into asteroid-mining marketplace

Alan Boyle - NBCNews.com's Cosmic Log

A new venture dubbed Deep Space Industries is jumping into the marketplace for asteroid mining — joining a billionaire-backed company called Planetary Resources in what they hope will eventually turn into a trillion-dollar business. In a press advisory, Deep Space Industries says it will create "the world's first fleet of commercial asteroid-prospecting spacecraft." The venture also promises to develop a "breakthrough process for manufacturing in space."

Asteroid-Mining Project Aims for Deep-Space Colonies

Mike Wall - Space.com

A new asteroid-mining company launches Tuesday with the goal of helping humanity expand across the solar system by tapping the vast riches of space rocks. The new firm, called Deep Space Industries, Inc., announced Monday that it plans to launch a fleet of prospecting spacecraft in 2015, then begin harvesting metals and water from near-Earth asteroids within a decade or so. Such work could make it possible to build and refuel spacecraft far above our planet's surface, thus helping our species get a foothold in the final frontier.

Boeing CST-100: Next-Generation Spaceship

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

The Boeing Company is an international aviation firm that is perhaps best known for building super-large passenger jets. But in the space field, the company is an established presence because of its work on the shuttle and the International Space Station. This work is preparing Boeing to make a new spacecraft to carry astronauts. Boeing is constructing the CST-100 capsule, a spaceship that is similar in shape to the Apollo spacecraft as well as the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle being constructed right now by Lockheed Martin and its partners.

Aerojet Successfully Test Fires AJ26 Engine

Jason Rhian - AmericaSpace.org

Aerojet has conducted a successful test fire of the company's AJ26 rocket engine at NASA's Stennis Space Center located in Mississippi. The test fire was conducted on Friday, Jan. 18. NASA, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Aerojet monitored the test firing. The AJ26 is planned for use on Orbital's Antares launch vehicle. Friday's test fire marked the eleventh AJ26 to be tested at Stennis. The AJ26 is, in actuality, a Russian engine formerly known as the NK-33. Aerojet modified the engines by removing some harnessing and adding systems that would make the engines compatible with U.S. systems.

NASA, ESA Forge Deep Space Alliance With Orion Partnership

Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily

The European Space Agency (ESA) will leverage its International Space Station (ISS) experience with the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) into a critical-path responsibility in the early development of NASA's Orion/Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle. ESA will provide a service module for one and possibly two test flights of the new capsule and the new Space Launch System (SLS), the two agencies announced Jan. 16.

Zero Robotics compete on space station to clean up space junk
WL team captures 2nd place at MIT

Mikel Livingston - Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

West Lafayette High School's DevilTech Engineering team took second place in the Zero Robotics National tournament held Jan. 11 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Held in conjunction with the International Space Station, the competition pitted students from more than 140 teams across the USA and Europe.

Trees Return Along Shuttle Endeavour's Route to Science Center

Toni Guinyard & Jonathan Lloyd – KNBC TV (Los Angeles)

Trees cut down to make way for space shuttle Endeavour during its journey on Los Angeles streets to the California Science Center are returning to stretches along the shuttle's route. More than 400 trees were removed to provide clearance for the retired orbiter when it moved from a hangar at Los Angeles International Airport in October to a temporary home at the Science Center in Exposition Park. Trees are being replanted in Inglewood, Westchester and other areas along the route.

Charlotte museum getting NASA artifacts from shuttle program

Mark Washburn - Charlotte Observer

Pieces of NASA's space shuttle program soon will be landing in Charlotte. In a key acquisition of space history, an emergency escape basket – designed to whisk astronauts away from the launch pad in event of trouble – will become part of the permanent collection at the Carolinas Aviation Museum, Shawn Dorsch, the museum's president, said Monday. It is part of a cache of items from the shuttle program that the space agency is assigning to prominent museums across the nation, Dorsch said. Other shuttle equipment is expected to be earmarked for the Charlotte museum soon, he said.

Holding on to Downey's place in the space race

Gale Holland - Los Angeles Times

Gerald Blackburn walked out of his office and surveyed the ruins of what was once the nerve center of America's space race. The vast debris field with giant cranes nosing through heaps of broken concrete and metal sheeting had been home to the Downey Industrial Site, a 160-acre campus southeast of Los Angeles where engineers like Blackburn designed the spacecraft that put Americans on the moon. The largely abandoned buildings were leveled over the holidays to make way for a big-box retail center.

Former NASA worker carves wooden shuttles

Lauren Morrison - WAFF TV (Huntsville)

A former Marshall Space Flight Center employee is combining his love of NASA and his passion for woodworking to create a unique piece of art. It's a labor of love in the shape of a shuttle.

NASA not interested in handing over Shiloh site
Agency rebuffs state's request to take over property

James Dean – Florida Today

NASA has rebuffed the state's request to take over property at the north end of Kennedy Space Center for development of a commercial launch complex, a potential setback in Florida's effort to keep SpaceX from moving some launches to another state. But the space agency may be open to alternatives that don't involve transferring ownership of land NASA says it still needs to support future missions.

State requests spaceport land near Oak Hill

Dinah Voyles Pulver - Daytona Beach News-Journal

A state request asking for 150 acres of NASA-owned land near the Volusia-Brevard county line for a commercial spaceport didn't get the warm reception backers had hoped, but officials with the state's space development corporation say they plan to keep moving forward. The proposed commercial launch complex is one of several efforts that Space Florida, the state-run public economic development corporation, is working on with local and regional leaders.

James M. Funkhouser (Age 83)

Washington Post

Longtime resident of Fairfax, VA passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 8, at his residence. He grew up in Plattsburg, Missouri and after high school he proudly served for five years in the U.S. Navy. Following his military service he graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Journalism. The majority of his career was spent in public affairs with NASA in Washington, DC.

We have ignition in Baikonur conflict

Olga Zakutnyaya - Russia Today (Opinion)

Only 12 Proton-M launches were approved by Kazakhstan for 2013 instead of the planned 17. The decision has put the future of Russian-Kazakh space cooperation under further threat. What does fate have in store for the famed launch pad in the near future? It seems the status quo, which has survived in the space world for several decades, is to face an imminent challenge. Once again, Baikonur cosmodrome, Russia's main launch pad, is at the centre of the conflict. Kazakhstan has refused to approve the limit of 17 Proton launches that Russia asked for in 2013, allowing only 12, even fewer than in 2012. Russia's response could be to reduce the annual rent paid to Kazakhstan for the site.
__________

COMPLETE STORIES

With Obama Inauguration, NASA's Deep-Space Mission Continues

Tariq Malik - Space.com

With President Barack Obama taking the oath of office to begin his second term today, it kicks off four more years for NASA to pursue its audacious goal of sending astronauts farther into deep space than ever before.

Two major pieces of NASA's deep-space exploration program — full-size replicas of the agency's new Orion space capsule and Mars rover Curiosity — will make an appearance during Obama's inaugural parade Monday.

NASA's "Mohawk Guy" Bobak Ferdowsi, a Curiosity flight director renowned for his hairstyle, will also march in the parade, and has promised a new hairdo to mark the event. Several NASA astronauts, including Michael Massimino —the agency's most followed space man on Twitter (@Astro_Mike) — will appear in the parade, too.

In his first term as president, Obama canceled NASA's moon-oriented Constellation program and directed the space agency to pursue a new vision of deep-space exploration, a program that aims to send the first manned mission to an asteroid by 2025. By the mid-2030s, the target is Mars.

Obama unveiled the space exploration vision in April 2010 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. A year later, NASA's space shuttle program — already winding down by the time Obama first took office — flew its final missions. In 2012, the iconic winged space planes were delivered to museums across the country.

At the same time, NASA was busy developing a new spacecraft for deep-space exploration, the Orion space capsule, as well as a giant rocket called the Space Launch System to boost the capsule off the planet. The agency is developing another craft, the Space Exploration Vehicle, designed to make the trip to a near-Earth asteroid or other deep-space destination.

Here's a look at NASA's human spaceflight projects that will be under way during Obama's second term:

Deep space exploration

Construction has already begun on NASA's first Orion space capsule to fly and will continue throughout this year. That prototype is expected to launch unmanned atop an existing Delta 4 Heavy rocket in 2014 for an initial test. A more ambitious unmanned test flight around the moon is planned for 2017, when an Orion capsule will make an unmanned trip around the moon after launching on the first Space Launch System booster.

The first operational flights of the complete Orion and Space Launch System designs are expected by 2021. By that time, Obama's second term will have been over for several years.

Last week, NASA finalized a deal with the European Space Agency on the Orion capsule's service module, which will provide power, propulsion and other vital systems for the space capsule beginning with the 2017 test flight. The move, NASA officials said, sets the stage for a true international approach to space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.

"Space has long been a frontier for international cooperation as we explore," Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for Exploration System Development, said in a Jan. 16 statement. "This latest chapter builds on NASA's excellent relationship with ESA as a partner in the International Space Station, and helps us move forward in our plans to send humans farther into space than we've ever been before."

In addition to exploring a near-Earth asteroid and Mars, NASA is also eyeing a potential plan to build a deep-space station on the far side of the moon that could serve as a stepping stone to the asteroid or Mars flights.

Rise of private space taxis

While NASA works on new spacecraft for deep-space missions, the agency is also supporting the development of new private manned spaceflight vehicles that could ferry American astronauts into and from low-Earth orbit.

NASA hopes the commercial spacecraft will be ready by 2017. Until then, the space agency is dependent on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft for flying Americans into orbit.

NASA already has billion-dollar deals with two private companies, SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., and Orbital Sciences Corp., in Virginia, to provide commercial cargo deliveries to the International Space Station aboard robotic spacecraft.

Last year, SpaceX flew two missions to the space station using its Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon spacecraft, and plans to launch its third flight sometime in March under a $1.6 billion contract for 12 missions. Orbital Sciences is planning to launch the first test flights of its Antares rocket and Cygnus space capsule later this year as part of a $1.9 billion contract for eight missions.

In December, NASA awarded a total of $30 million in funding to three different private spaceflight companies to support their work on new commercial spaceships. SpaceX, aerospace veteran Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp. received different amounts of the funding package to spur their individual projects.

SpaceX is working to scale up its Dragon capsule to carry seven astronauts on roundtrip orbital flights. Boeing, too, is working on a space capsule (called Commercial Space Transportation 100), while Sierra Nevada is developing a small space plane dubbed Dream Chaser for its entry. A fourth contender, the company Blue Origin founded by billionaire Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is also competing for NASA funding.

NASA provided an update on the four companies' projects last week, with each firm promising big steps forward for their space vehicles in 2013.

"I think the partnership between NASA and each of these companies clearly shows that we have a very vibrant space industry in the United States," said Ed Mango, NASA's manager for the commercial crew program. "The four companies here today are capable and are the leading edge of what it takes to get folks back into low-Earth orbit over time."

NASA's Orion Program Addressing Weight, Cracking Issues

Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily

NASA's Orion project will pursue an aggressive strategy to reduce the mass of the four-person capsule that serves as a centerpiece of U.S. efforts to develop a new human deep space exploration capability, according to participants in the first phase of a long-running integrated systems definition review of the multi-element initiative that kicked off this week.

The agency and its Lockheed Martin-led Orion team have also developed a repair strategy for small cracks that surfaced in the first flight test capsule during an early November pressure test. "We know we need to get lighter," says Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion project manager. "Mass is something we are going to watch every day until we fly people. It's part of the engineering of making this happen. It's not a simple system."

The development path leading to the 2021 first crewed flight of the Orion multipurpose crew vehicle, Exploration Mission-2, includes a 2014 flight test of the capsule's heat shielding and other re-entry systems. Exploration Flight Test-1 will launch on a Delta IV. The first flight of the Orion atop the initial version of NASA's new heavy lift Space Launch System, an unpiloted lap around the Moon, is set for 2017

That gives the agency nine years to reduce Orion's mass by the 4,000 lb. that now overwhelms the capsule's parachute recovery system.

The September 2014 test will propel the capsule into an elliptical orbit, setting up an atmospheric re-entry at lunar-mission-like return velocities that should reveal — if not verify loads and thermal margins — elements that can be reduced to drop the mass, Geyer told a Jan. 16 news briefing.

"We will push it into the atmosphere, land it on the chutes and get a ton of data about the loads we experience. That will tell us a lot about the margins on the vehicle," Geyer says. "We have a plan. It's got to be aggressive."

He noted NASA launched the Apollo 9 orbital test flight in March 1969 with components too heavy for a Moon landing. The weight was successfully reduced for the Apollo 11 lunar landing four months later. As the Apollo lunar missions drew to a close, the mass had been reduced enough to include lunar rovers.

Small cracks

NASA and its Lockheed Martin Orion prime contractor team plan repairs to small cracks discovered in the aft bulkhead of the EFT-1 capsule during a pressure test at Kennedy Space Center in early November. Structural doublers will be applied to cracks discovered on three adjacent structural radial ribs in time for mid-February pressurization and loads test.

"We have come up with a great plan in which you basically bridge over the cracks to distribute the loads," Geyer says. "

We basically bolt [two] of them on the aft bulkhead. We have the design and are finalizing the analysis to make sure we are not making stress loads worse in other areas as we bolt this thing down."

He attributed the fractures, which did not penetrate the bulkhead, to unanticipated weld shrinkage in the bulkhead elements.

Meanwhile, NASA's multi-element human deep space exploration initiative emerged from the Jan. 14-16 first phase of a long-running integrated systems definition review firmly focused on 2017 and 2021 as dates for the first unpiloted and piloted test flights of the Orion/Multipurpose Crew Vehicle atop the Space Launch System, according to Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration systems.

Technical presentations by program-level personnel of previous work on the flight and ground elements moved to an internal standing review board with license to sift through the development activities over the next several weeks and raise new issues. The integrated review sessions, hosted by Johnson Space Center, adjourned Jan. 16 with tentative plans to reconvene in early February, Dumbacher says.

"The message is we are working hard to execute to 2017 and 2021," he says. "The progress we've made in the past 18 months is pretty impressive to me."

Integration of the flight and ground elements grew in significance after September 2011, when the White House accepted congressional guidance to develop the Space Launch System as the booster for Orion.

LeRoy Cain, a former shuttle program deputy manager, chairs the review board whose members include representatives from NASA's Science Mission Directorate and the commercial rocket development community as part of the checks and balances process.

Budget talks

Though mindful of Washington's clash over spending, the integrated systems definition process is conducted largely outside deliberations on the budget, Dumbacher says.

Internal discussions on future budgets will begin in the spring, while the Orion, SLS and ground systems projects work toward the milestones that will lead to the 2017 and
2021 flight tests.

Three years ago, President Barack Obama directed NASA to prepare for a human mission to a yet-to-be-designated asteroid by 2025, a step toward the eventual exploration of Mars.

In recent months, the agency has started to look at potential alternatives including an orbiting lunar base. Another would attempt a robotic redirection of a near-Earth asteroid into lunar orbit to serve as an exploration proving ground.

"We have a lot to discuss," says Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, another of the systems definition review participants.

"For now, we look at all of these and the advantages and which one allows us to move farther and faster into the exploration of deep space," he says. "We will figure out which is the best to go do, and by best I mean in the eyes of a whole variety of different stakeholders. We lay out the data and let them decide."

Deep Space Industries will venture into asteroid-mining marketplace

Alan Boyle - NBCNews.com's Cosmic Log

A new venture dubbed Deep Space Industries is jumping into the marketplace for asteroid mining — joining a billionaire-backed company called Planetary Resources in what they hope will eventually turn into a trillion-dollar business.

In a press advisory, Deep Space Industries says it will create "the world's first fleet of commercial asteroid-prospecting spacecraft." The venture also promises to develop a "breakthrough process for manufacturing in space."

"Deep Space is pursuing an aggressive schedule and plans on prospecting, harvesting and processing asteroids for use in space and to benefit Earth," the company said in a press advisory. Further details came out in a news release issued early Tuesday.

Deep Space's CEO is David Gump, who has been involved in other space-themed companies including LunaCorp, which aimed to send rovers to the moon and also helped arrange one of the first TV commercials in orbit; Transformational Space, one of the early players in NASA's commercialization effort; and Astrobotic, one of the teams going after the Google Lunar X Prize.

The company's chairman is Rick Tumlinson, who was involved in founding the Space Frontier Foundation as well as private space ventures such as Space Diving and Orbital Outfitters. Geoff Notkin, host of the Science Channel's "Meteorite Men" TV series, announced that he'd join the venture as well.

Financial questions

One of the key questions relates to the venture's financial backing: Theoretically, mining the right kind of asteroid could produce precious metals worth sending back to Earth, such as platinum, gold and rare-earth minerals. Some asteroids also contain water ice that can be converted into fuel and supplies for space travel and settlement. Under the right conditions, such resources could be worth trillions of dollars a year. But it would cost billions of dollars to identify and exploit those resources.

To cover such costs, Planetary Resources recruited a big-name investment group that includes Google's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, software executive and spaceflier Charles Simonyi, Texan billionaire Ross Perot Jr. and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Ram Shriram. Planetary Resources also has a business plan that involves selling its Arkyd space telescopes as the first step toward profitability.

When Planetary Resources had its coming-out party last year, that company's executives said they planned to launch their first hardware in the 2013-2014 time frame. In a technical update released on Monday, the company's president, Chris Lewicki, didn't provide details about the launch schedule. But he did say there were "a number of exciting upcoming events," and indicated that the venture was currently concentrating on the development of low-cost prototype telescopes.

"With each new prototype build, we're learning a lot about how to strip cost out of the assembly, integration and test process, and that will be incredibly valuable when we start mass production of the units destined for space," Lewicki said.

It's not yet clear whether Deep Space Industries will end up being a competitor for Planetary Resources — or a customer. But as with most outer-space ventures, the venture's financial underpinnings will be as much a key to success as its technological vision.

Asteroid-Mining Project Aims for Deep-Space Colonies

Mike Wall - Space.com

A new asteroid-mining company launches Tuesday with the goal of helping humanity expand across the solar system by tapping the vast riches of space rocks.

The new firm, called Deep Space Industries, Inc., announced Monday that it plans to launch a fleet of prospecting spacecraft in 2015, then begin harvesting metals and water from near-Earth asteroids within a decade or so. Such work could make it possible to build and refuel spacecraft far above our planet's surface, thus helping our species get a foothold in the final frontier.

"Using resources harvested in space is the only way to afford permanent space development," Deep Space CEO David Gump said in a statement.

"More than 900 new asteroids that pass near Earth are discovered every year," Gump explained. "They can be like the Iron Range of Minnesota was for the Detroit car industry last century — a key resource located near where it was needed. In this case, metals and fuel from asteroids can expand the in-space industries of this century. That is our strategy."

Deep Space is the second company to jump into the asteroid-mining business. The first, the billionaire-backed firm Planetary Resources, had its own unveiling last April.

Prospecting spacecraft and asteroid sample-return

Deep Space will inspect potential mining targets with 55-pound (25 kilograms) spacecraft it calls FireFlies, the first of which are targeted for launch in 2015.

FireFlies will conduct asteroid reconnaissance on the cheap. They'll be made from low-cost "cubesat" components and will hitch a ride to space aboard rockets that also carry large communications satellites, Deep Space officials said.

"We can make amazing machines smaller, cheaper and faster than ever before," Deep Space chairman Rick Tumlinson said in a statement. "Imagine a production line of FireFlies, cocked and loaded and ready to fly out to examine any object that gets near the Earth."

The FireFlies' work will pave the way for 70-pound (32 kg) spacecraft called DragonFlies, which will blast off beginning in 2016. DragonFlies will bring asteroid samples back to Earth during missions that last two to four years. Some samples will help the company determine mining targets, while others will probably be sold to researchers and collectors, officials said.

The public will get to fly along with both probes, whose activities will likely be funded in some measure by corporate sponsorship, Deep Space officials said.

"The public will participate in FireFly and DragonFly missions via live feeds from Mission Control, online courses in asteroid mining sponsored by corporate marketers and other innovative ways to open the doors wide," Gump said. "The Google Lunar X Prize, Unilever and Red Bull each are spending tens of millions of dollars on space sponsorships, so the opportunity to sponsor a FireFly expedition into deep space will be enticing."

Building and refueling spacecraft off Earth

These activities are all precursors to Deep Space's ultimate goal, which is the harvesting and in-space utilization of asteroid resources.

The company intends to begin extracting metals and other building materials from space rocks within 10 years, officials said. These components will first be used to build communications satellites off-Earth, with the construction of space-based solar power stations coming later. Precious metals such as platinum will also be delivered to Earth for terrestrial use.

Deep Space's construction activities will be aided by a patent-pending 3D printer called the MicroGravity Foundry, officials said.

"The MicroGravity Foundry is the first 3D printer that creates high-density, high-strength metal components even in zero gravity," company co-founder and MicroGravity Foundry inventor Stephen Covey said in a statement. "Other metal 3D printers sinter powdered metal, which requires a gravity field and leaves a porous structure, or they use low-melting point metals with less strength."

Deep Space Industries will also focus on extracting asteroid water, which can be split into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen — the chief components of rocket fuel. The company's mining efforts could thus lead to the establishment of in-space "gas stations" that allow satellites and journeying spacecraft to top up their tanks relatively cheaply and efficiently.

"We will only be visitors in space until we learn how to live off the land there," Tumlinson said. "This is the Deep Space mission — to find, harvest and process the resources of space to help save our civilization and support the expansion of humanity beyond the Earth — and doing so in a step-by-step manner that leverages off our space legacy to create an amazing and hopeful future for humanity."

Deep Space Industries' ambitions are similar to those of Planetary Resources, which also plans to tap asteroid metals and water to help open the solar system up to exploration and exploitation.

Planetary Resources could prove to be a tough competitor. It was founded by private-spaceflight pioneers Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson, and its deep-pocketed investors include Google execs Larry Page and Eric Schmidt.

Boeing CST-100: Next-Generation Spaceship

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

The Boeing Company is an international aviation firm that is perhaps best known for building super-large passenger jets. But in the space field, the company is an established presence because of its work on the shuttle and the International Space Station.

This work is preparing Boeing to make a new spacecraft to carry astronauts. Boeing is constructing the CST-100 capsule, a spaceship that is similar in shape to the Apollo spacecraft as well as the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle being constructed right now by Lockheed Martin and its partners.

When finished, the CST-100 will transport astronauts into Earth orbit and to the International Space Station.

NASA is providing Boeing with funding to achieve this goal, with the aim of starting up a new spacecraft program in the wake of the shuttle's retirement. Flights should take place around the middle of the next decade.

Partners seeking business markets

The spacecraft is designed to carry up to seven astronauts, with additional cargo also possible if fewer astronauts fly in a particular mission. Measuring 14.8 feet (4.5 meters) across at its widest point, the gumdrop-shaped spacecraft will first fly into space aboard Atlas 5 rockets.

Boeing isn't going at this venture alone. Another destination for its spacecraft could be an inflatable space station being proposed by Bigelow. As such, Bigelow has been committing some resources to the CST-100's development. [Gallery: CST-100: Photos of Boeing's Private Space Capsule]

Also, Boeing plans to grant Space Adventures the chance to sell any unused seats on the CST-100 for joyrides into low Earth orbit. However, the company has said it is not entirely sure what sort of business markets will arise for its spacecraft, if any.

"The market is obviously going to be there," said John Mulholland, vice president and program manager for Boeing Commercial Programs, in a 2012 SPACE.com interview.

"I hope it's in the near-term…but I'd say right now, it is soft because no one has been able to penetrate and really do it on a recurring basis. We'll see."

Money from NASA

NASA is looking to develop a new spacecraft to replace the shuttle. As such, it is providing money to several space companies for development of private spaceships. The program, called Commercial Crew Development (CCDev), has proved to be a lucrative one for Boeing.

The aerospace company received $18 million from NASA in February 2010 in the program's first round of funding, then an additional $92 million in the second round in April 2011. A smaller contract, for $9.99 million, was awarded for certification qualifications in 2012.

In addition to Boeing's CST-100, NASA recently provided financial support for Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX)'s Dragon spacecraft and Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser. These companies have been meeting flight milestones of their own in recent years, with SpaceX having a banner one in 2012 as Dragonreached the International Space Station twice.

But NASA has received less money than it asked for; in 2012, Congress offered only $406 million for commercial crew development, less than half of NASA's $850 million request. This has pushed back the timeline for the first commercial flight by at least two years, the agency has said.

Still, the agency hopes that at least one of these spacecraft will be ready in the 2016-17 timeframe to launch humans into space, which would reduce the current dependency on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. Boeing has stated it believes it can fly CST-100 by 2015 or 2016, depending on funding.

"These contracts represent important progress in restoring human spaceflight capabilities to the United States," Phil McAlister, director of NASA's commercial spaceflight development division, said in a statement in December 2012.

"NASA and its industry partners are committed to the goal of safely and cost-effectively launching astronauts from home within the next five years."

Preparing for the first flight

As the funding continues to flow from NASA, Boeing has been putting the CST-100 through a suite of tests to get it ready for the first spaceflights.

In 2011, the company put a 12-by-14 inch model of the CST-100 in a wind tunnel to determine the spacecraft's aerodynamic characteristics. The model was expected to be put in 20 different positions to simulate different phases of an abort-mode landing.

The next year, Boeing did parachute drop tests of the CST-100 to determine how well the spacecraft's parachutes and air bags worked. Unlike the Apollo missions, the CST-100 will touch down on land, making the air bags especially important for the job.

"It's been an interesting last couple of years for us," Roger Krone, president of Boeing's network and space systems, said in 2012.

"I think many people in the industry associate Boeing with the shuttle program and the International Space Station. [This is] kind of a chance for us to rethink what our space strategy is."

Later in the year, the company and NASA determined what would be the basic layout of the spacecraft, which NASA considers an important milestone under the third round of CCDev.

As late as 2012, Boeing said it is very dependent on NASA's money for continued work on CST-100. Should the funds dry up, Boeing hinted they may have to dial back development of the spacecraft.

"It's a tough question," said Keith Reiley, deputy program manager of Boeing's commercial crew development, at the inaugural Spacecraft Technology Expo in Los Angeles in May 2012.

"I frankly don't know. We've thought about it, but there's not anything official that we've done. Obviously NASA would be providing a significant amount of money. Would The Boeing Company be willing to continue that at that level? I doubt it – maybe at some lower level, but I really don't know."

However, as of early 2013 there is no hint yet of Boeing preparing to slow down. The company will continue running tests on CST-100, still firmly focused on bringing astronauts into space by the middle of the decade.

Boeing's next competition will be for a second phase of certification contract, which is expected to start in 2014. This is expected to include all the verification and development milestones needed for human spaceflights to the International Space Station.

NASA officials have noted it will be an open competition, so the CST-100 will once again have to prove itself in the next round.

Aerojet Successfully Test Fires AJ26 Engine

Jason Rhian - AmericaSpace.org

Aerojet has conducted a successful test fire of the company's AJ26 rocket engine at NASA's Stennis Space Center located in Mississippi. The test fire was conducted on Friday, Jan. 18. NASA, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Aerojet monitored the test firing. The AJ26 is planned for use on Orbital's Antares launch vehicle.

Friday's test fire marked the eleventh AJ26 to be tested at Stennis. The AJ26 is, in actuality, a Russian engine formerly known as the NK-33. Aerojet modified the engines by removing some harnessing and adding systems that would make the engines compatible with U.S. systems.

"This test kicks off a crucial year for the AJ26 engine," said Aerojet's Executive Director of Space & Launch Programs Pete Cova. "We have multiple engine acceptance tests at Stennis in the plan, as well as support of the upcoming Antares Stage 1 Hot Fire Test and the first demonstration test flight. Our team has worked hard to get to this point, and we're looking forward to seeing AJ26 engines fly."

After engineers have reviewed the data from the test, the AJ26 will be readied for flight and then shipped to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, where it will be installed into the first stage of Orbital's Antares rocket.

An Aerojet press release describes the AJ26 in the following terms: Aerojet's AJ26 engine is an oxidizer-rich, staged-combustion LO2/Kerosene engine that achieves very high performance in a lightweight compact package. The AJ26 is a modified NK-33 engine originally designed and produced in Russia for the Russian N1 lunar launch vehicle. Aerojet purchased approximately 40 NK-33 engines in the mid-1990s and, under contract with Orbital, the company is modifying the engines specifically for the Antares rocket. Aerojet has been developing design modifications to the NK-33 since the mid-1990s to ensure that the AJ26 is suitable for commercial launchers.

The first Antares test flight is slated to occur next month. If all goes according to plan, the rocket will be used to send Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft into orbit. Orbital is one of the two companies currently working under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or "COTS," contract. The other company is SpaceX, which has already demonstrated the viability of both their Falcon 9 rocket as well as the company's Dragon spacecraft (the latter has already traveled and delivered payloads to the International Space Station twice).

Orbital has selected NASA Wallops Flight Facility located in Virginia to launch Antares from.

NASA has expressed support for Orbital, despite the fact that two failures on the firm's Taurus XL launch vehicle were lost (both the Glory and Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 missions were lost when the rockets' payload fairings failed to separate), costing the space agency some $700 million. Despite a handful of failures, Orbital has been involved with a number of successes, including the Fermi and GALEX space telescopes, the X-43 scramjet test vehicle, the GeoEye Satellite Imaging Company, as well as the Minotaur and Pegasus launch vehicles. It is hoped that with the rise of the Antares and Cygnus rocket spacecraft duo that Orbital will be able to add yet another feather into its cap, as well as strengthen the role of commercial partners in achieving NASA's goal. To this end, the AJ26 is viewed as an important element of Orbital's aspirations.

NASA, ESA Forge Deep Space Alliance With Orion Partnership

Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily

The European Space Agency (ESA) will leverage its International Space Station (ISS) experience with the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) into a critical-path responsibility in the early development of NASA's Orion/Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle.

ESA will provide a service module for one and possibly two test flights of the new capsule and the new Space Launch System (SLS), the two agencies announced Jan. 16.

The preliminaries, including hardware responsibilities and contractor roles, have been in the works for months. ESA ministers pledged a 60% commitment of their cost — about €450 million ($600 million) in late 2012 — with plans to consider the remaining investment in mid-2014, said Thomas Reiter, ESA's director of human spaceflight and operations.

The basis of a budding alliance that could place European astronauts aboard future U.S.-led deep space missions to cis-lunar space, near Earth asteroids and perhaps Mars was a longstanding participation in the 15-nation ISS. Specifically, ESA's pledge to provide five ATV cargo resupply missions to the six-person orbiting space lab will end with a fourth delivery mission this year, followed by a fifth in 2014.

Elements of ATV technology will now be adapted for NASA Exploration Space Mission-1, an unpiloted 2017 test flight of the Orion capsule and the smaller version of the SLS on a flight to the lunar environs, says Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations. Spare service module components developed under the new agreement, if available, could be rededicated to the service module portion of Exploration Space Mission-2, a 2021 piloted test of the Orion and SLS on a similar trajectory.

The two agencies expressed cautious optimism about the future course of the partnership, the first international involvement in NASA's deep-space ambitions, which are focused on a human mission to a near-Earth asteroid in 2025.

"When we talk about international cooperation, it's not talked about lightly here," Gerstenmaier says. "We probably would not have done this without the experience we had on [the] space station. We have learned the real meaning of cooperation is not actually counting on your partner to be there. It's actually giving up a piece of the spacecraft. That was not done lightly." "When we talk about cooperation, it's not just for political reasons," Reiter adds. "We are looking for synergies in technical and programmatic ways. ESA has proven to be a reliable partner in the context of the ISS. Based on that, especially the ATV, this is a good choice to make for exploration — synergies that have been developed in the past that can be beneficial for reaching a common objective."

Both agencies were careful not to overcommit. "This is a clear path forward, a clear commitment to a really basic program for the time until the end of this decade," Reiter says.

Under the terms, NASA will furnish the Orion capsule, launch abort system, and adapters that protect the capsule's heat shield, and merge the service module to the SLS as well as jettisonable fairings.

ESA will provide the actual service module structure holding the propulsion and solar power components as well as the life support needs of the Orion crews. The first service module will integrate spare NASA shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System components. The Europeans will also provide sustaining engineering for their hardware.

NASA has no plans to alter its $6.6 billion agreement with Lockheed Martin, the Orion/MPCV prime contractor, says Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion project manager. Plans for a late 2014 unpiloted test flight of the Orion atop a Delta IV heavy will not be affected by the ESA agreement. That test will feature a high-speed re-entry of the capsule to test the heat shielding and verify other systems prior to the capsule's planned critical design review.

Zero Robotics compete on space station to clean up space junk
WL team captures 2nd place at MIT

Mikel Livingston - Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

West Lafayette High School's DevilTech Engineering team took second place in the Zero Robotics National tournament held Jan. 11 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Held in conjunction with the International Space Station, the competition pitted students from more than 140 teams across the USA and Europe.

The team was one of 27 teams qualifying for the MIT finals based on its performance in preliminary rounds.

For the competition, high school students operated robotic satellites aboard the space station using programs they wrote. Finalists watched live via downlink from the space station as astronauts supervised the satellites during the final rounds.

Students designed the satellites to perform space debris removal and navigation tasks in a micro-gravity environment.

The West Lafayette team advanced to the top three after winning previous rounds and was awarded second place following the final match.

Team members include captain Jerry Ma, Albert Hwang, John McDougall, Adam Anderson, Anand Hastak, Cade Kane, Ben Tally and Nick Birkhimer. Teacher Steve Florence advised the team.

This year's team was sponsored by the West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation, CSS-Dynamac and Prism Tie-Dye.

A live video of the fall 2012 competition can be found at http://amps-web.amps.ms.mit.edu/public/AeroAstro/11jan 2013

Trees Return Along Shuttle Endeavour's Route to Science Center

Toni Guinyard & Jonathan Lloyd – KNBC TV (Los Angeles)

Trees cut down to make way for space shuttle Endeavour during its journey on Los Angeles streets to the California Science Center are returning to stretches along the shuttle's route.

More than 400 trees were removed to provide clearance for the retired orbiter when it moved from a hangar at Los Angeles International Airport in October to a temporary home at the Science Center in Exposition Park. Trees are being replanted in Inglewood, Westchester and other areas along the route.

The decision to remove the trees raised questions in communities along the route. The shuttle -- it has a wingspan of 78 feet -- traveled north from LAX, east on Manchester Avenue, north on Crenshaw Boulevard before heading east on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The Science Center paid approximately $2 million to plant about 1,000 10- to 14-foot high trees.

Work in Inglewood is expected to be complete in about one week. Remaining areas should be replanted within a month.

As for the shuttle, it has been on display in its temporary location at the Samuel Oschin Pavilion. The shuttle will be relocated to a new Science Center addition called the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.

Charlotte museum getting NASA artifacts from shuttle program

Mark Washburn - Charlotte Observer

Pieces of NASA's space shuttle program soon will be landing in Charlotte.

In a key acquisition of space history, an emergency escape basket – designed to whisk astronauts away from the launch pad in event of trouble – will become part of the permanent collection at the Carolinas Aviation Museum, Shawn Dorsch, the museum's president, said Monday.

It is part of a cache of items from the shuttle program that the space agency is assigning to prominent museums across the nation, Dorsch said. Other shuttle equipment is expected to be earmarked for the Charlotte museum soon, he said.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime, golden opportunity to get these artifacts," Dorsch said.

Additionally, NASA has notified the museum that it will be getting other items on loan by mid-March, including a production model of the Hubble Space Telescope, an astronaut survival kit and a one-third scale model of the Apollo command module from the moon program.

Expanding the museum's collection of space-related items is a priority at the fast-growing exhibition center behind Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Dorsch said the space program represents the latest in aviation technology and serves as an inspiration for younger generations.

Rare items in storage

Already in the museum's vault are artifacts from the Mercury program of the 1960s, which was the nation's first foray into manned spaceflight. In storage are five launch consoles from Mercury bunkers at Cape Canaveral and a plotting board for tracing the trajectory of launches. They will be put on display with the shuttle items.

Equipment from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space flights are relatively rare because most were scrapped after the programs ended, Dorsch said. NASA ensured that shuttle artifacts would be saved for historical purposes and invited museums three years ago to apply for vestiges of the program, which spanned 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

NASA is considering other requests from the Charlotte museum for items including space gloves, heat tiles and a shuttle engine.

Baskets never used

Emergency escape baskets were designed to carry up to three suited astronauts who would have to climb out of the shuttle onto the gantry, enter the pods and then slide down wires at a speed of more than 50 mph to a bunker 1,200 feet away. Seven baskets were typically rigged on the tower.

Though astronauts were drilled on their use, emergency evacuation baskets were never needed on the launch pad. Two shuttle missions ended in disaster: Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch in 1986 and Columbia disintegrated on re-entry in 2003.

Carolinas Aviation Museum has grown from a small exhibition in an old airport hangar to a modern venue attracting tens of thousands of visitors annually. Its prime attraction is the Flight 1549 jetliner that belly-landed after takeoff from LaGuardia in the "Miracle on the Hudson" incident in 2009.

Holding on to Downey's place in the space race
The Downey plant employed tens of thousands of aerospace workers who worked on the Apollo and space shuttle projects from the '60s to the '90s

Gale Holland - Los Angeles Times

Gerald Blackburn walked out of his office and surveyed the ruins of what was once the nerve center of America's space race.

The vast debris field with giant cranes nosing through heaps of broken concrete and metal sheeting had been home to the Downey Industrial Site, a 160-acre campus southeast of Los Angeles where engineers like Blackburn designed the spacecraft that put Americans on the moon.

The largely abandoned buildings were leveled over the holidays to make way for a big-box retail center.

"Unfortunately this is the view of what's left," Blackburn said.

Blackburn is disheartened not just by the demolition but the lack of regard for the legacy of the Downey Plant. From the 1960s to the 1990s, tens of thousands of engineers and technicians built the Apollo modules, and then designed and supervised assembly of the space shuttle fleet.

Blackburn, who worked 35-plus years at the Downey Plant as a technician, systems engineer and project manager, said the history is vanishing with the buildings. He tried not to watch as the structures came down.

Dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and khakis, the bearded Blackburn looks younger than his 68 years. Growing up in the Lynwood/South Gate area, Blackburn was a "garage tinkerer" who started working at the Downey Plant straight out of Don Bosco Technical Institute, a Roman Catholic high school in Rosemead.

It was a time of challenge and excitement, he said. "We would get up in the morning wondering what new problem there was to solve," Blackburn said. "The nation called us and we responded."

It was also a time of sacrifice; marriages crumbled, and Blackburn lost sight in one eye in a testing accident.

Blackburn runs a volunteer group, the Aerospace Legacy Foundation, out of the last original building of significance at the plant site, an Art Deco timber-and-beam structure designed by Gordon Kaufman, architect of the Hoover Dam and the Los Angeles Times building.

His offices are filled with memorabilia from what he calls the "Cosmic Camelot" years. A photograph on one wall shows women at the assembly line in high-rise trousers and pinned-up hair. During World War II, tens of thousands of workers at the Downey Plant built training planes for the military.

A panel from the Apollo 13 moon capsule is mounted with a plaque signed by the crew, thanking Downey workers for getting them home safely. "That's one of our treasures," Blackburn said. By the back door is a wooden cutout of the Snoopy cartoon character dressed as an astronaut labeled in peeling paint, "Next Launch Date." The sign was used to announce missions, he said.

After the space shuttle program wound down, the city of Downey bought the site from the federal government and turned part of it into a movie production facility. Major films like "Spider-Man" were made at Downey Studios.

But advances in movie technology and runaway production eliminated the need for big sound stages, and the facility shut down, Blackburn said.

The city heavily courted Tesla Motors to replace film production with electric car manufacturing. For a full-page newspaper advertisement, the entire Downey City Council dressed up in "Downey [Heart] Tesla" T-shirts, holding a banner that read "Apollo to Tesla … the legacy continues."

But in 2010, Tesla decided to move into an old Toyota factory in Fremont in the Bay Area.

Many people in Downey were deeply disappointed, Blackburn said, when the City Council in January approved plans for the 77-acre big-box center "Tierra Luna Marketplace."

"Everybody's reaction was this development seems so short-sighted," Blackburn said. "Can't you do better?"

There's already a shopping center on the former plant site, Downey Landing. A sports park, a Kaiser Permanente hospital and a small museum called the Columbia Memorial Space Center are also on the grounds. The space center honors the crew of the space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart on reentry in 2003, killing all seven on board.

Although Downey has managed to save the first Taco Bell and the first McDonald's arch, all that's left at the Downey Plant to honor the men and women who worked on the space program, aside from the aerospace legacy's collection and efforts, are a few plaques and artwork, Blackburn said.

"It's a very small token of 80 years of history that happened here," he said.

Blackburn had hoped there could be a tie-in event at the Downey Plant to the ballyhooed journey last September of the space shuttle Endeavour to its retirement berth in Exposition Park. It didn't happen.

A full-scale shuttle mock-up that Downey workers built in the 1970s to land the space shuttle contract survived the plant's destruction. Blackburn and the city would like to see it on display for visitors. But the city is still looking for money to build a permanent home for the mock-up.

So while crowds lined up 10 deep on sidewalks to watch the Endeavour overhead, the mock-up sat under lock and key in a white tent next to the Columbia Memorial Space Center. The Endeavour flew over the 5 Freeway in the vicinity of Downey, but only because it was on its way to Disneyland, Blackburn said.

Blackburn said he is developing a virtual tour of the Downey Plant for smartphones that visitors could view as they walk through the old grounds. He is also hoping to team with some of the other aerospace pioneers and companies to commemorate and preserve their joint history.

"The story has not been told of the men and women of this nation and this community that built the most incredible and complex machines in the history of mankind," Blackburn said.

Former NASA worker carves wooden shuttles

Lauren Morrison - WAFF TV (Huntsville)

A former Marshall Space Flight Center employee is combining his love of NASA and his passion for woodworking to create a unique piece of art.

It's a labor of love in the shape of a shuttle.

"I focus mainly on the external tank, and the three main boosters, which is what we managed at the Marshall Space Flight Center," said Scott "Shuttleman" Phillips.

Phillips has been creating these wooden wonders for years.

"There's over 20,000 species of woods available, and so I started making myself known with walnut and cherry and some of the domestics and then the international type woods," he said. "Each one contains different woods. It's like a musical song being made by its notes, because each wood is the note and I just put it on the model, and it becomes a song."

There is a lot of history behind the project too.

"The shuttle program was something people took pride in, and I think the American people took pride in it. The models that I build represent that excellence," said Phillips.

An excellence that Phillips was part of…

"I was the first man out of the external tank back in 1981 when Bob Crippen and John Young flew," he said.

And those who took part in the American space shuttle program have had the chance to make the Shuttleman's history books.

Nearly every astronaut to come through Marshall Space Flight Center to be debriefed after a mission has signed a shuttle.

"Aileen Collins, John Glenn, Brian Duffy... A lot of the first came into Marshall, and I got them to sign them," Phillips said.

NASA's manned space flight program might be over, but for the Shuttleman, his mission is far from complete.

"You shouldn't be sorry it's over; you should be glad it happened," he said.

NASA not interested in handing over Shiloh site
Agency rebuffs state's request to take over property

James Dean – Florida Today

NASA has rebuffed the state's request to take over property at the north end of Kennedy Space Center for development of a commercial launch complex, a potential setback in Florida's effort to keep SpaceX from moving some launches to another state.

But the space agency may be open to alternatives that don't involve transferring ownership of land NASA says it still needs to support future missions.

"We believe that there may be solutions to this need other than full conveyance of these properties to the state," Seth Statler, associate administrator for legislative and intergovernmental affairs at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., wrote in a recent letter to Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, the head of Space Florida's board.

Space Florida President Frank DiBello expressed disappointment in an email last week to Carroll's chief of staff, John Konkus, that was released publicly on the governor's Project Sunburst site.

"The response is disappointing in that it does not reflect either the sense of urgency or commitment for commercial market thinking and opportunities ahead of us," DiBello said. "This is only one step in what is likely to be a long process, however we will do everything we can to shorten it."

Carroll last September wrote the administrators of NASA and the U.S. Department of Transportation to request roughly 150 acres to establish a launch complex that would operate independently from NASA and the Air Force's Eastern Range.

The complex would be located near the Brevard-Volusia county line in the former citrus community of Shiloh, just inside the borders of KSC and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Environmental studies would help identify the exact site.

Though more than one company could use the complex, it represents the state's attempt to keep SpaceX from committing to Texas, Georgia or other states where it is exploring the feasibility of a new pad for launches of commercial payloads.

Anticipating a significant increase in its flight rate, SpaceX wants a pad that offers easier access, more control over launch schedules and lower operating costs than might be possible inside secure government facilities such as KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

If the Shiloh site is federally owned, it would remain part of the Eastern Range's jurisdiction.

Statler said NASA has not deemed the Shiloh property "excess," or unneeded.

"Furthermore," he wrote, "this property continues to serve NASA's long-term mission requirements, as a buffer zone between NASA mission and local communities and as a potential site for future mission requirements."

The state had also asked NASA to transfer ownership of Kennedy's shuttle runway, which could become a hub for privately operated space planes.

The center already plans to turn the Shuttle Landing Facility over to a non-NASA operator later this year and is evaluating proposals. Statler said the state request would be considered separately after that process was complete.

Future negotiations will continue between DiBello and Kennedy's Center Planning and Development Office, led by Joyce Riquelme.

"We wish to thank you for your continued interest and efforts in supporting the development of a strong space transportation infrastructure with significant private sector involvement," Statler said. "We look forward to working with Space Florida to make this vision become a reality."

DiBello told Carroll's office he would seek clarity on NASA's interest in supporting the Shiloh proposal.

Space Florida has already solicited input from companies interested in launching rockets there, and plans to start an environmental assessment of the site soon.

State requests spaceport land near Oak Hill

Dinah Voyles Pulver - Daytona Beach News-Journal

A state request asking for 150 acres of NASA-owned land near the Volusia-Brevard county line for a commercial spaceport didn't get the warm reception backers had hoped, but officials with the state's space development corporation say they plan to keep moving forward.

The proposed commercial launch complex is one of several efforts that Space Florida, the state-run public economic development corporation, is working on with local and regional leaders.

Space Florida also is trying to convince NASA to let it manage the former space shuttle landing facility for commercial business and working with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and others to get the Federal Aviation Administration to designate the entire state as a test site for unmanned commercial aircraft.

Newly elected Volusia County Councilwoman Deb Denys hopes the state will win NASA's support for its proposals.

"I think it's very promising for all of Volusia County," said Denys, who recently met with Space Florida officials.

With the opportunities for job creation that a launch pad would bring, Denys said the potential is "tremendous."

Space Florida officials, who have indicated the spaceport would likely be in southern Volusia just south of Oak Hill, say they plan to keep moving forward on the launch complex proposal, regardless of the less-than-enthusiastic response from NASA. They are seeking proposals from companies interested in developing a commercial spaceport and also preparing to launch an environmental study of potential sites, still hoping to win NASA approval for the concept at some point.

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll wrote the federal government last fall asking NASA for 150 acres of "excess" land north of Haulover Canal for the launch complex. The federal space agency owns roughly 12,000 acres in that vicinity. In total, it owns 140,000 acres at Cape Canaveral. Land not being actively used by the John F. Kennedy Space Center is managed as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore.

In a response released last week, NASA said the property in question isn't "excess," that it's still needed as a buffer zone between NASA missions and the community and as "a potential site for future mission requirements. However the agency indicated it would like to "further discuss" how it might make lands available for a commercial launch complex "independent of the federal range."

Space Florida President Frank DiBello called the response "disappointing," saying it did not reflect the "sense of urgency or commitment for commercial market thinking."

On Saturday, Dale Ketcham, Space Florida's chief of strategic alliances, said the corporation "won't give up on this effort to develop new commercial launch capabilities."

"We hope NASA will realize the urgency of our request and the need to respond to the market quickly," Ketcham said.

By Jan. 23, Space Florida expects to hear from companies interested in establishing a commercial launch complex to learn what those facilities might look like and how much space might be required. It hopes to use that information as a baseline for a contractor to conduct environmental and engineering studies for NASA-owned sites south of Oak Hill.

Some in the community have concerns about the expansion of commercial uses on the refuge and seashore land, fearing environmental damage and less public access for activities such as fishing and bird-watching.

Space Florida has been talking with groups to understand and try to address concerns, meeting recently with Space Coast Audubon in Brevard County, and a group of anthropologists who wanted to know more about the agency's plans to develop near the site of the former community of Shiloh, a historic community displaced in the 1950s when NASA took over the Cape.

Ketcham said Space Florida expects to kick off the formal environmental and engineering assessment sometime during the next couple of months, a process that will require "many opportunities for public comment and input."

Volusia County officials meet regularly with Space Florida, to offer support on several fronts, said Rick Karl, director of aviation and economic resources for the county.

The county's goal is to see a small percentage of the land in the seashore or refuge used for the commercial spaceport "in an environmentally sensitive way," Karl said, while ensuring that "the vast majority of the acreage around Haulover Canal and Mosquito Lagoon is preserved for environmental purposes."

Shuttle facility's future

Florida officials also are waiting on a decision from NASA regarding the former shuttle landing facility. Carroll's letter last fall asked federal officials to consider turning over that land to Space Florida.

The Space Center recently began soliciting proposals from groups that might want the facility, "seeking the best ideas to re-purpose/re-utilize" its capabilities. Acknowledging the environmental concerns that have thwarted several previous attempts to develop additional facilities at the Cape, the center's guidelines stated potential bidders would need to "understand the environmental factors present."

The Space Center is developing an overall future plan for its property in Brevard and Volusia and is conducting an environmental impact analysis. A center-wide environmental impact statement is expected in May 2014.

The Space Center's official schedule calls for handing off the landing facility to a partner by Oct. 1.

The center said it is "committed to working with private industry in new and innovative ways as the agency's premier launch center adapts to changing space flight, research and exploration goals in America."

Volusia seeks drone test site

Space Florida also is working with Volusia County, as well as Embry-Riddle, to develop Volusia as an "active research and development location" for unmanned systems.

The FAA is under a mandate from Congress "to do the homework necessary to understand what technologies are going to be required" to allow that to happen and to have it done by 2016, Ketcham said.

Congress directed the FAA to establish six test ranges where those policies could be worked out.

But, that process is moving forward more slowly than originally planned.

The FAA is collecting screening information it will use to choose the test sites. The agency received 228 public comments over the summer. Once the screening policies are in place, the agency will seek responses from entities that want to manage the test sites, FAA officials said last week.

Space Florida's plan is to "propose the entire state as a test range, not a single location," Ketcham said.

That would include military bases where drone activity is already under way and has been for decades, the Gulf of Mexico, already used as a test range, and Daytona Beach, home of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which hopes to be a major player in that industry as it moves forward.

Florida only has to come in sixth to win, Ketcham said. "We're pretty confident and we're putting together a pretty good proposal," he said.

Even if Florida isn't chosen, Space Florida officials said it won't change anything already happening.

Ketcham said they're "still moving forward with a variety of institutions and companies."

James M. Funkhouser (Age 83)

Washington Post

Longtime resident of Fairfax, VA passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 8, at his residence.

Beloved husband of 51 years to Nelda S. Funkhouser; devoted father of Jim J. Funkhouser of Manassas Park, VA and Laura (Patrick) Vaughan of Purcellville, VA; loving grandfather of Morgan and McLane Funkhouser and Grace, Maggie and Marian Vaughan. Also survived by sister Mary Anne Funkhouser of Tulsa, OK.

He grew up in Plattsburg, Missouri and after high school he proudly served for five years in the U.S. Navy. Following his military service he graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Journalism. The majority of his career was spent in public affairs with NASA in Washington, DC.

Funeral Services were held Saturday, January 12 at St. George's United Methodist Church, Fairfax. Interment was at Fairfax Memorial Park. Memorial contributions may be made to St. George's United Methodist Church in loving memory of Jim Funkhouser.

We have ignition in Baikonur conflict

Olga Zakutnyaya - Russia Today (Opinion)

Only 12 Proton-M launches were approved by Kazakhstan for 2013 instead of the planned 17. The decision has put the future of Russian-Kazakh space cooperation under further threat. What does fate have in store for the famed launch pad in the near future?

It seems the status quo, which has survived in the space world for several decades, is to face an imminent challenge. Once again, Baikonur cosmodrome, Russia's main launch pad, is at the centre of the conflict. Kazakhstan has refused to approve the limit of 17 Proton launches that Russia asked for in 2013, allowing only 12, even fewer than in 2012. Russia's response could be to reduce the annual rent paid to Kazakhstan for the site.

Proton-M, currently the heaviest launcher in the Russian space programme, provided 10 of the 24 launches in 2012 (plus an additional Proton-K launch, also from Baikonur). Its capabilities could only be replaced by Angara, which is still-under-development. Moreover, as Russian space officials have announced, no launch pads for Protons are available other than those at Baikonur. Should the available number of launches diminish, a good deal of the contracts with launch operators will come under threat of termination or penalty sanctions.

One apparent reason for the decision could be the Proton rocket's toxic propellant, perhaps a legitimate bargaining point. Last year also saw two failures, in August and December, fortunately, they occurred in space and had no impact on the environment. As a result, the next Proton launch was postponed until at least the end of March.

Few however doubt that the real cause of the tension is Russia's apparent future withdrawal from Baikonur. Kazakhstan is concerned about the future of the space port after the new Vostochnyi cosmodrome is up and running, which may be as soon as 2015. Moreover, Vostochnyi also threatens Baiterek, the joint Russian-Kazakh endeavour at Baikonur, which was initially intended mainly for Angara launches. If Russia builds Vostochnyi, there will be no reason to maintain another launch pad incurring additional rental costs. Russia has also announced that it is going to make more use of its northern Plesetsk cosmodrome, and launch the majority of state satellites from there, rather than Kazakhstan.

The conflict follows a statement by Talgat Musabaev, head of the Kazakh space agency, in early December 2012, blaming Russia for failing to follow the Baiterek agreement and calling for Proton launches to be cut. As the dispute heats up, both sides will have to make decisions with long-term consequences.

Although its future might have appeared certain until 2050, Baikonur may not perhaps remain Russia's primary space hub after the Soviet Union's demise. Sooner or later, it has to be replaced. On the other hand, Kazakhstan does have a usable cosmodrome, but who will use it?

One possible partner is Ukraine, as news of Kazakh limitations on Proton launches emerged, it was announced that Ukraine is ready to consider joining the Baiterek project with its Zenit launcher. The possibility could be discussed during a meeting of the two countries' space leaders in late January.

Meanwhile, Russia's first 2013 launch from Baikonur is scheduled for February 5, when Soyuz-2.1a, equipped with the Fregat booster, will deliver six Globalstar telecommunication satellites into orbit.

END

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Keep the shuttle flying

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - January 22, 2013 and JSC Today

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