Fwd: Human Spaceflight (and Asteroid Fly-By) News - February 8, 2013 and JSC Today

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: February 8, 2013 7:10:48 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight (and Asteroid Fly-By) News - February 8, 2013 and JSC Today

Happy Friday everyone.  It was great to see and chat with so many of you yesterday at our monthly NASA Retirees Luncheon.

 

Especially good to have Floyd Bennett join us.   Great to see Phil Dean's wife, Fern, since she had her close call with the mild stroke at the end of last year.  

 

It was wonderful to see all the spouses, Dean Schwartz's wife, George Dawson's wife, Jon Michael Smith's wife, Claranita Heafner's husband, Alex Pope's wife, Bill Reed's wife, etc.  (my apologies if I left someone out) too many tables to get around to visit with!    I encourage you to bring your spouses or close friends to join us in the fellowship we enjoy monthly at our luncheon!

 

Also,,,,Thanks to Denny Holt for joining us to spread the word of the upcoming special programs/speakers he is lining up for future NASA Alumni League (NAL) meetings.

 

I have heard from several of you about having problems signing up for the JSC center director newsletter  -  not sure why the webpage is not loading for you but I will be glad to enter your subscription for you if you are experiencing problems as well.   Just email me and I will get you subscribed.   An alternative option suggested by Norm Chaffee to NAL members quoted below is the following:

 

"Folks - If you are interested in receiving the new JSC Director's Newsletter, or the Roundup, electronically, you should contact Lynnette Madison at JSC at  lynnette.b.madison@nasa.gov"

 

Have a great and safe weekend.

 

 

 

Friday, February 8, 2013

 

JSC TODAY HEADLINES

1.            Watch the Goings and Comings of Russian Supply Ships on NASA TV

2.            Today: Space Microbiology and Toxicology Lecture

3.            Cupid's Valentine Delivery Service at Starport -- Last Day to Order

4.            Feed Your Inner Cookie Monster!

5.            JSC Engineering Fabrication Forum

6.            JSC Wireless Network Outage: Activity -- Feb. 9, 6 a.m., to Feb. 10, 6 p.m.

7.            In the Teague: JSAT Why I Work Safely Valentine's Day Photo Badges

8.            Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting Feb. 12

9.            Space Explorers Toastmasters

10.          Upcoming March ViTS Classes

11.          Confined Space Entry - 8:30 a.m.; Lockout/Tagout - 1 p.m. -- Feb. 22 in Building 20, Room 205/206

________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY

" A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault. "

 

-- John Henry Newman

________________________________________

1.            Watch the Goings and Comings of Russian Supply Ships on NASA TV

NASA TV will provide live coverage of the departure of one Russian cargo spacecraft at the International Space Station and the launch and arrival of another.

The ISS Progress 48 resupply ship, which arrived at the station last August, will depart the Pirs docking compartment on Saturday, Feb. 9. The cargo craft will be deorbited later in the day to burn up over the Pacific Ocean. NASA TV coverage of the undocking will begin at 7 a.m. CST. The undocking is scheduled for 7:15 a.m.

That move will clear Pirs for the arrival of the new ISS Progress 50 resupply spacecraft. It is scheduled to launch at 8:41 a.m. Monday, Feb. 11, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA TV coverage of the launch begins at 8:30 a.m.

Like its two predecessors, Progress 50 is scheduled to launch into an accelerated, four-orbit rendezvous with the station, docking just six hours after launch. NASA TV coverage will resume at 2 p.m. for the rendezvous and docking activities, with docking scheduled for 2:40 p.m.

If any technical issues arise, the Russian flight control team can default to a standard two-day rendezvous plan for the Progress that would result in docking on Feb. 13.

JSC employees with wired computer network connections can view NASA TV using onsite IPTV on channels 404 (standard definition) or 4541 (HD). 

If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367. 

For more information, visit NASA's International Space Station page.

JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111

 

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2.            Today: Space Microbiology and Toxicology Lecture

Please join the Human Systems Academy in a lecture about Space Microbiology and Toxicology. The Microbiology, WAFAL, and Toxicology Laboratories provide technical support, technology development and innovative research to mitigate crew health risk resulting from adverse environmental conditions. Join this lecture to learn more about their important role in maintain crew health and performance during spaceflight missions. Course ID: JSC-HSA-MicroTox

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

Event Date: Friday, February 8, 2013   Event Start Time:9:00 AM   Event End Time:10:00 AM

Event Location: B9/113

 

Add to Calendar

 

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

 

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3.            Cupid's Valentine Delivery Service at Starport -- Last Day to Order

Get your orders in today! Buy your flowers and Valentine gifts at Starport and have your sweetie or co-worker's gift delivered right to his/her desk by Cupid's Delivery Service, or take one home to the kids. Tell someone you Like Them A Latte' for just $10, or that they are Purr-fect, Unforgettable, or Out of This World with a novelty Valentine package for just $6. Add a massage, Inner Space membership or personal training session and make it memorable for your special someone. Stop by the Starport Gift Shops and place your order today. Click here for gift options.

Cyndi Kibby x35352 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

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4.            Feed Your Inner Cookie Monster!

Take the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) expedition in Building 20 next Thursday any time from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to solve the puzzle and earn a Valentine's Day cookie. Meet in the lobby to learn all about LEED buildings and the green-building craze that is sweeping the nation. Houston ranks fourth in the nation among the cities with the most LEED buildings, and eight are here at JSC. So how does that help us? Find out and feed your inner cookie monster at the same time! (Cookies available while supplies last.)

Event Date: Thursday, February 14, 2013   Event Start Time:10:00 AM   Event End Time:2:00 PM

Event Location: Building 20 lobby

 

Add to Calendar

 

JSC Green Team x39845 http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/ja/ja13/greenteam.cfm

 

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5.            JSC Engineering Fabrication Forum

The Engineering Directorate's manufacturing facility in Building 9S and 10 provides JSC flight and advance manufacturing services for flight and non-flight projects/programs across the center. Beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 13, the JSC Engineering Fabrication Forum will convene and meet on the second Wednesday of every month. This forum will provide a vehicle for manufacturing customers to discuss their issues, required capabilities and schedule needs, as well as an educational opportunity for manufacturing personnel to provide a series of ongoing educational topics. As we transition to a new model for funding work in the manufacturing facility, we are also prepared to discuss processes and funding topics.

We encourage manufacturing customers to submit their topics to Dan Petersen by noon on the preceding Friday before the meeting date.

Event start time: 1 p.m.

Event end time: 3 p.m.

Event location: Building 9E, Room 113

Event Date: Wednesday, February 13, 2013   Event Start Time:1:00 PM   Event End Time:3:00 PM

Event Location: Building 9E, Room 113

 

Add to Calendar

 

Dan Petersen x38387

 

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6.            JSC Wireless Network Outage: Activity -- Feb. 9, 6 a.m., to Feb. 10, 6 p.m.

As part of our ongoing effort to enhance the JSC Wireless network, we need to make some network infrastructure changes Feb. 9 to 10 -- from 9 a.m. on Saturday to 6 p.m. on Sunday. During this activity, users will experience intermittent connectivity while accessing the JSC institutional wireless and guest network. This does not affect external contractor bridge connections.

We apologize for the inconvenience and are diligently working with the agency group responsible for managing the wireless infrastructure. We appreciate your continued patience.

For questions regarding this activity and other issues with the network, please contact the ESD Help Desk at x34800.

JSC IRD Outreach x41334 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/default.aspx

 

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7.            In the Teague: JSAT Why I Work Safely Valentine's Day Photo Badges

Your JSC Safety Action Team (JSAT) is hosting a Valentine's Day event on Thursday, Feb. 14, in the Teague Auditorium lobby from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. JSAT volunteers will be on hand to laminate photos of your reason for working safely each day! Begin gathering your favorite photos now -- or take new ones. Bring extra photos and get a photo badge for your spouse or the grandparents. As a time-saver, please pre-trim your photos to 2'' x 2.5''. Photocopies also work well. Drop your photos off for laminating while you participate in the JSC blood drive.

Reese Squires x37776 http://jsat.jsc.nasa.gov

 

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8.            Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting Feb. 12

"Do the next right thing" reminds Al-Anon members to live kindness. Our 12-step meeting is for co-workers, families and friends of those who work or live with the family disease of alcoholism. We meet Tuesday, Feb. 12, in Building 32, Room 146, from 11 to 11:45 a.m. Visitors are welcome.

Event Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2013   Event Start Time:11:00 AM   Event End Time:11:45 AM

Event Location: B. 32, room 146

 

Add to Calendar

 

Employee Assistance Program x36130 http://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/EAP/Pages/default.aspx

 

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9.            Space Explorers Toastmasters

Communicating is not optional in today's society.

Challenge yourself and make an investment in your personal growth.

Club meets on Fridays in Building 30A, Room 1010, at 11:45 a.m.

Duong Nguyen 281-486-6311

 

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10.          Upcoming March ViTS Classes

Welding and Cutting - March 4

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

Fall Protection Authorized User - March 8

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

Machine Guarding Seminar - March 25

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

Shirley Robinson x35145

 

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11.          Confined Space Entry - 8:30 a.m.; Lockout/Tagout - 1 p.m. -- Feb. 22 in Building 20, Room 205/206

SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0806, Confined Space Entry

The purpose of this course is to provide employees with the standards, procedures and requirements necessary for safe entry to and operations in confined spaces. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard 29 CFR 1910.146, "Confined Space," is the basis for this course. The course covers the hazards of working in or around a confined space and the precautions you should take to control these hazards. A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration.

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

SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0814, Lockout/Tagout

The purpose of this course is to provide employees with the standards, procedures and requirements necessary for the control of hazardous energy through lockout and tagout of energy-isolating devices. OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.147, "The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)," is the basis for this course. A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration.

https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_OFFERING_DETAILS&scheduleID=66171

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:

·         2 pm Central (3 EST) – Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Prelaunch News Conf.

·         2:45 pm Central (3:45 EST) – LDCM Mission Science Briefing

·         7 am Central SATURDAY (8 EST) – Progress 48 undocking coverage (undocks at 7:15 CST)

·         11 am Central SUNDAY (Noon EST) – LDCM NASA Social (Tweetup)

 

Human Spaceflight News

Friday – February 8, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Gerstenmaier: ISS Will Shape Commercial Spaceflight

 

Frank Morring, Jr. - Aerospace Daily

 

NASA's top human spaceflight manager says the International Space Station holds the key to a shift from government to commercial access to low Earth orbit, driving the nascent market for new human-rated vehicles as researchers find industrial uses for its microgravity environment. Speaking to the annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference, William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said the station already provides a significant launch market that can only grow as the orbiting lab is better utilized.

 

National space transportation policy still "in work"

 

Jeff Foust - SpacePolitics.com

 

While the Obama Administration issued a new national space policy fairly quickly, releasing it in late June of 2010, it has been slower to develop more specific space policies, such as in the area of space transportation. While there were indications last year that the policy could be done by the fall, no policy has yet been released, and an administration official Thursday offered no specifics about just when that policy might be released. "We continue to work the national space transportation policy," said John Olson, assistant director for space and aeronautics in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, at the FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington Thursday morning.

 

New Director of Johnson Space Center Faces Cutbacks, Uncertainty

 

Greg Flakus - Voice of America

 

Two recent U.S. reports by the National Research Council in December, and the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel in January, have criticized U.S. space policy for lacking focus and also the funds necessary to carry out the goals set by the president and Congress. The reports echoed the complaints of many critics, including a number of former astronauts, who say the space shuttle program should not have been ended before there was another vehicle to replace it. When the U.S. space shuttle was still flying, the Johnson Space Center in Houston was a busy place. But now, all the shuttles are in museums and the Johnson Space Center has laid off hundreds of highly skilled technicians. That's a shame, according to former Johnson Space Center director George Abbey, who is now at Rice University. "Those programs and those people are gone to us, and trying to rebuild that now is going to be a real challenge," Abbey said. The new director of the Johnson Space Center is former astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who is working with what is left of the U.S. human spaceflight program.

 

Orbital planning hot fire test of Antares next week

 

NewSpace Journal

 

Orbital Sciences Corporation plans to perform a hot fire test of the first stage of its new Antares rocket as soon as next Tuesday, a key milestone before the rocket's first launch next month. Speaking at the FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington on Wednesday, Frank Culbertson, executive vice president and general manager for advanced programs at Orbital, said the company had just completed some fueling tests of the Antares first stage on the pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia. "We will do our first hot fire next Tuesday," he said.

 

KSC seeks Sandy money to fend off dune erosion

NASA counting on shuttle launch pads, but sea's march westward imperils them

 

Jim Waymer - Florida Today

 

NASA longs to explore liquid planets but will first have to fend off our own watery world. That could take upwards of $45 million. As the ocean closes in on two historic launch pads, Kennedy Space Center officials have yet to hear how much they'll see of the $15 million Congress just allocated for NASA as part of the $51 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill. KSC hopes for at least $4 million to fix 1.2 miles of eroding dunes that stand between the Atlantic Ocean and the two former space shuttle launch pads — 39A and 39B. Those pads hold the future of human spaceflight, but an ever-encroaching ocean imperils their future.

 

Ind. native on space station anticipates trip home

 

Tom Davies - Associated Press

 

The Indiana native who's commanding the International Space Station said Thursday he's looking forward to a visit back home after he returns from his five months in orbit. Astronaut Kevin Ford spoke via video hookup to the Indiana Senate in the Statehouse, where his older brother, David, was a state senator when he died of cancer in 2008. Ford wore a blue shirt with a large Indiana flag emblem as he floated inside one of the space station's modules for the 20-minute conversation that was shown on a large video board above the Senate's rostrum.

 

Astronaut beams in to Senate

Hoosier native discusses life aboard space station

 

Niki Kelly - Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette

 

Senators and staff received a unique treat Thursday when NASA Commander Kevin Ford beamed into the Indiana Senate for a broadcast visit from the International Space Station. Wearing a blue sweatshirt adorned with the state flag emblem, the native Hoosier talked about the importance of space exploration, his time going to school in Indiana and his 105-day stint on the station. Ford is the brother of former Sen. David Ford, R-Hartford City, who died in 2008 after a battle with cancer.

 

Astronaut Hadfield gets on the horn for chat with earthbound Capt. Kirk

 

Canadian Press

 

http://youtu.be/f1ro4zkw-LA

 

There was a surreal moment in outer space Thursday morning, as the man who played Captain James T. Kirk chatted with a real-life astronaut aboard the International Space Station. William Shatner, the Canadian-born actor of Star Trek fame, spoke for a few minutes with Chris Hadfield, who is on a five-month space voyage. The actor asked serious questions about Hadfield's hopes for space travel, as well as his fears, and the emotions he felt as he stared out from beyond Earth. They also exchanged a few jokes.

 

'Star Trek' Actor William Shatner Calls Astronaut in Space

 

Clara Moskowitz - Space.com

 

Capt. James Kirk of the Starship Enterprise called up an astronaut in space Thursday for a cosmic conversation that began on Twitter and warped all the way into space. Actor William Shatner, who famously portrayed Kirk in the original science fiction TV show "Star Trek," called the International Space Station Thursday to ask real-life astronaut Chris Hadfield what life is like on a spaceship. "I'm so moved to be able to speak to you for this brief moment," Shatner told the astronaut via phone.

 

Captain Kirk Virtually Beams up to Space Station

 

Andrew Fazekas - National Geographic

 

Looks like hailing frequencies were opened this week between Captain James T. Kirk of Star Trek TV and movie franchise fame and the International Space Station orbiting Earth. William Shatner, the actor who played the captain of the starship Enterprise had a lively conversation Thursday with astronaut Chris Hadfield, currently aboard the ISS. Shatner spoke by phone from Los Angeles, California while fellow Canadian Hadfield appeared via video link from space on a live webcast moderated from the Canadian Space Agency headquarters near Montreal, Quebec.

 

Haslett grad shares NASA experience

Space agency official visits elementary school

 

Lindsay VanHulle  - Lansing (MI) State Journal

 

When NASA's second-in-command comes to school to talk about space, fifth-graders prepare. So does Lori Garver. The 1979 Haslett High School graduate and deputy administrator of the federal space agency fielded questions from inquisitive elementary school students Thursday at Murphy Elementary as part of a local speaking tour this week that included a stop in her hometown.

 

ASTEROID FLY-BY

 

NASA: Asteroid flyby next week will be closest for a space rock so large

 

Brian Vastag - Washington Post

 

A close encounter of the rocky kind is set for Feb. 15, when an office-building-size asteroid will speed past Earth faster than a bullet and closer than some communications satellites. It will be the nearest recorded brush with a space rock so large, NASA scientists said Thursday. The good news: There's no chance of an impact. At its closest, asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass about 17,000 miles above Earth.

 

150-foot asteroid will buzz Earth, no need to duck

 

Marcia Dunn - Associated Press

 

A 150-foot-wide asteroid will come remarkably close to Earth next week, even closer than high-flying communication and weather satellites. It will be the nearest known flyby for an object of this size. But don't worry. Scientists promise the megarock will be at least 17,100 miles away when it zips past next Friday. "No Earth impact is possible," Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object program at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said Thursday.

 

Armageddon next week? No chance, NASA says

Asteroid will zoom closer than a ring of satellites, then away

 

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

 

An asteroid half the size of a football field will pass remarkably close to Earth next week, but have no fear. Astronomers say we're in the clear. Zooming along at 17,450 mph, the asteroid, known as 2012DA14, will pass safely between the Earth and the ring of communications satellites that circle 22,300 miles above the planet. The chances of it smashing into Earth, or an Earth-orbiting satellite, are infinitesimally small, scientists said Thursday.

 

Asteroid to Traverse Earth's Satellite Zone, NASA Says

 

Jim Snyder - Bloomberg News

 

An asteroid half the size of a U.S. football field will pass between Earth and orbiting satellites next week, sparing the human race from the fate suffered by dinosaurs, NASA said. The 150-foot diameter asteroid, named 2012 DA14, will pass about 17,000 miles above Earth on Feb. 15 -- lower than the orbits of some satellites -- in the closest recorded approach of an object of its size. It will travel at 7.8 kilometers a second (17,400 miles an hour), or about eight times the speed of a rifle shot, NASA scientists said Thursday.

 

Asteroid Flyby Next Week One for the Record Books, NASA says

 

Miriam Kramer - Space.com

 

An asteroid half the size of a football field will make a close approach to Earth, but poses no threat of smacking into the planet, NASA officials said Thursday. The asteroid 2012 DA14 will approach within 17,200 miles (27,680 kilometers) of Earth when it zips by during its close encounter next Friday, Feb. 15. That is the closest shave ever for an asteroid the size of 2012 DA14, which is about 150 feet (45 meters) wide, that astronomers have known about in advance, NASA scientists said.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

Gerstenmaier: ISS Will Shape Commercial Spaceflight

 

Frank Morring, Jr. - Aerospace Daily

 

NASA's top human spaceflight manager says the International Space Station holds the key to a shift from government to commercial access to low Earth orbit, driving the nascent market for new human-rated vehicles as researchers find industrial uses for its microgravity environment.

 

Speaking to the annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference, William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said the station already provides a significant launch market that can only grow as the orbiting lab is better utilized.

 

In 2012 the ISS was the destination of 15% of the total number of space launches worldwide. If the field is narrowed to the 17 comparable launches of spacecraft to low or geostationary transfer orbits, the 12 flights to the station represent a major new source of revenue, he said. And it is a new type of market, in that launch vehicle reliability for cargo isn't as crucial as for expensive satellites.

 

"Station allows us a different way of doing business, where I could tolerate an individual failure," he said. "I can't tolerate the failure of an entire launch system, or an extended down period of time, but I can tolerate loss of an individual flight."

 

Most of the transportation to and from the station currently meets government needs for research in basic science, applied science for human exploration of space, and applied science to benefit life and industry on Earth. But the real test of the ISS will be in how widely industry adopts it as an environment for its own research.

 

"Station is driving this market, but I think station has the potential to drive a fair amount of privately funded launches, separate from the U.S. government, and that could be the real benefit of space station," Gerstenmaier said.

 

NASA has hired a nonprofit startup created by the state of Florida — the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (Casis) — to market the station's facilities to industry and to find and distribute funding for research there. The effort will be crucial to the station's ultimate success, Gerstenmaier said.

 

"If we just stay with the government-funded research, I don't think that's sustainable in the long term," he said. "At some point we need to show that there's a market advantage, there's a reason that commercial companies want to be in space, independent of the government."

 

With U.S. ISS funding set to expire in 2020, there is a "finite window" to take advantage of the $100 billion asset. "We need to use station as a way to show that space-based research is a really important tool for industry," Gerstenmaier said.

 

National space transportation policy still "in work"

 

Jeff Foust - SpacePolitics.com

 

While the Obama Administration issued a new national space policy fairly quickly, releasing it in late June of 2010, it has been slower to develop more specific space policies, such as in the area of space transportation. While there were indications last year that the policy could be done by the fall, no policy has yet been released, and an administration official Thursday offered no specifics about just when that policy might be released.

 

"We continue to work the national space transportation policy," said John Olson, assistant director for space and aeronautics in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, at the FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington Thursday morning.

 

Neither in his speech, nor in the question and answer period that followed, though, did he indicate when the policy might be released. "Significant progress has been made" on the policy, he said later. "It is in work."

 

Olson didn't give specifics about what the policy might contain, since it hasn't been released yet, but reassured conference attendees that its contents will not come "as a surprise" when it is released. "In many cases, we've already implemented many of the principles" of the policy as various agencies implement the overall national space policy, he said.

 

New Director of Johnson Space Center Faces Cutbacks, Uncertainty

 

Greg Flakus - Voice of America

 

Two recent U.S. reports by the National Research Council in December, and the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel in January, have criticized U.S. space policy for lacking focus and also the funds necessary to carry out the goals set by the president and Congress. The reports echoed the complaints of many critics, including a number of former astronauts, who say the space shuttle program should not have been ended before there was another vehicle to replace it.

 

When the U.S. space shuttle was still flying, the Johnson Space Center in Houston was a busy place.

 

But now, all the shuttles are in museums and the Johnson Space Center has laid off hundreds of highly skilled technicians.

 

That's a shame, according to former Johnson Space Center director George Abbey, who is now at Rice University.

 

"Those programs and those people are gone to us, and trying to rebuild that now is going to be a real challenge," Abbey said.

 

The new director of the Johnson Space Center is former astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who is working with what is left of the U.S. human spaceflight program.

 

"Programs do come and go. That is not always within our control here, but we want to work as hard at what is within our control, which is making our current operational programs in human space flight successful," Ochoa said.

 

Ochoa says the Johnson Space Center continues its role as mission control for the International Space Station, while NASA develops new rockets and seeks cost-effective ways of using older technology.

 

"We understand that we are under budget constraints.  We want to make as much use of many things that we already have in development," Ochoa said.

 

But experts at a recent conference at Rice University said the U.S. space program is being undermined by politics.

 

Professor Joan Johnson-Freese of the U.S. Naval War College says the 2010 proposal to visit an asteroid is an example of a goal with no plan.

 

"It's been three years now and I would suggest if that is, in fact, a goal they are serious about, there ought to be first steps taken," Johnson-Freese said.

 

The conference panel also called for more coordination between U.S. government laboratories, the Defense Department and NASA - and for more international cooperation.

 

Former U.S. astronaut and International Space Station commander Leroy Chiao cites successful cooperation with Russia as a guide.

 

"I think we should expand that leadership to include countries like China.  China is the only other country - only other entity right now - capable of launching astronauts into space," Chiao said.

 

But cooperation with China on space endeavors has been blocked by Congress, and funding of the U.S. program is threatened by Congressional budget battles.

 

Still, Ochoa remains upbeat about NASA's future.

 

"We are doing everything we can, day by day, to move exploration forward," Ochoa said.

 

But NASA's ambitious plans for space exploration will ultimately depend on cost-conscious lawmakers in the U.S. Congress, now struggling to reduce the nation's massive budget deficit.

 

Orbital planning hot fire test of Antares next week

 

NewSpace Journal

 

Orbital Sciences Corporation plans to perform a hot fire test of the first stage of its new Antares rocket as soon as next Tuesday, a key milestone before the rocket's first launch next month.

 

Speaking at the FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington on Wednesday, Frank Culbertson, executive vice president and general manager for advanced programs at Orbital, said the company had just completed some fueling tests of the Antares first stage on the pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia.

 

"We will do our first hot fire next Tuesday," he said.

 

A successful static hot fire test would clear the way for Orbital to perform an initial demonstration launch of the full Antares rocket. That launch would take place about month later ("maybe five weeks later," Culbertson said), carrying an instrument mass simulator of a Cygnus cargo spacecraft.

 

That would be followed about three months later with the first full Cygnus mission to the ISS, a demonstration flight that would wrap up Orbital's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) agreement with NASA. That mission would carry about 800 kilograms of cargo to the station, in addition to demonstrating its ability to safely rendezvous and berth with the station.

 

The first of eight cargo missions to the station under its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract would follow three to four months after the COTS demo flight. That schedule is similar to what the company posted in January, when it said it expected the COTS demo flight would take place in May

 

KSC seeks Sandy money to fend off dune erosion

NASA counting on shuttle launch pads, but sea's march westward imperils them

 

Jim Waymer - Florida Today

 

NASA longs to explore liquid planets but will first have to fend off our own watery world.

 

That could take upwards of $45 million.

 

As the ocean closes in on two historic launch pads, Kennedy Space Center officials have yet to hear how much they'll see of the $15 million Congress just allocated for NASA as part of the $51 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill.

 

KSC hopes for at least $4 million to fix 1.2 miles of eroding dunes that stand between the Atlantic Ocean and the two former space shuttle launch pads — 39A and 39B.

 

Those pads hold the future of human spaceflight, but an ever-encroaching ocean imperils their future.

 

"If we have a tropical storm and we have our dune breached, there could be impacts to the pad," said John Shaffer, a physical scientist at KSC. "If we don't do something now, the infrastructure is going to be irreparably damaged."

 

Fox News, the New York Post and the blogosphere blasted the $4 million for NASA beach repairs that President Barack Obama included in his request to Congress for Hurricane Sandy relief. After all, the storm's center passed far off Florida, they noted, some 220 miles off Cape Canaveral.

 

Last month, "Fox & Friends" aired a graphic titled "Sandy Scam," listing the $4 million for KSC among six spending items.

 

Unmentioned, though, was the fact that Sandy still sent pounding waves ashore on the Space Coast, causing erosion — in some spots severe — along Brevard County's 72-mile shoreline. Brevard County estimated $25 million in damages to its beach areas.

 

Despite the criticism that Obama's request was "pork," Congress increased the amount of NASA emergency aid to $15 million. And KSC officials defended their planned dune repair as only a Band-Aid fix for a much larger erosion problem that's crept inland for years.

 

"That is just to restore our primary dune and get some of our railroad track out of the way," Shaffer said. "We get impacted by high tides now."

 

KSC plans to remove and possibly move back now-unusable railroad tracks that once hauled liquid hydrogen fuel to the space shuttle. The tracks, built in the 1960s, now teeter on the dune's edge.

 

Since 1943, the ocean has thinned KSC's beach width by up to 66 yards between the pads, NASA officials say. Sandy's October surprise put an exclamation point on that damage.

 

Along almost two miles of beach, dunes retreated seven feet landward. The ocean undercut the railroad track along a 218-yard stretch near Pad 39A, where waves topped the tracks, flooding a nearby lagoon and partially washing away some of the railway base.

 

For the dune repair, NASA would mine new sand from inland, possibly Canaveral Air Force Station, but specific sources have yet to be identified. Trucks would haul the sand to the dune. The project would include a drift fence to capture windblown sand and native plants to secure the dune.

 

NASA officials say the dune project would restore habitat for the threatened southeastern beach mouse and endangered sea turtles. By blocking launch pad lighting, the new dune also would reduce the number of sea turtle hatchlings that get disoriented by the lights and crawl toward the pads instead of the sea.

 

As the ocean laps ever closer, the pads lie in limbo, awaiting NASA's next milestones.

 

The space agency is preparing Pad 39B for launches of crews on deep space missions aboard its heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule.

 

But the first, unmanned test launch of the heavy lift rocket won't happen until late 2017, followed by a first crewed flight in 2021.

 

NASA mothballed Pad 39A after the shuttle program ended but has offered it up to any interested commercial takers.

 

None has stepped forward so far.

 

NASA recently declined Florida's initial request for 150 acres well north of the existing pads, where the state hopes to build a new launch pad for SpaceX. Negotiations continue.

 

Florida wants to keep the company from locating its future commercial launch operations in Texas, Georgia or Puerto Rico. SpaceX believes a pad operated outside federal jurisdiction would offer more flexibility on launches and reduced costs.

 

As that debate continues, KSC will hash out a long-term plan for protecting the old shuttle pads, which also were the launch sites of the Apollo moon missions. The plan will include options for beach repair and details about potential environmental impacts. "We're expecting our environmental assessment complete and ready to circulate for public comment within the next 45 to 60 days," said Don Dankert, a biological scientist at KSC.

 

Beyond some patchwork to dunes, the space center has never conducted a full-scale sand-pumping beach renourishment project.

 

Sandy critically eroded dunes that KSC had repaired after storms between 2004 and 2010 thinned the shoreline. Then in 2010, KSC built a 15-foot high, 725-foot long secondary dune along the worst spot between the two shuttle pads as proof a new dune could help protect launch infrastructure. After Sandy, that was the only stretch of dune left intact.

 

NASA officials expect $11 million — almost three-quarters of the Sandy relief allocated to the agency — will go to beach repairs at Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.

 

Last year, an Illinois dredging company pumped 3.2 million cubic yards of sand on beaches at Wallops for a $45 million project to protect over $1 billion in federal and state assets there.

 

A long-term beach repair plan for KSC could prove just as costly and involve roughly four miles of coastline from Playalinda Beach to south of Pad 39A. "Ours would be similar to that if we did a pump system like they did," Shaffer said.

 

Wallops anticipates having to do repeat sand pumping every three to seven years, depending on need. Engineers designed similar beach projects from Cape Canaveral to Melbourne Beach to require sand-pumping about every six years. KSC would likely face a similar cycle.

 

NASA could mine sand from the same shoals those projects tap about five miles off Cape Canaveral. Federal funding must flow first, before a new buffer for the old launch pads can bolster NASA's next big blast-offs.

 

But as every high tide reminds, the ocean's clockwork ticks with its own countdown of sorts.

 

"We're just fighting Mother Nature," Shaffer said.

 

Ind. native on space station anticipates trip home

 

Tom Davies - Associated Press

 

The Indiana native who's commanding the International Space Station said Thursday he's looking forward to a visit back home after he returns from his five months in orbit.

 

Astronaut Kevin Ford spoke via video hookup to the Indiana Senate in the Statehouse, where his older brother, David, was a state senator when he died of cancer in 2008.

 

Ford wore a blue shirt with a large Indiana flag emblem as he floated inside one of the space station's modules for the 20-minute conversation that was shown on a large video board above the Senate's rostrum. He spoke about the scientific work being done on the station during his stay as he took questions from senators and a couple of teenage family friends from his Blackford County hometown of Montpelier.

 

Ford demonstrated biting a solid bubble of juice that floated in front of him before seventh-grader Kelli Neff asked Ford what he wanted to do first after returning to Earth.

 

Ford drew laughs when he exclaimed he wanted a shower — "because I haven't had a shower in 107 days."

 

The 52-year-old Ford flew to the space station in October with two Russians aboard a Soyuz that lifted off from Kazakhstan. He's scheduled to be at the station until March.

 

State Senate leaders invited schools around Indiana watch the conversation with Ford that was streamed over the Senate's website.

 

Ford said he didn't see himself becoming an astronaut while he was a student at Blackford High School but always wanted to be a pilot. That led him to study aeronautical engineering at the University of Notre Dame and join the Air Force.

 

"I enjoyed physics and math and science," Ford said. "So I took the things I enjoyed and I would encourage students to find the things, the areas they really love the most and just put their heart into those."

 

Ford's 85-year-old father, Clayton, and three of his siblings were among the family members attending the Senate hookup, along with David Ford's son, daughter-in-law and grandson.

 

Nancy Richardson, Kevin Ford's older sister, said David Ford had introduced his brother to the Senate in 2001 after NASA selected him as an astronaut. She said David was a pilot who first took Kevin flying.

 

"Kevin decided that's what he wanted to do," Richardson said. "He started working in a grocery store in our little town of Montpelier so he could get money to take pilot lessons on weekends and he got his pilot's license by the time he was 17."

 

The video hookup ended with senators approving a resolution honoring Ford, who showed off a small Indiana flag that he said he also took with him into space for his 2009 mission as the space shuttle Discovery's pilot.

 

"I love the place," Ford said of Indiana. "I can't wait to come home to see you."

 

Astronaut beams in to Senate

Hoosier native discusses life aboard space station

 

Niki Kelly - Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette

 

Senators and staff received a unique treat Thursday when NASA Commander Kevin Ford beamed into the Indiana Senate for a broadcast visit from the International Space Station.

 

Wearing a blue sweatshirt adorned with the state flag emblem, the native Hoosier talked about the importance of space exploration, his time going to school in Indiana and his 105-day stint on the station.

 

Ford is the brother of former Sen. David Ford, R-Hartford City, who died in 2008 after a battle with cancer.

 

There was an eight-second delay between outer space and the Indiana Senate as Senate President Pro Tem David Long asked Ford questions and those in the chamber sat rapt in their seats.

 

"My heart is there," Ford said of Indiana. He hasn't lived in the state since he graduated from the University of Notre Dame, after which he spent time in the Air Force as a pilot and now more than a decade at NASA.

 

Ford has about 40 days left on his expedition and talked about working alongside Japanese and Russian astronauts on the station.

 

He said he didn't know he wanted to be an astronaut in high school and encouraged students to find what they love the most and "put their heart into" it. He also stressed that they should worry more about learning than grades.

 

Ford demonstrated several types of food he eats onboard, including orange-colored dried eggs that must be re-hydrated. And then he took a sip of juice, first allowing the liquid glob to hang in the air before he gobbled it up.

 

"The first thing I'm looking forward to doing (when I get back) is taking a shower," he told a student from Montpelier, the Ford brothers' hometown. He hasn't showered since he arrived at the space station.

 

And he generally said he will need relaxation and rehabilitation time to get his body readjusted to Earth.

 

Ford stressed it's important for space exploration to continue, and he hopes the U.S. will use its assets and skills to lead the effort.

 

"It's almost … our obligation to do it," he said.

 

Sen. Long then told Ford the Senate was passing a resolution to honor his life so far.

 

Clayton Ford, father of David and Kevin, attended the event and smiled broadly, showing his pride for his sons.

 

"They both worked hard and did what they wanted in life," he said.

 

Clayton Ford said he speaks regularly with Kevin Ford thanks to a computer NASA sent.

 

Astronaut Hadfield gets on the horn for chat with earthbound Capt. Kirk

 

Canadian Press

 

http://youtu.be/f1ro4zkw-LA

 

There was a surreal moment in outer space Thursday morning, as the man who played Captain James T. Kirk chatted with a real-life astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

 

William Shatner, the Canadian-born actor of Star Trek fame, spoke for a few minutes with Chris Hadfield, who is on a five-month space voyage.

 

The actor asked serious questions about Hadfield's hopes for space travel, as well as his fears, and the emotions he felt as he stared out from beyond Earth.

 

They also exchanged a few jokes.

 

Shatner quipped that if he flopped while performing, the worst thing that could happen is he might sweat a little bit.

 

"In your case," he told Hadfield, "you burn up."

 

He also asked Hadfield how he felt, being away from his home planet for so long.

 

That prompted a philosophical reply from the astronaut about how far humanity has come since the original Star Trek era.

 

Hadfield responded that in the 1960s, having a phone chat with someone in outer space was the stuff of science fiction. Today, Hadfield said, it's a reality and it helps make astronauts feel more closely connected to loved ones back home.

 

The actor concluded by expressing regret that time had run out, and suggesting they continue their chat over whiskey and a cigar back on Earth.

 

The Montreal-born Shatner was in Los Angeles, and Hadfield was visible on a video link that was broadcast on the Canadian Space Agency's website.

 

'Star Trek' Actor William Shatner Calls Astronaut in Space

 

Clara Moskowitz - Space.com

 

Capt. James Kirk of the Starship Enterprise called up an astronaut in space Thursday for a cosmic conversation that began on Twitter and warped all the way into space.

 

Actor William Shatner, who famously portrayed Kirk in the original science fiction TV show "Star Trek," called the International Space Station Thursday to ask real-life astronaut Chris Hadfield what life is like on a spaceship.

 

"I'm so moved to be able to speak to you for this brief moment," Shatner told the astronaut via phone.

 

Hadfield, representing the Canadian Space Agency, is serving a five-month tour on the football field-sized space station orbiting Earth. Last month, he and Shatner struck up a virtual conversation on Twitter when the actor wrote, "@Cmdr_Hadfield Are you tweeting from space?"

 

Eventually, their conversation pulled in other "Star Trek" notables like George Takei (who played Hikaru Sulu), Will Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock). 

 

Today, Shatner and Hadfield connected in real time for a chat about life in space, and life on the stage.

 

"You've been a test pilot, the utmost example of courage," Shatner said. "How do you deal with the fear, which is also applicable to space?"

 

"I read somewhere that you always knew your lines whenever you had a job in the acting profession," Hadfield replied. "I have tried to always know my lines. What I'm scared most of is not knowing what to do next. … After years of training, you practice everything down to the details so you have the confidence that comes with that."

 

"The fear comes from something unexpected happening, like forgetting your worlds or an audience reaction that was unexpected," Shatner said. "In my case, your face flushes, in your case, you burn up. It's a little different."

 

"Well, in both cases you go down in flames," the astronaut shot back.

 

Shatner also got philosophical, asking whether flying in space helped Hadfield contemplate the enormity of the universe. "Are you able to see the unifying parts of it so that you become at one with the universe?" he asked.

 

Hadfield said that in between the everyday engineering problems that occupy his mind, he does think about how humanity is poised on the cusp of exploration, looking toward a future of living out in the solar system.

 

"I feel hugely connected to that," he said. "It's what inspired me as a kid. Now I'm doing my absolute best to help people see that, to help us understand where we are philosophically and historically in our increased understanding of where we are in the universe."

 

The fictional and real-life space travelers had a lot to talk about, but limited time, so the two made plans to continue their conversation at Hadfield's cottage in Ontario, after the astronaut returns home in May.

 

"It's a pleasure Chris, I look forward to meeting you in person and siting down with a whiskey and a cigar," Shatner said.

 

Captain Kirk Virtually Beams up to Space Station

 

Andrew Fazekas - National Geographic

 

Looks like hailing frequencies were opened this week between Captain James T. Kirk of Star Trek TV and movie franchise fame and the International Space Station orbiting Earth. William Shatner, the actor who played the captain of the starship Enterprise had a lively conversation Thursday with astronaut Chris Hadfield, currently aboard the ISS.

 

Shatner spoke by phone from Los Angeles, California while fellow Canadian Hadfield appeared via video link from space on a live webcast moderated from the Canadian Space Agency headquarters near Montreal, Quebec.

 

Topics discussed ranged from the future of the American space program to coping with fear associated with being an astronaut and test pilot.

 

Hadfield said he equated an astronaut's fear to that of an actor worried about remembering his or her lines and so he always made sure he knew his.

 

Shatner then responded by pointing out that the consequences may in fact be a bit different.

 

"In my case, your face flushes…. In your case, you burn up."

 

To that Hadfield joked, "Well in both cases you go down in flames. One's figurative and one is not."

 

Leading up to the cosmic conversation, the two Canadian space icons had been chatting away on Twitter for over a month.  Their lively cyber-exchange elicited some witty tweets from other famous Star Trek alumni like Leonard Nimoy aka Spock, George Takei aka Sulu and even a quip from a real moon-walker, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

 

At one point in their webcast this week, their discussion centered on the possibility of humans eventually going to Mars – and the dangers surrounding such a mission.

 

"I'm in a position to say the risks are infinitely worthwhile when you look at the view that is just outside this window behind me and the things that lie just beyond," said Hadfield.

 

"Going to Mars is inevitable just as sailing across the Atlantic or flying across the Atlantic or orbiting around the world or going to the moon. It's just a matter of when we figure out how."

 

Hadfield blasted into space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft back in December on a five month mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, as part of the Expedition 34/35 crew. While one of his main tasks is to conduct numerous science experiments, since his arrival Hadfield has also been quite a shutterbug, snapping some amazing photos of Earth and sharing his experiences with the world through his @Cmdr_Hadfield twitter feed.

 

Turns out he's quite popular – racking up more followers than the Prime Minister of Canada! In March, Hadfield will make history when he takes over the reins as Commander of the ISS- the first Canadian ever to hold that post.

 

The discussion lasted for over 10 minutes and ended with Hadfield extending and invitation to Captain Kirk to join him at his country cottage where they could watch the stars and compare notes between fictional and real spaceship commanders.

 

Haslett grad shares NASA experience

Space agency official visits elementary school

 

Lindsay VanHulle  - Lansing (MI) State Journal

 

When NASA's second-in-command comes to school to talk about space, fifth-graders prepare.

 

So does Lori Garver.

 

The 1979 Haslett High School graduate and deputy administrator of the federal space agency fielded questions from inquisitive elementary school students Thursday at Murphy Elementary as part of a local speaking tour this week that included a stop in her hometown.

 

Among the questions on the fifth-graders' minds:

 

·         Has life ever been discovered on other planets?

·         Do you feel pressure in your job?

·         And did the guy who predicted the world would end in 2012 get fired?

 

"We probably just read it wrong," Garver told them, briefly explaining the Mayan calendar and assuring the students that, no, the world isn't about to end.

 

President Barack Obama nominated Garver as NASA's deputy administrator in 2009. She is helping lead the agency at a time of transition, with the recent retirement of the space shuttle program.

 

Garver was 8 years old in 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon, not much younger than the fifth-graders she met Thursday.

 

"In this job, I get to learn new things every day," she told the students. "And I always recommend that whatever it is you want to do in your life, you do something you love and that you can learn at."

 

Zsuzsanna Mahon, a fifth-grade teacher at Murphy, said her students studied space last fall. She liked the fact that Garver could interest the children in science and engineering fields.

"It's very neat that she's from our community," Mahon said, "and that someone from Haslett, which is kind of a small town, can aspire and achieve what she has."

 

ASTEROID FLY-BY

 

NASA: Asteroid flyby next week will be closest for a space rock so large

 

Brian Vastag - Washington Post

 

A close encounter of the rocky kind is set for Feb. 15, when an office-building-size asteroid will speed past Earth faster than a bullet and closer than some communications satellites.

 

It will be the nearest recorded brush with a space rock so large, NASA scientists said Thursday.

 

The good news: There's no chance of an impact. At its closest, asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass about 17,000 miles above Earth.

 

The bad news: A million other potentially dangerous — and unknown — city-killing space rocks are out there, and one of them could be on a collision course with Earth. Critics say NASA and other space agencies are not doing enough to scan for these threats.

 

"It's like Mother Nature sending a warning shot across our bow," said Don Yeomans, who tracks asteroids for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

 

Satellite operators said they were monitoring the asteroid but expected it to safely cruise through a belt of satellites that are about 23,000 miles up.

 

"We're watching the situation, but there's not a giant concern," said Alex Horwitz, spokesman for Intelsat, which operates about 50 communications satellites.

 

The Air Force, meanwhile, is leaving the tracking to NASA.

 

An astronomer in Spain discovered the asteroid a year ago. Small, dim and speedy, it was a "slippery target" as it moved across a background of stars, said Jaime Nomen of the La Sagra Observatory in southern Spain.

 

NASA-funded scientists then ran the numbers: The asteroid was about 150 feet wide. Its closest approach will occur at 2:24 p.m. Eastern time on the 15th. On the night side of the planet — mainly Asia and Australia — observers with small telescopes might see a pinpoint streaking at the rapid clip of two moon-widths per minute.

 

Further observations refined the asteroid's path. It cruises around the sun in an orbit almost identical to Earth's. Our year is 365 days. Its year is a day longer. Like a drunk driver weaving across lanes, asteroid 2012 DA14 crosses paths with Earth twice a year, at varying distances.

 

Despite these opportunities for disaster, scientists tracking the asteroid are confident 2012 DA14 won't collide with us for at least the next century, which is as far as they've been able to project its path. Next week's approach is the closest during that time.

 

NASA began rigorously scanning the sky for cosmic hazards only in 1998, when Congress told it to. Agency scientists said Thursday they are confident their network of ground and space telescopes have found at least 95 percent of potentially planet-killing asteroids, those a half-mile wide or more. None of these monsters is headed toward Earth, Yeomans said. ?

 

But the agency has done much worse identifying smaller threats, said Ed Lu, a former NASA astronaut. Lu spearheads the B612 Foundation, which last year began raising private funds to build an asteroid-spotting space telescope.

 

"Saying we're only going to find the civilization-killers is a [sub-par] threshold," Lu said. "We can do better than that."

 

Lu said that so far the human race has spotted only about 1 percent of the smaller, but still dangerous, asteroids near Earth.

 

Scars on our planet's surface reveal a long history of violent, even cataclysmic, collisions.

 

An asteroid the size of 2012 DA14 could wipe out a city, Yeomans said. It would explode with a force of 21 / 2 megatons of TNT — a nuclear bomb nearly 1,000 times more powerful than the one exploded over Hiroshima in 1945.

 

There is only one recent impact of a space rock so large. In 1908, an asteroid or cometary fragment plowed into Siberia. The "Tunguska Event," named for the unlucky but unpopulated locale, flattened millions of trees across nearly 1,000 square miles.

 

Meteor Crater in Arizona — nearly a mile wide — was also probably gouged by an office-building-size space rock about 50,000 years ago.

 

Moving up the scale of destruction, a "planet killer" about five miles wide slammed into the Gulf of Mexico 65 million years ago, most scientists say, triggering a planet-wide cataclysm that wiped out the dinosaurs. That scenario, once heavily debated, appears more certain after a study published Thursday in the journal Science found that most dinosaurs went extinct relatively soon after that collision. With the dinosaurs gone, mammals thrived, eventually evolving into people.

 

"I think it's fair to say, without the dinosaurs having gone extinct, we would not be here," Paul Renne, director of the Berkeley Geochronology Center and leader of the study, told the Associated Press.

 

Much smaller fragments — leftovers from the dawn of the solar system — skip into our atmosphere every day, sometimes streaking spectacularly across the sky as meteors. Car-size rocks arrive at a clip of about once per year.

 

Asteroids as big as 2012 DA14 are expected to hit Earth much less frequently — about once every 1,200 years, Yeomans said.

 

What to do if scientists detect an asteroid headed for Earth? Given enough lead time — say, 30 or 40 years — deflecting the threat will be feasible, Lu said. "If something's going to hit, we're going to pull out all the stops."

 

A Hollywood favorite — nuclear bombs — might work, as might gentler means such as parking a spacecraft near the asteroid so that its gravity pulls it to a safe orbit. Last year, the European Commission launched the NEOShield project to start planning such missions.

 

"The hard part," Lu said, "is finding the million or so asteroids this size or larger and getting advance notice." If 2012 DA14 had been on a collision course for next week, the year-long lead time since its discovery would have been too brief to launch a deflection mission, said Lu.

 

The B612 Foundation has raised a "few million dollars," spokeswoman Diane Murphy said, but it needs $30 million or $40 million a year to build their telescope, which would scan the entire sky for city-killer-size rocks.

 

Lindley Johnson, who heads NASA's $6 million annual program to find near-Earth threats, acknowledged that the agency could do better. "We still have a lot of improvement to make in finding all of the hazardous asteroids," he said.

 

Case in point: The sky-scanning camera that first spotted asteroid 2012 DA14 was purchased not by NASA, but by a small nonprofit group, the Planetary Society.

 

150-foot asteroid will buzz Earth, no need to duck

 

Marcia Dunn - Associated Press

 

A 150-foot-wide asteroid will come remarkably close to Earth next week, even closer than high-flying communication and weather satellites. It will be the nearest known flyby for an object of this size.

 

But don't worry. Scientists promise the megarock will be at least 17,100 miles away when it zips past next Friday.

 

"No Earth impact is possible," Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object program at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said Thursday.

 

Even the chance of an asteroid-satellite run-in is extremely remote, Yeomans and other scientists noted. A few hundred satellites orbit at 22,300 miles, higher than the asteroid's path, although operators are being warned about the incoming object for tracking purposes.

 

"No one has raised a red flag, nor will they," Yeomans told reporters. "I certainly don't anticipate any problems whatsoever."

 

Impossible to see with the naked eye, the asteroid is considered small as these things go. By contrast, the one that took out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was 6 miles wide.

 

Yet Asteroid 2012 DA14, as it's known for its discovery date, still could pack a wallop.

 

If it impacted Earth - which it won't, scientists were quick to add Thursday - it would release the energy equivalent of 2.4 million tons of TNT and wipe out 750 square miles. That's what happened in Siberia in 1908, when forest land around the Tunguska River was flattened by a slightly smaller asteroid that exploded about five miles above ground.

 

The likelihood of something this size striking Earth is once in every 1,200 years. A close, harmless encounter like this is thought to occur every 40 years.

 

The bulk of the solar system's asteroids are located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and remain stable there for billions of years. Some occasionally pop out, though, into Earth's neighborhood

 

The closest approach of this one will occur next Friday afternoon, Eastern time, over Indonesia.

 

There won't be much of a show. The asteroid will zip by at 17,400 mph. That's roughly eight times faster than a bullet from a high-speed rifle.

 

The asteroid will be invisible to the naked eye and even with binoculars and telescopes will appear as a small point of light. The prime viewing locations will be in Asia, Australia and eastern Europe.

 

Observers in the U.S. can pretty much forget it. Astronomers using NASA's deep-space antenna in California's Mojave Desert will have to wait eight hours after the closest approach to capture radar images.

 

Scientists welcome whatever pictures they get. The asteroid offers a unique opportunity to observe something this big and close, and any new knowledge will help if and when another killer asteroid is headed Earth's way.

 

The close approach also highlights the need to keep track of what's out there, if for no other reason than to protect the planet.

 

NASA's current count of near-Earth objects: just short of 10,000, the result of a concentrated effort for the past 15 years. That's thought to represent less than 10 percent of the objects out there.

 

No one has ruled out a serious Earth impact, although the probability is said to be extremely low.

 

"We don't have all the money in the world to do this kind of work" for tracking and potentially deflecting asteroids, said Lindley Johnson, an executive with the Near-Earth Object observations program in Washington.

 

Indeed, when asked about NASA's plans to send astronauts to an asteroid in the decades ahead, as outlined a few years ago by President Barack Obama, Johnson said the space agency is looking at a number of options for human explorations.

 

One of the more immediate steps, planned for 2016, is the launch of a spacecraft to fly to a much bigger asteroid, collect samples and return them to Earth in 2023.

 

As for Asteroid 2012 DA14 - discovered last year by astronomers in Spain - scientists suspect it's made of silicate rock, but aren't sure. Its shape and precise size also are mysteries.

 

What they do know with certainty:

 

"This object's orbit is so well known that there's no chance of a collision," Yeomans repeated during Thursday's news conference.

 

Its close approach, in fact, will alter its orbit around the sun in such a way as to keep it out of Earth's neighborhood, at least in the foreseeable future, Yeomans said.

 

Johnson anticipates no "sky is falling thing" related to next week's flyby.

 

He and other scientists urged journalists to keep the close encounter in perspective.

 

"Space rocks hit the Earth's atmosphere on a daily basis. Basketball-size objects come in daily. Volkswagen-size objects come in every couple of weeks," Yeomans said.

 

The grand total of stuff hitting the atmosphere every day? "About 100 tons," according to Yeoman, though most of it arrives harmlessly as sand-sized particles.

 

Armageddon next week? No chance, NASA says

Asteroid will zoom closer than a ring of satellites, then away

 

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

 

An asteroid half the size of a football field will pass remarkably close to Earth next week, but have no fear. Astronomers say we're in the clear.

 

Zooming along at 17,450 mph, the asteroid, known as 2012DA14, will pass safely between the Earth and the ring of communications satellites that circle 22,300 miles above the planet.

 

The chances of it smashing into Earth, or an Earth-orbiting satellite, are infinitesimally small, scientists said Thursday.

 

"No Earth impact is possible," said Donald Yeomans, manager of the Near-Earth Object Project Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

 

The asteroid will pass within 17,200 miles of Earth's surface on Feb. 15. The moon, in comparison, orbits Earth at an average distance of about 239,000 miles.

 

The asteroid pass already is a record-setter: It will make the closest predicted approach to Earth for an object of its size.

 

The International Space Station and its crew of six astronauts are in an orbit about 250 miles above the planet — well away from the path of the asteroid. And no manmade satellites are on a collision course with 2012DA14.

 

"The likelihood of an asteroid colliding with an Earth satellite is extremely remote," said Yeomans, one the world's most respected asteroid experts. "But even so, we are working with satellite providers to make them aware of the asteroid's path near Earth."

 

The 2012DA14 object is about 150 feet in diameter and has an estimated mass of about 130,000 metric tons, or 287 million pounds. Most likely made of rock rather than metal, it is about the size of the asteroid that exploded above Siberia in 1908, flattening 750 square miles of Russian forestland.

 

An object the size of 2012DA14 would release about 2.4 megatons of energy if it struck Earth — that's the explosive equivalent of 2.4 million tons of TNT. The expected result: regional devastation.

 

The asteroid's closest approach to Earth will occur at 2:24 p.m. EST Feb. 15 over the eastern Indian Ocean off Sumatra. It is too faint to be seen with the naked eye, but professional and amateur astronomers in Europe, Africa and Asia might spot it with telescopes of moderate power, weather permitting.

 

The asteroid would look a star streaking across the night sky from south to north.

 

The flyby of Earth will perturb its trajectory, altering its orbit a bit. Consequently, its next swing by the planet won't come until February 2046 at a distance of 620,000 miles.

 

Asteroid to Traverse Earth's Satellite Zone, NASA Says

 

Jim Snyder - Bloomberg News

 

An asteroid half the size of a U.S. football field will pass between Earth and orbiting satellites next week, sparing the human race from the fate suffered by dinosaurs, NASA said.

 

The 150-foot diameter asteroid, named 2012 DA14, will pass about 17,000 miles above Earth on Feb. 15 -- lower than the orbits of some satellites -- in the closest recorded approach of an object of its size. It will travel at 7.8 kilometers a second (17,400 miles an hour), or about eight times the speed of a rifle shot, NASA scientists said Thursday.

 

"No Earth impact is possible," Donald Yeomans, who manages the Near-Earth-Object office at Pasadena, California- based Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said yesterday in a press conference.

 

The NASA unit monitors relatively small space objects such as DA14 to measure the risks they present to the Earth. Researchers said that studying the asteroid's close trajectory will help NASA in preparing for a 2016 rocket launch and a planned encounter with the near-Earth object 1999 RQ36 two years later.

 

Lockheed Martin Corp., based in Bethesda, Maryland, is helping NASA in developing the rocket, which is scheduled to monitor RQ36 and eventually return to Earth in 2023 with samples from the asteroid.

 

While a strike by an asteroid DA14's size would do "a lot of regional destruction," it wouldn't be catastrophic to the planet's population, said Lindley Johnson, program executive for NASA's Near-Earth Object observations program in Washington.

 

Space Station Safe

 

Yeomans said the damage from DA14 if it were to hit would rival an impact event in Russia in 1908 that leveled trees over an 820-square-mile territory. The asteroid that is thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs was about 10-kilometers in diameter. DA14 was discovered in February last year.

 

The NASA scientists said the asteroid would still pass above the orbits of most of the communications satellites circling Earth, and doesn't pose a threat to the International Space Station, which orbits the planet at about 250 miles.

 

Amateur astronomers will need a small telescope to see the asteroid, which would appear as a moving pinpoint in the night sky, said Timothy Spahr, the director of the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The best viewing location for DA14's closest approach is Indonesia, with sky gazers in Eastern Europe, Australia and Asia also getting good looks at the asteroid.

 

Low Risk

 

The NEO program office said that an object of similar size gets this close to Earth once every 40 years, and that an actual collision can be expected only once in 1,200 years.

 

Some companies and entrepreneurs see asteroids as possible sources for precious metals.

 

Planetary Resources Inc., based in Seattle and backed by Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Page and Chairman Eric Schmidt, is working to launch a telescopic space surveyor to identify resource-rich space rocks in the next couple of years.

 

Other entrepreneurs are participating in a business-backed space race. Robert Bigelow, a Las Vegas hotelier, won a $17.8 million for an inflatable room that will be attached to the space station in 2015. Boeing Co., Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk and British entrepreneur Richard Branson have started rocket-building ventures.

 

Asteroid Flyby Next Week One for the Record Books, NASA says

 

Miriam Kramer - Space.com

 

An asteroid half the size of a football field will make a close approach to Earth, but poses no threat of smacking into the planet, NASA officials said Thursday.

 

The asteroid 2012 DA14 will approach within 17,200 miles (27,680 kilometers) of Earth when it zips by during its close encounter next Friday, Feb. 15. That is the closest shave ever for an asteroid the size of 2012 DA14, which is about 150 feet (45 meters) wide, that astronomers have known about in advance, NASA scientists said.

 

The asteroid will not only pass between Earth and the moon's orbit, but also fly lower than the ring of geosynchronous communications, weather and navigation satellites that fly high above the planet. Asteroid 2012 DA14 will be 5,000 miles (8,046 km) closer to Earth than those satellites during the flyby.

 

"This asteroid seems to be passing in the sweet spot between the GPS satellites and weather and communications satellites," Don Yeomans, the head of NASA's asteroid-tracking program, told reporters in a teleconference today (Feb. 7). "It's extremely unlikely that any of these will be impacted."

 

Geosynchronous satellites typically orbit about 22,000 miles (35,800 km) above the Earth's equator.

 

Record-setting space rock flyby

 

Asteroid 2012 DA14's close encounter is also a record-breaking celestial event, Yeomans said. An object this large only passes this close to the Earth about once every 40 years, and likely only hits the planet once every 1,200 years, he added.

 

Amateur astronomers have already captured some photos of asteroid 2012 DA14, and NASA plans to make detailed radar observations of the space rock to learn about its composition, spin and surface features, the scientists said.

 

The asteroid is similar in size to the object that exploded over Siberia, Russia, in 1908 in the Tunguska event. That explosion leveled hundreds of square miles of land, scientists said. While asteroid 2012 DA14 could potential create such destruction if it struck the Earth, there is absolutely no chance of an impact for the foreseeable future, NASA officials said.

 

"This asteroid's orbit is so well known that we can say with confidence that even considering its orbital uncertainties, it can pass no closer than 17,100 miles from the Earth's surface," Yeomans said. "No Earth impact is possible."

 

NASA scientists used advanced modeling techniques to map out the path of the asteroid with exact precision, and ground-based telescopes tracked 2012 DA14 since the asteroid's discovery last year by amateur astronomers. Researchers plan to keep tabs on the asteroid after it makes its closest approach to Earth somewhere over Indonesia at 2:24 p.m. ET (1924 GMT), Yeomans said.

 

Asteroid under radar

 

Asteroid 2012 DA14 also marks the first time scientists have had the chance to observe the close flyby of a near-Earth object of this size. That makes the asteroid a unique opportunity for scientists to study the space rocks floating around the solar system, but that doesn't mean observations will be easy, NASA scientist Lindley Johnson said.

 

Some ground-based telescopes will be turned toward the asteroid as it shoots by, but the instruments won't catch sight of the asteroid until after it comes inside the orbits of geosynchronous satellites, Johnson said.

 

Those post-flyby observations are still useful, however. Scientists are hoping to get a sense of what 2012 DA14 is composed of as well as any helpful clues about its structure and how it compares to the structure of other space rocks.

 

"You can only collect this data when the asteroids are significantly close to the Earth," Amy Mainzer, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. said.

 

NASA astronomers and scientists around the world, meanwhile, regularly monitor the night sky for signs of previously unknown asteroids that may pose a potential impact threat to Earth. Yeomans runs NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., to keep track of potentially dangerous asteroids.

 

Although 2012 DA14 will be too dark to see with the naked eye as if flies by Earth, amateur astronomers with backyard telescopes could potentially catch a glimpse of asteroid as it makes its way across the sky, if they know when and where to look.

 

It will be extremely difficult, however, because of the asteroid's speed, which will make it appear as a fast-moving pinpoint of light in the night sky, NASA scientists said.

 

NASA officials also announced that they will be streaming the flyby live the night of Feb. 15. A telescope at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. will broadcast its view of the event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET.

 

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