Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - June 12, 2013 and JSC Today

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: June 12, 2013 5:57:17 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - June 12, 2013 and JSC Today

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

 

JSC TODAY HEADLINES

1.            EVA Lessons Learned Video

2.            Fawns at JSC

3.            BLOOD DRIVE - JUNE 19 & 20 - UPDATE

4.            ISS Research/Science: Get Up to Speed and in the Know

5.            NASA@work Challenges: Did you know??

6.            RUSSIAN PHASE ONE LANGUAGE COURSE -- FOR BEGINNERS

7.            PRE-TRAVEL TO RUSSIA ON-DEMAND BRIEFING offered in SATERN

8.            Youth Sports Camps - Basketball, Baseball, and Ultimate Frisbee

9.            JSC Lunarfins Scuba Club Meeting

10.          Ally Discussion Panel - June 18

11.          JSC Praise and Worship club meeting

12.          Confined Space Entry 8:30 AM & Lockout/Tagout 1:00 PM June 17/B20/R205/206

________________________________________     NASA FACT

" Astronomers at NASA and Pennsylvania State University have used NASA's Swift satellite to create the most detailed ultraviolet light surveys ever of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the two closest major galaxies."

________________________________________

1.            EVA Lessons Learned Video

Take a look at the history, evolution and future of JSC's EVA office in this striking new video. Hear from NASA team members who took part in making this complex task a reality, enabling some of the most impressive and daring achievements in the history of human spaceflight. From early testing to ISS construction and beyond, EVA has continued to adapt and overcome the numerous challenges while orchestrating thousands of spacewalking hours.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Bz6L93Gwo

Patricia Foltz x47335 https://portal.nasa.gov/group/eva/office

Patricia Foltz 47335 https://portal.nasa.gov/group/eva/office

 

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2.            Fawns at JSC

It's that time of year when deer have their young, so it is not unusual to see fawns around buildings at JSC. If you should see a fawn alone near a building, it has NOT been abandoned. A doe will bring her fawns close to buildings where she feels they will be safe for the day, then goes off to forage for food. The doe will return to feed them hours later or at dusk. Please do not approach them to take photos or try to handle them. Doing so is very stressful to the fawn. If the fawn approaches you, is injured, lying on its side or has ants on it, please contact work control at x32038. Trained members of the wildlife response team will evaluate the fawn to see if it needs assistance. For more information about the wildlife and habitat management at JSC please visit: http://appliedinsight.jsc.nasa.gov/sites/JSC/wildlife/default.aspx

Stephanie Walker 281-483-9140

 

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3.            BLOOD DRIVE - JUNE 19 & 20 - UPDATE

The hours of operation for the Teague building have changed due to energy conservation measures. The start time for the blood drive in the Teague lobby will change to 9:00am, and to be consistent, the Donor Coach-Bldg. 11 location will also start at 9:00am.

Due to Neil Armstrong Memorial being held in the Teague on June 20, the blood drive in the Teague will be cancelled on that day.

The Blood Drive locations and times for the June Blood Drive are:

Wednesday, June 19, 2013: Teague Auditorium Lobby - 9:00am-4:00pm; Bldg. 11 Starport Café - Donor Coach - 9:00am-4:00pm

Thursday, June 20, 2013: Bldg. 11 Starport Café - Donor Coach - 9:00am-4:00pm; Gilruth Center - Donor Coach - 12:00pm-4:00pm

Teresa Gomez 281-483-9588 http://jscpeople.jsc.nasa.gov/blooddrv/blooddrv.htm.

 

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4.            ISS Research/Science: Get Up to Speed and in the Know

As ambassadors of NASA, we all need to know about what is taking place aboard our International Space Station (ISS). Here are effective ways that you can raise your awareness level and feel more confident in talking to folks inside and outside the agency about ISS, its ongoing utilization, and opportunities for researchers.

Subscribe to the ISS Program Science listserve (https://lists.nasa.gov/mailman/listinfo/iss-program-science-group to receive twice weekly emails with compelling stories about important ISS research. Open to everyone (external to NASA, too)!

Read the info-rich ISS Research and Technology Web page (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html and the engaging ISS Research "A Lab Aloft" (http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/newui/blog/viewpostlist.jsp?blogname=ISS%20Science%2... blog.

Watch the "International Space Station Research 101" video lecture on SATERN (course #JSC-AC-ISSR-101).

Know the ISS research Benefits for Humanity (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/benefits/)

Follow timely ISS research updates on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ISS_Research and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ISS)

Learn how to get research onto ISS (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/ops/research_information.html (or refer those interested).

ISS Research Helpline 281-244-6187

 

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5.            NASA@work Challenges: Did you know??

Did you know that the As Good as Dollars: Incentives for NASA@work that Count! challenge ends this Friday, 6/14? Check it out and submit your solution today. And while you are on the platform be sure to check out our other active challenge, Seeking Solutions on the Use of Thorium Instead of Uranium (deadline: 08/09) and the results from the 'NASA@work Year in Review' survey.

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

Kathryn Keeton 281.204.1519 http://nasa.innocentive.com

 

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6.            RUSSIAN PHASE ONE LANGUAGE COURSE -- FOR BEGINNERS

Russian Phase One is an introductory course designed to acquaint the novice student with certain elementary aspects of the Russian language and provide a brief outline of Russian history and culture. Our goal is to introduce students to skills and strategies necessary for successful foreign language study that they can apply immediately in the classroom. The linguistic component of this class consists of learning the Cyrillic alphabet and a very limited number of simple words and phrases, which will serve as a foundation for further language study.

•         Who: All JSC-badged civil servants and contractors with a work-related justification.

•         Dates: July 8 -August 8.

•         When: Monday through Thursday, 01:00 to 02:00 P.M. or 4:00 to 5:00 PM.

•         Where: Building 12, Room 158Q. Please register through SATERN.

Registration deadline is June 28.

Natalia Rostova 281-851-3745

 

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7.            PRE-TRAVEL TO RUSSIA ON-DEMAND BRIEFING offered in SATERN

The Pre-Travel to Russia briefing is for people traveling to Russia and Kazakhstan on NASA business. The briefing covers procedures for ISS program travelers and some general topics of interest for travelers to Russia and Kazakhstan. It covers all stages from initial trip planning through your stay and return home. Login into SATERN (https://saterninfo.nasa.gov/default.html and search for the Pre-Travel to Russia on Demand Briefing. If you have any questions, please submit them to pretraveltorussia@tti-corp.com. We will respond within 24 hours. The next LIVE class will be October 18.

Natalia Campion 281-335-8000

 

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8.            Youth Sports Camps - Basketball, Baseball, and Ultimate Frisbee

Summer is here and Starport's Sports Camps are just around the corner! Sports Camps at the Gilruth Center are a great way to provide added instruction for all levels of players and prepare participants for competitive play. Let our knowledgeable and experienced coaches give your child the confidence they need to learn and excel in their chosen sport.

Baseball Camp: Focuses on the development of hitting, catching, base running, throwing, pitching, and drills.

Dates: July 8-12 and July 15-19

Times: 9am-1pm

Ages: 6-12

Price $200/per session

Basketball Camp: Focuses on the development of shooting, passing, dribbling, guarding, and drills.

Dates: August 5-9

Times: 9am-1pm

Ages: 9-14

Price $200

Ultimate Frisbee: Focuses on development of throwing, catching, offense, defense, zones, and drills.

Dates: July 1-3

Times: 9am-1pm

Ages: 9-14

Price $140

Before and after care available. Register your child at the Gilruth Center. Visit our website(http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Youth/ for information and registration forms.

Shericka Phillips 35563 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

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9.            JSC Lunarfins Scuba Club Meeting

The Lionfish invasion! This native Indio-pacific species has invaded the Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean waters where it has no natural predator. This month the Lunarfins will be hosting Jess Stark, a Master Diver and owner & CEO of Houston based Stark Industries, which sells SCUBA compressors & commercial diving equipment. Jess Stark is very active in combating the global spread of predatory Lionfish, which devastate our native fish species. He will speak about them and the efforts to control the spread of these venomous predators. Please join the Lunarfins to hear this interesting & important presentation and learn about methods being employed to control this Lionfish invasion. Join us Wednesday, June 12 at 7 P.M. at the Clear Lake Park Recreation Center, 5001 NASA Road 1, on the South (lake) side of NASA Road One. Come a little early to meet fellow divers and find out about upcoming Lunarfin events.

Event Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2013   Event Start Time:7:00 PM   Event End Time:8:30 PM

Event Location: Clear Lake Park

 

Add to Calendar

 

Barbara Corbin 36215 www.Lunarfins.com

 

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10.          Ally Discussion Panel - June 18

As part of Pride Month activities, the Out & Allied at JSC Employee Resource Group invites you to an informative and frank panel discussion on "How and Why to be an Ally". Join Melanie Saunders, Cady Coleman, Jackie Reese and Jon Hall on June 18 in the Buillding 2 Press Room at 11:30 AM as they open up about their experiences as Allies in the workplace and in their personal lives.

For more information about our group, including how to become involved, contact any listed Out & Allied member on our SharePoint site.

Event Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM

Event Location: Building 2N, room 101 (Press Room)

 

Add to Calendar

 

Jennifer Mason x32424 https://collaboration.ndc.nasa.gov/iierg/LGBTA/SitePages/Home.aspx

 

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11.          JSC Praise and Worship club meeting

Join with the Praise and Worship Band "Allied with the Lord" for a refreshing set of traditional and contemporary praise and worship songs on Wednesday June 26th from 11:30-12:15 in B.29 Room 237 (also called Creative Sp.ace). Prayer partners will be available for anyone who would like it. All JSC civil servants and contractors are welcome.

Event Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:15 PM

Event Location: Building 29 Room 237

 

Add to Calendar

 

Mike FitzPatrick x30758

 

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12.          Confined Space Entry 8:30 AM & Lockout/Tagout 1:00 PM June 17/B20/R205/206

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. 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_...

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_...

Shirley Robinson 281-244-1284

 

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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

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Space firms gear up for Brevard operations

Area is key to launch plans of three companies

 

James Dean - Florida Today

 

Three companies competing to fly astronauts to the International Space Station expect to increase their local activity in the second half of this year, executives said Tuesday. The Boeing Co. soon will start moving into a former shuttle hangar at Kennedy Space Center, where it will assemble a test article of its CST-100 capsule. SpaceX hopes to launch a pad-abort test of its Dragon capsule in December from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, after potentially several more Cape rocket launches. And Sierra Nevada Corp., developer of the Dream Chaser mini-shuttle, plans to staff a local office this year to prepare for future flight operations.

 

Russian Space Freighter Undocks From Orbital Station

 

RIA Novosti

 

A Russian cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday for a weeklong flight to study the operation of its liquid-propellant engines in the ionosphere, which spans from 50 to 250 miles above the Earth's surface. The Progress M-19M, which arrived at the space station on April 26 with over 2.5 tons of cargo – including food, water and oxygen for the crew – will be deorbited after the research is concluded on June 19 and "buried" in the Pacific Ocean, Russian space officials said.

 

Off and no longer running:

Space station's first treadmill to be jettisoned with trash

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

The space station's original treadmill has not yet run its course. The "Treadmill Vibration Isolation System" (TVIS), which was used by both astronauts and cosmonauts to exercise aboard the International Space Station for more than 12 years was not jettisoned on Tuesday onboard a spent Russian cargo freighter, as earlier reported. A NASA spokesperson confirmed Tuesday afternoon that the information earlier provided to collectSPACE.com by the space agency was in error. The device, which is no longer in use, will instead leave the station and be discarded with the next Russian unmanned resupply vehicle, Progress M-18M (50P), which as of Tuesday was scheduled to undock on July 26. After its departure, the cargo craft and its contents — including the TVIS treadmill — will be destroyed during its descent back into Earth's atmosphere.

 

Shenzhou 10 Charged With Two Orbital Docking Trials

 

Bradley Perrett - Aviation Week

 

Now classifying its Shenzhou spacecraft as operational equipment, not experimental, China launched its fifth manned space mission on June 11. The objectives of the 15-day Shenzhou 10 mission are to further develop China's technologies for docking and supporting human life in space, laying the groundwork for the space station that is supposed to be operational around 2020. With Shenzhou 10, the phase aimed at perfecting docking and spacewalking techniques should be complete. The space station is likely to be launched before 2016, state news agency Xinhua says, presumably referring to the lofting of the first module.

 

Beijing, We Have a Space Program

 

Michael Lemonick - Time

 

At this moment, NASA's Curiosity rover is crawling over the surface of Mars, making one remarkable discovery after another about the Red Planet's possibly life-friendly past. The Hubble Space Telescope, aging but still going strong, is probing ever deeper into the universe. The Cassini mission to Saturn is unlocking the secrets of the Solar System's second-largest planet and its moons. The unmanned half of America's space program, in short, is doing amazing things. But as China's launch of a three-person spacecraft into earth orbit aboard a Long March 2-F rocket just made clear, our manned space program is not just limping along, it's trailing behind even a comparative space race newbie. True, NASA astronauts have been doing important work aboard the International Space Station (ISS) — but they haven't been able to use NASA hardware to get to and from the station since 2011, when the Atlantis made the final space-shuttle flight in history.

 

Success is possible right here

 

Decatur Daily

 

North Alabama students seeking to find a model for professional success need not look far. Jonathon Walden is a reminder that, when it comes to aerospace, this is the place to be. Walden, 31, graduated from Decatur High School. He was ambivalent about attending college, but a scholarship at the University of Alabama in Huntsville convinced him to attend. Thirteen years later, the Hartselle resident's reality is a mere dream for engineers around the world. Walden, an engineer at Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center, designed a key component that NASA hopes to use to send astronauts back to space. The Multipurpose Crew Vehicle Stage Adapter will connect a United Launch Alliance rocket — built in Decatur — to the Orion spacecraft.

 

NASA's Social Media Manager:

'We're Breaking Down the Walls of What People Think Government Is'

 

Devon Glenn - SocialTimes.com

 

"I can't think of anything that's changed communications for NASA in the last 30 years more than Twitter," said John Yembrick, social media manager at NASA. Yembrick discussed NASA's passion for social media at the AllTwitter Marketing Conference in San Francisco. With no budget for social media except Yembrick's and others' salaries, the team relies on basic tools. They measure their success in a weekly social report on their Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts. "We are a federal agency and we're breaking down the walls of what people think government is," said Yembrick. "There's a personality behind it; there's a face behind it." The personality of the unmanned rover, in this case, was manned by three people on earth: Veronica McGregor, Courtney O'Connor, and Stephanie Smith. But there was also Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who posted photos of his own trip to space on Twitter. "I was shocked at how awesome he was," Yembrick said. Is it a requirement for astronauts to Tweet? "We really want to see more of that, but astronauts have to be comfortable with the medium," said Yembrick. "It's not natural for a lot of folks."

 

FTC Not Challenging Rocketdyne Acquisition

 

Mark Madler - San Fernando Valley Business Journal

 

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Monday that it has closed its investigation into the acquisition of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne by GenCorp and will not challenge the deal. The commission's action paves the way for Sacramento-based GenCorp to complete its $550 million purchase of Rocketdyne, a longtime San Fernando Valley rocket-engine manufacturer. The deal was announced nearly a year ago.

 

Former Brevard shuttle engineers circumnavigate globe

52,000 miles and 14 years later, pair dock back in Brevard

 

Mara Bellaby - Florida Today

 

What they missed: George W. Bush's two-term presidency, the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the end of the shuttle program, and just about everything to do with Lindsay Lohan. In the winter of 1999, Rick and Suza Goltz — newly married and early retired from their jobs as engineers for the space shuttle program — set sail from Cape Canaveral with two cats on a 44-foot sailboat named Voyager on what they dreamed might be an around-the-world adventure. Bill Clinton was president. John Glenn had just returned to space on shuttle Discovery. Cameras still required film. Fourteen-and-a-half years, two presidents and 52,000 nautical miles later, the couple are back home, having fulfilled a dream to circumnavigate the globe.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

Space firms gear up for Brevard operations

Area is key to launch plans of three companies

 

James Dean - Florida Today

 

Three companies competing to fly astronauts to the International Space Station expect to increase their local activity in the second half of this year, executives said Tuesday.

 

The Boeing Co. soon will start moving into a former shuttle hangar at Kennedy Space Center, where it will assemble a test article of its CST-100 capsule.

 

SpaceX hopes to launch a pad-abort test of its Dragon capsule in December from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, after potentially several more Cape rocket launches.

 

And Sierra Nevada Corp., developer of the Dream Chaser mini-shuttle, plans to staff a local office this year to prepare for future flight operations.

 

"Everything we need is in place here," said Dan Ciccateri, chief systems engineer for SNC Space Systems, during a panel discussion at the National Space Club Florida Committee's monthly meeting in Cape Canaveral.

 

NASA last year awarded the companies a combined $1.1 billion to complete designs of commercial transportation systems that could fly astronauts to the station by 2017.

 

Ed Mango, head of NASA's Commercial Crew Program office, noted that of the nine people now in orbit, none got there on a U.S. vehicle.

 

A crowd of nearly 400 applauded when Mango said his program sought to fly crews on American vehicles rather than paying up to $71 million per seat for rides on Russian spacecraft.

 

"And when they fly into space, they'll be flying from right here," he said. "This is the hub of where those missions will start."

 

SpaceX is targeting a crewed test flight as soon as 2015, Boeing as soon as 2016 and SNC, which received half as much money as the other two, said it could support NASA launches as planned by 2017.

 

"Reality sometimes gets you," Mango said of the more aggressive timelines, but "if they can get there earlier, that would be great."

 

NASA is about a year from awarding the next phase of contracts that would lead to the certification of systems for flight and the start of operational missions.

 

It's likely only one or two of the companies will win those contracts, depending on how much funding Congress provides, but each is taking steps toward the final goal.

 

Boeing is starting the second phase of renovations to the former shuttle hangar called Orbiter Processing Facility-3, which it has leased from the state, and expects to move in capsule hardware later this year.

 

As it planned commercial crew operations, Florida "was really central for our business case," said John Mulholland, Boeing vice president and manager of commercial programs.

 

SNC's spacecraft design work is based in Colorado but flight operations would be based here, and the company is looking at KSC's Industrial Area or Exploration Park for horizontal processing facilities.

 

While SpaceX progresses in the crew program, it expects to launch two commercial satellites from the Cape this fall and a third ISS cargo resupply mission late this year.

 

The company believes it can win significant numbers of commercial launches that have almost entirely abandoned the U.S. for overseas providers. "Our intent is to bring those launches back here to Cape Canaveral," said Adam Harris, SpaceX vice president for government sales.

 

Expecting its flight rate to increase to more than 12 a year, SpaceX wants to establish a new launch pad for commercial missions.

 

The company has identified the Gulf Coast of Texas as a leading contender, but is also considering sites on KSC property and possibly in other states.

 

"All those options are on the table," Harris told Florida Today. "None has been definitively decided, but we're exploring all of them, because we do think the manifest is going to grow."

 

Russian Space Freighter Undocks From Orbital Station

 

RIA Novosti

 

A Russian cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday for a weeklong flight to study the operation of its liquid-propellant engines in the ionosphere, which spans from 50 to 250 miles above the Earth's surface.

 

The Progress M-19M, which arrived at the space station on April 26 with over 2.5 tons of cargo – including food, water and oxygen for the crew – will be deorbited after the research is concluded on June 19 and "buried" in the Pacific Ocean, Russian space officials said.

 

The Progress's departure also freed up a docking port so that the European ATV-4 cargo craft, which blasted off from the Kourou space center in French Guiana on June 5, can arrive at the ISS on June 15.

 

The launch of the next Russian cargo spacecraft, Progress M-20M, is scheduled for July 28 from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, according to sources in the Russian space industry.

 

Off and no longer running:

Space station's first treadmill to be jettisoned with trash

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

The space station's original treadmill has not yet run its course.

 

The "Treadmill Vibration Isolation System" (TVIS), which was used by both astronauts and cosmonauts to exercise aboard the International Space Station for more than 12 years was not jettisoned on Tuesday onboard a spent Russian cargo freighter, as earlier reported.

 

A NASA spokesperson confirmed Tuesday afternoon that the information earlier provided to collectSPACE.com by the space agency was in error.

 

The device, which is no longer in use, will instead leave the station and be discarded with the next Russian unmanned resupply vehicle, Progress M-18M (50P), which as of Tuesday was scheduled to undock on July 26. After its departure, the cargo craft and its contents — including the TVIS treadmill — will be destroyed during its descent back into Earth's atmosphere.

 

The TVIS was replaced aboard the station by a Russian-built unit that was first put into use recently and by a more advanced U.S. treadmill named after television comedian Stephen Colbert.

 

The original article, unedited, follows below:

 

A space apparatus that for more than a dozen years enabled both astronauts and cosmonauts to literally run around the Earth bid farewell to its home on orbit Tuesday (June 11). The International Space Station's original treadmill is now on its way to its fiery destruction aboard a spent Russian cargo freighter.

 

The now-discarded exercise device, called the "Treadmill Vibration Isolation System," or TVIS (pronounced "tee-viss"), was used by the orbiting outpost's first 34 resident crews from November 2000 until March of this year, when it was replaced by a new Russian-built unit. The 12-year-old running machine (and sometimes marathon track) was previously succeeded by a more advanced U.S. treadmill that was famously re-named after the television comedian Stephen Colbert.

 

"There has been a history of treadmills, trying to get them to work pretty well in space, and it is no easy feat," said NASA astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams, who ran on the TVIS, and later the C.O.L.B.E.R.T. (Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill), to stay in shape during her two long-duration missions onboard the space stationin 2006 and 2012.

 

Astronauts and cosmonauts use treadmills and other types of exercise devices as a countermeasure to the debilitating effects that extended exposure to microgravity has on the human body, including the loss of muscle mass and bone density.

 

Williams made history on the TVIS by becoming the first person to run a full marathon in space. On April 16, 2007, as thousands on the ground ran in the Boston Marathon, Williams completed the same distance on the stationary-but-still-circling-the-Earth treadmill.

 

"It made it through the [marathon's] 26.2 miles without a fault," Williams recalled in an interview with collectSPACE about the TVIS's legacy.

 

Last month, Russian cosmonauts — who had been using the TVIS since it was replaced in the U.S. segment of the space station by the COLBERT (or "T2")— uninstalled the treadmill and packed it inside the Progress M-19M (51P) unmanned resupply craft to discard with other no-longer-needed hardware and trash. The cosmonauts now use the BD-2 treadmill, Russia's first new space exercise machine since the space station Mir.

 

Progress M-19M undocked from the station Tuesday at 9:58 a.m. EDT (1358 GMT). The spacecraft is scheduled to perform a deorbit burn on June 19, which will begin its destructive descent back into the Earth's atmosphere.

 

Balancing act

 

Designing a treadmill to work in space presents a unique set of challenges. Not only must the machine keep the person running on it from floating away, but it also needs to prevent each and every pounding step from vibrating the entire spacecraft to the detriment of the structure's health.

 

"It has taken us a little while to figure out a really good type of treadmill because on the space station, whenever you're running on a treadmill and you have any type of loading, you are putting that load into the spacecraft and that's not so good," explained Williams.

 

"TVIS sat on a gyro and that in itself was a little bit more of a monster than even the treadmill you see when you look at someone who was jogging on it," she added.

 

The spinning gyroscope counteracted the vibrations that were generated by running from then propagating across the station. It was up to bungees to keep the astronaut on the treadmill.

 

"On Earth, of course, gravity is holding you down. You don't have to wear any type of equipment that will hold you down," Williams said. "On TVIS, you had a harness that went over your shoulders and around your waist and then had two connecting points on either side of your hips that connected it to the structure, the frame of the treadmill. That way, every time you pushed up, it pulled you back down."

 

"The amount it was pulling you back down dictated how much you 'weighed.' It put a force back into the treadmill and so if the force was higher, you weighed more," she said. "You can think of it simply as a bungee that had to be stretched further and further and the more that it was stretched, the bigger the force."

 

A better compromise

 

A similar bungee restraint system is used on the T2, but on the newer treadmill, brackets and pins replace the gyro, leading to a more stabile running surface.

 

"TVIS sat on a gyro, so when it started, it was a little bit wobbly," Williams recalled. "The gyro spun up, it had to get up to a certain [rotation per minute] to be stabilized, and then TVIS could move in all six degrees of freedom."

 

"With the ability for [TVIS] to move around quite a bit, this is subjective, but I did find that it was a good exercise for neural-vestibular stimulation as well," Williams stated. "I would run with my eyes closed and you'd have to be able to figure out how to keep your balance while [running]. I think that helped a little bit with the neural-vestibular re-adaptation when I came back to Earth."

 

Other differences between the TVIS and its successors included its user interface — TVIS had a dedicated control panel while T2 uses a laptop for control — and its running surface. TVIS was much more narrow than the newer T2 treadmill, or those back on Earth.

 

"TVIS was skinnier, so you always had that feeling you're having to watch where you are stepping so you were not inadvertently stepping [off]," Williams said.

 

"So if you can imagine, if you're at a gym and on a normal treadmill, you are not really feeling like you have to watch where you are stepping. You're just doing your normal step and you're not thinking about that," she continued. "[On TVIS] you had to sort of watch where your feet were going, which caused people to run a little bit different, not quite like their normal stride."

 

T2 was equipped with a wider running track, much more like treadmills used in Earth-bound gyms.

 

"I think in the beginning, people were just trying to figure out how to design a treadmill without causing the vibration and loading in the system. They were very conscientious about how the treadmill would interact with the spacecraft. That was the whole rise of the vibration isolation system and all of its complexities," Williams said.

 

"We've learned a whole lot over the years by having that treadmill and taking data from [the TVIS]," she concluded. "We've learned a whole lot about how much vibration it puts into the structure and what is needed to get the crew member into good shape, and [in the process] finding out a better compromise."

 

Shenzhou 10 Charged With Two Orbital Docking Trials

 

Bradley Perrett - Aviation Week

 

Now classifying its Shenzhou spacecraft as operational equipment, not experimental, China launched its fifth manned space mission on June 11.

 

The objectives of the 15-day Shenzhou 10 mission are to further develop China's technologies for docking and supporting human life in space, laying the groundwork for the space station that is supposed to be operational around 2020. With Shenzhou 10, the phase aimed at perfecting docking and spacewalking techniques should be complete.

 

The space station is likely to be launched before 2016, state news agency Xinhua says, presumably referring to the lofting of the first module. The likely masses of the space station modules suggest that the entire effort is awaiting the introduction into service of the Long March 5 heavy launcher, which was most recently due to make its first flight in 2015.

 

As in previous missions, the docking target of Shenzhou 10 will be the Tiangong 1 orbital laboratory, which is nearing the end of its two-year design life. The Shenzhou crew of two men and one woman are charged with docking with Tiangong, once automatically and once manually.

 

A Long March 2F, identical to that used for Shenzhou 9 last year, launched the latest mission at 9:38 GMT from the Jiuquan base in the Gobi Desert. The Long March 2F is China's human-rated rocket, though it also was used to launch the unmanned Tiangong 1.

 

The Shenzhou craft is no longer considered to be experimental equipment, Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program, tells Xinhua. Shenzhou 3 carried China's first astronaut to orbit in 2003.

 

China conducted its first spacewalk in 2008 with Shenzhou 7 and its first docking in 2011 with the unmanned Shenzhou 8 and Tiangong 1. The Shenzhou 8 docking was automatic; Shenzhou 9 followed with a manual procedure in 2012.

 

Chinese media emphasize the difficulty that China faces in these missions, because it is limited by the throw weight to low orbit of the Long March 2F, which is less than 9 metric tons.

 

Beijing, We Have a Space Program

 

Michael Lemonick - Time

 

At this moment, NASA's Curiosity rover is crawling over the surface of Mars, making one remarkable discovery after another about the Red Planet's possibly life-friendly past. The Hubble Space Telescope, aging but still going strong, is probing ever deeper into the universe. The Cassini mission to Saturn is unlocking the secrets of the Solar System's second-largest planet and its moons.

 

The unmanned half of America's space program, in short, is doing amazing things. But as China's launch of a three-person spacecraft into earth orbit aboard a Long March 2-F rocket just made clear, our manned space program is not just limping along, it's trailing behind even a comparative space race newbie. True, NASA astronauts have been doing important work aboard the International Space Station (ISS) — but they haven't been able to use NASA hardware to get to and from the station since 2011, when the Atlantis made the final space-shuttle flight in history.

 

Instead, U.S. spacefarers have to hitch rides aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule. In fact, NASA just inked a deal with the Russians to pay $424 million for six seats on Soyuz craft through 2016 — or a tidy $70 million per seat. They may also work out a deal with the private SpaceX corporation, which successfully delivered supplies to the ISS last year with an unmanned spacecraft. Space entrepreneur Elon Musk hopes to begin transporting astronauts to the station as early as next year — and undercut the Russians while doing so.

 

But if the space agency wants to use its own rockets to send astronauts to the space station — or to the moon, or anywhere else — it'll have to wait until 2016 at the earliest, when its Orion space capsule, still under development, could make its first crewed flight. For that to happen, however, NASA also has to build a new booster rocket; once the agency began to use on the space shuttle back in the early 1970s, it let its expertise in old-fashioned rocketry lapse. The planned new heavy-lift booster — called, prosaically enough, the Space Launch System — won't be available until 2017 at best. And don't count on either target actually being met. Ever since the end of the Apollo glory days, deadlines — on the manned side of the NASA ledger, at least — have been more like mere suggestions.

 

While NASA is stuck in a holding pattern, meanwhile, the Chinese are moving slowly but steadily forward with their own human spaceflight program. This week's launch of two men and one woman into orbit aboard the Shenzhou 10 capsule is the third time China has sent a three-person crew into space; the first came in 2008 and the second last year. Those were preceded by two other manned missions — a two-person spacecraft in 2005 and one person in 2003. In 2011, China sent a small uncrewed space station into orbit as well, giving their spacefarers a place to go. That's not likely to be the end of it, either: the Chinese have announced their intention to put up a full-size space station by the end of this decade, and ultimately to send astronauts to the moon.

 

And despite the more than 40-year lead both the U.S. and Russia have over China in sending humans to space, it's not a stretch to think they could be kicking up lunar dust before we do. Russia's human spaceflight program, which looked to be pulling ahead of ours in the late 1980s, largely collapsed along with the Soviet Union itself (although its low-tech, sturdy Soyuz capsules are still holding up).

 

The U.S. program, meanwhile, petered out due simply to lack of commitment and lack of vision. America still thinks big, as evidenced by a recently unveiled proposal to tow an asteroid into orbit near the moon for future mining missions, which sounds harebrained and may well be, but at least shows imagination.

 

But while we're thinking and talking big, other nations are thinking less, talking less — and quietly moving ahead.

 

Success is possible right here

 

Decatur Daily

 

North Alabama students seeking to find a model for professional success need not look far.

 

Jonathon Walden is a reminder that, when it comes to aerospace, this is the place to be.

 

Walden, 31, graduated from Decatur High School. He was ambivalent about attending college, but a scholarship at the University of Alabama in Huntsville convinced him to attend.

 

Thirteen years later, the Hartselle resident's reality is a mere dream for engineers around the world.

 

Walden, an engineer at Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center, designed a key component that NASA hopes to use to send astronauts back to space.

 

The Multipurpose Crew Vehicle Stage Adapter will connect a United Launch Alliance rocket — built in Decatur — to the Orion spacecraft. A test flight is planned for September 2014. If all goes as planned, Walden's device and the Decatur rocket will help launch astronauts into space in 2017.

 

Walden did not just design the adapter, he has overseen the manufacturing process.

 

High school students who believe that success requires an escape from north Alabama need to think again.

 

Walden found the education he needed and the career he desired right here. At least in the aerospace field, the greatest aspirations can be met without leaving home.

 

NASA's Social Media Manager:

'We're Breaking Down the Walls of What People Think Government Is'

 

Devon Glenn - SocialTimes.com

 

"I can't think of anything that's changed communications for NASA in the last 30 years more than Twitter," said John Yembrick, social media manager at NASA.

 

Yembrick discussed NASA's passion for social media at the AllTwitter Marketing Conference in San Francisco.

 

With no budget for social media except Yembrick's and others' salaries, the team relies on basic tools. They measure their success in a weekly social report on their Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts.

 

NASA has already noticed that its Twitter efforts have attracted more young girls, a key demographic in science.

 

The team also looks at which aspects of space exploration people want to know more about. "We analyze which stories people are interested in," Yembrick said. "I try to guess it and I can't because the public can be unpredictable."

 

It was through Twitter (and YouTube), for example, that millions of people discovered "Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror," a video that documented the final harrowing moments as the Curiosity rover landed on the surface of Mars.

 

"We are a federal agency and we're breaking down the walls of what people think government is," said Yembrick. "There's a personality behind it; there's a face behind it."

 

The personality of the unmanned rover, in this case, was manned by three people on earth: Veronica McGregor, Courtney O'Connor, and Stephanie Smith.

 

But there was also Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who posted photos of his own trip to space on Twitter. "I was shocked at how awesome he was," Yembrick said.

 

Is it a requirement for astronauts to Tweet? "We really want to see more of that, but astronauts have to be comfortable with the medium," said Yembrick. "It's not natural for a lot of folks."

 

While yesterday's conference focused on Twitter, Yembrick told us after the panel that Google+ was also a game-changer for the government agency because it allows NASA team members to interact directly with the public through Google+ Hangouts.

 

"The audience isn't there yet on Google+," he said, but the hangout sessions are visible on YouTube, which reaches more people. In addition, Google+ draws a tech-savvy, enthusiastic crowd. "They have best comments," Yembrick added.

 

FTC Not Challenging Rocketdyne Acquisition

 

Mark Madler - San Fernando Valley Business Journal

 

The Federal Trade Commission announced on Monday that it has closed its investigation into the acquisition of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne by GenCorp and will not challenge the deal.

 

The commission's action paves the way for Sacramento-based GenCorp to complete its $550 million purchase of Rocketdyne, a longtime San Fernando Valley rocket-engine manufacturer. The deal was announced nearly a year ago.

 

In making the decision, the commission cited the Pentagon's desire to complete the deal for national security and other reasons. The FTC, however, found that the deal does give GenCorp a monopoly on rocket-propulsion systems used on missile-defense interceptors. And it would create barriers to entry for competing manufacturers of similar engines.

 

Rocketdyne was put up for sale last year by owner United Technologies, of Hartford, Conn., to generate cash for its $18.4 billion acquisition of airplane-parts manufacturer Goodrich Corp. Rocketdyne employs more than 1,000 people on separate campuses on Canoga Avenue and DeSoto Avenue.

 

GenCorp. is considered an industry leader in rocket-propulsion technology. The company's Aerojet rocket- and missile-propulsion division dates back to the 1930s and has done work for the U.S. Air Force and Navy.

 

Former Brevard shuttle engineers circumnavigate globe

52,000 miles and 14 years later, pair dock back in Brevard

 

Mara Bellaby - Florida Today

 

What they missed: George W. Bush's two-term presidency, the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the end of the shuttle program, and just about everything to do with Lindsay Lohan.

 

In the winter of 1999, Rick and Suza Goltz — newly married and early retired from their jobs as engineers for the space shuttle program — set sail from Cape Canaveral with two cats on a 44-foot sailboat named Voyager on what they dreamed might be an around-the-world adventure.

 

Bill Clinton was president. John Glenn had just returned to space on shuttle Discovery. Cameras still required film.

 

Fourteen-and-a-half years, two presidents and 52,000 nautical miles later, the couple are back home, having fulfilled a dream to circumnavigate the globe.

 

Tired, yes. Savoring sleep in a California King bed, check. Enjoying the taste of a BLT? Definitely. "Do you know how many ingredients are in a BLT? The stars have to align to have them all at the same time," Rick, 55, joked.

 

"Who knew we were going to be gone 14 years? ... Who knew we were going to spend all those nights awake at sea," Rick said. "In hindsight, I wouldn't trade the memories for anything in the world. But I would never do it again."

 

Their trip, documented by stories so numerous the couple tire of telling them, took the Goltzes and their cats, Schumi and Senna, from the swimming pool-like waters of the Bahamas, down the island chain of the Caribbean to the bustling Panama Canal. On a 23-day, 2,900-mile sail "across the Big Blue" from the Galapagos Islands off the western coast of South America to the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They headed north to the Marshall Islands and then across 3,000 miles of Micronesia to Palau, the Philippines and Borneo.

 

The Goltzes were in Singapore when the 2008 financial crisis hit, stranding thousands of ships.

 

They enjoyed the exotic beauty of southeast Asia, and survived gale-force winds on the Bay of Bengal as they crossed to Sri Lanka. The couple trekked 1,500 miles up the west coast of India to Mumbai, only to turn back south due to the pirate threat on the route to the Mediterranean Sea. They overcame the whimsy of Mother Nature to round South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Then, they hustled across the southern Atlantic, up the Brazilian coast and, eventually, back home.

 

They learned much about themselves, each other and the world.

 

The Goltzes saw the largely positive creep of technology (women in traditional dress, i.e. topless, sitting behind computers at a high school in Micronesia) and the negative consequences of global warming (taro, a food staple on some western Pacific islands, under threat due to rising waters).

 

They met queens of far-flung islands, a former prime minister and millionaire yachtsman. They got up close to penguins in South Africa, rode an elephant in Thailand and walked dusty streets in Mozambique.

 

They found that tuna were not biting as often as you'd think; sometimes, the Goltzes went 1,000 miles between a catch. And they confirmed that weather is king; it dictates when you sail and when you rest, demanding your attention and respect.

 

The couple's odd shifts while working in the shuttle program (she worked third shift, he second) made the 24-hour captain duties on a "long passage" — where putting down an anchor is not an option — a little easier. She volunteered for nights so he (Voyager's "captain") could be alert during the critical daytime hours when Rick often mixed sailing with handyman repairs on the boat.

 

They endured big seas; sometimes, 18-foot waves.

 

"It's just uncomfortable," Rick said about the long passages through open waters. "It's rough, and it's wet, and it's hard to sleep, and you always have to have somebody in the cockpit, so you're wet and cold and when you go down, you're covered in salt water ... there's nothing pleasant about being at sea."

 

The sailing, Suza, 54, added, "is a means to get to the place. Once you get to the place, that's when it's special."

 

First boat

 

The idea of a circumnavigation began gradually.

 

The couple started with a 34-footer they named Jazz (with the J in the shape of a saxophone), which the pair lived on from 1985 to 1989 while working at KSC; twice, they sailed to the Bahamas. It was a trial run: for them as a couple, as sailors, as possible around-the-world cruisers.

 

It went well. So they planned, and continued to save money.

 

By 1998, they were ready. To get married. To quit their jobs (they tapped into one of their 401k plans). To set off. Officially, they did it all on one day: Jan. 2, 1999. Wedding, retirement party, bon voyage celebration. She was 40. He was 41.

 

Jazz had served the couple well, but they needed a "blue water boat," an ocean-going vessel. They'd found it in the Reliance 44: named Canajan A (owned by a Canadian couple. Get it? Canadian, eh?). "We changed that name real fast," Rick said.

 

The newlyweds "cut their teeth" in the Bahamas, getting used to Voyager and cruising life. As they tooled around the Eastern Caribbean, they could drop anchor every night. In the daytime, they snorkeled and went ashore to hike or explore.

 

"My favorite part of cruising is right after the anchor goes down," Rick said.

 

They made Voyager as homey as possible: spice racks, packed book shelves, watercolors hanging in the cabin walls. The yacht had a refrigerator and freezer. Rick could drink his rum-and-Coke over ice. But they had to collect rainwater to drink. They got used to ducking and climbing to get around their home.

 

As they island hopped, they worked up to two-, three-, five-day crossings and contemplated heading across the Pacific. But they weren't ready. Because, with sailing, once you venture into the Pacific, it's pretty much a one-way trip. Turning back is horrendously rough.

 

They needed more sailing time to feel comfortable.

 

Panama Canal

 

By December 2000, they were ready: an eight-hour trip through the Panama Canal. "An engineering marvel," said Suza, a mechanical engineer.

 

And that's when the cruising really started. Panama to the Galapagos: 800 miles. Then another 23 days at sea. One of them always awake. No land visible. Just the two of them.

 

"I like it. To me, it is meditative," Suza said. "She does it much better than I do," Rick admitted. "I just sit there and feel sorry for myself, look at my watch and think about when I can go to sleep."

 

Twice, the pair took breaks in their sailing trip to work and raise money, both times as civilian contractors at a U.S. Army base on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The first time for just over two years to March 2004, the second from 2005 to 2008.

 

Then the pair headed toward Micronesia and Southeast Asia. Exotic. Beautiful. A highlight of the trip, they recalled.

 

In the Bay of Bengal, weather tested them. They now call it: the Great Gale of 2011.

 

"It's like you're in a washing machine and you can't get out," Suza said.

 

One yacht traveling at the same time was lost. Others turned back to Thailand. The Goltzes pressed on to Sri Lanka.

 

They contemplated heading up to the Red Sea, and even talked with friends about a rendezvous in Greece. The trip would take them through pirate territory; there had been 28 attacks around that time.

 

"We're just like, 'Are we going to go with pirates or are we going to go with Mother Nature?" Suza said. "And the difference is going 10,000 miles off our path, which is like a year, two years."

 

They chose Mother Nature, even though that meant the Cape of Good Hope, which as Suza noted "eats boats." A crew they'd befriended opted for the Mediterranean route and was captured and killed by Somali pirates.

 

After rounding South Africa, the Goltzes set off on two nearly back-to-back 20-day passages that brought them from Cape Town to Brazil. That was in 2012.

 

Brazil proved one of the tougher journeys. They explored the Amazon delta, which was surprisingly deep and tested them with currents. "Trees would come floating down and snag your anchor and off you go," Rick said. "We actually drifted one night," Suza said.

 

She was accosted by a machete-wielding mugger on the mainland. Many of the other sailors they befriended were robbed.

 

On July 5, 2012, they paused in French Guiana to tour the space center and watch an Ariane 5 launch, bringing back memories of their space shuttle days.

 

About a month later, they crossed their own path in Trinidad. They'd circumnavigated the globe. How did they celebrate? "A big kiss," Suza said.

 

Now, both say it's good to be back on the Space Coast, having arrived at Harbortown Marina on May 31. They're busy unpacking Voyager into the Cape Canaveral condo they own and rented while away. In the decade and a half they were gone, Rick and Suza missed America's Y2K fears, the election of the first black president, almost the entire assembly of the International Space Station.

 

But they're back home now. Suza noted that the trees look taller. They're catching up with family, and enjoying sleeping in a bed big enough for Rick's feet not to hang off the end.

 

Both are looking for jobs, ideally in the space industry.

 

Voyager is for sale.

 

"We are ready to stop now," Suza said. "I know I certainly am," Rick added.

 

"We are ready to move on to the land adventure. That's what we're going to do next," said Suza.

 

END