Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Human Spaceflight News

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: June 14, 2013 6:26:59 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - June 14, 2013 and JSC Today

Happy Friday everyone. Have a great and safe weekend.

Please Note: Our great friend and colleague, Jack Knight, pointed out that next month's NASA Retirees luncheon would fall on July 4^th, so to resolve this conflict --- we will delay our monthly NASA Retirees luncheon for July to the following Thursday July 11^th!    I will send reminders out that it is delayed until Thursday July 11^th and will notify the Hibachi Grill folks too.

Thanks Jack for looking out for us!

Friday, June 14, 2013

JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1.            WATCH MORPHEUS TEST FIRING TODAY
2.            SWE-TSC Brunch and Learn: Capsule Parachute Assembly System for MPCV
3.            Calling All Cub Scouts!
4.            EVA Physiology Human Systems Academy Lecture
5.            JSC Feeds Families 2013 Kicks Off Monday
6.            Dave's JSC Space RIder Photo at Rocket Park
7.            JSC Tech Briefs Live Webinar Presentation Featuring Robonaut 2
________________________________________     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."
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1.            WATCH MORPHEUS TEST FIRING TODAY
Today the Morpheus team plans a tether test of its "Bravo" prototype lander. The test will be streamed live on JSC's UStream Channel. View the live stream along with progress updates sent via twitter on the project's website:http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov/live/
Morpheus is a vertical test bed vehicle being used to mature new, non-toxic propulsion systems and autonomous landing and hazard detection technologies. Designed, manufactured and operated in-house by engineers at JSC, Morpheus represents not only a vehicle to advance technologies, but also an opportunity to pursue "lean development" engineering practices.
The test firing is planned for approximately 1 p.m.
Streaming will begin approximately 45-minutes prior.
*Note: Testing operations are very dynamic and the actual firing time may vary. Follow Morpheus Lander on Twitter for the latest information at @MorpheusLander (send text "follow morpheuslander" to 40404 to get tweets as text messages).
For more information visit: http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov/ or
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/exploration/morpheus/
Wendy Watkins 281.483.8316 http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov/

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2.            SWE-TSC Brunch and Learn: Capsule Parachute Assembly System for MPCV
Join us for a brunch and learn with CPAS Analysis team members, Leah M. Romero and Kristin Bledsoe!
The Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) for the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) "Orion" spacecraft is engaged in a multi-year design and test campaign to qualify a parachute recovery system for human use on the Orion Spacecraft. Test and simulation techniques have evolved concurrently to keep up with the demands of a complex system.
Event Date: Saturday, June 29, 2013   Event Start Time:10:00 AM   Event End Time:12:00 PM
Event Location: La Brisa 501 N. Wesley League City, TX 77573

Add to Calendar

Irene Chan (281) 244-1378

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3.            Calling All Cub Scouts!
Calling all Cub Scouts! Join us for a Cub Scout Astronomy Belt Loop class from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm on June 22! The cost is $15 per scout. There will be hands-on activities to help the cub scouts complete ALL of their requirements for the Astronomy Belt Loop. To get tickets go to this website: http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=560&Itemid=583
Note: Park entrance fees apply: $7 per person for everyone over 12 years old.
Megan Hashier 281-226-4179 http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=560&Ite...

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4.            EVA Physiology Human Systems Academy Lecture
Please join us on June 26 from 12:30-2:30 pm for a lecture on EVA Physiology. The first half of the session will be an introduction to the risk of decompression sickness (DCS) in astronauts during EVA. This will include an explanation of Prebreathe Protocols (PB), to affect nitrogen washout as a primary risk mitigation strategy. Symptoms associated with evolved gas in tissues will be addressed. A review of hypobaric research programs over the past 30 years to evaluate potential operational PB protocols will be reviewed, as well as DSC in those subjects participating in those studies. The second half will cover the operational implementation of the various Prebreathe Protocols for EVA. The treatment plan for potential Spaceflight DCS will be reviewed, highlighting the DCS Cuff-Classification system, on-orbit treatment approaches, Flight Rules, and considerations for deorbit of effected crew.
Space is limited so please register in Satern:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Cynthia Rando 281-244-1815 https://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/hsa/default.aspx

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5.            JSC Feeds Families 2013 Kicks Off Monday
With your help the civil servant and contractor community can team up together to reach our goal of collecting 50,000 pounds of food by July 23rd. A different theme will be announced each week to help you choose items that are needed most.
Next week's theme: School's out! For some children in our area this can mean not knowing where their next meal is coming from. Please bring healthy, non-perishable food items for kids to the collection boxes located in your building.
Proceeds will support the Galveston County Food Bank and the Clear Lake Food Pantry.
Brad Stewart or Bridget Montgomery 281-483-0356

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6.            Dave's JSC Space RIder Photo at Rocket Park
Monday, June 17, is the 22nd Annual International Ride to Work Day. As in previous years the JSC Space Riders will gather for the annual group photo at 11:30 AM. This year we have permission to take the photo at Rocket Park, you must be NASA badged. Permission has been granted provided we do not interrupt the SCH tram service - trams will be running in both directions.
We will park the bikes on the edge of the tram road so as not to be disruptive to the regular tram services.
Here is the schedule:
10:30 - The photographers will begin setting up equipment.
11:00 - Bikes will begin showing up for photos.
11:30 to 11:50 - The photos will be taken.
12:00 - Bikes will leave Rocket Park - ride to Fuddruckers for lunch
Event Date: Monday, June 17, 2013   Event Start Time:11:00 AM   Event End Time:12:00 PM
Event Location: JSC Rocket Park

Add to Calendar

Trent Mills 281-244-2338

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7.            JSC Tech Briefs Live Webinar Presentation Featuring Robonaut 2
You are cordially invited! Mark your calendars for Thursday, June 20, 2013 (1PM CST) as NASA Tech Briefs is partnering with the JSC Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office (TTO) to host a live webinar presentation with Dr. Ron Diftler, Robonaut Project Lead, and Astronaut Dave Leestma, TTO Manager. Discussions will include Robonaut 2 (R2), the commercial applications of the R2 technology suite, and highlights on some of the innovative work being done at this center.
Register for this event at: http://video.webcasts.com/events/abpi001/46113
Event Date: Thursday, June 20, 2013   Event Start Time:1:00 PM   Event End Time:2:00 PM
Event Location: Live Webinar

Add to Calendar

Sonia Hernandez-Moya 281-483-1752 http://technology.jsc.nasa.gov

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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:
·         7 am Central SATURDAY (8 EDT) – ATV-4 "Albert Einstein" rendezvous & docking coverage
·         8:46 am Central SATURDAY (9:46 EDT) – Docking to aft port on Service Module "Zvezda"

Human Spaceflight News
Friday, June 14, 2013

HEADLINES AND LEADS

Internal Audit Hits NASA for Station Resupply Payments to Orbital

Brian Berger - Space News

NASA is taking heat from its Office of Inspector General (OIG) for giving Orbital Sciences Corp. more than $600 million to build hardware for six space station resupply missions before the Dulles, Va.-based firm has fully demonstrated that its fledgling Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo tug are up to the task. Orbital holds a $1.9 billion NASA contract to fly a total of eight resupply missions to the international space station through 2016. The contract was awarded in December 2008, several months after NASA picked Orbital as a late addition to a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program that since 2006 had been subsidizing Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in its now-completed effort to develop a competing space station logistics system.

NASA inspector general questions payments to Orbital

Ledyard King - Florida Today

NASA's top watchdog said the agency should slow down payments to Orbital Sciences Corp. until the company demonstrates it can successfully fly cargo to the International Space Station. A statement from the Virginia-based aerospace firm calls the findings "flawed." It says its arrangement with NASA has been efficient, and expects to deliver supplies to the station by the end of the year. The space agency has paid Orbital $910 million for spacecraft development and resupply contracts through Sept. 30, 2012, as part of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program, according to a report issued Thursday by NASA Inspector General Paul Martin.

Plastic Could Protect Astronauts from Deep-Space Radiation

Mike Wall - Space.com

Plastic shielding could help protect astronauts from harmful radiation on long journeys through deep space, new observations from a NASA moon probe suggest. An instrument aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) found that plastic reduces the radiation dose from fast-moving charged particles called galactic cosmic rays. Scientists have long suspected that this is the case, but the new results provide a vital confirmation in deep space, researchers said.

Russia Promises Manned Launches from Its Own Soil in 2018

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

Russia, one of the world's space powerhouses, has been launching its rockets from Kazakhstan since the early days of its space program, but now plans to shift its launches to Russian soil within five years. But some experts question whether such a pace is realistic. This spring, President Vladimir Putin pledged $51.8 billion by 2020 to place his country back in the top ranks of world space explorers. The centerpiece of that promise is Vostochny, a cosmodrome, or launch site, under construction in eastern Siberia, near the Chinese border. Within five years, Putin promised that an International Space Station crew would launch from Vostochny.

SpaceShipTwo Next Supersonic Flight

Guy Norris - Aviation Week

New pilots for Virgin Galactic's Spaceline have completed a series of check rides from Mojave, Calif, as preparations continue towards the next supersonic envelope expansion flight of the rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo (SS2) sub-orbital vehicle. Flights were in WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), built by Scaled Composites, which has been flown on at least 11 training sorties since dropping SS2 for its first powered test flight (PF01) on April 29. The two are former space shuttle astronaut and Top Gun graduate, Frederick "CJ" Sturckow, and former U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and U-2 veteran, Michael "Sooch" Masucci. Both completed check rides on June 6. The second powered test flight is expected shortly, with expectations of achieving the first full sub-orbital flight in December, if not shortly before.

Childhood Dream Job: NASA's Pit Crew

Becky Oskin - Space.com

For Joshua Graham, growing up in a small Florida town meant frequent trips to Kennedy Space Center to watch space shuttle launches. When Graham was five years old, he recalls seeing an astronaut's spacesuit in the Space Center's museum and telling his mother, "I want to work on these."

NASA: Amesbury rock came from Soviet spacecraft

Mac Cerullo - Amesbury Eagle-Tribune

Phil Green knew he'd found something unusual when he pulled the strange green rock out of the Merrimack River six years ago, but it wasn't until recently that he found out his discovery was truly out of this world. Green, a custodian at the Amesbury Elementary School who lives by the Merrimack River, recently received confirmation from NASA that a strange rock he found is actually a piece of the Mir Space Station that fell into his backyard. The space agency confirmed the rock's origin after a year-long analysis, and sent the rock and a plaque back to Green for him to keep a couple of weeks ago.

First Woman in Space Wants to Go to Mars

Ian O'Neill - Discovery News

Just as China sends their second astronaut (or "taikonaut") into space to dock with the nation's prototype space station, the first woman of all time to orbit the Earth is about to celebrate the 50th anniversary (on June 16) of achieving her feat. Valentina Tereshkova completed her solo flight around the Earth in 1963, a major propaganda coup for the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But now, the 76-year-old feels it's time to make an even bigger leap into interplanetary space. "Mars is my favorite planet," said Tereshkova said during a press conference at cosmonaut training center in Star City, near Moscow, on Friday. She likes the Red Planet so much that she'd be happy to join the crew of a one-way mission.

'On the Edge': The Legacy of Valentina Tereshkova

Ben Evans - AmericaSpace.com

It is a quirk of historical coincidence that both the Soviet Union, the United States, and China sent their pioneering women into the heavens at exactly the same time, in mid-June. On 16 June 2012, Liu Yang became China's first woman in space. On 18 June 1983, Sally Ride became America's first woman in space. And on 16 June 1963—five decades ago this month—an "ordinary" Russian textile worker-turned-pilot named Valentina Tereshkova accomplished something quite "extraordinary" and roared into orbit aboard Vostok-6. For Premier Nikita Khrushchev, her flight was a triumph for Communism: it showed the world that in a socialist state women were equal to men and were encouraged to reach for the stars.

Beyond the politics:
Space exploration is imperative to innovation and inspiration

Eileen Collins & Nick Lampson - Huffington Post (Opinion)

(Collins is a former astronaut & Lampson a former member of the House. Both are Coalition for Space Exploration board members.)

Space exploration is remarkably compelling for most Americans, a challenging pursuit that distinguishes the United States as a global leader, while ensuring a steady stream of innovative technologies that strengthen the economy and, just as importantly, inspiring our youth to dream big. Starting with our individual careers as a NASA astronaut and a member of Congress, we've regularly witnessed the enthusiasm and pride that accompany our space exploration endeavors. Those observations have not changed with our more recent professional activities, which often place us before audiences of all ages.

The Call of Mars

Buzz Aldrin - New York Times (Opinion)

(Aldrin is a former astronaut)

When I view the Moon, there are times when I feel like I'm on a time machine. I am back to a cherished point in the past — now nearly 45 years ago — when Neil Armstrong and I stood on that bleak, but magnificent lunar landscape called the Sea of Tranquility. While we were farther away from Earth than humans had ever been, the fact is that we weren't alone. An estimated 600 million people back on Earth, at that time the largest television audience in history, watched us plant our footprints on the Moon. Fast forward to today. Now I see the Moon in a far different light — not as a destination but more a point of departure, one that places humankind on a trajectory to homestead Mars and become a two-planet species. It is time to lay the groundwork for effective global human exploration of space.

A Moving Video of Every NASA Space Shuttle Launch at One Time

Rebecca Rosen - The Atlantic

Up and away they go, humans sailing off this Earth and into space. The first half of the video is a joy, a testament to the ingenuity and courage that has repeatedly lifted astronauts right off the planet. The second half is heartbreak, as every little square but one fades out, successful -- all except that little patch of blue where the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in the sky in 1986. In the second row from the bottom, eight from the left, you can also see the 2003 launch of Columbia. Though its launch was successful, that mission too ended in tragedy when the shuttle disintegrated upon reentry 16 days later. And yes, this video has been around for a while, but I'd never seen it before and I'm probably not the only one. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

The Dream Employers For Engineering Students

Jacquelyn Smith - Forbes

Global research and advisory firm Universum recently culled its data to find the 100 most attractive employers for engineering students. How? They asked 9,770 undergraduate engineering majors in the U.S. to select the companies they would consider working for and then to identify their ideal employer. Almost one-fifth (19.4%) chose NASA, making it the No. 1 "most attractive" employer for engineering students.
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COMPLETE STORIES

Internal Audit Hits NASA for Station Resupply Payments to Orbital

Brian Berger - Space News

NASA is taking heat from its Office of Inspector General (OIG) for giving Orbital Sciences Corp. more than $600 million to build hardware for six space station resupply missions before the Dulles, Va.-based firm has fully demonstrated that its fledgling Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo tug are up to the task.

Orbital holds a $1.9 billion NASA contract to fly a total of eight resupply missions to the international space station through 2016. The contract was awarded in December 2008, several months after NASA picked Orbital as a late addition to a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program that since 2006 had been subsidizing Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in its now-completed effort to develop a competing space station logistics system.

By the end of 2012, according to an OIG report released June 13, SpaceX had been paid a total of $858 million between its $396 million COTS agreement and a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, also awarded in December 2008, that calls for the Hawthorne, Calif., company to make 12 space station runs.

Orbital, meanwhile, had been paid a total of $910 million between its $288 million COTS agreement and its $1.9 billion CRS contract.

While both SpaceX and Orbital have banked roughly one-third of their CRS contract payments, SpaceX has made two successful cargo deliveries to the international space station since a May 2012 demonstration run of its Dragon capsule. Orbital, in contrast, is not expected to launch Cygnus on its COTS demo mission until mid-September, a flight that, if successful, would enable the company to begin executing on its CRS contract.

According to the OIG, NASA is on track to pay Orbital up to 70 percent of the funds associated with the company's first six CRS missions "all before Orbital demonstrates that its system can successfully launch and rendezvous with the [international space station]."

An industry source said Orbital's CRS contract was deliberately structured to ensure steady production of Antares and Cygnus components. "That's cheaper than building them at slow-rate production," the industry source said. "Orbital negotiated a contract to that effect."

"If NASA had behaved the way the [inspector general] is suggesting the cost to government would have been much higher," the industry source said.

"We understand that NASA accepted the risks of concurrent development with both SpaceX and Orbital out of a need to ensure a redundant cargo capacity to meet the [space station] resupply schedule, and we do not second guess the Agency's decision to concurrently fund up to three spaceflight systems for each company," the OIG wrote. "However, in the case of Orbital, we believe that NASA has leaned too far forward by continuing to fund the company's CRS missions when Orbital did not meet major developmental milestones specified in its Space Act Agreement, which in turn delayed launch dates for its CRS resupply missions."

The OIG says NASA was "too slow" to adjust CRS milestone payments when Orbital, like SpaceX before it, fell behind schedule. As a result, NASA is paying Orbital to build or buy hardware for missions that will not be flown for several years, exposing the government to too much financial risk.

NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, William Gerstenmaier, disagreed that NASA has accepted too much financial risk in the way it implemented the CRS contracts, but concurred with the OIG's recommendation that the contracts be updated to reflect the revised launch schedule, according to the OIG's report.

NASA spokesman Trent Perrotto said in a statement that NASA manages its commercial crew program "to meet the cargo delivery needs of the space station and to limit the financial risk to the American taxpayer.

"The CRS contracts provide for the necessary contract protections to balance programmatic requirements and meet the agency's obligations to the nation and to our international partners. NASA will continue to pursue contract consideration when appropriate and hold the CRS contractors to their original mission prices," Perrotto's statement concludes.

Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski said in a statement that the OIG "missed 'the forest for the trees' on the current status and accomplishments of the CRS cargo delivery program."

The rest of Orbital's statement is reproduced below:

Orbital has expressed to the NASA OIG our strong disagreement with its methodology and conclusions in a number of specific areas of the report However, when viewed with a "big picture" lens, Orbital would point out the following:

·         Other comparable cargo delivery systems that support the ISS such as the European ATV and Japanese HTV took far longer and were vastly more expensive to develop under a traditional government run contract than the approach NASA has instituted under the COTS and CRS programs.

·         To date, Orbital has invested more than twice what NASA has invested in the COTS development program, and has expended far more than it has been paid by NASA on the CRS program. So it is clear Orbital has significant "skin in the game" and we are highly incentivized to successfully carry out the eight CRS mission currently under contract. In addition, at the outset of the CRS program, NASA instituted a larger-than-normal cash payment hold back contingent upon successful completion of the CRS missions, a contractual protection for the Agency far greater than traditional government contracts normally provide.

·         When compared to traditional NASA-contracted space system development programs, the COTS and CRS programs have been carried out in a remarkably efficient and cost effective manner. For example, in a five-year timeframe, NASA's current investment of approximately $350 million has helped produce an all-new medium-class launch vehicle that successfully carried out a test flight in April; a new world-class liquid-fuel launch complex at a NASA facility and range site; and a new multipurpose cargo logistics spacecraft to resupply the ISS.

·         By the end of 2013, Orbital will have launched the Antares rocket three times (two COTS missions and the first CRS mission) and will have delivered cargo to the ISS with the Cygnus spacecraft twice (COTS Demonstration Mission and the CRS-1 Mission). The development work and these operations will have been completed in just five years from the signing of the CRS contract.

·         Orbital is committed to completing the COTS R&D effort late this summer and carrying out the first CRS mission in the fall. This schedule will be among the fastest and most cost efficient NASA has ever supported.

NASA inspector general questions payments to Orbital

Ledyard King - Florida Today

NASA's top watchdog said the agency should slow down payments to Orbital Sciences Corp. until the company demonstrates it can successfully fly cargo to the International Space Station.

A statement from the Virginia-based aerospace firm calls the findings "flawed." It says its arrangement with NASA has been efficient, and expects to deliver supplies to the station by the end of the year.

The space agency has paid Orbital $910 million for spacecraft development and resupply contracts through Sept. 30, 2012, as part of its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program, according to a report issued Thursday by NASA Inspector General Paul Martin.

The program aims to help U.S. companies develop vehicles to transport materials and supplies to the orbiting lab now that the space shuttle has been retired.

Orbital completed a maiden test flight of its Antares rocket in April, but the full demonstration mission that NASA requires won't happen until at least August, the report said.

The other company in the program — California-based SpaceX — has received $858 million and has flown a final demonstration flight and two resupply missions to the space station.

Orbital's contract calls for NASA to pay the company $1.9 billion for eight resupply missions.

Under the existing payment schedule, the company will receive up to 70 percent of the funds associated with six of those missions prior to flying a demonstration flight. In particular, Martin said, NASA should have deferred about $150 million it paid Orbital for costs associated with the company's fourth and fifth resupply missions.

Martin said the advanced payments pose "too much financial risk" for NASA, and future payments should be tied more to performance.

"The possibility remains that the demonstration flight could expose issues that require costly rework and redesign, resulting in major adjustments to the current launch schedule," the inspector general's report says.

NASA officials deny they've exposed the agency to any additional risk and say "payment cap" protections and other contractual provisions align payments with technical achievements, according to a letter Associate Administrator William Gerstenmaier sent to Martin. The letter was included in the report.

Gerstenmaier wrote that there would have been "substantially greater" risk in failing to have the companies on board working toward developing a way to resupply the space station.

But he also pledged that NASA will review and update work schedules as necessary to make sure pay and performance are properly aligned.

The response from Orbital Sciences Corp. was harsher. The company rejected Martin's conclusions and said his report "missed the forest for the trees."

Orbital's statement said:

·         Japanese and European delivery systems serving the space station took far longer and were more expensive to develop than the COTS structure.
·         The Antares rocket will be launched three times and will deliver cargo to the space station with the Cygnus spacecraft twice by the end of the year — only five years from the signing of the resupply contract with NASA.
·         To date, Orbital has spent more than twice what NASA has in the COTS development program, and has expended far more on the re-supply program than it has been paid by NASA.
·         "So it is clear Orbital has significant 'skin in the game' and we are highly incentivized to successfully carry out the eight missions currently under contract," the company said. "This schedule will be among the fastest and most cost efficient NASA has ever supported."
·         SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract for 12 missions, two of which are already completed.

Plastic Could Protect Astronauts from Deep-Space Radiation

Mike Wall - Space.com

Plastic shielding could help protect astronauts from harmful radiation on long journeys through deep space, new observations from a NASA moon probe suggest.

An instrument aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) found that plastic reduces the radiation dose from fast-moving charged particles called galactic cosmic rays. Scientists have long suspected that this is the case, but the new results provide a vital confirmation in deep space, researchers said.

"This is the first study using observations from space to confirm what has been thought for some time —that plastics and other lightweight materials are pound-for-pound more effective for shielding against cosmic radiation than aluminum," lead author Cary Zeitlin, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., said in a statement

Galactic cosmic rays are tiny, super-energetic wrecking balls blasted into space by distant star explosions and other dramatic events.

Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field deflect most of these particles away, so those of us on the planet's surface don't have to worry too much about them. But astronauts — especially those in deep space, beyond the planet's magnetosphere — are much more exposed.

NASA and scientists around the world are trying to figure out the best way to shield astronauts on long-duration missions, such as journeys to Mars.

Aluminum, the main material in spacecraft construction, does virtually nothing to stop galactic cosmic rays. Computer models and ground-based experiments using particle accelerators suggested that plastics are much better, and LRO took this idea to space.

LRO has been zipping around the moon at an altitude of 30 miles (50 kilometers) since 2009. Its Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation instrument, or CRaTER, gauged the radiation dose from cosmic rays after the particles passed through a material called tissue-equivalent plastic, which is designed to mimic human muscle tissue.

"The shielding effectiveness of the plastic in space is very much in line with what we discovered from the beam experiments, so we've gained a lot of confidence in the conclusions we drew from that work," Zeitlin said. "Anything with high hydrogen content, including water, would work well."

But shielding alone cannot entirely solve the deep-space radiation problem, Zeitlin and others say. Indeed, NASA is working to develop advanced propulsion technologies such as nuclear fusion rockets, which would reduce radiation exposure by slashing travel times to faraway destinations.

Galactic cosmic rays pose the most serious radiation problems for deep-space explorers, but other sources contribute as well. Solar storms, for example, routinely eject particles that are less energetic but can still damage tissue.

The new study has been published online in the journal Space Weather.

Russia Promises Manned Launches from Its Own Soil in 2018

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

Russia, one of the world's space powerhouses, has been launching its rockets from Kazakhstan since the early days of its space program, but now plans to shift its launches to Russian soil within five years. But some experts question whether such a pace is realistic.

This spring, President Vladimir Putin pledged $51.8 billion by 2020 to place his country back in the top ranks of world space explorers. The centerpiece of that promise is Vostochny, a cosmodrome, or launch site, under construction in eastern Siberia, near the Chinese border. Within five years, Putin promised that an International Space Station crew would launch from Vostochny.

"Construction work is accelerated here," Putin told the space station's Expedition 35 crew in Russian remarks translated on NASA Television April 12. Russia will be launching manned vehicles by 2018, he added. "The next stage, by 2020, we plan to launch extra-heavy vehicles."

Putin's motivations could be political — there have been tensions over the years with the Baikonur Cosmodrome lease in Kazakhstan — or, observers said, a move to bring more commercial space activity into his country.

Changing allegiances

Baikonur used to be the crown jewel of Russia's manned space program. Built amid the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States, Baikonur was the spot where Sputnik soared into the sky in 1957 and became the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

Four years later, humanity's first spacefarer — Yuri Gagarin — launched from the cosmodrome, leading the charge for dozens of other cosmonauts to suit up and take missions of their own into orbit.

"The Russians have a historical interest in the space program because they were leaders for a long time," Art Dula, a Houston-based space lawyer who has been in the industry for more than 30 years, told SPACE.com.

Things changed as the Soviet Union crumbled. In 1991, Kazakhstan declared independence. Russia now was forced to lease its launch facility from another country to get its own manned missions off the ground.

The latest agreement between the two countries was signed in 2004, but took six years to ratify, according to Russian news service RIA Novosti. The pact allows the Russians to use Baikonur until 2050 for an annual lease price of $115 million, in addition to $50 million in yearly maintenance for the facility.

When the space shuttle program retired in 2011, Baikonur became one of only two locations in the world where humans launch to space — making it all the more precious for the Russians, said space consultant James Oberg. (The other is in China.)

But with NASA working on its own launch vehicles and commercial tourist flights taking off as soon as 2014, that prime position will evaporate shortly, he said. [Video: Putin Plays Peace Card At New Russian Space Launch Site]

"It's a situation in which NASA will have been moving into a nondependent position vis-a-vis its own orbital transportation, which is a good thing [for the Americans]," Oberg, a former NASA space shuttle mission control engineer, told SPACE.com.

"The Russians realize this," Oberg said. "The Russians, looking at the future of their program, are very distressed."

Motivating politics

Oberg said the Russians and Kazakhstanis came to loggerheads several times since the first lease was signed. Disagreements about rocket trajectories, and concerns about the long-term stability of the Kazakhstani government, are both spurs in the sides of Russia to seek alternatives, he said.

"For the massive investment of the new cosmodrome, I'm not seeing any practical advantages to justify it, so I suspect that these are political and diplomatic purposes; they were the main motivation," he said.

The venerable Russian Soyuz spacecraft that hauls people into orbit today will require a major overhaul to leave Earth from Vostochny, Oberg added. Baikonur is landlocked, while Vostochny is closer to the ocean.

"Just launching manned spacecraft over the ocean, for one, requires major changes in the abort modes and major hardware changes to the Soyuz [because] you're coming down on water instead of land," he said.

There could, however, be other economic factors at play. Asif Siddiqi, a Russian space analyst at Fordham University, said Russia has wanted to develop the countryside around Vostochny for decades. "They could make it a science and technology hub," he said.

Construction started in earnest last year, but companies have hesitated to participate out of fear it will be a boondoggle, he said. Siddiqi, though, said he believed eventual completion is possible.

"It's going to happen. That's not the question. But I just don't think it's going to happen as soon as [Putin] said it will," he said.

Vostochny, Dula added, could spur a multitrillion dollar business when it does get going. Although there will be competition from other sites for commercial launch companies, he likened the situation to the dozens of airlines worldwide that take to the skies. Competition, he said, is good.

"I believe that President Putin recognized that Russia, to stay a leader in this area, had to invest billions of dollars to upgrade their facilities," he said.

Further, economic studies undertaken by Dula's company show the nascent commercial tourism industry could provide a significant profit to those willing to support it. While human launches are a minority of the space market now, Dula sees huge potential for unmanned liftoffs shortly.

"You can't measure how many people are using a bridge by watching how many swim across the water," Dula said. "This will be a growth industry ... once there is a profit to be made in space from taking people into space, then the industry will develop very rapidly."

SpaceShipTwo Next Supersonic Flight

Guy Norris - Aviation Week

New pilots for Virgin Galactic's Spaceline have completed a series of check rides from Mojave, Calif, as preparations continue towards the next supersonic envelope expansion flight of the rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo (SS2) sub-orbital vehicle.

Flights were in WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), built by Scaled Composites, which has been flown on at least 11 training sorties since dropping SS2 for its first powered test flight (PF01) on April 29.

The two are former space shuttle astronaut and Top Gun graduate, Frederick "CJ" Sturckow, and former U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and U-2 veteran, Michael "Sooch" Masucci. Both completed check rides on June 6.

The second powered test flight is expected shortly, with expectations of achieving the first full sub-orbital flight in December, if not shortly before.

Speaking recently at the Space Tech Expo event in Long Beach, Virgin Galactic special projects Vice President Will Pomerantz says "we are on a path to be on the edge of space by the end of the year."

More than 580 have now signed up to travel to sub-orbit on the world's first spaceline.

Speaking at the same event, Mark Sirangelo, Chairman and Vice President of Sierra Nevada Space Systems, which provides the RM2 motor for SS2 says after the April 29 flight "we realized we'd done something quite special. The 16 seconds burn took SS2 to over Mach 1.2. We were wondering whether we wanted to break the sound barrier or not but the flight was going so smooth we decided to go for it. The pilots heard noises after the engine stopped, but they relaxed when they realized it was the (breaking of the) sound barrier."

No exact timing of the next flight but it could be soon, and possibly during the Paris air show.

Childhood Dream Job: NASA's Pit Crew

Becky Oskin - Space.com

For Joshua Graham, growing up in a small Florida town meant frequent trips to Kennedy Space Center to watch space shuttle launches. When Graham was five years old, he recalls seeing an astronaut's spacesuit in the Space Center's museum and telling his mother, "I want to work on these."

Graham joined the Air Force at 17 to escape the town of St. Catherine, he told SPACE.com. That's when his first stroke of luck hit. Graham was assigned to work on flight suits for U-2 pilots at Beale Air Force Base in Northern California. Those flight suits are similar in construction to spacesuits, because the pilots skim the oxygen-poor stratosphere at an altitude of 70,000 feet (21 kilometers).

After four years in the service, Graham returned to Florida and worked in construction. All the while, he applied for every available industry and government job in his specialty.

"There's really not many places that still have what we do [at NASA]," Graham said. "The entire time I was in Florida, I was doing everything from running heavy equipment to cutting trees, anything I could do in order to make ends meet," he said.

A contact at Beale kept sending Graham job links, and when an opening appeared at private contractor Computer Science Corporation in late 2006, the contact wrote Graham a recommendation.

From dragging brush to Dryden

"I will never forget the day," Graham said."I was working dragging brush. It was nasty, dirty work, and I got the call on Monday right after I finished my shift. I was so excited, I locked my keys in my truck after I pulled over to write the number down."

The then-23-year-old landed the job. Now, almost seven years later, Graham is still there, working as one of three life-support technicians at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Palmdale, Calif., contracted with Computer Science Corporation.

At Dryden, Graham maintains life support suits for NASA's research pilots, who fly its two ER-2 aircraft, the civilian equivalent of the U-2 vessels.The bright orange flight suits are very similar to the launch-and-re-entry suits astronauts wear on spaceflights, but with a different neck and oxygen design, Graham said.

When the suit inflates, it pushes up the helmet so pilots can't see. The $400,000 flight suits have a small plastic ball on a tether that pilots use to yank down the neck ring after the suit inflates, clearing their view. A small helmet hole allows access for straw-fed water bottles and meals from squeeze tubes.

Graham and his colleagues prepare everything thepilots need, from the air they breathe to their ejection seats, survival items and parachutes. The support techniciansalso fit and dress the pilots in their suits, take them out and hook them up to the aircraft, and make sure it's safe for others to enter the aircraft after it lands.

"All this was a childhood dream, then to wind up as a medical guy and get sent to Beale, then get the job here at NASA is really like being struck twice by lightning," Graham said."There's really only one place that does what we do here, and I'm one of three guys. It's just very, very rare."

Soon after joining Dryden, Graham's dream took another turn when the space shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base. "To get to go out on a shuttle recovery crew after growing up as a child in Florida and watching it come down was amazing," he said. "I felt like a circle had been completed."

NASA: Amesbury rock came from Soviet spacecraft

Mac Cerullo - Amesbury Eagle-Tribune

Phil Green knew he'd found something unusual when he pulled the strange green rock out of the Merrimack River six years ago, but it wasn't until recently that he found out his discovery was truly out of this world.

Green, a custodian at the Amesbury Elementary School who lives by the Merrimack River, recently received confirmation from NASA that a strange rock he found is actually a piece of the Mir Space Station that fell into his backyard.

The space agency confirmed the rock's origin after a year-long analysis, and sent the rock and a plaque back to Green for him to keep a couple of weeks ago.

Green said he found the rock while searching for arrowheads down by the river near his house, and said it stuck out to him immediately when he saw it.

"The river gets scoured really well by the ice in the wintertime, so you wouldn't expect to find a small rock sitting on top of what's almost like pavement and granite," Green said. "So I went over and picked it up."

The rock was covered in mud, but when he washed it off he found that it had a burnt shade of green and looked as if someone had tried to chip away at it. It had a distinctive glassy structure too, except for one side also had about a hundred tiny pores, the kind frequently found in volcanic rock.

Green checked it with his metal detector and found that it had no traces of metal in it. Perplexed, he decided to leave the rock outside on top of another rock by his house, and that's where it remained for another five years.

"I kind of lost track of it," Green said. "I didn't really think much of it, and then a fellow came over, saw it and said that's a meteor."

Green didn't think it could be because it wasn't metallic, but he ended up bringing it inside and cleaning it up anyway. Not long later, his sister-in-law, a Newburyport teacher, came over for a visit, saw the rock and took it, sending it to NASA to be analyzed.

A year went by, and eventually Green assumed the strange rock was gone for good, until a couple of weeks ago when he received a package in the mail from NASA containing his rock, a plaque and a letter from NASA Analysis Engineer George Leussis confirming that the rock had indeed fallen from space.

"It's funny that the week I got it back, I happened to wake up and think to myself 'I wonder what happened to my rock, I don't think I'm ever going to see it again,'" Green said. "And then it came back."

The letter confirmed that while the rock originated on Earth, it had definitely been subjected to a fall from low Earth orbit, which was the reason for the rock's green color and strange properties.

"The material shows a composition similar to that used as ballast by the soviet space program starting in the mid 1980s," Leussis wrote. "This places its most likely origin as Mir, or one of the Progress-M class Russian resupply vehicles, that had undergone a TPS failure."

Mir was a Russian space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, and at one point it held the record for the longest uninterrupted human presence in space and the distinction of being the largest artificial satellite orbiting the Earth. The International Space Station has since surpassed both records.

Mir fell to earth in March 2001, with the bulk of it landing in the South Pacific ocean. It's unclear how a piece of it could have fallen so far from the bulk of the spacecraft.

Although it's impossible to speculate what the rock originally looked like before it was subjected to the intense heat and pressure of reentry, NASA was able to conclude that the rock is not radioactive, and thus safe to handle and appreciate in its new form.

When he found out the rock had fallen from space, Green said he wasn't totally surprised, given that the reason he noticed it in the first place was because it was somewhere on the riverbank it shouldn't have been.

"It had to [have fallen], there's no other way," Green said. "There was a big flat rock and this thing was just sitting there, and with the dynamics of the river there's no way that could've happened, unless [he whistled and made a falling gesture with his hand]."

First Woman in Space Wants to Go to Mars

Ian O'Neill - Discovery News

Just as China sends their second astronaut (or "taikonaut") into space to dock with the nation's prototype space station, the first woman of all time to orbit the Earth is about to celebrate the 50th anniversary (on June 16) of achieving her feat. Valentina Tereshkova completed her solo flight around the Earth in 1963, a major propaganda coup for the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But now, the 76-year-old feels it's time to make an even bigger leap into interplanetary space.

"Mars is my favorite planet," said Tereshkova said during a press conference at cosmonaut training center in Star City, near Moscow, on Friday. She likes the Red Planet so much that she'd be happy to join the crew of a one-way mission.

Sadly, her dream of retiring on Mars will probably remain just that. The most ambitious — and, unfortunately, ill-thought-out — plan would see an international team of astronauts land on the Martian surface by 2023. But even if the Mars One mission did come to fruition, Tereshkova will be 86-years-old.

But she has a point; it's likely that we'd see older astronauts making the interplanetary hop in the future. Radiation levels will be high during transit to Mars, so individuals beyond childbearing age will likely be chosen as the "first wave" of colonists.

What's more, Tereshkova is probably one of the more qualified people on the planet to endure the Mars trip. She completed 48 orbits around Earth during her historic mission when she was 26-years-old and was selected to work in a team analyzing the viability of a mission to Mars.

"But we know the human limits. And for us this remains a dream. Most likely the first flight will be one way. But I am ready," she told reporters.

'On the Edge': The Legacy of Valentina Tereshkova

Ben Evans - AmericaSpace.com

It is a quirk of historical coincidence that both the Soviet Union, the United States, and China sent their pioneering women into the heavens at exactly the same time, in mid-June. On 16 June 2012, Liu Yang became China's first woman in space. On 18 June 1983, Sally Ride became America's first woman in space. And on 16 June 1963—five decades ago this month—an "ordinary" Russian textile worker-turned-pilot named Valentina Tereshkova accomplished something quite "extraordinary" and roared into orbit aboard Vostok-6.

For Premier Nikita Khrushchev, her flight was a triumph for Communism: it showed the world that in a socialist state women were equal to men and were encouraged to reach for the stars. The reality, though, was that Tereshkova's three days in space were nothing more than a political stunt to upstage the Americans, and to underline this insincerity no more Soviet women would enter space until 1982. Yet the greatest achievement of Tereshkova's mission is that it laid the foundation stone for the dreams of millions of girls and young women who would go on to carve their own niches in the annals of space history.

"History," of course, is frequently at the whim of those who write it. Tereshkova was a staunch Communist with a war-hero father, and these two factors certainly played into her selection. Additionally, she proved herself to be a hard worker, an accomplished parachutist, and spoke appropriately. "Soviet women have had the same prerogatives and rights as men," she once said. "They share the same tasks. They are workers, navigators, chemists, aviators, engineers, and now the nation has selected me for the honour of being a cosmonaut." In the West, many observers agreed. The wife of Philip Hart, the Democratic senator for Michigan, saw Tereshkova's flight as an opportunity which was barred to American women, whilst anthropologist Margaret Mead remarked that "the Russians treat men and women interchangeably. We treat men and women differently."

Others were not so easily hoodwinked, but on the morning of 16 June 1963 it was clear to many radio enthusiasts in the West that something extraordinary was about to happen. Tereshkova was launched at 12:29 p.m. Moscow Time. Her liftoff, she reported, was "excellent" and her adaptation to weightlessness did not seem problematic. Already in space was a male cosmonaut, Valeri Bykovsky, aboard Vostok 5, and Tereshkova's orbital parameters were such that the two craft could draw toward each other for a few minutes, twice daily, with a closest approach of about three miles. Within hours of launch, she was in radio communication with Bykovsky … but on the second day of her flight ground controllers experienced difficulties contacting her. It seemed that she was either tuned to the wrong reception channel or there was a problem with her receiver, but on the evening of 17 June the Enköping station in Sweden picked up a message from Tereshkova, in which she said that she felt "fine" and all was well.

In his now-famous diary, Nikolai Kamanin, the commander of the cosmonaut team at the time, wrote that Tereshkova's communications were good. At one stage, Bykovsky even reported that his female counterpart was singing songs to him. Tereshkova's televised image was broadcast throughout the Soviet Union and she spoke to Khrushchev and undertook most of her scientific experiments, recording images of land and cloud cover and describing Earth's horizon as "a light blue, beautiful band."

Reports soon emerged that the gamble of flying an "ordinary" Russian girl—albeit one with over a hundred parachute jumps to her credit—was not entirely successful. Accounts of the mission indicated that Tereshkova was unwell during the early part of her flight and she appeared tired and weak in her televised images. She reported nagging pains in her right shin, pressure points from the helmet on her shoulder and left ear, and irritation from the biomedical sensors on her headband. In fact, both she and Bykovsky recommended that future cosmonauts would be more comfortable if permitted to remove their space suits during missions. This suggestion proved ironic on the next mission, in October 1964, when three men flew without any space suit protection whatsoever.

On a practical level, Tereshkova noted that flannels were too small and not moist enough to wash her face, there was no provision to clean her teeth, and she reported that she only ate a little more than half of her food supply. (This could not be confirmed because she apparently gave away the remainder of her food to onlookers at the landing site.) Conditions aboard Bykovsky's Vostok 5 were even more unpleasant. He experienced an undisclosed problem with his waste management system—possibly a spillage—and the fan of his space suit's oxygen supply tended to cut off whenever he released himself from his seat.

After three days aloft, on the morning of 19 June, the retrofire command was sent to Vostok 6 and executed satisfactorily. For some reason, Tereshkova did not call out each event, as required, and she reported neither a successful solar orientation or the progress of the retrofire or even the jettisoning of her craft's instrument section. In fact, the only data which reached the control centre was downlinked telemetry. The world's first female cosmonaut ejected on time, but apparently broke a mission rule by opening her visor and gazing upwards … only to be hit in the face by a small piece of metal. In the violently gusting wind, Tereshkova landed at 11:20 a.m. Moscow Time. Kind locals offered her fermented milk, cheese, flat cakes, and bread—a welcome relief from the bland fare of the past three days—but this ruined the flight doctors' chances of properly analysing her dietary intake. Three hours after Tereshkova's landing, Bykovsky also touched down safely.

Both were record-holders. Bykovsky had spent nearly five days in orbit, and even in 2012 he retains the record for having spent the longest period of time in space alone. Tereshkova's 48 orbits and 70 hours aloft soundly surpassed all six Project Mercury missions, combined, and Nikita Khrushchev loved it. He proudly paraded her in Red Square and on 3 November 1963 gave her away at her marriage to fellow cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev at the Moscow Wedding Palace. The real attitude of many cosmonauts toward the women in space came from Nikolayev himself. "We love our women very much," he once said. "We spare them as much as possible. In the future, they will surely work on board space stations, but as specialists—as doctors, as geologists, as astronomers, and, of course, as stewardesses!"

Whatever Tereshkova's own opinions, she became an instant celebrity. Tours of India, Pakistan, Mexico, the United States, Cuba, Poland, and Bulgaria opened her eyes to a wider world. She received the coveted Hero of the Soviet Union accolade, together with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal. After her marriage, a daughter—Yelena—was born to the couple in June 1964, becoming the first child whose parents had both flown into space, but Nikolayev and Tereshkova were not even living together by the end of that year. They divorced in 1982. To this day, speculation endures as to whether their union represented a genuine match or a cynical ploy, engineered by Khrushchev.

As for poor performance, Tereshkova has always argued against such allegations. Chief Designer Sergei Korolev had muttered under his breath that he would never deal with "broads" again, but at a private interview with her on 11 July 1963 he expressed severe displeasure with her performance. Korolev's deputy, Vasili Mishin, shared his sentiment, claiming that Tereshkova had been "on the edge of psychological instability." Two decades passed before another female cosmonaut, Svetlana Savitskaya, entered space, and even that was partly as a Soviet hedge against the upcoming flight of America's Sally Ride.

Several years ago, in 2004, it was revealed that an error in Vostok 6's control software had been identified and corrected by Tereshkova, although this fact went unacknowledged for decades. She remained an "honorific" member of the cosmonaut team and graduated in 1969 from the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy as an engineer, but she never received another mission assignment. For Korolev, the entire programme of putting a woman into space was a means of currying favour with Khrushchev: giving him another propaganda coup to beat the Americans, in exchange for signing off plans for the "real" space programme to continue. That space programme centred on an entirely new space vehicle, the Soyuz, whose descendants continue to transport astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Aside from being a historic event in its own right, Valentina Tereshkova's achievement served two purposes: it inspired a generation of young women and also helped to enable the development of a craft which has outlived Apollo and the shuttle, and upon which the International Space Station and its partners continue to depend for operational access to low-Earth orbit.

Beyond the politics:
Space exploration is imperative to innovation and inspiration

Eileen Collins & Nick Lampson - Huffington Post (Opinion)

(Collins is a former astronaut & Lampson a former member of the House. Both are Coalition for Space Exploration board members.)

Space exploration is remarkably compelling for most Americans, a challenging pursuit that distinguishes the United States as a global leader, while ensuring a steady stream of innovative technologies that strengthen the economy and, just as importantly, inspiring our youth to dream big.

Starting with our individual careers as a NASA astronaut and a member of Congress, we've regularly witnessed the enthusiasm and pride that accompany our space exploration endeavors. Those observations have not changed with our more recent professional activities, which often place us before audiences of all ages.

Whether it's a gathering of community leaders, business and professional groups or school children, those we encounter are awed by American accomplishments in space. They are full of questions about what we intend to do next and what it means for them.

As a nation, we must put politics aside to ensure that expanding the space frontier occupies a prominent place on our national agenda. We need strategic, adequately funded and aggressively paced programs to keep America at the summits of technical innovation and exploration.

Curiosity's touchdown in Gale Crater offers strong evidence that exploration serves as a catalyst for American ingenuity. Within a few weeks of landing, the popular rover was furnishing us with evidence that conditions on Mars were once suitable for microbial life. And the public interest in this mission generated was palpable.

At the same time, NASA's search for Earth-like planets around distant stars and the dozens of experiments and technology demonstrations under way at any one time by the six astronauts assigned to the International Space Station also serve as valuable sources of innovation and inspiration.

Together, these and the leadership furnished by the U. S. in other exciting space missions elevate our global standing in science, technology, engineering and math, the all-important STEM fields. These disciplines seed our economic well being, contribute substantially to our national security, nurture advances in energy and health care and further our understanding of the environment.

All the while, more than 6,300 men and women have applied for up to 20 openings in NASA's astronaut corps, positions the space agency expects to fill soon. The response to NASA's most recent call for new astronauts, second only to those who submitted applications at the start of the space shuttle era, serve as proof that NASA is vibrant and ready to engage in compelling new missions.

It offers additional evidence of the grassroots support for space exploration and the eagerness of our bright young men and women to make the world a better place.

"It makes me want to shoot for the highest goal," Shree Ridley, 17, explained to a San Antonio newspaper after her Fredericksburg, Tex. High School class had the opportunity to talk about life on the space station with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy in early May.

Cassidy and his space station colleagues are working diligently on technologies to repair and refuel valuable communications satellites, formulate new medications, recycle air and water, and find more efficient way to burn fuels.

The promise of space and its return on investment has not escaped the attention of our global partners and competitors.

According to the Space Foundation's The Space Report 2013: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity, the world's space economy reached $304.3 billion in 2012, a 6.7 percent jump.

At the same time, the Foundation's April report notes Russia, India and Brazil anticipate 20 percent increases in government space funding, while NASA's declines in response to sequestration. The size of the U.S. combined government/commercial space workforce declined for the fifth year in a row, falling in 2012 by 3.8 percent. Meanwhile, space employment in Europe and Japan is on the rise, with the latter logging growth of 7.5 percent.

Public and private sector investments in research and development are now distributed almost equally across the globe, with approximately a third each in North America, Europe and Asia, as Charles Vest, the outgoing president of the National Academy of Engineering, noted at the organization's 2012 annual meeting.

The latest edition of NASA Spinoff illustrates how each stride we make in space pays dividends on Earth. The agency's 1,800 documented tech transfers now include Vecna Technologies' QC Bot. Drawn from technologies that produced Curiosity and development efforts that date back to the Mars Viking landers of the 1970s, these interactive robots are beginning to roll through the corridors of health care facilities, ushering patients to appointments, completing bedside registration, even dispensing medication.

We believe the mysteries of the universe inherently nurture constructive ambitions to explore space. That desire, however, requires timely investments in the programs and missions that improve the quality of our lives and those of future generations while bringing us exciting new discoveries.

Unfortunately, we've begun to pull back, as though the nation can prosper without the kinds of strategic commitments that have historically assured us economic as well as intellectual return.

As Lamar Smith, the new chair of the House Science, Space and Technology committee, recently observed, "The future is bright for discovery, but failure to invest in innovation and space exploration could leave America in the dark."

It's time for all of us to set politics aside on this important issue. America can and should remain a shining light for the rest of the world in the exploration of space.

The Call of Mars

Buzz Aldrin - New York Times (Opinion)

(Aldrin is a former astronaut)

When I view the Moon, there are times when I feel like I'm on a time machine. I am back to a cherished point in the past — now nearly 45 years ago — when Neil Armstrong and I stood on that bleak, but magnificent lunar landscape called the Sea of Tranquility.

While we were farther away from Earth than humans had ever been, the fact is that we weren't alone. An estimated 600 million people back on Earth, at that time the largest television audience in history, watched us plant our footprints on the Moon.

Fast forward to today. Now I see the Moon in a far different light — not as a destination but more a point of departure, one that places humankind on a trajectory to homestead Mars and become a two-planet species.

It is time to lay the groundwork for effective global human exploration of space.

NASA's Apollo program adopted a get-there-in-a-hurry, straightforward space race strategy that left the former Soviet Union in the lunar dust. Doing so meant don't waste time developing reusability. Let's close that chapter in the space exploration history books.

I am calling for a unified international effort to explore and utilize the Moon, a partnership that involves commercial enterprise and other nations building upon Apollo. Let me emphasize: A second "race to the Moon" is a dead end. America should chart a course of being the leader of this international activity to develop the Moon. The United States can help other nations do things that they want to do, a fruitful avenue for U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy.

A step in the right direction is creating an International Lunar Development Corporation, customized to draw upon the legacy of lessons learned from such endeavors as the International Geophysical Year (whose purpose was to get scientists all over the world to focus on the physics and atmosphere of the Earth), the International Space Station program, as well as model organizations such as Intelsat and the European Space Agency. Space collaboration should be the new norm, including the tapping of talented Chinese, Indian and other space experts from around the globe.

In my view, U.S. resources are better spent on moving toward establishing a human presence on Mars. I envision a comprehensive plan that would lead to permanent human settlement on Mars in the next 25 years. To get under way, the International Space Station can serve as a test bed for long-duration life support and for technologies that can safely, reliably and routinely transport crews to the distant shores of Mars. I've championed the creation of spacecraft to be placed on continuous loops between Mars and Earth, thereby putting in place a pathway to sustainability that forever links the two planets.

Going to Mars means staying on Mars — a mission by which we are building up a confidence level to become a two-planet species. At Mars, we've been given a wonderful set of moons — one of which, perhaps Phobos, can act as an offshore world from which crews can robotically preposition hardware and establish radiation shielding on the Martian surface to begin sustaining increasing numbers of people. To succeed at Mars, you cannot stop with a one-shot foray to the surface.

My passion for space exploration is guided by two principles: a continuously expanding human presence in space, and retention of U.S. leadership in space. To move forward, what's required is what I term as a Unified Space Vision for America that is predicated on exploration, science, development, commerce and security. To reach beyond low Earth orbit requires a suite of missions that are the foundation for such a Unified Space Vision. Putting in place and staying on track with this unified approach must begin now.

I call for an international effort to further explore and utilize the Moon. It would be a partnership that involves commercial enterprise and other nations building upon the Apollo legacy. But the real calling is Mars.

By implementing a step-by-step vision — just as the United States did with the single-seat Mercury capsule, followed by the two-person Gemini spacecraft that made Apollo possible — humankind can push outward to the distant dunes of Mars.

Our Earth isn't the only world for us anymore. It's time to seek out new frontiers.

The Dream Employers For Engineering Students

Jacquelyn Smith - Forbes

Global research and advisory firm Universum recently culled its data to find the 100 most attractive employers for engineering students. How? They asked 9,770 undergraduate engineering majors in the U.S. to select the companies they would consider working for and then to identify their ideal employer. Almost one-fifth (19.4%) chose NASA, making it the No. 1 "most attractive" employer for engineering students.

"Students are looking for measures of companies' attractiveness and incorporating these measures into their assessments of which companies are great places to work, and which would be a great fit for them," says Vicki Lynn, senior vice president of client talent strategy and employer branding at Universum. "Just as they view rankings of colleges and universities as one measure of reputation and quality of colleges, they do the same when looking at companies. It's an assessment of their value and fit as a place to build their career."

Camille Kelly, vice president of employer branding at Universum, says NASA has long been associated with prestige, innovation and recruiting the best students, "so [engineering undergrads] are obviously attracted to their brand."

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958, partially in response to the Soviet Union's launch of the first artificial satellite the previous year. Its website reminds potential candidates that "NASA is more than astronauts." It says: "We are scientists, engineers, IT specialists, human resources specialists, accountants, writers, technicians and many, many other kinds of people."

"At NASA, it's all about the mission: exploring the universe, understanding our planet, breakthroughs in aviation, and cutting-edge research in engineering and technology," says NASA spokesperson Allard Beutel. "You spend your day with a group of the smartest people on the planet working together to find answers to some of the greatest questions of all time. NASA's engineers and scientists are designing telescopes to revolutionize our understanding of the universe, developing technology to capture and redirect an asteroid into a stable lunar orbit so astronauts can study it, and designing and testing the new spacecraft and rocket to take our crews to that asteroid and eventually on to Mars. Seriously, who wouldn't want that job?"

NASA offers a Pathways Recent Graduate Program (RGP) to U.S. citizens who have graduated from qualifying educational institutions or programs within the last two years. (Veterans precluded from doing so due to their military service obligation have up to six years after degree or certificate completion.) Accepted applicants are placed in a dynamic, one-year career development program; and those who successfully complete the program may be offered a full-time, permanent position. "The NASA Pathways RGP provides the opportunity to those individuals who lack experience to participate in jobs in the Federal civil service at the beginning of their careers, and they are engaged at the onset of their work lives, before their career path is fully established," the website says.

"We're fortunate to have people apply for jobs at NASA who are smart, creative and passionate about the work we do, which often is doing things that have never been done before," Beutel adds.

No. 2 on Universum's ranking of the most attractive employers for engineering students: Google.

"It's Google, who doesn't want to work there?" asks Kortney Kutsop, a senior account director at Universum. "Free food, volleyball, on-site dry cleaning. In addition, they provide a great internship program for students who get to work on real and challenging projects."

Founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998, Google is now headquartered in Mountain View, California and has over 70 offices in more than 40 countries around the globe.

The search behemoth says they hire smart and determined team-oriented people who can get things done, "and we favor ability over experience," the website says. "Although Googlers share common goals and visions for the company, we hail from all walks of life and speak dozens of languages, reflecting the global audience that we serve. And when not at work, Googlers pursue interests ranging from cycling to beekeeping, from frisbee to foxtrot."

The path to getting hired usually involves a conversation with a recruiter, a phone interview, and onsite interviews at a Google office. You'll likely interview with four or five Googlers in total; and they'll look for four things: Leadership, role-related knowledge, how you think, and "Googleyness."

What do engineers at Google do? They use technology to solve some of the world's biggest challenges, the site says. "But you don't have to code to innovate at Google."

Rounding out the top three is Boeing.

"Boeing provides challenging and interesting career opportunities, including a culture that encourages professional growth, learning and development," Kutsop says.

In general, prospective Boeing candidates should be able to think critically and creatively, and work independently and cooperatively, says Candace Barron, a Boeing spokesperson. She says other qualities they look for include the ability to adapt to rapid or major change, a desire for lifelong learning, the highest ethical standards, and excellent communication skills. Boeing prefers to hire students with demonstrated experience in their field, either through outside work, an internship, or a relevant project while at school.

"Innovation really is inside each of our team members," says John Tracy, Boeing's chief technology officer. "And that's why we spend so much time finding the right people to bring on the team. Because when they join the team, they're bringing the innovation with them."

Barron says that Boeing works hard at attracting and retaining skilled, motivated, diverse and engaged people.

Kutsop of Universum says Chevron's ranking was the biggest surprise for her this year. "It was one of the few oil companies to move up in 2013," she says. "They have done a great job building relationships with students, especially at the grade school and high school level to make sure this younger generation is aware of the opportunities within STEM."

The biggest jump overall: Cisco Systems. It went from the No. 91 spot in 2012 to No. 48 this year. "Also, watch Amazon," Lynn adds. "They are a force. They jumped 39 points in the rankings. They are gaining in attractiveness among students in all disciplines but especially IT and technical majors."

What does it take to land an engineering job at these companies? "An engineering degree from a top school with an accredited engineering program; internship(s) in the engineering field; a good GPA; and great communication skills," Lynn says. "Female engineers are in high demand as the degree production of female engineers is only 25% at the bachelor's level."

The 100 Most Attractive Employers For Engineering Students:

Employer                                 Percent            Rank
NASA                                       19.39%               1
Google                                     18.45%               2
Boeing                                      16.64%               3
Apple                                       13.40%               4
Microsoft                                  13.07%               5
Lockheed Martin Corporation     11.42%               6
General Electric                         8.64%                 7
Walt Disney Company               8.36%                 8
U.S. Department of Energy        7.50%                 9
Exxon Mobil Corporation           7.04%               10
IBM                                          6.87%               11
Intel                                          6.60%               12
BMW Group                              5.76%               13
Shell Oil Company                     5.24%               14
EPA                                         5.21%               15
General Motors                         5.00%               16
U.S. Air Force                           4.71%               17
Central Intelligence Agency        4.60%               18
Sony                                        4.56%               19
Procter & Gamble                      4.41%               20
Johnson & Johnson                  4.40%               21
Northrop Grumman                    4.39%               22
Siemens                                   4.26%               23
Ford Motor Company                4.22%               24
FBI                                           4.13%               25
Chevron Corporation                 3.93%               26
Nike                                          3.80%               27
Amazon                                    3.76%               28
Facebook                                 3.75%               29
Raytheon Company                   3.74%               30
D.O.D.                                      3.72%               31
Caterpillar Inc.                           3.63%               32
DOW Chemical                          3.57%               33
U.S. Navy                                 3.32%               34
Texas Instruments                     3.23%               35
BP                                            3.22%               36
Medtronic                                 3.16%               37
3M                                            3.13%               38
Peace Corps                             2.98%               39
John Deere                               2.96%               40
Rolls-Royce North America        2.76%               41
Electronic Arts                          2.65%               42
DuPont                                     2.54%               43
Turner Construction                   2.51%               44
Blizzard Entertainment               2.48%               45
National Security Agency (NSA) 2.46%               46
Honda Companies                     2.40%               47
Cisco Systems                          2.32%               48
Volkswagen                              2.28%               49
Schlumberger                            2.24%               50
Mayo Clinic                               2.16%               51
CH2M HILL                                2.15%               52
U.S. Army                                 2.14%               53
UTC                                          2.13%               54
Honeywell                                 2.10%               55
National Institutes of Health       2.09%               56
Nissan                                      2.07%               57
Genentech                                2.07%               58
Pfizer                                        2.04%               59
Dell                                          2.04%               60
Autodesk                                  1.96%               61
Daimler/Mercedes-Benz             1.95%               62
Centers for Disease Control       1.88%               63
Goldman Sachs                        1.86%               64
Bose                                        1.84%               65
J.P. Morgan                              1.84%               66
Chesapeake Energy                   1.84%               67
General Dynamics                     1.84%               68
Chrysler                                    1.81%               69
The Coca-Cola Co.                    1.78%               70
Delta Air Lines                           1.77%               71
U.S. Department of State          1.77%               72
ConocoPhillips                          1.76%               73
L'Oréal                                      1.76%               74
Merck & Co.                              1.74%               75
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.       1.71%               76
Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1.67%               77
NASCAR                                   1.65%               78
Marathon Oil                             1.60%               79
HP                                            1.58%               80
Qualcomm                                1.56%               81
Accenture                                 1.51%               82
Valero Energy                           1.50%               83
IKEA                                         1.45%               84
Waste Management                   1.44%               85
Halliburton                                1.43%               86
BAE Systems                           1.41%               87
Life Technologies                      1.40%               88
Ecolab                                      1.34%               89
Biogen Idec                              1.34%               90
PepsiCo                                   1.34%               91
Bombardier                               1.30%               92
Nestlé USA                               1.28%               93
Adidas                                      1.27%               94
BASF                                       1.26%               95
Anheuser-Busch InBev               1.20%               96
AT&T                                        1.17%               97
McKinsey & Company               1.14%               98
The Hershey Company               1.13%               99
The Boston Consulting Group    1.11%               100

END

Keep the shuttle flying

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Friday, June 14, 2013

Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - June 14, 2013 and JSC Today

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