Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - June 4, 2013 and JSC Today

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: June 4, 2013 6:13:52 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - June 4, 2013 and JSC Today

 

 

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

 

JSC TODAY HEADLINES

1.            Watch the Launch of the European 'Albert Einstein' ATV-4 Tomorrow

2.            Last Chance! 2013 Employee Viewpoint Survey Closing June 7

3.            'It Gets Better' Presented by the Out & Allied @ JSC ERG

4.            Updates on ACES Computer Refreshes: Make Your Refresh a Success

5.            SWAPRA Monthly Meeting on June 11 at BOCC

6.            RASC-AL Robotics Competition

7.            This Week at Starport

8.            FedTraveler Live Lab Tomorrow, June 5

9.            Lateral Reassignment Positions Available

10.          AIAA Annual Awards Dinner

11.          Registration Deadline - APPEL - Introduction to Green Engineering

12.          Registration Deadline - APPEL - Fundamentals of Systems Engineering

13.          Upcoming Webcast: Metal Fatigue Part 2 -- June 7, Noon to 2 p.m. CDT

14.          RLLS Translation, Flight Arrival Departure, Shipping Request WebEx Training

________________________________________     NASA FACT

" The Mars Science Laboratory's Radiation Assessment Detector is the first instrument to measure the radiation environment during a Mars cruise mission from inside a spacecraft that is similar to potential human exploration spacecraft."

________________________________________

1.            Watch the Launch of the European 'Albert Einstein' ATV-4 Tomorrow

NASA TV will provide live coverage on June 5 of the launch of the European Space Agency's (ESA) fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo craft (ATV-4) to the International Space Station.

The 13-ton ATV-4 "Albert Einstein" spacecraft, named by ESA in honor of the 20th century theoretical physicist and icon of modern science, is scheduled to launch atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, at 4:52 p.m. CDT tomorrow, June 5. Launch coverage with commentary from JSC in Houston and ESA's launch provider, Arianespace, will begin at 4:15 p.m.

The ATV-4 is scheduled for a 10-day trip to the station. Docking to the aft port of the Russian Zvezda Service Module is scheduled for Saturday, June 15. NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and docking will begin at 7 a.m., ahead of the planned docking at 8:46 a.m.

JSC, Ellington Field, Sonny Carter Training Facility and White Sands Test Facility team members with wired computer network connections can view NASA TV using the JSC EZTV IP Network TV System on channels 404 (standard definition) or 4541 (HD). Please note: EZTV currently requires using Internet Explorer on a Windows PC connected to the JSC computer network with a wired connection. Mobile devices, Wi-Fi connections and newer MAC computers are currently not supported by EZTV.

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

JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 http://www.nasa.gov/station

 

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2.            Last Chance! 2013 Employee Viewpoint Survey Closing June 7

If you have not yet completed the 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, now is the time to do so. You will have already received an email from "Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey" with a link to the survey. The ultimate goal of the survey is to provide agencies with a true perspective of current strengths and challenge areas. We encourage your voluntary participation in this survey and hope you view this as an opportunity to influence positive change in our agency. Prior to taking the survey, we encourage you to visit the newly updated Employee Viewpoint and Resources Web page posted on the JSC Human Resources portal. This site provides information regarding 2012 survey results, how our center has used past results and quick reference links to other employee resources.

Jennifer Rodriguez x46386

 

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3.            'It Gets Better' Presented by the Out & Allied @ JSC ERG

Happy Pride Month! All JSC team members (government, contractor, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender [LGBT] and non-LGBT allies) are invited to the center debut of the "It Gets Better" video, produced by the Out & Allied @ JSC Employee Resource Group (ERG), followed by a discussion.

This video was created as an outreach tool primarily directed at high school and college-aged LGBT, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals who are victims of bullying and/or have been affected by bullying. This video sends the message to current and future NASA employees that it is OK to be LGBTQ, and that NASA JSC management supports and encourages an inclusive, diverse workforce in our workplace.

The Out & Allied @ JSC team consists of LGBT employees and their allies (supporters). For more information about our group, including how to become involved, contact any listed Out & Allied member on our SharePoint site.

Event Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM

Event Location: Building 30 Auditorium (room 1093)

 

Add to Calendar

 

Steve Riley x37019 https://collaboration.ndc.nasa.gov/iierg/LGBTA/SitePages/Home.aspx

 

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4.            Updates on ACES Computer Refreshes: Make Your Refresh a Success

The ACES Deployment Team's continued process improvements have resulted in a high success rate on refreshes, but your participation is essential. Incomplete or incorrect information may delay your refresh by up to three months.

When your computer is on the upcoming refresh schedule, you will receive an email from JSC-ACES-Refresh. For a successful and timely refresh: 

1.            Please confirm your location and new hardware, and review the next steps when you receive your 15-day notice.

2.            Protect your data and reservation by completing the actions in your email.

3.            Be present when the technician arrives (or leave a note stating the technician can proceed with the refresh). You will need to complete a short checklist of activities at the conclusion of your refresh.

4.            Your old hardware will be picked up and stored for 30 days with your data. Contact your IT point of contact immediately for special hardware requirements.

JSC IRD Outreach x34883 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/ComputerServices/ACESComputeSeatServices/default...

 

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5.            SWAPRA Monthly Meeting on June 11 at BOCC

On Tuesday, June 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., SWAPRA will be hosting Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney, USAF (Ret.). The General is a senior Fox News military analyst, and he will be discussing the keys to winning the war on terror and how the business community can engage in securing America's future. The General has more than 4,500 flying hours and completed four tours in Vietnam. In February 2000, General McInerney received a "Laurel" from Aviation Week and Space Technology magazines for his efforts on behalf of military reform. The event will be held at the Bay Oaks Country Club (BOCC) in Clear Lake. The luncheon cost for non-members is $35 at the door, or $30 with RSVPs by Friday, June 7, accompanied by this JSC Today announcement. Contact David L. Brown at 281-483-7426 or via email for more information, or RSVP directly to Garrett Maddox at 281-332-3053 or via email.

Event Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:1:00 PM

Event Location: Bay Oaks Country Club

 

Add to Calendar

 

David L. Brown 281-483-7426

 

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6.            RASC-AL Robotics Competition

Robots from colleges across the country will descend upon the JSC rock yard this week.

RASC-AL Exploration Robo-Ops Competition (i.e., Robo-Ops) is an engineering competition sponsored by NASA and organized by the National Institute of Aerospace. In this exciting competition, undergraduate and graduate students are invited to create a multi-disciplinary team to build a planetary rover prototype and demonstrate its capabilities to perform a series of competitive tasks in field tests at the JSC rock yard from June 4 through June 6.

Visitors are welcome to observe and interact with the teams.

Event Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013   Event Start Time:9:00 AM   Event End Time:2:00 PM

Event Location: JSC rock Yard

 

Add to Calendar

 

Lyndon Bridgwater x36625 http://www.nianet.org/RoboOps-2013/index.aspx

 

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7.            This Week at Starport

Get your tickets by Friday for the Father-Daughter Dance taking place on June 14! Don't miss out on this memorable event.

Discount Houston Astros tickets are now available for purchase for the July 20 game against the Seattle Mariners and the Sept. 15 game against the LA Angels. Visit the Starport website for details and to purchase your tickets.

The JSC Federal Credit Union will be in the Starport Cafés tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Stop to chat with representatives about your membership needs.

Sam's Club will be in the Building 3 Starport Café Thursday from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. to discuss membership options. Receive a gift card on new memberships or renewals. Cash or check only for membership purchases.

Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

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8.            FedTraveler Live Lab Tomorrow, June 5

Do you need some hands-on, personal help with FedTraveler.com? Join the Business Systems and Process Improvement Office for a FedTraveler Live Lab tomorrow, June 5, any time between 9 a.m. and noon in Building 12, Room 142. Our help desk representatives will be available to help you work through travel processes and learn more about using FedTraveler during this informal workshop. Bring your current travel documents or specific questions that you have about the system and join us for some hands-on, in-person help with the FedTraveler. If you'd like to sign up for this FedTraveler Live Lab, please log into SATERN and register. For additional information, please contact Judy Seier at x32771. To register in SATERN, please click on this SATERN direct link: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Gina Clenney x39851

 

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9.            Lateral Reassignment Positions Available

The Workforce Transition Tool is still the best place to find lateral reassignment and rotation opportunities for civil servants. Right now the following positions are posted.

o             AM: [Rotation] Performance Management and Integration Office

o             AM: JSC Performance Coordinator

o             DO: Inventory Stowage Officer

o             NC: Safety & Mission Assurance Vehicle Systems Engineer

o             NE: ISS Reliability @ Maintainability Engineer

o             NE: ISS Vehicle Subsystem Engineer (C&DH)

o             NS: Test Safety Officer

o             OZ: Strategic Research Requirements Integration Lead

o             SK: ISSMP Increment Scientist

To access the Workforce Transition Tool, open the HR Portal > Employees > Workforce Transition > Workforce Transition Tool.

Check back frequently to see what new opportunities have been posted.

David Kelley x27811 https://hr.nasa.gov

 

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10.          AIAA Annual Awards Dinner

The annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Houston Section Awards Dinner in honor of Jim McLane welcomes Dr. Harold "Sonny" White for his talk on "Warp Field Physics." We will also be honoring fellow Houston Section members who are celebrating service anniversaries and outstanding achievements, as well as introducing the 2013-2014 AIAA Houston Section Executive Council. Tickets are $20 for AIAA members; $25 for non-members; and $15 for students. Please RSVP by June 5. The registration link, other dinner particulars and speaker biography are located here. You may also email your intent and dinner choice to Michael Frostad or Jennifer Wells by June 5 if you plan to pay at the door. Dinner reservations after the 5th will be filled as available, but there is no guarantee. We look forward to seeing you on June 13! Please contact Jennifer Wells with any questions.

Jennifer Wells 281-336-6302

 

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11.          Registration Deadline - APPEL - Introduction to Green Engineering

This three-day course provides an introduction to the topic of green engineering, a tool for reducing the environmental impact of products, processes and systems and making them more sustainable. From a NASA perspective, green engineering is an engineering best practice that considers environmental impacts as another design risk for mission success.

This course is designed as graduate-level seminar for engineers, scientists, project managers and others who design products, processes or systems and want to understand, quantify and reduce the associated environmental impacts. Note: This course is not focused on green buildings and facilities, though examples from building systems will be used where relevant.

This course is available for self-registration in SATERN until 11:59 p.m. today. Attendance is open to civil servants and contractors.

Dates: Tuesday to Thursday, July 16 to 18

Location: Building 12, Room 152

Zeeaa Quadri x39723 https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHED...

 

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12.          Registration Deadline - APPEL - Fundamentals of Systems Engineering

This five-day course introduces the methods and techniques for a structured systems development process that proceeds from requirements to concept to production to operation and is based on NASA policy guidelines -- specifically NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 7123.1A and 7120.5D. The NASA practice of systems engineering is the glue across all engineering and project management disciplines that ties customer needs to the right solution. Systems engineering focuses on the interfaces between the people, processes and products that are often outside the responsibility of any one function or discipline. This course equips your teams with the knowledge necessary to realize successful solutions.

This course is designed for junior to mid-career NASA systems engineers, functional engineers, project managers, integrated product team members and business managers.

This course is open for self-registration in SATERN until 11:59 p.m. today. It is open to civil servants and contractors.

Dates: Monday to Friday, June 15 to 19

Location: Building 12, Room 152

Zeeaa Quadri x39723 https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHED...

 

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13.          Upcoming Webcast: Metal Fatigue Part 2 -- June 7, Noon to 2 p.m. CDT

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) and NASA Engineering Network (NEN) will be hosting the following webcast on Friday, June 7, at noon CDT for approximately two hours. The webcast, titled "Metal Fatigue Part 2," will be presented by Raymond Patin. This webcast is opened to U.S. persons within the NASA firewall.

Registration is easy. Go here and click the "Sign in to Register" button. You will be redirected to LaunchPad to enter your user name and password. After a successful authentication, click the "Register Now" button. You will receive a confirmation email. If you can't attend the live webcast, please register anyway and we will notify you when the recorded (on-demand) version is available online for you to view.

Please visit the NESC Academy site to view all upcoming or previously recorded webcasts.

Hope Rachel Venus 757-864-9530 https://nen.nasa.gov

 

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14.          RLLS Translation, Flight Arrival Departure, Shipping Request WebEx Training

TechTrans International will provide 30-minute WebEx training on June 5 and 6 for RLLS portal modules. The following is a summary of the training dates:

Translation Support - June 5 at 2 p.m. CDT

Flight Arrival Departure - June 6 at 7:30 a.m. CDT

International Shipping Request - June 6 at 2 p.m. CDT

o             Locating desired support request module

o             Quick view summary page for support request

o             Create new support request

o             Submittal requirements

o             Submitting on behalf of another individual

o             Adding attachment (agenda, references)

o             Selecting special requirements (export control)

o             Submitting a request

o             Status of request records

o             View request records

o             Contacting RLLS support

Please send an email to James.E.Welty@nasa.gov or call 281-335-8565 to sign up for RLLS Support WebEx training courses. Classes are limited to the first 20 individuals registered.

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

 

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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: 10:25 am Central (11:25 EDT) – E36's Karen Nyberg & Chris Cassidy with WCCO-TV, & KMSP-TV, Minneapolis

 

Human Spaceflight News

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

NASA Open to Hitching Ride to the Moon, Agency Chief Says

 

Irene Klotz - Space News

 

The United States has no plans to orchestrate a mission to send astronauts back to the Moon, but if someone else is going NASA wants a seat. "I have never said the United States is not going back to the lunar surface. I just said that in the foreseeable future, given the budget that NASA currently has and given where we are and what we need technologically if we're going to go to Mars, then it will not be the United States that leads an expedition to the lunar surface," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told a National Academy of Sciences' medical committee May 30.

 

Boeing's crew capsule tested for launch environment

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

 

Boeing's CST-100 human-rated commercial crew capsule has moved two steps closer to reality with the successful completion of aerodynamic testing in a wind tunnel and a propellant plumbing system for the craft's Atlas 5 launch vehicle, NASA and Boeing announced Friday. The venerable aerospace contractor is working with NASA under an agreement worth $460 million, leading the development of an economical space capsule capable of transporting up to seven people to the International Space Station.The CST-100 spacecraft, one of three vehicles vying to win business to carry NASA astronauts to the space station, will launch on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

 

Boeing, ULA Complete Commercial Crew Milestones

 

Jason Rhian - AmericaSpace.com

 

Boeing recently completed wind tunnel testing of a model of the company's submission in NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The CST-100 spacecraft itself, however, is not alone in accomplishing objectives on the road to launch. United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Atlas V also went through tests as part of NASA's Commercial Crew integrated Capability. The CST-100 has now completed two of eight performance milestones needed to validate the craft to fly astronauts. The capsule-based spacecraft, which is capable of lofting seven astronauts into orbit, has a total of 19 milestones to meet before it can be given the green light to launch. Boeing hopes to accomplish these requirements by the middle of 2014. Boeing still has 11 milestones to complete before reaching this point.

 

CMG Research Showing Promise For Spacesuit Stability

 

Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily

 

Control moment gyros (CMGs) have stabilized spacecraft, large and small, for decades. Now researchers at MIT and the Draper Laboratory believe the rapidly spinning devices can do the same for astronauts working in weightlessness. The efforts, which are receiving $600,000 in NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) funding, could improve efficiency by adding attitude control to astronauts wearing jet packs or introduce an artificial "downward" force inside a spacecraft that improves dexterity while stemming the bone and muscle loss and other ill effects that accompany weeks and months of weightlessness.

 

SpaceX finally tests new rocket

 

Joseph Abbott - Waco Tribune

 

So, apparently, SpaceX finally had its long-anticipated test Saturday at the McGregor development site: "Elon Musk @elonmusk – 1st firing of Falcon 9-R advanced prototype rocket. Over 1M lbs thrust, enough to lift skyscraper." That tweet by SpaceX's founder and CEO was posted late last night. Company communications director Christina Ra confirmed the test by email, saying it took place Saturday and lasted 10 seconds. ... which was the original plan, as opposed to what Ra said late last week was the revised plan to start with a test of at least 30 seconds. More as I get it. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Earth Living Is Tough for Astronaut Used to Space

 

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

 

In a few moments, astronaut Chris Hadfield changed from an orbiting Man of Steel-type to one who needs to heal from microgravity's effects. Hadfield recently spoke of his Superman-like moments of strength during five months spent on the International Space Station: wielding refrigerators with his fingertips, or somersaulting with a simple tuck and turn. Coming back to Earth, however, presented operational challenges for the Expedition 35 commander, Hadfield acknowledged in a press conference three days after his May 13 landing aboard a Russian spacecraft touching down in Kazakhstan.

 

Morning NSRC 2013 Highlights

 

Doug Messier - ParabolicArc.com

 

Some morning highlights of the first day of the Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference 2013 here in Bloomfield, Colo: Addressing the group via video, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said NASA is not excluding the possibility that the Flight Opportunities program would fund human researchers on suborbital fights. Previously, NASA had said it would purchase flights for payloads but not for researchers to fly. Garver provided no details on precisely what safety standards the space agency would require prior to paying for researchers to fly.

 

Craig keeps crucial technology operating

Tech company, NASA work together on aerospace venture

 

Wayne Price - Florida Today

 

Craig Technologies on Monday showed off a shuttle-era facility it plans to use to capture new business in what a NASA official called a good example of public-private cooperation. Nearly a year after reaching an agreement with the space agency that allowed Craig Technologies to take possession of hundreds of pieces of machine shop and lab equipment used in the space shuttle program, the company opened its facility for a public peek. "I'm just very proud and very honored to have Craig Technologies entrusted as the caretaker of these NASA assets for the next 4½ years," said Carol Craig, chief executive officer of the engineering and consulting firm she founded in 1999. "I promise we will be successful and do great things."

 

China Heads to Space Again This Month

 

Chris Buckley - New York Times

 

China's next space mission begins this month when a capsule carrying three astronauts will dock with an orbiting module, a spokesman for the space program said Monday. The astronauts will be on board a Shenzhou 10 capsule, which will be launched on a rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing the spokesman, whom the agency did not name. It will be China's fifth space mission with astronauts, and the latest step in the country's efforts to master the technology needed to establish a long-term human presence in space. China's first spaceflight with astronauts on board was in 2003; the most recent one was a year ago, which involved a docking with the Tiangong 1, a small module. The spokesman told Xinhua that the astronauts this time will again dock with the module and perform experiments while there. Chinese government scientists have also said they may eventually attempt to send an astronaut to the moon. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Whatever Happened to Space Colonies?

 

David Darling - AmericSpace.com

 

Back in the 1960s and '70s, it seemed everyone was talking about orbital colonies and emigrating into space with their families. The publication of Gerard K. O'Neill's "The High Frontier," especially, came at a time of great enthusiasm about the possibility of mass migration beyond the Earth. So, what happened to those dreams of millions of us moving away from our home planet to live in orbit or elsewhere in the Solar System? The idea of space colonization has a long history, stretching back to the 19th century when writers like Edward Hale, Jules Verne, and Kurd Lasswitz saw humans spreading out into space just as easily as they'd moved from continent to continent on Earth.

 

Mock Mars Mission Will Test Stresses of Red Planet Living

 

Clara Moskowitz - Space.com

 

The question of how people can live and work together well on a mission to Mars may turn out to be one of the biggest challenges of deep-space exploration. To simulate the experience of a crew stuck inside cramped quarters under stressful conditions, a nonprofit is planning a one-year mock Mars mission in the Arctic. The mission, to begin in July 2014, is being planned by the Mars Society, an organization dedicated to manned exploration of the Red Planet. Six crew members will spend a full year living inside the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), a 25-foot-tall (7.6 meters), 27-foot-wide (8.3 m) cylindrical habitat on Devon Island in the high-latitude Canadian Arctic.

 

Small step 'Frrr(uh)' man: Neil Armstrong's accent may have hid 'a' in Moon quote

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

Did Neil Armstrong's famous first words spoken on the moon include the "a" in "one small step for a man" or not? Debated for more than four decades, the answer may be found in the astronaut's Midwestern accent, researchers now say. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong, together with his Apollo 11 crewmate Buzz Aldrin, made humanity's first landing on a celestial body other than Earth. Armstrong was the first to set foot on the lunar surface and proclaimed, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

NASA Open to Hitching Ride to the Moon, Agency Chief Says

 

Irene Klotz - Space News

 

The United States has no plans to orchestrate a mission to send astronauts back to the Moon, but if someone else is going NASA wants a seat.

 

"I have never said the United States is not going back to the lunar surface. I just said that in the foreseeable future, given the budget that NASA currently has and given where we are and what we need technologically if we're going to go to Mars, then it will not be the United States that leads an expedition to the lunar surface," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told a National Academy of Sciences' medical committee May 30.

 

"If somebody else is going, we will provide our engineering expertise and the only condition is that I be allowed to send an astronaut as a part of the crew," Bolden told an Institute of Medicine panel which is looking into ethics and health guidelines for future long-duration human spaceflights.

 

NASA currently plans to follow the international space station program with a series of deep-space expeditions beginning with a human mission to an asteroid by 2025. The agency is studying a hybrid mission that begins by scouting for an appropriate target, helping scientists identify potentially threatening near-Earth objects in the process. Next, NASA would launch a robotic craft to survey, intercept and relocate the selected asteroid into an orbit around the Moon for a future visit by astronauts.

 

Engineers are looking for a relatively small asteroid about 7-10 meters in diameter, so that if it accidentally ended up on a collision course with Earth, it would burn up in the atmosphere and not cause any damage.

 

"I am told that if we screw it up, if we try to capture it and we perturb it and we deflect it toward Earth, we will not destroy civilization. We won't even hurt a car because it won't make it through the atmosphere," Bolden said.

 

The mission is envisioned as an early stepping-stone toward eventually learning how to alter the course of a larger, potentially threatening, asteroid in the future.

 

Boeing's crew capsule tested for launch environment

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

 

Boeing's CST-100 human-rated commercial crew capsule has moved two steps closer to reality with the successful completion of aerodynamic testing in a wind tunnel and a propellant plumbing system for the craft's Atlas 5 launch vehicle, NASA and Boeing announced Friday.

 

The venerable aerospace contractor is working with NASA under an agreement worth $460 million, leading the development of an economical space capsule capable of transporting up to seven people to the International Space Station.

 

The CST-100 spacecraft, one of three vehicles vying to win business to carry NASA astronauts to the space station, will launch on United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

 

NASA funds Boeing's work under a series of financial milestones, bestowing payments as the company completes testing and design reviews.

 

One of the milestones, completed in March, involved the testing of a liquid oxygen feed line on the Atlas 5 rocket, in which cryogenic fluid courses from the rocket's Centaur upper stage propellant tanks to two RL10 engines.

 

The CST-100 spacecraft will launch on Atlas 5s with a twin-engine Centaur upper stage. All of the expendable rocket's 38 flights to date have flown with single-engine Centaur stages. The capsule will launch on a version of the Atlas 5 known as the 422 model - with a two-engine Centaur and two solid rocket boosters - in the launcher's catalog of configurations tailored to the size and destination of the payload for each launch, according to a Boeing spokesperson.

 

So far, all of the Atlas 5 rocket's missions have used a single-engine Centaur stage. The manned CST-100 missions will add the complexity of two RL10 engines, requiring a change in the plumbing feeding hydrogen and oxygen propellants into the engines, which will inject the capsule into orbit.

 

Boeing and ULA completed a wind tunnel test at NASA's Ames Research Center in California in May, gathering data on how the Atlas 5 and CST-100 respond to aerodynamic forces.

 

"The CST-100 and Atlas 5, connected with the launch vehicle adaptor, performed exactly as expected and confirmed our expectations of how they will perform together in flight," said John Mulholland, Boeing's vice president and manager of commercial programs, in a statement.

 

Engineers installed a scale model of the integrated Atlas 5 and CST-100 into an 11-foot-diameter transonic wind tunnel at Ames and evaluated the airflow over the launch vehicle.

 

Boeing and two competitors, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp., won Space Act Agreements from NASA in August 2012 totaling more than $1.1 billion. The space agency awarded the agreements - called Commercial Crew integrated Capability, or CCiCap - to advance human spacecraft concepts already being developed by each company.

 

NASA started funneling money into the commercial crew program in 2010, establishing a public-private partnership in which companies manage their own development but receive financing and guidance from NASA.

 

In a statement released Friday, NASA said Boeing is on track to complete all 19 of its CCiCap milestones by mid-2014. In the next few months, Boeing plans a test of the capsule's orbital maneuvering engine, an interface test with mission control in Houston, and testing of software and the Atlas 5 rocket's emergency detection system.

 

Boeing's 21-month CCiCap agreement is due to conclude with the CST-100's critical design review.

 

The wind tunnel and liquid oxygen duct testing were the first two performance milestones achieved by Boeing in the CCiCap program. The company has finished six other design milestones since August 2012.

 

NASA is in the process of refining its procurement strategy for the next round of the commercial crew program, leading to crewed test flights in a few years and operational missions by 2017.

 

Boeing officials said in April they expect the first piloted orbital flight of a CST-100 capsule to occur some time in 2016.

 

NASA plans to switch from Space Act Agreements to contracts in mid-2014 with at least two commercial crew firms, assuming Congress appropriates sufficient funding for the program. If not, NASA will be forced to pick a single provider, running the risk of raising the cost of the initiative and eliminating the element of competition - an objective highly prized by NASA officials.

 

NASA will award the second phase of commercial crew certification contracts in the spring or summer of 2014. Those contracts will contain work to demonstrate spacecraft and rockets in flight and put suppliers on a path to to be certified by NASA for trips to the space station, according to Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight at NASA Headquarters.

 

Boeing, ULA Complete Commercial Crew Milestones

 

Jason Rhian - AmericaSpace.com

 

Boeing recently completed wind tunnel testing of a model of the company's submission in NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The CST-100 spacecraft itself, however, is not alone in accomplishing objectives on the road to launch. United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Atlas V also went through tests as part of NASA's Commercial Crew integrated Capability.

 

The CST-100 has now completed two of eight performance milestones needed to validate the craft to fly astronauts. The capsule-based spacecraft, which is capable of lofting seven astronauts into orbit, has a total of 19 milestones to meet before it can be given the green light to launch. Boeing hopes to accomplish these requirements by the middle of 2014. Boeing still has 11 milestones to complete before reaching this point.

 

ULA is a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed-Martin, with Boeing's Delta IV launch vehicle and Lockheed-Martin's Atlas V making up most of the firm's launch vehicle catalog. A key component of the Atlas V also underwent testing as part of efforts to launch crew on a commercial rocket.

 

The Centaur upper stage, long employed to launch unmanned payloads, was tested to ensure the safety of crews who would use it to fly to orbit. To do so, its oxygen-feed duct line has undergone scrutiny via what is known as a thrust test. During this review, how oxygen moves from the tank to the Centaur's two engines where it is mixed with hydrogen was studied.

 

The Centaur upper stage's history, while extensive, has seen its fair share of problems. Centaur issues have caused the loss of several spacecraft. Although Centaur has launched more than 140 times, its use on NASA's commercial crew effort would be the first time it would be used to launch people.

 

"The Centaur has a long and storied past of launching the agency's most successful spacecraft to other worlds," said NASA CCP Manager Mango. "Because it has never been used for human spaceflight before, these tests are critical to ensuring a smooth and safe performance for the crew members who will be riding atop the human-rated Atlas V."

 

While the Atlas V's first stage will do the majority of the work getting astronauts out of Earth's gravity well, the Centaur will be used to propel the CST-100 into its intended orbit.

 

The wind tunnel tests spanned a two-month time period from March through last month at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. They marked the first time that scale models of the spacecraft, its launch adapter, and upper stage were tested as a single unit in such a capacity.

 

This model was then placed into Ames' 11-foot diameter transonic wind tunnel where it was tested. The information gleaned from these tests will help Boeing to further refine the CST-100 in preparation for flight.

 

"The CST-100 and Atlas V, connected with the launch vehicle adaptor, performed exactly as expected and confirmed our expectations of how they will perform together in flight," said Boeing Vice President and Commercial Crew Program Manager John Mulholland.

 

Under NASA's commercial crew efforts, three companies are vying to send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Besides Boeing, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), with its highly successful Dragon spacecraft, and Sierra Nevada Corporation, who is planning to use the Dream Chaser spaceplane (and who also has selected the Atlas V as its launch vehicle of choice), are all hoping to begin flights no earlier than 2017.

 

CMG Research Showing Promise For Spacesuit Stability

 

Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily

 

Control moment gyros (CMGs) have stabilized spacecraft, large and small, for decades. Now researchers at MIT and the Draper Laboratory believe the rapidly spinning devices can do the same for astronauts working in weightlessness.

 

The efforts, which are receiving $600,000 in NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) funding, could improve efficiency by adding attitude control to astronauts wearing jet packs or introduce an artificial "downward" force inside a spacecraft that improves dexterity while stemming the bone and muscle loss and other ill effects that accompany weeks and months of weightlessness.

 

There are potential terrestrial applications as well. Small CMGs worn on the body like a personal digital assistant (PDA), could become a part of physical rehabilitation strategies or improve the gait and stability of the elderly.

 

"Outside of the space station or outside a body like an asteroid, astronauts would be able to use their spacesuits as a natural work platform, as opposed to being tethered to something," said Bobby Cohanim, a Draper mission design group leader, during a May 31 interview. "Currently, astronauts tether to the space station while they do their work so they don't fly off."

 

NASA's development activities with the concept date back to a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), a jet pack evaluated aboard the Skylab space station and early space shuttle missions. The addition of battery-powered CMGs to an advanced MMU would add attitude control, an upgrade that would prevent spacewalkers wielding power tools or swinging a hammer from quickly exhausting their fuel supply.

 

"CMGs with jets would allow them to work in that environment easily," Cohanim said.

 

Advances in CMG and battery technologies as well as computer algorithms are merging with NASA's human deep-space exploration ambitions to drive the work. This summer, the MIT/Draper team and their NASA collaborators plan to test their CMG spacesuit concept in a Johnson Space Center Virtual Reality Laboratory, a computer simulation facility used by International Space Station astronauts to train for spacewalks and other operations.

 

Ultimately, experimenters would like to test their equipment on the ISS, Cohanim said.

 

Meanwhile, NIAC-backed work on the Variable Vector Countermeasure suit (V2Suit) could make it easier for astronauts to adapt to the range of gravity levels they experience while living aboard the space station, traveling in a space habitat or exploring an asteroid, the Moon or Mars.

 

The V2Suit concept adds a small, modular PDA to the clothing worn inside a spacecraft to impart an artificial force along a choice of vectors, including a gravity-like pull.

 

Currently, astronauts assigned to the station are scheduled for two hours of exercise each day. An effective V2Suit may ease that requirement.

 

Earth Living Is Tough for Astronaut Used to Space

 

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

 

In a few moments, astronaut Chris Hadfield changed from an orbiting Man of Steel-type to one who needs to heal from microgravity's effects.

 

Hadfield recently spoke of his Superman-like moments of strength during five months spent on the International Space Station: wielding refrigerators with his fingertips, or somersaulting with a simple tuck and turn.

 

Coming back to Earth, however, presented operational challenges for the Expedition 35 commander, Hadfield acknowledged in a press conference three days after his May 13 landing aboard a Russian spacecraft touching down in Kazakhstan.

 

"Right after I landed, I could feel the weight of my lips and tongue and I had to change how I was talking," Hadfield said in the press conference, which was broadcast on the Canadian Space Agency's website May 16. "I hadn't realized that I learned to talk with a weightless tongue."

 

Speech is one issue, but other health effects are more pressing for long-term orbiting astronauts. Bone density lessens at a rate of 1 percent a month. Muscle mass shrinks. Eyeball pressure changes, with roughly one-fifth of astronauts reporting vision issues.

 

Until about June 3, Hadfield will do an intensive battery of testing and recovery at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston before pursuing an independent physical rehabilitation program for a few months.

 

The data gathered during this period is crucial not only to ensure his health, but to add more information ahead of the one-year International Space Station crew missions NASA plans to begin in 2015.

 

'He's doing basically as expected'

 

Every day, Hadfield performs a couple of hours of medical tests. Some are scientific, to form part of larger studies about astronaut health. Some are more specific to his condition to ensure he is meeting recovery standards.

 

Several standard tests take place during the first few weeks of astronauts' return. For example, sometimes they'll stand on a neurodistibular platform that is tilted to test balance. MRIs and optical coherence tomography (infrared images of the retina and optic nerve) are done on their eyes to follow up on ultrasound testing in flight.

 

During this time Raffi Kuyumjian, the Canadian Space Agency's chief medical officer and Hadfield's personal flight surgeon, has been working closely with the astronaut. Kuyumjian, who normally works at the CSA's headquarters near Montreal, is spending three weeks at Johnson Space Center, where Hadfield is doing his rehabilitation.

 

"He's doing basically as expected in the aspects of balance, walking and strength," Kuyumjian told SPACE.com nine days after Hadfield landed. The major focus in the first few days was ensuring Hadfield's balance, blood flow and cardiovascular health, he said.

 

Notably, Hadfield's first press conference took place as he sat down. That's a custom NASA adopted for all astronauts after Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper briefly collapsed while standing during a press conference following shuttle mission STS-115 in 2001, Kuyumjian said. (It was a temporary problem associated with re-adapting to gravity.)

 

Hadfield had to adapt other Earthly activities to suit his condition, too. His first few showers took place while sitting in the bathtub. Under his clothing, Hadfield briefly sported a G-suit to make sure blood pressure got to his head.

 

The former flight pilot is also grounded from that most ordinary of human adult acts: driving. Hadfield and all long-duration spaceflight astronauts can't get behind the wheel until 21 days after landing.

 

Looking ahead to one-year flight

 

In 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will visit the International Space Station for an entire year. A typical ISS stay is about five to six months.

 

Only four humans (all Russian) have ever ventured into space for a year or more, with Valery Polyakov holding the record at 437 days. A one-year spaceflight hasn't been attempted since the late 1990s, though, when the Russian Mir space station was still in orbit.

 

Kuyumjian said there will be changes to health monitoring practices during upcoming year-long spaceflights, but how long it will take Kelly and Kornienko to recover is not well known. Perhaps the effects of microgravity level off after six months spent in space, or perhaps they become more severe, he said.

 

Previous lengthy flights "were dedicated to the medical aspect," Kuyumjian said, adding that the Russians had no major long-term issues. The challenge on the ISS, however, is astronauts spend hours a day doing experiments outside of medicine, he added.

 

NASA, the CSA and other agency partners are in continual discussions about how to proceed. More frequent testing of eye pressure in orbit is on the table, and perhaps other accommodations as well.

 

Kuyumjian further predicted that the scientists and doctors would talk more regularly about their findings.

 

"There are some questions we need to answer, and for that mission, the collaboration between medical and science will be much closer than it is now," he said. "We will be sharing a lot of data back and forth to answer questions."

 

Morning NSRC 2013 Highlights

 

Doug Messier - ParabolicArc.com

 

Some morning highlights of the first day of the Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference 2013 here in Bloomfield, Colo.:

 

• Addressing the group via video, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said NASA is not excluding the possibility that the Flight Opportunities program would fund human researchers on suborbital fights. Previously, NASA had said it would purchase flights for payloads but not for researchers to fly.

 

• Garver provided no details on precisely what safety standards the space agency would require prior to paying for researchers to fly.

 

• NASA has spent $29.5 million on the Flight Opportunities program over the past three years, and it has requested an additional $15 million for FY2014. In 2010, Garver addressed the first NSRC and said NASA would seek $15 million per year over 5 years, but the agency has not received all the funding it requested.

 

• The deputy administrator also announced plans for a joint solicitation for science and tech payloads to be issued by NASA's Science and Space Tech directorates. The solicitation is expected to be pushed in late summer or early fall.

 

• XCOR Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nelson said that while satellites have been removed from the U.S. Munitions List in draft regulations, crew spacecraft have been added to it. Calling the decision a major step backward, Nelson urged urged audience members to oppose this move during the on-going public comments period.

 

• Virgin Galactic Vice President for Special Projects Will Pomerantz said the company has taken reservations for nearly 600 people worldwide for flights aboard the company's SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicles.

 

• Pomerantz added that NanoRacks has delivered the first payload racks for flying experiments aboard the space plane.

 

Craig keeps crucial technology operating

Tech company, NASA work together on aerospace venture

 

Wayne Price - Florida Today

 

Craig Technologies on Monday showed off a shuttle-era facility it plans to use to capture new business in what a NASA official called a good example of public-private cooperation.

 

Nearly a year after reaching an agreement with the space agency that allowed Craig Technologies to take possession of hundreds of pieces of machine shop and lab equipment used in the space shuttle program, the company opened its facility for a public peek.

 

"I'm just very proud and very honored to have Craig Technologies entrusted as the caretaker of these NASA assets for the next 4½ years," said Carol Craig, chief executive officer of the engineering and consulting firm she founded in 1999.

 

"I promise we will be successful and do great things."

 

Craig Technologies' five-year Space Act Agreement with NASA's Kennedy Space Center led to the company consolidating its operations in Melbourne and at Port Canaveral into the 161,000-square-foot property formerly known as the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot in Cape Canaveral.

 

The company, which employes about 340 people, intends to use the equipment to service private companies' space ventures, and to provide other aerospace and manufacturing services.

 

Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, who joined about 125 community leaders for a tour of the facility, said the unique arrangement with Craig Technologies was mutually beneficial.

 

"We're keeping alive capabilities that we're going to need for the future," Cabana said. "We don't need it right now, but we'll need it again."

 

Cabana said the arrangement with Craig Technologies is saving NASA about $3.4 million.

 

"I think that's fantastic," he said.

 

In January, Craig Technologies opened the Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing Center. The company partnered with Brevard Workforce Development Board to retain and retrain 16 displaced aerospace workers through the Aerospace On-the-Job Training program.

 

Whatever Happened to Space Colonies?

 

David Darling - AmericSpace.com

 

Back in the 1960s and '70s, it seemed everyone was talking about orbital colonies and emigrating into space with their families. The publication of Gerard K. O'Neill's "The High Frontier," especially, came at a time of great enthusiasm about the possibility of mass migration beyond the Earth. So, what happened to those dreams of millions of us moving away from our home planet to live in orbit or elsewhere in the Solar System?

 

The idea of space colonization has a long history, stretching back to the 19th century when writers like Edward Hale, Jules Verne, and Kurd Lasswitz saw humans spreading out into space just as easily as they'd moved from continent to continent on Earth.

 

In the 1920s, Irish physicist J. D. Bernal became one of the first scientists to describe orbital colonies in detail. As the material and energy needs of the human race grew, Bernal concluded, it would become natural someday to build habitats out in space to harness the Sun's energy and provide extra living space. He conceived of self-sufficient globes, 10 miles across, that would each be home to 20,000 or 30,000 inhabitants.

 

Almost half a century later, Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill based the scheme for his Island One colony on a small version of the Bernal sphere, some 500 meters in diameter. Rotating twice a minute this would generate an Earth-normal artificial gravity at its equator. O'Neill went on to design much larger orbiting colonies, including his Island Three concept which consisted of two immense rotating cylinders, anywhere from five to 20 miles long. Each cylinder would have six equal-area stripes running the full length of the colony, including three transparent windows and three habitable "land" surfaces. An outer agricultural ring would supply all the colony's food needs. Materials to build Island Three would be launched into space from the Moon using a magnetic mass driver.

 

The location chosen for Island Three was L5—the fifth Lagrangian point—in the Earth-Moon system. L5 is a point of stable equilibrium in the Moon's orbit, forming an equilateral triangle with the Earth and the Moon. No effort would be needed to keep the colony in place because the gravitational forces acting on it would always nudge it back into place.

 

Crucial to the success of such a habitat would be solar power satellites (SPSs), which could also be built from lunar materials. Unhindered by the Earth's atmosphere, an SPS would collect solar energy non-stop, 24 hours a day, and at a much higher rate than any facility on the ground. Then it would transmit the energy it had gathered to where it was needed as a beam of microwaves. Between 1977 and 1980, the U.S. Department of Energy spent $25 million on research into SPSs and, for a while, it seemed that space colonies might become a reality within a generation or so. But in 1981, in the midst of a world energy crisis, the Carter administration axed the $5.5 million for SPS that had been in the budget for that fiscal year, and it was never restored. With the loss of the SPS program the dream of realizing an L5 colony any time in the foreseeable future effectively died.

 

Today we talk about returning to the Moon to build a base there, or to colonize Mars. But the emphasis has changed. The colonization of space, if it happens, is seen less as a grand-scale effort by national space agencies and more as an incremental affair building on the successes of private and commercial ventures. And perhaps, in the end, that's how it should be.

 

Mock Mars Mission Will Test Stresses of Red Planet Living

 

Clara Moskowitz - Space.com

 

The question of how people can live and work together well on a mission to Mars may turn out to be one of the biggest challenges of deep-space exploration. To simulate the experience of a crew stuck inside cramped quarters under stressful conditions, a nonprofit is planning a one-year mock Mars mission in the Arctic.

 

The mission, to begin in July 2014, is being planned by the Mars Society, an organization dedicated to manned exploration of the Red Planet. Six crew members will spend a full year living inside the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), a 25-foot-tall (7.6 meters), 27-foot-wide (8.3 m) cylindrical habitat on Devon Island in the high-latitude Canadian Arctic.

 

The crew will spend their time conducting field geology — in space suits, of course — and other science research, and performing maintenance on their equipment and habitat. The experience is meant to simulate a real Mars expedition more closely than past mock missions, which have been set under more comfortable conditions, and without such stringent research duties, Mars Society officials said.

 

"The duration, the harsh environment, actually doing the same activities as a Mars crew — this combination hasn't been done before," said Joe Palaia, FMARS director and crew commander of a monthlong mock Mars mission planned for the facility this summer.

 

The July 2014 mission, which is estimated to cost up to $1 million, will aim to provide valuable data to help the planners of the first real-life trip to Mars choose a leadership structure and promote healthy social interactions among the crew. Under directions from the Obama administration, NASA is aiming to send people to the vicinity of Mars in the 2030s, with a landing on the Red Planet to follow.

 

"The issue with human factors is not, 'Will people go crazy if they are isolated for two years?' — that's a science-fiction script," said Mars Society president Robert Zubrin.

 

"Average people are capable of handling a year of isolation very well," he added, citing real-life situations of prisoners and people in hiding, such as Anne Frank and her family in the Netherlands during World War II. "The relevant issue is, do people hold together, is their morale sustained, are they able to keep working together well to accomplish mission objectives? Are they too depressed, are they arguing? Those are the issues that are of interest."

 

Collecting reliable data about these questions, though, requires mission conditions as close as possible to those at a Martian settlement. Zubrin said the project's findings could prove more useful than those of other mock Mars missions, such as the Mars 500 simulation — a year-and-a-half-long mission conducted in a laboratory module in Moscow that ended in November 2011.

 

"There's some useful data from that, but they're not under any real mission stress," Zubrin told SPACE.com. "They're in a nice, comfortable room, basically not having to do anything. It's like being on house arrest."

 

The Mars Society mission will also offer a chance to test out what equipment and technologies might be best for the kind of work being conducted on Mars.

 

"Before you go and spend a billion dollars designing a ground vehicle to operate on Mars that will run on some exotic power system, you want to find out what is the right type of ground vehicle," Zubrin said. "Should it be roving habitats, single-seaters — what should it be? In engineering, designing things right is important, but even more important is designing the right thing. This will help with that."

 

The Mars Society is planning to recruit six crew members for the mission, including at least two with a natural-science background, such as a geologist and a microbiologist, as well as two "handy" people who are talented at fixing mechanical and electrical systems, as well as software. At least one crew member must have medical training, and another crew member will be the mission's "journalist" — a person to keep a detailed journal of everything that happens during the expedition. Finally, the crew will need a leader.

 

"We have to have someone in the crew who has the maturity, balance, judgment and levelheadedness to be in command," Zubrin said. "Not like [Star Trek's] Picard, who just sits in his chair and says, 'Make it so.'"

 

To raise money for the operation, the Mars Society has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdtilt.

 

Small step 'Frrr(uh)' man: Neil Armstrong's accent may have hid 'a' in Moon quote

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

Did Neil Armstrong's famous first words spoken on the moon include the "a" in "one small step for a man" or not? Debated for more than four decades, the answer may be found in the astronaut's Midwestern accent, researchers now say.

 

On July 20, 1969, Armstrong, together with his Apollo 11 crewmate Buzz Aldrin, made humanity's first landing on a celestial body other than Earth. Armstrong was the first to set foot on the lunar surface and proclaimed, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

 

Back on Earth though, many among the millions of people who were listening heard the phrase slightly differently as "That's one small step for man ..." – the "a" was either lost in the long distance transmission or was never said. And without the "a," the quote might be redundant; "man" and "mankind" meaning the same thing.

 

A team of speech scientists and psychologists from the Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus and Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing have suggested it is possible that Armstrong said what he intended and claimed to have said, however people are statistically more likely to hear "for man" instead of "for a man" on the recording.

 

On Friday (June 7), the team will present the results of its study at the 21st International Congress on Acoustics in Montreal, Canada.

 

"Prior acoustic analyses of Neil Armstrong's recording have established well that if the word 'a' was spoken, it was very short and was fully blended acoustically with the preceding word," said Laura Dilley, an assistant professor in Michigan State University's department of communicative sciences and disorders. "If Armstrong actually did say 'a,' it sounded something like 'frrr(uh).'"

 

Armstrong grew up in central Ohio, where there is typically a lot of blending between words such as "for" and "a," the researchers' study found. His blending of the two words, compounded with the less than optimal sound quality of the audio from the moon, makes it difficult to confirm that the "a" was spoken.

 

Perfect storm of conditions

 

A 2006 analysis of the recording of Armstrong's first words on the moon attempted to resolve the question by using software to parse the statement. The study claimed to find evidence for the missing "a" in the audio waveforms.

 

Armstrong said that he found that earlier study's results to be "persuasive." Armstrong died last year at age 82.

 

The software analysis did not end the debate however, as examinations of the sound files resulted in mixed opinions about whether he included the indefinite article, the current study's authors wrote in their presentation's abstract.

 

Dilley and her colleagues, including MSU linguist Melissa Baese-Berk and OSU psychologist Mark Pitt, thought they might instead be able to figure out what Armstrong said with a statistical analysis of the duration of the "r" sound as spoken by native central Ohioans saying "for" and "for a" in natural conversation.

 

For their analysis, the researchers used a collection of recordings of conversational speech from 40 people raised in Columbus, Ohio, near Wapakoneta, Armstrong's home town. In these recordings, they found 191 cases of "for a." They matched each to an instance of "for" as said by the same speaker and compared the relative duration.

 

They also examined the duration of Armstrong's "for (a)" from the moon transmission.

 

What they found was a large overlap between the relative duration of the "r" sound in "for" and "for a" using the Ohio speech data. The duration of the "frrr(uh)" in Armstrong's recording was 0.127 seconds, which falls into the middle of this overlap, although it is a slightly better match for an "a"-less "for."

 

In other words, the team concluded, the "one small step" quote is compatible with either interpretation, though it is "probably slightly more likely" to be heard as the "a"-less "for" regardless of what Armstrong said. Dilley said there may have been a "perfect storm of conditions" for "a" to have been spoken but not heard.

 

"We've bolstered Neil Armstrong's side of the story," she said. "We feel we've partially vindicated him. But we will most likely never know for sure exactly what he said based on the acoustic information."

 

Beyond the moon

 

Other than shedding light on Armstrong's famous quote, the results have implications for understanding how people perceive meaning in spoken language, the researchers said.

 

"Every time we listen to speech and think we understand a sentence, we are performing a miraculous task, which is to take what is actually a continuous acoustic signal, break up that signal into somewhat arbitrary parts, and map those parts to our memories of all the words that we know in the language," Dilley said.

 

"We need only look at computer speech recognition and how it succeeds and how it largely often fails to see how very difficult that problem is," she concluded.

 

END