Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - June 5, 2013 and JSC Today

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: June 5, 2013 6:01:30 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - June 5, 2013 and JSC Today

Monthly NASA retirees luncheon tomorrow.

 

 

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

 

JSC TODAY HEADLINES

1.            Latest International Space Station Research

2.            Become an Ally in the Workplace

3.            JSC Systems Engineering Forum

4.            Environmental Brown Bag: USGBC Net-Zero Home Built from Shipping Containers

5.            Shuttle Knowledge Console (SKC) v5.0

6.            Starport's Father-Daughter Dance -- Get Your Tickets by Friday

7.            Starport Invites You to a Tasting and Giveaway Today

8.            Sam's Club Visit Cancelled for This Week

9.            Starport Summer Camp Starts Next Week

10.          Free Lost in Space Camp

11.          Summer Water-Bots Camp: Intermediate Camp Registration Deadline June 28

________________________________________     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.            Latest International Space Station Research

Three new experiments get their first on-orbit operations this week on our International Space Station!

Microbiome, the impact of spaceflight on both the human immune system and an individual's microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on the human body at any given time).

Ocular Health aims to systematically gather physiological data to characterize the risk of microgravity-induced visual impairment/intracranial pressure on crew members.

Skin-B will contribute to a better understanding of skin aging mechanisms, which are slow on Earth (therefore nearly impossible to study efficiently), but very much accelerated in weightlessness.

Liz Warren x35548

 

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2.            Become an Ally in the Workplace

As part of Pride Month activities, the Out & Allied Employee Resource Group (ERG) invites you to an informative and empowering half-day seminar exploring the unique needs and concerns lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people face in the workplace. You will also build your own knowledge, skills and abilities for creating a more inclusive and affirming community. Participants will develop an understanding of LGBT terminology and symbols, history, concepts of privilege and identity development and maintaining a work environment that doesn't tolerate oppression based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Sign up in SATERN using ID 69094 (8:30 to 11:30 a.m.) or 69101 (1:30 to 4:30 p.m.): https://satern.nasa.gov/customcontent/splash_page/

Event Date: Thursday, June 27, 2013   Event Start Time:8:30 AM   Event End Time:11:30 AM

Event Location: Bldg 12, Room 134

 

Add to Calendar

 

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

 

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3.            JSC Systems Engineering Forum

The next JSC Systems Engineering Forum meeting will be Tuesday, June 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Building 1, Room 820. System engineers will discuss how to create fabulous systems, and Safety & Mission Assurance (S&MA) engineers will discuss how these systems could fail or be unsafe. Project managers will be on hand to discuss having a safe, reliable system that accommodates budget and schedule. Lisa Moore, senior systems engineer from the Exploration Systems Development Division at Headquarters, will present an overview of integrating S&MA into the systems engineering process.

Contact George Salazar at extension x30162 or via email for information if you have trouble with the link below. WebEx and telecom numbers can be found here.

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

Event Location: Building 1, Room 820

 

Add to Calendar

 

George Salazar x30162

 

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4.            Environmental Brown Bag: USGBC Net-Zero Home Built from Shipping Containers

Come learn about the design and construction of a small home, on- and off-grid, as a nucleus for a demonstration/research facility for options and possibilities for high-efficiency, low-operating-cost sustainable constructing and living. The use of two shipping containers, made from re-purposed and recycled materials, solar cooling and power, rainwater capture and use, helical pile foundation, high-efficiency materials and systems for a low footprint, make a relocatable, environmentally smart and fun home. Presented by Paul Vanderwal, architect, LEED AP from the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Bring your lunches and your questions to Building 45, Room 751, from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11.

Event Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2013   Event Start Time:12:00 PM   Event End Time:1:00 PM

Event Location: B 45, room 751

 

Add to Calendar

 

Kim Reppa x42798

 

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5.            Shuttle Knowledge Console (SKC) v5.0

The JSC Chief Knowledge Officer and the Engineering Directorate are pleased to announce the fifth release of Shuttle Knowledge Console (SKC). This release includes:

o             The new image rotator that gets new images daily

o             An update to the SIRMA archive that includes 15 additional records

o             75,000 new files in the Shuttle Document Archive (75GB)

o             The Space Flight Operational Contract document archive consisting of 192 documents

o             Shuttle postflight videos consisting of 127 videos

o             Shuttle flight documents, consisting of 22 documents collected from the experiences of individuals within the Space Shuttle Program (SSP)

To date, 1.13TB of information with 3.82 million documents of SSP knowledge has been captured. If you are aware of data that still needs to be captured, contact Howard Wagner or Brent Fontenot. Click the "Submit Feedback" button located on the top of the site navigation and give us your comments and thoughts.

Brent J. Fontenot x36456 https://skc.jsc.nasa.gov/Home.aspx

 

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6.            Starport's Father-Daughter Dance -- Get Your Tickets by Friday

Make Father's Day weekend a date your daughter will never forget! Enjoy a night of music, dancing, refreshments, finger foods, dessert, photos and more. Plan to get all dressed up and spend a special evening with the special little lady in your life. The dance is open to girls of all ages, and attire is business casual to semi-formal. A photographer will be on hand to capture this special moment with picture packages for you to purchase. One free 5x7 will be provided.

o             June 14 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in the Gilruth Center Alamo Ballroom

o             Cost is $45 per couple ($15 per additional child)

Tickets may be purchased at the Gilruth Center information desk. Tickets must be purchased by Friday, and there will be no tickets sold at the door.

Visit our website for more information.

Event Date: Friday, June 14, 2013   Event Start Time:6:30 PM   Event End Time:9:00 PM

Event Location: Gilruth Center Alamo Ballroom

 

Add to Calendar

 

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

 

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7.            Starport Invites You to a Tasting and Giveaway Today

Today, Starport invites you to the Buildings 3 and 11 cafés from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a tasting of the Dr. Pepper 10-calorie beverage line. Don't miss out on free stuff, giveaways and a drawing for a new bike!

Event Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2013   Event Start Time:11:00 AM   Event End Time:1:00 PM

Event Location: B3 & B11 Cafes

 

Add to Calendar

 

Danial Hornbuckle x30240

 

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8.            Sam's Club Visit Cancelled for This Week

Sam's Club will not be in the Building 3 Starport Café on Thursday for a scheduled membership drive as previously announced. They will return on Thursday, June 13, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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

 

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9.            Starport Summer Camp Starts Next Week

Starport's Summer Camp starts next week, and the first session is almost full! There are a few spots left, but hurry down to register before those spots are gone. We have tons of fun activities planned, and weekly themes are listed on our website, as well as information regarding registration and all the necessary forms.

Ages: 6 to 12

Times: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Dates: June 10 to Aug. 16 in one-week sessions

Fee per session: $140 per child for dependents | $160 per child for non-dependents

NEW for this summer! Ask about our sibling discounts and discounts for registering for all sessions.

Registration is now open to dependents and non-dependents (family and friends) of the JSC workforce.

Shericka Phillips x35563 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

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10.          Free Lost in Space Camp

This camp is funded through Texas Workforce Commission and offers kids ages 14 to 18 the opportunity to participate in a high-tech scavenger hunt using GPS and Geocaching. People all over the world are doing Geocaching. Come catch glimpse and join the fun!

Dates:

July 8 to 10 and July 15 to 17

For more information, please email.

Angie Hughes x37252 http://cpd.sanjac.edu/node/9718

 

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11.          Summer Water-Bots Camp: Intermediate Camp Registration Deadline June 28

Join us for Water-Bots 2013. The San Jacinto College Aerospace Academy is offering an outstanding opportunity for students to experience the excitement of underwater robotics!

Beginner Camps: June 17 to 20 and June 24 to 27. The camp experience will include basic electronics instruction, an introduction to soldering, tours of JSC, professional speakers and much more.

Intermediate Camps: July 15 to 18 and July 22 to 25. Require campers with previous robotic experience. The camp experience will include constructing algorithms in scripting languages such as Python/Matlab/Scilab; working with Arduino boards, sensors and shields; methods of making underwater robotics using a tether system and much more.

Age: 12 to 16 years old

Cost: $250

Email for more information.

Sara Malloy x46803 http://www.aerospace-academy.org

 

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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:

·         4:15 pm Central (5:15 EDT) – ATV4 ("Albert Einstein") Launch Coverage

·         4:52 pm Central (5:52 EDT) – Launch of ATV4 from Kourou, French Guiana (docks June 15)

 

Human Spaceflight News

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

 

Ariane 5 stands ready to deliver its heaviest payload to ISS

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Next ATV serves as tiramisu transporter, fuel freighter

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

Europe's fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, a massive refueling tanker, cargo transporter and garbage truck rolled into one, is on a tropical launch pad in South America awaiting blastoff toward the International Space Station on Wednesday. The 44,610-pound unmanned resupply freighter, with the approximate length and diameter of a London double-decker bus, is poised for launch atop an Ariane 5 ES rocket at 2152:11 GMT (5:52:11 p.m. EDT) from the European-run Guiana Space Center on South America's northeast coastline.

 

Europe set for record-breaking space launch

 

Agence France Presse

 

Nearly 40 years ago, European countries worried by US and Soviet dominance of space gave the green light to the first Ariane rocket, a small launcher capable of hoisting a satellite payload of just 1.8 tonnes -- the equivalent mass of two small cars. On Wednesday, the fifth and mightiest generation of Arianes is set to take a whopping 20.2 tonnes into orbit, a cargo craft the size of a double-decker bus and a record for Europe, proud engineers say. The payload is the fourth cargo delivery by the European Space Agency (ESA) to the International Space Station (ISS), bringing food, water, oxygen, scientific experiments and special treats to the orbiting crew.

 

Sierra Nevada Builds Up To Lifting-Body Drop Tests

 

Guy Norris - Aviation Week

 

 

Just over 50 years ago a high-powered Pontiac convertible charged across Rogers Dry Lakebed at Edwards AFB, Calif., towing a primitive lifting body. This month, Sierra Nevada Corp's (SNC) Dream Chaser, a descendent of the pioneering M2-F1, will repeat almost identical tests at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center as part of a program aimed at an orbital demonstration before 2017. While the Pontiac and plywood-and-steel-built M2-F1 of 1963 have given way to a Ford truck and the advanced composite structure of the Dream Chaser, the aim of proving the viability of a lifting body for space transport is unchanged. Sierra Nevada's test comes as part of NASA's competitive Commercial Crew Program (CCP) to develop U.S. human space launch capability to low Earth orbit.

 

Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft set to launch in mid-June

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

 

Chinese engineers transferred a 191-foot-tall Long March rocket to the launch pad Monday as officials gear up for liftoff of China's next human spaceflight in mid-June, state media reported. The Long March 2F rocket rolled about one mile from an assembly building to the launch pad at the Jiuquan space center, a military-run base in northwest China's Gobi desert. It took an hour to complete the rollout, according to China's state-run CCTV television network. Sitting atop a mobile launch platform, the Long March 2F was towed along dual rail tracks amid throngs of employees and guests at the remote launch base.

 

Space Storm Could Black Out US East Coast for Two Years - Expert

 

RIA Novosti

 

Severe space "weather" can knock out satellite communications and GPS systems, expose space tourists and astronauts to dangerous levels of radiation, and even cause massive blackouts on Earth that could last up to two years, scientists and NASA officials warned at a conference here on Tuesday. A sun storm on the scale of one that happened in 1859, which was recorded by British brewer and amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, would potentially have sweeping consequences on huge population clusters in the United States, experts at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum said.

 

NASA: Space's weather a new hurdle

Solar and magnetic storms can wreak havoc if a surprise

 

Ledyard King - Florida Today

 

For about two weeks in March 2012, powerful solar flares pounded the Earth with a series of geomagnetic body blows. More than a dozen NASA spacecraft experienced data outages or had to be rebooted, and there were fears the space storm would disrupt power networks, commercial aviation and communications systems. The space agency scrambled to minimize the damage to its space vehicles, even as the potentially dire consequences to the planet's electronic and industrial grid never materialized. But scientists describe the episode as a wake-up call.

 

What's Next for Astronaut Chris Hadfield?

 

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

 

With star astronaut Chris Hadfield recently back on planet Earth after five months in orbit, many are wondering what he will do next. Will Hadfield stay with the Canadian Space Agency? Bring his outreach skills to politics or business? Or do something different altogether? "Chris will have people knocking on his door from every single possible area of work imaginable, and I'm sure that there are already probably 1,000 requests to come and speak," said three-time space shuttle flyer Marc Garneau, who became Canada's first astronaut in space in 1984.

 

Footage a reminder of Hinkler's link to tragic Challenger

 

Mike Derry - News Mail (Australia)

 

The chilling footage of the space shuttle Challenger exploding 73 seconds into its 10th mission on January 28, 1986, is on continuous loop in the Hinkler Hall of Aviation - because a little piece of Bundaberg was on board. The shuttle was carrying a 12cm long wooden rib from Bert Hinkler's glider when it blew up, killing all seven crew members. Hinkler Hall of Aviation team leader Colleen Foglia said the rib fragment was from the glider Hinkler used to fly at Mon Repos Beach in 1912. The piece of rib was taken aboard the shuttle because of Bert Hinkler's fame as a pioneer of the early days of flight. Ms Foglia said Challenger mission commander Dick Scobee was always interested in flight, and was a big fan of Hinkler's. He agreed to take a fragment of the glider up into orbit in his personal locker on board the Challenger. After the accident that destroyed the Challenger the fragment was thought to be lost, but it was later found floating in the ocean over which the Challenger broke up, still in its NASA bag. The rib fragment came back courtesy of Scobee's wife, Dr June Scobee.

 

Space Act contracts working as intended

Extra scrutiny seems curious, unwarranted

 

DelmarvaNow.com - Salisbury, MD (Editorial)

 

Some unconventional contracts NASA is using these days are getting extra scrutiny from key Republicans, according to news reports this week. That could be construed as a good catch by public watchdogs. Except that the contracts are nothing new. These Space Act agreements have been in use since 1958, when the space program was established. They differ from conventional contracts in that private companies are paid to achieve milestones set by NASA rather than for producing a specified result. But now GOP lawmakers are questioning whether the contracts are compromising national security or squandering tax dollars to speed up the development process or enhance international partnerships.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

Next ATV serves as tiramisu transporter, fuel freighter

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

Europe's fourth Automated Transfer Vehicle, a massive refueling tanker, cargo transporter and garbage truck rolled into one, is on a tropical launch pad in South America awaiting blastoff toward the International Space Station on Wednesday.

 

The 44,610-pound unmanned resupply freighter, with the approximate length and diameter of a London double-decker bus, is poised for launch atop an Ariane 5 ES rocket at 2152:11 GMT (5:52:11 p.m. EDT) from the European-run Guiana Space Center on South America's northeast coastline.

 

Flying northeast from the jungle spaceport - nestled along the Atlantic coast near Kourou, French Guiana - the 856-ton Ariane 5 launcher will empty the casings of its twin solid rocket boosters in a little more than 2 minutes and drain 385,000 pounds of cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid hydrogen from its main stage in about 9 minutes.

 

A hydrazine-fueled upper stage, powered by an Aestus engine, will fire two times to inject the ATV payload into low Earth orbit.

 

The Ariane 5 rocket's ascent - scheduled to begin just after sunset in French Guiana - will take nearly 64 minutes to place the ATV in a circular 161-mile-high orbit at an inclination of 51.6 degrees.

 

A few minutes later, the transfer vehicle will extend its four solar array wings to generate electricity. The ATV's solar panels are arranged in a distinctive X-shape extending 73 feet from tip-to-tip in space.

 

Filled with propellant, water, oxygen, spare parts, experiments and food - including packages of tiramisu, lasagna and macadamia nuts - the automated cargo carrier will adjust its trajectory over the following 10 days to set up for a GPS- and laser-guided rendezvous and docking with the space station June 15.

 

The mission is named for physicist Albert Einstein, continuing the theme of naming ATVs after prominent European thinkers and scientific pioneers.

 

The ATV is the space station's largest resupply vehicle after the retirement of the space shuttle, hauling three times more cargo as Russia's Progress spacecraft and twice as much as SpaceX's commercial Dragon spaceship.

 

"This is the first ATV that is fully used in terms of cargo because we will have propellant for the mission, propellant for reboost of the station, we have full water for the first time, full gas, and we also have completely filled up the pressurized part," said Alberto Novelli, ATV 4 mission manager from the European Space Agency. "So it's the first mission where we are completely using the ATV in what it can carry to the station."

 

The freighter's pressurized section, manufactured in Italy by Thales Alenia Space, is packed with 209 cargo bags containing more than 1,400 items with a cumulative mass of 5,465 pounds.

 

Most of the supplies are for NASA, which uses resupply craft owned by Europe and Japan in a barter arrangement. The European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency pay for their share of the space station's operating costs through cargo services instead of cash.

 

The cargo includes a toolbox made with a 3D printer and an experiment to investigate the way emulsions - droplets suspended in a liquid - behave in microgravity. Emulsions are used in a range of applications on Earth, particularly foods like salad dressings and mayonnaise, according to scientists.

 

Built by EADS Astrium, also prime contractor for the ATV and Ariane 5 launch vehicle, the emulsion experiment will be installed by astronauts into the fluid science lab inside the European Columbus module on the space station, beginning up to eight months of experimentation using a microscope and differential scanning calorimeter.

 

The Albert Einstein mission also carries a fresh microscope for a European Biolab science rack, a cooling servicer, and a 176-pound spare water pump for the Columbus lab module.

 

NASA furnished a ride for a water recycling device for the space station's life support system, which purifies urine into drinking water in a closed-loop system.

 

The ATV's cargo hold also contains bags with a new GPS antenna for Japan's Kibo module, and a fresh stock of gas masks to replace old ones on the space station.

 

A menagerie of other cargo items - toothbrushes, t-shirts, strawberries, socks, pajamas, peanut butter and parmesan - are aboard the ATV to be enjoyed by the station's six-person crew.

 

Despite its spacious pressurized section, the unique capability of the ATV is the delivery of huge volumes of water, air and propellant for the space station's astronauts, atmosphere and rocket thrusters.

 

For the fourth ATV, the craft's liquid and gas load totals 9,050 pounds. The ATV will use about 5,688 pounds of propellant to reboost the space station's orbit and move the 450-ton complex out of the way of space debris during its four-month stay.

 

About 1,896 pounds of propellant will flow into the fuel tanks on Russia's Zvezda service module to replenish its propellant supply. And 220 pounds of air and pure oxygen will be transferred to the space station to refresh its atmosphere.

 

For the first time in the ATV program, the cargo craft is carrying a full load of water - 1,245 pounds.

 

Albert Einstein's cargo load is less massive than the hauls of the second and third ATV. Each mission is tailored to the needs of the space station, and ATV carries more dry cargo and water than any of its predecessors, but less propellant.

 

ESA's first cargo vehicle, named Jules Verne for the French novelist, launched in March 2008. Two more ATVs reached the station in 2011 and 2012, and the fifth - and final - ATV is scheduled to lift off in June 2014.

 

Each ATV mission costs 450 million euros, or about $600 million, according to ESA.

 

ESA and Astrium Space Transportation are continuing the ATV legacy by constructing a service module based on the cargo craft's heritage for NASA's Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle. Europe will build at least one service module for Orion's unmanned test flight near the moon in 2017, but ESA officials are hopeful the agreement will yield further collaboration in the form of more Orion service modules for manned flights into deep space, and ultimately access to the flights for European astronauts and research pursuits.

 

Europe set for record-breaking space launch

 

Agence France Presse

 

Nearly 40 years ago, European countries worried by US and Soviet dominance of space gave the green light to the first Ariane rocket, a small launcher capable of hoisting a satellite payload of just 1.8 tonnes -- the equivalent mass of two small cars.

 

On Wednesday, the fifth and mightiest generation of Arianes is set to take a whopping 20.2 tonnes into orbit, a cargo craft the size of a double-decker bus and a record for Europe, proud engineers say.

 

The payload is the fourth cargo delivery by the European Space Agency (ESA) to the International Space Station (ISS), bringing food, water, oxygen, scientific experiments and special treats to the orbiting crew.

 

An Ariane 5 ES is scheduled to blast off from ESA's base at Kourou in French Guiana at 6:52 pm (2152 GMT) Wednesday, taking aloft an Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), a robot space truck dubbed the Albert Einstein.

 

The cargo craft will carry almost seven tonnes of dry and fluid cargo for its five-month mission.

 

About an hour after liftoff, somewhere over New Zealand, the ATV, some 10 metres (33 feet) long, will detach from the rocket's upper stage and then deploy its four energy-generating solar panels and navigate autonomously, guided by starlight, to the space station.

 

It will dock with the ISS on July 15 at an altitude of about 400 kilometres (250 miles) above the planet.

 

"By then it has a velocity of 28,000 kilometres (18,000 miles) per hour, and has to fly to a destination (the docking mechanism) about 60 cm (23 inches) in width," said Bart Reijnen, head of orbital systems at the Astrium space company which built the lifeline craft.

 

"It has to fly there fully autonomously and dock with this target of 60 cm with a precision of six cm (2.4 inches). That is something that might be difficult to imagine."

 

The craft has enough fuel to make three docking attempts if something were to go wrong during the final approach, said Jean-Michel Bois, ATV operations manager in Toulouse, France, from where the vessel's flight path will be monitored.

 

In the case of a failed attempt, the ATV would retreat from the ISS and go into a different orbit, returning two days later to try again.

 

This has never happened, said Bois, adding: "I cross my fingers."

 

The Albert Einstein will boast the largest assortment of goods yet delivered to the ISS -- a total of 1,400 individual items that include everything from pyjamas and toothbrushes to peanut butter, lasagne and tiramisu for its six astronauts.

 

Apart from several months' worth of food, the craft carries 4.8 tonnes of fuel needed to dock with the ISS and give it a boost into higher orbit with its onboard engines.

 

This is necessary because the ISS is in a low Earth orbit and encounters atmospheric resistance which causes it to fall towards our planet at a rate of about 100m (300 feet) per day.

 

ATVs can also push the ISS out of the way of oncoming space debris.

 

ESA is contracted to provide five ATVs as its contribution to the ISS, a US-led international collaboration.

 

The three previous missions have performed flawlessly, muting criticism of the billion-euro ($1.3-billion) development cost.

 

The Albert Einstein will carry 800 kg (1,760 pounds) of propellant to be pumped into the ISS itself, as well as more than 500 kilos (1,100 pounds) of water and 100 kilos of oxygen, according to Astrium.

 

And it will bring a scientific experiment designed to test the behaviour of emulsions -- a mixture of liquids that do not blend, like mayonnaise -- in weightless conditions.

 

The ATV's pressurised cabin will provide welcome extra space for the ISS crew -- Americans Chris Cassidy and Karen Nyberg, Russians Fyodor Yurchikhin, Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin, and Italian Luca Parmitano.

 

After completing its mission, the ATV-4 will undock from the ISS filled with about six tonnes of garbage and human waste, and burn up over the Pacific.

 

Sierra Nevada Builds Up To Lifting-Body Drop Tests

 

Guy Norris - Aviation Week

 

 

Just over 50 years ago a high-powered Pontiac convertible charged across Rogers Dry Lakebed at Edwards AFB, Calif., towing a primitive lifting body. This month, Sierra Nevada Corp's (SNC) Dream Chaser, a descendent of the pioneering M2-F1, will repeat almost identical tests at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center as part of a program aimed at an orbital demonstration before 2017.

 

While the Pontiac and plywood-and-steel-built M2-F1 of 1963 have given way to a Ford truck and the advanced composite structure of the Dream Chaser, the aim of proving the viability of a lifting body for space transport is unchanged.

 

Sierra Nevada's test comes as part of NASA's competitive Commercial Crew Program (CCP) to develop U.S. human space launch capability to low Earth orbit. It is widely viewed as providing the best chance yet for the first practical application of a design that can reenter the atmosphere and land on a runway using lift generated by the shape of the airframe rather than wings—the mode used by the space shuttle and Boeing's X-37.

 

Lifting-body development reached a dead end in the 1970s when the larger-scale requirements of NASA and the U.S. Air Force drove the designers of the space shuttle toward a winged reusable spacecraft. With the priority of the CCP focused on crew and smaller payloads, SNC revived NASA's HL-20 lifting-body design to develop the Dream Chaser, which is capable of carrying seven astronauts to orbit. The vehicle is designed to launch from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 402.

 

Sierra Nevada is competing against alternative capsule designs developed by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Boeing under a $212.5 million Commercial Crew Integrated Capability contract awarded in August 2012. The engineering test article (ETA) arrived at Dryden in mid-May from Sierra Nevada's Space Systems facility in Louisville, Colo., and is starting initial tow tests following reassembly and integrated systems testing.

 

The build-up to approach and landing tests (ALT) starts with a 10-mph tow behind a truck, followed by a gradual step-up in speed beyond 20 mph at intervals to 60 mph to "check the brakes and see how the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) operates," says SNC Spacecraft Advanced Development director John Curry. Beyond this speed, the tow line will be cast off to demonstrate the ability of the steering and GNC system to track down the runway centerline. The Dream Chaser has a conventional wheeled main landing gear and a SpaceShipTwo-like retractable nose skid.

 

Other system checks prior to upcoming drop tests from a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane include ground test of the flight termination and parachute deployment system. The Dream Chaser ETA, which flew a year ago in Colorado in a series of captive-carry flights slung below an S-64, is likely to continue ground taxi tests through July. ALT work, modeled after the initial flight-tests of the space shuttle demonstrator in 1977, is expected to start in August, with several drops set to occur from the helicopter hovering more than 10,000-ft. over the lakebed.

 

Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft set to launch in mid-June

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

 

Chinese engineers transferred a 191-foot-tall Long March rocket to the launch pad Monday as officials gear up for liftoff of China's next human spaceflight in mid-June, state media reported.

 

The Long March 2F rocket rolled about one mile from an assembly building to the launch pad at the Jiuquan space center, a military-run base in northwest China's Gobi desert.

 

It took an hour to complete the rollout, according to China's state-run CCTV television network. Sitting atop a mobile launch platform, the Long March 2F was towed along dual rail tracks amid throngs of employees and guests at the remote launch base.

 

The rocket and China's Shenzhou 10 spacecraft reached the launch pad at about 10:15 a.m. Beijing time, according to an update posted online by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

 

The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, fixed atop the two-stage Long March rocket, will ferry three astronauts into orbit on a 15-day mission, the longest manned flight so far in China's space program.

 

The astronauts will reach the Tiangong 1 space lab two days later, entering the pressurized module for scientific experiments, engineering tests and public outreach programming aimed at Chinese school children.

 

China's previous record-duration spaceflight was Shenzhou 9, in which a trio of astronauts spent 13 days aloft and accomplished the country's first piloted docking with Tiangong 1 in June 2012.

 

Tiangong 1 launched in September 2011, and China says the module is a prototype for components and resupply vehicles to service a future space station.

 

The rocket will take off in mid-June, state media reported, but China has not disclosed a target launch date.

 

Rocket rollouts ahead of previous Shenzhou missions have occurred about one week before launch. Final testing of the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft and Long March rocket is planned in the next few days, along with fueling of the launcher's two stages and four strap-on boosters with hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants.

 

Tracking of Tiangong 1's orbit by Robert Christy, a respected space analyst, indicates the space module is in position for the launch and docking of Shenzhou 10 every other day, pointing to June 9 or June 11 as candidate launch dates.

 

Shenzhou 10 will dock with the Tiangong 1 space lab two days after liftoff and spend about 12 days attached to the module, forming a 60-foot-long scientific complex during the mission.

 

Shenzhou 10 may also make a flyaround of Tiangong 1, an activity not attempted on the Shenzhou 9 flight.

 

The identities of two of Shenzhou 10's three crew members have also not been announced. One of the astronauts will be Wang Yaping, a 35-year-old pilot in the Chinese Air Force set to become China's second woman in space.

 

Shenzhou 10 will be China's fifth human spaceflight since 2003, when the country became the third nation to independently send a person into space.

 

Space Storm Could Black Out US East Coast for Two Years - Expert

 

RIA Novosti

 

Severe space "weather" can knock out satellite communications and GPS systems, expose space tourists and astronauts to dangerous levels of radiation, and even cause massive blackouts on Earth that could last up to two years, scientists and NASA officials warned at a conference here on Tuesday.

 

A sun storm on the scale of one that happened in 1859, which was recorded by British brewer and amateur astronomer Richard Carrington, would potentially have sweeping consequences on huge population clusters in the United States, experts at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum said.

 

"The United States population that is at risk of an extended power outage from a Carrington-level storm is between 20-40 million, with an outage duration of possibly 16 days to one to two years," said Kathryn Sullivan, the first woman to walk in space and now the acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which hosted Tuesday's conference.

 

"The highest risk of storm-induced outages of these magnitudes in the United States is between Washington DC and New York City," she said, citing a report released last month by global insurance giant Lloyd's of London, which urged businesses to "think about their exposure to space weather."

 

"Space weather is not science fiction, it is an established fact," the Lloyds report said.

 

Space storms do have their hidden plusses: the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are a by-product of a storm in space. The super-storm of 1859 caused skies as far south as the Hawaiian Islands and Panama to erupt in red, green and purple auroras "so brilliant that newspapers could be read as easily as in daylight," NASA says on its website.

 

But the Carrington super-storm also sent a mammoth cloud of charged particles and detached magnetic loops — a "coronal mass ejection" — crashing into Earth's magnetic field, where it caused a geomagnetic storm that severely disrupted the telegraph system, which in the late 1800s was communications' equivalent of the Internet today.

 

"Spark discharges shocked telegraph operators and set the telegraph paper on fire. Even when telegraphers disconnected the batteries powering the lines, aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to be transmitted," NASA says.

 

An event on a similar scale today could cripple communications, said Sullivan.

 

"Our dependence on sophisticated electronics technology for almost everything we do today has introduced a new vulnerability into our societies," she said.

 

"We can't prevent space weather from happening but we can become more resilient to it," including by improving our capacity to accurately predict space weather events, taking steps to lessen the blow from space storms, and recovering better and faster when a space storm does hit.

 

Space weather is "one of six potential emergency scenarios in the upcoming shortlist of White House National Exercise Programs for 2013-14," Sullivan said, referring to training exercises that test the readiness of the United States to face various crisis scenarios.

 

The United States is also working with international partners to improve global readiness for the next big space storm, said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who next week will take part in the 56th session on the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, due to be held in Vienna, Austria.

 

The UN committee this year, for the first time, recognized space weather caused by solar activity as "a concern on par with close, approaching asteroids," Bolden said.

 

NASA is also collaborating with the European Space Agency on its Solar Orbiter mission, which aims to "brave the fierce heat" and study the sun from "closer than ever before," Bolden said, stressing that space weather, like terrestrial weather, "is a problem that crosses all borders."

 

NASA: Space's weather a new hurdle

Solar and magnetic storms can wreak havoc if a surprise

 

Ledyard King - Florida Today

 

For about two weeks in March 2012, powerful solar flares pounded the Earth with a series of geomagnetic body blows.

 

More than a dozen NASA spacecraft experienced data outages or had to be rebooted, and there were fears the space storm would disrupt power networks, commercial aviation and communications systems.

 

The space agency scrambled to minimize the damage to its space vehicles, even as the potentially dire consequences to the planet's electronic and industrial grid never materialized. But scientists describe the episode as a wake-up call.

 

"This really drove the point home that we have arrived at the age of interplanetary space weather forecasting," Madhulika Guhathakurta, a heliophysics scientist at NASA headquarters, said Tuesday. "(It's) a daunting problem."

 

She was speaking at a conference sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the agencies in charge of monitoring weather patterns on Earth and in space.

 

Experts say the public pays little attention to solar flares, geomagnetic storms and other conditions lumped into the "space weather" category. Scientists themselves have begun only recently to understand its patterns and effects and are developing more reliable ways to predict activity.

 

What they do know is there's a lot at stake.

 

A 2009 National Academy of Sciences report warned of global disruption if a powerful solarstorm affected Earth.

 

Using evidence from storms in 1859, 1921 and 1989, the report said massive power outages would be accompanied by radio blackouts and satellite malfunctions. Telecommunications, GPS navigation, banking, finance and transportation would be affected.

 

"Some problems would correct themselves with the fading of the storm: radio and GPS transmissions could come back online fairly quickly," the report said.

 

"Other problems would be lasting: a burnt-out multi-ton transformer, for instance, can take weeks or months to repair. The total economic impact in the first year alone could reach $2 trillion, some 20 times greater than the costs of a Hurricane Katrina."

 

Space weather also would threaten NASA missions by knocking out a spacecraft systems, experts at Tuesday's conference said.

 

It's already had an effect on aviation.

 

Officials with Delta Air Lines told participants at Tuesday's conference that interference from geomagnetic and solar storms forces the rerouting of some long-distance flights to avoid potential communications outages.

 

Those changes cost the company thousands of dollars a trip.

 

Guhathakurta cautions there's still much to learn about how weather develops in the 93 million-mile journey from the sun to the Earth.

 

"Space weather," she said, "is very much a research frontier."

 

What's Next for Astronaut Chris Hadfield?

 

Elizabeth Howell - Space.com

 

With star astronaut Chris Hadfield recently back on planet Earth after five months in orbit, many are wondering what he will do next.

 

Will Hadfield stay with the Canadian Space Agency? Bring his outreach skills to politics or business? Or do something different altogether?

 

"Chris will have people knocking on his door from every single possible area of work imaginable, and I'm sure that there are already probably 1,000 requests to come and speak," said three-time space shuttle flyer Marc Garneau, who became Canada's first astronaut in space in 1984.

 

"It'll be fun, but also tough for him to make a decision," Garneau said. "I have no idea what his plans are. We are very good friends, but I've never asked. It'll be interesting to see."

 

Hadfield's wife Helene Hadfield, speaking from Houston on May 14 just hours after her husband's landing, told SPACE.com that the subject of a post-flight career didn't come up in their hours of ground-to-space phone conversations.

 

"We're always thinking about the next step, but really, at this point, all I know is anything Chris does is always an adventure," she said. "No matter what he does, he really likes what he's doing. It'll grow organically, but right now all he's thinking about is this mission."

 

'It's like asking an infant if they're ready for their Ph.D.'

 

Hadfield's stay on the International Space Station ­— which included commanding the Expedition 35 mission — made headlines worldwide. The astronaut, in between running a productive science mission, found time to play mini-concerts, chat with celebrities from orbit, and post hundreds of pictures on Twitter.

 

Hadfield has shied away from talk about his future in the weeks since landing.

 

In a press conference three days after he returned to Earth, Hadfield told reporters he was too busy focusing on recovering from microgravity's effects to think about what to do after the mission.

 

"I'm trying to stand up straight, and I have to sit down in the shower so I don't faint and fall down," Hadfield said May 16. "It's like asking an infant if they're ready for their Ph.D. yet. I'll get there, but it's too early to say."

 

So far, Hadfield has debriefings and a few public appearances on his schedule, as well as extensive medical checkups. He's scheduled to play in a concert on July 1 — Canada's national holiday — on Parliament Hill in Canada's capital of Ottawa. [Hadfield Hits: How To Shave In Space | Video]

 

It's questionable that Hadfield would go to space again as a government astronaut, experts say. There are two rookie Canadian astronauts — Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques — who are in training and awaiting flights themselves.

 

Commercial direction unlikely at this time

 

Canada is only entitled to a small number of flights compared to the larger contributors to the space station: NASA, Roscosmos (Russia's space agency), the European Space Agency and JAXA (Japan's space agency).

 

Canada's "credits" for spaceflight come through its science and its robotics contributions to the station, CSA interim president Gilles Leclerc told SPACE.com in May. Canada's 2.3 percent utilization right of the orbiting laboratory entitles the country to a send another astronaut to space around 2018, but Leclerc said he is negotiating for an earlier date — perhaps 2016.

 

Commercial spaceflights might be possible for Hadfield, who is a former NORAD fighter pilot. In May, Virgin Galactic hired four-time space shuttle astronaut C.J. Sturckow to conduct flight training and testing with SpaceShipTwo, a suborbital spaceship under development.

 

Still, Helene Hadfield said it was premature to talk about her husband piloting a commercial ship.

 

"It's not the time to go into a commercial company," she said, citing the months of debriefing, rehabilitation, touring and other post-flight activities Hadfield faces. "Maybe in the future, but he's so happy [with the CSA]. He has nothing against that, but the timing is not really right for right now."

 

Contrast between space and politics

 

After his third spaceflight, Garneau, Canada's first astronaut, chose to leave space traveling for the management echelons of the Canadian Space Agency, where he later served as president for four years.

 

His reasoning for leaving was it would be a long wait for a fourth flight, Garneau told SPACE.com. Additionally, Garneau wanted to bring his young children, who had been living in Houston, back to Canada.

 

If Hadfield did turn to politics, Garneau — now a Montreal-area member of Parliament for Canada's Liberal party — pointed to a change between an astronaut's public persona and that of a politician.

 

As an astronaut, he said, "you're a fairly popular figure in the sense that people like to hear from astronauts and to hear about space."

 

Garneau, in fact, partially made a living as a speaker in between an unsuccessful attempt at winning a seat for the Liberals in 2006, and his successful election in 2008.

 

"But when you enter politics," Garneau added, "you identify yourself with a particular party, particular values, particular policies. At that point, you're open to being criticized by people."

 

Hadfield's next journey will be to Russia in early June, as the astronaut begins debriefings at various space agencies that contributed science to the mission.

 

Footage a reminder of Hinkler's link to tragic Challenger

 

Mike Derry - News Mail (Australia)

 

The chilling footage of the space shuttle Challenger exploding 73 seconds into its 10th mission on January 28, 1986, is on continuous loop in the Hinkler Hall of Aviation - because a little piece of Bundaberg was on board.

 

The shuttle was carrying a 12cm long wooden rib from Bert Hinkler's glider when it blew up, killing all seven crew members.

 

Hinkler Hall of Aviation team leader Colleen Foglia said the rib fragment was from the glider Hinkler used to fly at Mon Repos Beach in 1912.

 

"He built the glider himself in the backyard of his Gavin St home," she said.

 

"He used to take it to Mon Repos to do test flights."

 

Ms Foglia said the glider was later mainly dismantled and kept under the floorboards of the home so the design couldn't be copied.

 

The glider was later discovered in the 1970s, and the design was copied and an exact replica built.

 

The glider's original wings are now on display in the Hinkler Hall of Aviation.

 

The piece of rib was taken aboard the shuttle because of Bert Hinkler's fame as a pioneer of the early days of flight.

 

Ms Foglia said Challenger mission commander Dick Scobee was always interested in flight, and was a big fan of Hinkler's.

 

He agreed to take a fragment of the glider up into orbit in his personal locker on board the Challenger.

 

But during the launch an O-ring on the spacecraft's solid-fuel rocket booster failed, setting off a catastrophic chain of events that led to the disaster.

 

After the accident that destroyed the Challenger the fragment was thought to be lost, but it was later found floating in the ocean over which the Challenger broke up, still in its NASA bag.

 

The rib fragment came back courtesy of Scobee's wife, Dr June Scobee.

 

"His wife decided that she would present the fragment back to the people of Bundaberg," Ms Foglia said.

 

"She understood the significance of it, and that's how it came back to Bundaberg."

 

The rib fragment is part of a special exhibit in the Hinkler Hall of Aviation telling the story of how it almost went to space.

 

The Challenger was the first space shuttle to be destroyed by a malfunction during a mission.

 

The debris from the vessel is buried in decommissioned missile silos at Launch Complex 31 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

 

More pieces of debris occasionally still wash up on the coast of Florida and are taken to the silos for storage.

 

Space Act contracts working as intended

Extra scrutiny seems curious, unwarranted

 

DelmarvaNow.com - Salisbury, MD (Editorial)

 

Some unconventional contracts NASA is using these days are getting extra scrutiny from key Republicans, according to news reports this week. That could be construed as a good catch by public watchdogs.

 

Except that the contracts are nothing new. These Space Act agreements have been in use since 1958, when the space program was established. They differ from conventional contracts in that private companies are paid to achieve milestones set by NASA rather than for producing a specified result.

 

But now GOP lawmakers are questioning whether the contracts are compromising national security or squandering tax dollars to speed up the development process or enhance international partnerships.

 

Watchdogs are needed. Certainly anything new should be investigated. But these contracts are nothing new. And they work.

 

These contracts are providing benefits to the Lower Shore economy in the form of jobs and commerce. Orbital Sciences Corp. operates at NASA's Wallops Island facility under one of these contracts. Not only does this Wallops-based project benefit our region directly, it saves taxpayer dollars and moves our nation's space program forward.

 

It's estimated NASA would have spent between $1.7 billion and $4 billion on a new vehicle to deliver cargo to the International Space Station under the terms of a conventional contract. Instead, SpaceX, a private company, spent less than $390 million on the first private vehicle to deliver a payload to the space station.

 

We should heed the old saying advising us not to fix what isn't broken. NASA's Space Act contracts function as intended and should be applauded not fixed.

 

END