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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - July 11, 2013 and JSC Today



Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: July 11, 2013 6:10:09 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - July 11, 2013 and JSC Today

Hope you can join us today at HIBACHI Grill for our monthly NASA Retirees Luncheon at 11:30.   As usual, we sit in the back left party room.

 

 

 

Thanks to Stacey Nakamura's accidental detective work and  for sharing the below article about the mystery surrounding Steve Altemus' quick departure from JSC

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130710-910295.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

SGT is proud to introduce its new subsidiary "Intuitive Machines" to serve the human race by providing disruptive intelligent machine engineering solutions to the world's most challenging problems

 

GREENBELT, Md., July 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Inc. (SGT), a leading provider of Engineering, Science, Project Management, and Information Technology services, announced today the launch of new Houston, TX based engineering products subsidiary, Intuitive Machines, Inc. "This partnership leverages the synergies between a highly successful and established engineering services business with the growth potential of an innovative engineering products business," said Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, President and Chief Executive Officer of SGT. "SGT provides the perfect launching pad for such an ambitious endeavor and we are all extremely excited about this new alliance."

 

"Our goal is to be the premier provider of disruptive intelligent machine engineering solutions to conquer the toughest technical challenges in aerospace, medicine, and energy," said Steve Altemus, President of Intuitive Machines and former Deputy Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center. "Engineering, through its role in the creation and implementation of technology, has been a key force in the improvement of our economic well-being, health, and quality of life. We believe that these industries offer the most potential for both positively impacting the lives of humans all over the planet and developing a flourishing business."

Intuitive Machines brings unique expertise in the core competencies of control systems, motor control, robotics, advanced manufacturing, mechanics, electronics, software, computational analysis, and sensing, to solve significant challenges across multiple industries. "The essence of Intuitive Machines business engine is a cycle of connecting complimentary opportunities and leveraging emerging technologies through advanced systems design and rapid prototyping to create viable products as real world solutions." Altemus said.

Intuitive Machines begins with a global perspective, bringing the rigor and discipline of NASA sharpened talent and the capacity to work in multidisciplinary teams characterized by high cultural diversity, all while exhibiting the nimbleness and mobility to address rapidly changing global challenges and opportunities. Applying the rules of reason, the aesthetics of art, and the spark of creative imagination, you can expect IM engineers will continue the tradition of forging a better future through engineering.

Prior to founding Intuitive Machines, Steve Altemus served as Deputy Director of NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), the NASA center for human spaceflight training, research, and flight control. Additionally he served as Director of Engineering at JSC from July 2006 through January 2013 leading some 2,800 employees through the conceptualization, design, development and evaluation of aerospace systems for use in human, robotic and automated space flight, for both low earth orbit and deep space missions.

Learn more about Intuitive Machines at: http://intuitivemachines.com.

 

Contacts:

 

Shelley Johnson

301.489.1108

sjohnson@sgt-inc.com

http://www.sgt-inc.com

 

Steve Altemus

President, Intuitive Machines

Houston, TX

832.707.2004

steve@intuitivemachines.com

http://intuitivemachines.com

 

SGT, Inc. is privately held and headquartered in Greenbelt, MD, USA. SGT, Inc. provides aerospace engineering, earth and planetary science modeling and analysis, information systems, project management, operational support and technical services to NASA, DOT, NOAA, USGS, DOD, and various other government and commercial organizations.

 

SOURCE SGT, Inc.

/Web site: http://www.sgt-inc.com

 

 

 

 

 

   Headlines

  1. Joint Leadership Team Web Poll

Retirement seems to be a ways off for most folks, but you have already started planning for it. That's really smart because it sneaks up on you pretty fast. You correctly guessed that no air conditioning in my truck for my entire vacation stunk. In fact, the occupants actually stunk more than the truck did. This week we reopened Gate 2, and I'd like to hear what you think about it. Was it a smart decision to reopen? Long overdue? Dumb to go backwards? Question two is going to be difficult for you. It's a touchy-feely kind of question. When you get in touch with your "softer" side, what do you do? Art? Music? Dance?

Pablo your Lautrec on over to get this week's poll.

Joel Walker x30541 http://jlt.jsc.nasa.gov/

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  1. Mac OS Upgrade Impacts FileNet Users

Upgraded Mac users who need FileNet forms or FileNet-based systems (such as ACP, DAA) have two options:

    • Request VMware to use Windows applications
    • Use a nearby PC until a solution is deployed

Options to retain existing FileNet forms:

Create a functional PDF from your FileNet form data (if form is available as fill-able/savable PDF):

    1. Download PDF version of form from the NASA e-Forms (NEF) site.
    2. Open the FileNet form on your desktop.
    3. Copy/paste data to the PDF form, and save.

OR

Create a static (non-functioning) PDF image of your FileNet form information. (You may lose data entered into any expanding form fields.)

    1. Open the FileNet form on your desktop.
    2. Select File>Save As function.

Send e-forms questions to JSC Forms.

JSC-IRD-Outreach x41334 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/Lists/wIReD%20in%20The%20Latest%20IRD%20News/Lat...

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  1. Morpheus Test to Be Streamed

The Morpheus team plans a tether test of its "Bravo" prototype lander today. The test will include the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) recently integrated onto Morpheus. The test will be streamed live on JSC's UStream channel. View the live stream along with progress updates sent via Twitter on the project's website. 

Morpheus is a vertical test bed vehicle being used to mature new, non-toxic propulsion systems and autonomous landing and hazard detection technologies. Designed, manufactured and operated in-house by engineers at JSC, Morpheus represents not only a vehicle to advance technologies, but also an opportunity to pursue "lean development" engineering practices. 

The test firing is planned for approximately 1 to 2 p.m.

Streaming will begin approximately 45 minutes prior. 

*Note: Testing operations are very dynamic, and the actual firing time may vary. Follow Morpheus Lander on Twitter for the latest information at @MorpheusLander. (Send text "follow morpheuslander" to 40404 to get tweets as text messages.) 

Click here for more information. 

Event Date: Thursday, July 11, 2013   Event Start Time:1:00 PM   Event End Time:2:00 PM
Event Location: Via UStream

Add to Calendar

Wendy Watkins http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/exploration/morpheus/

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  1. 'Day of Music' Featuring Chris Hadfield

This Saturday, July 13, the Houston Symphony will be hosting a Day of Music, featuring dozens of free performances in honor of the 100th anniversary of the symphony. The event will be held from 9 to 10 p.m. at Jones Hall. There will be a special performance at 10 a.m. starring third- and fourth-grade choir students from Pearl Hall Elementary, performing "Big Smoke" with the symphony and a prerecorded video of retired Canadian astronaut and Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield. The students will also perform NASA Johnson Style outside of Jones Hall at the Jones Plaza after the 10 p.m. family concert.

JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111

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   Organizations/Social

  1. Positive Behavior Change

If you've ever tried to break a habit, you know how challenging it can be, but do you know why it is difficult and how to be more successful? Please join Takis Bogdanos, LPC-S with the JSC Employee Assistance Program today, July 11, at 12 noon in the Building 30 Auditorium for a presentation about how habits form, are sustained and what it takes to create positive behavior change.

Event Date: Thursday, July 11, 2013   Event Start Time:12:00 PM   Event End Time:1:00 PM
Event Location: Building 30 Auditorium

Add to Calendar

Lorrie Bennett, Employee Assistance Program, Occupational Health Branch x36130

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  1. Starport Summer Camp - Still Taking Registrations

Summer Camp is halfway over and kids are having a blast with all the fun activities planned, so don't miss out on the second half of camp! There are a few spots left in sessions six through 10, so register your child before these sessions fill up. 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: Now through 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.

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

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  1. Sam's Club in Building 3 Today

Sam's Club will be in the Building 3 Starport Café today from 11 a.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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   Jobs and Training

  1. 50 Years of Astronaut Medical and Research Data

Please join us tomorrow, July 12, for a lecture on the Challenges and Opportunities in Managing 50 years of Astronaut Medical and Research Data from 2 to 3 p.m. There has been a renewed focus on the continuity of care and occupational surveillance for both the immediate and lifetime needs of the astronaut corps, which has led to additional challenges and opportunities for growth in clinical and surveillance data management.

Space is limited, please register today! https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Cynthia Rando x41815 https://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/hsa/default.aspx

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   Community

  1. View the Milky Way at the George Observatory

Join us at the George Observatory and check out the Milky Way! We will be open from 5 to 11 p.m.  July 12. The planetarium and telescopes will be open. For more information about the George Observatory, check out the website.

Note: Park entrance fees apply at $7 per person for everyone over 12 years old.

Megan Hashier 281-226-4179 http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=108&Ite...

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  1. Register by July 13 for the Lunar Rendezvous 5K

Be a part of aerospace history -- run or walk in the 35th Annual Lunar Rendezvous 5K, sponsored by Honeywell. The race begins at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 20, starting at Space Center Houston and taking runners on-site at JSC. Registration is only $18 before July 13, and $22 after. If you wait until the day of, registration is $25. A uniquely designed T-shirt is included with registration. Entry forms are available online.

Packet pickup will be at On The Run Running Store (2427 Bay Area Blvd.) Thursday, July 18, or Friday, July 19, from noon to 6 p.m., and also on race day near the start site before 7 a.m.

First male and female open and master runners will be awarded. Awards will also be given to the top three male and female runners in each age group.

Event Date: Saturday, July 20, 2013   Event Start Time:7:00 AM   Event End Time:8:30 AM
Event Location: Space Center Houston and JSC

Add to Calendar

Jennifer Mason x32424 http://www.lunarrendezvous.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.

Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters.

 

 

 

 

 

NASA TV:

·         10 am Central (11 EDT) – Google+ Hangout on "NASA's Missions: Imagine & Build" Competition with Lego

 

Human Spaceflight News

Thursday – July 11, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

NASA Authorization Act Approved by House Panel on Party-line Vote

 

Dan Leone - Space News

 

On the same day that another House panel approved the smallest NASA budget since 2007, the House Science space subcommittee approved — on a straight party-line vote — a two-year NASA authorization bill that would ban a proposed asteroid capture mission, cut back NASA's Earth science program, and mandate more crewed exploration of lunar space in preparation for an expedition to Mars. The NASA Authorization Act of 2013, written by the subcommittee's Republican leadership, passed by a vote of 11 to 9, with no Democrats supporting the proposal and one Republican abstaining. The bill must still be approved by the full House Science, Space and Technology Committee before the House can vote on whether to send the proposal to the Senate.

 

House bill kills asteroid mission

Panel's proposed NASA budget cuts science program funds

 

Ledyard King – Florida Today

 

Money for Earth science programs would be slashed and an asteroid retrieval mission would be scrapped under a NASA reauthorization bill approved by a key House panel Wednesday. On a rare party-line vote, the Republican-led House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space agreed to set the space agency's maximum budget at $16.8 billion a year for fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015. That's roughly what NASA received this year but considerably less than what Democrats and President Barack Obama are seeking. The GOP measure now goes to the full committee, where approval is expected. The bill includes an annual authorization of about $3 billion for the Space Launch System designed to carry astronauts to Mars by the 2030s. And it authorizes $700 million for the Commercial Crew Program that will ferry Americans to the International Space Station.

 

NASA Warned to Go Slow On Asteroid Capture Project

 

Richard Kerr - Science Magazine

 

NASA's plan to retrieve a tiny asteroid as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars in the 2030s could be just the exciting project that the space agency needs to garner public support in these severe budgetary times, speakers at a workshop held Tuesday in Washington, D.C., said. But many of them warned that NASA's headlong plunge into the project could spell disaster, literal or budgetary. NASA officials at the workshop allowed that they need to better define the mission, allowing them to refine cost estimates and technological challenges, but they gave no sign of slowing down.

 

Shampooing in outer space will make your hair stand on end

 

Alan Boyle - NBCNews.com's Cosmic Log

 

Zero-gravity hair care is easy when you've got Italian spaceflier Luca Parmitano's chrome dome — but what if you're NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, whose hair floats like a foot-long mane on the International Space Station? Nyberg makes shampooing look easy, if somewhat hair-raising, in a video sent down from orbit.

 

Q&A: Astronaut Tom Marshburn recovering from space journey

 

Joe Marusak - Charlotte Observer

 

Astronaut and Statesville native Tom Marshburn returned to Earth on May 15 from the International Space Station, but he's still feeling the effects of his five months in space. "I don't have all of my stamina back," Marshburn said in telephone interview this week. But that's to be expected, Marshburn said, and he's now lifting weights as he follows NASA's regimen to restore returning astronauts to full strength.

 

Outside experts to examine Khrunichev operations as investigators zero in on cause of Proton failure

 

Doug Messier - Parabolic Arc

 

A special outside group of experts is being established to review the manufacturing chain at the Khrunichev State Space Research Center as investigators found a likely culprit for what caused one of the company's Proton rockets to crash shortly after launch last week from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. "We're setting up a technology inspecting group now that will include experts from other aerospace companies, the ones who are not linked to the causes of the accident in any way, not the Khrunichev Center people," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told Echo of Moscow radio. "They will inspect the whole technological chain at the enterprise where the Proton M rocket was manufactured."

 

Canadian Space Agency unveils next-gen Canadarm

 

David Szondy - GizMag.com

 

The Space Shuttle may be gone, but one part of it is still going strong. The Canadian-built Canadarm robotic arm first flew on the Shuttle in 1981 and its successor, Canadarm2, is still working on the International Space Station (ISS) helping with experiments, supporting space-walking astronauts, and aiding unmanned cargo ships to dock. Not content to rest on its laurels, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is working on the Next Generation Canadarm (NGC). More flexible and compact than its predecessor, it's part of a new 5-part system designed to fulfill the need for robotic arms to help with satellite repair and refueling.

 

Space shuttle Enterprise reopens to NYC visitors

 

Jon Gerberg - Associated Press

 

The historic Enterprise space shuttle returned to view Wednesday on the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on Manhattan's far west side, protected by a structure designed to hold up in conditions worse than the storm last fall that damaged it. The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the end of eight months of repair work for the shuttle, which was damaged during Superstorm Sandy last October when the structure around it deflated. The pioneering shuttle had surface abrasions and lost a chunk of its vertical stabilizer fin in the storm. High waters shut down the main power supply and backup generators on the floating museum. But on Wednesday the exhibit was finally open.

 

Asteroid retrieval is costly and uninspiring

 

Lamar Smith (R-Texas) - TheHill.com (Opinion)

 

(Smith is chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, & Technology, and sits on the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees)

 

NASA is in the business of making the impossible possible. Throughout its history, our space program has set goals that required innovation and technologies yet to be developed, and the results have been astonishing. That's how we put a human on the moon and landed rovers on Mars, all steps at reaching our ultimate goal of someday sending astronauts to our neighboring red planet. The Russian meteor strike in April and recent close encounters with asteroids passing Earth have been stark reminders of the need to invest in space science. The Science, Space and Technology Committee has held hearings on how best to continue progress in this area. Yet when it comes to the Obama administration's latest asteroid mission proposal, it has not been able to adequately justify the rationale or budget for such a mission.

 

The asteroid mission: Why we choose to go

 

Charles Bolden – TheHill.com (Opinion)

 

"But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?" — John F. Kennedy

 

Fifty-one years ago, a young president asked a question that cut to the heart of the American explorer spirit. For me, NASA's vision statement says it all. Why do we choose to go? To reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind. NASA astronauts, from the original Mercury 7 to our newest class of eight — 4 men and 4 women — have embodied that vision. They have been on the front lines of service to humanity in myriad ways and have lived lives of exploration and adventure. It is hard to imagine anything more beneficial to humankind than protecting our planet from a dangerous asteroid that could strike Earth with devastating force, something we don't currently have the ability to do. In addition to developing technologies that will aid in our planning for the first human journey to Mars, an asteroid mission will help us learn more about how to prevent an impact from one of these mysterious objects.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

NASA Authorization Act Approved by House Panel on Party-line Vote

 

Dan Leone - Space News

 

On the same day that another House panel approved the smallest NASA budget since 2007, the House Science space subcommittee approved — on a straight party-line vote — a two-year NASA authorization bill that would ban a proposed asteroid capture mission, cut back NASA's Earth science program, and mandate more crewed exploration of lunar space in preparation for an expedition to Mars.

 

The NASA Authorization Act of 2013, written by the subcommittee's Republican leadership, passed by a vote of 11 to 9, with no Democrats supporting the proposal and one Republican abstaining. The bill must still be approved by the full House Science, Space and Technology Committee before the House can vote on whether to send the proposal to the Senate.

 

The subcommittee bill authorizes $16.87 billion for NASA in both 2014 and 2015, a level consistent with the across-the-board sequestration cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011, but about 5 percent lower than NASA's 2012 budget.

 

The subcommittee's new authorization bill assumes Congress and the White House will not agree on an alternative to sequestration by the Oct. 1 start of the U.S. government's 2014 budget year. But the bill would allow appropriators to put more money into NASA if Congress and the White House manage to reach a deal.

 

Holding authorized funding to the sequestered level did not sit well with the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.). Edwards, as she promised July 8, attempted to substitute her own bill, which authorizes $18.1 billion for NASA in 2014 and 2015, for the Republican-authored proposal that ultimately was approved.

 

Edwards insisted there was nothing in the Budget Control Act of 2011 that limits the funding ceilings authorizing committees can set for congressional appropriators.

 

"I have yet to find anything in the Budget Control Act that stipulates what funding the committees can authorize," Edwards said. "You can be fiscally conservative and still support this amendment"

 

The subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), did not buy that argument.

 

"I share the concerns of many of my colleagues about sequestration," Palazzo said. "But at this time, it is the reality under which we must operate."

 

Edwards' bill, offered as an amendment in the nature of a substitute, was shot down along party lines, with all 12 subcommittee Republicans voting against it, and all nine Democrats for it.

 

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, the top Democrat on the full committee, chastised her Republican colleagues for authorizing such a low level of spending for NASA.

 

"Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle may say that they have to cut NASA's funding in the authorization bill because of sequestration," Johnson said. "That's simply not true ... if members want to force NASA's authorization down to sequestration levels, they should not pretend that any law is forcing them to do so."

 

Johnson added that the Republican bill would hurt NASA centers and the people who work there while "put[ting] NASA on a path to mediocrity."

 

Among other things, the subcommittee's bill would:

 

·         Ban a proposed mission to redirect an asteroid into lunar orbit where astronauts could visit the captured space rock in the 2020s using the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket and Orion crew capsule NASA is building.

 

·         Authorize only $1.2 billion for NASA's Earth Science Division, about 30 percent less than what the division got in 2012 and 2013. Some of this money would be given to the Planetary Science Division, which manages a portfolio of robotic solar system missions that enjoys support in both the House and Senate. Planetary Science would be authorized for $1.5 billion, about what it had in 2012, and $300 million more than it wound up with for 2013.

 

·         Authorize $1.8 billion for SLS, without specifying how much should be spent on rocket development, ground infrastructure or program support. The subcommittee's previous draft of the authorization bill dictated specific amounts of funding for different parts of the SLS program.

 

·         Authorize $1.2 billion for the Orion crew capsule, 7.7 percent more than in 2013 and even in 2012.

 

·         Authorize $700 million for the Commercial Crew Program, which aims to get at least one privately designed crew transportation vehicle ready to launch astronauts to the international space station before the end of 2017.

 

The bill itself proposes the following funding levels for NASA's major budget accounts:

 

·         Science: $4.78 billion, about even with what NASA planned to spend in 2013, according to its May operating plan, and roughly $230 million below the 2014 request. The House bill also mandates that $80 million of NASA's 2014 science budget go toward early planning for a robotic mission to Jupiter's moon Europa.

·         Exploration: $3.61 billion, nearly $70 million less than what was in the 2013 operating plan, and about $300 million less than the request.

·         Space operations: $3.67 billion, most of which will go toward the International Space Station. That is $50 million below the May operating plan, and roughly $210 million below the request.

·         Space Technology: $576 million, $64 million below the May operating plan and about $165 million less than requested.

·         Aeronautics: $566 million, about $35 million more than the 2013 operating plan and about flat compared with the 2014 request. 

·         Cross Agency Support: $2.71 billion, even with the 2013 operating plan from May, but almost $140 million below the request.

·         Construction and Environmental Compliance and Restoration: $525 million, about $120 million below the operating plan and nearly $85 million below the request. 

·         Education: $122 million, $6 million above the operating plan for 2013, and close to $30 million above the request. The Obama administration proposed a restructuring of federal education dollars for the 2014 spending year that, at least among NASA's congressional overseers, has proven unpopular.

·         Inspector General: $35.3 million, even with the 2013 operating plan level and roughly $2 million below the request.

 

House bill kills asteroid mission

Panel's proposed NASA budget cuts science program funds

 

Ledyard King – Florida Today

 

Money for Earth science programs would be slashed and an asteroid retrieval mission would be scrapped under a NASA reauthorization bill approved by a key House panel Wednesday.

 

On a rare party-line vote, the Republican-led House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Space agreed to set the space agency's maximum budget at $16.8 billion a year for fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015. That's roughly what NASA received this year but considerably less than what Democrats and President Barack Obama are seeking.

 

The GOP measure now goes to the full committee, where approval is expected.

 

The bill includes an annual authorization of about $3 billion for the Space Launch System designed to carry astronauts to Mars by the 2030s. And it authorizes $700 million for the Commercial Crew Program that will ferry Americans to the International Space Station.

 

Both are top priorities for NASA, though the agency is asking for $821 million for the Commercial Crew Program. The GOP bill also would require that at least one of the aerospace companies NASA is assisting as part of the Commercial Crew program be ready to fly astronauts to the International Space Station by Dec. 31, 2017.

 

There's no guarantee that whatever bill passes the House will go far in the Senate, where majority Democrats are more supportive of the president's agenda for NASA.

 

Passage of the House measure would be a setback for the Obama administration, which has championed more research into climate change and supports an asteroid mission as a stepping-stone to Mars.

 

Wednesday's hearing turned testy at times, with Democrats calling the Republican bill "deeply flawed" and "simply unacceptable" because they said it would cost jobs at NASA centers, including Kennedy Space Center, and sacrifice important scientific research.

 

Republican Mo Brooks of Alabama countered that Democrats are to blame for letting entitlement programs grow so large that they now elbow out funding for important government functions, including the space program.

 

NASA Warned to Go Slow On Asteroid Capture Project

 

Richard Kerr - Science Magazine

 

NASA's plan to retrieve a tiny asteroid as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars in the 2030s could be just the exciting project that the space agency needs to garner public support in these severe budgetary times, speakers at a workshop held Tuesday in Washington, D.C., said.

 

But many of them warned that NASA's headlong plunge into the project could spell disaster, literal or budgetary. NASA officials at the workshop allowed that they need to better define the mission, allowing them to refine cost estimates and technological challenges, but they gave no sign of slowing down.

 

The Target NEO 2: Open Community Workshop was organized by a group of planetary scientists alarmed at the way that NASA had conceived and then announced its Asteroid Retrieval Mission (ARM) in early April. Some complained that the agency had moved forward without consulting the broader planetary science community. And many asteroid experts seriously doubted that astronomers would be able to find a suitable 8-meter, 500-tonne asteroid that a robotic spacecraft could wrangle back to orbit the moon in time to meet NASA's schedule of sending astronauts to sample it in the early 2020s.

 

At the workshop, NASA's presentations of the analyses supporting the April announcement failed to win over disgruntled scientists on the target selection issue. And engineers from both the robotic and human exploration communities raised doubts about NASA's timeline for ARM. "The schedule is not obtainable unless mission goals are made laughable," said Gentry Lee of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

 

Lee is chief engineer for solar system exploration at JPL. "I don't understand why the push for [launching the capture spacecraft] in 2017-18," he said. "It's out of the box of the normal process. It would be reasonable to launch in 2019, and that's pushing it; 2019 is bold. They really need to spend a year to neck [reduce] the uncertainties." Those would include how to design a capture spacecraft—and how to estimate its cost—so that it could deal with an asteroid whose exact size, shape, mass, spin, and physical integrity won't be known until the spacecraft runs it down.

 

Subsequent speakers on the same panel agreed with Lee. Douglas Cooke, a recently retired NASA associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, opened his remarks with: "What Gentry said." Later, he said that ARM cannot proceed with such "nebulous" design requirements. "You need a lot better to get a credible cost." Planetary scientist James Bell of Arizona State University, Tempe, and president of the advocacy group The Planetary Society, said that he agreed with all who spoke before him on the panel.

 

In response to such remarks, Gregory Williams, NASA's deputy associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, agreed that NASA needs to work harder on defining what the mission will require in order to come up with a reliable cost estimate. As to whether the agency will follow the often-protracted process followed in the development of science missions, he made no promises. "We have an outline," he said. "We'll do the standard process as we can; some say it's an overburden." He did say that NASA's goal is to determine "what this thing is and the best way to implement it." A NASA feasibility study is due the end of this month.

 

Whether Congress will be willing to support the mission remains a major question. Today, a space panel of the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that would bar NASA from moving ahead with the mission. That legislation faces an uncertain future, but leaders of the Republican-controlled House have attacked the idea as ill-advised.

 

Shampooing in outer space will make your hair stand on end

 

Alan Boyle - NBCNews.com's Cosmic Log

 

Zero-gravity hair care is easy when you've got Italian spaceflier Luca Parmitano's chrome dome — but what if you're NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, whose hair floats like a foot-long mane on the International Space Station? Nyberg makes shampooing look easy, if somewhat hair-raising, in a video sent down from orbit.

 

There's no showering on the space station, and you'd never want to let globs of shampoo, conditioner and water float free. The key is to use no-rinse shampoo, a comb, a towel and a little warm water from a pouch. Nyberg just squirts the shampoo and the water into her scalp, and then works the liquid into her straight hair with her hands and the comb. She rubs out the moisture with the towel.

 

"Makes you feel kinda squeaky clean right now," she says.

 

The finishing touch is to let those locks air-dry before tying it up into a ponytail.

 

"As the water evaporates from my hair, it will become humidity in the air, and our air-conditioning system will collect that into condensate," Nyberg says, "and it won't be long and our water processing system will turn that into drinking water."

 

Does that make you go "eww"? That's just the way things are done on the space station, where air and water are precious. The water recycling system routinely recaptures moisture from the air — and yes, from the space station's toilet system as well. Bottoms up!

 

Q&A: Astronaut Tom Marshburn recovering from space journey

 

Joe Marusak - Charlotte Observer

 

Astronaut and Statesville native Tom Marshburn returned to Earth on May 15 from the International Space Station, but he's still feeling the effects of his five months in space.

 

"I don't have all of my stamina back," Marshburn said in telephone interview this week. But that's to be expected, Marshburn said, and he's now lifting weights as he follows NASA's regimen to restore returning astronauts to full strength.

 

Marshburn and two fellow flight engineers launched aboard their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft in December from Kazakhstan for a two-day journey to the International Space Station.

 

He landed back in Kazakhstan with Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of Canada and Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko of Russia.

 

Marshburn will be in his hometown in September for events being arranged by Statesville Mayor Costi Kutteh, he said.

 

Marshburn, 52, graduated from Davidson College in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in physics and from Wake Forest University in 1989 with a doctorate in medicine.

 

He joined NASA in 1994 as a flight surgeon.

 

He made his first spacewalk July 20, 2009, when he stepped out of the International Space Station's hatch and stayed out most of the afternoon.

 

On his latest trip, Marshburn said, International Space Station crew members conducted 130 experiments dealing with questions such as how fluids form and how fire propagates. The space station has six crew members virtually all of the time, he said.

 

They handled two emergencies: a coolant leak near the end of their stay and an earlier temporary loss of communication with Mission Control in Houston.

 

Fresh perspective of Earth

 

"At the space station right now, we have a spacewalk going on with two of my good buddies," Marshburn said. "The space station is an incredible machine, the greatest engineering achievement human beings have ever put together."

 

Marshburn was a prolific tweeter from space, sharing photos of Earth and thoughts on its splendor.

 

"Was greeted this AM by some spectacular hues," Marshburn tweeted from his @AstroMarshburn Twitter account one morning. "U can always tell ur over Australia by the brilliant brick red color."

 

He had 42,666 followers as of Wednesday afternoon. His July 8 tweet: "Rainfall never looks the same after living in space. I'll love the sight and sound for the rest of my life."

 

"Part of our job is to tell people about space, what it is like to live in space," Marshburn said. "They have paid (for the missions) with their tax dollars, so we want to let them know about this incredible, life changing experience."

 

Here are more excerpts, edited for brevity, from the Observer's interview with Marshburn:

 

Q: How is the physical recovery after so much time in space?

 

You land, and you feel the crushing weight of gravity sucking you into the ground, and your head is spinning quite a bit, like the Earth is wobbling under you like huge ocean currents. Dizziness leaves after about a week, but you don't get your stamina back right away. ... There's muscle soreness during the recovery period. They (NASA) have a very specific regimen that combines agility exercises with head movements, squats, bending over and picking things up, light weights, and now I'm weightlifting.

 

Q: What's the most difficult challenge to being or becoming an astronaut?

 

The hardest part is waiting for your flight. We all love working with astronauts, and we usually spend almost all of our time supporting other astronauts for their flight, and our hope to get assigned some day.

 

Q: Did you want to be an astronaut when you were a child?

 

As long as I can remember, I was completely fascinated with space. Since I was 6. When I was 7, my dad took me to see Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" at the (former) Playhouse Theater in Statesville.

 

I wanted to be an artist at first, but reading is a great way to explore what you want to do. I read books on building and launching satellites when I was 13.

 

Q: What is your advice to children who want to be astronauts when they grow up?

 

The best advice I've ever heard, and I've heard it repeated often, is that kids need to start today if they want to become astronauts. Their training starts right now, learning how to learn in school, to be the best they can in school. If it's something they love, chase it with a passion.

 

Outside experts to examine Khrunichev operations as investigators zero in on cause of Proton failure

 

Doug Messier - Parabolic Arc

 

A special outside group of experts is being established to review the manufacturing chain at the Khrunichev State Space Research Center as investigators found a likely culprit for what caused one of the company's Proton rockets to crash shortly after launch last week from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

 

"We're setting up a technology inspecting group now that will include experts from other aerospace companies, the ones who are not linked to the causes of the accident in any way, not the Khrunichev Center people," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told Echo of Moscow radio. "They will inspect the whole technological chain at the enterprise where the Proton M rocket was manufactured."

 

Khrunichev produces the Proton rocket and several models of upper stages that have contributed to a string of Russian launch mishaps dating back to December 2010. Rogozin is the Kremlin's aerospace and defense czar who is responsible for trying to revamp these inefficient and corruption plagued sectors.

 

Meanwhile, Anatoly Zak at RussianSpaceWeb.com reports that investigators have found a likely culprit for the Proton's latest failure:

 

By July 9, it is transpired that investigators sifting through the wreckage of the doomed rocket had found critical angular velocity sensors, DUS, installed upside down. Each of those sensors had an arrow that was suppose to point toward the top of the vehicle, however multiple sensors on the failed rocket were pointing downward instead. As a result, the flight control system was receiving wrong information about the position of the rocket and tried to "correct" it, causing the vehicle to swing wildly and, ultimately, crash. The paper trail led to a young technician responsible for the wrong assembly of the hardware, but also raised serious issues of quality control at the Proton's manufacturing plant, at the rocket's testing facility and at the assembly building in Baikonur. It appeared that no visual control of the faulty installation had been conducted, while electrical checks had not detected the problem since all circuits had been working correctly.

 

That young technician's career at Khrunichev is likely over. He may also end up in jail for up to three years. Officials have launched a criminal probe designed to punish everyone held responsible for the $200 million launch failure and loss of three GLONASS navigation satellites.

 

How this will help the Rusisan industry's efforts to train and recruit a new generation of aerospace workers to replace its aging workforce is a bit of mystery. Salaries in the industry are low, and if you make a major error, you will likely end up in jail.

 

Rogozin has said that the Proton was completed and delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2011. This was before he replaced the current quality control system, which Rogozin has blamed for putting quantity over quality, with a military-run operation that he said had performed better during the Soviet era.

 

This explanation provides hope that the number of launch failures will diminish in the future as quality inspections improve and older boosters are used up. However, it doesn't address whether additional checks were done on the Proton that had failed. Or whether such checks might have caught the faulty installation that doomed the rocket and its payloads.

 

Russia is looking to phase out operations of the Proton rocket with the debut of the new Angara launch vehicle. The long-delayed replacement, which has been under development since 1995, is set to make its debut launch sometime in 2014. The inaugural launch will test the light version of the rocket. The larger Angara designed to replace the heavy-lift Proton won't fly until later on.

 

Angara is hardly a solution to the failure-prone Proton. It is a new rocket that still needs to be fully tested to work out any flaws. It is also built by Khrunichev, which has been responsible for multiple launch failures over the last three years.

 

Canadian Space Agency unveils next-gen Canadarm

 

David Szondy - GizMag.com

 

The Space Shuttle may be gone, but one part of it is still going strong. The Canadian-built Canadarm robotic arm first flew on the Shuttle in 1981 and its successor, Canadarm2, is still working on the International Space Station (ISS) helping with experiments, supporting space-walking astronauts, and aiding unmanned cargo ships to dock. Not content to rest on its laurels, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is working on the Next Generation Canadarm (NGC). More flexible and compact than its predecessor, it's part of a new 5-part system designed to fulfill the need for robotic arms to help with satellite repair and refueling.

 

The NGC project is not only updating the robotic arm technology, but expanding it to form a new system with the aim of not just improving a robot arm, but to make it part of an improved way of developing techniques for dealing with the approach, docking, servicing and undocking of spacecraft for maintenance and refueling. As part of this, the NGC project is working on five components.

 

The Next-Generation Large Canadarm

Built by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd, the Next-Generation Large Canadarm is designed as a more compact version of Canadarm2. Like Canadarm2, it's 15 m (49 ft) long and is the largest of the five components. With six degrees of freedom and advanced hardware and software, it's capable of handling the docking of large spacecraft and refueling operations, but it's also built of retractable, telescopic sections, so it folds into less than five cubic meters (176 ft³), so it can fit into the smaller spacecraft currently being developed.

 

The Next-Generation Small Canadarm

A smaller 2.5-meter (8.2-ft) arm based on the Dextre arm, also used on the ISS, that can work independently or as an extension of Canadarm2. It's intended for experiments in satellite repairs using a set of specialized tools. This allows it to replace components, remove protective blankets, cut wires, and open and close valves either autonomously or under remote control.

 

The Proximity Operations System Testbed

The third part of the system is the Proximity Operations testbed. This uses two industrial robotic systems that simulate the movements of two docking spacecraft as they make their approach maneuvers, as well as realistic lighting and camera views to aid in simulation tests.

 

The Semi-autonomous Docking System

This component is designed to test the procedures for docking two spacecraft together. Spacecraft docking has been done for nearly half a century, but it's one thing to bring two cooperating spacecraft into contact and another doing it when one is in need of repair, so there's still room for improvement. Unlike the Proximity Operations Testbed, this system is used for practicing the actual docking itself. The idea is to advance beyond docking by means of robot arms under remote control, to a completely autonomous operation by arms and craft.

 

Missions Operations Station

The previous four components are coordinated from the NGC Missions Operations Station. According the CSA, the Mission Operations Station acts as a mini-mission control, able to handle all four of the other components either as hardware or in simulation.

 

This video below outlines the NGC project.

 

Space shuttle Enterprise reopens to NYC visitors

 

Jon Gerberg - Associated Press

 

The historic Enterprise space shuttle returned to view Wednesday on the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on Manhattan's far west side, protected by a structure designed to hold up in conditions worse than the storm last fall that damaged it.

 

The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the end of eight months of repair work for the shuttle, which was damaged during Superstorm Sandy last October when the structure around it deflated.

 

The pioneering shuttle had surface abrasions and lost a chunk of its vertical stabilizer fin in the storm. High waters shut down the main power supply and backup generators on the floating museum. But on Wednesday the exhibit was finally open.

 

"It also symbolizes New York's resilience in the recovery after Hurricane Sandy," said museum president Susan Marenoff-Zausner. "Bit by bit, New York and the entire region is recovering from the storm and proving that we are all stronger than ever."

 

The shuttle is now housed in a steel-framed pavilion designed to withstand much harsher conditions. Upon entering, visitors walked through a soundscape of audio recordings from the original Enterprise test flights.

 

Though Enterprise was never actually equipped to fly in space, it was used in a numerous test flights and is considered a pioneer to NASA's manned space flight program.

 

"This was the all-around test vehicle for everything they did," said Eric Boehm, the Intrepid curator of aviation and aircraft restoration, who oversaw the shuttle's restoration after the storm. "Nothing like it existed," he said.

 

"Without this orbiter there would've been no space shuttle program," said Tim Keyser, a NASA technician who spent a decade working on Enterprise and even helped transport it from Washington, D.C., to New York last year.

 

Keyser said he was glad to see the shuttle in its new home. "It looks better now than it ever did before," he said.

 

More than 400 people watched as the shuttle was added to the National Register of Historic Places, the first space shuttle to receive the designation.

 

"It was always a landmark of the future," said National Register coordinator Kathleen LaFrank. "Its significance was about promise and what we were going to achieve."

 

But the future of the shuttle remains unclear. Marenoff-Zausner, president of the museum, said that the shuttle would remain there for "a year or two," but acknowledged that the museum was looking at other options for permanent housing.

 

In the meantime Liam Serota, a 13-year-old from Manhattan with dreams of going to space, marveled up at the towering, newly reopened shuttle.

 

"It kind of shows American power too," he said. "We're always trying to rebuild, and come back to the top."

 

Asteroid retrieval is costly and uninspiring

 

Lamar Smith (R-Texas) - TheHill.com (Opinion)

 

(Smith is chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and sits on the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees)

 

NASA is in the business of making the impossible possible. Throughout its history, our space program has set goals that required innovation and technologies yet to be developed, and the results have been astonishing.

 

That's how we put a human on the moon and landed rovers on Mars, all steps at reaching our ultimate goal of someday sending astronauts to our neighboring red planet.

 

The Russian meteor strike in April and recent close encounters with asteroids passing Earth have been stark reminders of the need to invest in space science. The Science, Space and Technology Committee has held hearings on how best to continue progress in this area. Yet when it comes to the Obama administration's latest asteroid mission proposal, it has not been able to adequately justify the rationale or budget for such a mission.

 

The administration first attempted to sell this plan as supporting NASA priorities without detracting from budgets or long-term goals. While the exact mission cost is still unknown, experts have estimated it could be as much as $2.6 billion. This is a hefty price tag at a time when NASA can barely maintain its current mission priorities. So Congress has the obligation to ensure that any new NASA missions can be justified.

 

The proposed asteroid retrieval mission would contribute very little to planetary defense efforts. The size of the target asteroid for this mission is only 7-10 meters in diameter, too small to cause any damage to Earth. Any insight gained by such a mission would have little relevance to protecting against larger "city-killer" asteroids.

 

Congress directed NASA in 2005 to identify and track 90 percent of asteroids larger than 140 meters by 2020. Asteroids of this size are ones that could cause significant damage, and NASA still has work to do to accomplish this goal. Asteroids that are 7-10 meters simply disintegrate in our atmosphere.

 

Focusing on smaller targets distracts from NASA's work in characterizing and tracking larger asteroids. In the event that NASA would ever have to redirect a "city-killer," the techniques for the retrieval mission would have little relevance.

 

The mission also would have little scientific value because the targeted asteroid would not be what is called a "carbonaceous chondrite." These are the asteroids that contain water and could potentially retain organic compounds. These are the ones that scientists are interested in learning more about. Along these lines, NASA is already preparing to launch a robotic asteroid sample-return mission, called OSIRIS-Rex in 2016. This is a much cheaper mission than the retrieval mission and will actually provide scientists with new information about the make-up of extraterrestrial bodies.

 

Further calling into question the scientific merits of the administration's proposal, NASA's own Small Bodies Assessment Group stated in April 2013 that it was "interesting and entertaining, [but] it was not considered to be a serious proposal because of obvious challenges, including the practical difficulty in identifying a target."

 

Another angle the administration has argued is that this mission will demonstrate technologies necessary for future exploration. Again, experts in the space community have testified that this is unlikely, calling the mission a detour from human exploration. Witnesses have told the Science Committee that any technologies that may come out of it would not be optimized for long duration or deep space human missions.

 

Efforts to accelerate in-space propulsion capabilities will certainly be helpful, but it remains unclear whether those technologies are necessary or realistic for this mission.

 

Even though NASA will not conduct a mission formulation review until this summer, it is clear that the proposed asteroid retrieval mission would not require the development of a habitation module, a lander or other technologies that most agree will be necessary for expanding human presence into deep space.

 

Two years after the president initially directed NASA to go to an asteroid, the highly respected National Research Council published a study that found "little evidence that a current stated goal for NASA's human spaceflight program - namely to visit an asteroid by 2025 - has been widely accepted as a compelling destination by NASA's own workforce, by the nation as a whole, or by the international community."

 

Now, more than ever, NASA must focus and prioritize its resources. Congress has provided stable, bipartisan and consistent support for NASA. Taxpayers entrust NASA with a considerable amount of money - roughly $17 billion per year - and NASA can accomplish a great deal with that amount of money.

 

The American people demand bold initiatives but understand that such efforts won't happen overnight. It's time the administration put forward an inspirational goal worthy of a great space-faring nation. And the asteroid retrieval mission is not it.

 

Smith has represented Texas' 21st congressional district in the House of Representatives since 1987. He is chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and sits on the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees.

 

The asteroid mission: Why we choose to go

 

Charles Bolden – TheHill.com (Opinion)

 

"But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?" — John F. Kennedy

 

Fifty-one years ago, a young president asked a question that cut to the heart of the American explorer spirit. For me, NASA's vision statement says it all. Why do we choose to go? To reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind.

 

NASA astronauts, from the original Mercury 7 to our newest class of eight — 4 men and 4 women — have embodied that vision. They have been on the front lines of service to humanity in myriad ways and have lived lives of exploration and adventure.

 

It is hard to imagine anything more beneficial to humankind than protecting our planet from a dangerous asteroid that could strike Earth with devastating force, something we don't currently have the ability to do. In addition to developing technologies that will aid in our planning for the first human journey to Mars, an asteroid mission will help us learn more about how to prevent an impact from one of these mysterious objects.

 

Three years ago, President Obama set a goal of sending humans to an asteroid for the first time by 2025 and making a crewed journey to Mars by the 2030s. The president's $17.7 billion 2014 budget for NASA assures steady progress toward fulfilling those ambitious goals. It fully funds the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket and Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle needed to carry astronauts to deep space, and it advances game-changing technologies to attempt the first-ever mission to identify, capture and redirect an asteroid.

 

Capturing and redirecting an asteroid will allow us to accomplish multiple goals. First, it takes advantage of the hard work on our deep-space technologies and will provide valuable experience in mission planning and operations that will benefit future crewed deep-space missions, including our planned visit to Mars.

 

Second, it will allow our astronauts to interact with an asteroid for potential resource utilization in space to advance exploration and science. And third, it will inform future efforts to prevent an asteroid or other Near Earth Object (NEO) from colliding with devastating force into our planet.

 

Planning and design of this initiative has already begun. Leveraging capabilities throughout the agency, we plan to use a high-power solar electric propulsion system to rendezvous with, capture and redirect a small asteroid into stable orbit in the lunar vicinity. From there, our astronauts will be able to visit and return samples using the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket.

 

There is growing worldwide interest in this initiation. Houston's Johnson Space Center is already preparing our new class of astronauts to play key roles. Selected from the second largest pool of applications we've ever received — more than 6,300 — these astronauts "choose to go" because they know we're developing missions to go farther than ever before, and they're ready to help lead the first human mission to an asteroid and then on to Mars.

 

The events of Feb. 15 were a stark reminder of why NASA has for years devoted so much attention to NEOs. The predicted close approach of a small asteroid and the unpredicted entry and explosion of a very small asteroid about 15 miles above Russia, which caused injuries to more than 1,000 people, have focused worldwide attention on the necessity of tracking asteroids and other NEOs and protecting our planet from them.

 

While the probability of any sizable NEO impacting Earth anytime in the next 100 years is extremely remote, we cannot ignore this potential. The 1908 explosion of an asteroid over a remote part of Siberia devastated 830 square miles and flattened 80 million trees.

 

NASA currently leads the world in the detection and characterization of NEOs and is responsible for the discovery of about 98 percent of all known NEOs. We are regularly monitoring the risks to our planet and constantly updating our knowledge. But this requires collective action. That is why NASA has set a grand challenge for the nation: to discover the asteroid threats to human populations and know what to do about them. We invite the nation, and the world, to join with NASA and bring your innovative ideas for new science and technology, your passion and your commitment to space exploration and protecting the planet. Working together, I know we can rise to meet this grand challenge.

 

By involving humans for the first time in an asteroid sample return mission, we will demonstrate our new deep-space technologies, move closer to our goal of sending humans to Mars and learn more about how to protect our planet and prevent natural disasters from space.

 

That is why we choose to go!

 

END

 

 

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