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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - July 16, 2013 and JSC Today



Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: July 16, 2013 6:01:30 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - July 16, 2013 and JSC Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Headlines

  1. Recovered Materials

The newly published NASA SP, "An Analysis and a Historical Review of the Apollo Program Lunar Module Touchdown Dynamics" by George Zupp, details engineering design and execution. According to Zupp, "This report was developed from personal and formal notes on the analysis of all six of the Apollo LM lunar landings."

The data collected and solutions worked for LM dynamics are important to recognize, and are available from JSC Knowledge Online (JKO).

Current and former employees such as Zupp have contributed videos, org charts, still images and documents of historical interest. Many of the materials are appropriate to publish in whole, while others lead to improved data architecture as they are processed and represented in the JSC Taxonomy. Share your center or agency experiences with JSC community! Contact the office of the Chief Knowledge Officer today.

Brent J. Fontenot x36456 https://knowledge.jsc.nasa.gov/index.cfm?event=historicalrecords&CFID=74...

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  1. 2013 JSC Honor Awards Ceremony Today

The JSC community is invited to attend the 2013 JSC Honor Awards Ceremony. Awards will be presented in a ceremony in the Teague Auditorium today. This year, the JSC Honor Awards Ceremony will be held in two sessions.

The first session begins at 2 p.m. and will be a presentation of the JSC Director's Commendation Awards. The Director's Commendation Award recognizes JSC employees who have provided significant contributions to the center throughout the year.

The second session will begin at 3:30 p.m. and will include a presentation of the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Awards, the JSC Director's Innovation individual and team awards, Power of One Awards, Secretarial Excellence and Patent Awards.

A full listing of this year's honorees can be found on the JSC Announcements page.

Event Date: Tuesday, July 16, 2013   Event Start Time:2:00 PM   Event End Time:4:30 PM
Event Location: Teague Auditorium

Add to Calendar

Jacinda Green x31057

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  1. NASA TV to Air Space Station Spacewalk Today

NASA TV will provide live coverage when two members of the Expedition 36 crew venture outside the International Space Station today, July 16. The pair will conduct a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk to accomplish a number of installation and repair and replacement tasks.

Coverage of the spacewalk by flight engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency will begin at 6 a.m. CDT. Cassidy and Parmitano will begin the spacewalk about 7:10 a.m. to venture outside the space station's Quest airlock.

They will tackle a number of tasks, including the rigging of cables necessary for the installation of a Russian laboratory module scheduled for launch later this year, the replacement of a failed wireless video system and various other station maintenance activities.

The spacewalk will be the 171st in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the sixth for Cassidy and the second for Parmitano. Cassidy will wear a U.S. spacesuit with red stripes, while Parmitano will wear a suit with no stripes. Both spacewalkers will be equipped with NASA helmet cameras to provide close-up views of their work.

This is the second U.S. spacewalk in as many weeks.

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

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

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

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

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  1. Updates and Impacts to IT Purchases

On March 26, Congress enacted the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2013, Public Law 113-6. Section 516 of this Public Law contains restrictions on acquiring IT systems from the People's Republic of China using Fiscal Year 2013 appropriations for NASA and other federal agencies.

What this means:

The agency and center purchasing procedures are being adjusted to certify that we are in compliance with this new Law. This process involves a series of approvals from JSC and Headquarters before IT purchases can be made. You will still be able to make IT purchases for your organization, but additional time will be needed for reviews.

What you should do:

Please be supportive and patient with those who are working with the developing process. The Information Resources Directorate is working closely with organizations' IT points of contact.

For more information, click here or email. 

JSC Information Resources Directorate Outreach x34263 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/Home.aspx

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  1. Expedited Adobe Flash Player Security Update

Beginning July 16, Adobe Flash Player will be updated to 11.8.800.94 on Windows and Mac ACES computers to address a high-risk security vulnerability.

Note: When the update is ready to install, a pop-up message will prompt Windows users to close their browser. Close browser immediately for the installation to proceed.

This update is installed in local ACES Development Test Labs (DTLs) for testing now. Center organization representatives should notify application owners to begin testing.

ACES computers must be connected to the network to receive updates. Client Automation Enterprise (CAE) automatically checks for updates daily between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. local time. Instructions to perform a manual CAE connection are available in the HPCA/CAE User Guide.

A complete list of patches deployed to ACES computers is available on the ACES website.

For technical assistance, contact the Enterprise Service Desk:

JSC-IRD-Outreach x31334

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  1. Try Something New: Participate on NASA@work

New challenge on NASA@work: Creating Presentation Quality Gantt Charts from MS Project (deadline: Aug. 30). And, don't forget to participate on our other active challenges: Packing Foam Alternatives Challenge (deadline: July 31); and Seeking Solutions on the Use of Thorium Instead of Uranium (deadline: Aug. 9).

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

Kathryn Keeton 281-204-1519 http://nasa.innocentive.com

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   Organizations/Social

  1. Parent's Night Out at Starport - This Friday

Enjoy a night out on the town while your kids enjoy a night with Starport! We will entertain your children with a night of games, crafts, a bounce house, pizza, a movie, dessert and loads of fun.

When: Friday, July 19, from 6 to 10 p.m.

Where: Gilruth Center

Ages: 5 to 12

Cost: $20/first child and $10/each additional sibling if registered by the Wednesday prior to event. If registered after Wednesday, the fee is $25/first child and $15/additional sibling.

Register at the Gilruth Center front desk. Click here for more information.

Event Date: Friday, July 19, 2013   Event Start Time:6:00 PM   Event End Time:10:00 PM
Event Location: Gilruth Center

Add to Calendar

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

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  1. Starport Boot Camp - Registration Now Open

Starport's phenomenal boot camp registration is open and filling fast. Don't miss a chance to be part of Starport's incredibly popular program.

The class will fill up, so register now!

Early registration (ends Wednesday, July 24)

    • $90 per person (just $5 per class)

Regular registration (July 25 to Aug. 4):

    • $110 per person

The workout begins on Monday, Aug. 5.

Are you ready for 18 hours of intense workouts with an amazing personal trainer to get you to your fitness goal?

Don't wait!

Sign up today and take advantage of this extreme discount before it's too late.

Register now at the Gilruth Center information desk or call 281-483-0304 for more information.

Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/RecreationClasses/RecreationProgram...

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  1. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) Info Briefings

The Inclusion & Innovation Council will be considering proposals for additional Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) in the September timeframe. ERGs are voluntary grassroots groups formed around a characteristic or affinity. They foster a sense of personal responsibility and ownership, as well as increase employee engagement. Five ERGs were established at JSC in 2011: the African-American ERG, the ASIA ERG, the Hispanic ERG, the Human Systems Integration ERG, and the Out & Allied ERG. All five have successfully supported center efforts in the areas of recruiting, retention/onboarding  and community and education outreach. If you are interested in learning more about the ERG formation process, please plan on attending one of these information sessions:

    • July 25, 10 to 11 a.m., Building 1, Room 966
    • July 25, 3 to 4 p.m., Building 1, Room 966

Sylvia Stottlemyer x39757

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   Jobs and Training

  1. Extended TDY FedTraveler Live Lab - July 17

Do you need some hands-on, personal help with FedTraveler.com? Join the Business Systems and Process Improvement Office for an Extended TDY FedTraveler Live Lab tomorrow, July 17, any time between 9 a.m. and noon in Building 12, Room 142. Our help desk representatives will be available to help you work through Extended TDY travel processes and learn more about using FedTraveler during this informal workshop. Bring your current travel documents or specific questions that you have about the system and join us for some hands-on, in-person help with FedTraveler. If you'd like to sign up for this Extended TDY FedTraveler Live Lab, please log into SATERN and register. For additional information, contact Judy Seier at x32771. To register in SATERN, please click on this SATERN direct link: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Gina Clenney x39851

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  1. ISS Electronic Document Management System (EDMS)

The International Space Station EDMS team will hold the monthly EDMS General User Training Forum this Thursday, July 18, at 9:30 a.m. in Building 4S, Conference Room 5315. Beginning this month, the forum will be held on the third Thursday of each month.

If you use EDMS to locate station documents, join us to learn about basic navigation and searching. Bring your questions, concerns and suggestions and meet the station EDMS Customer Support team. The agenda can be found here.

Event Date: Thursday, July 18, 2013   Event Start Time:9:30 AM   Event End Time:10:30 AM
Event Location: JSC 4S, CR 5315

Add to Calendar

LaNell Cobarruvias x41306 https://iss-www.jsc.nasa.gov/nwo/apps/edms/web/UserForums.shtml

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   Community

  1. V-CORPs Goes Live Today!

Volunteers for Community OutReach Programs (V-CORPs) kicks off today and needs your support!

V-CORPs is a one-stop shop to help you engage in outreach activities and share NASA's messages with the public. You will be able to register as a volunteer, find outreach volunteer opportunities and access many resources for volunteers. V-CORPs offers something for everyone -- you can make a difference.

Visit nasajsc.force.com/vcorps for more information and to register as a volunteer to share: Your Work. Your Story. Your Space Program.

JSC External Relations, Community Relations Office

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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:

·         UNDERWAY – Expedition 36 spacewalk coverage (EVA begins at ~7:10 Central, 8:10 Eastern)

ü  Chris Cassidy – EV1 (sixth)

ü  Luca Parmitano – EV2 (second)

·         7 am Central (8 EDT) – E34/35's Tom Marshburn discusses EVA at Washington's Newseum during E36 spacewalk (Education Channel)

 

Human Spaceflight News

Tuesday – July 16, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Orbital Station Crew Set for New Maintenance Spacewalk

 

RIA Novosti

 

Astronauts from the United States and Italy on Tuesday will venture outside the International Space Station (ISS) for a second spacewalk to prepare the orbital outpost for a new Russian laboratory module set to arrive later this year. Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency will focus primarily on completing tasks they began on their previous spacewalk on July 9.

 

Rocket to launch from Wallops, dock at space station

 

Brock Vergakis - Associated Press

 

A NASA contractor plans to send a cargo ship from Virginia to the International Space Station in September. Dulles-based Orbital Sciences Corp. says its unmanned Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to launch on Sept. 14 and dock with the International Space Station on Sept. 22. The company had hoped to launch its spacecraft earlier, but the NASA facility it launches from on the Eastern Shore of Virginia has another high-profile launch already scheduled for the beginning of September. Orbital is one of two companies with U.S. contracts to resupply the International Space Station. California-based SpaceX already has made several deliveries. In April, Orbital successfully test-launched the rocket that will carry the spacecraft from Wallops Island, Va. The Cygnus spacecraft already is fueled and loaded with about 1,300 pounds of cargo.

(NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Former astronaut Ed Lu wants to save the world from asteroids

 

Preeti Upadhyaya - Silicon Valley Business Journal

 

Former astronaut Ed Lu has a pretty big mission - to save the world from the threats of asteroids that could come hurtling towards us from space and destroy life as we know. Lu is chairman of B612 Foundation, a Mountain View nonprofit he helped found in 2002 that aims to save us from Bruce Willis' style of Armageddon. The organization, which has raised $2 million in the past eight months, plans to build a space telescope that can identify these fast-moving threats. I sat down with the former NASA astronaut to talk about the ambitious project he and his team of 20 experts have undertaken…

 

Chinese Rocket Engine Test a Big Step for Space Station Project

 

Leonard David - Space.com

 

China has successfully test-fired the rocket engine that will power the next-generation heavy-lift booster, the Long March 5, that will help drive the country's space exploration into the final frontier. The new rocket engine is closely tied to China's planned space station, and is a big step forward for the country's moon exploration program. The first engine test, carried out on June 29, lasted roughly three minutes from ignition to shutdown, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

 

Future of transportation? Elon Musk says Hyperloop plans coming Aug 12

 

Preeti Upadhyaya - Silicon Valley Business Journal

 

San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes? Seems way too good to be true, but according to Elon Musk, it's the future of transport. The SpaceX and Tesla founder tweeted this morning that he would reveal his plans for his "fifth form" of transportation – the next step after planes, trains, cars and boats – on August 12. Musk has described the Hyperloop as a "cross between a Concorde, a rail gun and an air hockey table," but the visionary new transport system could resemble an elevated tube system with a magnetic levitation system akin to bullet trains. The project would make California's high speed rail project, which boasts a three-hour commute between Los Angeles and the Bay Area, redundant. Musk has been a vocal critic of the government-proposed bullet train, claiming that the Hyperloop offers a better alternative.

(NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Shiloh environmental study effort takes off

Space Florida, FAA begin search for contractor to perform review

 

James Dean - Florida Today

 

A study of how a proposed launch complex would affect part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge formally began Monday with the search for a contractor to perform the review. Space Florida sought credentials from environmental firms that will be ranked and overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which licenses spaceports. Work is expected to start this fall on an environmental impact statement considering at least four options, each totaling up to 200 acres, where one or two launch pads could be developed on NASA property near the Brevard-Volusia border.

 

Student Team Set for Zero-Gravity Fire Experiment on NASA 'Vomit Comet'

 

Rod Pyle - Space.com

 

A team of university students is counting down toward the ultimate science ride, a weightless flight aboard a modified NASA jet to see just how certain fires burn in zero gravity. The experiment, led by engineering undergraduate Sam Avery of the University of California, San Diego, is aimed at testing how biofuels burn in weightless conditions. And with a target flight date of Thursday, Avery and his crew are getting pumped.

 

These socks are out of this world — literally

 

Kipp Robertson - North Kitsap Herald (Poulsbo, WA)

 

When the crew of Expedition 40/41 launches to the International Space Station in 2014, some of the astronauts will have cozy socks to wear once they arrive. Penny Garner has made it her mission to knit socks for any interested member of the space station crew. "It's just a little bit of home," said Samuel Ortega, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center systems engineer in Huntsville, Ala. "More connectivity than standard white crew socks." Garner isn't the only one with a hand in the project. Since she began knitting the socks earlier in the year, she has given anyone interested the chance to knit a few stitches. Each person contributing has the opportunity to write their name and hometown on a list on her iPad. Once a pair of socks is finished, a card with a list of names of people who stitched each pair of socks is shipped with them.

 

MEANWHILE ON MARS...

 

Mars Rover Curiosity's Long Drive Shifts Into High Gear

 

Megan Gannon - Space.com

 

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is pressing forward with an epic Red Planet road trip, a long-distance drive aimed at the central mountain of the robot's landing site. Curiosity began its long Martian drive on July 4 and completed three separate trips in the days that followed. On the third leg of the 5-mile (8- kilometer) trek, the car-sized rover covered a distance of about 135 feet (41 meters), NASA officials said in a status update. The Curiosity rover is currently driving toward Mount Sharp, a mysterious mountain that rises 3.4 miles (5.5 km) high in the middle of the rover's Gale Crater landing site. The journey will be slow and long for the rover, which has a top speed across flat ground is only 0.09 mph (0.14 km/h). Since its arrival on Mars in August 2012, Curiosity has remained rather close to its landing site, traveling a total of just 0.51 miles (0.95 km), mission managers said.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

Orbital Station Crew Set for New Maintenance Spacewalk

 

RIA Novosti

 

Astronauts from the United States and Italy on Tuesday will venture outside the International Space Station (ISS) for a second spacewalk to prepare the orbital outpost for a new Russian laboratory module set to arrive later this year.

 

Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency will focus primarily on completing tasks they began on their previous spacewalk on July 9.

 

"The opening of the Quest airlock on the American segment of the ISS is scheduled for 04.15 pm Moscow time [12.15 GMT]…The astronauts will spend more than six hours outside the station," a spokesman for the Russian Mission Control said.

 

The astronauts will finish the installation of bypass jumpers to provide power redundancy to critical station components, route additional cables for a new Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) set to arrive in December, and perform a variety of additional maintenance tasks.

 

It will be the 171st spacewalk in support of station assembly and maintenance, the fifth conducted at the station this year, the sixth of Cassidy's career and the second for Parmitano, NASA said Monday on its website.

 

The launch of the Russian MLM module was initially slated for the first half of 2011, but has since been repeatedly delayed. The module is being constructed by the Khrunichev Space Center and RKK Energia.

 

MLM will carry out a variety of scientific and commercial projects as well as perform a range of other functions including life-support, steering the ISS with an attached motor, docking with cargo vessels and fuel transit from Progress cargo ships to the Zvezda module.

 

Former astronaut Ed Lu wants to save the world from asteroids

 

Preeti Upadhyaya - Silicon Valley Business Journal

 

Former astronaut Ed Lu has a pretty big mission - to save the world from the threats of asteroids that could come hurtling towards us from space and destroy life as we know.

 

Lu is chairman of B612 Foundation, a Mountain View nonprofit he helped found in 2002 that aims to save us from Bruce Willis' style of Armageddon. The organization, which has raised $2 million in the past eight months, plans to build a space telescope that can identify these fast-moving threats.

 

I sat down with the former NASA astronaut to talk about the ambitious project he and his team of 20 experts have undertaken.

 

What is the goal of the B612 Foundation, and why did you decide to start the project?

 

We're building the Sentinel Space Telescope to find and track the asteroids that can hit the earth. And the reason we're doing it is because no one else is. It's a critical problem. We realized we had the capability to do it, and we've built the world's finest spacecraft technical team, bar none.

 

How are you funding the mission?

 

We're doing it as a nonprofit, which is very different to what some of the other outfits are doing. We're trying to do something very technically challenging than anyone else in the space industry today, so our mission is concurrently more expensive. Our business model is that we're just going to go ahead and do it and ask people to support it through donations (the nonprofit's goal is to raise $30 million to $40 million each year).

 

Our donors tend to be fairly technically literate and have a long-term view on things. They're not looking for instant gratification, and they care about the future. But what attracts them is that they can see in 10 years that they can make a difference in the future of the world.

 

Shouldn't the government or NASA be taking this type of mission on?

 

NASA's not doing it. Nobody's doing it. There were several hearings in Washington following the asteroid that recently hit Russia. Naturally, questions were asked in Washington about what we're doing about this and why we didn't see it coming. The response from the head of NASA was that the B612 Foundation is going to find them for us. We are the solution that the federal government has pointed to as the little Silicon Valley nonprofit that's going to save the earth.

 

What is the cost of building the Sentinel Space Telescope and how long will it take?

 

The cost over 12 years will be $450 million. Projects like this are always funded in milestones. There are eight milestones leading up to the launch, and there are reviews at each step to verify if everything has been built correctly, the correct analysis has been done and the test results have been completed. The first review happened last year. The second one, at which point our spacecraft architecture will be complete, is in November of this year. That means that each of the subsystems in the spacecraft (electrical systems, pointing system, propulsion and communications) will be checked.

 

Where will the Sentinel Space Telescope be built and when will it launch?

 

It will be built in Boulder, Colorado, because that's where Ball Aersopace and the team that built the Kepler telescope is located. It will launch in 2018 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

 

Chinese Rocket Engine Test a Big Step for Space Station Project

 

Leonard David - Space.com

 

China has successfully test-fired the rocket engine that will power the next-generation heavy-lift booster, the Long March 5, that will help drive the country's space exploration into the final frontier.

 

The new rocket engine is closely tied to China's planned space station, and is a big step forward for the country's moon exploration program. The first engine test, carried out on June 29, lasted roughly three minutes from ignition to shutdown, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

 

The Long March 5 is one of China's new generation of rockets, which feature larger carrying capacities, are being pursued during a 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015). Addition to the Long March 5, China is drawing up plans fora medium-size Long March 7.

 

"The rockets in service cannot meet the demand from a future manned space station," Yuan Jie, deputy general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), told the state-run Xinhua news agency in June. "We need rockets with even larger carrying capacities."

 

Space station plans

 

The Long March 5 rocket will be mainly used for the lofting of China's manned space station, CASC's Yuan said, adding that it has the capacity to carry a 20-ton (18 metric tons) payload to near-Earth orbit.

 

China's planned Long March 7 booster can place 13 tons (12 metric tons) into Earth orbit, and is designed to launch cargo spacecraft to the country's manned space station, Yuan said.

 

Wang Zhaoyao, director of China's manned space program office, said the plan envisions placing a new Tiangong 2 space laboratory in orbit by 2015, ostensibly to further sharpen the skills and technologies needed to build a larger space station.

 

China would then launch an experimental core module of the larger space station in 2018. By 2020, China's manned space station would be fully built, Wang told reporters at a news conference following the landing of Shenzhou 10, China's recent piloted space mission, on June 25.

 

Smooth progress

 

The Long March 5 and Long March 7 boosters — each slated to fly before the end of 2015 — will launch from China's Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, which is currently under construction near Wenchang on the northeastern coast of Hainan Island.

 

CASC's Yuan said the next-generation launchers employ innovative technologies, including new engines that use nontoxic and nonpolluting liquid fuel.

 

Wang said "smooth progress" has been made in building up China's new launch center since the start of site work in September 2009. Its main structure has been completed, he said, including the testing labs for carrier rockets and spacecraft.

 

It is the fourth space launch facility in China, after Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Xichang launch complexes.

 

Simultaneous launch campaigns

 

According to the independent DragonInSpace.com website and its sister site Chinese Space Blog, the total cost of the launch-center project was estimated to be RMB 5 billion Chinese ($810 million).

 

Satellite imagery of Wenchang posted on the DragonInSpace.com clearly shows the Long March 5 and Long March 7 launch pads. Each launch pad has an independent vehicle assembly building, permitting simultaneous launch campaigns, according to the website.

 

Once in operation, the Hainan launch complex will host launches of heavy geostationary telecommunications satellites, support missions for the construction of China's space station and help further the country's lunar exploration agenda. Meanwhile, piloted space missions will continue to be conducted from the south launch site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, DragonInSpace.com reported.

 

Radical, unnoticed shift

 

China's space progress has been closely watched by Gregory Kulacki, a senior analyst and China project manager within the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security Program.

 

"In addition to supporting a new generation of Chinese space launch vehicles that will greatly expand China's capability to carry larger and heavier spacecraft into Earth orbit and beyond, the opening of the new launch facility on Hainan Island next year will mark a radical and largely unnoticed shift in the culture of the Chinese space community," Kulacki told SPACE.com.

 

"Histories of the Chinese space program speak in reverent terms about the sacrifices of generations of Chinese space scientists and engineers who suffered the deprivations of living and working in the existing facilities built in the remote and inhospitable dessert of western China," Kulacki said. "Guarded by the military, cloaked in secrecy and imbued with an almost religious sense of political importance, the products of China's traditional space culture are remembered as national heroes."

 

The new facility in Hainan is envisioned as a future Mecca for middle-class Chinese tourists, surrounded by coconut groves, a beach resort, museums and an amusement park, Kulacki said.

 

"Its completion will mark the beginning of a transition for China's space culture, from the cloistered preserve of specialists employed by the military to a more commercial and entrepreneurial enterprise that is open to the general public," Kulacki said.

 

Shiloh environmental study effort takes off

Space Florida, FAA begin search for contractor to perform review

 

James Dean - Florida Today

 

A study of how a proposed launch complex would affect part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge formally began Monday with the search for a contractor to perform the review.

 

Space Florida sought credentials from environmental firms that will be ranked and overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which licenses spaceports.

 

Work is expected to start this fall on an environmental impact statement considering at least four options, each totaling up to 200 acres, where one or two launch pads could be developed on NASA property near the Brevard-Volusia border.

 

The site is an attempt to attract commercial launches by SpaceX and other companies considering alternatives in other states, including Texas and Georgia, where similar reviews are in progress.

 

"We are looking forward to a thorough and transparent analysis of all of the potential environmental impacts of this proposed launch complex," Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello said in a statement. "We encourage all stakeholders to participate in the process."

 

A number of environmental stakeholders already oppose the plan to disturb a portion of the 140,000-acre refuge in the area known as Shiloh, for the citrus community located there before NASA seized the land for the Apollo program.

 

Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon Florida, said he was concerned about the FAA's lead role handling the environmental impact statement, or EIS.

 

"Typically they are focused on suppressing or eliminating wildlife, as opposed to protecting the environment," he said. "So having the FAA as the lead agency is in this EIS is certainly not particularly comfortable for us."

 

A letter signed by Audubon and seven other organizations this month asked the Department of the Interior, which is responsible for the refuge and Canaveral National Seashore, to play a prominent role in the review.

 

According to Space Florida's solicitation, the FAA is likely to ask at least NASA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to cooperate in the study.

 

The process will include two public "scoping" hearings, one each in Brevard and Volusia, after selection of a contractor, which is targeted for late October.

 

Space Florida, the state's aerospace economic development agency and spaceport authority, says a launch complex outside the secure borders and jurisdiction of Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is needed to avoid losing launches and jobs to other states.

 

SpaceX and Blue Origin are known to have expressed interest in the Shiloh proposal.

 

The environmental impact statement will consider the potential for 12 orbital or suborbital launches a year by liquid-fueled medium or heavy class rockets from each pad, and possibly landings of returning rocket boosters.

 

The complex could be located on a single 200-acre parcel or two sites totaling the same area. At least two options for each configuration are expected to be studied.

 

Each launch site would include access roads as needed, a concrete pad, vehicle integration and fueling facilities, lightning towers and buffer area. Offices and control centers would be located off-site in Brevard or Volusia.

 

The environmental study is expected to take about a year to complete.

 

Student Team Set for Zero-Gravity Fire Experiment on NASA 'Vomit Comet'

 

Rod Pyle - Space.com

 

A team of university students is counting down toward the ultimate science ride, a weightless flight aboard a modified NASA jet to see just how certain fires burn in zero gravity.

 

The experiment, led by engineering undergraduate Sam Avery of the University of California, San Diego, is aimed at testing how biofuels burn in weightless conditions. And with a target flight date of Thursday, Avery and his crew are getting pumped.

 

"The team is really excited about this experiment," Avery said just two weeks ahead of takeoff. "We've been working hard to get the equipment ready and tested for the parabolic flights with NASA in a couple of weeks."

 

Avery and his team are flying with NASA under the space agency's Microgravity University Program, which offers university students the chance to perform experiments under weightless and reduced-gravity conditions using a modified aircraft. The "Vomit Comet" flights, as they've been nicknamed, fly about 30 parabolas, moving up and down like a roller coaster, to produce short periods of weightlessness that are followed by brief stints of "hypergravity" that can reach 2Gs, twice the normal pull of Earth's gravity. 

 

The flights are based at Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center, which oversees the Microgravity University project. The space center is also home to NASA's astronaut training and Mission Control for the International Space Station.

 

The UCSD team's biofuels in space project is being conducted under the supervision of UCSD professor Forman Williams. SPACE.com managing editor Tariq Malik will serve as the team's journalist member. After the flight, the results will be written up by the team and submitted to the university and NASA for evaluation.

 

When asked how his team might best prepare for the ordeal, Avery said: "We might take a few runs on roller coasters or drop towers at theme parks to feel the effect of free-fall."

 

Before each weightless dive, Avery's team must electronically trigger two small hypodermic needles to inject a droplet of biofuel onto a thin fibrous crosshair that holds the droplet in place until the environment reaches a weightless condition. Then a small spark ignites the drop and twin video cameras record the burning process for later evaluation.

 

"We have had some great success rates with our ground tests of the fuel ejection and ignition systems, and we have programmed each system so that we can repeat its process multiple times during each parabola," Avery said. "I am 80 percent confident that it will work on the first parabola and 95 percent confident that it will work by the end of the flights."

 

As it turns out, not all parabolas are created equal.

 

"There will be around 28 parabolas, with around 25 microgravity parabolas, two lunar-gravity parabolas, and one Mars-gravity parabola," Avery said. "There will also be periods of level flight occasionally between parabolas."Lunar gravity is about one-sixth that of Earth, and Mars gravity is about one-third that of our planet.

 

Avery's team also recently completed testing of software they have written that automates the fuel-drop delivery to the crosshairs.

 

"We recently fixed our code for our automated syringe ejection system so that every time we press a button the syringes will move toward the cross fiber and eject another droplet," he said.

 

One big hurdle still looms large for the team.

 

"JSC would like us to do more analysis of our rig to validate our load testing. They will review it at the beginning of the flight week, which is coming up soon," Avery said. "But with most of the team members working full time [over the summer break], it's difficult to get everything to work."

 

Avery himself is interning for the summer at a San Diego-based company that works on the Orion capsule's abort system. His team is one of 14 different groups flying on NASA's microgravity aircraft between today (July 12) and July 20. The groups include seven student teams flying under the Microgravity University program, as well as seven teacher groups as part of NASA's Teaching from Space program.

 

These socks are out of this world — literally

 

Kipp Robertson - North Kitsap Herald (Poulsbo, WA)

 

When the crew of Expedition 40/41 launches to the International Space Station in 2014, some of the astronauts will have cozy socks to wear once they arrive.

 

Penny Garner has made it her mission to knit socks for any interested member of the space station crew.

 

"It's just a little bit of home," said Samuel Ortega, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center systems engineer in Huntsville, Ala. "More connectivity than standard white crew socks."

 

Garner isn't the only one with a hand in the project. Since she began knitting the socks earlier in the year, she has given anyone interested the chance to knit a few stitches. Each person contributing has the opportunity to write their name and hometown on a list on her iPad. Once a pair of socks is finished, a card with a list of names of people who stitched each pair of socks is shipped with them.

 

"My husband says I'm on a crusade," Garner said.

 

Because there are about 30,000 stitches on a sock, the project has given many people the opportunity to participate. Each person gets to knit about five stitches.  People get excited at the idea of having something they worked on, on the space station, Garner said.

 

"I've never had anyone say no," she said. "People are excited and jazzed about it."

 

Along with offering random people the chance to stitch, Garner has also made special appearances, such as to the Poulsbo Elementary Knitting Club May 16 where six students had the chance to participate. Sitting around a conference table, Poulsbo students Joslin Gilchrist, Rebecca Kofol, Oliver Machen, Joseph Munoz, Payton Stewart and Grace Villanueva, along with club adviser Debbie Beggs and assistant Rebecca Beggs, were given the opportunity to add stitches.

 

One student said "it was kind of weird" to knit socks for an astronaut. Another student said "it's cool."

 

The socks, knit custom for the astronaut, are either cotton with 2 percent Lycra, or 100 percent wool. Color is customized to individual taste.

 

Socks, along with all clothing when in orbit, need to meet specifications and approval. Acrylic, for example, cannot be used, because it burns too easily in a 100 percent oxygen environment, such as in a spacesuit.

 

Astronauts wear the same socks that can be purchased at a clothing store, Ortega said. Booties with leather bottoms may also be worn. Shoes are not worn.

 

While orbiting Earth and experiencing weightlessness, astronauts wear out the tops of their socks while stabilizing themselves. There are foot holders placed throughout the space station to keep astronauts in place. The foot holders "are always wearing out the top of their sock," Ortega said.

 

The project began during the NASA Social at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. in early May. Active NASA social media users are invited to the event to spectate the Centennial Challenges Program and visit with space enthusiasts and NASA officials, and go on tours. Ortega, who manages the program, is also a knitter. After hearing Garner's ideas and receiving positive feedback on Facebook and Twitter, the project was launched.

 

"It really is a neat project," Ortega said.

 

The first pair of socks was knit for Gregory Reid Wiseman — an American astronaut and naval aviator — after he posted a photo of his socks as he packed. Wiseman was selected in June 2009 and qualified as an astronaut in 2011. He is training for his first spaceflight as part of the Expedition 40/41 crew, which is tentatively scheduled for May 2014.

 

Wiseman received his first pair of red, white, and blue socks May 16. Wiseman tweeted his excitement.

 

"Houston, we've got socks! Next stop … International Space Station," Wiseman tweeted.

 

Wiseman is not the only one who can expect some comfy socks in orbit.

 

Butch Wilmore, commander of Expedition 42 scheduled to launch next year, jumped at the opportunity for some homemade footwear. A graduate of Tennessee Tech University and Navy enlistee, he can expect to see a pair of socks in purple and gold, and navy blue.

 

As more astronauts hear about the project, many through word-of-mouth, Ortega expects more sock orders for Garner.

 

"She'll probably have more than she wants," Ortega joked.

 

According to Beggs, Garner has knitted about 10 pairs of socks now.

 

Though they will be enjoyed in space, the handmade socks will mostly likely not return to Earth. The socks will be placed with garbage, and burned up upon reentry.

 

MEANWHILE ON MARS...

 

Mars Rover Curiosity's Long Drive Shifts Into High Gear

 

Megan Gannon - Space.com

 

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is pressing forward with an epic Red Planet road trip, a long-distance drive aimed at the central mountain of the robot's landing site.

 

Curiosity began its long Martian drive on July 4 and completed three separate trips in the days that followed. On the third leg of the 5-mile (8- kilometer) trek, the car-sized rover covered a distance of about 135 feet (41 meters), NASA officials said in a status update.

 

The Curiosity rover is currently driving toward Mount Sharp, a mysterious mountain that rises 3.4 miles (5.5 km) high in the middle of the rover's Gale Crater landing site. The journey will be slow and long for the rover, which has a top speed across flat ground is only 0.09 mph (0.14 km/h). Since its arrival on Mars in August 2012, Curiosity has remained rather close to its landing site, traveling a total of just 0.51 miles (0.95 km), mission managers said.

 

Curiosity is the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission. It finished work at its first major science destination, an area known as Glenelg, last week. The rover is now headed southwest for the foothills of Mount Sharp. Once there, scientists hope the 1-ton robot will find clues about how Mars' ancient environment changed and evolved.

 

Curiosity kicked off its long drive kicked on July 4 with a 59-foot (18 m) trip, which was followed by a July 7 haul that sent the rover 131 feet (40 m) closer to Mount Sharp. The third drive, on July 9, brought Curiosity's odometer reading to about 325 feet (99 meters) since completing the Glenelg investigations, according to NASA.

 

Though Curiosity is not bound to a strict timeline for its trek, mission officials have estimated that it will take about a year to complete. The progress of the drive will depend on what Curiosity finds along the way, rover mission managers said.

 

Curiosity already has accomplished the main objective of its mission, to find out if Mars is, or once was, suitable for life. At targets in the Glenelg area, the robot drilled samples of Martian rocks that helped scientists determine that Mars could have supported microbial life in the ancient past.

 

NASA's Curiosity rover mission is expected to spend at least two years exploring Gale Crater, with scientists planning to eventually send the rover on a trip up Mount Sharp.

 

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