Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - July 31, 2013 and JSC Today



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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: July 31, 2013 5:57:08 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - July 31, 2013 and JSC Today

Hope you can join us tomorrow at Hibachi Grill for our monthly Retirees Luncheon.

 

 

 

 

   Headlines

  1. 2013 Energy Competition Begins Aug. 1

Starting tomorrow, the JSC Green Team is asking you to save energy and help your building win the 2013 Energy Challenge! Each building will compete to see who will have the greatest percent reduction in electricity usage over 10 weeks. The competition starts Aug. 1st and runs through Oct. 10. Winners will be announced just in time for Halloween! Every two weeks, the JSC Green Team will announce competition statuses so you can see how your building compares against the rest.

Participating buildings will be divided into two categories for the competition: mall buildings and outlying buildings. Click the link below to see the list of the competing buildings and competition rules.

For buildings not able to participate, you can still make a difference. Contact the JSC Green Team about how you can use a Watt-meter to measure and, subsequently reduce, your office's energy use. Good luck!

JSC Green Team x34627 http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/ja/ja13/greenteam.cfm

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  1. JSC Today Will Not Publish on Flex Friday

Beginning this week, we'll no longer be sending out JSC Todays ON Flex Fridays, since so many of you are now taking advantage of this alternative work schedule and aren't here to read it. We'll continue to send JSC Today out on normal working days, excluding holidays and Flex Fridays. As before, submissions for the following Monday after Flex Friday will be due by noon on Thursday. 

If you have an announcement you'd like to run for Monday, Aug. 5, please submit it to JSC Today by noon Thursday, Aug. 1. Announcements already submitted for this Friday, Aug. 2, will be rescheduled.

JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 http://pao.jsc.nasa.gov/news/jsctoday/

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  1. New Look for Inside JSC Coming Tomorrow

A new, more modern look for the Inside JSC home page will become the default internal web site starting tomorrow. It has been available for the past few weeks in a box on the right hand side of the current page and we have taken your feedback and made improvements. We hope you like the new look, improved navigation and fresher content!

JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111

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   Organizations/Social

  1. Mental Health Disorders - Anxiety Disorder

Please join Takis Bogdanos, LPC-S, CGP, with the JSC Employee Assistance Program today, July 31, at 12 noon for a presentation about anxiety disorders as part of the psycho-educational series: "Mental Health Disorders, Causes and Treatments." He will discuss causes, prevalence, symptoms and impact in everyday life, as well as the latest treatments being implemented.

Event Date: Wednesday, July 31, 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's Inner Space – Free Demo Class Sunday

On Sunday, Aug. 4, at 1:45 p.m., we will have a free demo of a specialty class, Full Circle Fusion, in the Inner Space Yoga and Pilates Studio (or Studio 1 if the class becomes too full).

Come full circle with your mind, body and spirit in this heart-pumping fusion of yoga, pilates and bodyweight plyometrics; a glorious exercise experience inspired by the natural healing elements of nature (air, fire, earth and water) and the cardinal directions of the Native American medicine wheel. All levels are welcome.

No registration or membership is required to attend, and this demo class is free and open to anyone. The regularly scheduled yoga class will resume the following Sunday.

Visit this website for more information about the Inner Space Studio, membership options (with a new fee structure beginning Aug. 1) and full class schedule.

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

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  1. Youth Sports Camps - Basketball Camp Next Week

Basketball Camp is next week, and there are a few spots left! Starport's Summer Sports Camps are a great way to provide added instruction for all levels of players and prepare participants for competitive play. Let our knowledgeable and experienced coaches give your child the confidence they need to learn and excel in their chosen sport. We are still taking registrations, so register your child before it fills up. 

Basketball Camp: Focuses on the development of shooting, passing, dribbling, guarding and drills

Dates: Aug. 5 to 9

Times: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Ages: 9 to 14

Price: $200 

Before/after care available. Register your child at the Gilruth Center. Visit our website for information.

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

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  1. Starport Sport Leagues - Registration Ending Soon

Registration is ending soon for Starport's popular league sports!

Registration NOW OPEN: 

- Basketball (Open) | Wednesdays | Registration ends tomorrow, Aug. 1 | Leagues start Aug. 7

- Kickball (Co-ed) | Mondays | Registration ends TODAY, July 31 | League starts Aug. 5

- Softball (Co-ed) | Wednesdays | Registration ends Aug. 7 | Leagues start Aug. 13

- Ultimate Frisbee (Co-ed) | Mondays | Registration ends TODAY, July 31 | League starts Aug. 5 

Free-agent registration is now open for all leagues. 

Dodgeball, flag football, soccer and men's softball will return in fall 2013.

All participants must register here. 

For more information, please contact the Gilruth information desk at 281-483-0304.

Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/Sports/#LS2013

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  1. Beginners Ballroom Dance - August 2013 Discount

Do you feel like you have two left feet? 

Well, Starport has the perfect spring program for you: Beginners Ballroom Dance! 

This eight-week class introduces you to the various types of ballroom dance. Students will learn the secrets of a good lead and following, as well as the ability to identify the beat of the music. This class is easy, and we have fun as we learn. JSC friends and family are welcome. 

Discounted registration:

    • $90 per couple (ends Aug. 9)  

Regular registration:

    • $110 per couple (Aug. 10 to 20)  

Two class sessions available:

    • Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. -- Starting Aug. 20
    • Thursdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. -- Starting Aug. 22 

All classes are taught in the Gilruth Center's dance studio.

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

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   Jobs and Training

  1. Basic First Aid: Aug. 1, Building 20, Room 205/206

This three-hour class is designed to help participants become familiar with how to recognize and care for victims of illness and sudden injuries. Students will be able to recognize an injury or sudden illness. They will learn how to care for muscle, bone and joint injuries; control bleeding; and learn general-care steps for burns. The course also includes some emergency-response techniques to help people feel more confident of their ability to help in an emergency.

Only three seats available!

Use this direct link for registration:

https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Event Date: Thursday, August 1, 2013   Event Start Time:8:30 AM   Event End Time:11:30 AM
Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 205/206

Add to Calendar

Shirley Robinson x41284

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  1. Particle Count Training ViTS - Aug. 16

This course will provide the technician/engineer with the basic skills and knowledge for performing a particle count for determination of particle cleanliness level. A written/practical examination will also be offered. Course content includes:

    • Review of approved method for manually counting particles using an optical microscope
    • Microscope operation and calibration 
    • Non-microscopic visual identification of particles by shape, size, color and other physical characteristics 
    • Sampling techniques for particles in gases and liquids 
    • Filtering techniques for fluid using Millipore apparatus 
    • Compatibility of filter membranes and their specific uses 
    • Handling filter membranes, Millipore assembly, performing background determinations and pre-reading of filters prior to sampling 
    • Use of high-pressure filter assemblies 
    • Particle counting and data recording 
    • Statistical analysis
    • Use of automatic particle-counting techniques and their limitations 

A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Event Date: Friday, August 16, 2013   Event Start Time:9:30 AM   Event End Time:11:00 AM
Event Location: Bldg. 17/ Room 2026

Add to Calendar

Shirley Robinson x41284

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  1. Relief Valve Set Testing and Hydrostatic Testing

JSC-SLC-HTRV (Four-hour course)

This course covers the fundamentals and requirements regarding hydrostatic testing of pressure vessels and pressure systems and pressure relief valve set-testing.

Course objectives include:

    • Define Designated Verifier (DV)
    • Test-area guidelines
    • References: JPR 1710.13, NS-PRS-009, NT-QAS-024
    • Safety guidelines
    • Procedures  

Re-certification required every two years. 

Note: This is the FINAL class for Fiscal Year 2013. 

Date/Time: Aug. 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT

Where: Safety Learning Center - Building 20, Room 205/206

Registration via SATERN required:

https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Aundrail Hill x36369

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   Community

  1. Blood Drive - Aug. 21 and 22

There is no substitute for blood. It has to come from one person in order to give it to another. Will there be blood available when you or your family needs it? A regular number of voluntary donations are needed every day to meet the needs for blood. Make the "Commitment to Life" by taking one hour of your time to donate blood. Your blood donation can help up to three patients.

You can donate at one of the following locations (note start time change):

    • Teague Auditorium lobby: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    • Building 11 Starport Café donor coach: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    • Gilruth Center donor coach: Noon to 4 p.m. (Thursdays only)

Criteria for donating can be found at the St. Luke's link on our website. T-shirts, snacks and drinks are available for all donors.

Teresa Gomez x39588 http://jscpeople.jsc.nasa.gov/blooddrv/blooddrv.htm

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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: 8:30 am Central (9:30 EDT) – E36's Luca Parmitano with the Italian TG1 Network

 

Human Spaceflight News

Wednesday – July 31, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Astronaut shows source of life-threatening helmet water leak

 

Lee Roop - Huntsville Times

 

International Space Station astronaut Chris Cassidy posted a video today showing where the helmet leak came from that threatened spacewalker Luca Parmitano in a July 16 spacewalk. (See the video below) Cassidy, who was also on the spacewalk and helped Parmitano back inside, called it "a scary situation." Water somehow mixed with the air flowing into the back of Parmitano's helmet, Cassidy said. It flooded Parmitano's communications cap first, cutting out his communications link with Cassidy and the station, and then moved forward to the front of the helmet. It could have been "very serious," Cassidy said, echoing mission controllers who said Parmitano could have drowned. NASA still isn't sure what caused the failure, but sent spacesuit repair items to the station aboard an unmanned Russian supply rocket that docked there Saturday. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

What caused ISS astronaut's helmet leak? A spacewalker explains

 

Amina Khan - Los Angeles Times

 

When astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet suddenly began filling with water as he floated outside the International Space Station, NASA officials said they'd never seen such a malfunction before. Now, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy explains in a video what happened to make his Italian partner's helmet leak. Parmitano, a European Space Agency astronaut who had become Italy's first spacewalker a week before, was roughly an hour into the July 16 exercise when he said his head felt "really wet." Even as the team called off the spacewalk, liquid bubbles filled his helmet, ears and nose, even blocking his ability to speak. "He had water filled up in his ear cups, and it started to creep into his eyes and covered his nose," Cassidy said. "Scary situation."

 

Progress Docking Hastens Spacesuit Leak Troubleshooting

 

Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily

 

Russia's Progress 52 cargo capsule docked with the International Space Station late July 27, delivering 2.8 tons of supplies including a NASA tool kit intended to accelerate the troubleshooting of the water leak in European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano's spacesuit which forced the early termination of a July 16 spacewalk. Troubleshooting supervised by NASA's Mission Control is now focused of the Primary Life Support System (PLSS), or the backpack incorporated into the U.S. shuttle-era spacesuits. The PLSS holds breathing oxygen, CO2 removal hardware, a battery power source and a water storage tank for the suit's water-circulating cooling system.

 

How an Astronaut Faced a Drowning Hazard in Space

 

Ian O'Neill - Discovery News

 

There are few fears that can top the fear of drowning. Actually, there is. The fear of drowning in space. And that fear was a very real and terrifying possibility for Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano during what should have been a "routine" extravehicular activity (EVA) earlier this month. Although it's hard to imagine anything being "routine" while orbiting 260 miles over Earth inside a football pitch-sized outpost, the astronauts and cosmonauts who live and work on the International Space Station are highly trained individuals who have an acute attention to detail. So when something does go wrong on the space station, there's no better people to deal with it. But during this particular spacewalk, the universe threw Parmitano a curve ball.

 

NASA Astronaut Says Spacesuit Water Leak Was 'Scary Situation'

 

Mike Wall - Space.com

 

The mysterious leak that cut a spacewalk short two weeks ago was apparently as frightening as it looked to those of us watching on NASA TV. On July 16, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and his European colleague Luca Parmitano hustled back inside the International Space Station after water began filling Parmitano's helmet, making it hard for the Italian astronaut to hear and see. The malfunction forced the astronauts to abort a planned 6.5-hour excursion after just 92 minutes. Both spacewalkers kept their cool, and everything turned out fine. But in a video describing the spacesuit water leak, Cassidy said the leak was a "scary situation" that could easily have been much worse. "The water — if it had continued to leak much more, it would have been very serious," Cassidy said in the NASA video, which was released Tuesday.

 

Showdown over NASA funding bills likely

Senate panel narrowly OKs billions more than House proposal

 

Ledyard King - Florida Today

 

A key Senate panel narrowly approved a bill reauthorizing NASA on Tuesday, setting up a showdown with the House over how much money the nation's space program should get. The three-year bill, which now heads to the full Senate, would give the space agency $18.1 billion in fiscal 2014, $18.4 billion in fiscal 2015 and, $18.8 billion in fiscal 2016. NASA received $17.7 billion in fiscal 2013, which ends Sept. 30. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed the bill 13-12 along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. "While it's not as much as we'd like NASA to have, it's certainly a step in the right direction," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, said after the vote. Nelson chairs the Science and Space Subcommittee that helped shape and steer the legislation. If the Democratic-led Senate passes the bill as expected, lawmakers likely will have to reconcile it with a House bill that promises NASA much less.

 

What Happens To Your Skin in Space

 

Jason Major - Universe Today

 

The microgravity environment of the ISS poses many challenges to the human body — some more expected than others — but one that many people might not know about is the "molting" of dry skin, notably from the bottom of the feet. And while astronauts living aboard Space Station often spend their days working in socks, when they go to remove them they have to be especially careful to keep floating clouds of flakes at a minimum, lest they incite allergic reactions in their crewmates. Yeah, you read that right. "Floating clouds of flakes." Eeeewwwwww. In the latest episode of ISS Science Garage NASA astronauts Mike Massimino and Don Pettit discuss some of the finer details of podiatric etiquette whilst sojourning aboard the ISS. (Unfortunately saying it fancy-like doesn't make it any less gross.) All I have to say is, I wouldn't want to be the one who has to clean out the vent filters. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

1st operational Cygnus module bound for ISS lands at NASA Wallops

 

Ken Kramer - Universe Today

 

The 1st operational Cygnus cargo spacecraft slated to ferry crucial supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) under a commercial contract with NASA, has been delivered to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The privately built Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) was developed by Orbital Sciences Corp. & Thales Alenia Space under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) cargo transport contract with NASA.

 

NASA's upcoming astronaut capsule has hints of Apollo

 

Laurence Pope - New Scientist

 

 

For an out-of-this-world commute, you need a perfectly tricked-out vehicle. With sky-blue LED lighting and seating for seven, this space capsule certainly fits the bill. This photo gives a glimpse inside of the CST-100, a commercial crew capsule being built by Boeing with support from NASA, which aims to restore the US's ability to independently launch astronauts into space. The full-scale mock-up of the capsule recently underwent a day-long series of tests by two NASA astronauts. The purpose of the tests was to see how the astronauts were able to work with the space and equipment available before the design is finalised. Don't be fooled by its retro, Apollo-like exterior appearance – the CST-100 uses the latest technology, including enhanced thermal protection for that long drop back through the atmosphere and touchscreen tablets to replace the sea of buttons seen in space capsules of yore.

 

NASA Needs More Women, Top Official Says

 

Clara Moskowitz - Space.com

 

The U.S. space agency is in need of more women among its ranks, NASA's second-in-command said last week during a panel on women in space. "Even though we have a flat budget at best, these days we have about 1,000 new hires per year," NASA associate administrator Lori Garver said July 23 during a NASA-sponsored Google+ Hangout commemorating the life of Sally Ride, America's first woman in space. "Right now 37 percent of those have been women. We need to increase that." To encourage more women to work at NASA, and in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in general, Garver said the science community must show how STEM careers are valuable.

 

When gravity is no obstacle

 

Alicia Clegg - Financial Times

 

Will the Rockefellers and Gates' of the future make their fortunes in space? Space missions used to be the preserve of national space agencies, but today it may be modest start-ups that have the boldest ambitions. Eric Anderson invented space tourism because myopia meant he would never be an astronaut. Fifteen years after founding Space Adventures, which arranges for billionaires to ride on board Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, he and his business partner have started Planetary Resources to mine asteroids. "The reason I got into commercial human space flight was to go to space myself… [now] our goal is to bring the solar system's resources within the economic sphere of Earth," he says.

 

Alan Parson's Project Dedicates Song to ISS Astronaut Parmitano

 

Elizabeth Howell - Universe Today

 

When we heard that the Alan Parsons Project song "Eye in the Sky" was beamed to humanity's constant eye in the sky — the International Space Station — we just about exploded with space geekiness. It's even more awesome that the video accompanying the song has tons of space scenes to enjoy. Turns out the band's song is Expedition 36 astronaut Luca Parmitano's favorite, which is why Parsons dedicated that to him during a July 23 Alan Parsons Live Project concert at the Foro Italico in Rome.

 

'Star Trek' shuttle continues mission at NASA

 

Mike Snider - USA Today

 

Capt. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise had a five-year mission. But one of the starship's shuttles has been on a nearly 50-year mission that ends Wednesday. The shuttle craft Galileo, which appeared in seven episodes of the original Star Trek series, is settling in Wednesday at its final landing place, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's space center in Houston. It has been a long voyage for this nearly full-size shuttle that was built for "The Galileo Seven" episode, which first aired in January 1967. The historic TV prop might never have made it to the space center if it wasn't for a first-class Star Trek fan. Galileo was carefully packed and then transported by flatbed truck to the space center in Houston, where it will be unveiled at a special event Wednesday.

 

X-rays reveal hidden complexities of old NASA gear

 

Craig Hlavaty - Houston Chronicle's The Texican

 

Have you ever wanted to see what was inside some of the items that NASA engineered to get men to accomplish feats like spacewalking and golfing on the moon? X-rays of such space gear are a part of a traveling exhibit called "Suited For Space" which is now at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., until Dec. 1. The exhibit is due to hit Tampa, Philadelphia, and Seattle in 2014. So far, no new Texas stops are planned, but the exhibit will be traveling until 2015. It was in Tyler in the summer of 2012, and is the only Texas stop so far.

 

An Intergalactic Travel Bureau in Midtown

 

Amelia Schonbek - The New Yorker

 

The other day, a woman set out for a midtown Manhattan storefront to plan a trip to space, in a bid to escape the sweltering heat. After weaving past Times Square tourists, she entered the Intergalactic Travel Bureau, on West Thirty-seventh Street. "Can I interest you in a space vacation?" asked a smiling travel agent wearing a jaunty hat. After a brief discussion of the woman's travel goals—no warm weather!—a trip to Saturn's largest moon, Titan, was recommended. The woman was sold. The agent searched among stacks of papers for a price list, and did some quick calculations. The quote, unfortunately, was billions of dollars. And there the spell was broken: the Intergalactic Travel Bureau was not, in fact, facilitating actual space vacations; the travel agent was really Lucianne Walkowicz, an astrophysicist. Olivia Koski, a physicist turned journalist, and Jana Grcevich, who studies dwarf galaxies in the astronomy department at Columbia, brought the pop-up travel bureau to New York City. Over the ten days that the project took place, all kinds of people came in to plan vacations and talk about space—"the entire cross section of society that passes through Thirty-seventh Street and Eighth Avenue," Koski said. The goal was to rekindle a love of science in passers-by. "At some point, people get the message that if you don't become a scientist, science isn't for you," Walkowicz told me. The bureau was designed to counter that idea, and to give people a place to connect with the world around them.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

What caused ISS astronaut's helmet leak? A spacewalker explains

 

Amina Khan - Los Angeles Times

 

When astronaut Luca Parmitano's helmet suddenly began filling with water as he floated outside the International Space Station, NASA officials said they'd never seen such a malfunction before. Now, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy explains in a video what happened to make his Italian partner's helmet leak.

 

Parmitano, a European Space Agency astronaut who had become Italy's first spacewalker a week before, was roughly an hour into the July 16 exercise when he said his head felt "really wet." Even as the team called off the spacewalk, liquid bubbles filled his helmet, ears and nose, even blocking his ability to speak.

 

"He had water filled up in his ear cups, and it started to creep into his eyes and covered his nose," Cassidy said. "Scary situation."

 

Roughly 1 to 1.5 liters (about 2 to 3 pints) of water had leaked into the suit and helmet, officials later said. Parmitano quickly consumed the contents of his drink-water bag, in case it was the leak's source, but later noted that the water flooding his helmet didn't taste like the drinking kind. In the video, Cassidy says the leaking was actually from the suit's cooling system.

 

In the back of the helmet's neck hole, slightly to the left side of the body, there's a slit in the rim that allows air to go through, Cassidy said in the video. This port links to the ventilation system, which blows air over the astronaut's face. Somehow, water leaked out and made its way through that slit and into the helmet, where it began to collect in a kind of hard white plastic lining behind Parmitano's head, soaking his hair. Soon, the water began to spill over the white plastic and float inside the helmet, raising the risk of drowning in the suit.

 

"You can imagine, you're in a fishbowl. So go stick your head in a fishbowl and try to walk around – that's not anything you take lightly," NASA flight director David Korth said at the time.

 

The walk lasted about 1.5 hours, though it was supposed to run closer to 6.5 hours. That's because spacewalks often involve a lot of production, including sleeping in an airlock overnight so the body adjusts to the lower pressure, so the astronauts try to get as much done in one sitting as possible.

 

Engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston have been working on figuring out exactly what caused the leak into the helmet, Cassidy said.

 

"The most important thing is that the suits are determined to be safe," Cassidy said, "so that whenever the next folks get outside, that everything works well for them."

 

Progress Docking Hastens Spacesuit Leak Troubleshooting

 

Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily

 

Russia's Progress 52 cargo capsule docked with the International Space Station late July 27, delivering 2.8 tons of supplies including a NASA tool kit intended to accelerate the troubleshooting of the water leak in European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano's spacesuit which forced the early termination of a July 16 spacewalk.

 

Troubleshooting supervised by NASA's Mission Control is now focused of the Primary Life Support System (PLSS), or the backpack incorporated into the U.S. shuttle-era spacesuits. The PLSS holds breathing oxygen, CO2 removal hardware, a battery power source and a water storage tank for the suit's water-circulating cooling system.

 

U.S. astronauts Chris Cassidy, Parmitano's partner on the July 16 excursion, Karen Nyberg and Parmitano are expected to carry out additional troubleshooting of the PLSS organized by NASA's Mission Control this week, using tools and parts from the tool kit, NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean said July 29.

 

The PLSS subcomponents of greatest interest are the internal sublimator, gas trap, condensate water relief valve and water separator. Inspections by the ISS crew of the CO2 removal system, water relief valve, separator and cross loop plumbing prior to the Russian freighter's arrival did not reveal obvious signs of a problem, leaving the gas trap assembly as the next area of interest, Dean said.

 

The spacewalk, scheduled for 6.5 hr., was terminated at 93 min. after an estimated 1 to 1 1/2 liters of water leaked into Parmitano's suit, including into his helmet. Working by memory, the 36-year-old Italian Air Force test pilot made his way back to the safety of the U. S. airlock as blobs of water formed around his eyes, ears and nose. Had he choked, Parmitano could have drowned, NASA's Mission Control said after the stricken spacewalker was safely out of the suit.

 

Scheduled U.S. spacewalks are on hold until the cause of the leak is determined and repairs can be made. Last week, NASA appointed a five-member Mishap Investigation Board to establish a cause, identify contributing factors and formulate changes in spacesuit maintenance and operating procedures as warranted.

 

The Progress 52 carried out an automated linkup with the ISS Russian segment Pirs module on July 27 at 10:26 p.m. EDT, following an "express" four-orbit, six-hour trip from launch to rendezvous.  The Progress capsule lifted off atop a Soyuz booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:45 p.m. EDT July 27, or 2:45 a.m. local time July 28.

 

Last year, Russia initiated a series of Soyuz crew transport as well as Progress cargo "express" missions as an alternative to the typical two-day launch-to-docking flight profile.

 

Other Cargo

 

The freighter's cargo includes spare parts, research gear and other equipment; propellant for ISS maneuvers; water; and compressed air and oxygen.

 

Meanwhile, the ISS crew is preparing for the arrival of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) fourth H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-4), or Kounotori, supply craft. The HTV-4, loaded with 3.9 metric tons (4.3 tons) of pressurized and 1.5 metric tons of unpressurized cargo, is scheduled to lift off from the Tanegashima Space Center on Aug. 3 at 3:48 p.m. EDT.

 

The HTV-4 would rendezvous with the station on Aug. 9. Nyberg, Cassidy and Parmitano will be standing by at the controls of the ISS Canadian robot arm to grapple the JAXA freighter and berth it to the U.S. segment Harmony module. Grapple is scheduled for 7:29 a.m. EDT.

 

Over the weekend, flight control teams also wrestled with a series of computer processor interruptions aboard the European Space Agency's Albert Einstein Automated Transfer Vehicle-4 supply ship. The ESA freighter carried out an automated docking with the ISS Russian segment on June 15, initiating a six-month stay. The four processors resumed normal function on July 29, but the reason for the difficulties had not yet been resolved.

 

How an Astronaut Faced a Drowning Hazard in Space

 

Ian O'Neill - Discovery News

 

There are few fears that can top the fear of drowning. Actually, there is. The fear of drowning in space.

 

And that fear was a very real and terrifying possibility for Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano during what should have been a "routine" extravehicular activity (EVA) earlier this month.

 

Although it's hard to imagine anything being "routine" while orbiting 260 miles over Earth inside a football pitch-sized outpost, the astronauts and cosmonauts who live and work on the International Space Station are highly trained individuals who have an acute attention to detail. So when something does go wrong on the space station, there's no better people to deal with it. But during this particular spacewalk, the universe threw Parmitano a curve ball.

 

On July 16, Parmitano was working with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy on the space station's exterior. But less than an hour into the mission, Parmitano, who became Italy's first spacewalker during a previous EVA, reported excess fluid was building up inside his helmet. As the problem worsened, NASA mission control told the pair to return to the airlock as soon as possible.

 

Tuesday, Cassidy has sent a short video from the space station describing the details of what happened to his space colleague.

 

As it turns out, the water originated from the space suit's cooling system, and by the design of the ventilation system inside the helmet, water mixed with the air and got blown to the back of Parmitano's head, soaking his communications cap. In the microgravity environment, the surface tension of the water formed a blob that gradually crept toward Parmitano's face. There's little he could have done to sweep the water aside.

 

Of particularly horrifying note, Cassidy says: "…capillary flow brought the water all around his head and he had water filled up in his ear cups and started to creep up into his eyes and cover his nose. Scary situation."

 

"If the water had continued to leak much more, it would have been pretty serious."

 

Fortunately, both spacewalkers were able to return safely to the space station interior and NASA continues to troubleshoot what exactly went wrong with Parmitano's suit.

 

NASA Astronaut Says Spacesuit Water Leak Was 'Scary Situation'

 

Mike Wall - Space.com

 

The mysterious leak that cut a spacewalk short two weeks ago was apparently as frightening as it looked to those of us watching on NASA TV.

 

On July 16, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and his European colleague Luca Parmitano hustled back inside the International Space Station after water began filling Parmitano's helmet, making it hard for the Italian astronaut to hear and see. The malfunction forced the astronauts to abort a planned 6.5-hour excursion after just 92 minutes.

 

Both spacewalkers kept their cool, and everything turned out fine. But in a video describing the spacesuit water leak, Cassidy said the leak was a "scary situation" that could easily have been much worse. 

 

"The water — if it had continued to leak much more, it would have been very serious," Cassidy said in the NASA video, which was released Tuesday.

 

In the video, Cassidy walked viewers through the basics of the leak, explaining that coolant water somehow got into Parmitano's ventilation system and was then blown into his spacesuit helmet.

 

Water droplets began building up behind a white piece of plastic at the back of Parmitano's helmet, Cassidy said. But they didn't stay trapped back there for long.

 

"Once the water got big enough that it went all the way around and started coming outside the edge of the white plastic piece, then it saturated his communication cap, and sort of capillary flow just brought the water all around his head," Cassidy explained, using Parmitano's helmet as a visual aid.

 

"He had water filled up in his ear cups, and it started to creep into his eyes and covered his nose," Cassidy added.

 

Exactly why this happened remains unclear; engineers are still working to determine the cause of the leak. NASA has also appointed an expert panel to investigate the issue and help make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

"The mishap investigation board will look more broadly at past operations and maintenance, quality assurance, aspects of flight control and other organizational factors," NASA officials wrote last week upon announcing the board, which will begin its work on Friday (Aug. 2). "The board's responsibility is to make observations and recommendations that can be applied to improve the safety of all of NASA's human spaceflight activities."

 

Cassidy and Parmitano ventured outside the International Space Station on July 16 to perform a variety of repair and maintenance operations, and to help prepare the orbiting lab for the arrival of a new Russian module later this year.

 

No spacewalks have been scheduled yet to finish the work the pair started that day. But there's no rush, Cassidy said.

 

"The most important thing is that the suits are determined to be safe, so that whenever the next folks get outside everything works well for them," Cassidy said.

 

Showdown over NASA funding bills likely

Senate panel narrowly OKs billions more than House proposal

 

Ledyard King - Florida Today

 

A key Senate panel narrowly approved a bill reauthorizing NASA on Tuesday, setting up a showdown with the House over how much money the nation's space program should get.

 

The three-year bill, which now heads to the full Senate, would give the space agency $18.1 billion in fiscal 2014, $18.4 billion in fiscal 2015 and, $18.8 billion in fiscal 2016. NASA received $17.7 billion in fiscal 2013, which ends Sept. 30.

 

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed the bill 13-12 along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.

 

"While it's not as much as we'd like NASA to have, it's certainly a step in the right direction," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, said after the vote. Nelson chairs the Science and Space Subcommittee that helped shape and steer the legislation.

 

If the Democratic-led Senate passes the bill as expected, lawmakers likely will have to reconcile it with a House bill that promises NASA much less. Earlier this month, lawmakers on the GOP-led House Science, Space and Technology Committee settled on a funding figure closer to $16.8 billion for fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015. A vote on the House floor is expected later this year.

 

The partisan conflict over NASA funding largely involves each party's view of much money exists to spend on most federal programs, such as space and science.

 

Republicans are unwilling to go beyond the overall allocations spelled out in the budget they approved earlier this year. Those levels assume the sequestration budget cuts Congress agreed to in 2011 will remain in effect.

 

Democrats on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee argued Tuesday that NASA reauthorization should be based on how much money the agency realistically needs, not on what might be available in the next budget cycle.

 

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., called a Republican amendment to reduce the bill's funding levels "a misguided attempt to really turn the committee into nothing but the Appropriations (Committee)."

 

"And I think we have very important technology-mission oversight that we have to focus on," she said.

 

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the top Republican on the panel, sounded optimistic that lawmakers can compromise.

 

The NASA bill "will likely need even more work before (it) reflects the kind of consensus that has characterized our committee's enacted legislation," he told panel members. "With additional effort, however, I am hopeful that we can get there in the weeks and months ahead."

 

The difference is not just about money. It's also about NASA's overall direction and whether the agency should be allowed — or trusted — to pursue the course it's laid out for the next few years.

 

Both the House and Senate measures would provide money to continue developing NASA's top priorities: a deep-space mission to Mars, a joint venture with aerospace firms to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, and completion of the James Webb Space Telescope.

 

But while the Senate bill would permit an asteroid retrieval mission the agency wants to undertake as part of its stepping-stone approach to Mars, the House measure strictly prohibits it.

 

"I don't think that is the position of a committee to be telling the scientists and the NASA experts of what we should be doing," Nelson told committee members Tuesday.

 

1st operational Cygnus module bound for ISS lands at NASA Wallops

 

Ken Kramer - Universe Today

 

The 1st operational Cygnus cargo spacecraft slated to ferry crucial supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) under a commercial contract with NASA, has been delivered to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

 

The privately built Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) was developed by Orbital Sciences Corp. & Thales Alenia Space under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) cargo transport contract with NASA.

 

Universe Today took an exclusive look at the unmanned Cygnus cargo carrier housed inside the high bay facility where the vehicle is being processed for flight during a visit at NASA Wallops.

This Cygnus transport vessel is scheduled to lift off atop an Antares rocket bound for the ISS from the Wallops Island launch site towards the end of this year.

 

Cygnus is an essential lifeline to stock the station with all manner of equipment, science experiments, food, clothing, spare parts and gear for the international crew of six astronauts and cosmonauts.

 

The Cygnus PCM is manufactured by Thales Alenia Space at their production facility in Turin, Italy under a subcontract from Orbital.

 

The design is based on the Multi Purpose Logistic Module (MPLM) space shuttle cargo transporter.

 

The standard version has an internal volume of 18.9 cubic meters and can carry a total cargo mass of 2000 kg.

 

It was encased inside a special shipping container and flown from Italy to the US aboard an Antonov An-124 aircraft on July 17. The massive An-124 is the world's second largest operating cargo aircraft.

 

After unloading from the An-124 and movement into a clean room high bay at Wallops Processing Building H-100, the shipping crate's cover was raised using a 20 ton bridge crane. The PCM was unloaded and likewise gently craned over to an adjacent high bay work stand for flight processing.

 

Approximately a month and a half before launch, technicians mate the Cygnus PCM to the Service Module (SM) which houses the spacecraft's avionics, propulsion and power systems and propels the combined vehicle to berth at the ISS.

 

The Cygnus SM is built by Orbital at their manufacturing facility in Dulles, VA., and shipped to Wallops for integration with the PCM in the processing building.

 

This particular vehicle is actually the second PCM bound for the ISS, but will be the first of eight operational cargo delivery runs to the space station over the next few years.

 

The first PCM to fly is set to blast-off on a Demonstration Mission (COTS 1) to the ISS in some six weeks on Sept. 14 atop Orbital's privately developed Antares rocket. It is also in the midst of flight processing at Wallops inside a different building known as the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) where it is integrated with the Antares rocket.

 

Orbital says the Cygnus Demo vehicle is already fueled and will be loaded with about 1550 kg of cargo for the station crew.

 

The purpose of the demonstration flight is to prove that the unmanned spacecraft can safely and successfully rendezvous and dock with the orbiting outpost. The flight objectives are quite similar to the initial cargo delivery test flights successfully accomplished by Orbital's commercial rival, SpaceX.

 

All of Orbital's ISS cargo resupply missions will occur from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's (MARS) pad 0A at Wallops.

 

This past spring on April 21, Orbital successfully launched the 1st test flight of the Antares rocket.

 

Orbital's Antares/Cygnus system is similar in scope to the SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon system.

 

Both firms won lucrative NASA contracts to deliver approximately 20,000 kilograms each of supplies and science equipment to the ISS during some 20 flights over the coming 3 to 4 years.

 

The goal of NASA's CRS initiative is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the ISS and low-Earth orbit (LEO) as a replacement for NASA's now retired Space Shuttle Program.

 

Orbital's contract with NASA for at least eight Antares/Cygnus resupply missions to the ISS is worth $1.9 Billion.

 

NASA's upcoming astronaut capsule has hints of Apollo

 

Laurence Pope - New Scientist

 

 

For an out-of-this-world commute, you need a perfectly tricked-out vehicle. With sky-blue LED lighting and seating for seven, this space capsule certainly fits the bill.

 

This photo gives a glimpse inside of the CST-100, a commercial crew capsule being built by Boeing with support from NASA, which aims to restore the US's ability to independently launch astronauts into space.

 

The full-scale mock-up of the capsule recently underwent a day-long series of tests by two NASA astronauts. The purpose of the tests was to see how the astronauts were able to work with the space and equipment available before the design is finalised.

 

Don't be fooled by its retro, Apollo-like exterior appearance – the CST-100 uses the latest technology, including enhanced thermal protection for that long drop back through the atmosphere and touchscreen tablets to replace the sea of buttons seen in space capsules of yore.

 

"What you're not going to find is 1100 or 1600 switches," says Chris Ferguson, a former astronaut and director of Boeing's commercial crew development programme. "We don't want to burden [the astronauts] with an inordinate amount of training to fly this vehicle. We want it to be intuitive."

 

The project is funded by NASA in its bid to get the US back in the astronaut transport business after it retired the shuttle programme in July 2011. Currently, US astronauts are dependent on Russia's Soyuz capsules. The US forks out $71 million (£46 million) per seat to reach the International Space Station.

 

Boeing has plans to test the CST-100 in 2016 in a crewed, three-day orbital flight, riding an Atlas V rocket into space. The capsule will attempt to dock with the ISS in 2017 – as long as NASA gets the funding from the US Congress.

 

NASA is also funding the development of Boeing's rivals: the Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser spaceplane and SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Dragon is already powering ahead, charged with delivering crucial supplies to the ISS, having first successfully docked with it in May 2012.

 

NASA Needs More Women, Top Official Says

 

Clara Moskowitz - Space.com

 

The U.S. space agency is in need of more women among its ranks, NASA's second-in-command said last week during a panel on women in space.

 

"Even though we have a flat budget at best, these days we have about 1,000 new hires per year," NASA associate administrator Lori Garver said July 23 during a NASA-sponsored Google+ Hangout commemorating the life of Sally Ride, America's first woman in space. "Right now 37 percent of those have been women. We need to increase that."

 

To encourage more women to work at NASA, and in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in general, Garver said the science community must show how STEM careers are valuable.

 

"I do feel we have not done enough to explain careers in a way that shows how they really do help advance humanity," Garver said, pointing out that women go into medical fields at levels equal to or greater than men, yet the gender balance is extremely lopsided for fields like engineering.

 

"The latest data and surveys show females care greatly about improving the environment around them, and they care about helping people, and what we need to do is make that translation to show them the misconception that science is not a humanistic effort," said physicist Karen Flammer, who co-founded the education outreach organization Sally Ride Science with Ride herself.

 

Many of the women on the panel, which included an astronaut, an astrophysicist, and the manager of NASA's effort to reach out to women, spoke of Sally Ride's influence on their own careers.

 

"I was in college when Sally flew and frankly I don't think I really paid attention to the space shuttle program until STS-7, [Ride's first flight]," Garver said. "She had a great influence on me. She shaped my life in this program."

 

"Role models do, in fact, matter," Garver added. "We've all in a way been touched by Sally."

 

Ride first flew to space June 18, 1983 as a member of the space shuttle Challenger's crew, and flew again on Challenger in 1984. She went on to work at NASA headquarters and served on the committee investigating the space shuttle Challenger accident. Ride died July 23, 2012 of pancreatic cancer.

 

"Until I met Sally I had this impression of what being an astronaut was like," NASA astronaut Cady Coleman said during the event, adding that she assumed it was a career for tough, fighter pilot types who were very different from herself. Even now, as part of NASA's astronaut Corps, she sometimes sees reminders of that mentality.

 

"I still see this picture around the Johnson Space Center, of the seven original astronauts standing around a fighter plane, and nothing in that picture makes it think it could be me," Coleman said.

 

Coleman spoke of her difficulty in becoming certified for spacewalks, which requires fitting into special spacesuits that come only in medium, large and extra-large. She is currently NASA's smallest person qualified to wear a spacesuit, and some female astronauts are too small to fit, she said. What's more, it takes extra effort for a person of small stature to move and maneuver in the suit, meaning it's often harder for her to operate in it than her male counterparts.

 

Garver said the decision to make the suits in only those large sizes was made by male NASA officials before she joined the agency.

 

"I would like to think if someone like me were in my job 20 years ago, you wouldn't have had that challenge," Garver told Coleman. "I would like to think that we would not make that decision today."

 

Having female leadership at NASA has also changed things like the maternity leave policy, which has become more accommodating to women employees in recent years, said Mamta Patel Nagaraja,  program manager of the Women@NASA program.

 

"Life gets really complicated. Having women like Lori up in those higher positions that are really supportive" makes all the difference, she said.

 

While all the panelists agreed more female representation at NASA is needed, they said some gains had already been made. For the first time this year, Garver pointed out, women made up half of NASA's newest astronaut class announced earlier this year. Four out of eight new recruits announced last month are women.

 

When gravity is no obstacle

 

Alicia Clegg - Financial Times

 

Will the Rockefellers and Gates' of the future make their fortunes in space? Space missions used to be the preserve of national space agencies, but today it may be modest start-ups that have the boldest ambitions.

 

Eric Anderson invented space tourism because myopia meant he would never be an astronaut. Fifteen years after founding Space Adventures, which arranges for billionaires to ride on board Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, he and his business partner have started Planetary Resources to mine asteroids. "The reason I got into commercial human space flight was to go to space myself… [now] our goal is to bring the solar system's resources within the economic sphere of Earth," he says.

 

Mr Anderson's idea is that ice-rich asteroids could one day supply water to astronauts and hydrogen and oxygen to space-based "gas stations", en­abling satellites to refuel and spacecraft to travel deeper into the solar system. Eventually, he hopes to ret­urn precious metals to Earth, al­though many question the economics.

 

For now, his focus is prospecting. The first step, starting in 2014, is to put small telescopes into space. The telescopes will gather intelligence about asteroids and could also undertake revenue-generating work. For example, it hopes to generate revenues by serving clients such as businesses, scientists and even Nasa, which plans to capture and study an asteroid. To help win public support, Planetary Resources ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund a citizen science initiative to make one of the space telescopes available to amateur astronomers.

 

Other plans by space entrepreneurs include space habitats, commercial spacelines (the equivalent of airlines), and plans by SpaceX, the first private operator, to ship cargo to the ISS, to fly settlers to Mars.

 

Whether many space ventures will achieve lift-off, let alone turn a profit, is impossible to predict. Space proj­ects, by their nature, have protracted development phases, unformed markets and supply chains, and eat up cash. Yet for all its gravity-defying challenges, commercial space succeeds in attracting backers. Planetary Resources' investors include Google's Eric Schmidt and Larry Page. SpaceX was started by Elon Musk, who co-founded PayPal.

 

Entrepreneurs parlaying capital and commercialism into space tourism in­c­lude Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, a US-based operator founded by the British entrepreneur; Amazon boss Jeff Bezos is the founder of Blue Origin, another space tourism company. "For [high-achieving people] there's something thrilling about the idea of pushing the boundaries of human capabilities," says Carissa Bryce Christensen, managing partner at The Tauri Group, a US space and homeland security consultancy.

 

One big issue faced by all companies interested in profiting from space is whether commercial exploitation of the final frontier is legal, and on what authority. Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, also an aspiring asteroid miner, claim the 1967 Outer Space Treaty permits them to mine asteroids and keep the proceeds. But Joanne Gabrynowicz, a law professor at Mississippi university, says that "legal opinion over space property rights is divided and politicised".

 

Space-going nations tend to say extracted materials belong to the extractor; some non-space-goers say they should be subject to an international regime empowered to determine property rights and ap­portion profits. In the absence of clear legal direction, businesses may decide that it is better to ask forgiveness than permission and act anyway, thereby forcing a political resolution.

 

Space tourist companies also face regulatory uncertainty. By the end of 2013, Virgin Galactic plans to do a full test flight. It hopes to achieve a commercial first by piloting private citizens to suborbital space in its SpaceShipTwo craft "soon after that", says chief executive George White­sides. He avoids naming a date, perhaps mindful of setbacks that have previously led the business to delay its timescales. For $250,000, passengers will fly from New Mexico in an air-launched spacecraft, float around the cabin and gaze on the curvature of Earth. But before that, Virgin Galactic will inform them that the spacecraft has not been certified for safe­ty, explain the risks, and require them to sign an "informed consent" document.

 

This is in line with an interim regulatory framework, devised by US Federal and state legislators, exempting space operators from the stringent com­pliance tests applied to airlines and obliging early adopters of space flight to fly at their own risk. The argument is that, as in the pioneer days of aviation, both the industry and its overseers need time and flight performance data to establish best practice.

 

Even so, some lawyers question whether the principle of informed consent, already applied in extreme sports with mixed success, would always stand up in court. "If a [spacecraft] is flying after only a few test flights, it's questionable whether passengers can give informed consent, as there is virtually no data to assess risks on," says Frans von der Dunk, a professor of law at Nebraska university. Others argue that the industry's habit of publicising celebrities who sign up for trips glamorises space flight and gloss­es over possible risks.

 

One drawback for the businesses that base themselves in the US is that they must comply with the US International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) export controls, which include spacecraft. For Virgin Galactic, this could mean delaying plans to run trips from overseas spaceports. "I wouldn't say that it's not possible that we would get an export licence, but I would say that the bar for consideration is [set] high," says Mr Whitesides.

 

European operators intending to fly US spacecraft also face ITAR challenges. Space Expedition Corporation (SXC), a Dutch-owned space tourist company, which is leasing US-built XCOR Lynx spacecraft, is lobbying the US authorities for permission to fly from the Caribbean island of Cura̤ao Рwhile planning for a US launch if permission is withheld. Another issue is that it must employ US maintenance and flight crews, even if it launches outside the US. CEO Michiel Mol, an entrepreneur with a background in video games and Formula One, acknowledges the restriction is a "constraint".

 

Are there enough wealthy adventurers to make space tourism viable? Research by Tauri Group suggests that over the next decade more than 4,000 individuals and some scientists will buy tickets or fly payloads on suborbital spacecraft, generating revenues of about $600m – enough to support an industry of multiple operators, it concludes.

 

Virgin Galactic recently sold its 600th ticket and Mr Whitesides is upbeat. "To have [sold that many] ... before we have started commercial operations, for what is frankly a pretty futuristic service, is a pretty good sign."

 

Mr Anderson is contemplating asteroids and other space ad­ven­tures. As well as orbital trips, his space tourist business is now arranging suborbital flights and expeditions to the far side of the Moon. But he has yet to fulfill his personal space dream. At $52m a ride, he says, orbiting Earth is "expensive" - and staff don't get a discount.

 

Alan Parson's Project Dedicates Song to ISS Astronaut Parmitano

 

Elizabeth Howell - Universe Today

 

When we heard that the Alan Parsons Project song "Eye in the Sky" was beamed to humanity's constant eye in the sky — the International Space Station — we just about exploded with space geekiness. It's even more awesome that the video accompanying the song has tons of space scenes to enjoy.

 

Turns out the band's song is Expedition 36 astronaut Luca Parmitano's favorite, which is why Parsons dedicated that to him during a July 23 Alan Parsons Live Project concert at the Foro Italico in Rome.

 

"Luca is not on this Earth. He's up there somewhere," joked Parsons just prior to the song, which was recorded, and then sent up to Parmitano himself on the space station.

 

The Italian's reported reaction: "Fantastico!"

 

The slick video, packaged by the European Space Agency, includes a dedication from Parsons and some shots from Expedition 36 and other missions as the song plays. As a note to Parsons' introduction, Parmitano is actually the sixth Italian astronaut. He is, however, the first Italian to go on a spacewalk.

 

'Star Trek' shuttle continues mission at NASA

 

Mike Snider - USA Today

 

Capt. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise had a five-year mission. But one of the starship's shuttles has been on a nearly 50-year mission that ends Wednesday.

 

The shuttle craft Galileo, which appeared in seven episodes of the original Star Trek series, is settling in Wednesday at its final landing place, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's space center in Houston.

 

It has been a long voyage for this nearly full-size shuttle that was built for "The Galileo Seven" episode, which first aired in January 1967. The historic TV prop might never have made it to the space center if it wasn't for a first-class Star Trek fan.

 

Over the past few years, management consultant Adam Schneider of Livingston, N.J., satisfied his love of Star Trek with collecting miniatures. Through connections with online Trekkies, he learned about the reappearance of a full-size shuttle craft.

 

Many die-hard fans thought the Galileo lost. Paramount had donated the prop to a school after the series ended, and over the years it had been passed along through several owners before surfacing last year at an auction house in Ohio. The wood had rotted, and the metal skeleton had cracked. "It was in pretty bad shape," says Alec Peters, who runs the CBS archive of Star Trek props, as well as StarTrekProps.com and was consulted by Schneider. "It wasn't meant to last 50 years. It was meant to last three or four seasons."

 

Schneider made an Internet bid on the Galileo and won it for $61,000. "This is the most significant Star Trek prop in the wild," he says. "My plan was always to take one for the community. I wanted to buy it, fix it and donate it where people can see it."

 

Once he became the owner, Schneider conversed with several fans online about how to restore the Galileo. The original builder of the prop, Gene Winfield, suggested that a boat restorer might be the best fit. And Master Shipwrights in nearby Atlantic Highlands, N.J., seemed like a logical choice. "I knew they had the shop and the technical skills to do what had to be done," Schneider says.

 

Hurricane Sandy struck six days after the Galileo arrived at Master Shipwrights. "Their shop took 4 feet of water," Schneider says. "All the tools and their power was destroyed."

 

But the firm recovered and got to work. They straightened and reinforced the internal metal supports, replaced the wood framework and strengthened the engines, which support the weight of the shuttle. "They put in an amazing amount of effort to make it perfect," says Schneider, who funded the work with the blessing of wife and Trek convertee Leslie. "We're talking about wood that gleams like metal. It looks completely fabulous, like it belongs on the deck of a starship."

 

Once the restoration was finished, Schneider contacted more than a dozen air and space museums looking to find the right home for the Galileo. "They needed to have space available for this bus-sized thing to deal with. It had to be displayed and be available," he says.

 

For NASA, the shuttle fits into the space agency's acknowledgement of how science fiction inspires real-world technological advances, says Houston Space Center spokesman Jack Moore. At 22 feet long and 8 feet tall, the Galileo "is a massive craft," he says. "To stand in its presence is itself inspiring. It makes you think like a scientist or engineer just by appreciating the work and the detail put into refurbishing it."

 

Star Trek's shuttles predated those of NASA, and the agency named the first space shuttle Enterprise. Among NASA's other Star Trek artifacts is the 11-foot Enterprise model on display at the Air & Space Museum in Washington.

 

Galileo was carefully packed and then transported by flatbed truck to the space center in Houston, where it will be unveiled at a special event Wednesday.

 

Star Trek fans are forever grateful to the Schneiders "for rescuing this iconic TV artifact, restoring her to better-than-new condition and, most importantly, finding a home where she can be appreciated by thousands," says Dave Arland, a die-hard Trekkie and public relations professional who has followed the Galileo's journey. (View more pictures of the restoration at www.GalileoRestoration.com)

 

"If someone told me as a little kid watching Star Trek hoping to be an astronaut that I would donate a spacecraft to NASA, I would have thought 'That can't happen,''' says Schneider, who will be in Houston along with wife Leslie and their four children. "I'm just thrilled."

 

X-rays reveal hidden complexities of old NASA gear

 

Craig Hlavaty - Houston Chronicle's The Texican

 

Have you ever wanted to see what was inside some of the items that NASA engineered to get men to accomplish feats like spacewalking and golfing on the moon? X-rays of such space gear are a part of a traveling exhibit called "Suited For Space" which is now at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., until Dec. 1.

 

The exhibit is due to hit Tampa, Philadelphia, and Seattle in 2014. So far, no new Texas stops are planned, but the exhibit will be traveling until 2015. It was in Tyler in the summer of 2012, and is the only Texas stop so far.

 

At first you may think that looking at the insides of such items would be tedious and mundane, but when you realize that you are looking at groundbreaking technology that had to be created just to facilitate human movement in inhospitable conditions.

 

Cathleen Lewis, a space history curator at the Smithsonian, says the X-rays were done over the course of a few years in the 2000s. But why do these x-rays? Haven't we seen and heard everything we can about space travel of yesterday?

 

"The X-rays are special because they are one way to show how complex they really were. When you see just the photographs of the suits, all you see is the surface layer," says Lewis. "With X-rays you can see the joint systems, the restraints, things that prevent the suits from ballooning up."

 

These were important things that needed to be taken into account when men went into space.

 

Not all of the space artifacts the Smithsonian has on hand could be X-rayed, and some of them are fragile. Jostling them around while being X-rayed could damage them for future research. The smaller items like boots and gloves are easier to X-ray, unlike suits which require specialized handling.

 

It can't be understated how pretty these objects are when under X-ray.

 

"They have an aesthetic charm too," says Lewis. It's true. The space age kitsch factor is off the charts.

 

Looking at the items, you can see just how little material was protecting the astronauts from the violent elements of space and space travel, at a time when technology wasn't nearly as advanced as it is in 2013.

 

An Intergalactic Travel Bureau in Midtown

 

Amelia Schonbek - The New Yorker

 

The other day, a woman set out for a midtown Manhattan storefront to plan a trip to space, in a bid to escape the sweltering heat. After weaving past Times Square tourists, she entered the Intergalactic Travel Bureau, on West Thirty-seventh Street. "Can I interest you in a space vacation?" asked a smiling travel agent wearing a jaunty hat.

 

After a brief discussion of the woman's travel goals—no warm weather!—a trip to Saturn's largest moon, Titan, was recommended. Temperatures tend to be several hundred degrees below zero on Titan, and underneath its thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere, it offers the possibility of long walks along the shores of methane lakes. "They probably smell like cow farts," the agent said, "but you'll be in a space suit." The woman was sold. The agent searched among stacks of papers for a price list, and did some quick calculations.

 

The quote, unfortunately, was billions of dollars. And there the spell was broken: the Intergalactic Travel Bureau was not, in fact, facilitating actual space vacations; the travel agent was really Lucianne Walkowicz, an astrophysicist. She was one of eight scientists involved with the project, which was first staged in the U.K. by Guerilla Science, an outreach organization that combines science with performance art. Olivia Koski, a physicist turned journalist, and Jana Grcevich, who studies dwarf galaxies in the astronomy department at Columbia, brought the pop-up travel bureau to New York City.

 

Over the ten days that the project took place, all kinds of people came in to plan vacations and talk about space—"the entire cross section of society that passes through Thirty-seventh Street and Eighth Avenue," Koski said. The goal was to rekindle a love of science in passers-by. "At some point, people get the message that if you don't become a scientist, science isn't for you," Walkowicz told me. The bureau was designed to counter that idea, and to give people a place to connect with the world around them.

 

There was a particular focus on reaching girls. While five of the bureau's eight collaborators were women, the most recent data from the American Astronomical Society's Committee on the Status of Women, which tracks the number of women in tenured positions (or the equivalent) at universities and observatories, indicates the average department is just fifteen per cent female. More broadly, the National Science Foundation notes that less than a quarter of all full-time full professors with science, engineering, and health doctorates are women; women represent only twenty-eight per cent of the science and engineering workforce; and less than fifteen per cent of female students consider a degree or career in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics field, according to STEMconnector, a group that advocates for STEM education.

 

Longstanding cultural factors explain some of these disparities, but the lack of female role models may have something to do with it as well. Walkowicz had the rare opportunity to do research in a female-led physics lab while she was in high school, as part of a special program. "Nobody ever had to tell me that this was a career path I could do, because I saw women who were already doing it," she said. "It's important to stand up and be seen, because then there's an example for someone else, that they see that they can do this too. Before high school, the only female scientist I knew of was Marie Curie."

 

One day, a family came into the bureau; they had travelled an hour from the suburbs to get there. The daughter, who was eight, was very interested in science, but didn't have much encouragement at school. She talked to the scientists for an hour, asking questions. "I told her I was a laser engineer, and she was excited about that," Koski said. "We were talking about the different types of science you can do. My own personal experience—I found I was interested in being in a lab, turning wrenches. She related to that. She was thrilled to just be in this space, with all these women."

 

By the time she left the Intergalactic Travel Bureau, the girl was talking about going to graduate school for science—a destination, the scientists hope, that will seem far less exotic to young women than a distant moon of Saturn.

 

END

 

 

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