Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Fwd: NASA News - my snapshot and JSC Today - Tuesday, July 23, 2013



Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: July 23, 2013 6:41:53 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA News - my snapshot and JSC Today - Tuesday, July 23, 2013

 

Again my version of NaSA News, if Kyle sends me something later from California ,,,I will pass it on.

 

 

 

 

 

   Headlines

  1. Morpheus Test Today

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

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

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

Streaming will begin approximately 45 minutes prior.

*Note: Testing operations are very dynamic, and the actual firing time may vary. Follow Morpheus on Twitter for the latest information: @MorpheusLander

For more information, click here.

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

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  1. New Form for Information Technology (IT) Purchases

The agency's Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) has recently approved the use of NASA Form 1823: Request for Investigation (RFI)/IT Product Source Assessment. This form will aid in the investigations of IT purchases for both IT purchase requests and P-card requests to ensure compliance with Section 516 of Public Law 113-6. Section 516 places restrictions on acquiring IT systems from the People's Republic of China using Fiscal Year 2013 appropriations for NASA and other federal agencies.

Use of this new form is effective immediately for purchases of all IT products and services not listed on the OCIO IT Security Division's Approved and Assessed (A&A) list. The latest versions of both NF1823 and the A&A list can be found here.

For more information, click here or email.

JSC IRD Outreach x34263 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/Home.aspx

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   Organizations/Social

  1. JSC Toastmasters Club Meets Wednesday Nights

Looking to develop speaking and leadership skills? Ignite your career? Want to increase your self-confidence, become a better speaker or leader and communicate more effectively? Then JSC Toastmasters is for you! Members attend meetings each Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Gilruth Center Brazos Room. JSC Toastmasters weekly meetings are learn-by-doing workshops in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a pressure-free atmosphere. Membership is open to anyone.

Thomas Bryan x31721 http://3116.toastmastersclubs.org/

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  1. This Week at Starport

Starport will be hosting a book-signing event on July 24 with John "Danny" Olivas, astronaut and author of Endeavour's Long Journey, in the Building 3 Starport Café from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and at the Gilruth Fitness Center from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. This is wonderfully illustrated story about a young boy who finds himself on a journey through space as the retired space shuttle describes her missions and the people involved. Your child will enjoy meeting an astronaut that flew on this historic space vehicle while learning fun facts about Endeavour. Books will be available for $19.95 in the gift shops, or order online. Shipping charges apply.

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

Cyndi Kibby x35352 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

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  1. HSI ERG Meeting Today

The Human Systems Integration Employee Resource Group (HSI ERG) will hold a regular monthly meeting in Building 1, Room 220, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 23. HSI ERG leadership will be rolling out information on recent JSC ERG retreats and opportunities, succession plans for the HSI ERG in October of this year, plans for conducting a September Innovation Day 2013 C3 Forum on HSI, and will mention an HSI ERG membership opportunity to comment on an ongoing effort to insert HSI principles into the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook.

Event Date: Tuesday, July 23, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM
Event Location: B1/220

Add to Calendar

Deb Neubek 281-222-3687 https://collaboration.ndc.nasa.gov/iierg/HSI/SitePages/Home.aspx

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  1. Starport Boot Camp - Register Now

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. Starport Sport Leagues - Registration Filling Fast

Registration is open for Starport's popular league sports!

Registration NOW OPEN:

    • Basketball (Open) | Wednesdays | Registration ends Aug. 1 | Leagues start Aug. 7
    • Kickball (Co-ed) | Mondays | Registration ends 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 July 30 | 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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   Jobs and Training

  1. FY14 Call for Nominations MLLP and NASA FIRST

Applications are being accepted for the following development programs sponsored by NASA Headquarters: NASA Mid-Level Leader Program (MLLP) and NASA Foundations of Influence, Relationships, Success and Teamwork (FIRST).

MLLP provides GS-13s/14s with the opportunity to enhance leadership capabilities by participating in a 16-month part-time development program that includes assessments, mentoring, core learning sessions at different centers, on-the-job application of learning and a three- to six-month rotation. NASA FIRST provides degreed GS-11s/12s an opportunity to participate in a 12-month part-time program, including training modules, mentoring, shadowing, group projects and individual development.

If interested, talk to your supervisor, work an application through your management and submit it to your directorate-level training coordinator by your organization's due date. Nomination packages due to the Human Resources Office (Attn: J. Greg Grant) in Building 12, Room 269, by close of business Aug. 12.

J. Greg Grant x32601

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  1. July RLLS Portal Education Series WebEx Training

The July 22, 25, 29 and Aug. 1 weekly RLLS Portal Education Series:

    • July 22 and 25 - Cell Phone Request at 7:30 a.m., International Shipping at 2p.m. CDT
    • July 29 and Aug. 1 - Lodging Request at 7:30 a.m., Physical Logical Access training at 2 p.m. CDT

The 30-minute training sessions are computer-based WebEx sessions, offering individuals the convenience to join from their own workstation. The training will cover the following:

    • System login
    • Locating support modules
    • Locating downloadable instructions
    • Creating support requests
    • Submittal requirements
    • Submitting on behalf of another
    • Adding attachments
    • Selecting special requirements
    • Submitting a request
    • Status of a request

Ending each session will be question-and-answer opportunities. Please remember that TTI will no longer accept requests for U.S.-performed services unless they are submitted through the RLLS Portal.

Email or call 281-335-8565 to sign up.

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

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  1. Excavation & Trenching Safety Seminar ViTS Aug. 16

The purpose of this three-hour course is to provide employees with the standards, procedures and practices necessary to meet the standards in CFR 1926.650 Subpart P: Excavations and Trenching Construction. Excavation, trenching and soil testing are the fundamental concepts covered in this course. There will be a final exam associated with this course, which must be passed with a 70 percent minimum score to receive course credit.

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:1:30 PM   Event End Time:4:30 PM
Event Location: Bldg. 17 Room 2026

Add to Calendar

Shirley Robinson x41284

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  1. Payload Safety Review and Analysis - Sept. 9-12

Class is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. This course is designed as a guide to payload safety review for payload program safety and management personnel. The student will gain an understanding of payload safety as it relates to the overall payload integration process, how the payload safety review process works and the roles and responsibilities of the various players in the payload safety review process. In addition, the student will be instructed in the hands-on fundamentals of payload hazard analysis, hazard documentation and presentation of analyses to the Payload Safety Review Panel. The course will include a mock presentation to the Payload Safety Review Panel. Those with only support or supervisory responsibilities in payload safety should attend course SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0016, Payload Safety Process and Requirements.

Use this direct link for registration: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Event Date: Monday, September 9, 2013   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:4:00 PM
Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 205/206

Add to Calendar

Shirley Robinson x41284

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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 NEWS

The Norsemen Of NASA?

By Al Kamen

Washington Post, July 23, 2013

We've seen IRS workers dressed as characters from "Star Trek" and "Gilligan's Island."

So perhaps it's not at all odd that NASA folks would don a little Viking garb.

NASA Ames Research Center Director Simon Worden and several members of his staff are among the band of Vikings portrayed in a photographic series shot by Bay Area photographer Ved Chirayath, who describes his work as using "cutting-edge photography" to "channel people's scientific curiosity."

The photographs portray the civil-servants-turned-Vikings in a woodland setting (it's a park in Palo Alto, Calif.), charging toward several futuristic-looking satellites. There's dramatic lighting and convincing costumes. Worden's wearing an armored helmet that would look at home on the set of the "Lord of the Rings."

Under the photos, the artist describes his vision: "NASA Ames Research Center leads the charge in small satellite innovation and development while evoking the Viking spirit of exploration and adventure."

Not everyone, though, is impressed.

Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, asking him to explain a few things.

"I am concerned that in NASA's case, federal tax dollars may still be spent on non-mission critical activities," the Iowa Republican wrote.

Grassley asked Bolden to provide a host of information, including whether the NASA employees used company time or other official resources for the photo shoot, whether folks back at NASA knew about the project, and whether the agency will receive any funds, presumably from the sale of the photos.

A NASA spokesman tells the Loop that the agency is working on a full response to Grassley's questions but he assures us there's nothing untoward here.

"This was not an official NASA activity," he said. "No taxpayer funds were used, and the employees involved did not do this on work time."

The photographer, too, seems puzzled by the inquiry. Chirayath, a graduate student at Stanford, says the shoestring shoot was staffed with volunteers, and what little money it cost was funded by a small grant he got from Stanford. "No one's making a penny from this — no one's buying these pictures. I just want to help NASA and promote science."

He said he's been contacted by NASA investigators, who interviewed him extensively and combed through his e-mails relating to the photo shoot.

"I would question whether it's a good use of NASA employees' time to spend all that time scaring a graduate student, wanting to know whether anyone got any benefits" from"the project, he said.

So, did they? "Um, I passed out water bottles. . . . And I gave some people hand-made thank-you cards," Chirayath said.

Cabinet iconography

This is what the changing of the guard looks like, Washington-style.

Just as the Senate was voting to confirm Tom Perez as the secretary of labor late last week, the word was out at Labor Department headquarters: Remove all photos of former labor secretary Hilda Solis to get ready for the incoming boss.

Out with the old, in with the new.

"Pending the arrival of a new Secretary of Labor, it is requested that all DOL agencies remove the pictures of former Secretary Solis from your work spaces by noon this Friday," reads an e-mail to Labor Department supervisors from Al Stewart, the agency's director of business operations and procurement executive.

But employees were warned not to get too trash-happy in this era of tight budgets. While the pictures of Solis were to be shelved, the frames were to be preserved and reused.

Fortunately, "additional guidance will be provided on how the new Secretary's photos will be inserted in the existing frames when those photos are available," the e-mail reads.

That's a relief. It could get tricky.

Department spokesman Carl Fillichio laughed off the Loop's interest in the regime-change missive. "That's what we do when we have a new secretary of labor," he said.

Wait — what about the photos of Solis? Workers were advised to "temporarily store them in your offices." Seems sad that one day, your pictures are gracing the walls of an important government office, and the next day, they're gathering dust in someone's closet.

Maybe sell them as collector's items on eBay?

Justice moves

With Tom Perez, who had headed the civil rights division at Justice, becoming labor secretary, the question is: Who will head Justice's civil rights division?

The answer for the short term — and we're hearing likely to be nominated for the long term — is Joycelyn Samuels, who's been the principal deputy assistant attorney general in that division for the past four years.

Before that, Samuels had been vice president for education and employment for nearly eight years at the National Women's Law Center.

Samuels is stepping in at a tough time. Demonstrations around the country are pressing the department to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin — something current and former Justice officials said could be extremely difficult and perhaps impossible.

Meanwhile, Perez has tapped Xochitl Hinojosa, a former press aide at the Justice Department and more recently communications director for Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) — and once featured in a Washingtonian fashion gallery — to be the Labor Department spokeswoman.

Envoy out, envoy in

As expected, President Obama last week renominated Washington lawyer and major bundler Timothy Broas — whose initial nomination was derailed a year ago after a drunk-driving arrest — to be ambassador to the Netherlands.

Broas was stopped on Connecticut Avenue near his home in Chevy Chase in June 2012 and charged with speeding, drunken driving and resisting arrest. The latter two charges were dropped shortly after the arrest.

Also on the ambassadorial front, Allan Katz, an Obama 2008 mega-bundler, former Tallahassee city commissioner and now ambassador to Portugal, is leaving that job soon to be a professor at his alma mater, the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Congressmen Register Concern Over Possible Exclusive Lease Of Pad 39A

By Dan Leone

Space News, July 23, 2013

Two members of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, including the chairman, are concerned that the agency might lease out an old space shuttle launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on an exclusive basis.

In a July 22 letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House Appropriations commerce justicescience subcommittee, along with colleague Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) also said NASA was planning to let Pad 39A go too cheaply, and for too long a period: up to 20 years.

But "above all, we question we question the seeming desire by NASA to lease LC-39A to a single user for sole use rather than to an entity that would ensure that the pad was re-developed as a multi-user pad," the lawmakers wrote. A copy of the letter was obtained by SpaceNews.

Wolf and Aderholt identify the company in question, but a congressional source said it is Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif. SpaceX, which is already hauling cargo to the international space station for NASA, is seeking launch facilities besides those it already has at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which is co-located with Kennedy, and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Also bidding for Pad 39A is Blue Origin, the Kent, Wash., company that is quietly working on various vehicles for suborbital and orbital spaceflight. A Blue Origin executive told SpaceNews the company was interested in Pad 39A for future orbital operations.

Six-year Term For NASA Administrator Dies In House Science Committee

By Dan Leone

Space News, July 23, 2013

A proposal to give the NASA administrator a six-year term died in the House Science, Space and Technology Committee last week as three Republicans joined 17 Democrats to vote the proposal down during a marathon markup session.

The six-year term was struck out of the NASA Authorization Act of 2013 by an amendment from Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), the committee's ranking member. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) and Stephen Stockman (R-Texas) joined 17 Democrats to put Johnson's amendment over the top by a vote of 20-19.

NASA administrators are appointed by the U.S. president, confirmed by the U.S. Senate and can be fired by the president at any time.

House Republicans floated the idea of giving the NASA administrator a six-year term last year as part of a broader bill that would have changed several other things about NASA's leadership, including limiting the U.S. president's choices for NASA administrator to a pool created by a new, congressionally appointed NASA advisory committee. Substantial portions of that bill were folded into the NASA authorization bill the House Science, Technology and Space Committee ultimately approved July 18.

While Johnson's amendment stripped the six-year-term provision from the bill, it left intact the call for establishing a congressionally appointed NASA advisory committee to complement the NASA Advisory Council, a federal advisory committee whose members are appointed by the head of NASA.

Reforming NASA

By Rand Simberg

Transterrestrial Musings, July 23, 2013

It's not going to happen this year.

Sadly, he's probably right. We're going to waste at least another two to four billion dollars on SLS before it's canceled.

Seeing The Shuttles, Two Years After Wheels Stop

By Jeff Foust

Space Review, July 22, 2013

Two years ago yesterday, the Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center, ending the 135th and final mission of the shuttle program. The decision to retire the shuttles, announced by President George W. Bush in January 2004, remains one of the biggest—and perhaps one of the most controversial—decisions in the modern spaceflight era. Some praised the decision to send a capable but flawed vehicle into retirement, while others mourned the end of a three-decade era in space transportation.

The decisions on where the shuttle orbiters would spend their afterlives, made by NASA three months before Atlantis's final mission, also has its share of debate and controversy. But while they jury may still be out (at least in the minds of some) of whether the decision to retire the shuttle was the "right" one—depending, of course, of how one defines "right"—one can now get a better idea of how well those decisions on where the orbiters should go turned out.

With the opening late last month of the massive new building at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) hosting Atlantis, and the reopening earlier this month of the pavilion at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York that is home to Enterprise, it's now possible for the first time since the shuttle program's last flight for the public to see all four shuttle orbiters. (See "Visiting the shuttles", The Space Review, January 14, 2013, about Discovery on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center and Endeavour at the California Science Center.) Each museum displays its orbiter in a different way, offering varying perspectives on the orbiters and the Space Shuttle program overall.

Atlantis

On Saturday, June 29, the KSCVC formally opened its new Atlantis exhibit to the public. The $100-million facility—paid for privately, although with a $62.5-million credit facility backed by a state agency, Space Florida—showcases the orbiter in a unique way, tilted at an angle of exactly 43.21° and with its payload bay doors open, as if the orbiter is in space (see "Bird on a wire", The Space Review, June 24, 2013).

Atlantis's new home got an opening as grand as the building itself. The opening ceremonies that Saturday morning, in front of the new building, featured a parade of dozens of astronauts, individually introduced by CNN reporter John Zarella, the master of ceremonies, that itself lasted 15 minutes. There were speeches from officials with Delaware North, the company that operates KSCVC, as well as KSC director Bob Cabana and NASA administrator Charlie Bolden, themselves former astronauts.

Those speeches primarily looked back on the shuttle program. "It may seem strange to you that I'm talking to a vehicle when I say, 'Welcome home, Atlantis,'" said Bolden, who flew on Atlantis as commander of STS-45 in 1992. "It's not like a vehicle. It's like a person." He said astronauts were struck by the difference in the shuttle between the terminal countdown demonstration tests—the dress rehearsals for launch on the pad—and the actual launch, when the shuttle was fueled up. "It's breathing," he said. "You thought you were okay, until this thing starts talking to you."

"For most of us on this stage," Bolden continued, referring to the astronauts who were the guests of honor for the ceremony, "it has been a dear friend, it has taken us to places that we never dreamed, and brought us safely home."

Officials with Delaware North hope that Atlantis will be a dear friend to them as well, triggering a new wave of tourists to the center, about an hour's drive east of the tourist haven of Orlando. "Atlantis is greatly going to enhance the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, it's going to enhance the landscape of Florida for tourism," said Rick Abramson, president of Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts.

The ceremonies wrapped up as Bolden, Abramson, and others pressed oversized "launch" buttons on the stage, triggering plumes of smoke from the bottom of the full-scale replica solid rocket boosters mounted vertically outside the exhibits, attached to a full-scale external tank. The exhibit was now open for business.

"There is literally only one word to describe what they have done here with this museum, and that is 'Wow,'" Zarella said of the exhibit. "It is absolutely spectacular." And "wow" might be even an understatement.

Taking a cue from the designs of theme parks that draw tourists into Orlando, visitors to the exhibit don't simply go through the doors and see Atlantis. Instead, they first see a short film dramatizing the engineering challenges involved in building the shuttles. Then, it's on to another antechamber, where they're greeted with a multimedia tribute to the shuttle program, displayed on a screen in front of them and along the walls. At the end, the screen in front rises, and visitors get their first glimpse of the real thing.

Atlantis's orientation and the design of the exhibit allow visitors to look at the orbiter from many angles. The upper level, where visitors enter, offer views of the crew cabin, payload bay (including a Canadarm robotic arm extending out and above a walkway), and engine compartment. On the lower level, people can look up at the vehicle's underside. The initial impression is stunning, as if the orbiter was indeed in space. The one drawback to this approach is that you can't get nearly as close to the orbiter as you can with the others on display, like Endeavour in California, where people can walk underneath directly it, its belly just beyond the reach of an outstretched arm.

There is more to the facility than Atlantis itself, though. There are various other artifacts on display, including tires from the STS-135 mission and a replica of the Hubble Space Telescope. Kids can crawl through scale models of International Space Station modules suspended from the ceiling, and the lower level features various simulators to try your hand at landing a shuttle or using the shuttle's robotic arm. The Shuttle Launch Experience, built several years ago as a standalone theme park-style ride (see "Review: Shuttle Launch Experience", The Space Review, April 28, 2008), is now incorporated into the Atlantis exhibit as well. The result is a tribute to the Space Shuttle program similar to the Apollo Saturn V Center at KSC, but on perhaps an even grander scale.

Enterprise

Of all the shuttle orbiters, Enterprise and its assignment to the Intrepid Museum in New York is perhaps the most controversial. The Smithsonian was effectively guaranteed an orbiter, and few would begrudge KSC, the launch site for those 135 missions, from getting one as well; even Los Angeles made sense as both a West Coast location and because of Southern California's history in building and maintaining the orbiters.

But when NASA announced New York would be getting Enterprise, a hand-me-down from the Smithsonian as it took delivery of Discovery, there were howls of protest, particularly from Texas and Ohio, who believed either Houston, home of the Johnson Space Center, or Dayton, whose National Museum of the Air Force was long thought a frontrunner, would be better choices. That decision is still a sore point, particularly in Houston, even after a NASA Inspector General report found no evidence of political influence on the decision-making process. When Space Center Houston announced plans recently a for a "name the shuttle" contest for the full-scale replica it received last year, one Houston publication complained that "being bypassed for one of the shuttles in the city that literally built them was a particularly potent kick in the crotch." (Nevermind, of course, that the shuttles were not "literally built" in Houston.)

Those complaints gained a degree of weight after Enterprise arrived in New York last summer. Enterprise was placed on the flight deck of the retired aircraft carrier inside a temporary inflatable structure as the museum worked to raise money for a permanent facility across the street. But when Hurricane Sandy struck New York last October, flooding knocked out power to generators, deflating the structure and leaving the shuttle partially exposed to the elements, with minor damage to its tail. Couldn't New York treat their orbiter better, some wondered?

The new Space Shuttle Pavilion on the Intrepid flight deck should ease those concerns. The structure formally opened on July 10 with much less pomp and circumstance than its Florida counterpart: rather than the NASA administrator, the event featured the director of education for NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, as well as museum officials and a city councilman. But the exhibit itself features plenty of substance.

Gone is the original inflatable structure, replaced with a more solid, windowless structure on the aft portion of the flight deck; at the very least, it looks far sturdier and better able to handle the elements. Upon entering, visitors have an opportunity to have their picture taken with one of the more iconic images of Enterprise's arrival in New York as the backdrop: the shuttle and its 747 carrier aircraft flying over Manhattan. Visitors then pass through a short corridor playing audio transmissions from Enterprise's approach and landing tests from the 1970s.

Then it's on to Enteprise itself. The shuttle is displayed at a slight angle to the horizontal, as if it was in the process of landing: the nose gear is just off the ground, with the orbiter's weight there instead supported by struts. Visitors can, like Endeavour, walk underneath Enterprise, as well as see it nose-to-nose from a viewing platform immediately in front of the orbiter.

There are other artifacts on display in the pavilion, such as instrument panels from the flight deck of Enterprise and small-scale models of the shuttle used for early wind tunnel tests. Those artifacts include a major non-shuttle item: a Soyuz descent capsule purchased by space tourist Greg Olsen and donated to the museum; the small size of the capsule stands in stark contrast to the orbiter overhead. There's also a short film about the Space Age and the development of the shuttle, narrated by actor Leonard Nimoy.

The exhibit—which required a separate ticket in addition to general museum admission, bringing the total cost for an adult to $31—certainly has a greater degree of permanence that the earlier one. Inside, you can quickly forget you're on the deck of an aircraft carrier, thanks to the opaque walls (and, fortunately on a hot, humid day, the air conditioning.) The museum still has plans for a permanent facility off the ship for Enterprise, but has announced no specific schedule for building it. It's likely this pavilion will be Enterprise's home for at least several years. If so, it should be in good hands.

One element of the overall Enterprise exhibit is, perhaps unintentionally, a little bittersweet. Several displays show ads, letters, and other items from the late 1970s, when Enterprise was going through its tests and the Space Shuttle program overall had the promise of making space access more routine. One 1977 ad from a company involved in the program showed a young man and woman looking at a scale model of a shuttle. "In the years to come Bill and Linda may fly in a real Space Shuttle… and Armco materials will go along," claims the ad's headline. Later, the ad copy states, "Well before the century ends, thousands of men and women will have shared these vehicles' tasks in the sky… In short, the Shuttle will make space flight pay off."

The Space Shuttle, of course, fell short of those lofty hopes and dreams. Bill and Linda probably didn't fly in a shuttle, unless they defied the long odds of becoming astronauts, and thousands of people have yet to fly in space. That's a message worth remembering as the shuttles are in their public retirement. It should not, though, detract from the achievements they did accomplish in their 30 years of flights. Perhaps both those achievements and those dreams left unfulfilled, embodied in the four orbiters on display, can inspire a new generation of engineers, scientists, and explorers to turn those visions of the future into reality.

Jeff Foust (jeff@thespacereview.com) is the editor and publisher of The Space Review. He also operates the Spacetoday.net web site and the Space Politics and NewSpace Journal weblogs. Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author alone, and do not represent the official positions of any organization or company, including the Futron Corporation, the author's employer.

NASA Tweets The Saddest Tweet Of The Year

By Jesus Diaz

Gizmodo, July 23, 2013

NASA Kennedy Space Center just posted a photograph of their—now dead—main countdown clock with the following text:"We can't wait to use this again." I imagine all their employees looking at it every day and tearing up. I know I would. If that's not sad, I don't know what is.

The last launch was the space shuttle Atlantis, on July 8, 2011. It's OK, NASA. The countdowns will resume soon. Until then, we can watch this again and again.

NASA Underreported Costs Of 2011 Conference By Almost 70 Percent

By Ryan McDermott

Fierce Government, July 23, 2013

NASA underreported estimated costs for a 2011 "IT Summit" conference by $700,000, which upped the total cost by almost 70 percent, a July 18 NASA inspector general report (.pdf) says.

NASA estimated the conference would cost $1,176,307, and reported the actual cost at $1,291,889, but the IG said actual costs totaled almost $2 million.

The IG finds that NASA did not include in its accounting $548,209 charged by contractors who attended the event and billed NASA for their attendance and travel costs, as well as $128,439 in miscellaneous expenses.

Including those expenses raises the total cost of the conference to $1.97 million, which is 52 percent more than the amount reported and 67 percent more than the original cost estimate.

NASA conference planners told auditors that 606 contractors and 489 civil servants attended the event.

There were also 12 conference planning trips that were not included in both the planned and reported costs.

The trips totaled $63,844, and included one scouting trip and several other trips to San Francisco; Washington, D.C. and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Given the availability of telephone and video conferencing, taking 12 trips to plan the conference was excessive, the report says.

NASA also didn't include in its reported costs for the 2011 IT Summit $62,589 in costs associated with the exhibit hall and for the 22 office of the chief information officer working group meetings that followed the formal conference, the report says.

Auditors note that costs by definition should include all direct, as well as indirect, conference costs paid by the government.

Is NASA Lost In Space?

By Craig Patrick

WTVT-TV Tampa (FL), July 22, 2013

This month, NASA marks its 55th anniversary. As our agency celebrates its achievements, it is also drawing strong criticism. A panel of scientists, including astronaut Bob Crippen, previously criticized NASA for lacking a clear mission and goals.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma U.S. Senator Tom Coburn has accused several NASA projects of wasting our money. He specifically cited a $947,000 food-testing project in Hawaii. It used a six-member team to cook and test recipes we could one day use on Mars.

A government audit showed NASA is spending more than $700,000 a year on an outdated database managers rarely use. And Coburn cited a video game project that NASA is committing $1.5-million to developing.

We asked a NASA spokesman for an interview since February. He cancelled our first scheduled interview, and after repeated attempts to schedule another, we never heard back. But scientists at MOSI in Tampa strongly defended NASA.

"To criticize them after all they've done just seems a little unfair," said MOSI's planetarium manager, Timothy Hill. He defended the video game and food projects. "NASA should definitely capitalize on that to get young people interested in traveling in space...We do know one day people, will travel to Mars."

"You kind of have to look at it in the big picture of things," offered Anthony Pelaez, MOSI's director of education. "I think NASA could probably do a better job in terms of being able to communicate everything that it does."

NASA administrators have said they do have big plans and goals. The agency is letting private companies focus on low-earth orbit, so NASA can target future missions in deep space. NASA is currently developing a capsule that could fly to the moon or an asteroid, and a super-rocket that could get it there.

HUMAN EXPLORATION AND OPERATIONS

NASA Wants Spacesuit Repair Kit On Russian Launch

By Marcia Dunn

Associated Press, July 23, 2013

NASA is rushing to get spacesuit repair tools on a launch to the International Space Station this weekend.

Last week, an Italian astronaut almost drowned in his flooded helmet while performing a spacewalk.

NASA is still uncertain why water leaked into the helmet worn by Luca Parmitano last Tuesday. But if spare parts are on board, then these repair tools will be useful in swapping out the bad pieces.

The Russian supply ship is set to blast off Saturday from Kazakhstan

The spacesuit trouble is thought to be somewhere in the cooling system. The tools could be used on a variety of parts, including a water relief valve that is part of the cooling system.

Parmitano, meanwhile, is doing fine.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

NASA Rushes Tools To Russian Spaceship After Helmet Leak

RIA Novosti (RUS), July 23, 2013

NASA is hurrying to get spare spacesuit parts aboard a Russian supply ship bound for the International Space Station (ISS) after about a quart (1 liter) of water poured into the helmet and suit of an Italian astronaut during a spacewalk last week, The Associated Press (AP) reported Monday.

The cargo ship is set to launch from Kazakhstan on Saturday, and NASA is trying to get the spare parts aboard the spacecraft to help the ISS crew fix whatever led to the malfunction that could have drowned Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano during the July 16 spacewalk.

NASA has said it remains unsure exactly what led to the to the water pouring into Parmitano's helmet, drenching his nose and mouth and prompting Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to decide to abruptly end the planned six-hour spacewalk, even though "the water was not an immediate health hazard" for the astronaut.

The US space agency believes the spacesuit's problem may lie in the cooling system, and the spare parts NASA is rushing to the Russian supply ship could be used to repair a water relief valve in the cooling system as well as other areas, the AP reported.

The aborted spacewalk was the second shortest in ISS history. The record for the shortest ISS spacewalk belongs to US astronaut Mike Fincke, who in 2004 was outside the space station for just 14 minutes when a pressure sensor problem was detected in his Russian spacesuit.

Parmitano, a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, and US flight engineer Chris Cassidy were supposed to prepare for the arrival of the new Russian lab by replacing, relocating and reconfiguring video and electronic equipment aboard the ISS.

None of the tasks that Cassidy and Parmitano were scheduled to do during the spacewalk were urgent or vital to the safety of the crew on board the ISS, NASA said last week.

Dan Ciccateri, Chief Systems Engineer, Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Space Systems

By Irene Klotz

Space News, July 23, 2013

Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Space Systems division may be the underdog in the NASA-backed initiative to develop a privately run crew taxi service to the international space station, but the Colorado-based firm is confident its Dream Chaser spaceship can meet the agency's 2017 deadline.

Unlike the Dragon and CST-100 capsules being developed by Commercial Crew contenders Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Boeing, Sierra Nevada favors a winged craft that would launch on an Atlas 5 rocket and land like an airplane on a runway — just about any runway if necessary.

After 25 years of working on the space shuttle program, Dan Ciccateri joined Sierra Nevada in October to serve as the company's chief systems engineer for the Dream Chaser program, a job that has him divided between development work in Colorado and planning an operations base in Florida. He recently spoke with SpaceNews correspondent Irene Klotz about what lies ahead for Dream Chaser.

What do you think the advantage of Dream Chaser is over the Dragon and the CST-100?

The immediate, highest advantage of a runway landing is just the load at landing. We are a very low-g land, like an airplane. The other crafts with airbags and in the sea and everything else will necessarily have a higher shock load to both cargo and crew. You can put in seats and systems to cushion the force but the more you put in, the more you're adding mass, and the more you're adding mass the less you're taking up to orbit. Ours, because it's a lift body, we can come in and just glide and touch. So the No. 1 advantage is that capability, and, of course, cross-range.

When you come in and you're ballistic and you commit, you're going in. We can go around. We can go halfway around. We can come in somewhere else where the weather is clear. We can land on a commercial runway, so we have a lot of options.

Can Dream Chaser land autonomously?

Our baseline is that we're piloted. We intend to have a crew, but we will have auto-land capability.

Can it fly autonomously?

Yes. Our first orbital flight will be autonomous.

So it will be kind of like the military's X-37B?

Yes — with a bunch of seats.

Where would you actually turn the ships around between flights?

There are a number of facilities at the Cape that we're looking at to support both the vehicle and our systems. We have tile. We need propellant servicing. We have not committed, so anything that's not currently already occupied by another company we're looking at.

Boeing has announced they have a space shuttle Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) bay for the CST-100. The other two shuttle OPF bays were claimed by a third party that has not been announced by the government, but they were working that. We're looking at all options.

We will have crew flight from the Cape, we have a test flight prior to that and a pathfinder before that, so all of our facilities have to be designated, all of our ground support equipment validated to meet those launch dates. That's currently being negotiated with the NASA Commercial Crew office and our program. Then we'll make an announcement about specific facilities.

Do you feel like you're at a disadvantage when it comes to competing with Boeing and SpaceX for the next round of NASA's Commercial Crew Program because you didn't get as much funding during the current phase?

In some aspects. Had we gotten a full check then we certainly could have done much more in the time frame. Technically, I guess NASA considered it a half of an award based on how they did the split. I think the agency has been very good in working with us and being flexible in establishing its milestones, but from a time line we certainly could have accelerated our development had we been given the added funding.

So yeah, half the money doesn't get you there at the same speed. But there are other pieces that play in. We are picking up some technologies from other areas and we are doing some technology development, as are the other teams.

Based on when SpaceX and Boeing have said they'd be ready to fly, Sierra Nevada is about a year behind. Is that right?

Yes, but I think we bring some value in variety and capability that's unique, but it's not unproven. So that's the other side of it. What we're offering has already been demonstrated. It's just a matter of providing that in a smaller package and in a commercial environment.

Is there any indication that if NASA didn't fund Dream Chaser in its next round of Commercial Crew, Sierra Nevada would end development?

That isn't our position currently. Our position is that the corporation is behind us. We believe we have a solid commercial base for this, based on customers that they have been talking to. Much like the initial half-award, if we don't get the full funding, it certainly will take us longer to get to that point in time, but there's no expectation to fold up shop and call it quits based on what NASA does or does not get for funding on its next round.

How much funding do you need to get to the 2017 date?

Right now, we're on track to complete our contractual obligations with our current funding. Of course, whatever else can come our way can certainly accelerate our capabilities and/or schedule. So given our current funding profile, we've laid out our program to achieve those minimum thresholds to get to that point of certification.

That gets us up for the next phase, which is a new proposal and that comes with a completely different funding profile.

Do you see any potential commercial customers for Dream Chaser?

We actually have an entire team working that and they have a significant number of third-party companies that are interested in personnel transports and experiments. I don't have any specifics on the mission objectives and the cargo and the timing.

Right now the only destination we really have is station, but there are a number of potential folks out there who are laying out their piece that need the enabling components, which is launch and transport.

Have you guys talked with Bigelow Aerospace?

I haven't been engaged in that. I am ground and mission systems.

Can Dream Chaser launch on a Falcon rocket?

We are very flexible. Right now our baseline launcher is Atlas, but our vehicle is also evolvable. When you look at the suite of available launch vehicles, there are only so many that can lift so much. When you get to a Falcon 9, or a NASA heavy-lift launch vehicle, well now you can put something else on top, you've got the flexibility to evolve.

We believe our design is much more extensible than perhaps a capsule, because if you just have a big capsule and you're landing ballistic you've got a big bottom side and it's coming in hot, there are certain limitations with the thermal protection system, the heat dispersion. We're small today, but we know you can land a lift-body that's as big as the space shuttle. I think we're less constrained from a growth perspective than some of our industry partners.

How has the development of the Dream Chaser rocket motor been going?

We continue to make progress on our hybrid rocket motors. Virgin Galactic, which also uses one of our Sierra Nevada-produced motors, had an outstanding flight in April and we've had some successful ground tests on our variant that will be used on the Dream Chaser.

What's the status of your test program at NASA Dryden in California?

They're out there right now. We have a whole series of ground tests with an engineering test article that we have to complete. Toward the end of the summer we'll be doing the vehicle drop. We're all looking forward to that.

Students Learn About Math, Science During NASA's Summer Of Innovation Program

Orlando (FL) Sentinel, July 23, 2013

Science and math can be tough for young people, but a summer program aimed to make those subjects more accessible and fun — and brighten students' horizons.

Kadrin James, 8, looks through a makeshift telescope during NASA's Summer of Innovation program. The program, through First Baptist Church of Leesburg's The Genesis Center, highlighted science, technology, engineering and mathematics — or STEM — opportunities for youngsters.

"It was a great success," said Pastor Ken Scrubbs, director of The Genesis Center after-school program, which joined forces with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lake and Sumter. "They learned a great deal."

The program included activities such as one, left, in which a student assembles a solar-system mobile. Students also got to speak, via webcast, to astronauts at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

 

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