Friday, August 9, 2013

Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - August 9, 2013 and JSC Today



Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: August 9, 2013 6:08:32 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - August 9, 2013 and JSC Today

Happy Friday everyone.  Have a great tax free weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Headlines

  1. Get Ready for Safety & Health Day 2.0.13 - Oct. 10

Does your organization have an idea for a booth on Safety and/or Health 2.0? We're looking for new, innovative and exciting ideas. Get together with your colleagues and see what you can contribute. Contact Rindy Carmichael, our Safety & Health Day Committee exhibit chair, with your concept at dorinda.l.carmichael@nasa.gov or 281-244-5078.

On Oct. 10, we'll formally kick the day off with a guest speaker in the Teague Auditorium at 9 a.m.

Exhibits will be open, and various demonstrations will take place from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Get engaged and be an active participant in Safety & Health Day 2.0.13!

Event Date: Thursday, October 10, 2013   Event Start Time:9:00 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM
Event Location: Teague Auditorium and Mall Areas

Add to Calendar

Joyce Abbey 281-335-2041

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  1. POWER of One Award: Nominate Your Peer Today

The POWER of One award has been a great success, but we still need your nominations. We're looking for standout achievements with specific examples of exceptional and superior performance. Make sure to check out our award criteria to help guide you in writing the short write-up needed for submittal. If chosen, the recipient can choose from a list of JSC experiences and have their name and recognition shared in JSC Today.

Nominations for this quarter close Aug. 15, so nominate someone deserving today!

Click here for complete information on the JSC Awards Program.

Jessica Ocampo 281-792-7804 https://powerofone.jsc.nasa.gov

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  1. NASA@work Monthly Bulletin: August

Check out what's inside this month's bulletin, including our latest challenge owner spotlight (from JSC, Stacey Keener!), voting for your NASA@work award system and the NASA@work "Tip of the Month." And, don't forget to check out our active challenges, including: Communicating with NASA Employees About the Asteroid Grand Challenge (deadline Aug. 14). This challenge will have a winner at each center and one overall winner recognized by Lori Garver, so be sure to submit your ideas for communicating across NASA about the Asteroid Grand Challenge.

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

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

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   Organizations/Social

  1. INCOSE Local Chapter Aug. 15 Program

"My Experience with System Engineering Beyond NASA - a Recent Perspective"

Philip Augustine, a former systems engineer with Jacobs Engineering, will discuss exploring and identifying systems engineering concepts in applications outside of NASA. Augustine recently transitioned from NASA work to the oil and gas industry and will discuss systems engineering technical issues and commonalities. He will share his insights on how non-aerospace-related companies perceive the practice of systems engineering.

The INCOSE Texas Gulf Coast Chapter Program for August is at the Lockheed Martin Orion Conference Center (2625 Bay Area Blvd. in Clear Lake). Networking and refreshments start at 5:30 p.m. Please check our local chapter website for more details and on how to attend remotely using GlobalMeet.com. RSVP to Larry Spratlin via email or leave a message at 281-461-5218.Refreshments are free for INCOSE members and $10 for non-members.

Larry Spratlin 281-461-5218

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  1. Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence, also referred to as domestic violence, impacts people from all walks of life regardless of socioeconomic status, education, age, religion, race or gender. Incidents can occur as soon as a first dating relationship in high school or as late as the senior years of a person's life. The impact to the workplace is enormous, both in terms of stress, the danger to the employee and his/her co-workers and cost of lost work days and productivity. Co-workers often feel helpless about how to help. The reality is that there is much you can do to assist victims of this crime. Please join Takis Bogdanos, MA, LPC-S, CGP, with the JSC Employee Assistance Program on Wednesday, Aug. 14, at 12 noon in the Building 30 Auditorium as he presents a workshop that addresses the common misconceptions about intimate partner violence and offers strategies to assist a co-worker or loved one.

Event Date: Wednesday, August 14, 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. JSC Planning/Scheduling Community of Practice

Please join the JSC Planning/Scheduling Community of Practice in person or virtually for our next meeting.

This month, program analyst and architect of the Joint Confidence Level model of the Orion Program, AM/Mike Stelly, will be introducing the community to "Schedule Risk Analysis and Joint Confidence Level." Please come to learn what schedule analysis is, who's using it and what it can do for you and your PM.

Hope to connect with you in two weeks!

Event Date: Friday, August 23, 2013   Event Start Time:2:00 PM   Event End Time:3:30 PM
Event Location: 1/620 and via telecon/webex

Add to Calendar

Nancy Fleming x4205 https://pmi.jsc.nasa.gov/schedules/SitePages/Home.aspx

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  1. Starport Summer Camp Has Been Extended

Starport Summer Camp has been extended by one session. We will have the final session of camp (Session 11) during the week of Aug. 19 to 23. There will be a limit of 30 kids in this session, so register now to get your spot! Plus there are still a few spots left in session 10, from August 12 to 16. Don't miss out on all the fun activities before summer is over.

    • Ages: 6 to 12
    • Times: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
    • Dates: Now through Aug. 23 in one-week sessions
    • Fee per session: $140 per child for dependents | $160 per child for non-dependents

NEW for this summer -- ask about our sibling discounts.

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

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   Community

  1. Check Out the Perseid Meteor Shower Tomorrow

The George Observatory will be open extended hours tomorrow, Aug. 10, for the Perseid Meteor Shower. Come out and watch the show! For more information about the George Observatory, click here. Note: Park entrance fees apply at $7 per person for everyone over 12 years old.

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

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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 am Central (9 EDT) – "Kounotori" (HTV4) berthing coverage (grappled at 6:22 am CDT)
  • ~8:30 am Central (9:30 EDT) – HTV4 berthing to Harmony nadir port

·         Noon Central (1 pm EDT) – NASA Google+ Hangout: Wildfire and Climate Change

 

Human Spaceflight News

Friday – August 9, 2013

 

"Kounotori" (HTV4) in final position ahead of SSRMS capture by Karen Nyberg (NASA TV screen grab)

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

3D Printer Bound for Space Station Passes Key Test

 

Mike Wall - Space.com

 

A 3D printer has notched an important milestone on the way toward its planned launch to the International Space Station next year. An engineering model of California-based startup Made in Space's 3D printer passed a battery of tests at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirming that the machine can survive the rigors of launch and function in a microgravity environment, company officials announced Wednesday. "This developmental testing was vital to the design of our flight-unit printer. We've engaged in a fast-paced mission starting in early 2013 to produce hardware that NASA would qualify for launch and installation to the ISS in 2014," Michael Snyder, director of research and development at Made in Space, said in a statement.

 

Blue Origin Wary of Sharing Launch Pad with SLS

 

Irene Klotz - Space News

 

NASA's plan to share a space shuttle launch pad being modified for its new heavy-lift rocket with commercial users may have a fatal flaw. "As a commercial customer, you want some assurances that that pad is going to be available in the future and the way the government's budgets are structured, if I have a customer who wants to fly to space in three years and I sign them up, I need to know that I have a launch pad to do that," Rob Meyerson, president of startup Blue Origin, said. "There are no technical issues" with having multiple users of the pad, Meyerson told SpaceNews.  "The issues are more with long-term commitment: Can a commercial customer be certain that access to that pad is going to there for two, three, four, five years out?"

 

Astronauts Evaluate Boeing's Commercial Crew Effort

 

Mark Carreau - Aviation Week

 

Despite potential funding troubles, a new sense of optimism is surrounding NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) to transport crews to and from the International Space Station (ISS) by 2017. A mockup of Boeing's CST-100 entry for the CCP is undergoing internal evaluation by astronauts. The Apollo-shaped capsule has met eight of 19 milestones outlined under Boeing's $460 million NASA Commercial Crew Integrated Capability agreement, as the company aims for a critical design review (CDR) in the spring of 2014 and an unpiloted flight test in 2016. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved $500 million and Senate appropriators $775 million for commercial crew development as part of NASA's 2014 budget. The first figure is well below the Obama administration's $821 million request, a figure NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has characterized as essential to meet the 2017 objective.

 

More Names Emerge for NASA Deputy Administrator

 

Brian Berger – Space News

 

The thing about throwing out names is that it encourages other people -- smarter, better connected people -- to follow suit, even if only privately. And, boy, have they. Followed suit, I mean. Included below are some solid candidates for NASA deputy administrator I shouldn't have overlooked and others I wouldn't have thought of myself. No tongue in cheek here. All top-shelf candidates, two of which could easily replace Charlie Bolden as NASA administrator if he's as sick of Washington as he sometimes lets on.

 

Mathworks Helps Keep Satellites in Line

 

Brian Bailey - EE Times

 

In my EDA and IP roundup a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a program where Matlab and Simulink were being used as part of NASA's Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) project. There was interest in this program, and more information was requested, so here is the next level of detail about the program. The SPHERES in question are three bowling ball-sized satellites that fly around inside the International Space Station. Each satellite is self-contained with power, propulsion, computers, and navigation equipment. They form a series of experiments to gain more insights into satellite servicing, vehicle assembly, and formation flying in space.

 

Astronaut and Notre Dame grad can't avoid the national championship loss to Alabama during Huntsville visit

 

Lee Roop - Huntsville Times

 

Astronaut Kevin Ford, Notre Dame graduate, knew the question was coming when he met reporters in Huntsville Thursday. He'd already joked with NASA employees about Alabama thrashing his alma mater in January's National Championship Game. "I barely remember it," Ford deadpanned when a reporter asked about the game and Ford's pre-game antics in space, which included wearing a Notre Dame T-shirt for a TV appearance. "He said he only watched the first half," a Marshall Space Flight Center employee whispered earlier of Ford's appearance before Marshall workers.

 

Space station delivery capsules now being delivered on Houston mail

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

The space capsules that are used to deliver crew and cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS) are now available for delivery on envelopes and postcards mailed through the Houston post office. Russia's Soyuz piloted spacecraft and SpaceX's Dragon unmanned cargo capsule are featured on two new pictorial postmarks now offered by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in Houston. The black and white designs both include the space station as well. The postmarks, which are not date specific, are intended to commemorate future flights and mission milestones for the Soyuz and Dragon. Houston is home to NASA's ISS Mission Control, from where the orbiting lab is controlled.

 

13 Little Things NASA Did to Get Alan Shepard Ready for Space

Bacon, an early bedtime, and a few tattoos to mark where the electrodes go

 

Alexis Madrigal - The Atlantic

 

I was digging around the NASA archives when I stumbled upon the flight surgeon's report for the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission, otherwise known as the second flight by a human into space, and the first by an American. Alan Shepard was the man chosen by the United States to leave Earth. The astronauts were accompanied by doctors at all times. They were fed a strict diet. Their vitals were measured. They were monitored constantly. But while I've known this in the abstract, it wasn't until reading the surgeon's report that I realized that these flights, from a biomedical perspective, were experiments playing out in the astronauts' bodies. As such, as many variables as possible had to be controlled, while still allowing the pilots to function normally.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

 

 

 

 

 

3D Printer Bound for Space Station Passes Key Test

 

Mike Wall - Space.com

 

A 3D printer has notched an important milestone on the way toward its planned launch to the International Space Station next year.

 

An engineering model of California-based startup Made in Space's 3D printer passed a battery of tests at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirming that the machine can survive the rigors of launch and function in a microgravity environment, company officials announced Wednesday.

 

"This developmental testing was vital to the design of our flight-unit printer. We've engaged in a fast-paced mission starting in early 2013 to produce hardware that NASA would qualify for launch and installation to the ISS in 2014," Michael Snyder, director of research and development at Made in Space, said in a statement. "The fact that we've been able to pass another milestone in an abbreviated time frame is extremely exciting."

 

3D printers use a technique called extrusion additive manufactuing to build objects layer by layer out of composites, polymers, metals and other raw materials. The technology could aid humanity's expansion out into the solar system, NASA officials and other advocates say, by making space travel cheaper and more efficient.

 

Made in Space and NASA Marsall hope to jump-start this vision with their 3D Printing in Zero Gravity experiment (3D Print for short). The project aims to launch the first-ever 3D printer to the space station in August 2014, but the machine must clear some hurdles along the way first.

 

Three prototype versions of Made in Space's printer passed a series of microgravity tests several months ago, showing their stuff during parabolic airplane flights. The recent tests at Marshall, performed with the company's Engineering Test Unit (ETU), ensured that the printer can survive the vibrational stresses of launch and deal with electromagnetic interference, among other issues.

 

Data from these tests will inform the critical design review of the flight unit prototype, a big step toward clearing the machine for launch toward the space station. That review process is slated to begin Aug. 15, Made in Space officials said.

 

"The successful results received from the ETU testing at [Marshall] reinforces our confidence that Made in Space, Inc. has developed the robust design required to successfully print in space," Niki Werkheiser, 3D Print project manager in Marshall's Technology Development and Transfer Office, said in a statement. "We are excited to have successfully completed yet another key step toward meeting the extensive ISS flight certification process."

 

Blue Origin Wary of Sharing Launch Pad with SLS

 

Irene Klotz - Space News

 

NASA's plan to share a space shuttle launch pad being modified for its new heavy-lift rocket with commercial users may have a fatal flaw.

 

"As a commercial customer, you want some assurances that that pad is going to be available in the future and the way the government's budgets are structured, if I have a customer who wants to fly to space in three years and I sign them up, I need to know that I have a launch pad to do that," Rob Meyerson, president of startup Blue Origin, said.

 

"There are no technical issues" with having multiple users of the pad, Meyerson told SpaceNews.  "The issues are more with long-term commitment: Can a commercial customer be certain that access to that pad is going to there for two, three, four, five years out?"

 

Rather than risk partnering with NASA on Launch Complex 39B, the pad being developed for the government-owned and -operated Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket, Blue Origin is proposing that the agency let it take over Launch Complex 39A and turn it into a multiuser complex for its own rockets as well as those built and operated by other companies.

 

One of those other companies, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) submitted an alternative proposal to use pad 39A exclusively for its Falcon 9 and planned Falcon Heavy rockets.

 

Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX already flies from a leased and renovated launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, located just south of the Kennedy Space Center, and expects to fly its first mission from a second launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California next month. It has orders for about 50 launches, including cargo runs for NASA to the international space station, and is competing to supply flight services for station crewmembers as well.

 

Blue Origin, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX, owned by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, responded to a NASA solicitation for commercial users of pad 39A that is part of a wider agency effort to monetize or dispense with facilities and equipment idled after the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011.

 

NASA will keep one launch pad, 39B, under its direct control, but with the SLS flight rate expected to be about once every year or two, the agency is designing the pad to accommodate other users.

 

"The concept that they put in place for pad 39B is really good if you are going to do a multi-user pad," said Frank DiBello, president of the state-backed Space Florida economic development agency. "They've got the mobile, or interchangeable, bases at the bottom of the launch pad so they can change them out. They've got flexibility built into the design so you can have your umbilicals in there, but (companies) are not likely to be able to operate that without some NASA oversight because it is an SLS pad." 

 

Space Florida, which did not respond to the NASA solicitation for 39A, is looking into developing a commercial launch site north of the space shuttle launch pads in an area known as Shiloh.

 

Both SpaceX and Blue Origin say they are ready to take over operation and maintenance of Launch Complex 39A on Oct. 1. Meyerson said Blue Origin could have the pad ready to support commercial users in 2015 and plans to fly its own rockets by 2018.

 

SpaceX would "want to start using it real fast," said Garrett Reisman, who oversees the company's commercial crew efforts.

 

Though NASA has yet to announce which, if any, of the proposals it will select for 39A, the issue already has drawn fire from U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees NASA funding, about the possibility of an exclusive-use agreement.

 

"We were not trying to take sides," DiBello told SpaceNews. "I am saying to let Kennedy Space Center do its job because I suspect they've got a rationale, they've got criteria and they are going to make a decision that is good for the agency. You have to believe that or all this is for naught."

 

Astronauts Evaluate Boeing's Commercial Crew Effort

 

Mark Carreau - Aviation Week

 

Despite potential funding troubles, a new sense of optimism is surrounding NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) to transport crews to and from the International Space Station (ISS) by 2017.

 

A mockup of Boeing's CST-100 entry for the CCP is undergoing internal evaluation by astronauts. The Apollo-shaped capsule has met eight of 19 milestones outlined under Boeing's $460 million NASA Commercial Crew Integrated Capability agreement, as the company aims for a critical design review (CDR) in the spring of 2014 and an unpiloted flight test in 2016. In parallel, Boeing is working under a $10 million, first-phase contract to certify the spacecraft's safety and performance for a piloted demonstration mission to the ISS in 2017.

 

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee approved $500 million and Senate appropriators $775 million for commercial crew development as part of NASA's 2014 budget. The first figure is well below the Obama administration's $821 million request, a figure NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has characterized as essential to meet the 2017 objective. Nonetheless, agency and company managers believe legislators are losing their skepticism over a program that has so far committed $1.4 billion to funding competing vehicle designs from SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, Boeing and others.

 

"We have a program, and it is executing," said Kathy Lueders, NASA's deputy CCP manager. "I think Congress can recognize that and fund it appropriately."

 

"It's still a draft," echoed John Mulholland, Boeing program manager for commercial programs, speaking about the House and Senate spending bills. "I think they will come up with a number that NASA can use."

 

The two CCP officials spoke July 22 as a second round of internal capsule evaluations by astronauts got underway, the first in a new, full-sized mockup of the CST-100, which is designed to carry up to seven astronauts or combinations of crew and cargo to the ISS. Boeing unveiled the mockup at the company's Houston Products Support Center.

 

"It's an American vehicle, it's an upgrade," said NASA astronaut Serena Aunon, following her favorable evaluation of the seating, instrument panel, lighting and other internal features while dressed in a bulky space shuttle Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES). Without a U.S. alternative, Aunon and her U.S., Canadian, European and Japanese colleagues are stuck with Russia's three-person Soyuz as the only means of transportation to the ISS following the shuttle's 2011 retirement.

 

The evaluations collected this week could lead to modifications that would undergo a final round of astronaut assessments prior to the CDR, said Chris Ferguson, Boeing's director of crew and mission operations and a former shuttle commander.

 

Boeing has leaned hard on a half-century of prior spaceflight experience and borrowed from its success with commercial airliner production to tame CST-100's development costs. The capsule's outer mold line, for instance, closely resembles that of Boeing's losing design in the competition with Lockheed Martin for NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle.

 

"There's not a whole lot of new technology," Ferguson said. "A lot of it is state-of-the-art, a lot of it is off-the-shelf."

 

While the CST-100 control panel layout is considered proprietary, pilot astronauts will board with electronic flight bags—tablet computers that serve as electronic instrument management devices, eliminating the paper-based reference materials of the space-shuttle era. Any switches, or knobs, serve a backup control function, Ferguson said.

 

The soft blue tones of internal illumination come from the Boeing Sky Interior light-emitting diode scheme introduced on later models of the 737.

 

While Boeing is comfortable with the ACES as a flight pressure suit for crewmembers, the company has agreed to listen to competing proposals before selecting a vendor.

 

Boeing is working toward the "rent-a-car" rather than the "taxi" model for commercial crew operations, meaning that NASA personnel—rather than company astronauts—would fly the CST-100. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V with a dual-engine Centaur upper stage will propel astronauts into orbit from Cape Canaveral on initial missions, though Boeing's design will accommodate other launch vehicles that demonstrate equal reliability, according to Mulholland.

 

Flight crews will likely spend about 2.5 hr. in the Boeing spacecraft prior to liftoff, comparable to shuttle operations. Boeing is planning a Flight Day One rendezvous and docking capability with the space station, rather than the shuttle's Day Three berthing. Russia introduced a Day One, four-orbit, rendezvous-and-docking profile earlier this year.

 

Boeing's customer base could expand to wealthy space tourists working through Space Adventures Ltd., or Bigelow Aerospace, which is developing a line of inflatable space stations for industrial and foreign government users.

 

Additionally, NASA may want to consider CST-100 "sortie missions" that would dispatch teams of astronauts to the ISS, trained for compressed spacewalk campaigns that would lift the external repair and maintenance burden from long-duration crews focused primarily on research, Ferguson suggested.

 

More Names Emerge for NASA Deputy Administrator

 

Brian Berger – Space News

 

The thing about throwing out names is that it encourages other people -- smarter, better connected people -- to follow suit, even if only privately.

 

And, boy, have they. Followed suit, I mean.

 

Included below are some solid candidates for NASA deputy administrator I shouldn't have overlooked and others I wouldn't have thought of myself. No tongue in cheek here. All top-shelf candidates, two of which could easily replace Charlie Bolden as NASA administrator if he's as sick of Washington as he sometimes lets on.

 

Pam Melroy

A much better pick than fellow astronaut Eileen Collins, who I'm told hasn't shown much interest in wading into space policy matters more controversial than the promotion of STEM education.

 

Melroy, the second woman to command a space shuttle mission, joined the U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Agency's Tactical Technology Office in January as deputy director. So she's still in Washington and hasn't given up on public service. Background check should be a breeze.

 

While still at NASA, she flew three missions and was deeply involved in the agency's internal post-Columbia accident investigation and recovery efforts before finishing her five-year duty tour in 2009 as branch chief for the Orion branch of the Astronaut Office. From there she did a two-year stint at Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems as deputy program manager for space exploration initiatives.

 

Even better, Melroy spent the better part of the past two years at the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation as acting deputy associate administrator and director of field operations, working closely with the very companies NASA is counting on to transport astronauts to and from the U.S. space station.

 

Bottom line: Fantastic candidate. If Bolden decides to follow NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver out the door in September, the White House could do worse than give Melroy a serious look for the top job.

 

Patti Grace Smith

A former longtime head of the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation and current member of the NASA Advisory Council, consultant Patti Grace Smith is another strong candidate for the job. She knows the territory inside and out, supported President Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign and 2012 reelection, earning a presidential appointment last year to the National Air and Space Museum's advisory board.

 

Bottom line: Another top tier candidate for replacing Garver or Bolden, should he chose to go.

 

Dave Radzanowski

Currently NASA's chief of staff, so he knows the lay of the land and presumably has Bolden's trust. Deputy administrator would be a good promotion for the former White House Office of Management and Budget science and space programs branch chief. The White House, however,  might want to use this very capable budget wonk to fill the vacancy that will be left by NASA Chief Financial Officer Beth Robinson when she takes the Department of Energy's No. 3 job once her nomination clears the Senate.

 

Bottom line: A solid deputy administrator pick, although one who is not as accustomed as Garver to the public limelight. 

 

Ann Zulkosky

The former marine biologist is the top Democratic aide on the Senate Commerce, Transportation and Science Committee, where she served as Sen. Bill Nelson's point person for the 2010 NASA Authorization Act, the piece of legislation that directed NASA to build the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and morph Orion into a primarily deep-space vehicle.  If Obama were to nominate her, she'd sail through the confirmation process since Senate Commerce would have jurisdiction.

 

Bottom line: Her Senate credentials should make for an easy confirmation but she lacks Garver's passion for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

 

Richard DalBello

I already mentioned this veteran Washington hand in a previous post, but his name bears repeating, especially when you stop and consider the second-term possibilities presented by candidates like Melroy and Smith.

 

Final Thought: If Bolden decides he's ready to return to Houston, NASA would be in good hands with either Smith or Melroy at the top. DalBello, Radzanowski and Zulkosky would all make good deputies.

 

Mathworks Helps Keep Satellites in Line

 

Brian Bailey - EE Times

 

In my EDA and IP roundup a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a program where Matlab and Simulink were being used as part of NASA's Synchronized Position Hold Engage and Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) project. There was interest in this program, and more information was requested, so here is the next level of detail about the program.

 

The SPHERES in question are three bowling ball-sized satellites that fly around inside the International Space Station. Each satellite is self-contained with power, propulsion, computers, and navigation equipment. They form a series of experiments to gain more insights into satellite servicing, vehicle assembly, and formation flying in space.

 

SPHERES can test algorithms related to relative attitude control and station-keeping between satellites, re-targeting and image plane filling maneuvers, collision avoidance, and fuel-balancing algorithms, as well as an array of geometry estimators used in various missions. They are doing this in the space station because it presents a controlled environment within a microgravity that resembles the real but idealized conditions under which they would normally operate.

 

Rather than being spheres, these satellites are 18-sided polyhedrons that are 20 centimeters in diameter and weight 3.5 kilograms. They have a carbon dioxide propulsion system, which is expelled through thrusters, and they are powered by AA batteries.

 

The plan is that information learned from these experiments will lead to simpler autonomous docking, allowing for easier servicing, re-supplying, reconfiguring, and upgrading of space systems. The algorithms would eliminate complicated maneuvers that require ground teams to coordinate and execute. Secondly, this formation flight technology could lead to the creation of telescopes and interferometers based on separated spacecraft. It could also lead to autonomous spacecraft, a bit like drones in the earth's atmosphere, which could, with the right coordination and programming, perform tasks too complicated or too expensive for larger spacecraft to execute.

 

The program was started in 2000, with the first SPHERE delivered to NASA in 2003. Flights aboard the Space Station started in 2006. Early flights were used to ensure basic operation of an individual satellite and to develop the on-board navigation system. An extended Kalman filter is used to combine data from ultrasound receivers and gyroscopes into an accurate estimate of position and attitude. The final integrated tests of these algorithms culminated in the successful demonstration of docking to fixed and tumbling targets, a space first in the case of a tumbling target.

 

Today, they are testing with three satellites, perfecting things such as enabling the satellites to find each other if they start off being lost in space. The satellites use on-board sensors with a limited field-of-view to locate each other. Once they have found each other, they can start to fly in formation in order to cooperate on tasks. Part of this involves algorithms for collision avoidance, even under the influence of failures, and helping the satellites scatter to safe distances when necessary.

 

So, how is Matlab being used?

 

First, Matlab and Simulink are being used to test algorithms used for relative attitude control and station-keeping between satellites, retargeting and image plane filling maneuvers, collision avoidance, and fuel-balancing. Second, Matlab is being used to help render real-time, three-dimensional animation of the satellites during the experiments, allowing on-ground researchers to better visualize the experiments and view it from any angle. Until now, the only visualization available was a video from a fixed location.

 

If you are interested in this program, MIT has an opening for a post doctoral associate researcher.

 

Autonomous systems are definitely on the increase, and I wonder if they are building Asimov's laws of robotics into them. It would seem as if they are working on Asimov's third law: that a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second laws.

 

Astronaut and Notre Dame grad can't avoid the national championship loss to Alabama during Huntsville visit

 

Lee Roop - Huntsville Times

 

Astronaut Kevin Ford, Notre Dame graduate, knew the question was coming when he met reporters in Huntsville Thursday. He'd already joked with NASA employees about Alabama thrashing his alma mater in January's National Championship Game.

 

"I barely remember it," Ford deadpanned when a reporter asked about the game and Ford's pre-game antics in space, which included wearing a Notre Dame T-shirt for a TV appearance.

 

"He said he only watched the first half," a Marshall Space Flight Center employee whispered earlier of Ford's appearance before Marshall workers.

 

"It was fun to be up there" during the lead-up to the championship, Ford said. He was in daily contact with Marshall, which manages science experiments on the station, and Ford made sure to note that he played the Alabama fight song for Huntsville ground controllers on game day in the spirit of good sportsmanship. But Ford was clearly seeing his team from too far away to have a clear view.

 

"Obviously the defense is very special, and the offense is just really clicking," Ford said in an interview before kickoff.

 

Notre Dame lost 42-14.

 

Ford visited Marshall to reinstate a tradition of crew members hanging mission patches in the center's Payload Operations Center, where controllers talk through science issues with the space station crew 24/7, 365 days a year. He's the first astronaut to visit the newly renovated ops center, and Ford said he was glad to get the tradition restarted.

 

Ford said there are 220 science experiments under way on the station today. "It's a great piece of equipment," he said of the orbiting laboratory, "and it's setting new records for utilization."

 

One of Ford's experiments involved using live fish in orbit to study cells involved in bone cell regeneration. The same kind of cells are thought to be linked for the loss of bone density astronauts experience in space, and the experiment sought clues to that condition and osteoporosis on Earth.

 

Space station delivery capsules now being delivered on Houston mail

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

The space capsules that are used to deliver crew and cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS) are now available for delivery on envelopes and postcards mailed through the Houston post office.

 

Russia's Soyuz piloted spacecraft and SpaceX's Dragon unmanned cargo capsule are featured on two new pictorial postmarks now offered by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in Houston. The black and white designs both include the space station as well.

 

The postmarks, which are not date specific, are intended to commemorate future flights and mission milestones for the Soyuz and Dragon. Houston is home to NASA's ISS Mission Control, from where the orbiting lab is controlled.

 

"As a community service, the [U.S.] Postal Service offers pictorial postmarks to commemorate events celebrated in communities throughout the nation," the USPS describes on its website.

 

The "ISS Dragon Space Station Postmark" features the gumdrop-shaped capsule nearing the orbital complex. The words "ISS Mission Control Station" are inscribed above the rectangular design, with "Houston, TX 77201" below.

The "ISS Soyuz Houston Postmark" is similar in design, with the Russian three-seater spacecraft illustrated in the lower right corner as opposed to the Dragon on the left.

Both postmarks were designed by space artist Detlev van Ravanswaay of Duisberg, Germany.

 

It is popular among stamp collectors to have envelopes stamped and postmarked to commemorate the dates of significant or historic events. Referred to as "covers," the postal cancellations serve as a record of when and where the event occurred.

 

For events that occur in space, it is common for collectors to have their covers postmarked at postal stations located near where the mission was launched or, as in the case of Houston, where it was managed by flight controllers.

 

NASA's Mission Control oversees the station, while flight control centers in California and outside of Moscow direct the Dragon and Soyuz, respectively.

 

Collectors and space fans desiring the Dragon or Soyuz postmarks can mail their stamped envelopes or postcards to:

 

ISS Dragon Space Station Postmark, or

ISS Soyuz Houston Postmark

USPS GPO

401 Franklin Street

Houston, Texas 77201-9718

 

Both postmarks include interchangeable dates, such that requests can be made for any event date beginning Aug. 8, 2013 and going forward. Requests must be received in Houston however, within 30 days of the requested date.

 

The USPS advises on its website that those desiring the use of one of the postmarks should "affix stamps to any envelope or postcard of their choice, address the envelope or postcard to themselves or others, insert a card of postcard thickness in envelopes for sturdiness, and tuck in the flap."

 

"Place the envelope or postcard in a larger envelope and address it to [the station's address]," the USPS writes.

 

Collectors can also send stamped envelopes or postcards without address, so "long as they supply a larger envelope with adequate postage and their return address," states the postal service. "After applying the pictorial postmark, the U.S. Postal Service returns the items (with or without addresses) under addressed protective cover."

 

SpaceX is one of two companies NASA has contracted to deliver cargo to the space station. The company's Dragon capsule is currently the only vehicle able of returning large amounts of experiment results and hardware to Earth.

 

SpaceX is slated to launch its next Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla. in December, on what will be the company's third commercial resupply mission to the space station.

 

Russia's next Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 25 with three new crew members for the station's 37th expedition. NASA is relying on the Soyuz to fly its astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost until U.S. commercial spacecraft are ready to begin crewed launch services in 2017.

 

13 Little Things NASA Did to Get Alan Shepard Ready for Space

Bacon, an early bedtime, and a few tattoos to mark where the electrodes go

 

Alexis Madrigal - The Atlantic

 

I was digging around the NASA archives when I stumbled upon the flight surgeon's report for the Mercury-Redstone 3 mission, otherwise known as the second flight by a human into space, and the first by an American. Alan Shepard was the man chosen by the United States to leave Earth.

 

The astronauts were accompanied by doctors at all times. They were fed a strict diet. Their vitals were measured. They were monitored constantly.

 

But while I've known this in the abstract, it wasn't until reading the surgeon's report that I realized that these flights, from a biomedical perspective, were experiments playing out in the astronauts' bodies. As such, as many variables as possible had to be controlled, while still allowing the pilots to function normally.

 

Here are 13 tidbits I extracted from William K. Douglas' report detailing the pre-flight ritual.

 

1.     For the three days before the flight, the pilot lived in the Crew Quarters of Hangar "S" at Cape Canaveral: "Here he is provided with a comfortable bed, pleasant surroundings, television, radio, reading materials and, above all, privacy. In addition to protection from the curious-minded public, the establishment of the pilot and the backup pilot in the Crew Quarters also provides a modicum of isolation from carriers of infectious disease organisms."

 

2.     The pilot ate "in a special feeding facility" with a personal chef, "whose sole duty during this period is to prepare these meals."

 

3.     The menu was specially prepared by "Miss Beatrice Finklestein of the Aerospace Medical Laboratory, Aeronautical Systems Division, U.S. Air Force Systems Command. The diet is tasty and palatable." Perhaps, but also boring. Here's a sample, including BACON:

 

 

4.     The chef prepared identical meals at each feeding. One was given to the pilot. Several were given to other people "so that an epidemiological study can be facilitated if necessary." And one extra serving was kept in a refrigerator for 24 hours "so that it will be available for study in the event that the pilot develops a gastrointestinal illness during this period or subsequently."

 

5.     NASA asked the pilots to go to bed early, but did not require it, or give them chill pills. "On the evening before the flight, the pilot is encouraged to retire at an early hour, but he is not required to do so. The pilot of MR-3 spacecraft retired at 10:15 p.m. e.s.t."

 

6.     Neither Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom, the first two Americans in space, dreamed on the night before their trips. "Their sleep was sound, and insofar as they could remember, was dreamless."

 

7.     Grissom, who flew after Shepard, got to wake up 65 minutes later. That's because they optimized the routine by allowing him to "shave and bathe before retiring instead of after awakening in the morning." (I feel like I used that trick in middle school.)

 

8.     BRUTAL: "No coffee was permitted during the 24-hour period preceding the flight because of its tendency to inhibit sleep. No coffee was permitted for breakfast on launch morning because of its diuretic properties."

 

9.     What were the astronauts wearing right before they put on their spacesuits? "After breakfast, the pilots donned bathrobes." Where are those pictures, NASA?

 

10.  Even the flight surgeon had a little bit of a man crush on the astronauts: "The physiological bradycardia (pulse rate 60 to 70) and normotensive (blood pressure 110/70) state both give some indication of the calm reserved air of confidence which typifies both of these pilots." I bet they smelled good, too.

 

11.  The Mercury astronauts had their electrode attachment locations tattooed onto their bodies! "The sensor locations have been previously marked on all Mercury pilots by the use of a tiny (about 2 millimeters in diameter) tattooed dot at each of the four electrode sites."

 

12.  As Shepard was strapped in, the flight surgeon hung around the capsule, in part to get "some indication of the pilot's emotional state at the last possible opportunity."

 

13.  Once back from space and in the debriefing facility, the astronauts were examined by (in order) a flight surgeon, a surgeon, an internist, an ophthalmologist, a neurologist, and a psychiatrist. All the checkups had a dual purpose: to check up on the health of the astronaut and collect data on what the (possible) effects of space flight might be on the human body.

 

END

 

 

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