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

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: September 9, 2013 5:58:51 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - September 9, 2013 and JSC Today

 

 

 

 

Monday, September 9, 2013

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JSC TODAY CATEGORIES Headlines -  Expedition 36 Crew Landing Sept. 10 -  Bring Your Own Device Sessions Today & Tomorrow -  Join Us for a JSC Innovation 2013 Mini-Event -  NASA's New 'Sniffer Bot' Sniffs Out Leaks Organizations/Social -  Johnson Space Center Astronomy Society Meeting -  JSC Contractor Safety & Health Forum - Sept. 10 -  Sept. 11 - Learn About UHCL's Liberty Bell Project -  JSC Weight Watchers at Work Meeting Today -  JSC Toastmasters Club Meets Wednesday Nights -  Presentation on EMC/EMI in Biomedical Engineering Jobs and Training -  Project Call for Spring 2014 Interns -  Escape your Silo: Immunology Tour -  Early Underwater Neutral Buoyancy for EVA Part 2 -  Financial Wellness: Evening Classes & Webinars -  Job Opportunities -  Lockout/Tagout: Sept. 24, 8 a.m. - B20/R205/206 -  Basic Explosives Safety: Sept. 25-26, B20/R116 -  Hand and Power Tools ViTS: Sept. 27

Asteroid Zips By Orion Nebula

 

Headlines Expedition 36 Crew Landing Sept. 10 Three of the crew members on the International Space Station are scheduled to end five months on the complex on the evening of Sept. 10. NASA TV will provide complete coverage beginning today with the change-of-command ceremony, in which Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov will turn over the reins of station command to Expedition 37 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, and will continue Sept. 10 and 11 with Expedition 36 landing and post-landing activities. The change-of-command ceremony can be seen today at 1:25 p.m. CDT on NASA TV. Stay tuned to JSC Today for more NASA TV landing coverage times. JSC, Ellington Field, Sonny Carter Training Facility and White Sands Test Facility team members with wired computer network connections can view NASA TV using the JSC EZTV IP Network TV System on channels 404 (standard definition) or 4541 (HD). Please note: EZTV currently requires using Internet Explorer on a Windows PC connected to the JSC computer network with a wired connection. Mobile devices, Wi-Fi connections and newer MAC computers are currently not supported by EZTV.  If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367.  For more information on station, click here. Event Date: Monday, September 9, 2013   Event Start Time:1:25 PM   Event End Time:2:25 PM Event Location: http://iptv.jsc.nasa.gov/eztv/ Add to Calendar JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 [top] Bring Your Own Device Sessions Today & Tomorrow Got Questions on the Agency's New "Bring Your Own Device" Policy? Q&A Sessions Today and Tuesday JSC's Information Resources Directorate (IRD) has partnered with JSC's Legal Office, Human Resources Office and the External Relations Office to provide a panel of experts to answer questions on "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) from JSC and White Sands Test Facility during two Q&A Sessions (all times are CDT): Session 1: TODAY, Sept. 9, 3 to 4 p.m. Location: Building 30 Auditorium  Session 1 WebEx Information: https://nasa.webex.com Meeting Number: 995 510 187 Meeting Password: byod1_2013! For Audio: 866-836-6451, participant pass code: 5928691  Session 2: Tomorrow, Sept. 10, Noon to 1 p.m. Location: Building 1, Room 360  Session 2 WebEx Information: https://nasa.webex.com Meeting Number: 996 803 038 Meeting Password: byod2_2013! For Audio: 866-836-6451, participant pass code: 5928691 For more information, read the original memo on "Minimum Security Requirements for Use of Personally Owned Mobile Devices."   Several questions and answers are already available to view. JSC IRD Outreach http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/Home.aspx [top] Join Us for a JSC Innovation 2013 Mini-Event Innovation 2013 takes it to the next level with three forums to get those creative energies flowing. C3 forums and presenters: o Elena Buhay/DD and Doug Wong/SF: "Collaborative Laboratories (CoLabs)" o Kathryn Keeton/Wyle: "NASA@Work - Training and Challenge Launch" o David Meza/NA: "Operational Excellence - Reaching the Higher-Hanging Fruit" The forums will be held simultaneously in the Building 30 Collaboration Center (Room 2085), a new state-of-the-art multimedia setting designed to enhance team dynamics and facilitate communication. Innovation 2013 invites your cross-functional team to interact with those who have implemented their vision by challenging what can be done. Please register in SATERN under "Innovation 2013 PART I: JSC 2.0" and receive training credit. Event Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2013   Event Start Time:12:00 PM   Event End Time:1:00 PM Event Location: Building 30 Collaboration Center, Room 2085 Add to Calendar Suzan Thomas x48772 https://innovation2013.jsc.nasa.gov/ [top] NASA's New 'Sniffer Bot' Sniffs Out Leaks The Sniffer Bot, a collaborative project between the White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) and New Mexico State University, is a robotic system complete with chemical sniffer, GPS telemetry, video cameras and a weather station. It has been developed to remotely deploy its sensor package to various locations throughout the NASA site and prevent personnel from being exposed to leaks. Asher Lieberman, a project manager for NASA's Propulsion Test Office at WSTF, presented the concept to a team of engineering students during capstone orientations held at the beginning of the fall semester. One potential hazard of working in a rocket engine test facility is that employees could be exposed to dangerous chemicals through leaks on piping systems, especially during the drastic daily temperature changes experienced in southern New Mexico. The system was recently delivered to WSTF, and a YouTube video is available about it here. Jeremy Bruggemann 575-525-7659 http://newscenter.nmsu.edu/9627/nmsu-engineering-students-deliver-produc... [top]    Organizations/Social Johnson Space Center Astronomy Society Meeting What happens to matter near a black hole? One possibility is a Gamma Ray Burst, and our guest presenter, Dr. Tim Giblin from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, will give us the complete story at our August meeting. THIS MONTH ONLY we will meet at Space Center Houston. Venus is an amazing sight high in the southwest sky at sunset. It is that super bright "star." It has phases like our moon when viewed through a telescope. We'll provide you more observing ideas in the "What's up in the sky this month?" talk. Other topics are "Astro Oddities" and the popular novice question-and-answer session. We'll also discuss our fall star parties, our trip to Ft. McKavitt and Astronomy Day. The JSC Astronomy Society is for anyone who wants to learn about astronomy, and membership is FREE! After you join us, you'll have access to loaner telescopes and our amazing DVD library with hundreds to borrow. Event Date: Friday, September 13, 2013   Event Start Time:7:30 PM   Event End Time:9:30 PM Event Location: Space Center Houston Add to Calendar Jim Wessel x41128 http://www.jscas.net/ [top] JSC Contractor Safety & Health Forum - Sept. 10 The JSC Contractor Safety and Health Forum is tomorrow, Sept. 10, in the Gilruth Alamo Ballroom from 9 to 11 a.m. The guest speaker for this event is Dr. Richard Bunch, Ph.D., P.T., C.B.E.S., CEO, Industrial Safety & Rehabilitation Institute, Inc., and adjunct professor at Tulane University, School of Public Health. Bunch's presentation, "Advanced Concepts in Office Ergonomics and Wellness," will cover how integrating key ergonomic principles with behavioral modification and wellness interventions have proven to be highly effective for injury prevention and wellness. Robert Martel, Health System specialist within the JSC Occupational Health Branch (SD), will provide an overview of the JSC Occupational Health Branch services. David Loyd, chief, Safety & Test Operations Division (NS), will be discussing the "Results of the JSC NASA Safety Culture Survey." If you have any questions, please contact Pat Farrell at 281-335-2012 or via email. Event Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2013   Event Start Time:9:00 AM   Event End Time:11:00 AM Event Location: Gilruth Alamo Ballroom Add to Calendar Patricia A. Farrell 281-335-2012 [top] Sept. 11 - Learn About UHCL's Liberty Bell Project You are invited to JSC's SAIC/Safety & Mission Assurance speaker forum featuring Dr. Jim Benson, associate professor of legal studies and founder and coordinator of the legal studies program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). Benson will share about the vision of the UHCL liberty bell project and the ongoing efforts to educate our community on American history and the Constitution. Date/Time: Wednesday, Sept. 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Location: Building 1, Room 966 To support Benson's discussion, please select this link and provide your inputs no later than today, Sept. 9, and start the conversation. Benson has practiced law for more than 23 years in the areas of probate, guardianship and elder law. He joined the faculty at the university more than 35 years ago and previously served the university as the assistant vice chancellor and provost. Event Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM Event Location: Building 1, room 966 Add to Calendar Della Cardona/Juan Traslavina 281-335-2074/281-335-2272 [top] JSC Weight Watchers at Work Meeting Today Join the Weight Watchers on-site meeting every Monday in Building 20, Room 204. Weigh-in begins at 11:30 a.m., and the meeting is noon to 12:30 p.m. If you are not a current member, attend a meeting as a guest to learn more about the program. If you are already a member and have a Monthly Pass, you can attend this meeting as well. This meeting is run by Weight Watchers leader Anne Churchill, and follows the same program as all Weigh Watches meetings. Weigh in privately on a Weight Watchers scale. Weight Watcher products are also available. To join now, purchase your discounted Monthly Pass through the JSC portal at the link below (JSC company ID 24156, pass code WW24156). Membership includes unlimited meetings each month (at any participating location) and free eTools for online and mobile access for tracking and recipes. Monthly Passes are accepted at most area Weight Watcher meetings. Event Date: Monday, September 9, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM Event Location: Bldg 20, Room 204 Add to Calendar Julie Kliesing x31540 https://wellness.weightwatchers.com [top] 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 7:30 p.m. in the Gilruth Center Brazos Room. JSC Toastmasters weekly meetings are learn-by-doing workshops where participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a pressure-free atmosphere. Membership is open to anyone. Thomas Bryan x31721 http://3116.toastmastersclubs.org/ [top] Presentation on EMC/EMI in Biomedical Engineering University of Houston professor Dr. Ji Chen will discuss EMC/EMI in Biomedical Engineering in the Gilruth Center Discovery Room from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, at the IEEE EMC meeting. Chen will discuss the interactions between electromagnetic signals and biomedical systems that lead to safety considerations for medical devices and patients. He will present some recent investigations on the EMC/EMI issues related to these scenarios: 1) Safety evaluation for pregnant woman under walk-through metal detector; 2) Thermal and temperature evaluation of pregnant woman models under MRI RF coil; 3) Effects of implantable devices within human subject models under MRI coils; and 4) The interactions between vehicular mounted antenna and bystanders with implantable medical devices. Lunch is available for $8 at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation runs from noon until 1 p.m. Please RSVP to George May. Event Date: Friday, September 13, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:1:00 PM Event Location: Discovery Room - Gilruth Recreation Center Add to Calendar George May 281-226-8543 [top]    Jobs and Training Project Call for Spring 2014 Interns The deadline is approaching for students to complete their spring application in the One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI) is Oct. 11. If you have an opportunity/project and are considering an intern for spring 2014, be sure to enter it in OSSI now so students can apply directly to your project. Students will begin receiving offers Sept. 11. Organizations may provide funding to guarantee placement of a spring intern. Costs vary based on academic classification. Funds must be transferred by Nov. 22. For additional details, please contact Missy Matthias at x27844 or via email. Log into OSSI here. Missy Matthias x27844 [top] Escape your Silo: Immunology Tour We have a limited number of spots still available for the Human Systems Academy's immunology tour on Sept. 10. It will be first come, first served, so reserve your spot today via the following SATERN links: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_... or https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_... Cynthia Rando x41815 https://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/hsa/default.aspx [top] Early Underwater Neutral Buoyancy for EVA Part 2 U.S. Spacesuit Knowledge Capture Presents: "Origins and Early History of Underwater Neutral Buoyancy Simulation of Weightlessness for EVA - Part 2" - Tuesday, Sept. 10 During the space age's infancy, numerous aerospace contractors initiated the technique of neutral buoyancy during water immersion, but specific applications depended on problems that dealt primarily with human restraint and maneuverability and were often generic across extravehicular activity and intravehicular activity worksites. Fractional gravity, weightless settings and experimentation with ballasting were researched to achieve lunar- and Mars-equivalent loads. Dr. John Charles will review the association of those tasks with contemporary perceptions of NASA's future space exploration activities and with Air Force assessments of human exploration's military value. When: Sept. 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Location: Building 5S, Room 3102 (corner of Gamma Link/5th Street/third floor) Registration: SATERN (Any issues locating the class in SATERN - search using keyword "spacesuit") Event Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM Event Location: Bldg. 5S, Room 3102 Add to Calendar Vladenka Oliva 281-461-5681 [top] Financial Wellness: Evening Classes & Webinars Evening financial wellness classes start this week! Spouses are welcome to attend. Seating is limited, so reserve your seats now. Tuesday: Retirement While planning for retirement is important, so few of us plan early. Class topics include retirement goals, income needs and sources, asset risks, strategic tax approaches, Required Minimum Distributions (RMD), preventing retirement blind spots and more. Wednesday: Taxes As we approach retirement, tax management becomes critical. Healthy portfolio preparation is the best prevention. Class topics include: taxes - past, present and future; strategies to help you think about paying taxes now or later; tax-free, tax-advantaged and fully taxable monies; Social Security benefits; reducing RMD impacts; and more. Current Webinars: FW101: Financial Wellness Foundation FW102: Budgets, Debt, Insurance and Long-Term Care FW105: Debt Free For Life FW109: Financial Transitions Upcoming Webinars: FW103: Investing and Retirement Planning FW104: Taxes and Estate Planning Enrollment Details are at this link. Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/ [top] Job Opportunities Where do I find job opportunities? Both internal Competitive Placement Plans (CPPs) and external JSC job announcements are posted on the Human Resources (HR) Portal and USAJOBS website. Through the HR portal, civil servants can view summaries of all the agency jobs that are currently open at: https://hr.nasa.gov/portal/server.pt/community/employees_home/239/job_opportu... To help you navigate to JSC vacancies, use the filter drop-down menu and select "JSC HR." The "Jobs" link will direct you to the USAJOBS website for the complete announcement and the ability to apply online. If you have questions about any JSC job vacancies, please call your HR representative. Lisa Pesak x30476 [top] Lockout/Tagout: Sept. 24, 8 a.m. - B20/R205/206 The purpose of this course is to provide employees with the standards, procedures and requirements necessary for the control of hazardous energy through lockout and tagout of energy-isolating devices. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard 29 CFR 1910.147, "The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)," is the basis for this course. A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_... Event Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2013   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:11:00 AM Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 205/206 Add to Calendar Shirley Robinson x41284 [top] Basic Explosives Safety: Sept. 25-26, B20/R116 This two-day course provides initial or refresher training for technicians, supervisors and managers who work with or in the presence of explosive systems, components or materials. In-class mishap case studies are used in addition to lecture and video to ensure student understanding. Topics include: Characteristics and hazards of explosives Explosive effects Types of explosive systems/components/devices used in NASA Operating procedures Explosive siting criteria Storage, handling and disposal of explosive wastes Fire protection Electricity, electromagnetic radiation, ESD and lightning protection Housekeeping Personal Protective Equipment Tooling and equipment safety Hazard classification systems and divisions Quantity/distance requirements Transporting, shipping and handling explosives, propellants and pyrotechnics Explosive hazards and exposure risk assessment Target audience: Safety, Reliability, Quality and Maintainability professionals. Technicians, supervisors and managers that work with or in the presence of explosive systems components or materials. CEUs: 1.2 Use this direct link for registration. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_... Event Date: Wednesday, September 25, 2013   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:4:00 PM Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 116 Add to Calendar Shirley Robinson x41284 [top] Hand and Power Tools ViTS: Sept. 27 This two-hour course is based on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) CFR 1910.28 and 1926.451, requirements for working with hand tools safely in the general and construction industries. During the course, the student will receive an overview of those topics needed to work safely with hand and power tools, including: standards, terminology, inspection of hand and power tool components and proper usage. 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, September 27, 2013   Event Start Time:9:30 AM   Event End Time:11:30 AM Event Location: Bldg. 17 Room 2026 Add to Calendar Shirley Robinson x41284 [top]

 

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:

·         1:25 pm Central (2:25 EDT) – E36/37 Change of Command ceremony

ü Pavel Vinogradov to Fyodor Yurchikhin

 

Human Spaceflight News

Monday – September 9, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

New NASA rocket faces delays

 

Mark Matthews - Orlando Sentinel

 

The debut launch of NASA's next big rocket — now slated for 2017 — likely will be delayed a year or two because the agency simply does not have the money to finish the rocket and its accompanying crew capsule on time, a top NASA official said Friday. Lori Garver, leaving NASA after four years as deputy administrator, said NASA and Congress long have oversold the agency's ability to build the rocket, called the Space Launch System, and its Orion capsule on an annual budget of roughly $3 billion. "It's very clear that we could have slips of a year or two," said Garver, referring to both the 2017 launch — which won't have a crew — and the first planned flight of NASA astronauts aboard the SLS rocket in 2021.

 

NASA: Combating cancer with microgravity research

 

Max Sonnenberg - The Space Reporter

 

For lab-coated cancer biologists, peering through microscopes at stained tissue samples under fluorescent lights, the International Space Station may be the last thing that comes to mind. But 40 years of microgravity research proves cancer biologists may indeed want to look 220 miles up. Space provides physical conditions that are not possible on Earth, and as it turns out, those conditions may be ripe for studying cancer — along with a wide range of other diseases.

 

JAXA space cargo transporter re-enters atmosphere after ending ISS mission

 

Kyodo News Service

 

An unmanned space cargo transporter operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency re-entered Earth's atmosphere around 3:30 p.m. Saturday and burned up over the Pacific, after completing its mission. The Konotori No. 4 was equipped with a so-called i-Ball device to videotape its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and beam back images before disintegrating. Launched Aug. 4 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, the Konotori No. 4 ferried about 5.4 tons of supplies to the International Space Station, including the talking humanoid robot Kirobo and an advanced camera to capture images of comets. It docked at the ISS on Aug. 10. The vehicle was spun off from the ISS and released into space by a robotic arm Thursday, loaded with rubbish and items no longer necessary, such as used equipment for experiments. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Final J-2X test-fire conducted at A-1 test stand, NASA / Aerojet Rocketdyne ready to test RS-25

 

Scott Johnson - AmericaSpace.com

 

On Thursday, Sept. 5, NASA along with Aerojet Rocketdyne conducted a test firing of a J-2X rocket engine at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The hot-fire was conducted in order to test the engine for possible use in NASA's new heavy-lift booster, the Space Launch System, or SLS. The test-firing of J-2X number 10002 was conducted at Stennis' A-1 Test Stand and lasted for the full, planned 330 seconds. By all accounts it was a complete success. Jim Paulson, Aerojet Rocketdyne Deputy Program Manager for Advanced Space and Launch Systems, stated that the test was a "major milestone as this test was the end of gimballing certification." Paulson further stated that even though there was further J-2X testing to be performed, this test paved the way for NASA / Aerojet Rocketdyne to re-focus their efforts on development of a more affordable, non-reusable version of the RS-25 for use on SLS.

 

Launch company Blue Origin protests possible deal for pad 39A

Exclusive lease wrong, firm says

 

James Dean – Florida Today

 

A dispute over control of a mothballed Kennedy Space Center launch pad is now in lawyers' hands while political pressure on the process grows. Blue Origin last week filed a formal bid protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office regarding NASA's plans to lease pad 39A for commercial use. NASA has not announced a lease agreement but was known to be considering an exclusive deal with SpaceX. Also last week, five U.S. senators wrote to NASA urging Administrator Charlie Bolden not to pursue such an exclusive arrangement for even the minimum five-year duration.

 

Russia to Outdo NASA With 'Space Toilet'

 

RIA Novosti

 

 

A new Russian spaceship for trips to the moon or the International Space Station will have at least one crucial advantage over its American rival – a toilet, one of the craft's developers said Friday. "I don't think I need to elaborate on how a waste-collection system is much more comfortable than the diapers that astronauts aboard the [US spacecraft] Orion will have to use," said Vladimir Pirozhkov of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, which is involved in the development of the Russian ship. "Besides, the Russian segment of the International Space Station [ISS] has a limited number of toilets, which means a spacecraft with an extra 'space toilet' will come in handy," he added. A prototype of the Russian spaceship was unveiled last week at Moscow's popular MAKS airshow.

 

The changing face of space - no longer a race

 

Keith Johnson - Bridgeton News (NJ.com)

 

The character of space exploration is changing. When humans first began going into space, more than half a century ago, astronauts were mostly test pilots, chosen for their experience in dealing with high-flying aircraft. Now many of the explorers are researchers, engineers, and even inventors (though many of them are still pilots.) For instance, Karen Nyberg, now onboard the International Space Station (ISS), earned her doctorate in mechanical engineering while working for NASA at Johnson Space Center. She has received a patent on robot assembly.

 

JWCC now offering new associate degree in engineering science

 

Steve Eighinger - Quincy Herald-Whig (Illinois)

 

John Wood Community College is launching a new associate degree in engineering science. School officials cited the growing demand for engineering courses at a Thursday press conference at the college's 48th and Harrison campus. "We have shown that the caliber of math and science instruction at John Wood is on par with some of our region's most prestigious engineering schools. Our pre-engineering graduates (have been) flourishing," said Ron Davis, vice president for instruction at JWCC. One of those pre-engineering graduates from John Wood, Sebastian Francis, is working as a NASA intern at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Francis, a Liberty High School graduate, is a junior at Purdue University studying aerospace engineering, after two years at JWCC. Purdue is recognized as one of the premier engineering schools in the nation. Francis is working on the Orion re-entry system for an upcoming NASA-backed Mars exploration project.

 

Sarah Brightman, space cadet

 

Ellen von Unwerth - Hamilton Spectator (Ontario)

 

Sarah Brightman has always been a little bit of a … er, how can I put this politely … space cadet. Onstage, she presents herself as a pouty-faced schoolgirl swathed in low-cut disco glitter. She bellows out show tunes in an operatic voice, while prancing through flashing strobes and enough production props to fill a Barnum & Bailey circus tent. As a performer and recording star, Brightman has always leaned toward the outer limits of theatricality, a bizarre mix of the weird and the wonderful. So yes, she's probably the perfect candidate to be the world's first soprano in space. If you haven't heard the news — the Russian Roscosmos space agency confirmed it in May — little Sarah Brightman has been approved for a trip aboard a Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station. The exact date for the Brightman expedition has yet to be announced, but the Russians say it will happen sometime in 2015 and will last probably 10 days.

 

Musk Says SpaceX Being "Extremely Paranoid" as It Readies for Falcon 9's California Debut

 

Irene Klotz - Space News

 

Building on its experience setting up a space launch complex in Florida, California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is looking to begin operations in its home state this month, with a debut demonstration flight of an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket. Following the Falcon 9 v1.1 flight from California, SpaceX plans to return to Florida for its first commercial mission, an SES World Skies communications satellite. NASA, which has a contract with SpaceX for 10 more cargo runs to the station, wants the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket to fly two or three times before it is used to launch an enhanced Dragon capsule slated to fly on the next resupply mission, space station program manager Mike Suffredini said. A NASA manifest shows Dragon's next cargo run occurring between Jan. 17 and Feb. 16.

 

Wallops Island: The Little Spaceport That Could

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, an oft-overlooked rocket launch facility in northern Virginia, makes a play for a piece of the spaceflight industry

 

Joe Pappalardo - Popular Mechanics (Sept. 6)

 

As Dale Nash takes his position to speak to a gaggle of space press, corporate VIPs, and social media guests, he has a dramatic backdrop: About 50 feet behind him stands a stark white 80-foot rocket loaded with a lunar orbiter and tucked inside a rectangular building but visible through massive, open doors. The spaceport at Wallops Island, Va., is emerging as a hub of the launch industry. Wallops is larger and much better established than the newbie spaceports rising in places like New Mexico, Michigan, and Indiana. It was founded in 1945, well before NASA even existed, and is the oldest continuous rocket launch range in the United States.

 

Spaceport: If you build it, will they come?

 

Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle's SciGuy

 

Last week officials with the Houston Airport System unveiled preliminary plans for a spaceport, and the design is certainly appealing. The plan is to build a facility for aerospace, rather than aviation companies, to design and fly their space planes, including those capable of making suborbital flights. Houston Aviation Director Mario Diaz made the case that the axis of spaceflight is moving from large, government funded agencies, principally NASA, to commercial companies. And if Houston wants to enjoy a second half of a century as Space City USA it must capture a piece of the growing commercial aerospace market. But will the proposal fly? The main issue is one of funding.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

New NASA rocket faces delays

 

Mark Matthews - Orlando Sentinel

 

The debut launch of NASA's next big rocket — now slated for 2017 — likely will be delayed a year or two because the agency simply does not have the money to finish the rocket and its accompanying crew capsule on time, a top NASA official said Friday.

 

Lori Garver, leaving NASA after four years as deputy administrator, said NASA and Congress long have oversold the agency's ability to build the rocket, called the Space Launch System, and its Orion capsule on an annual budget of roughly $3 billion.

 

"It's very clear that we could have slips of a year or two," said Garver, referring to both the 2017 launch — which won't have a crew — and the first planned flight of NASA astronauts aboard the SLS rocket in 2021.

 

"People are more optimistic than … reality," she said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

 

If she's right, the double delay would mean more heartburn for Kennedy Space Center, which has been reeling since the 2011 retirement of the space shuttle caused the loss of thousands of jobs. It would also be another setback for NASA's human-spaceflight program, which hasn't built a new rocket in more than 30 years and relies on Russia to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.

 

And perhaps worse, Garver and other critics say, the agency's quixotic bid to build the largest rocket in history will gut other NASA programs, such as probes to further planetary science.

 

"NASA is going to unilaterally give up on [visiting] the outer planets," said Casey Dreier, a policy analyst with The Planetary Society, a space-advocacy group.

 

In response to Garver, NASA released a statement saying that the budget submitted by the White House to Congress "fully funds the Space Launch System and Orion to launch in 2017 as planned."

 

That stance was echoed by a top Boeing official. Boeing is building the "core stage" of the rocket, which resembles the shuttle with two booster rockets on either side of an external tank. The main difference is that the planelike orbiter is gone, replaced by a crew capsule atop the core stage.

 

"I have not heard even rumors of slips on this SLS rocket. In fact, my schedule looks five months ahead of schedule. That's across the board," said Virginia Barnes, Boeing's program manager for the SLS rocket.

 

But Garver said she has math and history on her side.

 

NASA has a lengthy record of schedule delays and cost overruns, starting with the agency's now-defunct Constellation moon program, which was to land a human on the moon by 2020. NASA spent five years and $13 billion on that project before President Barack Obama canceled it in 2010 — though pieces of Constellation, including the Orion capsule, remain as part of the current program.

 

Constellation collapsed despite annual spending of nearly $3 billion — about what is being spent on SLS and Orion today — and NASA said it actually needed more than twice that amount. But there's no hope in today's constrained budget of spending that much on SLS and Orion.

 

"NASA still has too much on its plate," said Garver, who joined the agency in 2009 along with Administrator Charlie Bolden. "We came here trying to avoid that, and I'm afraid we're headed back in that direction."

 

One sign of trouble was revealed last month when NASA's inspector general — who acts as the agency's watchdog — released a report that highlighted problems with Orion's heat shield, as well as efforts to get the capsule's weight below a 73,500-pound maximum.

 

"The [Orion] Program faces significant risks in meeting NASA's goal of human exploration beyond low Earth orbit," the report said.

 

Thanks to across-the-board cuts known as sequestration, NASA's 2013 budget was reduced to less than $16.9 billion. If similar cuts come in future years — which is a strong possibility — NASA will have to choose between delaying SLS or cutting smaller programs, said Garver and others.

 

Already there are signs that other programs are being squeezed to protect a few big-ticket items — the largest of which is SLS and Orion.

 

For example, despite a $900 million cut to NASA's budget in 2013, the agency reduced its $3 billion budget for SLS and Orion by only about 4 percent, or $118 million.

 

By contrast, about $229 million, or 15 percent, was slashed from the planetary science division — which sends probes to other planets. Because of these cutbacks, Dreier said NASA can't attempt operations such as a proposed mission to launch a NASA "ship" to explore a liquid sea on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

 

And given NASA's history of cost overruns, Dreier said, development of SLS and Orion ultimately could lead to the cancellation of more NASA missions.

 

"It's a worry that everyone has in the space community — that it's going to consume NASA's budget internally," he said.

 

NASA: Combating cancer with microgravity research

 

Max Sonnenberg - The Space Reporter

 

For lab-coated cancer biologists, peering through microscopes at stained tissue samples under fluorescent lights, the International Space Station may be the last thing that comes to mind. But 40 years of microgravity research proves cancer biologists may indeed want to look 220 miles up. Space provides physical conditions that are not possible on Earth, and as it turns out, those conditions may be ripe for studying cancer — along with a wide range of other diseases.

 

Cells in the human body normally grow within support structures made up of proteins and carbohydrates, which is how organs — and tumors — maintain their three-dimensional shapes. In lab settings, however, cells grow flat, spreading out in sheets. Because they don't duplicate the shapes they normally would make in the body, they don't behave the way they would in the body, either. This poses problems for scientists who study cancer by examining genetic changes affecting cell growth and development.

 

Scientists have devised several laboratory methods to mimic normal cellular behavior, but none of them work exactly the way the body does. In space, however, cells that are not inside a living organism, called in vitro cells, still arrange themselves into three-dimensional groupings, or aggregates. These aggregates more closely resemble what happens in the body. Cells in microgravity also can clump together more easily, and they experience reduced fluid shear stress — a type of turbulence that can affect their behavior. All these factors can help scientists study cell behavior — and how changes in that behavior can lead to cancer — in a state more closely resembling cells in the body.

 

"So many things change in 3-D, it's mind-blowing — when you look at the function of the cell, how they present their proteins, how they activate genes, how they interact with other cells," said Jeanne Becker, Ph.D., a cell biologist at Nano3D Biosciences in Houston and principal investigator for the CBOSS-1-Ovarianstudy. "The variable that you are most looking at here is gravity, and you can't really take away gravity on Earth. You have to go where gravity is reduced."

 

Becker is the author of a recent paper in Nature Reviews Cancer  that surveys the past four decades of cell biology research in microgravity, and how the findings continue to inform cancer research on Earth. Starting with Skylab in the 1970s and leading up to current in-orbit investigations, Becker and co-author Glauco R. Souza highlight nearly 200 scientific papers drawn from space-based experiments and investigations.

 

Experiments on the space shuttle, Russian vehicles and the space station have shown changes in immune cells, including changes in cell-signaling cytokines, indicating the immune system is suppressed in microgravity. Even the architecture of cells changes in microgravity, with changes to cell walls, internal organization and even their basic shapes. In space, according to Becker's review, cells are more round.

 

Other studies have shown many changes in genetic expression. During an investigation on the STS-90 mission aboard space shuttle Columbia in 1998, cells were cultured for six days and returned to Earth for analysis. Afterward, an examination of 10,000 genes revealed the expressions of 1,632 genes were altered in microgravity, relative to ground controls. This was the first experiment to show reduced gravity can affect a wide range of genes.

 

Aboard Columbia during its STS-107 mission, prostate cancer and bone cells grew in a three-dimensional structure inside the Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS–05). Early indications showed large aggregates of cells, indicating large growth, Becker said. But the study was lost, along with the shuttle and its crew, during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003.

 

The Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support System (CBOSS-01-Ovarian) investigation aboard the space station contains a cell incubator that can grow 3-D clusters of cells, and scientists have used it to examine changes to human colon, ovarian and other cancer cells. In one recent result, Becker noted reduced production of cytokines in a human Muellerian ovarian (LN1) tumor cell line. Cytokines are small proteins that are secreted to mediate and regulate immunity and inflammation. Understanding changes in production of these proteins, and the changes in cell signaling that contribute to those production changes, could help researchers understand the mechanisms of tumor cell development.

 

Although cells grow in three-dimensional structures in microgravity, they don't possess blood vessels that can provide oxygen and nutrients, so the cells at the center of an aggregate will likely die. But that's still not a disadvantage, Becker said. Bulky tumors also have areas of dead tissue near their centers, which coincides with a slow cancer growth rate. "You also have nearby cells that are not dead, but they're not really cycling. They are very much still cancer, and they can develop increased areas of chemo resistance," said Becker. "That mirrors exactly what you see in human cancer."

 

Even while they're sitting at the lab bench, researchers could reach new heights using the station's microgravity environment, Becker said. "I've had the chance to see firsthand the things that can happen. It's pretty amazing. It's a shame to not take full advantage of this platform for discovery," she said. "It's the only lab of its kind; that's it. And now is the time, because the station is entirely finished and available."

 

In recent years, research on Earth has caught up with 3-D cell structures. Investigations examining cancer cells and other tissues use a collagen gel matrix, which suspends cells in 3-D. Combining these techniques with the resources available in microgravity may inform entirely new approaches for studying cancer. Ultimately, microgravity- and Earth-based research could help scientists pinpoint the cellular changes that lead to cancer and possibly find new ways to prevent them, leading to new treatments that could enhance the quality of life for patients with the disease.

 

Final J-2X test-fire conducted at A-1 test stand, NASA / Aerojet Rocketdyne ready to test RS-25

 

Scott Johnson - AmericaSpace.com

 

On Thursday, Sept. 5, NASA along with Aerojet Rocketdyne conducted a test firing of a J-2X rocket engine at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The hot-fire was conducted in order to test the engine for possible use in NASA's new heavy-lift booster, the Space Launch System, or SLS. The test-firing of J-2X number 10002 was conducted at Stennis' A-1 Test Stand and lasted for the full, planned 330 seconds. By all accounts it was a complete success.

 

Jim Paulson, Aerojet Rocketdyne Deputy Program Manager for Advanced Space and Launch Systems, stated that the test was a "major milestone as this test was the end of gimballing certification."

 

Paulson further stated that even though there was further J-2X testing to be performed, this test paved the way for NASA / Aerojet Rocketdyne to re-focus their efforts on development of a more affordable, non-reusable version of the RS-25 for use on SLS.

 

In many ways, however, the test-firing was simply the icing on the cake. AmericaSpace, along with the BBC and Aviation Week & Space Technology, was taken on a tour of some of the facilities at Stennis. This provided those present with a better understanding of the work being done at the space center to prepare for future manned missions.

 

The first stop of the day was Aerojet Rocketdyne's Building 9101 (the Engine Assembly Facility). In this facility, Aerojet Rocketdyne is assembling engine number 10003, the third of NASA's new J-2X engines. The first J-2X engine, number 10001, is being disassembled in the same building for analysis after multiple test-firings. And the second engine, number 10002, was secured in a test stand for firing. The last of the currently planned J-2Xs, number 10004, is to be assembled and then tested in 2015, prior to the anticipated "shelving" of the J-2X program to allow NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne to focus on modification of the RS-25 rocket engine, more commonly known as the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs), for use on NASA's new beyond-Earth orbit (BEO) rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).

 

Also of note, in Building 9101 Rocketdyne is completing assembly of the RS-68 engines to be used on United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle, scheduled to lift the first Orion / Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) capsule on the EFT-1 mission in late 2017. In addition, the rear of the building is filled with the entire fleet of surviving SSMEs—15 engines, along with enough parts to assemble a 16th.

 

"Sixteen engines, in sets of four, are anticipated to be used on the scheduled 2017, 2021, and 2023 SLS flights," said Aerojet Rocketdyne's Mike Kynard. "With the remaining four engines being held as reserves or spares."

 

The next stop of the day was the B-1 and B-2 test stands. The B-1 stand is currently in use for RS-68 engine testing. The B-2 stand, which was originally used for testing of the Saturn V first stage, has been idle for approximately 10 years and is undergoing major refurbishment to support SLS testing, which will consist of the core stage with four RS-25 shuttle-heritage engines. The first of these tests is anticipated to occur in approximately 2016.

 

Stennis is NASA's primary engine test facility and consists of 13,800 federally owned acres, along with another 125,000 privately owned acres that comprise a "buffer zone," allowing the Center to conduct relatively unfettered testing in its nine test stands.

 

Launch company Blue Origin protests possible deal for pad 39A

Exclusive lease wrong, firm says

 

James Dean – Florida Today

 

A dispute over control of a mothballed Kennedy Space Center launch pad is now in lawyers' hands while political pressure on the process grows.

 

Blue Origin last week filed a formal bid protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office regarding NASA's plans to lease pad 39A for commercial use.

 

NASA has not announced a lease agreement but was known to be considering an exclusive deal with SpaceX.

 

Also last week, five U.S. senators wrote to NASA urging Administrator Charlie Bolden not to pursue such an exclusive arrangement for even the minimum five-year duration.

 

"An exclusive lease would provide a major advantage to one company in bidding for international launches," reads the letter whose signers include Patty Murray of Washington, where Blue Origin is headquartered.

 

Blue Origin of Kent, Wash., had proposed to take over and modify pad 39A to support launches by multiple rocket companies, though its own orbital launch vehicle won't be ready until 2018.

The protest could impact who ultimately uses the pad, but at a minimum will delay any lease award until the GAO reaches a decision, expected by mid-December.

 

NASA had hoped to transfer the historic former Apollo and shuttle pad by Oct. 1, the start of a new fiscal year that does not anticipate funding to maintain the facility, estimated at $1.2 million in 2013.

 

Blue Origin, started by Amazon.com CEO and billionaire Jeff Bezos, would not comment directly on the protest but reiterated its preference for a shared-use arrangement.

 

"Several major American space launch companies have come forward with interest in operating commercially from (launch complex) 39A and support this multi-user approach," Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson said in a statement. "This is an important issue of national policy and we look forward to working with NASA to expand the use of LC 39A and its return to flight."

 

NASA must respond to the GAO within 30 days of the protest filed Tuesday.

 

Agency spokesman David Weaver said NASA was following an "open and fair" selection process that would ensure best value for taxpayers.

 

"The agency looks forward to reviewing and evaluating the proposals received and making a selection that will keep this storied launch pad in use for years to come," he said.

 

SpaceX declined to comment. The Hawthorne, Calif., company has said it needs exclusive control of the pad to support frequent launches it anticipates starting in 2015, and eventually crewed flights.

 

In July, two congressmen from Alabama and Virginia were the first to register concern about an exclusive lease. In addition to Washington, the new Senate criticism comes from states including Louisiana and Utah.

 

All are home to SpaceX competitors or NASA centers and contractors with stakes in the heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket NASA is developing for human exploration missions.

 

The lawmakers suggest an exclusive lease would leave the exploration rocket without a backup pad, though NASA currently plans to abandon the complex if no partner is found.

 

Left abandoned, NASA says the seaside pad would be threatened with rapid deterioration.

 

In public comments and correspondence with Congress, NASA has said it envisions multiple users at the neighboring pad 39B, which is being readied for infrequent launches of the exploration rocket and capsule.

 

An agency background paper says pad 39A will require significant cost and expertise to modify its current shuttle-specific design.

 

"NASA believes that the argument for or against one operating concept over another is secondary to the demonstrated capability of any proposer to undertake the financial and technical challenges of assuming an asset of this magnitude," the paper says.

 

Russia to Outdo NASA With 'Space Toilet'

 

RIA Novosti

 

 

A new Russian spaceship for trips to the moon or the International Space Station will have at least one crucial advantage over its American rival – a toilet, one of the craft's developers said Friday.

 

"I don't think I need to elaborate on how a waste-collection system is much more comfortable than the diapers that astronauts aboard the [US spacecraft] Orion will have to use," said Vladimir Pirozhkov of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, which is involved in the development of the Russian ship.

 

"Besides, the Russian segment of the International Space Station [ISS] has a limited number of toilets, which means a spacecraft with an extra 'space toilet' will come in handy," he added.

 

A prototype of the Russian spaceship was unveiled last week at Moscow's popular MAKS airshow.

 

Two versions of the spaceship will be constructed: a six-seater for trips to the ISS, and a four-seat "luxury" version capable of storing huge amounts of food and water for trips to the moon, Pirozhkov said.

 

The first unmanned test launch of the new spacecraft is scheduled for late 2017 or 2018, and a manned flight is expected by 2020.

 

The rival Orion craft, developed by NASA and the European Space Agency, will be capable of taking up to four people on missions to the ISS, Mars or near-Earth asteroids. It is slated for a debut unmanned flight in 2014 and a manned one after 2020.

 

The changing face of space - no longer a race

 

Keith Johnson - Bridgeton News (NJ.com)

 

The character of space exploration is changing.

 

When humans first began going into space, more than half a century ago, astronauts were mostly test pilots, chosen for their experience in dealing with high-flying aircraft. Now many of the explorers are researchers, engineers, and even inventors (though many of them are still pilots.)

 

For instance, Karen Nyberg, now onboard the International Space Station (ISS), earned her doctorate in mechanical engineering while working for NASA at Johnson Space Center. She has received a patent on robot assembly.

 

For the opening years of the Space Age, space was the province of national governments, as only they could afford the expense of research and development. This is still largely true, but there are signs that things are changing.

 

As mentioned in this space on Aug. 11, the role of our own government has been greatly altered. The U.S. no longer builds rockets to take people into space. The Space Shuttle program ended more than two years ago.

 

Only Russia is launching astronauts to the ISS now. Japan, Russia and Europe can send cargo vehicles to replenish station supplies, but NASA has given over the American part of even that enterprise to commercial companies.

 

This may not be a bad thing, however; it may be just a sign that space has become much more internationalized. In the early days, countries were in competition with one another. Those of us who were alive during those early days well remember the "Space Race" between the USSR and the United States.

 

Now, however, countries cooperate rather than compete. The current ISS crew consists of three Russians, two Americans, and one Italian, a typical composition.

 

Space travel has become less exciting to the average person over the years. Far from being the most thrilling event of the year, the launch of a space vehicle is seldom reported in the media unless it's a new project, and even then it won't be on the front page.

 

Many citizens are not even aware that we're still exploring space, and that usually there are half a dozen people in orbit a few hundred miles over their heads. They don't realize you can easily see them go over every so often; you can even wave at them if you like.

 

Some pre-dawn passes start Thursday morning; a set of evening appearances begins Oct. 6. See www.heavens-above.com for details.

 

But those high flyers still face many challenges. Living in space remains at least somewhat difficult and dangerous, in some surprising ways. I'm running out of room here, so I'll just invite you to pay a visit to the Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University on a Sunday afternoon starting Sept. 22.

 

Our fall public star-show will include two features. The planetarium director (yours truly) will show you how to view satellites, including the ISS, in a live presentation of the current night sky.

 

Our main feature, a full-dome movie called "Astronaut," is narrated by Ewan McGregor. In this program, you'll see how astronauts live and work in space, from the inside out.

 

That phrase is not figurative, by the way: we'll actually start our trip within the brain of an astronaut, and take a rapid voyage through his body, before popping out into space near the Space Shuttle.

 

Our brave test astronaut Chad will dramatically-and humorously-demonstrate the many dangers of space travel, barely surviving his harrowing adventures. You'll experience the rigors of astronaut training, from floating underwater in a space suit to tumbling in zero gravity high in the sky.

 

This show is suitable for children over five —and also adults through 120. More information is available at www.rowan.edu/planetarium/ - Come fly with us!

 

JWCC now offering new associate degree in engineering science

 

Steve Eighinger - Quincy Herald-Whig (Illinois)

 

John Wood Community College is launching a new associate degree in engineering science.

 

School officials cited the growing demand for engineering courses at a Thursday press conference at the college's 48th and Harrison campus.

 

"The demand for engineers is only going to grow, so now is the time to offer a full degree program in that field," said Ron Davis, vice president for instruction at JWCC. "The two-year program at John Wood will connect with four-year schools and provide the pathway toward engineering programs (at those four-year schools).

 

"We have shown that the caliber of math and science instruction at John Wood is on par with some of our region's most prestigious engineering schools. Our pre-engineering graduates (have been) flourishing."

 

One of those pre-engineering graduates from John Wood, Sebastian Francis, is working as a NASA intern at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Francis, a Liberty High School graduate, is a junior at Purdue University studying aerospace engineering, after two years at JWCC. Purdue is recognized as one of the premier engineering schools in the nation.

 

Francis is working on the Orion re-entry system for an upcoming NASA-backed Mars exploration project. The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle is being developed for manned missions to the Moon, to an asteroid and Mars. It is also designed to be a backup vehicle for cargo and crewed missions to the International Space Station. The first manned mission involving the Orion is expected to take place after 2020.

 

"Some people may not think of starting courses in engineering at a two-year school, but I found that Purdue was actually a better fit for me after I finished at John Wood," Francis said. "Science was a strong suit for me, but I felt like I needed to improve my math skills, and the professors here helped me do that. Obviously the instruction is top notch, or Purdue wouldn't have accepted me as a transfer student."

 

JWCC's associate in engineering science program was recently approved by the Illinois Community College Board and Illinois Board of Higher Education. The program is front-loaded with high-level math, chemistry and physics courses.

 

"All of our students will have a solid foundation to begin junior engineering courses right away upon transfer," JWCC physics instructor Randy Wolfmeyer said.

 

Wolfmeyer said he will be visiting high school classrooms in the area "to teach some lessons and get students involved in science experiments" that relate to engineering

 

"I'm sure there are many more students like Sebastian out there who can take advantage of our new degree right here close to home," Wolfmeyer said.

 

Sarah Brightman, space cadet

 

Ellen von Unwerth - Hamilton Spectator (Ontario)

 

Sarah Brightman has always been a little bit of a … er, how can I put this politely … space cadet.

 

Onstage, she presents herself as a pouty-faced schoolgirl swathed in low-cut disco glitter. She bellows out show tunes in an operatic voice, while prancing through flashing strobes and enough production props to fill a Barnum & Bailey circus tent.

 

Last time I saw her, the diminutive diva was swinging from the rafters of Copps Coliseum on a giant silken trapeze while singing Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World.

 

As a performer and recording star, Brightman has always leaned toward the outer limits of theatricality, a bizarre mix of the weird and the wonderful.

 

So yes, she's probably the perfect candidate to be the world's first soprano in space.

 

If you haven't heard the news — the Russian Roscosmos space agency confirmed it in May — little Sarah Brightman has been approved for a trip aboard a Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station. The exact date for the Brightman expedition has yet to be announced, but the Russians say it will happen sometime in 2015 and will last probably 10 days.

 

This raises a number of interesting questions that become all the more relevant as Brightman's Friday, Sept. 13, concert at Copps Coliseum draws nearer.

 

There are the obvious ones. Can you wear five-inch heels on the ISS? Are there manicurists in outer space? And the more delicate ones. Why does Sarah Brightman want to be launched into space? Who is going to pay the $20 to $50 million cost.

 

To find out the answers to these and other questions, we tracked down Brightman while she was taking a brief vacation on the south coast of France.

 

"I took a little break to be with my family here," Brightman, 53, says over the phone in a polite English voice. "It's beautiful, pine trees and a bit of a beach. I haven't had a holiday in four years. Although I was reticent, I'm actually very glad I did because I feel very refreshed."

 

We make small talk, chatting about how her new Dreamchaser record ("it's futuristic"), her current tour ("all the reviews are saying its more spectacular than any of the concert tours that I have done"), and how many costume changes she goes through in each show ("quite a few").

 

Then I ask about the cost of the trip to the space station, which is being conducted in partnership with Space Adventures Ltd., the world's leading "private space experience company." She won't talk specifics but admits she has silent backers.

 

"I am getting help on that side of things," she says.

 

But, Sarah, why do you want to go? This is where the conversation starts to wind into weird places. She's not entirely clear whether it was her idea, or someone else's. Either way, she's now completely sold on space travel.

 

"When I was told I was an ideal candidate for it, I realized it was something that I had always wanted to do," she says. "As an artist, as the person I am, I want to be doing it. It's part of my life. In a way, it's not surprising, although it's a great honour."

 

According to Brightman, space and sopranos are made for each other.

 

"I'm a soprano, I sing outwards," she tries to explain. "As sopranos, we sometimes have an almost outer-world experience as we are singing. So, I always feel connected when I sing outwards. I think of the future often. We live in parallel worlds."

 

Hmmm, this is getting spooky. Time to change the subject. So, Sarah, what will you do up there for 10 days. Think you might get bored? "No," she says.

 

"From what I've heard talking to other people, it is an experience beyond belief. You can't understand it until you're there. And even when you're back, it's very hard to explain."

 

Brightman says she hopes her space travel will give her an international audience, not only for her voice — yes, she wants to sing from space — but also for her perspectives on the world. She sees the trip as fitting in with her responsibilities as a UNESCO Artist for Peace Ambassador, a title she was given by the United Nations agency in 2012.

 

"When you're looking out at our beautiful planet, you realize how precious it is," Brightman says. "It is very hard for us to realize that, unless we're looking at it from a different perspective. You really understand how precious it is. The components are so delicate. I think once you get back the idea of harming the smallest of things is something you become incredibly aware of. It's those kinds of messages that one can give out."

 

Brightman realizes she's still got a way to go before actually stepping on that rocket. She has already gone through a set of rigorous medical tests and there's apparently more to come.

 

"I can't say very much at the moment for all the usual reasons," she says. "At the moment, I'm merely a cosmonaut in training."

 

Musk Says SpaceX Being "Extremely Paranoid" as It Readies for Falcon 9's California Debut

 

Irene Klotz - Space News

 

Building on its experience setting up a space launch complex in Florida, California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is looking to begin operations in its home state this month, with a debut demonstration flight of an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket.

 

Privately owned SpaceX planned to conduct a static-test firing of the rocket's new Merlin 1D engines the weekend of Sept. 7-8, the last major hurdle before a launch attempt could be made as early as a week or two later, founder and chief executive Elon Musk told SpaceNews. At press time, a NASA manifest had the launch slated for Sept. 14.

 

The flight would be Falcon 9's first from a newly refurbished launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

 

"We're being, as usual, extremely paranoid about the launch and trying to do everything we possibly can to improve the probability of success, but this is a new version of Falcon 9," Musk said.

 

The rocket is 60 percent longer than the company's five previous Falcon 9 boosters, all launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Three of those rockets carried Dragon cargo capsules to the international space station for NASA. Two others were test flights.

 

The rocket's extension, which makes it more susceptible to bending during flight, is the most visible of several upgrades intended to increase the booster's lift capacity and simplify operations.

 

In addition to a new 5-meter payload fairing, the rocket has upgraded avionics and software as well as a new stage-separation system that cuts the number of attachment points from 12 to three.

 

"It's ultimately an improvement in reliability, but it is a new system," Musk said.

 

Because it is a demonstration mission, SpaceX offered launch services at a cut-rate price. MDA Corp. of Canada bought the ride for its 500-kilogram Cassiope spacecraft, built in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and Technology Partnerships Canada.

 

"Cassiope paid a tiny fraction of the price for the right to be on the demonstration flight. This is essentially a development flight for the rocket. It's not an operational flight," Musk said.

 

"Cassiope is a very small satellite. It takes up just a tiny fraction of the volume of the fairing. They paid, I think, maybe 20 percent of the normal price of the mission," he added.

 

A trio of secondary payloads — including a privately funded cubesat Earth science mission and two university payloads — also will be aboard.

 

Once the payloads are put into orbit, SpaceX may try to restart the rocket's upper-stage motor, depending on how much fuel is left. Also on tap is a highly experimental restart of the Falcon's boost stage to slow its crash landing into the sea.

 

"Just before we hit the ocean, we're going to relight the engine and see if we can mitigate the landing velocity to the point where the stage could potentially be recovered, but I give this maybe a 10 percent chance of success," Musk said.

 

In a related program called Grasshopper, SpaceX has been developing a booster stage that can fly itself back to a launch pad.

 

"We've never attempted to land Grasshopper on water. We don't know if the radar system will detect the water surface level accurately. We don't know all sorts of things, so I really give it a very tiny chance of success. But we're going to see what data we can learn," Musk said.

 

Eventually, Musk hopes to outfit the Falcon rockets with landing legs and offer a discount launch service on used rockets.

 

"Ultimately, I think we could see a drop in cost per launch of 25 percent or more, just from reuse of the boost stage," he said.

 

Following the Falcon 9 v1.1 flight from California, SpaceX plans to return to Florida for its first commercial mission, an SES World Skies communications satellite.

 

NASA, which has a contract with SpaceX for 10 more cargo runs to the station, wants the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket to fly two or three times before it is used to launch an enhanced Dragon capsule slated to fly on the next resupply mission, space station program manager Mike Suffredini said. A NASA manifest shows Dragon's next cargo run occurring between Jan. 17 and Feb. 16.

 

Wallops Island: The Little Spaceport That Could

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, an oft-overlooked rocket launch facility in northern Virginia, makes a play for a piece of the spaceflight industry

 

Joe Pappalardo - Popular Mechanics (Sept. 6)

 

As Dale Nash takes his position to speak to a gaggle of space press, corporate VIPs, and social media guests, he has a dramatic backdrop: About 50 feet behind him stands a stark white 80-foot rocket loaded with a lunar orbiter and tucked inside a rectangular building but visible through massive, open doors. The next day—today—the structure will ease away from the pad to enable the launch of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). As he begins speaking, the dozens of guests are distracted by the gleaming launch vehicle and the sight of Orbital Sciences engineers in hard hats waving from the work levels of the 127-foot-high gantry.

 

Nash is not dismayed. As the executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, which owns the launchpad that the rocket sits on, he is enjoying a banner year—and enjoying the moment. Members of his staff weave through the crowd distributing information sheets and stickers. "We're having four launches in four months," he says. "We hope to have more."

 

The spaceport at Wallops Island, Va., is emerging as a hub of the launch industry. Wallops is larger and much better established than the newbie spaceports rising in places like New Mexico, Michigan, and Indiana. It was founded in 1945, well before NASA even existed, and is the oldest continuous rocket launch range in the United States. NASA nearly shut the place down in the mid-1990s, but today Wallops is home to a flurry of launch activity. After this mission, set to take off tonight at midnight, the spaceport is hosting an unmanned spacecraft shot to the International Space Station, its second of the year. In the fall it will launch a Pentagon satellite. Staff here regularly pop off sounding rockets, small vehicles that can take payloads to space but cannot reach orbit.

 

Wallops is dwarfed in size and attention by Cape Canaveral in Florida, which enjoys infrastructure dividends from the space-shuttle era such as long runways and huge buildings. Canaveral also neighbors very active Air Force launch sites and already provides for several prominent private space launch players. The pads there have the infrastructure and toughness to withstand heavier rockets.

 

"We have less capability but we're more flexible and more responsive," Nash tells PM, undeterred. That responsiveness is on display behind him as Wallops prepares for this $280 million lunar mission—its first deep-space launch. The spaceport authority upgraded Pad 0B for the LADEE moonshot by increasing the surface area with 4600 square feet of reinforced concrete, extending the gantry height to accommodate the Minotaur V, and supplying 500- and 200-ton cranes that can hoist sections of the rocket during its on-pad assembly.

 

Advances in power systems, propulsion, and communications could enable the creation of highly capable spacecraft that don't need massive rockets to loft them. The LADEE spacecraft inside the Minotaur V's nose cone is small for its type, constructed in an attempt by NASA's Ames to create smaller, cheaper spacecraft that are modular. Wallops is a beneficiary of that attempt, as the 7-foot-tall spacecraft can fit in a relatively small rocket. Smaller payloads are good news for Virginia's space industry.

 

Another advantage for Wallops: While the spaceport does not have a good path into geosynchronous orbit—for that destination, the closer to the equator the better—it offers the correct inclination to get to low Earth orbit (LEO), and that means access to the International Space Station.

 

And Wallops is well-positioned for the coming changes at NASA, thanks in part to actions by the agency and by state legislators. In late 1997 the FAA issued the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority a license to operate a commercial spaceport colocated at the NASA flight facility at Wallops Island. State legislators changed laws to ease insurance burdens. Regional congressmen made sure federal land was transferred to the state for launch-related activities.

 

The work seems to have paid off, for now. In early 2013 an Orbital Antares rocket lifted from this spaceport as part of a $1.9 billion NASA contract to resupply the ISS, a job Orbital shares with Elon Musk's SpaceX. SpaceX, which flies its rockets from the Florida coast, got to the ISS first in 2012, but two weeks from now, Orbital will try to dock its Cygnus capsule with the station, signaling that it, too, can replace U.S. and Russian government providers. The ISS delivery contract lasts until 2015, but NASA will issue more contracts to one or both companies throughout the life of the ISS, at least until 2020.

 

The success of Orbital means the success of the spaceport. "I like to say all our wagons are tied together," Bill Wrobel, flight facility director at Wallops, tells PM. "We all know that we have to do what we can to support each other.

 

The hope within NASA, and the wider space industry and community, is that there will be enough commerce in space to keep several spaceports afloat. But nothing is certain. If space tourism becomes a real industry, if NASA can maintain funding and discover how to perform fiscally lean missions, and if the ISS remains functional past 2020—then this scrappy spaceport could become much larger in stature.

 

"It's looking pretty good," Wrobel says, "if the missions continue to come."

 

Spaceport: If you build it, will they come?

 

Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle's SciGuy

 

Last week officials with the Houston Airport System unveiled preliminary plans for a spaceport, and the design is certainly appealing. The plan is to build a facility for aerospace, rather than aviation companies, to design and fly their space planes, including those capable of making suborbital flights.

 

Houston Aviation Director Mario Diaz made the case that the axis of spaceflight is moving from large, government funded agencies, principally NASA, to commercial companies. And if Houston wants to enjoy a second half of a century as Space City USA it must capture a piece of the growing commercial aerospace market.

 

But will the proposal fly?

 

The main issue is one of funding. It's true that Houston already has the land — sprawling Ellington Airport is only about one-third occupied and there's plenty of room for development. It's good land, near a large body of water with good access to freeways.

 

However during a news conference Diaz was circumspect about the spaceport's costs, and said funds would come from both private and public sources. For bold dreams to be realized they need to have concrete funding. We'll have to see whether the numbers, if they're put to paper, work.

 

Nevertheless I credit the airport system for trying to envision the future of flight, and trying to ensure Houston has a seat at the table.

 

END