| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
- Watch a Replay of 'LIVE FROM SPACE' on Nat Geo
- Road Closure, Second Street - March 21
- Physics in the Movie 'Gravity' Part VI
- Special Edition of 'The Greener Side' EEFR
- New NASA@work Challenges and Training Opportunity
- 2014 Spring Safety, Health and Environmental Fair - Organizations/Social
- Today - Society of Women Engineers' Social Hour
- Leading ISS Through 2024
- Building 3 Café Open on Flex Fridays
- Self-Injury Support for Teens and Young Adults
- Are you ready to QUIT ... Smoking?
- JSC Annual Picnic at Splashtown on April 27
- Starport's Sunrise Spinning - April 20 - Jobs and Training
- Stress Management Wellness Webinar
- Intro to STI Center Training - March 25
- Crane Ops & Rigging Refresher - April 9, Bldg. 20
- Lockout/Tagout: April 22 - Bldg. 20, Room 205/206 - Community
- Carnival Time!
- Yuri's Night Houston 5k - Expedition Edition |  |
| Headlines - Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
You didn't follow the budget rollout too closely and are hoping that someone else will read it and explain it to you. Good luck. You also think "The Wizard of Oz" is the world's bestest movie ever. Me too. This week, I was wondering how often your boss discusses your career development with you. Is it a frequent conversation? A rare one? It's time for the men's basketball tournament and your picks. I've listed five Texas schools and would like to know which one you think will have the most success in this year's tournament. Lumberjacks? Horns? Bears? Axe 'em Jacks on over to get this week's poll. - Watch a Replay of 'LIVE FROM SPACE' on Nat Geo
"LIVE FROM SPACE," the two-hour special program that was originally broadcast live last Friday evening from the viewing room overlooking the International Space Station (ISS) Flight Control Room in Mission Control Center (MCC) at JSC, will be rebroadcast this Friday, March 21, at 3 p.m. and again at 7 and 10 p.m. on the National Geographic channel. This informative program, hosted by former MSNBC and CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien and co-hosted by astronaut Mike Massimino, features stories about the mission and science being conducted aboard the ISS, plus includes interviews with astronauts Mike Hopkins, Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata. JSC personnel will have the opportunity to watch this program from on-site on channel 20 or channel 55-1 of the JSC Cable TV System. The replay will not be available for viewing on EZTV. - Road Closure, Second Street - March 21
Due to the removal of a portion of the sidewalk at Second Street, the eastern northbound lane in front of the new JSC Clinic construction site will need to be closed all day on Friday, March 21. - Physics in the Movie 'Gravity' Part VI
Earlier this week, the International Space Station performed a debris avoidance maneuver to provide a healthy margin of clearance from the projected path of a fragment of satellite debris. Nearly all satellites orbit west to east, the same direction as the Earth rotates. It makes good sense to launch in the direction of the velocity vector of the planet to help obtain the speed necessary to reach orbital velocity. In the movie "Gravity," the satellite debris is traveling from east to west. There is one country that launches to the west for security reasons. Do you know which one? Answer tomorrow. - Special Edition of 'The Greener Side' EEFR
The Environmental and Energy Functional Review (EEFR) is upon us once again. This assessment will take place April 7 to 11. Please take a moment to read the special edition of "The Greener Side" newsletter, which provides details about your responsibilities during this review as a member of our JSC community. If you have further questions, please contact the Environmental info line at x36207. - New NASA@work Challenges and Training Opportunity
Jump on NASA@work and check out our latest challenge: Design the NASA Innovation Coin of Excellence (NICE)! and enter your submission for a chance for your design to be selected as the new coin for NASA innovation. Also, if you are interested in learning more about NASA@work and how you can participate on this internal, collaborative platform, join us for one of our NASA@work 101 Training Sessions: April 3 at 1 p.m. or April 9 at 11 a.m. 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. Click here to learn more! - 2014 Spring Safety, Health and Environmental Fair
What's at this year's spring fair? New is Texas A&M's DWI simulator, which is used to demonstrate the effect of alcohol on driving skills. Don't toss those old prescriptions down the drain - find out when the next medication take-back event is scheduled. Do you know someone with hearing loss? Learn about the best hearing devices out these days. Having stress issues? A local doctor will suggest ways to manage it. Do you have aging parents? There are local services and facilities available. Back by popular demand is JSC Security's firearms simulator. Test your focus and reaction to potentially dangerous situations. Need help deciding if donating bone marrow is right for you? Get answers. Don't forget to grab a hot dog and take a break while listening to a local jazz band under the pavilion. We have something for everyone, so don't miss it! Event Date: Thursday, April 3, 2014 Event Start Time:10:00 AM Event End Time:1:00 PM
Event Location: JSC Gilruth Center
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Rindy Carmichael x45078
[top] Organizations/Social - Today - Society of Women Engineers' Social Hour
Join the Texas Space Coast section of the Society of Women Engineers for a social hour today, March 20, at Chelsea's Wine Bar. We will spend time getting to know each other and discussing future plans for the section. Do you have ideas of what interests you or how you would like to help? Be sure to bring them! Don't forget that Thursday is ladies' night, and specials are available. All are welcome! Grab a friend and join us for an enjoyable evening. Event Date: Thursday, March 20, 2014 Event Start Time:5:00 PM Event End Time:7:00 PM
Event Location: Chelsea's Wine Bar; 4106 NASA Road 1, El Lago
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Katie Collier x49002
[top] - Leading ISS Through 2024
Don't miss out on this great opportunity to hear about Leading ISS through 2024. Please join us for this month's JSC National Management Association (NMA) chapter luncheon with Mike Suffredini. - Building 3 Café Open on Flex Fridays
Did you know that the Building 3 café is remaining open on Flex Fridays? If you're working on Flex Fridays, you can still grab breakfast and lunch during the café's normal operating hours. - Self-Injury Support for Teens and Young Adults
Have you ever found yourself wondering why you can't get back to feeling your normal self? You try the usual coping, and there are hardly any changes. Now imagine being a teenager feeling this way—OMG! Tweens, teens and young adults often use coping techniques that only reduce symptoms while maintaining and strengthening the problem. Learn the maladaptive coping skills of this population, identify the signs of harmful coping and how to support those impacted. Please join Anika Isaac, MS, LPC, LMFT, LCDC, CEAP, NCC, of the JSC Employee Assistance Program, in recognition of Self-Injury Awareness Month for her presentation "Self Injury: Signs, Symptoms and Support for Tweens, Teens and Young Adults." - Are you ready to QUIT ... Smoking?
It's not too late to join the smoking cessation workshop. You've only missed one session, so don't let that deter you from coming to the session today at 4 p.m. in Building 45, Room 128, to start on your journey to becoming a non-smoker. Keep in mind that each time you try to quit, you get closer to being successful. Let this time be your success story! Join Takis Bogdanos, MA, LPC-S, CEAP, CGP, with the JSC Employee Assistance Program, as he presents this four-week smoking cessation program and three follow-up sessions to offer you support and teach you how to become a non-smoker. - JSC Annual Picnic at Splashtown on April 27
The NASA JSC Family Picnic takes place at SplashTown water park every year the weekend before the park opens to the public. Don't miss out on this fun family event taking place on April 27! Tickets will be on sale from March 17 through April 18 in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops and Gilruth Center. Tickets are $33 each for ages 3 and up (2 and under do not need a ticket). After April 18, tickets will be $37. Season Pass holders may use their season pass for park admittance and purchase a wristband at a discounted price for food and other activities. A ticket includes: admission to SplashTown from noon to 6 p.m., barbecue lunch, beverages, snow cones, kids' games, Bingo, face painting, a moon bounce, balloon artist, DJ, horseshoes, volleyball, basketball and plenty of thrills! - Starport's Sunrise Spinning - April 20
Renew your senses and invigorate your mind and body with a 60-minute outdoor Spinning class that will conclude as the sun rises. This motivational endurance ride is great for all levels. Light refreshments will be provided after class. Reserve your spot now; there are still spots left at the discounted $10 registration fee (ends April 11). Register at the Gilruth Center information desk or online. Starport's Sunrise Spinning - April 20
- 6 to 7 a.m.
Early Registration fee: - $10/person (ends April 11)
Regular Registration: - $15/person (April 12 to 19)
Jobs and Training - Stress Management Wellness Webinar
The next installment of NASA's Healthier You webinar series is Wednesday, March 26, at 1:30 p.m. Tune in to see: My Balance: Busting the Myths of Stress. Click here to register. These webinars are designed to help employees raise their personal health awareness and develop a roadmap to wellness. They also serve as a way to satisfy the health education requirement for JSC's Wellness HERO Program. For more information about becoming a Wellness HERO, please visit this link. - Intro to STI Center Training - March 25
The Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Center, or JSC library, provides access to many engineering, technical and scientific databases; e-books; abstracts and full-text journals; and conference proceedings. It is also the official repository for five-digit JSC documents. Make searching for these resources a lot easier by joining the library for a training session from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 25. To register, go to this link. - Crane Ops & Rigging Refresher - April 9, Bldg. 20
SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0028: This four-hour course serves as a refresher in overhead crane safety and awareness for operators, riggers, signalmen, supervisors and safety personnel, and also updates their understanding of existing federal and NASA standards and regulations related to such cranes. Areas of concentration include: general safety in crane operations; testing; inspections; pre-lift plans; and safe rigging. This course is intended to provide the classroom training for re-certification of already qualified crane operators, or for those who have only a limited need for overhead crane safety knowledge. 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: Wednesday, April 9, 2014 Event Start Time:8:00 AM Event End Time:12:00 PM
Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 205/206
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Shirley Robinson x41284
[top] - Lockout/Tagout: April 22 - Bldg. 20, Room 205/206
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 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, April 22, 2014 Event Start Time:8:00 AM Event End Time:11:00 AM
Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 205/206
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Shirley Robinson x41284
[top] Community - Carnival Time!
Everyone loves a carnival, right? Come join the fun at a super-cool STEM Fair and Carnival that helps kick off the opening day of Little League. Volunteers are needed to staff a NASA booth, where you'll get to talk about all the exciting stuff we are doing AND encourage youth and their families to get inspired about STEM while enjoying a carnival atmosphere. Two shifts are available - morning and afternoon - so you get to enjoy the carnival, too! Sign up for this fun event in V-CORPs. Be sure to page through the V-CORPs calendar and check out the many activities you can volunteer for in the coming months. It's never too early to volunteer! - Yuri's Night Houston 5k - Expedition Edition
Last Tuesday, the Expedition 37/38 crew of Oleg Kotov, Sergey Ryazansky and Michael Hopkins completed a successful 166-day mission when their Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft touched down in the snowy steppe of Kazakhstan. During the expedition, the crew completed 2,656 orbits of the Earth and traveled more than 70 million miles. To celebrate their safe return, use one of the following promotion codes to receive a $4 discount off your 5K race registration TODAY and TOMORROW ONLY (codes expire 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 21). EXP38, 70MIL, HOPKINS Hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Houston, the Yuri's Night Houston 5K Fun Run celebrates human spaceflight. ~CURITUR AD ASTRA~ | |
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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 and Human Spaceflight News
Thursday – March 20, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Watch this space for more milestones, says NASA chief
Fleta Page – The Sydney Morning Herald
Canberra's Deep Space Communication Complex has followed Neil Armstrong's first walk on the moon, the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars and Voyager's transition into interstellar space - and this year will celebrate its 50th year in operation.
One-time Congressional Skeptic Embraces Asteroid Redirect Mission
Dan Leone – Space News
The ranking Democrat on the House Science space subcommittee said March 18 she is having a change of heart in favor of NASA's proposal to send astronauts to a small asteroid by 2025.
Astronaut Tim Peake Comments on the ISS Partnership and the Nobel Peace Prize
Andrew Henry – Space Safety Magazine
At the recent UK National Student Space Conference British astronaut Tim Peake commented on the nomination of the International Space Station partnership for the Nobel Peace Prize. "I was delighted to read about the International Space Station and the discussions about it being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize because… it has been one of the most incredible international partnerships." This comes at the same time as recent media exposure for the nomination, including NASA Director Charles Bolden referencing it in relation to the effect of the situation in Ukraine on the US-Russian partnership in space saying "I don't think it's an insignificant fact that we are starting to see a number of people with the idea that the International Space Station be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize."
Has NASA Nothing Better To Do Than Pit Poor Vs. Rich?
Investors Business Daily Op-Ed
Madness: A NASA-funded report says our civilization will collapse unless it deals with its inequality and natural resource exploitation. What happened to putting men into space?
Launch of Orbital Sciences' Cygnus on CRS-2 mission delayed
Jason Rhian – Spaceflight Insider
Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that the next planned launch of its successful Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft duo – will have to wait a few more days before taking to the skies. Orbital has now scheduled liftoff to take place on May 6, 2014 at 3:44 p.m. EDT (19:44 UTC). The launch site is NASA's Wallops Flight Facility's Pad-0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS). Orbital has five minutes in which to get Antares off the pad and on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) before the launch window closes.
Japanese Bacteria To Go on Science Mission to Space
Eric Pfanner – The Wall Street Journal
Cows may not be able to jump over the moon, but a Japanese dairy product is about to make the leap. Yakult Honsha Co., which makes a yogurt-like food from fermented milk, said Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency under which pots of Yakult are set to boldly go where no Yakult has gone before–the International Space Station.
NASA tech makes space-age microcapsules for cancer drug delivery
Michael Gibney – Fierce Drug Delivery
The study of tiny microparticles could be described as the exact opposite of space exploration, scaling from the very small to the very large. But NASA research conducted off-planet for more than a decade could offer drug delivery solutions for the treatment of cancer, and they have the antigravity effects of space to thank for it.
Woerner Urges ESA To Scrap Favored Ariane 6 Design
Peter B. de Selding – Space News
The head of Germany's space agency on March 19 urged European governments to scrap the current favored design for a next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, saying the vehicle could not win German financial support.
Building a 'Pillar to the Sky': A Space Elevator Q&A with Author William Forstchen
In the not-too-distant future, humans will need to build an elevator to the heavens to find resources so desperately needed down on Earth. That is the world of author William Forstchen's new book, "Pillar to the Sky."
COMPLETE STORIES
Watch this space for more milestones, says NASA chief
Fleta Page – The Sydney Morning Herald
Canberra's Deep Space Communication Complex has followed Neil Armstrong's first walk on the moon, the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars and Voyager's transition into interstellar space - and this year will celebrate its 50th year in operation.
To mark the anniversary, the head of NASA and former astronaut Charles Bolden visited the complex on Wednesday, and outlined the space agency's plans to put humans on Mars by the 2030s.
The DSCC at Tidbinbilla, operated by CSIRO on behalf of NASA, is one of three deep-space network stations in the world, and the only one in the southern hemisphere, with Mr Bolden highlighting the communications role it will play in the coming years, including with any human mission to Mars.
''That's not a lifetime away - that's 16 years,'' he said. ''Many of you will actually be in this facility, listening to communications that come back from the first humans on Mars; that's going to happen. I'm not just talking - I am a dreamer and I am the eternal optimist, but I am going to make that happen.''
Alongside Mr Bolden was Charles Elachi, the director of a leading space technology company, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who noted Australia's role in space exploration would only get bigger.
''If you look at the next 20 years, it happens that most of the planets are in the southern hemisphere, so the Canberra station will be playing an even more critical role because of the position you're in compared to the California and Madrid stations,'' Dr Elachi said.
Mr Bolden, who went on four missions to space, paid tribute to the US-Australian collaboration in space exploration.
''For the past half-century you've provided a critical communications lifeline for numerous NASA human and robotic missions,'' he said.
While there was once a ''space race'', the focus now and for the future is very much collaboration when it comes to space exploration, said the CSIRO's David Williams, who leads the organisation's research into astronomy.
''Co-operation is really the key,'' he said. ''These missions are very expensive and the further and more complex we wish to make them, the more important it is that we co-operate, because you don't need to go twice … you need to co-operate on the mission and then compete on the science.''
Dr Elachi said technology would continue to rapidly evolve. He estimated the capabilities at the Tidbinbilla complex had increased two or threefold in the past decade alone.
''When I first started at JPL, the Voyager space craft, which was launched about 35 years ago - the recording was on magnetic tape … now you put all the memory on a stick and have billions of times more capability,'' he said.
''We want to develop an inter-planetary internet, so any person can sit down and … communicate with these spacecraft.
''That's a long-term vision and has its limitations because there are some time delays. When you communicate with the rover on Mars, it takes 10 minutes for the signal to go to Mars and come back, but the idea is to make all these networks of satellites across the solar system basically accessible to everybody - and particularly for scientific researchers.''
One-time Congressional Skeptic Embraces Asteroid Redirect Mission
Dan Leone – Space News
The ranking Democrat on the House Science space subcommittee said March 18 she is having a change of heart in favor of NASA's proposal to send astronauts to a small asteroid by 2025.
"It's no great secret that I haven't been the biggest fan of the whole idea," Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) said in a speech to NASA employees and contractors here at a Maryland Business Roundtable luncheon.
But recently, Edwards saw NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on television describing the asteroid mission to a group of students. The account Bolden gave was "riveting," Edwards said. By the end of it, the three-term lawmaker said, she was "onboard" with NASA's plans.
"So I very quickly sent [Bolden] a text message," Edwards said. "I said 'Charlie, I was totally mesmerized by your description of the asteroid retrieval mission and how that could fit in some of the other things that we're doing.'"
The remark was an about face for Edwards, who just last year questioned whether NASA's plans to visit a repositioned asteroid had anything at all to do with preparing humans for a journey to Mars — the destination of choice for many of the agency's congressional overseers.
NASA says the asteroid mission is a crucial stepping stone to Mars, and has maintained that stance since unveiling the concept last April as part of its 2014 budget request.
The notional plan for the mission, which scientists at the California Institute of Technology's Keck Institute for Space Studies in Pasadena — who are credited with devising the concept — estimate will cost about $2 billion, is for a robotic spacecraft to launch by the end of this decade and nudge an asteroid about 10 meters in diameter into a stable orbit around the Moon. Then, around 2025, astronauts in the Orion deep-space capsule, launched by the heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket, would visit the asteroid to collect samples while testing systems the vehicles will need to carry astronauts to Mars.
Orion and SLS are the hardware remnants of the Constellation Moon-exploration program that U.S. President Barack Obama canceled in 2010. While those vehicles enjoy bipartisan support in Congress, the Asteroid Redirect Mission does not.
For example, Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), chairman of the space subcommittee, continues to view it as a "costly and complex distraction," according to a March 18 statement from his spokeswoman, Laura Chambers.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the full House Science Committee, in 2013 authored a NASA authorization bill that included an outright ban on the mission. That bill passed the committee last year but did not get a vote from the full House.
In the report accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2014 (H.R. 3547), the law that funds the government through Sept. 30, Congress directed NASA to analyze the asteroid mission more thoroughly, and provide an official assessment of associated costs and technical risks.
NASA has yet to fulfill that directive.
In its 2015 budget request, NASA proposed increasing funding for activities relevant to asteroid mission, including expanded ground- and space-based asteroid scouting, and solar-electric spacecraft propulsion.
Meanwhile, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center here, located just outside Edwards' congressional district, has emerged as a key part of an alternative asteroid mission proposed by NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
Whereas the Keck concept entails capturing a small asteroid using an inflatable bag, the Langley proposal entails chipping a boulder-sized piece from a larger asteroid and bringing that to lunar space for closer inspection. The asteroid from which the boulder would be pried would be roughly the size of Bennu, the 500-meter diameter space rock that NASA's robotic Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer will visit in 2018.
The Langley proposal would use hardware and software adapted from Goddard's Robotic Refueling Mission, which has been used to practice on-orbit satellite servicing at the international space station.
In the 2015 budget request it released March 4, NASA said it would select one of the two asteroid redirect concepts for further study around February 2015, the notional release date for the agency's 2016 budget request.
Astronaut Tim Peake Comments on the ISS Partnership and the Nobel Peace Prize
Andrew Henry – Space Safety Magazine
At the recent UK National Student Space Conference British astronaut Tim Peake commented on the nomination of the International Space Station partnership for the Nobel Peace Prize. "I was delighted to read about the International Space Station and the discussions about it being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize because… it has been one of the most incredible international partnerships." This comes at the same time as recent media exposure for the nomination, including NASA Director Charles Bolden referencing it in relation to the effect of the situation in Ukraine on the US-Russian partnership in space saying "I don't think it's an insignificant fact that we are starting to see a number of people with the idea that the International Space Station be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize."
Tim Peake will be the first Briton to fly as an ESA astronaut, though he is preceded into space by several of his compatriots who have flown into space as tourists or participants in the American space program. His first mission will be in November 2015, as a member of Expedition 46/47 when he will spend six months on the station. Prior to joining the ESA astronaut corps, Peake was a test pilot and a Major in the British military.
On the role that the ISS partnership can play in diplomacy, Peake said that "[The ISS] really has brought many nations together through difficult times, and continues to do so." The strained relations between the west and Russia in recent days highlights the role that the ISS and other international projects like it can play in bringing parties to the negotiating table and encouraging a diplomatic resolution. The partners in the International Space Station cannot ignore their interdependence and unilaterally withdraw from the undertaking, and therefore have incentive to engage on other issues as well.
When asked about whether future human missions beyond Earth orbit are likely to involve similar international partnerships, Peake said "I think [the ISS] really has to be the model for future space exploration because with budgets becoming more and more constrained, then, really one nation is not going to have the capability to expand exploration out into the solar system, to Mars and beyond. We are going to have to work together on projects."
Peake went on to say that there are signs of the next generation of international collaboration in human spaceflight taking shape already, with ESA signing on to provide the service module for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. This partnership is likely to mean that Europe, at least, will play a role in future cislunar missions and beyond. Wider international cooperation in future human spaceflight is still in the early stages for now. Discussions have been conducted with Roscosmos, ESA, NASA, and other partners regarding a future manned Moon base, and we are seeing the first hints of Sino-European cooperation in manned spaceflight. It is when earthly relations get tough that we learn to appreciate the role that ISS and other international partnerships play in global diplomacy.
Has NASA Nothing Better To Do Than Pit Poor Vs. Rich?
Investors Business Daily Op-Ed
Madness: A NASA-funded report says our civilization will collapse unless it deals with its inequality and natural resource exploitation. What happened to putting men into space?
The study, funded by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and conducted by applied mathematician Safa Motesharrei of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, is rich in hysteria. It says our "system is moving toward an impending collapse," blaming it on "the stretching of resources due to the strain placed on the ecological carrying capacity" and "the economic stratification of society into elites and masses (or 'commoners')."
The "collapse is difficult to avoid," proclaims the report. "Elites grow and consume too much, resulting in a famine among commoners that eventually causes the collapse of society."
In other words, the coming war between the 1% crowd and the Occupy Wall Street gang is going to doom modern civilization.
We find it interesting that NASA, which often complains about a lack of funding, would be involved in a report that pits the haves against the have-nots.
Maybe NASA officials should suggest Congress zero out their budget — 0.5% of the $3.7 trillion federal budget — and send the money directly to the masses.
As odd as this report is, it seems less strange when we consider that just four years ago President Obama told NASA administrator Charles Bolden, in Bolden's words, that "perhaps (his) foremost" priority should be "to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science ... and math and engineering."
NASA, which excelled at navigating men through space to the moon and back, is an agency that has lost its way. The manned moon mission ended in 1972 when Apollo 17 returned to Earth. Then the Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011. Our government space project is now almost asleep, its duty having largely diminished into that of a custodian who makes sure U.S. astronauts get a lift from Russian cosmonauts to, and back from, the International Space Station.
This virtual dormancy opens space wide to the private sector, where capitalists and entrepreneurs will do a far better job than government.
If this scare-mongering report is NASA's future, we should shut it down and give the money back to the taxpayers. It's better than paying for more loony reports of impending doom.
Launch of Orbital Sciences' Cygnus on CRS-2 mission delayed
Jason Rhian – Spaceflight Insider
Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that the next planned launch of its successful Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft duo – will have to wait a few more days before taking to the skies. Orbital has now scheduled liftoff to take place on May 6, 2014 at 3:44 p.m. EDT (19:44 UTC). The launch site is NASA's Wallops Flight Facility's Pad-0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS). Orbital has five minutes in which to get Antares off the pad and on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) before the launch window closes.
The Cygnus spacecraft is essentially a highly-modified Multi-Purpose Logistics Module which was employed by NASA to carry cargo to the ISS on board the space shuttle. Cygnus is comprised of two primary elements; the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) and the Service Module (SM). The PCM is manufactured by Thales Alenia Space in Italy. The service module is constructed by Orbital and is based on the company's STAR spacecraft bus. Other elements found their origin during the development of NASA's Dawn spacecraft which is currently on its way to the dwarf planet Ceres.
Unlike both the Russian Progress and European Automated Transfer Vehicles, Cygnus does not dock with the space station. Rather, the spacecraft, much like SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's HTV – pulls along side the station, is captured by the ISS's Canadarm 2 robotic arm and is then berthed to the ISS.
Only SpaceX's Dragon is mostly recovered and has the potential for possible reuse. All other unmanned spacecraft that travel to the station conduct fiery reentries and burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
Antares began under the name Taurus II. It first flew into the black on April 21, 2013 and has been designed to ferry Orbital's Cygnus cargo vessel to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts. Antares is literally a "big deal" as it is both the largest rocket currently produced by the Dulles, Virginia-based firm as well as the largest rocket launched from WFF to date.
NASA agreed to have Orbital develop Antares under a Space Act Agreement in 2008 for the space agency's COTS initiative. The Taurus II moniker was dropped in December of 2011 in favor of Antares. To date, the rocket has flown three times – all of them have been successful.
The first launch of Cygnus took place in September of 2013 and saw the G. David Low Cygnus successfully demonstrate its capabilities. With the completion of this mission – Orbital proceeded to begin fulfilling its requirements under the CRS contract. The first flight of Cygnus under CRS took place in January of this year. That Cygnus spacecraft was named the C. Gordon Fullerton.
Under the $1.9 billion CRS contract Orbital has with NASA, the company has to launch eight resupply missions to the International Space Station. With U.S. – Russian relations on the decline, this agreement is viewed as pivotal in terminating U.S. dependence on Russian-provided crew and cargo delivery services. Since before the end of the space shuttle era in 2011, NASA has been working to enable private companies to deliver both crew and cargo to the space station.
Japanese Bacteria To Go on Science Mission to Space
Eric Pfanner – The Wall Street Journal
Cows may not be able to jump over the moon, but a Japanese dairy product is about to make the leap.
Yakult Honsha Co., which makes a yogurt-like food from fermented milk, said Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency under which pots of Yakult are set to boldly go where no Yakult has gone before–the International Space Station.
The Tokyo-based company said its goal was to study the effects of so-called probiotic foods in the near gravity-free environment of the space station. In the six-year study, Japanese astronauts will be asked to consume Yakult daily for a month at a time. Stool, saliva and blood samples will be tested to determine the effects on the astronauts' constitutions.
Advocates of such foods, which contain special bacteria, say they help the human digestive and immune systems. Previous studies have shown that the health of astronauts can take a beating while they are in space. Now that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other agencies have begun considering longer missions, like a possible manned trip to Mars, keeping astronauts healthy will take on a greater urgency, officials of the company and the Japanese agency said in an interview.
The space station is run by the Japanese agency in partnership with the space programs of the U.S., Russia, Canada and Europe.
The research could hold benefits for Earth-bound humanoids, too, the officials said. If Yakult is found to help astronauts weather the ravages of space, they said the findings might apply to elderly people and others whose bodies face elevated health risks.
"Space is a model for accelerated aging, so if we can find preventive measures in space, these could be applied on the ground, too," said Hiroshi Ohshima, manager of the space biomedical research office at JAXA, as the agency is known.
Yakult executives and Jaxa officials said the cost of the study would be shared between the company and the agency. Yakult said it was contributing about 100 million yen, or about $1 million, for the first phase of the study, during which the company and the agency will determine, among other things, whether to use Yakult in its commercial form or alter it for space use. Overall, the company has spent 12 billion yen in the current fiscal year, which ends this month, on research and development.
The experiment with Yakult is not the first research involving food or bacteria in space. Researchers at Arizona State University have conducted a series of studies on the effects of space flight on disease-causing organisms like salmonella, discovering that they grew far more virulent once they had left the Earth and its gravitational field behind.
Welcoming active bacteria–in this case, the Shirota strain of lactobacillus casei–into the sterile environment of space requires a certain shift of thinking. In the past, astronauts have consumed mostly bland, specially processed "space food,'' and they have often been isolated before space missions in an effort to prevent contamination with harmful viruses or bacteria.
The company says lactobacillus casei is a friendly alien. "It is proven to be safe for humans, and it makes food tastier, too," said Takashige Negishi, chief operating officer of Yakult Honsha.
NASA tech makes space-age microcapsules for cancer drug delivery
Michael Gibney – Fierce Drug Delivery
The study of tiny microparticles could be described as the exact opposite of space exploration, scaling from the very small to the very large. But NASA research conducted off-planet for more than a decade could offer drug delivery solutions for the treatment of cancer, and they have the antigravity effects of space to thank for it.
If you've ever seen an astronaut floating in a space station squirting water into the air, then concept is familiar: Liquids tend to form spheres on their own in the absence of gravity. The liquid's surface tension pulls it into the smallest possible area, which is a sphere.
Using this concept on a much smaller level, called microencapsulation, NASA scientists were able to produce "tiny, liquid-filled biodegradable micro-balloons," according to the organization, that contain combinations of cancer drugs. These microcapsules could then be administered to cancer patients.
The Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System-II, or MEPS-II, was developed in 2002, but gaps in the research due to funding delayed the health-related studies. NASA interviewed its former investigator, Dennis Morrison, who is currently the R&D director at NuVue Therapeutics and who created the MEPS-II, earlier this month. The International Space Station posted details of the experiments this week.
The process wasn't discovered on terra firma, the scientists say, because of sedimentation due to gravity here. The microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station was ideal for bringing together water and oil in a solution to form the microcapsules.
Making these particles in space all the time is infeasible currently, so the scientists have discovered a way to replicate the process on land.
"We were able to figure out what parameters we needed to control so we could make the same kind of microcapsules on the ground," Morrison said in a statement. "Now, we no longer have to go to space. Space was our teacher, our classroom to figure out how we could make these on earth."
NuVue is now working to gain FDA approval and to eventually bring the microcapsules to manufacturing scale. Morrison and his team are performing studies to deliver cancer drugs to prostate, lung and breast tumors. NASA says approval is a few years away.
Morrison and his research team said: "[T]hese technologies were only able to come to fruition because of the availability of the microgravity environment aboard the space station. Without it, this innovative breakthrough involving the microencapsulation technology process would have never been created."
Woerner Urges ESA To Scrap Favored Ariane 6 Design
Peter B. de Selding – Space News
The head of Germany's space agency on March 19 urged European governments to scrap the current favored design for a next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, saying the vehicle could not win German financial support.
Johann-Dietrich Woerner further said Ariane 6, whose current design would generate work in only five European Space Agency nations and would depend on only these five governments for the full development cost, probably cannot be funded this year if ESA governments also take on an Ariane 5 upgrade and other launcher-related expenditures.
Woerner, who is chairman of the German Aerospace Center, DLR, said Germany wants the new Ariane 6 to use a cryogenic first stage, a cryogenic upper stage and flexible solid-fueled auxiliary boosters attached to the first stage, to give the vehicle more power as needed by the payload.
Woerner said substituting the current solid-fueled first stage with a cryogenic stage also would give German industry sufficient work on the rocket to finance about 25 percent of the vehicle's development. France would assume a 50 percent share, Italy around 15 percent and Switzerland and Belgium would take 5 percent each under the current Ariane 6 development model.
Woerner speculated that a cryogenic first stage using the experience gained from the current Ariane 5 ECA rocket and its cryogenic main stage, would be less expensive to develop than a solid-fueled version.
ESA governments are meeting March 19-20 here to review the results of work by industrial consortia asked to design an Ariane 6 rocket that could be built and launched for 70 million euros ($96 million).
The industrial study concluded that the vehicle could in fact be built for 3 billion euros, plus 750 million euros for the launch pad and related ground hardware. An inaugural flight could occur in 2021.
To this cost would be added the usual ESA program management charges, which in this case would be around 250 million euros.
Woerner said this total of 4 billion is short of the total likely investment that would be required, and that the 3-billion-euro development cost presumes that Ariane 6 and the upgraded Ariane 5 ME rocket share the development cost of a new upper stage with a restartable cryogenic engine.
ESA officials estimate that by sharing development of a common upper stage, the Ariane 5 ME and Ariane 6 development programs will save up to 600 million euros. Under this scenario, Ariane 5 ME would cost about 1.2 billion euros with a first flight in 2017 or 2018.
Other costs need to be added, including a program to upgrade ESA's Vega small-satellite launcher, and likely new support costs demanded by the Arianespace launch consortium to compensate for the high value of the euro relative to the U.S. dollar.
In total, it would be around 6 billion euros in launcher-related investment that ESA governments would be asked to accept when they meet in December in Luxembourg.
"I cannot imagine ministers are ready to spend that amount right now," Woerner said. "We in Germany do not have a firm figure on what we can spend, but we can't afford the current proposals. If the decision is made to have a cryogenic first stage on Ariane 6, we estimate it could cost 20-30 percent less because it borrows from the Ariane 5 ECA cryogenic stage."
Woerner conceded that Germany's support for a cryogenic first stage is not only for cost and performance reasons, but also to bolster Germany's industrial base. He said this long ESA practice — government support in return for guaranteed national work shares, also known as geographic return — is likely the only way to move forward on Ariane 6.
"If you want to privatize launchers, you let industry decide the most efficient way to build Ariane 6 and they do what they want," Woerner said. "But in this case industry would pay the development costs. We are asking industry to come up with a vehicle that is designed to cost, and that led to a scenario with only five nations. Sweden is left out, for example. And these five nations will be asked to finance the development, putting governments in an overly passive role relative to industry.
"Governments should be a more active participant in the process. We are financing the development to launch our satellites — that is our position in Germany. In France, they finance development because rockets are viewed as a strategic asset. We know that France will be leading the development, just as we are leading development of Europe's contribution to ISS," he said of the international space station.
"Only a French-German compromise will work. We are not lobbying for a German solution, but a French-German solution."
The new German ministerial coordinator for space policy, former Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, is scheduled to meet with her French counterpart, Genevieve Fioraso, the week of March 24 to begin work on a compromise.
Once they determine the way forward on rockets, the two ministers will need to determine Europe's position on the space station. ESA governments will be asked in December whether to approve a continuing station role until 2020. NASA has proposed that the orbital complex be operated until 2024.
Woerner said the space station agreement, which will depend on Italy's financial strength as well, cannot be separated from the Ariane discussions.
"It's like a kind of Tibetan prayer," Woerner said. "Nothing is resolved until everything is resolved."
Building a 'Pillar to the Sky': A Space Elevator Q&A with Author William Forstchen
In the not-too-distant future, humans will need to build an elevator to the heavens to find resources so desperately needed down on Earth. That is the world of author William Forstchen's new book, "Pillar to the Sky."
The science fiction novel follows the journey of Gary and Eva, a pair of married scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. When the budget for their space elevator (called the pillar to the sky) is "zeroed" by the U.S. Senate, they have to find another way of making their dream into a reality. A private investor comes to their rescue, however, the path to a sustainable space elevator won't be easy.
"Pillar to the Sky" is the first NASA-Inspired Work of Fiction — a program designed to pair scientists and writers up to produce science-literate sci-fi for a general audience. Space.com recently spoke with Forstchen about his NASA-inspired book and what he sees as the future of human spaceflight. See what he thinks of the future of space travel: Space.com: How did you get set up with the NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction program, and how did that program get started? Forstchen: I had a book come out four years ago on the threat of electromagnetic pulse weapons called "One Second After." Tom [Doherty, a New York-based book publisher] had been cooking up an idea for some time that back in the glory days of Apollo, NASA had a whole squad of cheerleaders out there with names like Isaac Asimov, Bob Heinlein, the real godfathers of science fiction who were cheering the space program on.
It seems the literature of late is entirely dystopic. So, Tom spoke with folks at NASA. Things went back and forth about pairing up authors who still held these positive dreams of the future, and I was the first one they recruited in and two and a half years ago, I went up to Goddard. I spent three days there kicking ideas around. I worked up a proposal, and then spent the year just doing research and everything else to start developing a draft and finally the book came out.
Where did the idea to write about a space elevator come from for you?
It started for me when I read Arthur C. Clarke's "Fountains of Paradise," which was the first novel to really take a serious look at the building of a space elevator. Clarke, so visionary in so many things, however, predicted that it would be 200 years before the technological capability was there. That fascinated me, and the interest has stayed with me for over 30 years now.
In your opinion, why is a space elevator a good option for future spaceflight?
The bottom line is that we are at the bottom of a gravity well. The energy cost of using chemical rockets or any type of propulsion system … is astronomical to get into space. It's a factor that we'll never be able to break. We have to find a different way to go, and a space elevator is the very logical alternative to that. It reduces the cost from thousands of dollar a pound to dollars a pound, and I believe it will be the transportation system of the 21st century.
The beginning of the book starts with a congressional hearing. Why root "Pillar to the Sky" in politics?
Newt Gingrich [former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives] and I have written some books together, and Newt is a very pro-space politician as well. I was heartbroken over the incident where Newt [was ridiculed] for his proposal to go back to the moon.
There are a couple members of Congress that shot down our space program repeatedly, so I couldn't resist making a comment about them as well.
Who were the real-life inspirations for scientists in the novel?
We have assembled at Goddard and our other NASA centers some of the brightest minds in the history of humanity. It's America's finest investment. For me, the exciting thing was, to hear them say, "Bill, you wrote a book that's real. We really could do this." Some of the inspiration came from them, these brilliant men and women involved in these projects. Some of the inspiration came from my own graduate school experience.
Goddard plays a huge role in the novel. Did Goddard need to be mentioned in the novel as part of the NASA-Inspired Work of Fiction program?
It was just organic, and it was my way of saluting these folks. We talk about NASA and the public image is always focused on the men and women on top of the rocket.
Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people have stood behind our space program who have never been in the spotlight. They realize that. That's the way life is and they are very dedicated to their work. So many of them that I talk to know that if they make a mistake, somebody might die. I see them as the real heroes, the folks that are sitting there late at night punching in the calculations and figuring things out. Saying, you know, we just might be able to do this. I have to salute Goddard. Goddard is very much a part of the story.
What kind of resources do you think wait for us in space?
We are in an ocean of limitless resources if we just look up. One of my thoughts that I put into the space elevator idea is we can harvest limitless energy. Once you've got the elevator up, now you have a means of hooking solar panels and hardwiring the electricity back down to Earth with superconductivity.
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