Hope you can join us at our monthly retirees luncheon tomorrow at Hibachi Grill at 11:30.
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- April 10 All Hands: Charles Bolden & Ellen Ochoa
- Morpheus/ALHAT Will Free Flight Test Again Today
- Bus Route for April 3 Spring Safety Fair - Organizations/Social
- Why Do You Work Safely?
- Leading ISS Through 2024
- Admin Day Deliveries by Starport
- JSC Scuba Club Open House
- April Shower of Savings Sale at Starport
- Starport Book Fair - Building 3 Café
- Starport's Spring Fest: Fun, Shopping, Crawfish
- Starport Youth Karate Classes - Free Class April 5 - Jobs and Training
- Upcoming NESC and NEN Webcast - Community
- Blood Drive - April 16 and 17
- Robots, Robots and More Educational Robots
- Mars Night and Family Space Day |  |
| Headlines - April 10 All Hands: Charles Bolden & Ellen Ochoa
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and JSC Director Ellen Ochoa will hold an all-hands event for JSC team members on Thursday, April 10, currently set for 10 to 11 a.m. in the Building 2S Teague Auditorium. If you would like to submit a question for consideration in advance or during the All Hands, please email it to: JSC-Ask-The-Director@mail.nasa.gov Those unable to attend in person can watch the All Hands on RF Channel 2 or Omni 3 (45). JSC team members with wired computer network connections can view the All Hands using the JSC EZTV IP Network TV System on channel 402. Please note: EZTV currently requires using Internet Explorer 32bit 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. First-time users will need to install the EZTV Monitor and Player client applications: - For those WITH admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you'll be prompted to download and install the clients when you first visit the IPTV website
- For those WITHOUT admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you can download the EZTV client applications from the ACES Software Refresh Portal (SRP)
If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367, or visit the FAQ site. The event will also be recorded for playback the following Thursday, April 17, and Tuesday, April 21, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Event Date: Thursday, April 10, 2014 Event Start Time:10:00 AM Event End Time:11:00 AM
Event Location: Teague Auditorium
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JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
[top] - Morpheus/ALHAT Will Free Flight Test Again Today
Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) integration is complete … Morpheus/ALHAT will begin free flight testing again today! During this free flight, the autonomous untethered Morpheus "Bravo" vehicle will launch from the ground over the flame trench, ascend approximately 245 meters (800+ feet), with peak speed of 16 m/s (36 mph). At its apex, the vehicle will pitch over into a 30-degree glide slope and image the hazard field and determine "safe sites." We will follow a pre-planned trajectory re-designation to simulate the hazard avoidance maneuvers (diverting 24 meters [78 feet] laterally). Bravo will travel a total of more than 406.5 meters (1300 feet) downrange at a peak speed of 12.5 m/s (28 mph) before descending to a landing within the hazard field after approximately 96 seconds of flight. The data collected in this flight will allow us to autonomously determine safe landing sites and trajectory re-desginations in future tests. The test will be streamed live on JSC's UStream Channel. Test firing is planned for approximately 1 p.m. CDT. Streaming will begin about 20 minutes prior to ignition. View the live stream, along with progress updates sent via Twitter, on the website. Or, if you're on-site, watch live on JSC HDTV (channel 51-2) and IPTV (channel 4512). *Note: Testing operations are very dynamic, and actual firing time may vary. Follow Morpheus on Twitter for the latest information @MorpheusLander. (Send "follow morpheuslander" to 40404 for text updates.) For more, check out: http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov - Bus Route for April 3 Spring Safety Fair
Attend the fair AND keep your parking space! You can do this by taking a specially dedicated bus or van to the event tomorrow, April 3, at the Gilruth. The bus routes, marked by "bus stop" signs, are: #1 and #2 Buses: Pick-up at Buildings 4/5, 1, 13/15, 16, 45, and then proceed to Gilruth. This route will be repeated. #3 Van: Pick-up at Buildings 227, 37/31, 29/7, 9/10, 32, and proceed to Gilruth--then repeat the route. #4 Van: Pick-up at Building 342A (shed), 419, and proceed to Gilruth--then repeat the route. Buses and vans will start running at 9:45 a.m. and will run continuously until 1 p.m. The fair hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Come out for lots of valuable health and safety information, and enjoy free hot dogs and live jazz music while you browse. 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 - Why Do You Work Safely?
The JSC Safety and Health Action Team (JSAT) is hosting the "Why I Work Safely" photo-laminating booth at tomorrow's Safety, Health and Environmental Fair. Don't forget to bring a photo of the reason you work safely (family, pets, sports car, boat, motorcycle, etc.), and we will laminate it for display on your lanyard. Show everyone your reason(s) for working safely! Note: Please trim photos to two inches wide by two-and-a-half inches in length. Scanned photos work well also. Event Date: Thursday, April 3, 2014 Event Start Time:10:00 AM Event End Time:1:00 PM
Event Location: Gilruth Gym and Liveoak Pavilion
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Reese Squires x37776
[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. - Admin Day Deliveries by Starport
The Starport Gift Shops will be making on-site deliveries of floral arrangements, plants, balloons and other gift items purchased at Starport for Administrative Professionals Day on Wednesday, April 23. Let your administrative assistant know that he/she is appreciated with a beautiful flower arrangement, balloons or other unique gift delivered right to his/her desk. Orders will be accepted through April 18. See floral and balloon options here. - JSC Scuba Club Open House
Interested in scuba diving? If you've been thinking about learning to scuba dive, becoming a certified diver or just looking for colleagues who share your passion, join us Wednesday, April 9, for the JSC Scuba Club's annual open house. The Lunarfins have been active as the JSC Scuba Club for more than 50 years! Get information and answers to all your questions about membership, club history, dive trips, training and equipment. Free hot dogs and sodas served! Find out how to get started in scuba diving or advanced training events, learn about dive trips, club speakers and local social events, and check out our Scuba Flea Market - bring to sell or come to buy. - April Shower of Savings Sale at Starport
Starport showers you with savings each week of April. This week, take 10 percent off Sport-Tek polos and 15 percent off NASA reflective sweatshirts. Stop by the Starport Gift Shops each week in April for the best prices on your space gift items. - Starport Book Fair - Building 3 Café
Come and enjoy the Books are Fun book fair held in the Building 3 café on Tuesday, April 15, and Wednesday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Search through more than 250 great titles in children's books, cookbooks, general-interest books, New York Times best sellers, stationery and scrapbooking, music collections and more, all at unbelievable prices. These make great Easter gifts! Click here for more information. - Starport's Spring Fest: Fun, Shopping, Crawfish
On April 19, Starport will have one big spring event at the Gilruth Center! Bring the kiddos out for our Children's Spring Fling, complete with a bounce house, face painting, petting zoo, Easter egg hunt and hot dog lunch. Tickets for ages 18 months to 12 years old are on sale in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops, Gilruth Center and online. Tickets are $8/each through April 11, or $10 the day of. Plus, be sure to do some shopping at our outdoor flea market for some hidden treasures and great finds! Then visit our indoor craft fair for homemade crafts and goodies. And, enjoy some tasty mudbugs at our crawfish boil. The cost is $7 per pound with corn and potatoes. Hot dogs, chips and drinks will also be available. A nine-hole disc golf course will also be set up and available for play for free! More information can be found here. - Starport Youth Karate Classes - Free Class April 5
Let Starport introduce your child to the exciting art of Youth Karate. Youth Karate will teach your child the skills of self-defense, self-discipline and self-confidence. The class will also focus on leadership, healthy competition and sportsmanship. TRY A FREE CLASS ON APRIL 5! Please call the Gilruth Center front desk to sign your child up for the free class (only 25 available spots). Five-week session: April 12 to May 17 (no class April 19) Saturdays: 10 to 10:45 a.m. Ages: 6 to 12 Cost: $75 | $20 drop-in rate Register online or at the Gilruth Center. Jobs and Training - Upcoming NESC and NEN Webcast
The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) and NASA Engineering Network (NEN) will host the following webcast on Wednesday, April 2, at noon CDT for approximately two hours. The webcast, titled "Utilization of the Building-Block Approach in Structural Mechanics Research," will be presented by Marshall Rouse. Registration is easy. Go here and click the "Sign in to Register" button. You will be redirected to LaunchPad to enter your user name and password. After a successful authentication, click the "Register Now" button. You will receive a confirmation email. If you can't attend the live webcast, please register anyway and we will notify you when the recorded (on-demand) version is available online for you to view. Registration is not available outside of the NASA firewall. Community - Blood Drive - April 16 and 17
There is no substitute for blood. It has to come from one person in order to give it to another. Will there be blood available when you or your family needs it? A regular number of voluntary donations are needed every day to meet the needs for blood. Make the "Commitment to Life" by taking one hour of your time to donate blood. Your blood donation can help as many as three patients. You can donate at one of the following locations: Teague Auditorium lobby - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Building 11 Starport Café donor coach - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Gilruth Center donor coach - Noon to 4 p.m. (Thursday only) - Robots, Robots and More Educational Robots
Join the fun and come to the George R. Brown Convention Center and watch 56 high school teams from throughout the world compete in the FIRST Robotics Lonestar Regional from April 4 to 6. This year's game is called Aerial Assist (YouTube it!). There are two teams that are directly supported by JSC employees: Dickinson High School's Gatorzillas and the Clear Creek Independent School District's Robonauts, as well as MANY other teams from throughout the Houston area. The event is free and open to the public. Robots are up to five feet tall and nearly 150 pounds. They play a fast-paced, exciting and unique game using 24-inch exercise balls. FIRST Robotics is a nationwide program designed to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to high school students through hands-on, real-world design experiences working side by side with industry engineers. What: FIRST Robotics Lonestar Regional When: April 4 to 6 Why: It's FUN and FREE! Come support area youth through STEM. - Mars Night and Family Space Day
On April 5, Mars will be visible in the night sky during our open hours. Come check out Mars during our Mars Night Celebration. Telescope tickets can be purchased at the observatory gift shop. Also attend a mission to Mars in the Challenger Learning Center during a special a Family Space Day from 3 to 8 p.m. For purchase are tickets to complete a 45-minute Challenger Center mission to Mars! Challenger Center mission tickets may be purchased for $10/person online. George Observatory is located in the heart of Brazos Bend State Park. Admission to the park is $7 for adults; kids under 12 are free. | |
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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
Wednesday – April 2, 2014
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: The image below of deserts in central Iran as seen from the ISS was taken by the Expedition 38 crew in February and posted on nasajohnson's Instagram account yesterday. Follow all the posts here: http://instagram.com/nasajohnson
HEADLINES AND LEADS
EPA scientist tracks the health of the ocean and other waterways
The Partnership for Public Service – The Washington Post
For some three decades, Darvene Adams has focused her attention on monitoring water quality and seeking to curb pollution in the ocean, bays, harbors and estuaries of the New Jersey and New York region.
Astronauts are heroes, too
Dave Hon – Smithville (MO) Herald
Amid the crisis in Ukraine and Crimea, there are two Americans who have to be in a really awkward position right now. Steve Swanson and Rick Mastracchio are currently aboard the International Space Station with three Russian Air Force Officers or, as the Russians like to call them, Cosmonauts.
Kathy Lueders: NASA Commercial Partners Adhere to Spacecraft Development Schedule
Jay Clemens - ExecutiveBiz
NASA's commercial partners have completed the design reviews of their respective spacecraft and rockets intended for the agency's program to transport mission crews to low-Earth orbit.
NASA Open To Renting SOFIA for $1 Million a Night
Brian Berger – Space News
NASA has formally begun its search for deep-pocketed partners ready to pony up to keep the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) flying beyond this year.
NASA model shows the center of the March 28 Los Angeles earthquake
Lee Roop – Huntsville (AL) Times
A new 3-D NASA computer model shows the center of the magnitude 5.1 earthquake that hit Los Angeles March 28. It also shows fairly precisely where the earth moved most - a patch of ground northwest of Anaheim near La Habra.
Mini robot space surgeon to climb inside astronauts
Aviva Rutkin – New Scientist
It could one day answer the prayers of astronauts who need surgery in deep space. The miniature surgeon slides into the body through an incision in the belly button. Once inside the abdominal cavity – which has been filled with inert gas to make room for it to work – the robot can remove an ailing appendix, cut pieces from a diseased colon or perforate a gastric ulcer.
Fears of loss of access to the ISS fade despite ongoing crisis
Jeff Foust – Space Politics
A month ago, as the crisis over the Crimea ramped up, many people worried about the ramifications of Russia's actions on operations of the International Space Station (ISS), particularly since NASA and the other partners rely on Russia for transporting crews to and from the outpost. However, those concerns have started to fade, in part because Russia followed through with a launch to the station last week that brought a NASA astronaut and two Russian counterparts to the station, and because the crisis overall has not escalated.
British Scientists Finding Subtle Signatures of Past Cosmic Violence
Mark Carreau – Aviation Week
An aromatic hydrocarbon found in meteorites, dimethylnaphthalene, is offering researchers signatures of far flung violent events in the universe, ranging from stellar explosions to random impacts between materials thrown into the cosmos by the detonations, according to British researchers.
Space Center Houston sets date for NASA shuttle carrier's move to new home
Craig Hlavaty – Houston Chronicle
The Boeing 747 jumbo jet that ferried dozens of space shuttles from landing sites in California and New Mexico back to Florida will be moving from its current spot in a remote part of Ellington Field to its new home just outside the front doors of Space Center Houston.
COMPLETE STORIES
EPA scientist tracks the health of the ocean and other waterways
The Partnership for Public Service – The Washington Post
For some three decades, Darvene Adams has focused her attention on monitoring water quality and seeking to curb pollution in the ocean, bays, harbors and estuaries of the New Jersey and New York region.
As a scientist for a regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Adams has been involved in numerous projects to test the health of waterways, measure the levels of contamination and determine the sources.
"I am providing the data and information we need to make better decisions," said Adams. "The information helps the public and policymakers figure out what the problems are and how to respond."
One innovative project has involved use of a 6-foot yellow submersible known as a Slocum Glider that resembles a torpedo with wings. For three summers, the glider has traveled the length of the New Jersey coastline and gone down to 120-foot depths to take readings of dissolved oxygen, salinity and temperature.
The glider resurfaces every two hours, transmitting data to scientists who have been seeking to understand why the ocean tends to have low levels of oxygen, particularly in the summer. Low levels of oxygen can cause fish kills and algae blooms, creating great harm to the scallops, oysters, clams and other seafood harvested off New Jersey's coast each year.
Adams said New Jersey has long considered its coastal waters to be "impaired" based on low amounts of dissolved oxygen, but she pointed out that this assessment was based on limited data. So far, Adams said, the extensive data from the glider has not found the oxygen levels to be as low as expected. She said sea life is thriving, and there is now a belief that some lower oxygen levels discovered in the summer months may be the result of natural occurrences, not pollution.
Adams also has been involved in monitoring the impact of Hurricane Sandy on New Jersey and New York waterways, charting the flow of the millions of gallons of raw and partially treated sewage that was released before and after the storm. The effort is part of a study to assess the long-term effects of Sandy on the coastal waters in both states.
In addition, she has worked on the regular assessment of the water and sediment quality of New York Harbor complex, has been deeply involved in the monitoring of the water quality of lakes, rivers and streams in New Jersey and New York, and has had exploring why Barnegat Bay, New Jersey's largest estuary, has been invaded by jelly fish. She also has been involved with the EPA effort to use the International Space Station as a monitoring platform for ocean health.
Randy Braun, the acting chief of the EPA Region 2 Monitoring and Assessment Branch, said Adams is creative, thorough, collects impeccable data and is always "thinking outside the box."
"She is always thinking of better ways to do things," said Braun, "She is passionate about her work, loves the environment, wants to make it better and protect human health."
Adams said that she became interested in environmental issues while in college when she worked with a fisheries biologist who was involved in providing scientific evidence as to why a major highway project on the West Side of Manhattan that involved filling in parts of the Hudson River should not go forward.
"This was one of the largest and longest New York City development battles and in the end, it was determined that it would cause irreparable harm to striped bass and the project was halted,' said Adams. "It was inspiring to see government scientists, armed with scientific data and determination, `speak for the fish' and help halt the project. I decided that EPA would be the place for me."
Adams said she initially worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Woods Hole, Mass. studying aspects of fish stocks in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, and for the state of New Jersey revising water quality criteria. She started at EPA in 1983 as a summer employee taking ocean water samples, and has been there ever since.
"I tell people I have my dream job. Every day I use my education and my skills to make the world a better environment for all of us," said Adams.
This article was jointly prepared by the Partnership for Public Service, a group seeking to enhance the performance of the federal government, and washingtonpost.com. Astronauts are heroes, too
Dave Hon – Smithville (MO) Herald
Amid the crisis in Ukraine and Crimea, there are two Americans who have to be in a really awkward position right now. Steve Swanson and Rick Mastracchio are currently aboard the International Space Station with three Russian Air Force Officers or, as the Russians like to call them, Cosmonauts.
Now, I'm sure you've never heard of Steve Swanson or Rick Mastracchio, but let me give you a little bit of background. Swanson just started his rotation on ISS nine days ago, having hitched a ride with the Russians, since we no longer have an active space flight program. Mastracchio has been on ISS for 148 days. The two are part of a six-man team that helps keep the ISS floating above our heads, since it's the most expensive collaborative space effort in human history.
Swanson and Mastracchio aren't as glamorous as John Glenn, but, even in zero gravity, it must be pretty awkward sharing tubed food with a Russian right now. Even though ISS is a big station, the six-man team has to work together at all times to keep 990,000 pounds rotating around the earth 7.66 kilometers per second.
I can't imagine that conversations about Vladimir Putin's brutish foreign policy are at the top of the astronauts' lists, but there has to be some tension. I mean, let's say, diplomatically, things don't go so well between Russia and the U.S. There are some political scientists who believe that Russia is attempting to reform the Soviet Union since after invading Crimea it now controls a warm-water port.
What's going to happen if bad diplomacy escalates to World War III? Our astronauts could very easily be stuck up there and next thing you know, a giant ball of metal is hurdling down on New Mexico with six nicely preserved corpses.
I hope I wasn't the only American who felt a twinge in my stomach when space Shuttle Atlantis landed for the last time in July of 2011. With no way of getting back to space ourselves, it felt like the end of era. Often, my dad will mock current pop-culture by saying, "Where are the American heroes? We had astronauts."
It's true, not as many people think of our astronauts as noble heroes any more. Most Americans couldn't even name the retired shuttles even when they were in service. The space program has done a lot for our culture.
The idea of miniaturization was brought to the forefront of technological philosophy because engineers needed a way to keep computers small.
Now, we all carry computers in our pockets that are 10 times more powerful than the ones we used to get to the moon.
I could continue to bloviate about the wonders of space and how our missions to the moon and Mars have helped even us little people on Earth, but I doubt I would convince anyone. At a previous job I had to ask regular everyday citizens random questions about current events. I asked one man, "What do you think about the Curiosity Rover landing on Mars?" he replied, "Well, I don't get to Kansas City much. I can't imagine why I'd go to Mars."
It was a terribly frustrating answer, and I didn't say anything back to him. But now, I would have a reply.
"But what about our heroes in space?"
Kathy Lueders: NASA Commercial Partners Adhere to Spacecraft Development Schedule
Jay Clemens - ExecutiveBiz
NASA's commercial partners have completed the design reviews of their respective spacecraft and rockets intended for the agency's program to transport mission crews to low-Earth orbit.
Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Space Exploration Technology continue to develop space transportation systems and prepare for tests in 2014 under the second round of their commercial crew program agreement with NASA, the agency said Monday. Kathy Lueders, acting CCP program manager, said the companies are working to meet development schedules for NASA to resume its space flights with American-built spacecraft.
Blue Origin concluded a design and assembly review of its small propulsion tank that is built to serve as booster for its Space Vehicle, while Boeing completed in February a structural review of its CST-100 spacecraft, which is comprised of the crew and service modules.
SpaceX also wrapped up an early design review of the ground systems for launching its Dragon spacecraft aboard the Falcon 9 rocket.
SNC will work to assess the wind tunnel test data of its Dream Chaser spacecraft and Atlas V rocket integrated stack configurations, as well as to perform reaction control systems and main engine motor tests.
NASA Open To Renting SOFIA for $1 Million a Night
Brian Berger – Space News
NASA has formally begun its search for deep-pocketed partners ready to pony up to keep the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) flying beyond this year.
A Request for Information posted March 31 on the agency's procurement website seeks input from potential partners interested in using the telescope-equipped 747SP aircraft for "scientific investigations or other potential uses."
"Various partnership levels will be considered," NASA says in the notice. "Partnerships can range from joining as a major partner to securing flights on a night-by-night basis. Costs are estimated at approximately $1 million per night for a dedicated mission."
NASA's 2015 budget plan calls for grounding SOFIA later this year in preparation for putting the $1 billion observatory into storage sometime next year. NASA's international partner on the program, the German space agency DLR, has said it cannot afford to pick up NASA's roughly $85 million share of SOFIA's annual operating costs.
NASA astrophysics officials recently warned that some of SOFIA's 2014 budget might have to be put toward closeout activities, a scenario that threatens to reduce the observatory's remaining flight hours. The $12 million NASA is seeking for SOFIA for 2015, these officials say, is not enough to meet next year's deadline for shutting down the program — unless the agency gets a head start this year.
NASA's sense of urgency is apparent in the March 30 solicitation.
"Due to the current budget situation, partnership arrangements would be initiated immediately in order to be in place prior to Oct. 1. Potential partners are invited to submit their interest or questions in writing as soon as possible, but prior to May 1."
An industry day is planned for April 11 at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. Potential partners and members of the media will have a chance to meet with SOFIA staff and tour the aircraft.
NASA model shows the center of the March 28 Los Angeles earthquake
Lee Roop – Huntsville (AL) Times
A new 3-D NASA computer model shows the center of the magnitude 5.1 earthquake that hit Los Angeles March 28. It also shows fairly precisely where the earth moved most - a patch of ground northwest of Anaheim near La Habra.
This was the largest earthquake to hit Southern California since 2008, and there have been hundreds of aftershocks, including one of magnitude 4.1. In this model, shown online here, the blue color shows where the earth moved most with the greatest movement in the dark blue section near the center.
NASA says the quake is thought to have originated in the Puente Hills Thrust fault that zigzags from Orange County northwest through downtown L.A. "Faults" are places where parts of the different plates that make up the Earth's surface meet and press against each other, occasionally releasing the pressure where they meet through rapid movements called earthquakes. The same fault caused the magnitude 5.9 Whittier Narrows earthquake on Oct. 1, 1987 that killed eight people and caused $360 million in property damage. The Puente Hills fault is called a "blind thrust fault," which means it doesn't break the Earth's surface.
NASA's model estimates the fault to be about 5.6 miles long, 3.1 miles deep and 1.9 miles wide. The fault segment that moved March 28 slants upward through the ground at a 60-degree angle. NASA's model says one side of the fault moved vertically and horizontally 3.9 inches relative to the other side. That moved the surface about 0.4 inch, or the minimum that can be detected.
NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech created the model using data from the U.S. Geological Survey. A radar-carrying airplane will fly the area and collect data to compare to the model. The work is part of NASA's QuakeSim software program developed at JPL to understand earthquake faults and lead to better forecasting. Mini robot space surgeon to climb inside astronauts
Aviva Rutkin – New Scientist
It could one day answer the prayers of astronauts who need surgery in deep space. The miniature surgeon slides into the body through an incision in the belly button. Once inside the abdominal cavity – which has been filled with inert gas to make room for it to work – the robot can remove an ailing appendix, cut pieces from a diseased colon or perforate a gastric ulcer.
The fist-sized robot, a product of Virtual Incision in Lincoln, Nebraska, will have its first zero-gravity test – in an aircraft flying in parabolic arcs – in the next few months. While aloft, the surgery bot will perform a set of exercises to demonstrate its dexterity, such as manipulating rubber bands and other inanimate objects.
The hope is that such robots will accompany future astronauts on long deep-space missions, when the chances are higher that someone will experience physical trauma. "It must be an emergency if you would consider surgery in space," says team member Shane Farritor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Medical emergency
For now, the only humans in space venture no further than the International Space Station. Astronauts are carefully screened for health issues before leaving Earth, and the ISS has an escape capsule standing by in case of emergencies, so home is just hours away. Many worrisome health issues that can occur in space return to normal back on Earth. But NASA has plans for human missions to an asteroid and eventually Mars, and getting home quickly won't be an option.
Surgery in space would be extremely difficult. Without gravity, it is easy for bodily fluids like blood to float free and contaminate the cabin. And space capsules can only carry a certain amount of weight, so medical tools need to be relatively light but capable of handling many kinds of situations.
"Everything that we take for granted, even something as simple as putting a Band Aid down on a table, is difficult in space," says Dmitry Oleynikov at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. "That difficulty increases logarithmically when you're trying to do complex procedures such as an operation."
Virtual Incision has been working on its design for a few years. The latest version weighs 0.4 kilograms. It has two arms loaded with tools to grab, cauterise and suture tissue, and its head is a small video camera. The feed relays to a control station, where a human surgeon operates it using joysticks.
Space surgeons
Prototypes have performed several dozen procedures in pigs. The team says the next step is to work in human cadavers and then test the technology in a living human on Earth.
Remote-operated technologies would have a disadvantage in space, because the further away a spaceship gets, the greater the time delay in communications signals. Virtual Incision hopes to avoid this problem by training astronauts to perform procedures on each other.
James Burgess at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh thinks robots like these could be particularly useful if they can learn to act more autonomously.
"You could imagine situations in the future where you can actually dial in a surgery from the ground and it can be put together and performed in space," says Burgess.
Fears of loss of access to the ISS fade despite ongoing crisis
Jeff Foust – Space Politics
A month ago, as the crisis over the Crimea ramped up, many people worried about the ramifications of Russia's actions on operations of the International Space Station (ISS), particularly since NASA and the other partners rely on Russia for transporting crews to and from the outpost. However, those concerns have started to fade, in part because Russia followed through with a launch to the station last week that brought a NASA astronaut and two Russian counterparts to the station, and because the crisis overall has not escalated.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden, who has insisted from the beginning of the crisis that ISS cooperation has not been adversely affected by it, reiterated those beliefs Thursday at a hearing of the House Science Committee's space subcommittee on NASA's 2015 budget proposal. "I am not aware of any threat" of Russia refusing to transport NASA astronauts to the station, he said in response to a question by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the full committee. "I am comfortable because we talk to the Russians every day, to Roscosmos," the Russian space agency. "We're confident that they are just as interested and just as intent on maintaining that partnership as we are."
That believe is supported by Michael McFaul, who stepped down in February as US ambassador to Russia to return to academia. "I think U.S.-Russia space cooperation would be one of the last areas of cooperation to be interrupted," he told NBC News in a recent interview. "This cooperation has continued for decades through many ups and downs in US-Russian relations. It is also profitable for Russia."
British Scientists Finding Subtle Signatures of Past Cosmic Violence
Mark Carreau – Aviation Week
An aromatic hydrocarbon found in meteorites, dimethylnaphthalene, is offering researchers signatures of far flung violent events in the universe, ranging from stellar explosions to random impacts between materials thrown into the cosmos by the detonations, according to British researchers.
Dimethylnaphthalene appears sensitive even to the heat and pressures of near misses between comets and meteorites containing the organic substance.
The work carried out by researchers from the Imperial College London offers scientists a potential tool for determining more than just how meteorites were affected by heat, allowing them to develop a more comprehensive analysis of organic materials.
"The ability to detect high pressure environments in space has tremendous implications for our ability to learn more about the formation of our solar system and the universe," according to a statement from Wren Montgomery, an Imperial College researcher and coauthor of a study on the findings published April 1 in the Astrophysical Journal. "Dimethylnaphthalenes are like microscopic barometers and thermometers recording changes in pressure and heat as they travel through space. Understanding these changes lets us probe their history, and with that, the history of the galaxy."
Wren and her colleagues carried out the work at the Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland and SOLEIL Synchrotron in France by subjecting small samples of dimethynaphthalene to the vice-like grip of anvils made from high quality diamonds to simulate space-like pressures. The pressures produced detectable alterations in the molecular structure of the dimethylnapthalene samples.
The Imperial College team intends to expand their work by looking at the response of other hydrocarbons found in meteorites to similar pressure exposures. The goal is to build up a catalogue useful to scientists in the field in recognizing signature pressure ranges and events. Combined with evaluations of the mineralogy and chemistry in space rocks, planetary geologists could point to the kinds of violent events they experienced during their long journeys to Earth.
Potentially, the combination of techniques could be used in instruments aboard planetary rovers like those on Mars to determine thermal signatures in aromatic hydrocarbons linked to ancient organisms, say the British scientists.
"We now have another instrument to add to our celestial toolbox, which will help us to learn more about high pressure environments in space," said study co-author Mark Sephton, also from the Imperial College. "Massive heat and pressure waves arcing out through space from cataclysmic events leave an indelible record in these cosmic barometers. It is really exciting to know that we now have a technique at our disposal that will help to reveal pivotal moments in the universe's history."
Space Center Houston sets date for NASA shuttle carrier's move to new home
Craig Hlavaty – Houston Chronicle
The Boeing 747 jumbo jet that ferried dozens of space shuttles from landing sites in California and New Mexico back to Florida will be moving from its current spot in a remote part of Ellington Field to its new home just outside the front doors of Space Center Houston.
According to Space Center Houston's Facebook page, the move will begin on the night of April 28 and continue the next evening to sidestep any major traffic concerns for Clear Lake residents. Nine large plane pieces will be moved over two nights.
Last week, the Houston Chronicle's own Eric Berger wrote about the work being done to the NASA 905, a modified 747 that was made famous for its starring role in ferrying the space shuttle across the country.
The aircraft's flights were big events, seemingly leaving Houston at a standstill while it took the shuttle Endeavour for a ride to Ellington Field in September 2012.
After the 747's parts arrive at Space Center Houston, work will begin on reassembling it and placing the Independence shuttle mock-up on top of it for a planned $12 million, six-story interactive attraction. Unlike the space-worn shuttles currently at other sites around the United States, this will be the only shuttle -- albeit a mock-up -- that the public will be able to tour.
This move will be a big event in the Clear Lake area. A 1,000-foot trailer convoy is hard to ignore. When the shuttle mock-up was making its way to Space Center Houston it was quite an event in itself.
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