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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: June 4, 2014 4:10:23 PM CDT
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News - Wednesday – June 4, 2014
Don't forget to tune in tonight on PBS channel 8 at 8:30 for those of you in the Houston metro area….NASA and Human Spaceflight NewsWednesday – June 4, 2014"The Space Shuttle: Flying for Me"KUHT, Houston @ 8:30 PM...Jerry Ross will be live in the studio during breaks."The Space Shuttle: Flying for Me" is a one-hour film celebrating 30 years of shuttle highlights and its legacies, including: the diversity of NASA, science such as the Hubble Telescope, and the assembly of the International Space Station.HEADLINES AND LEADSHubble peers deep into the universe, reveals teenage galaxiesDeborah Netburn – Los Angeles TimesAstronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have released one of the most comprehensive images of the universe ever taken, and it is awesome.Colorful Hubble Telescope Image Is Best-Ever View of Universe's EvolutionMiriam Kramer – Space.comThe Hubble Space Telescope has captured an amazing and colorful deep view of the universe, showing galaxies shining in ultraviolet light during their wild, star-forming "teenage" years.Hubble Adds Ultraviolet to Epic Ultra-Deep Cosmic ViewIrene Klotz – Discovery NewsAstronomers have added an ultraviolet perspective to an ultra-deep field view of the universe taken by the Hubble Space Telescope over the past decade.All-Girl Student Rocket Team Visits White HouseElizabeth Howell - Space.comWorking evenings and weekends, an all-girl team spent weeks building a small rocket that could launch and land while protecting delicate cargo inside. Their efforts earned them a spot in the recent White House Science Fair.Spending bill doesn't meet NASA's request for key programLedyard King – USA TodayThe program to replace the mothballed space shuttle program with private rockets would get slightly more money under legislation that a key Senate panel approved Tuesday than it would under a bill the House passed last week.Senate Spending Bill Includes $17.9 Billion for NASADan Leone – Space NewsNASA's massive Space Launch System rocket development effort would get a boost in a proposed Senate spending bill that would give the space agency $17.9 billion next year, some $254 million more than it received in 2014.Cap on contractor exec salary expanded to all DoD, NASA contractor employeesAndy Medici – Federal TimesA cap on contractor executive salary reimbursement rates will be expanded to include almost all contractor employees under Defense Department and NASA contracts, according to a final rule published in the Federal Register May 30.NASA and astronomy community looking for ways to keep Spitzer goingJeff Foust – Space PoliticsAlthough NASA accepted last month a recommendation by a senior review panel not to continue the Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA and the astronomy community are working on ways to continue the mission at a reduced funding level by freeing up funds elsewhere in the astrophysics program.Sumara Thompson-King Appointed NASA General CounselAnna Forrester – ExecutiveGovSumara Thompson-King, NASA deputy general counsel, has been appointed to the top post at the agency's Office of the General Counsel at NASA headquarters, succeeding 10-year general counsel Michael Wholley.Stamps: Too many workers, contractors spoil NASA effortsCharley Stamps – Houston ChronicleThe Chronicle special report "Adrift" (Page A1, May 19) described NASA today. Old Apollo employees share Chris Kraft's concern that sending the shuttle to pasture was a bad idea. Except for the limited capability of Space X, a fully reuseable launch system is not on the horizon.Sally Ride revealed: New book shares secret life of America's first woman in spaceRobert Pearlman – collectSPACELynn Sherr knew Sally Ride. As a veteran journalist for ABC News, Sherr had helped to introduce Sally Ride to the world as the teen tennis player-turned-physicist who in 1978 was selected among NASA's first female astronauts. Sherr then covered Ride becoming the first American woman to fly in space six years later.
Kennedy Space Center looks to the futureJames Dean – Florida TodayKennedy Space Center could see a major expansion of facilities by 2032, even as NASA copes with flat budgets and a mandate to downsize following the shuttle program's retirement.SpaceX's Reisman ready for the next giant leap with Dragon V2Chris Bergin – NASA Space FlightDragon V2 Program Lead Dr. Garrett Reisman believes SpaceX's new crew vehicle is a "giant leap forward" in safety and technology. The new vehicle – unveiled last Thursday – is the leading contender to win the right to launch NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), a viable advance on the current mode of transportation that his former NASA colleagues currently use to ride to the orbital outpost.
What will be the significance of the NRC's human spaceflight report?Jeff Foust – Space PoliticsThe National Academies announced Friday that it will release the long-awaited report on human spaceflight, titled "Pathways to Exploration—Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration", on Wednesday morning, with a briefing by committee members scheduled for 11 am Eastern time Wednesday. The emphasis here should be "long-awaited": the report was requested by Congress as part of the NASA authorization act of 2010, and work on the report by a committee established the National Research Council started in late 2012. The committee held a number of public hearings, although in recent months has een focused on the report.COMPLETE STORIESHubble peers deep into the universe, reveals teenage galaxiesDeborah Netburn – Los Angeles TimesAstronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have released one of the most comprehensive images of the universe ever taken, and it is awesome.The image you see below is not wide, but it is so deep that it stretches back to just a few hundred million years after the big bang.Harry Teplitz, an astronomer at Caltech in Pasadena, described the view as a pencil beam: narrow if you look at it head-on, but very, very long if you look at it sideways.
Hubble's view of the universeUsing the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have captured the most comprehensive picture ever assembled of the evolving universe. (NASA)"It is a small patch of sky, much smaller than the size of the moon, but because Hubble can see light from very distant galaxies, it goes back 12 billion years," he said. "The reason you see so many galaxies in the image is because they are at many different distances."Hubble has been peering at this small, narrow area of the sky on and off since 2003 in visible light and infrared light, but only recently has it been able to look into this tunnel of space in the ultraviolet wave length.Adding the ultraviolet light makes for a pretty picture, but it is scientifically significant as well."Ultraviolet is where we see the hottest light from the youngest stars," said Teplitz, who led a new study called "Ultraviolet Coverage of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field." "It is a direct measure of star formation."Previously, astronomers could learn about star formation in the most distant galaxies because the ultraviolet light those hot young stars emitted got red-shifted into the visible range as it traveled through space and time.They could also learn about star formation in nearby galaxies thanks to missions like NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, which could look in ultraviolet light at galaxies that were relatively close to our own.But until now, no one knew how stars were forming 5 to 10 billion years ago. And that is a time when most of the stars in the universe formed, Teplitz said."It's kind of like now, for the first time, we can study galaxies when they are in their teenage years," he said.Colorful Hubble Telescope Image Is Best-Ever View of Universe's EvolutionMiriam Kramer – Space.comThe Hubble Space Telescope has captured an amazing and colorful deep view of the universe, showing galaxies shining in ultraviolet light during their wild, star-forming "teenage" years.The new image, which was released today (June 3), is the most comprehensive view of the evolving universe ever captured by the space telescope, Hubble representatives said. Hubble previously imaged the same patch of sky shown in the new image between 2004 and 2009 to create a super-detailed view known as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field.The new Hubble telescope picture — a composite of exposures taken from 2003 to 2012 — is called the Ultraviolet Coverage of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and contains about 10,000 galaxies, with the ultraviolet (UV) images rendered in blue. The image also extends very far back in time, capturing a snapshot of galaxies just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
This image by the Hubble Space Telescope is the most comprehensive view yet of the universe's evolution as seen by a space telescope. The coloful image, released June 3, 2014, contains 10,000 galaxies, with the different colors denoting different wavelengths.
Credit: NASA, ESA, H. Teplitz and M. Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech), A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst (Arizona State University), and Z. Levay (STScI)"The reason we want to do this is to study galaxies in what you might call their 'teenage years,' while they're still growing up," Harry Teplitz, the project's principal investigator and a researcher at the California Institute of Technology, told reporters here today at the 224th meeting of the American Astronomical Society."What we did that's new is that we took ultraviolet images, and the reason we want to study things in the ultraviolet is that it tells us about the youngest, most massive, hottest stars that are forming within galaxies," Teplitz added.The new ultraviolet images could also help fill in a gap in scientists' knowledge about galaxies. In the past, Hubble has imaged distant, primitive galaxies that came into existence not long after the Big Bang using near-infrared capabilities, and scientists have been able to study nearby galaxies that have already "grown up."But the period of galactic evolution between those two phases has remained mysterious. The new ultraviolet data could help clear up some of the mystery, Teplitz said."In between 5 [billion] and 10 billion years ago, when UV light was emitted, we've not had the facility to explore that range in the ultraviolet — so that's why we wanted to fill in the gap," he said. "To understand why that's important, it's sort of like having studied people or families by first studying infants, and then studying grown-ups after they've gone to college, but completely missing everything in between and not knowing about school."By adding ultraviolet observations to the original Hubble image, scientists can now see star formation in galaxies as they are growing during their most productive years. Therefore, astronomers can potentially learn more about how galaxies grow and turn into what is seen today.Once Hubble goes offline sometime within the next decade, astronomers will not have a way to obtain ultraviolet data that can be used to probe the universe in this way, Hubble representatives said.Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, will get great looks at the universe in infrared light; however, it will not be able to obtain the ultraviolet data that Hubble collects. Scientists are therefore using Hubble to get more ultraviolet data in preparation for its successor.Hubble Adds Ultraviolet to Epic Ultra-Deep Cosmic ViewIrene Klotz – Discovery NewsAstronomers have added an ultraviolet perspective to an ultra-deep field view of the universe taken by the Hubble Space Telescope over the past decade.The new image, released Tuesday, reveals a missing link in galaxy formation, a time when young, massive and hot stars ruled the day."Looking in the ultraviolet we see the youngest stars, and we see them directly when they're not obscured. Seeing where, when and how these stars formed can tell us how galaxies evolved from their very infant stages into the kind of galaxies that we see today," astronomer Harry Tiplitz, with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told reporters at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Boston.To produce the image, Hubble was repeatedly aimed at the same small slice of the sky it previously studied in infrared and visible light to reveal galaxies dating back to a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.It took astronomers more than two years to compile the ultraviolet images, which were taken over 841 orbits of Hubble between 2010 and 2012. The Ultra-Deep Field project began in 2003."The ultraviolet (on Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3) is harder to use because the detectors are aging, so there were detector effects we have to worry about," Tiplitz told Discovery News."UV is just really hard because there's not a lot of signal. The sky is very dark (in ultraviolet) so we're much more sensitive to the detector effects," he said.The ultra-deep look in ultraviolet light will be the last for the foreseeable future. The observatory being built to replace Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope, won't have ultraviolet capability. Instead, it will collect infrared light, in an attempt to learn more about the universe's infancy.All-Girl Student Rocket Team Visits White HouseElizabeth Howell - Space.comWorking evenings and weekends, an all-girl team spent weeks building a small rocket that could launch and land while protecting delicate cargo inside. Their efforts earned them a spot in the recent White House Science Fair.The three high schoolers of Team Rocket Power — sophomores Jasmyn Logan and Nia'mani Robinson and senior Rebecca Chapin-Ridgley — built a rocket that flew more than 750 feet (229 meters) and back in less than a minute. It returned itss payload of two raw eggs undamaged, floating softly back to Earth beneath two parachutes.The Maryland team competed at the Team America Rocketry Challenge earlier this year and was one of 100 teams from several competitions invited to showcase their projects at the White House."At NASA, women are not only astronauts; they also run science missions. They engineer and build our many spacecraft," NASA administrator Charles Bolden, who attended the event, wrote on his blog."Our chief financial officer, chief scientist and one of our field center directors are women. They are program managers, budget analysts and communicators," Bolden added. "They serve in every capacity and continue to prove something we all know — as Amelia Earhart famously said, men and women are equal 'in jobs requiring intelligence, coordination, speed, coolness and willpower.' "This year's White House science fair focused on the achievements of girls and women in science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM). Also on May 27, Bolden announced a NASA partnership with the free online Khan Academy to create tutorials in these fields.For more information on NASA's partnership with Khan Academy, visit: https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/nasaSpending bill doesn't meet NASA's request for key programLedyard King – USA TodayThe program to replace the mothballed space shuttle program with private rockets would get slightly more money under legislation that a key Senate panel approved Tuesday than it would under a bill the House passed last week.But the $805 million that a Senate Appropriations subcommittee endorsed for the Commercial Crew Program falls short of what the administration has said it needs to make sure astronauts can get to the International Space Station from American soil by 2017.NASA is asking for $848 million in the fiscal 2015 budget to meet that launch schedule.The full Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on — and approve — the bill Thursday.The Senate and House measures are similar. Both would allocate roughly $17.9 billion to the space agency, with some slight differences. And both would fund science programs at $5.2 billion, about $200 million more than the administration is seeking.But the bills differ in some areas. The Senate version would provide $4.4 billion for exploration (including $2.9 billion for a deep-space rocket and the Orion crew vehicle it would carry to Mars in the 2030s). The House has approved $4.2 billion for exploration.The $17.9 billion plan is about $250 million more than NASA received for the current fiscal year, and roughly $440 million more than President Obama requested for fiscal 2015."We were very disappointed in the president's request," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. She chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, which approved the Senate bill Tuesday.Subcommittee leaders "worked on a bipartisan basis and made sure that we maintain the balanced space program, human space flight, science and discovery and, at the same time, promote aeronautics," she said.The Commercial Crew Program is essentially a competition among private companies to develop a rocket to replace the space shuttle.Aside from not giving NASA its full request for the program, the Senate spending bill would require the agency to ensure that companies participating in the competition submit certified cost and pricing data."I believe we must ensure that the taxpayers are getting the best value for their dollars," said Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the subcommittee.Senate Spending Bill Includes $17.9 Billion for NASADan Leone – Space NewsNASA's massive Space Launch System rocket development effort would get a boost in a proposed Senate spending bill that would give the space agency $17.9 billion next year, some $254 million more than it received in 2014.The proposed NASA budget is part of a $52.1 billion spending package approved June 3 by the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee by voice vote after a quick markup. NASA's proposed appropriation is $439 million more than what the White House requested in a 2015 budget proposal released in March."We were very disappointed in the president's request," Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), chairwoman of both the subcommittee and full committee, said at the markup.The full committee is scheduled to vote on the bill June 5 at 10 a.m. EDT. The bill would then need to pass on the Senate floor and be reconciled with a counterpart spending package passed in the House, which included $17.896 billion for NASA, before it could be signed into law.During the markup, Mikulski revealed proposed spending levels for selected NASA programs.The bill would provide $1.7 billion for the heavy-lift SLS rocket, some $350 million more than the White House requested for 2015, and $100 million more than the House has proposed.SLS is being built at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee, is an ardent defender of the center.The bill also provides $805 million for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, under which the agency is funding work on three competing astronaut transportation systems with the goal of having at least one delivering crews to and from the international space station by the end of 2017.The White House requested $850 million next year for Commercial Crew, its top human spaceflight development priority. The House proposed $785 million, which would represent a high water mark on a program that has never received the full funding sought by the White House.Although the White House appears to be winning Congress over on Commercial Crew spending, lawmakers still have concerns, as evidenced by language in the Senate bill designed to provide greater transparency into program funding. "I believe we must ensure that the taxpayers are getting the best value for the dollar," Shelby, who authored the language, said June 3.Work on the Commercial Crew program is funded via NASA Space Act Agreements, some details of which are posted on the agency's website. Since 2010, NASA has spent roughly $2 billion on the program, most of which has gone to the companies designing competing vehicles: Boeing Space Exploration of Houston, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. of Hawthorne, California, and Sierra Nevada Space Systems of Louisville, Colorado.Mikulski said the international space station program, meanwhile, would get about $3 billion under the subcommittee's bill. That is roughly in line with the White House's request and the House's proposed funding level.NASA's Science Mission Directorate, which include the four disciplines of astrophysics, Earth science, heliophysics and planetary science, would receive $5.2 billion under the subcommittee's bill — about $200 million above the White House's request, and in line with what the House has proposed.Is is unclear whether the Senate would join the House in seeking to block the White House's decision, unveiled with the 2015 budget request, to cancel the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. The House bill explicitly denies the White House's proposal to mothball the flying astrophysics observatory by Sept. 30, 2015.A more detailed breakdown of proposed spending in Senate bill, and the text of the bill itself, will be made public after the Senate Appropriations Committee's June 5 vote.Cap on contractor exec salary expanded to all DoD, NASA contractor employeesAndy Medici – Federal TimesA cap on contractor executive salary reimbursement rates will be expanded to include almost all contractor employees under Defense Department and NASA contracts, according to a final rule published in the Federal Register May 30.The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council also made the cap retroactive, leaving contractors on the hook for employee costs incurred and reimbursed over the last 18 months for all contracts awarded on or after Dec. 31, 2011. The cap was set at at $763,029 during that time.The cap used in the rule was set before the 2013 Bipartisan Budget Act passed in December set a new contractor executive salary reimbursement cap at $487,000 for new contracts. The FAR council is working on an interim rule to apply the contractor cap across the government.Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel of the Professional Services Council, said the organization is "dismayed" that the council included the retroactive clause in the final rule after waiting so long to craft a rule for the legislation."As a result of the interim and final rules, covered contractors will have to unscramble their accounting to make this change in allowable compensation rates that were validly incurred during the 18 months it took the FAR Council to act," Chvotkin said. "That is simply unacceptable."In the final rule the council wrote that DoD can still consider exceptions to the rule for high-paid employees such as scientists and engineers, and that the rule would not have a significant impact on the contractor community.Roger Waldron, the president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, said he was very disappointed that the final rule did not remove the retroactive requirement. Contractors will now have to work through the last 18 months to see what can no longer be reimbursed and in some cases make adjustments."It also hurts contractor efforts to recruit the best and the brightest and places contractors at a competitive disadvantage," Waldron said.He also said while the Defense Department has the authority to grant exemptions from the cap, it has not done so.NASA and astronomy community looking for ways to keep Spitzer goingJeff Foust – Space PoliticsAlthough NASA accepted last month a recommendation by a senior review panel not to continue the Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA and the astronomy community are working on ways to continue the mission at a reduced funding level by freeing up funds elsewhere in the astrophysics program."We have invited the Spitzer program to submit a reclama—that's an appeal—to us as an overguide as part of our budget formulation process" for fiscal year 2016, said Paul Hertz, director of NASA's astrophysics division, at a NASA town hall during the 224th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Boston on Monday. That proposal will be considered this summer as the agency prepares to submit a budget request to the White House.Hertz indicated that any proposal to continue Spitzer operations, even at a reduced funding level (NASA requested $14.2 million for the program for fiscal year 2015) would have to be paid for from elsewhere in the astrophysics budget. "Asking for new money is not part of my phase space," he said. "In order to consider Spitzer, we have to spend less money on something else we were planning to do."Hertz said he has asked the various scientific advisory committees involved in the astrophysics program for suggestions on what could potentially be reduced in order to free up funds for Spitzer. "I've received a lot of input on that," he said, adding that process of soliciting ideas was continuing. "There's a relatively small number of places where NASA astrophysics is spending money and where we could spend less to continue Spitzer.""It doesn't make me happy to be here talking to you about these kinds of decisions," he said, "but unfortunately, in an era where our budget is constrained, we can only continue some fraction of the things we would like to be doing. We have to prioritize in some manner."The news is perhaps a little more optimistic for SOFIA, the airborne observatory whose future was placed in doubt in the administration's 2015 budget request. The Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations bill passed by the House last week includes $70 million for SOFIA, about 80 percent of the program's current budget but far above the $12 million requested to mothball the observatory. Hertz said after the town hall meeting that NASA is looking at what implications the House figure would have on SOFIA operations in terms of flight rates and other activities.Sumara Thompson-King Appointed NASA General CounselAnna Forrester – ExecutiveGovSumara Thompson-King, NASA deputy general counsel, has been appointed to the top post at the agency's Office of the General Counsel at NASA headquarters, succeeding 10-year general counsel Michael Wholley.Thompson-King, a 28-year veteran at the agency, oversees and provides legal advice and assistance to senior management, NASA said Monday.She was previously associate general counsel for the contracts, procurement and acquisition integrity group; deputy associate general counsel for contracts; and a senior attorney handling cases for the General Services Administration Board of Contract Appeals.Thompson-King is a recipient of NASA's Exceptional Achievement Medal for her litigation work, several NASA Group Achievement Awards for project management work and a Director's Commendation for her service to the Marshall Space Flight Center.Thompson-King earned her J.D. from Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown University Law Center.Stamps: Too many workers, contractors spoil NASA effortsCharley Stamps – Houston ChronicleThe Chronicle special report "Adrift" (Page A1, May 19) described NASA today. Old Apollo employees share Chris Kraft's concern that sending the shuttle to pasture was a bad idea. Except for the limited capability of Space X, a fully reuseable launch system is not on the horizon.Access to space could be achieved by returning to the type of organization that worked so well during the Apollo/shuttle era. There is a direct relationship between how much an item costs and the time it takes to produce that item. Simply stated, there are too many employees, both civil servants and contractors.Until about two years ago, when approximately 1,000 contractors were dropped, Johnson Space Center had roughly 3,600 civil servants and 13,000 contractors. During the Apollo/shuttle period, there were about 3,000 civil servants and 3,500 contractors. This group of employees built the JSC facilities, and designed and developed facilities necessary to test system components and launch and return astronauts from space.Execution of that program required five years - 1964 to 1969. In contrast, the Space X program was awarded in July 2006 and the first proven launch occurred six years later. It should be noted that the Space X launch system is very welcome but is basically an update of the 1960 Mercury, Gemini launch systems.Another example is procurement time. Today, the evaluation process for a new procurement requires about two years. In 1969, lunar TV from Apollo 12 was lost when the camera was pointed to the sun. The total procurement cycle for the replacement TV was six weeks.Can NASA restore the glory that it enjoyed during the Apollo/shuttle programs? Not as presently organized. There are simply too many employees.Large organizations stifle creative people. Innovative people are necessary whenever the creation of new technology is the goal. In large organizations such as NASA, employees such as Steve Jobs, if he were still alive, would be at the back of the class.To illustrate, several years ago, Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed, developed and launched a number of notable space efforts. NASA civil service oversight consisted of 15 personnel. A couple of years ago, Ames Research Center successfully launched a moon mission to determine water or moisture content. I personally contacted the project manager, asking how many personnel worked on the project. His answer: very few.The problem appears to be epidemic. But at the risk of losing support, no congressional representative will approve any action that will result in a loss of jobs.The problem can be solved, but it will take courage. Whoever coined the old phrase "Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth" was on target.Charley Stamps is a former NASA contracting officer in the General Research department during the Apollo/shuttle programs.Sally Ride revealed: New book shares secret life of America's first woman in spaceRobert Pearlman – collectSPACELynn Sherr knew Sally Ride.
As a veteran journalist for ABC News, Sherr had helped to introduce Sally Ride to the world as the teen tennis player-turned-physicist who in 1978 was selected among NASA's first female astronauts. Sherr then covered Ride becoming the first American woman to fly in space six years later.
Along the way, the two became friends.
But like most of the world, Sherr was surprised on July 23, 2012 when Ride succumbed to pancreatic cancer and died at age 61. Sherr didn't know Ride had been ill.
Nor did Sherr know that Tam O'Shaughnessy, Ride's long-time business partner, was also Ride's life partner of more than 25 years.
Sherr was not alone. Sally K. Ride, one of history's most famous astronauts, had kept her personal life secret, even from many of her friends.But within days of her passing, O'Shaughnessy and Ride's family members decided it was time to share more about the Sally Ride they knew and loved. The job fell to Sherr once again to introduce Ride to the world.In "Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space," released Tuesday (June 3) by Simon & Schuster, Sherr reveals the woman behind the trailblazing astronaut.
Sherr spoke with collectSPACE about the life and legacy of Sally Ride.
The book is titled simply, "Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space," but in the book you mention that if Ride had to put a subtitle to her name – at least at one point in her life – it would have been physicist. Do you think that was true throughout the extent of her life?
I think there probably may have been a couple of weeks in her teen years when, if you woke her up in the middle of the night, she might have said tennis player. I think during the NASA years, she might have said astronaut.
But overall, overarching, it was physicist. It was scientist. This was what she really cared about and that is why she went back to the life she went back to [after NASA].
When she left NASA — and I had no premonition of this, she did not pre-warn me or pre-tell me this — my reaction was right, this is a woman who really liked being in the stacks — if you're old enough to remember being in library stacks. This is a woman who liked curling up with a book or research or with a stack of books and figuring out the solution to something.
I think [being a] scientist is what definitely made her tick. That is the overall piece of her and that is why I think she was exactly the person for the job [of the first American woman in space]. She was this extraordinary combination of the team tennis player, of the bold adventurous, love-to-fly, love-to-pilot astronaut, and of the scientist who wanted to figure things out. Plus she was funny. She just was the perfect choice as far as I could tell.
You write about the social history that changed as part of Sally Ride's life, and that plays a role in telling her story. Is it possible to tell Ride's story without delving into women's rights, the space race, and gay rights, or is that as much a part of her story as the details of her personal life?
I don't think you can tell the story of her life without telling those details.
I am sorry that gay rights, the LGBT movement, was not further along earlier so that she might have benefited from being able to be more open than she ever felt she could be. But, surely the fact that the movement was not there, that our society was not further along, is very much part of her story because it certainly affected how she lived her personal life.
In terms of the women's movement, there is absolutely no question that it's a critical part of Sally's life.If the women's movement hadn't come along and did what it did, by the time that Sally got to Stanford [University] and opened the newspaper that morning in January 1977, the article stating NASA was recruiting women would not have been there. And she knew that perfectly well.
The other thing that is very much part of her story in terms of social movements and history is Sputnik. The very fact the Cold War was raging, that the Russians got a satellite up there first and launched us into a race to the moon very much affected her life. Because that was when the United States said that we have got to put a lot more of a push on science.
I think the critical part of this to Sally's life, and I say this in the book, is that she was the lucky benefactor of all of these things coming together, but she was smart enough and quick enough and agile enough to seize the moment and turn them to her own use, which is what made history.
As someone who knew her personally, what surprised you the most as you went about researching the book, other than the revelations of her relationships and her having cancer?
Learning more about her inward shyness and introversion. That is to say, the psychological price she paid for all that fame.
I knew a lot of it. When I spent time with her, as I mention in the book, when she would spend time with my husband and me, Larry sort of wound up as sort of her bodyguard. We would go out on the street and he would sort of protect her. I saw that and I knew she didn't love all that and I got that picture. And then I would not see her for months, and ultimately years at a time and I just assumed she was out doing her thing, and the fact it remained such a — I won't say hardship, but a challenge for her every single day.
Karen Flammer, her colleague at Sally Ride Science, tells of being on a plane going cross-country with her. Sally is preparing to give her 10,000th version of the same speech [she's always given] and there she is with her headphones on, sweating nervously while going over it. That's just the way she was. I hadn't realized that it was that profound.
And I think the sacrifice she made to this country knowing fully well that it went with the job; she was a public figure, she had flown at taxpayer expense and by gosh, she was going to pay that off, pay the debt and fulfill her obligation. She did it, but it was very hard for her, and I guess I didn't realize that. That was a surprise to me.
In the book, you serve not only as the author, but as a voice from Sally Ride's life.
Every time I have written about Sally, I've been part of it. That is to say, when I have done my pieces as somewhat the "house feminist" at ABC, I always needed to get in a little dig at NASA just to say, "Great! It's about time." And Sally and I used to joke about that.
So it seemed natural for me to be part of the story. I knew her so well and I could tell my own stories.
But also because I am older than Sally and I lived through all these social changes [that shaped her life]. These were not ancient history to me, these were things I was part of, that I reported on, and that I had strong feelings about.
It seemed to make for a richer story if I could include what I knew about it and if I could be a resource myself.What do you think Ride would have thought about the book?
I have tried to convince myself that she'd be happy, that it is finally all out there.
I did a lot of stories with Sally where I had to convince her [to take part], like when she did our interview during the Rogers Commission [investigating the shuttle Challenger disaster] and I had the only interview. She did not want to do it at first, and then she finally said okay. By the time she agreed to do it, I think she was perfectly comfortable, but it took a bit of time for her to figure that out.
I hope she'd understand the importance of this and how it only embellishes her image in the world. You can't ever be sure with Sally. You just can't be sure.
On that note, what do you think Sally Ride would have thought was her greatest legacy? What do you think it is?
I think she thought her greatest legacy was what she was doing for young girls, particularly with Sally Ride Science. There was nothing more important for her than getting the next generations interested in, committed to and good at science — and really important, that they saw science as fun. She really wanted to share the joy of science.Having said that, she well understood that the doors were open and that she was on the front covers of magazines, and by the way, Lynn Sherr could write this book, because she was the first American woman in space.
While she always said she did not go to NASA in order to do that, to be a celebrity, she kind of liked the access it gave her. She kind of liked how it smoothed her way. In other ways, of course, it made her life more difficult, more challenging.
She totally understood she was known for being, well, the way she used to sign her notes 'AFWIS' — America's First Woman In Space. But I think that science and kids were more important to her.
Me? I think I would flip it. The thing that sticks in people's minds is her spaceflight. And the fact that in many, many millions of people's minds, particularly women's minds, the thought was, "If she could do that, I can do anything." I think it was a huge boost for millions of women all around the world.
By that same token, I think what she did for young people, science and also, by the way, what she had done for our government, she was involved in a lot of programs, I think it was absolutely spectacular and critical for this country, and I think that will be the more concrete version of [her legacy]. That will be what lasts far into the future.Kennedy Space Center looks to the futureJames Dean – Florida TodayKennedy Space Center could see a major expansion of facilities by 2032, even as NASA copes with flat budgets and a mandate to downsize following the shuttle program's retirement.The center's new 20-year master plan, which will be the focus of a public hearing tonight in Titusville, maps out sites for several new launch pads, two seaports, a second runway and a rail link to Port Canaveral.The plan seeks to advance the agency's post-shuttle goal of transforming KSC into the go-to launch site for not only NASA missions but those by emerging commercial ventures that would drive any new development."We are becoming something different," said Trey Carlson, KSC's master planner. "We all want to see fire and smoke out here, and we want to see it no matter if (the vehicle) has a NASA meatball on the side or it's got a company emblem on the side."A first look at the plan publicized just a week ago, however, has some concerned KSC won't become different enough to attract launches of commercial satellites and space tourists, the only near-term growth opportunity given tightening federal budgets.State officials say NASA's apparent desire to manage all activity at the spaceport, as it has historically, will lead companies to choose more flexible, affordable options offered by other states.SpaceX, for example, is expected to confirm plans soon to build a pad in Texas for commercial launches."The marketplace is looking for something different, and that will put Florida at a competitive disadvantage," said Frank DiBello, president and CEO of Space Florida. "We have some real questions about some of the things in the plan."Tonight's public hearing, and another Thursday in New Smyrna Beach, start the process of reviewing potential environmental impacts resulting from the center master plan, which NASA headquarters has approved.Any of the proposed new launch pads, seaports or runways would require more detailed environmental study. They are not needed for NASA missions and depend on commercial demand that, along with the state, would be expected to pay for the facilities.The potential addition of up to three vertical launch pads shows the differing visions for how KSC could best support commercial operations.NASA has suggested two pads — labeled 39C and 39D — could be developed north of KSC's two existing pads inside the secure area bounded by State Road 402, or Beach Road.The pads offer an alternative to a site Space Florida has proposed for a commercial launch complex at the northern edge of KSC and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.Opponents of the state's Shiloh proposal applaud NASA for limiting new developments to KSC's current operational area, even if they present a different set of environmental concerns."We're really glad to see that they've made that important strategic decision," said Charles Lee of Audubon Florida. "With that said, obviously there are challenges and issues associated with a number of the proposals on the NASA map."Space Florida says it has already ruled out the new NASA sites for both environmental and operational reasons.The state believes the locations in largely wetland areas would be more environmentally damaging, and force more disruptive closures of Playalinda Beach — an issue of particular concern to Titusville residents and leaders.The pads' location on land controlled by NASA and the Air Force, plus their proximity to each other and NASA's pad for exploration missions, also don't provide the conditions commercial launchers want, Space Florida says.KSC's master plan promotes cultural changes needed to make the center more commercially friendly, and proposes commercial zones where NASA oversight would be minimized.At the same time, it envisions NASA managing and generating revenue from commercial operations.The plan encourages profit-sharing partnerships, offering services "such as on-site dining, service facilities, or recreational opportunities to compete with private sector business developments," and pursuing exemptions to laws prohibiting competition with the private sector.It suggests assigning a senior manager to drive implementation of NASA's vision for a multi-user spaceport.Carlson said such ideas considered a potential "end state" that looks beyond the master plan's 20-year horizon, and were informed by NASA's own market research."It's significant," he said of the plan and the transition it embraces. "We believe it's the first time it's been done anywhere, to have a large federal space facility go through a transformation of this magnitude."SpaceX's Reisman ready for the next giant leap with Dragon V2Chris Bergin – NASA Space FlightDragon V2 Program Lead Dr. Garrett Reisman believes SpaceX's new crew vehicle is a "giant leap forward" in safety and technology. The new vehicle – unveiled last Thursday – is the leading contender to win the right to launch NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), a viable advance on the current mode of transportation that his former NASA colleagues currently use to ride to the orbital outpost.
Dr. Reisman's Dragon V2:Dr. Garrett Reisman is a veteran of three shuttle flights and an International Space Station Expedition crewmember. He even served as a Colonial Marine on the fictitious Battlestar Galactica.Following his retirement from NASA, Dr. Reisman joined what many consider as the main ray of hope about the future, taking up a key position at SpaceX.Now the Program Lead for the Dragon V2, Dr. Reisman brings with him a huge amount of space flight experience, as the California-based company look to upgrade their role in space from satellite launches and cargo missions, to crew transportation.The three main contenders to win back domestic crew launch independence for the United States – SNC's Dream Chaser, Boeing's CST-100 and SpaceX's Dragon – are all making good progress via NASA's Commercial Crew Program.At least one – hopefully two – of the contenders will progress towards a test mission sometime between 2015 and 2016, with the latest expanded FPIP manifest (L2) showing a conservative placeholder for a CCP test flight at the end of 2016.According to Reisman, that flight will have a NASA astronaut on board. It was previously thought the test missions would involve a roster of internally selected astronauts."So the rule is that at least one of the crew on the test flights has to be a NASA astronaut," noted Dr. Reisman to media at the Dragon V2 reveal event."Now it's up for interpretation whether the other crew members are NASA, or SpaceX, or a combination thereof."Pending a successful test flight, Dragon V2 – providing she wins the Commercial Crew process – will change call signs to USCV-1 (US Crew Vehicle -1).This flight is currently manifested – per the FPIP schedule – for docking with the ISS on December 7, 2017. However, efforts are being made to accelerate that date in light of the recent geopolitical uncertainties surrounding relationships with the Russians.For that Dragon mission, the crew will be entirely made up from NASA astronauts."When we're flying regularly, it's a rental car. So it'll be all NASA astronauts," added Dr. Reisman – as much as the vehicle will be controlled from MCC-X in Hawthorne during launch and ahead of entering – and departing – the ISS' neighborhood, as is the scenario with cargo Dragons under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.We'll run mission control, and we'll be controlling from the ground, but we're not going to have anyone inside other than the NASA astronauts."Standing just off stage from the new Dragon V2 that was enjoying the glare of the media for the first time last Thursday, Dr. Reisman provided insight into the obvious differences between the sporty looking capsule and the spacecraft he has had the honor of riding to space in.Dr. Reisman launched with the STS-123 crew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on March 11, 2008 and returned to Earth with the crew of STS-124 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on June 14, 2008.During the interim period, he served with both the Expedition 16 and Expedition 17 crews as a flight engineer aboard the ISS – and as a result was trained to fly on the Russian Soyuz, which serves as a lifeboat for Expedition crewmembers.On STS-132, he served as Mission Specialist 1 (MS-1) aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which launched on May 14, 2010. During the mission, Dr. Reisman conducted two EVAs on the ISS."Oh, man, they're very, very different," noted the New Jersey native when asked to compare Dragon V2 to Shuttle."The thing about V2 is, it has the potential to be a lot safer than Shuttle. (You can) abort at any time, that's something the Shuttle couldn't do. You know, it's got very robust design for entry, it can sustain a number of failures and still be safe."The Shuttle was a wonderful, wonderful vehicle, but it was very fragile. It operated very close to the edge of its operating envelope."In comparison to the Russian Soyuz – another capsule design vehicle - Dr. Reisman noted the huge difference in internal volume and the impressive advances in technology."I trained in the Soyuz, (and) there's so much more elbow room in there compared to the Soyuz. Plus, instead of just taking two of your buddies, you can take six, so there's a lot of advantages."It's got modern electronics, modern materials in the heat shield," added the astronaut, who also confirmed SpaceX will be looking to conduct the six hour fast rendezvous profile on Station missions."I mean just technologically speaking, it's a giant leap beyond Soyuz."And that's not to mention the fact Dragon V2 will be capable of propulsive landings on terra firma.While Soyuz touchdown under parachute on the steppe of Kazakhstan, Dragon V2 will land under the power of its SuperDraco thrusters with pinpoint accuracy akin to that of a helicopter.Parachutes will still be on board as a contingency, as will the ability to abort to a water landing.Tests of the propulsive landing technology will be conducted at SpaceX's McGregor test site in Texas, utilizing the DragonFly test vehicle, which will look very similar to the Dragon V2.These tests will lead up to the first return from space for the V2, which will be aiming for land."Our very first V2 is going to come down on land," Dr. Reisman confirmed. "There is the capability – as a backup – to come down in the water, in an emergency, but yeah we have a couple places picked out where (we will land)… I don't want to get ahead of (SpaceX CEO) Elon (Musk). (I'll let) him tell you where."Dragon V2 – and her CCP competitors – are now entering the next phase towards returning the domestic crew launch capability that was lost when Atlantis concluded her – and the Shuttle fleet's – loyal service at the end of STS-135.This next phase will involve the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) milestones, although the funding related threat of a downselect could see at least one of the contenders missing out on continued NASA funding.While SpaceX are believed to be the least threatened by such a downselect, Dr. Reisman would like to see the at least one of the competitors moving forward alongside SpaceX."Frankly, it's in NASA's interest for there to be more than one," he added. "You always want to have a plan B."Just got to convince Congress to pay for it, that's all."What will be the significance of the NRC's human spaceflight report?Jeff Foust – Space PoliticsThe National Academies announced Friday that it will release the long-awaited report on human spaceflight, titled "Pathways to Exploration—Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration", on Wednesday morning, with a briefing by committee members scheduled for 11 am Eastern time Wednesday. The emphasis here should be "long-awaited": the report was requested by Congress as part of the NASA authorization act of 2010, and work on the report by a committee established the National Research Council started in late 2012. The committee held a number of public hearings, although in recent months has een focused on the report.When plans for the report were first announced, there were high hopes in some corners of the space community. Some thought the report could serve as the human spaceflight equivalent of the "decadal surveys" that guide NASA's science programs, by establishing priorities for human space activities in Earth orbit and beyond. Others, though, have been more skeptical, given the differences between human spaceflight and science.If nothing else, the timing of the report fuels the beliefs of skeptics about its importance. If the report recommends significant changes in human space exploration, it's not clear that the Obama Administration, nearly halfway through its second term, will be interested or even able to make a major shift in its current policy. While some in Congress have expressed their doubts about NASA's emphasis on its Asteroid Redirect Mission, for example, they have already played their hand by including provisions regarding the bill in a NASA authorization bill awaiting consideration by the full House. A report that endorses ARM may not change their minds.If the report does have significance, it may be in shaping longer-term debates about the role of humans in space exploration. Those debates won't have an impact necessarily on this year's policy and budget debates, but could become more prominent in 2016 and beyond.END
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