| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Trivia Time With Orion
- JSC Knowledge Management Office Case Study
- Managed Elevated Privileges Continues
- Sustainable Acquisitions Update - Organizations/Social
- CoLabs: Featuring Made in Space
- Vintage Medallions Available at ShopNASA
- Women's Equality Day Film Festival
- Beginners Ballroom Dance: Aug. 19 & 21 - Jobs and Training
- Aug. 20 Webinar - My Body; Feeding the Machine
- Engineer to Entrepreneur
- CGE Travel System Live Lab - Tomorrow, Aug. 20
- Welding & Cutting ViTS: Aug. 27 & Sept. 2
- Thrift Savings Plan Training
- Pre-Retirement for FERS
- Pre-Retirement for CSRS - Community
- JSC Child Care Center Has a Few Openings |  |
| Headlines - Trivia Time With Orion
It's time to test your knowledge of the Orion spacecraft! Answer the trivia question correctly by Wednesday, Aug. 20, and you will be automatically entered into the drawing for a prize. The prize winner will be announced in JSC Today on Friday, Aug. 22. Email your answers to: JSC-Orion-Outreach@mail.nasa.gov August Trivia Question: How much farther from Earth than the International Space Station will Orion travel on its first mission? Join the monthly trivia and discover more about Orion! Visit NASA's Orion page to read and learn more about the spacecraft. - JSC Knowledge Management Office Case Study
On May 13, 1992, 230 miles above Earth, a tense drama was playing out. It involved three astronauts and a third attempt to capture and repair an inoperable satellite. After eight-and-a-half hours, the job was done. The activity was a success due to human ingenuity, fortuitous pre-planning, flexibility, intense teamwork and NASA's unique problem-solving ability. The Intelsat satellite capture and reboost could not have been done robotically; humans were required. This mission tested flight rules, including how much leeway a crew is given. While a success, NASA has never repeated a three-person spacewalk. Get all the details and review the lessons learned in the latest JSC Knowledge Management Office Case Study: "Retrieving Intelsat: NASA's Only-Three-Person EVA and the Lessons Learned." While you are there, please take the time to give us your feedback. Also, we would like your suggestions for future potential topics. - Managed Elevated Privileges Continues
Today, Aug. 19, Managed Elevated Privileges (MEP) continues with the NA to NE org codes. MEP controls admin rights (Elevated Privileges, or EP) on NASA computers and allows users to request EP when needed. Users must complete SATERN training before submitting any requests for EP. All users, especially those scheduled for MEP deployment, are strongly urged to complete the SATERN training for "Basic Users" (Elevated Privileges on NASA Information System - ITS-002-09). Users can coordinate with their supervisor, OCSO or organization's IT point of contact to determine the level of EP they may need beyond "Basic User" and any additional training required. The next scheduled deployment date is Sept. 2, which will continue with the NE to NT org codes. - Sustainable Acquisitions Update
Do you specify or purchase products or services at JSC? Then federal sustainable acquisition requirements apply to you. Several laws establish content requirements or environmental attributes for specific purchases made by federal agencies and their contractors. You can find out more at the JSC Environmental Office's Sustainable Acquisitions Training (SA 01) on Sept. 11 in Building 45, Room 751, from 10 to 11 a.m. Find out about two new lists of designated items and content requirements, resources to find compliant products and more. Visit the JSC Environmental Office training website or call the environmental info line to sign up. Organizations/Social - CoLabs: Featuring Made in Space
CoLabs is a go-to technology-focused community that eliminates redundancy in development, breaks down organizational silos and creates partnerships around and outside JSC by providing demonstrations of the newest technologies to be applied to human spaceflight. Join us today for this month's CoLab topic: 3-D printing. We will hear from Made in Space and explore the different options that JSC has for 3-D printing. Cookies and fruit will be provided. See you there! - Vintage Medallions Available at ShopNASA
ShopNASA is proud to offer a special opportunity to purchase vintage medallions. These special medallions, minted in 1989 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Apollo 11, are now available to JSC team members for just $10—available in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops only. Limit 10 per person. There are no holds due to limited supplies. - Women's Equality Day Film Festival
The JSC Women's Equality Day planning committee invites the JSC family to the viewing of the "MAKERS: Women Who Make America, Part II." MAKERS tells the remarkable story of how women helped shape America over the last 50 years through one of the most sweeping social revolutions in our country's history. It's a revolution that has unfolded publicly and privately, in courts and in Congress, in the boardroom and the bedroom, changing not only what the world expects from women—but what women expect from themselves. MAKERS brings this story to life with priceless archival treasures and poignant, often funny interviews with those who led the fight, those who opposed it and those first generations to benefit from its success. MAKERS captures the journey with music, humor and voices of women who lived through turbulent times: the dizzying joy, aching frustration and ultimate triumph of a movement that turned America upside down. - Beginners Ballroom Dance: Aug. 19 & 21
Do you feel like you have two left feet? Well, Starport has the perfect program for you: Beginners Ballroom Dance! This eight-week class introduces you to the various types of ballroom dance. Students will learn the secrets of a good lead and following, as well as the ability to identify the beat of the music. This class is easy, and we have fun as we learn. JSC friends and family are welcome. Regular registration: - $110 per couple (Aug. 9 to 19)
Two class sessions available: - Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. - starts Aug. 19
- Thursdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. - starts Aug. 21
All classes are taught in the Gilruth Center dance studio (Group Ex studio). Jobs and Training - Aug. 20 Webinar - My Body; Feeding the Machine
In our society, what sells in the food industry may win over what helps and what heals. Food manufacturers diligently help us spend our hard-earned dollars on ready-made and ready-to-go foods. But what is the real cost in the end when we evaluate our healthcare dollars? HealthierYou Webinar #8 will review a variety of key topics in proper nutrition, easy-to-remember portions sizes and well-accepted industry approaches to combat those marketing temptations. We'll also explore human behavioral concepts surrounding how we think about and use food and review the differences between the sensations of hunger, satiation and satiety. Please join us for the first of three related presentations focused on nutrition and eating for health. Feel free to forward this link to others who may be interested in the presentation, but have not previously registered for the series. - Engineer to Entrepreneur
The Houston Technology Center is pleased to host a 10-week lunch-and-learn course series entitled "Engineer to Entrepreneur." If you've ever thought about launching your own business, this is the program for you. You will learn how to establish a corporate entity, develop a business strategy, pitch your strategy and market your products. Join us for a fun-filled program instructed by some of Houston's most accomplished business executives. Classes will be held for 10 consecutive Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning Aug. 21 in Building 45, Room 451. For enrollment information, contact Evelyn Boatman at 281-244-8271. Event Date: Thursday, August 21, 2014 Event Start Time:11:30 AM Event End Time:12:30 PM
Event Location: Building 45 Room 451
Add to Calendar
Evelyn Boatman x48271
[top] - CGE Travel System Live Lab - Tomorrow, Aug. 20
Do you need some hands-on, personal help with the Concur Government Edition (CGE) Travel System? Join the Business Systems and Process Improvement Office for a CGE Travel System Live Lab tomorrow, Aug. 20, any time between 9 a.m. and noon in Building 12, Room 142. Our help desk representatives will be available to help you work through your travel processes and learn more about using the CGE Travel System during this informal workshop. Please feel free to bring any travel documents that need to be worked. This is real-time help—not a training class. Please click on the direct SATERN link below to register and receive SATERN credit. For additional information, please contact Judy Seier at x32771. - Welding & Cutting ViTS: Aug. 27 & Sept. 2
This three-hour course is based on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) CFR 1926.350 - Requirements for Working with Gas Welding and Cutting; 1926.351 - Arc Welding and Cutting; 1926.352 - Fire Prevention, Ventilation and Protection in Welding Cutting and Heating; and 1926.354 - Welding Cutting and Heating in Way of Preservation Coating in the Construction Industry. During the course, the student will receive an overview of those topics needed to work safely in welding and cutting operations. Registration in SATERN in required Aug. 27 Registration Link: - Thrift Savings Plan Training
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is a retirement-savings plan for civilians who are employed by the U.S. government and members of the uniformed services. The TSP is one of three components of the Federal Employees Retirement System and is designed to closely resemble the dynamics of private sector 401(k) plans. What you'll learn: This is an overview of the Federal Investment Program and covers the nuts and bolts of the TSP. Topics covered: - The basics of the TSP
- Defined Contribution Plan
- Tax-savings features
- Investment options
- Loan program
- Withdrawal options
- Open seasons and inter-fund transfers
Who should attend: Federal employees interested in learning more about the TSP. It is also open to employees covered under the older Civil Service Retirement System. Session 1: Sept. 11 from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Gilruth Alamo Ballroom Session 2: Sept. 11 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in the Gilruth Alamo Ballroom - Pre-Retirement for FERS
PRE-RETIREMENT FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM (FERS) Are you prepared to retire? This Pre-Retirement for FERS seminar is designed to help you effectively manage today's realities as you begin to explore retirement possibilities. Retirement is often looked upon as a financially based decision. Although the financial aspects are important, many other concerns need to be addressed. This seminar is designed to help effectively deal with today's realities as you begin to explore retirement possibilities. Topics covered include lifestyle planning, health maintenance, financial planning, legal-affairs planning and more. Who should attend: Federal employees interested in learning more about the FERS with 5 to 10 years or fewer until retirement eligibility. Course length: 16 hours Pre-Retirement for FERS Sept. 9 - FERS; and Sept. 10 - Financial Planning Gilruth Alamo Ballroom Time: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT Register via SATERN: - Pre-Retirement for CSRS
PRE-RETIREMENT FOR CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM (CSRS) Are you prepared to retire? This Pre-Retirement for CSRS seminar is designed to help you effectively manage today's realities as you begin to explore retirement possibilities. Retirement is often looked upon as a financially based decision. Although the financial aspects are important, many other concerns need to be addressed. This seminar is designed to help effectively deal with today's realities as you begin to explore retirement possibilities. Topics covered include lifestyle planning, health maintenance, financial planning, legal-affairs planning and more. Who should attend: Federal employees interested in learning more about the CSRS with 5 to 10 years or fewer until retirement eligibility. Course length: 16 hours Spouses welcome. Pre-Retirement for CSRS Sept. 8 - CSRS, Gilruth Lone Star Room; and Sept. 10 - Financial Planning, Gilruth Alamo Ballroom Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CDT Register via SATERN: Community - JSC Child Care Center Has a Few Openings
Space Family Education, Inc. (SFEI) has openings available to dependents of JSC civil servants and contractors. Openings are available for the new school year on Aug. 25 for children who will be: 11 to 30 months of age, as well as 3- and 4-year-olds Program Details: 1. Open 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. (Closed federal holidays, but open Flex Fridays.) 2. Competitive pricing with other comparable child cares, but SFEI includes more amenities. 3. Additional security. Badges required to get on-site, and an additional security code is required to get in the school's front door. 4. Accelerated curriculum in all classes with additional enrichment and extracurricular programs. 5. Convenience. Nearby and easy access for parents working on-site at JSC. 6. Breakfast, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack are all included. 7. Video monitoring is available from computers, androids and iPhones. Email if interested with the child's birthdate for a tour of the program. | |
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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
Tuesday – August 19, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Spacewalking astronauts release baby satellite
Marcia Dunn – Associated Press
Spacewalking astronauts launched a tiny Peruvian research satellite Monday, setting it loose on a mission to observe Earth.
Spacewalkers deploy nanosatellite from ISS
James Dean – Florida Today
Russian cosmonauts today completed a roughly five-hour spacewalk during which they tossed a Peruvian nanosatellite from the International Space Station.
Spacewalking cosmonauts launch satellite, set up studies
Irene Klotz – Reuters
A pair of Russian cosmonauts began their work week on Monday floating outside the International Space Station to toss out a small satellite for a university in Peru, install science experiments and tackle some housekeeping chores.
Spacewalkers deploy satellite, tend to experiments
William Harwood – CBS News
Space station cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev staged a five-hour and 11-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station Monday, launching a small Peruvian science satellite and changing out a variety of space exposure experiments.
CCtCAP Commercial Crew Announcement Expected Soon
NASA declined today (August 18) to confirm rumors that it will announce the winner(s) of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCAP) contract by the end of the month, but anticipation is mounting. Whenever it happens, it will be a major step forward for the commercial crew program and achieving the oft-stated goal of restoring America's ability to launch American astronauts into space on American rockets from American soil.
In space, astronauts' immune systems get totally confused
Rachel Feltman – The Washington Post
Can an astronaut survive a long-term spaceflight? With NASA looking ahead to missions on Mars and beyond, it's an important question - and one we haven't even come close to answering through practice. The longest space flight ever only lasted 437.7 days, and most astronauts have spent less than a year at the space station during their longest stretches.
A Match Made in the Heavens
Jennifer Wiseman '87 and Mark Shelhamer, ScD '90, bonded over their love of space at MIT. Today they're married, and both are senior scientists at NASA.
Sara Shay – MIT Technology Review
Jennifer Wiseman works with the world's most impressive telescope, but when she looks at the night sky above the rural Maryland home she shares with her husband, Mark Shelhamer, she prefers to admire it without the help of technology. "Sitting quietly outside and gazing up at a sky full of stars, contemplating the cosmos, is my favorite astronomical activity," she says.
Scientists find traces of sea plankton on ISS surface
ITAR-TASS News Agency
An experiment of taking samples from illuminators and the ISS surface has brought unique results, as scientists had found traces of sea plankton there, the chief of an orbital mission on Russia's ISS segment told reporters.
Former Astronaut Garrett Reisman Encouraged by Science Programming in Hollywood
Carolyn Giardina - Hollywood Reporter
.He attended HollyShorts for a screening of 'Three Nights, Three Days: Endeavour's Journey Through Los Angeles'
Former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman said, while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at the HollyShorts Film Festival on Monday, he is encouraged to see space and science generating attention in Hollywood. Reisman was on hand for a screening of Three Nights, Three Days: Endeavour's Journey Through Los Angeles.
Dark Spots in Our Knowledge of Neptune
Kenneth Chang – The New York Times
This occasional column explores topics covered in Science Times 25 years ago to see what has changed — and what has not.
A quarter century ago, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft was closing in on Neptune for its final planetary visit.
Why Scientists Want To Throw Lawn Darts At Mars
Experts from NASA say it's time to stop beating around the bush when it comes to looking for life on Mars—and they've started an Indiegogo campaign to do something about it.
Sarah Fecht – Popular Science
Mars almost definitely has water below its surface, and it's possible that it might have life there too -- buried deep in the soil, where it's protected from dryness, radiation and temperature extremes. Unfortunately, NASA doesn't seem too interested in looking for it, preferring to look for "conditions" that might support life instead. But a group of aerospace and robotics engineers -- many of whom work for NASA, and one of whom even operates the Curiosity rover -- think NASA should be going with a more direct approach, and they're taking matters into their own hands.
COMPLETE STORIES
Spacewalking astronauts release baby satellite
Marcia Dunn – Associated Press
Spacewalking astronauts launched a tiny Peruvian research satellite Monday, setting it loose on a mission to observe Earth.
Russian Oleg Artemiev cast the 4-inch box off with his gloved right hand as the International Space Station sailed 260 miles above the cloud-flecked planet. The nanosatellite gently tumbled as it cleared the vicinity of the orbiting complex, precisely as planned.
"One, two, three," someone called out in Russian as Artemiev let go of the satellite.
Cameras watched as the nanosatellite — named Chasqui after the Inca messengers who were fleet of foot — increased its distance and grew smaller. Artemiev's Russian spacewalking partner, Alexander Skvortsov, tried to keep his helmet camera aimed at the satellite as it floated away.
The satellite — barely 2 pounds — holds and instruments to measure temperature and pressure and cameras that will photograph Earth. It's a technological learning experience for the National University of Engineering in Lima. A Russian cargo ship delivered the device earlier this year.
Less than a half-hour into the spacewalk, the satellite was on its way, flying freely.
With that completed, Artemiev and Skvortsov set about installing fresh science experiments outside the Russian portion of the space station and retrieving old ones. "Be careful," Russian Mission Control outside Moscow warned as the astronauts made their way to their next work site.
The two conducted a spacewalk in June, a few months after moving into the space station. Four other men live there: another Russian, two Americans and one German.
U.S. spacewalks, meanwhile, remain on hold.
NASA hoped to resume spacewalks this month after a yearlong investigation but delayed the activity until fall to get fresh spacesuit batteries on board. The SpaceX company will deliver the batteries on a Dragon supply ship next month. Engineers are concerned about the fuses of the on-board batteries. Before the battery issue, NASA was stymied by a spacesuit problem that nearly cost an Italian astronaut his life last summer. Luca Parmitano's helmet flooded with water from the suit's cooling system, and he barely made it back inside. The investigation into that incident is now complete, with safety improvements made to the U.S. spacesuits.
Spacewalkers deploy nanosatellite from ISS
James Dean – Florida Today
Russian cosmonauts today completed a roughly five-hour spacewalk during which they tossed a Peruvian nanosatellite from the International Space Station.
From a ladder outside the station's Pirs docking compartment, Oleg Artemyev threw the "Chasqui 1" CubeSat toward the blue Earth below at 10:23 a.m. EDT, away from the direction the station was flying 260 miles up.
"And away it goes," NASA TV commentator Rob Navias said as the 2.2-pound cube tumbled out of view of Artemyev's helmet camera.
Developed by the National Engineering University in Lima, Peru, and named for messengers in Inca culture, the satellite measuring four inches on a side will collect Earth imagery and temperature and pressure measurements.
The satellite toss came just 21 minutes into the spacewalk by Artemyev and fellow Expedition 40 flight engineer Alexander Skvortsov, who were outfitted in Orlan spacesuits.
They proceeded to install and retrieve various materials science experiments from the station's Zvezda service module and the Poisk and Pirs docking modules.
The five-hour, 11-minute spacewalk was the second for both cosmonauts. Combined with a June 19 excursion they worked outside the station for 12 hours and 34 minutes.
Today's spacewalk was the 181st — totaling more than 47 days — supporting assembly and maintenance of the ISS, where crews have lived without interruption since 2000.
The six-person Expedition 40 crew also includes NASA astronauts Steve Swanson and Reid Wiseman, Max Suraev of Russia and Alexander Gerst of Germany.
At least two U.S.-led spacewalks are expected later this fall.
Spacewalking cosmonauts launch satellite, set up studies
Irene Klotz – Reuters
A pair of Russian cosmonauts began their work week on Monday floating outside the International Space Station to toss out a small satellite for a university in Peru, install science experiments and tackle some housekeeping chores.
First out of the hatch was cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, who stood on a ladder outside the station's Pirs airlock to release a 2.2-pound (1-kg), 4-inch (10-cm) cube-shaped satellite built by students at the National University of Engineering in Lima, Peru.
Video broadcast on NASA Television showed the satellite, called Chasqui-1, tumbling away from the back of the station as it sailed about 260 miles (418 km) above the southern Pacific Ocean.
The solar-powered spacecraft, whose name means "messenger" in the Quechua language of the Incas, is outfitted with visible light and infrared cameras to take pictures of Earth and sensors to measure temperature and pressure as it orbits.
Artemyev was then joined by spacewalker Alexander Skvortsov to install a European package of experiments to the outside of the Russian Zvezda module. The experiments include biomaterials and extremophiles, which are organisms that can live in extremely hostile environments.
Scientists hope to use information about how the organisms fare in the highly radioactive and extreme temperatures of space to devise life-detection techniques for future robotic Mars missions.
The cosmonauts also installed a reinforcing clamp for a communications antenna they attached during their last spacewalk in June. Monday's to-do list included taking samples of residue on the outside of some of Zvezda's windows and setting up an experiment to measure how plumes from rocket engine burns may be impacting parts of station.
Artemyev and Skvortsov breezed through their planned six-hour spacewalk, which began shortly after 10 a.m. EDT , and were back inside the station's airlock 45 minutes early.
Artemyev, Skvortsov and NASA station commander Steve Swanson are five months into a planned six-month mission. Also aboard the complex are NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, European astronaut Alexander Gerst and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, who arrived on May 28.
The station, a $100 billion research laboratory for materials and life science experiments, technology demonstrations and other microgravity research, is a partnership of 15 nations that has been occupied by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.
Spacewalkers deploy satellite, tend to experiments
William Harwood – CBS News
Space station cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev staged a five-hour and 11-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station Monday, launching a small Peruvian science satellite and changing out a variety of space exposure experiments.
Russian EVA-39 began at 10:02 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) and ended at 3:13 p.m. when Artemyev re-entered the Pirs airlock module and the cosmonauts closed the hatch. It was the 181st spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998, the fourth so far this year and the second for both Skvortsov and Artemyev.
Artemyev accomplished the first major objective of the spacewalk just a few minutes after the excursion began, releasing a small "nanosatellite" in the station's wake as the lab complex sailed 260 miles above the southern Pacific Ocean approaching the coast of Chile. The 4-inch-wide cube-shaped satellite could be seen tumbling away against the backdrop of Earth as Artemyev looked on from just outside the Pirs module.
The Chasqui-1 satellite was provided by the Peruvian National University of Engineering, working with the Russian federal space agency. The solar-powered satellite, brought to the station last February aboard a Progress supply ship, is equipped with a compact visible and infrared camera system, a radio transmitter and an attitude control system.
The 2.2-pound satellite "represents an unprecedented effort in our country for the first time to achieve access to space and gives us the opportunity to open new fields to our own specific geographic and social reality application," the university says on its web site. "It is also, from an academic point of view, a tool that facilitates collaboration (and) trains students and teachers with real-world experience in satellites."
With the nanosat deployed, the cosmonauts made their way to a work platform on the Zvezda command module where they attached the Expose-R experiment. Loaded with a variety of biological samples ranging from plant seeds to spores, fungi and ferns, the experiment package will remain in place for 18 months to help researchers study the long-term effects of the space environment.
After installing a clamp to help secure an automated phased array antenna that was mounted outside the station during an earlier spacewalk, Skvortsov and Artemyev collected samples of rocket plume residue from a command module window and then installed equipment to help measure the long-term effects of plume impingement on the upper Poisk module.
With that work complete, the spacewalkers removed and replaced several other space exposure experiment trays carrying a variety of materials. The cosmonauts ran ahead of schedule throughout the spacewalk and ended the excursion more than an hour earlier than originally planned.
"Thank you very much, guys, for your work," a Russian flight controller radioed.
NASA had planned to carry out two U.S. spacewalks of its own this month, one to move a failed pump module to a long-term storage position on the station's solar power truss and the other to replace a critical solar array electrical component. But the EVAs were put on hold pending arrival of replacement spacesuit batteries.
The new batteries are scheduled for launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship Sept. 19. Assuming that flight stays on schedule, NASA flight engineer Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst could venture outside for their first spacewalk sometime in early October, pending management approval, replacing a solar array power system device known as a sequential shunt unit.
Wiseman and astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore, scheduled for launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Sept. 25, then would be clear to carry out the pump relocation spacewalk later in October.
Of the two planned spacewalks, the SSU replacement is the most critical for NASA. The space station has been operating with seven of its eight major solar power feeds since early May because of problems with one of the eight sequential shunt units used to regulate solar array output.
Equipment on power channel 3A had to be switched over to power channel 3B in May and while that has not caused any major problems for the station, mission managers want to replace the suspect SSU as soon as possible to avoid major powerdowns in the event of another failure.
The replacement work is relatively straight forward, but the new spacesuit batteries are required. And the SSU swap-out must be done when the station is in Earth's shadow and the arrays are not generating power. The orientation of the station's orbit with respect to the sun will periodically ensure extended night passes in October.
CCtCAP Commercial Crew Announcement Expected Soon
NASA declined today (August 18) to confirm rumors that it will announce the winner(s) of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCAP) contract by the end of the month, but anticipation is mounting. Whenever it happens, it will be a major step forward for the commercial crew program and achieving the oft-stated goal of restoring America's ability to launch American astronauts into space on American rockets from American soil.
A NASA spokesman replied to an email query this morning by saying only that NASA still expects to make an announcement in the late-August, early-September time frame, as it has been saying for months.
NASA officials are not allowed to discuss the selection process before announcing the award(s), even to say who submitted bids. Expectations are that at least the three companies being funded under the current phase of the program – Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCAP) – did so.
Those three are SpaceX with its Dragon V2 spacecraft, Boeing with the CST-100, and Sierra Nevada with Dream Chaser. Dragon V2 would be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Boeing and Sierra Nevada have been planning to use Atlas V rockets provided by the United Launch Alliance (ULA).
One goal of the commercial crew program is to end America's dependence on Russia for crew access to the International Space Station (ISS) and all of the spacecraft are American-built. The Falcon 9 rocket is American-built. The Atlas V rocket, however, while manufactured in Alabama, is powered by Russian RD-180 engines, so whether it is "American" is a matter of opinion. In addition, the future availability of RD-180s -- and therefore of the Atlas V -- is now in question. The Obama Administration announced in January that it plans to keep the ISS operating until at least 2024 so whatever commercial crew services the companies plan to offer would need to extend to that time period. Department of Defense (DOD) officials acknowledged at a Senate hearing last month that it is time to build a U.S. alternative to the RD-180 because of the changed U.S.-Russia geopolitical environment. The Air Force hopes the RD-180 engines currently on order will be delivered, enabling routine Atlas V launches for several years, but that would not last through 2024. Boeing and Sierra Nevada thus would need an alternative. One possibility is ULA's Delta IV, which uses Aerojet Rocketdyne's American-built RS-68 engine. The Delta IV is more expensive than Atlas V, though, which could change the cost assumptions of those bids.
How many companies will win is largely dependent on how much money NASA has to pay them. Although they are termed "commercial" efforts, in fact they rely on the government to pay a share of the development costs and to be a market for the services. For the current CCiCAP phase, NASA funded "2 ½" companies – two companies (SpaceX and Boeing) at the full amount they requested and one (Sierra Nevada) at half the amount.
NASA insists that it wants to be able to select at least two companies to continue into this final CCtCAP phase so that in the future it will have two competitors providing services to keep prices down. Congress has never provided NASA with the full amount of funding requested for the program, however. Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate repeatedly make clear that their priority is for NASA itself to build the big, new Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft to take astronauts beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), not the commercial crew program to take them only to LEO and the ISS.
Some influential members of Congress appear to be warming up to commercial crew, perhaps because of the success of the commercial cargo program and the desire to end reliance on Russia. Through the Bush Administration's commercial cargo initiative, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation developed new rockets (Falcon 9 and Antares) and spacecraft (Dragon and Cygnus) to take cargo to the ISS. NASA now purchases commercial cargo services from those two companies.
The Obama Administration decided to use the same approach, essentially a public-private partnership, to develop systems to take crews to and from the ISS after adopting the Bush Administration's plan to terminate the space shuttle program once ISS construction was completed. The last space shuttle flight – and the last time America could launch humans into space – was in 2011. NASA has been purchasing crew transportation services from Russia since then at a cost of about $450 million a year.
Based on the FY2015 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill that passed the House and the version agreed to by the Senate Appropriations Committee, Congress plans to provide more for commercial crew than in the past, even if not the full request of $848 million. The House approved $785 million, while the Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to $805 million. Whether either amount is enough for NASA to make more than one CCtCAP award is a question that will be answered only when the announcement is made.
Not everyone in Congress has bought into commercial crew, however. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) is a determined advocate of SLS, which is being built in his state of Alabama, and a commercial crew skeptic. The top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee and its CJS subcommittee, he included language in the committee-approved version of NASA's FY2015 appropriations bill that would require CCtCAP winners to abide by accounting requirements associated with cost-plus rather than fixed-price contracts. Opponents call it a "poison pill" because complying could cost a small company like SpaceX a lot of money because it does not have a cadre of personnel in place to handle the paperwork, unlike big companies like Boeing. Boeing and SpaceX are considered the two top contenders based on the CCiCAP awards.
That appropriations bill has not passed the Senate, but was briefly debated on the Senate floor in June. At the time, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy opposing the Shelby provision because the requirements are "unsuitable for a firm, fixed-price acquisition" and could increase cost and delay schedule.
Selecting the winner(s) of the CCtCAP awards before that appropriations bill or a Continuing Resolution that might include similar language passes Congress could be one motivation for NASA making its decision sooner rather than later.
The CCtCAP award(s) will bring the United States one step closer to once again launching people into space. When the Obama Administration initially proposed the commercial crew program in the FY2011 budget request, it anticipated systems would be ready by 2015, resulting in a four-year gap between the end of the shuttle and the availability of a replacement. That date has slipped to 2017, however, because it did not get the requisite funding. Some of the companies have indicated they could be ready sooner if more money was available, but NASA is planning on 2017. Until then, Russia's Soyuz spacecraft is the only way for ISS crew members to travel back and forth.
In space, astronauts' immune systems get totally confused
Rachel Feltman – The Washington Post
Can an astronaut survive a long-term spaceflight? With NASA looking ahead to missions on Mars and beyond, it's an important question - and one we haven't even come close to answering through practice. The longest space flight ever only lasted 437.7 days, and most astronauts have spent less than a year at the space station during their longest stretches.
But a NASA study published in the Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research has taken a small step for man's journey to distant planets. NASA scientists analyzed blood samples taken before, during, and after missions to the International Space Station, looking for indications of how astronauts' immune systems handle the unusual environment. The results indicate that things get a little bit wonky.
Some immune cells are heightened by the process of space travel, the researchers found, but others get depressed. That's why astronauts can experience the effects of a weakened immune system (like the asymptomatic viral seen in some, where a dormant virus starts producing new cells but not new symptoms) along with the effects of a heightened one (like increased allergies and persistent rashes).
This "immune dysregulation," NASA scientists said in a statement, is probably the result of a combination of factors. "Things like radiation, microbes, stress, microgravity, altered sleep cycles and isolation could all have an effect on crew member immune systems," Brian Crucian, Ph.D. and NASA biological studies and immunology expert, said. "If this situation persisted for longer deep space missions, it could possibly increase risk of infection, hypersensitivity, or autoimmune issues for exploration astronauts."
But it isn't certain that these changes would significantly increase the risks of long-term spaceflight. An upcoming year-long mission will provide further data for study. If the evidence suggests that immune system confusion could pose a threat to astronauts, the next step will be figuring out how to counteract it. Whatever they develop could make its way back to earth, providing new tools to help immune-compromised patients here at home.
A Match Made in the Heavens
Jennifer Wiseman '87 and Mark Shelhamer, ScD '90, bonded over their love of space at MIT. Today they're married, and both are senior scientists at NASA.
Sara Shay – MIT Technology Review
Jennifer Wiseman works with the world's most impressive telescope, but when she looks at the night sky above the rural Maryland home she shares with her husband, Mark Shelhamer, she prefers to admire it without the help of technology. "Sitting quietly outside and gazing up at a sky full of stars, contemplating the cosmos, is my favorite astronomical activity," she says.
Wiseman and Shelhamer's life together is full of astronomical activity. She is the senior project scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, while he is serving a two-year term as chief scientist of the NASA Human Research Program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Wiseman met Shelhamer in the fall of 1983, during her first semester at MIT. She had grown up on a cattle ranch in Mountain Home, Arkansas, and arrived on campus without a particular major in mind. "I wanted to try everything—all different kinds of classes, different extracurricular activities," she says. While investigating her options, she attended an open house for freshmen at the Man Vehicle Laboratory, which was researching how astronauts adapt to spaceflight.
Shelhamer, a grad student in the lab, remembers talking with her that day. Wiseman signed up for a UROP, and for the next two years they studied how zero gravity affects astronauts' sensorimotor perceptions. (In space, the brain relies more on visual information for orientation.)
After her sophomore year, Wiseman decided to focus on astronomy. On a field trip to the Lowell Observatory in Arizona a few months before earning her physics degree, she discovered a periodic comet on photographic plates taken by astronomer Brian Skiff. (Named 114P/Wiseman-Skiff, it's believed to have spawned the first meteor photographed on Mars.) She then worked briefly at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and earned a PhD in astronomy from Harvard in 1995. For her doctoral thesis, she used radio interferometry to produce a complex mosaic map (which covers a larger area than a single telescope's field of view) of Orion's star-forming interstellar cloud; it made the cover of Nature.
Meanwhile Shelhamer, who had grown up in the steel town of Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, and did his undergraduate work at Drexel, finished his ScD in biomedical engineering in 1990 and went to Johns Hopkins as a postdoc. He later became an associate professor at the medical school, studying sensory neurobiology along the way.
The two remained friends and were dating regularly by the mid-1990s, though they lived in different cities. When they married, in 1997, Shelhamer was living in Baltimore and Wiseman was close to finishing a fellowship at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia. Less than a year later, Wiseman received a Hubble fellowship in astronomy that she chose to do at Hopkins. "Up to then we had separate careers, separate lives," she says. "That was the first time we made a conscious decision to be in the same place, and it worked out wonderfully."
They put down roots in the Baltimore area, buying a 1970s colonial that's now home to four elderly cats and two careers' worth of space-related books, photos, and memorabilia, including a collection of souvenir pins from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and space shuttle missions and a photo of the couple floating inside the so-called Vomit Comet, NASA's parabolic flight aircraft. One bedroom is allocated to Shelhamer's short-wave radio hobby: equipment from ships in the 1950s and '60s shares shelf space with 40 communications receivers, and a workbench is crowded with wires, spare parts, oscilloscopes, and more.
Though Wiseman, 49, and Shelhamer, 55, have NASA in common, their occupations are quite different. She is concerned with deep space, while he focuses on the effects of space travel on humans. That distinction provides fodder for complex and often enlightening conversations. They enjoy "a friendly continuing discourse about what kind of space exploration gives us the most interesting return," Wiseman says. "Is it sending humans into space, or is it investigating without humans by sending probes and telescopes where we can explore farther out?"
Wiseman is a senior astrophysicist at NASA and has been the Hubble's senior project scientist since 2010. She ensures that the telescope, last serviced by astronauts in 2009 and now projected to remain functional until at least 2020, is as scientifically productive as possible. Her job involves hard science as well as reviewing information about cosmic discoveries coming from the telescope and explaining those discoveries to NASA officials and the public. Lately Hubble has collected some of the first data ever about the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets, and its newest camera has captured images of galaxies so distant that their light has taken more than 13 billion years to reach us. "That means that we are seeing infant galaxies as they looked not too long, astronomically speaking, after the beginning of the universe," she says.
At Hopkins, Shelhamer studied humans' vestibular (balance) and oculomotor (eye movement) systems and how they adapt to conditions in space. He went on leave in June 2013 to join NASA's Human Research Program, whose goal is to figure out how astronauts can eventually survive a journey to Mars. (NASA hopes such a trip could happen about 20 years from now and expects that it would take three years.) Shelhamer helps determine what human research projects NASA should fund and serves as the program's ambassador to the scientific community and the public. He is now based, professionally at least, in Houston.
Shelhamer applied for the position at the Johnson center figuring it would be a good way to make new contacts. He didn't believe he was qualified, and he didn't want to leave his wife and home for two years. When he got the offer, he was floored. "I was pacing," he says. "I said the time isn't right, I'm going to tell them I'm going to wait." Wiseman, who thought he was a great fit for the job from the start, countered with an argument he couldn't resist: "You'll be overseeing experiments on the space station. How cool is that? You have to do it."
More than a year into the job, Shelhamer is enjoying what Wiseman has called his "grand adventure." "It's different from doing basic science in the lab, where you can pursue new findings and try things just because they are interesting," he says. "Our program is much more focused, and balancing innovative science with the need to get answers in a timely manner is one of my main concerns." Recently greenlighted projects include examining the combined effects of weightlessness and radiation on blood vessels, studying how vitamins degrade in space food over time, and determining predictors of behavioral and stress problems in crew members.
Shelhamer appreciates having a wider sphere of influence than he did as a researcher. "Here, there are a lot more people who want a piece of me, who want to run an idea by me," he says. "I gotta say, that's kind of nice." He's also enjoying the respite from grant writing.
Travel has always been a big part of both their careers, and despite Shelhamer's initial trepidation about being apart, they've dealt with that successfully before. When they are both home, they spend time together relaxing on the front porch with their cats (and perhaps their laptops) or retreating to the basement, where Wiseman runs on the treadmill while Shelhamer, an avid jazz drummer, provides live workout music.
Very rarely, their work lives intersect. Earlier this year Wiseman was giving talks in Houston, so she checked out Shelhamer's new office. As they drove through the front gate at Johnson, both flashed their NASA badges to get in.
Scientists find traces of sea plankton on ISS surface
ITAR-TASS News Agency
An experiment of taking samples from illuminators and the ISS surface has brought unique results, as scientists had found traces of sea plankton there, the chief of an orbital mission on Russia's ISS segment told reporters.
Results of the scope of scientific experiments which had been conducted for a quite long time were summed up in the previous year, confirming that some organisms can live on the surface of the International Space Station (ISS) for years amid factors of a space flight, such as zero gravity, temperature conditions and hard cosmic radiation. Several surveys proved that these organisms can even develop.
Microorganisms could be found on the ISS surface thanks to high-precision equipment. "Results of the experiment are absolutely unique. We have found traces of sea plankton and microscopic particles on the illuminator surface. This should be studied further," chief of the Russian ISS orbital mission Vladimir Solovyev said.
He noted that it was not quite clear how these microscopic particles could have appeared on the surface of the space station.
In reply to a question on how the ISS surface is contaminated now, the space specialist said that the ISS surface was polluted very strongly due to operation of space engines and other factors. "We are conducting special works to polish somehow and put illuminators in order. This is particularly needed during long space flights," Solovyev added.
Former Astronaut Garrett Reisman Encouraged by Science Programming in Hollywood
Carolyn Giardina - Hollywood Reporter
.He attended HollyShorts for a screening of 'Three Nights, Three Days: Endeavour's Journey Through Los Angeles'
Former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman said, while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at the HollyShorts Film Festival on Monday, he is encouraged to see space and science generating attention in Hollywood. Reisman was on hand for a screening of Three Nights, Three Days: Endeavour's Journey Through Los Angeles.
"It's great that this is happening — [Three Nights, Three Days] Cosmos [which won four Creative Arts Emmys last weekend] and even The Big Bang Theory [which won one Creative Arts Emmy]," Reisman said of science-themed programming. "I hope science is becoming hip and cool. The best thing we can do is reach out to young women."
He added that there's a "crisis" as "more and more women are going to college but they are not necessarily studying science. [So the space industry] is working at a handicap. I hope there will be more positive examples for young girls [to inspire them to study science]."
Now working at Elon Musk's SpaceX, Reisman is program lead for a developing new spaceship to replace the shuttle program in partnership with NASA. "This will be our next opportunity to get Americans in space in an American rocket," he said. "We are a couple years away from test flights."
Three Nights, Three Days was made in cooperation with the California Science Center about the immense effort to bring the Shuttle to the Center, and the impact its journey had on the public. It uses footage of the 2012 journey that was filmed for the Center thanks to a massive effort involving an estimated 150 volunteers from Hollywood, including members of the Society of Camera Operators, and using gear donated by manufacturers and service providers.
"It was really cool to see it on the big screen," Reisman said. "The movie captures the spirit of the event. It was such a wonderful outpouring of emotion. At the time I didn't anticipate how many people [would come to see the shuttle] or how patriotic a moment it would be."
Reisman is among the interviewees in the documentary, and, incidentally, was in the passenger seat of the Toyota Tundra that pulled the Shuttle across the 405 on its journey to the Science Center. "It was awesome," he said of that experience. "I have a selfie that I took in the rear-view mirror with the shuttle behind me and a sign that read 'Objects may be closer than they appear.' "
Luke Wilson's Satellite Beach, which also follows Endeavour's journey through Los Angeles, was additionally screened during HollyShorts, which runs through Aug. 23 at the TCL Chinese Theatre and the Roosevelt Hotel.
Dark Spots in Our Knowledge of Neptune
Kenneth Chang – The New York Times
This occasional column explores topics covered in Science Times 25 years ago to see what has changed — and what has not.
A quarter century ago, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft was closing in on Neptune for its final planetary visit.
In Science Times on Aug. 15, 1989, John Noble Wilford described the anticipation among the scientists about what they were calling the "last picture show."
Voyager 2, which would turn 12 a few days before its closest approach to Neptune on Aug. 25, was already elderly in spacecraft years — "arthritic and partially deaf, feeble of voice and prone to memory lapses," Mr. Wilford wrote.
One of the first features scientists saw was a dark spot in the southern hemisphere as wide as Earth — a giant storm like the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. The wind on Neptune blew up to 1,500 miles per hour, the strongest in the solar system; its magnetic field tilted 47 degrees from the rotational axis.
Voyager 2 also discovered new moons and incomplete rings orbiting the planet. And on Triton, the largest moon, it photographed what appeared to be the frozen flows of ice volcanoes.
25 YEARS LATER The Hubble Space Telescope has had a few good looks at Neptune, beginning in 1994. By then, the storm, known as the Great Dark Spot, had disappeared, and a new dark spot emerged in the northern hemisphere. With limited Hubble observations, it is not known whether that spot remains or whether others have come and gone.
Telescopes on Earth cannot make out the dark spots, but they can see bright clouds that were next to them.
"Over the years, we have seen quite bright clouds come and go in both the north and south," said Heidi B. Hammel, a planetary astronomer at the Space Science Institute. "Right now, there are some very bright clouds in the north, but we have no approved Hubble programs to verify an underlying Great Dark Spot."
Others have gleaned new results from the old Voyager 2 photographs. Paul M. Schenk of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston and Kevin J. Zahnle of NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., took a more careful look at the craters on Triton and argued that they all formed within the past 10 million years — almost yesterday in geological terms. That would suggest not only ice volcanoes, but also an ocean below the surface with liquid breaking through and freezing.
Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, said she had pushed for a new spacecraft to head to Neptune to explore these mysteries. Three of the four giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune — line up over the next few years. That is not quite the "grand tour" of the Voyager spacecraft, but it would provide the gravitational boost for a quicker trip. "You can get to Neptune in 10 years," Dr. Hansen-Koharcheck said, and the mission could fit under a billion dollars.
But NASA did not have enough plutonium to provide a power source for an outer solar system mission, and now it is almost certainly too late to start one before the window closes in 2020. So anything that planetary scientists learn about Neptune will come from Hubble and its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope.
"We're not going to get a close-up look at it for a very long time," said Carolyn C. Porco, who was a member of the Voyager imaging team. "And there's so much to learn there."
Voyager 2 is indeed still operating, 9.75 billion miles away. Its twin, Voyager 1, entered interstellar space in August 2012, but Voyager 2 remains in the region known as the heliosheath, still dominated by the sun's magnetic field and outward-flowing particles.
"Several more years is a reasonable estimate," said Edward C. Stone, the project scientist for the Voyagers both then and now.
Even though it will be second out of the solar system, scientists are anxious for the data from one of Voyager 2's instruments, which measures solar wind particles. The equivalent instrument on Voyager 1 died in 1980.
Why Scientists Want To Throw Lawn Darts At Mars
Experts from NASA say it's time to stop beating around the bush when it comes to looking for life on Mars—and they've started an Indiegogo campaign to do something about it.
Sarah Fecht – Popular Science
Mars almost definitely has water below its surface, and it's possible that it might have life there too -- buried deep in the soil, where it's protected from dryness, radiation and temperature extremes. Unfortunately, NASA doesn't seem too interested in looking for it, preferring to look for "conditions" that might support life instead. But a group of aerospace and robotics engineers -- many of whom work for NASA, and one of whom even operates the Curiosity rover -- think NASA should be going with a more direct approach, and they're taking matters into their own hands.
"While current NASA missions are looking for evidence of past life, no NASA mission is planned to look for current life," they write on their website. "We believe this is a mistake. To find life on Mars, we actually need to look for life on Mars."
Part of the challenge of looking for life on Mars has been in designing the right equipment to dig for it. Curiosity was the first robot to drill into Martian soil. That was in 2013, and the hole was two inches deep. To search for life, robots have to dig a lot deeper than that. But scientists are struggling to come up with a design small enough to fit onto a rover yet robust enough to survive being pelleted with dust and radiation.
So, rather than sending giant drills to Mars, the scientists behind the ExoLance Indiegogo campaign are suggesting we dig in with big lawn darts instead.
The concept is fairly simple by NASA standards. ExoLance could theoretically piggyback on another mission to Mars, and as the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere, a dart dispenser (named "Quiver") separates from the ride. As it falls to the ground at supersonic speeds, it drops the "arrows," which bury themselves 3 to 6 feet into the Martian soil.
As an arrow burrows, its nose separates from its back end to expose the life-detection equipment pack inside. This would be a metabolic test that can distinguish between living and non-living chemistry, the ExoLance team says.
(Alternate strategies have proposed looking for DNA or ribosomal RNA.) Meanwhile, the hind end of the arrow stays above the surface, to communicate with an orbiter about the scientific findings.
Other scientists have come up with concepts similar to ExoLance. Last year one British team successfully fired darts at an 11-ton block of ice, at a speed of 760 miles an hour, to test whether the method was viable to hunt for life on icy moons like Europa and Enceladus.
Through crowdfunding, the ExoLance scientists are trying to raise $250,000 to build prototypes that they will then test by dropping them out of an airplane in the Mojave Desert. Phase II (which requires a lot more funding) will focus on developing the life-detection equipment.
"Once the concept is sufficiently tested and we have proven the viability of the mission concept, we will approach NASA, other space agencies, and potential commercial providers to carry ExoLance on one or more future Mars missions," their website says.
The team has many challenges ahead of them, which they note on their campaign site. For one, the project will likely cost between $1 and $10 million overall. They'll need to make sure the arrow penetrates to just the right depth; they'll need a reliable power source; they'll need to secure a chance to piggyback on another mission; and they'll need to keep the payload as small and lightweight as possible to avoid extra costs.
The implications of looking for life on Mars are potentially huge. If we discover microorganisms there, it could rewrite biology, evolution, and history. It could also mean that life on Earth preceded life on Mars, or vice versa. Or, if we find nothing, at least it'll be a clear answer.
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