| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Aug. 13 All Hands - Now on the JSC 2.0 Website
- JSC Knowledge Management Office Case Study - Organizations/Social
- Today: ASIA ERG Career Leadership Mentoring Event
- Shoutout Thanks for the Silent Auction
- Emerge Monthly Meeting: Kotter's Change Model
- SCH NCMA September Webinar - Jobs and Training
- Schedules Assessment Training
- Innovation Lecture Series: Joel Sercel, Ph.D.
- What Can Tech Scouting Do For You? - Community
- Observe the Moon Night at the George Observatory |  |
| Headlines - Aug. 13 All Hands – Now on the JSC 2.0 Website
If you missed the Aug. 13 All Hands with JSC Director Ellen Ochoa or the televised replays, you still have ample opportunity to watch the event in its entirety. The video now resides on the JSC 2.0 website. For all things 2.0, don't forget to visit the website often, bookmark it, share it—and interact on it. JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
[top] - JSC Knowledge Management Office Case Study
On May 13, 1992, 230 miles above Earth, a tense drama was playing out. It involved astronauts and a third attempt to capture and repair an inoperable satellite. Eight-and-a-half hours later, 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, as well as just 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. Organizations/Social - Today: ASIA ERG Career Leadership Mentoring Event
The ASIA Employee Resource Group (ERG) Career, Leadership and Mentoring (CLM) cordially invite you to our inaugural "meet-and-greet" event. It will take place today, Aug. 27, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Building 1, Room 620. We will introduce ERG CLM resources and have several JSC senior managers share their experiences as mentors in the JSC YODA Program. As with all our ASIA ERG events, there is ample opportunity for networking, and we will have a potluck lunch format. Pizza will be provided (bring a side dish or dessert). Event Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 Event Start Time:11:30 AM Event End Time:12:30 PM
Event Location: B.1/R.620
Add to Calendar
Hanh Do x48496
[top] - Shoutout Thanks for the Silent Auction
Thanks to everyone who participated in the JSC Feeds Families Silent Auction sponsored by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity and the Strategic Opportunities and Partnership Development Office. It was a lot of fun, and the last 10 minutes were really tense. We'd like to give a special thank you to everyone who donated prizes. Not only did we have fun, but more than 600 pounds of food will be donated to the Galveston Food Bank! - Emerge Monthly Meeting: Kotter's Change Model
Please join Emerge and the director of the Human Exploration Development Support Office, Vanessa Wyche, as we discuss a topic on everyone's mind at JSC: Change. Specifically, as we discuss Kotter's Change Model. This short nine-page article will be the focal point of this month's discussion, so if you have the opportunity to read the article before the discussion, please do. If you don't have that opportunity, please feel free to come anyway. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Feel free to bring your lunch! - SCH NCMA September Webinar
Spend 90 minutes with a practicing professional—a contractor selling commercial items to the U.S. government, directly and indirectly. Learn from years of research and practice on how to navigate and negotiate commercial items and pricing. Hear the answers to the questions asked by buyers. Apply the principles and resources provided to leverage your commercial product or service. The growing number of protests reflects several government and private sectors trends as many companies are seeing difficult times ahead, revising business strategies and weighing the costs of protest litigation. Robert Jones has more than nine years of Department of Defense contracts and accounting experience with both service and manufacturing environments, with over five years in aerospace. Jobs and Training - Schedules Assessment Training
Do you work with schedules and frequently wonder how to assess their accuracy? Then join the CoP on Sept. 3 as Tony Nolin from the International Space Station Assessments team walks us through the evaluation of schedules. He will review key analysis elements, as well as how to tie cost to schedule. This analysis training is not offered frequently, so don't miss this opportunity! Interested in becoming a member of the JSC Scheduling CoP? The CoP was created to provide training for and communication amongst schedule practitioners at JSC to improve scheduling practices and efficacy. For more information, contact us. - Innovation Lecture Series: Joel Sercel, Ph.D.
The Human Health and Performance Directorate welcomes Dr. Joel Sercel, founder and principal engineer of ICS Associates, Inc., as the Innovation Lecture Series speaker in September. Join Sercel for his lecture entitled "The Disruption Dynamic: When Changing Times Demand New Behaviors." Sercel is a world-renowned innovator, management consultant, team leader and systems engineer with proven innovations in several fields, including social-networking systems, space propulsion, space mission design, devices for use in rugged environments and architectures for unmanned aerial vehicles. - What Can Tech Scouting Do For You?
If you're looking for access to solutions outside of your regular channels, join the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) on Sept. 17 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Building 35 for the yet2.com Workshop! Yet2.com is a technology-scouting capability that provides access to a broad network of external experts and potential collaborators from all over the globe. Learn more about this platform, business model and how you can benefit. Registration and participation in the workshop is FREE. Event Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 Event Start Time:1:00 PM Event End Time:3:00 PM
Event Location: B35
Add to Calendar
Carissa Callini 281-212-1409
[top] Community - Observe the Moon Night at the George Observatory
On Sept. 6, we will celebrate Observe the Moon Night! Stop by and view the moon through a telescope at the George Observatory, and get tickets for our Family Space Day Mission to the Moon. Come out and spend the evening with the moon. Note: Park entrance fees apply at $7 per person for everyone over 12 years old. | |
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| JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters. |
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Wednesday – August 27, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
NASA's asteroid plan may be cheapest route to Mars
NASA plans to redirect a small asteroid into lunar orbit during the next decade as part of a steppingstone approach to landing astronauts on Mars by the 2030s.
Russian Space Agency Requests $155 Million to Help Europe Get to Mars
The Moscow Times
Russian space agency Roscosmos needs 5.6 billion rubles ($155 million) to complete its share of a large-scale joint Mars exploration project with the European Space Agency (ESA), Interfax reported Tuesday.
James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield unfurled according to plan
David Darling – Spaceflight Insider
The most visually-striking element of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), currently scheduled for launch in four years time, is a giant sunshade, designed to protect the spacecraft's sensitive science instruments from the Sun's glare. Shown in this story's featured image, this vital component is shown during the first complete test of its deployment in a clean room at Northrop Grumman's facility located in Redondo Beach, California, in early July of this year (2014). NASA Looks to Japanese Origami for Innovative Space Designs
Jun Hongo – Wall Street Journal
Long known for being a way to create interesting figures of birds, animals and other things, origami — the Japanese art of paper folding — could soon be the inspiration for sophisticated devices used in space.
Guardian of the galaxy: The woman planning for a space catastrophe
Urmee Khan – CNN
Editor's note: Leading Women connects you to extraordinary women of our time -- remarkable professionals who have made it to the top in all areas of business, the arts, sport, culture, science and more. When a disaster of a mega-proportion hits a city - from a terror attack to a hurricane - there are procedures in place to deal with the aftermath. Suggest that the source of a serious humanitarian crisis could lie in outer space, however, and many will assume you are talking science fiction.
Clouds of Water Possibly Found in Brown Dwarf Atmosphere
Finding clouds of water floating in the atmosphere of an alien world is a significant find. Now, astronomers have reported preliminary findings that water clouds have been detected in the atmosphere of a brown dwarf, a mere 7.3 light-years from Earth. Former NASA Chief Says Russia Holding US Spaceflight Hostage: Report
Former NASA administrator Mike Griffin thinks the United States' dependence on Russian technology to fly astronauts to the International Space Station is tantamount to a "hostage situation," according to an interview conducted in May.
Roscosmos Wants $440 Million to Build Inflatable Space Stations
The Moscow Times
Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, has requested 16 billion rubles ($440 million) for the development of inflatable space station habitats, Interfax reported Monday, citing a copy of the proposed federal space program for 2016-2025.
Air Force starts search for an RD-180 replacement
Jeff Foust – Space Politics
Although the supply of Russian-built RD-180 engines that power the first stage of the Atlas V do not appear to be in the same level of jeopardy as feared earlier this year—United Launch Alliance took delivery of two of those engines last week—the US Air Force is starting to lay the groundwork for development of a domestic replacement engine.
With Commercial Crew Award Close, Rivals Mull Future without NASA Funds
Dan Leone – Space News
The three companies bidding to succeed the retired space shuttle as NASA's means of sending astronauts to and from the international space station have different fallback plans for their respective vehicles should they get passed over for a final round of government development funding, the award of which is imminent.
SpaceX calls off Wednesday launch attempt
James Dean – Florida Today
SpaceX has postponed a launch that was planned early this morning for at least a week, in the wake of a test rocket's recent failure at the company's rocket development facility in Texas.
Scientists: Solar system inside a searing gas bubble
Ben Brumfield – CNN
Ever feel like you live in a bubble?
COMPLETE STORIES
NASA's asteroid plan may be cheapest route to Mars
NASA plans to redirect a small asteroid into lunar orbit during the next decade as part of a steppingstone approach to landing astronauts on Mars by the 2030s.
Some key leaders in Congress, which must approve funding for the mission, prefer returning to the moon. That plan was scrapped a few years ago by President Obama, who canceled the Constellation Program because of what an independent commission called unsustainable costs.
Here's a look at relevant questions and answers about NASA's asteroid redirect mission, or ARM.
Q: How exactly would the mission work?
A: NASA is exploring two options. The first would identify a small asteroid (about seven to 10 meters) not far from Earth, use a robotic spacecraft to retrieve it, then drop it into the moon's orbit. An alternative plan would extract a boulder from a larger asteroid and do the same thing.
Once the asteroid's in lunar orbit, a crew of two astronauts would use a deep-space rocket and the Orion crew vehicle NASA is developing to visit the floating rock and dock to the robotic spacecraft still attached to it.
Q: How will NASA find a suitable asteroid?
A: The agency already has identified more than 11,000 asteroids, or "near earth objects." Three of them, none bigger than a school bus, are being monitored for the mission.
They are believed to have the mass, shape, spin rate and orbit that could prove viable targets for a mission. Three larger ones have been identified as possible candidates for the boulder alternative.
Q: How much will it cost?
A: Estimates range from $1.25 billion to $2.6 billion, not including the cost of developing the deep space rocket and Orion capsule. That would be considerably cheaper than using the moon as a steppingstone to Mars, which would require more infrastructure, notably a lunar lander.
Lack of money has forced NASA to reassess its missions. Unless a more ambitious plan gets broad international buy-in — or Congress decides to approve significantly more money for NASA — an asteroid mission looks like the agency's best option for a deep-space mission for now, said John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.
"It's the most interesting mission to undertake, given the current ground rules and current budget," he said.
Q: Are there other advantages of visiting an asteroid?
A: Yes. The most relevant is the opportunity to study the floating space rocks. More information about their composition and how they hurtle through space should help scientists determine how to deflect those that are on a collision course with Earth.
There's also interest in mining asteroids for metals, rare minerals and frozen water, which could be converted into liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen for rocket fuel that would make a trip to Mars easier and cheaper.
Q: Why is there interest in returning to the moon?
A: The idea leaves some people with a been-there-done-that feeling. But supporters of the proposal say returning to the moon would provide a gateway to the rest of the solar system and enable scientific discoveries valuable to an eventual Mars mission.
It also would give an emerging commercial space industry opportunities to test new technologies and mine for minerals. And it would give the U.S. a chance to partner (read: share costs) with other countries it's been at odds with lately, such as China and Russia.
"There's really no enthusiasm among any of our (international) partners for the ARM," said Cliff Zukin, a Rutgers University political science professor.
Zukin was a member of a National Research Council panel that recently released a study examining the challenges of a Mars mission.
Q: What does Congress have to say about this?
A: Lawmakers are split on the asteroid plan. Republican leaders have criticized it as uninspiring and a waste of money, and they say it lacks broad support from the scientific community.
Part of that reaction stems from bruised feelings over Obama's decision to abolish the Constellation Program — which had been championed by President George W. Bush — without consulting Congress.
Democrats are more supportive, though they're not particularly keen on the asteroid idea either.
Q: What happens next?
A: NASA scientists will continue looking for the best asteroid to use for the mission. The agency also is planning a December test launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida of an uncrewed Orion vehicle atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket.
Congress, meanwhile, is working on NASA's budget request, which includes about $133 million for the asteroid mission. Space committees in the House and Senate have passed similar spending plans for NASA but have yet to work out a compromise on a final budget.
Russian Space Agency Requests $155 Million to Help Europe Get to Mars
The Moscow Times
Russian space agency Roscosmos needs 5.6 billion rubles ($155 million) to complete its share of a large-scale joint Mars exploration project with the European Space Agency (ESA), Interfax reported Tuesday.
The project, called ExoMars, began as a joint project between the ESA and U.S. space agency NASA to send a pair of unmanned probes to Mars. But in 2012, budget cuts in Washington forced NASA to withdraw from the project, and Roscosmos was quickly tapped as a replacement.
One of the key objectives of the ExoMars mission is to search for life on the Red Planet.
The mission involves two stages: one in 2016 and another in 2018. In both, unmanned probes will hitch rides on Russian Proton rockets. Such rockets, however, have seen a number of launch failures in the last three years.
The requested $155 million will pay for the two launches, as well as finance the completion of the 2018 ExoMars lander, which is being designed by Russia and outfitted largely with Russian scientific equipment, according to a draft federal space strategy for 2016-2025 obtained by Interfax.
The proposed strategy document has been submitted for government approval.
James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield unfurled according to plan
David Darling – Spaceflight Insider
The most visually-striking element of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), currently scheduled for launch in four years time, is a giant sunshade, designed to protect the spacecraft's sensitive science instruments from the Sun's glare. Shown in this story's featured image, this vital component is shown during the first complete test of its deployment in a clean room at Northrop Grumman's facility located in Redondo Beach, California, in early July of this year (2014). Unlike its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST ), JWST is designed to work mainly in the near-infrared region of the spectrum. Operating at such wavelengths should enable it, among other things, to glimpse some of the first stars in the universe. In so doing, the JWST could vastly expand our understanding of how stars and planets form. It will also serve to capture direct images of exoplanets. The drawback of being an infrared-based telescope is that its optics, detectors, and science instruments must be kept very cold – around minus 233ºC – a major problem with the Sun's rays beating down on it 24 hours a day -7 days a week. One solution is to place Webb in a special 'halo' orbit around the so-called L2 (second Lagrangian) point, almost a million miles on the other side of the Earth from the Sun. That way the Earth eclipses the Sun part of the time. The rest of the time a sunshade is essential.
So effective is the tennis-court sized shield that protects Webb, that it will let through less than one-millionth of the heat radiation coming from the Sun. But this is no simple parasol. It consists of five layers of special reflecting material – DuPont's Kapton E, a polymer-based polyimide film – each no thicker than a human hair. When operational in space, the each layer will be separated from its neighbors by the vacuum of space so that hardly any heat conducts from the top to the bottom.
Meanwhile heat will be radiated out from between the layers and allowed to escape to the side with the result that only 23 milliwatts of the 300 kilowatts of solar radiation falling on the 22-meter by 10-meter, kite-shaped shield will make it through to Webb's 'cold' side where the Integrated Science Instruments Module is located with its precious cargo of sensitive instrumentation. On the 'hot' side, by contrast, the spacecraft's bus (containing the bulk of the steering and control machinery), solar power array, star trackers, and Earth-pointing antenna, unprotected from the Sun's warming rays, will be able work as designed at around room temperature.
As well as alleviating the need for any active cooling system, such as that provided by liquid helium on many earlier infrared satellites, Webb's sunshield will act as a lightshade. Unlike Hubble, which uses a baffle to keep unwanted light from its optics, JWST's Optical Telescope Element – the 6.5-meter aperture main mirror consisting of 18 hexagonal segments – will rely entirely on the heat shield to stop unwanted solar photons from clouding its vision.
During launch of the new space telescope, the sunshield will be neatly folded within the upper stage fairing of an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Mission scientists will then hold their breath, once the spacecraft is en route to L2, hoping that the delicate layers of the shield separate and unfurl in the precise configuration needed for this iconic instrument to fulfill its goals. The first ground test of the unfurling at Redondo Beach in July was a promising start, NASA reported the operation to be a complete success.
NASA Looks to Japanese Origami for Innovative Space Designs
Jun Hongo – Wall Street Journal
Long known for being a way to create interesting figures of birds, animals and other things, origami — the Japanese art of paper folding — could soon be the inspiration for sophisticated devices used in space.
According to its website, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, is looking to origami to come up with innovative designs for space gadgets.
A recent article on the organization's website says that Brian Trease, a mechanical engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is working with researchers to create devices that can be folded into compact sizes using origami techniques.
"Panels used in space missions already incorporate simple folds, collapsing like a fan or an accordion," the article says. "But Trease and colleagues are interested in using more intricate folds that simplify the overall mechanical structure and make for easier deployment."
Origami derives from Japanese words for "fold" and "paper." It was popularized during the Edo period (1603-1868), with the first-known origami book published in 1797, according to the Nippon Origami Association.
Mr. Trease was a part of a team that developed a 25-meter solar array that could be folded into a diameter of 2.7 meters using origami techniques. NASA describes the array as being like "a blooming flower that expands into a large, flat circular surface." For the prototype, the engineer used a combination of folds to create a new mechanical structure.
NASA's website mentions that Mr. Trease spent time in Japan as a high-school student. He learned about origami from books, and "would fold wrappers from fast-food cheeseburgers into cranes."
Guardian of the galaxy: The woman planning for a space catastrophe
Urmee Khan – CNN
Editor's note: Leading Women connects you to extraordinary women of our time -- remarkable professionals who have made it to the top in all areas of business, the arts, sport, culture, science and more. When a disaster of a mega-proportion hits a city - from a terror attack to a hurricane - there are procedures in place to deal with the aftermath. Suggest that the source of a serious humanitarian crisis could lie in outer space, however, and many will assume you are talking science fiction.
But one woman is on a mission to convince the world -- and especially governments and the United Nations -- to take threats such as potential asteroid strikes more seriously.
Meet Nelly Ben Hayoun, Designer of Experiences at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in California, creator of the International Space Orchestra -an orchestra composed of space scientists- and trainee astronaut.
"This isn't a Bruce Willis film, this is real life", says the 29-year-old, from Provence, France.
Speaking from SETI, Ben Hayoun rattles off statistics about space, dissects doomsday scenarios, contemplates the possibility of aliens and brings names such as Carl Sagan to Jean Baudrillard into the conversation.
She has been called the 'Willy Wonka of design and science' and her latest project, Disaster Playground, is a documentary film, about scientists preparing for disasters from space that could threaten Planet Earth.
Ben Hayoun speaks to illustrious space scientists from SETI, NASA's Near Earth Objects (NEO) project and Disaster and Rescue Assistance (DART) including: extra-terrestrial intelligence specialist Dr. Jill Tarter (the inspiration for Jodie Foster's character in the film Contact), and meteor shower expert Dr. Peter Jenniskens.
So what do you do in the case of hazardous asteroids or a small NEO (Near Earth Object)?
ANSWER from Disaster Playground: There are different mitigation techniques in place: kinetic impactor, blast defection, combination methods, gravity tractor (a spacecraft to deflect an asteroid using only its gravitational field to transmit impulse).
Alternative methods: moving asteroids with lasers, focusing sun energy, changing thermal properties, electro-static pushing and reflecting white paint.
Ben Hayoun investigates such real-life procedures in place to deal with the threat of an asteroid collision and how critical information would flow up the chain of command.
"Who are the people who would make the decision and what would be the basis of their decision-making?" she asks.
There are 20 people before the President is alerted and before 'the red button is pushed'.
There might be something to be gained from revealing problems to the public in order to help secure funding which is a "big difficulty" she explains. "Humans are more willing to support a cause if you understand the difficulties involved."
As well as the film, to be released on March 2015, she's also relying on an app, exhibitions and "immersive experiences" such as the one at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as part of the Digital Design Weekend.
She is determined to promote the role of women in the male-dominated space industry. Ben Hayoun recalls how she was once one of two women in a room of 1,500 people at the International Astronautical Congress.
"This is my massive fight," she says with gusto. "How are these space agencies making choices on what we need? It occurred to me that the people making these decisions are men -- space science is a field which is 90% men, men men! We need women - let's face it we would come up with way smarter solutions!"
But in all seriousness, Ben Hayoun warns that efforts to find and fund ways of dealing with the asteroid threat must continue.
"It's not like I can say 'yes, we have a solution'," she said. "It's only going to the UN now. They are aware of their responsibility but at the moment they are just putting in place the committees."
"Nobody knows exactly what the UN response would be and that's a real problem," said Ben Hayoun.
Clouds of Water Possibly Found in Brown Dwarf Atmosphere
Finding clouds of water floating in the atmosphere of an alien world is a significant find. Now, astronomers have reported preliminary findings that water clouds have been detected in the atmosphere of a brown dwarf, a mere 7.3 light-years from Earth. But don't dream of an alien planet with white, fluffy clouds rolling over a habitable terrain, brown dwarfs are cool failed stars with thick churning atmospheres, the antithesis of a life-giving habitat (as we know it).
The brown dwarf, called WISE J0855-0714, was discovered hiding in archived data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WISE) and is notable in that is the coolest brown dwarf known. It has a temperature slightly lower than the freezing point of water and a mass roughly ten times that of Jupiter.
The best thing about this object is that it is an interstellar loner — it doesn't orbit a star and drifts through space solo. This means its infrared signal could be isolated, with no host starlight overwhelming its detection.
Follow-up observations by the 6.5-meter Magellan Baade telescope in Chile by Jacqueline Faherty of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., acquired 151 near-infrared images of the intriguing object, and after comparing radiation generated by the brown dwarf with atmospheric models, astronomers have announced the possible presence of water clouds high in the dwarf planet's atmosphere. The research has been published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
"It's incredibly interesting," said Jonathan Fortney of the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was involved with the development of the brown dwarf models. "It's tentative," but "it's the first evidence for water clouds" outside our solar system," he told Science News. Water clouds exist on Earth and Mars, and water is known to exist in the lower layers of the gas and ice giants. But until now, no other object beyond the solar system has exhibited clouds of water.
Water vapor has been detected in extrasolar planets' atmospheres, however, but this is the first time water clouds have been spotted. Like Earth, it appears to be partly cloudy, with broken patches of water clouds, said Faherty.
This is an important discovery for brown dwarf science. These sub-stellar objects are not massive enough to sustain fusion in their cores, so they're not stars. But they have massive un-differentiated atmospheres that make them very different from planets. They occupy a strange hinterland between the most massive gas giant planets (like Jupiter) and the smallest stars (like red dwarfs).
Although we have to wait until NASA's James Webb Telescope launches in 2018 to acquire a spectra of the infrared radiation before we know for certain if it is indeed water, it's a fascinating discovery that gives this particular brown dwarf a very planet-like twist.
Former NASA Chief Says Russia Holding US Spaceflight Hostage: Report
Former NASA administrator Mike Griffin thinks the United States' dependence on Russian technology to fly astronauts to the International Space Station is tantamount to a "hostage situation," according to an interview conducted in May.
"Right now, our ability to get into space on our own power and with our own goods and services, we're in a hostage situation," Griffin told ABC News in a told ABC News in a video interview at the National Space Symposium. "If it wishes to do so, Russia can decide that there are no more Russian rocket engines coming to the United States and that no more U.S. astronauts will launch to the International Space Station. They can make that decision on their own." ABC News posted the interview on Monday. At the moment, NASA relies on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft and rockets to fly astronauts to and from the space station. But that could change in a matter of years. NASA is hoping to contract at least one private spaceflight company based in the United States to ferry astronauts to and from the space station by the end of 2017. The space agency is expect to award either one or more contracts to selected companies at the end of this month or in September.
In March, current NASA administrator Charles Bolden said that the United States has quite a few options if Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, refuses to fly astronauts to the space station sometime in the future. Russia cannot operate the space station without the United States, according to Bolden.
"Because we provide navigation, communications, power … I hate to deal in conjecture," Bolden said during a Congressional hearing on March 27. "The partners would probably have to shut the space station down. If you're thinking that the Russians will continue to operate the International Space Station, it can't be done."
Roscosmos Wants $440 Million to Build Inflatable Space Stations
The Moscow Times
Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, has requested 16 billion rubles ($440 million) for the development of inflatable space station habitats, Interfax reported Monday, citing a copy of the proposed federal space program for 2016-2025.
The program, which Russian media reports say was submitted to the government last week, contains proposals for a number of ambitious projects, including moon bases and super-heavy lift rockets.
Two inflatable space station modules — which are generally made by surrounding a flexible air bladder with interwoven layers of Kevlar and Mylar, and are lighter and cheaper to launch than metal-cylinder versions — were tested by U.S.-based Bigelow Aerospace in 2006 and 2007. NASA is also looking to develop its own inflatable modules for the International Space Station and future space station projects.
Roscosmos, whose involvement in the International Space Station program through 2020 is hanging in the balance due to the Ukraine crisis, wants to build its own inflatable module with a five-year lifespan and a pressurized compartment volume of 300 cubic meters that would be ready for launch in 2021, the report said.
It is unclear whether the Russian module would be part of the International Space Station program or an independent Russian space station, plans for which have been discussed by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the Russian space industry. Roscosmos has so far declined to comment on the strategy document, which has yet to be approved.
Air Force starts search for an RD-180 replacement
Jeff Foust – Space Politics
Although the supply of Russian-built RD-180 engines that power the first stage of the Atlas V do not appear to be in the same level of jeopardy as feared earlier this year—United Launch Alliance took delivery of two of those engines last week—the US Air Force is starting to lay the groundwork for development of a domestic replacement engine.
Last week, the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) issued a request for information (RFI) regarding development of a new booster engine. "The Air Force has relied upon foreign sources for booster propulsion systems in the past," the RFI states, making no overt link to the latest tensions about RD-180 access. "However, consistent with the 2013 National Space Transportation Policy, we are pursuing alternative domestic capability."
The RFI actually goes beyond the engine itself to interest in alternative launch systems in general: "The Air Force is open to a range of possible options including but not limited to: a replacement engine with similar performance characteristics to currently used engines, alternative configurations that would provide similar performance (such as a multiple engine configuration) to existing EELV-class systems, and use of alternative launch vehicles for EELV-class systems."
The RFI features two sets of questions, one for those interested in providing new engines and one for new launch systems. The first set of questions asks how companies would replace the RD-180, including whether such an engine could be developed for multiple users. The second set of questions asks how companies would replace the capability offered by the Atlas V, while also asking if they believe a multi-user engine could be developed. Both sets of questions also ask for thoughts on how the government should acquire a new engine or launch system, including their interest in a "shared investment" approach with the government to fund development.
Responses to the RFI are due to the Air Force on September 19, with a two-day "industry day" planned at SMC on September 25-26. The next steps may depend on what direction, and funding, Congress provides the Air Force: House and Senate authorization and appropriations bills have provided differing levels of support for development of an RD-180 replacement.
With Commercial Crew Award Close, Rivals Mull Future without NASA Funds
Dan Leone – Space News
The three companies bidding to succeed the retired space shuttle as NASA's means of sending astronauts to and from the international space station have different fallback plans for their respective vehicles should they get passed over for a final round of government development funding, the award of which is imminent.
Representatives of these companies — Boeing Space Exploration of Houston; Sierra Nevada Space Systems of Louisville, Colorado; and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. of Hawthorne, California — offered their perspectives during an Aug. 5 panel discussion in San Diego at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Space 2014 conference.
NASA's fourth major commercial crew funding award, the fixed-price Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCtCap) contract, will provide at least one of these three companies with financial assistance to complete development and safety certification of its proposed transportation system, plus a fee for the first crewed U.S. space launch since the shuttle retired in 2011. That round trip to the space station is notionally scheduled for late 2017.
Boeing, which is offering a capsule called CST-100 that would be launched by a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, sees little reason to continue developing the craft without a helping hand from NASA, John Mulholland, vice president and general manager of commercial programs, told the audience.
Mulholland said closing the business case for CST-100 without NASA as an investor and anchor customer "would be very difficult to do."
SpaceX, by contrast, will continue developing a crewed version of its Dragon logistics capsule regardless of whether it wins a CCtCap award, said Garrett Reisman, former astronaut and Dragon Rider program manager.
"We certainly hope we can proceed in partnership with NASA," Reisman said. But "we're not going to stop."
The former shuttle crewman did concede that a lack of NASA investment would "change things dramatically" for SpaceX, slowing development of the company's human-rated systems.
Sierra Nevada Space Systems President Mark Sirangelo said his company, which distinguished itself from the pack by proposing a lifting-body vehicle called Dream Chaser that resembles a miniature space shuttle, might press on with the Dream Chaser project even if NASA decides it is not interested in the vehicle.
Sirangelo has pushed hard to keep Dream Chaser, which received the smallest of share of the third round of commercial crew program funding, at the forefront of the conversation. The Dream Chaser program has attracted a transcontinental network of international partners, including the German and Japanese space agencies.
These developments have led Sirangelo to suggest that Dream Chaser, which would also launch on an Atlas 5, could find a market besides servicing the space station for NASA.
"I think we are now in a place where it is possible to continue," Sirangelo said. "I'm not saying we can or we can't — that's something we'd have to discuss."
Weeks after the panel discussion in San Diego, NASA declined to address rumors swirling around Washington that the CCtCap winner, or winners, would be announced during the final week of August.
"We don't have a scheduled date for the award(s)," NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz said via email Aug. 22. "NASA will make the award(s) sometime in August or September."
Meanwhile, the three companies are in the late stages of work NASA helped pay for with some $1.1 billion worth of Space Act Agreements awarded in 2012.
Boeing is set to wrap up its share of this work in August, according to a copy of its roughly $460 million Space Act Agreement. SpaceX and Sierra Nevada, which received $440 million and $212.5 million, respectively, in third-round funding, have until March 31 to wrap up their work.
During an Aug. 7 meeting at NASA headquarters here, Kathy Lueders, the agency's commercial crew program manager, told the NASA-chartered Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel the agency wants to keep working with all three commercial crew hopefuls, whether or not they receive CCtCap contracts.
There is a precedent for such an arrangement.
After the second round of commercial crew funding, NASA signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement with the secretive Blue Origin rocket company established by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The agreement gave Blue Origin of Kent, Washington, access to NASA facilities and expertise.
The commercial crew program is not the only potential source of NASA funding for the aspiring providers. On Sept. 30, NASA will release a solicitation for cargo delivery service to station between 2017 and 2024. The commercial crew hopefuls have all indicated they are interested in bidding, and possibly taking cargo work away from incumbents SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Virginia.
SpaceX calls off Wednesday launch attempt
James Dean – Florida Today
SpaceX has postponed a launch that was planned early this morning for at least a week, in the wake of a test rocket's recent failure at the company's rocket development facility in Texas.
In a statement late Tuesday, CEO Elon Musk said that while he was confident the issue that caused that test failure – a blocked sensor port – would not affect the Falcon 9 rocket preparing to launch the AsiaSat 6 communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, "we have decided to review all potential failure modes and contingencies again."
He expects that process to take one to two weeks.
Last Friday in McGregor, Texas, SpaceX performed a flight test of a single-stage, three-engine vehicle, part of a development program attempting to advance reusable rocket technology including vertical booster landings.
The rocket blew itself up automatically mid-flight when it detected a problem.
Musk said today that if the same sensor port problem occurred with an operational Falcon 9 rocket like the one about to lift off with AsiaSat 6, other sensors would have overruled the faulty one that caused Friday's explosion. The test rocket, however, did not have that ability.
Musk said SpaceX had performed a "thorough review," and the company was not aware of any problems with the 224-foot rocket or its interfaces to the AsiaSat 6 satellite.
The continuing review, he said, would "triple-check" fault detection systems examined by SpaceX and "multiple outside agencies, so the most likely outcome is no change."
Original story:
SpaceX early Wednesday hopes to launch its second satellite this month for the same international customer, Hong Kong-based communications satellite operator AsiaSat.
A Falcon 9 rocket is targeting a 12:50 a.m. Wednesday liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the AsiaSat 6 satellite, at the opening of a window that extends to 4:05 a.m.
Air Force meteorologists anticipate a 80 percent chance of favorable weather during the window at Launch Complex 40.
SpaceX pushed the launch back one day as a precaution after the failure of its single-stage test rocket Friday during a flight at the company's rocket development facility in Texas.
Like AsiaSat 8, which launched successfully from the Cape on Aug. 5, AsiaSat 6 is headed for a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator, where its video and broadband data services will focus on growing markets in China.
AsiaSat 6 is similar in size to AsiaSat 8 and built by the same company, Space Systems/Loral, but its 28 transponders will operate in a lower frequency (C-band instead of Ku-band).
Unlike AsiaSat 8, which backed up a satellite already in orbit, AsiaSat 6 will occupy a new orbital slot at 120 degrees East longitude.
"Although it has quite a large coverage, its main focus is to add additional capacity for China," company president and CEO William Wade told FLORIDA TODAY before the launch earlier this month.
Under a partnership, Thaicom will use half of AsiaSat 6's capacity, so the satellite will also be known as Thaicom 7. SpaceX launched Thaicom 6 in January — its first of four launches so far in 2014, including three commercial missions.
A successful launch would grow AsiaSat's satellite fleet from five to six.
The mission's flight to a high orbit will not leave enough extra fuel for SpaceX to attempt to fly the Falcon 9 rocket booster back to a soft ocean landing, maneuvers the company has been testing to advance reusable rocket technology.
After this launch of a commercial satellite, SpaceX and NASA plan another International Space Station cargo resupply mission no earlier than 2:38 a.m. EDT Sept. 19.
Either launch could be SpaceX's last before learning if NASA has selected the company's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to fly astronauts to the station.
Scientists: Solar system inside a searing gas bubble
Ben Brumfield – CNN
Ever feel like you live in a bubble?
You do. We all do.
And, oh, what a bubble it is: About 300 light years long (about 1,764,000,000,000,000 miles), and its walls are made of hot gas. How hot? About a million degrees.
It's called the "Local Bubble" or "local hot bubble" and is shaped a little like a peanut.
Scientists believe it was formed by supernovas, the largest explosions in space, as NASA calls them, that occur when a large star blows up. One supernova blasts out more energy in less than a second than our sun gives off in a million years, NASA says. A single explosion can outshine an entire galaxy.
'Like popcorn'
They usually occur about twice a century. But about 10 million years ago, a slew of them exploded right near our solar system.
"Supernovas went off like popcorn," NASA says. In a universe about 13.8 billion years old, that's a recent event. Humans did not yet walk the Earth back then, but monkeys did.
Those supernovas may have sent our evolutionary ancestors running scared, but they weren't enough to annihilate them.
Galactic hole
Fast forward 10 million years to the 1970s and 80s, when humans first began noticing what they'd later postulate was the bubble.
They were aiming more advanced telescopes at what's called the interstellar medium.
Between the planets and the stars of our galaxy is not just empty space. There are gasses, dust, ions -- and more -- sweeping around.
When astronomers poked around in our solar system for it, they found little to nothing. It was like we were living in a virtually empty hole, one that has only a single atom per every liter of space.
Around the same time, sensors launched outside of Earth's atmosphere revealed an abundance of something else coming from all directions -- x-ray radiation.
The idea that we live in a bubble was born:
So much interstellar medium was gone, because the exploding supernovas have blown it away, and and left us surrounded with their remnants of radiating gas.
Doubt, corroboration
But some scientists, in recent years, cast doubt on the Local Bubble model, saying the radiation could be the result of "charge exchange" -- passing solar winds stealing electrons and thereby emitting x-ray radiation.
Scientists from the University of Miami in Coral Gables picked up the gauntlet and developed a sensor to measure charge exchange radiation and fired it out of Earth's atmosphere atop a small NASA rocket two years ago.
It only took about five minutes for the detector to take a reading. Analyzing the data, the scientists determined that only 40% of the background x-ray emanates from within our solar system.
The rest of the glow, they say, must come from the searing gaseous walls of a big bubble we live in.
END
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