Have a great weekend everyone. Looking forward to seeing some of you tomorrow afternoon at the E &D reunion. Those of you coming from out of town---safe travels.
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- NASA TV to Air Russian Spacewalk
- National Cybersecurity Awareness Month - Organizations/Social
- Deadline Approaching: Register Now
- SWAPRA Hosts Congressman John Culberson
- The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Envir. Brown Bag: One Bin for All (Waste Mgmt.)
- Food Trucks at the Gilruth - Next Friday
- Beginners Ballroom Dance: Oct. 21 & 23 |  |
| Headlines - NASA TV to Air Russian Spacewalk
NASA TV will broadcast live coverage of a six-hour spacewalk by two Russian crew members aboard the International Space Station beginning at 8 a.m. CDT Wednesday, Oct. 22. Expedition 41 Commander Max Suraev and Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency will don Orlan spacesuits and exit the station's Pirs airlock at 8:24 a.m. They will remove and jettison several pieces of hardware no longer needed on the Russian segment of the station and conduct a detailed photographic survey of the exterior surface of the Russian modules. The spacewalk will be the 184th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the third in as many weeks for Expedition 41 crew members and the second career spacewalks for both Suraev and Samokutyaev. Suraev will be designated as extravehicular (EV) crew member 1 and will wear an Orlan suit bearing red stripes. Samokutyaev will be designated as EV-2 and will wear a suit with blue stripes. First-time users will need to install the EZTV Monitor and Player client applications: - For those WITH admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you'll be prompted to download and install the clients when you first visit the IPTV website
- For those WITHOUT admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you can download the EZTV client applications from the ACES Software Refresh Portal (SRP)
If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367, or visit the FAQ site. Event Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 Event Start Time:8:00 AM Event End Time:3:00 PM
Event Location: NASA TV, IPTV
Add to Calendar
JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 http://www.nasa.gov/station
[top] - National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Cybersecurity Tip for Today: STOP, THINK, CONNECT Secure your online transaction. When submitting your sensitive information, look for the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar to ensure your information is secure during transmission. Also, be sure that "https" appears in the website's address bar before making an online transaction. The "s" stands for secure and indicates that communication with the Web page is encrypted. Organizations/Social - Deadline Approaching: Register Now
The National Contract Management Association (NCMA) Fall Training Conference topic is "Doing Business Differently: Embracing Change and Expanding Opportunities." Registration is open to both technical and business personnel (civil servants and contractors). Banquet: Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Training Conference: Thursday, Nov. 6, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. - 8 CLPs, 8 CPEs or .8 CEUs will be given to those who attend the training conference
Cost of attendance: - NCMA members - $220
- Non-members - $225
Registration closes Oct. 27. To register, click here. - SWAPRA Hosts Congressman John Culberson
On Thursday, Oct. 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the South Western Aerospace Professional Representatives Association (SWAPRA) will host Congressman John Culberson (Texas 7th Congressional District). Culberson will be speaking on "NASA: The Fiscal Year 2015 Budget and Continuing Resolution." Culberson is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for funding the federal government. In addition to his leadership roles on two subcommittees, Culberson also serves on the Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee. This SWAPRA event will be held at the Gilruth Center. The luncheon cost for non-members is $35 at the door, or $25 with pre-paid RSVPs by Monday, Oct. 20. To RSVP, email or call Chris Elkins at 281-276-2792. Event Date: Thursday, October 23, 2014 Event Start Time:11:30 AM Event End Time:1:00 PM
Event Location: Gilruth Center
Add to Calendar
Chris Elkins 281-276-2792
[top] - The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback
Please join us for this African-American Employee Resource Group lunch-n-learn training. We'll have a guided discussion and fun exercises on giving, receiving and soliciting feedback to enhance your personal and career development. This is a brown-bag lunch event. Event Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 Event Start Time:11:30 AM Event End Time:12:30 PM
Event Location: Bldg 1, Rm 871
Add to Calendar
Sheela Logan x34214
[top] - Envir. Brown Bag: One Bin for All (Waste Mgmt.)
Houston is preparing to implement a One Bin For All (OBFA) program. The program will more efficiently manage the city's waste by allowing residents to place all household waste and recycling into a single bin that is then sorted to remove all high-value recyclables and organics and convert the rest to an engineered fuel, which will provide power for the city. Kyle Mowitz has designed a similar project for Montgomery, Alabama, and will talk about what OBFA means to Houston residents. Join us on Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Building 45, Room 751, from noon to 1 p.m. - Food Trucks at the Gilruth - Next Friday
Food trucks will be at the Gilruth Center on Friday, Oct. 24, as part of Starport's Fright Fest event. - Bare Bowls Kitchen
- The Waffle Bus
- Angie's Cake
Make sure you come check out the other great activities going on at the Gilruth Center that evening: - Graveyard Dash 2K - REGISTER NOW
- Graveyard Trails
- Kids Bash - REGISTER NOW
- Haunted House (kid friendly)
- Family Halloween movie
- Thriller Dance Class
Don't miss this frightfully fun event for the whole family! - Beginners Ballroom Dance: Oct. 21 & 23
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 (Oct. 11 to Oct. 23)
Two class sessions available: - Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. - starts Oct. 21
- Thursdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. - starts Oct. 23
All classes are taught in the Gilruth Center's dance studio (Group Ex studio). | |
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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
Friday – October 17, 2014
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: Check out the latest "Space to Ground" episode, your weekly look at what's happening on the space station.
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Obama Nominates Dava Newman To Be NASA Deputy Administrator
Jeff Foust - Space News
U.S. President Barack Obama has nominated Dava Newman, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor with experience in both space technology and policy, to become the next deputy administrator of NASA.
ISS research fights cancer and other disease
Josh Barrett - WAAY TV (Huntsville)
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but scientists and the teams on the ground and in space the support them are doing more than just raising awareness. They're helping find a cure and improve treatment. The International Space Station functions as a microgravity laboratory, and since the days of SkyLab, scientists have found that sort of environment invaluable for medical research.
Cat 4 Hurricane Gonzalo Threatens Bermuda and Delays Antares Launch to Space Station
Ken Kremer - Universe Today
Hurricane Gonzalo, the first major Atlantic Ocean basin hurricane in three years, has strengthened to a dangerous Category 4 storm, threatening Bermuda and forcing a postponement of the upcoming launch of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket to the space station from the Virginia shore to no earlier than Oct. 27.
NASA, SpaceX Share Data On Supersonic RetropropulsionData-sharing deal will help SpaceX land Falcon 9 on Earth and NASA put humans on Mars
Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week
An innovative partnership between NASA and SpaceX is giving the U.S. space agency an early look at what it would take to land multi-ton habitats and supply caches on Mars for human explorers, while providing sophisticated infrared (IR) imagery to help the spacecraft company develop a reusable launch vehicle.
NASA maintains lofty worker-satisfaction ratings for 2014
Josh Hicks – The Washington Post
National Aeronautic and Space Administration employees remained largely satisfied with their agency this year, likely continuing the agency's trend of ranking among the best places to work in the federal government, according to results from a recent survey.
Comet takes near-miss route to Mars
Traci Watson – USA Today
One of Earth's closest neighbors is about to have a very narrow escape.
Cassini Shocked by Saturn's Spongy Moon
It's the most shocking space news of the 21st century — literally!
Does Saturn's moon Mimas have an ocean under its icy surface? (+video)
Scientists say the wobble in Saturn's smallest moon could point to an inner sea sloshing within.
Pete Spotts - Christian Science Monitor
Saturn's moon Mimas – the munchkin among the ringed planet's major moons – is finally getting some love.
How to Safely Watch Next Week's Partial Solar Eclipse
Millions of people across North America could have a chance to observe a partial solar eclipse next week, weather permitting.
China Moving Forward with Big Space Station Plans
Space travelers from around the globe recently got a firsthand sense of China's blossoming plans to explore Earth orbit and beyond.
COMPLETE STORIES
Obama Nominates Dava Newman To Be NASA Deputy Administrator
Jeff Foust - Space News
U.S. President Barack Obama has nominated Dava Newman, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor with experience in both space technology and policy, to become the next deputy administrator of NASA.
The White House made the announcement in an Oct. 16 press release.
The position of NASA deputy administrator has been vacant since Lori Garver stepped down in September 2013 to become general manager of the Air Line Pilots Association. News of Newman's potential nomination to the post was first reported Oct. 8 by NASA Watch.
Garver praised the Obama administration's pick to succeed her.
"I am so pleased to hear of Dr. Newman's nomination for NASA Deputy Administrator. Her nomination shows the Administration's strong continued commitment to NASA and our government's investment in development of cutting edge technology and innovation," Garver said in a statement to SpaceNews. "Dava will add a unique perspective to the agency and a fresh look at the space program at a critical time."
Newman joined the faculty of MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, informally known as AeroAstro, shortly after receiving a doctorate in aerospace biomedical engineering from the department in 1992. Her research has focused on how humans can more effectively work in weightlessness and reduced gravity environments.
Newman is best known for research on form-fitting spacesuits that use mechanical counterpressure to provide greater freedom of motion for astronauts than conventional suits. "Ultimately, the big advantage is mobility, and a very lightweight suit for planetary exploration," Newman said in a Sept. 18 press release from MIT about her group's research.
She has also been involved in science and technology policy. She has a master's degree in technology and policy from MIT and since 2003 has served as director of its Technology and Policy Program.
In 2008, she contributed to a report on the future of human spaceflight prepared by the Space, Policy, and Society Research Group at MIT. That report, completed before the Obama administration took office, endorsed the then-impending retirement of the space shuttle and an extension of the international space station to 2020. It also called for a "balance" in resources for exploration of the Moon, Mars and other destinations.
More recently, Newman served on the technical panel that supported the National Academies' Committee on Human Spaceflight. That panel helped develop several different "pathways" for human space exploration, all leading to the long-term goal of humans on the surface of Mars, featured in the committee's final report published in June.
If confirmed, Newman would be the second faculty member from MIT's AeroAstro department to join NASA's upper echelons in the last year. In March, NASA named David Miller, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics there, as the agency's chief technologist.
ISS research fights cancer and other disease
Josh Barrett - WAAY TV (Huntsville)
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but scientists and the teams on the ground and in space the support them are doing more than just raising awareness. They're helping find a cure and improve treatment. The International Space Station functions as a microgravity laboratory, and since the days of SkyLab, scientists have found that sort of environment invaluable for medical research.
For cancer research, removing gravity lets the cancerous cells act more like they would in the human body when they're moving through liquid. The microgravity allows the cells to grow in three dimensional patterns which is what happens when they multiply inside humans.
Scientists have studied many different kinds of cancer on the station, including ovarian, thyroid, breast and skin cancer and leukemia on the station. They have also looked at how protein crystals grow in microgravity, where they produce larger and more organized crystal structures. Researchers are trying to develop more effective drugs from these results.
The ISS also helps make treatment methods more effective. The MEPS-II investigation looked into microencapsulation treatment, which helps the delivery of chemotherapy and delivery marker drugs to tumors.
Strides in the medical field also come from research not quite targeted at looking specifically at the disease. The CanadArm 2 aboard the station is a complex piece of robotic equipment, and researchers at Calgary's Foothills hospital are using a tool called the Image-Guided Autonomous Robot (IGAR) that is based off of technology developed for the CanadArm. With IGAR, specialists can detect and remove breast cancer tumors all inside of an MRI machine. IGAR will be supplemented by the 2015 CYTOSPACE study which will further investigate the cellular nature of breast cancer.
There is also a ton of research investigating radiation-related cancer. Astronauts on the station are not protected by Earth's atmosphere, so they are subjected to larger doses of radiation from space. Studies like Micro7, Radi-N and N2 and Embryo Rad all investigate the effects of radiation.
All of this science is coordinated, planned and executed by the Marshall Space Flight Center's Payload Operations Integration Center in Huntsville, Alabama. ISS Program Chief Scientist Julie Robinson called it the "central nervous center of all the science that goes on aboard the station."
Cancer research is just one of the many important things going on aboard the laboratory in the sky. Watch the "Benefits for Humanity" video on cancer research here.
Cat 4 Hurricane Gonzalo Threatens Bermuda and Delays Antares Launch to Space Station
Ken Kremer - Universe Today
Hurricane Gonzalo, the first major Atlantic Ocean basin hurricane in three years, has strengthened to a dangerous Category 4 storm, threatening Bermuda and forcing a postponement of the upcoming launch of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket to the space station from the Virginia shore to no earlier than Oct. 27.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the entire island of Bermuda.
NASA and Orbital Sciences had no choice but to delay the Antares blastoff from Oct. 24 to no earlier than Oct. 27 because Bermuda is home to an "essential tracking site" that must be operational to ensure public safety in case of a launch emergency situation.
Antares had been slated for an early evening liftoff with the Cygnus cargo carrier on the Orb-3 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA and Orbital issued the following statement:
"Due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Gonzalo on the island of Bermuda, where an essential tracking site used to ensure public safety during Antares launches is located, the previously announced "no earlier than" (NET) launch date of October 24 for the Orb-3 CRS mission to the International Space Station for NASA is no longer feasible."
The powerful Gonzalo is currently expected to make a direct hit on Bermuda on Friday afternoon, Oct. 17. It's packing devastating maximum sustained winds exceeding 145 mph (225 kph).
NASA and NOAA satellites including the Terra, Aqua and GOES-East satellites are providing continuous coverage of Hurricane Gonzalo as it moves toward Bermuda, according to a NASA update Thursday.
The ISS-RapidScat payload tracking ocean winds, that was just attached to the exterior of the ISS, is also designed to help with hurricane monitoring and forecasting.
Tropical storm force winds and 20 to 30 foot wave heights are expected to impact Bermuda throughout Friday and continue through Saturday and into Sunday.
"The National Hurricane Center expects hurricane-force winds, and rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches in Bermuda. A storm surge with coastal flooding can be expected in Bermuda, with large and destructive waves along the coast. In addition, life-threatening surf and riptide conditions are likely in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Bahamas. Those dangerous conditions are expected along the U.S. East Coast and Bermuda today, Oct. 16," according to NASA.
After the hurricane passes, a team will be sent to assess the impact of the storm on Bermuda and the tracking station. Further delays are possible if Bermuda's essential infrastructure systems are damaged, such as power, transportation and communications.
The Antares/Cygnus rocket and cargo ship launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility along the eastrn shore of Virginia.
Liftoff is currently target for October 27 at 6:44 p.m. (EDT). The rendezvous and berthing of Cygnus with the ISS remains on November 2, with grapple of the spacecraft by the station's robotic arm at approximately 4:58 a.m. (EST), according to a NASA update.
NASA, SpaceX Share Data On Supersonic Retropropulsion
Data-sharing deal will help SpaceX land Falcon 9 on Earth and NASA put humans on Mars
Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week
An innovative partnership between NASA and SpaceX is giving the U.S. space agency an early look at what it would take to land multi-ton habitats and supply caches on Mars for human explorers, while providing sophisticated infrared (IR) imagery to help the spacecraft company develop a reusable launch vehicle.
After multiple attempts, airborne NASA and U.S. Navy IR tracking cameras have captured a SpaceX Falcon 9 in flight as its first stage falls back toward Earth shortly after second-stage ignition and then reignites to lower the stage toward a propulsive "zero-velocity, zero-altitude" touchdown on the sea surface (see images).
Engineers at NASA and SpaceX are now correlating that data with company telemetry from the Sept. 21 Falcon 9 launch of a Dragon cargo carrier to the International Space Station to learn exactly what the vehicle was doing in terms of engine-firing and maneuvering when it generated the signatures collected by the aircraft.
The deal is a "win-win" for both parties, who obtain valuable data that would otherwise be unavailable to them, says Robert Braun of the Georgia Institute of Technology, principal investigator on the Propulsive Descent Technologies (PDT) Project. For SpaceX, NASA is providing detailed information on temperatures and aerodynamic loading on the Falcon 9 vehicle as it rides an exhaust plume of hot gas toward its launch site. And NASA engineers get a chance to collect data on supersonic retropropulsion that may one day lower payloads the size of two-story buildings to the surface of Mars.
"This is the kind of thing that NASA couldn't have done five years ago," says Braun, who was chief technologist for the agency in 2010-11.
He learned that the hard way. After returning to Georgia Tech, Braun—a specialist in entry, descent and landing (EDL)—worked with engineers from the university and various NASA centers to develop a proposal for a $50 million sounding-rocket program to flight-test supersonic retropropulsion (AW&ST May 20, 2013, p. 30).
NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) rejected the plan "because of its cost," Braun says. But the agency still needs a way to land payloads weighing more than 20 tons to support a human expedition to Mars, leading Braun and his colleagues to find common cause with SpaceX.
"If you look at the requirements for returning a first stage here on the Earth propulsively, and then you look at the requirements for landing heavy payloads on Mars, there's a region where the two overlap—are right on top of each other," Braun says. "If you start with a launch vehicle, and you want to bring it down in a controlled manner, you're going to end up operating that propulsion system in the supersonic regime at the right altitudes to give you Mars-relevant conditions."
Basically, the PDT Project struck a deal with SpaceX to use airborne -infrared-imaging techniques developed to study the space shuttle in flight after the Columbia accident as a data-gathering technique for the supersonic retro-propulsion SpaceX will need for its reusable launch vehicle development. Collecting the data is easier said than done, according to Tom Horvath of NASA's Langley Research Center, the PDT imagery lead.
After unsuccessful attempts to image the rocket on the third SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-3) mission that ultimately flew on April 18, and the July 14 launch following delays of six Orbcomm low-Earth-orbit communications satellites, the project struck pay dirt with the CRS-4 flight last month. Launched at night, the flight was captured by mid-wave IR sensors on NASA's WB-57 aircraft based at Ellington Field in Houston, and on a Navy NP-3D Orion operating from Jacksonville, Florida.
"The sensors are actually following a pre-determined trajectory," says Horvath of the passive tracking conducted by both aircraft. "It really boiled down to our ability to accurately point these systems and have them looking at a particular point in the sky at a very particular instant."
Working off GPS position data for the aircraft and preloaded trajectories from SpaceX, the WB-57 at 50,000 ft. and the P-3 at 27,000 ft. were able to follow the Falcon 9 from the time it emerged from the clouds that had threatened the launch until its upper stage separated and the single Merlin engine on that stage ignited.
The cameras then followed the Falcon 9 first stage as it coasted to its apogee while the upper stage powered its way up toward orbit, picking up the IR signatures of the attitude-control jets positioning the stage with its engines facing away from the coast. The "boost-back burn" of three Merlins to move the stage closer to the coast registered clearly, followed by more attitude thrusters as they turned the engines into the direction the stage was traveling. Finally, the cameras caught reignition of three Merlin engines for the supersonic retropropulsion portion of the flight.
That was the main event for the NASA-backed team, which observed not only the changing temperatures from the maneuvering vehicle to spot any instabilities in the propulsion system, but also the effect of the engine-firings on the vehicle loading from the flow field surrounding the stage, as well as how the changing flow field affects vehicle drag. That aerodynamic data will help future developers design a Mars-landing trajectory for heavy payloads, Braun says.
"On the aero side, what you have to realize is of course you're trying to decelerate, and drag is how we decelerate," he says. "When the vehicle's flow field changes, with the propulsion going from off to on, . . . you're blowing off, or you're losing most of your aerodynamic drag. That's OK, because if you have enough propellant, you just do your descent propulsively. But if you'd like to manage how much propellant you have to bring with you all the way to the Mars surface, you'd like to minimize that mass . . . and so understanding how much drag will still be present when the propulsion system is on is also an important effect."
For NASA, the period of the flight most relevant for future operations over Mars came when the first stage was traveling at about Mach 2, 100,000-150,000 ft. above the surface. The two midwave IR sensors—mounted in a nose pod on the WB-57 and internally on the P-3—were about 60 nm from the rocket when it reignited its engines for supersonic retropropulsion. That produced raw images in which the stage appeared 1 pixel wide and 10 pixels long, but subsequent enhancing by specialists at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory improved the resolution dramatically.
The final, single-engine touchdown was out of the cameras' fields of view because of clouds, but the project plans to image at least one more Falcon 9 launch and may be able to capture the entire first-stage descent trajectory, if weather permits. Charles Campbell, an expert in computational fluid dynamics at Johnson Space Center and NASA's project manager on the work with SpaceX, says the agency is spending about $10 million on the effort, which produces far better data for much less funding than the once-proposed sounding-rocket flight test. That is in keeping with a push at NASA to stretch its funding with outside partnerships (AW&ST Sept. 1, p. 18).
"Through our partnership with SpaceX, we're gaining access to extraordinary real-world test data about advanced rocket-stage design and retropropulsion," says Michael Gazarik, associate administrator for space technology. "By working with SpaceX and imaging their great technology, we're saving the taxpayer millions of dollars we'd otherwise have to spend to develop test rockets and flights in-house."
SpaceX founder Elon Musk has based his "disruptive" business approach in part on a stated goal of colonizing the red planet (AW&ST Aug. 15, p. 24). The NASA technology work is right in line with those plans.
"SpaceX was excited to support NASA's efforts to capture infrared imagery of the Falcon 9 first-stage reentry maneuvers following the CRS-4 flight," the company states. "In addition to informing our first-stage recovery efforts, the data captured on the stage's supersonic retropropulsion may provide key insights toward understanding the propulsive descent technologies necessary to one day land people on Mars."
NASA maintains lofty worker-satisfaction ratings for 2014
Josh Hicks – The Washington Post
National Aeronautic and Space Administration employees remained largely satisfied with their agency this year, likely continuing the agency's trend of ranking among the best places to work in the federal government, according to results from a recent survey.
Seventy-one percent of NASA staffers who responded to the Office of Personnel Management's federal-employee viewpoints survey gave the agency a positive mark this year when asked about their overall impression of the organization.
NASA in 2013 earned the highest composite score among all federal agencies for the second consecutive year. In this year's survey, the organization showed improvements in 56 categories, while its numbers dropped slightly with 13 measures of worker satisfaction, according to a summary of the results.
Among the areas with the most room for improvement, the agency scored relatively low on performance pay, career-advancement opportunities, and satisfaction with senior leadership.
More than two-thirds of respondents indicated that pay raises are not based on performance, and about 58 percent said the agency does not effectively deal with workers who do a poor job. About 51 percent of the employees said they are not satisfied with opportunities for advancement, and 22 percent said they do not have a high level of respect for senior leaders.
However, NASA staffers expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for their work, with 97 percent of respondents saying they are willing to put in extra effort to complete a job and more than 88 percent saying they view their work as important.
Sixty-three percent of the employees said NASA rewards creativity and innovation, while nearly 78 percent said they feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things.
Among six programs designed to improve work-life balance, more than two-thirds of respondents said they are satisfied with each of them. Nearly 95 percent gave positive marks to NASA's "alternative work schedules,"and about 87 percent indicated they are happy with telework options.
Although NASA's survey results are available online, no federal agencies have publicized their numbers yet. The Office of Personnel Management generally announces the results in November or December, and the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service uses them for its annual Best Places to Work in Federal Government rankings. Comet takes near-miss route to Mars
Traci Watson – USA Today
One of Earth's closest neighbors is about to have a very narrow escape.
A comet the size of a small mountain will whiz past Mars Sunday at a distance of less than 87,000 miles, a hair's breadth in astronomical terms.
That's so close that Mars will be swathed in the comet's dust and gas; so close that NASA has decided to move its Mars orbiters out of the path of potential danger; so close that such a very near miss by a comet has never been recorded for Earth.
Earlier worries that the comet could actually hit the Red Planet are unfounded, but that doesn't mean the fly-by will be boring. The spectacle – if you were on Mars -- could include a Northern Lights-like aurora and an extra sprinkle of shooting stars. An observer on the Martian surface might also see an "insanely bright" fireball, according to Naval Research Laboratory astrophysicist Karl Battams.
Even better is the show the comet will provide for an armada of scientific observatories, including NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, which serendipitously began orbiting Mars Sept. 21. Researchers have never had such a good look at an object that was born at the dawn of the solar system and probably hasn't changed much since.
For both Mars and the comet to be "coming right next to each other … right after this very sophisticated spacecraft gets there – it just boggles the mind," says planetary scientist Roger Yelle of the University of Arizona. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Comet Siding Spring, which bears the name of the Australian observatory where it was discovered in 2013, seems rather modest to be such a center of attention. It's no more than 5 miles wide and, like other comets, was sculpted out of the ice and dust that formed the planets. Also like many other comets, it was banished shortly after birth to the coldest, most remote reaches of the solar system, a realm known as the Oort cloud.
But unlike other comets in the Oort cloud, Siding Spring didn't stay put. Instead it seems to have gotten knocked for a loop by a passing star, propelling it on a path that is bringing it close to the sun.
It began its journey to our neck of the solar system a few million years ago, says astrophysicist Carey Lisse of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and is on its first trip to the relatively toasty region close to the sun.
Scientists have sent spacecraft to study other comets, but none of them were from the Oort cloud, meaning they probably don't preserve the conditions of the early solar system as well as the Oort-cloud comets do.
Siding Spring and its brethren "have never been boiled and baked very hard," Lisse says. "An Oort-Cloud comet coming to us is a great wonder and very useful."
Siding Spring is scheduled to make its closet approach to Mars at roughly 2:28 p.m. ET Sunday. By then NASA will have moved its Mars orbiters away from the comet's dust trail out of an abundance of caution, though scientific analysis shows no hazard from the dust, says University of Maryland astronomer Tony Farnham.
NASA's Mars rovers will peer at the heavens in hopes of snapping pictures of the comet. The Hubble Space Telescope will have a look, as will a posse of other observatories that have been pressed into service as comet-watchers for the occasion.
Here on Earth, those in places such as South Africa and Australia will be able to see the comet, but only through binoculars. If, on the other hand, the comet had hit Mars, there would've been a "really brilliant flash," says University of Colorado planetary scientists Nick Schneider. "It probably would've darkened (Mars) with dust" – but not affected the Earth.
On Sunday, amateur astronomers will meet online in real time to report their observations, says Padma Yanamandra-Fisher of the Space Science Institute, who notes that Siding Spring will buzz Mars while many Americans are preoccupied with football.
"If your team loses, forget about it and just go to the Ustream," she advised at a NASA briefing earlier this month. "This is a lot more exciting."
Cassini Shocked by Saturn's Spongy Moon
It's the most shocking space news of the 21st century — literally!
Scientists have reported that during a close flyby in 2005, the Cassini spacecraft was caught in a beam of electrons emanating from Saturn's distant moon Hyperion — a heavily cratered, sponge-like world only 168 miles (270 km) across. Because of its interaction with both Saturn's powerful magnetic field and the solar wind, charged particles build up on Hyperion's porous and craggy surface in much the same way that you can build up an electrostatic charge by walking across a carpeted floor. And like the small zap you may get when reaching for a doorknob or other conductive object, Cassini's Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) instrument detected a brief magnetic connection and spike in electrons as it passed by Hyperion on Sept. 26, 2005.
"The large difference in potential between the surface and the spacecraft resulted in a flow of electrons being accelerated from Hyperion toward Cassini," said Tom Nordheim, doctoral candidate at Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), University College London, and leader of the analysis. "It was rather like Cassini receiving a 200-volt electric shock from Hyperion, even though they were over 2,000 kilometers [1,200 miles] apart at the time."
Although a predicted phenomenon, this is the first time a charged surface has been detected on a world other than the Earth and moon.
While the Cassini spacecraft wasn't damaged by the shock it's an important process for scientists to study, as future explorers — both robotic and human — could potentially be harmed by similar but much more powerful electrostatic discharges on worlds like the moon, Mars, and asteroids.
Once again Cassini proves it has many more surprises to show us about our solar system, more than a decade after first arriving at Saturn.
"After 10 years in orbit around Saturn, Cassini continues to demonstrate its importance in probing the physics of the highly complex, interconnected system made up of the giant ringed planet, its moons and their immediate space environment," said Nicolas Altobelli, Project Scientist for ESA's Cassini-Huygens mission.
The findings have been published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Does Saturn's moon Mimas have an ocean under its icy surface? (+video)
Scientists say the wobble in Saturn's smallest moon could point to an inner sea sloshing within.
Pete Spotts - Christian Science Monitor
Saturn's moon Mimas – the munchkin among the ringed planet's major moons – is finally getting some love.
A new analysis of images taken by NASA's Cassini orbiter, currently touring Saturn and its moons, has uncovered evidence that suggests the moon may have a global, under-ice sea, much like its larger cousin, Enceladus.
The team conducting the analysis notes that the measurements they made could point to a frozen-solid moon with a rocky core shaped like a rugby ball. But if the under-ice sea explanation holds up, Mimas could represent one more potential habitat for simple forms of organic life.
Either way, Mimas is turning out to be far more intriguing than many initially thought it would be, explains Radwan Tajeddine, an astronomer and research associate at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
"This moon is more complex than we imagined," says Dr. Tajeddine, the lead author of the analysis, which will be published Friday in the journal Science.
Among Saturn's moons, Mimas has been something of a low-key cousin compared with its larger, more flamboyant relatives Titan and Enceladus.
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has a thick atmosphere and chemistry rich in organic compounds – in many ways resembling Earth before life emerged. It's surface hosts hydrocarbon lakes, and researchers have uncovered evidence for a sea with salinity comparable to the Dead Sea beneath Titan's surface.
Enceladus is an icy world with evidence of an ocean beneath its ice crust. And it is geologically active, with plumes of water venting from a series of cracks in the crust near the moon's south pole.
Both moons are of keen interest to astrobiologists as potential habitats for simple forms of organic life, for which liquid water is seen as a necessity.
For its part, Mimas has been of interest for its slightly out-of-round shape and for its role in clearing a pronounced gap between Saturn's two widest rings – a 4,800-mile-wide clearing known as the Cassini Gap. Mimas' most recognizable feature is its 88-mile wide Herschel Crater, a ding up to six miles deep in a moon that is only about 246 miles across. Hold the proportions constant and apply them to Earth, and the crater would span about 2,500 miles – swallowing nearly all of the continental United States, and large patches of Canada and Mexico. The crater gives the moon the appearance of the Death Star.
Mimas' heavily cratered surface suggests to many researchers that it was relatively boring. The number of craters suggested the surface was old; it hadn't undergone the kind of current, or even geologically recent, repaving seen on Enceladus.
Still, a frozen moon could represent a time capsule hiding "fossil" structures beneath the surface that would speak to its origins. So Dr. Tajeddine and colleagues from universities in France and Belgium made the first attempt at trying to determine what the moon's interior is like.
The results could help shed light on a mystery: Why does Mimas, mostly water ice with a smattering of rock, appear to be frozen solid at a bracing -334 degrees Fahrenheit while Enceladus, also an ice world, hosts an interior sea?
This sea is made possible by Enceladus's elliptical orbit around Saturn and Saturn's enormous gravitational tug. These set up tidal forces within the moon that generate frictional heat, keep Enceladus' internal ocean from freezing.
Yet Mimas, which orbits some 115,280 miles from Saturn, is much closer to the planet than Enceladus, which orbits 147,500 miles away. And Mimas' orbit traces a more eccentric ellipse than does Enceladus' orbit. Mimas should experience more tidal heating, which should lead to liquid water somewhere inside the moon. Yet Mimas' heavily cratered surface and lack of geyser-like activity suggests the moon is frozen solid and has been for a long time.
Tajeddine and colleagues used 40 high-resolution images from Cassini's narrow-angle camera to pick out and build a 3D map of 260 reference points on the moon's pock-marked surface. They used a sophisticated mathematical approach to track changes in the position of these points as Mimas orbits. The changes show up as a sideways wobble across the field of view.
If the moon was solid, with a core matching the shape of the outer shell, the size of the wobble should have been about 1.9 miles from one side to the other. Instead, it was twice that, Tajeddine says.
Only two of the models represented plausible explanations. But each explanation still had problems. For instance, if you have a rugby-ball shaped core, the final shape of the moon should resemble that. Mimas does not.
What are the plausible ways you could have a rugby-shaped core and it up with a nearly spherical moon? One very plausible way is with a liquid ocean. The rest of your moon is disconnected from the core by this body of water.
The challenge with the global ocean is Mimas got no evidence on the surface indicating the presence of water underneath, or the activity of water moving up through the crust.
The moon shows none of the surface features that appear on Enceladus, or even Jupiter's moon Europa, that signal past or current reshaping of the surface.
That doesn't need to be a show-stopper for a global-ocean on Mimas, Tajeddine explains, noting that Jupiter's icy moons Ganymede and Callisto show little or no signs of resurfacing but are now thought to host under-ice oceans.
The team offers additional ways to settle the questions surrounding Mimas' interior – one of which would require a close flyby or two of Mimas to measure any unexpected features in its gravitational field. Another would involve detailed temperatures measurements of the surface to hunt for locations that show unexpected warmth.
How to Safely Watch Next Week's Partial Solar Eclipse
Millions of people across North America could have a chance to observe a partial solar eclipse next week, weather permitting.
Although Thursday's (Oct. 23) partial solar eclipse may not be as spectacular as a total eclipse, it is still a beautiful and interesting event to witness. The sight of the moon gradually moving across the face of the sun fills most people with awe. The best views of the eclipse will be in the north, in Alaska and the Canadian arctic, but everyone in North America should see some of it, except in the extreme northeast of the continent. In eastern North America, the eclipse will only be visible near or at sunset, so a low western horizon is essential. Venus is very close to the eclipsed sun, but you will probably need to block the sun from view to spot it. [Find out how to see the partial solar eclipse using these sky maps] In some ways a partial eclipse is the most dangerous to observe. People naturally want to look at it, and this defeats our normal reflex to look away from the sun. WARNING: Never look directly at the sun through binoculars, a telescope or with your unaided eye. Serious eye damage and even blindness can result. Scientists and experienced skywatchers use special filters and glasses to safely observe the sun.
The safest way to view a solar eclipse is by using a pinhole in a piece of cardboard to project the sun. This is particularly effective with an eclipse near sunset, like this one. Punch a hole a couple of millimeters in diameter in the middle of a piece of cardboard, and tape it against a west-facing window. This will project a perfect image of the eclipsed sun on a wall opposite.
Do not use binoculars or telescope to view the sun unless you have a properly designed solar filter, such as the full aperture solar filters available for all telescopes at any store selling astronomical gear. Do not improvise with home-brew solutions, as permanent eye damage is likely to occur.
Editor's Note: If you take an amazing skywatching photo of the partial solar eclipse or any other celestial site that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.
China Moving Forward with Big Space Station Plans
Space travelers from around the globe recently got a firsthand sense of China's blossoming plans to explore Earth orbit and beyond.
At the 27th Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), held in Beijing last month, China's space industry leaders extended an open invitation for other nations to take part in China's emerging space station program.
"We reserved a number of platforms that can be used for international cooperative projects in our future space station when we designed it," Yang Liwei, deputy director of China Manned Space Engineering and China's first astronaut, said at the event, which was held in China for the first time. "In addition to collaboration in applied experiments, we also designed adapters that can dock with other nations' spacecraft." [Read the latest news about China's space program]
China has initiated a multistep space station program, sending the Tiangong 1, its first space lab and still-operating spacecraft, into orbit in September 2011.
And the liftoff of China's Tiangong 2 space lab, scheduled for 2016, is intended to sharpen China's space station construction skills. A Shenzhou 11 crewed spacecraft and a Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft would then be launched to dock with that facility.
Yang told the ASE delegates that by about 2022, China's first space station would be fully operational.
A deliberate path to space
Space travelers from around the world attended the event hosted by ASE, an international nonprofit professional and educational organization of nearly 400 astronauts from 35 nations. One of them was Charles Walker, the first industrial payload specialist that flew as a crew member on three space shuttle missions in the 1980s.
"The ASE Congress was very successful; the Chinese are energetic, welcoming, friendly and intent on exploring and developing space," Walker said.
The Chinese mythabout the beautiful young woman, Chang'e, and her jade rabbit, Yutu, going to the moon have made for a great connection with the Chinese people. All of China's lunar missions to date have been named for the Chang'e moon maiden. "They seem intent on lunar exploration and exploitation through some or all the scenarios of which we are familiar," Walker told Space.com.
And China is maintaining its momentum with missions to low-Earth orbit, Walker said. "Their human spaceflight program is maturing quickly and deliberately," he said.
China's space advances
It's important to note the success of China's manned Shenzhou missions — which included the nation's first crewed flight, first spacewalk and first dockings to a space lab— which are significant, Walker said. "Theyvery clearly tout [these missions] as leading up to the fully assembled station by 2022," Walker said. "And they are very clear in offering partnerships and user relationships in that space station program."
In fact, Walker said, young Chinese engineers and scientists working on space-flight activities seem just as excited and determined as the Americans working on the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs in the 1960s.
"The U.S. found reasons, ways and means to cooperate with the Soviet Union in space, so the U.S. must do so with China today. Europe is already walking that path," Walker said.
Seeking international cooperation
Former Apollo astronaut Russell (Rusty) Schweickart, who also attended the ASE event, was impressed by this year's Planetary Congress. Schweickart is also the founder and past president of the ASE and currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of the B612 Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting the Earth from future asteroid impacts.
"There was great interaction and terrific contact with all the Chinese astronauts —and very warm," he said, commending China's request for international participation. "I don't know yet whether there are more specifics on that," he told Space.com, "but there's no doubt that it is sincere."
The politics of space
Also attending this year's Planetary Congress was Bruce McCandless, a veteran of two space shuttle flights and the first person to make an untethered spacewalk, using a Manned Maneuvering Unit.
McCandless said China's invitation to other nations reminded him of Interkosmos, a former Soviet Union initiative that gave nations on friendly terms with the Soviets access to human and robotic space missions. He, too, highlighted China's call for nations to take part in its space station program.
"And the way things are shaping up, that's about the time that our International Space Station may be destroyed, retired — whatever you want to call it," McCandless told Space.com.
The International Space Station is about 16 years old (construction began in 1998). NASA is working with its international partners to extend the station's orbital life through 2028, but the orbiting outpost will eventually be retired and intentionally destroyed by burning up in the Earth's atmosphere.
Although China is inviting widespread participation in its space station plans, it probably doesn't include the U.S., "the way we're addressing the situation," McCandless said, referring to the current lack of U.S.-China cooperation on human spaceflight. "It would be very politically powerful" if China were to include the U.S. in that invitation, he said.
A matter of conviction and funding
Outside of the ASE assembly, McCandless said he got tours of China's neutral buoyancy tank, a look at Shenzhou and space station training hardware and a visit to a neighboring school.
"We did get a tour of the Beijing Space City, which is, in my opinion, roughly equivalent to the NASA Johnson Space Center," McCandless said. "The missions that they have undertaken have included a space walk, [and] the first Chinese and second Chinese woman in space. They did the teacher-in-space broadcast to classrooms, apparently to great success, and they have repeatedly docked with their space lab."
"Those things we have seen have all seemed to be executed quite competently," McCandless said. "It seems to me that they would be an appropriate collaborator or partner in future efforts. If we are not interested in working with them, they probably have the national conviction and the funding to just keep moving ahead by themselves."
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