Happy Flex Friday eve everyone.
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
- Get Your Boarding Pass Today
- Free Flu Shots Today (and Future Dates Announced)
- National Cybersecurity Awareness Month Events
- But First ... Let Me Take a Selfie
- Ironman 2014: Follow Chris and Luca Live!
- NASA@work: October Monthly Bulletin
- Badging Offices Closed for Columbus Day
- It's Time for 'IT Talk' - Organizations/Social
- JSC Features: Dorthy Ruiz-Martinez
- Fright Fest 2014 - Mark Your Calendars
- Flex Friday Fitness Special: Friday, Oct. 10
- Save the Date: AFGE Lunch and Learn
- Save the Date: Innovations Through Generations
- Starport Youth Karate Classes - Start Oct. 11
- Latin Dance Introduction: Oct. 17 from 8 to 9 p.m. - Jobs and Training
- Human Systems Academy Lecture - Community
- Reach Out ... And Share Your Story
- Nov .12 to 14: Community Colleges Spotlight
- Texas High School Juniors Needed |  |
| Headlines - Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
That big dirt pile over by Building 20 is becoming part of a new parking lot to support the construction of Building 21. I didn't expect you to know that, because you don't make the same minimum salary of a half a million dollars that pro baseball and basketball players do. I'd love to play for just one season. This week we entered Fiscal Year 2015. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the new year? Really happy? Really down? I'm making you tattoo the four main knuckles on your right hand. What clean four letter word will you get inked on your fist? Hope? NASA? Evil? Mike your Tyson on over to get this weeks' poll. - Get Your Boarding Pass Today
If only your name could collect frequent flyer miles. NASA is inviting the public to send their names on a microchip to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, including Mars. The deadline for receiving a personal "boarding pass" on Orion's test flight closes Friday, Oct. 31. The public will have an opportunity to keep submitting names beyond Oct. 31 to be included on future test flights and future NASA missions to Mars. To submit your name to fly on Orion's flight test, click here. Also, check out Orion's newest video "Trial by Fire." Take a moment to watch and share this exciting story as NASA begins our #JourneytoMars! - Free Flu Shots Today (and Future Dates Announced)
The Occupational Health Branch is providing FREE flu shots to JSC civil servants and contractors who are housed on-site. - Oct. 9: Building 2 (Teague lobby) from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Oct. 23: (Location TBD) from 8:30 a.m. to noon
- Oct. 30: (Location TBD) from 8:30 a.m. to noon
Before receiving the flu shot, PLEASE visit the website below, read the Influenza Vaccine Information Statement and complete the consent form prior to arrival to expedite the process. On the day of the flu shot, wear clothing that allows easy access to your upper arm (short sleeves or sleeveless). Vaccinations are the single best way to prevent seasonal influenza. Do not forget to cover your coughs and sneezes, wash your hands often and, if you are sick, please stay home! - National Cybersecurity Awareness Month Events
Take part in National Cybersecurity Awareness Month by participating in the activities occurring during the following weeks. STOP, THINK, CONNECT Cybersecurity Month events: Phishing - Mark Fridye - Thursday, Oct. 16: 11 a.m. to noon
- Building 3 Collaboration Center, Room 1
Identity Theft - FBI - Friday, Oct. 17: 1 to 2 p.m.
- Building 1, Conference Room 360
Personal Identity Verification (PIV) - Debra Hill - Thursday, Oct. 23: 11 a.m. to noon
- Building 3 Collaboration Center, Room 2
Managed Elevated Privileges (MEP) - Mark Fridye - Thursday, Oct. 30: 11 a.m. to noon
- Building 3 Collaboration Center, Room 1
Cybersecurity Institute - University of Houston-Clear Lake - Thursday, Oct. 30: 1 to 2 p.m.
- Building 1, Conference Room 360
- But First ... Let Me Take a Selfie
An iSnap kiosk has been placed in the Buildings 3 and 11 cafés with cutouts of astronauts Luca Parmitano and Chris Cassidy, who are (in the flesh) competing in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii this week. Have you FIRST taken a selfie using the kiosk to (SECOND) win a special NASA prize? The selfies with the fake Parmitano and Cassidy will be used as encouragement as they compete in a physical and mental challenge not unlike the rigors of space. Make sure to use the #TeamAstro hashtag in your selfie posts. No social media? That's OK! Event Date: Thursday, October 9, 2014 Event Start Time:8:00 AM Event End Time:5:00 PM
Event Location: Building 3 & 11 Cafeterias
Add to Calendar
Crawford Jones 281-792-8481
[top] - Ironman 2014: Follow Chris and Luca Live!
Astronauts Chris Cassidy and Luca Parmitano are competing in the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, this weekend. The race kicks off with a 2.4-mile swim at approximately 11:25 a.m. CDT, and will be followed by a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. - NASA@work: October Monthly Bulletin
Check out our October Monthly Bulletin for the latest on award-winner highlights and tips on using the NASA@work platform. This month's bulletin also includes a highlight on super solver Joshua Santora (Kennedy Space Center) and highlights the launch of our external site: NASA@work external site. Be sure to check it out and share with your colleagues, friends and family! Are you new to NASA@work? NASA@work is an agencywide, collaborative problem-solving platform that connects the collective knowledge of experts (like YOU) from all centers across NASA. Challenge owners post problems, and members of the NASA@work community participate by responding with their solutions to posted problems. Anyone can participate! Check it out and submit your solution today. - Badging Offices Closed for Columbus Day
All badging offices will be closed Monday, Oct. 13, in observance of Columbus Day. Normal working operations will resume Tuesday, Oct. 14, as listed below. - Building 110 - 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Ellington Field - 7 to 11 a.m.
- Sonny Carter Training Facility - 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- It's Time for 'IT Talk'
It's that time! Time for - National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
- Recognizing and avoiding phishing
- Using big data/advanced analytics to answer the question: How secure are we?
- Exploring dimensions in technology
- Augmenting our reality
- NAMS facelift
- IT Infrastructure Integration Program (I3P) update
"IT Talk" is a quarterly publication that highlights Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) IT innovations, initiatives and programs across NASA centers. To view previous issues of "IT Talk," go to Office of the CIO home page. Organizations/Social - JSC Features: Dorthy Ruiz-Martinez
As part of Hispanic Heritage Month/Mes de la Herencia Hispana, JSC is recognizing employees whose character and culture have helped shaped them into the people they are today. Dorothy Ruiz-Martinez was always looking up—first at the stars from the top of her grandparents' house in Mexico—and then later to watch Challenger and its failed ascent. "I remember I was sitting and wondering … what happened? I was 8 years old." Ruiz-Martinez was hungry for answers no one could give her, like why the shuttle had exploded, how did one fly a rocket … the mechanics of these mystical machines that shepherded brave explorers into space. As an astronaut instructor years later, seeing the space shuttle majestically take off and finally understanding the launch system and how it worked, "I could finally answer my own questions." To read more about Ruiz-Martinez, visit the link below. - Fright Fest 2014 - Mark Your Calendars
Friday, Oct. 24 That is when Fright Fest will once again take over JSC's Gilruth Center with food trucks, more events and more free offerings than any previous year. Starport is working hard to make this the best Fright Fest yet! - Bare Bowls Kitchen
- The Waffle Bus
- Angie's Cake
- Graveyard Dash 2K - REGISTER NOW
- Graveyard Trails
- Kids Bash - REGISTER NOW
- Haunted House (kid-friendly)
- Family Halloween movie
Don't miss this frightfully fun event for the whole family! - Flex Friday Fitness Special: Friday, Oct. 10
We understand that getting over to the Gilruth Center is not easy during those nine-hour days. Because of that, Starport is continuing to offer an assortment of FREE programs on Flex Friday for all JSC employees, contractors and their families. Flex Friday - Oct. 10 - special FREE programs include: - FREE 30-minute personal training sessions for new clients
- Nature walk
- SPINNING classes
- Outer Space OSFX class
- Machines, free weights and Olympic lifting classes
- Kickboxing class
- Yoga-blend class
- Tae Kwon Do class
- Core strength classes
All Starport locations (Gilruth Center and Buildings 3 and 11) will also be running a 10 percent discount on all athletics, recreation and fitness merchandise. A full schedule and details are now online. Be sure you stop by the Gilruth Center for a great Flex Friday! - Save the Date: AFGE Lunch and Learn
Save the date! The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Union Lunch and Learn is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 23. Open to all non-supervisory JSC civil servants. Come and hear what AFGE officials have to talk about: - Know your rights
- Union benefits
- Union representation
Stop by on your lunch break on Oct. 23 between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Building 45, Room 251. Lunch will be provided to participants who RSVP by contacting Bridget Broussard-Guidry via email or by phone at x34276. - Save the Date: Innovations Through Generations
Save the date! We excited to invite you to Innovations Through Generations, an interactive learning experience hosted by the Emerge Employee Resource Group. On Nov. 5, you will be able to learn about each generation through a series of activities. The goal of the event is that each person will gain a new perspective about a different generation. Come learn how Baby Boomers maintain a work/life balance, and why Millennials are constantly using electronic devices. Want to know how to communicate with your Generation X co-worker? We can help you figure that out! Join us any time between noon and 1:30 p.m. in the Teague lobby to learn more about JSC as a multigenerational workplace. Event Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2014 Event Start Time:12:00 PM Event End Time:1:30 PM
Event Location: Teague Lobby
Add to Calendar
Rachael Copeland x46962
[top] - Starport Youth Karate Classes - Start Oct. 11
Let Starport introduce your child to the exciting art of Youth Karate. Youth Karate will teach your child the skills of self-defense, self-discipline and self-confidence. The class will also focus on leadership, healthy competition and sportsmanship. Five-week session: Oct. 11 to Nov. 8 Saturdays: 10:15 to 11 a.m. Ages: 6 to 12 Cost: $75 | $20 drop-in rate Register online or at the Gilruth Center. - Latin Dance Introduction: Oct. 17 from 8 to 9 p.m.
This class is mostly an introduction to Salsa, but it also touches on other popular Latin dances found in social settings: Merengue, Bachata, and even a little bit of Cha-Cha-Cha. Emphasis is on Salsa and then Bachata. For the first-time student or those who want a refresher course. You will go over basic steps with variations and build them into sequences. Regular registration: - $50 per person (Oct. 4 to Oct. 17)
Salsa Intermediate: Oct. 17 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. This class continues teaching Salsa beyond what is taught in the introduction class. You should be comfortable and confident with the material from the introduction class before moving on to the intermediate class. This is a multi-level class where students may be broken up into groups based on class experience. Jobs and Training - Human Systems Academy Lecture
Join the Human Systems Academy lecture on "Flight Analogs/Bed Rest Research." This project provides NASA with a ground-based research platform to complement space research. By mimicking the conditions of weightlessness in the human body here on Earth, NASA can test and refine scientific theories and procedures on the ground before using these in space. Future space exploration will challenge NASA to answer many critical questions about how humans can live and work for extended missions away from Earth. The Flight Analogs Bed Rest Research Project is one way NASA will answer these questions and devise ways to ensure astronaut safety and productivity on extended missions. Community - Reach Out ... And Share Your Story
We are fortunate that so many schools, clubs and organizations WANT to hear about NASA, our programs and YOU! Won't you consider volunteering for one of these opportunities in V-CORPS? Oct. 11 - Hope Village Space Day. Volunteers needed to set up/facilitate hands-on, interactive activities for residents of Hope Village and their family members. Oct. 14 - Stewart Elementary Curriculum Night. This school wants several employees to come out and share space "artifacts" with students and their family members and to show them what we do and encourage them to keep studying STEM. Oct. 21 - After School Rocketry Program. This is a virtual event (via Skype) supports an after-school program for 2nd to 4th grade students learning about rocketry. Dates are flexible—they can work with you. Nov. 7 - Nottingham Country Elementary 50th Mission to Mars. They've been simulating missions to Mars for a decade and are getting ready to celebrate their 50th Mission to Mars. They want someone from NASA share stories about spaceflight, missions, astronauts … Nov. 8 - Astronomy Day at George Observatory. A few people needed to staff a NASA booth at this family-friendly event. You don't need an astronomy background—they just want people willing to talk about NASA and what we do here. Nov. 15 - Where Leaders are Made STEM Symposium. Sponsored by the Houston Community College system and HISD. Several folks needed to participate in a career panel. Just talk about your education, your career, what interested you in pursuing your career and answer questions from eager middle- and high-school students. - Nov .12 to 14: Community Colleges Spotlight
Forty community college science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students will set foot on NASA's hallowed grounds to find out what it is like to work at NASA. Join us for this three-day workshop where teams of students form a fictitious company trying to win a NASA contract for a robotic mission to Mars. There are several opportunities to participate. Sign up in V-CORPS today and find out how you can change the course of someone's life! - Texas High School Juniors Needed
High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) needs Texas high school juniors. The application is currently open. HAS is an interactive, online experience highlighted by a six-day residential summer experience at JSC. Students will explore science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts, with an emphasis on space exploration, during the online experience. Students who are selected to come to JSC will continue their STEM studies with hands-on team activities while mentored by NASA engineers and scientists. HAS is a great STEM opportunity for Texas high school juniors. | |
| |
| 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
Thursday – October 9, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Force spaceplane to use shuttle processing hangars
William Harwood – CBS News
Already using one of the space shuttle hangars at the Kennedy Space Center for its CST-100 commercial crew ship, Boeing is modifying KSC's remaining two orbiter processing facilities to service the secret X-37B spaceplane for the Air Force, NASA announced Wednesday.
Boeing spacecraft to move into KSC's shuttle hangars
Boeing engineers are outfitting two decommissioned space shuttle hangars at the Kennedy Space Center for the U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane, NASA announced Wednesday.
Space Center Houston is first Smithsonian Affiliate in Houston
Robert Pearlman – collectSPACE
Space Center Houston is now a member of the Smithsonian's crew.
NASA Studying Habitation Module for Asteroid Mission
Jeff Foust – Space News
NASA is examining adding a habitation module to the agency's proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) that would allow astronauts to stay at the asteroid for several additional weeks.
NASA's New Spacecraft to Endure Extreme Orbital Test
NASA's next-generation spacecraft is nearing completion and its first ambitious foray into space is planned for December.
NASA Invites Public to Send Their Names Into Space Aboard Orion
First into Earth orbit, later to Mars
Chuck Oldham - Defense Media Network
NASA is inviting the public to send their names into space aboard its Orion spacecraft, according to a press release from the space agency.
Europa Clipper Opts for Solar Power over Nuclear
Jeff Foust – Space News
Designers of a proposed NASA mission to study the icy and potentially habitable Jupiter moon of Europa have decided to use solar panels rather than a nuclear power source for the spacecraft, while keeping spacecraft's launch options open.
Construction of Giant Telescope in Hawaii Begins Amid Protests
An enormous next-generation telescope that could transform astronomers' understanding of the universe is now under construction, to the consternation of some protestors.
Here's How NASA Is Expanding Its Search For Alien Life
Eric Mack – Forbes
Over the next five years, NASA and seven partner institutions will be taking on new projects to help paint a more complete picture about how life comes to be in the universe. The projects include preparing to bring back samples of the Martian terrain to Earth, investigating the role of comets and asteroids in delivering water and organic compounds around the solar system and researching how our own planet has managed to sustain life for so much of its history.
U.S. Human Spaceflight Beyond 2014
Peter Juul and Rudy deLeon | Center for American Progress
July 2014 marked the 45th anniversary of Apollo 11, humanity's first voyage to another world. As time passes, this achievement has become more and more remarkable given that the astronauts, scientists, and engineers who carried out these missions lacked the sort of advanced computer systems we take for granted today. Fundamentally, the Apollo program represented a confidence in humanity's ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to explore new frontiers; it also highlighted America's central role in these achievements. The Apollo program produced a vigorous exploration plan and spurred unprecedented research, development, and science education efforts. However, in the decades since the last Moon landing in 1972, our horizons have shrunk and withered. Human spaceflight remains a core American success, but it has lost direction and, since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011, basic capability.
COMPLETE STORIES
Force spaceplane to use shuttle processing hangars
William Harwood – CBS News
Already using one of the space shuttle hangars at the Kennedy Space Center for its CST-100 commercial crew ship, Boeing is modifying KSC's remaining two orbiter processing facilities to service the secret X-37B spaceplane for the Air Force, NASA announced Wednesday.
The Boeing-built X37B is an unpiloted winged spacecraft that launches atop an Atlas 5 rocket, carries out classified long-duration flights in low-Earth orbit and glides to a runway landing. Two spacecraft have been built to date, completing two successful missions. A third mission, launched in December 2012, is still ongoing with no word from the Air Force on what it has been doing or when it might land.
NASA built three Orbiter Processing Facilities, or OPFs, to service its space shuttle fleet between missions. All three are located next to the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at the Florida spaceport where Apollo Saturn 5 moon rockets and space shuttles were "stacked" for launch.
Under an agreement with NASA, Boeing will modify OPF bays 1 and 2 for the X-37B program, completing upgrades by the end of the year.
The company already has an agreement with NASA to use OPF-3 and the shuttle engine shop in the VAB to assemble its CST-100 commercial crew craft being built to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The company says up to six capsules can be processed in the facility at the same time.
"Kennedy is positioning itself for the future, transitioning to a multi-user launch facility for both commercial and government customers, while embarking on NASA's new deep-space exploration plans," Kennedy Center Director Robert Cabana said in a news release. "A dynamic infrastructure is taking shape, designed to host many kinds of spacecraft and rockets."
It has long been expected that the Air Force would take advantage of the OPFs and Kennedy's 3-mile-long shuttle runway for the X-37B project to reduce the cost of servicing the spaceplanes between flights. The first two X-37B missions launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
The uncrewed orbiter is based on the same lifting body design used for the space shuttle and flies a similar re-entry trajectory.
But the X-37B features more lightweight composite materials, improved wing insulation and tougher heat-shield tiles that "are significantly more durable than the first generation tiles used by the space shuttle," according to a Boeing website description. "All avionics on the X-37B are designed to automate all de-orbit and landing functions."
The X-37B includes a compact 4-foot by 7-foot payload bay and relies on a deployable solar array for electrical power.
The spaceplane first flew in 2010, spending 224 days in orbit before landing at Vandenberg. A second OTV flew in 2011, completing a 469-day mission. The X-37B launched in 2012 has been in orbit 666 days as of Wednesday.
Boeing spacecraft to move into KSC's shuttle hangars
Boeing engineers are outfitting two decommissioned space shuttle hangars at the Kennedy Space Center for the U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane, NASA announced Wednesday.
The announcement in a NASA press release confirmed plans to convert the shuttle hangars to house two reusable Air Force space planes built by Boeing, which acknowledged in January it was modifying one of the facilities for the X-37B program.
"NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Air Force's X-37B Program for use of the center's Orbiter Processing Facility Bays 1 and 2 to process the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle for launch," the NASA press release said.
The processing facilities, known as OPFs, are located northwest of the spaceport's massive Vehicle Assembly Building that was used to assemble Saturn 5 moon rockets and space shuttles for liftoff.
NASA built three OPFs to each accommodate one space shuttle orbiter. OPF bays 1 and 2 sit next to each other, connected by interior corridors, while OPF bay 3 was constructed nearby across a tow-way from the other shuttle hangars.
Officials decided NASA did not need the shuttle hangars for the agency's future plans, which include a heavy-lifting rocket and the Orion crew capsule that will use the Apollo- and shuttle-era VAB and launch pad 39B for missions to an asteroid, Mars and other deep space destinations.
"Kennedy is positioning itself for the future, transitioning to a multi-user launch facility for both commercial and government customers, while embarking on NASA's new deep space exploration plans," said Robert Cabana, director of the Kennedy Space Center. "A dynamic infrastructure is taking shape, designed to host many kinds of spacecraft and rockets."
NASA has handed over launch pad 39A, the departure point for the Apollo moon landings and the first and last space shuttle missions, to SpaceX for refurbishment to support Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket launches.
With OPF bays 1 and 2 claimed for the Air Force's X-37B program, Boeing will occupy all three former shuttle hangars at KSC.
Space Florida, a state economic development agency focused on the space industry, has leased OPF-3 from NASA after Boeing agreed to use the building for assembly of the company's commercial CST-100 spaceship designed to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station.
Boeing's disclosure in January of the deal to convert OPF-1 said Space Florida also provided project funding that helped attract the X-37B program to KSC.
While details of the Air Force space plane's activities and budget are classified, signs of the program's presence at KSC were visible months ago.
A painted door on OPF-1 heralds the building as "Home of the X-37B."
The acquisition of the OPFs will allow the Air Force to relocate landings of the X-37B space plane -- and maintenance between missions -- from California to Florida, where the vehicles are launched.
The Air Force has flown three missions with the X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, since 2010.
The two Boeing-built space planes are about one-quarter the size of a space shuttle orbiter, measuring 29 feet long, nearly 10 feet high, and with wing spans of about 15 feet. They can stay in space much longer than a space shuttle by using solar power.
The Air Force has not revealed details on the X-37B's operations in orbit. Pentagon officials have said the program is testing reusable space technologies and could serve as a platform for experiments.
The spacecraft has a payload bay about the size of the bed of a pickup truck.
The three X-37B missions to date have blasted off from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 launch pad -- a few miles away from KSC's shuttle processing hangars -- aboard United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets and deployed in orbit several hundred miles above Earth.
The first two missions landed on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and the third flight -- a re-launch of the X-37B vehicle that flew the first mission -- is still in orbit.
Vandenberg is the primary landing site for the ongoing X-37B flight, which has surpassed 600 days since launch, an Air Force spokesperson said in July.
The X-37B program "is leveraging previous space shuttle investments and the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) facilities to conduct recovery and refurbishment activities after landing," Air Force Maj. Eric Badger, a military spokesperson based in the Pentagon, said in a written response to questions submitted by Spaceflight Now.
"Starting as early as Mission 4, the OTV program plans to be able to land at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) runway, quickly tow over to OPF-1, undergo refurbishment and prepare for re-launch," Badger said. "Vandenberg Air Force Base will continue as an active landing site for the OTV program."
The Air Force has not said when the X-37B space plane's fourth mission is scheduled.
X-37B program officials conducted testing at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility to demonstrate the space plane could return to Earth on the three-mile-long runway, NASA said in a statement.
Boeing says it has an agreement with NASA to permit X-37B landings on the shuttle runway when needed.
Upgrades to the OPFs for the X-37B program should be complete in December, according to NASA.
A NASA spokesperson referred questions on the terms of the agreement to the U.S. Air Force, which did not respond Wednesday.
Space Center Houston is first Smithsonian Affiliate in Houston
Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE
Space Center Houston is now a member of the Smithsonian's crew.
Space Center Houston, which serves as the official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas, is now the first museum in Houston to be named a Smithsonian Affiliate. The new status grants the center access to the national archive of more than 138 million artifacts, as well as entree to more than 50 traveling exhibitions developed by the Smithsonian Institution.
"We're already the curators of some of the most priceless artifacts from the space program; this really highlights that fact," Richard Allen, president and CEO of Space Center Houston, told collectSPACE.com "An association with the Smithsonian is really special for us because they are such a well-known, highly-regarded institution and our ability to be affiliated with them is just fantastic."
Since its opening in October 1992, Space Center Houston has been home to a number of Smithsonian-owned space artifacts, including the Mercury capsule "Faith 7" flown by original astronaut Gordon Cooper, the Gemini 5 spacecraft and Apollo 17 command module "America." Until recently though, those artifacts were on loan through an agreement between the Johnson Space Center and the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Though unrelated to its new status, Space Center Houston recently completed the paperwork to take control of those existing loans. Now, as a Smithsonian Affiliate, the center will have access to borrow more artifacts from the national collection.
"It opens a treasure trove of connections to find artifacts and to work collaboratively on exhibits," Allen said.
The Smithsonian's Affiliates program, established in 1996, includes almost 200 members in 40 states, Puerto Rico and Panama. Other space museums in affiliation with the Smithsonian include the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo, and the San Diego Air and Space Museum.
"We are delighted to launch our first Houston affiliate partnership with Space Center Houston, an organization that has done so much to honor and preserve the history of spaceflight," Harold Closter, the director of Smithsonian Affiliations, said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct. 8). "This new partnership builds on a solid foundation of prior collaboration, artifact loans and scholarly exchange and will address ways we can work together to inspire a new generation to dream, explore, and further the boundaries of knowledge."
Space Center Houston officials expect the new national recognition and exposure generated by its Affiliate status will increase its annual visits, boosting the center's current $45 million annual impact on the greater Houston area. In addition, the center said, Houstonians can look forward to Smithsonian exhibitions and programs.
"Our mission has always been to educate all generations about the wonders of space and the importance it serves within everyday life," Allen said. "We have brought that to the forefront of the center because we think that it is very important for what we do."
To that end, Space Center Houston launched Wednesday (Oct. 9) its latest visiting exhibition, "The Next Giant Leap: Beyond Planet Earth," presented by the City of Webster, Texas. The exhibition explores how humanity will take its first steps toward living in deep space, independent of the Earth.
"Next Giant Leap" is the first exhibition in Space Center Houston's 2014-2015 season of exhibits and educational programs aligned with NASA's exploration initiatives.
NASA Studying Habitation Module for Asteroid Mission
Jeff Foust – Space News
NASA is examining adding a habitation module to the agency's proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) that would allow astronauts to stay at the asteroid for several additional weeks.
Chris Moore, deputy director of the Advanced Exploration Systems Division at NASA Headquarters, said in a presentation at the 65th International Astronautical Congress here Oct. 3 that the module, intended to serve as a prototype of a habitat for future deep space missions, could be in place before the first crewed mission visits the captured asteroid in the mid-2020s.
"We're doing a study now of different module types and different times it could be launched," Moore said. "It may be used on the first mission, if it could be ready in time."
Under NASA's current ARM plans, a two-person crew would fly a 26-day mission in an Orion spacecraft once the captured asteroid reached a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. Only about five days would be spent at the asteroid, allowing for two four-hour spacewalks, with the rest of the mission spent in transit between the asteroid and Earth.
That schedule is driven by the life support capabilities of the Orion spacecraft. Moore said the use of what NASA calls the Exploration Augmentation Module would allow the overall mission to last as long as 60 days. "This module would provide extra life support and consumables to extend Orion's mission," he said.
One end of the module would attach to the robotic spacecraft that redirected the captured asteroid into lunar orbit, with Orion docking at the opposite end. The module could also include an additional docking port to allow logistics spacecraft to dock while Orion is there, and an airlock so that astronauts could perform spacewalks without depressurizing the Orion, as currently planned.
Moore described the Exploration Augmentation Module as similar in size to a Cygnus spacecraft, a comparison that may not be coincidental. Orbital Sciences Corp. has expressed interest in finding new applications for its Cygnus cargo spacecraft, including use as a habitat module for missions in cislunar or deep space.
"Cygnus is a candidate for other missions. We think it has a great deal of potential for use in exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit," said Frank Culbertson, executive vice president of Orbital Sciences, in a separate presentation at the conference Sept. 30. That included serving as an augmentation module for Orion and as a destination for Orion in cislunar space.
Moore said overall development of ARM is continuing on schedule, with NASA planning to make a decision in the middle of December on two options for the mission. One option would use a robotic spacecraft to redirect an asteroid up to ten meters across into lunar orbit. In the other option, the spacecraft would grab a boulder a few meters across from the surface of a larger asteroid and bring that into lunar orbit.
While specific mission timelines will depend on the orbit of the selected asteroid, Moore said the ARM robotic spacecraft would likely launch around 2019, with the crewed mission launching in 2025.
NASA's New Spacecraft to Endure Extreme Orbital Test
NASA's next-generation spacecraft is nearing completion and its first ambitious foray into space is planned for December.
The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle — which will eventually be paired with NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) to launch astronauts to solar system destinations including an asteroid and, eventually, Mars — will be the most sophisticated space vehicle ever constructed, using modern advancements in materials engineering to safeguard its astronaut passengers against the ravages of space radiation and searing hot reentry into the Earth's atmosphere at mission's end.
But before we see any manned Orion excursions into the solar system, rigorous unmanned testing is being carried out and an extreme space worthiness test is scheduled for the end of the year. The mission will be called Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1).
Launched atop the world's most powerful rocket, the Delta IV Heavy, Orion will be pushed into orbit and then boosted to a distance 5 times higher than the International Space Station orbits Earth. Then the spacecraft will be steered back toward Earth clocking up speeds in excess of 20,000 miles per hour as it begins to interact with the high altitude gases of our extended atmosphere. These extreme conditions will simulate reentry of a human mission returning from deep in the solar system.
In a new and exciting video produced by NASA, Orion engineer Kelly Smith details all the stages of EFT-1 from launch to splashdown, showing how Orion's technology has matured and how December's test will be a prelude to a new era for NASA's exploration plans beyond Earth orbit:
NASA Invites Public to Send Their Names Into Space Aboard Orion
First into Earth orbit, later to Mars
Chuck Oldham - Defense Media Network
NASA is inviting the public to send their names into space aboard its Orion spacecraft, according to a press release from the space agency.
The names will be stored on a dime-sized microchip aboard Orion when it launches on its first, unmanned, flight Dec. 4, 2014, designated as Exploration Flight Test-1.
After two orbits of the Earth lasting 4.5 hours, the spacecraft's crew module will reenter Earth's atmosphere at speeds approaching 20,000 miles per hour, enduring temperatures approaching 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Even after returning to Earth, the names recorded on the chip will be a part of further missions, including future exploration flights and missions to Mars.
"NASA is pushing the boundaries of exploration and working hard to send people to Mars in the future," said Mark Geyer, Orion Program manager. "When we set foot on the Red Planet, we'll be exploring for all of humanity. Flying these names will enable people to be part of our journey."
The deadline for submission of names to travel aboard Orion for Exploration Flight Test-1 is Halloween; Friday, Oct. 31, 2014. The public will be able to keep submitting names beyond Oct. 31 to be included on future flights, including missions to Mars.
Europa Clipper Opts for Solar Power over Nuclear
Jeff Foust – Space News
Designers of a proposed NASA mission to study the icy and potentially habitable Jupiter moon of Europa have decided to use solar panels rather than a nuclear power source for the spacecraft, while keeping spacecraft's launch options open.
In an Oct. 3 presentation at the 65th International Astronautical Congress here, Europa Clipper deputy project manager Thomas Magner of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, said that using large solar panels for the mission was both technically viable and less expensive than a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG).
"For the last two years, we did extensive risk reduction work looking at whether solar is feasible," Magner said. "We found that solar works fine, so our final decision about two months ago was to go to solar."
Those tests included subjecting solar cells to a range of temperatures and radiation conditions the spacecraft would experience during the mission. Engineers also examined whether the large solar panels, with an area of 50 square meters, would cause jitter that would adversely affect the spacecraft's scientific instruments.
Europa Clipper would not be the first solar-powered Jupiter mission: NASA's Juno spacecraft, launched in 2011 and scheduled to go into orbit around Jupiter in July 2016, also uses solar panels. Magner said they tested solar cells used for Juno, exposing them to a wider range of temperatures to reflect the different trajectory that Europa Clipper would take to reach Jupiter.
A solar-powered Europa Clipper would be less expensive than one that used an RTG, Magner said, although he did not quantify the difference in costs. It would eliminate the need for an environmental impact statement that is required for nuclear-powered spacecraft and launch approval from the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. It would also free up constrained supplies of plutonium-238, the isotope used in RTGs, for other potential missions.
Magner said after his presentation that using solar power would increase the spacecraft's mass in order to accommodate the panels and structures, although it remained well within current design margins. A few other tweaks would be needed to the spacecraft's design to incorporate the solar panels, he said.
While NASA has not yet decided to develop Europa Clipper or any other mission to Europa, Magner said the project passed a NASA-sponsored mission concept review in September "with flying colors" and predicted the agency would move ahead with it.
"We expect later this year for NASA to select us as the mission they want to go forward with to Europa, and we'll get a new start early next year," he said.
If NASA does choose to proceed with Europa Clipper, it will defer a choice of launch vehicle for several years. One mission design could use an existing rocket, such as the workhorse Atlas 5. In that scenario, Europa Clipper would launch in mid-2022 and, after a series of gravity assist flybys of Venus and Earth, would arrive at Jupiter in early 2030.
An alternative approach would use NASA's still-in-development Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to send Europa Clipper on a direct trajectory to Jupiter. A mid-2022 launch would allow the spacecraft to reach Jupiter in fewer than three years, without the need of any flybys.
Launching on SLS, Magner said, would reduce the costs of operating Europa Clipper given the much shorter travel time to Jupiter, and also simplify the thermal design since the spacecraft would not have to perform a Venus flyby in order to reach Jupiter. However, it was unclear how much more Europa Clipper would have to pay for an SLS launch.
Steve Creech, NASA's SLS assistant program manager for strategy and partnerships, said here that the agency was still evaluating how much of SLS's fixed costs a science mission like Europa Clipper would have to pay for a launch. "That's a decision above our pay grade," he said.
Magner said he anticipated that NASA would hold off on making a launch vehicle choice until the program completes its preliminary design review (PDR), currently scheduled for 2018. "Our intention is to maintain dual launch capability through PDR," he said, "and then, based on [NASA] headquarters direction, proceed with just one launch vehicle."
Construction of Giant Telescope in Hawaii Begins Amid Protests
An enormous next-generation telescope that could transform astronomers' understanding of the universe is now under construction, to the consternation of some protestors.
The building phase of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope officially kicked off Tuesday (Oct. 7) with a groundbreaking/dedication ceremony near the top of Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano, though the event was delayed several hours, apparently by people blocking the road up the mountain. "The groundbreaking and blessing ceremony for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), hindered by a small group of protestors for a brief time, took place and all the partners of the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory (TIO) are looking forward to proceeding on the production of TMT as planned," TMT communications director Gordon Squires said in a statement provided to Space.com. TMT has dealt with opposition repeatedly since the project began taking shape in the 1990s; some people in Hawaii have voiced concerns about the telescope's environmental and cultural impact. (The summits of mountains throughout the archipelago are sacred to native Hawaiians.)
But construction activities on TMT — which is just as big as its name suggests — remain on track, and the telescope should begin observing the heavens in 2022, project representatives say.
"This is an exciting moment as we begin construction of TMT," said TMT International Observatory Executive Director Ed Stone, a researcher at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena and the project scientist of NASA's Voyager mission, in a statement. "Its giant mirror, nearly 100 feet across, promises the highest definition views of planets orbiting nearby stars and the first stars and galaxies in the distant universe." Building a megascope
TMT will link up 492 small, hexagonal mirrors to form one giant light-collecting surface 98 feet (30 meters) across. When it's up and running at full strength, the telescope should deliver about 10 times the resolution of NASA's famous Hubble Space Telescope, TMT representatives have said. The scope will employ an advanced "adaptive optics" system to cancel out the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere.
The huge observatory should help researchers discover and characterize exoplanets, investigate the nature of mysterious dark matter and dark energy, and learn more about how the universe's first stars and galaxies came together, among other things, project representatives have said.
TMT's technology is based on the twin, 33-foot (10 m) Keck telescopes, which also sit near the top of Mauna Kea.
"The technology is not risky for TMT," TMT board member Shri Kulkarni, director of the Caltech Optical Observatories, told Space.com. "That has been demonstrated with Keck. Now, it's a question of scaling up."
Developing and implementing TMT's instruments — which will include three different spectrometers, as well as additional gear to be chosen as the project moves forward — will present more of a challenge, Kulkarni said. But the toughest tasks of the entire TMT effort have been logistical rather than technical, he added.
The most challenging aspect is "building the financial and political partnerships. That's the case with all large projects," Kulkarni said. "It's a fairly big logistical thing. Countries have their own timetables and their own way of doing things. All the astronomers have to agree to work together. That takes some time."
TMT is an international collaboration involving Caltech, the University of California, the National Institutes of Natural Sciences/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
More megascopes coming
TMT isn't the only giant, ground-based telescope scheduled to come online in the early 2020s. Two others will be built in the Chilean Andes: the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), which will boast light-collecting surfaces 80 feet (24 m) and 128 feet (39 m) across, respectively.
Each of these observatories aims to tackle the biggest questions in astronomy. There's definitely room for all three of them, provided they all get built, Kulkarni said.
"My prediction is that each of these telescopes will have different flagship instruments," he said, citing the high cost of instruments for big observatories. "They'll have some common workhorses, but they will distinguish themselves in having different flagship instruments."
Here's How NASA Is Expanding Its Search For Alien Life
Eric Mack – Forbes
Over the next five years, NASA and seven partner institutions will be taking on new projects to help paint a more complete picture about how life comes to be in the universe. The projects include preparing to bring back samples of the Martian terrain to Earth, investigating the role of comets and asteroids in delivering water and organic compounds around the solar system and researching how our own planet has managed to sustain life for so much of its history.
This week, NASA announced the winners of its seventh Cooperative Agreement Notice grant competition (CAN7), who will receive $50 million between them to conduct their research.
There are no plans to build a Starship Enterprise to hop from galaxy to galaxy in search of aliens among the projects, rather they will all take place here on Earth.
A team at the SETI Institute will be looking into the best ways to ensure that a planned 2020 NASA mission to bring back samples from Mars selects the ideal scoops of Maritan soil or rock and takes the best care of that precious cargo. Another project based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. will use natural hydrothermal chimney systems on our own planet as models to investigate how conditions on icy worlds such as Europa, Ganymede, and Enceladus might be able to support life.
A team from the University of Colorado at Boulder will examine the potential of how rocks might power life on planets such as Mars when their chemical energy is released through interaction with water. Others will look at how Earth's history might hold key secrets to the search for E.T., like a University of California at Riverside project to examine the history of oxygen in our own atmosphere and oceans.
"The intellectual scope of astrobiology is vast, from understanding how our planet went from lifeless to living, to understanding how life has adapted to Earth's harshest environments, to exploring other worlds with the most advanced technologies to search for signs of life," said Mary Voytek, director of NASA's astrobiology program.
Each project team will receive about $8 million and join five continuing astrobiology project teams already participating in the program at the University of Washington in Seattle; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; University of Wisconsin, Madison; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
U.S. Human Spaceflight Beyond 2014
Peter Juul and Rudy deLeon | Center for American Progress
July 2014 marked the 45th anniversary of Apollo 11, humanity's first voyage to another world. As time passes, this achievement has become more and more remarkable given that the astronauts, scientists, and engineers who carried out these missions lacked the sort of advanced computer systems we take for granted today. Fundamentally, the Apollo program represented a confidence in humanity's ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to explore new frontiers; it also highlighted America's central role in these achievements. The Apollo program produced a vigorous exploration plan and spurred unprecedented research, development, and science education efforts. However, in the decades since the last Moon landing in 1972, our horizons have shrunk and withered. Human spaceflight remains a core American success, but it has lost direction and, since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011, basic capability.
Today, the United States relies on Russia to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, or ISS. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, pays Moscow $70.7 million per astronaut for seats on the Soyuz spacecraft at a time when relations between the United States and Russia are progressively deteriorating. Moreover, a key U.S. heavy-lift rocket—which launches everything from spy and GPS satellites to planetary explorers such as the New Horizons mission to Pluto—depends on Russian-manufactured engines to deliver satellites and other payloads to orbit. Loose talk from Russian politicians about a ban on new engine exports has yet to be realized, but Gen. William L. Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, told Congress in July that a loss or interruption in Russian engine production "would have significant impact on our ability to reliably launch" the current schedule of national security payloads.
In short, the United States no longer leads humanity in exploring what President John F. Kennedy called "this new ocean," nor does it control its own fate in space. Restoring assured American access to space, both for human spaceflight and for satellite launches, must be a national priority.
Manned spaceflight
NASA and Lockheed Martin are currently developing the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, which is intended to serve as the primary means of transport for a journey to Mars in the mid-2030s. Orion is slated to have its first uncrewed test later this year, and its first crewed flight atop the heavy-lift Space Launch System is scheduled for 2021. Moreover, private company SpaceX is developing its Falcon series of rockets to launch payloads into orbit.
In the meantime, NASA hopes to buy flights to the ISS through its Commercial Crew Program. NASA plans to certify Boeing's CST-100 and SpaceX's Dragon capsules for flights to the ISS by 2017 at a combined cost of $6.8 billion.
NASA is also taking the lead on conducting the basic systems research needed to move beyond Earth orbit and toward a crewed mission to Mars. Its Advanced Exploration Systems program works on solutions to critical problems such as radiation exposure in deep space, reliable life support systems, and advanced propulsion—all difficulties humans will face on their way to Mars or other destinations beyond the Moon. These are pilot projects designed to pioneer new concepts and technologies, not produce them for use in space.
But even if the United States assures its orbit access with Orion and the Commercial Crew Program, it will still need an organizing objective to provide its efforts purpose and direction—what President Kennedy called a goal that "serve[s] to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills." Unfortunately, over the past decade, the U.S. space program has been buffeted by competing objectives. After the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, President George W. Bush announced the goal of returning Americans to the Moon by 2020. By the time President Barack Obama took office, however, this program had gone over budget and had begun to eat away at other NASA programs. After a panel of independent expert review, the return to the Moon was cancelled, and President Obama announced plans for missions beyond Earth orbit up to the 2030s.
These shifting objectives and an unwillingness to commit the funding necessary to meet them have left questions about the focus of America's space program. Nonetheless, it appears clear that despite these limitations, there is a desire to move America's human spaceflight program beyond Earth orbit—to the Moon, to Mars, or to an asteroid. However, without international cooperation, these goals likely will remain out of budgetary reach.
Lessons from the International Space Station
The ISS can serve as a model going forward. NASA began working on the space station in 1982 and brought European partners, Canada, and Japan into the program in its conceptual stage. Three years later, these partners formally committed to the U.S. space station, christened Freedom by then-President Ronald Reagan. After the end of the Cold War, the United States and its international partners brought Russia into the program, and the International Space Station was born. By 1998, these countries had signed an agreement that outlined their roles and responsibilities in the ISS project. The first module of the station—the Russian-built Zarya—launched later that year.
Since the first astronauts took up residence on the ISS in 2000, 214 people have traveled to the station, and it has made more than 57,000 orbits around the Earth. Throughout the stationain/ont, the United States has played a critical role in organizing the unprecedented international partnership that designed, built, and operates it. America can play a similar role with both existing and potential international partners in order to send humans beyond low Earth orbit, which is only 220 miles above the Earth's surface.
U.S. human spaceflight priorities
The U.S. human spaceflight program should focus on three priorities going forward.
First, America needs to control its own access to Earth orbit. This means keeping both the Orion spacecraft and the Commercial Crew Program projects on schedule. American astronauts should not have to rely on Russian spacecraft to go to and from the ISS or any other destination in orbit. NASA has taken the first steps by awarding contracts to Boeing and SpaceX for this purpose, and Orion's first uncrewed test later this year will mark another milestone.
Second, the United States cannot continue to rely on Russian rocket engines to deliver payloads—including sensitive national security satellites—into orbit. While the use of Russian rocket engines once served a worthy, useful purpose as a symbol of post-Cold War technological cooperation, changing geopolitical circumstances make it critical for the United States to have its own rocket systems. The U.S. military is already exploring its options, and, as noted above, SpaceX is developing the Falcon series of rockets.
Third, as the United States moves toward destinations beyond Earth orbit, it will require steady cooperation with international partners and the private sector. Already, NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems division is pioneering the technologies and methods needed for deep space exploration, and the Commercial Crew Program is helping develop America's private space capabilities. The United States and India have signed an agreement establishing a joint Mars working group to plot out future exploration of the Red Planet. Now is the right time to further open the door of cooperation with Europe and Japan—and even China, if Beijing proves interested. The relationships forged during the creation of the ISS could provide an example for these efforts.
To be sure, technological and physiological challenges remain, such as developing new propulsion systems and shielding astronauts from radiation. Terrestrial political obstacles, including disputes between Russia and the United States, may also prove daunting. However, it is time for the United States to once again lead humanity "on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."
Peter Juul is a Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress. Rudy deLeon is a Senior Fellow at the Center.
END
No comments:
Post a Comment