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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: January 22, 2015 at 11:30:03 AM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News - Thursday – Jan. 22, 2015
Nasty wet and cold day in the Houston Metro area. Be safe everyone.NASA and Human Spaceflight NewsThursday – Jan. 22, 2015HEADLINES AND LEADSRussia Reorganizes Space Program Again, Ostapenko OutMarcia S. Smith - Spacepolicyonline.comThe Russian government announced another restructuring of its space program management today. Most recently, responsibilities were split between the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, headed by Oleg Ostapenko, and the United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC, or ORKK using its Russian initials) headed by Igor Komarov. Now the two parts will be combined and retain the name Roscosmos, but the new entity is described as a state corporation rather than an agency. Ostapenko is out. Komarov will run the new entity.Most Extreme Photo of Comet Snapped by AstronautIan O'Neill - Discovery.comAs you go out on a chilly night in the hope of spotting comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) in the clear winter sky, you might be impressed by that tiny green/blue fuzz you're able to capture in the camera's lens (as I was earlier this month). But that's nothing compared to one astronomer who happens to be an astronaut… who is also in space zipping around the Earth at over 17,000 miles per hour!Patrick Stewart to narrate NASA's 'trek' to Mars in giant-screen 'Journey to Space'Robert Pearlman - CollectSpace.comAn actor famous for his role commanding a fictional starship will narrate NASA's real 'trek' to Mars in a new giant-screen film.Astronaut Scholarship Foundation to Celebrate Apollo 13's 45th AnniversaryEmily Carney - AmericaSpace.comIt is perhaps one of the most well-known, oft-repeated stories in the history of human spaceflight. In April 1970, an oxygen tank explosion in Apollo 13's service module led to a chain of events that would endanger the lives of the crew, commander Jim Lovell, lunar module pilot Fred Haise, and command module pilot John L. "Jack" Swigert. In addition, Lovell and Haise would have to scrap their plans of exploring the Fra Mauro highlands region of the Moon. The mission's drama started before its Saturn V even left Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A, as Swigert had been rotated to the prime crew just days before launch; Thomas K. Mattingly, the original command module pilot, had been exposed to German measles. Apollo 13 made the words "Houston, we have a problem" part of the nation's cultural lexicon, although in real life it was Swigert who calmly said, "Okay, Houston, I believe we've had a problem here."The President's 2016 Budget Is ComingFeb 2nd. Mark your calendars.Casey Dreier - The Planetary SocietyThe yearly NASA budget battle is set to begin anew February 2nd. That's when the White House releases the President's Budget Request (PBR) for the federal government, which represents the official Administration position on the next five years of government spending for NASA, among other agencies.You're going to hear a lot about this in the news, but it's important to remember the "R" in the PBR: request. This isn't law; it's the starting point of the next budget negotiation with Congress for 2016 fiscal year (which begins, confusingly, on October 1st, 2015).Meet the Most Interesting Space CEO You're Not Following on TwitterDavid Griner - Ad WeekSure, you've heard of (and might even be Twitter-stalking) Elon Musk and Richard Branson, but you're likely not familiar with one of their most influential peers.Russia-U.S. space cooperation may fall victim to politics, scientist saysSputnik NewsTensions between power-brokers in Washington and Moscow could discourage cooperation between the two nations in space exploration and the development of new technologies, member of the Russian Cosmonautics Academy Aleksandr Zheleznyakov said Wednesday.Marshall plans to send asteroid scout, lunar observer on first SLS flightJosh Barrett - WAAY TV, of AlabamaExploration Flight Test-1, which launched on December 5, 2014 tested the Orion spacecraft. The capsule that would take people to Mars went to space for the first time, and it was one of NASA's biggest accomplishments in 2014. In 2018, the next flight of Orion will be on the Space Launch System (SLS), and it will again be an unmanned test flight. But this time around, there's going to be some extra things sent to space.Spacecraft Set to Reveal First Look at Dwarf PlanetsNadia Drake - National GeographicNASA spacecraft will finally get a good look this year at Pluto and Ceres, two mysterious and tiny worlds.A pair of small alien worlds, Ceres and Pluto, move into the spotlight this year as spacecraft arrive at their cosmic shores for the first time.NASA's New Curiosity Rover Science Chief Takes Charge On MarsRod Pyle - Space.comAshwin Vasavada knows he has some pretty big shoes to fill.NASA And Microsoft Using HoloLens To Make It Possible To Work Remotely… On MarsDarrell Etherington - Tech CrunchMicrosoft and NASA are teaming up to make remote working on the Red Planet a reality, using the newly announced HoloLens headset, and the Windows Holographic technology that it supports. The platform is called OnSight and is being developed out of NASA's Pasadena-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It uses the Mars Curiosity rover as effectively a telepresence bot for scientists working out of the relative comforts of Earth's atmosphere.Private moon firm to sign deal for test flights at CapeJames Dean – Florida TodayThe developer of a commercial moon lander will lease a Cape Canaveral launch complex from which some of the nation's first robotic lunar orbiters and landers took flight, bringing up to 50 jobs to the Space Coast this year.COMPLETE STORIESRussia Reorganizes Space Program Again, Ostapenko OutMarcia S. Smith - Spacepolicyonline.comThe Russian government announced another restructuring of its space program management today. Most recently, responsibilities were split between the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, headed by Oleg Ostapenko, and the United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC, or ORKK using its Russian initials) headed by Igor Komarov. Now the two parts will be combined and retain the name Roscosmos, but the new entity is described as a state corporation rather than an agency. Ostapenko is out. Komarov will run the new entity.The Russian space sector has suffered an unusual string of launch failures since December 2010 resulting in several reorganizations and leadership changes in an attempt to fix the underlying problems. The last restructuring, in October 2013, divided Roscosmos into two parts: the Roscosmos space agency and a newly created URSC. Ostapenko was named Director of Roscosmos at that time, replacing Vladimir Popovkin, who had been tapped for the job two years earlier, replacing Anatoly Perminov. Like Perminov, however, Popovkin was unable to end the string of launch failures and suffered the same fate.Ostapenko was placed in charge of the space agency in October 2013, and URSC was formally created by presidential decree two months later. Komarov's impending appointment as Director General of URSC was announced in October 2013, but he did not officially take the position until March 2014. In between, he was a Deputy Director of Roscosmos. Prior to October 2013 he was CEO of Russia's AvtoVAZ, which manufactures automobiles.That bifurcated management structure has lasted barely a year however. Russia's official news agency Itar-Tass reported today that the two entities will recombine. The name Roscosmos will be retained, but Itar-Tass described it as a "state corporation," that will "replace the federal space agency of the same name." Komarov won the job as CEO of the new Roscosmos. Itar-Tass said Ostapenko will be offered an "executive position" in industry.What the reorganization means for relationships between NASA and Roscosmos, which represents Russia in the International Space Station (ISS) partnership, or U.S. corporate deals with Russian aerospace companies is difficult to discern at this point. Russian space expert Anatoly Zak, editor of RussianSpaceWeb.com, said via email this evening that "even long time observers inside Russia are confused."As noted, the changes began in response to Russian launch vehicle failures, but Russia's top leadership has also complained about widespread corruption that reportedly has affected everything from the GLONASS navigation satellite system to construction of the new Vostochny launch site in Siberia.At the Maryland Space Business Roundtable event yesterday, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden was asked about the status of U.S.-Russian space cooperation given the tense geopolitical environment caused by Russia's actions in Ukraine. Bolden responded that he and Ostapenko had an excellent working relationship, agreeing that ISS must be kept out of the political fray. He also emphasized the importance of personal relationships among Americans and Russians working on the ISS program to make "all this stuff work." It appears that at his level, at least, a new set of relationships will need to be established once more. This is the fourth Roscosmos director Bolden has worked with since becoming Administrator in 2009 (Perminov, Popovkin, Ostapenko and now Komarov).Although the launch failures have gotten a lot of attention, Russia also has many successful space launches. In 2014, there were 31 successful space launches to orbit from Russian launch sites and one failure (of a Proton in May) according to data on Bob Christy's zarya.info website. (That number does not include launches of Russian rockets from Europe's launch site in French Guiana -- one of which placed the satellites into the wrong orbit -- or the Sea Launch platform. Also, one of the 31 "successes" placed the satellite, Foton-M4, into an incorrect orbit, but the payload was able to fulfill its mission nonetheless).The successes in 2014 included launch of the new Angara 5 rocket with a test payload to geostationary orbit in December. Angara is a new family of launch vehicles of varying capabilities. Russia also had a successful suborbital test launch of the smallest version, Angara 1, in July 2014 (not included in the 31 since it was not orbital). Russia expects to replace its old Soviet-era rockets like Proton with different versions of Angara over the next several years.Most Extreme Photo of Comet Snapped by AstronautIan O'Neill - Discovery.com
NASA/Terry VirtsAs you go out on a chilly night in the hope of spotting comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) in the clear winter sky, you might be impressed by that tiny green/blue fuzz you're able to capture in the camera's lens (as I was earlier this month). But that's nothing compared to one astronomer who happens to be an astronaut… who is also in space zipping around the Earth at over 17,000 miles per hour!Tweeted today by NASA astronaut Terry Virts, who arrived at the International Space Station in November, this latest space photography offering is probably the most extreme shot of the comet taken so far. With no atmosphere to obscure his view, Virts was able to zoom in on C/2014 Q2, capturing the comet's vivid green coma. The comet's green halo is down to the chemical composition of the gas and dust surrounding the nucleus scattering reflected sunlight.Although you probably won't get as good a view of Lovejoy as Virts, it is still visible through binoculars or a modest telescope as its brightness continues to outstrip expectations.Patrick Stewart to narrate NASA's 'trek' to Mars in giant-screen 'Journey to Space'Robert Pearlman - CollectSpace.comAn actor famous for his role commanding a fictional starship will narrate NASA's real 'trek' to Mars in a new giant-screen film.
Patrick Stewart, who as Jean-Luc Picard helmed the USS Enterprise on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," is lending his voice to "Journey to Space," a new large-format movie about the concepts, hardware and people carrying out the next generation missions to make humanity a spacefaring civilization.
"It was a delight to contribute to this exciting film project," Stewart said in a statement. "['Journey to Space'] will let audiences young and old know how surprisingly close we are to sending humans into deep space."
"Journey to Space," which will launch into select theaters in February, will take moviegoers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the international effort to send astronauts to Mars within the next two decades. The film, which is presented by the Boeing Company and Toyota, is being produced by K2 Communications and Giant Screen Films.
"No longer science fiction, a human mission to Mars is in the planning stages, and major steps are being taken to make it a reality within a generation," Bob Kresser, chief executive officer of K2 Films, said. "Our goal in making this film was to tie together the actual hardware being built with the tremendous planning under way that will make the next steps in space exploration the most far-reaching in our history."
As seen in its first trailer released last month, "Journey to Space" features scenes filmed at NASA facilities and by astronauts in space, as well as animation of NASA's next-generation Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, Orion crew capsule, and "Olympus," a commercial concept for an inflatable transit habitat for long-duration missions. The one-minute preview also showed NASA astronauts training in an Orion mockup and working inside an immersive Mars rover simulator at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
In addition to looking forward, the documentary also looks back at the space shuttle program and the role it played in assembling the International Space Station. A third of the movie is devoted to how the shuttle helped us understand how to live and operate in space.Adding to the scenes filmed at the Johnson Space Center, the movie was also shot on location at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and at Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas where the Olympus module is being developed.
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. will host the world premiere in March. The film will screen in 2D and 3D in theaters across the country, including at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Alabama and the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson beginning in February.
In addition to the TV series, Stewart reprised his role as captain of the Enterprise in four "Star Trek" feature films. A Grammy Award winner and Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe nominee, Stewart also portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the "X-Men" film series.
"Patrick's narration is the perfect icing on our space-story cake," Mark Krenzien, the director of "Journey to Space," said. "Everyone in the studio was beyond impressed by his enthusiasm for the project and his dedication to every nuance and detail."Astronaut Scholarship Foundation to Celebrate Apollo 13's 45th AnniversaryEmily Carney - AmericaSpace.comIt is perhaps one of the most well-known, oft-repeated stories in the history of human spaceflight. In April 1970, an oxygen tank explosion in Apollo 13's service module led to a chain of events that would endanger the lives of the crew, commander Jim Lovell, lunar module pilot Fred Haise, and command module pilot John L. "Jack" Swigert. In addition, Lovell and Haise would have to scrap their plans of exploring the Fra Mauro highlands region of the Moon. The mission's drama started before its Saturn V even left Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A, as Swigert had been rotated to the prime crew just days before launch; Thomas K. Mattingly, the original command module pilot, had been exposed to German measles. Apollo 13 made the words "Houston, we have a problem" part of the nation's cultural lexicon, although in real life it was Swigert who calmly said, "Okay, Houston, I believe we've had a problem here."The story of this fateful mission—and its ultimate triumph over seemingly insurmountable setbacks—has been immortalized in a number of books, documentaries, and most notably Ron Howard's blockbuster 1995 film Apollo 13, based on Lovell's book "Lost Moon" and starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon. On the evening of Saturday, April 11, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) will celebrate the people responsible for making this mission a "successful failure" during its 45th anniversary.ASF's Apollo 13 45th Anniversary Celebration event will not only showcase Apollo 13's surviving crew members, Lovell and Haise, but will also spotlight the contributions of the support crew and flight directors, who, along with thousands of other workers on the ground, were responsible for bringing the crew home alive and safe.After ticket holders dine under the Saturn V launch vehicle at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's Apollo/Saturn V Center (ASVC), they will be treated to a photo opportunity with astronauts Lovell and Haise. A champagne social at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, the official host hotel for the event, will precede the evening's dinner.Following dinner, guests will partake in viewing a panel discussion featuring Lovell, Haise, backup lunar module pilot Charlie Duke (Apollo 16 moonwalker), support crew members Vance Brand (Apollo-Soyuz, STS-5, STS-41B, and STS-35), Dr. Joe Kerwin (Skylab 2), Jack Lousma (Skylab 3, STS-3), and flight directors Gerry Griffin, Gene Kranz, and Glynn Lunney. These panelists will reflect on the people, events, and lessons learned surrounding Apollo 13. Command module pilot Swigert, immortalized in Howard's movie as a fun-loving bachelor and dedicated troubleshooter, died in December 1982 following a bout with cancer, and will undoubtedly be remembered by his crew mates.The flight directors who are scheduled to be present at the event also received honors due to their heroic efforts in saving the crew following the explosion. In a history article previously published on AmericaSpace, Ben Evans wrote: "In the days that followed [splashdown, which occurred on April 17], the [crew] would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian [honor], and, perhaps equally fittingly, the heroes of the Mission Operations Team – represented by Apollo 13's four flight directors, Gene Kranz, Glynn Lunney, Milt Windler and Gerry Griffin – were similarly acknowledged. 'Three brave astronauts,' intoned President Richard Nixon, as he gave the awards, 'are alive and on Earth because of their dedication and because, at the critical moments, the people of that team were wise enough and self-possessed enough to make the right decisions. Their extraordinary feat is a tribute to man's ingenuity, to his resourcefulness and to his courage.'"Guests will also receive a photo CD commemorating the event, and a DVD of the panel discussion (these items will be sent to guests following the event). Tickets are limited to 100, priced at $1,000, and are on a first come, first serve basis. At the time of writing this, there are only 28 tickets left. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which was established by the surviving Mercury 7 astronauts in 1984 to support college students entering STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Cost of the ticket packages are considered a charitable donation. To make a purchase, one can visit ASF's website. For more information, please contact ASF at 321-449-4872 or email nicole@astronautscholarship.org.ASF has also announced that its annual U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction Gala will take place Friday, May 29. In addition to anniversary events and Hall of Fame inductions, ASF also holds the Astronaut Autograph & Memorabilia show during early November. More updates will be given about these and other events as soon as they are available.The President's 2016 Budget Is ComingFeb 2nd. Mark your calendars.Casey Dreier - The Planetary SocietyThe yearly NASA budget battle is set to begin anew February 2nd. That's when the White House releases the President's Budget Request (PBR) for the federal government, which represents the official Administration position on the next five years of government spending for NASA, among other agencies.You're going to hear a lot about this in the news, but it's important to remember the "R" in the PBR: request. This isn't law; it's the starting point of the next budget negotiation with Congress for 2016 fiscal year (which begins, confusingly, on October 1st, 2015).Despite it being a request, the PBR is very important. It acts as a cognitive anchor for entirety of the discussion we'll have for NASA's budget and direction for next year (and projected out for the next five years). It can enshrine new missions, cancel existing initiatives, or effect wholesale change in how NASA organizes itself. Many of these White House proposals will go forward unless Congress specifically passes a bill with language to the contrary.So it's a big deal, but not set in stone. After the release of the PBR, that's when we'll ask you to write your representatives and form a coherent response to stand for space.Here are some of the things I'm going to look for in the President's Budget Request for NASA in 2016:EuropaThis is the big one for The Planetary Society. Despite significant sums of money provided to NASA over the past three years by Congress, there is no official Europa mission on the books. Congress appropriates money on a yearly cycle; spacecraft take years to build. NASA needs to know that the White House will expect to request funding for Europa for the forseeable future before they can start making contracts, cutting metal, etc.A lot of forces have lined up behind a Europa mission in the past few years: The Society and its members have spent a significant amount of energy in support of this mission. Key members in Congress are vocal supporters. The public and scientific community are engaged and excited. And JPL has designed a low-cost, flagship-level mission that would achieve much of the highest-priority scientific goals defined by the National Research Council's Decadal Survey.The only missing piece is the so-called "new start" request, which is made by the White House. If that's in the budget request on Feb 2nd, I'm popping some champagne.Commercial CrewNASA selected SpaceX and Boeing to develop human-rated launch capability to low-Earth orbit in 2015. The combined amount of the contracts topped $6 billion, which caused many of us in the space policy community to question how, exactly, NASA could afford to make such a seemingly large commitment. Commercial Crew has been historically underfunded by Congress, and even optimistic projections of future funding levels had a hard time reaching this $6 billion number. Will Commercial Crew get a significant boost in the President's request?NASA's top-lineIn 2015, Congress approved an $18.01 billion budget for NASA, nearly $450 million above that requested by the President that year. Will the Administration take this good news and run with it? Republicans in Congress have shown willingness to invest in space and NASA, and it seems to me that the President has an opportunity to find bipartisan agreement here. Also, the economy is doing better. Perhaps Obama signaled an intention to request more funding for NASA during his State of the Union address, in which he called out the recent success of Orion and Scott Kelly's upcoming ISS flight. Even a small increase from 2015 would provide a significant boost to NASA's science and exploration programs.Asteroid Redirect MissionThe asteroid redirect concept has official NASA policy since 2014, but we have yet to see NASA request significant funding for the mission (or even decide on the concept, either redirecting a small asteroid to lunar orbit, or plucking a boulder off of a larger asteroid and taking it to the same place). I will be very curious to see if NASA includes a specific line item for the asteroid (or boulder) capture spacecraft in the budget. Once we start getting to real money, a skeptical Congress may take a stronger stand on the concept.Meet the Most Interesting Space CEO You're Not Following on TwitterDavid Griner - Ad WeekSure, you've heard of (and might even be Twitter-stalking) Elon Musk and Richard Branson, but you're likely not familiar with one of their most influential peers.Tory Bruno is CEO of United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The combined effort was created in 2006 and has since essentially been the go-to contractor when the U.S. government needs to get something into space.Long seen as a de facto monopoly for U.S. space launches, ULA has been facing increased competitive pressure from SpaceX in recent years, resulting in a 2014 restructuring that brought in Bruno (a 30-year Lockheed veteran) to help reduce launch costs by as much as 50 percent.While SpaceX and Virgin Galactic get most of the public's attention when it comes to privatized space flight, Bruno is working to raise the image of the more established ULA. One of the most interesting and visible ways he's doing that is by getting personally involved in Twitter.Bruno's tweets range from real-time launch updates and proud recaps of successful missions to taking jabs at competitors and chatting cordially with an account called @FakeToryBruno.We reached out to Bruno to find out why he'd gotten onto Twitter and what he's thought of the experience and benefits so far. Here's our quick Q&A:Adweek: You look like you're having a lot of fun on Twitter. You don't seem to mind engaging critics or competitors, and you're surprisingly sassy for an aerospace exec. What was your goal in getting on Twitter? Has that goal evolved as you've gotten more active?Tory Bruno: I am a newcomer to social media. I find this medium very exciting. It has the potential to reach so many people almost instantly. My goals were simply to let the space enthusiast community become aware that this great company, the world's premier launch provider, ULA, was out there. My goal has evolved to also giving my employees a voice. We have a lot to say about the future of space.What value do you think it brings to ULA to have both an official Twitter feed (@ulalaunch) and your account as CEO? Was it your idea to get on Twitter personally?Yes, it was my idea to get on Twitter with a personal account. I have lots of enthusiastic, brilliant employees. As we began to give them this opportunity, I saw that I needed to get out there and model the way. Leaders go first, and by having both company and personal Twitter feeds, I am able to apply a personal flavor to events and provide a real person that followers can connect with.Since the VSS Enterprise's crash, the private space race began to feel a lot more serious and weighty. How can space execs active in social media balance the fun and excitement of this new era of exploration while also reflecting how much is a stake with these launches?We are on the very beginning of a great adventure where humankind will find a destiny beyond our planet. As with any great human journey, it will be a high-stakes endeavor, fraught with enormous risks and profound opportunity. Space execs can help articulate a vision of what's possible, creating excitement and inspiration, while simultaneously reminding the public of just how hard space is. Every rocket launch is an act of defiance, overcoming physics with unimaginable power outside normal human experience. Those of us who have spent our lives in this world are uniquely able to communicate it.Russia-U.S. space cooperation may fall victim to politics, scientist saysSputnik NewsRelations between Moscow and Washington will be the determining factor as to whether Russia will continue its leadership in rocket engine development. Bringing politics into space exploration can severely compromise a signed deal for the delivery of Russian rocket engines to the United States.Tensions between power-brokers in Washington and Moscow could discourage cooperation between the two nations in space exploration and the development of new technologies, member of the Russian Cosmonautics Academy Aleksandr Zheleznyakov said Wednesday."If a political situation is such that difficulties between our countries will continue, political factors will dominate [the Russia-US space cooperation], no matter how high-quality our production is," the scientist said at a press conference in Rossiya Segodnya press center.The scientist stressed that bringing politics into space exploration would severely compromise a signed deal for the delivery of Russian rocket engines to the United States.According to Zheleznyakov, political relations between Moscow and Washington will be the determining factor as to whether Russia will continue its leadership in rocket engine production and development.He also noted that Russian engines are more reliable than the US ones. "This is just what [the] US space industry currently needs," the expert said, adding that the United States could spend a decade developing a rocket engine capable of meeting demands of the country's space exploration.Last week, Russian rocket manufacturer Energia signed a $1-billion contract with US Orbital Services Corporation for the delivery of 60 RD-181 engines, to be installed on Antares carrier rockets. The first two engines are expected to be delivered in June 2015.Energia is also discussing the delivery of 30 RD-180 engines, to power the enormous Atlas-5 rockets, to US company United Launch Alliance.Marshall plans to send asteroid scout, lunar observer on first SLS flightJosh Barrett - WAAY TV, of AlabamaExploration Flight Test-1, which launched on December 5, 2014 tested the Orion spacecraft. The capsule that would take people to Mars went to space for the first time, and it was one of NASA's biggest accomplishments in 2014. In 2018, the next flight of Orion will be on the Space Launch System (SLS), and it will again be an unmanned test flight. But this time around, there's going to be some extra things sent to space.The Marshall Space Flight Center is working on getting the most out of the SLS's tremendous lift capability. NASA had the novel idea of tucking away eleven different scientific missions on Exploration Mission-1, which would provide otherwise costly access to deep space."What we're really excited about is the fact that we're able to take this test flight and actually get science out of it, and we're expanding the capability," said Joseph Pelfry, a deputy project manager at Marshall, who was instrumental in this idea. "SLS is designed for a lot more payload capability, but we're trying to take advantage of every bit of capability the vehicle has."Three of the eleven missions have already been selected. The science payloads must fit in to six-unit cubesats, which are efficient and versatile. They will be hidden in the multi-vehicle stage adapter (MSA), which is the ring that connects Orion's service module to the top stage of SLS. Once Orion and the service module disconnect and continue on to orbit the moon, compartments in the MSA will launch the science missions at certain times depending on particular mission."Flying these secondary payloads is something we're going to do for missions to come and really provide the science community an opportunity that they haven't had before," Pelfrey said. "That's what the SLS enables beyond the journey to Mars."Two missions are being designed at Marshall. The Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout and Lunar Flashlight are already approved. Both will make use of solar sail technology - which uses energy from photons emitted by the sun to create a highly efficient, propulsionless way to explore the solar system.NEA Scout will continue into deep space and examine asteroids that could be candidates for another SLS mission - the Asteroid Redirect Mission. Lunar Flashlight will explore the moon in detail, and coast on its solar sail around as long as possible.All the science missions are classified as secondary payload - so they cannot threaten the primary mission of testing Orion and SLS.Spacecraft Set to Reveal First Look at Dwarf PlanetsNadia Drake - National GeographicNASA spacecraft will finally get a good look this year at Pluto and Ceres, two mysterious and tiny worlds.A pair of small alien worlds, Ceres and Pluto, move into the spotlight this year as spacecraft arrive at their cosmic shores for the first time.NASA's Dawn spacecraft released its first views of Ceres on Monday, already hinting at previously unknown craters. Still ahead for NASA's New Horizons probe is former planet Pluto, billions of miles from Ceres and the king of a distant, icy realm.Both are dwarf planets, mini-worlds that just don't make the cut as official planets. It's a vast population of worldlets that scientists don't know much about.But if all goes according to plan, that will change starting now. And it's about time the little guys got some attention."There are more dwarf planets than all the gas giants and terrestrial planets combined," said Alan Stern, principal investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission, which will visit Pluto in July. "They dominate the planetary population of our solar system."Dwarf planets, the last class of unexplored worlds in Earth's neighborhood, may contain well-preserved tales of the solar system's formation. Unlike the more familiar rocky and gassy planets, which have edited and erased those histories, Pluto, Ceres, and friends have filed away those records in their geology and distant locations."They're like the debris left over from a shipwreck," says Caltech astronomer Mike Brown. "You can't really figure out what happened from looking at the carcass of the ship, but you can see from the debris where everything flowed, what the currents were like."Close Encounters of the Watery KindIn early March, NASA's Dawn spacecraft will slip into orbit around Ceres. If it succeeds, Dawn will be the first spacecraft to chase down and orbit two worlds. The first one it visited was massive asteroid Vesta, a dry and dusty body that Dawn spent 14 months mapping and studying starting in 2011.Within a few weeks, Dawn will be close enough for its images of Ceres to be better than the Hubble Space Telescope's. Ceres is so tiny—just 590 miles (950 kilometers) wide, about one-third the size of Earth's moon—that detailed images can be captured only by a spacecraft on its doorstep. A powerful telescope like Hubble can make amazing images of a huge object like a galaxy, but can't resolve fine features on a tiny one.Discovered in 1801 by an Italian priest, Giuseppe Piazzi, Ceres has been a puzzling spot of light for more than two centuries. Its size and seemingly large amount of water, including tufts of water vapor, make it unlike anything else in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. (See the solar system and its cosmic neighborhood in an interactive graphic "19 Trillion Miles to Explore.")It alone accounts for more than 30 percent of the rocky realm's mass. Scientists want to know why Ceres is so different from everything else in its neighborhood—and the Dawn spacecraft, which has already studied Vesta, is uniquely positioned to tell them that."Ceres has been able to hide itself very well," says UCLA's Christopher Russell, Dawn's principal investigator. Fragments of Vesta have fallen to Earth, he notes, but there are no pieces of Ceres lying around providing a preview of what might be there. "What is its role in the early solar system? Why is it so different?"Close Encounter of the Extremely Cold KindOn July 14, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will fly by Pluto and its abnormally large moon, Charon.Launched in 2006, New Horizons will be the first to bring distant, reddish Pluto into focus. Since its discovery nearly 85 years ago by Kansas farm boy Clyde Tombaugh, Pluto has been been confounding astronomers with one puzzling observation after another. (Watch a video about Tombaugh's discovery of Pluto.)The best images that scientists have of Pluto are just blurry blobs. It's much too far away—averaging 40 times farther from the sun than Earth—to get a good look at. Even New Horizons, the fastest spacecraft ever launched, took nearly a decade to get there.But scientists have a few guesses about what they might find on Pluto. Observations already hint at a dynamic, shifting surface that varies dramatically in both brightness and color. Some scientists suspect they might find evidence for icy volcanic eruptions.One thing is certain: The 1,430-mile-wide (2,300 kilometers) world hovering on the fringe of the observable solar system will provide plenty of surprises.Now, with New Horizons on approach and already collecting data (the mission's science campaign began January 15), the team is inching closer to solving Pluto's mysteries and unraveling the secrets of the icy Kuiper Belt, a region stuffed with countless comets, worlds like Pluto, and other leftovers from the dawn of the solar system."This is our first really good chance to do what we've done in the inner solar system," says Brown, who discovered several distant dwarf worlds similar to Pluto. "We finally get to see one up close and start to learn about how this new class of objects, that we didn't really realize was out there, works. Which is just going to be super cool."A Surprising Family Tree?Though billions of miles now separate Pluto and Ceres, some scientists suspect the two worlds might have both been born in the icy Kuiper Belt, where Pluto now reigns."Ceres, if you look at it, is kind of like a junior version of a Kuiper Belt object. It has the same density," says William McKinnon, a planetary scientist at the Washington University in St. Louis. "The question is, where did it actually form? Was there enough ice in the primordial asteroid belt to build such a world?"In some ways, Ceres is more similar to Pluto than it is to the other asteroids in its neighborhood: It's round and icy, with its insides separated into layers."It sure smells like something that came from the outer solar system," Brown says.If Ceres did start out in the Kuiper Belt, it may have been hurled inward during a period of violent upheaval early in the solar system's history, eventually settling into its current orbit in the asteroid belt.OnwardThough the New Horizons encounter with Pluto will be fleeting, the craft will send data back to Earth for 16 months as it sails into the Kuiper Belt. There, perhaps, another target world awaits. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has already started scouting for its next world to explore.There will be no third world for Dawn, though. When its mission at Ceres ends, scientists will leave the craft in orbit around the watery sphere, a whirling perpetual monument to Earth's first exploration of the dwarf realm.NASA's New Curiosity Rover Science Chief Takes Charge On MarsRod Pyle - Space.comAshwin Vasavada knows he has some pretty big shoes to fill.Vasavada is the newly appointed project scientist for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, in charge of a team of nearly 500 researchers spread around the globe. He succeeds John Grotzinger, who steered Curiosity to some big finds over the past few years — including the discovery that Mars could have supported microbial life in the ancient past."It's a big step to lead this large team; there's nobody else anymore. The buck stops with me," Vasavada told Space.com with a wry chuckle. "The pace of success and scientific achievement have been so great that it makes one a bit nervous about keeping it up!" [Curiosity's Biggest Discoveries (So Far)]Changing rolesThe car-size Curiosity rover landed on Mars in August 2012 under Grotzinger's leadership. Vasavada — who's based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) here in Pasadena — was a deputy project scientist until now.In that role, Vasavada had focused on science operations. He has worked on Curiosity's $2.5 billion mission — formally known as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) — for more than a decade and knows the rover and its subsystems like few others."I had focused very strongly on operations in the last few years. Making sure that everything operated smoothly took up the bulk of my time," he said. "You have to 'feed' the rover every day, and it's an incredibly complex process, analyzing the data and working with the engineers to maximize the science returns. There are a hundred questions every day and potential problems to keep in check. "Generally speaking, the project scientist facilitates the work of Curiosity's nine principal investigators (PIs). Each PI is attached to an instrument onboard the rover. [A 'Curiosity' Quiz: How Well Do You Know NASA's Newest Mars Rover?]"John had been doing a lot of the data-analysis side, keeping track of all the different things that people were working on and prompting them to pursue different lines of research," said Vasavada, who has a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). "He made sure that collaboration was occurring and managed interactions between team members. I'll be doing a lot more of that now."When asked about his own scientific pursuits on the mission, Vasavada noted that he had co-authored a number of papers with the MSL team, but that science operations management really took most of his time in the deputy's role."I look forward to diving in to the scientific side more," he said. "I may not be doing a lot of my own science, but can now take a smaller role in 50 different research projects. It's all incredibly exciting."MSL is a huge project, more similar in leadership design to outer-planet orbiter missions such as the $3.2 billion Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn than to previous Mars rover efforts. NASA's last rover mission, which dropped the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on the Red Planet in January 2004, had a sole PI: Steve Squyres of Cornell University."That said, a rover mission like this is more like an expedition than an orbiter mission is. Every day you need to decide if you will be heading for this hill or that one, and where you might want to stop," Vasavada said. "On orbiter missions, you can divide up the pie in advance and interact less in the heat of the moment, if you will. During a particular Cassini orbit of Saturn, for example, this instrument gets three hours, this one gets two, and so on. Then people can go off and do their own thing. On a rover mission, all the instruments are carried in one machine, and everyone must agree on whether we turn right or left, do we investigate this rock or that one. It requires a lot more real-time coordination."As Space.com readers know, Curiosity has faced some challenges while crossing the floor of Gale Crater toward the huge Mount Sharp, its ultimate science destination. For example, the rover's wheels absorbed significantly more damage than mission team members had expected during the long trek to the 3.4-mile-high (5.5 kilometers) mountain's base, which ended in September.I asked Vasavada about Curiosity's well-being as the extended mission began."Our arrival at Mount Sharp coincided with our having largely resolved the wheel-damage issue," he said. "I've been handed a healthy rover, we are where we want to be and there is just so much to do."Are any other mechanical or electronic issues on the watch list as Curiosity begins its exploration of Mount Sharp?"Barring things that are hard to predict, like something breaking or wearing out, no," Vasavada said. "We do know that the RTG [radioisotope thermoelectric generator] power source will degrade over time. For the next two to four years, we will be able to operate with generally the same pace of operations and same energy budget that we have become used to. But after that, we will start to have limited discretionary energy, and will need to spread some activities that we might do in a single day now across a number of days. That's a limitation of this rover as opposed to something like MER that uses solar panels."It creates additional time pressure, so we are pushing hard," he added. "We want to take full advantage of the high power budget we have now."Exploring Mount SharpAs Curiosity moves up through the foothills of Mount Sharp, it encounters new opportunities. One new factor is the ability to combine data from the CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) with "ground truth" observations from Curiosity. This data partnering occurred recently during Curiosity's survey of an outcrop called Pahrump Hills. [Latest Mars Photos from MRO]"The sample from the first hole we drilled at Mount Sharp turned out to be a different composition than we had seen thus far in the mission, and something that we could tie to the CRISM observations from MRO," Vasavada said. "Up to that point, most of the terrain that we had covered was too dusty for CRISM to get a detection from orbit, but with the rocks at Mount Sharp we could. So we can now conduct joint investigations with the orbiters."Vasavada and the rest of the science team want Curiosity to drive up through Mount Sharp's foothills, reading the rocks there for clues to how the Red Planet's climate and environmental conditions shifted over time."We can see the bedrock exposed on the valley walls. So even as we drive we can study the stratigraphy of the rocks," Vasavada said. "Hopefully this will be as fruitful as it has been in the past, where we saw the deltas and fluvial environment as we headed towards Mount Sharp," which has made the role of water in local formations increasingly clear.In December, mission scientists announced that Curiosity's SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instrument had detected organic chemicals — the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it — on Mars, as well as a mysterious spike in atmospheric methane.The methane surge is intriguing, because the gas can be an indicator of biological activity (although mission team members stressed that methane is produced by geological processes as well). [The Search for Life on Mars in Photos]Vasavada said that Curiosity would continue to test for methane occasionally, but would sample more frequently when the Martian season matched previous methane spikes."We also need to conserve the resources within SAM, which are finite, so we can't sniff for methane every day," he added.Grotzinger is leaving the top science job on MSL to take over as the chairman of Caltech's Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, but he is not off the case entirely."I'm staying on as a science team member, on both the SAM and CheMin [Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument] teams, as well as strategic planning," Grotzinger said in an exclusive interview with Space.com, "and I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting more involved in the science data analysis."While Grotzinger said he was ready to turn over the helm to Vasavada, he will miss aspects of the mission."It sounds trite, but it is the experience of a lifetime, to be able to do something that is at such a cutting edge regarding the technologies, and be able to explore the ancient rock records of another planet," he said. "I'll miss the challenges of leading the mission. It was fun."Grotzinger added, "Ashwin is a great choice. He has such an in-depth understanding of the rover, and is extremely experienced with operations and the strategies we have been employing in operating the mission. And as an atmospheric scientist, Ashwin brings a lot of experience to bear on how to interpret the geological, geochemical and other data that we get, and being able to reconstruct past climates."If Vasavada has any hesitation, it might be about the commitment the new job requires. "This will be an even more intense time for me. We're a dedicated bunch at JPL," he said with a laugh. "John, [deputy project scientist] Joy Crisp and myself were often the last three lights on in the building."Moving ahead, his lights may be burning a bit longer."My new responsibilities are much more personal involving the relationships with the nine principal investigators, making sure that they are getting the best results from their science, and are getting what they need from each other. I'll also work to resolve any conflicts. That's a huge investment in terms of both time and emotions."He paused, and added: "But what an opportunity… not just once-in-a lifetime experience, but one that many people never even get. It's going to be an incredible few years, and worth whatever it takes."NASA And Microsoft Using HoloLens To Make It Possible To Work Remotely… On MarsDarrell Etherington - Tech CrunchMicrosoft and NASA are teaming up to make remote working on the Red Planet a reality, using the newly announced HoloLens headset, and the Windows Holographic technology that it supports. The platform is called OnSight and is being developed out of NASA's Pasadena-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It uses the Mars Curiosity rover as effectively a telepresence bot for scientists working out of the relative comforts of Earth's atmosphere.Data piped from Curiosity will allow the OnSight software to build a 3D simulation of its surroundings on Mars, which scientists will be able to check out first-hand thanks to HoloLens' ability to project virtual environments onto physical surroundings. The scientists will then be able to examine what's being worked on by Curiosity from a first-person perspective, and then plan future activities for the rover to complete, as well as see simulations of their likely results.HoloLens and the holographic computing MS is using with the headset won't just pipe a 3D recreation of the Martian landscape to scientists. It'll also overlay the imagery with information, distances, readings and other sensor data and supplemental knowledge to help scientists experience Curiosity's viewpoint in a way that lets them work within the simulation directly, rather than having to pop out to check some detail on a nearby terminal.OnSight is part of JPL's ongoing research into robot-controlled spacecraft and exploration equipment, meaning we could eventually see more robot missions to Mars before we send humans up there to check things out first-hand. Curiosity operations involving the OnSight tech are slated to kick off later this year, and HoloLens and Microsoft's crazy AR innovations could be included in Mars 2020 rover missions, NASA says.I literally just finished reading The Martian, so I can't close without mentioning that this probably would've helped a lot with the rescue of Mark Watney, had HoloLens and OnSight existed in that fictional near future.Private moon firm to sign deal for test flights at CapeJames Dean – Florida TodayThe developer of a commercial moon lander will lease a Cape Canaveral launch complex from which some of the nation's first robotic lunar orbiters and landers took flight, bringing up to 50 jobs to the Space Coast this year.Silicon Valley-based Moon Express tomorrow will announce plans to sign a five-year lease with Space Florida to base its propulsion and test flight operations at Launch Complex 36, the site of former Atlas pads that launched NASA spacecraft to the moon and Mars.The announcement comes several months after the privately-funded company began testing a small, doughnut-shaped spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway, a precursor to the vehicle it hopes will capture the Google Lunar XPRIZE."There's no better place to go to the moon than from the Space Coast," said Bob Richards, Moon Express co-founder and CEO. "There are support resources, skills and facilities that are unmatched anywhere on the planet."Moon Express is the first entrepreneurial "new space" company to commit to a significant presence at the Cape without a major government contract in hand. If it is successful, it would help diversify the area's space industry beyond its traditional base of NASA and Air Force contractors working on big rocket programs.An initial group of 25 to 50 employees will include some relocating from the company's headquarters at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, and an office in Huntsville, Alabama. Among them is Tim Pickens, lead designer of the engine for SpaceShipOne, the first privately developed craft to put people in space in 2004.They will also include local hires, potentially building up to a team of 100 or 200 employees here, ranging from machine shop workers to spacecraft engineers.Space Florida has not officially identified Moon Express as a partner, so far referring only to Project Pineapple. CEO Frank DiBello on Wednesday told board members the parties were "close to an agreement."The state agency recently approved spending $250,000 to match Moon Express' first investment in facility upgrades at Launch Complex 36, one of two state-run pads on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, that Richards said over time could top $10 million.Moon Express will set up launch and landing pads for short, low hops of test vehicles that it hopes to advance rapidly from one version to the next."We expect a vehicle to be flying every couple of months," said Richards.The complex will house four stands for tests of new engines and thrusters being developed for the spacecraft, which will be equipped with 25 total. A moonscape may be built similar to the one near Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway, where the company began performing its early tests.The developer of a commercial moon lander will lease a Cape Canaveral launch complex from which some of the nation's first robotic lunar orbiters and landers took flight, bringing up to 50 jobs to the Space Coast this year.Silicon Valley-based Moon Express tomorrow will announce plans to sign a five-year lease with Space Florida to base its propulsion and test flight operations at Launch Complex 36, the site of former Atlas pads that launched NASA spacecraft to the moon and Mars.The announcement comes several months after the privately-funded company began testing a small, doughnut-shaped spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway, a precursor to the vehicle it hopes will capture the Google Lunar XPRIZE."There's no better place to go to the moon than from the Space Coast," said Bob Richards, Moon Express co-founder and CEO. "There are support resources, skills and facilities that are unmatched anywhere on the planet."Moon Express is the first entrepreneurial "new space" company to commit to a significant presence at the Cape without a major government contract in hand. If it is successful, it would help diversify the area's space industry beyond its traditional base of NASA and Air Force contractors working on big rocket programs.An initial group of 25 to 50 employees will include some relocating from the company's headquarters at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, and an office in Huntsville, Alabama. Among them is Tim Pickens, lead designer of the engine for SpaceShipOne, the first privately developed craft to put people in space in 2004.They will also include local hires, potentially building up to a team of 100 or 200 employees here, ranging from machine shop workers to spacecraft engineers.Space Florida has not officially identified Moon Express as a partner, so far referring only to Project Pineapple. CEO Frank DiBello on Wednesday told board members the parties were "close to an agreement."The state agency recently approved spending $250,000 to match Moon Express' first investment in facility upgrades at Launch Complex 36, one of two state-run pads on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, that Richards said over time could top $10 million.Moon Express will set up launch and landing pads for short, low hops of test vehicles that it hopes to advance rapidly from one version to the next."We expect a vehicle to be flying every couple of months," said Richards.The complex will house four stands for tests of new engines and thrusters being developed for the spacecraft, which will be equipped with 25 total. A moonscape may be built similar to the one near Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway, where the company began performing its early tests.ENDMore at www.spacetoday.net
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