Happy Monday everyone!
So much for the Texans' season—wait until next year. Texans back in the superbowl hunt!
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Check Out the Latest 'Space To Ground' Video!
- A Cup of Joe, and a New Direction to Go
- Lync Web Conferencing Available Today, Dec. 16
- Annual Clean Room Re-Certification
- A Last Moment to Spare - Organizations/Social
- JSC Model Airplane Radio Control Club
- Starport's Weekly Holiday Specials
- Holiday Baskets at Starport
- Starport's T-Shirt Distribution Schedule - Jobs and Training
- Admin Rights on NASA Computers
- Job Opportunities - Community
- Recycling at JSC: Gift Wrap
- Winter Break Camps at Space Center Houston |  |
| Headlines - Check Out the Latest 'Space To Ground' Video!
This week's "Space To Ground" video is now available. Please take a look and share it with your family and friends. NASA's "Space To Ground" is a weekly Web series looking at what's happening aboard the International Space Station. It is posted each Friday on NASA.gov and across the agency's social networks. JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 http://www.nasa.gov/
[top] - A Cup of Joe, and a New Direction to Go
A team was formed by the center director that was tasked with addressing the following question: Is JSC lean, agile, responsive and adaptive to change? These are the elements of JSC 2.0, and JSC Director Ellen Ochoa is interested in hearing your thoughts.
With one already on the books, there will be a monthly "coffee" chat with a random sampling of employees--including none other than JSC Director Ellen Ochoa and JSC Deputy Director Kirk Shireman. So, if you receive a "surprise" invite for a spot of coffee and some chatter, don't be anxious—be open. The chats will be ongoing, and each session will include a mix of about two dozen civil servants and contractors.
What does management gain from these chats? They get to hear real-time solutions and innovations, straight from employees on the front lines. JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
[top] - Lync Web Conferencing Available Today, Dec. 16
Microsoft Lync Web Conferencing will be enabled for those with WebEx accounts (VTS seats) to schedule online meetings. Lync Web Conferencing offers features comparable to WebEx, including the ability to conduct meetings with NASA and non-NASA participants. Training View the following resources to familiarize yourself with Lync web conferencing functions. - Videos: Training Video for Mac | Training Video for Windows 7
- User Guides: Mac | Windows 7 | Web Scheduler (Windows XP & Linux)
- Quick Start for Windows 7
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Lync Web Conferencing/WebEx comparison
VTS seat subscribers will be invited to attend virtual training sessions with a live demo in January. Additional details will be provided. Note: Lync Instant Messaging users may hold multi-party chats with up to 15 NDC participants WITHOUT a Lync Web Conferencing account. For technical assistance, contact the Enterprise Service Desk: - ESD website
- 1-877-677-2123, Option 2
- Annual Clean Room Re-Certification
The Building 9S clean room will be closed for annual recertification starting Dec. 16. The clean room will resume normal operations by Dec. 30. The following tasks can be performed during the shutdown: - Passivation
- Pickling
- GC clean
The following tasks cannot be performed during the shutdown: - Particle Counts
- NVRs
- Water samples
- VC clean
If you have any questions/concerns, please contact Monica Hensley at x33860. - A Last Moment to Spare
The Office of the Chief Knowledge Officer is conducting research on the usability and satisfaction of the JSC Search interface. Over the next two months, we will be releasing surveys to gather your thoughts on the usability/ functionality of the search interface, as well as the satisfaction on the result set presented. The survey only takes a moment and serves as a great opportunity to help improve a vital resource to the center! All submissions are anonymous, and every response will be evaluated. Please support this project by clicking on the link to take the first survey. Thank you. This is the final week for this survey. Organizations/Social - JSC Model Airplane Radio Control Club
Every second Thursday of the month, the JSC Model Airplane Club holds its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. in the Clear Lake Park building (4891 NASA Parkway). Come and join the fun and check out the wonderful hobby of flying model airplanes. We fly on NASA property behind Building 14. For more information, please contact Mike Laible at 281-226-4192. - Starport's Weekly Holiday Specials
Shop in the Starport Gift Shops this week to save 15 percent on men's ties, suspenders and money clips. Enjoy a 10 percent discount on NASA padfolios, leather journals and revolving globes. Don't forget to watch JSC Today for our extra special sale next week! Holidays + Starport = savings. - Holiday Baskets at Starport
Holiday baskets are now available at Starport. Choose the Warm Me Up, the Teacher Appreciation or the NASA Kids Fun pack -- all at great prices. The Mind & Body and the Man O' Man both include the gift of relaxation and everyone's favorite: a 60-minute massage. Or, get a six-month membership to Inner Space or Outer Space, along with a NASA water bottle (a $154 value), for just $99.95. Purchase a basket and get more value for your dollar at Starport! - Starport's T-Shirt Distribution Schedule
Starport will be distributing the online orders of the NASA 55th Anniversary and Space Shuttle Commemorative T-Shirts per the following schedule: - Monday, Dec. 16, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Building 3
- Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Building 11
- Wednesday, Dec. 18, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Gilruth Fitness Center
Please bring your NASA badge to pick up your shirts. If you are picking up shirts for another employee, bring an email from that employee stating such. Your receipt may be helpful, but is not required. Thank you for choosing Starport! Jobs and Training - Admin Rights on NASA Computers
Previously, users at JSC had admin rights on their government-provided computers. This allowed users to install software and gave considerable control over Information Technology (IT) devices. To improve security and reduce risk to IT devices, NASA is implementing Managed Elevated Privileges (MEP). This means admin rights (elevated privileges) will be removed until they are needed. MEP will be deployed using a phased approach, with organizations receiving advanced notice. MEP deployment begins January 2014. What to do? Complete the SATERN training required for short-term elevated privileges. This training is REQUIRED should you ever need to request short-term elevated privileges. Additional training is required for long-term or special elevated privileges (see link below). SATERN Course: Elevated Privileges on NASA Information System For more information about MEP, training requirements and exceptions, click here. - Job Opportunities
Where do I find job opportunities? To help you navigate to JSC vacancies, use the filter drop-down menu and select "JSC HR." The "Jobs" link will direct you to the USAJOBS website for the complete announcement and the ability to apply online. If you have questions about any JSC job vacancies, please call your HR representative. Community - Recycling at JSC: Gift Wrap
Did you know that gift wrap can be recycled at JSC? It's easy. Simply put your gift wrap into the mixed office paper recycling totes, and you'll be accomplishing two great things at once: keeping trash out of the landfill, and helping JSC generate revenue from the sale of recyclables. The revenue comes back to JSC and helps us improve our recycling and sustainability programs. To recycle gift wrap at home, check with your local recycling provider. - Winter Break Camps at Space Center Houston
Bring in the "chill" with winter break day camps at Space Center Houston! Camps are being offered Dec. 23, Dec. 26-27 and Jan. 2-3. Register soon here or call 281-283-4755, as camps fill up quickly. | |
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| JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters. |
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Monday – December 16, 2013
International Space Station:
Over the weekend, ISS astronaut Rick Mastracchio tweeted an image of Cape Town, South Africa, commenting "From the ISS we say goodbye to Nelson Mandela." The photo was featured in NBC News "Photo Blog". See the image here: http://go.nasa.gov/1fgSo2A
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Astronaut may get Christmas wish for spacewalk
Marcia Dunn – AP
Space station astronaut Rick Mastracchio may get his Christmas wish for a spacewalk or two because of a broken cooling system.
Balky cooling system slows ISS science work
Life in orbit still close to routine
James Dean – Florida Today
A coolant system problem has limited science research but otherwise not disrupted life on the International Space Station too much, one of its six residents said Friday.
NASA troubleshooting delays ISS resupply mission
James Dean – Florida Today
The next launch of supplies to the International Space Station has been delayed at least one day, to Thursday, while NASA investigates a glitch that has shut down half the station's external coolant system.
Station cargo flight delayed amid coolant system troubleshooting
William Harwood – CBS News
NASA managers Saturday decided to delay launch of an Orbital Sciences Corp. space station cargo ship by at least one day amid ongoing work to come up with a fix for a balky valve in a cooling system that has forced the station crew to power down non-critical systems.
China's moon rover leaves traces on lunar soil
Louise Watt – AP
China's first moon rover has touched the lunar surface and left deep traces on its loose soil, state media reported Sunday, several hours after the country successfully carried out the world's first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades.
Chinese Probe Successfully Lands On The Moon
Alex Knapp – Forbes
Earlier today, the Chinese lunar probe Chang'e-3 successfully landed on the Moon. This successful "soft landing" made China the first country to land a probe on the surface of the Moon in 37 years, and is only the third country to have done so.
NASA: Swimming on Mars
Editorial - The Boston Globe
NASA's discovery of the remains of a freshwater lake on Mars might not sound like much, but it represents an important step forward in the search for extraterrestrial life. What is almost as extraordinary is that scientists could push on with their research despite budget cuts and the prevailing sense of skepticism in Congress about scientific inquiry with no immediate practical application. The discovery on Mars is a real breakthrough, and lawmakers should see it as such.
NASA's chief scientist on Mars, moons and money
Ellen Stofan looks to send scientists to the red planet.
Alexandra Witze – Nature News
Planetary geologist Ellen Stofan joined NASA in August as the agency's chief scientist, an overarching role in which she advises on the science of all NASA programmes. Nature caught up with Stofan at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, where she was taking in a raft of discoveries, from developments on Mars to the possibility of water on Jupiter's moon Europa.
NASA selects SpaceX to take over historic launchpad
W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
Hawthorne rocket maker SpaceX is a step closer to taking over NASA's most historic launchpad, where the mighty Saturn V rocket made its moonshot and where the first space shuttle rumbled to life. The Value Added Q&A: Here's how one rocket scientist engineered his hiring process
Thomas Heath – The Washington Post
My recent trip to Orbital Sciences, the rocket and satellite manufacturer located outside Washington, was so interesting that I decided to devote another column to the company.
Age of Saturn's Rings Revealed
Saturn's iconic rings likely formed about 4.4 billion years ago, shortly after the planet itself took shape, a new study suggests.
Astronaut Mark Kelly Joins Near-Space Tourism Company World View
Alex Knapp - Forbes
Tucson, AZ-based World View Enterprises, which aims to take people into near space altitudes via balloon, announced today that former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly is joining the company as its Director of Flight Crew Operations. The company announced that it will also begin taking reservations for its flights this week.
Survey: Federal workers still willing to put in extra effort as job satisfaction drops
Yvonne Wenger – The Baltimore Sun
After Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant melted down in 2011, Nathan Sanfilippo joined a team at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission charged with evaluating what went wrong and determining how to prevent a similar disaster in the United States.
__________
COMPLETE STORIES
Astronaut may get Christmas wish for spacewalk
Marcia Dunn – AP
Space station astronaut Rick Mastracchio may get his Christmas wish for a spacewalk or two because of a broken cooling system.
Mastracchio, an experienced spacewalker, said he's more than ready to go out and make repairs, if deemed necessary by Mission Control.
"Any time you have something like this, it's good news, bad news," Mastracchio told The Associated Press on Friday.
"Of course, the bad news is the station's having problems and we have to go out and do a repair. The good news is we have the spare parts. We have the training. We have the skills and, of course, going out and doing a spacewalk is always very exciting — yet very challenging."
One of two cooling loops on the space station shut down Wednesday after it got too cold. Flight controllers suspect a bad valve inside an external pump.
It's a serious situation that needs to be remedied quickly, officials said, in case there are additional failures.
On Friday, engineers in Houston spent a third day working on the issue. They want to see if they can solve the problem remotely, before ordering up a series of spacewalks to replace the entire pump. Three spacewalks were required to install this pump in 2010.
The space station cooling system uses ammonia to dissipate heat generated by on-board equipment.
The six astronauts have turned off all nonessential equipment to reduce the heat load, including some science experiments. That's resulted in extra free time for Mastracchio and his U.S., Japanese and Russian crewmates. Otherwise, life has not changed much a couple hundred miles up, he noted.
"We still have lights. We still have the toilet working. We still have food, and we're still very comfortable up here," Mastracchio said. "So the biggest problem is that we're just not taking the time during our schedule to do as much science as we normally would."
An upcoming delivery mission may be delayed because of the cooling system trouble. The commercial Cygnus capsule, currently scheduled for a Wednesday launch from Wallops Island, Va., almost certainly holds holiday surprises for the astronauts, along with the usual stash of supplies.
At least Mastracchio doesn't have to cram in any last-minute Christmas shopping, using the space station's Internet phone or online capability. The 53-year-old engineer said he bought presents for his wife before he rocketed into orbit at the beginning of November for a six-month mission.
"Being away from your friends and family during the holidays is not optimal," he told the AP. "But if you have to be away from your family on Christmas, then this is sure not a bad place to be."
And children, stay tuned.
"We're always on the lookout for Santa up here," Mastracchio said with a smile.
Balky cooling system slows ISS science work
Life in orbit still close to routine
James Dean – Florida Today
A coolant system problem has limited science research but otherwise not disrupted life on the International Space Station too much, one of its six residents said Friday.
"We still have lights, we still have the toilet working, we still have food to eat, and we're still very comfortable up here," NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio said in a media interview shown on NASA TV. "The biggest problem is that we're just not taking the time during our schedule to do as much science as we normally would."
One of the station's two external coolant loops shut down Wednesday when it grew too cold. Some experiments and non-critical systems had to be powered down to prevent overheating.
The crew is not in danger, but the complex orbiting 260 miles above Earth is more vulnerable to another system failure.
Engineers believe a valve that helps regulate the ammonia coolant's temperature is not working properly.
An update is expected Monday on whether to proceed with a Wednesday launch of cargo from Virginia.
NASA will continue troubleshooting efforts before deciding whether spacewalks are needed to make repairs.
Mastracchio described that possibility as a "good news, bad news" situation.
"Of course, the bad news is the station is having problems, and we have to go out and do a repair," he said. "The good news is we have the spare parts, we have the training, we have the skills, and of course, going out and doing a spacewalk is always very exciting, yet very challenging."
NASA troubleshooting delays ISS resupply mission
James Dean – Florida Today
The next launch of supplies to the International Space Station has been delayed at least one day, to Thursday, while NASA investigates a glitch that has shut down half the station's external coolant system.
Orbital Sciences Corp., on Saturday announced that the launch from Virginia's Eastern Shore of its Antares rocket and unmanned Cygnus cargo spacecraft was now planned no earlier than 9:19 p.m. EST Thursday, the opening of a five-minute window.
Orbital said it would learn today if NASA authorized it to proceed with loading time-sensitive cargo into the Cygnus in preparation for the rocket to roll to its launch pad Tuesday.
NASA had said it would update the launch schedule after station managers met Monday morning.
The launch window for the commercial resupply mission, Orbital's first of eight under a $1.9 billion contract, runs through Saturday or Sunday of next week.
No further update was provided Saturday on efforts to restore function to a balky flow control valve inside an ammonia pump module on the station's starboard side.
The valve apparently failed last Wednesday, causing one of the outpost's two coolant loops to get too cold and shut down.
If teams on the ground can't come up with a fix in the near future, spacewalks will likely be ordered to replace the pump module and restore redundancy to the coolant system.
The station's six-person crew is in no danger, but some non-essential systems have been powered down to prevent overheating, limiting science research.
Station cargo flight delayed amid coolant system troubleshooting
William Harwood – CBS News
NASA managers Saturday decided to delay launch of an Orbital Sciences Corp. space station cargo ship by at least one day amid ongoing work to come up with a fix for a balky valve in a cooling system that has forced the station crew to power down non-critical systems.
Extensive testing indicates the valve has suffered a hardware failure and while engineers haven't given up on finding a fix, officials said, the station astronauts are protectively preparing spacesuits and other gear for at least two potential spacewalks to install a replacement ammonia pump module.
No final decisions have been made, but if the spacewalks are required they likely will be targeted for Dec. 19 and 21, with a third excursion held in reserve Dec. 23 if more time is needed. If the spacewalks are ordered, Orbital Sciences would delay launch of the company's Cygnus cargo ship until early to mid January.
"It's a serious problem, obviously it's something we have to fix," station astronaut Rick Mastracchio told a reporter Friday. "It's not something I'm worried about, though. We've got some great folks on the ground, and I wouldn't be surprised if they can figure out a way to get this external (coolant) loop back up and working in the next couple of days.
"And if they don't, then the possibility exists we'll have to go out and do a spacewalk to replace the pump module. We have many spare parts on board, we train for these situations over and over again, so all the procedures and everything are in place to take care of this."
Hoping for the best, Orbital Sciences engineers at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Island, Va., flight facility are pressing ahead with plans to roll an Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo capsule to the pad 0A on Tuesday, setting the stage for launch at 9:19 p.m. EST (GMT-5) Thursday, one day later than originally planned.
If the launch goes forward, the station crew will use the lab's robot arm to berth the cargo ship to the forward Harmony module's Earth-facing port on Sunday, Dec. 22. But that assumes engineers can resolve the cooling system problem that has left Harmony and two other modules in power-down mode.
At issue is the behavior of a flow control valve inside a pump module housed on the right side of the station's solar power truss. The valve is used to regulate the temperature of ammonia coolant used to dissipate heat generated by the station's electrical systems.
The station is equipped with two independent ammonia coolant loops and while either one can handle the heat produced by the station's critical life support, communications, stabilization and key computer systems, both are needed to cool those components, the station's major science experiments and other non-essential equipment.
The flow control valve problem resulted in lower-than-allowable temperatures in the ammonia flowing through coolant loop A. That's a major problem because the ammonia picks up the heat generated by the lab's electrical systems from warmed water that flows through heat exchangers. The concern is that the cold ammonia could freeze the water in the heat exchangers and damage the system.
As a result, flight controllers opted not to use loop A, switching critical systems to coolant loop B and powering down non-essential equipment in the Harmony module, the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory and Japan's Kibo research module to reduce the cooling required.
Overnight Thursday, flight controllers power cycled the loop A pump module, hoping that the flow control valve, located in the module's plumbing, would reset and work normally when the system was powered back up. But valve showed the same behavior as before.
Engineers then carried out tests using a different valve at various settings to achieve the proper temperature in loop A with the flow control valve locked in the wrong position. The results of those tests are being evaluated, along with other possible methods for regulating the ammonia temperature with a malfunctioning flow control valve.
But insiders say it appears increasingly likely that a spacewalk repair job will be needed to restore coolant loop A to normal operation. If so, the task will fall to Mastracchio, a veteran spacewalker, and first-time flier Mike Hopkins.
Both had training for a pump module swap out before launch -- three spares are mounted on storage pallets attached to the station's power truss -- and they will have the advantage of lessons learned from three 2010 EVAs to install the pump module that is now having problems.
"Any spacewalk is challenging, obviously, and there's risk involved," Mastracchio told Space.com in an interview Friday. "This particular pump module R&R, we've practiced it many times in the (training) pool, I did an ammonia tank change out three years ago during one of my shuttle missions. This is very similar, a large box, a few bolts.
"The biggest challenge on this spacewalk, in my opinion, is the large fluid connectors that are connected to the pump module. But of course, we have a lot of tools if we have problems with those to fix that."
During spacewalks in 2010 to install the current pump module, astronauts ran into trouble with those connectors and had to add a third spacewalk to complete the swap out. China's moon rover leaves traces on lunar soil
Louise Watt – AP
China's first moon rover has touched the lunar surface and left deep traces on its loose soil, state media reported Sunday, several hours after the country successfully carried out the world's first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades.
The 140-kilogram (300-pound) "Jade Rabbit" rover separated from the much larger landing vehicle early Sunday, around seven hours after the unmanned Chang'e 3 space probe touched down on a fairly flat, Earth-facing part of the moon.
State broadcaster China Central Television showed images taken from the lander's camera of the rover and its shadow moving down a sloping ladder and touching the surface, setting off applause in the Beijing control center. It said the lander and rover, both bearing Chinese flags, would take photos of each other Sunday evening.
Later, the six-wheeled rover will survey the moon's geological structure and surface and look for natural resources for three months, while the lander will carry out scientific explorations at the landing site for one year.
The mission marks the next stage in an ambitious space program that aims to eventually put a Chinese astronaut on the moon. China's space program is an enormous source of pride for the country, the third to carry out a lunar soft landing — which does not damage the craft and the equipment it carries — after the United States and the former Soviet Union. The last one was by the Soviet Union in 1976.
"It's still a significant technological challenge to land on another world," said Peter Bond, consultant editor for Jane's Space Systems and Industry. "Especially somewhere like the moon, which doesn't have an atmosphere so you can't use parachutes or anything like that. You have to use rocket motors for the descent and you have to make sure you go down at the right angle and the right rate of descent and you don't end up in a crater on top of a large rock."
On Saturday evening, CCTV showed a computer-generated image of the Chang'e 3 lander's path as it approached the surface of the moon, saying that during the landing period it needed to have no contact with Earth. As it was just hundreds of meters (yards) away, the lander's camera broadcast images of the moon's surface.
The Chang'e 3's solar panels, which are used to absorb sunlight to generate power, opened soon after the landing.
The mission blasted off from southwest China on Dec. 2 on a Long March-3B carrier rocket. It is named after a mythical Chinese goddess of the moon and the "Yutu" rover, or "Jade Rabbit" in English, is the goddess' pet.
China's military-backed space program has made methodical progress in a relatively short time, although it lags far behind the United States and Russia in technology and experience.
China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003, becoming the third nation after Russia and the United States to achieve manned space travel independently. In 2006, it sent its first probe to the moon. China plans to open a space station around 2020 and send an astronaut to the moon after that.
"They are taking their time with getting to know about how to fly humans into space, how to build space stations ... how to explore the solar system, especially the moon and Mars," Bond said. "They are making good strides, and I think over the next 10-20 years they'll certainly be rivaling Russia and America in this area and maybe overtaking them in some areas."
Chinese Probe Successfully Lands On The Moon
Alex Knapp – Forbes
Earlier today, the Chinese lunar probe Chang'e-3 successfully landed on the Moon. This successful "soft landing" made China the first country to land a probe on the surface of the Moon in 37 years, and is only the third country to have done so.
Chang'e-3 began its landing procedure at about 8am EST today. It began decelerating when it was about 9 miles above the Lunar surface. About 320 feet above the surface, it hovered and used its onboard sensors to find the best landing spot before finally touching down in the "Bay of Rainbows."
The entire landing process, start to finish, took about 11 minutes.
In a few hours, the Chang'e-3 probe is scheduled to separate, releasing a small lunar rover called "Yutu" (Jade Rabbit). This six-wheeled rover will spend the next three months exploring the Lunar surface, cataloging its geology and looking for natural resources.
The rover itself is actually autonomous – programmed to find its way around the Moon and look for interesting things to explore. Chinese scientists, however, will be able to take control of the rover if need be.
"Compared to the last century's space race between the United States and the former Soviet Union, mankind's current return to the moon is more based on curiosity and exploration of the unknown universe," CNSA Sun Huixian told Xinhua.
In that spirit, it turns out that the Chinese probe's activities could also provide more data for current NASA lunar missions.
"Although there is no cooperation between the U.S. and China on these missions, U.S. researchers could see potentially interesting science from the landing. The data will be made available to the international science community," NASA said in a statement.
This data includes potential changes in the Lunar atmosphere as a result of the probe's landing, changes to the surface as a result of the rover's activities, and other information.
"The resulting atmospheric and surface changes will provide [the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter] with a new scientific opportunity to observe the transport of gases on the moon and the effects of local disturbances on the lunar regolith," said NASA.
NASA: Swimming on Mars
Editorial - The Boston Globe
NASA's discovery of the remains of a freshwater lake on Mars might not sound like much, but it represents an important step forward in the search for extraterrestrial life. What is almost as extraordinary is that scientists could push on with their research despite budget cuts and the prevailing sense of skepticism in Congress about scientific inquiry with no immediate practical application. The discovery on Mars is a real breakthrough, and lawmakers should see it as such.
The report, published on Dec. 9, is based on data transmitted by the Curiosity rover, which is currently exploring the surface of the red planet. While the dried lake bed is not the first sign that Mars once had water — the planet's geography has features that could only have been made by water erosion — it is the first evidence of water that could theoretically support life. There is even evidence that this lake contained minerals such as iron and sulfur, both of which are important to the metabolisms of certain types of microorganisms on Earth.
NASA continues to do important work, despite shrinking federal funding. Both the recession and the sequester have taken bites out of the agency's budget. And although total funding for 2014 is likely to remain unchanged, NASA's planetary science division, which funds the Mars study, swallowed a $300 million cut in 2013, and many grant-giving operations will be postponed for all of next year. Lawmakers should realize that discoveries such as those of the Curiosity rover team are worthwhile investments. They fire the imagination, and they expand our understanding not just of other worlds but also our own.
NASA's chief scientist on Mars, moons and money
Ellen Stofan looks to send scientists to the red planet.
Alexandra Witze – Nature News
Planetary geologist Ellen Stofan joined NASA in August as the agency's chief scientist, an overarching role in which she advises on the science of all NASA programmes. Nature caught up with Stofan at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, where she was taking in a raft of discoveries, from developments on Mars to the possibility of water on Jupiter's moon Europa.
Why should NASA send humans to Mars when robots have been so successful?
We're not sending generic people to Mars — we're sending scientists to Mars, we're sending explorers. While robotic explorers are important and gain you amazing information, if you think of the ground that's been covered by the rovers Opportunity and Spirit, or by Curiosity — that could be covered by humans in a fraction of the time. I have a personal bias that if we're truly going to understand Mars as a habitable planet, it's going to take human geologists and human astrobiologists on the surface to find that out.
Is planetary science at NASA really in dire financial straits?
Whenever you get more than US$1 billion of US taxpayer money, in my mind the situation is never dire. It maybe is not the programme you would like to execute, but it's a lot of money. We spend it wisely and we have a very vigorous programme. We just launched the Mars orbiter MAVEN, and we have many missions on the books. With the budget that we have, we feel we are returning significant science.
What has been the best part of the job so far?
Learning about the utilization of the International Space Station and some of the scientific results that have come out of that. But it is a finite asset. Right now it's only running through 2020, and NASA is looking at extending its life through 2028. Are we making the best case that the space station is a critical asset for this nation? Are we maximizing scientific research there to the best extent that we can? In spring we'll be launching the first rodent laboratory up to the station, and there will be a lot of exciting stuff going on.
What has been the worst part?
Probably the budget uncertainty. We are looking at the possibility of another budget sequester in January. A second sequester will have huge effects on the agency. It's a distraction that's depressing. This is the greatest space agency in the world, and we can't plan the way we should be able to.
You have proposed a mission to Saturn's moon Titan. When is NASA going there?
Not soon enough. One of my focuses coming into the job is to see how we can utilize the assets that we have and the money that we have to try to get as much access to scientific data as we can. These might be small mission lines, infusing new technology to bring the cost down, or looking at problems differently. I was really proud of the concept of going to a sea on Titan. People said it would cost a huge amount of money and we demonstrated that it could be done for far less.
NASA associate administrator John Grunsfeld has suggested that the next call for ideas for a small discovery mission would be in 2015, and for a bigger mission under the New Frontiers Program in 2022. Why so long?
The decadal survey [of community priorities] had hoped for a faster cadence of missions. This is the cadence that's possible with the current budget.
How can NASA do things differently?
If we're innovative and if we apply new technologies. One of the big frustrations, which drives up overall mission cost, is launch cost. What if you had a bigger rocket and could cut the travel time to Titan in half?
NASA selects SpaceX to take over historic launchpad
W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
Hawthorne rocket maker SpaceX is a step closer to taking over NASA's most historic launchpad, where the mighty Saturn V rocket made its moonshot and where the first space shuttle rumbled to life. The space agency confirmed Friday that it has chosen SpaceX to begin negotiations on a lease to operate Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The pad is where Apollo 11 lifted off in 1969 en route to the first manned moon landing. It is also where the first space shuttle mission in 1981 and the last mission in 2011 were launched.
It's likely to be the place where the next chapter of manned spaceflight will play out, with NASA's plan to outsource space missions to privately funded companies now that the U.S. fleet of space shuttles is retired.
SpaceX has already taken on the task of hauling cargo to the International Space Station, having made three flights out of 12 to restock the orbiting laboratory. The company has a $1.6-billion contract with NASA to do so.
The next phase is carrying astronauts. Last year, SpaceX won $440 million from NASA to make its spacecraft astronaut-ready.
SpaceX's capsule is designed to carry seven astronauts. The company is aiming for a manned test flight by 2015.
SpaceX, officially named Space Exploration Technologies Corp., won out on the pad over Blue Origin, a little-known aerospace company founded by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin, based in Kent, Wash., wanted to lease the launchpad and protested earlier this year when NASA asked for proposals -- it said NASA gave SpaceX an unfair advantage.
The Government Accountability Office looked into the matter and on Thursday denied Blue Origin's protest.
In a statement, SpaceX said it "will gladly accommodate other commercial providers interested in using launch complex 39A for NASA human-rated orbital spaceflight."
NASA said it will begin working with SpaceX to negotiate the terms of its lease for the pad. During those negotiations, the agency said, it will not discuss details of the lease agreement.
Meanwhile, NASA said it is hard at work assembling the Orion spacecraft and preparing its infrastructure for the Space Launch System rocket. It will launch from a nearby pad and take American astronauts far into space, including to an asteroid and Mars. The Value Added Q&A: Here's how one rocket scientist engineered his hiring process
Thomas Heath – The Washington Post
My recent trip to Orbital Sciences, the rocket and satellite manufacturer located outside Washington, was so interesting that I decided to devote another column to the company.
It took several years to get the interview with Orbital's chief executive and co-founder, David W. Thompson. The 58-year-old rocket scientist had a lot to say about the business of space travel, and about how to keep the excitement pumped up at a hit-driven company built on space exploration.
Orbital, based in Dulles, has $1.4 billion in annual revenue. The company has existed for about 30 years, 22 of them as a public company. Half of the company's 3,600 employees are rocket scientists or engineers. About 2,000 work in the Washington area.
Thompson has a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master's degree from the California Institute of Technology, and a master's from Harvard Business School.
A big chunk of our 90-minute interview focused on what he looks for when recruiting employees, where he finds them and how he competes with Wall Street for the math whizzes who are critical to sending rockets into space.
You have several former astronauts on your staff. Why do you hire former astronauts?
The same reason we like to hire kids from MIT and Georgia Tech, Michigan and CalTech. They've already been pre-selected. They have a strong interest in our business, and they've made it through some other gantlets.
Astronauts go through a lot of gantlets. These days it's not so much that they're the best test pilots, although many of them are, but they've got to be pretty smart, pretty highly motivated and pretty well-rounded people.
They've got to know how to be leaders. For instance, Frank Culbertson, who sits right down the hall. Frank was a naval aviator, test pilot, became an astronaut. But he had to know how to lead people under adverse conditions and be well spoken. He had to have good technical background. He had to really understand, particularly in Frank's case, intimately, what the human space flight market is really all about.
Frank commanded several space shuttle missions. He was the only American alive at the time who was not on planet Earth on 9/11. He and two Russians were on the space station. He was the second U.S. commander on the space station.
We've got three or four or five [astronauts], I guess.
How do you compete for people who could make millions running algorithms for Wall Street hedge funds?
It's not really that hard.
The stuff we do is what those kids like me have wanted to do for a long time . . . t he excitement of being able to build something that's going to explore the universe or connect up most of the people around the world with one another, or help defend the country and do so with projects where they make a real difference.
Maybe a small fraction of them decide they don't want to be in this industry and decide they're going to go to Wall Street to make algorithms for hedge funds.
But most of them want to be in this business. So we get more than our fair share, and it's because things move fast here. If you go to a big company and work on a big satellite program, you're going to be working on that program for seven or eight years before you see something coming out at the other end of the pipe.
Here, you come here and you work for seven or eight years, you'll go through three complete cycles of conceiving, designing, building, delivering, helping a customer learn how to operate a satellite or doing the same thing on a rocket.
So the pace is faster. The team that you're going to be part of is smaller, so what you do has a bigger impact.
Do you hire right out of college?
Yeah. Quite a lot. There are probably 3,000 to 4,000 kids that graduate [in the United States] every year with aerospace engineering or very closely related degrees.
What universities do you recruit from?
At the top of the list are MIT, Georgia Tech, Purdue, University of Michigan, CalTech, University of Colorado, Texas.
Once you get in, what qualities are necessary to be a success here?
You've got to have pretty good engineering or scientific skills. But you've also got to have pretty serviceable interpersonal characteristics. Most of what we do, we accomplish through small teams.
So we would generally shy away from a lone ranger who doesn't play well with others.
We try to encourage technical people to have a little broader view of the business than just their immediate assignment so they can see how everything connects.
So we teach an internal [course]. We call it the Orbital Academy.
For instance, we teach a class on spacecraft design and launch-vehicle design, but we also teach a class in business fundamentals and finance, accounting, things like that. So people get a little broader view of what it is that we do and why we do some things . . . why we make some of the decisions we make.
A lot of your success is hit-driven: the next big rocket, the next big satellite. So your people have to always be shooting for the next big thing. How do you keep that spirit of vitality and urgency?
It's tricky.
There is no one big secret. There are multiple terms in the equation — from the kind of people we recruit to the way we're organized to the kind of suppliers we work with to the design of the product.
Earlier this year, we teamed up with and were selected [by] and are being funded by a small company that Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder, set up to develop a really big version of [the Pegasus rocket] that could launch people one of these days into space.
The company is called Stratolaunch. They are in the process of building the world's largest airplane out in California.
This super-Pegasus, which we figured is 12 times bigger than the current one we developed, would go under the airplane. This airplane has a wingspan of about 350 feet. So basically, if you lined it up with the Capitol Building, it would stretch the whole length of the Capitol Building.
Do you think it's going to work?
As long as Paul keeps putting money in it.
Age of Saturn's Rings Revealed
Saturn's iconic rings likely formed about 4.4 billion years ago, shortly after the planet itself took shape, a new study suggests.
The origin of Saturn's ring system has long been the subject of debate, with some researchers arguing that it's a relatively young structure and others holding that it coalesced long ago, at roughly the same time as the gas giant's many satellites.
The new study, conducted using data gathered by NASA's Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft, strongly supports the latter scenario, researchers said here Tuesday (Dec. 10) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.
Cassini's measurements imply that "the main rings would be [extremely] old, rather than hundreds of millions of years old," Sascha Kempf, of the University of Colorado in Boulder, said.
Saturn's main ring system is huge but razor-thin, measuring about 175,000 miles (280,000 kilometers) across but just 33 feet (10 meters) or so in the vertical direction. The rings are composed primarily of water ice, but they contain small amounts of rocky material contributed by micrometeoroid bombardment.
Kempf and his colleagues used Cassini's Cosmic Dust Analyzer instrument to measure just how frequently such tiny particles cruise through the Saturn system.
They found that a surprisingly small amount of dusty material comes into contact with the rings. On average, just 0.0000000000000000001 grams — or, in scientific notation, 10^-19 g — of dust per square centimeter zooms through space every second at a distance of five to 50 Saturn radii from the planet.
Having measured this low rate of dust recruitment, the team then calculated that the rings have likely existed for about 4.4 billion years.
"It would be consistent with an old ring system," Kempf said.
Kempf and his colleagues were also able to reconstruct the orbits of many of these particles, finding that the lion's share likely come from the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune's orbit. However, some of the dust probably hails from the even more distant Oort Cloud and some from interstellar space, Kempf said.
That makes the Saturn-area dust quite different from the stuff seen near Earth and other parts of the inner solar system — a situation caused by Jupiter and its huge gravitational pull.
"Jupiter is basically splitting the solar system with respect to the dust into an inner and an outer system," Kempf said.
The $3.2 billion Cassini mission launched in 1997 and reached Saturn in 2004. The mission's operations have been extended through 2017, when the spacecraft will end its life with a dramatic plunge into Saturn's atmosphere.
Astronaut Mark Kelly Joins Near-Space Tourism Company World View
Alex Knapp - Forbes
Artist's conception of a World View balloon at the edge of space (Credit: World View)
Tucson, AZ-based World View Enterprises, which aims to take people into near space altitudes via balloon, announced today that former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly is joining the company as its Director of Flight Crew Operations. The company announced that it will also begin taking reservations for its flights this week.
Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot, was selected to be a NASA astronaut in 1996. He flew a space shuttle twice, and served on two other shuttle missions as commander, including the last flight of the Endeavour.
He became involved with this company, he told me, in part because he has known World View co-founders Jane Poynter and Taber Macallum, for a number of years thanks to his wife, former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
"I've known Jane and Taber for a number of years, ever since I started dating Gabby," he said. "I like the idea of giving regular people the opportunity to see the planet from that altitude. The whole idea intrigued me."
World View is currently targeting the end of 2016 to launch its first voyage, where passengers will ride in a pressurized capsule, carried by a balloon to an altitude of about 100,000 feet. From that height, they'll be able to get a similar view of Earth to that of astronauts, and be able to see the actual curvature of the Earth.
(This is similar to how Felix Baumgartner peformed his famous "space jump" – a balloon took him to an altitude of about 120,000 feet, then he jumped out for his skydive.)
The cost for a trip will be $75,000. Pricey, but not nearly as expensive as a suborbital trip on a Virgin Galactic spaceship, which will cost about $250,000. CEO Jane Poynter told me that the company aims to launch from several different locations, but hopes that one of them is Page, Arizona, so that its customers can see the Grand Canyon as they float up into the sky.
As part of his new role, Kelly will be actively involved in the development of the new craft, as well as its procedures and operations. He's specifically be focused on crew operations and selecting the team that can operate the craft safely.
"This is going to a very high altitude – only about 6 people have flown this high in a balloon before," he told me. "And the vehicle the balloon is taking is essentially a spacecraft. In some ways there are similarities in operation to the space shuttle and managing this craft at launch, altitude and landing.
"That said, this is not an airplane. It doesn't have wings and it doesn't have a rocket. In some ways, it's simpler. And if something simpler, it can often be safer."
Of course, in talking about taking this job with Kelly, I had to ask him if he'd be one of the company's first pilots when its operations begin.
"I don't know!" he answered. "We're going to have to see as we get closer to the first flight. But there's a strong possibility that I might do that."
For Kelly, though, his main motivation is giving people the chance to see the Earth in a new way.
"This is going to give a lot of opportunity for people to see someone that was previously restricted to very few people," he said. "This is something that people can do if they want to get a perspective on the planet and an experience like no other."
Survey: Federal workers still willing to put in extra effort as job satisfaction drops
Yvonne Wenger – The Baltimore Sun
After Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant melted down in 2011, Nathan Sanfilippo joined a team at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission charged with evaluating what went wrong and determining how to prevent a similar disaster in the United States.
Developing a strategy for the country's safety and Japan's recovery is the sort of assignment that Sanfilippo says allows him to leave work at the end of the day feeling as if his contribution makes a difference.
Sanfilippo and his colleagues at the Rockville-based agency rated their employer among the top federal agencies for job satisfaction in the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey administered by the Office of Personnel Management.
"The leadership here has done a good job of taking the mission of the agency and involving everyone on the staff in that mission," said Sanfilippo, a 33-year-old materials engineer who started working at the commission after his graduation from Penn State 11 years ago.
"There is a lot of trust in the capabilities of individuals."
The NRC, which regulates nuclear power plants and materials, placed second behind NASA in this year's voluntary survey for overall satisfaction.
Seventy-four percent of NASA workers reported that they were satisfied, compared to 72 percent at the NRC.
The Woodlawn-based Social Security Administration showed an overall employee satisfaction of 65 percent.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Archives and Records Administration tied at 49 percent for the lowest overall satisfaction.
Nearly all respondents in this year's survey indicated that they were willing to put in extra effort at their jobs and that they feel that their work is important, but year-to-year comparisons show a significant decline in satisfaction, according to an analysis by the OPM.
Federal workers have been subjected to a three-year wage freeze, furloughs and other cuts. The web-based survey was conducted before the government shutdown in October.
Across the federal government, 59 percent of workers said they feel satisfied with their job. That indicator dropped four points from 63 percent last year, and is down seven points from 2011.
The results from 37 large agencies were tallied into a Global Satisfaction Index.
"The results show employees are ready and willing to meet the challenges they face and are steadfastly accountable for achieving results and knowing what is expected of them on the job," Katherine Archuleta, the OPM director, said in a statement.
More than 376,500 employees responded to the survey. Employees in 81 agencies were asked their opinions, but the OPM factored only the results for the 37 largest into the Global Satisfaction Index.
Drew Halunen, a spokesman for the National Federation of Federal Employees, said agencies can look toward morale boosters such as work recognition programs to improve job satisfaction.
"While federal employees are not receiving monetary incentives … as they would in the private sector for great work, agencies could develop programs that actively recognize the work of the dedicated federal workforce that it employs," Halunen said in an email. "This kind of recognition is underutilized in most federal agencies.
"But realistically, federal worker satisfaction will be hampered so long as they are continually refused pay adjustments each year to offset cost-of-living increases. Being used as a political punching bag coupled with hemorrhaging employment benefits is leading to reduced satisfaction rates."
Sanfilippo, a native of the Pittsburgh area who lives in North Bethesda, said working for a federal agency has changed since he was hired around the turn of the millennium.
"It is tough; it was a lot easier when you had resources at your disposal, and the agency was in that place for a number of years," Sanfilippo said. He said the NRC has rewarded its employees in "creative" ways, such as by helping them to better balance work and life.
"You have to recognize the political climate and economic climate and try to get to creative," he said.
Miriam Cohen, chief human capital officer at the NRC, said the agency uses the results of the annual survey, as well as other employee input, as it tries to respond to worker needs.
"When they give you the feedback, you have to do something about it," Cohen said. "It's a difficult time right now, being a federal employee on the heels of sequester, the shutdown and no raises recently, no bonuses. We try to figure out what we can do."
Toward that end, she said, the agency offers flexible work schedules, for example. With supervisor approval, some employees are able to alter their work schedule to leave early or take extra days off, as long as they put in 80 hours over a two-week pay period.
The NRC also has a robust telework program and a health unit on campus, she said.
Cohen said managers invite experts to speak to the workforce on topics such as coping with holiday stress or saving for retirement.
The survey results are encouraging, she said.
"We feel very, very good about how we scored," Cohen said. "We want to use the survey as critical data to make the agency work better. We want to continue to be a high-performing organization."
Highs and lows
The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results for 2013 ranks workers' overall satisfaction with their job, pay and agency, as well as whether they'd recommend their organization as a good place to work. Across the government, 59 percent of respondents rated their overall satisfaction positively.
Here are the agencies whose employees ranked highest and lowest for overall satisfaction.
Highest satisfaction
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 74 percent
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 72 percent
Federal Communications Commission, 71 percent
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 70 percent
Department of State, 69 percent
Lowest satisfaction
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 49 percent
National Archives and Records Administration, 49 percent
Department of Homeland Security, 51 percent
Broadcasting Board of Governors, 54 percent
Office of Management and Budget, 56 percent
Source: U.S. Office of Personnel Management
END
More detailed space news can be found at:
Artist's conception of a World View balloon at the edge of space (Credit: World View)Tucson, AZ-based World View Enterprises, which aims to take people into near space altitudes via balloon, announced today that former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly is joining the company as its Director of Flight Crew Operations. The company announced that it will also begin taking reservations for its flights this week.Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot, was selected to be a NASA astronaut in 1996. He flew a space shuttle twice, and served on two other shuttle missions as commander, including the last flight of the Endeavour.He became involved with this company, he told me, in part because he has known World View co-founders Jane Poynter and Taber Macallum, for a number of years thanks to his wife, former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords."I've known Jane and Taber for a number of years, ever since I started dating Gabby," he said. "I like the idea of giving regular people the opportunity to see the planet from that altitude. The whole idea intrigued me."World View is currently targeting the end of 2016 to launch its first voyage, where passengers will ride in a pressurized capsule, carried by a balloon to an altitude of about 100,000 feet. From that height, they'll be able to get a similar view of Earth to that of astronauts, and be able to see the actual curvature of the Earth.(This is similar to how Felix Baumgartner peformed his famous "space jump" – a balloon took him to an altitude of about 120,000 feet, then he jumped out for his skydive.)The cost for a trip will be $75,000. Pricey, but not nearly as expensive as a suborbital trip on a Virgin Galactic spaceship, which will cost about $250,000. CEO Jane Poynter told me that the company aims to launch from several different locations, but hopes that one of them is Page, Arizona, so that its customers can see the Grand Canyon as they float up into the sky.As part of his new role, Kelly will be actively involved in the development of the new craft, as well as its procedures and operations. He's specifically be focused on crew operations and selecting the team that can operate the craft safely."This is going to a very high altitude – only about 6 people have flown this high in a balloon before," he told me. "And the vehicle the balloon is taking is essentially a spacecraft. In some ways there are similarities in operation to the space shuttle and managing this craft at launch, altitude and landing."That said, this is not an airplane. It doesn't have wings and it doesn't have a rocket. In some ways, it's simpler. And if something simpler, it can often be safer."Of course, in talking about taking this job with Kelly, I had to ask him if he'd be one of the company's first pilots when its operations begin."I don't know!" he answered. "We're going to have to see as we get closer to the first flight. But there's a strong possibility that I might do that."For Kelly, though, his main motivation is giving people the chance to see the Earth in a new way."This is going to give a lot of opportunity for people to see someone that was previously restricted to very few people," he said. "This is something that people can do if they want to get a perspective on the planet and an experience like no other."Survey: Federal workers still willing to put in extra effort as job satisfaction dropsYvonne Wenger – The Baltimore SunAfter Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant melted down in 2011, Nathan Sanfilippo joined a team at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission charged with evaluating what went wrong and determining how to prevent a similar disaster in the United States.Developing a strategy for the country's safety and Japan's recovery is the sort of assignment that Sanfilippo says allows him to leave work at the end of the day feeling as if his contribution makes a difference.Sanfilippo and his colleagues at the Rockville-based agency rated their employer among the top federal agencies for job satisfaction in the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey administered by the Office of Personnel Management."The leadership here has done a good job of taking the mission of the agency and involving everyone on the staff in that mission," said Sanfilippo, a 33-year-old materials engineer who started working at the commission after his graduation from Penn State 11 years ago."There is a lot of trust in the capabilities of individuals."The NRC, which regulates nuclear power plants and materials, placed second behind NASA in this year's voluntary survey for overall satisfaction.Seventy-four percent of NASA workers reported that they were satisfied, compared to 72 percent at the NRC.The Woodlawn-based Social Security Administration showed an overall employee satisfaction of 65 percent.The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the National Archives and Records Administration tied at 49 percent for the lowest overall satisfaction.Nearly all respondents in this year's survey indicated that they were willing to put in extra effort at their jobs and that they feel that their work is important, but year-to-year comparisons show a significant decline in satisfaction, according to an analysis by the OPM.Federal workers have been subjected to a three-year wage freeze, furloughs and other cuts. The web-based survey was conducted before the government shutdown in October.Across the federal government, 59 percent of workers said they feel satisfied with their job. That indicator dropped four points from 63 percent last year, and is down seven points from 2011.The results from 37 large agencies were tallied into a Global Satisfaction Index."The results show employees are ready and willing to meet the challenges they face and are steadfastly accountable for achieving results and knowing what is expected of them on the job," Katherine Archuleta, the OPM director, said in a statement.More than 376,500 employees responded to the survey. Employees in 81 agencies were asked their opinions, but the OPM factored only the results for the 37 largest into the Global Satisfaction Index.Drew Halunen, a spokesman for the National Federation of Federal Employees, said agencies can look toward morale boosters such as work recognition programs to improve job satisfaction."While federal employees are not receiving monetary incentives … as they would in the private sector for great work, agencies could develop programs that actively recognize the work of the dedicated federal workforce that it employs," Halunen said in an email. "This kind of recognition is underutilized in most federal agencies."But realistically, federal worker satisfaction will be hampered so long as they are continually refused pay adjustments each year to offset cost-of-living increases. Being used as a political punching bag coupled with hemorrhaging employment benefits is leading to reduced satisfaction rates."Sanfilippo, a native of the Pittsburgh area who lives in North Bethesda, said working for a federal agency has changed since he was hired around the turn of the millennium."It is tough; it was a lot easier when you had resources at your disposal, and the agency was in that place for a number of years," Sanfilippo said. He said the NRC has rewarded its employees in "creative" ways, such as by helping them to better balance work and life."You have to recognize the political climate and economic climate and try to get to creative," he said.Miriam Cohen, chief human capital officer at the NRC, said the agency uses the results of the annual survey, as well as other employee input, as it tries to respond to worker needs."When they give you the feedback, you have to do something about it," Cohen said. "It's a difficult time right now, being a federal employee on the heels of sequester, the shutdown and no raises recently, no bonuses. We try to figure out what we can do."Toward that end, she said, the agency offers flexible work schedules, for example. With supervisor approval, some employees are able to alter their work schedule to leave early or take extra days off, as long as they put in 80 hours over a two-week pay period.The NRC also has a robust telework program and a health unit on campus, she said.Cohen said managers invite experts to speak to the workforce on topics such as coping with holiday stress or saving for retirement.The survey results are encouraging, she said."We feel very, very good about how we scored," Cohen said. "We want to use the survey as critical data to make the agency work better. We want to continue to be a high-performing organization."Highs and lowsThe Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results for 2013 ranks workers' overall satisfaction with their job, pay and agency, as well as whether they'd recommend their organization as a good place to work. Across the government, 59 percent of respondents rated their overall satisfaction positively.Here are the agencies whose employees ranked highest and lowest for overall satisfaction.Highest satisfactionNational Aeronautics and Space Administration, 74 percentNuclear Regulatory Commission, 72 percentFederal Communications Commission, 71 percentFederal Energy Regulatory Commission, 70 percentDepartment of State, 69 percentLowest satisfactionDepartment of Housing and Urban Development, 49 percentNational Archives and Records Administration, 49 percentDepartment of Homeland Security, 51 percentBroadcasting Board of Governors, 54 percentOffice of Management and Budget, 56 percentSource: U.S. Office of Personnel ManagementENDMore detailed space news can be found at:
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