Great seeing everyone at Hibachi Grill yesterday for the New Year. It was a great turnout and happy to see so many new faces like: Larry Myer, Nancy Liounis, etc. Happy Friday everyone. Have a great weekend.
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Organizations/Social
- Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting - Jan. 14
- Miss the T-shirt Distribution at Starport?
- Starport Run to Excellence Half Marathon Training
- Ballroom Dance: Beginners Levels - Jobs and Training
- Lateral Reassignment Positions Available |  |
| Organizations/Social - Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting - Jan. 14
"Progress, not perfection" reminds Al-Anon members to remember to be patient in the face of disruption and change. Our 12-step meeting is for co-workers, families and friends of those who work or live with the family disease of alcoholism. We meet Tuesday, Jan. 14, in Building 32, Room 146, from 11 to 11:45 a.m. Visitors are welcome. - Miss the T-shirt Distribution at Starport?
If you missed the chance to pick up your NASA 55th anniversary or shuttle program commemorative T-shirt before the holidays, you can stop by Starport Gift Shop in Building 11 anytime, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Forget to order a shirt? Shirts are available in Buildings 3 and 11 for just $12. Don't forget to wear your shirt on Fridays for a 10 percent discount in the stores. Some exclusions apply. - Starport Run to Excellence Half Marathon Training
Make 2014 unforgettable! Are you ready to take your training up a notch? The time is now for you to accept the fitness challenge and train for a half marathon! Starport's Run to Excellence program is for anyone who wants to run, walk or run-and-walk a half marathon. The group meets from 6 to 8 a.m. on Saturday mornings for long-distance sessions. Each member will get a training log and an awesome Run to Excellence tech shirt. Take that step toward doing something healthy, empowering and successful. This 10-week program will get you to places you've never been! Registration: - Early Registration: Dec. 23 to Jan. 10 - $90
- Regular Registration: Jan. 11 to Feb. 1 - $110
The program begins at 6 a.m. on Jan. 18 at the Gilruth outdoor facilities (Building 208). Sign up today! - Ballroom Dance: Beginners Levels
Do you feel like you have two left feet? Well, Starport has the perfect spring program for you! This eight-week class introduces you to the various types of ballroom dance. Students will learn the secrets of a good lead and following, as well as the ability to identify the beat of the music. This class is easy, and we have fun as we learn. JSC friends and family are welcome. Discounted Registration: - $90 per couple (ends Jan. 17)
Regular Registration: - $110 per couple (Jan. 17 to 28)
Two class sessions available: - Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. - starting Jan. 28
- Thursdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. - starting Jan. 30
All classes are taught in the Gilruth Center's dance studio (Group Ex studio). Jobs and Training - Lateral Reassignment Positions Available
The Workforce Transition Tool is still the best place to find lateral reassignment and rotation opportunities for civil servants. Right now the following positions are posted: - AH: Starport Deputy
- AM: Technical Resources Management
- AO: HQ Tech Transfer Program Support
- EA3: Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Landing and Recovery Systems
- NT: Quality Assurance Specialist
- NT: EVA Safety and Reliability Engineer
- OB: System/Project Integrator
To access the Workforce Transition Tool, open: HR Portal > Employees > Workforce Transition > Workforce Transition Tool. Check back frequently to see what new opportunities have been posted. | |
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| JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters. |
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Friday – Jan. 10, 2014
International Space Station:
Jan. 12, Sunday:
4 a.m. Central - Coverage of the Rendezvous and Grapple of the Orbital Sciences' Cygnus Cargo Ship to the International Space Station (Grapple scheduled at 5:02 a.m.)
6 a.m. - Coverage of the Installation of the Orbital Sciences' Cygnus Cargo Ship to the International Space Station (Installation begins appx. 6:20 a.m.)
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Cargo ship with gifts, ants heads to space station
Marcia Dunn – AP
A privately launched supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station on Thursday following a series of delays ranging from the cold to the sun.
Cygnus spacecraft on way to station
Resupply ship will rendezvous Sunday
James Dean – Florida Today
A U.S. cargo spaceship is cruising toward an early Sunday rendezvous with the International Space Station after launching Thursday from Virginia's Eastern Shore.
Orbital Sciences Antares rocket launches on mission to space station
William Harwood – CBS News
Delayed one day by concern about space radiation, an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket carrying a commercially developed cargo ship blasted off Thursday and climbed into orbit, kicking off the company's first operational flight to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
Orbital Sciences' cargo ship blasts off for space station
Irene Klotz – Reuters
An unmanned Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket blasted off on Thursday bound for the International Space Station to deliver the first of eight cargo ships for NASA.
Orbital Sciences Launches Landmark Private Cargo Mission to Space Station
The commercial spaceflight company Orbital Sciences Corp. launched a robotic spacecraft from Virginia's Eastern Shore Thursday (Jan. 9) on a milestone flight: the company's first official cargo delivery to the International Space Station.
National Geographic Channel plans a TV special aired from the International Space Station
Article by Associated Press
National Geographic Channel is going out of this world for a TV event.
ISS extension plan wins domestic support, but international uncertainty
Jeff Foust – Space Politics
After word broke that the White House had backed plans to extend the life of the International Space Station to at least 2024, the administration scrambled to make the news official, holding a midday media telecon Wednesday to discuss the extension. Late in the day, NASA administrator Charles Bolden and presidential science advisor John Holdren issued a joint statement about the extension.
NASA's Robot Astronaut Now Has Bendy, $15M Legs for Crawling Around the ISS
Joseph Flaherty - Wired
Having a skeleton crew aboard the International Space Station means forcing PhDs to pull double-duty as janitors, and sometimes to undertake dangerous space walks. NASA's solution? Robonaut, or R2 as it's called by shipmates on the International Space Station. Conceived of in 1997, the goal was to create a robot that would take on jobs that are too dangerous, or dull, for humans. It has been an engineering marvel: Engineers equipped R2 with arms and hands that can carry 40 pound payloads; 350 sensors feeding into 38 processors give it the ability to carefully manipulate a control panel, or even send a text message from an iPhone.
Falcon 9 v1.1 Appears on Fast Track To Qualify for Air Force Missions
Mike Gruss – Space News
With its successful launch of the Thaicom-6 commercial telecommunications satellite Jan. 6, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) appears to have met the U.S. Air Force's requirements to bid for national security launches and challenge the market incumbent, United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver.
Never Give Up, Never Surrender!
Astronaut Clayton Anderson at the Huffington Post
Galaxy Quest -- a wildly popular science-fiction parody made in 1999 spoofing the realm made famous by Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek TV series -- is considered a cult classic. Many fans pay homage by adorning themselves in space and/or superhero costumes at Comic-Cons throughout the United States and around the world.
COMPLETE STORIES
Cargo ship with gifts, ants heads to space station
Marcia Dunn – AP
A privately launched supply ship rocketed toward the International Space Station on Thursday following a series of delays ranging from the cold to the sun.
Orbital Sciences Corp. launched its unmanned Antares rocket from Wallops Island, Va., offering a view to nearby states along the East Coast. It successfully hoisted a capsule packed with 3,000 pounds of equipment and experiments provided by NASA, as well as food and even some ants for an educational project. Christmas presents also are on board for the six space station residents; the delivery is a month late.
The spacecraft, named Cygnus, should reach the station on Sunday. The orbiting outpost was zooming over the Atlantic, near Brazil, when the Antares blasted off.
"It's going to be an exciting weekend," Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata said in a tweet from the space station.
The delivery had been delayed three times since December, most recently because of a strong solar storm. Engineers initially feared solar radiation might cause the rocket to veer off course. But additional reviews Wednesday deemed it an acceptable risk. Previous delays were due to space station repairs and frigid temperatures. Thursday was a relatively balmy 45 degrees.
NASA is paying Orbital Sciences and the SpaceX company to restock the space station. The Orbital Sciences' contract alone is worth $1.9 billion.
This was Orbital Sciences' second trip to the orbiting lab, but its first under the contract. The company conducted a successful test run last September. Two more trips are scheduled for this year. Orbital Sciences launches from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia, its corporate base. California-based SpaceX flies from Cape Canaveral. It's scheduled to make its fourth supply run next month.
"Great way to start out the new year ... we're all smiles here," said Bill Wrobel, director of NASA's Wallops facility, after Thursday's launch.
The U.S., Russian and Japanese space station residents eagerly awaited the goodies inside the Cygnus. Their families included Christmas gifts; the Cygnus should have arrived in time for the holiday. NASA also tucked in some fresh fruit.
When asked earlier this week if any gifts were swapped out given the delay, Orbital Sciences' executive vice president Frank Culbertson quipped, "We haven't changed them out for Valentine's cards."
"We think they'll enjoy them anyway," he told reporters.
NASA is counting on private industry to keep the space station well stocked and, in another four years, to provide rides to the outpost for U.S. astronauts. Until then, NASA is forced to buy seats on Russian Soyuz capsules. The space shuttles provided most of the heavy lifting until their retirement in 2011.
Russia, Europe and Japan make their own supply runs.
Orbital Sciences named this Cygnus capsule after the late shuttle astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton, who died in August at age 76 after suffering a stroke. He flew the airplane for the company's air-launched Pegasus rocket during the 1990s.
After arriving at the space station, the Cygnus will be unloaded and then filled with trash and cut loose for a fiery re-entry in mid-February.
Space station construction began in 1998 and ended with the shuttle program. The White House on Wednesday agreed to a four-year lifetime extension for the station, to 2024.
Cygnus spacecraft on way to station
Resupply ship will rendezvous Sunday
James Dean – Florida Today
A U.S. cargo spaceship is cruising toward an early Sunday rendezvous with the International Space Station after launching Thursday from Virginia's Eastern Shore.
Orbital Sciences Corp. is flying its first of eight missions under a $1.9 billion NASA contract, hoping to join SpaceX as a fully operational commercial resupply partner.
Orbital's Antares rocket lifted off at 1:07 p.m. from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island and completed its third successful launch, delivering an unmanned Cygnus spacecraft to orbit for the second time.
"We are right on the money, if not a little better," said Frank Culbertson, executive vice president at Dulles, Va.-based Orbital. "We're in good shape."
The launch came a day after NASA and the White House announced plans to extend station operations for an additional four years, until at least 2024.
Culbertson, a former astronaut who lived on the station in 2001, said that decision would benefit researchers and allow commercial transportation providers to invest in improvements.
"There's really no reason to stop operations on the space station until it completely is no longer useable," he said. "And I think it will be usable for a long time."
Technical studies have shown the station can operate safely until at least 2028. NASA says cargo and crew transportation will account for about half the program's roughly $3 billion annual cost moving forward.
The Cygnus is packed with nearly 2,800 pounds of supplies and experiments, about twice the total delivered during a maiden demonstration flight last fall.
The experiments include the first batch sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, a Kennedy Space Center-based nonprofit that manages research performed on the station's National Lab.
Also on board: fresh fruit always welcomed by astronauts performing six-month expeditions 260 miles above Earth, and some late Christmas gifts.
The resupply mission was scheduled to launch last month, but it was postponed after a station cooling system breakdown that required two spacewalks to repair.
This week, extreme cold at the launch site and concern about space weather — in the form of a powerful solar flare — added short delays.
Members of the six-person Expedition 38 crew are expected to capture the Cygnus with a robotic arm around 6 a.m. Sunday. The Cygnus is expected to remain berthed there for more than a month.
SpaceX's next cargo launch, its third of 12 under a $1.6 billion contract, is targeted for Feb. 22 from Cape Canaveral.
Orbital Sciences Antares rocket launches on mission to space station
William Harwood – CBS News
Delayed one day by concern about space radiation, an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket carrying a commercially developed cargo ship blasted off Thursday and climbed into orbit, kicking off the company's first operational flight to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
Filling the void left by the space shuttle's retirement in 2011, the flight was the first of seven commercial resupply missions planned for 2014, three by Orbital's Antares/Cygnus vehicle and four by SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon cargo craft.
"We're posturing ourselves to hit our stride with all of our new commercial cargo vehicles in the 2014 time period," said Dan Hartman, NASA's deputy space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
"Orb-1 will be the first, we'll get into some SpaceX, and basically kind of alternate back and forth between Orbital and SpaceX throughout the year. So we're really looking to hit our stride in 2014 to meet our (resupply) needs."
The two-stage 130-foot-tall Antares rocket, equipped with modified first-stage engines left over from the Soviet moon program, roared to life at 1:07:05 p.m. EST (GMT-5) and quickly lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, climbing away atop a torrent of fiery exhaust as Earth's rotation carried the pad into the plane of the space station's orbit.
Accelerating smoothly as it consumed its first stage load of liquid oxygen and RP-1 kerosene rocket fuel, the Antares tilted over and streaked away through a clear blue sky above the Atlantic Ocean along a southeasterly trajectory.
Ten minutes later, the Cygnus cargo ship was released from the Antares second stage into an initial orbit with a high point of around 185 miles and a low point of about 130 miles. A few moments after that, the spacecraft's two solar arrays deployed as planned and officials said the spacecraft was in good shape as it set off on a three-and-a-half-day rendezvous with the International Space Station.
If all goes well, Cygnus will approach the lab complex from behind and below, pulling up to within about 30 feet early Sunday as the two spacecraft sail 260 miles above southern Saskatchewan. Astronaut Mike Hopkins, operating the station's robot arm, plans to lock onto a grapple fixture around 6:02 a.m. and pull the ship in for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.
The solar-powered cargo craft is packed with 3,220 pounds of research equipment, spare parts and crew supplies, including 23 experiments involving more than 8,600 elementary, junior high and high school students in the United States and Canada. The experiments "address life sciences topics ranging from vaccine effectiveness and amoeba reproduction to calcium loss in bones and liquid behavior in space," Orbital said in a news release.
Other experiments include an "ants in space" payload to study behavioral differences between ants in normal gravity and those in the weightless environment of space; an investigation to study how materials burn in space; and a project called "Story Time in Space" that will feature crew members videotaping themselves reading children's books and demonstrating various science and technology concepts.
Also on board: 33 small "cubesat" satellites, fresh food and a few holiday gifts for the station's six-man crew.
Launch originally was planned for mid-December, but NASA ordered a delay when trouble with a coolant pump module aboard the station prompted managers to order a pair of spacewalks to install a spare.
The repair work was successful, and after waiting for the station's orbit to carry the lab back into a period of more moderate solar heating, NASA gave Orbital Sciences permission to proceed with the Orb-1 launch Wednesday.
But concern about space radiation in the wake of a major solar flare earlier this week prompted Orbital managers to order a delay pending additional analysis to make sure high-energy particles blasted away from the sun would not cause problems for the rocket's sensitive avoionics systems.
Late Wednesday, mission managers concluded the rocket could safely fly and engineers prepared the rocket for launch Thursday.
"This will be the first of three contracted cargo delivery missions for us this year," Frank Culbertson, a former space shuttle commander and executive vice president of Orbital Sciences, said earlier this week. "We plan to also launch one in May and another in October if the schedule holds. At the end of the year, we will have delivered approximately 5,500 kilograms (12,125 pounds) of cargo to the space station commercially."
Following the Bush administration's 2004 decision to retire the space shuttle, NASA kicked off a program to develop commercially operated unmanned cargo ships to replace the lost payload capability of the manned orbiter.
Orbital eventually won a $1.9 billion contract to launch at least eight station resupply flights to deliver about 40,000 pounds of cargo and supplies. SpaceX holds a $1.6 billion contract for 12 flights to deliver more than 44,000 pounds of equipment. Two of those missions have been completed and a third is on tap in late February.
Both companies held separate contracts to help pay for initial development and test flights.
Orbital developed the Antares rocket and launched a Cygnus test flight last September. While the first Cygnus completed a successful rendezvous with the space station, it only carried a limited number of low-priority items. This time around, there were no restrictions and the spacecraft was packed to near capacity.
"If there was a critical need, we put it on there," Hartman said.
Orbital's Antares mission follows a successful flight Monday by an upgraded version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It was the California company's second flight in a row using a Falcon 9 variant to launch a commercial communications satellite.
While SpaceX could be viewed as a major competitor, Culbertson offered his congratulations and pointed out that the Falcon 9 rocket launched Monday carried a satellite built by Orbital Sciences.
"All of us at Orbital believe in developing the capability to fly payloads, spacecraft and rockets into space on a commercial basis," Culbertson said. "We support government customers, private customers and now we're supporting the International Space Station and its research. We intend to continue growing that business as do other companies."
A thriving commercial launch industry will support scientific research by making it "more readily accessible to people on Earth because they can participate in what's going on in space," he said.
"It also means the space station will continue to grow in relevance and productivity, which will allow us to have a future for human spaceflight in this country and a future for our children to go into space to explore. If we keep the space station going, we will have that future. So it's important that we do that."
Like SpaceX, Orbital is working on upgrades that will enable the Antares rocket to carry heavier payloads. And like SpaceX, Orbital hopes to sell its booster to a variety of customers.
"By the fourth (station resupply) mission we'll have an upgraded version that will fly more payload," Culbertson said. "We're also looking long range at what the configuration of the Antares will be, both from an engine standpoint and from an upper stage standpoint.
"So we've got plans in work ... and we are negotiating with people for other payloads besides the Cygnus spacecraft and intend to fly more than just cargo out of Wallops here. So we do have big plans."
Orbital Sciences' cargo ship blasts off for space station
Irene Klotz – Reuters
An unmanned Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket blasted off on Thursday bound for the International Space Station to deliver the first of eight cargo ships for NASA.
The 13-story rocket lifted off its seaside launch pad in Wallops Island, Virginia, at 1:07 p.m. EST/1807 GMT, putting the Cygnus freighter on track for an early Sunday rendezvous with the station.
Launch, which was broadcast live on NASA Television, was delayed twice this week, first by cold weather and then by high space radiation stemming from a massive solar flare on Tuesday. Both conditions could have impacted critical rocket systems.
Orbital Sciences is one of two firms hired by NASA to fly cargo to the station, a $100 billion project of 15 nations, following the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011.
Privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, is preparing for its third supply run on Feb. 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Thursday's launch was the third for Antares, a medium-lift rocket that Orbital also is marketing for satellite launches.
"We are negotiating with people with other payloads besides the Cygnus spacecraft and intend to fly more cargo out of Wallops," Orbital Sciences executive vice president Frank Culbertson told reporters during a prelaunch news conference on Tuesday. He declined to elaborate on prospective customers.
The company holds a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to fly eight Cygnus cargo ships to the station, a permanently staffed research outpost that flies about 250 miles (about 400 km) above Earth.
SpaceX has a separate 12-flight NASA contract worth $1.6 billion.
Orbital Sciences and SpaceX previously received a combined $686 million from NASA to help develop their rockets, capsules and launch sites.
Orbital Sciences' Antares rockets fly from a commercial space port carved out of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. SpaceX's NASA missions launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Orbital Sciences debuted its Antares rocket in April 2013 and made a successful test run to the space station five months later. It planned to start flying cargo in December, but NASA delayed the flight to tackle a high-priority repair to the station's cooling system.
Cygnus is loaded with 3,221 pounds (1461 kg) of equipment and supplies for the station, including science experiments, computers and replacement parts for NASA's spacesuits.
The capsule also holds food, fresh fruit and belated Christmas gifts for the crew. "We haven't changed them out for Valentine's cards," Culbertson quipped.
The freighter is due to arrive at the station shortly after 6 a.m. EST/1100 GMT on Sunday.
Orbital Sciences Launches Landmark Private Cargo Mission to Space Station
The commercial spaceflight company Orbital Sciences Corp. launched a robotic spacecraft from Virginia's Eastern Shore Thursday (Jan. 9) on a milestone flight: the company's first official cargo delivery to the International Space Station.
An Orbital-built Cygnus spacecraft launched into space atop the company's Antares rocket from a seaside pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. Liftoff occurred at 1:07 p.m. EST (1807 GMT) after a series of delays, including a 24-hour slip due to a huge solar flare on Tuesday.
The Cygnus spacecraft is hauling about 2,780 lbs. (1,260 kilograms) of fresh food, clothing, scientific equipment and other gear for astronauts on the International Space Station. The mission, called Orb-1, is the first of at least eight cargo missions Orbital will fly for NASA under a $1.9 billion contract.
"We are really looking forward to this first Orbital cargo mission," Dan Hartman, NASA's deputy space station program manager, said in a prelaunch briefing this week.
The Cygnus spacecraft is due to arrive at the space station early Sunday (Jan. 12), where it will be captured by astronauts using a robotic arm and attached to a station docking port.
Orbital's Cygnus spreads its wings
Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft are bus-size cylindrical vehicles designed to haul payloads of up to 4,400 lbs. (2,000 kg) to the International Space Station. They include an Orbital-built service module for power and propulsion and a 17-foot-long (5 meters) pressurized compartment built by Italy's Thales Alenia Space.
In April 2013, Orbital launched its first Antares rocket test flight from Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. A second demonstration flight in September launched the first Cygnus vehicle to the space station. Pad-0A at Wallops is managed by Virginia's commercial Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
But Thursday's launch marked Orbital's debut delivery flight to the space station under its NASA contract. The company plans to launch eight missions by 2016, three of them this year, to deliver 40,000 lbs. (20,000 kg) of supplies to the station. NASA also has a $1.6 billion deal with the Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX for 12 delivery missions to the station, two of which have already flown.
"All of us at Orbital believe in developing the capability to fly payloads, spacecraft and rockets into space on a commercial basis," said Frank Culbertson, Orbital's executive vice president, before launch. "We support government customers, private customers and now we are supporting the International Space Station and its research."
Culbertson said Orbital Sciences plans to launch its next cargo mission to the station in May, with a December flight rounding out the year.
Orbital initially planned to launch the Cygnus flight to the station in mid-December, but postponed the mission until January to allow station astronauts time to repair a malfunctioning cooling system. A planned Tuesday launch target was delayed to Wednesday due to extremely cold temperatures, and then pushed back one more day because of radiation concerns related to the giant solar flare on Tuesday.
Science haul bound for on space station
The Orb-1 Cygnus flight is packed full of new science experiments for the station's six-man crew. Included is a space ant colony (to study how weightlessness affects swarm activity), 33 small cubesat satellites and 23 student-designed experiments. More than 10,000 students from schools across the United States are following the student experiments, NASA officials said.
The delivery flights by Orbital and SpaceX mean astronauts and scientists have more opportunities to perform fundamental research in space, said Tara Ruttley, NASA's associate program scientist for the space station.
"There is a boom in the science because of the increased capabilities," Ruttley said.
With the retirement of the U.S. space shuttle fleet in 2011, NASA relies on cargo delivery missions by Orbital Sciences, SpaceX and the space agencies of Russian, Europe and Japan to keep the space station stocked with supplies. On Wednesday, NASA and the Obama administration approved a four-year extension of the International Space Station's lifetime through 2024, so more commercial cargo flights in addition to the 20 provided by SpaceX and Orbital may be needed, agency officials said.
National Geographic Channel plans a TV special aired from the International Space Station
Article by Associated Press
National Geographic Channel is going out of this world for a TV event.
The network on Thursday announced "Live from Space," a two-hour special to be broadcast live from the International Space Station and from Mission Control in Houston this March.
Poised 250 miles above the Earth's surface, the ISS makes a global orbit every 90 minutes, meaning this program will take viewers on a trip around the world. The network is promising shots of sunset and sunrise, as well as city lights, lightning and shooting stars.
Viewers will also get a guided tour of the space station and see experiments conducted in the floating laboratory.
"Live from Space" will simulcast on National Geographic Channel in 170 countries, as well as other outlets. No air date was announced.
ISS extension plan wins domestic support, but international uncertainty
Jeff Foust – Space Politics
After word broke that the White House had backed plans to extend the life of the International Space Station to at least 2024, the administration scrambled to make the news official, holding a midday media telecon Wednesday to discuss the extension. Late in the day, NASA administrator Charles Bolden and presidential science advisor John Holdren issued a joint statement about the extension.
"The extension of ISS operation will allow NASA and the international space community to accomplish a number of important goals," Bolden and Holdren wrote. Those goals include enhanced research utilization of the station, technology demonstration and long-duration human spaceflight research to support human exploration beyond Earth orbit, and supporting commercial space activities, including the transport of cargo and crew to the station. "The Obama Administration's decision to extend its life until at least 2024 will allow us to maximize its potential, deliver critical benefits to our Nation and the world, and maintain American leadership in space," Bolden and Holdren concluded.
That decision has won support from some key members of Congress. "I applaud the decision to extend the operations of the International Space Station," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a statement. "Keeping ISS flying—and continuing the important research that goes on there—means taxpayers get more bang for the buck from this unique laboratory."
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) endorsed the extension, citing the benefits of continued ISS operations for Kennedy Space Center in his state. "This means more jobs at the Kennedy Space Center as we rebuild our entire space program," he said in a brief video message provided by his office. "This is a robust future for KSC and our space program."
The Democratic leadership of the House Science Committee backed the planned extension, while asking for more information. "I am pleased that the Administration is initiating an important dialogue with its international partners on the extension of ISS operations to at least 2024," said Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), ranking member of the full committee, in an emailed statement. "I look forward to further details on the Administration's proposal and on the planned priorities and objectives for ISS activities during the proposed extension." Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), ranking member of the committee's space subcommittee, offered similar qualified support in the same statement.
The proposed extension also got the support of a Republican member of Congress. "It's inevitable and I'm delighted that NASA understands the value of ensuring that America continues to hold the high ground," Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) told the Washington Post. Terminating the station "would be like General Meade handing over Little Round Top voluntarily… to the Chinese."
While continuing ISS operations to at least 2024 has the support of many on Capitol Hill, it's not yet clear what kind of support it has among NASA's international partners on the program. "We've talked to the partners about this," NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations Bill Gerstenmaier said during Wednesday's media telecon. He added they had been involved in the technical studies regarding the feasibility of operating the ISS as late as 2028, and have been aware of NASA's interest in extending the station for several months. However, he acknowledged that an extension was a "big deal" for them. "They'll continue to evaluate that over the next several years. I think in general they see this as a positive step that we're moving forward" on this, he said.
One European official said Wednesday that while he endorsed an extension, getting others in Europe to support continued use of ISS may be a challenge. Germany supports use of the ISS "until 2020 and beyond," said Johann-Dietrich Wörner, head of the German space agency DLR, at a media breakfast Wednesday in advance of an international space exploration conference and heads of agencies summit meeting Thursday and Friday in Washington. Germany is the biggest supporter of the ISS within ESA, and has lobbied other ESA member nations to fund Europe's share of station operations.
"However, there are some problems," he added. "Some of the member nations are reducing their financial support due to the economic crisis, and now we are in a very complicated discussion process at ESA concerning the future of the ISS." He said ESA members need to "intensify" their use of the station rather than look to whatever comes after the station.
An extension of the ISS could open the door to adding new partners to the program, particular if some partners decide not to extend their commitment to the station beyond 2020. Wörner recalled suggesting India and China join the partnership when he was asked about it by the Augustine Committee in 2009. China, of course, creates some geopolitical complications, which he acknowledged. "I don't think we will discuss this matter tomorrow," he said, referring to the closed-door heads of agencies summit meeting Thursday at the State Department.
NASA's Robot Astronaut Now Has Bendy, $15M Legs for Crawling Around the ISS
Joseph Flaherty - Wired
Having a skeleton crew aboard the International Space Station means forcing PhDs to pull double-duty as janitors, and sometimes to undertake dangerous space walks. NASA's solution? Robonaut, or R2 as it's called by shipmates on the International Space Station. Conceived of in 1997, the goal was to create a robot that would take on jobs that are too dangerous, or dull, for humans. It has been an engineering marvel: Engineers equipped R2 with arms and hands that can carry 40 pound payloads; 350 sensors feeding into 38 processors give it the ability to carefully manipulate a control panel, or even send a text message from an iPhone.
There was just one problem—it couldn't move. R2 was either mounted on a pole or attached to a wheeled base, both non-starters in space. Now, NASA's engineers have finally unveiled a bizarre-looking pair of legs that will help the robot crawl around.
Their design is a contrast to R2′s arms and hands. The latter had to be human-like, to be able to use the same tools as astronauts. The legs, however, had to accomplish superhuman feats. The gear-filled gams can span nine feet, featuring seven points of articulation. There are also a few extra touches, required for it to perform tasks on the ISS's exterior.
"The legs have grippers designed specifically to grasp existing interfaces on the Space Station," says Rob Ambrose, Chief of the Software and Robotics Division at NASA's Johnson Space Center. "The grippers serve as feet, but unlike an astronaut wearing boots, Robonaut has the ability to climb with its legs, freeing its hands to carry objects or do work." A team of eight engineers spent years and over $15 million dollars developing the legs that would make it flight ready, and the hope is to install them early this year.
The next step will be upgrading R2′s chassis with extra shielding from electromagnetic radiation and supports to withstand the vacuum of space so it can take on dangerous extravehicular missions. "No close calls like Gravity have occurred," says Ambrose, but all the same, he likes the idea of onboard robots that can operate independently outside of a spacecraft. "A robot can hold its breath a long time, making it a potentially valuable and diverse member of the crew," he says, drolly. Despite their cost, robots are still fairly disposable and can be left behind in an emergency evacuation or as a caretaker waiting for humans to return.
"The environment of space is unusual to us on Earth," says Ambrose. Zero gravity, deadly vacuums, and extreme swings in temperature make stints aboard the ISS challenging—for some. "It's tough for people, but a good application for robots."
With NASA's shuttle fleet grounded, limited space funding available in a post-sequester world, and plenty of upgrades still pending, it might be a while before R2 makes meaningful contributions in orbit, but the process of developing the 'bot yielded a bevy of patentable inventions. Innovations in vision systems, control algorithms, and sensor integrations could be applied to terrestrial robots in manufacturing. The millions of dollars spent developing the legs could eventually help the paralyzed walk again in the form of new medically focused exoskeletons.
Even if R2 never makes it to the stars, NASA is using what it learned to develop a next-gen, 6′ 2″ bot called Valkyrie, which is designed to search for and recover survivors in disaster zones on Earth, or in the future, a Martian wasteland. It hasn't fared well in early trials, but then again, some of NASA's greatest accomplishments have begun with one small step.
Falcon 9 v1.1 Appears on Fast Track To Qualify for Air Force Missions
Mike Gruss – Space News
With its successful launch of the Thaicom-6 commercial telecommunications satellite Jan. 6, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) appears to have met the U.S. Air Force's requirements to bid for national security launches and challenge the market incumbent, United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver.
While Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX has not received formal certification to launch operational national security satellites aboard its Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, Gen. William Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, told SpaceNews Jan. 7 he has not seen anything from the vehicle's three flights to date to prevent that from happening.
SpaceX spokeswoman Emily Shanklin said via email that the company believes the Falcon 9 v1.1 has now met the three-flight certification requirement for the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program.
If the rocket is certified, SpaceX would become the first new competitive entrant in the EELV program, which is used to launch virtually all operational U.S. national security satellites. Today nearly all of those missions are launched aboard ULA's Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets, and, coupled with soaring costs, has made the EELV program a lightning rod for criticism.
In 2012, the Air Force announced it was negotiating the purchase, on a sole-source basis, of up to 36 EELV rocket cores over five years from ULA. At the same time, however, the service said it plans to competitively award an additional 14 missions to give new entrants such as SpaceX a chance to compete. Under the Air Force's so-called New Entrant Certification Guide used to vet competitors in the launch business, companies are expected to complete three successful launches of their rockets, including at least two consecutively.
The Falcon 9 v1.1, an upgraded variant of SpaceX's Falcon 9 medium-lift rocket, debuted Sept. 29 carrying the Canadian Space Agency's Cassiope space weather satellite and three secondary payloads to low Earth orbit. The second Falcon 9 v1.1 successfully launched the SES-8 telecommunications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit Dec. 3.
Officials with Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles have said they expect the certification process for each flight to take about three months. The process also entails looking at various technical assessments and audits of the vehicle, its associated ground systems and manufacturing processes.
Once its rocket earns certification, SpaceX will enter a newly created process to bid for national security missions.
The brewing competition has already garnered significant scrutiny from lawmakers eager to ensure that the new entrants get a fair shake. The 2014 National Defense Authorization Act includes language that requires the Air Force secretary to submit a draft of its request for proposal on the EELV competition to the Pentagon's congressional oversight committees.
The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the congressional watchdog agency, to review "the methodology, potential challenges, gaps, and acquisition planning process of the Air Force for evaluating competitors," a statement accompanying the legislation said. Lawmakers directed the agency to complete the review before the Air Force releases its draft request for proposals for the competitively selected missions.
Air Force officials have stressed that certified companies are not guaranteed launch contracts, only the right to compete for business. ULA has indicated that it intends to bid for the contested missions.
Shelton has said repeatedly he is pleased with ULA's record, but thinks the price of launching rockets is too expensive. In a speech to students at George Washington University here Jan. 7, he praised Elon Musk, SpaceX's chief executive.
"I don't doubt that guy anymore, by the way," Shelton said. "What he says, he's going to do."
The Defense Department is expected to spend about $19 billion on launch costs over the next five years, according to a GAO report.
SpaceX's leadership has said they believe the company can save the country as much as $1 billion per year, Shanklin said.
"We'll wait to see what their prices look like," Shelton said.
Never Give Up, Never Surrender!
Astronaut Clayton Anderson at the Huffington Post
Galaxy Quest -- a wildly popular science-fiction parody made in 1999 spoofing the realm made famous by Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek TV series -- is considered a cult classic. Many fans pay homage by adorning themselves in space and/or superhero costumes at Comic-Cons throughout the United States and around the world.
One of my favorite tag lines in the movie is the one nasally and robotically uttered by Mathesar, the outwardly human -- but inwardly octopoidal -- leader of the Thermians. I can hear him even now: "Never give up, never surrender!" It is a line that has significant meaning to me, a now-retired, 15-year veteran astronaut.
Why significant? The answer, along with my story, is simple. I applied with NASA to become an astronaut 15 times. That's right, 15 times. Once per year, for 15 years, I dutifully submitted all of my application information to the governmental monolith I revered, only to be rejected by a few choice words on a small, white, NASA-addressed postcard. Kicked to the curb 14 of those 15 years, I was finally selected in 1998. I felt like the epitome of "never give up, never surrender."
It's time for America to do the same with her space program. It is time for all of us to step up and proclaim that we will "never give up and never surrender" our pre-eminence in space leadership. It is time for us to contact our representatives and voice our opinions that NASA is worth it. Yes, there are naysayers out there; people who believe that NASA is its own intergalactic "collapsing star," where U.S. tax dollars disappear like rays of light into a black hole's event horizon, with little to no visible benefits.
There is nothing further from the truth. When you use your cell phone to tweet about how NASA wastes money, you can do so because of NASA technology. After a natural disaster, while you're wondering when the government will provide financial assistance as you re-assemble your fence, you are probably using portable power tools, technology developed by NASA in the 1970s, as we conquered the moon. There are many more examples. The Apollo Program alone provided U.S. taxpayers with a return on investment that has been estimated to range from seven to 20 dollars per $1 invested! Is there anyone today that wouldn't take that share?
The technological benefits resulting from our investment in NASA and her programs don't just show up in Walmart, Target and Costco overnight. These things take time -- and, as a whole, we Americans are impatient -- we want it now! We should follow the sage advice of Yoda and Obi Wan, who were so fond of telling Luke Skywalker, "Patience, my young Jedi."
As we watch our leaders in Congress, debating bills that threaten NASA budgets, we too must be patient. But while we watch what is going on within the Beltway, we can pick up our NASA technology-enabled smart phones, laptops and tablets and send them our thoughts (over Al Gore's internet) regarding America's Space Program. Tell them, "Never give up, never surrender."
I'm not out to save the world. I just want to save NASA... a little bit at a time.
END
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