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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: January 30, 2014 9:57:25 AM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News - Thursday – Jan. 30, 2014 and JSC Today
Happy Flex Friday Eve, PAO confirmed that Marie Fullerton is here for the tree planting for Gordo too…..________________________________________Thursday, January 30, 2014 Read JSC Today in your browserJSC TODAY CATEGORIES1. Headlines- Joint Leadership Team Web Poll- Rebroadcast of Back in the Saddle- Orion Monthly Trivia Contest- Sloshball in Space?- Looking for Pilots for Manual Control Simulation- Volunteer for NASA's Latest Study - Learn More2. Organizations/Social- African American ERG - Documentary Film Festival- Starport Special Birthday Discount- 7th Annual NASA Golf Tournament: Reg. Opens Monday- Starport Zumba for Kids -- It's Back!- Starport: Salsa/Latin Dance3. Community- Blood Drive - Feb. 19-20Astronaut Candidates Visit White House for State of STEM (SoSTEM) AddressHeadlines1. Joint Leadership Team Web PollNot everyone was able to witness the TCAT All Hands in person, but most said they'd try to catch up on the Web. It was good information, so I'd encourage that. You also said you watch the Super Bowl because you like football and the commercials. No surprise there. This week we return to work after experiencing the bitter cold brought by the Polar Tetrahedron. I'd like to know how you spent your snow day. Cleaned house? Babysat? Vegged out? I'd also like to know what you'd like us to do differently next time. More frequent updates? Earlier decisions?Frosty your Snowman on over to get this week's poll.Joel Walker x30541 http://jlt.jsc.nasa.gov/[top]2. Rebroadcast of Back in the SaddleHave you heard about Jeff "Odie" Espenship? Odie's dynamic "Back in the Saddle" presentation still has people talking. If you didn't get to the Teague or just want to see him again, there will be a rebroadcast today, Jan. 30, at noon on the JSC cable TV system on Channel 2 and JSC EZTV IP Network TV channel 402.Sharing his experiences as a "Thunderbolt" fighter pilot and international airline pilot in high-risk and sometimes dangerous situations, Odie encouraged the JSC team to embrace an attitude of pursuing perfection and achieving excellence on every job, every mission, every time. Failures in the cockpit rarely occur due to improper equipment or poor training. Ninety percent of the time, it's the little things - lack of focus, complacency, inattention to detail, miscommunication, poor job briefing, non-compliance, failing to speak up or failing to listen. Don't miss as Odie inspires us to have a leadership of ATTITUDE!JSC team members can view the replay on JSC cable TV channel 2 (analog) or Omni 3 (45). JSC, Ellington Field, Sonny Carter Training Facility and White Sands Test Facility employees with hard wired computer network connections can view the event using the JSC EZTV IP Network TV System on channel 402 (standard definition). Please note: EZTV currently requires using Internet Explorer on a Windows PC or Safari on a Mac. Mobile devices, Wi-Fi, VPN or connections from other centers are currently not supported by EZTV.First time users will need to install the Optibase application:o For those WITH admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you'll be prompted to download from the IPTV website via Internet Explorer/Safario For those WITHOUT admin rights (EP), download the Optibase app from the ACES Software Refresh Portal (SRP)If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367, or visit the FAQ site.Event Date: Thursday, January 30, 2014 Event Start Time:12:00 PM Event End Time:1:00 PMEvent Location: Channel 2 and JSC IPTVAdd to CalendarSupricia Franklin x37817[top]3. Orion Monthly Trivia ContestDue to a mistype in the JSC Today announcement, the January contest has been voided and a new question will be reissued for the February contest.Thank you to all who participated in this month's trivia.Read and learn more about the spacecraft by visiting NASA's Orion page. You can also like NASA's Orion Spacecraft on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @NASA_Orion to stay updated on the latest milestones.Joins us for next month's trivia contest! You could be a winner!Orion Communications Office 281-792-7457[top]4. Sloshball in Space?SPHERES-Slosh, a new investigation launched on Orb-1, examines how liquids move around within containers in microgravity.Accurate prediction of coupled fluid slosh and launch vehicle or spacecraft dynamics (e.g., nutation/precessional movement about various axes, attitude changes, etc.) requires Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models calibrated with real data, which this investigation provides.You can read more here.Liz Warren x35548[top]5. Looking for Pilots for Manual Control SimulationTest Subject Screening (TSS) needs volunteers for a Manual Control Simulation Study with piloting experience. Volunteers will participate in seven sessions over a 10-month period, matching pre- and post-spaceflight schedules (four sessions in two months and three sessions following an eight-month delay from fourth session). Data collected will include dexterity, visual acuity, spatial memory, perspective taking and manual tracking. Additional data will be taken inside a motion simulator and will include tilt perception; flying and landing a plane; driving a car; and rover navigation with docking maneuvers.Volunteers must pass a category I physical and be 21 to 60 years old with no history of neurological or balance disorders. Subjects should have no prior experience in any manual control simulation studies.Volunteers will be compensated. (Restrictions apply to NASA civil servants and some NASA contractors.) Please email or call both Linda Byrd, x37284, and Rori Yager, x37240.Linda Byrd x37284[top]6. Volunteer for NASA's Latest Study - Learn MoreAre you a current or former flight controller, flight surgeon, flight director, cap com, astronaut or astronaut candidate, medical resident or medical student on NASA rotation, or a NASA/contractor-employed University of Texas Medical Branch physician? Does your job or hobby require significant overseas travel or shift work?We have a unique opportunity for you to learn more about sleep medications and how they could affect your performance while also informing NASA about the potential impacts of sleep medications on astronaut performance if there is a spacecraft issue that requires emergent awakening. You can participate in this NASA-sponsored research study, which concludes in the next six months. We have slots available for January, but now is the time to sign up for February through April.Pam Baskin/Holly Patterson 281-212-1360/281-461-2691[top]Organizations/Social1. African American ERG - Documentary Film FestivalThe NASA/JSC African-American Employee Resource Group (AAERG) invites the entire JSC family to participate as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with a documentary film festival.The film festival will open during Black History Month in the Teague Auditorium on Feb. 5 and Feb. 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., with two films from the PBS series: Eyes on the Prize, America's Civil Rights Movement "No Easy Walk" and Mississippi "Is this America". Complimentary popcorn and cookies will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!Event Date: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 Event Start Time:11:00 AM Event End Time:1:00 PMEvent Location: Teague AuditoriumAdd to CalendarLee Willis x39153[top]2. Starport Special Birthday DiscountThe Starport Gift Shops appreciate you with a 10 percent discount on your birthday. Simply show proof that it is your birthday to receive your special discount on store merchandise. Customers whose birthday falls on Saturday and Sunday will receive their discount on Friday and Monday, respectively. Standard exclusions do apply (tickets, flowers, Hallmark, presale/special-order items and James Avery charms, etc.). Shop Starport on your birthday and let us treat you special!Cyndi Kibby x47467[top]3. 7th Annual NASA Golf Tournament: Reg. Opens MondayGolfers, it's time to get your team ready!The Seventh Annual NASA Golf Tournament will be the biggest and best one yet! Due to popular demand, the tournament will now have TWO dates for you to choose from.Tournament Date 1:o Thursday, April 10o 8 a.m. shotgun starto Early registration opens Feb. 3 - $500 per teamo Magnolia Creek Golf Club-- OR --Tournament Date 2:o Friday, April 11o 8 a.m. shotgun starto Early registration opens Feb. 3 - $500 per teamo Magnolia Creek Golf ClubThe silent auction will be back for BOTH days.Registration fee includes green fees, driving range, 2014 NASA golf polo, breakfast bar, lunch, participant bag, silent auction entry, drink tickets, tournament awards, door prizes and more!Registration starts ON MONDAY. Don't miss out on this great event!Event Date: Thursday, April 10, 2014 Event Start Time:6:30 AM Event End Time:3:00 PMEvent Location: Magnolia Creek Golf ClubAdd to CalendarSteve Schade x30317 https://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/en/programs/special-events/golf-tournament[top]4. Starport Zumba for Kids -- It's Back!Zumba for Kids is back by popular demand! This program is designed exclusively for kids. Zumba for Kids classes are rockin', high-energy fitness parties packed with specially choreographed, kid-friendly routines. This dance-fitness workout for kids ages 5 to 10 will be set to hip-hop, salsa, reggaeton and more.TRY A FREE CLASS ON FEB. 7!Please call the Gilruth Center front desk to sign your child up for the free class (only 25 available spots).Five-week session: Feb. 14 to March 21Fridays: 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.Ages: 5 to 10Cost: $55Register online or at the Gilruth Center.Shericka Phillips x30304 https://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/en/programs/familyyouth-programs/zumba-for...[top]5. Starport: Salsa/Latin DanceLatin Dance Introduction: Feb. 28 from 8 to 9 p.m.This class is mostly an introduction to Salsa, but it also touches on other popular Latin dances found in social settings: Merengue, Bachata and even a little bit of Cha-Cha-Cha. Emphasis is on Salsa, and then Bachata.For the first-time student or those who want a refresher course. You will go over basic steps with variations and build them into sequences.Discounted registration:o $40 per person (ends Feb. 14)Regular registration:o $50 per person (Feb. 15 to Feb. 28)Salsa Intermediate: Feb. 28 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.This class continues teaching Salsa beyond that taught in the introduction class. You should be comfortable and confident with the material from the introduction class before moving on to the intermediate class. This is a multi-level class where students may be broken up into groups based on class experience.Shericka Phillips x35563 https://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/en/programs/recreation-programs/salsalatin...[top]Community1. Blood Drive – Feb. 19-20You or someone you know may need blood sometime in their life. Help make sure blood is available by giving the "Gift of life" at the JSC blood drive.You can donate from Feb. 19 to 20 in the Teague Auditorium lobby or at the donor coach located next to the Building 11 Starport Café from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.You can also donate at the donor coach in the Gilruth Center parking lot on Feb. 19 from noon to 4 p.m. Please note that this is a change from Thursday to Wednesday for this blood drive only.Remember to eat within four hours prior to donating. Remain lying down for least 10 minutes after donating. Sit down for 10 minutes, eat a snack and drink some juice before you leave the donor center. Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day.Teresa Gomez x39588 http://jscpeople.jsc.nasa.gov/blooddrv/blooddrv.htm[top]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.________________________________________No virus found in this message.Checked by AVG - www.avg.comVersion: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3681/7042 - Release Date: 01/29/14NASA and Human Spaceflight NewsThursday – Jan. 30, 2014HEADLINES AND LEADSNASA's Hot New Ride for 2014The Orion crew vehicle is set to fly in the fall. Is this the start of an American resurgence in space?Jeffrey Kluger - TimeIt's hard to know when to take NASA seriously anymore. In the past, if the big brains at the space agency said we were going to the moon, well, pack your bags, because we're shipping out. These days? Not so much. As TIME has noted, one of the best ways to tell if any planned mission described in any NASA press release has a chance of actually flying is to use the Count the Conditionals Rule. The greater the number of references to what a spacecraft could achieve or when it should be flying, the less chance it's going anywhere at all.NASA Astronaut Brings Space Travel Down to Earth for KidsOlivia Hemaratanatorn - Space.comNASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson shared her experiences on the International Space Station with elementary school students in her home state on Jan. 23.Public invited to NASA Day of Remembrance ceremony Thursday in HuntsvilleLee Roop – Huntsville TimesEach year on Jan. 30. NASA remembers the 17 astronauts who have died in the American space program. In addition to the private ceremony for NASA employees, this year will also have a public ceremony at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville.Halle Berry to Portray Astronaut in CBS TV Series 'Extant'Tariq Malik – Space.comIt looks like Halle Berry has an eye on space. The Academy Award-winning actress is set to portray an astronaut in the new CBS thriller "Extant" launching in July.Commercial Aerospace Companies Remaking The Economics of SpaceflightCarrie Feibel - KUHF-FMJanuary has been an important month for NASA. The agency received a slight budget increase for 2014, and the government decided the International Space Station will stay in orbit four more years, until 2024. But NASA no longer acts alone — private, for-profit companies are increasingly critical for space exploration.Future interplanetary spacecraft to be equipped with 'plantations' - Russian scientistVoice of Russia, InterfaxIn 2015 astronauts will grow rice, tomatoes and sweet pepper on board of the international space station in the framework of the experiment to create a biological life-support system of extra-long space expedition crews, chief research associate of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Margarita Levinskikh, said.Now for the weather on Luhman: Cloudy with a chance of molten iron rainIrene Klotz – ReutersYou think the weather is bad on Earth lately. On Luhman 16B, a hybrid planet-star located 6.7 light years away, scientists say it's raining molten iron, research released on Wednesday shows.John Glenn to attend ship christeningGary Robbins – U-T San DiegoJohn Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, is scheduled to visit General Dynamics-NASSCO in San Diego on Saturday to attend the christening of a Navy logistics ship that bears his name.SpaceX may get California tax breakMuhammed El-Hasan - Daily BreezeCalifornia's state Assembly passed a bill Wednesday that would give companies like Hawthorne-based SpaceX a big tax break.COMPLETE STORIESNASA's Hot New Ride for 2014The Orion crew vehicle is set to fly in the fall. Is this the start of an American resurgence in space?Jeffrey Kluger - TimeIt's hard to know when to take NASA seriously anymore. In the past, if the big brains at the space agency said we were going to the moon, well, pack your bags, because we're shipping out. These days? Not so much. As TIME has noted, one of the best ways to tell if any planned mission described in any NASA press release has a chance of actually flying is to use the Count the Conditionals Rule. The greater the number of references to what a spacecraft could achieve or when it should be flying, the less chance it's going anywhere at all.For years now, the manned space program has been drowning in conditionals. We were building spacecraft that could take humans to Mars—then we weren't; we were committing ourselves to a new program that would have us back on the moon by 2015—and then we broke the commitment. But slowly, the manned program appears to be getting back on track. Real hardware is being built again, real firing tests are being conducted, and a first test launch of a new deep-space vehicle is scheduled for September. If (and that's a planet-sized if), funding stays in place, White House policy doesn't change and general fecklessness doesn't prevail, the U.S. could at last be finding its way back to its once-dominant role in space.NASA is making its current push with two new machines: a crew vehicle dubbed Orion and a rocket that is better known better by its acronym—SLS—than by it's decidedly prosaic name, which is Space Launch System. But anything the machines lack in marketing sizzle they make up in engineering ambition.Orion's design DNA runs straight back to the old Apollo spacecraft—which is a very good bloodline. Like the Apollos, it's a two-part ship, with a conical command module that houses the astronauts, and a cylindrical service module for batteries, oxygen, fuel cells, engine and more. The Apollos' 210 cu. ft. (5.9 cu. m) habitable space accommodated three astronauts. Orion's 316 cu. ft (8.9 cu. m) is designed for four. The crews will need that extra elbow room. The longest Apollo lunar mission, Apollo 17, lasted just 12 days, 13 hrs. In its current configuration, the Orion is intended for missions ranging from 21 to 210 days.The SLS is similarly descended from earlier NASA hardware—both the shuttle and the Saturn V moon rocket. Its main stage engines are upgraded shuttle engines, and it carries strap-on solid boosters also based on the shuttle's. The new rocket's upper stage engines are based on the design of the old J-2 that powered the second and third stages of the Saturn. The SLS also gets its looks from the Saturn—a NASA nod to the public relations value of the new rocket conjuring up images of the biggest and best one the space agency ever built.While the Orion comes in just one size, there will actually be two models of the SLS: one capable of lifting 70 metric tons (154,000 lbs, or 70,000 kg) to low Earth orbit; and another than can loft 130 metric tons (286,000 lbs., or 130,000 kg). The smaller version will stand 321 ft. (98 m), just shy of the Saturn V's 363 ft. (111 m). The bigger one will exceed its grandaddy's stature, measuring 384 ft (117 m).That, of course, is assuming any of this machinery ever sees a launch pad. At the moment, the outlook is best for Orion, which at least knows what it feels like to fly—a little. In 2010, the launch escape system—the small cluster of rockets that would lift the command module up and away from the SLS booster if a Challenger-type problem occurred during the early part of flight—was tested in White Sands, N.M. The motors took an Orion mock-up 6,000 ft. (1,828 m) high before a parachute descent.This coming September, the Orion and a partially completed service module will fly in space for the first time atop a Delta heavy-lift rocket, setting out on a two-orbit flight around the Earth, 3,600 mi. (5,800 km) above the surface, or 15 times higher than the International Space Station. The purpose will be to test both the spacecraft and its heat shield as they re-enter the atmosphere at return-from-deep-space speeds of 20,000 mph (32,000 k/h) generating temperatures of 4,000º F (2,200º C). It ain't a manned trip to the moon, but it's a start.The SLS has a lot further to go. Engines have been fired, some basic shrouds and housings have been built, wind tunnel tests have taken place, but the pace has been slow—far slower than things went for the Saturn V in the turbocharged early years of the space race. The first flight of the rocket with an Orion spacecraft mated to it is not planned until 2017; the first crewed flight won't happen until 2021 at the earliest. But no one pretends those dates can't change. The recent budget deal Congress struck kept the program's money spigot open and relieved worries for now that one more NASA program would fall victim to politics—something that has happened many times before. It was John Kennedy who launched the original moon program, Richard Nixon who killed it, George W. Bush who revived it and Barack Obama who killed it again. NASA directors are well aware of that body count.At the moment, with the moon off the table, the missions the space agency is planning for the SLS and Orion are equal parts laughable and vague. First, we'll fly out to an asteroid, capture it in a gigantic bag, tow it to the vicinity of the moon and then…you know…visit it. Really. Next we'll go to Mars, a trip that NASA says will happen in 2030-something-something-but-really-before-2040. We'll see.In the meantime, if nothing else, the designers, engineers, chemists, metalworkers, builders, riveters, haulers and others who actually imagine and create the magnificent machines that have taken us far beyond Earth before and could once again, continue to do the only thing they can—which is keep to at it. The money, the will and the governmental vision may run out before they're done, but for the moment at least, the work goes on.NASA Astronaut Brings Space Travel Down to Earth for KidsOlivia Hemaratanatorn - Space.comNASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson shared her experiences on the International Space Station with elementary school students in her home state on Jan. 23."Can you tell I really like being an astronaut?" she asked the third, fourth and fifth graders of La Crescenta Elementary in California. And they answered with a resounding, "Yes!""Everything I do as an astronaut are the things I enjoy doing," Caldwell Dyson said. "What you choose to do later in life needs to be what you enjoy doing because that's going to bring out the best in you. We want that. Every one of you has a best you. And you keep striving your whole life to be the best you."The discussion began when a student asked her what inspired her to become an astronaut. It was a mixture of her parents asking her to list what she wanted to do (she enjoyed studying science, working with tools and learning to speak another language) and of inspiration resulting from Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher chosen to go to space on the Challenger in 1986.Caldwell Dyson showed a video that detailed her time at the International Space Station. It included her shuttle launch, exercising, eating sushi, doing experiments, making repairs as well as having fun with the team on board (hide and seek, singing and participating in space shuttle Olympics).There was audible wonderment when the video showed water in an open plastic sandwich bag and how the water remained in the bag when it was turned upside down. This was one of the "Kids in Micro-g" experiments where kids across the country develop experiments that get performed on board by astronauts.Caldwell Dyson told the kids that she hoped some of them would participate in the space program; it's where they could use their talents and gifts. She explained she worked really hard in the space program because she believes in it."I believe that we as a country and a world need to keep exploring space," she said. "My experience, because of my age and where we are with our space program, I'm probably going to only see the lower orbit of Earth. My experience is going to be circling around the Earth."She asked the students where they thought space exploration would advance to when they're her age. Among the responses: Another galaxy, Jupiter, Mars, and biggest world in the universe.Every year Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) invites an astronaut to visit schools in his district. Dyson is the eighth participant. In honor of Dyson's visit, Congressman Schiff presented a flag to La Crescenta Elementary principal Kim Bishop. The flag was previously flown over the United States Capitol.Public invited to NASA Day of Remembrance ceremony Thursday in HuntsvilleLee Roop – Huntsville TimesEach year on Jan. 30. NASA remembers the 17 astronauts who have died in the American space program. In addition to the private ceremony for NASA employees, this year will also have a public ceremony at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville.Three astronauts - Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee - died in a test stand fire in their Apollo 1 capsule Jan. 27, 1967. Seven astronauts - Francis "Dick" Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe - died when the space shuttle Challenger exploded just after launch on Jan. 28, 1986. Seven astronauts - Rick Husband, William "Willie" McCool, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chawla, David "Dave" Brown and Laurel Clark -died when the shuttle Columbia broke up just before landing on Feb. 1, 2003.Thursday morning, a 10 a.m. ceremony in the lobby of the Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center will include Marshall Space Flight Center Director Patrick Scheuermann, space center CEO Dr. Deborah Barnhart, and students from Huntsville's Challenger Elementary School, Grissom High School, Ed White Middle School, Columbia High School and Chaffee Elementary School.Halle Berry to Portray Astronaut in CBS TV Series 'Extant'Tariq Malik – Space.comIt looks like Halle Berry has an eye on space. The Academy Award-winning actress is set to portray an astronaut in the new CBS thriller "Extant" launching in July."'Extant' is a mystery thriller about a female astronaut trying to reconnect with her family when she returns after a year in outer space," CBS officials announced this month. "Her experiences lead to events that ultimately will change the course of human history." The series will premiere July 2.CBS has revealed little about the actual story for "Extant," or exactly what Berry's astronaut character was supposedly doing in space for a year. A trailer posted by CBS Entertainment on Jan. 19 does little to answer those questions, but does add a creepy vibe to the upcoming series."Life always finds a way," a trailer tagline reads.While "Extant" appears to have a sci-fi flair, it is worth noting that an astronaut spending a year in space is hardly science fiction.In 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will launch on a one-year mission to the International Space Station as part of a study on how the human body responds to long-duration spaceflights. Typical space station missions have run about six months in duration, but future trips to Mars and other deep-space locales will need to last much longer.So will we see Halle Berry's character grapple with the challenges of readapting to Earth's gravity after a 12 months in space? Looks like we'll have to tune in and see.CBS officials announced plans for "Extant" to run 13 episodes last year. The series is a co-production of CBS Television Studios and Amblin Television. Executive producers include Steven Speilberg, Greg Walker, Mickey Fisher (who wrote the script), Brooklyn Weaver, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Berry will serve as a co-executive producer."'Extant' is a very original concept with layers of humanity, mystery and surprise that reveal itself throughout the script," CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said in an Aug. 7 statement.Commercial Aerospace Companies Remaking The Economics of SpaceflightCarrie Feibel - KUHF-FMJanuary has been an important month for NASA. The agency received a slight budget increase for 2014, and the government decided the International Space Station will stay in orbit four more years, until 2024. But NASA no longer acts alone — private, for-profit companies are increasingly critical for space exploration.NASA has hired not one, but two, private companies to launch food and supplies to the international space station.SpaceX was the first to arrive, in May 2012, with its Dragon capsule."The SpaceX team is reporting that Dragon is in free drift, there will be no more engine firings at this point. So, basically, Dragon flying in formation with the International Space Station as Don Pettit reaches out with the arm to latch on to it. Just a few more feet to go..."Private contractors like Boeing have always worked with NASA, but the difference now is the business model.Now companies compete with each other, and the contracts are fixed amounts, with lots of accountability built in.Michael Lopez-Alegria is a former astronaut and president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation."They get paid only when they achieve these milestones, so the result is that it's significant savings to the taxpayer. And the question was 'Could they do it?' And now we know the answer.The commercial space industry is diverse.Bigelow Aerospace plans to build a private space station that it will rent out to scientists or other countries.Virgin Galactic and XCOR are testing planes that will rocket to the edge of space and then land.Lopez-Alegria says 80 percent of the market is expected to be space tourism.Although the flights aren't even scheduled, you can already book tickets, and they cost between $75,000 and 250,000 a seat.In the meantime, the Federation is working on policy, like getting more spaceports built, or crafting laws for outer space."If you want to extract resources from an asteroid or from the moon or something like that – first of all, you'd like to have the precedent that says 'I can sell whatever I take the trouble to mine.' And also that somebody else isn't going to come, and while I'm not there, start using my equipment and all that. And so establishing the rule of law and property rights is important."Lopez-Alegria says commercializing space will increase demand, which will lower the cost barriers and actually get more people into space."It's the next great frontier, I mean we really are on the edge, on the cusp, of turning space travel into something that is democratized so that one day, probably not you and me, but maybe our kids or our grandkids can go into space like you and I think about getting on an airplane."And Texas could play a big role — there are proposals to build commercial spaceports in Houston, Midland and Brownsville.Future interplanetary spacecraft to be equipped with 'plantations' - Russian scientistVoice of Russia, InterfaxIn 2015 astronauts will grow rice, tomatoes and sweet pepper on board of the international space station in the framework of the experiment to create a biological life-support system of extra-long space expedition crews, chief research associate of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Margarita Levinskikh, said."We plan experiments with several crops - rice, tomatoes and sweet peppers. These crops have never been grown in space before," Levinskikh said on Wednesday when speaking at the academic readings on astronautics in the Moscow State Technical Institute named after Bauman.The experiments will be conducted in the framework of developing extra-long flights and plants, whose genom is well studied on the Earth, are preferred, Levinskikh said."We are working with a greenhouse open in terms gas exchange, thus we have in the greenhouse everything we have in the station atmosphere," she said.During the existence of the orbital stations - Mir and international space station - twenty three experiments to grow plants in micro-gravitation have been carried out - six of them at the Mir station and 17 at the international space station, the chief research associate said.The plants grown were fine and did not manifest any regression in development, Levinskikh said."When growing pea amid the space flight, five populations have been grown. This shows that no regression and productivity decrease occurred," she said.The experiments to grow super-dwarf wheat have been carried out at the orbit - the wheat seeds have not been obtained at the Mir station, while wheat has grown well at the international space station, Levinskikh said."The plants have been very developed, absolutely normal and did not differ a lot from the plants grown on Earth," she said.Now for the weather on Luhman: Cloudy with a chance of molten iron rainIrene Klotz – ReutersYou think the weather is bad on Earth lately. On Luhman 16B, a hybrid planet-star located 6.7 light years away, scientists say it's raining molten iron, research released on Wednesday shows.The first weather maps from this dim, gaseous object known as a brown dwarf, show a complex structure of patchy clouds, comprised of liquid iron and other minerals stewing in scorching temperatures, a pair of studies show.Computer models indicate that as a brown dwarfs cools, liquid droplets containing iron and other minerals form in their atmospheres. The new studies indicate the droplets gather into patchy clouds, which then rain down.Brown dwarfs are bigger than Jupiter-sized planets, but too small for nuclear fusion, the signature process that gives a star its shine. Also known as "failed stars," brown dwarfs are born hot and emit faint but telltale infrared light as they slowly cool.Temperatures in the clouds of Luhman 16B, for example, are 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (927 degrees Celsius).Only a few hundred or so brown dwarfs have been found so far.Scientists devised an innovative technique that not only could detect how Luhman 16B, located 40 trillion miles (64 trillion km), varied in brightness, but also whether light and dark features were moving toward or away from observing telescopes.The information was then compiled into cloud maps."Soon, we will be able to watch cloud patterns form, evolve and dissipate on this brown dwarf," astronomer Ian Crossfield, with the Max Planck Institute in Germany, said in a statement.Scientists expect to use similar techniques to understand the weather and composition of planets beyond the solar system.The studies are published in the journals Nature and the Astrophysical Journal Letters.John Glenn to attend ship christeningGary Robbins – U-T San DiegoJohn Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, is scheduled to visit General Dynamics-NASSCO in San Diego on Saturday to attend the christening of a Navy logistics ship that bears his name.NASSCO is nearly finished building and outfitting the 765-foot USNS John Glenn, a Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship that will serve as an at-sea staging area for troops, equipment and supplies. The vessel is the second of a new class of ships the Navy has ordered to improve its ability to quickly move Marines, sailors and supplies ashore. NASSCO earlier built the USNS Montford Point, and it is working on a third MLP, the Lewis B. Puller.Glenn, 92, will be joined at the christening by Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, Lt. General John A. Toolan, Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force, and Rear Admiral Thomas K. Shannon, Commander, Military Sealift Command. Glenn's daughter, Lyn, will crack a bottle of champagne to christen the ship.The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. and is free and open to the public. Visitors should report to the main gate area at 2798 E. Harbor Drive, in Barrio Logan.Glenn had a distinguished flying career, serving as a Marine pilot during World War II and the Korean War. He went on to become a test pilot and joined the organization that became NASA. Glenn was chosen as one of the original Mercury astronauts, and he made history on February 20, 1962, becoming the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth. He made the trip in a "tin can" called Friendship 7. Glenn left NASA and went on to serve in the U.S. Senate for 24 years. But his flying career didn't end. At the age of 77, he flew on the space shuttle Discovery during a mission that was devoted, in part, to studying how zero gravity affected the body of older people.SpaceX may get California tax breakMuhammed El-Hasan - Daily BreezeCalifornia's state Assembly passed a bill Wednesday that would give companies like Hawthorne-based SpaceX a big tax break.AB 777, authored by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), classifies rocket ships built by private space exploration companies as business inventory and hence, exempt from property taxes.The Assembly passed AB 777 by a 68 to 5 vote with support from Democrats and Republicans."I introduced this bill to clarify the tax code as it relates to this new industry so that companies like SpaceX can have the legal certainty they need to make major infrastructure investment decisions and avoid unnecessary litigation," Muratsuchi said in a statement. "With this bill, California can incubate and grow this exciting new industry and create thousands of good paying manufacturing jobs right here in our state."The bill will next move to the state Senate for consideration.END-----No virus found in this message.Checked by AVG - www.avg.comVersion: 2014.0.4259 / Virus Database: 3681/7042 - Release Date: 01/29/14
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