Fwd: NASA and Human Spaceflight News – Feb. 11, 2014 and JSC Today

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: February 11, 2014 10:37:16 AM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News – Feb. 11, 2014 and JSC Today

 

 

 

________________________________________

Tuesday, February 11, 2014         Read JSC Today in your browser

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                    JSC TODAY CATEGORIES

1.            Headlines

-  Orion Monthly Trivia Contest

-  POWER of One - Nominate Your Peer Today

-  Safe, Not Sorry -- While Walking

2.            Organizations/Social

-  JSC State of the Center

-  JSC NMA Generation Panel Luncheon

-  100-Year Starship Event Date Correction

-  Gardening: The Best Valentine's Gift for Your Love

-  Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting Today at Noon

-  Attending to Relationships

-  Tom Jones Book Signings - Feb. 21

-  Youth Karate Classes - Free Class Feb. 22

3.            Jobs and Training

-  Crane Ops & Rigging Refresher: April 9, Bldg. 20

-  Lockout/Tagout - April 22, Bldg. 20, Room 205/206

4.            Community

-  Mentors Needed for Community College Students

-  Upcoming Sustainability Tours

-  Volunteer With Citizen Schools in HISD

Solar Array Panels on Russian Segment of Space Station

 

 

   Headlines

1.            Orion Monthly Trivia Contest

Test your knowledge on the Orion spacecraft! Answer the trivia question correctly and you are automatically entered into the drawing for a prize. The prize winner will be announced in the JSC Today on Thursday, Feb. 13. Email your answers to: JSC-Orion-Outreach@mail.nasa.gov

February Trivia Question:

Where will the Orion spacecraft land after its first mission, Exploration Flight Test-1?

Join the monthly trivia and discover more about Orion! Visit NASA's Orion page to read and learn about the spacecraft.

Orion Communications Office

 

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2.            POWER of One - Nominate Your Peer Today

The POWER of One award has been a great success, but we still need your nominations. We're looking for standout achievements with specific examples of exceptional and superior performance. Make sure to check out our award criteria to help guide you in writing the short write-up needed for submittal. If chosen, the recipient can choose from a list of JSC experiences and have their name and recognition shared in JSC Today.

Nominations for this quarter close Friday, Feb. 14, so nominate someone deserving today!

Click here for complete information on the JSC Awards Program.

Samantha Nehls x27804

 

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3.            Safe, Not Sorry -- While Walking

Most of us have seen the video of the person texting who falls into a fountain. While the person only suffered from wounded pride and the scenario appears humorous, the reality is that distracted-walking injuries are on the rise. Nancy Meinhardt decided not to be a statistic, and JSC employee Rusty Stewart was so impressed when he saw her actually stop walking to read a text that he wanted to reward her with a Safe, Not Sorry (SNS) pin.

"We talk about not texting and driving, but texting while walking and riding bikes is also a problem here on-site," Stewart said. "With slips, trips and falls being identified as the top close-call category, we should reward someone who keeps their eyes on the path." Meinhardt made a choice that day to be Safe, Not Sorry.

To obtain SNS pins, call x45078 or email.

Rindy Carmichael x45078

 

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   Organizations/Social

1.            JSC State of the Center

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Houston Section will host Deputy Director Kirk Shireman for a JSC State of the Center event on Feb. 27. The section invites the entire JSC community to RSVP at the event website by Feb. 18.

As deputy center director, Shireman works with JSC Director Dr. Ellen Ochoa to manage the people, budget and activities of JSC. He also serves as the chair of the International Space Station Mission Management Team, where he is responsible for all aspects of on-orbit operations of the International Space Station.

The cost of this dinner meeting is $15 for AIAA members, $25 for non-members and $20 for non-member students. When you RSVP, please select your choice of either herb-seared chicken or tortellini and roasted portobello mushrooms.

Event Date: Thursday, February 27, 2014   Event Start Time:5:30 PM   Event End Time:8:00 PM

Event Location: NASA JSC Gilruth Center, Alamo Ballroom

 

Add to Calendar

 

Laura Sarmiento x39551 http://www.aiaahouston.org/events/

 

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2.            JSC NMA Generation Panel Luncheon

Don't miss out on this great opportunity to hear about "Harnessing the Best of Each Generation at JSC." Please join us for this month's JSC National Management Association (NMA) chapter luncheon with our own JSC Generation Panel.

When: Tuesday, Feb. 25

Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Location: Gilruth Alamo Ballroom

Cost for members: FREE

Cost for non-members: $20

Attendees can select from three great menu options:

o             Grilled Salmon

o             Vegetable Lasagna

o             Parmesan Chicken

Desserts include double chocolate mousse cake and Italian cream cake.

RSVPs are required by 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, so RSVP now.

Event Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2014   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:1:00 PM

Event Location: Alamo Ballroom at the Gilruth

 

Add to Calendar

 

Leslie N. Smith x40590 http://www.jscnma.com/Events

 

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3.            100-Year Starship Event Date Correction

NASA's 100-Year Starship Project Goal - Wednesday, Feb. 12

You are invited to JSC's SAIC/Safety and Mission Assurance speaker forum featuring Dr. Gerald Cleaver, professor and Graduate Program director of the Department of Physics at Baylor University.

Date/Time: Wednesday, Feb. 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Location: Building 1, Room 966

Cleaver will discuss/answer questions on the following:

o             What do you know about Icarus Interstellar, its mission and its ongoing projects?

o             What do you know about interstellar travel technology?

o             What are the physics behind the Alcubierre effect?

o             Can in situ matter/antimatter propulsion systems be generated from high-strength parallel electric and magnetic fields?

Cleaver heads the Early Universe Cosmology and String Theory Division of Baylor's Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research. Cleaver's research has also moved into an experimental and engineering design direction: spacecraft propulsion systems.

Note: If you saved the previous calendar notice, please replace it with this one.

Event Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2014   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM

Event Location: Building 1, room 966

 

Add to Calendar

 

Della Cardona/Juan Traslavina 281-335-2074/281-335-2272

 

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4.            Gardening: The Best Valentine's Gift for Your Love

This month's environmental brown bag features Cavanaugh Nweze, a local urban farmer and accountant. He is a firm believer that the simple act of growing food can solve every single problem that we encounter in today's complex society. Just in time for spring, learn how the simple act of growing even a portion of what you eat can profoundly affect you, your family and your neighborhood. Nweze was a speaker at TEDxHouston last year, and we're honored to have him come and talk with us. Bring your lunch and your questions to Building 45, Room 751, today, Feb. 11, from noon to 1 p.m.

Event Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2014   Event Start Time:12:00 PM   Event End Time:1:00 PM

Event Location: Building 45, Room 751

 

Add to Calendar

 

Michelle Fraser-Page x34237

 

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5.            Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting Today at Noon

"Progress, not perfection" reminds Al-Anon members to move through our new year with patience. 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 today, Feb. 11, in Building 32, Room 146, from 12 to 12:45 a.m. *Note the new time.* Visitors are welcome.

Event Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2014   Event Start Time:12:00 PM   Event End Time:12:45 PM

Event Location: Bldg 32, Room 146

 

Add to Calendar

 

Employee Assistance Program x36130 http://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/EAP/Pages/default.aspx

 

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6.            Attending to Relationships

Albert Einstein once said "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love." However, we are responsible for how we express and sustain love in our relationships. Join Takis Bogdanos, LPC-S with the JSC Employee Assistance Program, today, Feb. 11, at 12 noon in the Building 30 Auditorium to learn how to keep relationships healthy and moving forward. The best, most lasting gift you can give your partner on Valentine's Day is great communication skills!

Event Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2014   Event Start Time:12:00 PM   Event End Time:1:00 PM

Event Location: Building 30 Auditorium

 

Add to Calendar

 

Lorrie Bennett, Employee Assistance Program, Occupational Health Branch x36130

 

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7.            Tom Jones Book Signings - Feb. 21

Thomas D. Jones, Ph.D., holds a doctorate in planetary sciences and, in the more than 11 years with NASA, flew on four space shuttle missions to Earth orbit and led three spacewalks to install the centerpiece of the International Space Station, the American Destiny laboratory. His awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, four NASA Space Flight Medals, NASA Exceptional Service award, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Exceptional Public Service award, Phi Beta Kappa and the Air Force Commendation Medal. Kings College of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2007. Main belt asteroid 1082 TomJones is named in his honor.

Breakfast and book signing - Feb. 21 in the Building 3 Collaboration Center from 8 to 10 a.m.

Public-access book signing - Feb. 21 at the Gilruth Fitness Center from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Don't miss this opportunity to meet him personally!

Cyndi Kibby x47467

 

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8.            Youth Karate Classes - Free Class Feb. 22

Let Starport introduce your child to the exciting art of Youth Karate. Youth Karate will teach your child the skills of self-defense, self-discipline and self-confidence. The class will also focus on leadership, healthy competition and sportsmanship.

TRY A FREE CLASS ON FEB. 22!

Please call the Gilruth Center front desk to sign your child up for the free class (only 25 available spots).

Five-week session: March 1 to March 29

Saturdays: 10 to 10:45 a.m.

Ages: 6 to 12

Cost: $75

Register online or at the Gilruth Center.

Shericka Phillips x35563 https://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/en/programs/familyyouth-programs/youth-karate

 

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   Jobs and Training

1.            Crane Ops & Rigging Refresher: April 9, Bldg. 20

SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0028: This four-hour course serves as a refresher in overhead crane safety and awareness for operators, riggers, signalmen, supervisors and safety personnel, and also updates their understanding of existing federal and NASA standards and regulations related to such cranes. Areas of concentration include: general safety in crane operations; testing; inspections; pre-lift plans; and safe rigging. This course is intended to provide the classroom training for re-certification of already qualified crane operators, or for those who have only a limited need for overhead crane safety knowledge. There will be a final exam associated with this course, which must be passed with a 70 percent minimum score to receive course credit. Use this direct link for registration. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Event Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2014   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:12:00 PM

Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 205/206

 

Add to Calendar

 

Shirley Robinson x41284

 

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2.            Lockout/Tagout - April 22, Bldg. 20, Room 205/206

The purpose of this course is to provide employees with the standards, procedures and requirements necessary for the control of hazardous energy through lockout and tagout of energy-isolating devices. Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard 29 CFR 1910.147, "The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)," is the basis for this course. A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration. https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Event Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2014   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:12:00 PM

Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 205/206

 

Add to Calendar

 

Shirley Robinson x41284

 

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   Community

1.            Mentors Needed for Community College Students

Are you looking for a great way to mold and inspire young minds? If you are, then Texas Community College Aerospace Scholars (CAS) is looking for you! CAS provides a unique opportunity for community college students to participate in a two-day on-site experience, where they get to interact with members of the NASA workforce and be part of a team designing a mission to Mars. As a CAS mentor, you'll have the opportunity to interact and lead a group of outstanding community college students from across the state of Texas through their project design challenge. You'll also have the opportunity to represent your division in an education outreach activity without leaving JSC. We are looking for full-time employees, co-ops and interns to serve as mentors during one of the following CAS sessions:

March 20 to 21

March 26 to 27

April 1 to 2

Sign up in V-CORPs!

Event Date: Thursday, March 20, 2014   Event Start Time:10:30 AM   Event End Time:4:00 PM

Event Location: Gilruth Center

 

Add to Calendar

 

Maria Chambers x41496 http://cas.aerospacescholars.org

 

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2.            Upcoming Sustainability Tours

The sustainability team invites you to attend these upcoming tours featuring initiatives focusing on our land resources.

Feb. 18, noon to 1 p.m. - JSC nature hike detailing the native plant species and wildlife on-site, invasive species and mitigation efforts. The hike will begin on the northwest section of the jogging trail. Parking is available at the north end of the 300 area, near Building 338. Be sure to wear proper clothing and footwear. The walk will be about a half mile or longer.

Feb. 19, noon to 1 p.m. - Longhorn Project tour detailing why it exists, how it operates and the education opportunities it provides to our local students. The tour will include the nearby gardens grown by JSC employees. An automatic gate in the parking lot between the Saturn V building and Building 14 provides access to the Longhorn pavilion.

If inclement weather occurs, these events will be rescheduled. Hope to see you there!

Lynn Lefebvre x36020

 

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3.            Volunteer With Citizen Schools in HISD

While your sixth grade may be a distant memory, there are sixth-grade students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) who could use some real-world inspiration from people like you.

Citizen Schools work with at-risk middle school students. The students will learn about new careers and possible futures through hands-on "apprenticeships" taught by volunteers.  

Can you help? Volunteer for an hour-and-a-half (4:30 to 6 p.m.) on campus, once a week, over the course of the semester. Share your skills and knowledge with low-income sixth-grade students at struggling HISD schools. Can't commit to a whole semester? There are also opportunities for volunteers to work in teams to split up the 10-week program into three segments.

Everyone is invited to volunteer to teach an apprenticeship. Learn more at our information TODAY, Feb. 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Building 1, Room 720--then sign up for an opportunity in V-CORPs. Need more info? Send any questions to Mark Jernigan.

Event Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2014   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM

Event Location: Building 1, Room 720

 

Add to Calendar

 

V-CORPS x39528 http://nasajsc.force.com/vcorps

 

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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

Tuesday – Feb. 11, 2014

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

International Space Station

C-SPAN.org               

 

 

 

 

 

                                  

Michael Suffredini talked about the International Space Station (VIDEO) – Topics included the cost, purpose and future of the station. NASA announced that the International Space Station would stay in operation until 2024 (an additional four years than planned). This program was part of C-SPAN's "Your Money" series. Each Monday morning the last hour of "Washington Journal" is devoted to a federal program, focusing on its mission, participants, and cost.

(NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Why companies are lining up to test golf clubs (and other products) on the space station

After 13 years in orbit, the International Space Station is finding new life as a near-weightless lab for private enterprise

Jon Gertner - Fast Company

 

Fifteen times a day, some 250 miles above our heads, the International Space Station circles the Earth. An elegant H-shaped contraption roughly the length of a football field, it has been a fixture in the sky for so long--13 years and counting--that its novelty has long since receded. Its rotating crew of six astronauts have, meanwhile, come to seem less like celebrities and more like working stiffs, albeit working stiffs who pull long shifts in a microgravity environment where beds come with buckles to prevent sleepers from literally drifting off at night. Since its launch in 2000, the space station has mainly served as a place in which astronauts from NASA and foreign space agencies conduct experiments involving health and the physical sciences. It was never intended to help private companies improve their products and market share.

 

Coca-Cola returns soda to outer space in new Olympics ad

CollectSpace

Video

 

February 10, 2014 — A new Olympics-themed Coca-Cola commercial features the International Space Station while recycling the soft drink company's own history in space. The minute-long TV ad, which shows a U.S. astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard the orbiting outpost watching their two nations going head-to-head in an Olympic hockey match on Earth, includes the return of the special can that Coca-Cola designed for a 1985 space shuttle mission.

 

Branson Says Space Unit to Fly Paying Clients in 2014

Deena Kamel Yousef - Bloomberg News

 

U.K. billionaire Richard Branson said his Virgin Galactic venture is on track to carry its first fare-paying passenger to the edge of space this year, and that he plans to take his family on a flight some time in 2014.

 

White House Gets It Right on Space Station

Space News

 

The White House's call for a four-year extension of international space station operations, to 2024, represents a prudent compromise that will allow the orbital outpost to fully mature as a research platform without foreclosing the option for NASA and its partner agencies to chart a new course in human spaceflight in the relatively near future. Although continuously occupied since 2000, the station was only completed in 2011, and to this day a large portion of the onboard astronaut time remains dedicated to operations and maintenance chores. As a government research laboratory it has yet to come into its own, either for studying the effects of long-duration spaceflight or for other scientific disciplines.

 

Red star rising: China's ascent to space superpower

Phil McKenna – New Scientist

 

ON 14 December 2013, the top trending topics on China's biggest social networks were a popular TV show and a football match. If it hadn't been for a concerted push from China's state-controlled media, the casual observer might never have noticed that China had just become the third country in the world to land on the moon. The news was not greeted with sweeping enthusiasm. After all, landing the Yutu robotic rover, aka Jade Rabbit, on Earth's closest neighbour was a feat human explorers had bagged many decades before. "We're now only 50 years behind Russia and USA," quipped one commenter on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. "Our country's designers have some catching up to do," wrote another, before worrying that the joke would lead to police detention.

 

Future Space Activities Depend on Communication

Amir Gohardani – Space News

 

2014 marks a year filled with opportunities and challenges within the aerospace domain. Perhaps some of the challenges that constantly emerge in this area are born in response to bolder visions and unprecedented technical capabilities. Despite the coagulation of hurdles that in part represent a core section of space exploration and exploitation, the motivational torches of space endeavors have constantly been burning for millenniums. Throughout centuries, the shimmering stars of the night sky have captivated the minds of mankind, making space a global subject. From childhood dreams to explorative missions onboard the international space station, one of the crucial instruments in enabling space exploration is indeed communication.

 

NASA Tries to Rewrite the Book on Science Fiction

Alexandra Alter – The Wall Street Journal

 

In William Forstchen's new science fiction novel, "Pillar to the Sky," there are no evil cyborgs, alien invasions or time travel calamities. The threat to humanity is far more pedestrian: tightfisted bureaucrats who have slashed NASA's budget. The novel is the first in a new series of "NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction," which grew out of collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and science fiction publisher Tor. The partnership pairs up novelists with NASA scientists and engineers, who help writers develop scientifically plausible story lines and spot-check manuscripts for technical errors.

                                                                                                                                                            

Google Subsidiary to Run Nearby Federal Airfield

Michael Liedtke – AP

 

The U.S. government has picked a Google subsidiary to run and renovate a federal airfield that is frequently used for the personal flights of the Internet company's billionaire executives.

 

The decision announced Monday clears the way for Google's Planetary Ventures LLC to take over management of the 1,000-acre Moffett Federal Airfield, a former U.S. Navy based 4 miles from Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. The airfield, which was built in the 1930s, has been managed by NASA's Ames Research Center for the past 23 years.           

 

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

International Space Station

C-SPAN.org

 

Michael Suffredini talked about the International Space Station – Topics included the cost, purpose and future of the station. NASA announced that the International Space Station would stay in operation until 2024 (an additional four years than planned). This program was part of C-SPAN's "Your Money" series. Each Monday morning the last hour of "Washington Journal" is devoted to a federal program, focusing on its mission, participants, and cost.

(NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Why companies are lining up to test golf clubs (and other products) on the space station

After 13 years in orbit, the International Space Station is finding new life as a near-weightless lab for private enterprise

Jon Gertner - Fast Company

 

Fifteen times a day, some 250 miles above our heads, the International Space Station circles the Earth. An elegant H-shaped contraption roughly the length of a football field, it has been a fixture in the sky for so long--13 years and counting--that its novelty has long since receded. Its rotating crew of six astronauts have, meanwhile, come to seem less like celebrities and more like working stiffs, albeit working stiffs who pull long shifts in a microgravity environment where beds come with buckles to prevent sleepers from literally drifting off at night. Since its launch in 2000, the space station has mainly served as a place in which astronauts from NASA and foreign space agencies conduct experiments involving health and the physical sciences. It was never intended to help private companies improve their products and market share.

 

That's about to change. In 2011, following a directive from Congress, NASA handed off management for a portion of the space station's U.S. research modules to the specially ­created not-for-profit Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS). Congress wanted to broaden access to the station and utilize it as a platform for innovation. In essence, that meant executives at the Melbourne, Florida–based CASIS would sell the virtues of the space station to American businesses, not-for-profits, and ­academics--sort of like you might sell office space in Silicon Valley, except with a profoundly more complicated commute. "There really is no business model for this," says Duane Ratliff, COO of CASIS, which now has 33 employees and a federally funded $15 million budget. "Our first challenge was: Can we identify the value that microgravity research has?"

 

That's hardly obvious. Soon after they started, the CASIS team concluded that use of the station should be geared toward pharmaceutical and material-science researchers. At least theoretically, a microgravity environment can be a unique place for drug companies to test medications for diseases that cause muscle wasting and bone loss (both conditions have been associated with low-gravity environments). "The biggest challenge," says Ratliff, "is getting someone like Merck or Novartis, who have never done research in space or even contemplated it, and explaining it to them." CASIS quickly signed up both companies: Merck is already running tests in space on monoclonal antibodies, and this spring ­Novartis is shipping 20 genetically modified mice into space, apparently as part of a study on an ­experimental drug. The space station also has research uses beyond pharmaceuticals. Procter & Gamble has signed on to study compounds used in a variety of detergents, and CASIS also persuaded Cobra Puma Golf to test club coatings.

 

It may be a measure of the promise--or the mystery--of space research that none of these companies are yet willing to talk publicly about the details of their work. For CASIS, though, their involvement alone constitutes a move in the right direction. The organization's purpose is not precisely to make money for the government or to pay back taxpayers' investment in the space station, which at an estimated cost of $100 billion has been called the most expensive man-made object ever created. Rather, it is to see whether a lab in space can also be used to improve life on earth. "The ultimate goal would not be that CASIS becomes a multibillion-dollar company," says Ratliff, "but that it enables other companies to become multibillion-dollar companies because they used it and their work had a value in the marketplace."

 

Ratliff is well aware he is treading into the unknown; even on earth, the commercialization of science can take a very long time. "I think expectations should be moderated on whether we can earn income here," says Scott Pace, the head of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. "It may just be too early." Still, the first wave of CASIS clients might benefit in another way: marketing. At the dawn of the space age, a sugary powdered drink called Tang leveraged its association with NASA to huge success. In 2014, stamping made in space on your golf club might not guarantee that you've created a better putter, but if your competition can't say the same thing, it may nevertheless be worth bragging about.

 

NASA's privatization initiatives are creating opportunities for companies that can ferry cargo and crew. Who's vying for a piece of the space-commuting pie?

 

Blue Origin

• The Jeff Bezos–helmed startup is working on a ­reusable vehicle designed to take up to four astronauts to the space station.
• Vehicle: New Shepard, launched with an Atlas V rocket
• Status: In testing phase; human transport is at least a couple of years off

 

SpaceX

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk's company is outpacing its competition with ­contracts worth billions.
• Vehicle: Dragon, launched with a Falcon 9 rocket
• Status: Two cargo trips complete; four planned for 2014. Crew transport likely down the road

 

Boeing

• The Seattle-based aerospace giant is currently developing a space capsule for NASA that is ­designed to transport up to seven astronauts to and from the space station.
• Vehicle: CST-100, launched with an Atlas V rocket
• Status: Tests are ongoing

 

Orbital Sciences

• A builder of commercial satellites and missile ­defense systems, Orbital has lucrative contracts to transport space-station cargo.
• Vehicle: Cygnus, launched with an Antares rocket
• Status: Missions ongoing over the next few years

 

Sierra Nevada Corp.

• Longtime military ­contractor SNC is working on a seven-passenger transport vehicle.
• Vehicle: Dream Chaser, launched with an Atlas V rocket
• Status: Crew transport could begin late in the ­decade

 

Coca-Cola returns soda to outer space in new Olympics ad

CollectSpace

Video

 

February 10, 2014 — A new Olympics-themed Coca-Cola commercial features the International Space Station while recycling the soft drink company's own history in space.

 

The minute-long TV ad, which shows a U.S. astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard the orbiting outpost watching their two nations going head-to-head in an Olympic hockey match on Earth, includes the return of the special can that Coca-Cola designed for a 1985 space shuttle mission.

 

The commercial may have drawn inspiration from the real-life journey of an Olympic torch to the International Space Station (ISS) last November. The same torch was used to light the cauldron as a part of the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

 

The advertisement shows the two jersey-clad crewmates rooting for their respective teams while sipping from valve-capped Coke cans. When the U.S. scores, the cosmonaut reacts by spilling out his soda in a fit of frustration. In the microgravity environment of space, the soft drink floats off in spherical blobs and bubbles.

 

Coca-Cola's "ISS" Olympics television commercial (Coca-Cola)

The scene then switches pace, underscored by the use of the "Light Calvary Overture" by Austrian composer Franz von Suppé, as the two station residents quickly float off to catch as much of the soda with their mouths. The rivalry gives way to camaraderie as the cosmonaut swoops in to avoid the carbonated drink from shorting out an exposed electronics panel at the far end of the module.

 

The clip, while fictional, is not too far from reality.

 

"I think there will be some friendly competition, especially if the Russian and U.S. hockey teams meet head to head. That would always be interesting," NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio said from the real International Space Station during a recent interview with Space.com.

 

Just as is shown in Coca-Cola's commercial, Mastracchio and his crewmates are able to watch the Olympic games via video uplinked by NASA's Mission Control in Houston.

 

Ad imitating life: Though they do not have Coca-Cola to drink, the real space station crew can watch the Olympics. (Coca-Cola)

"We will have some of the Olympic events sent up to us, tape delayed, but we will also get some live," Mastracchio said. "On the weekends, they'll often uplink a TV station, and of course we'll ask for the Olympic events to be sent."

 

The crew doesn't have to have to worry about spilling their Cokes, however — the space station is soda free. While Mastracchio and his five Expedition 38 crewmates have other drinks they can sip from, including juice and coffee, the Coca-Cola Company's plans to launch a zero-g Coke machine fizzled out in the mid-1990s.

 

The soda maker flew its carbonated drink on three space shuttle missions, each time trying to solve one important challenge: keeping the bubbles inside rather than out.

 

Coca-Cola's first attempt at designing such a container — a space Coke can for space shuttle Challenger's STS-51F mission in July 1985 — makes its (fictional) return to orbit in the new Olympic commercial.

 

Coke in space: Coca-Cola in space memorabilia, including one of the original 1985 space Coke cans (center). (collectSPACE.com)

Whereas later missions flew pressurized cups and bottles together with a wall-mounted dispenser, the first time that Coke flew in space was inside an off-the-shelf aluminum can topped with a metal valve that the astronauts opened with the press of a button.

 

Unfortunately, the can didn't work out very well. In addition to the soda being warm (the shuttle was not equipped with a refrigerator for food products), the carbonation escaped, leaving the crew with flat drinks.

 

On the upside, floating "soda balls" became a source of amusement for the astronauts — just like for the audience for Coca-Cola's new commercial.

 

Branson Says Space Unit to Fly Paying Clients in 2014

Deena Kamel Yousef - Bloomberg News

 

(Corrects total deposits collected in eighth paragraph of story published Feb. 10, adds latest ticket price in second.)

 

U.K. billionaire Richard Branson said his Virgin Galactic venture is on track to carry its first fare-paying passenger to the edge of space this year, and that he plans to take his family on a flight some time in 2014.

 

Virgin Galactic, which completed the third rocket-powered supersonic flight of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle from Mojave Air and Space Port in California last month, is on course to meet its operational targets, Branson said today in Dubai.

 

"It will be the start of a whole new space era," the entrepreneur said at the 2014 United Arab Emirates Government Summit, predicting that his plan to give paying guests a taste of zero gravity for $250,000 will be profitable in three years.

 

Writing in his book "Branson Behind the Mask," published on Feb. 6, author Tom Bower says a combination of safety regulations, performance issues and the physical challenges of a rocket launch means Virgin Galactic is unlikely ever to attain its goal of carrying passengers into sub-orbital flight.

 

"There are some people who seem to want things to fail and I think he falls into that category," Branson said later at a U.K. trade and investment event in Dubai. "The best way of dealing with people like that is to prove them wrong and we will prove them wrong in the next few months."

 

Australia in Two Hours

 

Branson said Virgin Galactic's ultimate ambition remains trips between cities at near-orbital speeds, slashing even the longest journey times. Such point-to-point travel is probably 12 years away, with flights between the most distant points, such as London-Australia, offering the biggest gains.

 

"We built Virgin Galactic's spaceships shaped like aeroplanes, and we want to make them bigger and bigger and faster in years to come," he said. "If we can fly to Australia in a couple of hours that would give use a massive advantage."

 

Branson said that Virgin Galactic, which holds more than $80 million in deposits from would-be passengers, should get a commercial license and certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in "the next handful of months."

 

In the most recent flight the reusable SS2 craft reached a speed of Mach 1.4 and an altitude of 71,000 feet -- the highest to date -- following its launch from the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft at 46,000 feet. The mission also tested heat-resistant coatings and a control system for maneuvering in space.

 

Branson said of a 2007 explosion in which three people working for Virgin partner Scaled Composites were killed at the Mojave test site that "even NASA" has incidents with programs. Scaled is now a unit of Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC)

 

Virgin Galactic is backed by the Abu Dhabi government's Aabar Investments wealth fund with a 37.8 percent stake.

 

White House Gets It Right on Space Station

Space News

 

The White House's call for a four-year extension of international space station operations, to 2024, represents a prudent compromise that will allow the orbital outpost to fully mature as a research platform without foreclosing the option for NASA and its partner agencies to chart a new course in human spaceflight in the relatively near future.

 

Although continuously occupied since 2000, the station was only completed in 2011, and to this day a large portion of the onboard astronaut time remains dedicated to operations and maintenance chores. As a government research laboratory it has yet to come into its own, either for studying the effects of long-duration spaceflight or for other scientific disciplines.

 

Commercial users, meanwhile, have barely begun to scratch the surface. By committing to at least four more years of operations, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama gives these prospective users the assurance they'll need to invest in station-based experiments and applications, some of which could take years to develop.

 

Full utilization of the space station probably won't be possible until sometime after 2017, when NASA is scheduled to field an independent capability to transport crews to and from the facility. This should enable the station to support a larger crew size, from six to seven. 

 

NASA and its partners — Canada, Europe, Japan and Russia — have collectively invested more than $100 billion in the space station, and the four-year extension will not require any additional capital investment. In fact, NASA has sufficient spare parts, either onboard the station or on the ground, to keep the facility operating until 2028.

 

There are no doubt some who would like to see the station operate at least until then, but the White House had good reasons for limiting its proposed extension to four years. For one thing, the current administration will leave office in 2016; committing the United States until 2028 would unnecessarily and unfairly tie the hands of a future president.

 

Moreover, a four-year extension should be easier to sell to NASA's international partners, some of whom have expressed reservations about going even beyond 2020 and might balk at an eight-year deal. Currently, there is no consensus among European Space Agency member states on the future participation in the program, for example, and Japan and Canada are wrestling with budget issues.

 

At any rate, a future U.S. president can always propose another four years of space station operations without incurring additional capital investment costs. In other words, there was no economic advantage to be gained by making a longer-term commitment today.

 

It has been argued that as long as NASA is saddled with the roughly $3 billion annual cost of operating the space station, it will be difficult if not impossible to make headway on efforts to send astronauts to destinations beyond low Earth orbit. There's truth to that argument — setting aside the possibility that the cost could come down as experience-based efficiencies are adopted — but it rests on the questionable assumption that the savings from shutting down station would stay with NASA. It also glosses over the station's crucial role as a test-bed for long-duration human spaceflight, where there is still much work to be done.

 

NASA of course already is investing some $3 billion per year in a pair of deep-space exploration systems: the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) and its companion capsule, Orion. But even in the highly unlikely event that neither project incurs significant delays, the SLS-Orion combo isn't expected to launch its first astronauts until 2021. In other words, ending the station in 2020 would almost certainly mean introducing a gap of undetermined length in the U.S. human spaceflight program. Moreover, given the lack of consensus on the next destination for human explorers, NASA's planned asteroid capture mission notwithstanding, it is difficult to imagine another four years of space station operations being the chief obstacle to deep-space astronaut missions.

 

The international space station might not be everyone's choice as the cornerstone of U.S. human spaceflight policy, but it offers a tremendous capability that is available today and is far from reaching or even presaging its full potential. Hopefully, NASA's partner agencies will recognize the proposed extension as an opportunity rather than a burden and climb onboard.

 

Red star rising: China's ascent to space superpower

Phil McKenna – New Scientist

 

ON 14 December 2013, the top trending topics on China's biggest social networks were a popular TV show and a football match. If it hadn't been for a concerted push from China's state-controlled media, the casual observer might never have noticed that China had just become the third country in the world to land on the moon.

 

The news was not greeted with sweeping enthusiasm. After all, landing the Yutu robotic rover, aka Jade Rabbit, on Earth's closest neighbour was a feat human explorers had bagged many decades before. "We're now only 50 years behind Russia and USA," quipped one commenter on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. "Our country's designers have some catching up to do," wrote another, before worrying that the joke would lead to police detention.

 

But if China itself seemed a little bored, that was nothing compared with the collective yawn echoing around the world. Apart from failing the novelty test, the mission was accomplished using knock-off equipment, and Yutu was dismissed as a tragic "me too" exercise by a country lagging decades behind the world's leading space powers.

 

This common reaction missed the point. Jade Rabbit's successful launch, landing and exploration is evidence of China's meteoric rise in the space stakes, and one that will only accelerate. "It is a classic example of the tortoise and the hare," says Dean Cheng of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington DC. From the sophisticated communications network that guided the rover to its destination, to emerging satellite technology that is the envy of other nations, to its plans for a new international space station, China is a force other space superpowers ignore at their peril. The ripples are reaching out to affect everything from your phone's settings to the first future footprints on Mars.

 

To get an idea of China's burgeoning space programme, look no further than its satellites. Starting in 1970, China launched low-quality transponders and rudimentary spy satellites capable of only the most basic tasks at an entirely unimpressive rate of one per year. By 2012, the country had surpassed the US with 19 launches in a single year. China had also sent its first taikonaut into space, conducted its first space walk and completed its first rendezvous and docking with a small space laboratory. "The manned program they are building is progressing a lot faster than the US did with theirs in the sixties," says Richard Holdaway, Director of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Space division, one of the UK's closest collaborators on the Chinese space programme. "They are catching up at an astonishing rate."

 

"In 15 years they have gone from bit player to leading player," says Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And they have done so on a shoestring. China's space budget is less than one-tenth of the US one, according to a recent estimate by the Space Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Colorado Springs.

 

So what accounts for the rapid acceleration? A common, and not entirely charitable, answer is that other nations have already solved many of the challenges. "When it was just the US and the Soviets, there were basic questions of survival – like what would astronauts breathe, how much oxygen, how much nitrogen – that no one knew the answer to," says Cheng. "Today China can benefit from much of that having been worked out and made publicly available."

 

His words reflect a familiar attitude that China's technological progress has been built largely on the ideas of others – whether given freely or not. "We get hacked from people in China every day," Holdaway says. "Most systems are pretty robust but some stuff gets through." Indeed, the received wisdom is that China has acquired so much intellectual property from external and sometimes unwilling sources that they may not be capable of innovation. "They are still in a developmental stage using essentially Russian technology and knock-offs," says Robert Bigelow, the founder of Bigelow Aerospace, a space technology company in Las Vegas.

 

However, on closer inspection this picture seems incomplete. Granted, as Bigelow points out, China's Shenzhou space capsule looks nearly identical to Russia's Soyuz capsule. And beneath Chinese spacesuits, taikonauts often wear an inner pressure suit made in Russia. And yes, Jade Rabbit looks like an updated version of Lunokhod 2, a Soviet rover that landed on the moon in 1973.

Long march

 

Many of these similarities stem from a deal that took place in the mid-1990s, when China purchased much of Russia's human spaceflight technology, including Soyuz capsules, spacesuits, life support, and docking systems. However, China has made vast improvements to the original designs. For example, the Shenzhou capsule is roughly 30 per cent larger, with solar panels, advanced avionics and electronics. "China has developed what the next generation would have been," says Leroy Chiao, a former US astronaut.

 

Other crucial improvements, however, are not incremental – China has leaped ahead of other countries, thanks to basic science. For example, to operate a rover successfully on the moon, Chinese engineers had to make it impervious to lunar soil, an incredibly sharp, fine-grained, and sticky substance that nearly scuttled the Apollo missions. To test rover prototypes without advice from countries with access to fake moon dust, Chinese scientists developed their own simulated lunar soil from scratch. They did it using only a tiny sample of moon rock acquired decades earlier from the US, says Yongchun Zheng, a planetary scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

 

China's rocket technology has a similar tale to tell. Its Long March rockets are an original design, and quickly became more advanced than Russian rockets, which have changed very little over the years, relying primarily on kerosene, a low-power but easy-to-use fuel source. The Long March 3 – which sent the Jade Rabbit on its path to the moon – uses a more advanced hydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide fuel. "It's something the Russians have tended to stay away from," says McDowell. "It has more oomph but it's harder to work with." He refers to the Chinese success with this fuel as a "high-tech achievement".

 

And so, thanks to these and other rapid advances in China's space programme, Jade Rabbit spent six weeks mapping lunar regolith before an equipment malfunction froze it in its tracks. This week, the end of lunar night will reveal whether the rover survived.

 

If space were simply about moon rovers, the story might end there. But China has also been busy elsewhere, developing a full suite of systems including software, satellites, and communications infrastructure with the goal of total space independence.

 

To communicate with its probes on previous lunar orbiting missions, for example, the country relied heavily on the European Space Agency's global deep space antenna network. But not for much longer perhaps. "The Chinese are building up their own network," says ESA's Karl Bergquist. "There is less necessity to rely on us." For the Jade Rabbit mission, China still used both networks, but depended less on ESA's.

 

Satellite navigation is in the middle of a similar overhaul. China is a little less than halfway done with BeiDou, its answer to the GPS satellite navigation system. As of today, 15 navigation satellites are in orbit with plans for 20 more by 2020.

 

Indeed, satellite technology is where the country really shines. In 2010, China demonstrated its capacity for precision manoeuvrability when two satellites appeared to rendezvous and briefly touch before continuing on their separate ways. "It's one thing to simply come screaming in at high speed and bounce off or destroy the other," says Cheng. "But to come in, nudge something and back off is indicative of very high-end technology and very highly advanced skill sets." A satellite this sophisticated could repair other ageing satellites to stop them becoming space junk – or help assemble a space station.

 

Indeed, a second space lab will be in low-Earth orbit by 2015, placed there by the next-generation Long March 5 rocket, capable of lifting 600 kilograms more than the now-retired US space shuttle. A full-scale Chinese Space Station (CSS) will join it by 2020. A report published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences spells out China's next steps, which include a crewed lunar base – a goal Holdaway considers reasonable – a human mission to Mars, and robotic planetary exploration by 2050.

 

For a country that has yet to set foot on lunar soil, such projections may seem unrealistic. But China's long and persistent march is not the only reason to believe the road map: the country also possesses at least two resources no other country can compete with. The first is people. "A quarter million people are working on their space programme," says Holdaway. And these scientists and engineers are young, says Gregory Kulacki, China expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists based in Washington DC. Echoing the idealistic, young NASA culture of the 1960s, he says, "the average age is low 30s, which is 20 years younger than other countries' programmes."

 

Another key to China's present and future success is the unique ability – granted by one-party rule – to stick to their plans longer than the political cycles of most Western governments. "The Chinese have a long-term plan and they're willing to devote resources to it," says Cheng. "I don't just mean money, I mean human resources, industrial resources, and political resources. Eventually we should expect they will surpass us."

 

But perhaps the most important catalyst for Chinese innovation was being frozen out of international collaboration. The US strictly forbids their scientists, astronauts, and aerospace contractors from collaborating with China in space, citing concerns that the country would co-opt any shared technology.

 

Being barred from sending astronauts to the US-led International Space Station (ISS) led China to develop its CSS. Similar examples abound. It was only after the European Union ended Chinese participation in the Galileo project – the European rival to GPS – that China began working on BeiDou in earnest. Its exclusion from the party also accounts for much of China's rapid advancement in satellite development – access to which has been most heavily restricted by other countries. "They decided to rely on their own technology," Kulacki says. "They have advanced faster because of the sanctions."

Global effects

 

And even as China is busy developing its capacity in space, the abilities of existing space powers are on the wane. "It is not clear that the United States' rate of technological improvement will continue as you look 10 to 20 year out into the future," McDowell says. He cites budget cuts, political gridlock, and failing educational systems. Much existing US and European space infrastructure is also ageing.

 

To hedge its bets, ESA is now positioning itself to partner with China in human space flight. "We have currently three or four astronauts and astronaut trainers who are in language training," says ESA's human spaceflight director Thomas Reiter. "We are taking steps to intensify our links with the Chinese Space Agency."

 

But what's in it for China? After decades of being shut out of collaboration, Cheng says China may be at a point where it would prefer to continue going it alone. "It's not at all a given that China wants to cooperate with us. Given the US hiatus on manned space flight, it's not at all clear what we would bring to the table," he says.

 

Collaboration with Russia may be equally unattractive. In 2011, Russia launched a Chinese space probe to Mars as part of its Phobus-Grunt mission, but the Russian spacecraft never made it out of Earth's orbit. "From the Chinese perspective, it was a high-visibility, high-prestige project that failed because of the Russians," Cheng says.

 

Indeed, the shifting balance of space powers could have all manner of unexpected consequences. The Pentagon recently acknowledged that the US military command in Africa now relies on a Chinese satellite for communications, reflecting the military's ever-larger appetite for bandwidth, which has surged in recent years as it relies increasingly on remotely operated drones and satellite radio communications.

 

For the same reason, many commercial applications will benefit from Chinese satellite development, such as smartphones, which can already access both GPS and its Russian alternative, GLONASS, as a backup. BeiDou would offer a third option. While GPS is robust, it has been vulnerable to jamming, causing chaos at airports from San Francisco to New Jersey and leading to widespread concerns about overreliance on the system. A significant number of car manufacturers are also reportedly equipping their systems to access BeiDou in case of GPS failure.

 

Then there's the US's ageing weather satellite infrastructure, a topic subject to annual congressional hand-wringing. Last year a controversial government report found that the agency's best alternative would be to turn to China for help.

 

But these are not the only ways China's space dominance could affect the world. For one thing, it might motivate other countries to reinvest in their languishing space programmes. On 9 January, shortly after the Jade Rabbit landing, the US administration announced at a space conference that funding for the ISS would continue for four additional years. While McDowell doubts that the landing had anything to do with the decision, officials could well have cancelled the ageing space station's $3 billion a year funding. Chiao is sure the spectre of the CSS influenced the decision not to. "There was a threat that we were going to sit on the sidelines as all of our partners go over and start working with China," he says.

 

But perhaps the most utopian consequence of China's space ambitions would be a renewed realisation that space is not divided according to national boundaries. At the same forum, US deputy secretary of state William J. Burns announced an international space road map aiming to unite the separate paths of the national space agencies. "It didn't say 'except China'," says Chiao, noting that this is a subtle but significant departure.

 

The road map, Burns told the assembly, would create realistic prospects for long-shot projects commonly considered too expensive for individual governments to undertake, such as human missions to the surface of Mars, and an asteroid defence shield. In any case, none of this can happen without China, says Holdaway. "My educated guess is that the US, which can't afford to go to Mars on its own any more than ESA can, will initiate some dialogue with China about a global human mission," he says.

 

Stranger things have happened: Chiao points out that US cooperation with Russia was thought similarly unthinkable – right up until the moment it happened.

 

Future Space Activities Depend on Communication

Amir Gohardani – Space News

 

2014 marks a year filled with opportunities and challenges within the aerospace domain. Perhaps some of the challenges that constantly emerge in this area are born in response to bolder visions and unprecedented technical capabilities.

 

Despite the coagulation of hurdles that in part represent a core section of space exploration and exploitation, the motivational torches of space endeavors have constantly been burning for millenniums. Throughout centuries, the shimmering stars of the night sky have captivated the minds of mankind, making space a global subject. From childhood dreams to explorative missions onboard the international space station, one of the crucial instruments in enabling space exploration is indeed communication.

 

The transitional phases between kindergarten children conveying their interest in becoming astronauts and potentially reaching a professional life as an astronaut require a great deal of communication. Alongside technical, leadership and management skills, communication is an aptitude of increasing importance. Hence, it is fruitful to encourage communication skills among young learners, in addition to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) capabilities.

 

International space activities like those at ISS place additional weight on these types of skills.

 

Most recently, traces of such skills were also observed in the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Space Exploration Conference Jan. 9 in Washington. Focusing on planetary robotic and human spaceflight exploration, this presummit conference of the IAA Heads of Space Agencies Summit on Exploration provided a multifaceted insight into future space activities. The debates and discussions that garnished the technical sessions provided yet another piece of evidence that communication is a key element in aerospace endeavors.

 

In recognition of NASA's Top Management and Performance Challenges identified by the agency's Office of Inspector General in December 2013, and a recent White House approval to extend the ISS by four years, the U.S. commitment to ISS and NASA is noteworthy. NASA's visions have inspired generations and are likely to do so for generations to come.

 

In light of innovative projects aiming to unveil the secrets of the universe, embedding communication as a vital cluster in any aerospace endeavor is crucial. Communication of research findings and utilization of educational resources by means of communication serve as motivational mechanisms to inspire younger generations and to transcend the impossibilities of yesterday into the possibilities of tomorrow. Embracing communication is part of the multinational landscape of the new space era. Similarly, preparation of young learners for future space challenges is a necessity to create new marvels for the benefit of mankind.

 

NASA Tries to Rewrite the Book on Science Fiction

Alexandra Alter – The Wall Street Journal

 

In William Forstchen's new science fiction novel, "Pillar to the Sky," there are no evil cyborgs, alien invasions or time travel calamities. The threat to humanity is far more pedestrian: tightfisted bureaucrats who have slashed NASA's budget.

 

The novel is the first in a new series of "NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction," which grew out of a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and science fiction publisher Tor. The partnership pairs up novelists with NASA scientists and engineers, who help writers develop scientifically plausible story lines and spot-check manuscripts for technical errors.

 

The plot of Mr. Forstchen's novel hinges on a multibillion-dollar effort to build a 23,000-mile-high space elevator—a quest threatened by budget cuts and stingy congressmen. Forthcoming novels in the series will explore asteroid mining, wormholes and astrobiology.

 

Fact-based science fiction may sound like a contradiction, or a poor marketing strategy, in a literary genre that typically celebrates flights of fantasy. But Tor and NASA say both stand to gain. Novelists get access to cutting-edge research and experts in obscure fields. A NASA official says that shaping science fiction offers "an innovative way to reach out to the public to raise awareness of what the agency is doing."

 

Science fiction's space elevator

 

NASA has been hosting novelists at its research facilities for multiday tours titled, "Science Fiction Meets Science Fact." At one mixer, in October 2012, some 20 sci-fi writers mingled with NASA experts at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. They toured the radar detector development lab, laser and electro-optics facility and cosmic ice laboratory. Novelists tried on white anticontamination suits and were sent home with fragments of the heat shields used to protect satellites.

 

Heather Graham, a novelist who went on the tour, said chatting up NASA experts gave her an idea for a teen romance novel involving string theory, wormholes, nanotechnology and the discovery of intelligent, humanoid alien life.

 

She and her co-author, Jon Land, are collaborating with NASA astrobiologists to develop a plausible explanation for how a handsome high school quarterback might actually be an alien whose ancestors traveled to earth millions of years ago through a cosmic wormhole.

 

Another novelist participating in the program, William Cohen, drew on NASA research for his forthcoming novel about asteroid mining—which involves capturing an asteroid, dragging it back to earth and extracting minerals. Mr. Cohen is the former defense secretary under President Bill Clinton, and the author of thriller novels such as "Dragon Fire." He describes his forthcoming novel as "a political thriller about murder, international intrigue, and space issues involving NASA." He declined to say whether he thinks asteroid mining in real life is a good idea. "You'll have to read the novel," he said.

 

It isn't the first time NASA has ventured into pop culture. NASA has commissioned art work celebrating its accomplishments from luminaries like Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol. The agency has consulted on Hollywood films, including "Armageddon," "The Avengers" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon." Two years ago, NASA teamed up with hip-hop star will.i.am, who wrote a song about space exploration that was first broadcast on the Mars Curiosity rover and beamed back to earth.

 

Some see NASA's involvement in movies, music and books as an attempt to subtly shape public opinion about its programs.

 

"Getting a message across embedded in a narrative rather than as an overt ad or press release is a subtle way of trying to influence people's minds," says Charles Seife, author of "Decoding the Universe," who has written about NASA's efforts to rebrand itself. "It makes me worry about propaganda."

 

Enidia Santiago-Arce, a NASA official who is coordinating the author-scientist exchanges, says the agency isn't pushing pro-NASA story lines. The collaboration doesn't include any NASA funding.

 

"They write whatever they want," she said. "We provide them with people who have the expertise to help make it as accurate as it can be within the realms of science fiction."

 

Mr. Forstchen, 63, a best-selling novelist and history professor at Montreat College in North Carolina, is a lifelong space fan. He chokes up when he talks about the Apollo moon landing. When he wants to clear his head, he likes to simulate the experience of zero gravity by flying his World War II-era plane and steering it straight up.

 

He has been obsessed with space elevators ever since he read Arthur C. Clarke's 1979 novel, "The Fountains of Paradise." When he proposed his own novel about a space elevator, he put together a 12-page outline that referenced some NASA reports on the feasibility of space elevators, which would use a ribbonlike cable, anchored with a counterweight in space, to carry rockets and other materials into orbit.

 

In "Pillar to the Sky," two NASA scientists, married to each other, are devastated when Congress refuses to fund their proposed space elevator. The couple turns to a Silicon Valley billionaire, who spends $61 billion of his own fortune to build the tower, which would extend 23,000 miles into geosynchronous orbit.

 

John Panek, a NASA aerospace engineer, fact-checked Mr. Forstchen's novel to make the story more credible. He double-checked Mr. Forstchen's calculations on things like the efficiency of solar cells, and how much mass a rocket could launch to orbit. He caught a few errors—"minor stuff that only a space geek would notice," he said. "He called something an oxygen fuel tank. I said, you might want to call it an oxidizer tank," he said, adding, "We're very detail oriented."

 

The book is stuffed with technical detail, including descriptions of the pressure bearing properties of carbon-60 nanotubes, advanced propulsion systems, orbital dynamics and solar cell technology. And there are passages where characters trumpet NASA's accomplishments. "NASA has created thousands of wonders that impact all our lives," the fictional tech billionaire says.

 

Mr. Forstchen says he hopes "Pillar to the Sky" will serve not just as entertainment but as a "blue print" for a real space elevator, though he expects the idea will face some resistance.

 

"There's going to be plenty of people who say the book's crazy," he said. "Let's face it, it sounds like you're wearing an aluminum hat and you're spending too much time in your mother's basement watching 'Star Wars' over and over."

 

Google Subsidiary to Run Nearby Federal Airfield

Michael Liedtke – AP

 

The U.S. government has picked a Google subsidiary to run and renovate a federal airfield that is frequently used for the personal flights of the Internet company's billionaire executives.

 

The decision announced Monday clears the way for Google's Planetary Ventures LLC to take over management of the 1,000-acre Moffett Federal Airfield, a former U.S. Navy based 4 miles from Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. The airfield, which was built in the 1930s, has been managed by NASA's Ames Research Center for the past 23 years.

 

Financial terms of the new arrangement still must be worked out among Google, NASA and the General Services Administration.

 

As part of the deal, Google Inc. must renovate the airfield's three hangars, including one that is a Silicon Valley landmark because of its massive size and location off a major highway. Google also has agreed to upgrade a golf course located next to the airfield.

 

"We are delighted to move ahead in the selection process and we look forward to working with both GSA and NASA to preserve the heritage of Moffett Federal Airfield," Google said in a statement Monday.

 

Government officials hailed Google's selection as a boon for taxpayers. Besides covering the day-to-day expenses for managing the airfield, Google is also paying for expensive repairs unlikely ever to be financed by the government.

 

Restoring the airfield's most prominent structure, the 200-foot-tall Hangar One, will be particularly expensive. Hangar One's original siding was removed because of contamination from toxic lead and asbestos, raising the risks that the historic edifice might eventually have to be torn down. The cost of covering the now-skeletal hangar is expected to be more than $40 million.

 

"NASA's partnership with the private sector will allow the agency to restore this treasure for more efficient use," said Dan Tangherlini, administrator of the General Services Administration.

 

The decision to entrust Moffett's fate to Google comes just two months after NASA's inspector general issued a report that raised questions about whether the company's three most powerful executives had been given a sweetheart deal while flying their personal jets and helicopters from the airfield.

 

The audit found out that seven jets and two helicopters owned by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt had received improper discounts on fuel that saved the three billionaires up to $5.3 million on flights dating back to 2009. The Google executives own the aircraft through a company called H211, which has been paying $1.4 million annually since 2007 to lease hangar space at Moffett.

 

Google's executives received the fuel discounts because of a misunderstanding about the relationship between NASA and their aircraft, the audit concluded. The jets were only eligible for the bargain prices when they were carrying NASA equipment to collect climate data, but the executives more frequently received the discounts on personal flights that provided no benefits to the government.

 

Although H211 and Planetary Ventures are separate entities, a frequent Google critic said the U.S. government is rewarding "unethical and wrongful behavior" by awarding the Moffett management contract to the company. "This is like giving the keys to your car to the guy who has been siphoning gas from your tank," said John Simpson, privacy project director for Consumer Watchdog.

 

Google beat out one other competitor for the Moffett contract, which went up for bidding in May. Ames Research Center spokeswoman Jessica Culler declined to identify the other bidder.

 

The current lease allowing Page, Brin and Schmidt to fly their aircraft from Moffett is scheduled to expire in July. It's unclear whether the executives will seek to renew the lease because they are working with a private contractor to build another space for their planes at the Mineta San Jose International Airport located about 10 miles from Moffett.

 

The pilots of commercial airlines sometimes have mistakenly made landing approaches toward the Moffett airfield instead of the San Jose airport, according to a review of government safety data by The Associated Press.

 

END