Fwd: NASA and Human Spaceflight News – Feb. 20, 2014 and JSC Today and Harold Ferrese's OBIT

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: February 20, 2014 10:58:07 AM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News – Feb. 20, 2014 and JSC Today and Harold Ferrese's OBIT

From todays Houston Chronicle:

Harold Ferrese
Obituary Guest Book Be the first to share your memories or express your condolences in the Guest Book for Harold Ferrese. View Sign Harold J. Ferrese ,91, was born Oct. 14, 1922 in Dunmore, Penn. and joined the Angels in Heaven on Feb. 18, 2014 to be with his beloved wife who preceded him in death. He worked at NASA for 62 years as the Facility Manager and served as the past National President of the Italian Club UNICO. He is survived by his only daughter, Barbara & husband Charles; granddaughter, Corinn & husband Sam; grandson Brandon & wife Edna along with 3 great-grandchildren, Briana, Skye & Celia. A Memorial Service will be held today from 5pm-8pm with a Rosary to be recited at 7pm in the Family Chapel  (the funeral home, Compean Funeral Home (2101 Broadway Blvd. Houston, TX 77012) .      A Funeral Mass will be Celebrated at 10am on Fri. Feb. 21, 2014 at St. Christopher Catholic Church  (8150 Park Place Blvd, Houston, TX 77017-3095) . In Lieu of Flowers, please make donations in Harold's name to St. Jude Children Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN. 38105. Thanks to Lisa Moore for sharing the below NASA article about Harold before he retired in 2012!
NASA's JOHNSON SPACE CENTER HAROLD FERRESE By Catherine E. Borsché Opening up shop - Harold Ferrese played a key role in the opening of the Johnson Space Center. Back when NASA's Johnson Space Center was nothing but a field of prairie grass feeding longhorns, Harold Ferrese already was making a name for himself in the aeronautics industry. It can be said that NASA did not find Ferrese, but Ferrese helped found NASA, or at least a part of it. He joined NACA in 1950, working at Langley on administrative and supply clerk duties. Ferrese came to Johnson in 1962, when it opened as the Manned Spacecraft Center. "I often tell people I opened up the center," he said, laughing, noting how prior to the center's groundbreaking he helped set up shop. "We used to have the headquarters downtown," Ferrese said. "Then we moved from there to off of Telephone Road." Some of Ferrese's fondest memories were of JSC's temporary headquarters, as there he worked with the "Original Seven" astronauts. Ferrese also had the pleasure of working intimately with NASA's first flight director, Christopher Columbus Kraft, Jr., whom he would update weekly through telephone conversations. As the fledgling agency was just getting its foothold on the space frontier, Ferrese had the chance to procure some interesting items that started NASA on the road to bigger things. "In 1967, I was told to go look for a World War II M109 electric truck," Ferrese said. "And we went up to Harrisburg, Penn., to look for one." That search was just the beginning, for he was able to locate one and work with the Pentagon to have it shipped down to Johnson. But before he could have it shipped down, Ferrese had to get a crash course in learning to drive the M109 over the Virginia hills. Then he was sent on another search, but this time for a generator and a carrier for the generator. Ferrese was able to procure these items in California and Florida and also have them sent to Johnson. Once everything was in place, he put it all on a trailer and had it delivered to Flagstaff, Ariz. These items would serve as the forerunner to putting together a mobile camera to see liftoffs in action. At Johnson, Ferrese currently is the facility manager for three buildings and manages the construction projects for five buildings on site. "I'm also a fire warden, safety representative … everything between the floor and the ceiling – that's me," Ferrese said. He even has the distinction of being at the very first Johnson safety meeting held in 1962 at Ellington Field, Texas. But Ferrese has his own theory as to why he has been able to thrive at the agency, and it is based on a valuable lesson his father taught him upon graduating from high school. "My father worked in a clothing business, and we all had to learn the business – my two brothers and myself," Ferrese said. "And my father told me, 'We don't own the business, but we do work for somebody. Treat it as your own business and you'll never have any trouble.' And that's what I've done all this time. "One supervisor said to me one day, 'What do you do to my people?' I said, 'What do you mean?' And he answered, 'When they get your jobs, they argue and fight over them. They want your jobs,'" Ferrese said. And a lot of Ferrese's popularity is due to the fact that he has the mindset of always greeting people with a friendly "good morning," offering people who come to his office a cup of coffee and allowing those who know how to do the job to just do what they do best. "If NASA wanted to let me go, I'd fight like heck," he said.

 

 

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Thursday, February 20, 2014      

JSC TODAY CATEGORIES

1.            Headlines

-  Joint Leadership Team Web Poll

-  Spot the Orion Challenge

-  JSC & WSTF Remote Access VPN/R2S Upgrade Feb. 23

-  Check to See if You Still Have an ODIN Computer

-  Recent JSC Announcement

2.            Organizations/Social

-  Black Heritage Month Celebration

-  Parenting Series: Teen Dating Violence

-  Boot Camp at the Gilruth - Registration Now Open

-  Starport's Flea Market - Register Now

3.            Jobs and Training

-  Lateral Reassignment Positions Available

-  Project Management Forum

-  NASA Wellness Webinars

-  Crane Ops & Rigging Refresher ViTS: March 21

4.            Community

-  Blood Drive Time Correction

-  Mentors Needed for Community College Students

-  Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

Martian Dunes Flying in Formation

 

 

   Headlines

1.            Joint Leadership Team Web Poll

We don't have water meter data on the Center Ops home page because we just don't have building-level meters. We can count it overall, but not by building. Nomanisan Island would be your favorite alternate work site. I've never been there, but I hear it's incredible. This week I'd like your thoughts about the facility and space review the center is undertaking. Have you heard of it? Like your space? Hate your space? The second question lets you vote on the greatest winter Olympian in U.S. history. It's not Shaun White, but who is it? Bonnie Blair? Eric Heiden? Dick Button?

Alpine your mogul on over to get this week's poll.

Joel Walker x30541 http://jlt.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

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2.            Spot the Orion Challenge

It's the year of Orion's first flight to space, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1)! Here is an opportunity for you to get involved, get pumped and learn more about Orion and EFT-1 while on your way to your next meeting.

Starting this month, a different fact will be posted each month at a different building around JSC's campus.

Be the first to spot the Orion fact for February, take a picture, email us with the fact and tell us where you found it! The winner is in for a special VIP treat. Keep your eyes open during your walks across campus and maybe you could be the next winner!

Orion Communications Office 281-792-7457

 

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3.            JSC & WSTF Remote Access VPN/R2S Upgrade Feb. 23

The JSC and White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) Remote Access systems will be upgraded on Sunday, Feb. 23, from 1 to 5 p.m. (CST).

This outage will affect JSC VPN, JSC R2S, WSTF VPN and WSTF R2S.

During this activity, access to these Remote Access resources will be unavailable or intermittently down while the Information Resources Directorate performs upgrades in support of JAVA v7u51 and Macintosh OSX 10.8.x & 10.9.x.

For information on Remote Access Services and assistance:

o             On-site - See JSC and WSTF Remote Network Access Information

o             Publically available off-site - See JSC and WSTF Remote Network Access information at NASA.gov

We apologize for the inconvenience and are working diligently to improve your VPN experience.

For questions regarding outage/update activity, please contact Michael Patterson.

JSC-IRD-Outreach x30146

 

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4.            Check to See if You Still Have an ODIN Computer

Has your ODIN computer been refreshed since March 2011?

If the asset tag number starts with a 200 or 96, or if your computer has a "Property of OAO," ODIN, Lockheed Martin or LM tag, then you need to schedule a refresh immediately. Please contact your organization's Information Technology (IT) point of contact.

Refreshes must be ordered by Feb. 26 to avoid any additional cost to your organization.

For additional information, please contact your organization's IT point of contact.

JSC-IRD-Outreach x30939

 

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5.            Recent JSC Announcement

Please visit the JSC Announcements (JSCA) Web page to view the newly posted announcement:

JSCA 14-003: NASA College Scholarship Fund, Inc.

Archived announcements are also available on the JSCA Web page.

Linda Turnbough x36246 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/DocumentManagement/announcements/default.aspx

 

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   Organizations/Social

1.            Black Heritage Month Celebration

Save the date (Feb. 26 at noon) for the Black Heritage Month Celebration - The Golden Jubilee of the Civil Rights Movement.

In observance of African-American/Black History Month, please join the African-American Employee Resource Group for JSC's Black Heritage Month closing celebration!

The keynote address will be delivered by Ronald C. Green, Houston city controller. Green is the first African-American city controller in Houston's nearly 200-year history. Green is in the second-highest elected office in the city of Houston and serves as the public's independent overseer for city finances.

This year's theme is dedicated to celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the Civil Rights Movement, because in 2014 America celebrates 50 years since the signing of the Civil Rights Act.

Event Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2014   Event Start Time:12:00 PM   Event End Time:1:30 PM

Event Location: Teague Auditorium

 

Add to Calendar

 

Justin Mason 281-792-8235

 

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2.            Parenting Series: Teen Dating Violence

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. There's a lot you can do as a parent to prevent teen dating violence and abuse. Almost one in 10 teens have reported being physically abused by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the last year. One of the most important things you can do is keep the lines of communication open with your kids. Join Anika Isaac, LPC, LMFT, CEAP, NCC, LCDC, with the JSC Employee Assistance Program, to learn more ways you can help prevent teen dating violence and recognize the beginning warning signs that could lead to teen dating violence.

Event Date: Wednesday, February 26, 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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3.            Boot Camp at the Gilruth - Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for the next installment of Starport's popular Boot Camp. Classes begin Monday, March 3, with both morning and evening sessions available.

Don't delay, class sizes are limited and they fill up fast!

Program Details

Registration: Feb. 10 to March 2

Cost: $90 before Feb. 22 or $110 thereafter

Classes meet: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for six weeks (18 sessions)

Morning session: 6 to 7 a.m.

Evening session: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Register online! Visit the Starport website.

Joseph Callahan x42769 https://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/en/programs/recreation-programs/boot-camps

 

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4.            Starport's Flea Market - Register Now

Clean out those closets, attics and garages and sell your unwanted items at one big event! On April 19, Starport will have its annual Spring Festival at the Gilruth Center. Not only will there be a crawfish boil, children's Spring Fling complete with Easter bunny and egg hunt and an indoor craft fair, but we will also host a flea market. If you are interested in selling your unwanted items in the flea market for one big "yard sale," please click here for more information and the registration form. Spots are only $10 each!

Event Date: Saturday, April 19, 2014   Event Start Time:9:00 AM   Event End Time:2:00 PM

Event Location: Gilruth Center

 

Add to Calendar

 

Shelly Haralson x39168 https://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

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   Jobs and Training

1.            Lateral Reassignment Positions Available

The Workforce Transition Tool is still the best place to find lateral reassignment and rotation opportunities for civil servants. Please take special note of the GS-15 Starport Deputy position.

Right now, the following positions are posted:

o             AH: Starport Deputy

o             NC: PRA Analyst

o             NS: White Sands Test Facility Quality and Safety Engineer

o             NT: EVA Safety and Reliability Engineer

o             NT: Contamination Control/Quality Engineer

o             OX: International Contracts Manager

To access the Workforce Transition Tool, open: HR Portal [ http://hr.nasa.gov ] > Employees > Workforce Transition > Workforce Transition Tool. Check back frequently to see what new opportunities have been posted. All opportunities are lateral and do not possess known promotion potential; therefore, employees can only see positions posted at or above their current grade level.

David Kelley x27811 http://jscpeople.jsc.nasa.gov/contacts.html

 

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2.            Project Management Forum

The Project Management Forum will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27, in Building 1, Room 966, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. At this forum, Chuck Campbell will give a Project Overview on Supersonic Retropropulsion (SRP). In addition, Eddie Merla from Duende Project Management Services will be sharing seven key strategies for enhancing your presentation power.

Eddie Merla, PMI-ACP, PMP®, is the founder and owner of Duende Project Management Services. He is a PMP® preparation instructor and a speaker and trainer on project management and leadership topics. He has more than 25 years of project management experience, including seven years leading international consulting engagements and projects.

All civil servant and contractor project managers are invited to attend.

The purpose of the Project Management Forum is to provide an opportunity for our project managers to freely discuss issues, best practices, lessons learned, tools and opportunities, as well as to collaborate with other project managers.

Event Date: Thursday, February 27, 2014   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM

Event Location: Building 1, Room 966

 

Add to Calendar

 

Danielle Bessard x37238 https://oasis.jsc.nasa.gov/sysapp/athena/Athena%20Team/SitePages/Home.aspx

 

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3.            NASA Wellness Webinars

NASA's Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer is sponsoring a 10-part "Healthier You" webinar series. These webinars are designed to help employees gain knowledge about improving personal productivity and well-being and are critical components in creating a roadmap to wellness. Upcoming webinars include:

o             Feb. 26 - Thinking Traps: Unlocking the Fixed Mindset

o             March 26 - My Balance, Busting the Myths of Stress

o             April 23 - My Potential, From Surviving to Thriving

For more information and to register for the webinars, visit the website below.

Bob Martel x38581 http://stratwell.com/nhy2014/

 

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4.            Crane Ops & Rigging Refresher ViTS: March 21

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_...

Shirley Robinson x41284

 

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   Community

1.            Blood Drive Time Correction

The blood drive start time is 9 a.m., not 7:30 a.m. from Feb. 19 to 20.

Teresa Gomez x39588

 

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2.            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:

o             March 20 to 21

o             March 26 to 27

o             April 1 to 2

Sign up in V-CORPs!

Event Date: Thursday, March 20, 2014   Event Start Time:8:00 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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3.            Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)

Founded in 1972, PFLAG is the nation's largest family and ally organization. The Clear Lake chapter of PFLAG meets on the fourth Sunday of every month. This support group works to keep families together in loving relationships, helping them understand and affirm their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered family members.

For more information, contact Barbara Larsen at 281-993-0669.

Event Date: Sunday, February 23, 2014   Event Start Time:2:00 PM   Event End Time:4:00 PM

Event Location: Clear Lake/ Webster/ Houston

 

Add to Calendar

 

Robert F. Blake x42525 http://community.pflag.org

 

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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

Thursday – Feb. 20, 2014

 

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: NASA's Destination Station exhibit and awareness campaign is in Los Angeles, Calif. this week. The first story below from the LA Times reached over 3 million people and resulted from an editorial board held Tuesday. The International Space Station Program-sponsored Destination Station activities – at the Walk of Fame, UC Irvine, Pepperdine, Culver City and many local schools and other organizations -- have been covered by all local LA media during the week. Tonight at 9:30 p.m. Central there will be a presentation from Astronaut Mark T. Vande Hei at the Griffith Observatory. Watch the Livestream online.

 

NASA TV: www.nasa.gov/ntv

12:10 p.m. Central: Hopkins, Mastracchio and Wakata will discuss life on orbit during an in-flight event to be broadcast on NASA TV as they chat with students at Cal State University, Los Angeles --- continuing the week-long Destination Station events.

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

The International Space Station, through the astronauts' eyes

 

Carla Hall – Los Angeles Times

 

Anyone who thinks the U.S. space program is done with and permanently parked at the California Science Center in the form of the space shuttle Endeavour hasn't heard NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and aerospace engineer Camille Alleyne (yes, a rocket scientist) talk about the International Space Station. Which is what they were doing on a very earthbound mission this week in Los Angeles to promote NASA's involvement in the space station and the exhibit, "Destination: Station," showcasing what it's like to live aboard the International Space Station. The exhibit is at the California Science Center through April 7.

 

Cosmonaut Valery Kubasov, Apollo-Soyuz crewmember, dies at 79

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

Valery Kubasov, a Soviet-era cosmonaut whose three missions included the first joint flight between the United States and Russia, died Wednesday (Feb. 19). He was 79. "Very sad to report that Valery Kubasov has passed away in Moscow," the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), a professional organization whose astronaut and cosmonaut members included Kubasov, wrote in a brief statement. "A true pioneer of spaceflight and international cooperation in space." Selected in 1966 to train to be a cosmonaut together with other civilian engineers, Kubasov's highest-profile mission assignment was as one of the two Russian crew members for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP).

 

Russia's Baikonur Space Center Head Quits

 

RIA Novosti

 

The head of Russia's Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan has quit, a spokesperson for the country's Federal Space Agency said Tuesday. Yevgeny Anisimov stepped down from the post for personal reasons and will likely be reappointed to a position at Russia's space launch coordination body, spokeswoman Irina Zubareva said.

 

NASA ups ante on crowdsourcing patents

 

Reid Davenport – Federal Computer Week

 

Over the decades, NASA technologies were designed to hurl astronauts into space and develop satellites with pinpoint precision. But off-label uses have led to advanced medical ultrasound, camera phone enhancements and commercial airline improvements. In October 2013, NASA posted 14 patents on the crowdsourcing site Marblar to facilitate more innovation through collaboration by the space program, industry and individuals. NASA now has 35 patents on its Marblar page and has welcomed practical applications of its technology.

 

American Astronauts Showcase Life Onboard the International Space Station (VIDEO)

 

ABC News

 

Rick Mastracchio, Mike Hopkins compare spacewalk to the movie "Gravity" and give bathroom demo using candy. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Kennedy: The next new (commercial) frontier

 

Roanoke (VA) Times

 

American spaceflight triumphs are going to be led by fewer and fewer government astronauts in the decade ahead as the new 21st century private-sector astronaut corps emerges to manage private property. The 1958 Russian Sputnik satellite changed America in the Cold War. The termination of the multibillion-dollar American Apollo moon program, as well as the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, changed the role of America's government astronauts forever.

 

Orbital Completes First Cargo Mission for NASA

 

Dan Leone – Space News

 

WASHINGTON — Orbital Sciences Corp. wrapped up its first paid cargo delivery-and-disposal mission to the international space station on Feb. 19, when its expendable Cygnus spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere and burned up along with a load of trash.

 

5 Private Moon-Race Teams Compete for Bonus $6 Million

 

Miriam Kramer – Space.com

 

Landing on the moon is no easy feat, and five teams competing for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize might just get a little more money to help them send their probes to the lunar surface. Astrobiotic, Moon Express, Team Indus, Hakuto and Part-Time-Scientists are all in the running to win "milestone prizes" later this year, Google Lunar X Prize officials announced today (Feb. 19). The total purse for the awards is $6 million with the teams competing in three different categories for the funds, X Prize officials said.

 

NASA Seeks Targets For Asteroid-Capture Mission

 

Elizabeth Howell – Space.com

 

NASA has set up a "rapid response system" to pick the best candidates for its ambitious asteroid-capture mission. The space agency aims to use a robotic spacecraft to haul a near-Earth asteroid into a stable lunar orbit, where astronauts would visit it in the future. It's not as easy as just picking a space rock and going, however. Many asteroids are too big to be moved easily or are in unstable orbits. Others are too distant for telescopes to figure out what they're made of, which could make them unsuitable candidates.

 

NASA Is Defending the Planet From Asteroids

 

Dianna Wray – Houston Press

The asteroid that hit Russia came out of the sky just like we all thought it would -- a fireball meteor, a streak of light that landed with the impact of a bomb. We've seen it in the movies for years, but it seems NASA took the asteroid as a sign to really step up its anti-obliteration-of-the-Earth game and focus on spotting and understanding asteroids.

 

Well if you want a spaceport in Texas this is promising …

 

Eric Berger – Houston Chronicle

In recent months there have been clear signals that SpaceX in likely to select a site near Brownsville to build a spaceport over other proposed sites in Florida and Georgia.

Most recently Michael Lopez-Alegria, a four-time astronaut who now leads the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, told me "all indications are" that SpaceX will build a spaceport in Texas.

 

Space killifish offer hope on treatment for osteoporosis

 

Yuki Takayama – Asahi Shimbun (Japan)

 

Astronaut Koichi Wakata, the commander of the International Space Station, has found bone-resorption cells of "medaka" killifish active in scientific research being carried out in space, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Feb. 17. The experiment is designed to discover how microgravity affects bones, using genetically modified young medaka so their bone-formation and bone-resorption cells can glow. Wakata studied cells raised in space with a microscope.

 

Europe To Build A New Planet-hunting Spacecraft

 

Eric Mach – Forbes

 

In the past few years, major space observatories like NASA's Kepler have identified an increasing number of planets beyond our solar system, or exoplanets, including a number in the habitable zone where conditions to support life could be present. Now, with Kepler on its last legs mechanically, the European Space Agency has announced a new mission to launch a space-based observatory armed with 34 small telescopes and cameras to hunt for planets circling as many as a million stars spread across half the sky.

 

Russian Space Agency Joins Instagram

 

RIA Novosti

 

MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) – Roscosmos has opened an account on the image-sharing network Instagram to improve its public relations, the Russian space agency said Wednesday. The agency hopes improved lines of communication will bolster public excitement about spaceflight by keeping those interested informed about current space events.

 

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

The International Space Station, through the astronauts' eyes

 

Carla Hall – Los Angeles Times

 

Anyone who thinks the U.S. space program is done with and permanently parked at the California Science Center in the form of the space shuttle Endeavour hasn't heard NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and aerospace engineer Camille Alleyne (yes, a rocket scientist) talk about the International Space Station. Which is what they were doing on a very earthbound mission this week in Los Angeles to promote NASA's involvement in the space station and the exhibit, "Destination: Station," showcasing what it's like to live aboard the International Space Station. The exhibit is at the California Science Center through April 7.

 

But no one can be in a room with an astronaut and not talk about what it's like to be in space. Caldwell Dyson, 44, lived and worked as a flight engineer aboard the space station for 174 days in 2010. During that time she made three spacewalks to remove and replace a failed pump module. (In addition to being an astronaut and holding a doctorate in chemistry from UC Davis, she has worked as an electrician. Let's just say she's handy.) Those spacewalks totaled 22 hours and 49 minutes in what space folks call EVA — extravehicular activity — time.

 

"When you come out and the sun is down, it's so black you don't realize there's a planet below you," she told an editorial board colleague and me during a visit to The Times. She wore a bright blue NASA jumpsuit, embroidered with so many flight patches that it made her look like a NASCAR driver. "I could get quite emotional describing it," she said. But she didn't. Instead, she sounded awestruck.

 

Two astronauts are always out in space at the same time and always connected in multiple ways to the actual ship. A safety tether was attached to Caldwell Dyson's hip, while other leashes connected her to the areas where she was working. Handrails are strategically placed across the ship for holding on, and there are even foot platforms that can be extended from rigid tethers that allow the astronaut to step in and be held solidly in place while tinkering with tools.

 

Being on that foot platform, holding on to a spaceship traveling 17,500 miles an hour and looking down as you pass Earth, roughly 220 miles below, makes for an unusual experience. "I felt like I was hang gliding," she said.

 

The space station is a partnership of five agencies: NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. Camille Alleyne, who holds the job of assistant program scientist for the station, describes it as an elaborate orbiting laboratory where research is being done that has significant ramifications for life on Earth, our knowledge about space itself and future commercial spaceflight.

 

A few things she mentions strike me as more quirky than important. In microgravity (where the force of gravity is so weak that everything is weightless), plant roots still grow down. OK.

 

But other things she mentions are huge: The structure of the protein that causes Duchenne muscular dystrophy was better crystallized in space (the crystals grow bigger and clearer in space) and advanced researchers' understanding of how it works, which could lead to more effective treatment of the disease.

 

And, of course, there is the study of the human body in a weightless space vehicle for months on end. If commercial space travel ramps up, if we ever go to Mars, all that will be necessary to know. Six months of space travel — a one-way trip to Mars from Earth — can result in bone loss, muscle atrophy, even degraded vision. "Imagine sending people there and they're so debilitated, they can't do the work," says Alleyne.

 

The International Space Station is set to continue its mission, at least, until 2024. But it takes a lot of time to plan and carry out this research. The question is whether politicians have the patience and foresight to allocate the funding for it.

 

Cosmonaut Valery Kubasov, Apollo-Soyuz crewmember, dies at 79

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

Valery Kubasov, a Soviet-era cosmonaut whose three missions included the first joint flight between the United States and Russia, died Wednesday (Feb. 19). He was 79.

 

"Very sad to report that Valery Kubasov has passed away in Moscow," the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), a professional organization whose astronaut and cosmonaut members included Kubasov, wrote in a brief statement. "A true pioneer of spaceflight and international cooperation in space."

 

Selected in 1966 to train to be a cosmonaut together with other civilian engineers, Kubasov's highest-profile mission assignment was as one of the two Russian crew members for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP).

 

Joined on the flight by Alexei Leonov, who 10 years earlier had been the first man to perform a spacewalk, Kubasov launched onboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on July 15, 1975, and two days later docked with an American Apollo command module, marking the first time that the two Cold War rivals worked together in space.

 

"The joint American-Soviet space mission was a perfect symbol of the historic changes in a world of deeply divided ideologies and nuclear threats" said journalist Tom Brokaw as part of a television special devoted to the space race that aired during NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games on Saturday (Feb. 15). "We went from pointing missiles at each other to exploring the heavens together — and the men who pulled it off, cosmonauts and astronauts, all had the right stuff."

 

Over the course of the two days that their spacecraft were linked in orbit, Kubasov and Leonov, together with NASA astronauts Deke Slayton, Tom Stafford and Vance Brand, carried out experiments and exchanged gifts. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project laid the foundation for future U.S. and Russian cooperation in space, leading to the International Space Station.

 

Kubasov's first space mission, the five-day Soyuz 6 flight in October 1969, was also intended to rendezvous with a spacecraft in orbit — in fact, two other Soviet capsules — but due to technical issues, the three vehicles never met up. Kubasov, flying with Georgy Shonin, did successfully become the first "space construction worker" however, by testing out welding methods in microgravity.

 

Kubasov commanded his third and final flight into space, the May 1980 Soyuz 36 mission to the USSR's Salyut 6 space station. Marking another international milestone as a part of the Interkosmos program, Kubasov's crew mate was Bertalan Farkas, the first Hungarian to fly into space. The eight-day flight swapped the spacecraft docked at the outpost, with Kubasov and Farkas returning home to Earth aboard Soyuz 35.

 

In total, Kubasov spent 18 days, 17 hours and 57 minutes in space over the course of his three missions.

 

Valery Nikolayevich Kubasov was born on Jan. 7, 1935 in Vyazniki, Russia. He graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1958 as an aerospace engineer and reported to work at the bureau led by Chief Designer Sergei Korolev, the Soviet Union's leading rocket engineer.

 

Initially focusing on ballistic studies, Kubasov worked on the design of the Voskhod capsule that his Apollo-Soyuz crewmate Leonov would later fly, before being recruited for the cosmonaut corps.

 

Prior to launching on Soyuz 6, Kubasov was first assigned to a proposed mission during which a crew member was to spacewalk between spacecraft. The flight was canceled in the wake of the 1967 loss of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov aboard Soyuz 1 due a parachute failure.

 

Kubasov also almost launched aboard the ill-fated Soyuz 11 mission in 1971. If it was not for his falling ill, Kubasov, together with Leonov, would have been the prime, rather than backup crew for the 24-day flight to the world's first space station, Salyut 1. The cosmonauts that flew in their place died when their spacecraft depressurized during its reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.

 

Kubasov retired from Russia's cosmonaut corps on Nov. 3, 1993 and served as a deputy director for the aerospace corporation RSC Energia. He was decorated for his space achievements, including being named a Hero of the Soviet Union and being bestowed the Order of Lenin, the former Soviet Union's highest honor.

 

Kubasov was married to Lyudmila Kurovskaya, with whom he had a daughter, Ekaterina, and son, Dmitry.

 

Russia's Baikonur Space Center Head Quits

 

RIA Novosti

 

The head of Russia's Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan has quit, a spokesperson for the country's Federal Space Agency said Tuesday.

 

Yevgeny Anisimov stepped down from the post for personal reasons and will likely be reappointed to a position at Russia's space launch coordination body, spokeswoman Irina Zubareva said.

 

The change of job for Anisimov was linked to disagreements he has had with senior officials at the Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos, according to a report in Russia's Kommersant newspaper Tuesday.

 

Anisimov was in fact summoned to Roscosmos headquarters in Moscow and pressured to sign a letter of resignation, Kommersant said, citing unnamed sources at the agency.

 

Anisimov had worked at Baikonur for almost 30 years, and was made head of the space center in 2010.

 

The current head of Roscosmos, Oleg Ostapenko, was appointed to the position last year after his predecessor was criticized for a series of failed space launches and a corruption scandal around the Glonass satellite navigation program.

 

NASA ups ante on crowdsourcing patents

 

Reid Davenport – Federal Computer Week

 

Over the decades, NASA technologies were designed to hurl astronauts into space and develop satellites with pinpoint precision. But off-label uses have led to advanced medical ultrasound, camera phone enhancements and commercial airline improvements.

 

In October 2013, NASA posted 14 patents on the crowdsourcing site Marblar to facilitate more innovation through collaboration by the space program, industry and individuals. NASA now has 35 patents on its Marblar page and has welcomed practical applications of its technology.

 

Daniel Lockney, NASA's technology transfer program executive, said that although the agency always has a specific reason for developing a technology, it doesn't always realize all the different ways that technology might be applied.

 

"That's why we've worked with the company Marblar to help us to tap into the untapped cognitive surplus that exists in the world," he said.

 

For instance, NASA engineer Fred Schramm developed a two-component method for identifying and verifying objects. It uses an X-ray fluorescent inspection and a visual readout to identify objects. Marblar users have floated ideas for applying it to detecting counterfeit prescription drugs, among other uses. They also suggested using NASA's method of storing ultra-low-temperature fluids to store tissues for biomedical research.

 

Of about 11,000 U.S. patents filed by academia in 2013, less than 5 percent were commercialized, said Dan Perez, founder and CEO of Marblar.

 

"There's a big gulf between turning science that's happening all around us at all the universities in the U.S. into new products," he added.

 

According to NASA, parties not affiliated with NASA filed more than half of the 2,100 active patents that were derived from NASA programs and products in 2013.

 

"What's exciting about turning science into new products -- and for anybody interested in developing some of NASA's technologies into new products or universities' technologies into new products -- is that when you work with something that's already patented or research that's already been done, you kind of get a running start," Perez said.

 

American Astronauts Showcase Life Onboard the International Space Station (VIDEO)

 

ABC News

 

Rick Mastracchio, Mike Hopkins compare spacewalk to the movie "Gravity" and give bathroom demo using candy. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Kennedy: The next new (commercial) frontier

 

Roanoke (VA) Times

 

American spaceflight triumphs are going to be led by fewer and fewer government astronauts in the decade ahead as the new 21st century private-sector astronaut corps emerges to manage private property.

 

The 1958 Russian Sputnik satellite changed America in the Cold War. The termination of the multibillion-dollar American Apollo moon program, as well as the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, changed the role of America's government astronauts forever.

 

The American government is paying the Russians more than $70 million to ferry each NASA astronaut to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz capsule. As the commercial space launch sector develops human-rated spacecraft to carry Americans to orbit, the picture of the new private astronaut persona will emerge.

 

The next dramatic moments in human spaceflight may not be from a square-jawed, buzz-cut, hotshot male aviator superhero piloting a spacecraft to the surface of the moon. Instead, it may be the corporate researcher mom holding a doctoral degree in lunar geology and mining engineering.

 

The international group of women and men will most likely reside in expandable space habitats owned by American enterprise. These private-sector moonwalkers will be surveying the chemical makeup of the regolith (loose material on the moon's surface), how it may benefit humanity in a new off-Earth economy, and how it may affect the Earth's markets for rare metals.

 

Akin to the first commercial ships sailed to the New World or the first transcontinental railroad, a public-private partnership of American ingenuity and enterprise will build the infrastructure in low Earth orbit, in the orbit of the moon and on the lunar surface, opening opportunities for modern astropreneurs, making human spaceflight significantly more economical and sustainable.

 

The U.S. government and its NASA astronauts will most certainly have a role in the future, pushing boundaries of science and exploration. Nonetheless, with every passing day, it is becoming less and less likely that the spacecraft NASA astronauts ride in will be government issue.

 

Led by the Howard Hughes-like figure of our time, Elon Musk, the company SpaceX is building a variant of the Falcon booster rocket known as the Grasshopper to return to Earth for complete reuse. With the expandable, inflatable space stations owned and commercially operated by Robert Bigelow of Bigelow Aerospace at nearly 1/1000th the cost of the $100 billion International Space Station, the expense of human spaceflight will radically change in this decade.

 

A mission launched aboard a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 along with a lunar orbital injection spacecraft and a surface-landing vehicle providing access to a Bigelow habitat is likely to run the private sector around $1 billion using nearly off-the-shelf hardware by 2021.

 

The cost of going to the moon and back will continue to drop into the hundreds of millions of dollars as the reusable infrastructure becomes permanent.

 

Sustainability of a permanent base on the moon will largely depend on how the American government handles private property claims for moon minerals.

 

To address the issue of private property on the moon, Bigelow Aerospace has made a submission to the Federal Aviation Administration requesting guidance.

 

The FAA must address the needs of the commercial space launch sector - a charge given the agency in the wake of the loss of the Challenger.

 

It is clear that viewing the world through the lens of the space shuttle fleet is no longer reality.

 

The next hero remembered by school students will most likely be that of a commercial space astronaut, one launched from Wallops Island, Va., not Cape Canaveral.

 

An astronaut mission to the moon is now exceedingly more likely to gain financing from private corporate equity, not U.S. taxpayers. Private property on the moon and commercial astronauts are the next wave of reality, coming very soon.

 

Orbital Completes First Cargo Mission for NASA

 

Dan Leone – Space News

 

WASHINGTON — Orbital Sciences Corp. wrapped up its first paid cargo delivery-and-disposal mission to the international space station on Feb. 19, when its expendable Cygnus spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere and burned up along with a load of trash.

 

"Telemetry on Cygnus has been lost, which is a good thing," Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski said around 1:30 p.m. Feb. 19. "It looks like it has re-entered."

 

Cygnus detached from its berth at the international space station Feb. 18 after 38 days at the outpost.

 

In the first of eight flights Orbital owes NASA under a $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract awarded in 2008, Cygnus delivered about 1,300 kilograms of cargo to the station after its Jan. 9 launch from Wallops Island, Va.

 

Counting a demonstration cargo mission completed back in October, Cygnus capsules have now paid two visits to the station. The first mission demonstrated that Cygnus and its carrier rocket, Antares, were ready to begin routine cargo services.

 

Cygnus' next run to the space station is slated to launch May 1 from the Virginia-operated Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island. All the hardware for that mission is now at Wallops, Beneski said Feb. 19.

 

5 Private Moon-Race Teams Compete for Bonus $6 Million

 

Miriam Kramer – Space.com

 

Landing on the moon is no easy feat, and five teams competing for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize might just get a little more money to help them send their probes to the lunar surface.

 

Astrobiotic, Moon Express, Team Indus, Hakuto and Part-Time-Scientists are all in the running to win "milestone prizes" later this year, Google Lunar X Prize officials announced today (Feb. 19). The total purse for the awards is $6 million with the teams competing in three different categories for the funds, X Prize officials said.

 

Each company's ultimate goal is to ready its probe for launch by Dec. 31, 2015 in order to have a shot at winning the overall prize. To win the grand prize, a company's spacecraft will need to be the first in the competition to move 1,650 feet (500 meters) on the moon and send video, images and data back to Earth from the lunar surface. The milestone prizes are designed to help teams overcome financing problems they could be facing while trying to compete, officials said.

 

"Because we have teams from such diverse backgrounds, they are often able to think of a solution that a company that may have grown up in the more traditional space engineering sense may not be even aware exists," said Google Lunar X Prize senior director Alexandra Hall. "They may not think about, 'Well, we can take this that functions like this in this environment and use it here.' That's the stuff that I think is really exciting and, ultimately, that's possibly quite game-changing."

 

The three categories chosen for the milestone prizes represent major hurdles that competing teams need to overcome before being able to land on the moon. According to X Prize officials, the categories are:

 

•Landing System Milestone Prize: $1 million per team — "based on the hardware and software that enables a soft landing on the moon."

•Mobility Subsystem Milestone Prize: $500,000 per team — "based on the mobility system that allows the craft to move 500 meters after landing."

•Imaging Subsystem Milestone Prize: $250,000 per team — "based on producing 'Mooncasts' consisting of high-quality images and video on the lunar surface."

 

"The reason these three in particular were chosen is that they come directly from the things you need to do to win the Google Lunar X Prize," Hall told Space.com. "You need to be able to land successfully on the lunar surface, so your landing subsystem is clearly very important. You then need to take your high-definition video and images so your imaging system, your camera system, is very important. Then you need to be able to move 500 meters and send back more images, so how you move is the third piece of the puzzle."

 

NASA Seeks Targets For Asteroid-Capture Mission

 

Elizabeth Howell – Space.com

 

NASA has set up a "rapid response system" to pick the best candidates for its ambitious asteroid-capture mission.

The space agency aims to use a robotic spacecraft to haul a near-Earth asteroid into a stable lunar orbit, where astronauts would visit it in the future. It's not as easy as just picking a space rock and going, however. Many asteroids are too big to be moved easily or are in unstable orbits. Others are too distant for telescopes to figure out what they're made of, which could make them unsuitable candidates.

"There are other elements involved, but if size were the only factor, we'd be looking for an asteroid smaller than about 40 feet (12 meters) across," Paul Chodas, a senior scientist in the Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, said in a a statement. [NASA's Asteroid-Capture Mission in Pictures]

"There are hundreds of millions of objects out there in this size range, but they are small and don't reflect a lot of sunlight, so they can be hard to spot," Chodas added. "The best time to discover them is when they are brightest, when they are close to Earth."

Asteroids hit the headlines in a big way a year ago, when a space rock broke up over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring 1,500 people. Since the Russian meteor explosion, space agencies worldwide have stepped up the search for space rocks that are potentially hazardous to Earth.

NASA is billing the asteroid-capture mission as one step in that process, arguing that the effort could help test out processes to move a threatening rock out of its Earth-crossing orbit.

To ferret out the best candidates, NASA has a relatively new screening process in place that plumbs a database of "small bodies" discovered near Earth. Asteroids are typically found by astronomers, who then pass on the information to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass. Researchers at JPL use this database to update their own information.

"If an asteroid looks as if it could meet the criteria of size and orbit, our automated system sends us an email with the subject 'New ARM Candidate,' " Chodas said."When that happens, and it has happened several dozen times since we implemented the system in March of 2013, I know we'll have a busy day."

NASA needs to move quickly when one of these candidates is found, because newly spotted near-Earth objects are usually visible in telescopes for just a few days before they move out of range. If the telescopes are available, NASA uses two massive radar observatories — the Deep Space Network station at Goldstone, Calif., and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico — to get more details on size and rotation.

Sometimes, other observatories are used to chart the asteroid's path in space. The NASA-funded Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, if it's available, can provide information on the asteroid's composition. Another potential helper is NASA's reactivated NEOWISE spacecraft, whose new mission is to track asteroids that pass close to Earth.

While only about two potential candidates are discovered every year through this process, NASA estimates it could increase this to at least four if several more "imaging assets" come online as expected, such as an upgrade to the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona.

The agency currently spends $20 million annually seeking dangerous space rocks in its Near Earth Observation Program. NASA's 2014 budget request has $105 million for the asteroid capture and redirection project, some of which will go toward seeking partnerships for the venture.

 

NASA Is Defending the Planet From Asteroids

 

Dianna Wray – Houston Press

The asteroid that hit Russia came out of the sky just like we all thought it would -- a fireball meteor, a streak of light that landed with the impact of a bomb. We've seen it in the movies for years, but it seems NASA took the asteroid as a sign to really step up its anti-obliteration-of-the-Earth game and focus on spotting and understanding asteroids.

With this renewed focus come the Asteroid Grand Partnership and the Asteroid Redirect Mission. The former is focused on NASA seeking new partnerships to speed up planetary defense, designed to spot asteroids way before they're zooming across our skies.

The latter, a mission to redirect asteroids, is exactly what it sounds like. If you've seen Deep Impact or Armageddon, the overall principle is the same (stop a large asteroid from destroying most life forms on the planet), though we're willing to bet -- and are devoutly hoping -- the plan would move in earlier than the one from Deep Impact and that it wouldn't involve Bruce Willis.

Basically, this mission is a first of its kind to identify, capture and redirect an asteroid to a safe orbit of Earth's moon for future exploration by astronauts in the 2020s, according to a NASA release.

Yes, in addition to tracking asteroids -- which is probably a good thing -- we will be lassoing one special piece of large floating rock and bringing it closer to the planet. In fact, it will be orbiting Earth's moon.

It's definitely an interesting plan -- after all, this will be the closest our astronauts have gotten to the moon since we stopped doing lunar missions -- though we do wonder if moving a sizable asteroid closer to the planet is necessarily the wisest course of action.

Interestingly, somehow this all ties into the NASA plan to go to Mars in the 2030s, because ARM, as NASA has acronym-ed it, will use newly developed capabilities, including the Orion spacecraft, a space launch system rocket and high-power solar electric propulsion, to complete the mission.

It all sounds exciting, though we have to wonder how we are going to get astronauts to Mars when we don't even have it in the federal budget to fund further exploration of the moon. It's particularly questionable considering NASA is the organization that has routinely seen its funding slashed in budget battles in recent years.

Either way, NASA has a plan, and sometime in the next decade an asteroid may be orbiting the moon, even if we aren't. Plus there are even more people looking for any near-Earth asteroids, because what happened in Russia is only cool in the movies. (It's a little cool in the real world, too, but way scarier.)

 

Well if you want a spaceport in Texas this is promising …

 

Eric Berger – Houston Chronicle

In recent months there have been clear signals that SpaceX in likely to select a site near Brownsville to build a spaceport over other proposed sites in Florida and Georgia.

Most recently Michael Lopez-Alegria, a four-time astronaut who now leads the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, told me "all indications are" that SpaceX will build a spaceport in Texas.

Now there's this, reported by the Valley Morning Star:

Amid anticipation that Cameron County could be selected as the location for the world's first private vertical launch site, SpaceX has developed a subdivision called "Mars Crossing."

It also continued to expand its property holdings into this new year, a Valley Morning Star investigation shows.

Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies, through Dogleg Park LLC, this year purchased 28 new lots surrounding the proposed complex at Boca Chica Beach, bringing the total number of lots it now owns to 88. The total land area purchased encompasses roughly 36 acres of land. In addition, SpaceX has leased 56.5 acres.

Furthermore, SpaceX's Director of Advanced Projects Steve Davis replatted 13 lots totaling 8.344 acres into one lot under the name "Mars Crossing Subdivision."

I would say that is a very good indication of where Texas stands with regard to its bid to win the SpaceX spaceport.

 

Space killifish offer hope on treatment for osteoporosis

 

Yuki Takayama – Asahi Shimbun (Japan)

 

Astronaut Koichi Wakata, the commander of the International Space Station, has found bone-resorption cells of "medaka" killifish active in scientific research being carried out in space, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Feb. 17.

 

The experiment is designed to discover how microgravity affects bones, using genetically modified young medaka so their bone-formation and bone-resorption cells can glow. Wakata studied cells raised in space with a microscope.

 

"If we find out the mechanism of bone metabolism, it can possibly lead to development of a treatment for osteoporosis," a JAXA official said.

 

Footage sent from space showed cells that work to break down bone tissue and those that work to form cells have become active in the space killifish, JAXA said.

 

It is known that the mineral density of bones in humans greatly decreases during a long stay in space. The latest observations found bones supporting the teeth in the fish's throat glowing yellow, showing that both kinds of cells have been activated.

 

Europe To Build A New Planet-hunting Spacecraft

 

Eric Mach – Forbes

 

In the past few years, major space observatories like NASA's Kepler have identified an increasing number of planets beyond our solar system, or exoplanets, including a number in the habitable zone where conditions to support life could be present. Now, with Kepler on its last legs mechanically, the European Space Agency has announced a new mission to launch a space-based observatory armed with 34 small telescopes and cameras to hunt for planets circling as many as a million stars spread across half the sky.

 

Dubbed PLATO, for Planetary Transits and Oscillations of stars, the mission is aiming for a planned launch date of 2024.

 

PLATO will use the popular transit method of spotting potential planets, looking for tiny, regular dips in the brightness of distant stars that could be caused by the transit of planets in orbit in front of them. The ESA also said in a release that the mission "will identify and study thousands of exoplanetary systems, with an emphasis on discovering and characterising Earth-sized planets and super-Earths in the habitable zone of their parent star."

 

"Its discoveries will help to place our own Solar System's architecture in the context of other planetary systems," said Alvaro Giménez, ESA's Director of Science and Robotic Exploration.

 

PLATO and its dozens of smaller telescopes represents a departure from most current space observatories like Hubble which utilize just a few larger telescopes. In the case of optical telescopes, this approach has been preferable because larger mirrors allows for the collection of more light and the observation of more faint or distant objects. The upside of the PLATO approach is that the multiple telescopes can be combined to create the new ability to observe both dim and bright objects simultaneously.

 

Similar upcoming missions, like NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) set to launch in 2017, could also impact how PLATO is utilized to support and expand the existing body of knowledge about exoplanets at the time of its launch.

 

Unlike most satellites, PLATO will stay at a fixed point in space known as L2, one of a handful of spots where the gravitational pull of the Earth and the Sun cancel each other out. Another ESA observatory, Gaia, is scheduled to be hanging out in an orbit around L2 for the next few years.

 

The ESA plans to launch PLATO aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket by 2024 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana for an initial mission of six years.

 

Russian Space Agency Joins Instagram

 

RIA Novosti

 

MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) – Roscosmos has opened an account on the image-sharing network Instagram to improve its public relations, the Russian space agency said Wednesday.

 

The agency hopes improved lines of communication will bolster public excitement about spaceflight by keeping those interested informed about current space events.

 

Roscosmos spokeswoman Irina Zubareva said the agency's Twitter and Facebook accounts that were opened last month had already attracted a number of useful comments.

 

The first 14 images uploaded to the agency's Instagram account include pictures of cosmonauts, the launch of a Proton rocket, spacecraft at the International Space Station and photos of the Earth and moon.

 

NASA has long had a presence on social media sites and maintains over 100 Twitter feeds, including individual feeds for a variety of space missions, such as its two active Mars rovers, Curiosity and Opportunity.

 

 

END

 

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