Shuttle/Shuttle Concept Restart: Fwd: Human Spaceflight News

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: May 1, 2013 6:06:50 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - May 1, 2013 and JSC Today

Hope you can join us tomorrow at Hibachi Grill at 11:30 for our monthly NASA Retirees Luncheon.

Center Ops sent a text message update yesterday late afternoon that Building 4 North would be re-opened at noon today for employees to return for work.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1.            Health and Fitness Month is Here -- Get Fit and Win Prizes
2.            Summer Sport Leagues -- Registration Closing Soon
3.            Latest International Space Station Research
4.            NASA@work: Training Session and Active Challenges
________________________________________     NASA FACT
" NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) test bed has begun experiments after completing its checkout on the International Space Station. The SCaN test bed is an advanced, integrated communications laboratory facility that uses a new generation of software-defined radio technology to allow researchers to develop, test and demonstrate advanced communications, networking and navigation technologies in space."
________________________________________
1.            Health and Fitness Month is Here -- Get Fit and Win Prizes
May is Health and Fitness Month at JSC, so get ready to get fit, complete challenges and win prizes! Join us in variety of health- and fitness-related challenges, activities, classes and more throughout the entire month for your chance to get tickets and win prizes. Bike to work - get a ticket. Take a Starport group exercise class - get a ticket. Stop by our mini-fitness expo - get a ticket. Complete the online scavenger hunt - get multiple tickets. There's a wide variety of activities to choose from, and each ticket earned increases your chances of winning a prize during the random drawing to be held on May 31 -- all sponsored by Starport! Plus, participate in one of our challenges like the Poker Walk Challenge and Prediction Run Challenge for your chance win free gear and additional prizes. Check out the official calendar for more details.
Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/

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2.            Summer Sport Leagues -- Registration Closing Soon
Registration is closing soon for most of Starport's popular league sports!
League registration now open:
o             Dodgeball (coed) | Thursday evenings | Registration ends May 6
o             Kickball (coed) | Monday evenings | Registration ends May 8
o             Softball (men's) | Tuesdays and Wednesdays | Registration ends May 9
o             Softball (coed) | Wednesdays and Thursdays | Registration ends May 16
o             Soccer (coed) | Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays | Registration ends May 23
Free-agent registration now open.
All participants must register here.
For more information, please contact the Gilruth information desk at 281-483-0304.
Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/Sports/index.cfm#SUMMER

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3.            Latest International Space Station Research
One of CASIS' National Laboratory payloads, NanoRacks Module-19, was launched on SpaceX-2 and contains 52 protein crystal growth experiments. The crystals have been growing for about 60 days. This week, Chris Hadfield captured digital microscope images of each Crystal Plate using the NanoRacks Microscope 2. The data was downlinked and is being analyzed by the Principal Investigator now.
Read more here.
Liz Warren x35548

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4.            NASA@work: Training Session and Active Challenges
If you are interested in learning more about NASA@work and how you can participate on this internal, collaborative platform, join us for NASA@work Training 101 on Thursday, May 9. (We will be hosting this training both via WebEx and in person at JSC.) Two session times will be available: 11 a.m. CDT and 2 p.m. CDT (sessions are 30 minutes). Sign up online today, as space is limited!
Make sure you check out our active challenges: Peer-to-Peer Coaching and Counseling Program (deadline: May 31); and Group On-Call Notification Alternatives (deadline: May 3). Check them out here and submit your solution today!
Kathryn Keeton 281-204-1519 http://nasa.innocentive.com

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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. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.

Human Spaceflight News
Wednesday, May 1, 2013

HEADLINES AND LEADS

Capturing asteroids - no flight of fancy

Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle

Earlier this month, at a space meeting in Washington D.C., agency administrator Charles Bolden addressed those in the aerospace community who would like humans to return to the moon before going elsewhere. "NASA is not going to the moon with a human as a primary project probably in my lifetime," he said. "I don't know how to say it any more plainly. NASA does not have a human lunar mission in its portfolio and we are not planning for one." It's now been three years, to the month, since President Barack Obama visited Kennedy Space Center and set his human spaceflight goal for NASA: to have astronauts visit an asteroid. But that goal has yet to ignite widespread enthusiasm in the space community - and as a result of continued political infighting the future of human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit is a muddied one.

Russia Charging NASA $70 Million Per Rocket Seat

Marcia Dunn - Associated Press

NASA is paying $424 million more to Russia to get U.S. astronauts into space, and the agency's leader is blaming Congress for the extra expense. NASA announced its latest contract with the Russian Space Agency on Tuesday. The $424 million represents flights to and from the International Space Station aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft, as well as training, for six astronauts in 2016 and the first half of 2017. That's $70.6 million per seat — well above the previous price tag of about $65 million.

U.S. to pay $424M to fly 6 astronauts aboard Russian rockets

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

The U.S. will pay Russia $424 million to fly six astronauts on round trips to the International Space Station in 2016 and 2017, officials said Tuesday. The cost raises the per-seat price aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft to almost $71 million, or about a 10 percent jump over the $63 million per seat price NASA paid in May 2011. NASA had hoped to begin launching U.S. and partner nation astronauts on spaceships being designed and developed by U.S. commercial companies.

NASA buys six more seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft

Stephen Clark – SpaceflightNow.com

Uncertain when U.S. commercial spaceships will be ready for the job, NASA has signed a $424 million contract extension with the Russian space agency to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station through June 2017, the space agency announced Tuesday. The extension, which was expected, ensures U.S. and partner astronauts have access to the space station until commercial providers can take over transportation services, NASA said. The deal with the Russian Federal Space Agency - Roscosmos - covers the training and launch of six astronauts on Soyuz spacecraft in 2016, plus landing and recovery services through June 2017. The accord covers rides for U.S., European, Japanese and Canadian astronauts.

NASA to Pay $70 Million a Seat to Fly Astronauts on Russian Spacecraft

Mike Wall - Space.com

NASA has signed a new deal that will keep American astronauts flying on Russian spacecraft through early 2017 at a cost of $70.7 million per seat — about $8 million more per astronaut than the previous going rate. The $424 million deal, which was announced Tuesday, is good for six seats aboard Russia's Soyuz space capsules. Under the agreement, Soyuz vehicles will now ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station through 2016, with return and rescue services extending until June 2017. The previous contract provided Soyuz flights for NASA astronauts through 2015, at a cost of roughly $62.7 million per seat.

NASA, Roscosmos sign modification contract on crew transportation

Itar-Tass

NASA said on Tuesday it had signed a 424 million dollar modification to its contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to use Soyuz spaceships for crew transportation to the International Space Station in 2016 with return and rescue services through June 2017. NASA hopes to launch U.S. astronauts onboard domestic spaceships by the middle of 2017. NASA's new spaceship Orion and rocket carrier are being built by Boeing and Lockheed Martin Space Systems. Moreover, several more companies work on the construction of commercial spaceships that can be used at NASA's order.

NASA Extends Russia Space Travel Deal

RIA Novosti

NASA will pay an additional $424 million to extend its contract with Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to transport US astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said Tuesday, a move that America's space chief said underscores how diminished funding is hampering the US space program. "While our Russian counterparts have been good partners, it is unacceptable that we don't currently have an American capability to launch our own astronauts," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden wrote in a blog post Tuesday. The United States has relied on Roscosmos to transport its astronauts to and from the ISS aboard Soyuz spacecraft ever since the US Space Shuttle Program was shuttered in 2011.

NASA says space station's batteries safer than 787's

Stephen Clark – SpaceflightNow.com

NASA officials are confident lithium-ion batteries due to launch to the International Space Station in 2016 will not overheat like the batteries that grounded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner earlier this year. The space station's existing nickel-hydrogen are up for replacement in a few years, and NASA managers selected more efficient lithium-ion batteries for the job. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne - NASA's space station battery contractor - tapped GS Yuasa Lithium Power Inc., a U.S.-based subsidiary of GS Yuasa Corp. of Japan, to supply the cells for the space station's next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

Suits in space?
Bigelow Aero. working with NASA to recruit executives for space missions

Eli Segall - Vegas Inc

Just months after reaching a deal with NASA to build an inflatable space room, local entrepreneur Robert Bigelow is working with agency officials to find ways for business executives to take part in human space missions. His company, Bigelow Aerospace, signed a deal with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration last month to explore how the private sector can contribute to missions beyond the area known as "Low Earth Orbit," about 1,200 miles above sea level. That could include missions to the moon, which is about 240,000 miles away, and Mars, which is at least 33.9 million miles from Earth.

ILC Dover wins NASA contract for new space suit design
Delaware firm will design next space suit

Aaron Nathans - News Journal (Dover)

ILC Dover has received a $4.4 million contract from NASA to design, manufacture and test a next-generation space suit. The current space suit, designed by ILC in the late 1970s, was designed mainly for space shuttle missions, and later used at the International Space Station, said Phil Spampinato, director of technology development partnerships at ILC. That suit was built for "micro-gravity" environments, where people working under weightless conditions use their legs mainly to anchor themselves, instead of for walking. But NASA is now looking to go to Mars, and may consider returning to the moon. This would require suits built for people to walk in, Spampinato said. Those environments have some gravity, although less than on Earth, he said.

Space station skipper gives Canada's new $5 bill an out-of-this-world debut

Alan Boyle - NBCNews.com's Cosmic Log

Canada's new printed-polymer $5 bill has received the country's highest sendoff, altitude-wise, from International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield. Tuesday's currency-unveiling ceremony in space was just the latest in a series of achievements that have drawn attention to Canada's best-known spaceflier. Hadfield already has made his mark as a photographer, a musician and composer, and an explainer of outer-space phenomena ranging from crying to vomiting in zero-G. There's a reason why the Bank of Canada turned to him to introduce one of the last currency notes to be converted to counterfeit-resistant polymer: One side of the $5 bill celebrates Canada's contributions to space exploration, including the space station's Canadarm2 and DEXTRE robot.

Canada Launches Space Robot-Themed $5 Bill with Astronaut's Help

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

The Bank of Canada had appropriate help Tuesday (April 30) launching its new space-themed $5 bill – the Canadian commander of the International Space Station (ISS). "Let me show you an example of how we can reach new heights of innovation," Canadian Space Agency astronaut and Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield said, while revealing the astronaut- and robot-arm-adorned bank note from on board the orbiting complex. Hadfield held up the new blue-color note and let it float in front of him during a live broadcast from the space station.

Cy-Fair students savor radio visit with space station
Local students enjoy a virtual trip away from Earth during radio visit with astronauts

Lindsay Peyton - Houston Chronicle

For a few minutes Thornton Middle School was transformed into mission control. After a year's worth of preparations - that included the addition of an antenna powerful enough to reach the International Space Station - seventh grader Christopher Babbichio found the right frequency to communicate with astronauts with classmates on standby. The International Space Station only had about 10 minutes of time -- when it would be positioned in just the right spot for ham radio correspondence with the eager students. Commander Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space, answered their call. He offered insight into life in space, responding to a steady stream of questions.

Why An Astronaut Asked 15-Year-Old Abby to Help Get The Word Out

Elizabeth Howell - Universe Today

It seems an unlikely scenario: a teenager from Minnesota helping Italy's next astronaut talk to the public about spaceflight. But for Luca Parmitano, who has mentored Abigail "Abby" Harrison for two years, it's a way to reach out to a young audience. For Abby, it brings her closer to her dream of becoming an astronaut herself. Parmitano does have the official outreach team available through the Italian Space Agency (which is part of the European Space Agency) and NASA, he acknowledged. Official mission reports will proceed as usual through those agencies' press releases and social media accounts. He's pursuing this partnership with Abby, however, to have an additional "channel" targeted directly at children and teenagers, Parmitano told Universe Today. Parmitano is no social media pushover himself, though. The first-time flyer has a "landing page" website at LucaParmitano.com giving one-stop shopping for his Twitter, Facebook and Google pages. And just last week, he did a Google+ hangout with his protégé.

Celebrating nearly a decade of Richard Branson almost sending us to space

Colin Schultz - Smithsonian Magazine

In an early morning flight Monday, SpaceShipTwo, the passenger-carrying spacecraft of private spaceflight company Virgin Galactic rocketed through the sky above the Mojave Desert at a blistering mach 1.2 (around 913 miles per hour). It was the first rocket-powered test flight of the craft, an event heralded as the dawn of the commercial space age. More than 500 people have bought tickets to ride the ship, says the New York Times, and their wait, says Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson, might nearly be over. "We will be going to space at the end of this year," Mr. Branson said in a telephone interview after the test flight over Mojave, Calif. Or, he added, possibly in the first quarter of next year. Branson's confidence, just like his ship, is soaring. He's so confident, in fact, Virgin Galactic has decided to raise their rates: formerly $200,000, a trip to space with the company will now cost $250,000. But that confidence may be a bit misplaced, if the company's track record in this regard is considered.

Kay Bailey Hutchinson awarded National Space Trophy

Kristi Nix - Bay Area Citizen (Houston Community Newspapers)

The pioneers and leaders of the U.S. space program recently paid tribute to one of their fiercest champions. Former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson was presented with the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement by Gemini and Apollo Astronaut Gene Cernan during a ceremony Friday. During her nearly two-decade career in the Senate, Hutchinson worked tirelessly to generate support and funding for NASA and the space industry. "If we have learned one thing in this room, it is the gap between the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 to when we are going to the next level of space exploration can never again happen in the United States of America," she said during her acceptance speech.

The Boomerang Rocket Ship: Shoot It Up, Back It Comes

Robert Krulwich - National Public Radio

What in heaven's name is happening here? We're in McGregor, Texas, surrounded by farms (and the ghost of Johnny Cash). There, on a launch pad, is a 10-story rocket ready to take off. Its engines ignite. Up it goes, higher, then higher, then higher still, until at 820 feet, something weird happens. It stops moving, hovers in the sky for about 15 seconds as if wondering what to do next. The wind is blowing, (you can see the smoke blowing off in one direction, so there's definitely a breeze up there) but it doesn't wobble, doesn't tilt, it just hangs there like a candle in the sky, and then, suddenly, it switches direction, and looking down, you can see it heading unerringly for a pinpoint spot on the ground below. It's going back to the exact spot where it began, hits its mark, "legs extended" and turns itself off, like a shy student going back to his seat in a classroom.
__________

COMPLETE STORIES

Capturing asteroids - no flight of fancy

Eric Berger - Houston Chronicle

Earlier this month, at a space meeting in Washington D.C., agency administrator Charles Bolden addressed those in the aerospace community who would like humans to return to the moon before going elsewhere.

"NASA is not going to the moon with a human as a primary project probably in my lifetime," he said. "I don't know how to say it any more plainly. NASA does not have a human lunar mission in its portfolio and we are not planning for one."

It's now been three years, to the month, since President Barack Obama visited Kennedy Space Center and set his human spaceflight goal for NASA: to have astronauts visit an asteroid.

But that goal has yet to ignite widespread enthusiasm in the space community - and as a result of continued political infighting the future of human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit is a muddied one.

After the president released his budget in early April, which for the first time included about $100 million dedicated to an asteroid rendezvous, a bipartisan group in Congress was quick to respond.

Space as 'high ground'

"Last year, the National Research Council committee charged with reviewing NASA's strategic direction found that there was no support within NASA or from our international partners for the administration's proposed asteroid mission," said U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Virginia, who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee with oversight over NASA.

"However, there is broad support for NASA to lead a return to the moon."

And it wasn't just Republicans expressing that view.

"Space is the world's ultimate high ground, returning to the moon and reinvigorating our human spaceflight program is a matter of national security," said. U.S Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston. "Returning to the moon would allow NASA to continue to develop technologies that have not only enhanced our exploration programs but have been applied across all disciplines of science."

Members of Congress, and many current and former NASA officials, are still smarting from the president's decision to cancel NASA's lunar exploration program in 2010.

The Constellation program called for a return to the moon on a more permanent basis. A series of missions would have allowed NASA to develop the technology and expertise needed for subsequent, more ambitious missions to Mars and its moons, advocates say. This program was favored by a majority of Texas lawmakers because it was based at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Flat NASA budget

Obama's decision to end Constellation came after a monthslong review by a committee led by Norm Augustine, former chairman of Lockheed Martin. Later in 2010, amid much fanfare, Obama visited Kennedy Space Center and formally directed NASA to send astronauts on a monthslong voyage to an asteroid by 2025.

In the three years since then, NASA has ended the space shuttle program and used those funds to continue development of a space capsule, Orion, and begin development of a rocket, the Space Launch System, to launch and deliver humans to an asteroid.

Yet there's also been an increasing realization that a relatively flat budget didn't provide NASA the funds it needed to send humans on a long-duration space mission.

Instead the space agency's new plan is to robotically capture a small, 25-foot asteroid and redirect it to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system. Then humans could fly to the asteroid in an Orion capsule.

This idea has generated some interest in the scientific community because it would allow for a better understanding of space rocks that will inevitably threaten Earth with a mega-collision.

Great expectations

But at the same time, it's been difficult to build public buzz for a human mission to a small rock near the moon.

"What we've all been seeing with the asteroid-capture idea is that NASA is struggling to find something to do to satisfy the direction it's been given," said Leroy Chiao, a former astronaut and member of the Augustine commission. "But you've seen across the board with the public and Congress and even people within the agency, the response to an asteroid has been muted."

He and other members of the Augustine commission, including Augustine himself, have expressed disappointment that the president and Congress ignored their central recommendation: If NASA astronauts are going to fly beyond low-Earth orbit, commit $3 billion more to the NASA budget; and if not, fine, but scale back expectations for the space program.

Instead, the president and Congress provided NASA only a little more money, and then gave the space agency ambitious, dueling priorities.

Obama, who has three-plus years left in office, has set an asteroid as the goal. But much of Congress, many of whose members who will still be around in 2017, prefer the moon.

It's unclear which option - the asteroid or the moon proposal - would provide the most economic benefit for the Houston area.

Skeptic's viewpoint

So for now, an asteroid may be the stated goal, but lacking a mandate from Congress or the public, the priorities could change in a few years.

It may be a moot point, anyway, Chiao said, citing federal budget cuts.

Although NASA maintains it can pull off an asteroid-capture, independent observers like Chiao are skeptical.

"Even before sequestration, NASA's budget was pretty much stressed to the limit," he said. "Now I don't think we can even do the capture mission anymore. I don't know that we're going to be going anywhere beyond low-Earth orbit any time soon."

Russia Charging NASA $70 Million Per Rocket Seat

Marcia Dunn - Associated Press

NASA is paying $424 million more to Russia to get U.S. astronauts into space, and the agency's leader is blaming Congress for the extra expense.

NASA announced its latest contract with the Russian Space Agency on Tuesday. The $424 million represents flights to and from the International Space Station aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft, as well as training, for six astronauts in 2016 and the first half of 2017.

That's $70.6 million per seat — well above the previous price tag of about $65 million.

Russia currently provides the only means of getting people to and from the space station, and its ticket prices have soared with each new contract.

Several U.S. companies are working on rockets and spacecraft to launch Americans from U.S. soil. But that's still a few years away. The ability to launch crews into orbit from America ended with NASA's shuttle program in 2011. Even before the shuttles retired, the U.S. had been relying on Russia to transport long-term residents to the space station.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said if Congress had approved the space agency's request for more funding for its commercial space effort, the latest contract would have been unnecessary. He is urging full funding of the Obama administration's 2014 budget request of $821 million for the commercial crew program.

"Because the funding for the President's plan has been significantly reduced, we now won't be able to support American launches until 2017," Bolden, a former shuttle commander, wrote in a NASA blog.

It could take longer if Congress does not fully support the 2014 request, he said.

"Further delays in our Commercial Crew Program and its impact on our human spaceflight program are unacceptable," Bolden said.

The California-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, already is making cargo shipments to the space station. Its founder and chief designer, billionaire Elon Musk, previously has said his company could be ferrying astronauts aboard beefed-up versions of its Dragon capsules by 2015.

Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia completed a successful test launch 1½ weeks ago. It plans to start sending supplies to the space station this summer, but has no interest in carrying passengers.

The six seats included in the latest Russian contract covers not only Americans, but European, Canadian or Japanese astronauts under barter agreements between NASA and those countries.

U.S. to pay $424M to fly 6 astronauts aboard Russian rockets

Todd Halvorson - Florida Today

The U.S. will pay Russia $424 million to fly six astronauts on round trips to the International Space Station in 2016 and 2017, officials said Tuesday.

The cost raises the per-seat price aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft to almost $71 million, or about a 10 percent jump over the $63 million per seat price NASA paid in May 2011.

NASA had hoped to begin launching U.S. and partner nation astronauts on spaceships being designed and developed by U.S. commercial companies.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a blog that Congress failed to provide full funding President Obama requested for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

"If NASA had received the President's requested funding for this plan, we would not have been forced to recently sign a new contract with Roscosmos for Soyuz transportation flights," Bolden wrote in an item posted today.

Roscosmos is the Russian federal space agency.

Bolden, a former astronaut, said NASA now is targeting 2017 for the first U.S. commercial crew transportation missions to the International Space Station.

However, that target would be threatened if Congress does not provide the full $821 million requested in the Fiscal 2014 budget – a situation Bolden said would be "unacceptable."

SpaceX, Boeing and Sierra Nevada are developing commercial spacecraft with NASA seed money.

NASA is investing in the development of the private spacecraft, and then will procure seats on those craft once they are flying.

NASA buys six more seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft

Stephen Clark – SpaceflightNow.com

Uncertain when U.S. commercial spaceships will be ready for the job, NASA has signed a $424 million contract extension with the Russian space agency to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station through June 2017, the space agency announced Tuesday.

The extension, which was expected, ensures U.S. and partner astronauts have access to the space station until commercial providers can take over transportation services, NASA said.

The deal with the Russian Federal Space Agency - Roscosmos - covers the training and launch of six astronauts on Soyuz spacecraft in 2016, plus landing and recovery services through June 2017. The accord covers rides for U.S., European, Japanese and Canadian astronauts.

The contract's value is worth about $70.7 million per astronaut seat. The last time NASA extended Russia's contract, it paid roughly $62.7 million for a roundtrip ride. NASA said in a statement the contract extension announced Tuesday covers additional support services previously contained in a separate agreement.

NASA expects commercial spacecraft developers to begin service to the space station some time in 2017, ending U.S. reliance on Russia for crew transportation.

But agency officials caution more delays would occur if NASA does not receive the $821 million it proposed for the commercial crew program in fiscal year 2014, which begins Oct. 1.

The start of operational commercial crew flights was pushed back to 2017 when Congress appropriated less funding for the program than requested by the Obama administration in 2011 and 2012.

"If we had been funded at the [original] level, you could argue we would be less than two years away from having U.S. crew access to space," said Phil McAlister, director of commercial spaceflight development at NASA, in a April 18 meeting with the NASA Advisory Council.

In a blog posted on NASA's website Tuesday, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden wrote that the Soyuz contract extension would not have been needed if the agency received the money it requested. Bolden wrote more Soyuz purchases will be necessary if the commercial crew budget is cut again.

NASA has development agreements to funnel government funding into spacecraft being designed by Boeing Co., SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. The public-private partnership agreements expire in May 2014, and NASA plans to negotiate contracts with at least two of the companies for a test and certification campaign in 2015 and 2016, including flight demonstrations.

But that plan is contingent on funding from Congress. Without a full appropriation, NASA will have to scale back its commercial crew program to focus on a single provider, delay the start of operations, or both, according to NASA officials.

NASA is turning to the private sector for crew and cargo flights to the space station, freeing agency resources to focus on the exploration of deep space with the government-owned Orion capsule and Space Launch System.

Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy space station program manager, said April 18 the top risk facing the international project was the start of commercial crew transportation and the decision when to stop purchasing Soyuz seats and begin buying commercial rides.

"All of our top risks are budgetary now," Shireman told a NASA advisory committee. "We're very worried, from a budget standpoint, about commercial crew and Soyuz. Today, there is no budget for commercial crew and Soyuz."

At some point, once NASA is more confident in the commercial crew budget and sees progress from spacecraft providers, officials must start contract negotiations for seats on U.S.-built commercial vehicles.

"It's an expensive proposition to have an overlap between Soyuz and commercial crew," Shireman said. "Fundamentally, you're paying for a service on one side or the other that you're probably not going to use."

There is a three-year lead time for construction of Soyuz vehicles, forcing NASA to make decisions early.

"We don't want to be in a situation where we can no longer have U.S. crew members on-board ISS because we didn't buy any more Soyuz and commercial crew isn't ready," Shireman said.

"The policy is we still switch to commercial when it is ready," McAlister said. "If I knew for sure that commercial [providers] would show up in 2017, we would just end the Soyuz purchases. It's going to be really hard three years ahead of time to say for sure we're going to show up, not really from a technical standpoint, but look at our budget."

NASA to Pay $70 Million a Seat to Fly Astronauts on Russian Spacecraft

Mike Wall - Space.com

NASA has signed a new deal that will keep American astronauts flying on Russian spacecraft through early 2017 at a cost of $70.7 million per seat — about $8 million more per astronaut than the previous going rate.

The $424 million deal, which was announced Tuesday, is good for six seats aboard Russia's Soyuz space capsules. Under the agreement, Soyuz vehicles will now ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station through 2016, with return and rescue services extending until June 2017. The previous contract provided Soyuz flights for NASA astronauts through 2015, at a cost of roughly $62.7 million per seat.

NASA has been dependent on the Soyuz since the retirement of its space shuttle fleet in July 2011. The agency is currently encouraging American private spaceflight firms to develop their own astronaut taxis under its Commercial Crew Program

NASA had hoped that at least one homegrown crew-carrying spaceship would be up and running by 2015, but Congress' failure to fully fund Commercial Crew has made that impossible, agency chief Charles Bolden said. NASA officials are now targeting 2017 for the first American astronauts to fly on commercial spacecraft.

Lawmakers approved $489 million and $406 million for Commercial Crew in the last two years, respectively, far short of the $830 million and $850 million laid out in President Barack Obama's federal budget requests.

"Because the funding for the President's plan has been significantly reduced, we now won't be able to support American launches until 2017," Bolden wrote in a blog post today.

"Even this delayed availability will be in question if Congress does not fully support the President's fiscal year 2014 request for our Commercial Crew Program [$821 million], forcing us once again to extend our contract with the Russians," Bolden added.

The top three contenders to fly NASA astronauts to and from the space station are SpaceX, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Boeing. SpaceX is working on a manned version of its Dragon capsule; Boeing is also developing a capsule, called the CST-100, while Sierra Nevada is building a space plane called Dream Chaser.

NASA is also looking to the private sector to fill the space shuttle's cargo-carrying shoes. The agency has signed billion-dollar deals with two American firms, SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp., to fly robotic resupply missions to the orbiting lab.

SpaceX has already completed two of its contracted 12 missions using its Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket. Orbital test-flew its Antares rocket for the first time earlier this month and is expected to fly a demonstration mission to the space station with Antares and a spacecraft called Cygnus within the next few months.

The new contract with Russia fully covers Soyuz operations and support, including flight training and launch preparations, NASA officials said. Soyuz spacecraft currently fly not only Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts, but also spaceflyers from Canada, Japan and Europe.

NASA, Roscosmos sign modification contract on crew transportation

Itar-Tass

NASA said on Tuesday it had signed a 424 million dollar modification to its contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to use Soyuz spaceships for crew transportation to the International Space Station in 2016 with return and rescue services through June 2017.

NASA hopes to launch U.S. astronauts onboard domestic spaceships by the middle of 2017. NASA's new spaceship Orion and rocket carrier are being built by Boeing and Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

Moreover, several more companies work on the construction of commercial spaceships that can be used at NASA's order.

The United States started to use Roscosmos' crew transportation services after NASA retired the Space Shuttle in 2011, after 30 years of service.

Experts said over the past several years the United States had paid Russia approximately $65 million per seat aboard Soyuz.

"This modification to the Roscosmos contract will ensure continued U.S. presence aboard the space station," NASA said in its statement.

NASA Extends Russia Space Travel Deal

RIA Novosti

NASA will pay an additional $424 million to extend its contract with Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) to transport US astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said Tuesday, a move that America's space chief said underscores how diminished funding is hampering the US space program.

"While our Russian counterparts have been good partners, it is unacceptable that we don't currently have an American capability to launch our own astronauts," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden wrote in a blog post Tuesday.

The United States has relied on Roscosmos to transport its astronauts to and from the ISS aboard Soyuz spacecraft ever since the US Space Shuttle Program was shuttered in 2011.

The extended deal inked between the two agencies will allow US astronauts to travel aboard Russian spacecraft to the ISS through 2016 and will include return and rescue services through June 2017, NASA said in a statement Tuesday.

Bolden wrote that lack of Congressional funding has stymied the so-called Commercial Crew Program — supported by US President Barack Obama's administration—which was proposed three years ago to have domestic firms send American astronauts into space by 2015.

"It's a plan that supports the US human spaceflight program, boosts our economy, and helps create good-paying American jobs," Bolden wrote Tuesday. "If NASA had received the president's requested funding for this plan, we would not have been forced to recently sign a new contract with Roscosmos for Soyuz transportation flights."

"Because the funding for the President's plan has been significantly reduced, we now won't be able to support American launches until 2017," Bolden added.

The extended deal also includes "comprehensive Soyuz support, including all necessary training and preparation for launch, flight operations, landing and rescue of six space station crew members on long-duration missions," NASA said Tuesday.

NASA says space station's batteries safer than 787's

Stephen Clark – SpaceflightNow.com

NASA officials are confident lithium-ion batteries due to launch to the International Space Station in 2016 will not overheat like the batteries that grounded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner earlier this year.

The space station's existing nickel-hydrogen are up for replacement in a few years, and NASA managers selected more efficient lithium-ion batteries for the job.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne - NASA's space station battery contractor - tapped GS Yuasa Lithium Power Inc., a U.S.-based subsidiary of GS Yuasa Corp. of Japan, to supply the cells for the space station's next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

GS Yuasa is also the supplier for batteries used on the Boeing 787 airplane, which was grounded in January after batteries aboard two of the jumbo jets smoldered and caught fire.

No crew members or passengers were injured in the incidents, but one firefighter received minor injuries while responding to the fire on a Japan Airlines 787 on the ground in Boston.

Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy space station program manager, said earlier this month that the space station batteries should not be affected by the problem.

Engineers working on the Dreamliner have devised ways Boeing says will prevent similar problems in the future, but investigators have not found the root cause of the battery overheating. The suspect batteries provide electricity to the Dreamliner's auxiliary power unit. The Dreamliner batteries include eight cells arranged in a four-by-two matrix.

Officials attributed the battery failures to "thermal runaway," where overheating in one cell can lead to the meltdown of other cells within a battery - a chain reaction which could ultimately spread beyond the battery and into other airplane systems if not extinguished.

Engineers at Boeing, GS Yuasa and Thales, one of the 787's electrical system subcontractors, redesigned the batteries to prevent overheating in one cell from cascading into other sections of the battery. The contractors beefed up the battery's casing to contain a fire.

The Dreamliner returned to commercial service Saturday with an Ethiopian Airlines flight, two days after the Federal Aviation Administration approved Boeing's battery fix. Other carriers will resume Dreamliner flights over the next couple of months as national regulatory agencies grant approvals following the installation of redesigned batteries.

Boeing is also the top industrial contractor for the U.S. side of the International Space Station, and it oversees engineering and maintenance projects aimed at sustaining the complex orbiting more than 200 miles above Earth.

"We had in place, prior to this issue with the 787 battery, a bunch of design features to protect us against this same phenomena," Shireman told a NASA Advisory Council committee April 18. "We have been actively, both from a contractor standpoint and from a NASA standpoint, participating in that investigation. So far, we haven't learned anything out of that that affects the design of our battery."

Noting the space station's battery vendor is the same as the Dreamliner's, Shireman said the lithium-ion batteries bound for space are larger and more resistant to failure.

"If one cell runs away, it doesn't dump a lot of heat into another cell and cause a chain reaction," Shireman said. "Some of the things they're learning on the 787, we already had in place."

Lithium-ion batteries, each with 30 cells, will replace the space station's nickel-hydrogen batteries on the outpost's truss backbone. The new batteries are lighter, more efficient and will last at least 10 years, according to NASA.

The station's oldest existing batteries will reach the end of their design lives in 2016, about the same time the new units are due to arrive. The nickel-hydrogen batteries were built by Space Systems/Loral.

The batteries store energy generated by the space station's solar panels.

According to its website, GS Yuasa battery components have been used on more than 50 satellites built in Japan, the United States and India without anomaly or failure.

Judy Jeevarajan, group lead for battery safety at NASA's Johnson Space Center, said lithium-ion batteries have been used on human-rated NASA missions since 1999.

"The lithium-ion battery chemistry is the highest in energy density, at this time, of all rechargeable battery systems," Jeevarajan told members of the National Transportation Safety Board in an April 23 hearing into the Dreamliner grounding.

"However, it is not the safest due to the catastrophic failures that are usually associated with them, like electrolyte leakage, fire and thermal runaway," Jeevarajan said, adding potential risks include internal shorts, high temperatures and overcharges.

Jeevarajan said NASA will do stringent testing on all of the space station's new batteries, including checks on their performance in the unpressurized environment outside the outpost.

Suits in space?
Bigelow Aero. working with NASA to recruit executives for space missions

Eli Segall - Vegas Inc

Just months after reaching a deal with NASA to build an inflatable space room, local entrepreneur Robert Bigelow is working with agency officials to find ways for business executives to take part in human space missions.

His company, Bigelow Aerospace, signed a deal with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration last month to explore how the private sector can contribute to missions beyond the area known as "Low Earth Orbit," about 1,200 miles above sea level.

That could include missions to the moon, which is about 240,000 miles away, and Mars, which is at least 33.9 million miles from Earth.

The deal with Bigelow, based in North Las Vegas, is the first of its kind for NASA. The entities will work together to determine which companies can contribute to such missions, what expertise they would bring to the table and what types of missions they could work on, said Mike Gold, Bigelow's director of Washington, D.C., operations and business growth.

No money will change hands between Bigelow and NASA. The study is expected to be completed this fall.

What kinds of projects might be pursued?

The private sector potentially could get involved with attempts to extract helium-3 from the moon, Gold said. The gas, which is scarce on Earth but believed to be in abundance on the moon, is viewed as a possible source of cheap, clean energy.

NASA spokesman David Weaver said the agency is "intensely focused on a bold mission to identify, relocate and explore an asteroid with American astronauts by 2025" and an even more ambitious human mission to Mars in the 2030s. NASA has no plans for a human mission to the moon, he said.

Bigelow Aerospace, founded in 1999, develops expandable space-habitat technology. The company launched two prototype modules into space in 2006 and 2007 aboard converted Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles. The spacecraft remain in orbit, traveling at about 16,930 mph, orbiting Earth once every 96 minutes.

NASA officials announced in January that the agency awarded Bigelow a $17.8 million contract to provide a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, to the International Space Station. The BEAM is an inflatable room that can be compressed into a 7-foot tube.

If it proves durable, it could help lead to space stations on the moon and missions to Mars.

The 10-foot-diameter, blimp-like module is expected to arrive at the orbiting laboratory in 2015 for a two-year test period. It is slated to launch during a NASA-contracted SpaceX cargo resupply mission.

If the test is successful, Bigelow plans to begin selling the inflatable space stations to other countries in 2016.

ILC Dover wins NASA contract for new space suit design
Delaware firm will design next space suit

Aaron Nathans - News Journal (Dover)

ILC Dover has received a $4.4 million contract from NASA to design, manufacture and test a next-generation space suit.

The current space suit, designed by ILC in the late 1970s, was designed mainly for space shuttle missions, and later used at the International Space Station, said Phil Spampinato, director of technology development partnerships at ILC.

That suit was built for "micro-gravity" environments, where people working under weightless conditions use their legs mainly to anchor themselves, instead of for walking.

But NASA is now looking to go to Mars, and may consider returning to the moon. This would require suits built for people to walk in, Spampinato said. Those environments have some gravity, although less than on Earth, he said.

"We haven't done that since Apollo," he said, referring to the walking involved in moon missions that ended roughly 30 years ago.

The new suits will operate at higher levels of pressure than earlier models. The new space suit, called the Z-2, will be designed to be used with NASA's portable life support system, which is under development at the Johnson Space Center in Texas.

ILC will work to make the suits usable on the Space Station as well, an environment with very little gravity, he said. They might also be used for a proposed mission to examine an asteroid in low-earth orbit after a robot hauls it in closer to Earth.

The contract will run for 18 months, he said.

The Frederica-area company has made space suits for about 45 years, using structural and laminated materials.

Every space shuttle mission was equipped with ILC suits, and astronauts wore them on the final shuttle spacewalk in 2011.

ILC also made Goodyear Blimps currently in operation around the world, and other airships.

The company employs about 420 in Delaware, 30 out of state, and recently acquired Atlanta-based Grayling Co., a packaging company for the pharmaceutical industry. Grayling employs 120.

Space station skipper gives Canada's new $5 bill an out-of-this-world debut

Alan Boyle - NBCNews.com's Cosmic Log

Canada's new printed-polymer $5 bill has received the country's highest sendoff, altitude-wise, from International Space Station commander Chris Hadfield. Tuesday's currency-unveiling ceremony in space was just the latest in a series of achievements that have drawn attention to Canada's best-known spaceflier.

Hadfield already has made his mark as a photographer, a musician and composer, and an explainer of outer-space phenomena ranging from crying to vomiting in zero-G. There's a reason why the Bank of Canada turned to him to introduce one of the last currency notes to be converted to counterfeit-resistant polymer: One side of the $5 bill celebrates Canada's contributions to space exploration, including the space station's Canadarm2 and DEXTRE robot.

"I just want to tell you how proud I am to be able to see Canada's achievements in space highlighted on our money," Hadfield told Canadian officials via a space-to-Earth video link. Hadfield said the pictures played to Canada's strength in space robotics.

As Hadfield spoke, he plucked a bill from the wall of the station's Destiny laboratory and set it spinning in zero gravity in front of the camera. The other side of the bill has a less spacey theme: It features a portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was Canada's prime minister from 1896 to 1911.

Bank of Canada spokeswoman Julie Girard said the outer-space ceremony was "quite a few months in the making." The polymer note was flown up to the space station with Hadfield back in December, and held in reserve for Tuesday's ceremony. "We wanted to be the first to unveil a bank note in space," she told NBC News.

Canada's new $10 note, which commemorates the country's rail system, was unveiled at the same time in Ottawa. The $5 and $10 bills will complete Canada's conversion to polymer-based currency, tricked up with transparent areas and hologram markings to make them harder to counterfeit. The Bank of Canada says these notes should last two to three times longer than the country's cotton-based paper bank notes — and when they wear out, they can be traded in and recycled.

The new notes won't be rolled out to the Canadian public until November. That'll provide enough lead time for training clerks and law enforcement officials to get familiar with the bills. Hadfield will be back on Earth long before November: He's due to get on board the next Soyuz capsule leaving the station on May 14, alongside NASA's Tom Marshburn and Russia's Roman Romanenko.

So what happens to Hadfield's $5 bill? Girard said the astronaut will bring the note down with him, and it will eventually be put on exhibit at the Bank of Canada's currency museum.

Canada Launches Space Robot-Themed $5 Bill with Astronaut's Help

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

The Bank of Canada had appropriate help Tuesday (April 30) launching its new space-themed $5 bill – the Canadian commander of the International Space Station (ISS).

"Let me show you an example of how we can reach new heights of innovation," Canadian Space Agency astronaut and Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield said, while revealing the astronaut- and robot-arm-adorned bank note from on board the orbiting complex.

Hadfield held up the new blue-color note and let it float in front of him during a live broadcast from the space station.

According to the Bank of Canada, the new $5 bill features "leading-edge security features" as already present in the $20, $50 and $100 polymer notes now in circulation. The bank also released its new $10 note today, which depicts a Canadian train.

"The polymer series notes are at the frontier of bank note technology. The new $5 and $10 bank notes depict the frontiers of our country and our planet," Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said. "It is fitting that we are today crossing the final frontier for a world first — the unveiling of a bank note from space."

The new bills include transparent and holographic design elements, making them part of the most secure bank note series ever issued by the Bank of Canada. The polymer series is also described as more economical, lasting at least two and half times longer than cotton-based paper notes, and they will be recycled in Canada.

The new $5 bill, as revealed by Hadfield, features images of the Canadian-built Canadarm2 and Dextre, robotic arms and manipulators that were used to build and now maintain the space station. They symbolize Canada's ongoing contribution to the international space program.

Hadfield, who in 2001 became the first Canadian to walk in space while helping to install the Canadarm2 outside the space station, said he tries to inspire young Canadians to aim high.

"This new $5 bill should do the same," he said. "By giving prominence to Canadian achievements in space, this bank note reminds us that not even the sky is the limit."

The note's design also includes a spacewalking astronaut, though the Bank of Canada did not specify if it was meant to be Hadfield. The astronaut can be identified though, as a Canadian by the country's red and white, maple-leaf flag appearing on the arm of the spacesuited figure.

The front of the new $5 bank note features a portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The previous $5 bill, still in circulation, also features Laurier on one side. The reverse depicts children engaged in winter sports, including sledding and hockey.

The $5 bill is the lowest denomination bank note circulated in Canada. The new space-themed bill will be available to the public starting in November.

This is not the first time that Hadfield has been included in the release of Canadian money. The Royal Canadian Mint released coins in 2006 that featured the Canadarm2 and a portrait of the record-setting astronaut. The silver and gold coins carried a face value of $30 and $300, respectively.

In addition to the Canadarm2 and the two-armed Dextre (the latter also known as the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator), Canada's space achievements also include the Canadarm, the robotic arm flown on board the now-retired space shuttle.

The first Canadarm flown in space was returned by NASA to Canada last year to go on public display at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.

Cy-Fair students savor radio visit with space station
Local students enjoy a virtual trip away from Earth during radio visit with astronauts

Lindsay Peyton - Houston Chronicle

For a few minutes Thornton Middle School was transformed into mission control.

After a year's worth of preparations - that included the addition of an antenna powerful enough to reach the International Space Station - seventh grader Christopher Babbichio found the right frequency to communicate with astronauts with classmates on standby.

The International Space Station only had about 10 minutes of time -- when it would be positioned in just the right spot for ham radio correspondence with the eager students.

Commander Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space, answered their call. He offered insight into life in space, responding to a steady stream of questions.

"Is space food good, and what earth food do you miss the most?" eighth grader Jesus Castillo asked.

Seventh grader Cora Bell asked the commander when he decided to become an astronaut. "When you were in middle school, did you know you wanted to be an astronaut? If not, what other jobs did you consider?"

"Is the training to become an astronaut very hard and how long does it take?" sixth grader Cameron Castillo asked.

After awhile, the radio signal was lost, and students celebrated a successful transmission over slices of cake.

"I hope this is something you can take with you - and tell your children and grandchildren that you talked to an astronaut when he was way up there," seventh grade teacher Tom Maxwell suggested.

Parents, teachers and board members from Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District were in the audience to witness the culmination of a yearlong project.

Maxwell, a ham radio enthusiast, discovered the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program three years ago. He saw an ad in the monthly journal of the American Radio Relay League, the national association for amateur radio.

Maxwell signed up for a summer course to prepare him for the program. Then he went to work preparing a proposal.

"That was an entire team effort," Maxwell said.

The team had to prove that the school would acquire all of the required technical gear needed for the transmission.

"But the main focus was an educational aspect - what are you going to do to excite students about STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)?" he said.

The ARISS program is a cooperative venture of NASA, the American Radio Relay League and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), which schedules radio contact between astronauts and schools. One of the program's main goals is to encourage students to become more involved in science and math classes by providing real-world experience.

To be eligible for the program, the whole campus had to be on board.

"We got in a huddle," Maxwell said. "The teachers were able to integrate space in their lessons in different ways."

The art teachers taught students to make three-dimensional spacemen sculptures; the English teachers assigned essays about space. Even the lunch menu was changed to reflect the school's new project. The cafeteria has been serving "solar baked chicken" and "Martian green beans." The orchestra teacher prepared the "Apollo 13" movie theme to perform on the big day.

Space a passion as a kid

The school would do anything to get students excited about space, Maxwell said. The universe has lost its appeal with the current generation, he explained. Space was a passion for Maxwell when he was a child.

"I would wake up every day watching Walter Cronkite talk about Apollo," he said. "Space travel has become kind of routine. I want to give them the type of exposure I had as a child and give them a chance to fall in love with it like I did."

Another integral part of the process was the school's amateur radio club. Maxwell said about 200 students applied. He interviewed each one and chose the 10 who seemed most interested.

Seventh grader Babbichio is one of the club's stars, Maxwell said. "Chris is probably the most active," he added.

Babbichio is currently studying to get his radio license. "I started out just trying to get into the club, because I wanted to talk to people around the world," he said.

Then he heard about the chance to talk to an astronaut. "I got really excited - and really nervous about today," he said. "I thought it went really well. It felt really exhilarating."

Lizett Vallesteros agreed. "I was really happy that I got to talk, especially because it was the commander," she said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Principal Dr. Laura Perry said the program was a unique opportunity for the school and students.

"This really is rocket science," she said. "It really gets the kids focused and excited about STEM."

'Our future leaders'

Perry said she was especially impressed with the students.

"These students were truly representative of our student body," she said. "They were selected solely based on the questions they prepared, the research that went into it and the excitement they had."

Perry said she was proud of each participant. "These students are going to soar; they're going to shine; they are going to be our future leaders," she said.

Maxwell said that science, engineering, technology and math jobs will help students secure high paying jobs in the future.

"If we can do projects like this, it will spark an interest," he said. "All we're trying to do is plant those little seeds that will blossom into a STEM-type career."

Why An Astronaut Asked 15-Year-Old Abby to Help Get The Word Out

Elizabeth Howell - Universe Today

It seems an unlikely scenario: a teenager from Minnesota helping Italy's next astronaut talk to the public about spaceflight. But for Luca Parmitano, who has mentored Abigail "Abby" Harrison for two years, it's a way to reach out to a young audience. For Abby, it brings her closer to her dream of becoming an astronaut herself.

Parmitano does have the official outreach team available through the Italian Space Agency (which is part of the European Space Agency) and NASA, he acknowledged. Official mission reports will proceed as usual through those agencies' press releases and social media accounts.

He's pursuing this partnership with Abby, however, to have an additional "channel" targeted directly at children and teenagers, Parmitano told Universe Today:

It's very simple. I thought one of the most important things that I can do in my job is talking to young people, youngsters, and try to inspire them try to guide them towards choosing a career path that goes towards science, technology, exploration of all sorts.

My message is to try to find something that you like, and to pursue it, and don't wait for things to happe, but make it happen yourself. At one point, talking to Abby — this fantastic young girl who is so enthusiastic — I thought maybe she would be much better at communicating with kids than I could. I'm 36 years old. Maybe I don't realize it, but I may be disconnected from the age group.

Parmitano is no social media pushover himself, though. The first-time flyer has a "landing page" website at LucaParmitano.com giving one-stop shopping for his Twitter, Facebook and Google pages. And just last week, he did a Google+ hangout with his protégé.

Abby, at the tender age of 15, has amassed qualifications of her own. The Minnesota teenager is a Space Camp alumnus. She's planning to learn Russian — an important language for the space program — and is already taking lessons in Mandarin. Her Twitter account has about 6,500 followers. And she's raising money on Rockethub to see Parmitano's launch in Kazakhstan next month and do outreach afterwards. With 19 days left, Abby's approaching half of her $35,000 goal.

The aspiring Mars astronaut has a huge list of activities planned during Parmitano's mission. She'll share daily updates from the astronaut on her blog (AstronautAbby.com) and various social media profiles. She proposes an "Ask Luca" series where readers will be able to send questions to the Italian astronaut.

There also will be articles to write, Skype classroom chats to do, and a conference tour — including the International Mars Society Convention in August. Besides the social media updates, Abby is in the midst of booking appearances at conferences and scheduling chats with classrooms. There are more than 20 schools who have signed up for her to be a speaker, either in-person or by Skype.

"That is great, because I won't be able to be there," Parmitano said with a laugh.

It was two chance connections that brought him together with Abby. In 2011, Abby and her mother flew to Florida to see the penultimate launch of the space shuttle, mission STS-134. Abby's mother, Nicole, briefly talked to Parmitano at a tweetup. Then Abby herself met Parmitano at the airport while waiting for the flight home.

The teenager and astronaut, who both had space dreams from young childhood, made a professional connection. Parmitano agreed to be Abby's mentor. The two kept in touch in the years following, then Abby proposed her outreach program to compliment ESA's activities.

"The main difference [over ESA's outreach] is when it's my program, it's kid to kid. I'm trying to show that by working hard, you can do great things, and I'm an example of that," Harrison said. "As an aspiring astronaut, you can meet amazing people and have amazing experiences."

As a rookie, Parmitano said he is looking forward to the experiences his first spaceflight will bring, no matter who is watching. He joked that Italy does not really pay attention to him as an astronaut — the media flock to Samantha Cristoforetti, Italy's first female astronaut, who is expected to reach station on Expedition 42/43.

Celebrating nearly a decade of Richard Branson almost sending us to space

Colin Schultz - Smithsonian Magazine

In an early morning flight Monday, SpaceShipTwo, the passenger-carrying spacecraft of private spaceflight company Virgin Galactic rocketed through the sky above the Mojave Desert at a blistering mach 1.2 (around 913 miles per hour). It was the first rocket-powered test flight of the craft, an event heralded as the dawn of the commercial space age. More than 500 people have bought tickets to ride the ship, says the New York Times, and their wait, says Virgin Galactic owner Richard Branson, might nearly be over.

"We will be going to space at the end of this year," Mr. Branson said in a telephone interview after the test flight over Mojave, Calif. Or, he added, possibly in the first quarter of next year.

Branson's confidence, just like his ship, is soaring. He's so confident, in fact, Virgin Galactic has decided to raise their rates: formerly $200,000, a trip to space with the company will now cost $250,000. But that confidence may be a bit misplaced, if the company's track record in this regard is considered.

2004

After years of work, the original SpaceShipOne, designed by the company Scaled Composites, took home the $10 million bounty of the Ansari X Prize.

Following that win, Richard Branson partnered with Scaled Composites to form Virgin Galactic, says CNN. At the time, the company announced that they planned to have people riding into space by 2007. Space Daily:

Addressing reporters in central London, Branson said that the new firm — Virgin Galactic — would launch its maiden flight in only three years, and that he would join the very first trip into space.

"Within five years, Virgin Galactic will have created over 3,000 new astronauts from many countries," Branson said, speaking alongside US aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, who designed and built SpaceShipOne.

2005

Talking to the BBC, Branson walked back his estimate a bit, now gunning for 2008. "Space tourism is less than three years away, Sir Richard Branson has claimed."

2008

The 2008 schedule came and went, and according to the BBC, the deadline for launch was pushed to 2010.

2009

The first unveiling of SpaceShipTwo, the ship that underwent its first real test flight Monday.

2010

With construction of SpaceShipTwo complete, Richard Branson tells Agence France Press that "We are 18 months away from taking people into space."

2011

The year saw another bump, wrote this author in Discover Magazine: "Virgin Galactic refuses to set a date for when it will begin flying its paying customers to the edge of space, but some are hoping to see flights start as early as the end of 2011." But 2011 came and went with no avail.

2012

Flights should start by 2012, or early 2013 at the latest, says Aviation Explorer.

You see the pattern.

Getting into space is an incredibly difficult and expensive task, and delays are commonplace. Yesterday's rocket-powered test was an achievement worth celebrating, but a skeptical eye can be cast on Branson's claims that you'll be riding the ship within the next year.

Kay Bailey Hutchinson awarded National Space Trophy

Kristi Nix - Bay Area Citizen (Houston Community Newspapers)

The pioneers and leaders of the U.S. space program recently paid tribute to one of their fiercest champions. Former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson was presented with the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement by Gemini and Apollo Astronaut Gene Cernan during a ceremony Friday.

During her nearly two-decade career in the Senate, Hutchinson worked tirelessly to generate support and funding for NASA and the space industry.

"If we have learned one thing in this room, it is the gap between the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011 to when we are going to the next level of space exploration can never again happen in the United States of America," she said during her acceptance speech.

At a crucial political crossroads in 2010, Hutchinson helped win bipartisan support for legislation that allowed NASA to partner with the private sector to provide transport to the International Space Station and advanced development of the Space Launch System and Orion crew vehicle.

"We are America and we are going to be the leaders. That's what I fought for and with that commitment and that belief we can assure that America will never be second in space," she said. "We have gained too much; we have made the strides that have given us increased national security and the quality of life items that we would never had had without our investment in space exploration."

Hutchinson was also given the title of "Honorary Rocket Scientist" via a download from the International Space Station by crewmembers Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy.

Hutchinson is the trophy's 27th recipient.

The Boomerang Rocket Ship: Shoot It Up, Back It Comes

Robert Krulwich - National Public Radio

What in heaven's name is happening here?

We're in McGregor, Texas, surrounded by farms (and the ghost of Johnny Cash). There, on a launch pad, is a 10-story rocket ready to take off. Its engines ignite. Up it goes, higher, then higher, then higher still, until at 820 feet, something weird happens. It stops moving, hovers in the sky for about 15 seconds as if wondering what to do next.

The wind is blowing, (you can see the smoke blowing off in one direction, so there's definitely a breeze up there) but it doesn't wobble, doesn't tilt, it just hangs there like a candle in the sky, and then, suddenly, it switches direction, and looking down, you can see it heading unerringly for a pinpoint spot on the ground below. It's going back to the exact spot where it began, hits its mark, "legs extended" and turns itself off, like a shy student going back to his seat in a classroom.

Why Build A Rocket That Goes Nowhere?

It's such an odd idea, a rocket ship that behaves like an elevator, an elevator, by the way, that doesn't go as high as the one they've got in the Empire State Building. What's being accomplished here?

Well, first off, this is a "student" rocket. It's practicing. On its first launch last year, it went up just eight feet; more recently it reached 262 feet, now 820, so it's doing better and better.

Second, it's a bottom stage booster. It's not the part of the rocket ship that goes into orbit; it's the part that gets things off the ground. In a normal launch, it would detach from the payload (and upper parts that might be carrying people) and either fall into the ocean and have to be retrieved, or drop down softened by a parachute to the ground, where it would be fetched and repaired. This one, as you've just seen, doesn't hurt itself. It just goes back home.

That's huge. Because rockets are exceedingly expensive. SpaceX, the private company that is building this booster (which they call "The Grasshopper") isn't sharing numbers, but while scanning the YouTube comment section, I learned that rockets like these can cost "about 60 million dollars." That's a pricey gizmo to keep dropping and repairing. To build one that doesn't need fetching and that's ready to go again as soon as you need it, must be an enormous money-saver.

What About The Extra Fuel?

It takes more fuel to power the booster to the ground. Up untill now, boosters just fall for free. What does it cost for the extra rocket fuel? SpaceX isn't saying, but common sense says when the rocket comes down, most of that fuel has been burned, so it is much, much lighter. I couldn't find any numbers, but I did find this bit of accounting from a self-described rocket engineer in the comments:

To put it in perspective, the cost of one of these rockets is about $60,000,000, and the total fuel cost for one trip is about $200,000. That means the cost of fuel is 0.3% of the vehicle.

Let's say you spread the vehicle cost over 100 launches in its working life (all LEO launches with 29,000 lbs payloads) . That averages out to $20.76 per lb cargo (Space Shuttle was $8200 per lb).

If that's true, SpaceX is on its way to making routine space voyaging much cheaper. As for environmental costs, I worried a little about rocket exhaust. Burned rocket fuel throws off CO2 and water vapor, I don't know how much, but on this second video, it looks like a lot. The underbelly view of the rocket rising and landing is pretty wild. Especially the elegant finish.

Curious Birds

Then there's that bird, the one you see in the first video about 11 seconds in, that swoops close for a look-see and then swooshes off. Maybe they should have loudspeakers at the launch site broadcast a couple of bangs to clear the flight zone.

The Neighbors

Local farmers, I figure, have to live with these launches; they might even love them. (I think I would. I imagine myself sitting in the living room and out the window there's a ten story object hanging in the air, slowly sinking down behind the cottonwoods. Most people have sunsets. I'd have rocket-sets, a rich roar followed by a deep quiet. I think I could get used to that.)

END

Shuttle/Shuttle Concept Restart

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - May 1, 2013 and JSC Today

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