Friday, November 1, 2013

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



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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: November 1, 2013 7:00:48 AM CDT
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - November 1, 2013 and JSC Today

 

 

 

 

Happy Friday everyone.   Fall back an hour this weekend and enjoy the great weather.

 

 

 

 

   Headlines

  1. Morpheus Testing Today

Morpheus is planning another tether test of its "Bravo" prototype lander today, weather permitting. The test will be streamed live on JSC's UStream channel. View the live stream and progress updates here.

Test firing is planned for approximately 1 to 2 p.m. The live stream will begin approximately 45 minutes before ignition.

As a safety reminder, on-site viewers should stay back by Buildings 14 or 18 and not enter the field during operations.

Morpheus is a vertical test bed vehicle being used to mature new, non-toxic propulsion systems and autonomous landing and hazard detection technologies.

Note: Testing operations are dynamic; actual firing time may vary and tests may be postponed or rescheduled with little notice.

Follow Morpheus on Twitter @MorpheusLander or view the feed from our website for updates.

For more information, visit:

http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/exploration/morpheus/

Or, contact Wendy Watkins.

Wendy Watkins http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov

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   Organizations/Social

  1. Humor Helps Speaking and Leadership Skills Improve

Looking to communicate more clearly at work? Well-timed, graceful humor always adds to personal effectiveness. Practice your humor and improve your leadership skills by participating in Space Explorers Toastmasters (SETM). Toastmasters is a world leader in communications and leadership development. The SETM club meets every Friday in Building 30A, Room 1010, at 11:45 a.m.

Event Date: Friday, November 1, 2013   Event Start Time:11:45 AM   Event End Time:12:45 PM
Event Location: B. 30A, Rm 1010

Add to Calendar

Carolyn Jarrett x37594 http://spaceexplorers.toastmastersclubs.org/

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  1. JSC Weight Watchers at Work is Changing

The JSC Weight Watchers at Work meeting will no longer be accepting Monthly Passes. We will be going back to the at-work sessions, which has proven more successful. We are also moving the meeting to Building 12, a more central location that is closer to the cafés. We hope this will increase interest and participation so we can keep this benefit of having a meeting on-site.

We will not have meetings in November but will be hosting an Open House on Monday, Nov. 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Open House will provide information and registration for the next 17-week session, which will begin on Dec. 2 and run through the end of April. Meetings are Mondays during lunchtime.

RSVP by Nov. 11 to the email below if you are interested in attending the Open House or would like more details. We need at least 15 participants to continue.

Event Date: Monday, November 18, 2013   Event Start Time:11:30 AM   Event End Time:12:30 PM
Event Location: Bldg 12, Rooms 148 & 150

Add to Calendar

Julie Kliesing x31540

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  1. IAAP Make a Difference Leadership Workshop

Presented by Dale Carnegie Master Trainer Ken Marsh. The seminar will focus on three hot topics:

    1. Effective Communications and Human Relations. This course will help you master the capabilities demanded in today's tough business environment.
    2. Leading Strong Teams. Analyze how leaders take the individual strengths of their team members and turn those into team strengths.
    3. Communicate with Diplomacy and Tact. Gain dexterity and grace in dealing with new or trying situations; recognize how you come across to others; speak honestly and confidently; become conscious of body language; master your emotions; give and receive criticism constructively; present yourself as powerful, not intimidating; and say what you need to say without offending or creating conflict.

Cost to attend is $70 (Dale Carnegie workshops are typically over $1,000, so take advantage of this great opportunity!). Earn three CAP recertification points and win great door prizes!

Event Date: Saturday, November 9, 2013   Event Start Time:8:00 AM   Event End Time:12:00 PM
Event Location: Doubletree by Hilton at Hobby

Add to Calendar

Ymelda Calvillo, CAP-OM 281-282-6878 http://www.iaap-clnac.org

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   Jobs and Training

  1. OCFO Employee Time and Attendance Charging Course

As part of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) Subject Matter Expert course series, Bridget Broussard-Guidry and Joan Johnson will lead an Employee Time and Attendance Charging course focusing on all of the leave requirements and special hour types in WebTADS. The course will cover how to charge time under different circumstances and the rules pertaining to each type so that all learners will be in full compliance with JSC and agency policy. An example of a Leave and Earnings Statement from Employee Express will be reviewed and explained in detail as well. The course is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 6, from 2 to 3 p.m. in Building 45, Room 251. WebEx for the offering is available also. Please register in SATERN via one of the links below or by searching the catalog for the course title.

SATERN direct link: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

WebEx SATERN direct link: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Bridget Broussard-Guidry x34718

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   Community

  1. November Sustainability Opportunities

Are you living and working sustainably? Your JSC sustainability champions can help you and your team assess this question anytime, one-on-one or at your technical or staff meetings. To learn more, a description of our JSC sustainability initiatives and November sustainability opportunities can be found on the JSC Sustainability home page linked below, or by selecting "Around JSC/Sustainability Initiatives" from the JSC home page. Scroll down to "What's New in Sustainability."

Laurie Peterson x39845 http://jsc-web-www6.jsc.nasa.gov/ja/ja13/capp.cfm

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  1. Family Space Day on Nov. 9

The Challenger Learning Center at the George Observatory is holding a Family Space Day on Saturday, Nov. 9, from about 3 to 8 p.m.

For purchase are tickets to complete a 45-minute Challenger Center mission to the moon! Challenger Center mission tickets may be purchased for $10 a person online.

After enjoying a trip to space, stay for the evening and look at the night sky through our telescopes.

George Observatory is located in the heart of Brazos Bend State Park. Admission to the park is $7 for adults; kids under 12 are free.

Megan Hashier 281-226-4179 http://www.hmns.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=404&Ite...

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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.

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NASA TV: www.nasa.gov/ntv

·         2 pm Central (3 EDT) – Video File of Expedition 38/39 Crew Activities in Baikonur

 

Human Spaceflight News

Friday – November 1, 2013

Soyuz TMA-09M relocation early this morning is captured in this snapshot from NASA TV's coverage

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Soyuz switches ports on International Space Station

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

Three space station crew members put on spacesuits and boarded their Soyuz spacecraft Friday for a short trip to relocate the capsule to a new docking port on the orbiting outpost, clearing the way for the arrival of three new residents next week.

 

Olympic torch relay heads to International Space Station

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

While the Olympic torch relay courses through Russia ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in February, a veteran international crew from Russia, the United States and Japan will launch into space next week with an unlit replica for a ceremonial orbital handoff. Russia is sending the torch to the International Space Station as officials gear up for the Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The opening ceremony is set for Feb. 7. The torch will hitch a ride to the space station Nov. 7 aboard the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft. The capsule and its three-man crew are preparing for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

 

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg hosts quilting bee from space station

 

Lisa Boone - Los Angeles Times

 

With her long blond ponytail floating above her inside the International Space Station, astronaut Karen Nyberg calmly explains the challenges of quilting in weightlessness. "Now that I've tried my hand sewing in space," she said in a video released Thursday by NASA, "I can say one thing with certainty: It's tricky."

 

Astronaut Carrying A Bit Of Waterbury Into Space

 

Rose Lichtenfels - Hartford Courant

 

When NASA astronaut and Waterbury native Rick Mastracchio flies into space on Wednesday, he will take a little piece of his hometown with him. On his fourth trip to the International Space Station, Mastracchio, 53, will bring a package of Travel Bugs, small dog tags used in geocaching, a treasure hunting game that involves searching for small caches that participants place worldwide. The caches are small weatherproof plastic boxes that contain items, such as Travel Bugs. Waterbury's Travel Bugs are part of a geocaching project organized by the Police Activity League to help educate students about science and space.

 

SpaceX Signs Pact To Start Rocket Testing At NASA Stennis

 

Elizabeth Howell - Universe Today

 

SpaceX — the maker and operator of the Dragon spacecraft that runs periodic cargo flights to the International Space Station — has signed a contract to research, develop and test Raptor methane rocket engines at the NASA Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. The California-based company plans to use the E-2 test stand at Stennis, which is able to support both vertical and horizontal rocket engine tests. "We have been talking with SpaceX for many years about working at Stennis Space Center, and I am pleased to officially welcome them to our Mississippi family. I hope this is just the beginning of their endeavors in our state," stated U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss) in response to the news. A press release from his office said the presence of the private space company would boost jobs in the region.

 

SpaceX to bring more innovation to Stennis

 

Mississippi Business Journal

 

SpaceX is bringing a new engine rocket testing program to Stennis Space Center along with an incredible background thanks to its forward-thinking chief, Elon Musk. In 2012 SpaceX launched a rocket that sent the first commercial vehicle to the International Space Station. At Stennis, SpaceX will test new methane rocket engines starting next year.

 

Science in Space: Contest Selects Experiments Headed for Space Station

 

Denise Chow - Space.com

 

Calling all citizen scientists! The nonprofit organization that manages American-led research aboard the International Space Station announced the winners of its public contest to design experiments to send to the orbiting outpost. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) held a month-long contest, called "What Would You Send to the ISS?" to cultivate interest in the orbiting laboratory, and to solicit ideas for how to use the facility to benefit humans on Earth. The grand prize winner, Elizabeth MacDonald, proposed flying a geo-tagged video camera to the International Space Station to record real-time images of the northern and southern lights.

 

'Ender's Game' Film Got Zero Gravity Tips from Real-Life Astronaut

 

Miriam Kramer - Space.com

 

The minds behind the movie "Ender's Game" had a little help bringing their version of the beloved science-fiction book by Orson Scott Card to life. "Ender's Game" focuses on the life of the gifted child, Ender Wiggin, a boy recruited to leave Earth and head to Battle School — a future space station orbiting the planet — to learn how to stop an alien race from pushing the human race into extinction. Much of the action in the Battle School takes place in the battle room — a weightless part of the station where teams of students train and battle during strategic games with one another. Former astronaut Greg Chamitoff advised the cast and crew of the movie during production. The spaceflight veteran gave the filmmakers photos, videos and suggested dialogue that might make the spaceflight aspects of the film more realistic. He also gave the young actors of "Ender's Game" advice on what life in space is like, particularly when it came to moving in zero gravity.

 

It's Time to Send Americans into the Inner Solar System (Op-Ed)

 

R.D. Boozer - Space.com (Opinion)

 

(Boozer is an astrophysics researcher, host of the Astro Maven blog and author of the book "The Plundering of NASA: an Exposé.")

 

The United States can be the number one spacefaring nation of the 21st century. NASA and American human space exploration can experience a renaissance, sending astronauts to Mars and the rest of the inner solar system: asteroids, comets and perhaps even the polar regions of Mercury. This can be accomplished without raising NASA's budget, by eliminating the excessively long wait for an economically impractical super-rocket. Currently, unnecessary spending on rocket systems hampers those goals.

 

NBC teams up with Virgin Galactic for 'Space Race' reality TV show

 

NBC News

 

NBC says it's reached a deal with Virgin Galactic and reality TV producer Mark Burnett to create a television series called "Space Race," which will follow contestants as they compete to win a flight into space aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane. SpaceShipTwo is currently in the midst of flight tests at California's Mojave Air and Space Port, and could take passengers on suborbital space rides as early as next year. But it's too early to say when "Space Race" will air, or when the show's winner would fly, said Clare Anne Darragh, a spokeswoman for Burnett's production company, One Three Media. More than 600 customers have made their reservations for SpaceShipTwo flights from Spaceport America in New Mexico, at a current price of $250,000 per seat. (NO FURTHER TEXT)

 

Can Gravity's Thrills Inspire Viewers To Reinvest In NASA?

 

Ethan Gach - Forbes

 

Despite the popularity of films like "Gravity," public interest in NASA and space travel appears to be in hibernation. Although movie crews are inventing new technology to explore space on the big screen, Americans' real-life space program continues to languish. With an estimated budget of $100 million, a multi-year production schedule (it took four and a half years to complete), and minimal interference from Warner Bros., the making of "Gravity" serves as something of a microcosm for what it takes to explore space in the real world: vision, commitment, and a lot of financial backing.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

Soyuz switches ports on International Space Station

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

Three space station crew members put on spacesuits and boarded their Soyuz spacecraft Friday for a short trip to relocate the capsule to a new docking port on the orbiting outpost, clearing the way for the arrival of three new residents next week.

 

The short venture outside the spacecraft began at 0833 GMT (4:33 a.m. EDT) with undocking of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft from the space station's Rassvet mini-research module.

 

With veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin at the controls, the Soyuz backed away more than 500 feet from the complex and flew to the aft side of the massive complex to line up with a docking port on the Zvezda service module.

 

Yurchikhin, along with crewmates Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano, docked the spacecraft to Zvezda at 0854 GMT (4:54 a.m. EDT), completing the flyaround a few minutes ahead of schedule.

 

After hooks closed to complete a mechanical connection between the Soyuz and space station, a couple of hours of pressure leak checks were on tap before the trio of astronauts and cosmonauts was scheduled to open hatches and board the outpost.

 

The space station's other three astronauts - Oleg Kotov, Sergei Ryazansky and Michael Hopkins - stayed inside the complex during the Soyuz relocation maneuver, which was the first of its kind since 2010.

 

The relocation of Soyuz TMA-09M clears the Rassvet docking port for the arrival of the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft Nov. 7.

 

Soyuz TMA-11M and its three occupants - Mikhail Tyurin, Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata - are at the Baikonur Cosmodrome preparing for launch Nov. 7 at 0414 GMT (11:14 p.m. EST). After a quick chase of the space station, docking is scheduled for 1031 GMT (5:31 a.m. EST) to temporarily boost the lab's crew size to nine.

 

Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano are due to depart the complex for good Nov. 10 and head for landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan to close out a 166-day mission.

 

The upcoming crew exchange will include the arrival of the Olympic torch, which is flying to the space station to celebrate the 2014 Winter Olympics to be held in February in Sochi, Russia.

 

Olympic torch relay heads to International Space Station

 

Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com

 

While the Olympic torch relay courses through Russia ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in February, a veteran international crew from Russia, the United States and Japan will launch into space next week with an unlit replica for a ceremonial orbital handoff.

 

Russia is sending the torch to the International Space Station as officials gear up for the Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The opening ceremony is set for Feb. 7.

 

The torch will hitch a ride to the space station Nov. 7 aboard the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft. The capsule and its three-man crew are preparing for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

 

The Soyuz rocket's aerodynamic shroud, which encloses the spacecraft during launch, is emblazoned with the Sochi Olympics logo.

 

"It's a a great pleasure for us that we were the ones chosen to participate in it, and this is a great idea for the Olympic Games and the whole Olympic movement," said Mikhail Tyurin, the Russian commander of the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft. "We see a parallel between the Olympic movement and space exploration that involves everybody."

 

The torch will also take part in an abbreviated relay aboard the space station, with Tyurin scheduled to hand it off to cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky for a spacewalk on Nov. 9.

 

"Our goal here is to make it look spectacular, we would like to showcase our Olympic torch in space," Kotov said before his launch in September. "So we will try to do it in a beautiful manner, I think a lot of people, actually millions of people, will be able to see it live on TV. They will see the station, they will see how we work during our spacewalks. But of course, there will be a couple of surprises."

 

The torch will spend four days in orbit and return to Earth on Nov. 11 aboard another Soyuz spacecraft with Fyodor Yurchikhin, Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano, who are wrapping up five-and-a-half months on the orbiting complex.

 

"We will deliver the torch onto the ISS, and the crew will go outside for a spacewalk, and then the next crew will deliver it back on the ground, so we'll have our own relay in space," Tyurin said through a translator.

 

Russia moved up the launch of Tyurin and his crewmates to accommodate the Olympic torch. With the arrival of the Soyuz TMA-11M crew, the space station's population will swell to nine, the most people to be aboard the outpost since the last space shuttle mission in July 2011.

 

Three Russian Soyuz capsules will also be docked to the station for the first time since 2009.

 

A departing space station crew typically leaves the lab complex before the launch of three fresh residents, briefly reducing the crew size to three. But the upcoming crew exchange is a "direct handover" in which the departing and arriving crews will be on the space station at the same time.

 

Tyurin is launching with NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will take command of the space station's Expedition 39 crew in March.

 

"The fact that the Olympic torch going to fly to the space station is very symbolic because the Olympics are a place where people all over the world get together in one place, and through sports we expand or extend our friendship," Wakata said. "ISS also a place where people from all over the world get together in space and build an outstanding facility to expand our frontier in space."

 

Russian officials said the torch will be included in live television broadcasts from the space station during its four-day stay.

 

"Please understand there will be no open fire either on the station or in outer space," said Sergei Krikalev, a former cosmonaut and now an executive at RSC Energia, Russia's main space station contractor.

 

Krikalev said engineers made minor modifications to the torch, such as adding a safety bracket to keep the torch tethered to the cosmonauts during the spacewalk.

 

"It is kind of hard to hold the torch in a spacesuit glove," Krikalev said. "That's why there is a safety ring just in case the EVA crew member drops the torch. Sometimes they will need to hold on to the safety railings and not hold on to the torch itself."

 

The torch for the Sochi Olympics will the first to go on a spacewalk, but it is not the first Olympic torch to fly in space.

 

Torches for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics flew on space shuttle missions.

 

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg hosts quilting bee from space station

 

Lisa Boone - Los Angeles Times

 

With her long blond ponytail floating above her inside the International Space Station, astronaut Karen Nyberg calmly explains the challenges of quilting in weightlessness.

 

"Now that I've tried my hand sewing in space," she said in a video released Thursday by NASA, "I can say one thing with certainty: It's tricky."

 

As if being a mechanical engineer and astronaut isn't significant enough, the avid quilter brought sewing supplies including fabric, scissors, thread, five needles (but no pins) to create a quilt block in space. Her video invites quilters from around the world to submit blocks for a star-themed quilt to be made for the 40th International Quilt Festival, scheduled for next fall in Houston.

 

To keep her supplies from floating away, she attaches them to a Velcro pad and stows them in a Ziploc bag when not in use. To cut strips of fabric, Nyberg said, she has to tape the material down.

 

Composing a quilt block requires precision cutting, stitching and ironing -- none of which Nyberg can do in space. She is sewing by hand, not with her usual machine, and though her finished quilt square is far from perfect, it is impressive considering the circumstances.

 

Today on her Twitter page, Nyberg posted a link to her Pinterest page, sharing a cool block made with pieces cut from T-shirts she wore during her space station stay, stitched onto a Russian food container liner.

 

For her star-themed quilt, participants are asked to create a 9.5-inch square in any color and technique. Do not finish the edges, and sign the front with a permanent marker, including name and location. Mail to: Star Block Challenge Attn: Rhianna Griffin, 7660 Woodway, Ste. 550, Houston, TX 77063.

 

Nyberg arrived at the space station in May and is scheduled to return to Earth on Nov. 10.

 

Astronaut Carrying A Bit Of Waterbury Into Space

 

Rose Lichtenfels - Hartford Courant

 

When NASA astronaut and Waterbury native Rick Mastracchio flies into space on Wednesday, he will take a little piece of his hometown with him.

 

On his fourth trip to the International Space Station, Mastracchio, 53, will bring a package of Travel Bugs, small dog tags used in geocaching, a treasure hunting game that involves searching for small caches that participants place worldwide. The caches are small weatherproof plastic boxes that contain items, such as Travel Bugs.

 

Waterbury's Travel Bugs are part of a geocaching project organized by the Police Activity League to help educate students about science and space.

 

"He was just a regular kid from Waterbury," said police Lt. Robert Cizauskas, a friend who has been working closely with Mastracchio on the project. "He went to our public schools and he was also the first one in his family to graduate from college. He's overcome a lot, coming from a town where urban challenges can sometimes work against you."

 

Mastracchio, who graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1982 and attended Chase Elementary and Crosby High School in Waterbury, will serve as the space station's flight engineer on the mission that launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Mastracchio and crew members from Japan and Russia will join six other astronauts and remain aboard the International Space Station for six months.

 

"An absolute inspiration – quite honestly," Rep. Selim Noujaim of Waterbury said about Mastracchio's career with NASA. "For someone who attended Chase Elementary and Crosby High School, and went on to become an astronaut, it's just very inspiring to the entire city of Waterbury to see somebody who was born and raised here to have accomplished something only a very few people in the world have done."

 

Mastracchio earned a bachelor's in engineering and computer science at UConn, and graduate degrees in electrical engineering and physical science. Mastracchio worked for Hamilton Standard in Connecticut before he left for Houston to work as a NASA contractor. In 1996, Mastracchio was selected as an astronaut candidate and flew his first mission in 2000. He flew aboard two Space Shuttle missions in 2007 and 2010.

 

A Houston resident and the father of three children, Mastracchio regularly documents his training for his fourth trip to space on his Twitter account, which is @AstroRM. His tweets include updates and pictures of the astronaut in various locations with his Travel Bugs, allowing geocachers worldwide — such as elementary students from Waterbury — to track his journey.

 

Mastracchio is now in Russia, preparing for next week's launch from Kazakhstan. His sister, Lori Mastracchio, said the project is important to him.

 

"He's very adamant about getting the kids interested in space, because this is the future," said Lori Mastracchio, a Waterbury resident. "It really makes him happy that the kids are involved. He loves to go to the schools and talk. He is just so excited. He has the biggest smile on his face – he's so ready for this. And if he's ready, then I guess we have to be ready too. We are so happy for him."

 

Cizauskas, an active geocacher, said he thought the treasure hunting game might be a unique way for children in the community to connect with their hometown hero's space travel. The Waterbury Police Activity League, a nonprofit organization that provides opportunities for young people to connect with law enforcement, partnered with 11 elementary schools in the Waterbury area to create an interactive geocaching project between students and Mastracchio.

 

"The idea was that we could activate some of these Travel Bugs so the astronaut could take a package of them along the way and the students could track his training around the world and even his work up in space," Cizauskas said.

 

According to the Geocaching website, more than 2 million caches have been placed or hidden throughout the globe, capable of being tracked through GPS coordinates over Geocaching's website.

 

The Travel Bug's location can be tracked on the Geocache blog, where Mastracchio can post pictures and stories about his work on the space station to teach Waterbury students about geography and science. One of Mastracchio's Travel Bugs, named the "International Space Station Travel Bug II," comes from Chase Elementary's fifth grade class.

 

"We are proud to be part of this program and believe that Rick Mastracchio is a role model and an inspiration to all public school children," said Nancy Silva, a fifth-grade teacher at Chase. "He truly serves as an example of what can be accomplished through hard work."

 

Administrators at the elementary school are pleased with their students' positive response to the project.

 

"The program gives the kids an opportunity to track the Travel Bug through space," Chase Vice Principal Matthew Calabrese said. "It's very interactive for the students and I think that's the part that appeals to them most. They can ask [Mastracchio] questions over the blog and he can respond to them in real time."

 

"Students are absolutely fascinated with this technology – it's totally new,'' he said. "In my time in education I never thought this type of project would be possible for the elementary level. Technology today can incorporate our elementary kids."

 

On Wednesday – which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has declared Rick Mastracchio Day – Waterbury's astronaut will ride the Russian-built Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft into orbit at 11:14 p.m. The launch will be broadcast live in Times Square.

 

In addition to the Travel Bugs, Mastracchio will bring a UConn baseball cap into space. The mission is also bringing along a replica of the Olympic torch that will be carried on a spacewalk in honor of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in the Russian city of Sochi. The torch will be brought back on Nov. 11 by three astronauts who have been at the space station for the past six months.

 

"People are calling him a hero, but [Rick] has never considered himself a hero," Lori Mastracchio said. "He's incredibly humble – he just really loves science – so he always says he's just doing his job."

 

SpaceX Signs Pact To Start Rocket Testing At NASA Stennis

 

Elizabeth Howell - Universe Today

 

SpaceX — the maker and operator of the Dragon spacecraft that runs periodic cargo flights to the International Space Station — has signed a contract to research, develop and test Raptor methane rocket engines at the NASA Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi.

 

The California-based company plans to use the E-2 test stand at Stennis, which is able to support both vertical and horizontal rocket engine tests.

 

"We have been talking with SpaceX for many years about working at Stennis Space Center, and I am pleased to officially welcome them to our Mississippi family. I hope this is just the beginning of their endeavors in our state," stated U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss) in response to the news. A press release from his office said the presence of the private space company would boost jobs in the region.

 

There's little information on SpaceX's website about what the Raptor engine is or specific development plans, but Space News reports that it would be used for deep-space missions. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has mentioned the engine previously when talking about Mars missions, according to multiple media reports.

 

"We are looking to test the whole engine at Stennis, but the first phase starts with the components," SpaceX spokesperson Emily Shanklin said in the Space News report. "The E-2 stand at Stennis is big enough for components, but we would need a bigger stand for the whole Raptor."

 

The two sides are reportedly hashing out a Space Act agreement to establish user fees and other parameters. Once that's finished, the testing will begin, perhaps as early as next year. SpaceX currently does most of its rocket testing in Texas.

 

Other parties in the agreement — which was signed by Governor Phil Bryant — include the Mississippi Development Authority, the Harbor Commission and Hancock County Port.

 

SpaceX to bring more innovation to Stennis

 

Mississippi Business Journal

 

SpaceX is bringing a new engine rocket testing program to Stennis Space Center along with an incredible background thanks to its forward-thinking chief, Elon Musk.

 

Musk, the billionaire founder of PayPal, is CEO/CTO of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla Motors. Bloomberg Businessweek called Musk "the 21st century industrialist."

 

Most recently he made headlines with his concept for the Hyperloop transportation system that would send travelers commuting through tubes at 700 miles an hour.

 

SpaceX is Musk's third company, founded in 2002 with the formal name of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation. The mission is to build spacecraft for commercial space travel.

 

In 2012 SpaceX launched a rocket that sent the first commercial vehicle to the International Space Station.

 

At Stennis, SpaceX will test new methane rocket engines starting next year.

 

Also last week, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited the center to welcome employees back to work after the government shutdown.

 

Science in Space: Contest Selects Experiments Headed for Space Station

 

Denise Chow - Space.com

 

Calling all citizen scientists! The nonprofit organization that manages American-led research aboard the International Space Station announced the winners of its public contest to design experiments to send to the orbiting outpost.

 

The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) held a month-long contest, called "What Would You Send to the ISS?" to cultivate interest in the orbiting laboratory, and to solicit ideas for how to use the facility to benefit humans on Earth. The grand prize winner, Elizabeth MacDonald, proposed flying a geo-tagged video camera to the International Space Station to record real-time images of the northern and southern lights.

 

The aurora images could be posted on the Aurorasaurus website, a citizen science project that aims to build accurate, easy-to-use and real-time maps of aurora sightings. The images, which are also shared over social media, can also be used to improve space weather forecasting, and to better understand details of auroral behavior.

 

For winning the contest, MacDonald will receive $10,000 and a trip to Florida to witness the launch of her idea to the space station.

 

"I am very excited to have won and grateful to CASIS for this amazing opportunity," MacDonald said in a statement. "The Aurorasaurus citizen science project aims to connect observers of the northern lights in real-time using social media, allowing more people opportunities to see their extraordinary beauty. Incorporating observations from the orbiting space station will be a unique vantage point and tremendous resource for our growing community."

 

CASIS was selected by NASA in 2011 to manage the space station's U.S. National Laboratory. The organization is responsible for maximizing use of the onboard facilities while the space station remains operational, which NASA officials have said will be until at least 2020.

 

The contest was held from Aug. 19 through Sept. 16, and members of the public were invited to vote for the best ideas. Those votes were tallied with responses from the CASIS Science & Technology Advisory Board.

 

In addition to awarding the grand prize to MacDonald, CASIS also selected four runners up:

 

Chun-Ti Chang – Testing the 'Atomic Spectra' Of Excited Sessile Drops?

This entry suggests using microgravity to better understand movement within fluid droplets as it relates to Earth-based 3-D printing, personalized medicine and microelectronic circuits for semiconductors. Larger fluid droplets can be made in microgravity and analyzed to yield higher resolution data.

 

James Goodman – An ISS CubeSat Laboratory Using Arduinos and 3D Printing

This idea seeks to improve the small satellite capabilities of the ISS National Lab by on-orbit manufacturing of CubeSats. By combining 3D printing and Arduino technology (small microcontrollers used in electronics) in space, the ISS can be a manufacturing platform. This could be particularly useful for improving response to time-critical events, such as satellite imaging of natural disasters.

 

Khalid Marhlaoui – Materials Melting in Microgravity+Vacuum?

This entry suggests improving materials science capabilities on the ISS National Lab by sending metal-melting furnace hardware to space. This could help in the analysis of existing functional materials and the discovery of new alloys for Earth applications.

 

Jonathan Morris – Impact of Space on Commensal Microbiota and Host Response?

This entry suggests studying commensal ("healthy") bacteria in space.  Since microgravity alters the way bacteria grow and interact with each other and their human hosts, studies of these bacteria in space will inform us about human health and diseases like diabetes and Crohn's disease on Earth.

 

'Ender's Game' Film Got Zero Gravity Tips from Real-Life Astronaut

 

Miriam Kramer - Space.com

 

The minds behind the movie "Ender's Game" had a little help bringing their version of the beloved science-fiction book by Orson Scott Card to life.

 

"Ender's Game" focuses on the life of the gifted child, Ender Wiggin, a boy recruited to leave Earth and head to Battle School — a future space station orbiting the planet — to learn how to stop an alien race from pushing the human race into extinction. Much of the action in the Battle School takes place in the battle room — a weightless part of the station where teams of students train and battle during strategic games with one another.

 

Former astronaut Greg Chamitoff advised the cast and crew of the movie during production. The spaceflight veteran gave the filmmakers photos, videos and suggested dialogue that might make the spaceflight aspects of the film more realistic. He also gave the young actors of "Ender's Game" advice on what life in space is like, particularly when it came to moving in zero gravity.

 

"It was a great time because the kids are very smart, and they're curious," Chamitoff told SPACE.com. "They want to make things look right, and they had terrific questions. We kind of spent time pushing off the walls and bouncing around the room and pretending we're in zero gravity."

 

Chamitoff found that some of the young actors he trained thought that moving in zero gravity was like moving in slow-motion, similar to underwater movement. But Chamitoff, who has clocked more than 198 days in space, explained that isn't actually the case.

 

Astronauts on the International Space Station may seem to move more slowly than they would on the ground, but that isn't because they don't have the ability to move quickly in microgravity. People in space don't need to turn their heads slowly or move their extremities more slowly than they would on Earth, Chamitoff said.

 

"When you move from one place to another, you tend to push off carefully and hold on until the last second so you get exactly the path you want aiming at some handhold or something somewhere else," Chamitoff said. "Then, when you get to the other end, you have to absorb all the energy you put in by pushing off. So, you don't push really hard because then you'd have to smash into something … That doesn't mean you can't be moving like crazy, really fast on your way somewhere."

 

Chamitoff also gave the filmmakers videos and photos he took while in space.

 

"[I provided] photos of the Earth, which they modified, but they use [the photos] in some of the imagery in the movie," Chamitoff said. "I can recognize it. When I see it in the movie, I say, 'Hey, I remember taking that picture right there.'"

 

"Ender's Game" even caused Chamitoff to flash back to life in space briefly while he was watching the film. As the Battle School students float out into the battle room for the first time, the view of the Earth stretching out beneath them reminded him of his life on the space station.

 

Matthew Butler, the visual effects supervisor for the movie and Chamitoff's roommate in graduate school, asked Chamitoff to advise on the film. Butler used his knowledge of math and physics to produce accurate spaceflight scenes, Chamitoff said.

 

"['Ender's Game'] was really amazing," Chamitoff said. "I expected it to be perfect. I expected it to look perfect, because I know that Matt [Butler] puts math in behind it."

 

"Ender's Game" opens nationwide in the United States on Nov. 1.

 

It's Time to Send Americans into the Inner Solar System (Op-Ed)

 

R.D. Boozer - Space.com (Opinion)

 

(Boozer is an astrophysics researcher, host of the Astro Maven blog and author of the book "The Plundering of NASA: an Exposé.")

 

The United States can be the number one spacefaring nation of the 21st century. NASA and American human space exploration can experience a renaissance, sending astronauts to Mars and the rest of the inner solar system: asteroids, comets and perhaps even the polar regions of Mercury. This can be accomplished without raising NASA's budget, by eliminating the excessively long wait for an economically impractical super-rocket.

 

Currently, unnecessary spending on rocket systems hampers those goals. According to the original rocket proposal that President Barack Obama's administration sent to Congress, NASA was to develop a new, more efficient engine over a 5-year period for a gigantic rocket called a heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV). This launcher would not be derived from space shuttle technology. Once ready, the HLLV would allow Americans to go to an asteroid or Mars.

 

Concurrently, NASA was to introduce the capability for transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) via modern, commercial-market vehicles, along with new technology to produce "filling stations" in orbit (called propellant depots). The first of these two new techniques would drastically lower the cost of getting people from Earth to orbit, in what is now known as the Commercial Crew program. The depots would bring down the cost of deep-space travel and were to be constructed via ambitious manned spaceflights with commercial vehicles. A detailed outline of the plan was presented to Congress on March 24, 2010.

 

That plan greatly bothered certain U.S. senators and representatives. The reason: The plan specified no space-shuttle–derived vehicles that would have kept federal tax dollars flowing to the Congress members' constituents. But these politicians knew that the most significant administration goal was for the Commercial Crew program to act as a stimulus for a thriving, private, commercial space industry. So they proposed a compromise: The Commercial Crew program would be allowed as long as work could begin on an HLLV derived from space shuttle technology, a project that would be named the Space Launch System (SLS).

 

The shuttle-derived SLS is so expensive to develop that, for years, legislators chopped the budget for Commercial Crew below what the administration requested by hundreds of millions of dollars, funneling the difference to SLS. They thereby increased the amount of time during which the United States must pay the Russians to haul American astronauts to the ISS. Congress also took funds from the propellant depot infrastructure, which would have greatly lowered deep-space operational costs. In fact, SLS is so expensive that it leaves no funding to develop the new, large spacecraft and payloads the rocket is supposed to lift.

 

NASA commissioned consulting firm Booz-Allen-Hamilton to do a study of SLS development. The group's report states that the project should meet its goals for the first three to five years, after which time the funding provided by Congress will be insufficient. In other words, completion of the project will be constantly stretched into the future because development goals will fall further and further behind schedule.

 

Christopher Kraft and Tom Moser (two key engineers involved in the design and development of the hardware and systems that got American astronauts to the moon) have voiced their dismay about the situation. In an op-ed for the "Houston Chronicle," they point out that the bulk of the human space missions touted for SLS could be completed within the current NASA budget using a combination of existing commercial rockets and depots.

 

The Space Development Steering Committee, an informal association of space industry notables, just released a study detailing the greater practicality of other methods for doing deep-space missions and the disadvantages of SLS. The committee consists of Apollo astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Edgar Mitchell, along withkey officers of the space advocacy organizations: the National Space Society, the Space Frontier Foundation and the Mars Society.

 

Even if a large super-rocket like SLS were truly necessary, there are other, less-costly options. Before Congress forced SLS on NASA, private companies United Launch Alliance and SpaceX both gave quotes to NASA for HLLVs. Those quotes totaled together come to many billions of dollars less than the most optimistic cost estimates for SLS alone.

 

The United States can start the great adventure of spreading Americans throughout the inner solar system sooner than most people realize. It's time for the country to decide whether or not being a space power is important enough to prevent NASA from being used as a dead-end, make-work, jobs program for short-term, regional interests.

 

Can Gravity's Thrills Inspire Viewers To Reinvest In NASA?

 

Ethan Gach - Forbes

 

Despite the popularity of films like "Gravity," public interest in NASA and space travel appears to be in hibernation. Although movie crews are inventing new technology to explore space on the big screen, Americans' real-life space program continues to languish.

 

With an estimated budget of $100 million, a multi-year production schedule (it took four and a half years to complete), and minimal interference from Warner Bros., the making of "Gravity" serves as something of a microcosm for what it takes to explore space in the real world: vision, commitment, and a lot of financial backing.

 

Director Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity" was anything but easy to make. Not only did the film require the funding and blind-faith of a large Hollywood studio in order to have any shot at becoming a reality, but the production crew also needed to create new cinematic tools in order to give "Gravity" its distinctly realistic feel.

 

The biggest challenge Cuarón and his crew faced was how to recreate the feeling of weightlessness for an audience seated in a movie theater who had never experienced space. Rather than take fellow director James Cameron's advice and borrow from techniques used in the making of Avatar, Cuarón decided to pursue an alternative, more traditional means of producing the effect.

 

As with other visually groundbreaking films before it, the crew working on "Gravity" found unique solutions to help them get the results they wanted. In "Avatar," Cameron employed a "swing camera" in order to help him film in a space that was made up almost entirely of CGI. In " Gravity," Cuarón had his "light box."

 

This turned out to be a nine-foot box filled with LEDs, as well as an industrial robot arm similar to those often used in automobile manufacturing. The "light box" allowed Cuarón to control the lighting on the actors' faces while projecting the image around them; the arm was used for lifting Bullock through the scenes aboard the space station.

 

Necessity has been the mother of much invention for NASA as well. Since the agency's creation, numerous engineering and scientific breakthroughs have made their way into everyday life. Memory foam was created to cushion astronauts on their return trip to Earth, while cordless tools and water filters were created to deal with the unique problems posed by living in zero gravity.

 

But the relationship to space travel that "Gravity" depicts is a complex one. Its main character, Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bullock), is looking to make her way safely back to Earth where she will be far from both the perils and beauty of outer space. A full fourteen years after "October Sky" explored space travel as an inspirational force, "Gravity" traces the endeavor's more nightmarish possibilities, as astronaut Stone struggles to survive after a routine mission goes horribly wrong.

 

To some degree, the movie's paradoxical relationship to space, one filled with equal parts longing and terror, echoes a recent shift in how Americans view space travel as well. While a majority believe that the U.S. should remain the leader in efforts to explore space, as of late this support hasn't translated into greater support for NASA. Funding for the agency has been dropping as a percentage of the federal budget for decades.

 

Even as audiences flocked to theaters to see "Gravity," which has so far grossed over approximately $200 million domestically, America's actual space program continues to generate little public interest by comparison. Though over time the public has become less impressed with the value of the moon landing relative to other national achievements in the 20th century, a good 63% still believe the country will land astronauts on Mars by the year 2050.

 

Whatever the cause of the disconnect between people's curiosity about space and their commitment to exploring it, it's clear that the public's true priorities aren't aligned with its imagination. As astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has pointed out, any serious effort to land humans on Mars will require at least a doubling of NASA's budget. This would mean contributing a penny of each dollar of federal spending to space travel instead of only half of one as the U.S. government currently does. It's a seemingly small change in American policy, but one that Tyson and others have been struggling to achieve for some time without success.

 

There may yet be hope though. Building off of the work of Roger D. Launius, new preliminary research by Alan Steinberg speculates that if more people knew how little funding NASA received, they might be more likely to support increasing it. The initial survey, conducted with students at the University of Houston, showed a "29 percent mean increase for support for additional NASA spending" after individuals were informed how much mone ythe agency receives annually from the federal government.

 

In 2012 for instance, NASA's budget was $17.8 billion, making up approximately .05% of the $3.5 trillion spent overall that year. A majority of the respondents in the survey estimated it at closer to 5.0% of the budget, or $175 billion.

 

In response to Steinberg's preliminary findings, Tyson wrote, "For me, the big takeaway is that exposure to pure data can trigger a statistically significant change in opinion. We might then expect evangelism to take it further." Even if the majority of people get more excited about films like "Gravity" than real space travel, it's still possible that simply getting people interestedin space at all, fictional or otherwise, may eventually lead to a greater level of awareness about America's space program going forward.

 

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