Fwd: [nasa-jsc-retirees-list] NASA News

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: April 24, 2015 at 8:07:44 AM CDT
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: [nasa-jsc-retirees-list] NASA News
Reply-To: larry.j.moon@nasa.gov

Happy Flex Friday everyone.    Have a great and safe weekend.   Brace for more rain too.

 

LEADING THE NEWS

• NASA Releases Image To Celebrate Hubble Anniversary.

NASA NEWS

• Bolden: NASA Currently In Its Heyday.

• Federal Agency Officials Honored At Annual Banquet.

• Purdue Students Present Their Research To Aldrin.

HUMAN EXPLORATION AND OPERATIONS

• Probes Into October Launch Accidents Entering Final Phases.

• Orion Helps Lockheed Martin Space Systems Division Increase Its Operating Profit.

• UrtheCast To Provide High-Quality Video Of Earth From The ISS Soon.

• ISS' "Geniuses" Designed The Station So It Could House Many Experiments.

• Principal Investigator Explains The Capillary Beverage Experiment.

• Bigelow Aerospace: Versions Of BEAM Could One Day Serve As ISS Replacements.

• Robonaut Technology Spun Off For Biomedical Purposes.

• Proton, Soyuz Rockets Will Deliver New Russian Modules To The ISS.

• Russia's Financial Situation Raises Questions About ISS Program Participation.

• ISS' Orbit Raised To Avoid Space Debris.

• Cristoforetti Celebrates World Book Day With Tweet.

• ISS Visible To Residents On Thursday Evening.

• "Remarkable" Gallery Shows Earth As Seen From ISS.

• South Plantation High Winner Of NASA Student Astronaut Challenge.

• Students Present Measurement Device At HUNCH Event.

• San Angelo Students Prepare For Community College Aerospace Scholars Event.

• Couple Who Got Engaged At KSC Are Now Married.

LEADING THE NEWS

NASA Releases Image To Celebrate Hubble Anniversary.

The CBS Evening News (4/23, story 13, 0:25, Pelley, 5.08M) broadcast that to mark the Hubble telescope's 25th anniversary in space, NASA released "a stunning new image" of the Westerlund 2 cluster. It also "produced a fly-through video."

        The AP (4/24, Dunn) reports that there was no "better way" to celebrate the anniversary than with the unveiling of the image at the Newseum in Washington, DC, which was attended by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, one of the "five former shuttle astronauts who flew on Hubble missions" also in attendance. Bolden said, "A quarter-century later, Hubble has fundamentally changed our human understanding of our universe and our place in it." Grunsfeld added, "Hubble inspires the world."

       

        Hubble Has "Bright Future" Ahead. The Baltimore Sun (4/24, Dance, 802K) reports that scientists believe that the Hubble currently has "a bright future with more surprise discoveries, especially once its measurements can be combined with those from the James Webb Space Telescope when it launches in 2018." According to the article, Padi Boyd, Hubble's deputy project scientist for operations at the Goddard Space Flight Center, said that Hubble is "up for the challenge" of fulfilling all of the projects it can fit into its observing schedule. Meanwhile, when it comes to the Webb telescope, Boyd noted, "Every time we've launched something that opened up a new window observationally, we have had surprises," so "we want to have Hubble available to follow up" what Webb discovers. The article notes that researchers are already using the Hubble to develop the "priorities and wish lists for the Webb."

        The CBS News (4/23, Harwood, 8.2M) website notes that researchers are "optimistic" that Hubble can last at least until 2020. Jason S. Kalirai, a researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said that the telescope has some built-in redundancy and Goddard engineers are doing "a wonderful job" limiting the amount of stress the telescope is under. James Jeletic, deputy project manager of Hubble operations at Goddard, said, "We continue to work on guessing what could go wrong, what we could do to compensate for that if it does, but that's really what we're working on right now, to try to make sure as these things happen that we can handle them. ... But there's nothing giving us any signs of anything right now. I mean, we're sitting almost fat, dumb and happy about it all, (saying) are we really this lucky? But we're knocking on wood, hoping it continues for as long as possible." Jeletic predicted, "I believe we will make it past 2020, and that's about as good as I can get because really, we could have great gyros and they could last five years, six years, seven years each, or we could all the sudden take a hit on gyros and now they're only lasting two or three years each."

        NPR (4/24, Brumfiel, 1.52M) "Morning Edition" reports that the telescope is "running smoothly." The article credits the final astronaut servicing mission, which included Mike Massimino, for continuing to be so "in demand" with researchers.

        Voice of America (4/23, Skirble, 63K) reports that Hubble Senior Project Scientist Jennifer Wiseman said that since the first servicing mission, the Hubble has returned "perfect images and perfect data," with an "assured" legacy no matter how long it lasts.

        Science Magazine (4/23, Clery, 398K), another Voice of America (4/23, Skirble, 63K) article, and SPACE (4/23, Howell, 241K) also report on the Webb and other space telescopes that will follow in Hubble's footsteps.

        Meanwhile, AmericaSpace (4/23, Carney) has more views about the telescope from Bolden, Steven Hawley, and Story Musgrave, all of whom participated in servicing missions.

        More Events Will Mark 25th Anniversary. The WRDW-TV Augusta, GA (4/24, Hoar, 20K) website reports that on the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Mission, students from Langely Bath Clearwater in Warrenville, South Carolina will Skype with NASA Administrator Bolden.

        Florida Today (4/24, Sangalang, 168K) reports that the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Florida Historical Society each have events scheduled to celebrate the Hubble's 25th anniversary.

        The WAFF-TV Huntsville, AL (4/23, Hurley, 75K) website reports that the Marshall Space Flight center and the US Space and Rocket Center will also host "a full day of activities celebrating the space telescope."

        Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle (4/24, 2.29M) reports the George Observatory, which hosts "the largest specialized Cassegrain telescope open to the public," has its own events planned.

        Thousands Have Worked On Hubble Over The Years. The Denver Post (4/24, Keeney, 894K) reports that over the course of the Hubble program, over 2,000 Ball Aerospace workers have been involved with the telescope. John Troeltzsch, Ball's Kepler Mission program manager, said that this work has not only impacted the company, but it also has impacted the aerospace industry in Colorado, generating an estimate inflation-adjusted $900 million for the state.

        The North Jersey (NJ) Media Group (4/24, Norman, 103K) similarly profiles Bill Ochs of the Goddard Space Flight Center. He started on the Hubble and is now project manager for the Webb telescope.

        The Delmarva (MD) Daily Times (4/24, Cox, 2K) profiles John Campbell, who was Hubble's program manager from 1994 to 2000.

        More Commentary. The Providence (RI) Journal (4/23, 322K) editorialized that even though the Hubble program reportedly has cost $10 billion over its lifetime, it is "a remarkably good deal." It has "a fine legacy" of "12,700 scientific papers written by 4,000 astronomers."

        The U-T San Diego (4/24, 579K) editorializes that the Hubble is "a remarkable story of perseverance in overcoming adversity and avoiding failure."

        The Omaha (NE) World-Herald (4/24, 557K) editorializes that the Hubble will "continue to astonish and inspire" even when successors are launched.

        Blog Coverage. In a blog post for American Thinker (4/23, 19K), a person who goes by "Newsmachete" writes that Hubble has "no practical value," especially given the level of the US debt. He thinks that Federal funds are too limited "to spend on technology R&D," especially if its not an essential, like this "space pork."

NASA NEWS

Bolden: NASA Currently In Its Heyday.

Al Jazeera America (4/23, Suarez, 133K) interviewed NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. When asked whether it was hard to justify NASA's work today, Bolden replied, "NASA's heyday is today, to be quite honest. Our best days are ahead of us, and today is the best day for young men and women who want to be in aeronautics and in the aerospace field." He added that it is "a tribute to the work that NASA has done" that NASA has been able to increase "the number of what we call nontraditional partners" it works with. Bolden also countered the idea that NASA astronauts now have to "to hitch a ride with the Russians" to reach the ISS, saying "I hear that term all the time. It was a planned evolution from the loss of Columbia to today." Meanwhile, Bolden noted that "the ultimate objective of this administration and the current-day NASA with humans" is to send people to Mars, but that "requires a lot more understanding of the human body and how it is affected by long-duration periods of time in a microgravity, higher radiation environment." When asked about those wanting to take one-way trips to Mars, Bolden said that he could "relate" to the feeling, but "there is a lot of work to be done before we can safely have people stay [on Mars]. And I need to have people come back and talk about it and tell us about what they experienced."

Federal Agency Officials Honored At Annual Banquet.

Federal Times (4/23, Hardy, 118K) reports that a "small group of federal agency leaders" were honored Thursday evening at a "ceremony to bestow two civil service awards: the Presidential Ranks of Distinguished and Meritorious Executive and Distinguished and Meritorious Professional." The winners were honored at the Senior Executives Association's Professional Development League's annual black tie Distinguished Rank Awards Banquet. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden delivered remarks at the event. Joseph M. Kolly of the NTSB and Anne L. Collins of the DOT were among the Presidential Meritorious Rank Awardees.

Purdue Students Present Their Research To Aldrin.

The WLFI-TV Lafayette, IN (4/23, Hardwick, 12K) website reports that Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin was at Purdue University yesterday "to watch students present their research on space travel to Mars." Project manager Stephen Whitnah said that the result was "beyond the scope of anything that our senior design teams have ever done before."

        The Lafayette (IN) Journal and Courier (4/23, Paul, 141K) also covers the story.

HUMAN EXPLORATION AND OPERATIONS

Probes Into October Launch Accidents Entering Final Phases.

Space News (4/24, Foust, Subscription Publication, 481) reports that separate probes into a pair of "high-profile commercial launch accidents" last October are "entering their final phases." Earlier this week, George Nield, head of the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, said he expects to receive a report soon on the Oct. 28 accident involving an Orbital ATK Antares rocket, which was launched from Wallops Island, Virginia. Orbital ATK is leading the probe into that accident. Additionally, NASA is close to completing its own independent investigation into the accident. Space News adds that the NTSB is also leading an investigation into the deadly "Oct. 31 crash of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle near Mojave, California."

Orion Helps Lockheed Martin Space Systems Division Increase Its Operating Profit.

Space News (4/23, de Selding, Subscription Publication, 481) continues coverage of Lockheed Martin's quarterly earnings report. focusing on how its Space Systems division had "a double-digit increase in operating profit" in part due to "a higher volume of work on Orion this year, and the fact that Lockheed Martin was able to eliminate development risk in the program following a successful first unmanned test flight." According to the article, Orion's additional profit helped the company increase the forecast for the "division's operating profit by $30 million."

        Commercial Cargo Spacecraft Could Add Habitat Space On Orion Missions. The Aviation Week (4/24, Morring, 2K), in an article titled "Habitats Could Be NASA's Next Commercial Spacecraft Buy," reports that both Lockheed Martin and Orbital ATK have been given "small NASA contracts" to examine how their cargo spacecraft could be used to expand the Orion's habitat area on a trip to Mars. The article notes that "with less than 20 cubic meters of pressurized volume for a crew of four," the trip may be "more than a little cozy."

UrtheCast To Provide High-Quality Video Of Earth From The ISS Soon.

The Canadian Press (4/24) reports that UrtheCast announced that it will deliver "live, high definition video of the Earth taken from the International Space Station" through its website. UrtheCast CEO Scott Larson, according to the article, said that the video feed will launch "within a few months." The article also notes that UrtheCast plans to send "another video camera and a radar sensor" to the ISS in 2017.

        The Saskatoon (CAN) StarPhoenix (4/24, Humphreys, 306) also covers the story.

        ISS Video Quality Said To Be Increasing. In an article for the Air & Space Smithsonian Magazine (4/23, 3K) website, Tony Reichhardt writes that the public is getting "spoiled" by the videos coming form the ISS. Whether its GoPro films of spacewalks or upcoming "very high-quality video of departing cargo vehicles burning up in the atmosphere after they leave the station" taken by a RED Dragon 6K camera that arrived last fall, Reichhardt believes that ISS video quality is "going up." However, he notes that there likely will not be an increasing amount of video from inside the ISS because that is "up to the discretion of the crew."

ISS' "Geniuses" Designed The Station So It Could House Many Experiments.

Laboratory Equipment (4/23, Taylor) reports on the varied experiments recently sent to the ISS. "The geniuses behind the ISS" designed the station so that over time it could be modified. Robert Zurawski, Manager, Carrier and Payload Facility Integration for the ISS, said that the ISS "had to be modular in its overall construction...and then internally too, because we recognized it was going to be up there for a very long time. We knew the interior arrangement needed to adapt to new technology and upgrades." This, according to the article, gave the ISS the ability to conduct "so many experiments." The article notes that this was not an easy feat to achieve because of the "unique-to-space" environment and difficulty getting payloads up there.

Principal Investigator Explains The Capillary Beverage Experiment.

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel (4/24, Speck, 776K) reports that during a video chat on Thursday, Mark Weislogel explained the Capillary Beverage experiment. Weislogel is the experiment's principal investigator. The goal is to give astronauts "a more Earth-like sipping experience" with a cup instead of "out of a bag with a straw...like a Capri Sun." The article notes that astronaut Don Pettit developed the first zero-gravity cup when he was at the ISS.

Bigelow Aerospace: Versions Of BEAM Could One Day Serve As ISS Replacements.

The Smithsonian (4/24, Gan, 301K) magazine, in an article for the May 2015 edition, reports on how the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) will make its "debut in space" at the ISS sometime in 2015. Mike Gold, Bigelow's director of DC operations, reportedly thinks that a larger version could even be used to replace the ISS after 2014 or for "future missions to the moon, Mars and beyond."

Robonaut Technology Spun Off For Biomedical Purposes.

Machine Design (4/23, Mraz, 3K) reports that NASA's work testing the "human-like" Robonaut aboard the ISS has "inspired researchers to repurpose the technology behind Robonaut for biomedical projects and products." These spinoffs include the RoboGlove exoskeleton glove, which could help those "who have loss or restriction in use of a hand through injury or stroke," the X1 exoskelton "to help those with paraplegia," and telemedicine technology.

Proton, Soyuz Rockets Will Deliver New Russian Modules To The ISS.

Russia's ITAR-TASS News Agency (4/23, 5K) reports that Energia President Vladimir Solntsev said that two Proton-M rockets will launch "the multi-functional module and other heavy modules" to the ISS in 2017 and 2019. In 2018, the Uzlovoy Module, now in storage, will launch to the ISS aboard a Soyuz-2 rocket.

Russia's Financial Situation Raises Questions About ISS Program Participation.

Flightglobal (4/23, Thisdell, 2K) continues coverage of how Roscosmos's budget is decreasing 35% over the next ten years because of Russia's "financial squeeze and looming recession." The changes in the budget are increasing the "uncertainty" into Russia's participation in the ISS program, and NASA, as a precaution, is preparing for "Russia's outright withdrawal from the ISS." The article notes that NASA currently is "relentlessly publicising" its progress toward a Mars mission. The "major obstacle" for these plans is the budget. However, NASA is "less publicly insisting" that international partners will take part in these future plans, which is "underscored" by the current "difficulties" in getting the ISS partners to agree to extending the station to 2024, let alone 2028 as NASA has said it wants. That hope for the ISS "must be called into doubt," according to the article.

ISS' Orbit Raised To Avoid Space Debris.

Sputnik News (4/23) reports that Roscosmos raised the ISS' orbit by 550 meters to avoid "a threat of collision with fragments of a former spacecraft"

Cristoforetti Celebrates World Book Day With Tweet.

SPACE (4/23, Malik, 241K) reports that to help celebrate World Book Day on Thursday, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tweeted an image "of five teeny, tiny tomes floating in weightlessness on the International Space Station."

ISS Visible To Residents On Thursday Evening.

In his column for Florida Today (4/24, 168K), Bernie Badger writes that the ISS was scheduled to make "a notable pass over Brevard County" Thursday evening. Badger explains how the public can see the ISS and how bright it should appear.

        The KOLD-TV Tucson, AZ (4/23, Callison, 20K) website has a similar story about a chance to see the ISS over Arizona.

"Remarkable" Gallery Shows Earth As Seen From ISS.

The Daily Mirror (UK) (4/24, Symcox, 788K) posts a gallery of images of Earth taken from the ISS that are "remarkable."

South Plantation High Winner Of NASA Student Astronaut Challenge.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel (4/23, 729K) reports that South Plantation High took home first place at the 2015 NASA Florida Student Astronaut Challenge at the Kennedy Space Center. The team of six joined 14 other teams to compete in four categories including participating a mission simulator, an solving an engineering problem, conducting a lab experiment, and answering a 50-question test.

Students Present Measurement Device At HUNCH Event.

The Attleboro (MA) Sun Chronicle (4/24, Foster, 21K) reports that five students from Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School presented a measurement device designed to work in micro-gravity at HUNCH Flight Week at the Johnson Space Center. Engineering instructor Kristen Magas called HUNCH "the most impressive educational experience I've ever been a part of."

San Angelo Students Prepare For Community College Aerospace Scholars Event.

The Concho Valley (TX) Homepage (4/24) reports on the upcoming Community College Aerospace Scholars Event, to be held on April 25-28. Three students from Howard College San Angelo will be in attendance, along with over 300 community college students from Texas. The three-day event will take place at Johnson Space Center and give students information about STEM field careers. Students will also create a Mars Rover prototype and a mock company.

Couple Who Got Engaged At KSC Are Now Married.

The WOFL-TV Orlando, FL (4/23, O'Brien, 26K) website reports that Ryan Lowe and Lyndsey Christman, who "went viral" in 2014 after Lowe asked NASA to unveil a banner with a engagement proposal for Christman "from the giant rocket crane inside the VAB at the Kennedy Space Center," are now married and on their honeymoon.