Hope everyone in the Houston metro got enough rain this morning..!
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Today: Progress Launch/Docking to Air on NASA TV
- Register Today for Bring Our Child to Work Day - Organizations/Social
- Laser-Generated Quantum Black Holes - Aug. 13
- 'Pay it Forward' During Lunch
- Apollo 45th Anniversary T-Shirts Now Available
- Starport Boot Camp - Registration Now Open - Community
- Saturday: Family Space Day at George Observatory |  |
| Headlines - Today: Progress Launch/Docking to Air on NASA TV
NASA TV will broadcast live the launch and docking of the International Space Station (ISS) Progress 56 resupply ship to the space station today, July 23. The ISS Progress 56 resupply ship will launch at 4:44 p.m. from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (3:44 a.m. local time on July 24), with about 5,700 pounds of food, fuel and supplies for the station's Expedition 40 crew. Launch coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. Progress 56 will make its four-orbit, six-hour trip to the space station and dock at 10:30 p.m. Docking coverage will begin at 10 p.m. First-time users will need to install the EZTV Monitor and Player client applications: - For those WITH admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you'll be prompted to download and install the clients when you first visit the IPTV website
- For those WITHOUT admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you can download the EZTV client applications from the ACES Software Refresh Portal (SRP)
If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367 or visit the FAQ site. Event Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 Event Start Time:4:30 PM Event End Time:11:00 PM
Event Location: NASA TV
Add to Calendar
JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 http://www.nasa.gov/station
[top] - Register Today for Bring Our Child to Work Day
Don't miss this year's Bring Our Children to Work (BOCTW) Day on Thursday, Aug. 14, at Space Center Houston. Guest speakers, breakout sessions, demonstration booths and hands-on activities will be scheduled throughout the day to further enhance your child(ren)'s experience! Registration is now open! On-site employees can register here. Organizations/Social - Laser-Generated Quantum Black Holes - Aug. 13
You are invited to JSC's SAIC/Safety and Mission Assurance speaker forum featuring Jeff Lee, researcher and project lead for X-Physics, Propulsion and Power Group at Icarus Interstellar, and faculty member of the Crescent School. Topic: Using Laser-Generated Quantum Black Holes as Power and Propulsion Sources for Future Spacecraft Date/Time: Wednesday, Aug. 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Location: Teague Auditorium Are you interested in traveling beyond low-Earth orbit and the future of space travel? If you enjoyed Dr. Cleaver's presentation on "Icarus Interstellar and NASA's 100-Year Starship Project Goal" earlier this year, you don't want to miss this presentation by Lee. He will discuss the applications and implications of Schwarzschild Kugelblitz (SKs) and the potential speeds and displacements of SK-powered future spacecraft. Laser-generated quantum black holes (SKs) have been proposed as power and propulsion sources for spacecraft. - 'Pay it Forward' During Lunch
This summer, JSC will host nearly 270 students during the 15th anniversary of High School Aerospace Scholars. The brightest high school students in Texas want to learn from: - YOUR NASA story
- YOUR college advice
- YOUR career suggestions
These informal lunch-chats are a valuable opportunity to connect our workforce with the next generation of NASA employees. On your lunch break, simply stop by to say hi and inspire our students. Wednesday Summer Schedule - Building 3 café
- Noon to 1 p.m.
- July 23 and 30
- Apollo 45th Anniversary T-Shirts Now Available
Apollo 45th anniversary T-shirts are now available in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops for $12 each. Pre-ordered shirts that haven't yet been picked up are available in the Building 11 Starport Gift Shop. Remember, you will receive 10 percent off most merchandise in the Starport Gift Shops when wearing your shirt every Friday through Oct. 31. Celebrate this historic event with a commemorative T-shirt from Starport! - Starport Boot Camp – Registration Now Open
Starport's phenomenal boot camp is back, and registration is open and filling fast. Don't miss a chance to be part of Starport's incredibly popular program. The class will fill up, so register now! Regular registration (July 19 to 27): - $110 per person
The workout begins on Wednesday, July 28. Are you ready for 18 hours of intense workouts with an amazing personal trainer to get you to your fitness goal? Don't wait! Sign up today and take advantage of this extreme discount before it's too late. Register now online or at the Gilruth Center information desk. Community - Saturday: Family Space Day at George Observatory
The Expedition Center at the George Observatory is holding a Family Space Day this Saturday, July 26, from about 3 to 8 p.m. Space-related activities will be in the lobby and outside the observatory. This includes bottle rockets, robots and much more! For purchase are tickets to complete a 45-minute Expedition Center mission to the moon! Expedition Center mission tickets may be purchased for $10/person online. After enjoying a trip to space, stay for the evening and look at the night sky through our telescopes. Telescope tickets can be purchased at the observatory gift shop. 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. | |
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| JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters. |
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Wednesday – July 23, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Obama meets Apollo 11 crew to mark moon landing's 45th anniversary
Amina Khan – Los Angeles Times
President Obama celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing by meeting with the surviving crew members of the NASA mission that put the first humans on the moon.
'Sixties': 'Space Race' to air Thursday
Hal Boedeker – Orlando Sentinel
When "The Sixties" resumes on CNN, the documentary series will offer an exhilarating and fast-moving look at the U.S. space program during the tumultuous decade.
Henry Hartsfield Jr. Is Dead at 80; Flew, With Fortune, on 3 Shuttles
Bruce Weber – The New York Times
Henry Hartsfield Jr., who flew on three NASA space shuttles, including as the pilot of the final test flight of the Columbia and as the commander of the maiden mission of the Discovery, died on Thursday. He was 80.
Dream Chaser completes 'vital' milestone in NASA agreement
Alicia Wallace – Boulder (CO) Daily Camera
Louisville's Sierra Nevada Space Systems, a division of Sparks, Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corp., announced Tuesday that its Dream Chaser space vehicle successfully completed another milestone under the company's agreement with NASA.
NASA NEEMO Mission Trains Astronauts in Extreme Underwater Environments
Thomas Carannante – Headlines & Global News
NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) sends groups of astronauts, engineers, and scientists to live in the world's only undersea research station for three weeks at a time to prepare for future ISS and space exploration activities.
NASA upgrades humanoid robot in space
Before Robonaut 2 gets its legs, it receives new processors, fans and software
Sharon Gaudin – ComputerWorld
The 300-pound humanoid robot working on the International Space Station is in the midst of getting a series of upgrades, including new processors and software, in preparation of having a pair of legs attached to it.
NASA Orion Space Capsule Has Surprising Brain
New manned spacecraft will use a flight computer adapted from jetliners for deep space missions to the asteroids and Mars.
David F. Carr – InformationWeek
You wouldn't expect NASA to power the brains of a manned spacecraft bound for the asteroids or Mars with a computer from Best Buy. Yet with the Orion spacecraft being prepared for a first unmanned test flight in December, the space agency has inched to something more like an off-the-shelf design -- by NASA standards, anyway.
The heart of an astronaut, five years on
Melissa Gaskill - Phys
The heart of an astronaut is a much-studied thing. Scientists have analyzed its blood flow, rhythms, atrophy and, through journal studies, even matters of the heart. But for the first time, researchers are looking at how oxidative stress and inflammation caused by the conditions of space flight affect those hearts for up to five years after astronauts fly on the International Space Station. Lessons learned may help improve cardiovascular health on Earth as well.
Researchers Question Expansion of Antarctica's Fringe of Sea Ice
Andrew C. Revkin – New York Times
A new study of methods used to track Antarctic sea ice trends has raised important questions about whether recent increases in ice there are, to a significant extent, an illusion created by flawed analysis of data collected by a series of satellites. The news release excerpted below offers a good overview of the paper — "A spurious jump in the satellite record: has Antarctic sea ice expansion been overestimated?" — which was just published in The Cryosphere. The authors are Ian Eisenman and Joel Norris of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Walt Meier of NASA. NASA Focuses on Earth-Like Planets
George Putic – Voice of America
For decades, looking for life elsewhere in the universe meant listening for signals that could be from distant civilizations. But recent breakthroughs in space technology refocused some of that effort toward finding planets that may harbor life, even in its primitive form.
NASA Spacecraft Just One Year Away from Pluto
Less than a year from now, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will make the first-ever visit to Pluto, potentially revolutionizing scientists' understanding of the dwarf planet.
NASA Planetary Science Review To Be Released Soon
Jeff Foust | Space News
The long-awaited senior review of NASA planetary science missions is effectively complete and will be publicly released in the next week or two, a NASA official said July 21.
Threatened Spitzer Telescope Gets NASA Nod For Extension, Subject To Congress Funding
Elizabeth Howell – Universe Today
After NASA recommended in May that Spitzer space telescope officials send in a revised budget or face possible termination of operations, in a turnaround, the agency's science mission directorate has now agreed to extend the mission for another two years.
SpaceX Releases Footage of Falcon 9 First-stage Splashdown
Brian Berger | Space News
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. released an 80-second video July 22 showing the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage making a "soft landing" in the Atlantic Ocean following the July 14 launch of six Orbcomm satellites into low Earth orbit.
COMPLETE STORIES
Obama meets Apollo 11 crew to mark moon landing's 45th anniversary
Amina Khan – Los Angeles Times
President Obama celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing by meeting with the surviving crew members of the NASA mission that put the first humans on the moon.
In the Oval Office, the president spoke privately with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, as well as Carol Armstrong, widow of Neil Armstrong, who died in 2012.
"The three brave astronauts of Apollo 11 … took the first small steps of our giant leap into the future," Obama said in a statement.
On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon's surface while Collins remained in orbit. Armstrong, the first to step onto the soft, powdery turf, uttered the famous sentence, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (Armstrong, by the way, says that's wrong -- that he said one step for "a man," a claim some speech-analyzing scientists support.)
"It was a seminal moment not just in our country's history, but the history of all humankind," Obama said in his statement.
Though the Apollo 11 mission may hold an important spot in American history, the 47.5 pounds of lunar rock the crew brought back are still helping to shed fresh light on the moon and our solar system. Just recently, scientists who analyzed fragments gathered by the Apollo 11, 12 and 16 missions found evidence for a violent collision that may have birthed the moon.
Nostalgia aside, Buzz Aldrin says there's no point in going back to the moon; humans should head to Mars instead, he says in an interview with the co-stars of the film "Earth to Echo."
Americans certainly aren't returning to the moon anytime soon; the White House has set a goal to send a human to an asteroid by 2025 and reach Mars by the mid-2030s.
'Sixties': 'Space Race' to air Thursday
Hal Boedeker – Orlando Sentinel
When "The Sixties" resumes on CNN, the documentary series will offer an exhilarating and fast-moving look at the U.S. space program during the tumultuous decade.
In just 42 minutes, the episode recaps early missions, setbacks, President John Kennedy's call to go to the moon, the Apollo flights and the fierce competition with the Soviet Union. (The balance of the hour goes to commercials.)
The episode, called "The Space Race," should fascinate anyone who followed NASA at the time, and the program offers a quick, clear lesson for younger viewers about an astounding feat in the country's history.
The program premieres at 9 p.m. Thursday. It was preempted last week for coverage of the Malaysia Airlines crash in Ukraine.
The biggest challenge for "The Sixties" in exploring the U.S.-Soviet space race was the running time, executive producer Mark Herzog said.
"We looked at why we jumped in. We were afraid the Russians were way ahead of us," Herzog said. "We were behind the Russians in technological advances. They could put a nuclear warhead in space."
"The Sixties" explains how the U.S. space program surpassed the Soviets to put the first men on the moon. The program draws on fascinating footage from CBS, ABC and NBC.
"Walter Cronkite was a space geek," Herzog said of the CBS News legend. "We remember his great moments, but there are other great scientific reporters on other networks. We wanted to spread it out. We're trying to look for moments that people don't remember."
The program includes footage of Jules Bergman of ABC and Frank McGee of NBC.
The speakers include astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Dave Scott; former NASA flight director Glynn Lunney; NASA Administrator Charles Bolden; author Andrew Chaikin ("A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts"); and actor Tom Hanks.
Hanks is also an executive producer on "The Sixties" and was very involved in the series, watching all the cuts and giving notes, Herzog said.
"He loves the series," Herzog said. "When people think about Tom and his passion, they talk about space. He did 'Apollo 13' and 'From the Earth to the Moon.'"
The Oscar-winning actor is especially memorable talking about the Apollo 8 crew reading the Bible while orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve 1968. "Holy smokes!" Hanks says. "Who's the genius who wrote that script?"
Herzog was busy finishing the final hours of "The Sixties." The series on the crucial decade will continue with these episodes: "1968" on July 31; "The Times, They Are A-Changin'" on Aug. 7; and "Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll" on Aug. 14.
"We're very heartened when we see a tweet from a young person that says, 'I didn't know this, I wasn't taught this,'" Herzog said. "I love seeing people of that era remembering that time and adding their own thoughts about what was going on. You see that in the tweets."
Patriotic and inspiring, "The Space Race" is the kind of program that makes viewers want to tweet.
Henry Hartsfield Jr. Is Dead at 80; Flew, With Fortune, on 3 Shuttles
Bruce Weber – The New York Times
Henry Hartsfield Jr., who flew on three NASA space shuttles, including as the pilot of the final test flight of the Columbia and as the commander of the maiden mission of the Discovery, died on Thursday. He was 80.
His death was announced by the space agency, which did not say where he died or specify the cause.
Both courageous and fortunate, Mr. Hartsfield flew on the two shuttles — the Columbia and the Challenger — whose histories ended in calamity.
An Air Force pilot who became a NASA astronaut in 1969, Mr. Hartsfield was a member of the astronaut support team for Apollo 16 in 1972, the fifth mission to land men on the moon, and of three Skylab missions. But he did not make his first spaceflight until 1982, when he was part of the two-man crew (along with the commander, Thomas K. Mattingly II, a Navy captain) of the Columbia, the first of the reusable winged planes known as space shuttles, on its fourth and last test flight.
Over seven days, the two men orbited Earth 112 times and, among other things, studied the effects of long-term thermal extremes on elements of the ship and performed arcane genetic experiments involving fruit flies and brine shrimp. Gliding to a smooth landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on July 4, they were greeted by an estimated 500,000 onlookers, including President Ronald Reagan.
The president praised the astronauts for proving that "Americans still have the know-how, and Americans still have the true grit that conquered a savage wilderness." He declared the Columbia program "the historical equivalent to the driving of the golden spike which completed the first transcontinental railroad."
The Columbia eventually flew more than two dozen operational missions, with its astronauts repairing satellites (and, in 2002, the Hubble Space Telescope) and conducting myriad scientific experiments. On a flight in 2003, it broke up during its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, and all seven crew members died.
In 1983, Mr. Hartsfield, who had left the Air Force in 1977 and was serving NASA as a civilian, became the commander of a six-person crew — the others had no spaceflight experience — for the third shuttle, the Discovery. (The second was the Challenger.) After 16 months of training, on June 26, 1984, just before 8:43 a.m., the six were awaiting liftoff as the countdown began at Cape Canaveral, Fla. But computers detected an apparent valve failure in one of the main engines, and the flight was aborted at T minus four seconds.
"I honestly had no concern," Mr. Hartsfield said at a news conference. "There was a moment of being startled. I think I used an 'expletive deleted' and said, 'We're not going anywhere.' "
The Discovery finally took off at the end of August and successfully completed a six-day mission, circumnavigating Earth 96 times before landing at the Edwards base on Sept. 5.
In flight, the crew deployed three satellites and unfolded an experimental solar power array, extending it out into space from the ship in the first test of electricity-generating systems for space stations. Crew members conducted several scientific tests and photography experiments using the Imax motion picture camera. The crew earned the name Icebusters after Mr. Hartsfield used a robotic arm to dislodge a chunk of ice from the side of the craft that could have caused damage on re-entry.
"We've got a good bird there," Mr. Hartsfield said about the Discovery after the landing.
Henry Warren Hartsfield Jr., known to friends as Hank, was born on Nov. 21, 1933, in Birmingham, Ala., where he graduated from high school. His father, a self-educated bookkeeper, was an office manager for a general contractor. Mr. Hartsfield received a bachelor's degree in physics from Auburn University, where he was in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, and did graduate work at Duke and at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Eventually, after joining NASA as an astronaut, he earned an advanced degree in engineering science from the University of Tennessee. He entered the Air Force in 1955, serving with the 53rd Tactical Fighter Squadron in Bitburg, Germany, and graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base.
Mr. Hartsfield's survivors include his wife, the former Judy Frances Massey, and a daughter, also named Judy.
When Mr. Hartsfield's career as an astronaut ended, he worked for NASA on the ground; he was part of the team that planned the deployment of the International Space Station. After retiring from the agency, he was an executive at the Raytheon Corporation.
Altogether, he logged 483 hours in space. He made his third and final spaceflight in October 1985, as the commander of an eight-person crew aboard the shuttle Challenger, which was carrying a German Spacelab and conducted experiments in the areas of physiological sciences, materials processing, biology and navigation. The flight, 111 Earth orbits in seven days, preceded a catastrophe. On Jan. 28, 1986, less than two minutes after liftoff on its next flight, the Challenger disintegrated in midair. In an eerie foreshadowing, a seven-member crew perished.
Dream Chaser completes 'vital' milestone in NASA agreement
Alicia Wallace – Boulder (CO) Daily Camera
Louisville's Sierra Nevada Space Systems, a division of Sparks, Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corp., announced Tuesday that its Dream Chaser space vehicle successfully completed another milestone under the company's agreement with NASA.
Dream Chaser — a reusable, lifting-body spacecraft to transport crew and cargo to space that is capable of landing on commercial runways — passed "Milestone 9," which covers a series of tests in areas such as crew systems, life support, environmental control, thermal control and thermal protection.
More than 3,500 tests were conducted during one year, officials for Sierra Nevada said.
"By thoroughly assessing and mitigating each of the previously identified design risks, (Sierra Nevada) is continuing to prove that Dream Chaser is a safe, robust and reliable spacecraft," Mark N. Sirangelo, corporate vice president of Sierra Nevada's Space Systems division, said in a statement. "These crucial validations are vital steps in our Critical Design Review and in showing that we have a very advanced and capable spacecraft.
"This will allow us to quickly and confidently move forward in restoring cutting-edge transportation to low-Earth orbit from the U.S."
The first orbital flight for Dream Chaser — an unmanned test mission — is scheduled for Nov. 1, 2016.
NASA NEEMO Mission Trains Astronauts in Extreme Underwater Environments
Thomas Carannante – Headlines & Global News
NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) sends groups of astronauts, engineers, and scientists to live in the world's only undersea research station for three weeks at a time to prepare for future ISS and space exploration activities.
In June the space agency announced two NEEMO missions that would take place this summer: one already began on July 21 and the other is set for September 7. On Monday, NEEMO Aquanaut Crew 18 began their nine-day mission 62 feet underwater off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. Three other international space agencies - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) - will also be a part of the mission that will focus on studies in behavioral health and performance, human health issues, and habitability.
On September 7, NEEMO Aquanaut Crew 19 will feature astronauts from NASA, ESA, and CSA who will spend one week underwater, also off the coast of Key Largo, Florida. This crew will focus on the evaluation of ESA tele-mentoring operations - when a crew member is given instruction for a task by an expert who is located remotely but is virtually present via a video and voice connection. Both missions will take place in Florida International University's undersea research habitat Aquarius Reef base.
"It is both challenging and exciting for our astronaut crews to participate in these undersea missions in preparation for spaceflight," said Bill Todd, NEEMO project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, in this NASA news release. "It is critical that we perform science applicable to NASA's exploration goals in a high-fidelity space operational context. The extreme environment of life undersea is as close to being in space as possible." Both NEEMO Missions will focus on Extravehicular Activity (EVA), which is any activity performed by a pressure-suited crewmember in unpressurized or space environments. NASA and other space agencies are now focusing on EVA training because it can provide an effective means for service, maintenance, repair, or replacement of space equipment without the need to remove it to a pressurized environment, return it to Earth, or abandon it. NEEMO Crews 18 and 19 will study EVA tools and techniques for exploration tasks in varying levels of gravity in preparation for future asteroid missions and Mars missions. Herve Stevenin is the ESA's Head of EVA Training in Germany and he will be a part of NEEMO Crew 19.
The last NEEMO mission was NEEMO 16 back in June of 2012. NEEMO 17 was skipped, so the one that is taking place right now is the first such mission in over two years. The results that come out of these underwater studies will hopefully provide further insight for deep space missions.
NASA upgrades humanoid robot in space
Before Robonaut 2 gets its legs, it receives new processors, fans and software
Sharon Gaudin – ComputerWorld
The 300-pound humanoid robot working on the International Space Station is in the midst of getting a series of upgrades, including new processors and software, in preparation of having a pair of legs attached to it.
Robonaut2, also known as R2, is the legless but humanoid robot that has been working on the space station since 2011.
"Commander Steve Swanson focused his attention primarily on mobility upgrades for the station's robotic crew member, Robonaut 2," NASA reported on its website. "Since arriving aboard the station in May 2011 during the STS-134 space shuttle mission, Robonaut has been put through a series of increasingly complex tasks to test the feasibility of a humanoid robot taking over routine and mundane chores or even assisting a spacewalker outside the station."
In March, SpaceX, a commercial space flight company that runs cargo missions to the space station, brought up a pair of robotic legs for Robonaut.
Once the legs are attached to R2's torso, the robot will have a fully extended leg span of nine feet. That will give it "great flexibility" to move around the inside and outside of the space station, according to NASA.
The robot has 38 PowerPC processors, including 36 embedded chips, which control the robot's joints. Each leg has seven joints and a device on its foot, dubbed an end effector, a tool that enables the robot to use handrails and sockets.
Since Robonaut was unpacked and set up on the station in 2011, astronauts have run experiments to see how the robot functions in space. NASA scientists also have been working with astronauts onboard the station to get them to use the robot and put them at ease with it.
So far, the robot, which can communicate using sign language, has been able to correctly press buttons, flip switches and turn knobs. It also has worked with tools, using an air flow meter and an RFID inventory scanner, according to NASA.
In preparation for attaching Robonaut's legs, the astronauts installed new processors and replaced fans, a power distribution board and other components inside the robot's torso.
Last weekend, NASA's robotics team on the ground remotely deployed software for the robot's new processors. NASA has not specified what type of processors or what software has been added.
NASA originally planned to install and test the robot's legs in June, that didn't happen and a new installation timeframe has not been announced.
NASA Orion Space Capsule Has Surprising Brain
New manned spacecraft will use a flight computer adapted from jetliners for deep space missions to the asteroids and Mars.
David F. Carr – InformationWeek
You wouldn't expect NASA to power the brains of a manned spacecraft bound for the asteroids or Mars with a computer from Best Buy. Yet with the Orion spacecraft being prepared for a first unmanned test flight in December, the space agency has inched to something more like an off-the-shelf design -- by NASA standards, anyway.
Instead of being a completely custom computer, the flight mission computer in charge of the new space capsule is adapted from a computer avionics platform used aboard jetliners -- albeit with substantial accommodations for radiation hardening and redundancy. The onboard network will also be more standard, capable of working with any Ethernet-connected device but also of achieving real-time precision.
Looking much like an overgrown Apollo system, Orion is intended to return NASA to the business of manned space exploration, taking astronauts far beyond the altitude of the International Space Station or any height attained by the late, lamented Space Shuttle. Orion is what survived after the cancellation of the Constellation program in 2010, a more modular approach to developing the components needed for deep space exploration. Most likely, its first mission will be to an asteroid, although ideas for a Mars mission are also being kicked around. First, Orion must prove itself with an unmanned test flight scheduled for December, followed by a planned 2017 flight that is to integrate a new high-powered booster. The first manned flight is still several years away.
The main goal of December's Exploration Flight Test-1 will be to test the new heat shield and bring the space capsule home intact. However, the computer system and associated sensor and control electronics -- collectively known as the avionics package -- will also be getting a workout, since the plan is for the spacecraft to fly itself without human intervention.
"There are a couple of hundred commands we could send to the vehicle, but they are for all contingency or emergency operations," explained Matthew Lemke, Orion Avionics, Power and Wiring Manager at NASA, who works with Lockheed-Martin and its subcontractors on the flight control systems. If all goes as planned, however, mission planners still want to make sure to test their ability to send a remote command, he said. "So we're making up a dummy command, if you will, so we can send a command and the spacecraft will answer back, 'yes, you did.' But we expect it all to work smoothly."
"The spacecraft is capable of doing the mission itself," he added, "although of course once you add a crew, it becomes even more capable."
The avionics system has gone through extensive testing on the ground, but the test flight will show how all the components work together when integrated into a complete system and subjected to all the extremes of radiation and vibration that only a real space flight can provide, he said.
Orion will be the first reusable manned spacecraft that parachutes back to Earth for a water landing, a model that hasn't been used by the U.S. space program since Apollo. In part, the Orion program is using a simpler design reminiscent of the spacecraft designs of the 1960s in an attempt to improve on the safety record of the shuttle program, which was marred by both the disintegration upon reentry of the Columbia in 2003, as well as the Challenger explosion of 1986.
Instead of building a new space truck to replace the shuttle on missions to Earth orbit, NASA is hoping that private firms like SpaceX and Orbital Sciences will graduate from carrying supplies to the ISS to delivering crews there. That would provide a welcome degree of independence for astronauts who in recent years have been dependent on hitching rides with the Russians. If private contractors can handle transport to low Earth orbit, that will free NASA to get more aggressive about going where no man (or woman) has gone before.
Like Apollo, the Orion crew capsule will be launched into space atop a stack of booster rockets, which will be discarded along the way. Also like Apollo, the crew module is joined to a service module that includes its primary engines and oxygen tanks for operations in space, but only the conical crew compartment returns to Earth. Unlike with Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury, the Orion space capsule is designed to survive a water landing without letting its major electronic systems be rendered useless by salt water corrosion.
We spoke with Lemke about how NASA's approach to the computing component of spaceflight is changing with this program.
InformationWeek: Is there anything particularly exotic about the Orion flight computer? What stands out most about this design?
Lemke: Our vehicle master computer is from Honeywell and it's based on the 787 avionics they did for Boeing. So one new thing for NASA is we're not designing the computer from the ground up just for space, which is how we did shuttle. That was very, very expensive. Using commercial technology really reduced the cost of our flight computer. Then all we have to do is live with some disadvantages. The big one we have is radiation tolerance. A commercial airliner doesn't care about radiation -- it doesn't see very much. But we go up through the Van Allen Belt, farther into deep space, encountering heavy doses of radiation potentially. So we've done things to upgrade the computer. We've replaced individual piece parts with radiation-hardened components. Then we look at redundancy on the vehicle and say, "what if we allow radiation to happen to certain components" and [the flight computer] goes down. Well, we need another computer just in case. That's still a lot cheaper than trying to design one that is never going to have a problem.
The heart of an astronaut, five years on
Melissa Gaskill - Phys
The heart of an astronaut is a much-studied thing. Scientists have analyzed its blood flow, rhythms, atrophy and, through journal studies, even matters of the heart. But for the first time, researchers are looking at how oxidative stress and inflammation caused by the conditions of space flight affect those hearts for up to five years after astronauts fly on the International Space Station. Lessons learned may help improve cardiovascular health on Earth as well.
Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance in the body's ability to handle toxic byproducts from normal, oxygen-consuming cell metabolism. This imbalance produces peroxides and free radicals, which contribute to a number of degenerative conditions. Evidence indicates that oxidative stress and resulting inflammation can accelerate the development of atherosclerosis, a disease in which plaque builds up inside arteries. This disease can lead to heart attacks and strokes.For this investigation, called Cardio Ox, researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will look at the function and structure of arteries along with specific biomarkers in the blood and urine that indicate inflammation and oxidative stress. These biological samples will be taken from astronauts before their launch, 15 and 60 days after launch, 15 days before returning to Earth, and within days after landing.
The crew will also take ultrasound scans of the carotid artery thickness and brachial artery dilation, recognized indicators of cardiovascular health, at the same time points, for comparison with the biomarkers. The same measurements will be taken and ultrasounds performed at the regular check-ups that all astronauts have one, three and five years after flight.
"This is the first cardiovascular study to cover such a long period," said Steven Platts, Ph.D., principal investigator. The data will create a picture over time, allowing researchers to examine whether blood vessel changes seen during flight returned to normal sometime after flight. They'll also be able to determine if the effects of oxidative stress grow worse over time or if astronauts experience chronic inflammation post-flight.
Many studies have looked at oxidative stress on Earth, but only astronauts are simultaneously exposed to so many factors known to cause it. The unique environment of a space mission combines a number of factors that can increase the risk of oxidative damage and inflammation, including radiation, psychological stress, reduced physical activity and, in the case of extravehicular activity, increased oxygen exposure.
"It's a perfect storm of things known to cause oxidative stress all happening at the same time," Platts explained. "So this study will enable us to answer some important questions, such as, do these factors work together to make things worse? Are any of them at high enough exposure to cause damage?" Knowing more about how space may cause changes in cardiovascular health will help scientists develop measures to counter its negative effects, in space and on Earth.
The pre-flight data provide a snapshot of an astronaut's cardiovascular health before exposure to the space environment, which then makes it reasonable to assume that any changes are caused by exposure to the space environment and not by other factors. Other studies have looked at specific factors such as mental stress or exercise and their relationship to oxidative damage, but the space station provides a unique opportunity to integrate a variety of causes in a single person.
Typically, a study eliminates all variables except one and examines that one, but this investigation looks at how the entire workplace environment affects the body. The same factors also affect people in unique Earth-bound job environments, such as long-haul jet pilots or train engineers, those who work in a small room all day at a radiation plant, or in unique conditions such as Antarctica. Such situations subject people to stress similar to that experienced by astronauts. The disruption of daily rhythm and sleep patterns experienced in space could be extrapolated to shift workers on Earth as well.
Astronaut Scott Kelly participated in the investigation during his time in orbit and recently completed his one-year post-flight checkup. The study is continuing aboard the station, and a total of 12 astronauts in all will participate during the five-year investigation. You could say the subjects are really putting their hearts into it.
Researchers Question Expansion of Antarctica's Fringe of Sea Ice
Andrew C. Revkin – New York Times
A new study of methods used to track Antarctic sea ice trends has raised important questions about whether recent increases in ice there are, to a significant extent, an illusion created by flawed analysis of data collected by a series of satellites. The news release excerpted below offers a good overview of the paper — "A spurious jump in the satellite record: has Antarctic sea ice expansion been overestimated?" — which was just published in The Cryosphere. The authors are Ian Eisenman and Joel Norris of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Walt Meier of NASA. Here's an excerpt from the abstract:
Recent estimates indicate that the Antarctic sea ice cover is expanding at a statistically significant rate with a magnitude one-third as large as the rapid rate of sea ice retreat in the Arctic. However, during the mid-2000s, with several fewer years in the observational record, the trend in Antarctic sea ice extent was reported to be considerably smaller and statistically indistinguishable from zero.
Here, we show that much of the increase in the reported trend occurred due to the previously undocumented effect of a change in the way the satellite sea ice observations are processed for the widely used Bootstrap algorithm data set, rather than a physical increase in the rate of ice advance….
The results of this analysis raise the possibility that much of this expansion may be a spurious artifact of an error in the processing of the satellite observations.
I engaged a batch of ice analysts, including the authors, in an e-mail conversation about the work. I'll be adding some input from that discussion here as time allows. One comment worth adding from the start came from John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey, who noted that a variety of independent analytical methods "show a clear and statistically significant increase in Antarctic sea ice extent since the late 1970s, with record annual mean extents and record daily maxima being observed over the last few years." He added, "There is no credible scientific evidence that Antarctic sea ice extent is NOT increasing."
Those who seem to spend much of their time trying to cast doubt on human-driven global warming had latched onto the expansion of Antarctic sea ice as undercutting arguments for global warming. Defenders of global warming science have been as quick to offer explanations for the trend.
It appears both sides would do well to stand down for a bit.
Satellites have been an extraordinary boon for scientists trying to track shifts in sea ice at both ends of the Earth. But turning imagery of floating ice into reliable estimates of ice coverage remains a challenge.
The news release from the European Geosciences Union, which publishes the journal, has some detail:
Scientists have used satellite data to measure sea ice cover for 35 years. But the data doesn't come from a single instrument, orbiting on a single satellite throughout this period. Instead, researchers splice together observations from different instruments flown on a number of different satellites. They then use an algorithm – the most prevalent being the Bootstrap algorithm – and further processing to estimate sea ice cover from these data.
In the study published in The Cryosphere, Eisenman and collaborators compare two datasets for sea ice measurements. The most recent one, the source of AR5 conclusions, was generated using a version of Bootstrap updated in 2007, while the other, used in AR4 research, is the result of an older version of the algorithm.
The researchers found a difference between the two datasets related to a transition in satellite sensors in December 1991, and the way the data collected by the two instruments was calibrated. "It appears that one of the records did this calibration incorrectly, introducing a step-like change in December 1991 that was big enough to have a large influence on the long-term trend," explains Eisenman. [Read on.] The climate scientist who maintains the data set, Josefino Comiso of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, says he is confident that the current data set is correct. Comiso says that he inadvertently introduced a mistake into the record — known as Bootstrap — at some point after 1991, but corrected it unknowingly when he updated the file in 20082. Comiso and other climate scientists reject the suggestion that his data set may overestimate the recent trend in Antarctic sea-ice growth — by as much as two-thirds, according to Eisenman's analysis. Another NASA sea-ice data set, processed using the other standard algorithm, shows a growth trend similar to that in Comiso's current data.
Walt Meier of NASA, one of the authors, sent this note to help make the paper's point in another way:
We've been getting quite a few questions on the paper and I've been thinking about how to summarize what the paper shows. The key figure in my mind is Figure 1B, but this may be somewhat hard to interpret. I think a table form may be more illuminating. So below is Figure 1B with the actual trend numbers and some discussion (the numbers below are roughly estimated by me reading from the figure; Ian has the specific numbers, but I think the rough numbers are close enough for now to show the main points).
Published trends in peer-reviewed articles on Antarctic sea ice extent (all on annual average extent):
2000: ~2000 sq km per year
2001: ~5000 sq km per year
2006: ~5000 sq km per year
2007: ~11,000 sq km per year
2009: ~13,000 sq km per year
2012: ~16,000 sq km per year
So the published literature suggests that the trend increased 8X over the course of a little more than a decade. For comparison, in the Arctic, the declining trend in September sea ice roughly doubled over the same time period (though of course, the magnitude of the Arctic trends are much larger than the Antarctic trends).
Until this paper came out, there was nothing in the published literature that explained this increase in trend, and particularly the 2X increase from 2006 to 2007. My assumption (and I think that of many scientists) was that this was due to rapid changes in Antarctic sea ice. This paper found that much of that increase (acceleration) in trend is an artifact in a data error in one of the versions of the data (presumably Version 1, though our analysis could not determine that). In reality, if Version 2 were used, the trend values would look like this:
2000: ~12000 sq km per year
2001: ~15000 sq km per year
2006: ~15000 sq km per year
2007: ~11,000 sq km per year
2009: ~13,000 sq km per year
2012: ~16,000 sq km per year
While not published in the literature, Figure 1B show that in 1998 Version 1 yields a trend of -5000 sq km per year; however, in Version 2, the 1998 trend is ~7000 sq km per year. In the new version, the Antarctic trends have been continuously positive since at least 1997 (with the lowest magnitude in 1998). To me, the latter numbers puts the Antarctic increase in a somewhat different light from what has been published, even though both now agree that there is a statistically significant increasing trend in the Antarctic.
NASA Focuses on Earth-Like Planets
George Putic – Voice of America
For decades, looking for life elsewhere in the universe meant listening for signals that could be from distant civilizations. But recent breakthroughs in space technology refocused some of that effort toward finding planets that may harbor life, even in its primitive form.
When NASA launched the Kepler Space Telescope in 2009, scientists learned something new - and quite significant, says the director of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Matt Mountain.
"Our galaxy has at least 100 billion planets in it. And we didn't know that five years ago," said Mountain.
Of course, Kepler and today's other powerful telescopes cannot actually see those planets; they are too faint against the light of their stars.
But scientists can measure the change of light when they pass in front of the star and analyze the light passing through their atmosphere to determine what is in it.
"Well, if we were looking at Earth, we would see signs of our sky, our blue sky, we would see signs of oxygen, of carbon-dioxide, of sulfur dioxide from volcanoes and we might even see signatures that there was plant life," said NASA's astrophysicist and former astronaut John Grunsfeld. "And we see that by dissecting the light into its component colors."
Most of the planets discovered so far are unlike Earth. They are too big, too small, too close to their sun, or too far away to support life. But astrophysicist Sara Seager says small planets the size of Earth are extremely common.
"We're looking for biological signatures, gasses that are produced by life, gasses that don't belong in the atmosphere," said Seager.
In cooperation with the European Space Agency and scientists from other nations, NASA is building the next generation of space telescopes that may be able to find evidence of life.
The James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to be deployed in 2018, will have unprecedented sensitivity and resolution that will greatly improve the spectroscopic analysis of distant stars and planets.
NASA's chief scientist Ellen Stofan says the agency also plans to look for life on Jupiter's moon Europa, which may have an ocean under its ice cover.
"In our own solar system we know where to go, we know what to measure it and we're in the process of doing just that. Looking out, beyond our solar system, we're on the right track, we're making the right measurements and we're just on the cusp of learning so much," said Stofan.
Scientists say there's a very high probability that they will find a planet very much like Earth. That could help answer the question: how hard is it for life to get a foothold in the universe?
NASA Spacecraft Just One Year Away from Pluto
Less than a year from now, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will make the first-ever visit to Pluto, potentially revolutionizing scientists' understanding of the dwarf planet.
Because Pluto is so far away — it orbits the sun at an average distance of 3.65 billion miles (5.87 billion kilometers) — many questions about the dwarf planet's composition and activity remain unanswered. Researchers hope New Horizons will lay some of those questions to rest when it flies by Pluto on July 15, 2015.
"Many predictions have been made by the science community, including possible rings, geyser eruptions, and even lakes," Adriana Ocampo, program executive for NASA's New Frontiers program, said in a statement. "Whatever we find, I believe Pluto and its satellites will surpass all our expectations and surprise us beyond our imagination."
Orbiting the sun once every 248 years, Pluto lies outside the reach of most visible instruments. The best images from NASA's famous Hubble Space Telescope simply show Pluto's spherical shape and reddish color. Changes in the dwarf planet's color patterns over the years hint that something is happening there, but no one knows exactly what.
By late April 2015, New Horizons will be close enough to Pluto and its moons to capture pictures rivaling those of Hubble. On July 14, 2015, the craft will make a close flyby of the icy world, ultimately zooming within about 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers) of its surface. If it cruised past Earth at that range, New Horizons would be able to recognize individual buildings and their shapes.
"Because Pluto has never been visited up-close by a spacecraft from Earth, everything we see will be a first," Ocampo said. "I know this will be an astonishing experience full of history-making moments."
New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, likened the upcoming visit to the way Mariner 4revolutionized understanding of Marsin July 1965. At the time, many people thought the Red Planet was a life-friendly world possibly harboring liquid water and even plants. The New Horizons flyby could change perceptions of Pluto just as dramatically, Stern said.
The flight in won't be without its challenges. Since New Horizons launched in 2006, two new moons have been discovered orbiting Pluto, upping the total known satellite countto five: Charon, Nix, Kerberos, Styxand Hydra. As many as 10 other moonscould still await detection in the system, one study suggested.
According to simulations, meteorites striking Pluto's moons could send tiny rocks flying into space, where many of them would enter orbit around the dwarf planet. The debris field likely changes with time as it orbits, growing larger as new material is added. As the New Horizons probe gets closer and closer to Pluto, the mission team will need to keep watch on the system in case evasive maneuvers are required.
"The New Horizons team continues to do a magnificent job in keeping the spacecraft healthy and ready for this incredible rendezvous," said Ocampo. "The spacecraft is in good hands."
NASA Planetary Science Review To Be Released Soon
Jeff Foust | Space News
The long-awaited senior review of NASA planetary science missions is effectively complete and will be publicly released in the next week or two, a NASA official said July 21.
"The planetary senior review, from a scientific report standpoint, has just been completed," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, in a presentation at the NASA Exploration Science Forum at NASA's Ames Research Center here. NASA is now drafting "letters of direction" to the various missions covered by the review, he said.
Green said that, because of the high level of interest in the planetary science senior review both in the scientific community and the media, NASA will wait until those letters are complete before releasing the report and NASA's response. "I anticipate within the next week or two that that will be accomplished," he said.
That interest stems from earlier concerns that constrained budgets could force NASA to make difficult decisions about canceling some ongoing missions, such as Cassini, which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004. Those concerns have eased somewhat in recent months, particularly involving Cassini. Some of Green's charts earlier in the presentation mentioned Cassini's plans to orbit closer to Saturn, known as "proximal orbits," assuming the mission continues. "Cassini's proximal orbits is part of that senior review," Green said, "although I did show it on my chart, didn't I?"
Green's comments came as NASA appeared to resuscitate an astronomy mission threatened with cancellation in another senior review. The NASA astrophysics senior review, released in May, recommended terminating the Spitzer Space Telescope unless there was a way to reduce its costs to fit within constrained budgets. NASA announced July 21 that Spitzer would remain in operation for the next two years.
"It has been announced to be approved for an extended mission for the next two years," Green said at the forum, as he encouraged planetary scientists to make greater use of Spitzer and other space telescopes that are part of the astrophysics division.
Threatened Spitzer Telescope Gets NASA Nod For Extension, Subject To Congress Funding
Elizabeth Howell – Universe Today
After NASA recommended in May that Spitzer space telescope officials send in a revised budget or face possible termination of operations, in a turnaround, the agency's science mission directorate has now agreed to extend the mission for another two years.
The news broke on Twitter yesterday when the NASA Spitzer account shared the news. An update posted on its website said the decision is "subject to the availability of Congressional appropriations in FY [fiscal year] 2015″, but added that there will soon be a call out for observing time in that period.
Previously, NASA informed Spitzer officials that due to "constrained budget conditions" that their initial request to extend operations past fiscal 2015 was not approved, in line with recommendations from the NASA senior astrophysics review. While the mission was not terminated at that time, officials were asked to "respond with a request for a budget augmentation to conduct continued operations with reduced operations costs."
The mission was being reviewed at the same time as other astrophysics missions, such as the Kepler planet-hunting space telescope that was asking for (and received) a new mission that would allow it to do useful science despite two busted reaction wheels, or pointing devices. The review said Spitzer was the most expensive of the missions reviewed, and that the telescope's abilities were "significantly reduced" after it ran out of coolant in 2009.
In an update on the Spitzer website, officials shared more details but did not say if the budget had been reformulated in response to NASA's suggestion.
We are very happy to report that Spitzer operations have been extended by the NASA Science Mission Directorate for two more years! The letter of direction states: "The Science Mission Directorate has made the decision to extend Spitzer operations for the next two years. The Spitzer observatory is an important resource for on-going infrared observations for research programs across the Science Mission Directorate, and, subject to the availability of Congressional appropriations in FY 2015, it will be continued. Both the Astrophysics and the Planetary Science Divisions have requested observing time commitments for FY 2015, and both Divisions have committed funding to support their observations." We are working hard to get a call for observing proposals issued by the end of July. And thank you to all the people at NASA Headquarters and in the community that have worked so hard to support science with Spitzer.
In recent months, some of Spitzer's work has included searching for targets for NASA's asteroid mission, helping to find the coldest brown dwarf ever discovered, and assisting in challenging views about star cluster formation.
SpaceX Releases Footage of Falcon 9 First-stage Splashdown
Brian Berger | Space News
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. released an 80-second video July 22 showing the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage making a "soft landing" in the Atlantic Ocean following the July 14 launch of six Orbcomm satellites into low Earth orbit.
With a pair of geostationary-orbit-bound launches next up on the manifest — both for Hong Kong-based satellite telecommunications fleet operator AsiaSat — SpaceX said it will take a short break from additional booster recovery testing until a planned mid-September launch of a cargo-laden Dragon capsule to the international space station. That water landing attempt, which SpaceX says has only a "low probability of success," will be Falcon 9's final such attempt before the Hawthorne, California-based company tries later this year to land the booster on a solid surface — either terra firma or a floating platform, SpaceX said in a statement accompanying the video.
The Orbcomm mission marked the second time SpaceX has guided the Falcon 9's first-stage booster to a near-zero velocity splashdown with landing legs deployed.
SpaceX says the July 14 test confirmed that Falcon 9's liquid-oxygen and -kerosene-fueled booster "is able consistently to reenter from space at hypersonic velocity, restart main engines twice, deploy landing legs and touch down at near zero velocity."
The video, which SpaceX posted on YouTube and shared via Twitter, shows a first-stage re-entry burn followed by a landing burn before the booster's landing legs deploy just prior to splashdown. The booster then tips over horizontally, as expected. Much of the video footage is partially obscured by what appears to be ice and water buildup on the onboard camera's housing, something SpaceX says it is taking steps to mitigate for future launches.
"At this point, we are highly confident of being able to land successfully on a floating launch pad or back at the launch site and refly the rocket with no required refurbishment," SpaceX said in its statement. "However, our next couple launches are for very high velocity geostationary satellite missions, which don't allow enough residual propellant for landing. In the longer term, missions like that will fly on Falcon Heavy, but until then Falcon 9 will need to fly in expendable mode."
SpaceX is slated to launch Asiasat 8 in early August followed by Asiasat 6 later that month. Those missions will mark the 11th and 12th flights of the Falcon 9. The rocket's planned 13th launch is targeted for mid-September, when SpaceX is due to make its fourth paid cargo run to the space station for NASA.
Regardless of whether the water landing to be attempted following that launch succeeds, SpaceX said flights 14 and 15 — currently, another Orbcomm launch and a geostationary-transfer-orbit-bound launch of Turkmenistan's TurkmenSat-1 satellite — "will attempt to land on a solid surface with an improved probability of success."
END
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