NASA Developed Orion spaceship- Test Flight 2014

Orion space capsule life form developed to fly astronauts to asteroids, the moon and finally to Mars arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a 2014 test air travel. The spacecraft, built by Lockheed-Martin, is embattled for launch aboard an unmanned Delta 4 Heavy rocket as of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, contiguous to the NASA spaceport.

A second test air travel in 2017 using NASA's planned huge-lift Space Launch System rocket is planned to put an unmanned Orion capsule around the light moon. The third test air travel, targeted for 2021, is probable to include astronauts.

 By 2025, NASA intends to send astronauts to explore a near Earth asteroid and then top on to Mars in the 2030s.Humans have not fly beyond a few hundred miles over Earth since 1972 when the Apollo missions to the moon finished. With the departure of the space shuttle last summer, NASA is dependent on Russia to fly crews to the space station, a $100 billion project of 15 countries that orbits about 240 miles over the planet.

Modified GT Sets World Speed Record at SLF

A modified Ford GT set a world record during testing June 16 and 17 when Johnny Bohmer reached 223 mph on the runway of NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. A Guinness World Records judge authenticated the accomplishment, confirming Bohmer's place in automotive history, along with Kennedy's role in the achievement.

Bohmer's Performance Power Racing modified the car and was testing the suspension and aerodynamic coatings at the runway. The record is the first in the new Guinness category of standing mile for a street-legal car. That means Bohmer began from a standstill and revved up to speeds faster than the space shuttle's average touchdown speed.

"This is probably the best place on the Earth," Bohmer said before the run. "It's very nice, I'm very happy with it. I took it up to 210 (June 16) without trying."Built for spacecraft returning from orbit at high speeds, the three-mile long concrete runway is becoming a preferred testing ground for drivers and racing teams. Joe Gibbs racing, which competes in NASCAR events, has used the runway for evaluations, as have Indy Car teams.

Teams to Replace APU Heater Power Box; Launch No Earlier than May 8

Technicians and engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida have identified the likely source of what caused heaters on a fuel line for space shuttle Endeavour's auxiliary power unit-1 (APU-1) to fail on Friday, scrubbing the first launch attempt for the STS-134 mission. The failure appears to be a power problem within the aft load control assembly-2 (ALCA-2), a box of switches controlling power feeds. "That basically means the power is not getting out to the heaters that weren't working on launch day," said Space Shuttle Program Launch Integration Manager Mike Moses.

The plan is to remove and replace the box, but that work and related testing will take several days to complete. Once the new box is installed, the team must verify it's working properly at least a two-day process and perform forensics on the failed box. "We can tell you, pretty much, that it's not going to be any earlier than (May 8)," Moses said. "We're really not even setting the schedules today. There's still a whole lot of short-term work that has to be done."

Endeavour's six astronauts have returned to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for a few days of additional training before they report to Kennedy for the next launch attempt, and the crew's families also are going to return home today. The launch team is backing out of launch countdown operations. "Responding to problems is one of the things we do best around here, and the team always likes a good challenge," said Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach. "I'm sure we're going to be really glad when Endeavour's finally on orbit, but right now, the team is upbeat and ready to execute."

NASA Repairs On Discovery restart Monday

Technicians working on space shuttle Discovery's outside fuel tank in the Vehicle Assembly structure at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are off for the New Year holiday weekend, however, Monday, they will start repairs on three support beams, called stringers, that newly were detect to have small cracks on their tops. Engineers at different NASA centers continue to examine data from testing and X-ray type image scans gather during the past week of all 108 stringers on the outer of the external tank's ‪intertank section. The image scans showed four little cracks on three stringers on the opposite area of the tank from Discovery. Managers determined Thursday to have those cracks repaired in a like fashion to repairs complete on cracks on two stringers found after Discovery's Nov. 5 launch attempt.

The repair work is predictable to take two to three days. Any further work will be evaluate thoroughly during the week after extra data and analysis are reviewed. Managers also carry on to evaluate an option to perform recognized and practiced modifications on some stringers. Before breaking for the holiday, technicians reconfigured scaffolding to give access for the alteration work, should it be required. A result may be made on that work as early as Monday. The next obtainable launch date for Discovery's STS-133 mission to the International Space Station remainder Feb. 3 at the opening of a window that expand through Feb. 10.

NASA Schedules News Conference About Next Space Shuttle Launch

NASA managers will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. CST today at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss the next space shuttle mission, STS-133, and the progress of repairs since Discovery's original launch delay Nov. 5. The news conference follows Thursday's Space Shuttle Program Requirements Control Board meeting. Program officials reviewed repairs and engineering evaluations associated with cracks on two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets called stringers on the shuttle's external tank.

The briefing participants are:

-- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations
-- John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager
-- Mike Suffredini, International Space Station Program manager

The news conference will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA centers or by calling into a phone bridge. To use the phone bridge, reporters must have valid media credentials issued by a NASA center or issued specifically for the STS-133 mission. Journalists planning to use the phone bridge must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 10:45 a.m. Newsroom personnel will verify credentials and transfer reporters to the phone bridge. Capacity is limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

NASA Schedules News Conference About Next Space Shuttle Launch

NASA managers will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. CST today from the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston to provide the status of the next space shuttle mission, STS-133, and the progress of repairs since Discovery's launch was delayed Nov. 5. The news conference will follow today's Space Shuttle Program Requirements Control Board. Program officials reviewed repairs and engineering evaluations associated with cracks on two 21-foot-long, U-shaped aluminum brackets called stringers on the shuttle's external tank.

The briefing participants are:

-- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations
-- John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager

The news conference will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA centers or by calling into a phone bridge. To use the phone bridge, reporters must have valid media credentials issued by a NASA center or issued specifically for the STS-133 mission. Journalists planning to use the phone bridge must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 15 minutes before the news conference. Newsroom personnel will verify credentials and transfer reporters to the phone bridge. Capacity is limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Hayabusa Spacecraft Returns Asteroid Artifacts From Space

Scientists involved with the first space mission attempting to sample asteroid surface material and return to Earth, have confirmed presence of particles collected from a small container aboard the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa spacecraft. On June 13, 2010, Hayabusa visited the near-Earth asteroid, called Itokawa. The spacecraft landed at Australia's remote Woomera Test Range in South Australia, concluding a remarkable mission of exploration one in which NASA scientists and engineers played a contributing role. Initial research from an electron microscope reveals about 1500 grains identified as rocky particles, and judged to be of extraterrestrial origin from the asteroid. Their size is mostly less than 10 micrometers. Handling these grains requires very special skills and techniques.

JAXA is developing the necessary handling techniques and preparing the associated equipment for further analyses. Launched May 9, 2003, from the Kagoshima Space Center, Uchinoura, Japan, Hayabusa was designed as a flying testbed. Its mission: to research several new engineering technologies necessary for returning planetary samples to Earth for further study. With Hayabusa, JAXA scientists and engineers hoped to obtain detailed information on electrical propulsion and autonomous navigation, as well as an asteroid sampler and sample reentry capsule. The 510-kilogram (950-pound) Hayabusa spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid Itokawa in September 2005. Over the next two-and-a-half months, the spacecraft made up-close and personal scientific observations of the asteroid's shape, terrain, surface altitude distribution, mineral composition, gravity, and the way it reflected the sun's rays.

On Nov. 25 of that year, Hayabusa briefly touched down on the surface of Itokawa. That was only the second time in history a spacecraft descended to the surface of an asteroid. The spacecraft departed Itokawa in January 2007. A team of Japanese and American navigators guided Hayabusa on the final leg of its journey. Together, they calculated the final trajectory correction maneuvers Hayabusa's ion propulsion system had to perform for a successful homecoming. To obtain the data they needed, the navigation team frequently called upon JAXA's tracking stations in Japan, as well as those of NASA's Deep Space Network, which has antennas at Goldstone, in California's Mojave Desert; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. In addition, the stations provided mission planners with near continuous communications with the spacecraft to keep them informed on spacecraft health.

NASA'S Lunar Spacecraft Completes Exploration Mission Phase

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, will complete the exploration phase of its mission on Sept. 16, after a number of successes that transformed our understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor. LRO completed a one-year exploration mission in a polar orbit approximately 31 miles above the moon's surface. It produced a comprehensive map of the lunar surface in unprecedented detail; searched for resources and safe landing sites for potential future missions to the moon; and measured lunar temperatures and radiation levels. The mission is turning its attention from exploration objectives to scientific research, as program management moves from NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate to the Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington.

"LRO has been an outstanding success. The spacecraft has performed brilliantly," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. "LRO's science and engineering teams achieved all of the mission's objectives, and the incredible data LRO gathered will provide discoveries about the moon for years to come." The LRO team will continue to send data gathered during the last year to the Planetary Data System, which archives and distributes scientific information from NASA planetary missions, astronomical observations and laboratory measurements. By the time LRO achieves full mission success in March, and its data is processed and released to the scientific community, it will have sent more information to the Planetary Data System than all other previous planetary missions combined. During its new phase of discovery, LRO will continue to map the moon for two to four more years.

"The official start of LRO's science phase should write a new and intriguing chapter in lunar research," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. "This mission is one more asset added to NASA's vast science portfolio." The spacecraft launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying a suite of seven instruments on June 18, 2009. LRO formally began its detailed survey of the moon in September 2009. Results from the mission include: new observations of the Apollo landing sites; indications that permanently shadowed and nearby regions may harbor water and hydrogen; observations that large areas in the permanently shadowed regions are colder than Pluto; detailed information about lunar terrain; and the first evidence of a globally distributed population of thrust faults that indicates the moon has recently contracted and may still be shrinking.

NASA Extends International Space Station Contract

NASA has awarded a five-year, $1.24 billion contract extension to The Boeing Co. to continue engineering support of the International Space Station through Sept. 30, 2015. Work under the contract extension is intended to maintain the station at peak performance levels so the full value of the unique research laboratory is available to NASA, its international partners, other U.S. government agencies and private companies. NASA officially accepted the space station from Boeing at the conclusion of a March 2010 Acceptance Review Board that verified the delivery, assembly, integration and activation of all hardware and software required by the contract. The acceptance signified the transition from assembly of the station to utilization.

This action extends the space station’s Vehicle Sustaining Engineering Contract, which was originally awarded in January 1995 and most recently extended in 2008. The extension brings the total contract value through the end of fiscal year 2015 to $16.2 billion. Work under the contract extension will include sustaining engineering of station hardware and software, and support of U.S. hardware and software provided to international partners and participants in the station program. The extension also includes end-to-end subsystem management for the majority of station systems, including materials and processes, electrical, electronic, and electromechanical parts, environments and electromagnetic effects.

NASA and its international partner agencies are in the final stages of analyzing the ability to sustain station operations through 2020 and awaiting formal confirmation of this goal by the governments of participating countries. This contract extension also includes assessment of the feasibility of extending the life of the primary structural hardware that was installed in orbit through the end of 2028. The work will be performed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and at other domestic and international locations.

NASA Assigns Crew for Final Launch on Need Shuttle Mission

NASA announced the four astronauts who will make up the crew of STS-335, the rescue mission that would fly only if needed to bring home the members of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, currently the final scheduled shuttle flight. Chris Ferguson, a retired U.S. Navy captain and veteran of two previous shuttle missions, would command the flight. Astronaut and U.S. Marine Col. Doug Hurley would serve as pilot, and astronauts Sandy Magnus and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Rex Walheim would be the mission specialists. Based on recommendations made after the loss of space shuttle Columbia in February 2003, NASA has trained a launch on need crew to be ready to fly in the event of irreparable damage to a shuttle while in orbit. Typically, the next crew to fly serves as the rescue crew for the current mission.

The STS-335 crew will prepare for a potential rescue mission and preserve flexibility if another shuttle flight is added to the launch manifest. “These astronauts will begin training immediately as a rescue crew as well as in the baseline requirements that would be needed to fly an additional shuttle flight," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington. "The normal training template for a shuttle crew is about one year prior to launch, so we need to begin training now in order to maintain the flexibility of flying a rescue mission if needed, or alter course and fly an additional shuttle mission if that decision is made." If required, the STS-335 rescue mission would launch on shuttle Atlantis in June 2011 to bring home the STS-134 crew from the International Space Station.

STS-134 currently is scheduled to lift off on Feb. 26, 2011, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If converted to an additional shuttle flight, STS-335 would be redesignated STS-135 and targeted to launch in June 2011. Ferguson, who was born in Philadelphia, flew on two prior shuttle missions, STS-115 in 2006 and STS-126 in 2008. Hurley, who was born in Endicott, N.Y., but considers Apalachin, N.Y., his hometown, served as the pilot on STS-127 in 2009. Magnus, of Belleville, Ill., flew on STS-112 in 2002 and launched to the space station in 2008 on STS-126, where she served four and a half months as a flight engineer and science officer on Expedition 18 before returning to Earth on STS-119 in 2009. Walheim was born in Redwood City, Calif., and considers San Carlos, Calif., his hometown. He flew on STS-110 in 2002 and STS-122 in 2008.

NASA Offers Satellite Interviews Inside New Space Station Module; The Module Will Carry a Human-like Robot to Orbit in November

NASA is offering live satellite interviews on Thursday, Sept. 16, from inside the next component of the International Space Station. The Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM, will launch in November aboard space shuttle Discovery. Scott Higginbotham, payloads manager for Discovery’s STS-133 mission, will conduct the interviews from the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. To maintain a pristine environment inside the PMM, Higginbotham will be dressed in protective blue clothing, known as a “bunny suit,” that prevents even the smallest dust particles from causing contamination. Interview slots are available from 6 - 9 a.m. EDT.

To schedule interviews, media should contact Alysia Lee at 321-861-3530 or alysia.k.lee@nasa.gov by noon on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The PMM will carry a variety of spare parts and supplies, as well as Robonaut 2, or R2, the first human-like robot in space. The PMM can support experiments in fluid physics, materials science, biology, biotechnology and other microgravity experiments. A prepackaged video of Higginbotham providing a tour of the PMM and video b-roll of the PMM's interior will air on NASA TV Sept. 16 from 5:30 - 6 a.m., and between interviews when possible. Higginbotham has worked for NASA since 1987, beginning his career in the Space Shuttle Program as a mechanical systems engineer for the external fuel tank.

He currently is a mission manager in the International Space Station and Spacecraft Processing Directorate responsible for leading teams of engineers and technicians that assemble and test experiments, satellites, and station components to fly aboard the shuttle. The NASA Television Live Interview Media Outlet channel will be used for the interviews. The channel is a digital satellite C-band downlink by uplink provider Americom. It is on satellite AMC 3, transponder 9C, located at 87 degrees west, downlink frequency 3865.5 Mhz based on a standard C-band, horizontal downlink polarity. FEC is 3/4, data rate is 6.0 Mbps, symbol rate is 4.3404 Msps, transmission DVB-S, 4:2:0.

NASA's Shuttle Discovery To Make Its Final Trip To Launch Pad

Journalists are invited to cover space shuttle Discovery’s last move from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Pad 39A on Sept. 20 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Six astronauts are set to launch aboard the shuttle on Nov. 1. The STS-133 mission to the International Space Station is the final scheduled flight for Discovery before it is retired. Live coverage of Discovery's rollout will air on NASA Television beginning at 8 p.m. EDT. NASA TV’s Video File will broadcast highlights of the move. Discovery's first motion out of the VAB to the pad is scheduled for 8 p.m. The shuttle's 3.4- mile journey atop a giant crawler-transporter is expected to take approximately six hours. Activities include an 8 p.m. photo opportunity of the move followed by an interview availability at 8:30 p.m. with Discovery Flow Director Stephanie Stilson. Media must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 7:30 p.m. for the rollout photo opportunity.

There also will be a sunrise photo opportunity at the launch pad on Sept. 21, following Discovery’s arrival. Reporters need to be at the news center for transportation to the viewing area by 6 a.m. Updates for events are available at 321-867-2525. To attend rollout and the sunrise pad photo opportunity, international journalists must apply by 5 p.m. Sept. 13 to allow time for processing their requests. U.S. media representatives must apply by Sept. 17. Badges for rollout may be picked up starting at 6 a.m., Sept. 20, at the Kennedy Space Center Badging Office on State Road 405. The 11-day mission will be the 35th flight to the station and the 39th flight for Discovery. The mission will deliver and install the Permanent Multipurpose Module, the Express Logistics Carrier 4 - an external platform that holds large equipment - and critical spare components for the space station. Discovery also will deliver Robonaut 2, or R2, to become a permanent resident of the station as the first human-like robot in space.

NASA Selects Winning Team In Balloonsat Competition

NASA has selected the winner of the national Balloonsat High Altitude Flight Competition, a contest that introduces high school students to engineering principles and encourages engineering practices. The high school team from North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, N.C., took home the top prize. The winning team's experiment, "Variations in Polyvinyl Alcohol Radiation Shields," was one of four student team experiments launched May 26 on a NASA weather balloon to the near space environment of the stratosphere, an altitude of about 100,000 feet. The experiment demonstrated radiation shielding with homegrown polyvinyl alcohol films through a combination of ground tests and a flight experiment.

"We were impressed by the work of all the teams, but especially this one," said David Snyder, technical lead for the Balloonsat project at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. "This team won because they combined a variety of techniques and information sources to look for radiation effects." NASA will present a medallion to members of the winning team, and the high school will receive a plaque this fall. The student teams were judged on teamwork, presentations at Glenn's May 27 Balloonsat Symposium, and a final report submitted after the experiments were launched on the weather balloon.

Other teams which had experiments launched were: Charlottesville High School in Charlottesville, Va.; Upper St. Clair High School in Upper St. Clair, Pa.; and Stansbury High School in Stansbury, Utah. The Balloonsat competition and similar education programs help NASA attract and retain students in math, science, technology and engineering disciplines critical to the agency's future missions. Balloonsat is sponsored by the Educational Programs Office at Glenn, the Ohio Space Grant Consortium, and Teaching from Space, a program of the Education Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA Sets Briefing About Assistance To Trapped Miners In Chile

A NASA team sent to Chile to aid trapped miners will hold a news conference about their work at the San Jose gold and copper mine near Copiapo at noon CDT, Tuesday, Sept. 7. The conference will be at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and it will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. The participants also will answer questions from reporters at participating NASA centers. For journalists not able to attend at a NASA center, a limited number of phone lines are available by calling 281-483-5111 by 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday. U.S. news media planning to attend the briefing in person must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Reporters interested in a one-on-one interview must contact the Johnson newsroom by 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

NASA responded to a request from the government of Chile, submitted through the U.S. Department of State, to provide technical advice that might assist the trapped miners. The NASA team of two medical doctors, a psychologist and an engineer arrived in Chile Aug. 31. Dr. Michael Duncan, deputy chief medical officer in the Space Life Sciences Directorate at Johnson, led the team. The other members are physician James Polk and psychologist Albert Holland from Johnson; and Clint Cragg, principal engineer with the NASA Engineering and Safety Center located at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The team will participate in the news conference. Afterward, Duncan will be available for one-on-one interviews.

NASA Selects University Finalists for Inflatable Loft Competition

NASA and the National Space Grant Foundation have selected university teams from Maryland, Oklahoma and Wisconsin as finalists in a competition to design, manufacture, assemble and test an inflatable loft. NASA is challenging college students to design and rapidly develop prototype concepts for inflatable habitat lofts for the next generation of space explorers. The loft will be integrated onto an existing NASA operational hard-shell prototype habitat. The winning concepts may be applied to space exploration habitats of the future. "This competition gives these students the opportunity of a lifetime," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "They'll design and build new hardware. If their team wins, they'll get the chance to integrate their designs into a NASA hard shell habitat and see it field tested next summer."

The inaugural eXploration Habitat, or X-Hab, Academic Innovation Challenge finalists are:

Oklahoma State University
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Maryland

The competition is a university-level challenge designed to encourage studies in spaceflight-related engineering and architecture disciplines. This design competition requires undergraduate and graduate students to explore NASA's work to develop space habitats, while also helping the agency gather new and innovative ideas to complement current research and development. In June 2011 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the NASA-Habitat Demonstration Unit project will conduct a head-to-head competition among the three teams to successfully demonstrate an attachable inflatable habitat "loft" concept, based on a list of NASA requirements for the design. The Houston competition will determine the winning team, which will be awarded additional funds to integrate their design with the NASA habitat during field testing in August and September 2011.

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NASA Sets Media Deadlines For Next Space Shuttle Flight

NASA has set media accreditation deadlines for the November space shuttle flight to the International Space Station. Shuttle Discovery and six astronauts are targeted to launch on the STS-133 mission on Nov. 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Deadlines also have been set for journalists who want to cover the shuttle's move from its processing facility to the launch pad and practice countdown. Reporters must apply for credentials to attend the launch or cover the mission from other NASA centers. To be accredited, reporters must work for verifiable news-gathering organizations. No substitutions of credentials are allowed at any NASA facility.

The 11-day mission will be the 35th flight to the station and the 39th and final scheduled flight for Discovery. The mission will deliver and install the Permanent Multipurpose Module, the Express Logistics Carrier 4, an external platform that holds large equipment, and critical spare components for the station. Discovery also will deliver Robonaut 2, or R2, to become a permanent resident of the station as the first human-like robot in space. NASA's Office of Protective Services recently made changes to the policy for foreign national processing. All journalists who are lawful permanent residents, have dual or multiple U.S. citizenship, or are U.S.

citizens representing international media outlets will have their credential applications processed in the same way as U.S. citizens who represent domestic media. Additional time may be required to process accreditation requests by journalists from certain designated countries. Designated countries include those with which the United States has no diplomatic relations, countries on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, those under U.S. sanction or embargo, and countries associated with proliferation concerns.

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Astronauts Linda Godwin and Scott Altman Leave NASA

NASA astronauts Linda Godwin and Scott Altman have announced plans to leave the agency. Godwin will retire and Altman will take a job in the private sector. Godwin joined NASA in 1980 and worked in the Payload Operations Division. She was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1985. A veteran of four spaceflights, Godwin logged more than 38 days in space, including more than 10 hours during two spacewalks. She flew aboard STS-37 in 1991; served as payload commander of STS-59 in 1994; and flew on STS-76 in 1996 and STS-108 in 2001. Godwin also supported numerous technical assignments within NASA's Astronaut Office and most recently served as the assistant to the director for exploration, Flight Crew Operations Directorate.

"Linda's 30-year career at NASA was filled with contributions to the human spaceflight mission," said Brent Jett, director of Flight Crew Operations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "She should be proud of her service to the agency and the country." Altman, a retired U.S. Navy captain, joined NASA in March 1995. He also has flown four shuttle missions, logging more than 51 days in space. He was the pilot of STS-90 in 1998 and STS-106 in 2000, and was commander of the final two missions to the Hubble Space Telescope, STS-109 in 2002 and STS-125 in 2009.

Altman also performed other technical duties within the agency, including temporary duty to NASA Headquarters as deputy director of the Requirements Division of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Most recently, he served as chief of the Exploration Branch of the Astronaut Office."Scott has been a tremendous contribution to the astronaut corps and this agency," said Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office. "In his 15 years with NASA, he has performed flawlessly and demonstrated leadership in every position he's served. He will be greatly missed."

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NASA Receives Spirit Of Houston Award

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden accepted the Spirit of Houston Award from the city's Mayor Annise Parker on Thursday. The award was established in 2004 to honor Houstonians who motivated their fellow citizens with their everyday acts of leadership. "It is an honor to accept the 2010 Spirit of Houston Award on behalf of all of the men and women of NASA," Bolden said. "Every one of us is absolutely committed to a vibrant future for exploration and improving life on Earth." Parker recommended the NASA workforce receive the city's annual award for the iconic contributions they have made throughout the agency's history. It was presented at Houston's 174th Birthday Celebration at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The theme for this year's birthday event was "Houston, We Have the Moon and the Stars!" Former astronaut Bernard A. Harris Jr. was inducted into the 2010 Houston Hall of Fame at the event. Earlier Thursday, Parker proclaimed Aug. 26, 2010, as "The NASA Family Spirit of Houston Day." The proclamation stated the "dedicated workforce reaches beyond the boundaries of the Johnson Space Center campus and makes Houston a better community at large." For more than 50 years, NASA and its workforce have powered Houston and the nation into the 21st century through accomplishments that are enduring milestones of human achievement. Among those accomplishments are technological innovations and scientific discoveries that have improved lives on Earth.

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NASA Seeks Innovative Ideas About Human Health Challenges

NASA will host LAUNCH: Health, a global forum focusing on health issues, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida from Oct. 30-31. NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of State, and NIKE are partnering on LAUNCH to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to sustainability challenges through a series of forums. LAUNCH forums focus on key areas, including water, air, food, and energy. They provide a venue for evaluating creative ideas among peers and collaborative, solution-driven discussions.This second forum, LAUNCH: Health, will bring together entrepreneurs from around the world who will be selected based on their innovative approaches to addressing health issues.

During the two-and-a-half day forum, they will discuss their proposed solutions to health issues with "council members" who represent business, policy, engineering, science, communications and sustainability sectors. The sessions are designed to identify challenges and discuss future opportunities for entrepreneurs' innovations.
LAUNCH: Health seeks transformative innovations to improve health and the quality of life on Earth, specifically for people in the first 20 years of life, in the following categories:
- Nutrition and food
- Physical activity
- Preventive health care

"NASA's interest in technology development and problem solving in the area of human health issues makes hosting this discussion among innovators and thought leaders a natural fit," NASA's Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. "Solutions to health issues here on Earth have the potential to benefit space explorers of the future, as well as humankind overall." Problem solvers can submit their ideas through the InnoCentive website, which allows NASA to collaborate with people throughout the world who are interested in sustainability issues. Challenges are posted online for which problem solvers can submit solutions.

Tropically Speaking, NASA Investigates Precipitation Shapes, Sizes for Severity

Rain drops are fat and snowflakes are fluffy, but why does it matter in terms of predicting severe storms? We've all seen fat rain drops, skinny rain drops, round hailstones, fluffy snowflakes and even ice needles. This summer, NASA researchers are going to get a look at just how much these shapes influence severe storm weather. To do it, they'll have to look inside the guts of some of the world's fiercest storms. NASA recently assembled a team of hurricane scientists from across the country to carry out high-altitude-aircraft surveillance to explore in detail how storms form, intensify and dissipate.

Earth scientists and engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., have redesigned one of their instruments, the Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer, or AMPR, to better observe the different shapes of precipitation. In August and September, AMPR will fly at an altitude of 60,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. It will sit in the bomb bay of a WB-57 airplane, which is based at the NASA Johnson Space Center's Ellington Field in Houston. During these flights, AMPR researchers will test a new build the instrument is an upgraded version of the original AMPR built at NASA Marshall in the early 1990s and use it to participate in NASA's upcoming hurricane study, the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes field campaign, better known as GRIP.

The campaign involves three planes mounted with 14 different instruments, including AMPR. The instruments will all work together to create the most complete view of a hurricane to date. Researchers hope the hurricane campaign will help them answer some of nature's most perplexing questions. As tropical storms grow, they produce massive amounts of rain a key element in the development of full-scale hurricanes. Scientists will use AMPR along with the other instruments, such as data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite, to figure out just how hard it's raining inside these ferocious storms, and how much of that rain is associated with the production of ice during intensification.