Launch Aborts Challenge Rocket Engineers

While companies design and perfect spacecraft and rockets to take people into space safely, teams of NASA engineers are deciphering what needs to happen if a launch goes wrong. In other words, what kind of ejection system will astronauts need to survive?

"We're trying to give the crew that last option for when things go bad," said Brent Jett, deputy director of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, or CCP, and four-time space shuttle astronaut. Keep in mind that the system needs to work at all points during ascent, from the launch pad where the air is thick and the spacecraft is not moving at all, to more than 100 miles above Earth, where there is no discernable air and the spacecraft and crew are speeding along at 17,500 mph, or about 5 miles a second.

Also, consider that because rockets can malfunction and even explode within a second of the first problem, the ejection system needs to be able to spot a problem and get the spacecraft out of danger before it's too late. "Basically, you're separating from the rocket with a smaller rocket and it's a pretty extreme environment to put the crew into," said Chris Gerace, deputy chief of CCP's Systems Engineering and Requirements Office.

NASA Selects Community College Students To Design Rovers And Explore Technology Careers At Field Centers

Community college students in a pilot program will take the first steps toward potential technology careers as they develop robotic explorers at NASA field centers. Ninety students from community colleges in 23 states have been selected to travel to NASA's Johnson Space Flight in Houston or the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., for hands on experience with technology development and direct interaction with NASA experts. This week, the White House Summit on Community Colleges explored how these institutions can support a highly educated and skilled workforce. Concurrently, NASA is preparing for the culmination of the National Community College Aerospace Scholars pilot program.

The agency will bring young scholars to join agency professionals Oct. 20-22 to develop rovers to explore the surfaces of other worlds and learn more about actual careers in science and engineering. During the summer, students enrolled in the program completed four Web-based assignments that explored topics in engineering and technology. Those whose grades on the projects averaged at least 94 percent qualified to participate in the NASA field center experience, with the agency paying students' travel expenses. Students will apply what they have learned during the year to technology and design problems in consultation with NASA engineers.

"Community colleges are an important part of the academic landscape, and NASA is proud to be working with these students to continue their interest and skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "This innovative project gets students engaged in actual engineering design and production from concept to build-out that simulates the processes NASA uses in designing robotic explorers for solar system destinations. By letting them experience first-hand the challenges and excitement inherent in space exploration, we may be cultivating NASA's workforce of tomorrow."