NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Chairman of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Executive Board Johann-Dietrich Worner signed a framework agreement for cooperative activities in aeronautics, exploration and the peaceful use of space Wednesday at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The agreement is intended to enhance cooperation between the two agencies during the next decade. "NASA has a long history of successful cooperation with the government of Germany and an outstanding relationship with DLR," Bolden said. "Today's signing will further enhance our ability to work closely together in a variety of mutually beneficial activities in virtually every NASA mission area."
The agreement sets forth the general terms and conditions for cooperation on a range of activities related to human spaceflight, exploration, aeronautics, global climate change and Earth and space science. "Many space missions and projects can only be carried out through international cooperation, for example, with NASA, because of their great complexity and the associated costs," Worner said. "This is why DLR, as Germany's national space agency and research center, is endeavoring to set up bilateral collaborations such as this." Bolden and Worner also signed an agreement making DLR a NASA Lunar Science Institute associate partner. The institute brings together scientists from around the world to conduct collaborative research in lunar science.
The next generation of NASA remote sensing satellites and space science probe could be loaded by rising launch expenses and delays as the agency incorporate new medium lift rockets, according to a Government responsibility Office report released Monday. The doubt surrounds 12 to 14 science missions through 2020 that have not yet received launch vehicle assignments, the government watchdog report said. NASA is finishing its use of the Delta 2 rocket, a workhorse launcher that has deliver almost 60 percent of the agency's scientific satellites to space since 1998. NASA is shifting future average class missions to SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and the Taurus 2 launcher being developed by Orbital Sciences Corp. The GAO found both vehicles supply the same market as the Delta 2 and have like costs.
But the Falcon 9 and Taurus 2 are not certified to launch NASA's most costly and important science missions. United Launch Alliance has three more NASA missions on its Delta 2 obvious. Parts for producing five more Delta 2 rockets are also accessible, but there are high costs of alter and maintaining launch pads to host any additional flights, according to the GAO. The report addressed NASA's efforts to support the enduring Delta 2 flights and the agency's medium class launch plan. "NASA is taking an suitable approach to help ensure the success of the remaining Delta 2 missions by sufficiently addressing workforce, support, and launch infrastructure risks," the details said. "Nevertheless, an reasonable and reliable medium launch capability is dangerous to NASA meeting its scientific goals."
Most of the medium class missions in NASA's portfolio are Earth scrutiny satellites, which need polar orbit launches from West Coast sites at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., or Kodiak Launch multifaceted in Alaska. Neither company has an ready West Coast launch site. SpaceX plans to construct a Falcon 9 start pad at Vandenberg, and Orbital is still evaluating potential sites for polar Taurus 2 missions. The first NASA decision point is predictable in the next few months. NASA must choose on a launch vehicle for three Earth observation satellites in 2011. The missions are owing for liftoff in 2014 and 2015. NASA is predictable to settle on a rocket for the Soil Moisture Active and Passive, or SMAP, satellite by March. Other civil space missions planned for launch by 2015 and still lacking a launch vehicle assignment include the ice-mapping ICESat 2 spacecraft and the first member of NOAA's restore polar orbiting weather satellite fleet.
Exactly one week before the world gets a new look at comet Hartley 2 via NASA's EPOXI mission, observations of the comet by the Arecibo Planetary Radar in Puerto Rico have offered scientists a tantalizing preview. "It kind of looks like a cross between a bowling pin and a pickle," said EPOXI project manager Tim Larson of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Only it's about 14-thousand-times larger and hurtling through space at 23 miles per second." A new image is online at http://www.naic.edu/~pradar/103P . Scientists using Arecibo's massive radar dish began observations of Hartley 2 on Oct. 24, just four days after the comet made its closest approach to Earth since its discovery in 1986. The observations are scheduled to continue through Friday, Oct. 29.
During the Nov. 4 flyby, the cameras aboard the EPOXI mission spacecraft will get within 700 kilometers (about 435 miles) of the comet. "Observing comet Hartley 2 from the Earth with radar was like imaging a 6-inch spinning cucumber from 836 miles away," said Jon Giorgini, a scientist at JPL and a member of the Arecibo team that imaged the comet. "Even without all the data in, we can still make some basic assertions about Hartley 2. Its nucleus is highly elongated and about 2.2 kilometers [1.4 mile] long, and it rotates around itself about once every 18 hours. In addition we now know the size, speed and direction of particles being blown off the comet, and we immediately forwarded all this information to the EPOXI team." Just what a celestial pickle means for the EPOXI mission remains to be seen. Mission engineers and scientists are discussing the new findings and what if anything they signify for the upcoming comet encounter.
Along with Giorgini, observations of comet Hartley 2 were led by Arecibo Obervatory's John Harmon, with contributions by Mike Nolan and E. S. Howell. The name EPOXI itself is a combination of the names for the two extended mission components: the extrasolar planet observations, called Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization, and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact Extended Investigation. The spacecraft will continue to be referred to as "Deep Impact." JPL manages the EPOXI mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Maryland, College Park, is home to the mission's principal investigator, Michael A'Hearn. Drake Deming of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., is the science lead for the mission's extrasolar planet observations. The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.
Turning a midsummer night's dream into reality, NASA's Cassini spacecraft begins its new mission extension the Cassini Solstice Mission today. The mission extension will take Cassini a few months past Saturn's northern summer solstice (or midsummer) through September 2017. It will enable scientists to study seasonal changes and other long-term weather changes on Saturn and its moons. Cassini had arrived just after Saturn's northern winter solstice in 2004, and the extension continues a few months past the northern summer solstice in May 2017. A complete seasonal period on Saturn has never been studied at this level of detail.Cassini has revealed a bounty of scientific discoveries since its launch in 1997, including previously unknown characteristics of the Earth-like world of Saturn's moon Titan, and the plume of water vapor and organic particles spewing from another moon, Enceladus. The Cassini Solstice Mission will enable continued study of these intriguing worlds. It will also allow scientists to continue observations of Saturn's rings and the magnetic bubble around the planet, known as the magnetosphere. Near the end of the mission, the spacecraft will make repeated dives between Saturn and its rings to obtain in-depth knowledge of the gas giant. During these dives, the spacecraft will study the internal structure of Saturn, its magnetic fluctuations and ring mass.Cassini entered orbit around Saturn in 2004. Mission managers had originally planned for a four-year tour of the Saturnian system. In 2008, Cassini received a mission extension through September 2010 to probe the planet and its moons through equinox, when the sun was directly over the equator. Equinox, which occurred in August 2009, marked the turn from southern fall to northern spring. The second mission extension, called the Cassini Solstice Mission, was announced earlier this year. "After nearly seven years in transit and six years in Saturn orbit, this spacecraft still just hums along," said Bob Mitchell, Cassini program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "With seven more years to go, the science should be just as exciting as what we've seen so far."
After safely reaching its launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery awaits the next major milestone for its upcoming and final mission to the International Space Station, STS-133. Reporters are invited to cover a launch dress rehearsal, known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), scheduled at Kennedy from Oct. 12 to 15. Six astronauts are set to launch aboard Discovery on Nov. 1 for the final scheduled flight before the orbiter is retired. To attend TCDT, international journalists must apply by 5 p.m. EDT on Oct. 1 to allow time for processing. U.S. media representatives must apply by Oct. 7.
Discovery arrived at the pad early Tuesday morning on top of a giant crawler-transporter. The crawler-transporter left Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at about 7:23 p.m. Monday and travelled less than 1 mph during the 3.4-mile journey. The shuttle was secured on the launch pad at 1:49 a.m. Tuesday. The TCDT will provide Discovery’s astronauts and ground crews with an opportunity to participate in various simulated countdown activities, including equipment familiarization and emergency training.
To attend crew arrival, reporters must pick up badges between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, at the Kennedy Space Center Badging Office on State Road 405. For information about covering these events, including proper attire and meeting locations, credentialed media should visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/media.html 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 has announced the awards for the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II Contract. The award will provide a broad range of launch services for NASA’s planetary, Earth-observing, exploration and scientific satellites. NASA has the ability to order a maximum of 70 launch services missions with a maximum cumulative potential contract value of $15 billion. The NLS II contracts are multiple award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, spanning a 10-year period. NASA selected four companies for awards: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company of Denver; Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va.; Space Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, Calif.; and United Launch Services, LLC of Littleton, Colo. The NLS contracts provide for a minimum capability of delivering agency payloads weighing approximately 550 pounds or more to a minimum 124-mile-high circular orbit with a launch inclination of 28.5 degrees.
The launch service provider also may offer a range of vehicles to NASA to meet higher payload weight and orbit requirements. In addition, there is an annual opportunity for additional providers and incumbents to submit proposals introducing launch services not available at the time of award, if they meet the minimum contract requirements. The NLS II contracts support the goals and objectives of the agency's Science Mission Directorate, Space Operations Mission Directorate and Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Under the contract, NASA also will provide launch services to other government agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NASA's Launch Services Program Office at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for program management.
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has been exercising its robotic arm since last month, when the arm was first fastened to the rover. In the long run, watch for this long and strong arm to become the signature apparatus of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory. After landing in August 2012, the mission will rely on it for repeated research activities. One set of moves crucial to the mission's success has never been tried before on Mars: pulling pulverized samples from the interior of Martian rocks and placing them into laboratory instruments inside the rover. Engineers and technicians are putting the arm through a range of motions this month in the clean room where Curiosity is being assembled and tested at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
"We're fine-tuning the ability to make the arm go exactly where we want it to go," said JPL's Brett Kennedy, cognizant engineer for the robotic arm. "Next, we'll start pushing on things with the arm." The arm can extend about 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) from the front of the rover body. Still to be added: the turret at the end that holds a percussive drill and other tools weighing a total of about 33 kilograms (73 pounds). "This arm is strong, but still needs to move accurately enough to drop an aspirin tablet into a thimble," Kennedy said. The titanium arm has two joints at the shoulder, one at the elbow and two at the wrist. Each joint moves with a cold-tolerant actuator, custom-built for the mission.
The tools to be wielded by the arm include a magnifying-lens camera; an element-identifying spectrometer; a rock brush; and mechanisms for scooping, sieving and portioning samples. The mission is designed to operate on Mars for a full Martian year, which equals about two Earth years. MDA Information Systems Inc.'s Space Division in Pasadena built and tested the arm, incorporating actuators from Aeroflex Corp., Plainview, N.Y. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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.
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.
Data from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suggest liquid water has interacted with the Martian surface throughout the planet's history and into modern times. The research also provides new evidence that volcanic activity has persisted on the Red Planet into geologically recent times, several million years ago. Although the lander, which arrived on Mars on May 25, 2008, is no longer operating, NASA scientists continue to analyze data gathered from that mission. These recent findings are based on data about the planet's carbon dioxide, which makes up about 95 percent of the Martian atmosphere. "Atmospheric carbon dioxide is like a chemical spy," said Paul Niles, a space scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It infiltrates every part of the surface of Mars and can indicate the presence of water and its history."
Phoenix precisely measured isotopes of carbon and oxygen in the carbon dioxide of the Martian atmosphere. Isotopes are variants of the same element with different atomic weights. Niles is lead author of a paper about the findings published in Thursday's online edition of the journal Science. The paper explains the ratios of stable isotopes and their implications for the history of Martian water and volcanoes. "Isotopes can be used as a chemical signature that can tell us where something came from, and what kinds of events it has experienced," Niles said. This chemical signature suggests that liquid water primarily existed at temperatures near freezing and that hydrothermal systems similar to Yellowstone’s hot springs have been rare throughout the planet's past.
Measurements concerning carbon dioxide showed Mars is a much more active planet than previously thought. The results imply Mars has replenished its atmospheric carbon dioxide relatively recently, and the carbon dioxide has reacted with liquid water present on the surface. Measurements were performed by an instrument on Phoenix called the Evolved Gas Analyzer. The instrument was capable of doing more accurate analysis of carbon dioxide than similar instruments on NASA's Viking landers in the 1970s. The Viking Program provided the only previous Mars isotope data sent back to Earth. The low gravity and lack of a magnetic field on Mars mean that as carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere, it will be lost to space. This process favors loss of a lighter isotope named carbon-12 compared to carbon-13.
NASA completed a historic day for its hurricane research on Thursday as it put the Global Hawk over Earl, marking the first time the unmanned drone flew over a fully formed hurricane. The Global Hawk also flew in concert with NASA’s DC-8 during the DC-8’s fourth and final research flight to Earl. Both planes are outfitted with a suite of highly advanced instruments that scientists hope will bring new insight into how hurricanes form and intensify. Thursday marked the first day of the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment when two NASA aircraft involved were flying and studying a storm at the same time. The experiment was designed to take advantage of having multiple aircraft above a storm at once, in order to observe hurricanes and tropical storms in as many facets as possible.
As Earl changed over the course of the week, the hurricane turned into an almost ideal test bed for GRIP. The DC-8 flew to Earl four times, including twice from St. Croix in order to reach it when it was farther east. GRIP scientists designed the mission in order to capture a hurricane either as it was forming or as it was strengthening or fizzling. And the Earl flights delivered, allowing scientists to observe the storm rapidly intensifying earlier in the week and then collapsing to a degree later in the week. A Sunday flight from St. Croix put the DC-8 over Earl as it intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 2. And Monday’s flight from Ft. Lauderdale allowed the DC-8’s instruments to observe what was happening as Earl went from a Category 3 to a Category 4.
One of GRIP’s key goals is to help scientists understand why and how some hurricanes rapidly intensify. These flights collected important data toward that end, scientists said. “That series of flights alone really helped us achieve a great goal, which is to observe rapid intensification,” said GRIP mission scientist Scott Braun from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Earl had surprised scientists earlier in the week when they saw that it was surrounded by dry air. Hurricanes often derive strength from moist air and weaken when dry air infiltrates the cyclone. “What happened?” said GRIP mission scientist Ed Zipser of the University of Utah. “The storm continued to intensify in spite of that. And we need to know why.”
NASA satellites and the International Space Station are keeping eyes on Hurricane Earl as it heads for New England. Watches and Warnings are posted in the U.S. northeast. Having felt the effects of both increasing wind shear and cooler waters, Hurricane Earl weakened to a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale with winds still powerful at 90 knots (104 mph) as it neared the North Carolina coast. It was at this time that the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured the data about TRMM's rainfall rates. The rainfall pattern associated with Earl and was made using data from the TRMM satellite when it flew over the storm on September 3 at 08:22 UTC (4:22 a.m. EDT).
Rainbands from Earl were visible over the outer banks, eastern North Carolina, and southeastern Virginia, but the storm no longer has a well-defined eye. TRMM observed moderate rainfall mostly to the north of Earl's center. Meanwhile, from a second vantage point in space, at the International Space Station, Astronaut Douglas Wheelock caught an image of the eye of the storm on September 3. As the ISS flew over Hurricane Earl Wheelock noted that it looked like magnificent chaos from up there on the Space Station and called it incredibly breathtaking. At 11 a.m. EDT on Sept. 3, Hurricane Earl's maximum sustained winds were near 85 mph. It was located about 350 miles south-southwest of Nantucket, Mass. near 36.8 North and 73.1 West. Earl's minimum central pressure was 961 millibars, and he was moving north-northeast at 21 mph.
Because Earl is now forecast to track farther away from the coast, many of the watches and warnings have been discontinued, but new watches and warnings are in place. The current watches and warnings in effect include: a hurricane warning is in effect for Woods Hole eastward around Cape Cod to Sagamore Beach Massachusetts, including Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket Island. In addition a Hurricane Watch is now in effect for Nova Scotia, Canada from Ecum Secum westward to Digby. Earl is expected to weaken further as it continues northward over cooler waters along the Eastern Seaboard. Updates on Earl are available through the National Hurricane Center at www.nhc.noaa.govand through the NASA Hurricane twitter page.
In a series of innovative collaborations this summer including a public service announcement with recording artist Mary J. Blige and a 'physics of football' segment at recent National Football League youth camps NASA is getting the word out that studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is a great way to open the door to a bright future. The latest effort in this series will debut Labor Day Weekend at events in Florida and California. Using cutting-edge, holographic technology to display NASA imagery and other multimedia products, astronaut Leland Melvin and hip-hop recording artist and actor MOS Def will share their enthusiasm for science and exploration with attendees at the I.S.I.S., and the Tom Joyner Morning Show (TJMS) Family Reunion in Orlando, Florida.
Though these two events are occurring about 3,000 miles apart, through the magic of technology, Melvin and MOS Def will appear side by side to share their message. The patented 3D hologram projection technology was developed by Obscura Digital and is being used in innovative education and outreach campaigns through a contract with NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. "This event will use the amazing power of technology to inspire students; showcase NASA’s compelling missions and scientific discovery; illustrate to students the connection between 'book' science, real life, and their futures; and really communicate with these young people in imaginative and innovative ways," noted astronaut Melvin, who flew aboard the space shuttle in 2008 and again in 2009 and is currently on assignment in the Office of Education at NASA Headquarters.
The universe is still an arcane place that scientists know very little about, but a new NASA Solar Terrestrial Probe mission is going to shed light on one especially mysterious event called magnetic reconnection. It occurs when magnetic lines of force cross, cancel, and reconnect releasing magnetic energy in the form of heat and charged-particle kinetic energy. On the sun, magnetic reconnection causes solar flares more powerful than several atomic bombs combined. In Earth's atmosphere, magnetic reconnection dispenses magnetic storms and auroras, and in laboratories on Earth it can cause big problems in fusion reactors.
Although the study of magnetic reconnection dates back to the 1950s and despite numerous scientific papers addressing this perplexing issue, scientists still cannot agree on one accepted model. In 2014, NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite that will greatly increase our understanding of this phenomenon when it launches the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, a suite of four identical spacecraft that will study magnetic reconnection in the best possible laboratory – the Earth’s magnetosphere. The spacecraft will obtain measurements necessary to test prevailing theories as to how reconnection is enabled and how it progresses.
Recently, NASA and members of an independent review board painstakingly reviewed every aspect of the MMS mission, and successfully completed the mission’s critical design review. This technical review is held to ensure that a mission can proceed into fabrication, demonstration and test and can meet stated performance requirements, including cost, schedule, risk and other system constraints. According to MMS deputy project scientist Mark Adrian of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., “This is the last hurdle before the spacecraft and instrument teams begin to build actual flight hardware.” MMS was approved for implementation in June 2009 following a successful Preliminary Design Review in May 2009.
NASA has begun development of a mission to visit and study the sun closer than ever before. The unprecedented project, named Solar Probe Plus, is slated to launch no later than 2018. The small car-sized spacecraft will plunge directly into the sun's atmosphere approximately four million miles from our star's surface. It will explore a region no other spacecraft ever has encountered. NASA has selected five science investigations that will unlock the sun's biggest mysteries. "The experiments selected for Solar Probe Plus are specifically designed to solve two key questions of solar physics why is the sun's outer atmosphere so much hotter than the sun's visible surface and what propels the solar wind that affects Earth and our solar system? " said Dick Fisher.
As the spacecraft approaches the sun, its revolutionary carbon-composite heat shield must withstand temperatures exceeding 2550 degrees Fahrenheit and blasts of intense radiation. The spacecraft will have an up close and personal view of the sun enabling scientists to better understand, characterize and forecast the radiation environment for future space explorers. NASA invited researchers in 2009 to submit science proposals. Thirteen were reviewed by a panel of NASA and outside scientists. The total dollar amount for the five selected investigations is approximately $180 million for preliminary analysis, design, development and tests.The selected proposals are:
Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation: principal investigator, Justin C. Kasper, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass. This investigation will specifically count the most abundant particles in the solar wind electrons, protons and helium ions and measure their properties. The investigation also is designed to catch some of the particles in a special cup for direct analysis. Wide-field Imager: principal investigator, Russell Howard, Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. This telescope will make 3-D images of the sun's corona, or atmosphere. The experiment actually will see the solar wind and provide 3-D images of clouds and shocks as they approach and pass the spacecraft. This investigation complements instruments on the spacecraft providing direct measurements by imaging the plasma the other instruments sample.
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is accepting scholarship applications for the 2011 academic year. The application deadline is Jan. 17, 2011. "We want more students to pursue careers in aeronautics," said Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "By offering these scholarships, we are extending to students not just an opportunity to become familiar with NASA's research, but also an extra dose of inspiration. Scholarships are an excellent way for us to attract talented young innovators to our work force."
NASA expects to award 20 undergraduate and five graduate scholarships to students in aeronautics or related fields. Undergraduate students entering their second year of study will receive up to $15,000 per year for two years and the opportunity to receive a $10,000 stipend by interning at a NASA research center during the summer. Graduate students will receive up to $35,000 per year for up to three years, with an opportunity to receive a $10,000 stipend interning at a NASA research center for up to two consecutive summers.
Students who have not committed to a specific academic institution or program still may apply. However, if accepted, they must be admitted by fall 2011 into a suitable aeronautical engineering program or related field of study at an accredited U.S. university. All applicants must be U.S. citizens. Scholarship money may be used for tuition and other school-related expenses. NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate conducts cutting-edge, fundamental and integrated systems research in traditional and emerging disciplines. The intent is to help transform the nation's air transportation system and to support development of future air and space vehicles. Goals include improving airspace capacity and flexibility; aviation safety and aircraft performance; reducing overall noise, engine emissions and fuel usage.
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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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's Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star. The transit signatures of two distinct planets were seen in the data for the sun-like star designated Kepler-9. The planets were named Kepler-9b and 9c. The discovery incorporates seven months of observations of more than 156,000 stars as part of an ongoing search for Earth-sized planets outside our solar system. The findings will be published in Thursday's issue of the journal Science. Kepler's ultra-precise camera measures tiny decreases in the stars' brightness that occur when a planet transits them. The size of the planet can be derived from these temporary dips.
The distance of the planet from the star can be calculated by measuring the time between successive dips as the planet orbits the star. Small variations in the regularity of these dips can be used to determine the masses of planets and detect other non-transiting planets in the system. In June, mission scientists submitted findings for peer review that identified more than 700 planet candidates in the first 43 days of Kepler data. The data included five additional candidate systems that appear to exhibit more than one transiting planet. The Kepler team recently identified a sixth target exhibiting multiple transits and accumulated enough follow-up data to confirm this multi-planet system.
"Kepler's high quality data and round-the-clock coverage of transiting objects enable a whole host of unique measurements to be made of the parent stars and their planetary systems," said Doug Hudgins, the Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Scientists refined the estimates of the masses of the planets using observations from the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The observations show Kepler-9b is the larger of the two planets, and both have masses similar to but less than Saturn. Kepler-9b lies closest to the star with an orbit of about 19 days, while Kepler-9c has an orbit of about 38 days. By observing several transits by each planet over the seven months of data, the time between successive transits could be analyzed.
Unicorns and roses are usually the stuff of fairy tales, but a new cosmic image taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE) shows the Rosette nebula located within the constellation Monoceros, or the Unicorn. This flower-shaped nebula, also known by the less romantic name NGC 2237, is a huge star-forming cloud of dust and gas in our Milky Way galaxy. Estimates of the nebula's distance vary from 4,500 to 5,000 light-years away. At the center of the flower is a cluster of young stars called NGC 2244. The most massive stars produce huge amounts of ultraviolet radiation, and blow strong winds that erode away the nearby gas and dust, creating a large, central hole.
The radiation also strips electrons from the surrounding hydrogen gas, ionizing it and creating what astronomers call an HII region. Although the Rosette nebula is too faint to see with the naked eye, NGC 2244 is beloved by amateur astronomers because it is visible through a small telescope or good pair of binoculars. The English astronomer John Flamsteed discovered the star cluster NGC 2244 with a telescope around 1690, but the nebula itself was not identified until John Herschel observed it almost 150 years later. The streak seen at lower left is the trail of a satellite, captured as WISE snapped the multiple frames that make up this view.
This image is a four-color composite created by all four of WISE's infrared detectors. Color is representational: blue and cyan represent infrared light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns, which is dominated by light from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is mostly light from warm dust. JPL manages the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The principal investigator, Edward Wright, is at UCLA. The mission was competitively selected under NASA's Explorers Program managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.
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