TEDxNASA@Siliconvalley On Aug. 17 Will Be Streamed Online, NASA

"NASA's four research centers -- Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif; Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif.; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; Langley Research Center and the National Institute of Aerospace, both in Hampton Va. -- are co-hosting the event. It is modeled after the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences that bring together visionaries in technology, entertainment and design to create a dialogue about important global challenges."

NASA Creates Human Exploration And Operations Directorate, NASA

"NASA has announced the creation of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate. The new organization, which combines the Space Operations and Exploration Systems mission directorates, will focus on International Space Station operations and human exploration beyond low Earth orbit."

Marc's Note: Hey, just when I was starting to like these acronyms, they're gone. Now with HEO we can get on with the next human mission beyond LEO to? An asteroid, the moon, maybe Phobos, how about Mars?

'The Avengers' Filmed in Highly-Secured NASA Facility, AceShowbiz

"At a press conference on Thursday, August 11, Marvel officials explained that Plum Brook Station played an important role in bringing the film to Ohio. The officials said that NASA welcomed the business and wished that more Hollywood movies will be filmed at the site."

SpaceX Plans To Be Top World Rocket Maker, Aviation Week

"While many beleaguered U.S. aerospace manufacturers are trimming back amid continuing uncertainty over the nation's long-term goals, California-based SpaceX is ramping up plans to become the world's largest producer of rocket engines in less than five years, manufacturing more units per year than any other single country."

Hatch & Reid (and others) Forcing NASA's Hand, Tea in Space

"We reported that Orrin Hatch was circulating a letter in the senate during our nation's darkest fiscal hour... now we know who he got to sign it. The signatures are:

Harry Reid (NV)
Orrin Hatch(UT)
Mike Crapo (ID)
James E. Risch (ID)
Dean Heller (NV)"

Marc's Note: Tea in Space has obtained a letter signed by five senators (PDF) which basically says you have what you need with the SRB's, Ares
derived components, SSME etc., so use it.

Marc's update: For those who've had problems downloading the letter from the Tea in Space site I've updated the link so you can download it from NASA Watch.

Marc's update: My mistake, Keith had already posted the letter on August 2nd.

NASA's Asteroid Photographer Beams Back Science Data, NASA

"The Dawn spacecraft has completed a graceful spiral into the first of four planned science orbits during the spacecraft's yearlong visit to Vesta. The spacecraft started taking detailed observations on Aug. 11 at 9:13 a.m. PDT (12:13 a.m. EDT), which marks the official start of the first science-collecting orbit phase at Vesta, also known as the survey orbit."

Deal that may bring 600 jobs to KSC could get OK soon, Florida Today

"Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana said he is optimistic a deal will close soon to transfer control of a former shuttle hangar to Space Florida.

He said that will clear up red tape, and enable what he described as "a commercial company" to move into the building known as Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3, where it hopes to employ 500 to 600 people."

Marc's Note: The commercial company is Boeing.

U.S. hypersonic glider launched, contact lost, USA Today (AP)

"An unmanned hypersonic glider developed for U.S. defense research into super-fast global strike capability was launched atop a rocket early Thursday but contact was lost after the experimental craft began flying on its own, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said."

Photo: One Last Visit To The Cupola

"Backlit by Earth's "day time" light, NASA astronaut Sandy Magnus, STS-135 mission specialist, gets one last visit to the Cupola onboard the International Space Station. on July 18, 2011."

Photo: Space Shuttle Orbiters "Discovery" and "Endeavour"

Space Shuttle Orbiters "Discovery" and "Endeavour" at Kennedy Space Center this morning adjacent to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

NASA Future Forum, NASA TV

"NASA's first Future Forum of 2011 will bring together agency officials and local business, science and education leaders to discuss the agency's role in advancing innovation, technology, science, engineering, and education and NASA's benefit to the nation's economy. Rep. Donna F. Edwards will deliver opening remarks at 8 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 11, at the University of Maryland's Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center in College Park."

Marc's Note: Bolden will speak no earlier than 8:10 a.m. EDT.

Marc's Update: Bolden took a break from his prepared remarks at the beginning of his speech to talk about the American capability for cargo resupply and that is what months, not years from bridging that gap.

"That is a message that I have failed to get out, that is a message that we at NASA, that is the message that the American admin, that our, that the administration has failed to get out." ... "We're months away, not years, from an American capability to deliver cargo to the International Space Station."

He was referring to the SpaceX demo flight scheduled for November 30 this year. He also brought up Orbital saying both companies would be bringing cargo to the ISS in 2012 and that after the SpaceX final demo in November SpaceX could be bringing their first cargo to station in February of 2012.

NASA Mars Rover Arrives At New Site On Martian Surface, NASA

"After a journey of almost three years, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the Red Planet's Endeavour crater to study rocks never seen before. On Aug. 9, the golf cart-sized rover relayed its arrival at a location named Spirit Point on the crater's rim. Opportunity drove approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) after climbing out of the Victoria crater."

Marc's Note: Opportunity just keeps going and going and ... I wonder what discoveries she'll find at Endeavour crater.

NASA OIG: NASA's Payments for Academic Training and Degrees

"NASA Inspector General Paul K. Martin today released an audit that found abuse in a NASA program that reimburses Agency employees for academic courses leading to undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate degrees. This Office of Inspector General (OIG) review concluded that NASA's decentralized management structure, coupled with a lack of strong internal controls, resulted in more than $1 million in questionable tuition payments to employees. Federal law prohibits NASA from funding academic degrees for civil service employees except through planned employee development programs that meet an identified training need, resolve a staffing problem, or accomplish the Agency's strategic goals. However, the OIG found that NASA routinely paid significant amounts of money to reimburse employees for academic courses taken outside its formal degree programs."