27-09-2012 15:59 NASA's newest Mars rover has found evidence that a stream once ran vigorously across the area on the Red Planet where the rover is now driving. The finding is a different type of evidence for water on Mars than ever found before. Scientists are studying Curiosity's images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels. The sizes and shapes of stones cemented into a layer of conglomerate rock are clues to the speed and distance of a long-ago stream's flow.

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NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds Old Streambed on Mars - Video

28-09-2012 13:59 October 7 is the launch date for SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft on the first commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. This will be the first of 12 contracted flights by SpaceX to resupply the space station under the Commercial Resupply Services contract and will restore an American capability to transport cargo to and from the orbiting laboratory. Also, Curiosity Finds Streambed; New ISS Crew; Endeavour in LA; Extreme Hubble; Webb's Mirrors; Milky Way's Halo; and more!

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Dragon Awaits on This Week @NASA - Video

Synopsis - Oct 01, 2012

General Information

Solicitation Number: NNG13374674R Posted Date: Oct 01, 2012 FedBizOpps Posted Date: Oct 01, 2012 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: N/A Current Response Date: N/A Classification Code: A -- Research and Development NAICS Code: 541712 Set-Aside Code: Total Small Business

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Wallops Flight Facility, Code 210.W, Wallops Island, VA 23337

Description

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a follow-on requirement for Engineering Services (WESC) to support the Applied Engineering Technology Directorate (AETD) at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). NASA Wallops Flight Facility enables low-cost aerospace-based science and technology research by enabling scientific research through the development and deployment of low-cost, highly capable suborbital and orbital research carriers; enabling aerospace technology advances supporting NASA's Mission Directorates through advanced technology deployment and testing; enabling education, commercial development of Space and other innovative partnerships.

To fulfill these responsibilities and achieve our mission, NASA must acquire a wide range of engineering services to support activities at the GSFC WFF.

The principal purpose of WESC is to provide engineering support services and related work in the following areas: Technology Development, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Guidance, Navigation and Control Systems, Safety Engineering, Metrology, Project Management and Support and Facilities Engineering. Support shall be provided for WFF activities including the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate, Suborbital and Special Orbital Projects Directorate, Sciences and Exploration Directorate, Facilities Management Branch and Ground Network activities.

The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. This procurement is a total small business set-aside. The NAICS Code and Size Standard are 541712 and 1000 employees respectively. All responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency.

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NASA Wallops Engineering Services Contract

NASA's proposal to build a small space station at the Earth Moon Lagrange Point-2, which is where the gravity of the Earth and moon cancel out 38,000 miles from the far side of the moon, is coming under some criticism.

The EMLP-2 station proposal

According to the Orlando Sentinel, NASA officials made a presentation to the White House for a space station to be built at the EMLP-2 point using left over International Space Station modules. The station would be serviced by the Orion Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle launched by the heavy lift Space Launch System. A near term purpose for the EMLP-2 station would be for astronauts to teleoperate robotic explorers on the lunar surface, with one mission mentioned a lunar sample return. Later the station could be used as a way station and refueling depot to support deep space missions, to the asteroids and eventually to Mars.

Problems with the EMLP-2 station

The Orlando Sentinel suggests that there are two problems with the NASA proposal. First, because of the great distance the station would be from Earth, problems of resupply and even rescue in case of disaster would be more difficult than with the ISS in low Earth orbit. Also, since the station would be beyond Earth's magnetic field, radiation shielding would be a major issue.

EMLP-2 station a make work project

Paul Spudis, a planetary geologist who writes frequently on space issues, offers a critique of the near term stated purpose of the EMLP-2 station. He suggests that positioning astronauts 38,000 miles from the moon would provide little if any advantage to controllers on Earth where it comes to teleoperating robots on the lunar surface. Spudis suggests that such a station would make sense if it were part of a larger cislunar transportation infrastructure that included a fuel depot supplied, by preference, by rocket fuel refined from lunar ice known to lay in the permanently shadowed craters at the moon's north and south poles.

EMLP-2 station a plot to justify Orion/SLS

John Strickland, a space advocate and a member of the National Space Society Board of Directors, suggests in the Space Review that building what is in effect a smaller version of the ISS at an Earth Moon Lagrange Point is a scheme by NASA to justify the expense of the Orion and Space Launch System. Currently Orion/SLS have a limited number of destinations. Without a lander, astronauts cannot access the lunar surface. Without a long duration habitation module, astronauts cannot visit Earth-approaching asteroids. A station in empty space in the cislunar system is about the only place that the Orion/SLS can go.

Strickland, like Spudis, favors a space station at one of the EMLPs if it could serve as a fuel depot. But he suggests that building such a space station is pointless until reusable launch vehicles and space craft are developed to service such a facility and take advantage of its capabilities to explore further into the solar system.

Read more from the original source:

NASA Plan to Build Space Station Beyond the Moon Criticized

Last week, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin released the results of an investigation that looked into why the U.S. space agency has had long-standing problemsaka challengesin meeting its programs cost, schedule and performance goals (pdf).

For instance, in 2009, it was estimated that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) would cost US $2.6 billion to develop and launch by 2014. At latest count, the tab has now ballooned toover $8 billion for development(not including $940 million contributed by international partners) and another $800 million for five years of operational costs. The huge cost overrun on JWSTas well as many other projectshas not helped win the friends in Congress that NASA needs in order to maintain its funding in these lean times, to say the very least.

The inspector general's report focuses on NASAs culture of optimism, which Martin accepts is essential to overcoming the extraordinary technological challenges inherent in the development of unique, first-of-their-kind space systems. However, this optimism unchecked also "leads managers to overestimate their ability to overcome the risks inherent in delivering such projects within available funding constraints. This in turn leads to overly optimistic cost and schedule estimates, the report states.

Technical complexity is also identified in the report as a driver of poor cost and schedule estimates. It acknowledges that if you are working on something unprecedented, it is hard to be accurate in your estimates of how much the effort will take or its final cost.

Making estimation even harder is that Congress keeps changing program funding, which often requires a program re-planning exercise and new technical approach. Of course, some of this funding volatility is self-inflicted: any government program that is massively overrunning its budget cant expect Congress to keep its budget axe sheathed.

There is also the lack of experience by those making program cost and budget estimates. NASA, like many defense and aerospace companies, is starting to lose to retirement (pdf) its cadre of most experienced program managers who have a lot of hands-on experience. There is not that much opportunity anymore at NASA (or elsewhere for that matter) for junior personnel to gain the proper experiential scarring needed to produce realistic budget estimates. That said, however, it may not really matter.

One of the primary causes of NASA cost/schedule problems is what the inspector general calls the "Hubble Psychology" that is common among the organization's managers.

Many project managers we spoke with mentioned the Hubble Psychology an expectation among NASA personnel that projects that fail to meet cost and schedule goals will receive additional funding and that subsequent scientific and technological success will overshadow any budgetary and schedule problems. They pointed out that although Hubble greatly exceeded its original budget, launched years after promised, and suffered a significant technological problem that required costly repair missions, the telescope is now generally viewed as a national treasure and its initial cost and performance issues have largely been forgotten.

How pervasive is this psychology? The reported noted that, when asked whether their projects had been successful, every project manager we interviewed answered in the affirmative, regardless of the projects fidelity to cost and schedule goals.

Of course, this same psychology permeates program and project managers at the U.S. Department of Defense as well. If a weapon system works well in combat, no one remembers how much it overran its budget or schedule. DoD managers, however, are in a better position to get away with this behavior than NASA managers.

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"Hubble Psychology” Causing NASA Program Cost Overruns?

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - Oct 1, 2012) - The International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA) is partnering with NASA Johnson Space Center's Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Educational group for a Space Science Day. The event is free with advanced registration required. Teachers may register online and download sign up sheets for classes. Students may also register online.Space Science Day will be held at the Blackburn Center at Howard University in Washington D.C. Students will attend on November 2, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Teacher Resources and Learning will occur on Saturday, November 3 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Charlie Galindo, NASA lead scientist, says, "This collaboration brings an experiential learning program, NASA Space Science Days, to the DC metropolitan area. It exposes local high school students and teachers to NASA hands on activities designed to ask scientific questions and find the answers by combining science and engineering activities.Teachers will also receive certification to borrow lunar and meteorite education disks to use in their classroom."

The IUVA is working closely with Science Technology Engineering and Math(STEM) students in high school and college. Deborah Martinez, Executive Director of the IUVA says, "The IUVA presents educational seminars for STEM students to discover the ever evolving options becoming available in their respective fields."

The IUVA was recently spotlighted in Diverse Issues in Higher Education, which focuses on minority advancement in education. Students from diverse ethnic and socio economic backgrounds who show promise in STEM fields are encouraged to pursue their educational and career objectives with the help of IUVA's worldwide membership.

Another IUVA educational initiative is a recent partnership with http://www.MentorNet.net, a national organization that matches mentors to students. "My vision is to build a program with them that emphasizes UV technologies and its applications in water and wastewater disinfection, cleaning air and water for aquatics. These are exciting, well-paying jobs that utilize cutting edge technology, with even more possibilities opening in the future," said Martinez.

IUVA's mission is to advance the science, engineering and applications of ultraviolet technologies to enhance the quality of human life and to protect the environment. Founded in 1999, it is a 501(c)3 educational association of more than 500 members in 35 countries. IUVA is recognized as the leading knowledge-base and voice for UV technologies through its varied conferences and programs.Visit iuva.org.

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International Ultraviolet Association Co-Sponsors NASA Space Science Day for STEM Students and Educators

A NASA spacecraft has captured a beautiful song "sung" by our own planet.The noise - which sounds similar to whale song - is called a "chorus", Craig Kletzing of the University of Iowa explained."This is one of the clearest examples...

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NASA captures Earth's 'song'

There appears to be support within NASA to position astronauts at an Earth-moon libration point to bolster the space agencys plans of pushing beyond low-Earth orbit with its Orion spacecraft design.

Anchoring hardware and a crew at the Earth-moon L2 "gateway" would offer many benefits, advocates say. One of them is building on multinational cooperation honed at the International Space Station (ISS).

Under review is use of Russian-supplied hardware at the L2 point, according to insiders contacted by SPACE.com. Surplus space shuttle gear and ISS-flight-ready spares are also in the mix.

Regarding the use of Russian space hardware, both the Multipurpose Laboratory Module and the Scientific-Power Module are new modules being developed in Russia. Both will add new capabilities to the ISS. A proposal on the table seeks to use a similar Russian-provided Scientific-Power Module in cislunar space as a base of operations for exploration missions. [Gallery: Visions of Deep-Space Station Missions]

NASA space planners have been sketching out an exploration strategy that would make use of the Lagrange points. For one, by exploring and working beyond the Earths radiation belts, more can be learned about space radiation protection. Additionally, the Lagrange points provide unique perspectives of the moon, sun and Earth. Sojourns to the Earth-moon L2 would take humans farther than they have ever been from Earth.

Done deal?

A recent Orlando Sentinel newspaper story kick-started the perception that NASA officials have picked a leading candidate for the agencys next major mission: creation of a "gateway spacecraft" parked at the Earth-moon libration point 2, also known as EML-2.

Indeed, NASA has spotlighted the fact that, as crewed missions extend farther from Earth and for longer periods of time, they will require new capabilities to enable safe and sustainable habitation and exploration.

As reported by SPACE.com earlier this year, a Feb. 3 memo from William Gerstenmaier, NASAs associate administrator for human exploration and operations, noted that a team would be formed to develop a cohesive plan for exploring the EML-2 spot in space.

Libration points, also known as Lagrangian points, are places in space where the combined gravitational pull of two large masses roughly balance each other out, allowing spacecraft to essentially "park" there.

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NASA Mulls Deep-Space Station on Moon's Far Side

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 14:10

Nasa has released spectacular high definition video of a solar flare breaking away from the surface of the Sun.

The coronal mass ejection, captured by Nasas Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows a filament that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupting into space at nearly 1500 kilometres per second.

The eruption happened at 8.36pm (Irish time) on August 31st this year and was large enough to engulf the Earth many times over.

The associated coronal mass ejection passed by Earth on the night of Monday, September 3rd, connecting with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear.

The video, shot in 1080p high definition, shows the filament from several different angles allowing viewers to observe how the solar flare behaved.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory is a Nasa mission tasked with understanding the Sun's influence on Earth and near-Earth space. The obervatory, which is observing the Sun over a five-year period, is part of a larger programme which aims to develop scientific understanding of the connected SunEarth system that directly affects life and society.

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Nasa captures solar eruption