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NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Moves to Space Center Houston This Month

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HOUSTON A historic NASA jumbo jet has been cleared for its final takeoff not into the air, but on a road trip through the streets of Houston to the site of its future exhibit.

The space agency's original Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified Boeing 747 jetliner that for more than 30 years ferried NASA's now-retired orbiters across the country, will make the journey from Houston's Ellington Field to Space Center Houston, the official visitor center for the Johnson Space Center, over the course of two nights at the end of April.

"The BIG Move!" Space Center Houston officials wrote on Facebook. "The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will start its move from Ellington Field to Space Center Houston on April 28." [How NASA Flies Space Shuttles on 747 Jets (Photos)]

To enable its transport, Boeing's Aircraft on Ground (AOG) team partially disassembled the jet, removing its vertical stabilizer (or tail), aft section, engine mounts, and landing gear. The engineers also removed the jet's wings, marking the first time in history that the Boeing team separated a 747 from its wings outside of an aircraft hangar.

The work to take apart the SCA, which is also referred to by its tail number N905NA, or NASA 905 for short, began in mid-February and was finished Wednesday (March 26).

The SCA's fuselage, wings, aft section and other parts will next be loaded on to flatbed transports and trucks for the trip to Space Center Houston.

"To minimize the impact on traffic and local businesses, the move will occur over two nights starting at 9:00 p.m. [CDT]," the center's officials said.

Details of the move and where the public can view it as it happens will be announced soon, but the general plan is to traverse the 8 miles (13 kilometers) over the course of two legs.

On the first night, the convoy will travel from Ellington on Texas State Highway 3 to a staging area on E. Commerce Street, where the aircraft will spend the day (April 29). As night falls, the SCA will continue its trip to Space Center Houston, traveling along NASA Parkway (NASA Road 1).

"The convoy is then expected to arrive early Wednesday morning [April 30]," Space Center Houston officials said.

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NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Moves to Space Center Houston This Month

NASA: The Proud Conquest Of Gemini VI and VII – 1966 Educational Film – S88TV1 – Video

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NASA: The Proud Conquest Of Gemini VI and VII - 1966 Educational Film - S88TV1
Astronauts Borman, Lovell, Schirra and Stafford discuss the historic rendezvous of their Gemini VI and Gemini VII spacecraft. President Johnson #39;s press confe...

By: Tomorrow Always Comes

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NASA: The Proud Conquest Of Gemini VI and VII - 1966 Educational Film - S88TV1 - Video

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for CYGNSS Mission

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NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., to launch the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission. CYGNSS will launch in October 2016 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a Pegasus XL rocket from Orbital's "Stargazer" L-1011 aircraft.

This is a firm-fixed price launch-service task order contract worth approximately $55 million. Contract services include spacecraft processing, the launch service payload integration, tracking, data and telemetry and other launch support requirements.

CYGNSS will produce measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes, which could help lead to forecasting weather better. The mission, led by the University of Michigan, will use a constellation of small satellites that will be carried to orbit on a single launch vehicle. CYGNSS's eight micro-satellite observatories will receive direct and reflected signals from GPS satellites.

CYGNSS is the first award for space-based investigations in the Earth Venture-class series of rapidly developed, cost-constrained projects for NASA's Earth Science Division. NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., manages the Earth System Science Pathfinder program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for management and oversight of the Pegasus XL launch services. Langley provides management for the CYGNSS mission.

For more information about NASA's Launch Services Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/launchservices

For more information about NASA programs and missions, visit:

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NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for CYGNSS Mission

NASA Talk Highlights What's Next for Tomorrow's Airplanes

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On Tuesday, April 1 at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Mark Anderson, the director of Flight Sciences Technology for Boeing Research & Technology will present "To the Frontiers of Flight: The Role of Innovation in Developing Tomorrow's Products" at 2 p.m. in the Reid Conference Center.Anderson will review advanced aviation technology on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and focus on future air vehicles and concepts. He will also highlight NASA research contributions to the frontiers of flightAnderson will be available to answer questions from the media during a news briefing at 1:15 p.m. that day. Media who wish to do so should contact Chris Rink at 757-864-6786, or by e-mail atchris.rink@nasa.gov, by noon on the day of the talk for credentials and entry to the center.That same evening at 7:30, Anderson will present a similar program for the general public at the Virginia Air & Space Center in downtown Hampton. This Sigma Series event is free and no reservations are required.Anderson started as an aerodynamics engineer within Boeing Commercial Airplanes working in research and product development. He currently leads Boeing's advanced technology research in aerodynamics, propulsion, acoustics, guidance systems, navigation and control, configuration design and applied mathematics. In addition, he serves as chief engineer for Flight & Systems Technology.A member of the NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee, Anderson served as a member of the National Research Council Committee to Assess NASA Aeronautics Flight Research Capabilities. He is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and has served as Chairman of the AIAA national Aircraft Design Technical Committee and as General Chairman of the organization's New Horizons in Aviation Forum.For more information about NASA Langley's Colloquium and Sigma Series Lectures, visit:http://colloqsigma.larc.nasa.gov

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NASA Talk Highlights What's Next for Tomorrow's Airplanes

NASA Armstrong Center Renaming Ceremony Set for May 13

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Media are invited to a formal dedication ceremony to mark the renaming of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, formerly the Dryden Flight Research Center, on Tuesday, May 13 at the center's campus at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The renaming ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. PDT in Hangar 4802. It is expected to include comments from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Armstrong Center Director David McBride, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California and members of the Armstrong and Dryden families.

Legislation to redesignate the 68-year-old facility, NASA's center of excellence for atmospheric flight research, in honor of the late Neil A. Armstrong was passed by the House of Representatives in early 2013, by the Senate on Jan. 8, and was signed into law by President Obama on Jan. 16. The name change became official March 1.

Rep. McCarthy, whose district includes the center, authored the resolution to rename the facility for Armstrong, a former research test pilot who flew at the center and the first man to step on the moon during the historic Apollo 11 mission in 1969. The legislation also directed the naming of the center's aeronautical test range for the late Hugh L. Dryden, the center's namesake since 1976, who had been the director of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics from 1949 to 1958 and NASA's first deputy administrator from 1958 until his death in 1965.

Media who wish to cover the rededication ceremony should contact the Armstrong public affairs office at 661-276-3449 or emailkim.l.lewis-bias@nasa.gov,no later than April 3 for non-U.S. citizens and May 8 for U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens. Media must work for a legitimate, verifiable newsgathering organization. No substitutions of non-credentialed media representatives will be allowed.

U.S. citizens must furnish their full name, date of birth, place of birth, media organization, the last six digits of social security number and drivers license number, including issuing state. Permanent resident aliens must provide their alien registration number and expiration date. In addition, foreign nationals must furnish their current citizenship, visa or passport number, country of issue and expiration date.

For more details the center's renaming and the lives and careers of Dryden and Armstrong, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/NewsReleases/2014/14-05.html

For more information about NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, visit:

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NASA Armstrong Center Renaming Ceremony Set for May 13

NASA Book Reveals New Twist In Flight Research

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March 31, 2014

Image Caption: NASA's flexible-wing F/A-18 maneuvers through a test point during the second phase of the NASA/Air Force Active Aeroelastic Wing flight research project. Credit: NASA / Carla Thomas

Jim Banke, NASA

Sometimes the inspiration for innovative technological solutions comes from unexpected places.

Thats one of the key messages author Peter Merlin hopes readers will take away from reading NASAs newest book in its Aeronautics Book Series, A New Twist in Flight Research: The F-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing Project.

In this case the inspiration for the test project involving an F-18 with elastic wings came from no less than the worlds first airplane the 1903 Wright Flyer, which in turn saw its design based on observations of birds in flight dating back to the time of Leonardo da Vinci.

That first airplane didnt sport the same kind of control surfaces, such as flaps and ailerons, that todays airplanes rely on to steer through the air. Instead, just like birds, the Wright Flyer twisted its wings to change its direction in flight.

A century later, designers wondered if maybe the birds and the Wright brothers were on to something worth exploring with modern technology. The result was the F-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) project

NASAs new 194-page book tells the story of that flight research project, which saw an F-18 supersonic fighter modified so its wings could be warped in flight to aid in steering. It made 96 flights in two phases between November 2002 and April 2005.

AAW technology is sort of a back to the future approach to aircraft design, Merlin said. It leverages structural flexibility and the strength of new lightweight composite materials for a net benefit with regard to aircraft maneuverability.

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NASA Book Reveals New Twist In Flight Research

NASA Radiation Probes Aiding Space Weather Forecasts

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Two NASA probes are helping scientists get a better understanding of how the giant belts of radiation around Earth affect the spacecraft circling the planet.

Scientists are using data gathered by NASA's twin Van Allen Probes, which launched to Earth orbit in August 2012, in concert with advanced computer models, to simulate the dynamic radiation environment of near-Earth space, two new studies report.

"The Van Allen Probes are gathering great measurements, but they can't tell you what is happening everywhere at the same time," Geoff Reeves, of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, said in a statement earlier this month. "We need models to provide a context, to describe the whole system, based on the Van Allen Probe observations."

The Van Allen belts named after James Van Allen, who discovered them in 1958 are like two enormous doughnuts that encircle Earth. The space doughnuts are composed of charged particles including protons, electrons and various other ions that are held in place by Earth's magnetic field. Because the particles have so much energy, they can damage instruments in orbit.

These particles are doubly dangerous because their behavior has so far been unpredictable; depending on the sun's activity, their energy can jump drastically, sometimes to 99 percent the speed of light. Scientists would love to be able to predict this behavior a skill that would help them design spacecraft that can better withstand the rigors of the space environment.

The Van Allen Probes are bringing scientists closer to achieving that goal. The spacecraft provide crucial information to a computer model developed by Los Alamos scientists known as DREAM3D (short for Dynamic Radiation Environment Assimilation Model in 3 Dimensions) which had relied heavily on data gathered in the early 1990s by NASA's Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite.

For example, scientists compared simulations generated by DREAM3D against data collected by the Van Allen Probes and NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer satellite during a powerful solar storm in October 2012.

DREAM3D did a pretty good job of predicting the major effects, researchers said.

"That gives us some confidence in our model," Reeves said. "And, more importantly, it gives us confidence that we are starting to understand what's going on in the radiation belts."

The two new studies were published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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NASA Radiation Probes Aiding Space Weather Forecasts


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