Internet users and space enthusiasts are about to come one step closer to deciding the future of space travel. NASA is using the crowdsourcing power of the Web to help to pick the final cover layer design for its next generation spacesuit, and you can vote online until April 15.

More than 83,000 people had already cast their votes as of Wednesday morning on three prototypes, designed jointly by NASA engineers, suit manufacturer ILC Dover and design students from Philadelphia University.

All three candidates are equally as trendy in form and function, but ultimately only one cover layer will be built to go over the Z-2 prototype spacesuit, which NASA spokesman Dan Huot said will be more mobile and can be put on and taken off more easily than the previous Z-1 suit.

Where the bulky, white spacesuits worn by astronauts for the last 30 years have worked well on previous missions where youre floating around, theres no gravity and you dont have to worry about weight," the old suits "won't work very well" on planet surfaces where there's gravity, such as Mars, Huot told ABC news.

Weve always known we need a different suit for when we get on Mars, Huot said.

Astronauts' Space Suits Through The Years

What people are actually voting on is not the spacesuit itself but the cover layer, which serves to protect the layers underneath from snags and abrasions.

So far, the most popular is the Technology cover layer, which has received almost 65 percent of votes, said Huot.

The Technology one looks a lot like an old Apollo suit. It kind of has that same general look, except with the addition of the light emitting patches, Huot said. Luminex wire and light-emitting patches on the upper torso will make it easier for astronauts to identify their fellow space walkers, but they "may or may not be incorporated in the final design," Huot said.

NASA

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NASA Crowdsources New Spacesuit Design

The snowpack atop mountain peaks in California and Colorado has a new set of eyes watching from high above to better gauge the amount of water that will rumble down rivers and streams each spring as runoff.

In a new mission, NASA fixed a lumbering twin-engine plane with high-tech equipment to make regular snow surveys, starting last weekend in drought-stricken California before the weather front expected to bring snow to the Sierra this week. At an altitude of up to 20,000 feet, the so-called Airborne Snow Observatory measures snowpack's depth and water content with precision.

Improving on the old method of taking snow samples from the ground, scientists said that from the lofty heights they can calculate snow depth to within 4 inches and water content to within 5 percent.

The figures will answer a list of questions about mountain snowpack, said Tom Painter, NASA's lead investigator for the mission.

"About 75 to 80 percent of our water comes from the snowmelt," Painter said. "Understanding the snowpack is really, really important."

For decades, snowpack's water content was based on estimates and fraught with errors. Each month, surveyors hiked out to sparse locations, typically at low and medium elevations. By hand, they plunged a long tube down into the snowpack, pulling up a core sample to be measured.

Yet much of the snowpack is higher up in the mountain ranges and out of reach of surveyors. So NASA is taking a different approach.

The first flight of the year for a de Havilland Twin Otter plane took off recently from Mammoth Yosemite Airport in the heart of the Sierra Nevada.

Lasers first scan the snow to find out its depth, indicating how much water is locked inside. An image is next taken to measure the amount of sunlight reflected and absorbed by the snow to gauge how quickly it will melt into runoff.

Scientists will combine these two pieces of information and track them over time to monitor changes, providing an accurate picture of the runoff, Painter said.

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NASA Measures Snowpack in California, Colorado

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's Visitor Center inGreenbelt, Md., will host a free public event celebrating the science and exploration of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The free event will be held at the NASA Goddard Visitor's Center onTuesday, Apr. 8, 2014, at7 p.m. EDT.

The hour-long event will feature a selection of talks and videos presented by experts from NASA's Cassini mission. As part of its groundbreaking exploration of the Saturn system, Cassini has made regular encounters with Titan and will reach the milestone of its 101st Titan flyby onApr. 7.

Cassini's unique view of this Mercury-sized moon has enabled the discovery an extensive layer of liquid water deep beneath Titan's surface. The spacecraft has mapped lakes and seas larger thanNorth America'sGreat Lakes but made of liquid methane and ethane. And the onboard instrument suite has probed the dense, smog-like atmosphere to study the organic molecules formed from the breakup of methane by solar radiation.

To celebrate this decade of exceptional science, Cassini Science Planning EngineersTrina RayandKimberly Steadmanfrom NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory inPasadena, Calif., will discuss how the mission team plans a Titan flyby, followed by a synopsis of Cassini's top 10 Titan discoveries so far.

Goddard planetary scientistConor Nixonwill moderate the evening, and a question-and-answer session will follow the presentations. Visitors also are invited to watch the latest Science on a Sphere movies and, conditions permitting, to view planets and other celestial objects through telescopes provided by the Goddard Astronomy Club.

The lecture is intended for members of the public of high-school age and older. Doors open at6:30 p.m., and the lecture will start promptly at7 p.m. EDT. Space is limited.

Please direct any questions toElizabeth Zubritskyat 301-614-5438 orelizabeth.a.zubritsky@nasa.gov.

For more information and directions to the NASA Goddard Visitor Center, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/visitor/home/index.html http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/visitor/directions/index.html

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NASA Invites Public to 'Titan Through Time' Free Lecture: 101 Flybys and Counting

NASA | Measuring Elevation Changes on the Greenland Ice Sheet
Since the late 1970 #39;s, NASA has been monitoring changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet. Recent analysis of data from both the ICESat satellite and an ongoing air...

By: NASA Goddard

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NASA | Measuring Elevation Changes on the Greenland Ice Sheet - Video

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) An engine snag has delayed the arrival of a Russian spacecraft carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station until Thursday, NASA said on Wednesday.

A rocket carrying Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and American Steve Swanson to the space station blasted off successfully early Wednesday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz booster rocket lifted off as scheduled at 3:17 a.m. local time Wednesday (2117 GMT Tuesday), lighting up the night skies over the steppe with a giant fiery tail. It entered a designated orbit about 10 minutes after the launch and was expected to reach the space station in six hours. All onboard systems were working flawlessly, and the crew was feeling fine.

But NASA said in a statement on its website that the arrival was delayed after a 24-second engine burn that was necessary to adjust the Soyuz spacecraft's orbiting path "did not occur as planned."

The crew is in good spirits and is in no danger, but will have to wait until Thursday for the Soyuz TMA-12M to arrive and dock at the space station, NASA said. The arrival is now scheduled for 7:58 EDT (2358 GMT) Thursday.

Russian spacecraft used to routinely travel two days to reach the orbiting laboratory before last year. Wednesday would have been only the fifth time that a crew would have taken the six-hour "fast-track" route to the station.

NASA said that Moscow flight control has yet to determine why the engine burn did not occur.

The three astronauts traveling in the Soyuz will be greeted by Japan's Koichi Wakata, NASA's Rick Mastracchio and Russia's Mikhail Tyurin, who have been at the station since November. Wakata is the first Japanese astronaut to lead the station. The new crew is scheduled to stay in orbit for six months.

The joint mission is taking place at a time when U.S.-Russian relations on Earth are at their lowest ebb in decades, but the U.S. and Russia haven't allowed their disagreements over Ukraine to get in the way of their cooperation in space.

Swanson is a veteran of two U.S. space shuttle missions, and Skvortsov spent six months at the space outpost in 2010. Artemyev is on his first flight to space.

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NASA: Snag Delays Arrival Of Crew At Space Station

It was a mission-critical element: the size of NASA astronauts' manhood. Seriously. The Houston Chronicle resurrects the fascinating historical tidbit by way of the Science Channel's Moon Machines documentary series, in which engineer Donald Rethke explained the very precise nature of early space diapers.

The Maximum Absorbency Garment system, donned by Gemini and Apollo astronauts, featured one very specific element: a sleeve likened to a condom with a hole at the tip that enabled the men to urinate into a pouch with a one-way valve in their suits.

Three sleeve sizes were available, small, medium, and large. And astronauts couldn't fib, explains Rethke. If they decided to order the next size up, the sheath wouldn't fit snugly, and liquid could potentially leak out, causing damage.

To make the process a little less embarrassing, the sizes were later renamed: large, gigantic, and humongous. Motherboard notes that the urination issue was first brought to the fore by Alan Shepard, who spent hours in the Freedom 7 capsule in advance of a quick 15-minute "suborbital hop." Denied permission to leave the capsule, he opted to pee in his suitforcing Mission Control to turn off his biomedical sensors until the flow of oxygen in the suit dried the pee, allowing the sensors to be switched on.

Today's astronauts enjoy actual restrooms, though MAG systems are provided to astronauts who are operating outside space vehicles. (Other unusual NASA history: A scientist "stole" a satellite from the agency in 1983and is ready to give it back.)

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NASA diapers forced men to make big revelation

NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) has awarded approximately$2 millionin new cooperative agreements to three tribal colleges and universities (TCUs).

These new agreements provide opportunities forTCUstudents, faculty and staff to engage in NASA-related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activities.

The awards, made through the NASA Tribal College and University Experiential Learning Opportunity (TCU-ELO) program, have a three-year performance period and range in value from$512,700 to $783,000. The agreements will assist these tribal colleges and their partners in the creation of experiential learning opportunities for students.

The selected institutions for 2014 are:

--Haskell Indian Nations University,Lawrence, Kan. -- Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute,Albuquerque, N.M. --Chief Dull Knife College,Lame Deer, Mont.

The winning proposals offer innovative methods, approaches and concepts to make appropriate use of current NASA-unique engineering and scientific resources. There also is a strong emphasis on engaging students and educators at the elementary, secondary and undergraduate levels.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center inGreenbelt, Md., manages and administers TCU-ELO activity. TCU-ELO supports NASA's goal of engaging tribal community in the critical STEM disciplines and focuses on inspiring the next generation of explorers.

For a list of selected organizations and project descriptions, click on "Selected Proposals" and see the entry for "2013-2014 NASA Tribal College and University Experiential Learning Opportunity (TCU-ELO)" at:

http://nspires.nasaprs.com

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NASA Announces 2014 Tribal College and University Awards

NASA is seeking proposals from U.S. commercial suborbital reusable launch vehicle providers to integrate and fly technology payloads for the space agency.

NASA uses companies for suborbital flights to encourage and facilitate the growth of this important aerospace market while also providing a means to advance a wide range of new launch vehicle and space technologies.

NASA successfully selected seven companies in 2011 to provide these commercial services. Since then, the agency has selected 69 technology demonstration payloads requesting suborbital flights and has sponsored 25 commercial payload-flights. This new competition hopes to establish a pool of companies capable of providing flight opportunities to a variety of program-sponsored payloads by awarding contracts to multiple vendors.

"America's pioneering efforts in opening up near space -- from Earth to the edge of space -- for testing new space technologies has taken off and continues to soar," said Michael Gazarik, associate administrator for Space Technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We've helped seed this emerging commercial market while also gaining return to the taxpayer on advanced technology development. This new call for commercial providers will help the industry continue to grow while providing a valuable service to NASA and the nation."

The selected platforms may include suborbital reusable launch vehicles capable of flying to altitudes above 62 miles, as well as high-altitude balloons. The flights will expose the payloads to reduced gravity and near-space environments.

Technology flights are expected to reduce risks associated with emerging technologies and procedures, and overall space operations in future missions, by demonstrating their applications in a relevant environment.

NASA plans on contracting for single payload positions on pre-approved platforms, then pay for space as used. This is a cost-effective way to enable flight testing of new technologies while taking advantage of available space on the best platforms for a given technology. NASA also may choose to fly multiple technologies on a single suborbital flight platform.

The program will accept proposals from companies who have operational vehicles, or those that have conducted test and evaluation flights on vehicles capable of providing flight profiles specified in the solicitation. As this is not a continuation or extension of the 2011 solicitation, previously selected companies also will need to propose to this solicitation to be considered for flight selection.

This solicitation has a base period of performance of two years, with three, one-year options, and total combined contract value of $45 million. The program intends to provide opportunities for additional vendors to be added to the provider pool annually. The solicitation is open until May 8, 2014. The announcement of opportunity can be viewed at:

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NASA Seeks Suborbital Flight Services Proposals for Technology Demonstrations

BAIKONUR, Khazakhstan An engine snag has delayed the arrival of a Russian spacecraft carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station until Thursday, NASA said on Wednesday.

A rocket carrying Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and American Steve Swanson to the space station blasted off successfully early Wednesday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz booster rocket lifted off as scheduled at 3:17 a.m. local time Wednesday (2117 GMT Tuesday), lighting up the night skies over the steppe with a giant fiery tail. It entered a designated orbit about 10 minutes after the launch and was expected to reach the space station in six hours. All onboard systems were working flawlessly, and the crew was feeling fine.

But NASA said in a statement on its website that the arrival was delayed after a 24-second engine burn that was necessary to adjust the Soyuz spacecraft's orbiting path "did not occur as planned."

The crew is in good spirits and is in no danger, but will have to wait until Thursday for the Soyuz TMA-12M to arrive and dock at the space station, NASA said. The arrival is now scheduled for 7:58 EDT (2358 GMT) Thursday.

Russian spacecraft used to routinely travel two days to reach the orbiting laboratory before last year. Wednesday would have been only the fifth time that a crew would have taken the six-hour "fast-track" route to the station.

NASA said that Moscow flight control has yet to determine why the engine burn did not occur.

The three astronauts traveling in the Soyuz will be greeted by Japan's Koichi Wakata, NASA's Rick Mastracchio and Russia's Mikhail Tyurin, who have been at the station since November. Wakata is the first Japanese astronaut to lead the station. The new crew is scheduled to stay in orbit for six months.

The joint mission is taking place at a time when U.S.-Russian relations on Earth are at their lowest ebb in decades, but the U.S. and Russia haven't allowed their disagreements over Ukraine to get in the way of their cooperation in space.

Swanson is a veteran of two U.S. space shuttle missions, and Skvortsov spent six months at the space outpost in 2010. Artemyev is on his first flight to space.

Read more here:

NASA says engine issue delays crew's arrival at International Space Station

Building on the success of NASA's commercial spaceflight initiatives, agency officials announced Monday plans to solicit proposals from U.S. private enterprises for unfunded partnerships to collaboratively develop new commercial space capabilities.

"The growing U.S. commercial spaceflight industry is opening low-Earth orbit in ways that will improve lives on Earth, drive economic growth and power 21st century innovations," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations. "As NASA again pioneers a path into deep space, we look forward to sharing our 50 years of spaceflight experience and fostering partnerships in ways that benefit our nation's ambitious spaceflight goals."

The Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC) initiative will advance entrepreneurial efforts through access to NASA's spaceflight resources. Using Space Act Agreements (SAAs), NASA and its partners would agree to a series of mutually beneficial activities. New partnerships must identify benefits under one or more elements of NASA's 2014 Strategic Plan, which include expanding human presence into the solar system and surface of Mars to advance exploration, science, innovation, benefits to humanity and international collaboration.

The partnerships would have no exchange of funds and each party will bear the cost of its participation. NASA's contributions through resulting SAAs could include technical expertise, assessments, lessons learned, technologies and data.

"As with NASA's previous unfunded commercial partnerships, U.S. companies significantly benefit from the agency's extensive infrastructure, experience and knowledge in spaceflight development and operations," said Phil McAlister, NASA's director of commercial spaceflight development. "We hope these partnerships will increase the likelihood that these entrepreneurial activities will be successful."

An Announcement for Proposals will be released on March 31 for the competitive selection of one or more SAAs. NASA plans a pre-proposal teleconference on April 3 to discuss the initiative and answer questions. For more information about the solicitation and teleconference, visit:

http://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/ccsc

CSCC is one of several NASA partnership initiatives with the commercial space industry. Others include the Lunar CATALYST initiative, which seeks proposals for commercial robotic lunar lander capabilities, and the Asteroid Redirect Mission Broad Agency Announcement, which seeks proposals for studies related to NASA's plan to collect and redirect an asteroid, then send astronauts to collect samples.

These initiatives build on the successful legacy of NASA's current and previous commercial space activities, including the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) initiative. Through COTS, two U.S. companies developed new rockets and spacecraft capable of providing cargo resupply services to the International Space Station. Similar initiatives are underway with commercial partners to develop human transportation capabilities for crewed flights this decade.

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NASA Solicits New Collaborative Partnerships with Commercial Space Industry

NASA | Landsat Tracks Urban Change and Flood Risk
Landsat data, which can identify areas of urbanization, are used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a key indicator of sites where the agency shou...

By: NASA Goddard

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NASA | Landsat Tracks Urban Change and Flood Risk - Video

NASA #39;Irreversible Collapse #39; of Industrial Civilization by 2030?
Is the end of modern civilization near? What will replace it? What does a NASA report warn of? Will greed and overpopulation lead to a collapse by 2030? Are ...

By: BibleNewsProphecy

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NASA 'Irreversible Collapse' of Industrial Civilization by 2030? - Video

Haryanvi Hot Songs - Desi Ka Nasa | Saniya Mirja Ki Kasam | Pawan Saini, Pany Grawal
For more videos click | http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=sonotekvideo Singer - Pawan Saini, Pany Grawal Album - Saniya Mirja Ki Kasam Labe...

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Haryanvi Hot Songs - Desi Ka Nasa | Saniya Mirja Ki Kasam | Pawan Saini, Pany Grawal - Video

Has NASA Predicted The End of Civilization?
A recent NASA-backed study predicted that civilization is on the verge of collapse! We hear doomsday theories like this all the time, so should we be taking ...

By: DNews

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Has NASA Predicted The End of Civilization? - Video

Future Space Station Crew meets the media
During a March 18 news conference seen on NASA Television the Expedition 40/41 crew, including NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, fielded questions from the media ...

By: NASA

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Future Space Station Crew meets the media - Video

The Space Station Will Soon Have Its Own Garden | NASA Science HD
More space news and info at: http://www.coconutsciencelab.com - the "Veggie" payload is set to launch to the International Space Station aboard the SpaceX-3 ...

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The Space Station Will Soon Have Its Own Garden | NASA Science HD - Video

NASA Women #39;s History Month Profile, Karin Bozak - Glenn Research Center
Karin Bozak is an electrical engineer in the power systems branch at the NASA Glenn Research Center. In her current job she supports the design, integration,...

By: NASA

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NASA Women's History Month Profile, Karin Bozak - Glenn Research Center - Video

Math Models Make F-18 into Space Launch System
Engineers at NASA #39;s Marshall Space Flight Center talk about the new flight control system for the agency #39;s Space Launch System. When completed, the rocket wi...

By: NASA #39;s Marshall Center

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Math Models Make F-18 into Space Launch System - Video

Ask Nice March 2014 - Earth #39;s Energy Budget Part 2
March 20th from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET This month we will investigate clouds and their role in the system, and share resources from the S #39;COOL program (Student...

By: NASA Langley Research Center

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Ask Nice March 2014 - Earth's Energy Budget Part 2 - Video

Next Space Station Crew at the Baikonur Cosmodrome | NASA
More space news and info at: http://www.coconutsciencelab.com - Expedition 39/40 will launch to the International Space Station on March 26, 2014 in their So...

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Next Space Station Crew at the Baikonur Cosmodrome | NASA - Video