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Category Archives: NASA

NASA Observes Day of Remembrance Jan. 31

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NASA will pay will tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, as well as other NASA colleagues, during the agency's Day of Remembrance on Friday, Jan. 31.

NASA's Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other agency senior officials will hold an observance and wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery Friday morning.

Other tributes across the agency include a wreath-laying ceremony at the Space Mirror Memorial located in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida and NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California will hold a remembrance ceremony at its visitor center, the Exploration Center.

On Thursday, Jan. 30, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will hold a tree planting ceremony in honor of former astronaut C. Gordon "Gordo" Fullerton. All employees are encouraged to observe a moment of silence to remember their fallen friends and colleagues. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will hold a wreath-laying ceremony for employees followed by a public ceremony at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

NASA also is paying tribute to the agency's fallen astronauts with special online content available at:

http://go.nasa.gov/1b5Oh9I

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NASA Observes Day of Remembrance Jan. 31

NASA puts out the call for commercial lunar landers

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Jan. 27, 2014 at 5:37 PM ET

NASA

NASA's Project Morpheus prototype lander blasts off during a free-flight test at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida on Jan. 16. The space agency is looking for commercial partners to develop the technologies for future lunar landers.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. NASA plans to provide free technical expertise, equipment, facilities and software to help selected companies develop lunar landers as part of a new program called Lunar Catalyst.

"The intent of this initiative is to stimulate and help commercialization," Jason Crusan, who oversees NASA's advanced exploration programs, said during a conference call with prospective bidders on Monday.

Development of commercial lunar landers would join a growing list of space transportation services that have attracted interest from U.S. companies, including the Boeing Co and Alliant Techsystems Inc.

NASA already has turned over cargo deliveries to the International Space Station to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. The companies hold NASA cargo resupply contracts worth a combined $3.5 billion.

NASA wants a balanced approach in which its contributions will help accelerate the development of industry projects, Crusan said during a follow-on conference call with reporters. "If a team came in and wanted everything from NASA and (wanted) us to build the landing service for them, that's not really much of a partnership," he said.

The space agency also is looking to buy rides commercially for its astronauts. At least three firms, SpaceX, Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp., are in the running for NASA funding to help get their spaceships ready for test flights by the end of 2017.

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NASA puts out the call for commercial lunar landers

NASA Signs Mentor-Protege Agreement With AMRO Fabricating Corporation Near Los Angeles

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On Jan. 31, NASA will sign a Mentor-Protege agreement with The Boeing Company and AMRO Fabricating Corporation to work together in support of the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) -- a new rocket that will launch humans farther into space that ever before.

The NASA Mentor-Protege Program pairs large companies with eligible small businesses to enhance capabilities and enable them to successfully compete for larger, more complex prime contract and subcontract awards.

Media are invited to the event that begins at 10 a.m. PST at the AMRO facility, located at 1430 Adelia Avenue in South El Monte, Calif., 91733.

NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold, along with NASA, Boeing and AMRO officials, will be available for interviews. AMRO is a certified, small, minority woman-owned manufacturing company located near Los Angeles which specializes in the manufacturing of lightweight metallic structures for demanding environments on missiles, launch vehicles and spacecraft. AMRO currently supports Boeing core stage development by manufacturing the aluminum alloy panels that make up the large barrels of the stages.

In addition to the AMRO Mentor-Protege event, SLS is partnering with the Orion Program -- the spacecraft that will sit atop the SLS rocket and carry humans, cargo, equipment and science experiments into deep space -- to visit other institutions and companies in the southern California area that are providing support for the vehicles. The team will visit California State Polytechnic University at noon Thursday, Jan. 30, and speak to students there. This event is open to the public and the media.

SLS and Orion will expand our reach in the solar system, allowing astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft to explore multiple, deep-space destinations including an asteroid and ultimately Mars. Orion's first mission will launch later this year, and carry an uncrewed capsule farther into space than any spacecraft designed for humans has gone in more than 40 years, before returning to Earth at speeds of up to 20,000 miles per hour. SLS is scheduled to have its first test flight in 2017.

Media interested in covering the AMRO Mentor-Protege or the California State Polytechnic University event should contact Shannon Ridinger at Shannon.j.ridinger@nasa.gov or 256-541-7698. Additional interview opportunities with SLS and Orion representatives during the week are also available upon request.

For more information about progress on NASA's next human exploration launch vehicle and spacecraft, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/

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NASA Signs Mentor-Protege Agreement With AMRO Fabricating Corporation Near Los Angeles

NASA plans to watch when comet passes close to Mars

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PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- NASA says it plans to observe a comet that will buzz Mars this year,coming about 10 times closer than any identified comet has ever flown past Earth.

Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring will make its closest approach to the Red Planet, a distance of about 86,000 miles, Oct. 19, the space agency said Tuesday.

Spacecraft orbiting Mars might get a good look at the nucleus of the comet as it speeds past, but there is also a chance dust particles the comet nucleus sheds could threaten those spacecraft, NASA scientists said.

The level of risk won't be known for months, but NASA is already evaluating possible precautionary measures as it prepares for studying the comet, the scientists said.

"Our plans for using spacecraft at Mars to observe comet Siding Spring will be coordinated with plans for how the orbiters will duck and cover, if we need to do that," said Rich Zurek, Mars Exploration Program chief scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The comet was discovered Jan. 3, 2013, by Australia's Siding Spring Observatory.

Its nucleus will come about as close to Mars as one-third of the distance between Earth and the moon, NASA said.

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NASA plans to watch when comet passes close to Mars

Review of images UFOs near the Sun in the photographs satellites NASA – January 25, 2014 – Video

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Review of images UFOs near the Sun in the photographs satellites NASA - January 25, 2014
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Review of images UFOs near the Sun in the photographs satellites NASA - January 25, 2014 - Video

Application Deadline Approaches for NASA STEM Program for High School Girls

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NASA is accepting applications until noon CST Monday, Feb. 3, for its 2014 Women in STEM High School (WISH) Aerospace Scholars program, in which high school junior girls can jump-start their future careers by exploring possibilities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Applicants must be female high school juniors who are U.S. citizens, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher and show a proficiency in STEM subjects. They must have access to the Internet and email, be able to commit to the entire 6-month duration of the project and participate in a summer experience at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston.

The participants' online activities will be evaluated by a team of NASA education professionals, who will select approximately 30 students to participate in the on-site summer experience. Finalists will be notified by June 2014.

WISH participants will chart a course for human exploration of space and engage with NASA female role models. They also will interact with scientists and engineers who will share their own education and career paths and help mentor the participants. The WISH project consists of online modules beginning in February, in which students will complete activities in order to qualify for the activities Aug. 3-8 at Johnson, where they will design a mock human mission to Mars.

NASA's Office of Education sponsors WISH Aerospace Scholars and offers it free of charge to the participants. Questions about WISH may be directed to JSC-NHAS@mail.nasa.gov.

To learn more about NASA's WISH program, visit:

http://www.wish.aerospacescholars.org

For more information about NASA's education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

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Application Deadline Approaches for NASA STEM Program for High School Girls

NASA Request for Information (RFI) for materialsLAB Workshop: New Workshop Dates

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has rescheduled the materialsLAB Workshop from the original January dates to April 15-16, 2014. The workshop is being held to advise NASA on future research directions for the microgravity materials science program. The two-day event will bring together scientists and engineers from academia, industry, and other government agencies to assist NASA in identifying key engineering drivers and research priorities for the next generation of materials science experiments to be developed for the International Space Station.

To help NASA prepare for the workshop, the Agency requests responses to its Request for Information (RFI) for the materialsLAB Workshop. The full RFI and submission instructions can be found at http://tinyurl.com/mrhxt9g. To respond to this RFI, answers to a series of specific questions must be submitted electronically using the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) website. Please refer to section "III. Response Instructions" in the RFI document for submission instructions. Note that your response to the RFI will be discussed in the break-out sessions, may be included in the final report and may be used by NASA in future announcements. The topic areas for the workshop break-out sessions include: Metals, Semiconductors, Polymers, Biomaterials, Nanomaterials, Glasses, Granular Materials, Ceramics, Organics, and Composites.

You can register for the workshop at: http://icpi.nasaprs.com/NASAmaterialsLABWorkshop2014

Please forward this email to any of your colleagues who may interested in participating in this workshop.

NASA Primary Point of Contact (POC):

Patton Downey, Technical Manager of Microgravity Materials, Marshall Space Flight Center

Email: patton.downey@nasa.gov

Phone: 256.544.6432

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will take procurement action in this matter.

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NASA Request for Information (RFI) for materialsLAB Workshop: New Workshop Dates

NASA Instruments on European Comet Spacecraft Begin Countdown

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Three NASA science instruments are being prepared for check-out operations aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, which is set to become the first to orbit a comet and land a probe on its nucleus in November.

Rosetta was reactivated Jan. 20 after a record 957 days in hibernation. U.S. mission managers are scheduled to activate their instruments on the spacecraft in early March and begin science operations with them in August. The instruments are an ultraviolet imaging spectrograph, a microwave thermometer and a plasma analyzer.

"U.S. scientists are delighted the Rosetta mission gives us a chance to examine a comet in a way we've never seen one before -- in orbit around it and as it kicks up in activity," said Claudia Alexander, Rosetta's U.S. project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"The NASA suite of instruments will provide puzzle pieces the Rosetta science team as a whole will put together with the other pieces to paint a portrait of how a comet works and what it's made of."

Rosetta's objective is to observe the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko up close. By examining the full composition of the comet's nucleus and the ways in which a comet changes, Rosetta will help scientists learn more about the origin and evolution of our solar system and the role comets may have played in seeding Earth with water, and perhaps even life.

The ultraviolet imaging spectrograph, called Alice, will analyze gases in the tail of the comet, as well as the coma, the fuzzy envelope around the nucleus of the comet. The coma develops as a comet approaches the sun. Alice also will measure the rate at which the comet produces water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

These measurements will provide valuable information about the surface composition of the nucleus. The instrument also will measure the amount of argon present, an important clue about the temperature of the solar system at the time the comet's nucleus originally formed more than 4.6 billion years ago.

The Microwave Instrument for Rosetta Orbiter will identify chemicals on or near the comet's surface and measure the temperature of the chemicals and the dust and ice jetting out from the comet. The instrument also will see the gaseous activity in the tail through coma.

The Ion and Electron Sensor is part of a suite of five instruments to analyze the plasma environment of the comet, particularly the coma. The instrument will measure the charged particles in the sun's outer atmosphere, or solar wind, as they interact with the gas flowing out from the comet while Rosetta is drawing nearer to the comet's nucleus.

NASA also provided part of the electronics package the Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer, which is part of the Swiss-built Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) instrument.

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NASA Instruments on European Comet Spacecraft Begin Countdown


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