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NASA: International space station operation extended by Obama until at least 2024

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The international space station received a significant boost Wednesday when the Obama administration vowed to keep the laboratory in orbit at least until 2024, a four-year extension, NASA officials said Wednesday.

The decision is not a shocker, because the alternative would involve putting the ISS through a controlled de-orbit just six years from now. The $100billion, nearly 1million-pound laboratory which took 13 years, more than 100 rocket and shuttle launches, and 160 spacewalks to construct would crash into the vast open space of the South Pacific.

But the extension is a relief for NASA, which spends about $3billion a year on the space station. It shores up the marketability of the ISS as a platform for scientific research and commercial operations, which can require many years of planning.

This is also good news for the private launch companies SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp., which have contracts to supply cargo to the station and could compete for future contracts. SpaceX, Boeing and Sierra Nevada are interested in launching crews to the station by 2017, and the extension makes the competition for a contract look like a better investment of time and energy.

What a tremendous gift the administration has given us, said William H. Gerstenmaier, the head of NASAs human spaceflight program. That really changes the way folks see their investment, especially the commercial side. It also changes the research side.

There is unlikely to be much resistance to the decision in Congress, where the station has bipartisan support.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said the move will bolster the labor force on Floridas Space Coast, which has been suffering since the decision to retire the space shuttle.

This means more jobs at the Kennedy Space Center as we rebuild our entire space program, Nelson said in a recorded statement. Now, with 10-year extended life on the station, we process those payloads at KSC, we have the commercial rockets take both humans and cargo to the station.

John Abney Culberson (R-Tex.) said the extension of the station was a foregone conclusion, citing national security.

Its inevitable and Im delighted that NASA understands the value of ensuring that America continues to hold the high ground, said Culberson, a member of the House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA. He said that abandoning the station would be like General Meade handing over Little Round Top voluntarily. He added, To the Chinese.

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NASA: International space station operation extended by Obama until at least 2024

NASA wins White House approval to extend life of space station

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WASHINGTON The world's most expensive science project the $100-billion-plus International Space Station is poised to get four more years in orbit. According to documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, NASA plans to announce this week that it has White House approval to extend the station's operations through 2024.

The decision follows years of pressure by top NASA officials, who consider the station a crucial steppingstone to future exploration. But a four-year extension probably would cost NASA about $3 billion a year from 2021 to 2024. That's a major chunk of the agency's annual budget of about $17 billion, and a longer mission could force NASA to make tough financial decisions in the future.

The Obama administration's approval, however, doesn't guarantee that the station, which has been continuously occupied since 2000, will survive past its current end date of 2020. At some point, Congress must approve a NASA budget that includes an extension of the station's life. The plan also must get the support of whoever wins the White House in 2016, though the backing of President Obama now might make it harder for the next administration to say no.

Still, the move is expected to reassure NASA's international partners, which have wondered how long the U.S. plans to commit to the station. NASA's announcement will coincide with a visit to Washington this week by leaders of the world's space agencies.

"Arriving at this decision in a timely and coordinated fashion will, hopefully, prove beneficial to our international partners as they struggle with decisions on funding for their space programs," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden wrote in an email to NASA and administration officials that praised the decision.

The announcement also has the potential of sending a signal to China, NASA's latest cosmic competitor.

In 2003, China became just the third country to launch an astronaut into space, and Beijing reportedly is making plans to assemble its own space station next decade.

By keeping the International Space Station operational, NASA can maintain its own symbol of technical advancement while limiting attempts by the Chinese to woo global partners for its outpost.

The symbolism is especially important for NASA because of the agency's recent struggles with its human exploration program.

After NASA retired the space shuttle in 2011, the U.S. lost the ability to ferry its astronauts to the station, which orbits about 220 miles above Earth. NASA is paying Russia about $1.7 billion through 2017 for the service.

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NASA wins White House approval to extend life of space station

Congress Makes NASA Finish Useless $350 Million Structure

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Source: NASA via Bloomberg

The A-3 tower was designed to test a GenCorp Inc. engine for a rocket program canceled in 2010.

The A-3 tower was designed to test a GenCorp Inc. engine for a rocket program canceled in 2010. Close

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The A-3 tower was designed to test a GenCorp Inc. engine for a rocket program canceled in 2010.

NASA will complete a $350 million structure to test rocket engines at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi early this year. Then, it plans to mothball the 300-foot-high, steel-frame tower for the foreseeable future.

The reason: Congress ordered the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to finish building the facility even though the agency doesnt need it.

The tower was designed to test a GenCorp Inc. (GY) engine for a rocket program canceled in 2010. Its funding survived thanks to Mississippi Republican senators led by Roger Wicker, who crafted a provision requiring the agency to complete the work.

The test stand is an example of how U.S. lawmakers thwart efforts to cut costs and eliminate government waste, even as they criticize agencies for failing to do so. Attempts to close military bases, mail-processing plants and other NASA facilities also have been fought by congressional members whose districts benefit from the operations.

When it comes down to their pork, theyre always going to defend it, said Rand Simberg, a space policy scholar at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based research group that supports less spending and fewer regulations. All that matters is maintaining jobs in the right states and districts.

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Congress Makes NASA Finish Useless $350 Million Structure

Nasa spacecraft spots ‘potentially hazardous’ new asteroid

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The 2013 YP139 circles the sun in an elliptical orbit that is tilted to the plane of our solar system.

It is possible that its orbit will bring it as close as 300,000 miles from Earth, slightly more than the distance to the moon.

NEOWISE's role is to assist NASA's efforts to identify potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs).

The spacecraft will also help in characterising previously detected asteroids that may now be considered potential targets for future exploration missions.

During its primary mission, which was to scan the entire sky in infrared light, the spacecraft discovered more than 34,000 asteroids in 2010 and early 2011.

It was then placed into hibernation for 31 months after it had completed its primary mission.

Last year it was reactivated to search specifically for near Earth objects.

Some of the objects about which NEOWISE will be collecting data could become candidates for Nasa's asteroid initiative, which will be the first mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid for astronauts to explore.

Nasa hopes that it will help protect Earth and help achieve their goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025.

The observations made by NEOWISE will be sent to the clearing house for solar system bodies to determine the orbit of each asteroid and comet if the object is not known.

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Nasa spacecraft spots 'potentially hazardous' new asteroid

NASA spacecraft spots its first new asteroid

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Washington, Jan 8 : NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft has spotted a never-before-seen asteroid -- its first such discovery since coming out of hibernation last year.

NEOWISE originally was called the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which had made the most comprehensive survey to date of asteroids and comets. The spacecraft was shut down in 2011 after its primary mission was completed.

But in September 2013, it was reactivated, renamed and given a new mission, which is to assist NASA's efforts to identify the population of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs). NEOWISE also can assist in characterizing previously detected asteroids that could be considered potential targets for future exploration missions.

NEOWISE's first discovery of its renewed mission came on Dec. 29 -- a near-Earth asteroid designated 2013 YP139. The mission's sophisticated software picked out the moving object against a background of stationary stars.

As NEOWISE circled Earth scanning the sky, it observed the asteroid several times over half a day before the object moved beyond its view.

Researchers at the University of Arizona used the Spacewatch telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory southwest of Tucson to confirm the discovery.

Peter Birtwhistle, an amateur astronomer at the Great Shefford Observatory in West Berkshire, England, also contributed follow-up observations. NASA expects 2013 YP139 will be the first of hundreds of asteroid discoveries for NEOWISE.

"We are delighted to get back to finding and characterizing asteroids and comets, especially those that come into Earth's neighborhood," said Amy Mainzer, the mission's principal investigator from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "With our infrared sensors that detect heat, we can learn about their sizes and reflectiveness."

2013 YP139 is about 27 million miles (43 million kilometers) from Earth. Based on its infrared brightness, scientists estimate it to be roughly 0.4 miles (650 meters) in diameter and extremely dark, like a piece of coal.

The asteroid circles the sun in an elliptical orbit tilted to the plane of our solar system and is classified as potentially hazardous. It is possible for its orbit to bring it as close as 300,000 miles from Earth, a little more than the distance to the moon. However, it will not come that close within the next century.

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NASA spacecraft spots its first new asteroid

NASA Invites Children, Families to Learn about Global Precipitation Measurement Mission

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Md., will host this month's Sunday Experiment on Jan. 19 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST. It's a free afternoon for elementary school-aged children and their families.

This month's Sunday Experiment explores how scientists will be able to measure rain and snow from space with the Global Precipitation Measurement satellite mission. Set to launch in February 2014, GPM will use revolutionary technology and a network of U.S. and international satellites to provide a global picture of rain and falling snow. GPM's expert scientists and engineers will describe how we will be able to measure rainstorms down to the individual drop from as far away as Washington, D.C., to New York City! These presentations will also explain how people all over the world will use this new data to inform about when to plant crops, when a hurricane may intensify, where it may flood or where diseases may be more likely to spread.

GPM is an international mission co-lead by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Building upon the success of the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission, GPM will expand our understanding of where, when and how much it rains and snows and provide a global picture of rain every three hours. Come discover this exciting new mission, explore how the satellite works, watch a newly released Science on a Sphere film called "Water Falls," and use your hands and your brain to build your own rain gauge, develop your own satellite and make a landslide!

The Sunday Experiment-usually held the third Sunday of each month from September through May with some exceptions-spotlights Goddard's world-renowned science and engineering research and technological developments. Families leave inspired by the activities, wowed by the scientists and engineers and excited about Goddard's revolutionary research and technology. In addition to celebrating all things science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the Sunday Experiment celebrates major science missions that are managed by Goddard and set to launch in the near future.

For more information on Sunday Experiment, visit Goddard's Visitor Center events webpage:

http://visitorcenterevents.gsfc.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 Children, Families to Learn about Global Precipitation Measurement Mission

NASA’s rover mission on Mars completes 10 years

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NASA's duo of rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, touched down on the Red Planet 10 years ago. Spirit broke down in 2007, but Opportunity is chugging along.

Ten years ago today, NASA dropped the first of two rovers onto the surface of Mars, kicking off a wildly successful mission that continues to beam home data about the Red Planet and its wetter, warmer past.

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NASA's Spirit rover touched down on the night of Jan. 3, 2004 (Jan. 4 GMT), followed three weeks later by its twin, Opportunity. The two robots were originally supposed to exploreMarsfor 90 days, searching their disparate landing sites for signs of past water activity on the Red Planet.

Both rovers found plenty of such evidence and just kept chugging along, far outlasting their warranties. Spirit got stuck in a sand trap in 2010 and was declared dead a year later, but Opportunity continues to operate today and shows no signs of slowing down. [10 Amazing Mars Discoveries by Spirit & Opportunity]

"Opportunity is still in excellent health for a vehicle of its age," mission project manager John Callas, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. "The biggest science may still be ahead of us, even after 10 years of exploration."

The discoveries made by the golf-cart-sizeSpirit and Opportunityover the years have fundamentally reshaped scientists' understanding of Mars and its dynamic history, rover team members say.

In 2007, for example, Spirit's crippled right front wheel dug a furrow in the red dirt, revealing deposits of pure silica, which forms when hot water reacts with rocks. The rover thus uncovered strong evidence for an ancient hydrothermal system, suggesting that at least some parts of Mars once had two key ingredients necessary for life as we know it: liquid water and an energy source.

Oppportunity has also made a number of big discoveries, with some coming after arriving at the 14-mile-wide (22 kilometers) Endeavour Crater in August 2011.

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NASA's rover mission on Mars completes 10 years

NASA Hosts Prelaunch Media Events for Global Precipitation Mission

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NASA will hold a series of media events Monday, Jan. 27, in advance of the February launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory from Japan. The events will be held at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

GPM is an international satellite mission led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that will provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide. GPM data also will contribute to climate research and the forecasting of extreme weather events such as floods and hurricanes.

The GPM Core Observatory is scheduled to lift off Feb. 27, between 1:07 and 3:07 p.m. EST, from JAXA's Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.

Media events include briefings on the GPM mission and science. Briefing panelists are:

-- Steven Neeck, deputy associate director, flight program, Earth Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington

-- Masahiro Kojima, GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar project manager, JAXA, Tsukuba

-- Art Azarbarzin, GPM project manager, Goddard

-- Ramesh Kakar, GPM program scientist, Headquarters

-- Gail Skofronick-Jackson, GPM deputy project scientist, Goddard

-- Riko Oki, GPM project scientist, JAXA

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NASA Hosts Prelaunch Media Events for Global Precipitation Mission

NASA hit out at new Beyonce song

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NASA have criticised Beyonce for including an audio clip from the 1986 Challenger shuttle accident in her new song XO. The accident saw seven crew members killed in space.

A statement was released by NASA about the song saying, "The Challenger accident is an important part of our history; a tragic reminder that space exploration is risky and should never be trivialised.

"NASA works every day to honour the legacy of our fallen astronauts as we carry out our mission to reach for new heights and explore the universe."

June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of Dick Scobee, the commander of the Challenger mission, also said, "We were disappointed to learn that an audio clip from the day we lost our heroic Challenger crew was used in the song XO. The moment included in this song is an emotionally difficult one for the Challenger families, colleagues and friends."

Beyonce has since defended her inclusion of the clip saying that it was included, "in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten".

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NASA hit out at new Beyonce song

NASA Offering Its Site For Virginia Tech’s Unmanned Aircraft Testing

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January 3, 2014

Image Credit: NASA

NASA announced on Friday that the selection of six unmanned aircraft system (UAS) test sites could have an impact on its research at two of its facilities. The space agency said its Langley Research Center and Wallops Flight Facility could be working with Virginia Tech teams on the UAS research. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced earlier this week that Virginia Tech is planning to conduct UAS failure mode testing and identify and evaluate operational and technical risk areas. The researchers from this university may be using NASA for testing locations.

Aeronautics researchers at NASA Langley are thrilled that the selection of unmanned aircraft system test sites has been made and that the country is moving forward to do the work needed to integrate unmanned aerial systems into the national airspace, said David Hinton, deputy director for aeronautics research and technology at NASA Langley.

NASA already utilizes its Langley facility to study aviation safety using unmanned aircraft, including the Airborne Subscale Transport Aircraft Research (AirSTAR).

With Langleys years of research experience in airspace operations, unmanned systems, sense and avoid technology, autonomy and other technical areas we look forward to working with any of the teams selected to help advance and expand the safe use of unmanned aerial systems, Hinton said.

Wallops Director Bill Wrobel said his facility is standing ready to help support related UAS safety testing in the region.

Wallops location, instrumentation capabilities, restricted airspace, established safety program and past experience in flying unmanned aerials systems make it a valuable member of the team supporting this great endeavor, Wrobel said.

The FAA stated that it selected six UAS test site operators to allow the agency to develop research findings and operational experiences to help ensure the safe integration of UAS into the nations airspace.

While the selection of these test sites will not allow immediate access to the national airspace system for commercial and civil purposes, data and other information related to the operation of UAS that is generated by the six test site operators will help the FAA answer key research questions such as solutions for sense and avoid, command and control, ground control station standards and human factors, airworthiness, lost link procedures and the interface with the air traffic control system, the agency wrote in a statement.

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NASA Offering Its Site For Virginia Tech’s Unmanned Aircraft Testing


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