Published: Feb. 19, 2013 at 2:07 PM

HOUSTON, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- NASA has confirmed it lost direct contact with the International Space Station Tuesday morning due to equipment failure.

Communication between the space agency and the ISS was lost at 9:45 a.m. EST as controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were sending a software update to the space station, SPACE.com reported.

With the link to NASA's Mission Control center out, the orbiting laboratory's only communication channel to Earth was through Russian ground stations.

NASA said the software update was not a cause of the problem, but rather a main data relay system on the ISS malfunctioned.

"Mission Control Houston was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations before 11:00 a.m. EST and instructed the crew to connect a backup computer to begin the process of restoring communications," NASA officials explained.

However, despite switching to a backup the station was still unable to communicate with the satellite network that serves as the outpost's link to the control center in Houston.

Expedition 34 commander Kevin Ford, using the Russian ground stations, reported on the status of the station.

"Hey, just FYI, the station's still fine and straight, everybody is in good shape of course," Ford said in audio released by NASA. "And nothing unexpected other than lots of caution warning tones, and of course we have no system in sight. We'll get that back to you as soon as we can."

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NASA loses contact with space station

Update: NASA has reestablished contact with the International Space Station. For the latest news, read:NASA Restores Contact with Space Station

NASA lost direct contact with the International Space Station today (Feb. 19) due to equipment failure, leaving the orbiting laboratory dependent on Russian ground stations for communications with Earth, space agency officials say.

The communications loss occurred at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT) as flight controllers at NASA's Mission Control atthe Johnson Space Center in Houston were sending a software update to the space station. All six space station astronauts are in good health, and NASA is attempting to reestablish a connection with the station, NASA officials said. The space station is currently home to three Russians, two Americans and a Canadian astronaut.

As far as NASA officials can tell, the space station's loss of communications was unrelated to the software update, Kelly Humphries, a public affairs specialist at NASA told SPACE.com. It was a coincidence that the space agency lost contact with the station as the computers were being updated.

A main data relay system malfunctioned, and the computer that controls the station's critical functions switched to a backup, NASA officials said in a statement. However, the station was still was unable to communicate with the Tracking and Data Relay satellite network that serves as the outpost's link to NASA's Mission Control center on the ground.

"Mission Control Houston was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations before 11:00 a.m. EST and instructed the crew to connect a backup computer to begin the process of restoring communications," NASA officials explained.

When mission control made contact with the International Space Station via Russian ground stations earlier today, Expedition 34 commander Kevin Ford reported on the health and status of the space station and its residents.

"Hey, just FYI, the station's still fine and straight, everybody is in good shape of course," said Ford in audio released by NASA. "And nothing unexpected other than lots of caution warning tones, and of course we have no system in sight. We'll get that back to you as soon as we can."

This is not the first time mission control has lost direct communication with the orbiting science laboratory. In 2010,the space station briefly lost communication with the gound when a primary computer failed and the backup had to take over. Communications were out for about one hour before NASA restored the connection.

The International Space Station is a $100 billion laboratory in space that is about the size of a football field. It has the living space equivalent of a five-bedroom home and was built by five difference space agencies representing the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan.

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Space Station Loses Contact with NASA Mission Control

NASA lost direct contact with the International Space Station Tuesday due to equipment failure, leaving the orbiting laboratory dependent on Russian ground stations for communications with Earth, space agency officials say.

The communications loss occurred at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT) as flight controllers at NASA's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were sending a software update to the space station.

A main data relay system malfunctioned, and the computer that controls the station's critical functions switched to a backup, NASA officials said in a statement. However, the station was still unable to communicate with the Tracking and Data Relay satellite network that serves as the outpost's link to NASA's Mission Control center on the ground.

All six space station astronauts are in good health, and NASA has reestablished a connection with the station, NASA officials said. The space station is currently home to three Russians, two Americans and a Canadian astronaut.

"Mission Control Houston was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations before 11:00 a.m. EST and instructed the crew to connect a backup computer to begin the process of restoring communications," NASA officials explained. "Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford reported that the stations status was fine and that the crew was doing well."

The International Space Station is a $100 billion laboratory in space that is about the size of a football field. It has the living space equivalent of a five-bedroom home and was built by five difference space agencies representing the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan.

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NASA briefly loses contact with international space station

WASHINGTON (AP) The International Space Station regained contact with NASA controllers in Houston after nearly three hours of accidental quiet, the space agency says.

Officials say the six crew members and station are fine and had no problem during the brief outage.

NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said something went wrong around 9:45 a.m. EST Tuesday during a computer software update on the station. The outpost abruptly lost all communication, voice and command from Houston.

Communication was restored less than three hours later, Byerly said

"We've got our command and control back," he said.

Station commander Kevin Ford was able to briefly radio Moscow while the station was flying over Russia.

Normally, NASA communicates with and sends commands to the station from Houston, via three communications satellites that transmit voice, video and data. Such interruptions have happened a few times in the past, the space agency said.

If there is no crisis going on, losing communication with the ground "is not a terrible thing," said former astronaut Jerry Linenger, who was on the Russian space station Mir during a dangerous fire in 1997. "You feel pretty confident up there that you can handle it. You're flying the spacecraft."

Not only should this boost the confidence of the station crew, it's good training for any eventual mission to Mars because there will be times when communications is down or difficult during the much farther voyage, Linenger said.

In the past few weeks the space station had been purposely simulating communications delays and downtimes to see how activity could work for a future Mars mission, Byerly said. This was not part of those tests, but may prove useful, he said.

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NASA regains space station contact after outage

The International Space Station in 2010 (NASA)

NASA's Mission Control lost contact with the International Space Station on Tuesday, temporarily leaving the $100 billion orbiting laboratory and its six astronauts without a means to communicate with Earth.

At 9:45 a.m., flight controllers in Houston were updating the software onboard the stations flight computers when one of the stations data relay systems malfunctioned, NASA said in a statement.

"The primary computer that controls critical station functions defaulted to a backup computer, but was not allowing the station to communicate with NASAs Tracking and Data Relay Satellites," NASA explained.

An hour later, NASA was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations. Commander Kevin Ford reported that the stations status was fine and that the crew was doing well.

"The station is still flying straight, and everybody is in good shape," Ford said.

According to NASA's Johnson Space Center, communications were restored at 12:34 p.m. ET.

The International Space Stationbuilt in 1998 by space agencies representing the U.S., Russia, Europe, Canada and Japanis about the size of a football field and has the living space equivalent of a five-bedroom home.

It's been a rough go in the galaxy of late. Last week, a 150-foot asteroid buzzed by Earth, coming within 17,150 miles in the closest known flyby of a rock of its size, the Associated Press said.

The 17,400-mph brushback pitch came just hours after a meteor exploded above Russia, injuring more than 1,000 people, blowing out windows and shaking eyewitnesses with a blast equivalent of a 300-kiloton explosion.

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Space Station astronauts temporarily lose all contact with NASA

NASA reestablished contact with the International Space Station Tuesday (Feb. 19) nearly three hours after an equipment failure left the orbiting laboratory dependent without a direct link to its Mission Control center, space agency officials said.

Space station flight controllers at NASA's Mission Control center in Houston restored contact with the space station at 12:34 p.m. ET (17:34 GMT), according to an update. The space agency lost communication with the International Space Station at 9:45 a.m. ET (1445 GMT).

"Flight controllers were in the process of updating the stations command and control software and were transitioning from the primary computer to the backup computer to complete the software load when the loss of communication occurred," NASA officials said in a statement.

A main data relay system malfunctioned, and the computer that controls the station's critical functions switched to a backup, NASA officials said in a statement. However, the station was still was unable to communicate with the Tracking and Data Relay satellite network that serves as the outpost's link to NASA's Mission Control center on the ground. [How NASA's Satellite Communications Network Works (Infographic)]

The communications loss occurred as flight controllers at NASA's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were sending a software update to the space station. The space station is currently home to three Russians, two Americans and a Canadian astronaut.

NASA flight controllers were able to communicate with the spaceflyers aboard the space station before lines of communication were reestablished.

"Mission Control Houston was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations before 11:00 a.m. EST and instructed the crew to connect a backup computer to begin the process of restoring communications," NASA officials explained.

When Mission Control made contact with the International Space Station via Russian ground stations earlier today, Expedition 34 commander Kevin Ford reported on the health and status of the space station and its residents.

"Hey, just FYI, the station's still fine and straight, everybody is in good shape of course," said Ford in audio released by NASA. "And nothing unexpected other than lots of caution warning tones, and of course we have no system in sight. We'll get that back to you as soon as we can."

This is not the first time Mission Control has lost direct communication with the orbiting science laboratory. In 2010, the space station briefly lost communication with the ground when a primary computer failed and the backup had to take over. Communications were out for about one hour before NASA restored the connection.

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NASA Restores Contact with Space Station

Augmented and Virtual Realities at NASA in 1997
This video illustrates research into the design of the physical aspects of virtual environments as user interfaces conducted at the NASA Ames Research Center in what is now call the Human-Systems Integration Division. The movie was made in what was called the Advanced Displays and Spatial Perception lab in 1997, but the name has changed several times since then, and so has the name of the division. The video is in the public domain. Copies of the videos made in this experiment have also been given to the computer history museum in Mountain View. I got this video from Stephen Ellis and I decided to share it because it shows relatively early versions of Augmented and Virtual Realities. It shows some methods for estimating viewing parameters which can be used to calibrate an Augmented Reality Head-Mounted Display. It also shows the effects of latency on Virtual Reality systems on user interaction. Nancy Dorighi tries to put a pyramid inside a cube when the system exhibits various degrees of latency and Stephen Ellis traces a virtual path. The superimposed computer graphics layer was rendered by the VR system as a second view point using the camera location as measured by the tracking system..

By: axholt

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Augmented and Virtual Realities at NASA in 1997 - Video

2013-02-16 - NASA Mid-Atlantic February Lap Dance - Saturday Race
Peter Kamarchik driving the #256 GTS1 Car during NASA Mid-Atlantic #39;s February 2013 Lap Dance at Virginia International Raceway in Saturday #39;s Stingerbahn Race. Started 2nd, finished 1st in GTS1. Conditions were extremely wet, cold and snowing like crazy.

By: Peter Kamarchik

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2013-02-16 - NASA Mid-Atlantic February Lap Dance - Saturday Race - Video

NASA #39;s Earth Observing Fleet as of Nov. 2011
This animation shows the orbits of NASA #39;s current (as of November 2011) fleet of Earth remote sensing observatories. The satellites include components of the A-Train (Terra, Aqua, Aura, CloudSat, CALIPSO), two satellites launched in 2011 (Aquarius, Suomi NPP), and nine others (ACRIMSAT, SORCE, GRACE, Jason 1 and 2, Landsat 7, QuikSCAT, TRMM, and EO-1). These satellites measure tropical rainfall, solar irradiance, clouds, sea surface height, ocean salinity, and other aspects of the global environment. Together, they provide a picture of the Earth as a system.

By: Moulay Anwar Sounny-Slitine

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NASA's Earth Observing Fleet as of Nov. 2011 - Video

NASA Millington FTD Run Sun.AVI
My best run and FTD for NASA Millington Auto-x on Sunday Feb. 17, 2013

By: Marvin Jackson

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NASA Millington FTD Run Sun.AVI - Video

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUBORBITAL REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLES AND PAYLOAD INTEGRATION SERVICES FOR MATURING CROSSCUTTING TECHNOLOGIES THAT ADVANCE MULTIPLE FUTURE SPACE MISSIONS TO FLIGHT READINESS STATUS

Synopsis - Feb 15, 2013

General Information

Solicitation Number: RFI-NND13466402L Posted Date: Feb 15, 2013 FedBizOpps Posted Date: Feb 15, 2013 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: Mar 08, 2013 Current Response Date: Mar 08, 2013 Classification Code: A -- Research and Development NAICS Code: 541712

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Dryden Flight Research Center, Code A, P.O. Box 273, Edwards, CA 93523-0273

Description

NASA/DFRC is hereby soliciting information and feedback from both current and potential flight service providers, as well as the technology payload providers and potential sources for Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles And Payload Integration Services For Maturing Crosscutting Technologies That Advance Multiple Future Space Missions To Flight Readiness Status.

1.0 Background

For the past two years, the Flight Opportunities Program (hereafter FOP or "the Program"), part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Technology organization, has worked towards maturing flight readiness of new crosscutting technologies that advance or enable multiple future space missions. FOP has provided opportunities to fly technology payloads on flight platforms that provide reduced gravity or other relevant environments required to test technologies in order to advance their technology readiness. The Program has provided flight opportunities for technology payloads to fly on both parabolic aircraft and suborbital reusable launch vehicles (sRLV). The operational focus of FOP is to bring together and match technologies that are to be matured (demand) with commercial flight opportunities (supply). For this purpose, the current Program's acquisition plan (1) solicits and selects technology payloads into the Program's "Payload Pipeline," and (2) manifests and offers flights of these payloads on a variety of commercial sRLV, including balloon platforms managed through commercial service Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts with a number of Flight Service Providers (FSP) and Parabolic flight opportunities through Johnson Space Center's contract with Zero-G Corporation. The Program intends to continue to provide opportunities to fly technology payloads on platforms that provide reduced gravity or other relevant environments required to test technologies in order to advance their technology readiness. To emphasis our desire to foster growth in the emerging commercial suborbital platform industry, we are proposing to modify the existing sRLV acquisition strategy.

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NASA Solicitation: Opportunities for Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Payload Integration Services

Synopsis - Feb 15, 2013

General Information

Solicitation Number: NNH13ZDA007L Posted Date: Feb 15, 2013 FedBizOpps Posted Date: Feb 15, 2013 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: Apr 01, 2013 Current Response Date: Apr 01, 2013 Classification Code: A -- Research and Development NAICS Code: 541712

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771

Description

1. Scope of the Program

This announcement seeks proposals for participation in a select group of four scientists to help define the possible and appropriate mission and constellation concepts for future gravity field missions and, more specifically, elements of future gravity constellations. These four scientists will participate in a joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Gravity Constellation Study Team (GCST).

The past decade has seen remarkable progress in the advance of space-based measurements of the Earth's gravity field and its temporal changes. The combined missions of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and ESA's Global Ocean Circulation Experiment (GOCE) have demonstrated new technologies and the importance of gravity field dynamics in understanding mass transport within the Earth System. The importance of these scientific results led NASA and the GFZ, the German Research Centre for Geosciences, to support a GRACE Follow-On (GRACE FO) mission to continue these measurement products. GRACE FO will also demonstrate laser interferometry to improve measurement resolution of future satellite gravity missions. GRACE FO is scheduled for launch in 2017.

NASA and ESA recognize the substantial contributions of these Gravity Field missions to our understanding of the changes in the Earth's environment and resources. NASA and ESA have agreed to cooperate in the development of future space based gravity field measurement strategies beyond GRACE FO and GOCE. The agencies recognize that future missions should exploit new technologies and mission measurement strategies to improve the scientific value and societal benefits from the gravity measurements, and they agree, in principle, to seek to define future gravity field measurements that remain within affordable and cost effective budget projections and employ the assets of both agencies in a complementary fashion. The GCST will be expected to consider the synergistic opportunities presented by likely operational missions within the 2020 - 2030 timeframe.

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NASA Solicitation: Request for Information Constellation Study for Future Earth Gravity Field Missions

A story in Florida Today suggests that NASA is facing a number of problems recreating the Kennedy Space Center into what is called a "21st Century Space Launch Complex" that will support both government and commercial operations.

Most upgrade money going to support Space Launch System

Florida Today is suggesting that most of the money being used to upgrade the Kennedy Space Center is being used to accommodate the Space Launch System, the heavy lift launch vehicle designed to send astronauts beyond low Earth orbit, and not to accommodate potential commercial customers. Roughly three-quarters of the money is being spent exclusively for SLS upgrades, with commercial enhancements getting the rest.

Multi-use facilities

One approach NASA is using is to make many of the KSC facilities "multi-use," according to the Florida Today article. One example is that the Vehicle Assembly Building, once used to stack the Saturn Vs and then the space shuttles, is being refurbished to not only handle Space Launch System operations but also commercial space craft such as the SpaceX Falcon Heavy. While launch pad 39B is being designated for SLS flights, NASA would like to lease pad 39A to commercial customers. The space shuttle landing runway could be used for a variety of horizontal takeoff and landing vehicles, such as the XCOR Lynx.

Funding, compatibility and control issues

Thus far, commercial space firms such as SpaceX have been skittish about sharing Kennedy Space Center facilities with NASA, according to Florida Today. There is not enough money to upgrade KSC facilities to accommodate all potential commercial customers. Even if there were it would be impossible to accommodate everyone, due to different methods of processing and launching. Finally, some commercial firms are wary at having their operations delayed or inhibited because of NASA's need to operate the Space Launch System.

Solution: commercial operations outside of KSC

One possible solution to the problems of accommodating commercial and NASA operations at the Kennedy Space Center would be to perform commercial launches elsewhere. SpaceX is mulling building its own spaceport near Brownsville, Texas. Space Port America in New Mexico is set to accommodate Virgin Galactic's plans to take paying customers on sub-orbital jaunts. The New Mexico State Legislature recently passed an insurance bill that helped to keep Virgin Galactic as an anchor tenant at the spaceport. Commercial space companies would have more control over their operations if they were located at their own facilities.

Solution: Cancel the Space Launch System

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NASA Struggles to Make the Kennedy Space Center a Multi-Use Launch Facility

The meteor that exploded over Russia Friday was slightly larger than previously thought and more powerful, too, NASA scientists say.

The Russian meteor explosion over the city of Chelyabinsk, on Friday (Feb. 15), injured more than 1,000 people and blew out windows across the region in a massive blast captured on cameras by frightened witnesses. Friday afternoon, NASA scientists estimated the meteor was space rock about 50 feet (15 meters) and sparked a blast equivalent of a 300-kiloton explosion. The energy estimate was later increased to 470 kilotons.

But late Friday, NASA revised its estimates on the size and power of the devastating meteor explosion. The meteor's size is now thought to be slightly larger about 55 feet (17 m) wide with the power of the blast estimate of about 500 kilotons, 30 kilotons higher than before, NASA officials said in a statement. [See video of the intense meteor explosion]

The meteor was also substantially more massive than thought as well. Initial estimated pegged the space rock's mass at about 7,000 tons. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., now say the meteor weighed about 10,000 tons and was travelling 40,000 mph (64,373 km/h) when it exploded.

"These new estimates were generated using new data that had been collected by five additional infrasound stations located around the world - the first recording of the event being in Alaska, over 6,500 kilometers away from Chelyabinsk," JPL officials explained in the statement. The infrasound stations detect low-frequency sound waves that accompany exploding meteors, known as bolides.

The meteor entered Earth's atmosphere and blew apart over Chelyabinsk at 10:20 p.m. EST on Feb. 14 (03:20:26 GMT on Feb. 15). The meteor briefly outshined the sun during the event, which occurred just hours before a larger space rock the 150-foot-wide (45 meters) asteroid 2012 DA14 zoomed by Earth in an extremely close flyby.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 approached within 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) of Earth Friday, but never posed an impact threat to the planet. The asteroid flyby and Russian meteor explosion had significantly different trajectories, showing that they were completely unrelated events, NASA officials said.

Late Friday, another fireball was spotted over the San Francisco Bay Area in California. That event, also unrelated, occurred at about 7:45 p.m. PST (10:45 p.m. EST/0345 Feb. 16 GMT) and lit up the nighttime sky. Aside from the unexpected light show, the fireball over San Francisco had little other effect.

NASA scientists said the Russian meteor event, however, is a rare occurrence. Not since 1908, when a space rock exploded over Russia's Tunguska River in Siberia and flattened 825 square miles (2,137 square km) of uninhabited forest land, has a meteor event been so devastating.

"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," Paul Chodas of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL said. "When you have a fireball of this size we would expect a large number of meteorites to reach the surface and in this case there were probably some large ones."

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Russian Meteor Blast Bigger Than Thought, NASA Says

HOUSTON -- NASA and its international partners are targeting Friday, March 1, as the launch date for the next cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).

Launch is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. EST (9:10 a.m. CST) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Media accreditation to view the launch is open. International media without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities by noon on Monday, Feb. 18. For U.S. media, the deadline to apply is Monday, Feb. 25.

Questions about accreditation may be directed to Jennifer Horner at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 321-867-6598 or 321-867-2468. All media accreditation requests must be submitted online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

NASA also is inviting 50 social media users to apply for credentials for the launch. Social media users selected to attend will be given the same access as journalists. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Registration for social media accreditation is open online. International social media users without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials by 5 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 15, to qualify. For U.S. social media, the deadline to apply is 5 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 22. For more information about NASA social media accreditation requirements and to register, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/social

SpaceX's Dragon capsule will be filled with about 1,200 pounds of supplies for the space station crew and experiments being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory.

On March 2, Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA will use the station's robot arm to grapple Dragon following its rendezvous with the station. They will attach the Dragon to the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module for a few weeks while astronauts unload cargo. They then will load experiment samples for return to Earth.

Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth March 25 for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. It will be bringing back more than 2,300 pounds of experiment samples and equipment.

To follow the mission and for more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

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NASA Targets March 1 Launch for Next SpaceX Station Resupply Mission

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Not too many NASA engineers get to sit with the First Lady at the State of the Union address. But having an unusual haircut certainly doesn't hurt in getting you noticed, especially if you are the flight director for the Mars Curiosity mission. Bobak Ferdowsi, better known as Mohawk Guy, caught many people's attention, including that of Michelle Obama, when television cameras caught the 33-year-old in the control room as Curiosity made its spectacular landing last August 6, 2012.His distinctive look and infectious enthusiasm has led him to reach out to the public to spread the word on the excitement of Martian exploration. At a briefing organized by the White House office of digital strategy on February 13, he revealed how he got into Mars research and the reason for his hair.[An edited transcript follows.]What inspired you to become involved in the exploration of other planets?As a child, it was the kind of thing I dreamed of doing. I saw the 1997 Pathfinder mission. It was the first time I had really seen live pictures of Mars. There was something amazing about seeing the human effort involved, to have something sitting there on another planet, that made me want to do it.How did you get on the Mars Curiosity team?In school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I went down the path of physics and aerospace engineering. At the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), I was lucky that they put me on the Mars Curiosity project at the very start. But I still didnt know what I would do on it.I told my boss, hey, I really want to work on this stuff, but I dont even know what Im good at yet. So I took an apprenticeship approach. Over the course of a few years, I did mission planning, some requirements development, testing, and operations. Along the way, without realizing it, I learned so much and learned a lot about myself. I learned I loved testing the rover. Trying to get one of these things to break is one of the best jobs Ive ever had.To name the rover, NASA conducted a contest. How do you think it turned out?I thought the name, Curiosity, was a little cheesy at first. And now I absolutely love it. Curiosity is actually the perfect name. Here we are, and were using our own curiosity to explore the planet.You have a full-time job operating the rover as flight director. How did you handle all the educational outreach?Its just a matter of a little time management. I love the outreach. I feel really fortunate for the opportunities to do more of it, like working with the Office of Science Technology Policy. When I give a tour of JPL, it's super exciting. It gives you energy to bring someone else into the picture and show them what youre working on. And you realize, yeah, this is amazing; its not just a job. It helps motivate me and gets me pumped.Concerning the Curiosity mission, what are you most looking forward to?Until last week, it was the drillling into the Martian surface. The thing I'm really excited for now is that weve laid out the path were going to drive on and the places where we are gong to drill. We're seeing at least three or four different types of terrain there. Im excited to analyze each of those terrains and get the story of Mars pieced together, because each of those terrains represents a different era and a different Martian environment. And we can get down to answering the question of whether Mars was habitable.What are the odds of life on Mars?I don't believe there's life on Mars today. I'm optimistic that maybe in the past there were some sort of simple-celled organisms.What's the deal with your hair?The hair became an ongoing tradition for me about five, six years ago, when we started doing these things called system tests. I was doing the software testing of the hardware.Testing is kind of stressful. So with the system test coming up, I thought I'd do something fun. I decided I was young enough to have a Mohawk once in my life. And I also put an ST on my head for system test.For launch, I went a little crazy. I dyed my hair so that the hawk went from gold to red, like a rocket flame. For landing, my boss sent an email poll to the team asking what my hair should look like. Some of the options were pretty bad. One suggestion was a reverse Mohawk. Ultimately, the team came up with red, white and blue.Any plans to change your Mohawk hairstyle?I think I was 26 when I first started it. I like to change things up, as you can tell from the colors in my hair that are changing. Im sure therell be a point when its gone. No one wants to see an old grey-haired Mohawk guy.Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs.Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news. 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

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NASA's 'Mohawk Guy' Explains the Thrill of Exploring Mars

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft is assembled and is undergoing environmental testing at Lockheed Martin Space Systems facilities, near Denver, Colo. MAVEN is the next mission to Mars and will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.

During the environmental testing phase, the orbiter will undergo a variety of rigorous tests that simulate the extreme temperatures, vacuum and vibration the spacecraft will experience during the course of its mission. Currently, the spacecraft is in the company's Reverberant Acoustic Laboratory being prepared to undergo acoustics testing that simulates the maximum sound and vibration levels the spacecraft will experience during launch.

Following the acoustics test, MAVEN will be subjected to a barrage of additional tests, including: separation/deployment shock, vibration, electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility and magnetics testing. The phase concludes with a thermal vacuum test where the spacecraft and its instruments are exposed to the vacuum and extreme hot and cold temperatures it will face in space.

"The assembly and integration of MAVEN has gone very smoothly and we're excited to test our work over the next six months," said Guy Beutelschies, MAVEN program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "Environmental testing is a crucial set of activities designed to ensure the spacecraft can operate in the extreme conditions of space."

"I'm very pleased with how our team has designed and built the spacecraft and science instruments that will make our measurements," said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. "We've got an exciting science mission planned, and the environmental testing now is what will ensure that we are ready for launch and for the mission."

MAVEN is scheduled to ship from Lockheed Martin's facility to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early August, where it will undergo final preparations for launch.

MAVEN, scheduled to launch in November 2013, is a robotic exploration mission to understand the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time. It will investigate how much of the Martian atmosphere has been lost over time by measuring the current rate of escape to space and gathering enough information about the relevant processes to extrapolate backward in time.

"This phase of the program is particularly important in that it will provide us with a good assessment of the MAVEN system's capabilities under the simulated extremes of the space environment," said David Mitchell, MAVEN project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Of significance, the spacecraft is entering system level test right on schedule, while maintaining robust cost and schedule reserves to deal with the technical or programmatic surprises that could occur during test or in the run to launch. Tracking on plan is critically important to being ready for launch later this year and the science that MAVEN will deliver one year later."

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NASA's MAVEN Mission Completes Assembly

NASA ASTEROID 2012 DA14 CLOSE APPROACH
A beautiful internet moment

By: solivierrondeau

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NASA ASTEROID 2012 DA14 CLOSE APPROACH - Video

February 15, 2013

Image Caption: Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (from left) Constance Gartner, Vince Washington, Ira Hardin and Chelen Johnson at the educators work station aboard the SOFIA observatory during a flight on the night of Feb. 12-13, 2013. Credit: NASA / ASP / N. Veronico

NASA

The first four Airborne Astronomy Ambassador (AAA) educators returned safely to Earth, landing in Palmdale, Calif. early in the morning Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, after completing their initial flight on NASAs Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA.

That flight launched the AAA programs first full year of operations, during which 26 educators from classrooms and science centers across the United States will fly on SOFIA as partners with scientists conducting astronomy research using the airborne observatory.

On board for the Feb. 12-13 flight were Ambassadors Constance Gartner (Wisconsin School for the Deaf, Delavan, Wisc.), Chelen Johnson (Breck School, Golden Valley, Minn.), Ira Harden, and Vincente Washington (both from City Honors College Preparatory Charter School, Inglewood, Calif.). The astronomers on the flight included Juergen Wolf and Doerte Mehlert of the German SOFIA Institute in Stuttgart, Germany and Ted Dunham of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.

SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner that carries a telescope with an effective diameter of 100 inches (2.5 meters) to altitudes as high as 45,000 feet (14 km). Flying above Earths obscuring atmospheric water vapor, scientists can gather and analyze infrared light to further our understanding of puzzles such as the processes that form stars and planets, the chemistry of organic compounds in interstellar clouds, and the environment around the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

SOFIA enables educators to work with scientists and to experience a flight mission on the worlds largest airborne observatory. Educators then take their experiences back to their classrooms and communities, said Eddie Zavala, NASA SOFIA program manager. They can relate the excitement, hardships, challenges, discoveries, teamwork, and educational values of SOFIA and scientific research to students, teachers, and the general public.

The Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program is a yearly professional development opportunity extended to educators through a competitive, peer-reviewed process. Teams of two educators are paired with groups of professional astronomers who have won a parallel competitive process to use the flying telescope for their research projects. Each educator team will fly on two 10-hour missions that depart from and return to NASAs Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif.

These educators submitted applications describing how they will use what they learn from SOFIA to help promote increased public literacy in science, technology, engineering and math, said astronomer Dana Backman, manager of SOFIAs education and public outreach programs. Published studies have shown that personally participating in scientific research increases the educators enthusiasm for teaching, and measurably improves their career retention rates. The same studies have shown that this enthusiasm carries over to the students with tangible increases in test scores and science fair participation.

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AAA Educators Fly on NASA's SOFIA Airborne Observatory

Washington, DC /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ - NASA has selected Aerojet ofSacramento, Calif., for a$23.3 millioncontract to develop engineering demonstrations and risk reduction concepts for future advanced boosters for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS).

Aerojet is one of four companies contracted under a NASA Research Announcement (NRA) to improve the affordability, reliability and performance of an advanced booster for a future version of the SLS heavy-lift rocket.

The SLS vehicle will take the agency's Orion spacecraft and other payloads farther than ever before. The initial 70-metric-ton (77-ton) configuration will use two five-segment solid rocket boosters similar to the boosters that helped power the space shuttle to orbit. An evolved 130-metric-ton (143-ton) rocket will require an advanced booster with more thrust than any existing U.S. liquid- or solid-fueled boosters.

Aerojet will work to reduce the risk and improve technical maturation of a liquid oxygen and kerosene oxidizer-rich staged-combustion engine. The company will fabricate a representative full-scale 550,000-pound thrust class main injector and thrust chamber, and prepare to conduct a number of tests measuring performance and demonstrating combustion stability.

In addition to Aerojet, three other companies are under contract to develop SLS advanced booster contracts including ATK Launch Systems Inc. ofBrigham City, Utah; Dynetics Inc. ofHuntsville, Ala.; and Northrop Grumman Corporation Aerospace Systems ofRedondo Beach, Calif.These new initiatives will perform and examine advanced booster concepts and hardware demonstrations during an approximate 30-month period.

While commercial partners seek to fly astronauts and payloads to the International Space Station, NASA's SLS, with an uncrewed Orion spacecraft, will begin the first step towards deep space on a flight test in 2017.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center inHuntsville, Ala., manages the SLS Program for the agency. NASA's Johnson Space Flight Center inHoustonmanages Orion. SLS will launch from NASA'sKennedy Space CenterinFlorida.

For information about NASA's Space Launch System, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/sls

SOURCE: NASA

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NASA Awards Final Space Launch System Advanced Booster Contract