Bolden Speaks at NASA Open House

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speaks at the NASA open house event, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA opened its doors to the public Friday as part of the festivities surrounding the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Visitors to the open house were able to participate in question and answer sessions with NASA officials covering a wide range of topics and take part in hands-on demonstrations.

NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration William Gerstenmaier, second from left, along with space technologist Mike Gazarik, right, participate in a panel discussion moderated by Mamta Nagaraja, left, on "NASA Plans for Human Spaceflight" during the NASA Open House at NASA Headquarters, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Washington. The open house is part of NASA's activities surrounding the second inauguration of President Obama, Jan. 21, 2013.

Aidan Gibson, 8, from Carrolton, Va. asks a question on Human Spaceflight during the NASA Open House at NASA Headquarters, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Washington. The open house is part of NASA's activities surrounding the second inauguration of President Obama, Jan. 21, 2013.

NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck, left, and Jaiwon Shin, Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate speak at a panel discussion on the "Importance of Technology and Innovation for our Economic Future" during the NASA Open House at NASA Headquarters, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Washington. NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck, left, and Jaiwon Shin, Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate speak at a panel discussion on the "Importance of Technology and Innovation for our Economic Future" during the NASA Open House at NASA Headquarters, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Washington. The open house is part of NASA's activities surrounding the second inauguration of President Obama, Jan. 21, 2013.

Bill Bluethemann, left, Roger Ronekamp, center, and Jonathan Rogers, all engineers at NASA Johnson Space Center perform a demonstration of NASA's exoskeleton technology during the NASA Open House at NASA Headquarters, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Washington. The open house is part of the celebration surrounding President Obama's second inauguration on Jan. 21, 2013.

A NASA Social participant holds up a tablet to video tape a presentation of NASA's exoskeleton technology during the NASA Open House at NASA Headquarters, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in Washington. The open house is part of NASA's activies surrounding the second inauguration of President Obama, Jan. 21, 2013.

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NASA Photos of President Obama's Second Inauguration

When President Barack Obama takes his oath of office to begin his second term Monday, NASA will be there.

NASA's famed "Mohawk Guy" Bobak Ferdowsi will march in the Presidential Inaugural Parade on Monday along with life-size replicas of the space agency's Mars rover Curiosity and Orion space capsule.

Ferdowsi is a flight director at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory whose unique hairdo catapulted him to Internet fame after the spectacular Mars rover Curiosity landing last year.

Space news from NBCNews.com

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: "The Blob" from the sun has come and gone, sparking nothing more than beautiful views of the northern lights and there could be more blobs to come.

"The things we do, the exploration we do, is not just about learning about other planets. It's about understanding our own. NASA gives us a chance to travel outside our world as a way to look back and learn about ourselves as a species as people. There's nowhere else in the world where you get to do that," Ferdowsi said in a statement.

Ferdowsi is reportedly trading in his mohawk locks for a new hairdo in honor of the President's inauguration. According to an interview with Wired, Ferdowsi is keeping details of the new hairstyle under wraps until the inaugural parade.

Ferdowsi will march in the inaugural parade alongside Curiosity, the Orion spacecraft and other NASA scientists as part of the agency's official Presidential Inaugural Weekend. The $2.5 billion Curiosity rover landed on Mars on Aug. 5 to begin a two-year mission aimed at determining if the planet could have ever supported microbial life. [Obama and NASA: A Presidential Gallery]

NASA's Orion deep-space capsule the agency's first new spaceship designed by NASA since the space shuttle in the 1970s is designed to send humans farther into space than ever before. The space agency hopes the capsule will be the vessel for manned missions to asteroids, the moon and even Mars.

NASA is hosting an open house for the agencys social media participants Friday in honor of the inauguration as well. The open house is available to the public without a reservation, but 75 specially chosen guests will get a reserved seat that gives them special access to various events throughout the day.

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NASA 'Mohawk Guy' to march in inaugural parade

Call it the ultimate in high art: Using a well-timed laser, NASA scientists have beamed a picture of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, to a powerful spacecraft orbiting the moon, marking a first in laser communication.

The laser signal, fired from an installation in Maryland, beamed the Mona Lisa to the moon to be received 240,000 miles away by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009. The Mona Lisa transmission, NASA scientists said, is a major advance in laser communication for interplanetary spacecraft.

- David Smith, a researcher working with the LRO's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter

"This is the first time anyone has achieved one-way laser communication at planetary distances," David Smith, a researcher working with the LRO's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter which received the Mona Lisa message said in a statement. "In the near future, this type of simple laser communication might serve as a backup for the radio communication that satellites use. In the more distance future, it may allow communication at higher data rates than present radio links can provide."

The LRO spacecraft was the prime choice to test out the novel communication method because the spacecraft was already equipped with a laser receiver. While most spacecraft exploring the solar system today are tracked using radio signals, NASA is tracking LRO via lasers as well.

But the timing had to be just right.

NASA used its Next Generation Satellite Laser Ranging station at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to send the Mona Lisa signal to LRO. The team divided the famous da Vinci painting into sections measuring 150 by 200 pixels and then transmitted them via the pulsing of the laser to the orbiter at a data rate of about 300 bits per second.

Once the lunar orbiter received the image, it reconstructed the photo, corrected for distortions created as the laser signal zipped through Earth's atmosphere, and then sent the image back to Earth using its normal form of communication: radio waves.

"This pathfinding achievement sets the stage for the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration," Richard Vondrak, another researcher with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter said, "a high data rate laser-communication-demonstrations that will be a central feature of NASA's next moon mission, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust environment Explorer."

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer is slated to launch toward the moon later this year and will focus on mapping the lunar atmosphere and environment.

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NASA Sent Her to the Moon

When President Barack Obama takes his oath of office to begin his second term Monday, NASA will be there.

NASA's famed "Mohawk Guy" Bobak Ferdowsi will march in Monday's Presidential Inaugural Parade on Monday (Jan. 21) along with life-size replicas of the space agency's Mars rover Curiosity and Orion space capsule.

Ferdowsi is a flight director at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory whose unique hairdo catapulted him to Internet fame after the spectacular Mars rover Curiosity landing last year.

"The things we do, the exploration we do, is not just about learning about other planets. It's about understanding our own. NASA gives us a chance to travel outside our world as a way to look back and learn about ourselves as a species as people. There's nowhere else in the world where you get to do that,"Ferdowsi said in a statement.

Ferdowsi will march in the inaugural parade alongside Curiosity, the Orion spacecraft and other NASA scientists as part of the agency's official Presidential Inaugural Weekend. The $2.5 billion Curiosity rover landed on Mars on Aug. 5 to begin a two-year mission aimed at determining if the planet could have ever supported microbial life. [Obama and NASA: A Presidential Gallery]

NASA's Orion deep-space capsule the agency's first new spaceship designed by NASA since the space shuttle in the 1970s is designed to send humans farther into space than ever before. The space agency hopes the capsule will be the vessel for manned missions to asteroids, the moon and even Mars.

NASA is also hosting an open house for the agencys social media participants today (Jan. 18) in honor of the inauguration as well. The open house is available to the public without a reservation, but 75 specially chosen guests will get a reserved seat that gives them special access to various events throughout the day.

The open house will also include panel discussions with NASA astronauts and displays showing off some of the agencys accomplishments.

Telescopes will be set up outside the David M. Brown Planetarium in Arlington, Va., for a "Star Party" tomorrow (Jan. 19). Experts with NASA will speak about the future of space exploration and missions the agency already has in the works.

For NASA's full schedule of Inaugural Weekend events, click here.

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NASA's 'Mohawk Guy' to March in Obama's Inaugural Parade

Call it the ultimate in high art: Using a well-timed laser, NASA scientists have beamed a picture of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, to a powerful spacecraft orbiting the moon, marking a first in laser communication.

The laser signal, fired from an installation in Maryland, beamed the Mona Lisa to the moon to be received 240,000 miles (384,400 km) away by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009. The Mona Lisa transmission, NASA scientists said, is a major advance in laser communication for interplanetary spacecraft.

"This is the first time anyone has achieved one-way laser communication at planetary distances," David Smith, a researcher working with the LRO's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter which received the Mona Lisa message said in a statement. "In the near future, this type of simple laser communication might serve as a backup for the radio communication that satellites use. In the more distance future, it may allow communication at higher data rates than present radio links can provide."

The LRO spacecraft was the prime choice to test out the novel communication method because the spacecraft was already equipped with a laser receiver. While most spacecraft exploring the solar system today are tracked using radio signals, NASA is tracking LRO via lasers as well.

But the timing had to be just right.

NASA used its Next Generation Satellite Laser Ranging station at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to send the Mona Lisa signal to LRO. The team divided the famous da Vinci painting into sections measuring 150 by 200 pixels and then transmitted them via the pulsing of the laser to the orbiter at a data rate of about 300 bits per second.

Once the lunar orbiter received the image, it reconstructed the photo, corrected for distortions created as the laser signal zipped through Earth's atmosphere, and then sent the image back to Earth using its normal form of communication: radio waves.

"This pathfinding achievement sets the stage for the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration," Richard Vondrak, another researcher with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter said, "a high data rate laser-communication-demonstrations that will be a central feature of NASA's next moon mission, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust environment Explorer."

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer is slated to launch toward the moon later this year and will focus on mapping the lunar atmosphere and environment.

Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter@mirikrameror SPACE.com@Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook&Google+.

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NASA Beams Mona Lisa to Moon with Laser

This Week at NASA, January 11, 2013
This Week at NASA, January 11, 2013 Credit: NASA

By: Michael500ca

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This Week at NASA, January 11, 2013 - Video

NASA Making Strides In Tracking Near-Earth Asteroids
Humanity has made substantial progress in the hunt for near-Earth asteroids that could potentially pose a grave threat to the planet, NASA #39;s chief space rock hunter said Monday (Jan. 14). Don Yeomans, head of NASA #39;s Near-Earth Object Program, told a crowd here at the American Museum of Natural History that it is the smaller asteroids, not giant space rocks, that are difficult to spot. "It #39;s unlikely that we #39;d miss a big one," said Yeomans, who has written a new book on near-Earth asteroids "Near Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us" (Princeton University Press 2013). "It #39;s the small ones that sneak up on us." Yeomans #39; office at NASA #39;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is devoted to finding near-Earth objects (which includes asteroids and comets) and plotting their positions over time. A few of the more notable asteroids NASA has placed on the "cleared" list in the past year include such high profile space rocks as the asteroid Apophis, which will swing extremely close to Earth in 2029 and return in 2036. All told, astronomers have found 90 percent of the large asteroids whose orbits bring them close to our planet. Apophis was cleared of concern last week when it made a distant flyby of Earth, which allowed astronomers to make new observations that helped complete rule out an impact threat in 2036. Previous observations had already ruled out the 2029 flyby. [See Photos of Giant Asteroid Apophis] In the near-future, as in this year, there will be ...

By: TheBrotherReaper

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NASA Making Strides In Tracking Near-Earth Asteroids - Video

Installing the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module on the Space Station | NASA ISS Science Video
Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - here #39;s an animation of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module being extracted and attached to the International Space Station. Once attached, the module is then inflated. Please rate and comment, thanks! Video Credits NASA

By: CoconutScienceLab

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Installing the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module on the Space Station | NASA ISS Science Video - Video

NASA WB-57, 50000ft. over Las Vegas
Noticed a high short contrail when I looked out my window to check out another plane. Turned out to be the WB-57 I caught earlier that week, only this time, it was orbiting Las Vegas at about 49000 ft for about 4-5 hours. The new facebook page for 8081rt is now up, like it at - http://www.facebook.com Instagram user? Follow me @rich8081 Ifyou would like to see more videos like this, please subscribe to the channel. Also, don #39;t forget to check out the channel for videos of Military exercises, Fly Bys, Air Shows, Spotting videos, and regular flying ops at Nellis AFB. All of the new videos will be in full HD! Some or all of my videos may have pictures to go with them, to see them visit my website at http://www.nellisspotters.com

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NASA WB-57, 50000ft. over Las Vegas - Video

This artist's rendering shows a Bigelow inflatable space station. NASA is testing an inflatable room that can be compressed into a 2m tube for delivery to the International Space Station. Source: AP

NASA is partnering with a commercial space company in a bid to replace the cumbersome "metal cans" that now serve as astronauts' homes in space with inflatable bounce-house-like habitats that can be deployed on the cheap.

A $US17.8 million ($16.9 million) test project will send to the International Space Station an inflatable room that can be compressed into a two-metre tube for delivery, officials said in a news conference at North Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace.

If the module proves durable during two years at the space station, it could open the door to habitats on the moon and missions to Mars, NASA engineer Glen Miller said.

The agency chose Bigelow for the contract because it was the only company working on inflatable technology, said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver.

Founder and President Robert Bigelow, who made his fortune in the hotel industry before getting into the space business in 1999, framed the gambit as an out-of-this-world real estate venture. He hopes to sell his spare tyre habitats to scientific companies and wealthy adventurers looking for space hotels.

Bigelow Aerospace founder Robert Bigelow speaks near a scale model of an inflatable habitat. NASA has partnered with the company to try the cheaper inflatable accomodation for astronauts in space.

NASA is expected to install the 4-metre, blimp-like module in a space station port by 2015. Bigelow plans to begin selling stand-alone space homes the next year.

The new technology provides three times as much room as the existing aluminum models, and is also easier and less costly to build, Mr Miller said.

Artist renderings of the module resemble a tinfoil clown nose grafted onto the main station. It is hardly big enough to be called a room. Mr Miller described it as a large closet with padded white walls and gear and gizmos strung from two central beams.

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NASA to try inflatable housing in space

The European Space Agency will supply the service module that will power an initial unmanned test flight of NASA's Orion deep space exploration capsule in 2017 and provide components for a second, manned mission in 2021 under an agreement discussed Wednesday at the Johnson Space Center.

The service module, which will provide propulsion, electrical power, thermal control and life support system components and supplies, will be based on the design of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle, an unmanned supply ship that has completed three flights to the International Space Station.

The solar-powered service module will be located just behind the Orion crew capsule, between the spacecraft heat shield and the launch vehicle. NASA will supply the critical load-bearing interfaces and will contribute space shuttle orbital maneuvering system engines for the propulsion system.

"We put them in the critical path," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's director of spaceflight operations at agency headquarters. "We probably wouldn't have done that without the experience we've had in space station."

Depending on how the cooperative venture goes from a technical perspective -- and assuming continued political support and funding -- NASA and ESA could agree to additional joint flights or pursue modified objectives.

But in the near term, officials say, the agreement will help both parties transition from work in low-Earth orbit to deep space operations ranging from flights back to the moon, to nearby asteroids and, eventually, to Mars.

"To me, the essential part of this is not whether we've accelerated something or not, it's actually initiating international partnership beyond low-Earth orbit, that's really the key," said Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion program manager.

Gerstenmaier agreed, saying the agreement "allows us to work smarter within the contracts we have to make sure we're going to get to those dates of 2017 and 2021 with more robustness."

"We shouldn't try to go look at what ESA's contributing and then try to subtract that out of our budget. We're actually getting a better, more robust design by cooperating together."

Thomas Reiter, a veteran ESA astronaut who serves as that agency's director of human spaceflight and operations, declined to provide funding details other than to say the overall cost to ESA is expected to be in the range of $600 million ($450 million euros).

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ESA module to power NASA's Orion deep space capsule

Exploded view of NASA's Orion spacecraft in its launch configuration. From left: spacecraft adapter and launch shrouds, service module, crew module, and launch abort system. Credit: NASA

Published: Jan. 16, 2013 at 5:10 PM

WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- NASA says it has signed an agreement for the European Space Agency to provide the service module for the U.S. agency's upcoming Orion spacecraft.

The agreement will bring a European contribution to the spacecraft's Exploration Mission-1 set for 2017, NASA reported Wednesday.

The Orion vehicle has three major components -- the four-man crew capsule, the launch abort system, which would pull the crew module to safety in the unlikely event of a life-threatening problem during launch, and the service module, which will house Orion's power, thermal and in-space propulsion systems.

That's the component the ESA will provide under the terms of the agreement signed in med-December, NASA said.

"This is not a simple system," Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer said. "ESA's contribution is going to be critical to the success of Orion's 2017 mission."

That mission will be the first integrated flight test of both the Orion spacecraft and NASA's new Space Launch System rocket.

"We have a lot to look forward to in the coming years with human exploration," said Dan Dumbacher, deputy associate administrator for Exploration System Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "NASA is thrilled to have ESA as a partner as we set out to explore our solar system."

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NASA, ESA in Orion agreement

For years now, the world's space agencies have used the International Space Station (ISS) as a testing ground for some of most cutting-edge technologies and science known to man, but development of new housings for the station itself have remained relatively static. Now, NASA has announced plans to test a new kind of structure that will allow rapid and more affordable expansion of the space station in the future.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Modules (BEAM) are bubble-like structures, measuring roughly 13 feet by 10.5 feet, which quickly inflate like balloons and allow for rapid deployment of additional rooms on the ISS for a fraction of the cost of building traditional add-ons.

"NASA's partnership with Bigelow opens a new chapter in our continuing work to bring the innovation of industry to space, heralding cutting-edge technology that can allow humans to thrive in space safely and affordably," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said in an announcement on the agency's website.

To illustrate the simplicity and speed of the new system, NASA posted a video animation (below) that shows a BEAM module being installed and expanded to its full size. And while the expandable structures may look fragile, NASA has conducted numerous tests to ensure that the modules can withstand random space debris traveling at high speeds. In addition to giving the ISS additional space for crew members, the space agency also believes the BEAM modules may offer a viable solution for deep space missions, such as future missions to Mars.

"As we venture deeper into space on the path to Mars, habitats that allow for long-duration stays in space will be a critical capability," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations. "Using the station's resources, we'll learn how humans can work effectively with this technology in space, as we continue to advance our understanding in all aspects for long-duration spaceflight aboard the orbiting laboratory."

NASA awarded the $17.8 million contract to Bigelow Aerospace and will launch the first test of the structures in 2015, after which the BEAM will undergo a two-year evaluation phase.

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NASA to Test Inflatable Modules on ISS

Growtopia - NASA Server - Hell Escape
iOS / Android Deals http://www.phonecats.com music by microD http

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Growtopia - NASA Server - Hell Escape - Video

NASA ISS Longeron Challenge Introduction
NASA is hosting an out of this world Open Innovation Algorithm challenge! Think you #39;ve got the "right stuff"? Want to help power the International Space Station with YOUR innovative algorithmic solution? Watch the video and join this amazing competition that has a total prize purse of $30000 today!!! For more details please see http://www.TopCoder.com/ISS

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NASA ISS Longeron Challenge Introduction - Video

NASA Orion with ESA Service Module
"Animation of the Orion spacecraft #39;s Exploration Mission-1 in 2017. Exploration Mission-1 will be the first integrated flight test with both the Orion spacecraft and NASA #39;s new Space Launch System." - [video: NASA]

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NASA Orion with ESA Service Module - Video

Orion NASA/ESA Exploration Mission-1 Animation
Animation of the Orion spacecraft #39;s Exploration Mission-1 in 2017. Exploration Mission-1 will be the first integrated flight test with both the Orion spacecraft and NASA #39;s new Space Launch System.

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Orion NASA/ESA Exploration Mission-1 Animation - Video

NASA SDO - Frantic Loops January 9 - 15, 2013
Tracking our Active Region AR1654 from January 9 through January 15 across the Earth facing solar disk, we can see a frantic coming and going of coronal loops. This Extreme Ultraviolet view shows us temperatures of about 1000000 degrees K, which is about 1800000 degrees F. Coronal loops are found around sunspots and in active regions. These structures are associated with the closed magnetic field lines that connect magnetic regions on the solar surface. Many coronal loops last for days or weeks but most change quite rapidly. Credit: NASA SDO

By: Camilla Corona SDO

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NASA SDO - Frantic Loops January 9 - 15, 2013 - Video

ESA

An artist's conception shows ESA's service module directly below NASA's Orion crew capsule.

By Alan Boyle

NASA and the European Space Agency have signed an agreement calling for the Europeans to provide the service module for the Orion space capsule, the U.S. space agency's crew vehicle for exploration beyond Earth orbit.

The hardware would provide the Orion withpropulsion, power, thermal control and basic supplies such as water and breathable air. ESA said the design will be based on that of the ATV supply ships that are currently being sent to the International Space Station.

"ATV has proven itself on three flawless missions to the space station, and this agreement is further confirmation that Europe is building advanced, dependable spacecraft," Nico Dettmann, head of the ATV's production program, said in an ESA statement.

The Orion's first test flight is scheduled for 2014, using a test service module built by Lockheed Martin. That unmanned launch would send the Orion to an altitude of 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers). The European-built service module would get its first in-space tryout along with the Orion capsule and heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket in 2017, during an unmanned test flight that would go around the moon and back.

"This is not a simple system," Orion program manager Mark Geyer said in a NASA statement. "ESA's contribution is going to be critical to the success of Orion's 2017 mission."

The first flight with astronauts aboard would follow a round-the-moon route in 2021, and ESA will provide components for that flight as well.

NASA's current exploration plan calls for the Orion-SLS system to send humans to a near-Earth asteroid in the mid-2020s, and to Mars and its moons in the 2030s. Meanwhile, the task of sending cargo and crew to the International Space Station would be left to commercial spaceship providers.

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Europeans to build key piece of NASA spaceship

Sam Wood, PHILLY.COM Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013, 2:40 PM

NASA today released satellite images documenting the off-the-charts pollution that has blanketed Beijing with thick smog.

The abysmal air quality in the Chinese capital has led the government to order factories to reduce emissions and issue warnings to residents to stay inside.

The pictures from NASA's Terra satellite, taken January 14, show the choking haze enveloping most of northeast China.

The wave of pollution peaked Saturday. Expected to last through Tuesday, it was the severest smog since the government began releasing figures on PM2.5 particles, among the worst pollutants, early last year in response to a public outcry.

"Really awful. Extremely awful," Beijing office worker Cindy Lu said of Monday's haze as she walked along a downtown sidewalk. But she added: "Now that we have better information, we know how bad things really are and can protect ourselves and decide whether we want to go out."

"Before, you just saw the air was bad but didn't know how bad it really was," she said.

Air pollution is a major problem in China due to the country's rapid pace of industrialization, reliance on coal power, explosive growth in vehicle ownership and disregard for environmental laws, with development often taking priority over health. The pollution typically gets worse in the winter because of an increase in coal burning.

When image was captured on Monday, the air quality index (AQI) in Beijing was 341, NASA reported. An AQI above 300 is considered hazardous to all humans, not just those with heart or lung ailments. AQI below 50 is considered good, said NASA scientists.

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NASA images show extent of China’s choking pollution