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Category Archives: NASA

NASA Invites Social Media Fans to Behind the Scenes Look at Mars Mission

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What do Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and the Mars Curiosity rover have in common? Each is a Twitter celeb with its respective fan base. While Kardashian tweets missives such as "Loving my Belle Noel ankle bracelets," Curiosity informs followers of its own fashion accoutrements, such as "There's a camera on my underside that takes pics of the descent to landing site."  Now followers of the ...

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NASA Invites Social Media Fans to Behind the Scenes Look at Mars Mission

Nasa cancels plan to use Utapao

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SEAC4RS

The Nation June 28, 2012 2:14 pm

"On June 26, 2012, NASA cancelled the SEAC4RS mission, which was scheduled to begin in August 2012, due to the absence of necessary approvals by regional authorities in the timeframe necessary to support the mission's planned deployment and scientific observation window," the Nasa website announced.

Nasa's twitter site has also announced the cancellation, saying: "We have, unfortunately, had to call off this airborne science mission planned for Southeast Asia this year."

The Thai government has declined to approve Nasa's request to use Utapao and will first hold a parliamentary debate on the issue. However, the parliament will convene the next meeting on August 1, which would be too late for the Nasa to start the mission as scheduled.

The SEAC4RS or the Southeast Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study was initially planned to be NASAs most complex and ambitious airborne science campaign of the year.

Had the plans been approved by the Thai government, the SEAC4RS would take to the field in August. The campaign was led by Brian Toon, chair of the University of Colorado's Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

Dr Toon is a veteran of NASA airborne campaigns, including flights to study the Antarctic ozone hole and the atmospheric effects of volcanic eruptions.

Parliament President Somsak Kiartsuranon said the planned parliamentary debate on Nasa's request would be cancelled now that Nasa would no longer use Utapao.

Informed by reporters of Nasa's announcement, Somsak said he was sorry that Nasa had cancelled the project.

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Nasa cancels plan to use Utapao

NASA previews Mars Rover landing with joined up social event

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Summary: NASA is hosting a multi center social media event across its centers in the US to preview the landing of the Mars Science Curiosity Rover on August 6th.

Credit: NASA

NASA is hosting a multi centre social media event for US citizens across its centres to preview the landing of the Mars Science Curiosity Rover on August 6th.

The event is designed to increase awareness of the landing, create buzz across social channels and to get more people interested in NASA through various social platforms.

If you follow one of NASAs social media accounts you can register for selection at one of the locations. NASA has a presence on Twitter: @MarsCuriosity, @NASA and @NASASocial, Facebook: MarsCuriosity and NASA or Google+: NASA.

If you are selected, you will be able to meet other social media NASA fans and learn about the Mars Science Laboratory mission and the respective NASA field centre.

If you do not get selected, you will still be able to follow the event via Facebook and Google+ posts and by following the hashtag #NASASocial.

The social event may also be streamed by the Jet Propulsion Lab:

Events will be held simultaneously at six NASA field centers, including:

Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Tx. Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

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NASA previews Mars Rover landing with joined up social event

NASA Cancels Climate Study in Thailand

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The United States says it will not be able to carry out a major climate study this year because Thailand has delayed a decision on whether to grant the U.S. space agency permission to use a key naval air base.

NASA's request to use Thailand's U-Tapao air base as the project's operations center has faced opposition from critics who say it could be a cover for military purposes. The base is located in Chonburi province, 190 kilometers (118 miles) southeast of Bangkok.

"It is too early to say at this time whether resources will be available to revisit the project next year," U.S. Embassy spokesman Walter Braunohler told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The project, called the "Southeast Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study," was to use satellites, aircraft and ground missions to study how air circulation during the monsoon affects the climate and air quality in South and Southeast Asia.

Thai scientists involved in the project were skeptical that NASA would pursue its mission in Thailand next year.

"It's a great loss for Thailand to lose a vital opportunity to learn what we should know about regional climate, including floods, drought and other catastrophes," said Serm Janjai, a physics professor at Thailand's Silpakorn University involved in the project. "But what is more important is it has destroyed confidence in Thailand among the international science community. Someone has to take responsibility for this failure."

NASA said it canceled the mission Tuesday "due to the absence of necessary approvals by regional authorities in the time frame necessary to support the mission's planned deployment and scientific observation window," according to the project's website.

Thailand's Cabinet had agreed Tuesday to have lawmakers debate the issue before deciding on whether to grant permission for the project. However, Parliament does not reconvene until Aug. 1 a month after NASA's deadline for a decision.

U-Tapao was a major base for U.S. bombing missions during the Vietnam War, and some critics have charged that the NASA project is a threat to Thai sovereignty and that it might also anger China. The U.S. military has continued to use the base for refueling and as a staging area for humanitarian relief operations, including those conducted after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Myanmar's 2008 Cyclone Nargis.

The NASA project would have studied carbon emissions in the region in August and September, when regional monsoons could carry wildfire smoke from Indonesia and Malaysia north to countries such as Thailand.

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NASA Cancels Climate Study in Thailand

Nasa plan likely to be cancelled

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General news

With the deadline for approval now passed, it looks like Nasas request to use U-tapao naval airbase for atmospheric studies is going nowhere. The matter now goes to parliament which will not met until August.

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Nasa already has prepared an official logo for the the Southeast Asia Composition, Cloud, Climate Coupling Regional Study (SEAC4RS). The exercise aims to address key questions regarding the influence of Asian emissions on clouds, climate, and air quality. (Nasa handout)

Cancellation likely, Yingluck concedes Thanida Tansubhapol

The cabinet yesterday voted to forward Nasa's request to use U-tapao naval airbase in Rayong for atmospheric studies to parliament for debate in August, which will likely result in the project being cancelled.

The request will be debated at the next session of a joint sitting of parliament, under Section 179 of the constitution, which does not require a vote. The parliament is now in recess and will not convene until August.

Speaking after the cabinet meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra admitted the decision might cause Nasa to scrap the project.

It would be a pity if Nasa withdrew the request as Thailand would lose an opportunity to develop its weather forecasting capabilities, she said.

"The cabinet agrees that we should use parliamentary mechanisms to scrutinise the request in the interests of the country," she said.

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Nasa plan likely to be cancelled

NASA tweaks flight path of Mars mission

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This artist's concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

PASADENA, Calif., June 26 (UPI) -- NASA says a maneuver Tuesday adjusted the flight path of its Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft for delivering the rover Curiosity to a landing target on Mars.

The car-size, 1-ton rover is set to arrive at Mars Aug. 6 to begin a two-year mission to investigate whether Mars ever offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

The latest trajectory correction maneuver -- the third and smallest since the spacecraft's Nov. 26, 2011, launch -- used four thruster firings totaling 40 seconds in duration, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., reported.

The maneuver served both to correct errors in the flight path and to carry out a decision to shift the landing target about 4 miles closer to the martian mountain next to Curiosity's intended landing site.

Shifting the landing target closer to the mountain may shave months off the time needed for driving from the touchdown location to selected destinations at exposures of water-related minerals on the slope of the mountain, scientists said.

"This puts us closer to our entry target, so if any further maneuvers are needed, I expect them to be small," JPL's Tomas Martin-Mur, the mission's navigation team chief, said.

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NASA tweaks flight path of Mars mission

NASA Advisory Council Science Committee Meeting 23-24 Jul 2012

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[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 26, 2012)] [Notices] [Page 38093] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2012-15548]

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice 12-046]

NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Meeting

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-462, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Science Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Committee reports to the NAC. The meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting, from the scientific community and other persons, scientific and technical information relevant to program planning.

DATES: Monday, July 23, 2012, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., local time.

ADDRESSES: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Building 1, Room E100E, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Marian Norris, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, (202) 358-4452, fax (202) 358-4118, or mnorris@nasa.gov.

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NASA Advisory Council Science Committee Meeting 23-24 Jul 2012

NASA details looming Mars rover landing, '7 Minutes of Terror'

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Curiosity, the Mars rover, is set to land on the planet in August; but to get there it must first pass a harrowing descent, which NASA details in new video.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover -- Curiosity -- explores the surface of the red planet in this artist's concept. The nuclear-powered rover is scheduled to touch down on Mars in early August.

In just 41 days, on August 5, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover will touch down on the Red Planet, and this will be no ordinary landing. In fact, NASA has dubbed the descent "Seven Minutes of Terror."

"When people look at it, it looks crazy," senior EDL engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Adam Steltzner said in a new video by NASA on the rover landing. "It is the result of reasoned engineering thought, but it still looks crazy."

The recently released video (see below) outlines exactly how crazy the feat of landing the rover actually is. Named Curiosity, the rover must tear through Mars' atmosphere, which takes up to seven minutes. However, transmitting a signal to Earth of its progress takes 14 minutes because of the distance between the planets.

"When we first get word that we've touched the top of atmosphere the vehicle has been alive or dead for at least seven minutes," Steltzner said.

In those seven minutes, NASA engineers have set up a complex sequence of procedures that must be followed in order to avoid disaster. First, they will deploy a parachute to slow the more than 1,000 mph descent. Then cutting off the chute, they'll fire up rockets to slow the vertical velocity even more, and lastly they will lower the rover on a tether into a crater to avoid a harmful dust cloud.

"If any one thing doesn't work just right, it's game over," EDL engineer Tom Rivellini said in the video.

The rover is the size of a small car and weighs 1,982 pounds. It is equipped with 17 cameras, a 7-foot-long robot arm, and a suite of 10 state-of-the-art scientific sensors and experiments weighing 125 pounds. In contrast, NASA's hugely successful Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, each weighed about 385 pounds, including just 20 pounds of miniaturized science hardware.

Curiosity is set to touch down at 10:31 p.m. PDT on August 5.

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NASA details looming Mars rover landing, '7 Minutes of Terror'

NASA Advisory Council Science Committee Astrophysics Subcommittee Meeting 30-31 Jul 2012

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[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 26, 2012)] [Notices] [Pages 38090-38091] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2012-15547]

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice 12-045]

NASA Advisory Council; Science Committee; Astrophysics Subcommittee; Meeting

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Astrophysics Subcommittee (APS) of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Subcommittee reports to the Science Committee of the NAC. The meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting from the scientific community and other persons, scientific and technical information relevant to program planning.

DATES: Monday, July 30, 2012, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday, July 31, 2012, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., local time.

ADDRESSES: NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW., Room 7H45, Washington, DC 20546.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Marian Norris, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, (202) 358-4452, fax (202) 358-4118, or mnorris@nasa.gov.

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NASA Advisory Council Science Committee Astrophysics Subcommittee Meeting 30-31 Jul 2012

NASA Advisory Council Information Technology Infrastructure Committee Meeting 24 Jul 2012

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[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 123 (Tuesday, June 26, 2012)] [Notices] [Pages 38092-38093] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2012-15571]

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice 12-048]

NASA Advisory Council; Information Technology Infrastructure Committee; Meeting

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-462, as amended, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announces a meeting of the Information Technology Infrastructure Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). This Committee reports to the NAC. The meeting will be held for the purpose of soliciting from the information technology community and other persons, IT-related information relevant to program planning.

DATES: Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., local time.

ADDRESSES: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Building 28, Room E210, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karen Harper, Office of the Chief Information Officer, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, (202) 358-1807, fax (202) 358-3017, or karen.l.harper@nasa.gov.

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NASA Advisory Council Information Technology Infrastructure Committee Meeting 24 Jul 2012

NASA details looming Mars rover landing as "7 Minutes of Terror"

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This story first appeared on CBSNews.com's sister site, CNET.com

In just 41 days, on August 5, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover will touch down on the Red Planet, and this will be no ordinary landing. In fact, NASA has dubbed the descent, "Seven Minutes of Terror."

"When people look at it, it looks crazy," senior EDL engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Adam Steltzner said in a new video by NASA on the rover landing. "It is the result of reasoned engineering thought, but it still looks crazy."

The recently released video (see below) outlines exactly how crazy the feat of landing the rover actually is. Named Curiosity, the rover must tear through Mars' atmosphere, which takes up to seven minutes. However, transmitting a signal to Earth of its progress takes 14 minutes because of the distance between the planets.

"When we first get word that we've touched the top of atmosphere the vehicle has been alive or dead for at least seven minutes," Steltzner said.

In those seven minutes, NASA engineers have set up a complex sequence of procedures that must be followed in order to avoid disaster. First, they will deploy a parachute to slow the more than 1,000 mph descent. Then cutting off the chute, they'll fire up rockets to slow the vertical velocity even more, and lastly they will lower the rover on a tether into a crater to avoid a harmful dust cloud.

"If any one thing doesn't work just right, it's game over," EDL engineer Tom Rivellini said in the video.

The rover is the size of a small car and weighs 1,982 pounds. It is equipped with 17 cameras, a 7-foot-long robot arm, and a suite of 10 state-of-the-art scientific sensors and experiments weighing 125 pounds. In contrast, NASA's hugely successful Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, each weighed about 385 pounds, including just 20 pounds of miniaturized science hardware.

Curiosity is set to touch down at 10:31 p.m. PDT on August 5.

Here's the video of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers sharing the challenges of the Curiosity's landing on the surface of Mars, it's called "Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror:"

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NASA details looming Mars rover landing as "7 Minutes of Terror"


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