HAMPTON, Va. - This coming Tuesday, June 6, at NASA's Langley Research Center here, former NASA aerospace engineer Joe Chambers will present, "Cave of the Winds: The Remarkable History of the NASA-Langley Full-Scale Wind Tunnel," at 2 p.m. in the Reid Conference Center.

The tunnel with its huge 30- by 60-foot test section operated for over 78 years as NASA's oldest wind tunnel and was recently demolished in 2011.

Chambers will be available to answer questions from the media during a news briefing at 1:15 p.m. that day. Media who wish to do so should contact Chris Rink at 757-864-6786, or by e-mail at chris.rink@nasa.gov, by noon on the day of the talk for credentials and entry to the Center.

That same evening at 7:30, Chambers will host a similar presentation for the general public at the Virginia Air & Space Center in downtown Hampton. This Sigma Series event is free and no reservations are required.

Beginning operation in 1931, media dubbed the gigantic Full-Scale Tunnel, then the world's largest wind tunnel and the only tunnel capable of testing full-scale powered airplanes, "The Cave of the Winds." Test subjects included biplanes in the 1930s, historic Army and Navy aircraft during World War II, helicopters, vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, general aviation airplanes, space capsules, Para wings, current fighters including the F/A-18 and F-22, and revolutionary designs of the future.

In addition, tunnel tests were conducted on submarines, inflatable airplanes, dirigibles, NASCAR automobiles and a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer. There will be a decade-by-decade overview of some of the more interesting and critical tests with extensive photographs and film segments of actual tests.

Chambers retired from the NASA Langley in 1998 after a 36-year career as a researcher and manager of research activities on military and civil aircraft. He began his career in 1962 as a member of the research staff of the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel where he specialized in flight dynamics research and was named head of the Full-Scale in 1974.

Chambers received several of NASA's highest awards including the Outstanding Leadership Medal, the Exceptional Service Medal and the Public Service Medal. In addition to historical research on the Langley Research Center, he has written seven NASA books on topics including Langley's contributions to U.S. military aircraft of the 1990s and contributions by NASA to aviation. Chambers has a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia Tech and a Master of Science degree from Virginia Tech.

His presentation, "Cave of the Winds: The Remarkable History of the NASA-Langley Full-Scale Wind Tunnel," is a new NASA book of the same title by Chambers. NASA is currently preparing the book for printing later this year.

For more information about NASA Langley's Colloquium and Sigma Series Lectures, visit: http://shemesh.larc.nasa.gov/Lectures/

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NASA Speaker Will Profile Historic "Cave of the Winds"

Beginning this summer and over the next several years, NASA will be sending unmanned aircraft dubbed "severe storm sentinels" above stormy skies to help researchers and forecasters uncover information about hurricane formation and intensity changes.

Several NASA centers are joining federal and university partners in the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) airborne mission targeted to investigate the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin.

NASA's unmanned sentinels are autonomously flown. The NASA Global Hawk is well-suited for hurricane investigations because it can over-fly hurricanes at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet with flight durations of up to 28 hours - something piloted aircraft would find nearly impossible to do. Global Hawks were used in the agency's 2010 Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) hurricane mission and the Global Hawk Pacific (GloPac) environmental science mission.

"Hurricane intensity can be very hard to predict because of an insufficient understanding of how clouds and wind patterns within a storm interact with the storms environment. HS3 seeks to improve our understanding of these processes by taking advantage of the surveillance capabilities of the Global Hawk along with measurements from a suite of advanced instruments," said Scott Braun, HS3 mission principal investigator and research meteorologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

HS3 will use two Global Hawk aircraft and six different instruments this summer, flying from a base of operations at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

"One aircraft will sample the environment of storms while the other will measure eyewall and rainband winds and precipitation," Braun said. HS3 will examine the large-scale environment that tropical storms form in and move through and how that environment affects the inner workings of the storms.

HS3 will address the controversial role of the hot, dry, and dusty Saharan Air Layer in tropical storm formation and intensification. Past studies have suggested that the Saharan Air Layer can both favor or suppress intensification. In addition, HS3 will examine the extent to which deep convection in the inner-core region of storms is a key driver of intensity change or just a response to storms finding favorable sources of energy.

The HS3 mission will operate during portions of the Atlantic hurricane seasons, which run from June 1 to November 30. The 2012 mission will run from late August through early October.

The instruments to be mounted in the Global Hawk aircraft that will examine the environment of the storms include the scanning High-resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS), the Advanced Vertical Atmospheric Profiling System (AVAPS) also known as dropsondes, and the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). The Tropospheric Wind Lidar Technology Experiment (TWiLiTE) Doppler wind lidar will likely fly in the 2013 mission.

Another set of instruments will fly on the Global Hawk focusing on the inner region of the storms. Those instruments include the High-Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) conically scanning Doppler radar, the Hurricane Imaging Radiometer (HIRAD) multi-frequency interferometric radiometer, and the High-Altitude Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit Sounding Radiometer (HAMSR) microwave sounder. Most of these instruments represent advanced technology developed by NASA, that in some cases are precursors to future satellite sensors.

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NASA Mission Sending Unmanned Aircraft Over Hurricanes This Year

[Credit: NASA JPL]On May 30th at 10am Pacific (thats 1pm for you East Coast folks), NASA held a news conference to talk about NuSTAR, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array that is being deployed in June to hunt for black holes. As amazing as the NuSTAR itself is, NASAs decision to livestream the event via Ustream with moderated chat--as well as field questions from Twitter (hashtag #AskNASA)--made this an important event to pay attention to.

If you missed the livestream, you can check it out on Ustream, as well as looking at other JPL events and media. NASA also published a photostream of the event for your perusal.

NuSTAR itself is a joint effort thats created a much more sensitive and far-seeing telescope than anyones ever put into space. Its mission is pretty ambitious: To study black holes like never before, measure high-energy X-rays, and take a peek at ultra-dense neutron stars. All three of these areas of research are the cutting edge of planetary science and space exploration. The focus of the NuSTAR will be how exactly galaxies and black holes coexist and develop together over a span of time.

NASAs use of social media to educate and engage people isnt exactly new; in April of this year, NASAs Social Media Team received the Space Foundations Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award, which is given for significant contributions to public awareness and understanding of space programs. NASA also maintains a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Ustream, YouTube, Flickr, and a host of other social media sites.

Whats important, though, is public awareness of what exactly NASA is doing and how its doing it. NASA recently went through a rash of funding cuts for research and exploration of space, giving rise to companies like SpaceX, which successfully docked its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.

A public forum to discuss a mission and its goals is an impressive way to utilize the Internet as a resource tool for education. As NASA transforms from a government agency to a social media-savvy space exploration company working globally to achieve the next generations exploration of the galaxy, well all be able to follow along and contribute to the research.

The futures never been more exciting. Where were you on May 30th? Did you catch the stream, or follow #AskNASA on Twitter? You can see many of the questions fielded by checking out the hashtag on Twitter.

[jpl.nasa.gov]

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NASA’s NuSTAR Conference: Why It Matters

31-05-2012 08:52 The video presents material concerning Advanced Turboprop programs. Additionally, material covering the development of power systems for Freedom is shown.

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Variable Pitch Propfan [Futurepath: The Story of Research and Technology at NASA LeRC] - Video

LOUISVILLE, Colo. -- Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems successfully completed a "captive carry test" of its full-scale Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle Tuesday, marking a new milestone in the company's effort to develop transportation for astronauts to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station.

During the test, the Dream Chaser flight vehicle was carried under an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter to assess the vehicle's aerodynamic flight performance, which will allow additional flight tests in the future. The helicopter flew for approximately an hour near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Jefferson County, Colo. . SNC is one of several companies working to develop commercial crew transportation capabilities under the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) agreement with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is helping spur innovation and development of new spacecraft and launch vehicles from the commercial industry.

"This is a very positive success for the Dream Chaser team and their innovative approach," NASA CCP Program Manager Ed Mango said. "I applaud and encourage the designers and engineers to continue their efforts in meeting the objectives of the rest of their CCDev2 milestones."

The Dream Chaser is designed to carry as many as seven astronauts to space. It is the only spacecraft under CCDev2 that is winged and designed to land on a conventional runway. Data from the test will provide SNC an early opportunity to evaluate and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations in preparation for approach and landing tests scheduled for later this year.

"The successful captive carry flight test of the Dream Chaser full scale flight vehicle marks the beginning of SNC's flight test program, a program that could culminate in crewed missions to the International Space Station for NASA," said Steve Lindsey, former NASA astronaut and head of Dream Chaser's flight operations for SNC.

Additional milestones leading up to the test included evaluating the performance of the main landing gear selected for use on the Dream Chaser flight vehicle, an interface test to demonstrate the release mechanism between the spacecraft prototype and the heavy-lift helicopter, and a thorough flight test readiness review with engineers, technical experts and representatives from SNC and NASA. Another milestone evaluated the separation system compatibility of Dream Chaser with its initial launch vehicle, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, which would be used to release the spacecraft from the rocket's second stage after it has placed the spacecraft into low Earth orbit.

All of NASA's industry partners, including SNC, continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities.

For more video and images of the test flight, and more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

For more information on Sierra Nevada Space Systems, visit: http://www.SNCspace.com

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

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NASA'S Commercial Crew Partner Sierra Nevada Corporation Completes Dream Chaser Flight Test Milestone

31-05-2012 09:11 Astronomers using data from the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite have found a long-sought X-ray signal from NGC 4151, a galaxy that contains a supermassive black hole. The discovery promises a new way to unravel what's happening in the neighborhood of these powerful objects. Most big galaxies host a big central black hole containing millions of times the sun's mass. When matter streams toward one of these supermassive black holes, the galaxy's center lights up, emitting billions of times more energy than the sun. For years, astronomers have been monitoring such "active galactic nuclei" (AGN) to better understand what happens on the brink of a monster black hole. Matter falling toward a black hole collects into a rotating disk, where it becomes compressed and heated before eventually spilling over the black hole's event horizon, the point beyond which nothing can escape and astronomers cannot observe. A mysterious and intense X-ray source near the black hole shines onto the surface layers of the accretion disk, causing iron atoms to radiate characteristic emission -- what astronomers call the iron K line -- at about 6000 to 7000 electron volts. The inner part of the disk is orbiting the black hole so fast that the effects of Einstein's relativity come into play -- most notably, how time slows down close to the black hole. These relativistic effects broaden and distort the X-ray signal in a unique way. When the X-ray source near NGC 4151's black hole flares up ...

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NASA | X-ray 'Echoes' Probe Habitat of Monster Black Hole - Video

NASAs new Commercial Crew Program has yielded a partnership with Sierra Nevada Space Systems and Tuesday the duo tested their full-scale Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle with a captive carry test.

The flight vehicle was carried beneath an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter to assess the vehicles aerodynamic flight properties. The test will save as a basis for future tests on the craft.

The test was approximately an hour long and took place near the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Jefferson County, Colorado. The Dream Chaser is designed to carry up to seven astronauts into space, but more importantly, it is a first step toward commercial companies working with NASA to design and deliver technology capable of taking man into space.

NASA CCP Program Manager Ed Mango comments on the milestone:

This is a very positive success for the Dream Chaser team and their innovative approach,

I applaud and encourage the designers and engineers to continue their efforts in meeting the objectives of the rest of their CCDev2 milestones.

Steve Lindsey, former NASA astronaut and head of Dream Chasers flight operations for SNC also comments on the success of the tests:

The successful captive carry flight test of the Dream Chaser full scale flight vehicle marks the beginning of SNCs flight test program, a program that could culminate in crewed missions to the International Space Station for NASA,

Take a look at a spectators YouTube video of the captive carry test:

(Lead Image courtesy of Sierra Nevada Corp: Artists rendering shows Sierra Nevadas Dream Chaser spacecraft docking at the International Space Station)

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NASA Celebrates Dream Chaser With Sierra Nevada Commercial Crew

DALLAS, May 31 (UPI) -- NASA says millions of dollars of science equipment missing for four days during shipment from Minneapolis to Texas has been located in Dallas.

The equipment, part of a NASA-funded experiment, left the University of Minnesota's School of Physics and Astronomy Friday by truck but never made it to its destination of Palestine, Texas, WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth, reported.

The university hired Copeland Trucking to haul the experiment to launch a balloon telescope to study the origins of the universe to NASA's balloon operations headquarters in East Texas.

The truck's trailer, with a protective seal still intact, was found Wednesday evening at a truck stop on Interstate 20 in Dallas.

The truck's cab, with the driver inside, was found at another truck stop a few miles away.

Dallas police said they were investigating.

University researchers expressed relief the trailer had been found.

"It can't fly without this," one said of the intended experiment. "These are the detectors. This is the telescope that's taking pictures of the sky. You don't have a telescope, you're not taking pictures of the sky."

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Missing NASA equipment found

The space agency's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array is slated to launch June 13 from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

After months of delay, NASA's newest space telescope is just two weeks away from launching on an ambitious mission to seek out the universe's black holes and investigate their mysterious origins.

The space agency'sNuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array(NuSTAR) is slated to launch June 13 from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The X-ray space telescope will ride into orbit on a Pegasus XL rocket from Orbital Sciences, which is designed to launch in midair from a rocket-carrying aircraft. The mission has been awaiting launch since March, when NASA delayed its liftoff pending a review of the rocket.

NuSTAR will studyhow black holes formand grow, and how these processes affect their host galaxies, said Fiona Harrison, principal investigator of the NuSTAR mission at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Calif.

"It's the very first telescope to focus high-energy X-rays," Harrison told reporters today (May 30) in a news briefing. "This will enable NuSTAR to study some of the hottest, densest and most energetic phenomena in the universe, for exampleblack holesand explosions of massive stars."

NuSTAR will examine these objects with unprecedented sensitivity by studying light in the high-energy, short-wavelength X-ray range. Images beamed back from NuSTAR will be 10 times sharper than current X-ray observatories in orbit, Harrison said.

"It's opening up a new window on the universe," said Paul Hertz, director of the astrophysics division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Although we are going into this mission with many scientific questions, like all of our NASA missions, we're going to find unexpected things out there that will lead us to questions and answers that we aren't even anticipating at this time." [Gallery: NASA's Black Hole Hunting Space Telescope]

NuSTAR was originally scheduled to launch in March, but was delayed after NASA decided more time was needed to review software on the Pegasus XL rocket.

The delay meant that the mission, which carried an initial price tag of about $165 million, increased by several million dollars, or a few percent, Hertz said. NuSTAR's science missions, however, were not impacted by the extra time required for the rocket's software review.

NuSTAR will examine the innermost regions of black holes, where hot material is accelerated close to the speed of light, boosting emissions into the high-energy X-ray range, Harrison explained.

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NASA's NuSTAR telescope will hunt black holes

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- News media and the public are invited to observe the transit of Venus broadcast live from atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii, beginning at 3:04 p.m. PDT Tuesday, June 5, 2012 in the Exploration Center at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. The June 5th transit will be the final opportunity to witness the rare astronomical reunion until 2117.

The transit occurs when Venus passes directly between Earth and the sun. Viewers will see Venus as a small dot drifting across the golden disk of the sun. There have been 53 transits since 2000 B.C. The rare event occurs in pairs, with the last transit occurring June 8, 2004.

Jeremiah Horrocks, a young English astronomer, recorded the first observation of a transit in 1639. In 1769, survey crews, including Captain James Cook, gathered transit data from various locations around the world that were used to calculate the distance between Earth and the sun and the size of the solar system.

Today, transit events are used to detect planets beyond the solar system. NASA's Kepler space telescope measures the change in brightness from distant stars when a planet passes in front of the star. Kepler has confirmed 61 planets and more than 2,300 planet candidates using the transit technique.

In addition to seeing the broadcast, attendees will have an opportunity to participate in hands-on activities and safely view the transit of Venus through solar filter glasses and telescopes. Kepler mission scientist, Natalie Batalha, will discuss the Kepler mission and the transit event's significance. Other Kepler and planetary scientists will be on hand to answer questions.

Reporters must send requests for media credentials to Michele Johnson at michele.johnson@nasa.gov by 5 p.m. PDT Monday, June 4, 2012. Batalha and other NASA officials will be available for interviews beginning at 1 p.m. PDT in the Exploration Center.

WHEN:

Tuesday, June 5, 2012 (all times PDT)

- 1:50 p.m.: Welcome from NASA Ames - 22:30 p.m.: The Kepler Mission and the Transit of Venus, Natalie Batalha, Kepler mission scientist, NASA Ames - 2:30 p.m. 8 p.m.: Solar observing and Hands-on activities - 2:45 p.m. - 8 p.m.: Live NASA EDGE broadcast from Mauna Kea, HI - 3:04 p.m.: Venus begins its six-hour transit

WHERE:

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NASA Ames Hosts Live Broadcast of Transit of Venus

CLEVELAND - NASA's Glenn Research Center is partnering with the Cleveland Public Library to support the Library's 2012 Summer Reading Club, "Feed Your Mind, Read!" The reading program will be held from June 11 through Aug. 4 and is designed to keep children's minds active over the summer break. Glenn is supporting the Library's efforts by providing outreach and engagement events focused around science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

Events at two Library branches will kick off the 2012 campaign: the Rockport Branch will host an event Saturday, June 2, 6-8 p.m., and the Woodland Branch celebration will be on Friday, June 8, also 6-8 p.m. Families attending the event will be able to participate in hands-on educational activities and demonstrations and talk with Glenn employees about NASA's missions and educational opportunities.

Activities include demonstrations about comets and deep-space communications, outdoor physical challenges, online games and building your own Hubble telescope, foam rocket and edible Mars Curiosity Rover. Also available will be the popular "Picture Yourself in Space" photo booth, where children and adults can receive a free souvenir photo taken as an astronaut.

NASA subject matter experts and members of Glenn's Speakers Bureau are also getting in on the adventure and will share information about NASA during visits to local library branches from 1 to 2 p.m., on Wednesdays from June 13 until Aug. 1.

NASA topics and speakers include:

June 13 - Langston Hughes Branch Extreme Green: Growing Biofuels - Dr. Bilal Bomani, Biomedical Researcher Find out how NASA scientists are turning a common wild plant into a clean and renewable food and energy source.

June 20 - Fulton Branch Career Development: Careers at NASA - Danny Rodriguez, Contract Specialist Learn how diversity plays a key role in enhancing the NASA workforce and how you may have "the right stuff" to work at NASA.

June 27 - Eastman Branch NASA Sustainability: Sustainability and Recycling - Michelle Kenzig, Environmental Protection Specialist Discover ways Glenn reduces and eliminates impacts on the environment and what you can do to help.

July 11 - Fleet Branch Food Technology: Eating in Space, Astronaut Greg H. Johnson Learn what it takes to feed astronauts, and see samples of authentic NASA foods that are packaged and ready for space travel.

July 18 - Rice Branch Gardening in Space: Christopher Hartenstine, Informal Education Project Coordinator Explore the challenges that come with food planning on long-term space exploration missions. Create a solution for solving those challenges and do some "space gardening" of your own.

Originally posted here:

NASA Glenn Partners with Cleveland Public Library to Inspire the Next Generation of Scientists and Engineers

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boeing Company (BA) has delivered NASA three flight computer software test beds, the first critical element for flight software development in support of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). Flight software controls the launch vehicle during preflight tanking operations and in flight.

The test beds were delivered on April 25, ahead of schedule, to the Software Development Facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. They are now being integrated with NASA's application software.

"These are the most capable flight computers ever developed for human spaceflight," said Dane Richardson, manager for the Boeing SLS Avionics and Software Team. "They have the highest processing capability available in a flight computer and triple modular redundant processors. The technology is proven from years of satellite applications, and it's reliable enough to take SLS beyond Earth's orbit."

In triple modular redundant processing, three processors within each flight computer interpret the data, then "vote" to be sure they all agree on the response before sending that solution from the computer. The three flight computers on the vehicle then compare those answers and send commands to the vehicle for execution.

"The triple redundant processors make each computer reliable in the harsh radiation environment. Similarly, the three computers working in concert make the vehicle reliable," explained Richardson. "The configuration is called the flight computer operating group."

"Delivering NASA the flight computer software test beds early gives them more time to develop the most capable flight software for SLS," said Jim Chilton, vice president for Boeing Exploration Launch Systems and SLS program manager. "The Boeing SLS avionics team will continue to work closely with NASA to ensure seamless integration of NASA software and the Boeing hardware and operating system as we move forward in rocket design and development."

In 2011, NASA executed a contract modification that changed existing Upper Stage Production and Instrument Unit Avionics contracts into a single contract for design, development and production of the cryogenic stages and avionics for SLS.

SLS will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond Earth orbit. With its ability to conduct both crew and cargo missions, it also will back up commercial and international-partner transportation services to the International Space Station.

Under NASA's phased development plan for SLS, Boeing is designing the two cryogenic stages concurrently to maximize the affordability of rocket development and operations. The initial flight-test configuration, scheduled to fly in 2017, will provide a 70-metric ton capacity using only the first stage. The complete two-stage vehicle configuration will provide a lift capability of more than 130 metric tons to enable missions beyond Earth orbit and support deep space exploration.

Visit http://www.beyondearth.com for more information about the future of human space exploration.

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Boeing Delivers 1st Space Launch System Hardware to NASA

ScienceDaily (May 31, 2012) NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is being prepared for the final journey to its launch pad on Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. The mission will study everything from massive black holes to our own sun. It is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 13.

"We will see the hottest, densest and most energetic objects with a fundamentally new, high-energy X-ray telescope that can obtain much deeper and crisper images than before," said Fiona Harrison, the NuSTAR principal investigator at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., who first conceived of the mission 20 years ago.

The observatory is perched atop an Orbital Sciences Corporation Pegasus XL rocket. If the mission passes its Flight Readiness Review on June 1, the rocket will be strapped to the bottom of an aircraft, the L-1011 Stargazer, also operated by Orbital, on June 2. The Stargazer is scheduled to fly from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California to Kwajalein on June 5 to 6.

After taking off on launch day, the Stargazer will drop the rocket around 8:30 a.m. PDT (11:30 a.m. EDT). The rocket will then ignite and carry NuSTAR to a low orbit around Earth.

"NuSTAR uses several innovations for its unprecedented imaging capability and was made possible by many partners," said Yunjin Kim, the project manager for the mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "We're all really excited to see the fruition of our work begin its mission in space."

NuSTAR will be the first space telescope to create focused images of cosmic X-rays with the highest energies. These are the same types of X-rays that doctors use to see your bones and airports use to scan your bags. The telescope will have more than 10 times the resolution and more than 100 times the sensitivity of its predecessors while operating in a similar energy range.

The mission will work with other telescopes in space now, including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which observes lower-energy X-rays. Together, they will provide a more complete picture of the most energetic and exotic objects in space, such as black holes, dead stars and jets traveling near the speed of light.

"NuSTAR truly demonstrates the value that NASA's research and development programs provide in advancing the nation's science agenda," said Paul Hertz, NASA's Astrophysics Division director. "Taking just over four years from receiving the project go-ahead to launch, this low-cost Explorer mission will use new mirror and detector technology that was developed in NASA's basic research program and tested in NASA's scientific ballooning program. The result of these modest investments is a small space telescope that will provide world-class science in an important but relatively unexplored band of the electromagnetic spectrum."

NuSTAR will study black holes that are big and small, far and near, answering questions about the formation and physics behind these wonders of the cosmos. The observatory will also investigate how exploding stars forge the elements that make up planets and people, and it will even study our own sun's atmosphere.

The observatory is able to focus the high-energy X-ray light into sharp images because of a complex, innovative telescope design. High-energy light is difficult to focus because it only reflects off mirrors when hitting at nearly parallel angles. NuSTAR solves this problem with nested shells of mirrors. It has the most nested shells ever used in a space telescope: 133 in each of two optic units. The mirrors were molded from ultra-thin glass similar to that found in laptop screens and glazed with even thinner layers of reflective coating.

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NASA preparing to launch its newest X-ray eyes

WASHINGTON -- NASA is seeking proposals from accredited U.S. universities focused on innovative, early-stage space technologies that will improve shielding from space radiation, spacecraft thermal management and optical systems.

Each of these technology areas requires dramatic improvements over existing capabilities for future science and human exploration missions. Early stage, or low technology readiness level (TRL) concepts, could mature into tools that solve the hard challenges facing future NASA missions. Researchers should propose unique, disruptive or transformational space technologies that address the specific topics described in this new solicitation.

"Both science and human deep space missions pose serious challenges that require new, innovative technological solutions," said Space Technology Program Director Michael Gazarik at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Radiation, thermal management and optical systems were all identified in the National Research Council's report on NASA Space Technology Roadmaps as priority research areas. This call seeks new ideas in these areas."

Space radiation poses a known danger to the health of astronauts. NASA is seeking proposals in the area of active radiation shielding (such as "shields" of electromagnetic force fields surrounding a spacecraft to block incoming radiation) or new, multifunction materials that are superior to those that exist today are sought. NASA also is interested in new technologies for active monitoring and read-out of radiation levels astronauts receive during long space trips.

Current space technology for thermal management of fuels in space is limited. NASA is seeking early-stage technologies to improve ways spacecraft fuel tanks and in-space filling stations store cryogenic (very low temperature) propellants, such as hydrogen, over long periods of time and distances. NASA also is seeking novel, low-TRL heat rejection technologies which operate reliably and efficiently over a wide range of thermal conditions.

The next generation of lightweight mirrors and telescopes requires advanced optical systems. NASA is seeking advancement of early-stage active wavefront sensing and control system technologies that enable deployable, large aperture space-based observatories; technologies which enable cost-effective development of grazing-incidence optical systems; and novel techniques to focus and detect X-ray photons and other high-energy particles.

NASA expects to make approximately 10 awards this fall, based on the merit of proposals received. The awards will be made for one year, with an additional year of research possible. The typical annual award value is expected to be approximately $250,000. Second year funding will be contingent on the availability of appropriated funds and technical progress. Only accredited U.S. universities may submit proposals to this solicitation. Notices of intent are due by June 21, 2012, with proposals due July 12.

To view the Early Stage Innovation NASA Research Announcement and information for submitting proposals, visit: http://go.usa.gov/P31

The solicitation is a part of NASA's Space Technology Program, managed by the Office of the Chief Technologist. For more information about the Space Technology Program and the crosscutting space technology areas of interest to NASA, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/oct

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NASA Seeks Early Stage Innovations For Space Technologies From U.S. Universities

After months of delay, NASA's newest space telescope is just two weeks away from launching on an ambitious mission to seek out the universe's black holes and investigate their mysterious origins.

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NASA to Hunt Black Holes with New Space Telescope

NASA isnt only about looking outward to space; theyve had a fleet of satellites look at Earth from space for more than 40 years. NASA Visualization Explorer (for iPad) combines images, videos, and simulations from both the cosmos and our own planet in a series of informative and visually stunning stories, each highlighting a different finding or aspect of NASAs work.

Exploring Explorer

When you open the app, clicking on a menu icon at the screens lower left corner brings up the full menu of available stories, identified by title, date, and an associated image. Clicking on any one of these stories brings up an image (or video) and caption, while along the bottom are thumbnails with more images and/or videos related to the caption. You can shrink the caption to show a full-screen image, or advance to the next story (or previous one) by clicking a right or left arrow.

A button on the lower right corner on the screen lets you share a story on Facebook or Twitter, e-mail it, or open it in Safari on the NASA Visualization Explorer Web site, which also includes the content of all the stories.

Clicking on a gear icon to the right of the menu icon takes you to information about the app. The About tab discusses the apps creation by the Goddard Space Flight Center, while Instructions gives you a basic primer for using the app, and theres a link for sending feedback to the apps development team.

Serious Internet Required

In using this app, youd benefit from a fast Internet connection, as some of the videos can take a long time to load. One can access some previously viewed content when not online, but for much of the material (and to download any new stories), your iPad needs to be connected to the Internet.

Climate, Comets, & Vegas

I found the first entry, titled Artificial World Captures Reality particularly interesting, as it describes NASAs use of computer models that it uses in both short-term weather models and long-term climate models. NASA satellites in earth orbit relay immense amounts of data back to Earth each day, and scientists create a numerical model based on the data. As new data comes in, they tweak the model in an attempt to get a better approximation of reality. NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center uses a supercomputer-based climate model called GEOS-5, whichat least in the short termis able to predict shifts in weather patterns.

Many of the stories are timely, like one about the survival and amazing performance of sun-grazing Comet Lovejoy, including videos of its reappearance after an exceedingly close encounter with our star, and a later video of the comet, now sporting a long tail, taken from the International Space Station. Another story that gained some play in the press was the discovery by NASAs Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope of antimatter bursts released by thunderstorms. It, too, is featured in NASA Visualization Explorer.

Follow this link:

NASA Visualization Explorer (for iPad)

Synopsis - May 29, 2012

General Information

Solicitation Number: NND13435932R Posted Date: May 29, 2012 FedBizOpps Posted Date: May 29, 2012 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: Jun 13, 2012 Current Response Date: Jun 13, 2012 Classification Code: C -- Architect and engineering services NAICS Code: 541330

Contracting Office Address

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

Description

NASA/DFRC has a requirement for continuation of Shuttle landing facilities and equipment transition and retirement (T&R). The contract originally required Lockheed Martin Services, Inc. (LMSI) to provide management and technical personnel to operate, maintain and repair Space Shuttle landing aids and communications equipment. This effort includes removing all shuttle assets from instrumented runways and accomplishing inventory, shipping and disposing of Space Shuttle equipment and facilities, operated/utilized and/or maintained by the contractor.

NASA/DFRC intends to extend the current fixed price/cost plus no fee contract (NND09AA02C) with LMSI for six (6) months, from October 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013, to perform the required services. The statutory authority for proceeding with this acquisition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy Agency requirements.

Lockheed's history with the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) at NASA DFRC extends back over 30 years, since inception of space shuttle operations at the Center. This experience gives LMSI unique and intimate knowledge of the all Shuttle launch, on orbit, landing and turnaround support operations at the Edwards Air Force Base. This knowledge derives from Lockheed performing the following significant activities:

* Shuttle facilities operations, maintenance and repair, including operating and maintaining the mate/de-mate facility, hangar, hangar shops, warehouses, aircraft technical training facility, storage and support facilities.

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NASA Solicitation: Space Shuttle Landing and Research Aircraft Support Services

Synopsis - May 29, 2012

General Information Solicitation Number: TTO1006 Posted Date: May 29, 2012 FedBizOpps Posted Date: May 29, 2012 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: Dec 31, 2012 Current Response Date: Dec 31, 2012 Classification Code: 99 -- Miscellaneous NAICS Code: 927110 Set-Aside Code:

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 12, Industry Assistance Office, Hampton, VA 23681-0001

Description

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits interest from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use.

THE TECHNOLOGY:

NASA Langley Research Center has demonstrated a patented method and apparatus for determining the position, in three dimensions, of any point on an optical fiber. The new method uses low reflectance Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) strain sensors in a multi-core fiber to determine how any point along that fiber is positioned in space. The characteristics of optical fibers and the FBGs vary with curvature, and by sensing the relative change of FBGs in each of three or more fiber cores, the three-dimensional change in position can be determined. By using this method in monitoring applications where optical fibers can be deployed-- such as in structures, medical devices, or robotics--precise deflection, end position, and location can be determined in near real time even in fibers that may be experiencing external twisting. This innovative position detection method offers 10 times greater positional accuracy than comparable optical techniques.

To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to Sean Sullivan, Research Triangle International (RTI), at: NASA Langley Research Center, Strategic Relationships Office (SRSO), 17 West Taylor St., Mail Stop 218, Building 1212, Room 110 Hampton, Virginia, E-mail: Sean.D.Sullivan@NASA.gov, or phone: 757-864-5055. Please indicate the date and title of the FBO notice and include your company and contact information.

RTI is responsible for aggregating and acknowledging all responses. These responses are provided to members of NASA Langley's Innovative Partnerships Office within the SRO for the purpose of promoting public awareness of our technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, SRO will follow the formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register as required. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.

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NASA Technology Transfer Opportunity: High Accurate Position Detection and Shape Sensing With Fiber Optics

Synopsis - May 29, 2012

General Information

Solicitation Number: TTO1007 Posted Date: May 29, 2012 FedBizOpps Posted Date: May 29, 2012 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: Dec 31, 2012 Current Response Date: Dec 31, 2012 Classification Code: 99 -- Miscellaneous NAICS Code: 927110 Set-Aside Code:

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 12, Industry Assistance Office, Hampton, VA 23681-0001

Description

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits interest from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use.

THE TECHNOLOGY:

Researchers at NASA's Langley Research Center have developed a novel transducer design capable of generating a transverse point load and measuring transverse velocity. The technology was developed to work in conjunction with an accelerometer to eliminate sound propagation through aerospace vehicles, specifically airplane and helicopter windows. Studies on aircraft acoustics have shown that the primary source of internal noise is external acoustic sources that propagate through the windows. Sources include turbulence against the fuselage, pressure variations, and the engines. The transducer works by generating a point source interference pattern along the edges of the window, thereby canceling out the ambient sound wave traveling through the window. The transducer can be readily incorporated into existing technologies for improved performance. NASA is seeking market insights on commercialization of the lightweight low-profile transducer, and welcomes interest from potential producers, users, and licensees.

To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to Sean Sullivan, Research Triangle International (RTI), at: NASA Langley Research Center, Strategic Relationships Office (SRSO), 17 West Taylor St., Mail Stop 218, Building 1212, Room 110 Hampton, Virginia, E-mail: Sean.D.Sullivan@NASA.gov, or phone: 757-864-5055. Please indicate the date and title of the FBO notice and include your company and contact information.

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NASA Technology Transfer Opportunity: Lightweight Low Profile Transducer

Synopsis - May 29, 2012

General Information Solicitation Number: TTO1005 Posted Date: May 29, 2012 FedBizOpps Posted Date: May 29, 2012 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: Dec 31, 2012 Current Response Date: Dec 31, 2012 Classification Code: 99 -- Miscellaneous NAICS Code: 927110 Set-Aside Code:

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 12, Industry Assistance Office, Hampton, VA 23681-0001

Description

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits interest from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use.

THE TECHNOLOGY:

NASA Langley has developed a new aircraft design with the engine nacelle over the wing, improving engine ground clearance and freeing landing gear design. While previous over-the-wing designs have produced unacceptably high drag conditions, the new NASA design reduces drag on the wing. By optimizing the nacelle design and the wing leading edge location, NASA's design confines the shock to the leading edge of the wing. Also, placing the exhaust nozzle over the wing reduces noise to the communities below.

To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to Sean Sullivan, Research Triangle International (RTI), at: NASA Langley Research Center, Strategic Relationships Office (SRSO), 17 West Taylor St., Mail Stop 218, Building 1212, Room 110 Hampton, Virginia, E-mail: Sean.D.Sullivan@NASA.gov, or phone: 757-864-5055. Please indicate the date and title of the FBO notice and include your company and contact information.

RTI is responsible for aggregating and acknowledging all responses. These responses are provided to members of NASA Langley's Innovative Partnerships Office within the SRO for the purpose of promoting public awareness of our technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, SRO will follow the formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register as required. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.

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NASA Technology Transfer Opportunity: Advanced Over The Wing Nacelle Transport Configuration