Missouri and Pennsylvania Students to Talk Live with Space Station Crew

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Crew members of Expedition 38, currently aboard the International Space Station, will make space-to-Earth connections with students and faculty in Pennsylvania and Missouri this week to share what it is like to live and work in space.

Both calls will be broadcast on NASA Television and live-streamed on the agency's website.

Students from Temple University's School of Media and Communication and College of Engineering will speak with NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata at 11:50 a.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 27.

On Friday, Feb. 28, Mastracchio and Hopkins will talk with students and teachers at Hopkins' alma mater, School of the Osage, in Osage Beach, Mo., at 10 a.m. EST.

Media are invited to cover both events. Journalists interested in covering the event at Temple University should contact Paul Gluck at 215-204-2807 or pageone@temple.edu. The event will take place at the TUTV-Temple University Television Studios located at 2020 N.13th Street in Philadelphia.

To attend the event at School of the Osage, members of the media should contact Bryce Durbin at 573-348-0115 or durbinb@osage.k12.mo.us. School of the Osage is located at 636 Hwy. 42 in Osage Beach, Mo.

Linking students directly to space station astronauts provides them with an authentic experience of space exploration, scientific studies and the possibilities for future human space exploration. NASA activities have been incorporated into classes at the schools in preparation for these conversations.

These in-flight education downlinks are part of a series with educational organizations in the United States to improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), teaching and learning. It is an integral component of NASA's Teaching From Space education program, which promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA's human spaceflight program.

To keep up with Hopkins' research and life on the ISS through Twitter, follow:

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Canadian Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield to Receive 2014 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.(Feb. 24, 2014) -- In 2013, millions of people around the world watched as Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield played his guitar from the International Space Station (ISS), covering David Bowie's song "Space Oddity."

In 2014, the Space Foundation will honor Hadfield with the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award for his use of social media to engage millions of followers while chronicling life aboard the ISS. In addition to his musical performances from space, Hadfield's YouTube videos have included demonstrations of eating, sleeping and trying to cry in space.

The award will be presented on May 19 during the opening ceremony of the Space Foundation's 30th Space Symposium, co-sponsored by Northrop Grumman, and held at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA.

About HadfieldThe first Canadian to walk in space, Hadfield was accepted into the Canadian astronaut program in 1992, and was assigned by the Canadian Space Agency to the NASA Johnson Space Center. In 1995, Hadfield served as mission specialist on STS-74, NASA's second space shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir.

In April 2001 he flew again on STS-100 to the ISS, where he walked in space and helped install the Canadarm2. In December 2012, he flew for a third time aboard Soyuz TMA-07M and joined Expedition 34 on the ISS. He was a member of this expedition until March 2013 when he became the commander of the ISS as part of Expedition 35. During this mission he gained international popularity with his videos of life on the ISS, his photos of Earth and his commentary on Facebook and Tumblr, and to more than one million Twitter followers.

Hadfield retired as a Colonel from the Canadian Air Force in 2003 after 25 years of military service.

About the Morrow AwardThe award's namesake was an Academy Award winning writer and producer, space advocate and early member of the board of directors of the Space Foundation. Designed to recognize those who have made significant contributions to public understanding of, and support for, space programs, the Morrow Award has a long list of distinguished recipients, including: astronaut Eileen Collins; actor/director Tom Hanks; the X PRIZE Foundation; space artist Robert T. McCall; the late Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry; the crew of Space Shuttle Mission STS-95; NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; actor/director Leonard Nimoy; space journalists Jay Barbree, Marcia Dunn and William Harwood; the NASA social media team; and in 2013 Bill Nye.

Co-sponsors The Space Symposium officially kicks off Monday evening, May 19, with a spectacular opening ceremony, co-sponsored byNorthrop Grumman. Other event co-sponsors include:a.i. solutions;Aerojet Rocketdyne;Airbus Group, Inc.;Arianespace;ATK;Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.;Booz Allen Hamilton;Colorado Space Business Roundtable(CSBR);Lockheed Martin;MetiSpace Technologies, Inc.;Millennium Engineering and Integration Company;MOOG;PAE;Raytheon;Scitor Corporation;SES Government Solutions;Space Generation Advisory Council(SGAC);SpaceX;Spincraft;SSL;Stellar Solutions,Inc.;The Boeing Company;The SI Organization;andUnited Launch Alliance.Aviation Week,SatNews PublishersandSpaceNewsare media partners.

Register Now for Space Symposium and Cyber 1.4 The 30th Space Symposium is preceded by a full-day cyberspace conference, Cyber 1.4 on Monday, May 19, at The Broadmoor Hotel.Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX),chairman of the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, will give the Cyber 1.4 keynote speech. See more details, and register for both the Symposium and Cyber 1.4 atwww.SpaceSymposium.org.

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Canadian Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield to Receive 2014 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award

NASA Seeks US Industry Feedback On Options For Future Space Station Cargo Services

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February 24, 2014

Image Caption: International Space Station in orbit. Credit: NASA

NASA

Over the past two years, NASA and its American industry partners have returned International Space Station resupply launches to U.S. soil, established new national space transportation capabilities and helped create jobs right here on Earth. More than 250 miles overhead, hundreds of science experiments not possible on Earth are being conducted by an international team of astronauts, enabled by these new cargo delivery and return services.

In January, the Obama Administration announced plans to extend the life of the space station through at least 2024 marking another decade of discoveries to come that will benefit Earth while increasing the knowledge NASA needs to send astronauts to an asteroid and Mars.

NASA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking industry feedback on options to meet the future needs of the International Space Station for cargo delivery of a variety of new science experiments, space station hardware and crew supplies.

View the Request For Information

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has had crew members continuous on board since November 2000. In that time, it has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASAs next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

Source: NASA

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Life in space: NASA astronaut speaks in Corvallis

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Fire, water and the threat of exploding chemicals are an astronauts biggest worries aboard the International Space Station, where NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy spent March to September last year.

The experience was the latest in his almost a decade of space flight for NASA, and Cassidy shared some of the highlights Monday with an audience of medical personnel in a conference room at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.

Cassidy, 45, a former Navy SEAL, was keeping a promise to his uncle, Bill Monscko of Monmouth, when he spoke in the morning to local students at Ash Creek Elementary School in Monmouth about his time in space, and also addressed the group from Samaritans Graduate Medical Education program in the afternoon.

With a witty, self-deprecating air, Cassidy, 45, said he took a roundabout route to membership in two of the nations most elite groups: He applied to the Navy SEALs program at 21, after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.

Yes, he said, the training at the SEALs facility on Coronado Island off San Diego and at the SEALs facility in Norfolk, Va., was tough but it was the down time that was brutal.

SEAL doesnt stand so much for Sea, Air and Land as it does for Sleep, Eat and Lay around.

He applied to become an astronaut, and in May 2004 reported to NASAs facilities in Houston for rigorous training.

He flew the Space Shuttle Endeavor to the space station July 15-31 in 2009 and performed three space walks, totalling 18 hours and five minutes.

It was during a space walk, he said, that he actually got nervous.

You have a box in your hands labeled 001, and you know that if something goes wrong, the space station isnt going to work right. Never mind the whole problem of what would happen if you let go and float off into space. The main preventative strategy there, he said, is hang on.

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North Alabama Small Businesses Get Big Boost from SLS Adapter Program

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Posted on: 2:30 pm, February 24, 2014, by Beth Jett, updated on: 04:37am, February 25, 2014

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) This week, Marshall Space Flight Center will host its first Small Business Alliance meeting of the new year.

About 450 representatives of large and small businesses will be at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center to talk about opportunities for work coming up to support Marshall.

Already, Marshall is making a big difference for small businesses supporting the Space Launch System project.

North Alabama engineers are putting together another key piece of the Space Launch System.

Teledyne Brown Engineering secured a $60 million contract with NASA to build the Launch Vehicle Stages Adapter, which connects the Orion capsule to the core stage.

It electrically connects the two so that they can command and control back and forth, said Dan Jett, project manager for the LVSA program. Then it also protects the delicate avionics that are in the propulsion system from the severe launch environments.

As it turns out, the adapter is also protecting small businesses around north Alabama.

The project means a big boost to at least seven small companies, allowing them to expand their work force and expertise.

Were very excited about this growth opportunity for us, said Jami Peyton, a spokeswoman for Canvas Inc. Its seven new jobs, new positions for us.

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North Alabama Small Businesses Get Big Boost from SLS Adapter Program

Photo gallery: Former Lowestoft schoolboy Louis Evans was once teased for having red hair but look at him now

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Lowestoft-born model Louis Evans when he was a student at Kirkley High School.

Kathryn Bradley Tuesday, February 25, 2014 12:29 PM

Former Lowestoft schoolboy Louis Evans was once teased for having red hair but now his striking looks are earning him hundreds of pounds a session as a successful fashion model.

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Since signing to London-based agency Booking Models, the 22-year-old has strutted the catwalk at London Fashion Week and appeared on BBC1s The One Show as part of the Red Hot campaign which celebrates people with red hair and raises awareness of the persecution that many of them suffer.

He also features in the Red Hot calendar which is raising funds for the anti-bullying alliance.

The 6ft 3ins model has graced the pages of the Sunday Times Style magazine and appeared in British Vogue promoting the work of the renowned English designer Christopher Raeburn.

Louis has also signed with the Italian agent Independent Men and will be jetting off to Italy in April to meet top designers, including Giorgio Armani, and photographers ahead of Milan Fashion Week in June.

However, Louis has not always received so much positive attention for his looks.

As a teenager, he suffered from acne and his high school nickname was Rusty in reference to his red hair.

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Photo gallery: Former Lowestoft schoolboy Louis Evans was once teased for having red hair but look at him now

The Parson Red Heads head to the basement on 'Big Mistake': listen

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The Parson Red Heads' 2013 album "Orb Weaver" was a pristine rock collection, tanned by California sun left over from the '70s and piloted by producer Scott McCaughey. The Portland band's next effort won't be as bright.

The group's "Early Birds Volume 2" EP was recorded in their basement on a four-track, and "Big Mistake," the song to emerge from the cassette, sounds appropriately loud and lo-fi. "This is our band just having fun re-recording and re-arranging some old tunes (songs we wrote 10 years ago, when we first started this band), channelling our love of Guided By Voices, Yo La Tengo, The Bats ... basically all things late 80's / early 90's college rock," the group wrote on SoundCloud. Look for the new set -- on cassette, the way the basement intended -- at the group's 10th anniversary show at Mississippi Studios on Feb. 27.

The Parson Red Heads, Mississippi Studios, 8 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show. Tickets: $8 advance, $10 day of show.

-- David Greenwald

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The Parson Red Heads head to the basement on 'Big Mistake': listen

NHL Heads Back to the Ice After Olympic Break

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The Sochi Olympics are over and the NHL is back after freezing its schedule so that the world's best hockey players could compete for gold perhaps for the last time.

Sidney Crosby won another Olympic championship with Canada. Now, Sid the Kid wants to help the Pittsburgh Penguins hoist the Stanley Cup again.

Crosby and the Penguins host Montreal on Thursday, the third day of league games after the Olympic break, just four days after helping the Canadians beat Sweden in the gold-medal game in Russia.

"In some ways, it will help, playing at this speed in one-game elimination with desperation," Crosby said Sunday after the final competition of the Sochi Games. "I haven't really had this transition midseason with Olympic ice, going back to regular size, but I don't think it's a bad thing."

In the East, Boston holds a seven-point lead over Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division coming out of the Olympic break. Pittsburgh holds a 16-point lead over the Rangers in the Metropolitan.

It's much tighter in the West, where St. Louis and defending champion Chicago are tied atop the Central Division, just five points in front of Colorado. The Ducks have the conference's top mark and a seven-point lead on San Jose.

The NHL is going to have its fifth and sixth outdoor games of the season on Saturday, when the Chicago Blackhawks play Pittsburgh at Soldier field, and the next day in a Vancouver-Ottawa matchup at BC Place.

Despite seemingly having success with the expansion of the concept beyond an annual Winter Classic, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman isn't ready to say there will be more than one game exposed to the elements next season.

"We haven't made any decisions about how many games next year (will be outdoors), but the games this year so far have been nothing short of spectacular," Bettman said in an interview with The Associated Press during the Olympics. "The Winter Classic had over 100,000 people in Michigan, played in the snow, and at two games in Yankee Stadium and the game in Los Angeles, fans couldn't have been more engaged.

"When you think about the impact of these regular season games have had, it shows you how excited our fans get about the outdoor games."

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Loss of Henrik Zetterberg throws another hurdle in front of Red Wings

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Detroit The race for the playoffs begins now for the Red Wings.

And theyll be short a player, or a few.

When the Red Wings reconvene today for their first post-Olympics practice, theyll do so without their Swedish players, who will be resting after playing in the gold medal game Sunday.

More importantly, the Red Wings will be without their captain, Henrik Zetterberg, who had back surgery last week.

Zetterberg likely will miss the remainder of the regular season, but could return in the playoffs if the Red Wings are in the playoffs.

Its going to be hard, Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar said. We knew it was going to be hard even with Z here, and now its going to be harder.

As much as Zetterbergs offense will be missed, his leadership and character will be difficult to replace.

His leadership in the locker room, in my opinion, will be an important loss, assistant Bill Peters said. Its a substantial loss, lets not kid ourselves. Its your captain, your leading scorer, a point-a-game player.

But now well get our heads wrapped around it and move on and find a way to play where we can be successful as a group.

With 24 games remaining, the Red Wings have a one-point lead on the Blue Jackets, Senators and Capitals, with the Hurricanes and Devils three back.

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Loss of Henrik Zetterberg throws another hurdle in front of Red Wings