NASA focuses on private sector

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The Space Power Facility at the NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. At right is a shuttle stop for visitors. THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER Enlarge | Buy This Photo Published: 5/17/2013 - Updated: 16 hours ago SANDUSKY

BY TYREL LINKHORN BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

SANDUSKY NASAs second-in-command toured the space agencys Northern Ohio research facilities Thursday in an effort to cast attention on the capabilities they have and the work theyre doing with private sector companies whose dreams lie beyond the Earths atmosphere.

Though recent reports have called NASAs Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and its Plum Brook Station outside Sandusky underused, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver came with a message that the scope of research possible at the two facilities is critical.

Plum Brook Station, covering 6,400 acres just south of Sandusky, is unrivaled in its simulated space environment testing facilities. The station is home to the worlds largest vacuum chamber, the worlds most powerful low-frequency mechanical vibration test stand, and a recently added acoustic test chamber that is the world's most powerful. That chamber is currently occupied by SpaceX. The California-based private spaceflight company is using it to test a protective fairing that will cover components of the rocket upon launch.

Speaking in front of the massive acoustic chamber, Ms. Garver praised the work the space agency is doing with SpaceX and other private companies.

We do believe were on this path with NASA that allows us to invest in technologies and innovation and facilities that can be utilized by the private sector so they can open up new markets, so they can innovate, and do those things weve been doing for a long time in this case, go to low earth orbit, Ms. Garver said. We know weve been doing that for more than 50 years and were looking forward to going beyond with our own vehicles that will be tested here soon.

NASA plans to begin testing on its upcoming Orion spacecraft at Plum Brook in the 2016 to 2017 time frame. Testing is under way with SpaceX, though the company is fairly mum on the specifics.

Obviously you dont get to space unless you launch. As youre getting ready to launch, you test out all the modalites. Its going to be a shaking ride, so on your way to orbit you want to make sure youve tested everything, that everything works the way you planned it to work, said Adam Harris, vice president of government sales for SpaceX. Were seeing that happen here in this facility.

Being able to do the testing on the ground at a place like Plum Brook is advantageous, he said.

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NASA focuses on private sector

NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission goes to development

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NASAs first asteroid sample return mission took a step closer to reality on Wednesday, as the OSIRIS-REx project was cleared for development and testing. Scheduled to launch in 2016, the mission passed a series of detailed project assessments and now goes on to the development phase. The Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security REgolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) is intended to rendezvous with the asteroid Bennu (1999 RQ36) in 2018, carry out an extensive survey, and return a 2-ounce (60 gm) sample of its surface to Earth in 2023.

The choice of Bennu as a target wasn't just drawn out of a hat. Bennu is a B-type asteroid, meaning that it's carbonaceous rather than composed of stone or a mix of iron and nickel. Its rich in volatiles and may contain water and organic molecules that could provide clues as to the origin of life on Earth. Out of over 500,000 asteroids known, Bennu is one of only five B-types that is of suitable size and orbit for rendezvous and sample return. In addition, if pure science isn't enough, Bennu is also one of the most likely asteroids to hit Earth in the next few centuries, so taking a close look has an element of self-interest.

OSIRIS-RExs mission objective is to carry out the most detailed study so far of an asteroid. In addition to returning a sample of the dust and other small particles that make up the regolith that coats Bennu, OSIRIS-REx will also study its chemistry, mineralogy and topography, compare telescope-based data with on-the-spot observations, and make a precise determination of the asteroids orbit.

The latter is of particular importance because NASA wants to study the Yarkovsky effect. Its been known since 1902 that heating of an asteroid by the Sun and then re-radiating that heat affects the objects orbit. As the asteroid turns, the face heated by the Sun turns into darkness and radiates heat. The escaping radiation produces a tiny thrust that over the course of centuries can significantly change its orbit. Considering current concerns over protecting Earth from wayward asteroids, this effect could be of great importance in assessing possible threats.

OSIRIS-REx is about 2 meters (6.6 ft) on each side and is powered by lithium-ion batteries using active solar arrays covering 8.5 square meters (91 sq ft). There are a battery of instruments for studying Bennu, but the star is the Sample Return Capsule (SRC) for bringing back samples to Earth. Its the same as that used in the Stardust mission, that returned samples of a comets tail in 2006.

The samples will be collected using the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM). This consists of a simple sampler head attached to an articulated arm developed for the Stardust mission. During sample collection, OSIRIS-REx comes within 25 meters (82 ft) of Bennu and the arm extends. As the cylindrical head briefly touches the asteroid, nitrogen is blasted into the head for five seconds, blowing a sample into the outer wall of the cylinder for collection. If the first attempt isnt successful, theres enough nitrogen onboard for three tries. Once collected. the sample is visually verified, then the head is placed inside the SRC. When OSIRIS-REx next approaches Earth, the SRC is jettisoned for reentry and recovery.

The principal investigator for the mission is the University of Arizona, and the spacecraft is being built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver. The mission itself will be under the control of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The video below outlines the OSIRIS-REx mission.

Source: NASA

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NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission goes to development

Opportunity rover breaks 40-year-old NASA record for off-world driving

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NASA / JPL-Caltech

On May 15, the 3,309th Martian day of its Red Planet mission, NASA's Opportunity rover drove 263 feet (80 meters) southward along the western rim of Endeavour Crater.

By Mike Wall, Space.com

NASA's long-lived Opportunity Mars rover is the new American champion of off-planet driving, breaking a distance record set more than 40 years ago by an Apollo moon buggy.

The six-wheeled Opportunity rover drove 263 feet (80 meters) on Wednesday, bringing its total odometry on the Red Planet to 22.220 miles (35.760 kilometers), NASA officials said. The previous mark had been held by the Apollo 17 moon rover, which astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt drove for 22.210 miles (35.744 km) across the lunar surface in December 1972.

"The record we established with a roving vehicle was made to be broken, and I'm excited and proud to be able to pass the torch to Opportunity," Cernan said a few days ago in a conversation with Opportunity team member Jim Rice, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Cernan's quote was contained in a NASA announcement about the agency's new distance record.

Opportunity still trails another robot for the international distance record. The Soviet Union's remote-controlled Lunokhod 2 rover traveled 23 miles (37 kilometers) onthe moon in 1973.

The golf-cart-size Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, landed on Mars in January 2004 for what were supposed to be three-month missions to search for signs of past water on the Red Planet. They found plenty of such evidence, then kept on roving.

Spirit stopped communicating with Earth in 2010 and was declared dead a year later. But Opportunity is still going strong, exploring the rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater.

Opportunity had been working at a section of the rim dubbed "Cape York" since the middle of 2011. This week, it began trekking toward an area called Solander Point, which lies 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) away, NASA officials said.

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Opportunity rover breaks 40-year-old NASA record for off-world driving

NASA craft to visit asteroid approved, destination chosen

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The Osiris-Rex spacecraft has been approved for development, and NASA plans to send it to meet up with asteroid Bennu within the next five years.

A rendering of Osiris-Rex from a NASA concept video.

NASA's plan to go poking around on an asteroid, with the ultimate goal of snagging one of the space rocks and towing it closer to Earth, is moving forward, and a specific asteroid has been chosen to visit and sample in the next few years.

NASA has announced that the Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (Osiris-Rex) passed a key confirmation review Wednesday, approving the spacecraft to move into development phase. Translation: we're building a new spaceship, y'all!

Not only does Osiris-Rex (nice job on the naming, NASA folks) have a green light to be built, NASA also has chosen and named the first asteroid it will visit and sample. The asteroid now known as Bennu was previously called 1999 RQ36, but was renamed as part of a contest involving suggestions from thousands of schoolchildren. Nine-year-old Michael Puzio suggested the name, suggesting the Touch-and-Go Sample Mechanism (Tagsam) arm and solar panels on Osiris-Rex resemble the neck and wings of Bennu, better known as the Phoenix.

NASA says Bennu could hold clues to the origin of the solar system. The new spacecraft will rendezvous with Bennu in 2018 and begin collecting measurements that will be compared with observations of the asteroid from telescopes. Osiris Rex will also collect a minimum of 2 ounces (60 grams) of surface material to be returned to Earth by 2023.

The space agency says the mission to Bennu will be a key part of the larger mission to capture and relocate an entire asteroid for further study. Welcome to the era of asteroid ranching, folks.

More on the mission in the NASA video below:

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NASA craft to visit asteroid approved, destination chosen

NASA says meteor impact on the moon glowed like a star

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NASA's lunar monitoring program has detected hundreds of meteoroid impacts. The brightest, detected on March 17 in Mare Imbrium, is marked by the red square. Credit: NASA

GREENBELT, Md., May 17 (UPI) -- NASA astronomers monitoring the moon for signs of meteor impacts say they've identified the biggest explosion in the history of the observation program.

The scientists, who have spent 8 years looking for explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface, said Friday the impact would have been visible to the naked eye to anyone looking at the moon at the right moment.

"On March 17, 2013, an object the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium," Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said in a release from the space agency. "It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before."

The impact site glowed with a brightness equivalent to a fourth magnitude star for about 1 second, astronomers said.

Ron Suggs, an analyst at the Marshall Space Flight Center, was the first to notice the impact in a digital video recorded in March by one of the monitoring program's 14-inch telescopes.

"It jumped right out at me, it was so bright," he said in a NASA release.

The meteor, estimated to weigh 80 pounds and measuring several feet in diameter, hit the moon traveling 56,000 mph, creating an explosion equivalent to 5 tons of TNT.

The moon, unlike the Earth, is without an atmosphere to protect it from meteor strikes.

Since the monitoring program began in 2005, NASA said, the lunar impact team has detected more than 300 strikes, although the one in March was by far the biggest.

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NASA says meteor impact on the moon glowed like a star

NASA plans asteroid mission. First stop: Bennu

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The Osiris-Rex spacecraft has been approved for development, and NASA plans to send it to meet up with asteroid Bennu within the next five years.

A rendering of Osiris-Rex from a NASA concept video.

NASA's plan to go poking around on an asteroid, with the ultimate goal of snagging one of the space rocks and towing it closer to Earth, is moving forward, and a specific asteroid has been chosen to visit and sample in the next few years.

NASA has announced that the Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (Osiris-Rex) passed a key confirmation review Wednesday, approving the spacecraft to move into development phase. Translation: we're building a new spaceship, y'all!

Not only does Osiris-Rex (nice job on the naming, NASA folks) have a green light to be built, NASA also has chosen and named the first asteroid it will visit and sample. The asteroid now known as Bennu was previously called 1999 RQ36, but was renamed as part of a contest involving suggestions from thousands of schoolchildren. Nine-year-old Michael Puzio suggested the name, suggesting the Touch-and-Go Sample Mechanism (Tagsam) arm and solar panels on Osiris-Rex resemble the neck and wings of Bennu, better known as the Phoenix.

NASA says Bennu could hold clues to the origin of the solar system. The new spacecraft will rendezvous with Bennu in 2018 and begin collecting measurements that will be compared with observations of the asteroid from telescopes. Osiris Rex will also collect a minimum of 2 ounces (60 grams) of surface material to be returned to Earth by 2023.

The space agency says the mission to Bennu will be a key part of the larger mission to capture and relocate an entire asteroid for further study. Welcome to the era of asteroid ranching, folks.

More on the mission in the NASA video below:

Read more here:

NASA plans asteroid mission. First stop: Bennu

NASA Tests Orion Spaceship's Parachutes with Mock Glitch

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NASA conducted a successful test of its next-generation spaceship last week, in an exercise designed to simulate two different types of parachute failures during landing.

A prototype of the Orion spacecraft landed safely in the Arizona desert May 1 after it was dropped 25,000 feet (7,620 m) from a C-17 airplane as it flew over Yuma, Ariz. During the test, the mock capsule was traveling about 250 miles per hour (402 km/h) when its parachutes were deployed the highest speed the Orion spacecraft has experienced so far in its testing phase, NASA officials said in a statement.

To simulate a failure, engineers rigged one of Orion's three main parachutes so that it did not inflate after the spacecraft was dropped from the plane. In addition, one of the two drogue chutes, which are used to reorient and slow the capsule as the main parachutes inflate, was not deployed. [OrionCapsule Survives FailedParachute Test| Video]

Simulating a parachute failure enables NASA to demonstrate that the system is reliable even when something goes wrong. Data collected from the tests also help engineers refine their models and designs.

"Parachute deployment is inherently chaotic and not easily predictable," Stu McClung, Orion's landing and recovery system manager, said in a statement. "Gravity never takes any time off there's no timeout. The end result can be very unforgiving. That's why we test. If we have problems with the system, we want to know about them now."

This type of parachute failure was one of the most challenging to simulate so far, but is a crucial step toward demonstrating that the spacecraft is safe enough to carry humans, said Chris Johnson, NASA's project manager for the Orion parachute assembly system.

"The tests continue to become more challenging, and the parachute system is proving the design's redundancy and reliability," Johnson said in a statement. "Testing helps us gain confidence and balance risk to ensure the safety of our crew."

The Orion spaceship is being designed to carry astronauts on exploration missions to the moon, asteroids or Mars. The gumdrop-shaped capsule measures 16.5 feet (5 m) wide at its base, and weighs approximately 23 tons.

Orion's parachute system is the largest ever built for a manned spacecraft, NASA officials said. Fully inflated, the three main parachutes can almost cover an entire football field. During landing, the parachutes are designed to slow the capsule before it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.

NASA will test Orion's parachute system again in July. For that test, the mock capsule will be released from a higher altitude: 35,000 feet (over 10,600 m). In September 2014, NASA plans to conduct the Orion spacecraft's first unmanned launch test.

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NASA Tests Orion Spaceship's Parachutes with Mock Glitch

The Paradigm Shift of Nanotechnology: Consequences of Status Quo Lab Attitudes – Video

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The Paradigm Shift of Nanotechnology: Consequences of Status Quo Lab Attitudes
With Stephanie Vasko, student panelist. Through a University of Washington nanoethics seminar students developed case studies under supervision of trained fa...

By: engrUW

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The Paradigm Shift of Nanotechnology: Consequences of Status Quo Lab Attitudes - Video