Dog Gets Special Stem Cell Treatment To Relieve Pain CBS Denver – CBS Local

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July 13, 2017 1:15 PM

BROOMFIELD, Colo. (CBS4) Stem cell therapy isnt just for people. A dog received the treatment at the Aspen Arbor Animal Hospital in Broomfield on Wednesday.

(credit: CBS)

The patient 10-year-old Jenni is a Newfoundland mix with arthritis in her hips and elbows and veterinarians say the procedure is a minimally invasive way to treat her constant pain.

These are her stem cells that already are existing in her body and were just isolating them and putting them back in where theyre needed, said lab tech Darah Johnson.

The relief can last up to two years, according to vets. The techical name of the procedure is acti-stem cell therapy, and it is described by MediVet Biologics as follows:

MediVets stem cell therapy surpasses any other treatment options for elbow or hip dysplasia and arthritis in dogs and cats. Stem cells rebuild the cartilage in joints and reduce painful inflammation naturally. They are healing cells, naturally found throughout the body. The stem cells that are used in MediVets Acti-Stem Cell Therapy procedure are derived from the patients own fat, during a minimally invasive procedure. Once separated from the fat, a serum rich in the pets own healing stem cells is injected into the joints. The concentrated amount of stem cells in the damaged joint, simultaneously rebuild the cartilage and reduce painful inflammation. Repairing the arthritic joints eliminates the need of costly, ongoing pain medication and joint supplements for the dog.

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Dog Gets Special Stem Cell Treatment To Relieve Pain CBS Denver - CBS Local

Dad Of The Year Is Selling His WRX STI To Pay For Daughter’s … – Jalopnik

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Jonathan Corbett from New York loves his Subaru WRX STI. But he loves his daughter more. In what comes off at first as a typical Craigslist ad, he closes by mentioning the car for sale is to raise money for stem cell therapy that he hopes will help heal his 5-year-old daughters brain, which suffered damage during birth.

As America debates how best to cover peoples health care needs, its a reminder of what some peopleeven diehard gearheads like uswill do to help the people they love.

Jonathans daughter Colleen was born in October, 2011 after an arduous 22 hour delivery that required the use of a vacuum, and that ultimately resulted in a blood infection and subsequent blood transfusion, subdural hematoma (bleeding of the brain), and two major seizures.

With injuries to her left and right frontal lobes, Colleen has since been diagnosed with level two cerebral palsy and bilateral hearing loss, and may also have cortical visual impairment. She regularly has seizures, and to get around, she uses a walker and a wheelchair.

But despite all that, Jonathan told Jalopnik his daughter is a fighter who loves music, and whos never afraid to show that shes a sassy, stubborn, loving cuddle bug.

As for the Subaru (a hatchback that the car enthusiast chose a year and a half ago in part because it could carry his daughters wheelchair and other equipment), its on its way out to help pay for stem cell therapy thats being offered by a clinic near Los Angeles. This $6,500 treatment, Jonathan told me over the phone, uses stem cells from umbilical cord blood to fix damaged cells or to grow new ones.

Jonathan says that, even though he has a Youcaring support site, the $7,500ish hed get from selling the Subi (he still owes over $12,000 on the car) could help get his daughter care more quickly, and it could also fend off some of those bills in the mailbox.

Jonathans Craigslist postingin which he mentions his daughters condition only briefly at the enddescribes a true enthusiasts car with a number of performance modifications, including a Cobb downpipe, SPT Exhaust, Cobb Accessport, and Eibach sway bars. They all seem like quality, sensible mods, and definitely not the work of a boyracer STI owner only looking to throw down mega power numbers.

To help me verify the story, Jonathan put me in touch with Colleens elementary school one-on-one assistant, who had nothing but praise for Jonathan and his beautiful and sweet little girl.

Therapy for that beautiful and sweet little girl is worth offloading a 305-horsepower, all-wheel drive rally machineof that there is no doubt. Still, its never easy getting rid of a car, especially one as great as the last-generation WRX STI, and especially one that youve hooned around Watkins Glen (see photo below). So this move speaks volumes about this guys dad-ing skills.

So if anyone near Camillus, New York is looking for a tastefully modified WRX STI, nows your chance. At $20,000, it actually seems like a good deal from a very good dad.

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Dad Of The Year Is Selling His WRX STI To Pay For Daughter's ... - Jalopnik

New Diabetes Treatment Teaches Rogue Immune Cells to Behave – Carlisle Sentinel

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FRIDAY, July 14, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- A treatment targeting wayward immune cells in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes may help even years later, a new study finds.

For the treatment, researchers take blood from a person with diabetes and separate out the immune system cells (lymphocytes). They briefly expose those cells to stem cells from umbilical cord blood from an unrelated infant. Then they return the lymphocytes to the patient's body.

The researchers have dubbed this treatment "stem cell educator therapy," because when exposed to the stem cells, the errant lymphocytes seem to re-learn how they should behave.

"Stem cell educator therapy is a safe approach" with long-term effectiveness, said the study's lead author, Dr. Yong Zhao. He's an associate scientist at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.

Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease, occurs when the body's immune system cells mistakenly attack the insulin-producing (beta) cells in the pancreas. This leaves people with type 1 diabetes with little to no insulin. They need insulin injections to survive.

Researchers have long thought that any cure for type 1 diabetes would have to stop the autoimmune attack, while regenerating or transplanting beta cells.

But Zhao and his team developed a new approach to the problem -- educating the immune cells that had been destroying beta cells so they stop attacking.

In type 2 diabetes, Zhao said immune cell dysfunction is responsible for chronic inflammation that causes insulin resistance. When someone is insulin resistant, their body's cells can't properly use insulin to usher sugar from foods into cells for use as energy. Instead, the sugar builds up in the blood.

The researchers hoped the stem cell educator would help decrease insulin resistance for people with type 2 diabetes.

In earlier trials, the treatment showed significant promise with up to a year of data. The researchers also showed that the treatment was safe.

The current study looked at four years of data on nine type 1 diabetes patients in China.

To see how well the treatment works, the researchers measured C-peptide, a protein fragment that's a byproduct of insulin production.

Two people with type 1 diabetes who received a stem cell educator treatment shortly after diagnosis (five and eight months later) still had normal C-peptide production and didn't need insulin four years after a single treatment.

Another type 1 patient had had the disease for four years when she got a treatment. She still had improvements in her C-peptide levels, but wasn't considered in remission. The remaining six people with type 1 saw decreases in their C-peptide levels over time. The study authors said this suggests more than one treatment might be needed.

"Because this was a first trial, patients just got one treatment. Now we know it's very safe so patients can receive two or three treatments," Zhao said.

Researchers also looked at six patients with severe, long-standing (15-24 years) type 2 diabetes. They found that one treatment helped four patients achieve normal C-peptide levels and maintain them over the four-year follow-up.

"For the four type 2 patients, their C-peptide is very stable after one treatment," Zhao said.

In addition to helping people with diabetes, Zhao said the treatment could help with other autoimmune diseases, too. These might include alopecia areata, which causes significant and sudden hair loss; lupus, Hashimoto's thyroiditis; and Sjogren's syndrome, he said.

Julia Greenstein is vice president of discovery research at JDRF (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). She said Zhao and his team have shown that the "platelets seem to be having a direct effect on the beta cells," boosting the beta cells somehow.

"This research is intriguing, but it needs to be reproduced," she said.

Both Zhao and Greenstein noted that diabetes seems to differ slightly in Chinese populations from Western ones. So, it's not yet clear if this treatment would be as beneficial for people of European descent.

To find out, Zhao plans to conduct a clinical trial of the new treatment with people with type 1 diabetes at Hackensack Medical Center.

The study was recently published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

Learn more about type 1 diabetes from JDRF.

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Spirituality Has Helped Ajinkya Rahane Live in the Present – News18

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PTI | Updated: July 15, 2017, 8:51 AM IST

Ajinkya Rahane. (Getty Images)

For Rahane, more than technical, there were mental adjustments that were really very necessary. Asked to elaborate, Rahane said: "By instinct, I am an attacking batsman but the pitches in the West Indies required a different mindset. It required patience and at times not get enticed to go for the big ones. Discretion was necessary in shot selection.

"And when we talk about discretion, that's where the mind comes into play to be able to think clearly what are the shots that I am going to play in a particular situation, on a particular kind of pitch," he said.

For him, what made the knocks special was the pitches in the West Indies which weren't exactly batting friendly with the ones in Port of Spain and Antigua creating difficulties.

"Actually the 62 that I got in the first ODI (abandoned due to rain), gave me a lot of confidence. It was my comeback match. I wanted to have a good knock under my belt. Once I got those runs, the second match was even better when I scored that century. The pitches were sluggish in nature and each pitch was so different from one another," he stated.

The soft-spoken Rahane said that not for once did he feel insecured because he was coming in place of a rested Rohit Sharma, who is again expected to open the innings during the Sri Lanka ODIs.

"This is a great phase in Indian cricket where we have so many top quality players competing for a place in the Indian team. It's always good to have competition. As far as I am concerned, I have never ever been insecure in my life."

Although he doesn't want to look too far ahead, Rahane is game about batting at any slot in the limited overs version. "Actually my spiritual guru tells me one thing. It is very important to live in the present, irrespective of whether you are playing or not. The biggest lesson of life for me is to keep things simple.

"As far as batting order is concerned, when you are playing for India, if the coach and the captain tells you to perform a particular duty, you do it. So if I am told to bat at a particular position, I will perform to the best of my abilities," he said with an air of confidence.

On the upcoming Sri Lanka tour, Rahane said that like every Test series, he does his homework and it will be no different this time around.

"I have a few plans for the series and I am working towards it. Obviously, you don't reveal your strategy. Also the Zimbabwe series will not be an indicator that Sri Lanka will be an easy prey for the Indian team. They have some quality players and as opposition, we need to respect them," he concluded.

First Published: July 15, 2017, 8:51 AM IST

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SPIRIT MATTERS: Spiritually, the world is our oyster – MyWebTimes.com

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The beginning of June marked three years since I started writing Spirit Matters.

During that time, I have received a great deal of feedback from many of you, and I am deeply grateful for that.

I appreciate you taking the time to read my sometimes rambling thoughts, and I am touched that some of the things I have to say touch you.

As I've spoken to some of you, a common question is, "Where do you come up with your subject matter?"

That's a good question.

My goal in writing this column each week is to get down to the marrow of our existence through looking at the world around us and the experiences we each have, to find that which unites us as humans walking together on this planet.

Sometimes that takes the form of reflections based on my own religious background, with the hope that even for those of you who might come from a different background than I can somehow find something to relate to through my stories.

Other times my observations derive from personal experiences. For example, I know I've written about the death of my dad and the aftermath ad nauseum. For those of you who yawn when you see yet another column about that, I am sorry.

Still, grief is something to which we can all relate. And as I have navigated the strange terrain I've encountered after losing a parent, I trust that perhaps you can find some comfort through my experience as well.

I can't say I have a checklist of ideas written down about which to write. Sometimes, I wish I did, as I worry that what I say from week to week is too repetitive. The way I see it, when you are writing about spiritual topics, the world is your oyster. There is no limit to finding a spiritual meaning in any encounter or experience we may have. To that end, the more life experience you have, the better. And I must admit in the whole scheme of things, I don't have much.

Still, my passion is spirituality. And for me, most of that spirituality has been discovered and lived within the Catholic tradition. It is what informs me, but I know and I appreciate and I long for finding common ground among all of us, insofar as that is possible. Which is why I am also greatly edified by prayers and practices of people in other traditions.

It is not any one particular religion or faith tradition I am tied to as much as it is the Breath that underlies them all.

I look forward to continuing to write this column each week and in doing so, evolving spiritually and drawing closer with each of you to the Ultimate Reality through whom we live and move and have our being.

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SPIRIT MATTERS: Spiritually, the world is our oyster - MyWebTimes.com

NASA Offers Space Station as Catalyst for Discovery in Washington – PR Newswire (press release)

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WASHINGTON, July 14, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA astronauts, scientists and engineers will join industry and academia for a three-day, in-depth conversation about the International Space Station (ISS) as a catalyst for discovery during the sixth annual ISS Research & Development Conference July 17-20 in Washington. Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot will provide the morning keynote on Wednesday, July 19.

See the conference agenda for a full list of topics and speakers. Keynote addresses and panels from the conference will be broadcast on NASA TV and the agency's website.

The conference, hosted by the American Astronautical Society and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), in cooperation with NASA, brings together leaders from industry, academia and government. Attendees will explore innovations and breakthroughs in microgravity research; life sciences; materials development; technology development; human health and remote sensing; the potential applications for space-based research; and the economic benefits of increased commercial activity in low-Earth orbit.

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who tested an innovative technology in orbit that may improve medical diagnoses in space and on Earth, will provide a keynote presentation. Rubins completed her first spaceflight in 2016, and was the first person to sequence DNA in space. The technology she used could help diagnose potentially fatal diseases in remote locations, including during long space voyages. Rubins also grew heart cells in orbit, performing real-time analysis and experiments.

NASA and CASIS, both manage and fund research on the space station, will provide overviews of research applications, external and internal capabilities, and upcoming opportunities.

During the Monday, July 17 preconference day, NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will host a joint workshop covering the achievements and opportunities tied to cooperative use of unique JAXA experiment hardware for joint research.

Media interested in interviewing NASA personnel should contact Tabatha Thompson at 202-358-1100 or tabatha.t.thompson@nasa.gov.

Watch the conference live stream at:

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http://www.nasa.gov/live

Get breaking news, images and features from the station on Instagram and Twitter:

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Space cadet: Citadel grad astronaut Randy Bresnik preps to lift off from Russia – Charleston Post Courier

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Randy Bresnik will get a closer look at the August eclipse than anyone back on Earth from 250 miles above the Lowcountry.

Bresnik, a graduate of The Citadel, is scheduled to launch July 28 for the International Space Station, where he'll take over on Sept. 1 as commander of an American-Russian crew. The spacecraft will be positioned just north of Charleston when a relatively rare total solar eclipse occurs Aug. 21.

The crew's job is to continue a few hundred experiments already underway, such as research studying the effects of the craft's micro-gravity on heart stem cells.

But on that August afternoon, Bresnik will be doing the same thing as a lot of people in the world beneath him: shooting photos and video.

"We'll get a different perspective than what you will see, and a different perspective than what the satellites see (from farther out in space)," he said Friday during a brief phone interview from the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

The closely monitored and timed interview, conducted with NASA officials breaking in to announce the remaining minutes and then to end it, is a glimpse into Bresnik's daily mission-training life. The interview was one in a series scheduled back-to-back before Bresnik travels Sunday to the takeoff launch site, the Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Star City is a secure location, like a military fort, in the forest near the Chkalovsky Airport on the outskirts of Moscow. Built as its own city, most there have no need to come or go. It looks like a lot of woodsy Southern U.S. military base towns, where the tree-lined homes are modest and the roads turn from asphalt to dirt.

The family of Gagarin, the Russian cosmonaut who was the first human in space, still live there, according to the Daily Mail of London.

Baikonur, about 400 miles to the south, is a village in arid, flat scrubland along the Podstepka River with touristy downtown spots amid rows of Soviet-era low-rise structures. The terrain looks like West Texas. The Cosmodrome sits just to its north, another secure facility in the barren flats.

Bresnik, a 1989 graduate of the Citadel, was a Marine Corps aviator when he became one of 11 members of NASA's Astronaut Class 9 in 2004, a class selected from about 4,000 applicants. He space-walked in 2009 aboard the shuttle Atlantis.

For more than a year, he and other crew members have been in rigorous training for the space station mission in both the United States and Russia, as well as locations in Europe. The training has included Russian language tutoring.

Other training has been done in mock-ups of the station and its array of modules, some underwater to simulate the free float of work outside the spacecraft. A lot of the rest is studying reams of manuals and making responses routine for the crew to the necessary communication needs and other duties.

The current political tension between the U.S. and Russia hasn't spilled into the mission or the camaraderie, Bresnik said. The space station has been a joint mission between the two countries since it was launched in 1998. The technicians and astronauts remain dedicated to the mission.

"Nobody lets any of that (political) stuff get in the way of what we're doing," Bresnik said.

Besnik flew to Russia shortly after a break spending Christmas in Texas with his wife, Rebecca, and two children.

After his 2009 space-walking journey aboard the shuttle Atlantis, he talked about the awe and hard-to-grasp scale of circling the Earth with the sun rising every 90 minutes. The astronauts think of the two-week shuttle missions as a sprint, with so much to be accomplished very quickly.

A space station mission, on the other hand, is a marathon: 180 days aloft, along with "getting uphill and getting back down" in the Soyuz spacecraft.

Besnik said he is looking forward to one perk of life in the station a windowed cupola that juts from the craft and offers views of the universe and the world below. He anticipates spending some quality down time there, watching as he circles the planet.

Reach Bo Petersen Reporter at Facebook, @bopete on Twitter or 1-843-937-5744.

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Super Guppy transports SLS test hardware from Marshall … – SpaceFlight Insider

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Scott Johnson

July 14th, 2017

NASAs Super Guppy aircraft retrieves SLS test hardware from MSFC on July 11, 2017. Photo Credit: Scott Johnson / SpaceFlight Insider

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. NASAs Super Guppy aircraft made an appearance in Huntsville earlier this weekarriving July 10 and departing July 11at the Redstone Arsenalairfield, adjacent to the agencys Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The aircraft was in town to retrieve the MSFC-manufactured Space Launch System (SLS) Orion Stage Adapter (OSA) structural test article (STA) and transport the hardware to Lockheed Martinin Colorado.

MSFC recently completed integrated structural testing on the OSA STA, along with the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter (LVSA) STA, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS)STA, and other SLS / Orion test components.

Brent Gaddes, NASAs OSA Manager, explained that Lockheed, Orions primary contractor, will use the OSA STA for structural testing, for acoustic testing, [and for] . . . loadal testing, that has to do with how it vibrates when its excited at certain frequencies,to confirm the soundness of the spacecraft design.

The flight version of the OSA will connect the SLS Exploration Mission 1(EM-1) ICPS tothe integrated Orion spacecraft / service module.

Gregory C. Ray J Johnson, retired astronaut and current Super Guppy commander / pilot, speaks to media on July 11, 2017. Photo Credit: Scott Johnson / SpaceFlight Insider

The Super Guppy hasa cargo compartment 25 feet (7.62 meters) in diameter and 111 feet (33.83 meters) long. The aircraft is capable of transportingup to 45,000 pounds (20,412 kilograms). However, its most unique feature is a hinged nose that can swing open up to 110 degrees, allowing frontal loading.A lock and disconnect system at the fuselage break allows the nose to be opened and closed without disrupting the flight / engine controls.

Retired astronautGregory C. Ray J Johnson, a member of the STS-125 crew, and current Super Guppy commander / pilot, explained some of the difficulties in flying the aircraft:Guppy has no autopilot. One pilot flies for an hour, and the other pilot flies for an hour, and then you switch off and eventually land it. Very high stick forces. Frankly, quite a beast to land in crosswinds, so a lot of effort is done in the landing phase.

Flying the aircraft can be fatiguing and tiring, stated Tom Ryan, also a Super Guppy pilot, Sometimes its dancing with a lady and other times its wrestling a dragon.

SLS is NASAs new super-heavy-lift launch vehicle, which, among other capabilities, will carry astronauts to orbit in the Orion spacecraft for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Its first flight, Exploration Mission One (EM-1), an uncrewed flight around the Moon, is expected to take place in 2019.

For more photos of the Super Guppy in Huntsville, click here.

Video courtesy of NASA

Tagged: Human Space Flight Lockheed-Martin Marshall Space Flight Center Space Launch System Super Guppy The Range

Scott earned both a Bachelor's Degree in public administration, and a law degree, from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He currently practices law in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood. Scott first remembers visiting Marshall Space Flight Center in 1978 to get an up-close look at the first orbiter, Enterprise, which had been transported to Huntsville for dynamic testing. More recently, in 2006, he participated in an effort at the United States Space and Rocket Center (USSRC) to restore the long-neglected Skylab 1-G Trainer. This led to a volunteer position, with the USSRC curator, where he worked for several years maintaining exhibits and archival material, including flown space hardware. Scott attended the STS - 110, 116 and 135 shuttle launches, along with Ares I-X, Atlas V MSL and Delta IV NROL-15 launches. More recently, he covered the Atlas V SBIRS GEO-2 and MAVEN launches, along with the Antares ORB-1, SpaceX CRS-3, and Orion EFT-1 launches.

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Moon Express announces trio of expeditions to the Moon – SpaceFlight Insider

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Curt Godwin

July 14th, 2017

Artists rendering of the MX-1 shortly after landing on the Moon. Image Credit: Moon Express

Though not necessarily as widely known as their NewSpace counterparts, Moon Express showed that its plans to upend exploration beyond Earth are no less impressivethan those of its peers. On July 12, 2017, the Florida-based company announced ideas for a trio of missions to the Moon, the first of which is tentatively scheduled for late in 2017 potentially making them the first commercial company to reach Earths natural satellite.

As one of the teams competing for theGoogle Lunar X Prize (GLXP), Moon Express set itself up from the beginning to challengefor a prize totaling $30 million, by launching a robotic explorer to the Moon. To achieve this, the company must land on the surface, travel at least 500 meters (1,640 feet), and transmithigh-definition video and photos back to Earth.

Although the company is comparatively young, having been founded in August 2010, Moon Express has wasted little time in advancing its goal of opening up lunar and deep space exploration to commercial interests.

Indeed, within a year of its founding, the fledgling company successfully completed a test flight of the Lunar Test Vehicle (LTV), a prototype lunar lander that was developed in partnership with NASA. The company continued to rack up an impressive list of accomplishments in the following years, including becoming the first commercial company to develop and successfully conduct flight tests of its own lunar lander.

These successes kept Moon Express in the hunt for the GLXP, being one of five teamsstill vying for the award, as well as earning itself a partnership with NASA on the Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (Lunar CATALYST) program.

The company secured a launch contract with Rocket Lab in December 2015, and, in July2016, it became the first company to wingovernment approval to send a payload beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO).

Moon Express co-founder Bob Richards poses next to the MX-1E spacecraft in this photo he shared on Twitter. Photo Credit: Bob Richards / Moon Express

The vehicleMoon Express has tapped to lead their first lunar mission is MX-1 single-stage spacecraft and lander. Capable of delivering up to 30 kilograms (66 pounds) to the lunar surface from LEO, the MX-1 somewhat resembles R2-D2 from Star Wars.

The lander uses Moon Express own PECO propulsion system, which makes use of high-test hydrogen peroxide as its propellant, providing approximately 5.8 km/s of delta-V (amount of velocity change the spacecraft has). This level of delta-v is sufficient for the vehicle to travel from LEO, land on the lunar surface, lift-off, and travel the requisite distance, and land again to satisfy the guidelines of the GLXP.

While the company aims to launch by the end of 2017 so that it has a shot of claiming the GLXP, Moon Express has greater ambitions than simply winning the purse.

Thats where my heart is Solar System exploration on a grand scale that democratizes and completely accelerates our evolution into the Solar System through knowledge and discovery, not just a few expensive voyages sponsored by kings and governments, like in history, Moon Express CEO and co-founder Bob Richards was quoted as saying in an article onSpace.com.

After the initial mission, termed Lunar Scout by the company, Moon Express plans to undertake two successive missions, each more ambitious than the last.

The companys second mission, which Moon Express has termed Lunar Outpost, will land near the lunar South Pole, and will utilize the companys larger MX-2 spacecraft. Essentially two MX-1 vehicles in a tandem arrangement, the larger MX-2 allows for a greater range of missions to a larger number of destinations.

From its position high on a lunar peak bathed in perpetual sunlight, the MX-2 will seek out water ice trapped in the regolith of craters shaded in terminal darkness. Water can be used to manufacture rocket propellant when broken down into its hydrogen and oxygen components, or it can be used to generate breathable oxygen or drinking water, which will be a need for human habitation beyond Earths surface.

Lastly, the company plans to launch its Harvest Moon mission by 2020. Designed around the MX-9 spacecraft, Harvest Moon will land on the lunar surface, collect samples, and launch them back to Earth for recovery. Moon Express considers this to be the beginning of their business phase of lunar prospecting.

As its name suggests, the MX-9 consists of nine MX-1 cores and can deliver up to 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds) of payload to the lunar surface from geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

Also in the family is the five-core MX-5. Like its MX-9 cousin, it can be configured for orbiter, lander, and deep space operations, and is capable of sample return missions. With such a diverse collection of vehicles,with a broad range of capabilities, its apparent that the company has ultimately set its sights beyond Earths nearest neighbor.

Were notTheMoon Express, Richards told Space.com. Were Moon Express, so any moon will do.

Artists rendering of the MX-9 preparing to gather a lunar sample. Image Credit: Moon Express

Tagged: Google Lunar X-Prize Lead Stories Moon Moon Express

Curt Godwin has been a fan of space exploration for as long as he can remember, keeping his eyes to the skies from an early age. Initially majoring in Nuclear Engineering, Curt later decided that computers would be a more interesting - and safer - career field. He's worked in education technology for more than 20 years, and has been published in industry and peer journals, and is a respected authority on wireless network engineering. Throughout this period of his life, he maintained his love for all things space and has written about his experiences at a variety of NASA events, both on his personal blog and as a freelance media representative.

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Curiosity eyes new ridge in exploration of the Red Planet – SpaceFlight Insider

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Ocean McIntyre

July 15th, 2017

Curiositys next target: the Vera Rubin Ridge on Mount Sharp. Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

After nearly five years of its exploration of the Red Planet, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), more commonly known as the Curiosity rover, will begin its long-awaited study of a tantalizing ridge formation along a slope of Mount Sharp in the center of Gale Crater.

The iron-bearing ridge is one of four unique features in the lower elevations of Mount Sharp that drew the selection committee to choose this location for Curiositys mission destination.

Curiosity has been on the surface of Mars since August 2012. Photo Credit: NASA

The ridge that Curiosity is currently observing is thought to contain a high amount of iron oxide (Fe2O3), also known as hematite, which was located with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) using its Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, or CRISM. Iron-oxide minerals form under wet conditions and can give researchers crucial information about the history and environment of ancient Mars.

Hematite can come in several colors, from gray to black, or reddish brown to red color, and is found and formed primarily in places where there has been still or standing water, or in or around mineral hot springs. CRISM also identified other water-related clay and sulfate mineral layers in the area near the ridge, which is now formally named Vera Rubin Ridge after astronomer Vera Cooper Rubin who passed away last year.

Vera Rubin Ridge is approximately eight stories tall and runs a length of about 4 miles (6.5 kilometers), and behind the ridge is the location of a trough where clay minerals are indicated.

Curiosity is driving parallel to the ridge, below it, observing it from different angles as we work our way towards a safe route to the top of the ridge, said Ashwin Vasavada, Project Scientist for Curiosity at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL) in Pasadena, California.

In the first phase of the campaign, were studying the sedimentary structures in the wall, said Abigail Fraeman, a member of the Curiosity science team who helped plan these observations.

The team also hopes to gather information on the boundary zone, an area between the material that makes up the ridge, and the Murray formation which is the name of the geologic unit named after late planetary scientist Bruce Murray thatCuriosity has been studying since the end of 2014. The Murray formation, which is located in the low elevations of Mount Sharp, has provided evidence for ancient lakes.

One of the questions researchers want to answer is how and when the hematite in the Murray formation and that in the Vera Rubin Ridge formed. Currently, it is unknown whether they accumulated under similar conditions, but the hope is that the route up the slope of Mount Sharp to the top of the ridge will allow for a closer inspection and observation of the hematite iron-oxide rocks.

We want to determine the relationship between the conditions that produced the hematite and the conditions under which the rock layers of the ridge were deposited, Fraeman said. Were they deposited by wind, or in a lake, or some other setting? Did the hematite form when the sediment accumulated, or later from fluids moving through the rock?

A key question is whether the freshwater environment that deposited the layer that is the Murray formation were turning more acidic by the time the layers from the ridge were formed, as well as whether there may have been a gradient in oxidation which could have provided the necessary energy source needed for microbial life.

Curiosity has trekked through a variety of environments in its nearly five years on Mars, and in that time it has made some remarkable discoveries, including uncovering the presence of liquid water in Mars past as well as the finger prints of wind and water on the surface of the planet. There are challenges to achieving these goals, though.

This map shows the route driven by NASAs Curiosity Mars rover, from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in July 2017 (Sol 1750), and its planned path to additional geological layers of lower Mount Sharp. Image & Caption Credit : NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Arizona

The first of these challenges is in negotiating the terrain. In order to examine Vera Rubin Ridge, Curiosity will need to traverse the terrain which is composed heavily of boulders and sand especially near the base of the ridge. These conditions have the potential to be difficult, especially with the breakdown in the structure of several of Curiositys wheels.

The other significant challenge is that the rock sampling drill, which hasnt been in service since December 2016, still will not be available, at least for the start of the campaign.

A mechanism on the drill that moves the drill bit forward and back failed late last year and hasnt been able to be used since, although experts at JPL are trying to come up with alternate ways to move the drill bit as well as the feed mechanism.

Were investigating methods to drill without the stabilizers, said Curiositys Deputy Project Manager Steve Lee of JPL. Instead of using the feed mechanism to drive the bit into the rock, we may be able to use the motion of the arm to drive the bit into the rock.

They are also looking at options for delivering the drilled powdered rock material into the instrument for analysis, which could include using the arms soil scoop as a delivery method.

Despite these challenges, the potential to add to the over all understanding of sand dunes and ripples, as well as gleaning a better understanding of Mars ancient history and habitability, makes for an irresistible goal.

Tagged: Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory NASA The Range Vera Rubin Ridge

A native of the Greater Los Angeles area, Ocean McIntyre's writing is focused primarily on science (STEM and STEAM) education and public outreach. McIntyre is a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador as well as holding memberships with The Planetary Society, Los Angeles Astronomical Society, and is a founding member of SafePlaceForSpace.org. McIntyre is currently studying astrophysics and planetary science with additional interests in astrobiology, cosmology and directed energy propulsion technology. With SpaceFlight Insider seeking to expand the amount of science articles it produces, McIntyre was a welcomed addition to our growing team.

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Curiosity eyes new ridge in exploration of the Red Planet - SpaceFlight Insider

NASA Could Reach Mars Faster with Public-Private Partnerships, Companies Tell Congress – Space.com

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An artists concept for Mars Base Camp space station proposed by Lockheed Martin. Representatives from several space companies say private partnerships could accelerate NASAs push to Mars.

Commercial space companies today (July 13) urged legislators to extend NASA's successful public-private partnerships for International Space Station transportation to future programs, including human missions to Mars.

NASA already is working with six firms to develop prototype habitats that would augment the agency's multibillion-dollar Orion capsule and Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket. NASA has said it intends to use the system to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s.

Additional taxpayer investment in private companies could accelerate the initiative and cut costs, SpaceX Senior Vice President Tim Hughes told the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness. [SpaceX's Mars Colonization Plan in Pictures]

Technologies that SpaceX would be interested in developing in partnership with NASA include heavy-cargo missions to Mars, deep-space communications systems, and demonstrations of vertical takeoff and landing on the moon, Hughes said.

He pointed to the results from NASAs Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program, which leveraged $800 million of taypayer dollars with millions commercial investment to develop two medium-class launch vehicles and two cargo capsules at a far lower cost and much faster than any previous space vehicle development effort.

The key beneficiaries of COTS SpaceX and Orbital ATK now regularly fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA under separate launch service contracts. A third company, Sierra Nevada Corp., is expected to add its winged Dream Chaser space plane to the fleet in late 2019.

NASA also is funding COTS-like partnerships with SpaceX and Boeing to develop two transportation systems for astronauts.

"The features associated with the COTS program can be more broadly applied now to the development of deep-space exploration systems for transportation, habitats, communications, reconnaissance and resource utilization," Hughes said.

SpaceX is planning its own private mission to Mars using its Dragon spacecraft.

Under COTS, NASA paid its partners only when they achieved specific technical milestones. The agency set goals for its partners, but did not dictate how those goals would be met. [6 Private Deep Space Habitat Ideas for Mars]

"This encourages fresh thinking and creative problem-solving," Hughes said, adding that competition is critical to the success of COTs-like programs.

Jeff Manber, founder and chief executive of Houston-based NanoRacks, told the Senate subcommittee that public-private partnerships could also help the country transition to an Earth-orbiting research base after the International Space Station is deorbited. Whether the station's mission ends in 2024 or beyond, the United States should avoid a gap in low-Earth orbit human spaceflight, Manber said.

The retirement of the shuttle in 2011 left the country dependent on Russia to fly astronauts to the station until at least 2019, when Space and Boeing hope to begin crew ferry flights

"It's critical that we don't end the International Space Station until we have established commercial operations in low-Earth orbit," said Kennedy Space Center director Robert Cabana. "Right now, the space station serves as a critical destination for our commercial partners."

Irene Klotz can be reached on Twitter at @free_space. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Scrap dealer finds Apollo-era NASA computers in dead engineer’s … – Ars Technica

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Look at the size of that thing.

NASA

Who do you belong to?

NASA

An artist's rendition of Pioneer, flying by Jupiter.

NASA

Lots of blinky red lights. Does it go bing! too?

NASA

Contract? What contract?

NASA

If youre gonna be a hoarder, why go halfway?

NASA

NASA

NASA

A pair of Apollo-era NASA computers and hundreds of mysterious tape reels have been discovered in a deceased engineers basement in Pittsburgh, according to a NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report released in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)request.

Most of the tapes are unmarked, but the majority of the rest appear to be instrumentation reels for Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, NASAs fly-by missions to Jupiter and Saturn.

The two computers are so heavy that a crane was likely used to move the machines, the report concluded.

NASA

At some point in the early 1970s, an IBM engineer working for NASA at the height of the Space Race took home the computersand the mysterious tape reels.A scrap dealer, invited to clean out the deceaseds electronics-filled basement, discovered the computers. The devices were clearly labelled NASA PROPERTY, so the dealer called NASA to report the find.

"Please tell NASA these items were not stolen," the engineer's heir told the scrap dealer, according to the report. "They belonged to IBM Allegheny Center Pittsburgh, PA 15212. During the 1968-1972 timeframe, IBM was getting rid of the items so [redacted engineer] asked if he could have them and was told he could have them."

You can read the entirereport; the engineers identity has been redacted.

NASA investigators picked up the 325 magnetic data tape reels on December 8, 2015. The cassettes measured 14 inches in diameter and were filled with half-inch magnetic tape. The tapes "were in poor condition and almost all were affected by moderate to severe mould."

Most of the tapes were not labelled, but "of the tapes that were labelled, the content appeared to be space science related with missions including Pioneer and Helios and the inclusive date range was 1967-1974."

NASA told the family of the deceased that it was not in the junk removal business. No, we do not need the computers, NASA told the family of the deceased. We have no use for [them].

The report drily notes, The computers were not removed from the residence due to their size and weight.

NASA Goddard Archives examined the mystery tapes, and the archivists report reads:

I conducted an initial assessment of the material on December 10, 2015. This assessment confirmed the approximate number of 325 magnetic data tape reels that each measured 14" in diameter with a magnetic tape dimension of and contained by a metal reel. The assessment also showed that the magnetic tapes were in poor condition and almost all were affected by moderate to severe mould, which is identified as a health risk. Most of the tapes were not labelled and of the tapes that were labelled, the content appeared to be space science related with missions including Pioneer and Heliosand the inclusive dates range was 1961-1974. A final assessment of the tapes on April 3, 2016 further broke down of the content of the tapes into the following:

PN8 [Pioneer 8]: 1 reel

PN9 [Pioneer 9]: 2 reel

PN10 [Pioneer 10): 40 reels

PN11 [Pioneer 11]: 53 reels

HELl [or] HEL-A [Helios 1]: 10 reels

HESA [possibly an abbreviation for Helios A]: 2 reels

Intelsat IV: 2 reels

Unlabelled or labelled without mission-related identifying information: approximately 215 reels

The archivists final recommendation: Destroy the tapes. There is no evidence that suggests this material is historically significant... I recommend disposal through the immediate destruction of all magnetic tapes.

NASA

We contacted the NASA OIG for any additional info, but a spokesperson said they have no further comment beyond the results of the FOIA request.

Now read:The hell of Apollo 1: Pure oxygen, a single spark, and death in 17 seconds

This post originated on Ars Technica UK

Listing image by NASA

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Scrap dealer finds Apollo-era NASA computers in dead engineer's ... - Ars Technica

NASA bombshell: Government agency admits it can’t pay for humans to go to Mars – Fox News

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NASA has long said it would be able to send a manned mission to Mars, sometime during the 2030s. Now, in a bombshell announcement, the space agency has admitted it can't afford the price tag.

On July 12, during a propulsion meeting of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, NASA's William Gerstenmaier, the agency's chief of human spaceflight, said the funds just are not there for a mission.

VICE PRESIDENT PENCE CALLS FOR RETURN TO THE MOON, BOOTS ON MARS

"I can't put a date on humans on Mars, and the reason really is ... at the budget levels we described, this roughly 2 percent increase, we don't have the surface systems available for Mars," Gerstenmaier said, according to anArs Technicareport. "And that entry, descent and landing is a huge challenge for us for Mars."

NASA could not be reached for additional comment for this story.

For the 2017 fiscal year, NASA has a budget of $19.5 billion, a figure that many scientists have cried is inadequate.

The proposed total Federal budget for 2018 is $4.1 trillion.

For several years, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has derided NASA's budget.

NASA DEBUNKS ANONYMOUS CLAIM OF ALIEN LIFE DISCOVERY

The cost of a manned mission to Mars has varied greatly in recent years. In 2012, the head of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Brent Sherwood, said it could cost approximately $100 billion over 30 or 40 years. Director of the Mars Institute Pascal Lee recently said it could cost up to $1 trillion over 25 years.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has also come up with a cost for a manned mission to Mars. He estimates it would initially cost $10 billion per person to get a colony up and running, but believes the cost could drop to $200,000, according to a paper published by Musk in June 2017.

Part of the cost drop could be reusable rockets, something SpaceX and Musk have been working on perfecting.

Using private industry may be the way to go for humanity to get to Mars, at least according to some in the Trump administration.

Vice President Mike Pence recently said, "American business is on the cutting edge of space technology."

Pence has also spoken at NASA, calling for a return to the Moon, saying, "America will lead in space once again."

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NASA bombshell: Government agency admits it can't pay for humans to go to Mars - Fox News

Aaron Judge is now defying NASA science with his massive home run blasts – CBSSports.com

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New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is quickly becoming one of baseball's most popular acts -- in part due to his outstanding performance and internationally known employer, and in part due to his appearance's propinquity to a comic-book hero.

Judge did something during the Home Run Derby befitting of a comic-book hero by hitting Marlins Park's roof. What's more is Judge's feat even defied science. Here's Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci:

Back when the engineers from Walter P. Moore were designing the retractable roof of Marlins Park, they set out to determine how high the roof would have to be so as not to interfere with balls in play. They studied the air density and temperatures of Miami and plugged those variables into equations from NASA.

[...]

The engineers finally arrived at a height of 210 feet above the ground at its apex (above second base) to make sure no batted ball hit the roof. It tapered to a low of 128 feet above the ground in deep right-centerfield.

It's not enough that Judge is hitting .329/.448/.691 with 30 home runs. It's not enough that he's a legitimate candidate to win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Awards. It's not enough that he won the Home Run Derby and is going to win a ton of endorsements. He's also out here making scientists and engineers and their little algorithms and models look silly.

Basically, Aaron Judge just does whatever he darn well pleases to do. You gotta respect it.

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Aaron Judge is now defying NASA science with his massive home run blasts - CBSSports.com

This NASA Technology Can Remotely Crash Your Drone – Resource Magazine

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A few years ago, NASA Langley Research Center developed a new technology called Safeguard. This software system monitors and lowers the risk of any remote-controlled drones flying into no-fly zones, including airports and military zones. The agency recently determined that it is safe to use in tests and demonstrations.

Safeguard offers a virtual safety net program that allows drone users to set the flying perimeters. If the drone goes beyond the authorized perimeters and does not turn back, the safety net will send the drone crashing to the ground.

Generally, it is a more accurate system to track drones movements, compared to geofencing which uses GPS signals attached to autopilot. If the GPS loses its signal, geofencing will lose its effectiveness to keep the drone from going beyond no-fly zones. However, Safeguard uses algorithms and does not rely on the external data stream.

NASA is planning to bring Safeguard to the market. It is a more reliable system for drone users to prevent their drones from getting killed.

[via WIRED, featured image via Leigh Miller]

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This NASA Technology Can Remotely Crash Your Drone - Resource Magazine

NASA Langley home to trailblazing women – Daily Press

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During World War II and immediately after, another significant change began to emerge at Langley, as women began stepping into larger roles, and in larger numbers. But the roots of that trend went back much further, to women such as Pearl I. Young and Kitty OBrien Joyner.

They were the among the women who first opened doors at the lab, in an era when females were widely assumed to have no interest and no aptitude for science and engineering.

Youngs legacy lives on at what is now NASA Langley, 95 years after she first set foot in Hampton.

Young, a physicist who graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1919 as a Phi Beta Kappa physics, chemistry and mathematics triple major, was coming to work at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory as its first woman professional.

Young paved the way for scores of other women to follow pursuits in science, technology, engineering and math fields at the NACA and later NASA. The Langley Lab, along with other federal sites, became a hub for women seeking employment they couldnt obtain elsewhere because of limitations on where women should work and later about what academic fields they should study.

Theyre very proud of the fact, not only at Langley but at their other centers across the country, they had women they had employed well before World War II started, said historian and author Yarsinske, whose latest work will chronicle Langleys first century. And they were very proud of that, because it became such an issue in other industries but not for them. And they look back at and go Jeez, we didnt realize how far ahead we were, but were perceived as being way different than everybody else.

And I dont think they even thought about it at the time, just proud of the work they were producing. The work was everything.

The theme of work being the ultimate test of an employee at Langley was visible starting with Youngs contributions and is carried through today in the thousands of women who have worked at Langley.

Young, born in 1895, came to Langley in 1922. The campus was small Young said in an interview nearly 50 years later that she met all 32 employees when she started but that shouldnt undermine Youngs significance.

At the time of her hiring, there was only one other female physicist working in the federal government, at the National Bureau of Standards.

Young spent the first seven years of her career in the Instrument Research Division, assembling and calibrating instrumentation to measure pressures on aircraft in flight.

After some time, Young noticed that the technical writings of the young engineers at Langley were lacking in cohesion and clarity. Her former boss, Harry J.E. Reid, who was promoted to Langleys engineer in charge, appointed Young as the labs first chief technical editor in 1929.

Young started the new office, hiring qualified staff. She formulated a system to make sure that the technical documents highlighting the latest discoveries made in the lab would be effectively communicated.

All documents and reports to be released had to be properly vetted by other engineers, and Youngs staff edited and revised until the reports were clear. According to NASA, she insisted that all reports be checked and rechecked for consistency, logical analysis and absolute accuracy.

The slowed pace of disseminating information frustrated the engineers who were eager to let their work be known, as well as the clients who wanted answers quickly.

But Youngs approach paid off: The NACA published more than 16,000 research reports during its existence pre-NASA, the majority of which followed Youngs Style Manual for Engineering Authors published in 1943. Parts of the manual still are used today.

Young moved in 1943 to the new NACA Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory in Cleveland, leaving behind her staff of eight women. She then spent time as a professor, before returning to Hampton as a technical literature analyst.

She retired from NASA in 1961, and today, the Pearl Young Theater the second of that name, as the first was replaced and now is used for storage stands at Langley in her honor. When Young died in 1968, her will included leaving the City of Hampton about $15,000 to add benches and shelters at bus stops throughout Hampton, according to NASA archives.

Kitty OBrien Joyner, an electrical engineer from Charlottesville, became the labs first female engineer in 1939.

She began her career shortly after graduating from the University of Virginia. She sued the university for her right to attend the all-male engineering school.

Around the same time Joyner arrived, women were bringing their skills to the lab as human computers. The first cohort of the computers who wore skirts, as Katherine G. Johnson has often described herself and her colleagues, was hired in 1935.

The women, a group that began with five, computed by hand the math that engineers needed to conduct their research, which sped up the process.

World War II

The number of women and employees multiplied during World War II as the NACAs contributions to the war effort increased and its literal manpower decreased. White and black women were both recruited by the lab to keep up with needs.

Basically during WWII, there was a great influx of women out here at the center, as there was across the United States, into manufacturing and research, said Gail Langevin, Langleys historian. They did many things: typing, filing, messenger service. But they also did things like work in shops and laboratories and they operated machinery; they operated things like band saws, planers, drill presses, but they also helped operate the wind tunnels.

An April 1942 memo highlighted how key the computers were to the center: The engineers admit themselves that the girl computers do the work more rapidly and accurately than they could. According to NACA/NASA Equal Employment Programs files, Langley had 959 female employees in June 1944, about 36 percent of the centers 2,700 employees.

They are the proof that when you open this door of opportunity to really talented people, then you create a virtuous circle, said Margot Lee Shetterly, whose book Hidden Figures about the human computers was made into an Oscar-nominated movie. These women were absolutely critical to the work that was getting done. They were smart, they were given a chance and came in and overperformed, both individually and as a group. Any questions that people have about whether women are good at math, I think, can be statistically disproven or proven, whichever side you want to take, by the evidence of these women and their achievement.

I was stunned, really, not just by the number of women that was the first thing I couldnt believe, how many women there were doing this work. But really the breadth of the work, the diversity of the work they were doing and the hands-on nature, the fact that a lot of these women were publishing research, that they were contributing in a very hands-on way.

They werent just sort of passive number crunchers, she said. They were partners with the engineers in the analysis and doing this work and shaping this very exciting new industry, industries that were being formed. I really cant say enough about the work that all of these women did and the contributions that they made to aeronautics, that they made to NASA and that they made to our country, a tremendous service to our country.

Climbing the ranks

Post-war, women continued the work as the segregated facilities consolidated. Women from that time period continued up the ranks, although some slower than they would have liked.

Christine Mann Darden began her time at Langley as a computer in the desegregated facilities. Her 40-year career as an aerospace engineer included 20 years spent in sonic boom research and was capped by time in management as the director of the Office of Strategic Communications and Education.

She said that as a black leader, she noticed things changing over the course of her career.

White females werent managers either, Darden said. There was a change, I guess, when women started going into engineering in school, and the younger engineers actually worked with the females better than the older engineers did. That was a factor, and you started seeing women moving up in management areas around there.

But I do remember thinking, I really dont have anybody to talk to when Ive got an issue or a problem. I probably talked to men.

Over the years, Langley continued to attract and seek women who could fill the ranks through the its apprentice program, a concerted effort that began in the 70s but flourished in the 80s, Langevin said. More women joined the administrative ranks in Senior Executive Service.

Lesa Roe, first hired by NASA in 1987, became the centers first female director in 2005, a position she held until she became the deputy associate administrator of NASA in 2014.

Roe had an open-door policy, said Tahani Amer, an aerospace engineer, and helped women with career planning and opportunities.

I think this kind of environment really indirectly supported us, Amer said.

Amer is one of several women in the midst of 20-plus-year careers at Langley who have been identified by NASA as Modern Figures, current female employees standing on the shoulders of the trailblazers popularized by Hidden Figures. According to the Office of Human Capital Management, the current workforce at Langley is 28 percent female.

Amer, a Muslim who grew up in Egypt; Debbie Martinez, a self-described Puerto Rican from the Bronx; and Mia Siochi, a native of the Philippines, each said theyve seen progress in the addition of women at the center in their time there.

The branch I came into had a significant number of females, and females who are highly respected in their technical field, Siochi, whose career at Langley began in 1990 as a contractor. I didnt realize how different that was until one of the first meetings I went to, OK, there are like 100 people here, (but) there are only three of us. ... When you work here, that is not highlighted, because its kind of gender-neutral when youre working together because its all about your competence and your contribution to the team, right?

And thats what carries you, its not because youre male or female. Were fortunate to have that kind of environment.

Martinez, who started a website highlighting the women at Langley and later another featuring Latina women across NASA, said that there were times when shed be the only woman in the room, but that the numbers have increased over the years. Ultimately, she said, her work spoke for itself.

I didnt let that hang me up. I just took it for what it was, she said. I think here with NASA, one of the things Ive seen that is consistent throughout all these years, is if you do your job and you are reliable, and youre consistent, thats what carries you. Thats what the rest of the team is expecting of you.

The message of current women employees at the center is similar to those from nearly a century ago: show up, do good work and it will be rewarded.

I was very lucky with NASAs environment. Look at us, Amer said, gesturing to Martinez and Siochi. Different backgrounds, why are we together? Its because (of) what we can contribute to NASAs missions and goals, because we believe in what we do. We feel its important for the nation, its important for the world.

You can buy copies of the book, The Unknown and Impossible on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You can listen to the podcast here.

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NASA Langley home to trailblazing women - Daily Press

Former NASA Climate Chief Warns That Earth Could Become Practically Ungovernable – Futurism

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In Brief Former NASA climate chief James Hansen believes climate change's most dangerous effect will be a continuous rise in sea levels and not necessarily the increase in temperatures. Because so many people live in coastal cities, the mass migrations inland that will follow this rise could leave the world in ungovernable chaos. Water World

Simply fixatingon the potential negative effects of climate change instead of focusing on efforts to combat itwill not help our planet. However, climate change predictions are the reason these efforts matter, and they provide valuable insights as to how we should take action.

According to former NASA climate research headJames Hansen, the effect of climate change we should be most focused on isnt the warming of the atmosphere. Its the rising sea levels.

Hansen told New York Magthat he doesnt think the atmosphere will actually warm as much as some have predicted by the end of the century, but he does think that sea levels will rise significantly due to melting polar caps. I dont think were going to get four or five degrees [Celsius] this century, because we get a cooling effect from the melting ice. But the biggest effect will be that melting ice, he asserted. In my opinion thats the big thing sea-level rise.

In a paper published last year, Hansen warned that continuous reliance on fossil fuels could increase sea levels by several meters in just a period of 50 to 150 years. That seems like a long time, but Hansens predictions are significantly greater than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes projected range of sea level rise of 30 centimeters (~1 foot) to just under a meter (3.2 feet).

Coastlines are home to more than half the worlds large cities, so a significant portion of the population will be affected by these rising sea levels. The economic implications of that, and the migrations and the social effects of migrations the planet could become practically ungovernable, it seems to me, said Hansen.

Of course, the rising temperatures themselves will impact the population, too. While they wont really be an issue in the U.S., Hansen believes they could be a major problem for countries in the subtropics. If the prediction of a four to five degrees Celsius (7.2 to nine degrees Fahrenheit) increase does come true, it would make these places practically uninhabitable and potentially grind their economies to a halt.

Its already becoming uncomfortable in the summers, in the subtropics. You cant work outdoors, and agriculture, more than half of the jobs are outdoors, he explained.

Hansen asserts that a carbon tax could help stabilize the economy as the world transitions away from fossil fuels, but the important thing is that this transition happens. Without serious efforts on every level, from the individual to the institutional, we stand no chance of preventing climate change from wreaking havoc on our planet.

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Former NASA Climate Chief Warns That Earth Could Become Practically Ungovernable - Futurism

NASA Computers from Apollo Era Found in Pittsburgh Basement – ExtremeTech

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Most of us dont have anything really interesting in our basements, and certainly nothing of historical significance. In the case of a former engineer from Pittsburgh, his basement was home to a pair of NASA computers from the 1960s. After the unnamed engineer passed away, a scrap dealer was preparing to haul away the machines when he noticed the Property of NASA labels. The agency was contacted to figure out what the machines were and if they had any historical significance, but its all a bit mysterious.

This happened in late 2015 and early 2016, but were only hearing about the discovery now thanks to a report from the NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that was part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The computers were first used in 1962, according to the badges affixed to them. That would have been in the era of the Pioneer missions and the early days of Apollo. There were also 325 magnetic tape reels, which is what NASA was more interested in checking out.

The computers themselves are each about the size of a refrigerator, and much more dense. The OIG report speculates that a crane was used to move the computers into the basement. As for how the computers came to be in said basement, the engineers heirs were keen to point out they were not stolen. According to family lore, the engineer worked at IBM Allegheny Center in Pittsburgh in the late 60s and early 70s. IBM was getting rid of old items like these computers, and the engineer asked if he could have them. Apparently the 325 tapes were just a bonus.

The tapes were handed over to NASAs Goddard Archives for analysis. The reels were 14-inches across with quarter-inch magnetic data tape. Only some of the tapes were labeled, and those that were bore the names of some iconic missions like Pioneer 10 and Helios 1. There were 215 unlabeled reels.

This is the part of the story where you might expect an important discovery a real feel-good moment. However, this story doesnt have a happy ending. The OIG report explains that the tapes were in extremely poor condition, and most of them were heavily affected by mold. The NASA archives concluded that the labeled tapes did not contain any historically relevant data, but the mystery tapes will remain as such. The tapes were in such bad shape there was no guarantee the data could be recovered, and the process would be extremely expensive. The poor condition and low likelihood they contained anything important led the OIG to recommend the tapes be destroyed.

As for the computers (also in poor shape), NASA informed the family it had no use for those either. NASA was unable to find a record of the contract number listed, so it was unclear what other missions they might have taken part in.

Maybe these devices could have been a historic or at least worth keeping if people 40 years ago had known how important the space program would be to history. Well never know if there was something notable on those tapes. I guess its hard to recognize history when youre living it.

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NASA Computers from Apollo Era Found in Pittsburgh Basement - ExtremeTech

NASA analyzes US midwest heavy rainfall, severe storms – Phys.Org

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July 14, 2017 This NASA IMERG rainfall calculation from July 7 to 14, 2017, shows the highest rainfall totals occurred in parts of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio with more than 6 inches (152.4 mm) of rain being seen in many areas. Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce

Heavy rain resulted in significant flooding in the U.S. Midwest over the week of July 7 to 14, 2017. Using satellite data, NASA estimated the amount of rain that fell over those areas and used satellite data to create 3-D imagery of severe storms.

NASA's Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data were used to show estimates of rainfall accumulation in the Midwest during the period from July 7 to 14, 2017. The analysis was conducted at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and indicates that parts of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio had the highest rainfall totals during the period with more than 6 inches (152.4 mm) of rain being seen in many areas.

On July 9, 10 and 11, severe thunderstorms spawned tornadoes in the Midwest. The Global Precipitation Measurement mission, or GPM, core observatory satellite flew above the area when tornadoes were being sighted in northeastern Indiana and northwestern Ohio storms on July 10 at 9:01 p.m. EDT (July 11 at 0101 UTC). One of those tornadoes was spotted in Huntington County, Indiana, at almost the same time that the satellite was scanning that area. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

At NASA Goddard a 3-D view of the rainfall structure in the July 10 storm was constructed using data collected when GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instrument scanned the storm. Those GPM radar data showed that a few powerful thunderstorms had tops that were reaching altitudes above 9.1 miles (14.7 km). Rain was measured by GPM's Radar (DPR Ku Band) falling at a rate of more than 2.5 inches (64 mm) per hour.

Water from the storms over those seven days flowing into the Fox River in northeastern Illinois caused serious flooding in that area. Central Indiana and central Ohio have also had remarkable flooding.

On Friday July 14 NOAA's National Weather Service in Milwaukee issued a flood statement for the Fox River at Burlington and near New Munster in addition to the Root River Canal at Raymond.

NOAA's National Weather Service in Chicago continued river flood warnings for the Des Plaines River and the Fox River. The warning included the Des Plaines River: near Russell, near Gurnee and at Lincolnshire, all affecting Lake County. Additional warnings affecting Cook County included the Des Plaines River near Des Plaines, at River Forest and at Riverside. The Flood Warning continues for the Fox River at Algonquin Tailwater affecting Kane and McHenry Counties and the Fox River at Montgomery affecting Kane and Kendall Counties.

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NASA analyzes US midwest heavy rainfall, severe storms - Phys.Org

Fluorine grants white graphene new powers: Researchers turn … – Phys.Org

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July 14, 2017 A density functional theory calculation showed the magnetic properties of a fluorinated sample of hexagonal boron nitride. This version is ferromagnetic, determined by how the fluorine atoms (red) attach to the boron and nitrogen matrix. Credit: Ajayan Group/Rice University

A little fluorine turns an insulating ceramic known as white graphene into a wide-bandgap semiconductor with magnetic properties. Rice University scientists said that could make the unique material suitable for electronics in extreme environments.

A proof-of-concept paper from Rice researchers demonstrates a way to turn two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) - aka white graphene - from an insulator to a semiconductor. The magnetism, they said, is an unexpected bonus.

Because the atomically thin material is an exceptional conductor of heat, the researchers suggested it may be useful for electronics in high-temperature applications, perhaps even as magnetic memory devices.

The discovery appears this week in Science Advances.

"Boron nitride is a stable insulator and commercially very useful as a protective coating, even in cosmetics, because it absorbs ultraviolet light," said Rice materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan, whose lab led the study. "There has been a lot of effort to try to modify its electronic structure, but we didn't think it could become both a semiconductor and a magnetic material.

"So this is something quite different; nobody has seen this kind of behavior in boron nitride before," he said.

The researchers found that adding fluorine to h-BN introduced defects into its atomic matrix that reduced the bandgap enough to make it a semiconductor. The bandgap determines the electrical conductivity of a material.

"We saw that the gap decreases at about 5 percent fluorination," said Rice postdoctoral researcher and co-author Chandra Sekhar Tiwary. The gap gets smaller with additional fluorination, but only to a point. "Controlling the precise fluorination is something we need to work on. We can get ranges but we don't have perfect control yet. Because the material is atomically thin, one atom less or more changes quite a bit.

"In the next set of experiments, we want to learn to tune it precisely, atom by atom," he said.

They determined that tension applied by invading fluorine atoms altered the "spin" of electrons in the nitrogen atoms and affected their magnetic moments, the ghostly quality that determines how an atom will respond to a magnetic field like an invisible, nanoscale compass.

"We see angle-oriented spins, which are very unconventional for 2-D materials," said Rice graduate student and lead author Sruthi Radhakrishnan. Rather than aligning to form ferromagnets or canceling each other out, the spins are randomly angled, giving the flat material random pockets of net magnetism. These ferromagnet or anti-ferromagnet pockets can exist in the same swatch of h-BN, which makes them "frustrated magnets" with competing domains.

The researchers said their simple, scalable method can potentially be applied to other 2-D materials. "Making new materials through nanoengineering is exactly what our group is about," Ajayan said.

Co-authors of the paper are graduate students Carlos de los Reyes and Zehua Jin, chemistry lecturer Lawrence Alemany, postdoctoral researcher Vidya Kochat and Angel Mart, an associate professor of chemistry, of bioengineering and of materials science and nanoengineering, all of Rice; Valery Khabashesku of Rice and the Baker Hughes Center for Technology Innovation, Houston; Parambath Sudeep of Rice and the University of Toronto; Deya Das, Atanu Samanta and Rice alumnus Abhishek Singh of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; Liangzi Deng and Ching-Wu Chu of the University of Houston; Thomas Weldeghiorghis of Louisiana State University and Ajit Roy of the Air Force Research Laboratories at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Ajayan is chair of Rice's Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering and a professor of chemistry.

Explore further: Graphene foam gets big and tough: Nanotube-reinforced material can be shaped, is highly conductive

More information: "Fluorinated h-BN as a magnetic semiconductor" Science Advances (2017). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700842 , http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700842

Journal reference: Science Advances

Provided by: Rice University

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Fluorine grants white graphene new powers: Researchers turn ... - Phys.Org