Sunday profile: Eager to bring humanism to the classroom

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Hope White, newcomer to Sarasota. February 7, 2015; Herald Tribune/Carla Varisco photo

In the two years after her mother moved to San Diego when she was a child, Hope White attended a half-dozen schools. She remembers the day she came home from a new third-grade class and said to her mother, But Mom, that was so easy!

It was only much later, when she was pursuing a graduate degree in education at UCLA, that White realized she must have been placed into a lower-level class because of the color of her skin.

I knew it was race, says White, who has been searching for a position in her chosen field of education administration since arriving in Sarasota five months ago. It made me think about how a teachers perceptions can cause a student to succeed or fail.

Race wasnt something White, 34, was conscious of as a child. She grew up in a spiritual tradition known as Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism, a practice noted for its belief that all people are inherently capable of attaining enlightenment. Chanting, playing instruments and putting on performances within the communitys accepting atmosphere remain a fond part of her childhood memories.

We believe everyone has the opportunity to bring out their potential, says White, who immediately joined a local Nichiren group after moving here. Racism is alive and well and always will be, but I dont have to be influenced by it. I want to embrace as many people as possible. Thats what humanism is all about.

In the predominantly white area where she grew up, hers was the only African-American family on the block. But both her family and the sole Latino and Filipino families in the neighborhood were made to feel welcome.

When we all got together it was like a little United Nations, she remembers.

Though she wasnt forced into her spiritual practice, from the start Nicherin Buddhisms non-violent, inclusive philosophy appealed to her. But at her mothers insistence that it would be a resume builder, she enrolled in the military after high school. Stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina as a member of the airborne division, she says it took every ounce I had not to go AWOL.

I couldnt deal with training my body and mind to harm other people. I thought, if were going to have a military, lets make it a humanistic one that does construction, education. Creating value instead of destroying it.

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Sunday profile: Eager to bring humanism to the classroom

H2O in spacewalker's helmet

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Story highlights Spacewalk last more than five hours; crews have spent more than 1,171 hours spacewalking Astronaut Terry Virts found a small amount of water inside his helmet

In a tweet, the space agency said astronaut Terry Virts experienced water inside his helmet, just as he did Wednesday, but "it's a known issue; no concern."

The spacewalk lasted five hours and 38 minutes, NASA said.

"Crews have now spent a total of 1,171 hours and 29 minutes conducting space station assembly and maintenance during 187 spacewalks," the agency said in a release.

NASA previously said the suit worn by NASA astronaut Virts has a history of "sublimator water carryover." Water in the sublimator cooling component can condense when the suit is repressurized after a spacewalk, causing a small amount of water to push into the helmet, NASA said.

NASA said International Space Station managers had "a high degree of confidence" in the suit.

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti examines Terry Virts' helmet.

EXPAND IMAGE

On the upcoming spacewalk, Virts and Barry Wilmore installed antennas to provide data to visiting vehicles and deploy 400 feet of cable along the edge of the station.

Virts said he first noticed traces of fluid and dampness in his helmet Wednesday while he was waiting for the crew lock cabin to repressurize.

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H2O in spacewalker's helmet

Electricians dangle in outer space to retrofit the ISS

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Cape Canaveral, Fla. Spacewalking astronauts successfully completed a three-day cable job outside the International Space Station on Sunday, routing several-hundred feet of power and data lines for new crew capsules commissioned by NASA.

It was the third spacewalk in just over a week for Americans Terry Virts and Butch Wilmore, and the quickest succession of spacewalks since NASA's former shuttle days.

The advance work was needed for the manned spacecraft under development by Boeing and SpaceX. A pair of docking ports will fly up later this year, followed by the capsules themselves, with astronauts aboard, in 2017.

Once safely back inside, Virts reported a bit of water in his helmet again for the second time in as many spacewalks. He stressed it was "not a big deal" and said there was no need to hurry out of his suit.

Virts and Wilmore installed two sets of antennas Sunday, as well as 400 feet (122 meters) of cable for this new communication system. They unreeled 364 feet (111 meters) of cable on Feb. 21 and last Wednesday.

It was complicated, hand-intensive work, yet the astronauts managed to wrap up more than an hour early Sunday, for a 5 -hour spacewalk. Their three outings spanned 19 hours.

"You guys have done an outstanding job," Mission Control radioed, "even for two shuttle pilots."

Sunday's 260-mile (418-kilometer)-high action unfolded 50 years to the month of the world's first spacewalk.

Soviet Alexei Leonov floated out into the vacuum of space on March 18, 1965, beating America's first spacewalker, Gemini 4's Edward White II, by just 2 1/2 months. Leonov is now 80; White died in the Apollo 1 fire on the launch pad in 1967.

"It's amazing ... to see how far we've come from the very first steps outside," Virts said.

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Electricians dangle in outer space to retrofit the ISS

A sign from space: Live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy

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Astronaut tributes to Mr. Spock and Leonard Nimoy, the human actor who donned a pair of pointy Vulcan ears continued Saturday.

As the International Space Station passed over Massachusetts, US astronaut Terry Virts snapped a photo of the Vulcan salute as a tribute to actor Leonard Nimoy on Saturday. Nimoy was born in Boston. Virts tweeted the photo andNASA posted it to its official site.

As Space.com noted,the idea for Spock's signature Vulcan salute was "actually inspired by his Jewish heritage after seeing men at his synagogue use the hand gesture during prayer. He suggested it to the director as a Vulcan greeting and it stuck, Nimoy told theYiddish Book Center in a video.

On Friday,NASA astronaut Mike Fincke and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano offered their thoughts,via a video posted to YouTube on Nimoy's role as Spock, who inspired a generation of scientists and engineers all over this planet.

"As we at NASA, with our international partners, explore the moon, Mars, and beyond, we'll take the spirit and energy that Leonard brought to his character, Mr. Spock, along with us," said Fincke. "Live long and prosper."

And ESA Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano said:

The message of Star Trek is one of international cooperation and integration. Mr. Spock, a Vulcan from another planet, was fully integrated into his crew of humans and non-humans. We at the European Space Agency believe in that message and working with our international partners, we will take that message with us as we go beyond to explore space for humanity and for our planet."

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, soon to launch on a one-year mission to the International Space Station, offered this tweet:

The official NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a research facility in Maryland, dug into its photo archives for a 1967 visit by Nimoy.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden issued the following statement about Nimoy: Leonard Nimoy was an inspiration to multiple generations of engineers, scientists, astronauts, and other space explorers. As Mr. Spock, he made science and technology important to the story, while never failing to show, by example, that it is the people around us who matter most. NASA was fortunate to have him as a friend and a colleague. He was much more than the Science Officer for the USS Enterprise. Leonard was a talented actor, director, philanthropist, and a gracious man dedicated to art in many forms. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and the legions of Star Trek fans around the world.

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A sign from space: Live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy

A sign from space: Live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy (+video)

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Astronaut tributes to Mr. Spock and Leonard Nimoy, the human actor who donned a pair of pointy Vulcan ears continued Saturday.

As the International Space Station passed over Massachusetts, US astronaut Terry Virts snapped a photo of the Vulcan salute as a tribute to actor Leonard Nimoy on Saturday. Nimoy was born in Boston. Virts tweeted the photo andNASA posted it to its official site.

As Space.com noted,the idea for Spock's signature Vulcan salute was "actually inspired by his Jewish heritage after seeing men at his synagogue use the hand gesture during prayer. He suggested it to the director as a Vulcan greeting and it stuck, Nimoy told theYiddish Book Center in a video.

On Friday,NASA astronaut Mike Fincke and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano offered their thoughts,via a video posted to YouTube on Nimoy's role as Spock, who inspired a generation of scientists and engineers all over this planet.

"As we at NASA, with our international partners, explore the moon, Mars, and beyond, we'll take the spirit and energy that Leonard brought to his character, Mr. Spock, along with us," said Fincke. "Live long and prosper."

And ESA Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano said:

The message of Star Trek is one of international cooperation and integration. Mr. Spock, a Vulcan from another planet, was fully integrated into his crew of humans and non-humans. We at the European Space Agency believe in that message and working with our international partners, we will take that message with us as we go beyond to explore space for humanity and for our planet."

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, soon to launch on a one-year mission to the International Space Station, offered this tweet:

The official NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, a research facility in Maryland, dug into its photo archives for a 1967 visit by Nimoy.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden issued the following statement about Nimoy: Leonard Nimoy was an inspiration to multiple generations of engineers, scientists, astronauts, and other space explorers. As Mr. Spock, he made science and technology important to the story, while never failing to show, by example, that it is the people around us who matter most. NASA was fortunate to have him as a friend and a colleague. He was much more than the Science Officer for the USS Enterprise. Leonard was a talented actor, director, philanthropist, and a gracious man dedicated to art in many forms. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and the legions of Star Trek fans around the world.

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A sign from space: Live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy (+video)

US astronauts speed through ISS spacewalk

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Sunday's spacewalk is the 187th in the history of the space station, and one of many planned for the coming year to prepare the space station for a new era in human spaceflight

MIAMI, USA Two US astronauts on Sunday, March 1, made speedy work of their third spacewalk to get the International Space Station ready for the arrival of more commercial spacecraft in the coming years.

Tethered to the outside of the orbiting outpost, space station commander Barry Wilmore and flight engineer Terry Virts reported no problems with their spacesuits during the outing, but Virts discovered a small amount of water building up in his helmet after he re-entered the space station.

A similar problem occurred after Wednesday's (February 25) spacewalk, when about three inches of water collected in Virts' headpiece, but NASA said the problem did not put the astronauts in danger.

Still, the US space agency has expressed concern about repeated technical failures in the American spacesuits, all linked to the same cooling system and a 2013 emergency water leak that nearly drowned Italian spacewalker, Luca Parmitano.

This time, Virts described the water as appearing like condensation, and he said there was about the same amount he had seen on the prior spacewalk, when about 15 milliliters was collected.

"Virts's suit, suit number 3005, has a history of what is called sublimator water carryover," said a NASA commentator on the space agency's live broadcast.

"Essentially a small amount of residual water forms in the sublimator cooling component, that condenses once the suit is re-introduced to a repressurized environment after being exposed to vacuum... resulting in a small amount of water pushing into the helmet."

He added it was "not an issue" for the astronauts' safety.

Fast workers

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US astronauts speed through ISS spacewalk

Russia commits to ISS until 2024; plans to build own station

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March 1, 2015

In Soviet Russia, space explores you. (Credit: Thinkstock)

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com @BednarChuck

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has pledged support for the International Space Station (ISS) through 2024, but will look to build its own orbiting base after that time.

According to Discovery News, the announcement came earlier this week and reverses previous claims by Russian officials that the country would withdraw from the 15-nation program when current agreements expired in 2020. Their new four-year commitment puts pressure on officials in Europe, Canada, and Japan to agree to a similar extension, the website added.

A Russian space station

Those decisions are pending, but this weeks announcement also confirms that Roscosmos has plans to set up its own space outpost in the near future. The officials plan to reposition three of its modules, none of which have actually been launched yet, to form the base of a new, Russian-owned and operated facility that will serve as the base for manned missions to the moon.

[STORY: ISS adding more spaceship parking]

Detailed study and the final decisions are planned after the synthesis of reports of heads of rocket and space industry in subsequent meetings, Yuri Koptev, chairman of the Roscosmos Scientific and Technical Council said in a statement. There was a general coordinated point of view. [The council] approved the basic concept of the Russian manned space flight until 2025. We will take into account possible changes in funding, and the program will be updated.

On Twitter, former ISS commander and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield called the reports excellent news, especially when read between the rhetoric. He added that the space station was a key global symbol. However, not everyone shared Hadfields enthusiasm about the news.

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Russia commits to ISS until 2024; plans to build own station

County facing $2.5 million in red ink

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MONTESANO How thin can a departments budget get before the department ceases to exist? That was the sentiment of Grays Harbor County department heads at the countys budget meeting on Feb. 25.

All three commissioners attended the special meeting, as did elected and appointed department heads working toward easing the countys deficit.

I dont know that any of us here are providing services beyond what we are mandated by statute to do, county Treasurer Ron Strabbing said. Youve got to protect the core services that people expect from county government.

Strabbing suggested reviewing programs that are not mandated as a way to save funds, including the Washington State University Extension Office.

Its a couple hundred thousand dollars a year that is discretionary at the commissioners option, he said. The other stuff thats fluff is nice, but if you cant afford it, you cant afford it. If were driving a Ford, weve got to be using a Ford budget and not a Cadillac budget.

Commission Chairman Wes Cormier began the workshop with a spreadsheet outlining his suggested cuts. The current expected deficit for 2015 is $2.5 million, and Cormiers suggested cuts would reduce that by about $621,000, leaving a hole of more than $1.8 million dollars. The department heads were asked to get the reduction up to at least $700,000. And while it may seem like a minimal respite, Cormier says the $700,000 reduction in the deficit would allow the county to meet an important budget benchmark by keeping the reserve fund at the county-mandated 16 percent.

Cormiers cuts include more than $193,000 in the prosecutors office through the reduction of non-allocated funds and attrition, and more than $146,000 from the Sheriffs Department budget. Planning and building would be cut $56,000 through attrition by not filling a position that will become vacant in April, and the juvenile facility could save $55,000 through attrition of a secretary position, Cormiers spreadsheet noted. Cormier also suggested cutting $40,000 from the Assessors Office by encouraging an early retirement with added benefits.

A suggested 5 percent cut of county funds to Public Health and Social Services, saving $25,000, was not completely rejected by the departments Director Joan Brewster, but she did say that cuts have already hit the department hard in the past.

We are constantly in the game of looking for money to address social and health issues in the community, and its pretty hard to get a step ahead when every time we bring in a dollar, we are losing more dollars, Brewster said. Between 2008 and 2012, weve lost 47 percent of our county contribution. Were trying to keep our nose just above the water line.

Brewster also cautioned commissioners that the cut could diminish outside grant funding in the future.

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County facing $2.5 million in red ink

NACA & NASA Langley Flight Experience with VTOL Aircraft 1944-1979 NASA Langley Research Center – Video

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NACA NASA Langley Flight Experience with VTOL Aircraft 1944-1979 NASA Langley Research Center
more at http://scitech.quickfound.net/aviation_news_and_search.html Compilation of flight test footage of many vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL) o...

By: Jeff Quitney

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NACA & NASA Langley Flight Experience with VTOL Aircraft 1944-1979 NASA Langley Research Center - Video

NASA's 'Cable Guys' Make ISS Spacewalk Look Easy

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A pair of NASA astronauts breezed through a spacewalk to install cables and antennas at the International Space Station on Sunday, days after water pooled up in the helmet of one of the astronauts at the end of the previous spacewalk.

The helmet problem that NASA astronaut Terry Virts experienced last Wednesday sparked concern because a bigger buildup of water almost drowned a spacewalker in his helmet in 2013. The issue didn't affect Sunday's outing, but Virts said extra water seeped in again when the spacewalk was over. "It's not a big deal, just a small film on the visor," he said.

NASA said Virts was in no danger, either on Wednesday or on Sunday.

Virts and NASA crewmate Barry "Butch" Wilmore finished what was expected to be more than six and a half hours' worth of work more than an hour early. "You guys have done an outstanding job, even for two shuttle pilots," spacewalk choreographer Sunita Williams told the duo from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas.

During the last of three spacewalks that were conducted over the course of eight days, Virts and Wilmore installed communication antennas and ran about 400 feet of cable along the station's exterior. The work is part of a months-long effort to install new docking mechanisms.

Those mechanisms would be used by the commercial "space taxis" now being developed by Boeing and SpaceX to carry crew for NASA, starting as early as 2017. In the meantime, NASA has to pay the Russians more than $70 million a seat to transport astronauts to and from the station.

NASA's mission managers gave the go-ahead for Sunday's spacewalk after determining that Virts' helmet issue was manageable. They said Virts' spacesuit was known to release a small amount of water condensation into the helmet when the suit is repressurized after a spacewalk. Since the 2013 scare, NASA has been monitoring the spacesuits and their water cooling systems more closely.

First published March 1 2015, 3:22 AM

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NASA's 'Cable Guys' Make ISS Spacewalk Look Easy

NASA's 'Cable Guys' Start Spacewalk After Helmet Scare

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A pair of NASA astronauts breezed through a spacewalk to install cables and antennas at the International Space Station on Sunday, days after water pooled up in the helmet of one of the astronauts at the end of the previous spacewalk.

The helmet problem that NASA astronaut Terry Virts experienced last Wednesday sparked concern because a bigger buildup of water almost drowned a spacewalker in his helmet in 2013. The issue didn't affect Sunday's outing, but Virts said extra water seeped in again when the spacewalk was over. "It's not a big deal, just a small film on the visor," he said.

NASA said Virts was in no danger, either on Wednesday or on Sunday.

Virts and NASA crewmate Barry "Butch" Wilmore finished what was expected to be more than six and a half hours' worth of work more than an hour early. "You guys have done an outstanding job, even for two shuttle pilots," spacewalk choreographer Sunita Williams told the duo from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas.

During the last of three spacewalks that were conducted over the course of eight days, Virts and Wilmore installed communication antennas and ran about 400 feet of cable along the station's exterior. The work is part of a months-long effort to install new docking mechanisms.

Those mechanisms would be used by the commercial "space taxis" now being developed by Boeing and SpaceX to carry crew for NASA, starting as early as 2017. In the meantime, NASA has to pay the Russians more than $70 million a seat to transport astronauts to and from the station.

NASA's mission managers gave the go-ahead for Sunday's spacewalk after determining that Virts' helmet issue was manageable. They said Virts' spacesuit was known to release a small amount of water condensation into the helmet when the suit is repressurized after a spacewalk. Since the 2013 scare, NASA has been monitoring the spacesuits and their water cooling systems more closely.

First published March 1 2015, 3:22 AM

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NASA's 'Cable Guys' Start Spacewalk After Helmet Scare

NASA Invites Student Teams to Go Underwater for Micro-g NExT

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This project coincides with the 50thanniversary of NASA extravehicular activities (EVAs). March 18 is the anniversary of the first spacewalk by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who left his Voskhod-2 vehicle for a 12-minute tethered walk, and June 3 is the golden anniversary of NASA astronaut Ed Whites Gemini IV 23-minute tethered spacewalk, the first for a U.S. astronaut.

Micro-g NExT is managed by the Office of Education at NASAs Johnson Space Center. The program helps support the agency's education policy of using NASA's unique missions and programs to engage and encourage students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.

Participating students, by state, are from:

California -- California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Connecticut -- Yale University, New Haven

Florida -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach; University of South Florida, Tampa

Idaho -- Boise State University, Boise

Illinois -- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Indiana -- Purdue University, West Lafayette

Iowa -- Iowa State University, Ames

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NASA Invites Student Teams to Go Underwater for Micro-g NExT

NASA salutes 'Star Trek' icon Leonard Nimoy

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) honored the late "Star Trek" actor Leonard Nimoy on Saturday, saying he helped inspire future scientists around the world.

Nimoy's calculated Mr. Spock character in the series and subsequent films "served as an inspiration to generations of scientists, engineers and sci-fi fans around the world," the agency said Saturday, posting to its website a photo of the Vulcan hand salute that is out of this world.

Nimoy, who died Friday at 83 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to multiple reports, was honored by the agency in an ethereal photo of the bright blue earth captured by NASA astronaut Terry Virts aboard the International Space Station:

NASA notes that Nimoy's hometown of Boston, Mass., is visible in the photo.

"With the passing of Leonard Nimoy, we have not only lost a talented actor, but a proud product of Bostons neighborhoods and English High School," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement Friday, adding "the spirit of his work lives on" in future generations of inspired children.

"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory," Nimoy wrote in his final tweet.

President Obama joined other "Star Trek" fans and several lawmakers Friday mourning the actor's death, saying in a statement that "long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy."

"Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Treks optimistic, inclusive vision of humanitys future," Obama said. "I love Spock."

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NASA salutes 'Star Trek' icon Leonard Nimoy