First Orion flight will assess radiation risk as NASA thinks about human Mars missions

Posted on by

17 hours ago by Elizabeth Howell, Universe Today The Mars Societys prototype Mars habitat in Utah. Image Credit: Mars Society MRDS

If you wanna get humans to Mars, there are so many technical hurdles in the way that it will take a lot of hard work. How to help people survive for months on a hostile surface, especially one that is bathed on radiation? And how will we keep those people safe on the long journey there and back?

NASA is greatly concerned about the radiation risk, and is asking the public for help in a new challenge as the agency measures radiation with the forthcoming uncrewed Orion test flight in December. There's $12,000 up for grabs across at least a few awards, providing you get your ideas into the agency by Dec. 12.

"One of the major human health issues facing future space travelers venturing beyond low-Earth orbit is the hazardous effects of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs)," NASA wrote in a press release.

"Exposure to GCRs, immensely high-energy radiation that mainly originates outside the solar system, now limits mission duration to about 150 days while a mission to Mars would take approximately 500 days. These charged particles permeate the universe, and exposure to them is inevitable during space exploration."

Here's an interesting twist, toomore data will come through the Orion test flight as the next-generation spacecraft aims for a flight 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) above Earth's surface. That's so high that the vehicle will go inside a high-radiation environment called the Van Allen Belts, which only the Apollo astronauts passed through in the 1960s and 1970s en route to the Moon.

While a flight to Mars will also just graze this area briefly, scientists say the high-radiation environment will give them a sense of how Orion (and future spacecraft) perform in this kind of a zone. So the spacecraft will carry sensors on board to measure overall radiation levels as well as "hot spots" within the vehicle.

Explore further: Radiation monitors tested on space station to fly on Orion

More information: http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-inno ssions/#.VG9GeJDF_SZ

Already tested on the International Space Station (ISS), six radiation detectors developed by a team from the University of Houston physics department and their NASA colleagues have paved the way for two ...

See the original post here:

First Orion flight will assess radiation risk as NASA thinks about human Mars missions

Formula 1 heads to Abu Dhabi for a suspenseful finale

Posted on by

The Formula 1 season for 2014 is heading for a climax in Abu Dhabi over the weekend. The Constructors' Championship for the year has already been settled in favour of Mercedes, which has 651 points, followed by Red Bull Racing-Renault and Williams-Mercedes, both quite a distance behind with 373 and 254 points respectively. The defending constructor, Red Bull, will find it impossible to beat Mercedes. Even if its drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastien Vettel, take the first two places at the pretty Yas Marina circuit, they will not win enough points to overtake the leader.

The suspense is about who will be the champion driver of 2014. At the end of the penultimate race of the year in Brazil, the men at the top were separated by just 17 points: Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton has 334 points, while his compatriot Nico Rosberg has 317 points. They are followed by Red Bull's Ricciardo with 214 points.

Hamilton has insisted that his 17-point advantage over Rosberg is not enough to provide him with a margin of safety heading into the Abu Dhabi season finale. Hamilton can afford to finish second to his teammate and title rival at Yas Marina and still clinch a second crown, but the British driver believes that he cannot take his lead over his German teammate for granted, and that securing victory would be his sole aim on Sunday.

Vettel, who has enjoyed an amazing winning streak in recent years, has fallen behind this season with no substantial win in any race. He stands fourth in the drivers' standings with a measly 159 points.

The ticket prices at Abu Dhabi cost $150 to $2,500. But as with most Formula 1 races, which are both sporting as well as social events, tickets for race day had sold out days before the practice runs on Friday. The race starts at 5 pm local time on Sunday and will continue under floodlights on the hybrid track - partly laid and partly street.

The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules that all participants' cars must comply with. There are 11 teams from well-known constructors, each of which has two drivers and two cars racing. The Formula 1 season this year had 19 races in 17 countries. They are raced on specially-laid tracks at racing circuits, with the exception of Monaco, Melbourne, Singapore and Valencia. In these cities, the race takes place on public streets, suitably prepared for speeds of 300 kmph and over. Singapore has the distinction of having the race taking place at night along brightly lit streets. In San Marino, Italy, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, the race is run anti-clockwise, creating a situation for drivers, who find it difficult to adjust their necks to the drive.

According to the scoring system, the first 10 positions earn the drivers 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points, respectively. The constructor's title is decided by adding the points scored by the two drivers of the team. In case of a tie for the championship places, the driver or constructor with the higher number of superior race results is designated the winner. However, the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) has modified the rules to award double the points in the last race of the reason in an attempt to keep the championships undecided till the very end. This was resorted to after Red Bull dominated the season four years in a row.

FIA says that the extra points would "maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign", but critics point out how bad luck in the final race would have a far greater impact on the title outcome than at any other point in the season. Vettel would not have been champion in 2012 had double points been awarded in the last race. Neither would Hamilton have been champion with McLaren in 2008 nor Michael Schumacher with Ferrari in 2003. Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen would have taken the titles instead.

Abu Dhabi brings to a close a season when there were no races in India after three were run at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida between 2011 and 2013. Delhi does not figure in the 2014 and 2015 calendars. Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of the F1 group, said that the 2014 Indian Grand Prix had to be dropped to tweak the racing calendar. The actual reason is believed to be political: a show of disapproval at the government's unwillingness to relent on taxation issues and the red tape involved.

More:

Formula 1 heads to Abu Dhabi for a suspenseful finale

Swift Probes Exotic Object: ‘Kicked’ Black Hole or Mega Star? – Video

Posted on by


Swift Probes Exotic Object: #39;Kicked #39; Black Hole or Mega Star?
Zoom into Markarian 177 and SDSS1133 and see how they compare with a simulated galaxy collision. When the central black holes in these galaxies combine, a "kick" launches the merged black hole.

By: NASA.gov Video

Here is the original post:

Swift Probes Exotic Object: 'Kicked' Black Hole or Mega Star? - Video

Interstellar My Ass! Nasa "From the Earth to the Ground" {in a fiery ball} – Video

Posted on by


Interstellar My Ass! Nasa "From the Earth to the Ground" {in a fiery ball}
NASA has always lied,repeatedly failed but has ALWAYS COST A SHIP LOAD OF MONEY$$$ Money we could use on good old,awesome planet Earth...The largest collection of alien/anomalous fossils ...

By: The Alien Fossil Project

Read the original here:

Interstellar My Ass! Nasa "From the Earth to the Ground" {in a fiery ball} - Video

NASA 2015 Predictions Will Drop Your Jaw to the Floor: Mini-Ice Age, Deaths, Earthquakes, Riots – Video

Posted on by


NASA 2015 Predictions Will Drop Your Jaw to the Floor: Mini-Ice Age, Deaths, Earthquakes, Riots
Here is the link that goes with the post: http://b4in.info/hhlo Subscribe to my website at: http://lisahavennews.net/ http://vineoflifenews.com/ For More Information See: http://www.newsmax.co...

By: LisaHaven

See the original post here:

NASA 2015 Predictions Will Drop Your Jaw to the Floor: Mini-Ice Age, Deaths, Earthquakes, Riots - Video

NASAs Innovative Ground Collision Avoidance System Could Save Hundreds Every Year

Posted on by

Matt Kamlet, CBS Los Angeles

EDWARDS (CBSLA.com) Most air travelers dont know it, but NASA is with you when you fly.

Thats right the first A in NASA stands for Aeronautics, and the agency continues to develop methods to improve the safety, efficiency, and adaptability of air travel.

In fact, much of the technology seen in both commercial and private flight today, from impact-absorbing seats to the fly-by-wire system used virtually everywhere, was developed locally by NASA.

Most of the general public associates NASA almost exclusively with Low-Earth orbit, spaceflight, or ambitions of deep space exploration. However, the goal of improving flight within the boundaries of our own planets atmosphere continue to accelerate at an exciting pace, and much of the research, testing, and execution takes place right here, in our own back yard.

The Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC), formerly Dryden Flight Research Center, is located about an hour and a half northeast of Los Angeles, at the historic Edwards Air Force Base. Edwards, which has served as home to specialized astronaut training for decades, including for the Apollo lunar-landings and the original Mercury Seven astronauts, continues to provide a backbone for perfecting the methods that keep us safe and improve our ability to fly.

A number of these technologies were discussed in depth at AFRC this week, with a particular emphasis on a groundbreaking new technology that could save hundreds of lives each year.

The Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS), developed at AFRC, is a revolutionary software that aims to greatly reduce incidents of controlled flight into terrain aircraft accidents.

These accidents represent the second leading cause of fatalities of air-related fatalities, causing about 100 deaths per year in the US. At times, pilots may become disoriented, distracted due to weather, or incapacitated due to G-forces, while an undetected obstruction becomes unavoidable.

The Auto-GCAS seeks to make these accidents a thing of the past.

Read the rest here:

NASAs Innovative Ground Collision Avoidance System Could Save Hundreds Every Year

NASA Announces New Opportunities for Public Participation in Asteroid Grand Challenge

Posted on by

Ten new projects are providing opportunities for the public to participate in NASA's Asteroid Grand Challenge, which accelerates the agency's asteroid initiative work through innovative partnerships and collaborations.

Through a Space Act Agreement since April, NASA's Asteroid Grand Challenge partner SpaceGAMBIT developed ways to connect the Maker community with NASA's asteroid work, including educational programs and tools to help astronomers and citizen scientists. Makers are creative people with a drive to answer questions and find new ways to do things.

The 10 new projects developed by SpaceGAMBIT were done in partnership with Maui Makers a group that provides the space and tools to make new things on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

"SpaceGAMBIT and their partners have created an incredibly wide variety of projects that speak to the strong interest in asteroids and passion of the public to participate in space-related activities," said Jason Kessler, program executive for the Asteroid Grand Challenge. "These projects will inspire NASA audiences and the broader community to learn and get involved."

The 10 projects are:

"The dinosaurs never had their own space program, nor a maker movement -- and look where it got them," said Alex Cureton-Griffiths of SpaceGAMBIT. "Defending the Earth is a big job, and makers are stepping up to the plate to help humanity take that one giant leap and survive as species."

NASA is counting on Maker communities to be a part of the solution to asteroid threats. In addition to the 10 new projects with SpaceGAMBIT, NASA is offering a variety of other opportunities for Makers around the country to connect directly with NASA. This includes events like the World Maker Faire and opportunities to solve tough problems through NASA Solve -- a program of challenges, prize competitions, and crowdsourcing activities.

Through NASA's asteroid initiative, the agency seeks to enhance its ongoing work in the identification and characterization of near-Earth objects for further scientific investigation. This work includes locating potentially hazardous asteroids and identifying those viable for redirection to a stable lunar orbit for future exploration by astronauts. The Asteroid Grand Challenge, one part of the asteroid initiative, expands the agency's efforts beyond traditional boundaries and encourages partnerships and collaboration with a variety of organizations.

For more detail about the 10 projects associated with the Asteroid Grand Challenge, visit:

Follow this link:

NASA Announces New Opportunities for Public Participation in Asteroid Grand Challenge

NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #625 21 November 2014

Posted on by

Please note that the next issue of SPACELINE Current Awareness will be released December 5. Papers deriving from NASA support: 1 Ade CJ, Broxterman RM, Barstow TJ. VO2max and microgravity exposure: Convective versus diffusive O2 transport. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014 Nov 6. [Epub ahead of print] Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25380479 (PI: T.J. Barstow) Journal Impact Factor:4.459 Funding:This study was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research grant NNX10AK60G awarded to T.J. Barstow. R.M. Broxterman was supported by NASA EPSCOR grant KS-NNX11AM05A. 2 Billings PC, Sanzari JK, Kennedy AR, Cengel KA, Seykora JT. Comparative analysis of colorimetric staining in skin using open-source software. Exp Dermatol. 2014 Nov 12. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25393687 (PI: A.R. Kennedy) Journal Impact Factor:4.115 Funding:This study was supported by NIAMS grant P30-AR057217 and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) through NASA NCC 9-58. 3 Stanton IN, Belley MD, Nguyen G, Rodrigues A, Li Y, Kirsch DG, Yoshizumi TT, Therien MJ. Europium- and lithium-doped yttrium oxide nanocrystals that provide a linear emissive response with X-ray radiation exposure. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24696056 (PI: D.G. Kirsch/NSCOR) Journal Impact Factor:6.739 Funding:This study was supported in part by grants from the Department of Homeland Security, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office Academic Research Initiative (NSF-ECCS-11-40037), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX11AC60G), the U.S. NRC Health Physics Fellowship (NRC-HQ-12-G-38-0022), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (5U19AI067798). 4 Menezes AA, Cumbers J, Hogan JA, Arkin AP. Towards synthetic biological approaches to resource utilization on space missions. J R Soc Interface. 2015 Jan 6;12(102). pii: 20140715. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25376875 Note:From the Introduction: The work reviews existing biological processes to demonstrate that they already constitute a competitive yet non-traditional technology that is capable of processing volatiles and waste resources readily available on two representative space missions in a way that reduces the launch mass of propellant, food and raw material for three-dimensional printing, and also overcomes the decreased product shelf-life of a common therapeutic [drug]. The article, which may be obtained online without charge, is featured on the journal cover athttp://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/102.cover-expansion. Journal Impact Factor:3.856 Funding:We appreciate the funding provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the University of California, Santa Cruz, University Affiliated Research Centers Aligned Research Programme: NAS2-03144 Task TO.030.14.MD.D. J.A. Hogan is at NASA Ames Research Center. 5 Schneider CJ, Cuntz H, Soltesz I. Linking macroscopic with microscopic neuroanatomy using synthetic neuronal populations. PLoS Comput Biol. 2014 Oct 23;10(10):e1003921. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25340814 (PI: G.R. Nelson/I. Soltesz/NSCOR) Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. Journal Impact Factor:4.829 Funding:This work was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research 01GQ1406 to HC (www.bmbf.de), National Institutes of Health NS35915 to IS (www.nih.gov), National Science Foundation IOS-1310378 to IS (www.nsf.gov), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NNX10AD59G to IS (www.nasa.gov). 6 Nelson ES, Mulugeta L, Myers JG. Microgravity-induced fluid shift and ophthalmic changes. Life (Basel). 2014 Nov 7;4(4):621-65. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25387162 (PI: C. Ethier) Note:The review discusses ISS, STS, Skylab, and Mir results. This article may be obtained online without charge. Journal Impact Factor:Not available for this journal. Funding:The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Human Research Program at NASA through the Digital Astronaut Project and through NRA NNX13AP91G, led by Prof. C. Ross Ethier, Georgia Institute of Technology. 7 Vandenbrink JP, Kiss JZ, Herranz R, Medina FJ. Light and gravity signals synergize in modulating plant development. Front Plant Sci. 2014 Oct 28;5:563. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25389428 (PI: J.Z. Kiss) Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. Journal Impact Factor:3.637 Funding:Financial support was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through grants NNX10AM86G and NNX12AO65G to John Z. Kiss. Financial support to F. Javier Medina and Raul Herranz was provided by the Spanish Plan Nacional de Investigacin Cientfica, Desarrollo Tecnolgico e Innovacin Grant Ref. No. AYA2012-33982, and by European Space Agency, Program Access to Ground Based Facilities, Grants Ref. Nos. 4200022650 and 4000105761. The November issue of theJournal of Womens Healthcontains a special collection of articles about the effects of sex and gender on adaptation to space. From the Executive Summary abstract: This review article is a compendium of six individual manuscripts, a Commentary, and an Executive Summary. This body of work is entitled The Impact of Sex and Gender on Adaptation to Space and was developed in response to a recommendation from the 2011 National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey, Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical Sciences for a New Era, which emphasized the need to fully understand sex and gender differences in spacesix workgroups investigated and summarized the current body of published and unpublished human and animal research performed to date related to sex- and gender-based differences in the areas of cardiovascular, immunological, sensorimotor, musculoskeletal, reproductive, and behavioral adaptations to human spaceflight. Each workgroup consisted of scientists and clinicians from academia, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and other federal agencies and was co-chaired by one representative from NASA and one from the external scientific communityThe groups identified certain sex-related differences that impact the risks and the optimal medical care required by space-faring women and men. The articles in this special section are Open Access and available free of charge at the publishers website:http://online.liebertpub.com/toc/jwh/23/11 8 Mark S, Scott GB, Donoviel DB, Leveton LB, Mahoney E, Charles JB, Siegel B. The impact of sex and gender on adaptation to space: Executive summary. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov;23(11):941-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25401937 Journal Impact Factor:1.896 Funding:G.B.I.S. and D.B.D. are grateful for the support provided by NSBRI through NASA Cooperative Agreement NCC 9-58. B.S., E.M., and S.M. are grateful for the support provided by the NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Division. L.B.L. and J.B.C. are grateful for the support provided by the NASA Johnson Space Center Human Research Program and the Division of Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences Division. 9 Mark S. The impact of sex and gender on adaptation to space: Commentary. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov;23(11):948-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25401938 10 Platts SH, Bairey Merz CN, Barr Y, Fu Q, Gulati M, Hughson R, Levine BD, Mehran R, Stachenfeld N, Wenger NK. Effects of sex and gender on adaptation to space: Cardiovascular alterations. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov;23(11):950-5. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25401939 11 Kennedy AR, Crucian B, Huff JL, Klein SL, Morens D, Murasko D, Nickerson CA, Sonnenfeld G. Effects of sex and gender on adaptation to space: Immune system. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov;23(11):956-8. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25401940 12 Reschke MF, Cohen HS, Cerisano JM, Clayton JA, Cromwell R, Danielson RW, Hwang EY, Tingen C, Allen JR, Tomko DL. Effects of sex and gender on adaptation to space: Neurosensory systems. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov;23(11):959-62. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25401941 13 Ploutz-Snyder L, Bloomfield S, Smith SM, Hunter SK, Templeton K, Bemben D. Effects of sex and gender on adaptation to space: Musculoskeletal health. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov;23(11):963-6. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25401942 14 Ronca AE, Baker ES, Bavendam TG, Beck KD, Miller VM, Tash JS, Jenkins M. Effects of sex and gender on adaptations to space: Reproductive health. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov;23(11):967-74. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25401943 15 Goel N, Bale TL, Epperson CN, Kornstein SG, Leon GR, Palinkas LA, Stuster JW, Dinges DF. Effects of sex and gender on adaptation to space: Behavioral health. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2014 Nov;23(11):975-86. Epub 2014 Sep 26. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25259837 Note:Originally appeared in Current Awareness List # 618 on October 3, 2014. _________________________________________________________________________ Other papers of interest: 1 Koy T, Zange J, Rittweger J, Pohle-Frhlich R, Hackenbroch M, Eysel P, Ganse B. Assessment of lumbar intervertebral disc glycosaminoglycan content by gadolinium-enhanced MRI before and after 21-days of head-down-tilt bedrest. PLoS One. 2014 Nov 7;9(11):e112104. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25380233 Note:Bed rest study. This article may be obtained online without charge. 2 Boonstra R, Mo K, Monks DA. Managing anabolic steroids in pre-hibernating Arctic ground squirrels: Obtaining their benefits and avoiding their costs. Biol Lett. 2014 Nov;10(11). pii: 20140734. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25376801 3 Randsoe T, Meehan CF, Broholm H, Hyldegaard O. Effect of nitric oxide on spinal evoked potentials and survival rate in rats with decompression sickness. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2014 Nov 6:jap.00260.2014. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25377881 4 Yamamoto N, Otsuka K, Kubo Y, Hayashi M, Mizuno K, Ohshima H, Mukai C. Effects of long-term microgravity exposure in space on circadian rhythms of heart rate variability. Chronobiol Int. 2014 Nov 13:1-14. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25392280 Note:ISS results. 5 Naumenko VS, Kulikov AV, Kondaurova EM, Tsybko AS, Kulikova EA, Krasnov IB, Shenkman BS, Sychev VN, Bazhenova EY, Sinyakova NA, Popova NK. Effect of actual long-term spaceflight on BDNF, TrkB, p75, BAX and BCL-XL gene expression in mouse brain regions. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306452214009178 Note:Bion-M1 results. 6 Soodan KS, Priyadarshni P, Singh JP. Aeronautic dentistry: An upcoming branch. Int J Stomatol Occlusion Med. 2014 Oct 30. [Article in Press] Review. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12548-014-0113-3 Note:Bed rest studies and results from STS-65 are discussed. 7 Hoff P, Belav DL, Huscher D, Lang A, Hahne M, Kuhlmey AK, Maschmeyer P, Armbrecht G, Fitzner R, Perschel FH, Gaber T, Burmester GR, Straub RH, Felsenberg D, Buttgereit F. Effects of 60-day bed rest with and without exercise on cellular and humoral immunological parameters. Cell Mol Immunol. 2014 Nov 10. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25382740 Note:Bed rest study. 8 Qureshi KM, Lee J, Paget MB, Bailey CJ, Curnow SJ, Murray HE, Downing R. Low gravity rotational culture and the integration of immunomodulatory stem cells reduce human islet allo-reactivity. Clin Transplant. 2014 Nov 7. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25382449 Note:A 3-D rotational cell culture system (RCCS) was used. 9 Fitts RH, Peters JR, Dillon EL, Durham WJ, Sheffield-Moore M, Urban RJ. Weekly versus monthly testosterone administration on fast and slow skeletal muscle fibers in older adult males. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Nov 11:jc20142759. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25387260 Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. 10 Lescale C, Schenten V, Djeghloul D, Bennabi M, Gaignier F, Vandamme K, Strazielle C, Kuzniak I, Petite H, Dosquet C, Frippiat JP, Goodhardt M. Hind limb unloading, a model of spaceflight conditions, leads to decreased B lymphopoiesis similar to aging. FASEB J. 2014 Nov 5. pii: fj.14-259770. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25376832 Note:Hindlimb unloading study. 11 Belley MD, Wang C, Nguyen G, Gunasingha R, Chao NJ, Chen BJ, Dewhirst MW, Yoshizumi TT. Toward an organ based dose prescription method for the improved accuracy of murine dose in orthovoltage x-ray irradiators. Med Phys. 2014 Mar;41(3):034101. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24593746 12 Mairani A, Bhlen TT, Dokic I, Cabal G, Brons S, Haberer TH. In response to the Comments to the paper "Modelling of cell killing due to sparsely ionizing radiation in normoxic and hypoxic conditions and an extension to high LET radiation" by T. Friedrich et al. Int J Radiat Biol. 2014 Nov 7:1-6. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25380346 Note:The Comment appeared in Int J Radiat Biol. 2014 Aug 13:1-5. [Epub ahead of print]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25118892. The original Mairani paper appeared in SPACELINE Current Awareness List #584 on May 10, 2013 and is available athttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23627742. The Friedrich paper appeared in SPACELINE Current Awareness List #574 on November 30, 2012 and is available athttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22998227. 13 Vidyasagar P, Jagtap SS, Dixit JP, Kamble SM, Dhepe AP. Effects of short-term hypergravity exposure on germination, growth and photosynthesis ofTriticum aestivimL. Microgravity Sci Technol. 2014 Nov 1. [Article in Press] http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12217-014-9400-2 Note:Centrifugation was used for hypergravity. 14 Meroz Y, Bastien R. Stochastic processes in gravitropism. Front Plant Sci. 2014;5:647. Review. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2014.00674/abstract Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. 15 Steward AJ, Kelly DJ. Mechanical regulation of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation. J Anat. 2014 Nov 9. [Epub ahead of print] Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25382217 Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. 16 Carrillo-Esper R. Medicina espacial[Space medicine]. Cir Cir. 2014 Nov-Dec;82(6):591-3. Spanish. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25393857 Note:The author announces a new program in space medicine established by the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Mexican Academy of Surgery and the National Academy of Medicine in conjunction with Space Agency Mexicana (Agencia Espacial Mexicana). Partnerships with NASA and ESA are anticipated.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.

View original post here:

NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #625 21 November 2014

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Ionospheric Connection Explorer

Posted on by

NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corporation ofDulles, Virginia, to provide launch services for the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission.

ICON is targeted to launch inJune 2017from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of theMarshall Islandsaboard a Pegasus XL launch vehicle from Orbital's "Stargazer" L-1011 aircraft.

The total cost for NASA to launch ICON under this new firm-fixed price launch services task order is approximately$56.3 million. This includes spacecraft processing, payload integration, tracking, data and telemetry and other launch support requirements.

ICON will study the interface between the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere and space in response to a recent scientific discovery that the ionosphere, positioned at the edge of space where the sun ionizes the air to create charged particles, is significantly influenced by storms in the lower atmosphere. ICON also will help NASA better understand how atmospheric winds control ionospheric variability.

NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency'sKennedy Space CenterinFloridais responsible for management and oversight of the Pegasus XL launch services. The ICON mission is led by theUniversity of California, Berkeley, with oversight by the Explorers Program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center inGreenbelt, Maryland.

For more information about NASA's Launch Services Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/launchservices

For more information about NASA programs and missions, visit:

Home Page

More:

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Ionospheric Connection Explorer

Jupiter's moon Europa looks embryonic in 'remastered' NASA photo

Posted on by

NASA has also released a brand-new video that describes why the icy moon's vast sea might just be the perfect place to find life beyond Earth.

This newly rendered image of Europa shows the moon much more closely to how human eyes would see it. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

When the primary mission of NASA's Galileo spacecraft ended on December 7, 1997, astronomers decided to give it more work to do -- orbit and study the Jovian moon Europa. Faithfully following instructions, Galileo got to work sending back images and data of the icy planet to Earth for 14 more months. According to NASA, Galileo was so close to the surface of the moon at one point that "if there were something there the size of a school bus, Galileo would have detected it."

It's from that extended part of Galileo's mission that theories about the planet containing a potentially life-sustaining ocean of water beneath its crust of ice were confirmed.

Now NASA has released a "remastered" photo of the moon that makes it looks like the beginning of life itself -- an embryo.

The image had been released before in 2001, but NASA decided to revisit it recently and remaster it into "a realistic color view of the surface that approximates how Europa would appear to the human eye," it says in a statement about the photo.

To do this, NASA used images collected by Galileo on its 1st and 14th orbits through the Jovian system in 1995 and 1998. It then combined photos that were taken through near-infrared, green and violet filters to create the image above.

"Color variations across the surface are associated with differences in geologic feature type and location," NASA says. "For example, areas that appear blue or white contain relatively pure water ice, while reddish and brownish areas include non-ice components in higher concentrations. The polar regions, visible at the left and right of this view, are noticeably bluer than the more equatorial latitudes, which look more white. This color variation is thought to be due to differences in ice grain size in the two locations."

In addition to the reworked photo, NASA has just released this video of why Europa and its ocean (which theories say might be 10 times deeper than our own) might be ripe for life and future exploration, and why astronomers consider it a "game changer."

Read more:

Jupiter's moon Europa looks embryonic in 'remastered' NASA photo