ICON Cleared For Next Development Phase

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Image Caption: NASA's new ICON mission will study what causes variation in airglow such as the red glowing band seen in the atmosphere in this image from the International Space Station. Such emissions point to disturbances that can interfere with radio communications. Credit: NASA

Provided by Karen C. Fox, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA has officially confirmed the Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission, clearing it to move forward into the development phase. ICON will explore a swath of Earths atmosphere where weather close to the ground impacts the dynamic space environment above in unexpected ways.

By studying this area where terrestrial weather meets space weather, ICON will help resolve long-standing mysteries about the behavior of our planets upper atmosphere, including what causes disruptions in this region, such as those that can significantly affect radio transmissions.

ICON addresses a national need to predict these kinds of disturbed conditions in space, said Thomas Immel, principal investigator for ICON at the University of California at Berkeley. These disturbances can cause radio communication to suddenly and unexpectedly drop out, which is a problem for ships, airplanes, the global positioning system, and the military.

To study the connection between these space weather disturbances and Earths weather, ICON will measure how motions in the lower atmosphere are transmitted into space. The lowest layer of the atmosphere the one we live in and where we experience weather is the troposphere. Above that is the stratosphere, the mesosphere, and the thermosphere. All of these are layers of the atmosphere made of neutral gas, which can move in reaction to the weather down closest to Earth.

The neutral particles in the mesosphere and higher up, however, exist side-by-side with a giant layer of charged particles stretching from 60 to 600 miles high, called the ionosphere. The charged particles are pushed around by the neutral gas, but are also pushed by electric and magnetic fields that course through the region. These forces are at work throughout the ionosphere, day and night.

ICON will fly at a height of some 360 miles and aim its instruments for a view of whats happening at the lowest reaches of space up to 250 miles providing the first ever comprehensive measurements of the region where the thermosphere and ionosphere overlap. Exploring this region will open up entirely new avenues of exploration, because traditionally the ionospheric disturbances at low latitudes were assumed to be primarily driven by the sun.

For years people thought that energy coming in from above, through the solar wind or solar ultraviolet radiation, was the only cause of changes in the upper atmosphere, said Doug Rowland, mission scientist for ICON at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. But we now realize that atmospheric movements down below, closer to Earth, actually have a strong effect on whats happening above.

For example, recent images of the ionosphere in ultraviolet light have shown bright spots in two bands around the middle of Earth the brightness represents areas where the charged gas density is significantly higher. The spots also change over time in sync with daily cycles within the lower atmosphere, suggesting that they are directly linked to Earths weather.

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ICON Cleared For Next Development Phase

NASA’s new grand challenge: Find the asteroids that threaten humanity | Mason Peck | TEDxMidAtlantic – Video

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NASA #39;s new grand challenge: Find the asteroids that threaten humanity | Mason Peck | TEDxMidAtlantic
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Kettle Corn Machine – kettlecornsupplies.com – NASA Coating R29 – Video

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Pravasi News Overseas – NASA Moves First Orion Spacecraft to Launch Pad – 16 -11- 2014 – 6TV NRI – Video

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Pravasi News Overseas - NASA Moves First Orion Spacecraft to Launch Pad - 16 -11- 2014 - 6TV NRI
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NASA Scientists Find Diamonds, Other Treasures In Gold Rush Meteorite

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Researchers digging deeper into the origins of the Sutter's Mill meteorite, which fell in California's Gold Country in 2012, found diamonds and other "treasures" that provide important new insight into the early days of our solar system. They report their results in thirteen papers in the November issue of Meteoritics & Planetary Science.

"Sutter's Mill gives us a glimpse of what future NASA spacecraft may find when they bring back samples from a primitive asteroid, said consortium lead Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, at NASAs Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. "From what falls naturally to the ground, much does not survive the violent collision with Earth's atmosphere."

Jenniskens found one of the first and one of the most unusual of the Sutter's Mill meteorites before rain hit the area. In his search, Jenniskens was guided by Marc Fries of NASA's Johnson Space Center, in Houston, who describes in detail how Doppler weather radar enabled the rapid and pristine collection of the meteorites.

"The two 10-micron diamond grains we found in this meteorite are too small to sparkle in a ring," said Mike Zolensky, space scientist of Johnson, working with associate professor Yoko Kebukawa late of Hokkaido University, Japan, "But their size is much larger than the nanometer-sized diamonds commonly found in such meteorites."

Nanodiamonds are thought to originate in the atmospheres of stars. The larger diamonds found in Sutter's Mill may have had another origin closer to home. "We suspect that these diamonds are so-called xenoliths, says Kebukawa. "Bits and pieces that originated in the interior of other much larger parent bodies."

University of California (UC), Davis researchers Akane Yamakawa and Qing-Zhu Yin studied the different forms of the element chromium, called isotopes. They found that at least five different stellar sources composed of mixtures of 54-chromium-rich and -poor materials must have contributed matter to the nascent solar system four and half billion years ago. Some of these materials remained in the Sutter's Mill meteorite. "The formation of the solar system did not fully erase and homogenize these signatures and Sutters Mill provides the clearest record yet," said Yin, also a co-lead of the Sutters Mill Meteorite Consortium.

Some fragments escaped alteration by liquid water, while others were heavily altered. Based on isotopes of the elements manganese and chromium, NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow Christine Jilly and colleagues now report when that happened. "We determined that minerals such as calcium and magnesium carbonate likely precipitated from liquid water 2.4 to 5.0 million years after the formation of the solar system," says Jilly. "It is possible that radioactive compounds in the meteorite's parent body heated the nascent planet to the point that water ice became liquid."

In primitive meteorites like Sutter's Mill, some grains survive from what existed in the cloud of gas, dust and ices that formed the solar system. In Sutter's Mill, the liquid water appears to have destroyed the silicate type of these, according to Xuchao Zhao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, working with NASA and UC Davis colleagues.

The meteorite also was heated, perhaps as recent as during entry in Earth's atmosphere. Using a technique called thermoluminescense, Derek Sears, senior research scientist at Ames, determined the rock was heated to 572 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100,000 years. Other materials were heated on the parent body, differently at different locations. Zolensky found unusual materials not seen in any other meteorites, including a very unusual calcium sulfide called oldhamite, also suspected to be a xenolith. "I don't know of any similar meteorites that contain both heated and unheated materials," said Zolensky. "Some materials were heated to 932 degrees Fahrenheit, while others clearly were not."

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NASA Tests Revolutionary Shape Changing Aircraft Flap for the First Time

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WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --NASA's green aviation project is one step closer to developing technology that could make future airliners quieter and more fuel-efficient with the successful flight test of a wing surface that can change shape in flight.

This past summer researchers replaced an airplane's conventional aluminum flaps with advanced, shape-changing assemblies that form seamless bendable and twistable surfaces. Flight testing will determine whether flexible trailing-edge wing flaps are a viable approach to improve aerodynamic efficiency and reduce noise generated during takeoffs and landings.

The Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) project is a joint effort between NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), using flaps designed and built by FlexSys, Inc., of Ann Arbor, Michigan. With AFRL funding through the Air Force's Small Business Innovative Research program, FlexSys developed a variable geometry airfoil system called FlexFoil that can be retrofitted to existing airplane wings or integrated into brand new airframes.

FlexFoil's inventor, FlexSys founder and Chief Executive Officer Sridhar Kota hopes testing with the modified Gulfstream III will confirm the design's flight worthiness and open doors to future applications and commercialization. ACTE is being flown at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

"This flight test is one of the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project's eight large-scale integrated technology demonstrations to show design improvements in drag, weight, noise, emission and fuel reductions," said Fay Collier, ERA project manager at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

During the initial ACTE flight, the experimental control surfaces were locked at a specified setting. Different flap settings will be employed on subsequent flights to collect a variety of data demonstrating the capability of the flexible wings to withstand a real flight environment. The flaps have the potential to be retrofitted to existing airplane wings or integrated into new airframes.

"We have progressed from an innovative idea and matured the concept through multiple designs and wind tunnel tests, to a final demonstration that should prove to the aerospace industry that this technology is ready to dramatically improve aircraft efficiency," said AFRL Program Manager Pete Flick, from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

ACTE technology is expected to have far-reaching effects on future aviation. Advanced lightweight materials will reduce wing structural weight and give engineers the ability to aerodynamically tailor the wings to promote improved fuel economy and more efficient operations, while reducing environmental impacts.

"The first flight went as planned -- we validated many key elements of the experimental trailing edges," said Thomas Rigney, ACTE Project Manager at Armstrong. "We expect this technology to make future aircraft lighter, more efficient, and quieter. It also has the potential to save hundreds of millions of dollars annually in fuel costs."

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Is NASA launch a mission to nowhere?

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The Orion Spacecraft moves by the Vehicle Assembly Building on its approximately 22 mile journey from the Launch Abort System Facility at the Kennedy Space Center to Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The test flight for Orion is scheduled to launch on Dec. 4.

NASA's new Orion spacecraft will bolt off a launch pad in Florida early next month in what could be the first step toward the human exploration of Mars.

The gum-drop shaped capsule will briefly orbit Earth, then parachute into the Pacific, where it will be retrieved by a Navy ship from San Diego.

But will anyone care?

Three years after the U.S. space shuttle program ended, NASA is struggling to grab and hold the publics attention as it introduces its next-generation manned spacecraft, a vehicle that has cost at least $6.1 billion to develop so far.

For the moment, the space agency doesnt have a compelling human story to tell about the launch, which is set for Dec. 4. Space experts said it will be six to seven years before Orion actually carries astronauts. Tight budgets, design issues and policy questions have slowed the programs development. As a result, NASA doesnt have definitive plans and clear time tables for manned trips to the moon, an asteroid or Mars.

The Orion capsule will re-enter the atmosphere than parachute into the ocean west of Baja California. Artist's rendering by NASA.

Some analysts also said NASA has not made a strong case for sending humans to Mars, a planet already being explored by rovers and satellites.

The space agency realizes it has problems, and theyre not limited to Orion.

A lot of people think that NASA doesnt even exist anymore because the space shuttle was retired, astronaut Chris Cassidy told U-T San Diego in July. We have to beat the drum loud and clear and say, No, were doing good things, were doing science, were on the space station and weve got this plan to get ourselves out of low-Earth orbit.

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Is NASA launch a mission to nowhere?

NASA map shows 556 space rocks smashed into the Earth's atmosphere over a 20-year period

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NASA map reveals the number of asteroids that smashed into Earth Most were small and harmless and disintegrated But The Near Earth Object Program helps to track dangerous rocks Last year, an asteroid measuring 55 feet in diameter crashed in Russia

By Belinda Robinson For Mail Online

Published: 09:53 EST, 16 November 2014 | Updated: 16:39 EST, 16 November 2014

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A flash of light from a fiery asteroid is often treated with intrigue when it is spotted on Earth.

But scientists at NASA suggest that asteroids are smashing into the Earth's atmosphere at a higher rate than most people realize.

According to a new map by the space agency, it's a wonder we don't see fireballs raining down from the skies morefrequently.

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NASA map shows 556 space rocks smashed into the Earth's atmosphere over a 20-year period

Chula relaxes English proficiency score for engineering programme

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The ISE's four fields of study - automotive engineering and design, nano-engineering, information and communication engineering, and aeronautical engineering - will be launched in the 2015 academic year with the goal of producing good quality-engineers with English proficiency.

Faculty dean Bundhit Eua-Arporn said many students were interested in studying the international programmes but the current English proficiency criteria to recruit high school students was too high, resulting in a limited number of students passing.

Bundhit said the science and mathematics proficiency requirement remained the same.

He said the labour market wanted a large number of top-notch engineers who not only had engineering skills but also had the ability to communicate well in English.

But many engineers still struggled when communicating in English so the faculty wanted to address this issue and help the country.

Bundhit said that at the recent ISE Chula Open House 2014 event it was discovered that many students, with their parents' support, were interested in doing a bachelor's degree at the ISE.

The ISE programmes would also teach students multi-engineering discipline integration so they could have the option of working in a wider range of jobs and would have the engineering logic to create innovations for the country.

ISE will open for applications from January 5-30. For more details visit http://www.chula.ac.th.

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Wisdom Of Addiction: Turning Poison Into Medicine (Tse Chen Ling Talk) – Video

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GlaxoSmithKline tops table in effort to get drugs to developing countries

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A biennial access to medicine index says that leading pharmaceutical companies are doing more to get drugs to people in developing countries. Photograph: Alamy

GlaxoSmithKline has once again topped a league table that measures the major pharmaceuticals companies efforts in enabling people in developing countries to get the drugs they need, while rivals Pfizer and Sanofi have slipped down the rankings.

The Netherlands-based non-profit Access to Medicine foundation said that an estimated 2 billion people around the world still do not have access to the medicines they need.

But, it added, the companies often called big pharma are increasingly working to improve the situation. They are not acting for altruistic reasons, but partly because they see a commercial opportunity, especially in middle-income countries such as China, South Africa and Brazil, which account for just under half the worlds population.

The latest biennial access to medicine index shows GSK came first for a fourth year although its score was lower than in 2012. It was closely followed by Danish diabetes specialist Novo Nordisk, American firm Johnson & Johnson and Switzerlands Novartis.

Twenty of the worlds largest drug companies are assessed on a range of measures, including their willingness to discount prices in poor countries, research on neglected tropical diseases, lobbying, patent policies, breaches of codes of conduct, corruption or bribery, transparency and conduct in clinical trials.

GSK was recently found guilty of bribery by a Chinese court and fined 3bn yuan (300m) by the government in Bejing, but the ranking does not take this into account. If it had, GSK would probably still have come first, said Wim Leereveld, who devised the index, owing to its activities in developing countries and GSK boss Sir Andrew Wittys overhaul of sales practices in the US. Witty said: There is more that we can do and are doing. This year, the index is tougher than ever. It challenges us to think harder about how we drive innovation and enable access to our products. This is a challenge that we are ready and willing to take on. We will continue to push ourselves to go further and faster to make sure our medicines and vaccines reach more people.

Pfizer fell to 16th place from 11th, while Frances Sanofi dropped to eighth place from third. Neither has provided evidence of significant improvement in access to medicine since 2012, and have been overtaken by other companies, the report said. The researchers found little evidence that Pfizers pricing strategies help the poorest people while the share of its research pipeline dedicated to diseases prevalent in developing countries is relatively small, and has shrunk since the 2012 index.

Pfizer said: Pfizer continues to pursue a social investment strategy and is undertaking work to find new mechanisms to improve access to medicines for low-income patients.The report also found that more than half the companies scored (11) are working on medicines tailored for children, with 7% of the overall research pipeline devoted to child-size drugs in areas such as tuberculosis and HIV/Aids.

Five companies are developing more than half of the products in the research pipeline for developing countries Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, GSK, AbbVie and Sanofi.

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GlaxoSmithKline tops table in effort to get drugs to developing countries

"Intimidating at first:" An inside look at a Harvard research department – Video

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"Intimidating at first:" An inside look at a Harvard research department
Intimidating? Perhaps. But these researchers and staff members at Harvard Medical School #39;s Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology know how to balance hard work and fun.

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