Don’t forget to join us at Hibachi Grill on Bay Area Blvd tomorrow for our monthly NASA retirees luncheon.—at 11:30! Be careful out there with all our rains flooding some area streets.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1. 'Summer of Curiosity' Mission To Mars -- Living in Extreme Environments
2. Space Center Houston Hosts 'Curiosity: 7 Minutes of Terror'
3. Do You Know What's Going on Around the Space Industry?
4. Link Correction: Environmental Newsletter - July 2012
5. Today: 'Mastering the Technology Evolution' at 11:30 a.m.
6. News to Help You Beat the Odds
7. Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy
8. It's Official -- the JSC Library Has Moved to Building 30A
9. How to Be Happy Without Being Perfect
10. Parent's Night Out -- Registering Now for July
11. Buy Your Tickets For the Co-op 50th Anniversary Before July 16
12. Relief Valve Set Testing and Hydrostatic Testing for Designated Verifiers
13. Train-the-Trainer for Crane Operations and Riggings Safety Lift Certifying
14. Train-the-Trainer for Forklift-Certifying Officials
15. Train-rhe-Trainer for Aerial Platform-Certifying Officials
________________________________________ QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. ”
-- Jane Howard
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1. 'Summer of Curiosity' Mission To Mars -- Living in Extreme Environments
In celebration of the Mars Science Laboratory's arrival to the Red Planet later this summer, the External Relations Office is sharing a variety of activities and online resources with JSC team members. JSC families are encouraged to complete the weekly activities that illustrate what's needed for a six-month journey to Mars, a one-year stay and a six-month return trip to Earth.
Week 5 of the Summer of Curiosity Mission to Mars Challenge focuses on how NASA will help astronauts live in extreme environments.
When you are hungry, you go to the grocery store and buy food. When you are thirsty, you drink running water from a faucet. When you need oxygen to breath, you breath the air that is all around you. On Earth, basic resources are all around us! But what happens when it is time for astronauts to spend six months in a spaceship to get to Mars, live on the surface for a year and then travel another six months to get back to Earth?
Families will investigate the challenges of a crewed mission to Mars, discover several recycling methods used today and create and test a water-filtering system of their own.
All JSC families are invited to the Voyage Back to School event at Space Center Houston on Aug. 16 to celebrate their summer STEM experiences and Mars challenge results.
Please visit http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/centers/johnson/student-activities/summ... for more information.
JSC External Relations, Office of Education x40331
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2. Space Center Houston Hosts 'Curiosity: 7 Minutes of Terror'
Space Center Houston hosts "Curiosity: 7 Minutes of Terror," a fun-filled family camp-in to celebrate the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars. There will be edible Mars creations, exciting presentations by Mars experts and even a delicious Mars celebration breakfast following countdown.
Date: Sunday, Aug. 5, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Save $5! Only $4.95 if purchased online at http://www.spacecenter.org/marslanding.html by Aug. 4. Tickets purchased at the gate will be $9.95.
Susan H. Anderson x38630 http://www.spacecenter.org/marslanding.html
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3. Do You Know What's Going on Around the Space Industry?
Each day, you can keep up with all the news affecting NASA by reading the NASA News Summary. It is available on the Web at: http://www.bulletinnews.com/nasa/
It contains full-text links so that clicking the hypertext links in the write-ups will take you to the newspapers' original full-text articles. It also contains an interactive table of contents, so clicking a page number on the table of contents page will take you directly to that story. In addition to reading today's NASA news, you can also find older stories through the searchable archive of past editions. The website will also let you subscribe to receive a daily email of all the day's space news.
JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
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4. Link Correction: Environmental Newsletter - July 2012
We are near the heat of summer! Check out energy-savings tips and other environmental points in JSC's "The Greener Side" newsletter.
Environmental Office x36207 http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/bbs/scripts/files/365/theGreenerSide%20v5n3%20(...
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5. Today: 'Mastering the Technology Evolution' at 11:30 a.m.
The SAIC/Safety and Mission Assurance Innovation Speaker Forum featuring Ed Trevis, president/CEO of Corvalent, and Denise Manchester, vice president of Sales at Corvalent, is today.
Topic: "Mastering the Technology Evolution - Consistency vs. Change - Longevity By Design"
Date: Today, July 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Building 1, Room 966
- Ending revalidations
- Consistency is critical in manufacturing and technology
- Quality components for long-term computer reliability
Corvalent's "Longevity by Design" delivers the lowest overall cost of ownership by providing the highest quality board-level designs, embedded computing systems and design consulting to equipment engineers and designers. Come hear their story!
Joyce Abbey 281-335-2041
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6. News to Help You Beat the Odds
Did you know that an alcohol-related vehicle injury or death occurs in Texas about every 20 minutes? This startling fact--and what happens when safety drowns in drink--is the focus of the July JSC Safety & Health News, now online for your reading convenience.
The feature story, "Need we be reminded?" looks at the problem and what the law says, along with sharing a few facts that you may not know.
Don't worry much about identity theft? It's easier than you think, as one JSC employee recounts in his personal story, "ID theft--close to home." The how and where may surprise you.
These stories, plus more details on the Stay Alert, Stay Safe campaign; a summer heart-healthy recipe treat; and, of course, that always-popular diversion for puzzlephiles, the safety cryptogram. This and more, all available at the link below.
Mary Peterson x38783 http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/safety/newsletters/latest_publication.pdf
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7. Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy
The IEEE Galveston Bay Section and EMBS Society Chapter present Tommy Cooper, PE, speaking on "Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy."
Cooper has worked in medical instrumentation for more than 38 years. He started his career at Baylor College of Medicine, where he worked in the Cardiovascular Engineering Laboratory developing cardiac assist devices. He worked as a project engineer for several companies, where he designed and developed a Portable Medical Status and Treatment System for NASA, a portable a defibrillator-monitor, catheter-tipped pressure transducers, a disposable pressure transducer and disposable pressure-monitoring kits.
The presentation will start at noon and finish by 1 p.m. on July 19 in the Gilruth Center Discovery Room. We will offer lunch at 11:30 a.m. to the first 15 requestors for $8. There is no charge for the presentation. Please RSVP to Stew O'Dell at stewart.c.odell@nasa.gov and specify whether you are ordering lunch.
Stew O’Dell x31855
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8. It's Official -- the JSC Library Has Moved to Building 30A
The Scientific and Technical Information (STI) main location has moved from Building 45 to Building 30A, Room 1077. The JSC Library is located next door to the auditorium on the first floor. Library hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The library's mail code is still IC23. For assistance finding the library, please call 281-483-4245. http://library.jsc.nasa.gov
JSC campus map: http://internal.jsc.nasa.gov/Site%20Documents/2009ph%20bk%20map%20w-legend.pdf
The STI Center is a service provided by the Information Resources Directorate: http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov
Scientific and Technical Information Center x34245 http://library.jsc.nasa.gov
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9. How to Be Happy Without Being Perfect
We are a community of high achievers who strive to attain "realistic" standards that generally add to well-being and satisfaction. What happens when our self expectations become perfectionistic? How do you manage when fears of failure and disappointing others take over? Join Gay Yarbrough, LCSW of the JSC Employee Assistance Program, for a presentation on "How to Be Happy Without Being Perfect" today, July 11, in the Building 30 Auditorium at 12:30 p.m.
Employee Assistance Program x36130
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10. Parent's Night Out -- Registering Now for July
Enjoy a night out on the town while your kids enjoy a night with Starport! We will entertain your children at the Gilruth Center with a night of games, crafts, a bounce house, pizza, movie and dessert.
When: July 27 from 6 to 10 p.m.
Where: Gilruth Center
Ages: 5 to 12
Cost: $20/first child and $10/each additional sibling if registered by the Wednesday prior to event. If registered after Wednesday, the fee is $25/ first child and $15/ additional sibling.
Register at the Gilruth Center front desk. Visit http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Youth/PNO.cfm for more information.
Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/
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11. Buy Your Tickets For the Co-op 50th Anniversary Before July 16
Are you a current or former NASA co-op? Please join us for the 50th Anniversary Celebration for the NASA/JSC Co-op Program in the Gilruth Alamo Ballroom on July 25 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. There will be speakers, refreshments, heavy hors d'oeuvres, fun activities and nostalgia. Tickets are $15 and are NOW ON SALE through July 16 in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops, as well as the Gilruth Center front desk. Tell your NASA civil servant (former or current) co-op friends! The event is limited to 250 guests, so buy your tickets today. Please visit http://tinyurl.com/coop50th for a questionnaire about your time as a co-op.
Randy Eckman x48230 http://tinyurl.com/coop50th
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12. Relief Valve Set Testing and Hydrostatic Testing for Designated Verifiers
This course covers the fundamentals and requirements regarding hydrostatic testing of pressure vessels and pressure systems and pressure-relief valve set-testing.
Course objectives include:
- Define Designated Verifier (DV)
- Test-area guidelines
- References: JPR 1710.13, NS-PRS-009, NT-QAS-024
- Safety guidelines
- Procedures
Re-certification required every two years.
Date/Time: Aug. 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where: Safety Learning Center, B226N, R174
Registration via SATERN required:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Aundrail Hill x36369
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13. Train-the-Trainer for Crane Operations and Riggings Safety Lift Certifying
In order to assist with the transition of responsibility for certifying lift operators to line organizations, the Safety Learning Center is offering training for lift-certifying officials.
Date/Time: Aug. 6 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Location: Safety Learning Center, Building 226N, Room 174
This class is a train-the-trainer class for those certifying operators for crane operation and rigging safety. JSC line organizations and contractors are now responsible for ensuring their lift-equipment operators are certified in accordance with the NASA Standard for Lifting Devices and Equipment 8919.9. The operators will need to be certified by individuals who are qualified and approved as lift-certifying officials. Qualifications for both operators and lift-certifying officials are listed at: http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/safety/LIFT_Certification
Certifying officials need only to be approved for the lift types for which they certifying operators.
Registration via SATERN required:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Aundrail Hill x36369
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14. Train-the-Trainer for Forklift-Certifying Officials
In order to assist with the transition of responsibility for certifying lift operators to line organizations, the Safety Learning Center is offering training for forklift-certifying officials.
Date/Time: Aug. 6 from 8 to 11 a.m.
Location: Safety Learning Center, Building 226N, Room 174
Registration via SATERN required:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
This class is a train-the-trainer class for those certifying operators for forklifts. JSC line organizations and contractors are now responsible for ensuring their lift-equipment operators are certified in accordance with the NASA Standard for Lifting Devices and Equipment 8919.9. The operators will need to be certified by individuals who are qualified and approved as lift-certifying officials. Qualifications for both operators and lift-certifying officials are listed at: http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/safety/LIFT_Certification
Certifying officials need only be approved for the lift types for which they certifying operators.
Aundrail Hill x36369
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15. Train-rhe-Trainer for Aerial Platform-Certifying Officials
In order to assist with the transition of responsibility for certifying lift operators to line organizations, the Safety Learning Center is offering training for aerial platform-certifying officials.
Date/Time: Aug. 20 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Location: Safety Learning Center, Building 226N, Room 174
This class is a train-the-trainer class for those certifying operators for aerial lifts. JSC line organizations and contractors are now responsible for ensuring their lift-equipment operators are certified in accordance with the NASA Standard for Lifting Devices and Equipment 8919.9. The operators will need to be certified by individuals who are qualified and approved as lift-certifying officials.
Qualifications for both operators and lift-certifying officials are listed at: http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/safety/LIFT_Certification
Certifying officials need only be approved for the lift types for which they certifying operators.
Registration via SATERN required:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Aundrail Hill x36369
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________________________________________
JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.
NASA TV:
· 1 pm Central (2 EDT) - Video File of Exp 32/33 crew activities and Soyuz mating in Baikonur
· 6 am Central THURSDAY (7 EDT) - Live Interviews with Exp 30/31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit
Human Spaceflight News
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Production work begins on Orion spacecraft at KSC
Todd Halvorson - Florida Today
Production work on NASA's first space-bound Orion spacecraft is beginning at Kennedy Space Center and manufacturer Lockheed Martin is on track for a first flight test in 2014, a company official said Tuesday. James Kemp, Lockheed Martin's senior Orion production manager at KSC, told a crowd of about 200 people, that about four months of production work is beginning at the Operations and Checkout Building at KSC. The work on the spacecraft crew module is cranking up in the wake of its delivery last week.
US space agency Nasa selects Republic as first international research partner
Eoin Reynolds - Irish Times
US space agency Nasa has chosen the Republic as its first global research partner, seen by some as the first steps towards sending an Irish astronaut into space. The space agency is partnering with Irish universities to give scientists a chance to work at the world’s leading research facilities in the US. Following two years of negotiations, the initiative will be officially announced tomorrow at Trinity College by Nasa administrator Gen Charles Bolden. Tim Quigley, a retired naval officer and former commander of Moffet Airfield at the Ames base in California, was the go-between who pushed to ensure that this State leads the project.
Utah aerospace company Rocket Crafters coming to Titusville
Wayne Price - Florida Today
Rocket Crafters Inc., the Utah aerospace company that announced today it plans to relocate to Titusville, could be up and running in its temporary facility near Space Coast Regional Airport by the fourth quarter of this year. At a ceremony Tuesday afternoon at the airport, excited Titusville officials welcomed the company – once known only as Project Speed -- to town, a major dose of good news in an area still feeling the effect of last year’s shuttle program shutdown.
Utah rocket company moving to Titusville, promises as many as 1,300 jobs
Orlando Sentinel
Rocket Crafters Inc., a Utah-based company that specializes in hybrid-rocket design and aerospace-composite technologies, said Tuesday it is moving to Titusville, where it hopes to create as many as 1,300 full-time jobs. The company plans to develop and commercialize a new hybrid rocket-propulsion technology and an ultra-light, advanced composite material for the manufacture of dual-propulsion space planes for suborbital flight.
Simulated Space ‘Terror’ Offers NASA an Online Following
Kenneth Chang - New York Times
The video is called “Seven Minutes of Terror,” and describes, with the suspense and cinematography of a movie preview, what will happen next month when a one-ton spacecraft launched in November smacks into Mars. “We’ve got literally seven minutes to get from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars, going from 13,000 miles an hour to zero,” Tom Rivellini, a NASA engineer, tells the camera with a grim face and deadpan delivery. “If any one thing doesn’t work just right, it’s game over.” Posted last month on YouTube, the video has succeeded in an area where NASA has a mixed track record: using social media and other tools of the 21st century to whip up interest in space exploration. Despite minimal publicity, “Seven Minutes” has been racking up views and attracting droll commentary on the impending arrival of the rover, which goes by the name of Curiosity. “We don’t try to market,” said Robert Jacobs, a NASA spokesman. “We don’t try to sell anything. Our job is to clean the windows to give the American public a better view of their space program.” And yet the space officials have tried to add a measure of cute and playful. Three years ago, NASA ran a contest to name a module on the International Space Station. But the comedian Stephen Colbert co-opted it, exhorting his viewers to vote for “Colbert.” That name ended up winning, with more than 230,000 votes. NASA put aside the results and named the module Tranquility, commemorating the landing site of Apollo 11. But the space agency did later name an exercise treadmill on the space station after Mr. Colbert.
XCOR selects west Texas for suborbital, orbital R&D hub
Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily
XCOR Aerospace, the 13-year-old Mojave, Calif.-based reusable launch vehicle development company, will establish a Commercial Space Research and Development Center Headquarters in Midland, Texas. XCOR plans to concentrate its West Texas activities, including advanced development of the winged, two-seat reusable Lynx suborbital rocket plane and an eventual reusable orbital spacecraft, in a refurbished 60,000-sq.-ft. hangar with office space as well as test facilities located on the flight line of the Midland International Airport.
SpaceShipTwo debuts at Farnborough
Guy Norris - Aviation Week
The Farnborough air show has seen plenty of “firsts” over the decades, but the appearance this year of the first passenger-carrying suborbital commercial spacecraft takes this prestigious event into new territory. The show debut of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2), albeit in full-scale replica form, follows a tradition of inaugurals ranging from the 1949 display of the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet 1, to the initial international appearance of the largely composite-built Boeing 787 in 2010. Although the Farnborough show is not best known for its space-related coverage, the display of the SS2 mock-up follows the 2010 establishment of a special Space Zone exhibit which organizers say will be doubled in area this year.
Relics of human space activity on the Moon should be preserved
Itar-Tass
Vladimir Popovkin, the head of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, told a news conference on Tuesday that a Russian manned spaceship could head for the Moon if a theory about the presence of water resources on this natural Earth’s satellite is confirmed. “A manned flight to the Moon will take place if a hypothesis that there’s water there turns out to be true,” Popovkin went on to say. Popovkin said it was necessary to justify human presence on the Moon prior to starting scientific research and experiments. “I believe that real exploration of the Moon and Mars is on our doorstep. Today, the Moon has such relics of human space activity as traces of the first man on its surface and a Soviet-made lunar rover,” Popovkin said. He called on future generations to protect these relics and preserve them for humanity.
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COMPLETE STORIES
Production work begins on Orion spacecraft at KSC
Todd Halvorson - Florida Today
Production work on NASA's first space-bound Orion spacecraft is beginning at Kennedy Space Center and manufacturer Lockheed Martin is on track for a first flight test in 2014, a company official said Tuesday.
James Kemp, Lockheed Martin's senior Orion production manager at KSC, told a crowd of about 200 people, that about four months of production work is beginning at the Operations and Checkout Building at KSC.
The work on the spacecraft crew module is cranking up in the wake of its delivery last week.
Designed to fly four astronauts on deep space missions, the module will be outfitted with various subsystems over the coming months.
Then the crew module will be integrated with a service module, a heat shield and a launch abort system.
It represents the first time spacecraft factory production work has been done at KSC.
The fully integrated spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in 2014 aboard a Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Kemp said at a National Space Club luncheon.
The flight will test the spacecraft's heat shield during the type of high-speed reentry a vehicle would make during a return from an asteroid, the moon, Mars or other deep space destinations.
US space agency Nasa selects Republic as first international research partner
Eoin Reynolds - Irish Times
US space agency Nasa has chosen the Republic as its first global research partner, seen by some as the first steps towards sending an Irish astronaut into space.
The space agency is partnering with Irish universities to give scientists a chance to work at the world’s leading research facilities in the US.
Following two years of negotiations, the initiative will be officially announced tomorrow at Trinity College by Nasa administrator Gen Charles Bolden. Tim Quigley, a retired naval officer and former commander of Moffet Airfield at the Ames base in California, was the go-between who pushed to ensure that this State leads the project.
“Our intent is to provide and enrich Irish scientists with an opportunity to partner and learn and contribute to the spectrum of science and engineering and research opportunities that exposure to Nasa and its resources would enable,” he said.
“My long-term goal is to have a native Irish astronaut in Nasa . . . That ought to be the national goal.”
The Irish consulate in San Francisco has been negotiating with Nasa for the past two years to ensure the Republic is the first country to officially partner the US space agency.
It is expected the initial agreement will mean two Irish undergraduates travel to the US annually to work and study at the Ames base in Silicon Valley. All Irish universities will be asked to participate.
The Ames station houses 2,500 researchers, scientists and technology developers and has an annual budget in excess of $750 million (€600 million). The base is among the world’s leading research centres, particularly when it comes to efforts to locate life on other planets.
Nasa sources said they hope the project will be extended to the agency’s 10 bases in America and that if the partnership with the Republic is successful, other countries would be invited to participate. Mr Quigley said several European and Arab states and Israel competed with the Republic to lead the project. Nasa decided in our favour after lobbying by the Irish consulate in San Francisco and Mr Quigley.
Utah aerospace company Rocket Crafters coming to Titusville
Wayne Price - Florida Today
Rocket Crafters Inc., the Utah aerospace company that announced today it plans to relocate to Titusville, could be up and running in its temporary facility near Space Coast Regional Airport by the fourth quarter of this year.
At a ceremony Tuesday afternoon at the airport, excited Titusville officials welcomed the company – once known only as Project Speed -- to town, a major dose of good news in an area still feeling the effect of last year’s shuttle program shutdown.
"By this action, the City of Titusville, Gateway to Nature and Space, is setting its sights on a new commercial gateway to space,” said the city’s mayor, James Tulley. “Our destiny is clear and our future is bright.”
Titusville City Manager Mark Ryan added, "The city needs this.”
Rocket Crafters holds licenses for advanced hybrid rocket and aerospace composite technologies as well as proprietary hybrid rocket design and analysis software. It hopes to develop and commercialize a new hybrid rocket propulsion technology and leverage an ultra-lightweight, advanced composite material to manufacture dual-propulsion – jet and rocket -- suborbital space planes.
Ultimately, if the technology is successful and the market is willing, Rocket Crafters plans to be a major player in a new form of air travel. Imagine cargo and passengers being able to travel from Melbourne, Fla., to Heathrow Airport outside London – a trip that takes nine hours in a traditional jetliner -- in 90 minutes.
With the company’s decision to come to North Brevard, workers who once helped make space travel possible could be involved in this evolution of transportation.
“We believe that the availability of skilled manpower and a community with a can-do heritage for going to space will be key in our creation of up to 1,300 full-time jobs, and to our business model for providing rocket propulsion and suborbital space craft to the emerging suborbital space transport market,” said Rocket Crafters CEO Paul Larsen.
The company selected Titusville over communities in Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, in large part because of the skilled labor pool and the state and region’s tax advantages, as well as the deeply entrenched space know-how.
“Brevard County has a long history in the space industry,” Rocket Crafters President Ron Jones said in an earlier interview. “It’s probably the hallmark of the space industry in the country. So when we’re working with government leaders or business people in this area, one of the things we noted very early on is that they really understand the space industry and they have a pretty good idea of where it’s going.”
The Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast and economic development partners Enterprise Florida, Space Florida, Brevard County Board of County Commissioners, Brevard Workforce, Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority, North Brevard Economic Development Zone, Space Coast Economic Development Commission, and the City of Titusville successfully collaborated to secure this project.
Utah rocket company moving to Titusville, promises as many as 1,300 jobs
Orlando Sentinel
Rocket Crafters Inc., a Utah-based company that specializes in hybrid-rocket design and aerospace-composite technologies, said Tuesday it is moving to Titusville, where it hopes to create as many as 1,300 full-time jobs.
The company plans to develop and commercialize a new hybrid rocket-propulsion technology and an ultra-light, advanced composite material for the manufacture of dual-propulsion space planes for suborbital flight.
"We are very pleased with the support, advice and assistance provided by the state of Florida, the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast, and the city of Titusville in meeting our requirements that will enable Rocket Crafters to locate our headquarters, research and development laboratories, and our manufacturing and assembly operations at Titusville's Space Coast Regional Airport," said Paul Larsen, the company's chief executive officer. "We believe that the availability of skilled manpower and a community with a can-do heritage for going to space will be key in our creation of up to 1,300 full-time jobs."
The company will receive tax breaks and other economic incentives from state and local governments to offset the costs of relocating, buying production equipment and adding infrastructure, the local EDC said.
Rocket Crafters said it will spent $72 million on its planned headquarters and other operations at Space Coast Regional Airport. At full employment, the company's economic effect would total an estimated $48 million or more, the EDC said.
"Rocket Crafters' decision to relocate to Florida confirms that our state's business climate is well suited for corporate headquarters," said Gray Swoope, president and CEO of Enterprise Florida Inc., the state's economic-development organization.
Rocket Crafters selected the Space Coast, which has lost thousands of aerospace jobs since the phaseout of the U.S. space-shuttle program, over competing sites in Utah, New Mexico, Texas and Colorado. According to the local EDC, the primary attractions were the area's pool of skilled aerospace workers and the state's attractive tax climate.
"By this action, the city of Titusville, Gateway to Nature and Space, is setting its sights on a new commercial gateway to space," Titusville Mayor James Tulley said. "Our destiny is clear and our future is bright."
Rocket Crafters' innovative technology illustrates the continued evolution and diversification of Brevard County's aerospace industry since the end of NASA's shuttle program, economic-development officials said.
"Having small rocket-engine manufacturers like Rocket Crafters here in Florida is an important component to the robustness of our state's overall aerospace supply chain," said Frank DiBello, president of Space Florida, another state-supported organization. "We look forward to working with these types of companies to support their future operations here, as they are an integral part of our overall strategy for growth of the aerospace industry in our state."
Construction of the company's planned 400,000-square-foot facility at Space Coast Regional Airport isn't expected to begin until the third quarter of 2014. But the company plans to commence operations in a temporary facility by the end of this year.
Simulated Space ‘Terror’ Offers NASA an Online Following
Kenneth Chang - New York Times
The video is called “Seven Minutes of Terror,” and describes, with the suspense and cinematography of a movie preview, what will happen next month when a one-ton spacecraft launched in November smacks into Mars.
“We’ve got literally seven minutes to get from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars, going from 13,000 miles an hour to zero,” Tom Rivellini, a NASA engineer, tells the camera with a grim face and deadpan delivery. “If any one thing doesn’t work just right, it’s game over.”
Posted last month on YouTube, the video has succeeded in an area where NASA has a mixed track record: using social media and other tools of the 21st century to whip up interest in space exploration.
Despite minimal publicity, “Seven Minutes” has been racking up views and attracting droll commentary on the impending arrival of the rover, which goes by the name of Curiosity.
“Come on, NASA,” one person said in a comment on YouTube, “All that is missing in this blockbuster trailer is Megan Fox as the chief scientist.”
Maybe NASA can get Mr. Moviefone to do the mission commentary.
Much of the space agency’s public utterances are dry stuff; recent news releases include “NASA Selects Contracts for Environmental Remediation Services” and “NASA Awards Five Universities Funding for Learning Opportunities.” Like other federal agencies, it is not allowed to spend money to toot its own horn.
“We don’t try to market,” said Robert Jacobs, a NASA spokesman. “We don’t try to sell anything. Our job is to clean the windows to give the American public a better view of their space program.”
And yet the space officials have tried to add a measure of cute and playful.
Three years ago, NASA ran a contest to name a module on the International Space Station. But the comedian Stephen Colbert co-opted it, exhorting his viewers to vote for “Colbert.” That name ended up winning, with more than 230,000 votes.
NASA put aside the results and named the module Tranquility, commemorating the landing site of Apollo 11. But the space agency did later name an exercise treadmill on the space station after Mr. Colbert.
As part of the educational program for the James Webb Space Telescope, the planned successor to Hubble that has been troubled by delays and cost overruns, NASA created a game in which players create their own space telescope, but to underwhelming reviews.
“Too bad this game is not totally realistic so as to let people play with schedule and cost,” wrote Keith Cowing, a frequent critic of the space agency, on his Web site NASAWatch.com. “This way they’d REALLY learn how NASA satellites are built (or not built).”
This time, NASA seems to have a hit. The “Seven Minutes” video, viewed more than half a million times, starts with a computer-generated animation of a capsule falling toward the Red Planet, then uses stark lighting, thumping music, fancy graphics and dramatic narration to tease the landing of the Curiosity, a $2.5 billion mission that aims to see if the building blocks of life existed on early Mars.
On the East Coast, the landing will happen in the wee hours of Monday, Aug. 6 — or nighttime on Aug. 5 on the West Coast — and it will be competing for mindspace with the Summer Olympics. That is not stopping the Atlanta Science Tavern, which organizes popular science talks, from going all out for an evening that starts with five talks on planetary science and segues into “full-fledged party mode” at midnight when NASA television coverage of the landing starts. The festivities will conclude at 3 a.m.
Already 173 people have signed up. “It’s science,” said the group’s director, Marc Merlin, “but it’s also a public celebration of scientific achievement.”
Mr. Merlin said he was thinking of bringing a model of the Mars rover that would descend on a rope à la the lighted ball in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. “That would be the decoration I would like to do,” he said.
Technically, the seven minutes of terror will be more like 21 minutes of suspense. The capsule containing the Curiosity will hit the top of the Martian atmosphere just before 12:11 a.m. Eastern time on Aug. 6. The rover will be on the surface about seven minutes later. The only uncertainty is whether the rover will be in one piece or in smithereens.
On Earth, no one will know the outcome for almost 14 minutes as the spacecraft’s radio signals travel 150 million miles from Mars.
“When people look at it, it looks crazy,” says Adam Steltzner, a NASA engineer, in the “Seven Minutes” video as he describes the Rube Goldberg-esque landing process — heat shield, parachute, rocket engines and finally a hovering crane that lowers the rover to the surface.
Text flashes across the screen: “6 vehicle configurations,” then “76 pyrotechnic charges.”
“Sometimes when we look at it, it looks crazy” Mr. Steltzner goes on to say, before asserting more confidently, “It is the result of reasoned engineering thought.” Pause. “But it still looks crazy.”
The slick video is “definitely a step up,” said Reid Gower, a 26-year-old Canadian who was so frustrated by NASA’s previous efforts that last year he put together NASA snippets into a promotional video that he thought the space agency should be making. “That’s along the lines of what I feel they could be doing, something that’s education but also engaging. It’s not static and dry. It has emotional content in it.”
XCOR selects west Texas for suborbital, orbital R&D hub
Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily
XCOR Aerospace, the 13-year-old Mojave, Calif.-based reusable launch vehicle development company, will establish a Commercial Space Research and Development Center Headquarters in Midland, Texas.
XCOR plans to concentrate its West Texas activities, including advanced development of the winged, two-seat reusable Lynx suborbital rocket plane and an eventual reusable orbital spacecraft, in a refurbished 60,000-sq.-ft. hangar with office space as well as test facilities located on the flight line of the Midland International Airport.
XCOR and the Midland Development Corp. (MDC) announced the move on July 9. The announcement was set in motion through lease agreements and incentives approved earlier in the day by the development corporation and the Midland City Council.
“There will be plenty of smoke and fire, hopefully all coming out of the nozzle,” Jeff Greason, XCOR’s president and CEO, told a late afternoon teleconference from Midland.
The company envisions a gradual migration of personnel from its Mojave Air & Space Port offices to Midland along with 100 or so new hires, according to Greason and Andrew Nelson, XCOR’s chief operating officer. Mojave remains in the company’s long-term plans as a base for future Lynx commercial operations. The company plans future selections of East Coast and foreign operating bases as well, plus a hardware production site, the two men said.
As part of the strategic agreement, the City of Midland has started a Commercial Space Launch Site designation for the airport from FAA, an assessment process that is expected to require 12 to 18 months. Work on the hangar renovation and upgrade is expected to begin early next year and reach completion in the fall of 2013. The FAA designation and completed renovation are expected to signal the ramp-up of XCOR activities in Midland.
Midland will play a strategic role in XCOR’s growth plans. “With future suborbital operational sites on the East and West Coasts of the United States and around the world, plus a manufacturing and test facility geographically separate from our R&D facility, Midland will truly be at the heart of XCOR’s innovation engine,” Nelson says.
The two-seat Lynx rocket plane is envisioned as a four-flight-per-day, commercially operated vehicle for scientific, engineering and Earth observation payloads.
SpaceShipTwo debuts at Farnborough
Guy Norris - Aviation Week
The Farnborough air show has seen plenty of “firsts” over the decades, but the appearance this year of the first passenger-carrying suborbital commercial spacecraft takes this prestigious event into new territory.
The show debut of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2), albeit in full-scale replica form, follows a tradition of inaugurals ranging from the 1949 display of the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet 1, to the initial international appearance of the largely composite-built Boeing 787 in 2010. Although the Farnborough show is not best known for its space-related coverage, the display of the SS2 mock-up follows the 2010 establishment of a special Space Zone exhibit which organizers say will be doubled in area this year.
Richard Branson's Virgin Group is no stranger to the event, either. In 2002, Virgin Atlantic and Airbus used Farnborough to showcase the formal delivery of the first A340-600. This time, Virgin Galactic says it is displaying SS2 at Farnborough to take advantage of the additional global focus on the U.K. now, as the country is hosting a series of events ranging from the Summer Olympics to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II.
But while the SS2 replica hogs the PR limelight at the show, the hard development work continues across the Atlantic at sites in the Western U.S., where flight testing is expected to culminate at year-end with the long-anticipated first rocket-powered flight. Plans to begin powered atmospheric flight tests were boosted last month when the vehicle's developer, Scaled Composites, was granted an experimental launch permit by the FAA. “It was a big step, and there are a lot of big steps in this process,” says Virgin Galactic President and CEO George Whitesides.
The permit comes as the pace of flight tests picks up at Scaled Composites' facility in Mojave, Calif., following a hiatus for modification work on both the SS2 and the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft that is used to air-launch the spacecraft. “The vehicles are now flying again,” says Whitesides. With glide tests of SS2 having resumed June 26, he adds, “our hope is to have a high flight tempo over the next few months. The basic plan is to get through the majority of the unpowered flight envelope over the course of the summer, and we hope to be in a position at that point to integrate the remaining components of the rocket motor over the fall. We should then be in a position to conduct our first powered-flight by the end of the year.”
Throughout 2013, these flights will be progressively longer, with the aim of culminating with the first truly suborbital flights. Assuming testing goes as planned, and certification authorities sign off on the work, the first passenger-carrying flights could be taking place by the end of 2013, says Whitesides. Despite the slowdown in testing caused by the discovery of an unexpected tail stall during a flight last September, the resumption of flights is encouraging to the development team, he adds. “We're still reasonably happy with where we are on the schedule. We don't have an excess amount of margin, but that's OK. We are moving as fast as possible, and as fast as is safe,” Whitesides says.
Modifications to the SS2 include replacing a pair of smaller strakes on the inboard side of each vertical tail with a larger, one-piece, horizontal strake. These have been added “to provide more margin for tail stall at low angles of attack,” says Scaled President Doug Shane. The tail stall, which occurred almost immediately after release from the WK2 during a post-maintenance check flight, was overcome by the crew deploying the feathering mechanism. This is designed to increase drag during reentry from suborbit, but in this instance helped recover full control of the vehicle in the descent.
The stall occurred as the crew was diving at a steep angle to set up for a specific test point, and it happened “because of a specific maneuver we would not normally encounter during operations,” says Scaled test pilot Pete Siebold. The change is designed to provide greater pitch authority and better longitudinal control at negative angles of attack. It will not only help during tests at unusual dive angles but “will provide added margin in regular operations,” says Siebold. “The basic aircraft has been performing very well,” he adds.
The upgrade, although relatively minor, is the second notable aerodynamic modification following the addition of nose strakes last year. These were initially tested in late May 2011 to “make the ride a little less oscillatory” in feather mode, says Shane, noting that “we're happy with that so far.”
With the resumption of glide flights, Scaled plans to go back to reexplore parts of the envelope expansion phase which originally began with the first glide flight in October 2010. “We've got to reclear the envelope and make sure the modifications we made are what is required,” says Shane. These will build up in terms of weight and varying center-of-gravity positions to gradually clear the unpowered flight envelope.
“We don't expect many differences. We shall reevaluate longitudinal stability and show that it matches predictions. We will only go and reinvestigate areas of the envelope where the strake change might impact,” adds Siebold.
With the envelope recleared, the first components of the Sierra Nevada Corp. -developed MR2 rocket motor will be installed and the buildup process to suborbital testing will begin, says Shane. Initially, glide flights will clear as much of the low-speed envelope as is practical with the aircraft ballasted with weight to represent the rocket after the fuel has been spent.
The remainder of the envelope expansion requires rocket power. “The program team has put together a plan for differing burn durations to achieve various Mach-number and altitude conditions,” he adds. The test plan will follow the example set with Scaled's SS1, the pioneering vehicle that in 2004 won the original $10 million Ansari X Prize by becoming the first private manned spacecraft to exceed 328,000 ft. twice within 14 days. Initial flights will see shorter-duration burns rocket SS2 to speeds likely in excess of Mach 1, while the feathering system will be tested later, with longer-duration rocket burns at higher speeds and altitudes above 200,000 ft. “For the first five flights, we don't need a full-duration motor,” Shane says.
“The plan is still being finalized, and although we know it will begin with short-duration burns, the exact times will be based on how we proceed in ground testing and how the rocket motor is performing. We still haven't finalized the specific goals of airspeed and altitude for each of the flights,” says Siebold. Unlike SS1, where the rocket-burn duration for the first powered flight was limited to 10 sec. to avoid going through the FAA licensing process, no such barrier exists for the already approved SS2. Previously, Scaled has indicated a target minimum burn of around 15 sec.
Testing of RM2, a hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and nitrous oxide-burning hybrid motor, is also accelerating with 13 full-scale, full-duration, rocket firings completed on June 26. During the five tests conducted so far this year, the motor has run over durations of 40-55 sec. Full-duration firings of 55 and 58 sec. were also accomplished in the second half of 2011. The latest test checked out pressurization, the valve/injector design, fuel formulation and geometry, nozzle, overall structure and performance.
The RM2's job is to propel SS2 and its two crew and six passengers or mission payload to altitudes over 100 km (62 mi.) with margin to spare. SS2 tests recommenced with a series of taxi tests at Mojave on June 1. Since ground and flight tests began, however, the propulsion system has become heavier than expected, resulting in an increase in operating empty weight over early assumptions. “For flight tests, this warranted looking at the overall capability of the landing gear,” says Siebold.
Unlike SS1, which was aimed at grabbing the X Prize, SS2 is designed to be a fully reusable transport. “We want a system that's robust,” Siebold stresses. “We therefore made changes to the wheels and brakes to get it closer to a production configuration.” On June 1, the spacecraft was towed behind a truck down the runway to conduct four tests of newer, higher-capacity brakes at 30-65 mph with four different pilots: Virgin Galactic chief pilot Dave MacKay and Scaled test pilots Siebold, Mike Alsbury and Clint Nichols.
Testing of the WK2 carrier aircraft has also accelerated since the aircraft resumed flights in April after a four-month spell on the ground. Much of the work so far this year has focused on the performance of a redesigned fuel inlet cooler and cycling of the gear at high altitudes after prolonged “cold-soaking.” “We've made some updates to the aircraft, and done some of those on the main landing gear,” says Shane.
Deployment of the gear at altitude is required to increase drag for faster descent. Issues with the gear have included sluggish deployment at high altitude and a partial collapse of the left main leg in August 2010. Overall, however, Shane classes the WK2 as being at a “high level of development.”
Flight-test lessons will be incorporated into production WK2s and SS2s, the first of which have now entered manufacturing at The Spaceship Company (TSC), the Mojave-based joint venture set up by Scaled and Virgin Galactic. Cabin halves, lower-wing skins and window surrounds for the next SS2 are built, while wing-skin panels for WK2 No. 2 have been laid in the 140-ft.-long wing jig in TSC's new $8 million final assembly, integration and test hangar site. Officially opened in September 2011, the 68,000-sq.-ft. facility is starting to fill up with structures and tooling. “This year is about parts fabrication and next year is for major assembly,” says TSC's vice president of operations, Enrico Palermo.
In the buildup to operations, Virgin Galactic's primary focus remains on passenger flights, despite a growing list of other applications including science, research and a potential small satellite launch. Although since its founding in 2004, the company has deliberately remained vague about the exact schedule for the start of services, the plan was believed to have aimed at beginning suborbital flights by or before 2011.
The extended schedule notwithstanding, the company continues to collect bookings for its flights at $200,000 per ticket. Virgin Galactic is expected to reveal a new tally at Farnborough this week with well in excess of 500 would-be space adventurers, and more than the total number of people ever to have traveled into space.
Preparations also continue for the start of commercial spaceflights from the purpose-developed Spaceport America facility near Las Cruces, N.M. As anchor tenant, Virgin Galactic is working with the FAA and local military airspace operators at White Sands Missile Range and Holloman AFB to “make sure we are a good neighbor,” says Whitesides. Virgin also recently held a team meeting with state authorities over ongoing work to extend the Spaceport's 10,000-ft. runway by a further 2,000 ft. “That's in the works and will be complete in time for our commercial schedule,” he adds.
The base of the highly unusual building is also nearing completion and should be finished over the summer. “The next phase will be Virgin Galactic coming in with contractors to do the requisite finish we think is required for our customers. In 2013, we will be outfitting the facility with equipment for ground support and more.”
Whitesides also says “serious effort” is going into plans for a second spaceport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which became a focus for future development efforts in July 2009 when the Aabar investment group based in the country committed to buying a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic for $280 million. The deal included a commitment of another $100 million to develop a satellite launch capability for the system and the creation of a spaceport. In 2011, this was subsequently raised to $110 million, giving the group a 37.8% stake in the venture.
The march to begin science flights is also underway, following the teaming in February of Virgin Galactic and Texas-based microgravity research company NanoRacks to develop a rack system for research payloads as large as 1,300 lb. to fly aboard SS2. The deal came after a busy 2011 in which the company clinched a contract from NASA to provide flight opportunities for engineers and researchers to take technology payloads into suborbit, marking the first time the agency has contracted with a commercial partner to provide flights in this way. Payload integration and flight service partners for the NASA program will include Southwest Research Institute, SatWest of New Mexico and Washington-based Spaceflight Service.
One development revealing, perhaps more than any other, a glimpse of possible things to come was Virgin Galactic's win, alongside heavyweights Boeing and Lockheed Martin, of U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contracts to design air-launch systems. Few details have emerged of the Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (Alasa) program, announced in June, but goals include a system capable of orbiting payloads lighter than 100 lb. for $1 million, including range costs. It must also be able to perform with just 24 hr. from call-up to integration and payload launch, as well as have the ability to replan the launch in flight and relocate to a different airport at short notice.
Relics of human space activity on the Moon should be preserved
Itar-Tass
Vladimir Popovkin, the head of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, told a news conference on Tuesday that a Russian manned spaceship could head for the Moon if a theory about the presence of water resources on this natural Earth’s satellite is confirmed.
“A manned flight to the Moon will take place if a hypothesis that there’s water there turns out to be true,” Popovkin went on to say.
Popovkin said it was necessary to justify human presence on the Moon prior to starting scientific research and experiments.
“I believe that real exploration of the Moon and Mars is on our doorstep. Today, the Moon has such relics of human space activity as traces of the first man on its surface and a Soviet-made lunar rover,” Popovkin said.
He called on future generations to protect these relics and preserve them for humanity.
Popovkin also said that the international space law should be revised and modernized especially when it comes to the problem of space garbage, which, he believes, should be removed.
Popovkin told journalists that the Russian Aviation and Space Agency would welcome private companies’ participation in developing the space industry and developing remote sensing and communication systems.
END
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