Sorry for the late news. I have been busy in meetings all day! wink wink
Bet you were having withdrawals for lack of getting the daily news. J
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1. RATS in Building 9
2. International Space Station Research 101
3. Last Day to RSVP for NMA Luncheon
4. Reminder: Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Center-Level IR&D Call for Proposals
5. The JSC Library Book Drop Has a New Location
6. Mobile Enterprise App Development is the Topic on Aug. 22
7. Systems Engineering Reduced Gravity Project Call
8. This Week at Starport
9. Agencywide Fitness ViTS: Exercise and Heat Stress - Aug. 22
10. Starport League Sports -- Dodgeball and Volleyball Close Tomorrow
11. Society of Reliability Engineers (SRE) Luncheon Meeting
________________________________________ QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ A good leader is a caring leader - he not only cares about his people, he actively takes care of them.”
-- Harold Anderson
________________________________________
1. RATS in Building 9
JSC team members:
Stop by the Building 9 observation platform between Aug. 20 and 29 to see Research and Technology Studies (RATS) 2012 tests in action. We're doing two three-day habitability studies in the Multi-Mission Space Exploration Vehicle (MMSEV) Generation 2A cabin, as well as simulations to the surface of an asteroid in the MMSEV with integrated spacewalks in JSC's Virtual Reality Lab. We will also simulate astronaut activities in microgravity using the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) and incorporate a fuel cell to power the MMSEV.
Please view from the catwalk -- not the floor -- during tests. Also, please give Space Center Houston tours the right-of-way.
For information about the RATS tests and other NASA analog missions:
http://www.nasa.gov/desertrats
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/index.html
Follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASA.DRATS
Or Twitter: @DESERT_RATS
Wendy Watkins x38316 http://www.nasa.gov/desertrats
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2. International Space Station Research 101
This course is designed for all NASA and contractor employees who are interested in understanding the research and technology development conducted onboard the International Space Station (ISS).
1. Understand the ISS research objectives both as a U.S. National Laboratory and as a platform for international cooperation.
2. Understand the funding process for ISS research.
3. Understand why the ISS is an important platform for microgravity research in biology, physical sciences and human research.
4. Understand examples of the benefits of scientific research and technology development that is being conducted on the ISS.
Date: Monday, Aug. 27
Time: 12:30 to 2 p.m.
Location: Teague Auditorium
Presenter: Dr. Julie Robinson
Please register for the class via SATERN.
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
Camille Alleyne x31239
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3. Last Day to RSVP for NMA Luncheon
Don't miss out on this great opportunity to learn more about the state of the center! Please join us for this month's JSC National Management Association (NMA) chapter luncheon with guest speaker JSC Director Mike Coats.
Date: Aug. 28
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Location: Gilruth Center Alamo Ballroom
Please RSVP by close of business today at: http://www.jscnma.com/Events
For RSVP technical assistance, please contact Lorraine Guerra at lorraine.guerra-1@nasa.gov or 281-483-4262.
Cassandra Miranda x38618
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4. Reminder: Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 Center-Level IR&D Call for Proposals
The JSC Technology Working Group (JTWG) is pleased to announce the FY13 center-level Internal Research & Development (IR&D) call for proposals relating to spaceflight technology needs at JSC. Project period of performance will be 12 months with up to 0.5 FTE labor and $100,000 procurement. Projects may obtain additional funding in the following year's IR&D call. A year-end poster session presentation will be required. An initial quad chart proposal shall concisely describe the project within a one-page limit. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. CDT on Aug. 30 to the drop box URL found within the guidelines document. Initial quad chart proposals will be reviewed and a subset selected for a three-page proposal development and presentation to the JTWG. Final project selections will be announced on Sept. 28.
Update: Technology Needs List has been expanded.
Topic areas, guidelines and requirements are posted in the solicitation file link below.
\\Jsc-fs01\apo-strategic-investments\FY'13_Center_Level_IRD\Solicitation_Documents
David L. Brown x37426 \\Jsc-fs01\apo-strategic-investments\FY'13_Center_Level_IRD\Solicitation...
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5. The JSC Library Book Drop Has a New Location
The blue book drop that was located in Building 45, outside the doors of Room 100, has been moved to Building 30A. It is located next to the elevator on the first floor, across from Room 1064. JSC users who have books checked out can return these in the book drop at any time. Don't forget to stop by and see the new library location in Building 30A, Room 1077. The library hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
http://library.jsc.nasa.gov
Provided by the Information Resources Directorate: http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/default.aspx
JSC Library x34245 http://library.jsc.nasa.gov
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6. Mobile Enterprise App Development is the Topic on Aug. 22
You are invited to JSC's SAIC/Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) Speaker Forum featuring Norman Smith, SAIC technical fellow and assistant vice president for Technology.
Subject: "Emerging Technologies - Preparing for Mobile Enterprise Applications"
Date/Time: Aug. 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location: Building 1, Room 560
Learn about Mobile Enterprise Application Development.
Mobile development is the development of applications for small, hand-held devices, allowing for increased application mobility and deployment.
- Everyone wants mobile apps
- Today's mindset is phone-specific
- Must take the Enterprise View:
--- Cross-platform apps
--- Must consider security
--- Access corporate data
--- Apps must be managed
- Mobile Enterprise Apps must fit into enterprise architecture, implement security and require middleware development to manage data between device and enterprise
- Learn why it is important for Mobile Enterprise Apps to follow enterprise standards and rules
Della Cardona 281-335-2041
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7. Systems Engineering Reduced Gravity Project Call
The Systems Engineering Educational Discovery Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program is currently accepting internal project proposals for the 2013 flight season. This project call is for systems-engineering-based or ISS mission-related reduced gravity research in either microgravity and/or lunar gravity that can be tested in the microgravity aircraft at JSC in summer 2013. Projects should be able to be run by a team of undergraduate students in colleges and universities around the nation. To submit a project for this program, please visit: http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/security/seed/project/post/
The deadline for submission is Aug. 22. This is an internal project call open to technical NASA civil servants and contractors agencywide. For questions, please contact: jsc-reducedgravity@nasa.gov
Sara Malloy x37847 http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/security/seed/project/post/
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8. This Week at Starport
Free Yoga and Pilates demo classes this week at The Inner Space -- Starport's newest addition to our programming options. Sign up for demo classes at the Gilruth Center front desk. Plus, membership packages to The Inner Space are half price through the month of August!
Did you know that Starport maintains an employee discount program for JSC employees, contractors, family and friends? Visit our website at http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/EmployeeDiscount/ to see the current discount offerings on various products and services.
NASA Night at the Ballpark tickets are on sale now for the Sept. 14 Astros vs. Phillies game. Visit http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Events/ for ticket pricing and purchase information.
Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/
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9. Agencywide Fitness ViTS: Exercise and Heat Stress - Aug. 22
The Exploration Wellness program invites you to join us tomorrow, Aug. 22, at noon CST for the next installment of the agencywide fitness and nutrition ViTS series featuring Exercise Scientist Dr. Larry Wier as he presents on "Exercise and Heat Stress."
To participate in person (highly encouraged!), please come to Building 17, Room 2026.
To participate via telecon:
1-888-370-7263, pass code 8811760#, meeting number: 993 897 780, meeting password: Heat2*12.
To participate via WebEx (now from iPhones and other smart phones, too!):
1. Go to https://nasa.webex.com/nasa/j.php?ED=189502732&UID=0&PW=NN2RjY2UwMTE5&RT=MiMx...
2. Enter your name and email address.
3. Enter the meeting password: Heat2*12 4. Click: "Join Now"
If you missed the previous installments of the agencywide fitness and nutrition ViTS series, the slides for each session have been posted here:
http://ohp.nasa.gov/disciplines/fitness/index.html
Enjoy and be well!
Jessica Vos x41383 http://ohp.nasa.gov/disciplines/fitness/index.html
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10. Starport League Sports -- Dodgeball and Volleyball Close Tomorrow
Tomorrow is your last day to register for two of Starport's most popular leagues! Don't miss your chance to have a blast this fall.
Registration closing on Wednesday, Aug. 22:
- dodgeball and volleyball
Additional open league registrations:
- Closes Aug. 30 -- softball (co-ed and men's)
- Closes Aug. 24 -- basketball
- Closes Sept. 6 -- flag football, kickball and ultimate frisbee
Upcoming Registrations:
- Sept. 6 to 27 -- soccer
Free-agent registration now open for all leagues. All league participants must register at: http://www.IMLeagues.com/NASA-Starport
For more detailed information about each league, please visit http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/Sports/ or call the Gilruth information desk at 281-483-0304.
All leagues will fill up fast, so sign your team up today so you and your friends don't miss out on dodgeball and volleyball!
Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/Sports/
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11. Society of Reliability Engineers (SRE) Luncheon Meeting
The Greater Houston Chapter of SRE will hold a general membership meeting tomorrow, Aug. 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Anyone is welcome to come and hear a presentation by Mark Powell of Attwater Consulting. Powell will present a way of performing system failure data analysis where multiple failure modes are indicated. His method involves use of a mixture model that eliminates the need to segregate the failure and survivor data.
The meeting will be held at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille (487 Bay Area Blvd., Houston). Each attendee is responsible for his or her own meal.
For more information, contact one of the officers below:
President Bob Graber - 281-335-2305, robert.r.graber@nasa.gov
Vice President Lorenzo Calloway - 832-527-0086, lcallowayii@aol.com
Treasurer Hung Nguyen - 281-483-3233, hung.x.nguyen@nasa.gov
Secretary Troy Schwartz - 281-871-7512, troy.schwartz@halliburton.com
Past President Stan LeBlanc - 281-244-7662, stanford.j.leblanc@nasa.gov
Robert Graber 281-335-2305
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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.
Human Spaceflight News
Tuesday – August 21, 2012
ISS Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka during Monday’s EVA
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Russian spacewalk ends; all major objectives met
William Harwood - CBS News
Space station commander Gennady Padalka and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko floated out of the Pirs docking compartment Monday and had no problems completing the primary objective of a five-hour 51-minute spacewalk, moving a telescoping space crane to a different module in preparation for arrival of a Russian laboratory compartment late next year. The cosmonauts then launched a small science satellite, using a handling tool to manually deploy the 20-pound spacecraft on a trajectory to the rear of the space station.
Astronauts go spacewalking to hang station shields
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
Spacewalking astronauts improved the safety of their orbiting home Monday by installing shields to protect against zooming pieces of junk. Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko hung the panels on the Russian side of the International Space Station, after moving a bulky crane and tossing overboard a small spherical satellite. The Russian spacewalking powerhouse — the two have 14 spacewalks between them — kept going even after Mission Control in Moscow advised them to take a break 3½ hours into their six-hour excursion.
Spacewalkers prepare station for new Russian lab
Irene Klotz - Reuters
Two veteran cosmonauts sailed through a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Monday to prepare the orbital outpost for a new module and better shield its living quarters against small meteorite and debris impacts, officials said. Station commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko opened the hatch on the station's airlock at 11:37 a.m. EDT to begin a spacewalk to relocate a construction crane, install debris shields and release a small satellite into orbit.
ISS cosmonauts complete successful spacewalk
James Dean - Florida Today
Russian cosmonauts Monday completed a successful spacewalk outside the International Space Station that started late but completed every task with plenty of time to spare. Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko closed the hatch on the Pirs docking compartment airlock at 5:28 p.m. EDT, officially ending an excursion that lasted just under six hours, about 30 minutes less than their scheduled duration.
Russia’s ISS Crew Members Complete Spacewalk
RIA Novosti
Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Yury Malenchenko completed a six-hour spacewalk having carried out all planned maintenance tasks on the International Space Station (ISS). It was the first spacewalk of the current ISS Expedition 32 and expedition’s Commander Padalka and Flight Engineer Malenchenko completed it in six hours ahead of the scheduled almost 6.5 hours.
Russia Buries Space Freighter in Pacific
RIA Novosti
Russia's Progress M-15M cargo spacecraft was sunk in a remote area in southern Pacific on Monday after a three-week scientific experiment in space, the Mission Control said. “Fragments of the space freighter drowned at about 08.12 p.m. Moscow time [16:12 GMT] in a remote area 3,000 kilometers to the east of New Zealand," a spokesman said. Progress M-15M arrived with supplies at the International Space Station (ISS) in April. The freighter undocked from the ISS on July 23 to test an upgraded Russian automated rendezvous system.
Sunita Williams: Astronaut, Marathon Runner in Space
Nola Taylor Redd - Space.com
As if spending months in space wasn't challenging enough, one astronaut is taking the time to compete in marathons and triathlons while aloft. Sunita Williams, who will be taking command of the International Space Station in September 2012, has put a new twist on staying in shape while off-planet.
Super-heavy carrier rocket could be created jointly with Ukraine, Kazakhstan - Energia
Interfax
The space rocket corporation Energia, based in Korolyov near Moscow, has proposed a plan to create a super-heavy carrier rocket, Commonwealth, for long-distance space missions, jointly with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Energia President and General Designer Vitaly Lopota told reporters on Monday. "Energia is proposing that a carrier rocket, Commonwealth, be created in cooperation with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, with the use of the Energia-Buran know-how," he said.
Aerospace scientist learns welding for future space missions
Bay Area Citizen (Clear Lake, TX)
Amber Gell of Clear Lake has visions of one day seeing humans on Mars, and she's not too far off if recent news of the Curiosity rover is any measure of success. The aerospace scientist is dedicating research time at NASA toward working on the technology to get there, starting with welding. She already holds two bachelor's degrees in aerospace engineering and aerospace studies, a master's degree in physiology and human performance, and a graduate certificate in space systems engineering. With all the technical aspects covered, she’s also currently working on a Master of Business Administration to figure out how much all of her visions will cost. Yet, at the same time, Gell recognizes she needs to know how it will all come, or weld, together…literally. And that's why she's going for an associate degree in welding at San Jacinto College, right up the road from her job at NASA – Johnson Space Center.
'Solid smoke' material aerogel gets added strength
BBC News
Recent improvements to a type of material known as aerogel could lead to a new generation of highly insulating clothing, a major conference has heard. Aerogels have been around for a long time, and have been described as "solid smoke" because they are so light. But these traditional types - made from silica - are fragile and brittle. By altering the composition and structure of these materials, scientists have now produced aerogels that are hundreds of times stronger. "The new aerogels are up to 500 times stronger than their silica counterparts," said Mary Ann Meador from Nasa's Glenn Research Center in Ohio, US. She said the new types of aerogel could yield highly insulating clothing that would keep people warm with less bulk than traditional "thermal" garments. It could also potentially be used in the walls of fridges and freezers, reducing their thickness and increasing storage space. The material might also be suitable for insulating spacesuits. However, it is probably not be suitable for clothing used by firefighters, which requires protection beyond the 302C (575F) limits of this substance.
A conversation with Paul Ryan about Medicare reform, Cuba and NASA
Alex Sanz - WPTV TV (Orlando)
THE VILLAGES – U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) warned Florida seniors about the perils of Medicare during a campaign appearance here on Saturday, telling an overflow crowd of mostly retired seniors that President Barack Obama had raided the entitlement program to help pay for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Countering critics who perceived him and Romney as weak on national security and foreign policy, Ryan said Romney would propose to strengthen defense spending if elected. Ryan, who voted against the 2008 and 2010 NASA Authorization Acts, said he believed in a "robust space program." He said the space agency, which has shed thousands of jobs after the retirement of the space shuttle and the cancelation of its Constellation program, was an "invaluable asset to our national security."
Ford compares 2013 Fusion EcoBoost engine to space shuttle
Jonathon Ramsey - AutoBlog.com
The 2013 Ford Fusion hasn't even gone on sale yet and it's made a bunch of connections: an appointment with NASCAR's Sprint Cup, star of its own music video, and a date with Ryan Seacrest. Now Ford has paired it with the Space Shuttle, but not for nothing: the MAR M246 nickel-cobalt-tungsten superalloy used for the turbochargers of the new Fusion is the same compound used in the high-pressure turbo pumps of the Space Shuttle's main engines.
MEANWHILE, ON MARS…
Mars rover flexes robot arm
William Harwood - CBS News
The Curiosity Mars rover flexed its 7-foot-long robot arm for the first time Monday, moving it through a commanded series of steps to verify the basic operation of the complex appendage, NASA said in a brief statement. Equipped with a camera, a powerful drill, a spectrometer and a scoop for collecting rock and soil samples, the arm's motors and all five joints were successfully tested when it was briefly unstowed and extended. When the checkout was complete, the arm was lowered and locked back down in preparation for the rover's first planned test drive later this week.
Pew! Pew! Pew! NASA's Curiosity Rover Zaps Mars Rock with Laser
Space.com
A NASA rover has fired the first laser gun on Mars to take a peek inside a small Martian rock. The Mars rover Curiosity zapped a rock scientists are now calling "Coronation" on Sunday to test an instrument that measures the composition of targets hit by its powerful laser beam. The rover fired 30 laser pulses in 10 seconds at the fist-size Coronation rock in order to analyze the results. "We got a great spectrum of Coronation — lots of signal," said Roger Wiens, lead scientist for the rover's laser-wielding instrument at the Los Almos National Laboratory in New Mexico, in a statement. "Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it's payoff time!"
Curiosity Operators Getting Ready To Roll
Guy Norris & Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week
The large team of engineers and scientists living on Mars time at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here are rapidly learning to operate the nuclear-powered Curiosity rover, which continues to perform almost faultlessly on the floor of Gale Crater. Checkout of the complex suite of instruments designed to gauge the habitability of Mars, past and perhaps present, continues to go well. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) engineering team has completed a changeout from the software designed to transport the rover from Earth to the surface of Mars over to the package Curiosity will need to operate semiautonomously for the next two Earth years.
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COMPLETE STORIES
Russian spacewalk ends; all major objectives met
William Harwood - CBS News
Space station commander Gennady Padalka and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko floated out of the Pirs docking compartment Monday and had no problems completing the primary objective of a five-hour 51-minute spacewalk, moving a telescoping space crane to a different module in preparation for arrival of a Russian laboratory compartment late next year.
The cosmonauts then launched a small science satellite, using a handling tool to manually deploy the 20-pound spacecraft on a trajectory to the rear of the space station.
"Nice throw. Beautiful! Really beautiful!" a translator in the Russian mission control center relayed from air-to-ground radio traffic as the satellite drifted away. "And you can see the sun is being reflected, it's absolutely gorgeous."
The cosmonauts then completed the final major objective of the spacewalk, installing five micrometeoroid shields on the Zvezda command module. They also retrieved a small space exposure experiment and installed two support struts on a ladder used by spacewalkers.
Padalka and Malenchenko returned to the Pirs docking compartment and closed the hatch at 5:28 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) to officially end the excursion.
This was the 163rd spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998, the second so far this year, the ninth for Padalka and the fifth for Malenchenko. One hundred and one astronauts and cosmonauts have now logged 1,027 hours and 38 minutes -- nearly 43 days -- conducting space station EVAs.
If all goes well, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese crewmate Akihiko Hoshide will stage a U.S. spacewalk on Aug. 30. The goals of that outing, the first by a U.S. astronaut since the final shuttle flight last summer, are to replace a critical electrical distribution box and to route cables needed by the Russian laboratory module scheduled for launch late next year.
Today's spacewalk, Russian EVA-31, began at 11:37 a.m. when Malenchenko and Padalka opened the hatch of the Pirs docking and airlock module. For identification, Padalka, call-sign EV-1, was wearing a Russian Orlan spacesuit with red stripes. Malenchenko, EV-2, was wearing a suit with blue stripes.
To protect against the possibility of a problem that might prevent a normal return to the station, internal hatches were closed and NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba and cosmonaut Sergei Revin spent the day isolated in the Poisk docking compartment where the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is docked.
Williams and Hoshide were isolated in the forward part of the station, with access to the Soyuz TMA-05M ferry craft docked to the Rassvet module attached to the Russian Zarya propulsion and storage module.
Today's spacewalk began nearly an hour behind schedule because of troubleshooting to track down a small leak. Russian flight controllers, assisted by Hoshide, resolved the problem and the spacewalkers were cleared to proceed with the Pirs depressurization.
The first item on the agenda was the relocation of the Strela 2 crane from its mounting point on the Pirs compartment to the forward Zarya module. The manually operated telescoping cranes are used to move cargo and spacewalkers from one point to another during EVAs.
The Pirs module will be discarded late next year to make way for the attachment of the new Russian laboratory module. Padalka and Malenchenko had no problems detaching the Strela 2 crane and moving it into position using an identical appendage, Strela 1, that is attached to the Poisk docking compartment on the upper side of the Zvezda module.
"Wow. what a beautiful view," one of the cosmonauts marveled at one point as the station approached the western coast of South America.
The crane relocation took about two hours to complete, with Malenchenko, operating Strela 1, moving Padalka and the folded Strela 2 boom from Pirs to its new mounting point. Both cosmonauts worked together to bolt the crane in place and then Malenchenko returned to Poisk to rotate Strela 1, and Padalka, back to the crane's stowage position.
Padalka attempted to retrieve a materials science experiment, but the experiment package would not fold up properly and the cosmonaut left it in place. He and Malenchenko then manually launched the small Sphera satellite. The reflective satellite was pushed away to the rear of the station and is expected to stay in orbit for about three months. The goal of the experiment is to verify mathematical models to help with long-term predictions of space debris trajectories.
The final major objective of the spacewalk was installing five micrometeoroid shields around the forward section of the Zvezda command module. The cosmonauts had no problems and successfully attached all five panels. Running well ahead of schedule, they completed two so-called "get-ahead" tasks, attaching two struts to an EVA ladder and retrieving another external experiment.
Astronauts go spacewalking to hang station shields
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
Spacewalking astronauts improved the safety of their orbiting home Monday by installing shields to protect against zooming pieces of junk.
Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko hung the panels on the Russian side of the International Space Station, after moving a bulky crane and tossing overboard a small spherical satellite.
The Russian spacewalking powerhouse — the two have 14 spacewalks between them — kept going even after Mission Control in Moscow advised them to take a break 3½ hours into their six-hour excursion.
They surged ahead despite a late start to Monday's spacewalk, the first at the space station in six months. A leaky valve somewhere on the Russian side forced the crew to reopen the air lock and check the seals to ensure a tight fit, before Padalka and Malenchenko could go out. Padalka assured flight controllers they were in no rush, but admitted it was "kind of boring" to wait an extra hour.
The five 1-inch-thick micrometeorite debris panels were supposed to be installed during a previous spacewalk in February, but got put on hold when other work ran long. The pieces were hauled up by the now-retired space shuttles.
Armor is needed to reinforce the Russian segment, which unlike the U.S. compartments, arrived without the proper protection already in place. Such shielding is crucial given the booming threat of space junk; even a tiny scrap can inflict damage.
A 46-foot crane, meanwhile, needed to be moved from one spot on the Russian portion of the space station to another, in advance of the arrival of a new chamber a year or two from now. The astronauts used a companion crane for the job.
And the 20-pound, 1.7-foot-diameter research satellite hurled by Padalka will orbit for about three months before burning up in the atmosphere, allowing Russian engineers to track its movement as part of a study on space junk.
This was the ninth spacewalk for Padalka and the fifth for Malenchenko. It was overseen from Moscow and went so well that flight controllers added some extra chores for the two. The only snag was an experiment that wouldn't close properly for retrieval; the spacewalkers were told to leave it outside.
"Five hours did you say?" one of the spacewalkers asked at the five-hour mark. "Oh, we can stay for another hour, what do you think?"
"That's it," Mission Control replied. The two were urged to "marvel at the world around you" before taking some pictures and calling it quits. The spacewalk lasted six hours.
An American and a Japanese astronaut will venture out next week on a NASA-directed spacewalk.
Spacewalks are no longer commonplace, now that the space station is virtually complete and running fairly trouble-free. It is home to six astronauts.
Spacewalkers prepare station for new Russian lab
Irene Klotz - Reuters
Two veteran cosmonauts sailed through a six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Monday to prepare the orbital outpost for a new module and better shield its living quarters against small meteorite and debris impacts, officials said.
Station commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko opened the hatch on the station's airlock at 11:37 a.m. EDT to begin a spacewalk to relocate a construction crane, install debris shields and release a small satellite into orbit.
Their departure was delayed about an hour while engineers assessed a leak between the Pirs docking module and Russian segments of the station, a $100 billion laboratory for microgravity experiments and technology testing that flies about 250 miles above Earth.
But the issue was resolved and the experienced spacewalkers more than made up the lost time.
Padalka, who was making his ninth spacewalk, and Malenchenko, on his fifth, moved a hand-operated, 46-foot (14-meter) crane, called Strela-2, from the outside of Pirs to Zarya, the cornerstone of the station. Pirs is due to be detached from the station next year to make room for a new Russian laboratory and docking module.
The United States completed construction of its part of the outpost last year and retired its three space shuttles. Europe, Japan and Canada also are partners on the project.
With the crane in place, the spacewalkers then used a hand tool to launch a 20-pound (nine-kg) spherical satellite on a path behind the space station.
"Nice throw," a flight director in the Russian mission control center outside Moscow said through a translator monitoring radio communications with the cosmonauts.
The satellite, which is expected to remain in orbit for about three months, is intended to serve as a target for Russian engineers working on computer models that evaluate orbital tracking.
The spacewalkers' last major task was to install five debris shields to the outside of the Zvezda module, the crew's primary living quarters. They also retrieved a briefcase-sized experiment that has been exposing various materials to the harsh environment of space and installed two support struts on a ladder.
Padalka and Malenchenko returned through an airlock and shut the hatch at 5:28 p.m. EDT, completing the 163rd spacewalk for station assembly and maintenance.
On August 30, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, both station flight engineers, are scheduled to make another spacewalk to replace a power relay unit on the station's truss, set up power cables for the Russian laboratory module scheduled to launch next year and install a thermal cover on a docking port.
ISS cosmonauts complete successful spacewalk
James Dean - Florida Today
Russian cosmonauts Monday completed a successful spacewalk outside the International Space Station that started late but completed every task with plenty of time to spare.
Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko closed the hatch on the Pirs docking compartment airlock at 5:28 p.m. EDT, officially ending an excursion that lasted just under six hours, about 30 minutes less than their scheduled duration.
The veteran duo completed three primary tasks, the biggest of which was relocating a crane from Pirs to the Zarya module. They also deployed a small satellite, installed some orbital debris shields and tacked on several "get ahead" tasks.
Padalka and Malenchenko had time left to take photographs of the Russian segment's condition and of each other at work 250 miles above the planet.
The spacewalk started about an hour late to deal with a problem depressurizing the airlock.
It was the 163rd spacewalk overall supporting assembly and maintenance of the ISS, which now total 1,027 hours and 38 minutes.
It was the ninth for Padalka, the commander of the station's six-person Expedition 32 crew, and fifth for Malenchenko. They each now have more than 30 hours of "extra-vehicular activity" experience.
As they wrapped up their work, the cosmonauts wondered aloud if they would get another opportunity to walk in space.
"Do you believe that this is your last mission?" one asked, according to a translator on NASA TV.
"No way," the other replied.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide are scheduled to perform another spacewalk on Aug. 30.
Russia’s ISS Crew Members Complete Spacewalk
RIA Novosti
Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Yury Malenchenko completed a six-hour spacewalk having carried out all planned maintenance tasks on the International Space Station (ISS).
It was the first spacewalk of the current ISS Expedition 32 and expedition’s Commander Padalka and Flight Engineer Malenchenko completed it in six hours ahead of the scheduled almost 6.5 hours.
The spacewalk was also initially delayed for 47 minutes due to some minor problems with transition hatches between the Pirs docking module and the Zvezda module.
The cosmonauts moved the Strela-2 cargo boom from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module and installed micrometeoroid debris shields on the exterior of the Zvezda service module.
They have also launched a microsatellite and collected a number of bio specimens from the surface of a docking module as part of the scientific experiment Biorisk.
The unique Biorisk experiment studies the impact of vacuum, subzero and hot temperatures and radiation on biological objects. It is impossible to simulate these processes on Earth.
Both Padalka and Malenchenko are veteran cosmonauts with a lot of experience venturing outside the orbital station. It is the ninth spacewalk for Padalka and the fifth for Malenchenko in their space careers.
Russia Buries Space Freighter in Pacific
RIA Novosti
Russia's Progress M-15M cargo spacecraft was sunk in a remote area in southern Pacific on Monday after a three-week scientific experiment in space, the Mission Control said.
“Fragments of the space freighter drowned at about 08.12 p.m. Moscow time [16:12 GMT] in a remote area 3,000 kilometers to the east of New Zealand," a spokesman said.
Progress M-15M arrived with supplies at the International Space Station (ISS) in April. The freighter undocked from the ISS on July 23 to test an upgraded Russian automated rendezvous system.
The first attempt to re-dock with the ISS using the Kurs-NA system resulted in failure. The spacecraft, however, successfully docked with the orbital station on a second attempt on July 29 after Russian engineers had reprogrammed on-board controls.
At the end of its mission, the spacecraft undocked from the ISS on July 31 to conduct a three-week Radar-Progress experiment to define the physical characteristics of the ionosphere environment around the spacecraft caused by the operations of its liquid propellant engines.
Progress-series freighters have been the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades. In addition to their main mission as cargo spacecraft, they are used to adjust the ISS orbit and conduct scientific experiments.
The new generation of Progress vehicles is digitally controlled.
Sunita Williams: Astronaut, Marathon Runner in Space
Nola Taylor Redd - Space.com
As if spending months in space wasn't challenging enough, one astronaut is taking the time to compete in marathons and triathlons while aloft. Sunita Williams, who will be taking command of the International Space Station in September 2012, has put a new twist on staying in shape while off-planet. Let's take a look at this amazing astronaut.
Early life
Born on September 19, 1965, in Euclid, Ohio, Sunita Pandya Krishna was the youngest of three children. With a father who was a neuroscientist and a mother who worked as an X-ray technician, Sunita grew up with sketches of brains around the house and aspired to be a veterinarian.
Speaking of her father immigrating from India with his brothers, Williams said, "Working their way through university and coming over to America, without much infrastructure — I think about leaving my home for another country — that seems more daring than the things I've done."
Her life took a profound turn when her older brother attended the U.S. Naval Academy and suggested she consider it, as she lived an active life. She decided to follow his lead, and in 1987, graduated from the academy with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Science.
Sunita became a helicopter pilot, and served in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf in support of Desert Shield. In 1993, she graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, and went on to perform test flights in a variety of military helicopters. In 1995, she completed her master's degree in Engineering Management. She was stationed on the USS Saipan when she was selected for the astronaut program.
"Don't let anyone tell you, 'You can't do it.' That's the biggest thing — I had one squad commander [tell me]: 'Being an astronaut is for jet pilots, not for helicopter pilots.' If you know that's what you want, you've just got to go for it. You do the best you can do at what you're doing, and find out what you need to do to get in this field."
Sunita has logged over 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. She is married to Michael Williams.
Blast off
Williams applied for the astronaut program twice, having attained her master's degree after the first attempt. She started the program in August 1998 and, after a period of training and evaluation she traveled to Moscow to work with the Russian Space Agency on their contribution to the International Space Station (ISS). In 2002, she spent nine days underwater in the Aquarius habitat off the coast of Florida as part of the NEEMO2 exploration mission.
"Enjoy what you're doing, you'll naturally do well at it, and if [the opportunity to be an astronaut] comes up, it's just a bonus."
On Dec. 9, 2006, Williams launched into space for the first time on board the shuttle Discovery as part of the 14th expedition to the ISS. She remained in space until April 26, 2007. While there, she set a world record for females over the course of four space walks, spending 29 hours and 17 minutes outside of the station. (The record is now held by Peggy Whitson, who has spent almost 40 hours outside of a vehicle over the course of six space walks.) Over the course of her 195 days in space, Williams also set a new record for females.
Williams is the second woman of Indian descent to go into space. Kalpana Chawla made two shuttle flights, the first aboard Columbia in 1997. Her second flight, also aboard Columbia, ended in tragedy when the shuttle broke up during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003.
While in space, Williams participated in the Boston Marathon, clocking the 26.2-mile (42-kilometer) race on the ISS' treadmill in 4 hours, 23 minutes, 10 seconds — the first time an entrant has competed in the race from orbit. She also cut her long, flowing hair while in orbit to donate to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to children suffering long-term hair loss due to medical issues.
On July 14, 2012, Williams traveled to the International Space Station again, where she will remain until January 2013. In September 2012, Williams will become the second woman to assume command of the ISS for Expedition 33. But despite the pressures inherent with command, she intends to participate in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon that same month, swimming, biking, and running from the vastness of space.
Super-heavy carrier rocket could be created jointly with Ukraine, Kazakhstan - Energia
Interfax
The space rocket corporation Energia, based in Korolyov near Moscow, has proposed a plan to create a super-heavy carrier rocket, Commonwealth, for long-distance space missions, jointly with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Energia President and General Designer Vitaly Lopota told reporters on Monday.
"Energia is proposing that a carrier rocket, Commonwealth, be created in cooperation with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, with the use of the Energia-Buran know-how," he said.
"The Energia-Buran project includes the launch system, which is still viable. At least it can be brought back to life. It also includes the "A" rocket units, used in the Zenit carrier rocket, and also engines made today. We proposed using oxygen-kerosene engines instead of the hydrogen central part, and make the first and second stages of five units," he said.
"Concerning the carrying capacity, it's difficult to speculate, but it could be up to 70 tonnes, which is sufficient to circle the Moon," Lopota said.
"If ambitions and political will are there, this project could be accomplished in a few years without falling behind our American colleagues," Lopota added.
The Energia rocket is a Soviet-era carrier of super-heavy class, developed by Energia Corporation in the 1980s. Two Energia launches were carried out: on May 15 1987 with a mass-volume mockup model, and on November 15 1988 with the Buran reusable shuttle. The Energia-Buran project was suspended in the 1990s, when five rocket frames at various degrees of readiness were available at the Baikonur cosmodrome and at the Energia corporation assembly premises. They were destroyed. The RD-170 rocket engine, developed for the Energia project, has been upgraded and is used in Zenit Russian-Ukrainian carrier rockets as RD-171, and in American Atlas 5 launch systems as RD-180.
The Energia carrier rocket is 59 meters long and is 16 meters in diameter. Its launch weight is 2,400 tonnes. The payload weighs 105 tonnes.
Zenit carrier rockets are serially produced at the Yuzhmash company in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. They are powered with RD-171 engines, developed by NPO Energomash, based in Khimki near Moscow.
Aerospace scientist learns welding for future space missions
Bay Area Citizen (Clear Lake, TX)
Amber Gell of Clear Lake has visions of one day seeing humans on Mars, and she's not too far off if recent news of the Curiosity rover is any measure of success. The aerospace scientist is dedicating research time at NASA toward working on the technology to get there, starting with welding.
She already holds two bachelor's degrees in aerospace engineering and aerospace studies, a master's degree in physiology and human performance, and a graduate certificate in space systems engineering. With all the technical aspects covered, she’s also currently working on a Master of Business Administration to figure out how much all of her visions will cost. Yet, at the same time, Gell recognizes she needs to know how it will all come, or weld, together…literally. And that's why she's going for an associate degree in welding at San Jacinto College, right up the road from her job at NASA – Johnson Space Center.
"My academics mean nothing here," said Gell, an experiment support scientist who works on the International Space Station Medical Project through Lockheed Martin. "If we're going to send humans to Mars, we're going to have to know how to fix our space craft if it is hit by debris while in space."
One of Gell's independent research projects is on welding and material processing technology that can be applicable to lunar, Martian, and asteroid exploration, in particular to mining on the moon to bring Helium - 3 or other resources back to Earth for energy purposes. Various universities have been interested in assisting with her project, said Gell, but what she's looking for are those hands-on skill sets.
"I need to know about the actual work that goes into this," said Gell. "Here in welding, it's back to square one. Here, I'm one of the guys, not a scientist. I need to know how to identify a good weld.”
Gell served as principal investigator for NASA’s research in exothermic welding in a reduced gravity environment. Exothermic welding is spot welding for repair jobs. She has also worked as a spacecraft systems engineer for Orion’s Landing and Recovery Systems team.
While spending her evenings at San Jacinto College learning about shielded metal art welding, gas tungsten art welding, and gas metal art welding, Gell may not realize she also serves as a role model to a number of students who are just starting their careers.
"Amber sets the bar pretty high at learning to weld, and the students enjoy the challenge," said Tivo Parras, Gell’s welding instructor. "With her education and training, she's really opened the eyes of some of the students. She’s an example of how anything can be done with hard work and desire."
During a recent trip to tour CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, Gell admitted that she found herself checking for welds on the various scientific instruments. She shared her findings with her welding peers and Parras.
"Coming to class is one of the best ways to spend my evenings,” said Gell. "I love it. There are some amazing people here, providing for their families. Technicians have one common factor, and that is to be open minded for whatever trade they're in. In this industry, you gain respect with your skill.”
'Solid smoke' material aerogel gets added strength
BBC News
Recent improvements to a type of material known as aerogel could lead to a new generation of highly insulating clothing, a major conference has heard.
Aerogels have been around for a long time, and have been described as "solid smoke" because they are so light.
But these traditional types - made from silica - are fragile and brittle.
By altering the composition and structure of these materials, scientists have now produced aerogels that are hundreds of times stronger.
The advances were described at the 244th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia.
Traditional aerogels developed decades ago and made from the silica that is found in beach sand are brittle, and break and crumble easily.
The new varieties are made by altering the innermost architecture of traditional silica aerogels.
Scientists use polymers, a plastic-like material, to reinforce the networks of silica that extend throughout an aerogel's structure.
Potential uses
Another way is to make them from polyimide, an incredibly strong and heat-resistant polymer, then insert brace-like cross-links to add further strength to the structure.
"The new aerogels are up to 500 times stronger than their silica counterparts," said Mary Ann Meador from Nasa's Glenn Research Center in Ohio, US.
"A thick piece actually can support the weight of a car. And they can be produced in a thin form, a film so flexible that a wide variety of commercial and industrial uses are possible."
She said the new types of aerogel could yield highly insulating clothing that would keep people warm with less bulk than traditional "thermal" garments.
It could also potentially be used in the walls of fridges and freezers, reducing their thickness and increasing storage space.
The Nasa Glenn scientist also said the space agency was exploring use of a heat shield made from flexible aerogel that would inflate like a balloon when spacecraft enter a planetary atmosphere.
The material might also be suitable for insulating spacesuits. However, it is probably not be suitable for clothing used by firefighters, which requires protection beyond the 302C (575F) limits of this substance.
A conversation with Paul Ryan about Medicare reform, Cuba and NASA
Alex Sanz - WPTV TV (Orlando)
THE VILLAGES – U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) warned Florida seniors about the perils of Medicare during a campaign appearance here on Saturday, telling an overflow crowd of mostly retired seniors that President Barack Obama had raided the entitlement program to help pay for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
"We want to earn your support. We want to earn victory. So that when we win we have the mandates -- the moral authority -- to stop kicking the can down the road and get this country back on track," he said.
Ryan, who was joined at the campaign appearance by his mother, Betty Douglas, a part-time Lauderdale-By-The-Sea resident and Medicare recipient, drew clear distinctions between how he and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would reform Medicare.
"The first thing we have to remember is President Obama raided $716 billion from the Medicare program to help pay for the Obamacare program," he said during a one-on-one interview with WPTV NewsChannel 5. "He puts [forth] this new board of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who are required to cut Medicare every year in ways that will lead to denied care for current seniors. What Mitt Romney and I propose is to stop this raid, restore that money and get rid of this board that will lead to denied care for current seniors."Ryan said that under the plan he and Romney have proposed, Medicare benefits for the more than three million people in Florida enrolled in the program would remain unchanged if they were near retirement or 55-years-old or older.
Ryan stressed that he favors a system where future Medicare participants could opt to keep the current program's structure as one of many options.
"In order to keep that promise," he said, "those of us in the younger generation -- because Medicare ultimately is going bankrupt -- we need to reform it."
Ryan said the proposed reform would require a bipartisan measure in Congress.
"It's an idea that came out of the Clinton Commission to save Medicare, where future seniors have guaranteed choices, where they have a menu of options to pick from, just like Medicare Advantage works today, or Medicare Part D, including traditional Medicare as an option and Medicare supports their premiums," he said. "What we have learned is reforming Medicare for the next generation of seniors allows us to keep the promise as it's known today for Medicare for current seniors."
Danny Kanner, a spokesperson for Obama for America, defended the president's position on Medicare after the campaign appearance, and said Ryan and Romney had lied to seniors about their plan for reform because its details were "politically suicidal."
"Seniors would face higher Medicare premiums and prescription drug costs and would be forced to pay out of pocket for preventive care," Kanner said. "[Ryan] didn't say that if he had his way, Medicare would be bankrupt in just four years, or that he would give $150 billion taxpayer dollars back to private insurance companies, which raises costs for everyone. He didn't say that they'd turn Medicare into a voucher system, ending the Medicare guarantee and raising costs by $6,400 a year for seniors. And he certainly didn't say that they'd do it all to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires."
Ryan countered and said the campaign's assertion the proposed reforms would raise premiums and costs for seniors was inaccurate.
"Those statistics were misleading three years ago when they used them. They're even more misleading now," he said. "We need to restore this program because people who have already retired on the promise that Medicare would be there for them. And, that's a promise we have to keep."
CUBA, IMMIGRATION REFORM
During the one-one-one interview with WPTV NewsChannel 5, Ryan sought to reassure Cuban-Americans in South Florida that despite voting to lift the embargo against Cuba in 2001 and 2004 -- he has since supported the embargo -- he and Romney would maintain a hard line against the Communist regime.
"One of my best friends in Congress is Mario Diaz-Balart. I'm also good friends with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. And, I've had some great meetings with them -- briefings from them -- over the last number of years about how important it is to make sure we stare down the Castro regime and we do nothing that helps embolden the Castro regime," he said. "Mitt Romney is as strong as anybody on this issue to see an end to the Castro regime."
Ryan, who voted against the Obama-backed DREAM Act and has opposed amnesty for most undocumented immigrants, said he supported -- but hadn't endorsed -- the immigration reform efforts of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
"I've been impressed with Marco Rubio's leadership on this issue," he said. "Marco Rubio was on the cusp of introducing the bipartisan solution to immigration problems. President Obama preempted that with what many people think is an unconstitutional move and denied the ability to have a bipartisan solution to these legitimate immigration issues that we have to solve."
DEFENSE, NASA
Countering critics who perceived him and Romney as weak on national security and foreign policy, Ryan said Romney would propose to strengthen defense spending if elected.
Ryan, who voted against the 2008 and 2010 NASA Authorization Acts, said he believed in a "robust space program."
He said the space agency, which has shed thousands of jobs after the retirement of the space shuttle and the cancelation of its Constellation program, was an "invaluable asset to our national security."
"President Obama has advanced what we think are devastating and irresponsible cuts to defense programs. We want to restore that because we believe in peace through strength. We believe in scientific research. We obviously believe that a robust space program is in the vital national security interests of America," he said. "Mitt Romney has committed to restoring our national defense which we see as a national security issue including our space programs."
Ryan declined to say which role, if any, commercial space companies such as Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, would have under a Romney-Ryan administration.
FOREIGN POLICY
Ryan also countered critics who said he and Romney did not have strong foreign policy credentials.
"I have more experience than President Obama did when he came into office," he said. "Mitt Romney and I share the same principles and values when it comes to national security and foreign policy. We believe in the doctrine of peace through strength. We believe in having a strong military. We believe in strengthening our relationships with our allies abroad. And, making sure that our adversaries know that we have resolve."
"I have been in Congress a number of years. I have voted to send men and women to war. I have been to those funerals. I have visited with our troops overseas in war zones to get their perspective. So, we have that kind of experience. And, we also know that we have to have a strong America if we're going to be peaceful here at home. And, that's something we're very committed to."
ELECTION DAY
Despite the push to win broad support for Medicare reform, Ryan said the election would hinge on the economy and unemployment.
"The president has failed in this. President Obama has not offered the kind of leadership it takes to get people back to work, to prevent our deficit from getting out of control -- which is hurting our economy," he said. "The president can't run on his record. It's a bad record. And, what he's doing now, is he is running on distraction. On distortions. He's running a campaign of frustration and anger."
Ryan attended a fundraiser near St. Petersburg after his campaign appearance in The Villages.
He and Romney are not expected to return to Florida until the Republican National Convention next week.
Ford compares 2013 Fusion EcoBoost engine to space shuttle
Jonathon Ramsey - AutoBlog.com
The 2013 Ford Fusion hasn't even gone on sale yet and it's made a bunch of connections: an appointment with NASCAR's Sprint Cup, star of its own music video, and a date with Ryan Seacrest. Now Ford has paired it with the Space Shuttle, but not for nothing: the MAR M246 nickel-cobalt-tungsten superalloy used for the turbochargers of the new Fusion is the same compound used in the high-pressure turbo pumps of the Space Shuttle's main engines.
Sure, the Fusion is still in a different league when it comes to certain comparators, like its 237 horsepower versus the Shuttle's 19.5 million. But does claim a few crowns, such as its 190,000 rpm maximum vs. the Shuttle's 28,120 (we're assuming Ford means the speed its turbocharger spins), and the Fusion gets much better gas mileage.
Both the full infographic and the press release can be seen here.
Ford Press Release
Rocket Ship Superalloy Technology Aids Ford Fusion 2.0-Liter Turbo Durability
• Modified superalloy used in Space Shuttle main engine helps performance and durability of Ford Fusion 2.0-liter EcoBoost® turbo
• Material supports upper limit of temperature extremes for commercial turbochargers; used on Fusion and Focus ST EcoBoost turbos
• Integrated exhaust manifold casting combines cylinder head with exhaust manifold to aid cooling, direct more energy to the turbo faster
DEARBORN, Mich., Aug. 16, 2012 – Enthusiasts will say the all-new Ford Fusion equipped with the 2.0-liter EcoBoost® turbo engine is a rocket ship. Fusion engineers will tell you parts of its engine depend on technology from one.
To prolong turbo life and combat thermal fatigue, powertrain engineers for the new Ford Fusion, in conjunction with a team at supplier BorgWarner, went to the upper limits of commercially available turbo materials when deciding on the turbine wheel for the turbocharger fitted to 2.0-liter EcoBoost variants.
The same material has been tried and tested in outer space, as a version of it was used on the Space Shuttle main engine's high-pressure fuel turbo pump and the blades of its high-pressure oxidizer turbo pump.
The upper temperature limit for the turbine wheel used on the 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine in Edge and Explorer is 970 degrees Celsius (1,778 degrees Fahrenheit). But in the sporty 2.0-liter EcoBoost for Fusion and Focus ST, the addition of tungsten and cobalt gives the alloy an upper temperature limit of 1,050 degrees Celsius (1,922 degrees Fahrenheit).
The benefit of using such high-temperature alloy is that Fusion 2.0-liter drivers can enjoy enthusiastic and spirited driving for the life of the car without degrading turbo reliability or its mechanical integrity.
Fusion owners can highlight the fact that the BorgWarner K03 turbocharger features both water and oil cooling; when the engine is running, it is primarily oil-cooled, but after the engine is turned off, the water cooling system creates a thermal water siphon to help draw heat away from the turbocharger.
As a bonus, they might explain their Fusion 2.0-liter turbo's performance is further strengthened by an integrated exhaust manifold design that combines the cylinder head and exhaust manifold into one casting; this allows the creation of smaller internal passageways (reduced plenum volumes) that direct more exhaust gas energy into the turbo more quickly than a separate head and manifold assembly.
The Fusion turbo, they also can claim, is designed to run safely at speeds up to 190,000 rpm, and is the same turbo used in the new, high-performance Ford Focus ST.
MEANWHILE, ON MARS…
Mars rover flexes robot arm
William Harwood - CBS News
The Curiosity Mars rover flexed its 7-foot-long robot arm for the first time Monday, moving it through a commanded series of steps to verify the basic operation of the complex appendage, NASA said in a brief statement.
Equipped with a camera, a powerful drill, a spectrometer and a scoop for collecting rock and soil samples, the arm's motors and all five joints were successfully tested when it was briefly unstowed and extended. When the checkout was complete, the arm was lowered and locked back down in preparation for the rover's first planned test drive later this week.
"We have had to sit tight for the first two weeks since landing, while other parts of the rover were checked out, so to see the arm extended in these images is a huge moment for us," Matt Robinson, the lead engineer for arm testing and operations, said in a NASA statement. "The arm is how we are going to get samples into the laboratory instruments and how we place other instruments onto surface targets."
Said Louise Jandura, chief engineer of Curiosity's sample acquisition system: "It worked just as we planned. From telemetry and from the images received this morning, we can confirm that the arm went to the positions we commanded it to go to."
A single low-resolution image was posted by the Curiosity team, showing the arm extended with its 66-pound tool turret clearly visible against the martian horizon in the distant background. A teleconference to discuss the status of Curiosity's on-going checkout is planned for Tuesday afternoon.
Pew! Pew! Pew! NASA's Curiosity Rover Zaps Mars Rock with Laser
Space.com
A NASA rover has fired the first laser gun on Mars to take a peek inside a small Martian rock.
The Mars rover Curiosity zapped a rock scientists are now calling "Coronation" on Sunday to test an instrument that measures the composition of targets hit by its powerful laser beam. The rover fired 30 laser pulses in 10 seconds at the fist-size Coronation rock in order to analyze the results.
"We got a great spectrum of Coronation — lots of signal," said Roger Wiens, lead scientist for the rover's laser-wielding instrument at the Los Almos National Laboratory in New Mexico, in a statement. "Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it's payoff time!"
Curiosity's Chemical and Camera instrument, or ChemCam, fires a laser pulses that last just five one-billionths of a second but deliver more than a million watts of power, enough to turn solid rock into an ionized plasma. A trio of spectrometers in the tool then studies the sparks from the laser fire on 6,144 different wavelengths of ultraviolet, visible and infrared light to determine the composition of the vaporized rock.
Sunday's laser firing was primarily target practice for Curiosity, but early results suggest the high-tech instrument is working well, mission managers said. Data from the test showed ChemCam is performing even better than in ground tests on Earth, they added.
"It's so rich, we can expect great science from investigating what might be thousands of targets with ChemCam in the next two years," said instrument deputy project scientist Sylvestre Maurice of the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP) in Toulouse, France.
ChemCam is one of 10 instruments packed on Curiosity that rely on the rover's plutonium power source to study Mars. The $2.5 billion rover landed on the Red Planet on Aug. 5 and is expected to explore its Gale Crater landing site for the next two years to determine if the region could have ever supported microbial life.
Curiosity Operators Getting Ready To Roll
Guy Norris & Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week
The large team of engineers and scientists living on Mars time at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here are rapidly learning to operate the nuclear-powered Curiosity rover, which continues to perform almost faultlessly on the floor of Gale Crater.
Checkout of the complex suite of instruments designed to gauge the habitability of Mars, past and perhaps present, continues to go well. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) engineering team has completed a changeout from the software designed to transport the rover from Earth to the surface of Mars over to the package Curiosity will need to operate semiautonomously for the next two Earth years.
Scientists have started mapping the terrain it must cross to reach the canyon in the side of the crater's central mountain, dubbed Mount Sharp in tribute to planetary scientist Robert P. Sharp, that is the scientific target of the mission. And the team that must write as many as 1,000 rover commands a day during full-up operations has started working without a net, with the preloaded command sequences for the most part all run now (see p. 30).
The MSL Curiosity team will have its first chance to conduct geochemical science, and even go for a short drive, sometime late this week, assuming the commissioning process continues to stay on schedule, says NASA.
So far, John Grotzinger, the mission chief scientist, says the chances are extremely good that this activation process will go well, judging by the success of the mission to date.
“We're pinching ourselves,” says Grotzinger, who oversees the elite group of planetary-science specialists who will try to wring as much knowledge as possible out of the rover's instruments. “All the instruments have passed their 'liveness' checks. Everything is fine, as far as we can tell.”
However, Grotzinger cautions that the true health of some of the more sophisticated instruments, such as the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), will not be confirmed for “weeks, if not months” because of the many complex subsystems in play. SAM is the largest of the 10 instruments on Curiosity. It combines in a single microwave-oven-sized box three analytical tools that the space agency says would take up a “good portion” of a standard laboratory on Earth. Using samples collected with Curiosity's 6.2-ft. robotic arm, SAM will study chemistry relevant to life, and check for carbon-based compounds with mass and laser spectrometers and a gas chromatograph.
However, before Curiosity can feed any samples to the SAM or perform any other geochemistry, JPL must continue the process of slowly morphing Curiosity from a preprogrammed spacecraft into a fully-functioning, tactical, mobile laboratory. The process is divided into two major commissioning phases, CAP1 and CAP2. The initial part, CAP1, is itself divided into two, with CAP1A just completed, says Grotzinger. This included activating Curiosity's remote-sensing suite of cameras and instruments, including the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) weather station and the Radiation Assessment Detector, both of which automatically began collecting data about conditions at the landing site after touchdown.
Cameras commissioned in CAP1A included the mast-mounted Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam), Navigation Camera (Navcam) and Mast Camera. Navcam imaged the sky after landing to help pinpoint the craft's location and precisely aim Curiosity's high-gain communications antenna toward Earth. The new flight-software (version 10.0) was then uploaded Aug. 10-13. During the delicate operation, which optimized Curiosity's primary and backup computers for surface operations, engineers halted the transfer of spectacular surface imagery already collected by the cameras to keep the complex software reload as simple as possible. The new load includes improved image processing for obstacles and other potential hazards, which will aid the rover's driving autonomy, as well as software for controlling the tools at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm.
JPL is now in CAP1B, which delves into the heart of commissioning the bulk of the rover's science instruments as well as the actuators for the wheels and other elements of the mobility system. Instruments commissioned in this phase include the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN), a Russian-built instrument that will fire neutrons into the ground below the rover in search of hydrogen atoms signifying water.
Also to be commissioned will be the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer, which identifies chemical elements, as well as parts of the SAM and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) experiments. “The REMS will also begin diurnal observations that it will do for the rest of the mission,” Grotzinger says.
The ChemCam, which incorporates a Thales-made laser capable of ionizing rock or soil up to 23 ft. away, will be given additional health checks. As the target is zapped with the laser, the instrument observes the glowing spot of plasma with its telescopic lens and analyzes the light to identify chemical elements. Testing will include the first passive spectra checks and evaluation of the instrument's pointing characteristics. After all the “jostling around” on Curiosity's long journey to Mars, the team will point it at a calibration target to “find out how much slack there is in the mechanism,” Grotzinger says.
The CAP1B will take “no fewer than six sols [Martian days], and up to 10 to complete,” Grotzinger estimates. By the end of 1B, “we will be able to use ChemCam as an instrument for the first time, and we will look at burn marks in rocks and soil with the remote imager,” he says.
Other work will include checks of the rover's steering actuators and mechanism, as well as tests in CAP2 of the surface-sampling system mounted on Curiosity's arm. As part of that process, controllers will move the arm and its various drills and sieves for the first time. “We will unstow and stow the robotic arm—sort of stretch it out,” Grotzinger adds.
Also slated for checkout is the functioning of inlet covers designed to prevent stray material from entering the SAM and chemical instruments.
“At the end of 1B, we've set an entire day aside for a set of rover mobility tests concerned with actuation and wheel-rotation tests,” Grotzinger says. After this, the team will enter an “intermission” phase while it faces the choice of whether to move the rover first, or “roll straight into CAP2” for final instrument checkouts.
However, “there are a few activities we'd like to do like calibrate the mast camera and ChemCam laser,” Grotzinger says. “We could do an instrument test on the tunable laser spectrometer because, as we go through CAP2, the principal investigators would benefit from having the data to chew over while the drill and sampling system are checked.”
As a result, the intermission will therefore likely include these tasks, and “if we want to drive to a distance of say 500 meters [1,640 ft.], then we have the option of getting the first 100 to 200 meters out of the way while we're dealing with CAP2,” he says.
Given progress to date, the team is leaning toward using the intermission for a drive on Sol 15. “It will just be a short drive—a few meters,” says MSL Mission Manager Michael Watkins. The initial maneuver will include a drive forward, followed by a turn and then a reverse. “We want to turn in an area that we can see,” he adds.
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Thanks for info.
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