Wednesday, September 12, 2012

9/12/12

        Wednesday, September 12, 2012   JSC TODAY HEADLINES 1.            This Week - Give Endeavour Your Autograph 2.            First Quarterly Roundup Coming This October 3.            Space Settlement Design Competition for High School Students 4.            Latest International Space Station Research 5.            JSC: See the Space Station and HTV 6.            White Sands Test Facility: See the Space Station and HTV 7.            Save Your Seat! RSVP This Week for Sept. 20 NMA Luncheon 8.            Massage Specials at Starport -- Welcome Anette 9.            JSC Contractor Safety Forum - Sept. 20 10.          JSC Remote Access/VPN Services Down Thursday, Sept. 20, 7 to 8 p.m. 11.          AFGE Local 2284 Union Lunch-and-Learns 12.          Let Starport Watch Your Children While You Work Out 13.          NASA Night with the Houston Astros 14.          Water-BOTs Teacher Workshop 15.          Houston Technology Center Presents Tech Link on Sept. 14 16.          Today - Subject: Software Design from Desktop PCs to Super Computers 17.          Russian Phase One Language Course -- For Beginners 18.          Register for Tomorrow's Training on Aerospace Medicine Resources 19.          Do You Know What's Going on Around the Space Industry? ________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY “ Change is the law of life. ”   -- John F. Kennedy ________________________________________ 1.            This Week - Give Endeavour Your Autograph Stop by the cafés (Buildings 3 and 11) on Wednesday and Thursday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. this week to sign the Endeavour "Best wishes" banners! For those who are off site, the banners will be available at the Gilruth Center lobby on Friday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Your signature and a sign-off message are welcome.   Susan H. Anderson x38630   [top] 2.            First Quarterly Roundup Coming This October JSC's popular magazine Roundup begins quarterly distribution this October, both online and printed. For more than 50 years the magazine has been a staple for employee communications tools, and we'll continue to share important JSC information and stories in lots of different ways. By going quarterly, the JSC External Relations Office is taking advantage of some of the new -- and "greener" -- media techniques. That's right -- we've got all the news that's fit to click!   Just so you know, we already share the JSC story on the JSC home site on NASA.gov; through JSC Today updates that link you to videos, articles and images; more news and articles on the Inside JSC internal home page; up-to-the minute updates through the NASA_Johnson Twitter account and on NASA's Johnson Space Center Facebook site; and interesting news about people and teams on our long-popular JSC Features website. Be sure to scroll on over to find out what's new and what JSC's team is doing. You can find us on the World Wide Web!   Here are some links to bookmark: JSC home page: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/index.html InsideJSC: http://internal.jsc.nasa.gov/default.aspx Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAJSC Twitter: http://twitter.com/NASA_Johnson and http://twitter.com/NASA_Astronauts YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/reelnasa JSC Features: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/jscfeatures/ JSC Roundup Archive: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/roundup/online/ JSC Today: http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives/day.cfm   See you on the Internet!   JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111   [top] 3.            Space Settlement Design Competition for High School Students JSC is expanding its annual Space Settlement Design Competition for high school students to offer a new fall competition the weekend of Oct. 12 to 14 at the Gilruth Center. This program has been offered for 15 years, traditionally in mid-March.   The competition is an intense industry simulation game where 160 high school students form four competing teams to prepare a conceptual design and operating plan for a very large human base in lunar orbit, which will serve as an entry/exit port for humans and cargo arriving at and leaving the moon, set in a realistic and detailed scenario in the early 2030s. The competition emulates the experience of an aerospace engineer working on a company proposal team to respond to a major Request for Proposal from an important customer. The requirements are complex, the available information is large and the time available is limited (just like in real life). Students grades 10 to 12 are invited to participate in this exciting learning experience for potential engineers and scientists. JSC team members will serve as mentors and judges.   Please encourage students in your extended family to consider participation in this unique learning activity. Complete information is available at https://sites.google.com/site/SSDCOctober2012 and can also be obtained from Competition Coordinator Norman Chaffee at 713-944-2461 and: chaffee.norman@att.net   Norman Chaffee 713-944-2461   [top] 4.            Latest International Space Station Research As Joe Acaba prepares to return to Earth next week, he is also participating in his final in-flight science data collections.   One such investigation, Cardiac Atrophy and Diastolic Dysfunction During and After Long Duration Spaceflight: Functional Consequences for Orthostatic Intolerance, Exercise Capability and Risk for Cardiac Arrhythmias (Integrated Cardiovascular), aims to quantify the extent, time course and clinical significance of cardiac atrophy (decrease in the size of the heart muscle) associated with long-duration space flight and identify the mechanisms of this atrophy and the functional consequences for crewmembers who spend extended periods of time in space.   Read more about the Integrated Cardiovscular investigation here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/Integrated_Car...   Liz Warren x35548   [top] 5.            JSC: See the Space Station and HTV Viewers in the JSC area will be able to see the International Space Station this week.   ISS Thursday, Sept. 13, 6:43 a.m. (Duration: two minutes) Path: 10 degrees above WSW to 36 degrees above W Maximum elevation: 36 degrees   Friday, Sept. 14, 5:56 a.m. (Duration: four minutes) Path: 31 degrees above SW to 18 degrees above NE Maximum elevation: 82 degrees   Sunday, Sept. 16, 5:58 a.m. (Duration: three minutes) Path: 25 degrees above NW to 10 degrees above NNE Maximum elevation: 25 degrees   The International Space Station Trajectory Operations Group provides updates via JSC Today for visible station passes at least two minutes in duration and 25 degrees in elevation. Other opportunities, including those with shorter durations and lower elevations or from other ground locations, are available at the website below.   Joe Pascucci x31695 http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=U...   [top] 6.            White Sands Test Facility: See the Space Station and HTV Viewers in the WSTF area will be able to see the International Space Station this week.   ISS Thursday, Sept. 13, 5:43 a.m. (Duration: three minutes) Path: 11 degrees above S to 24 degrees above ESE Maximum elevation: 27 degrees   Saturday, Sept. 15, 5:43 a.m. (Duration: four minutes) Path: 29 degrees above SW to 15 degrees above NE Maximum elevation: 74 degrees   HTV Thursday, Sept. 13, 5:41 a.m. (Duration: three minutes) Path: 11 degrees above S to 23 degrees above ESE Maximum elevation: 26 degrees   The International Space Station Trajectory Operations Group provides updates via JSC Today for visible station passes at least two minutes in duration and 25 degrees in elevation. Other opportunities, including those with shorter durations and lower elevations or from other ground locations, are available at the website below.   Joe Pascucci x31695 http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=U...   [top] 7.            Save Your Seat! RSVP This Week for Sept. 20 NMA Luncheon Please join us for this month's JSC National Management Association (NMA) Chapter luncheon presentation, "JSC and Space Center Houston: Reinvigorating Partnership," with guest speakers JSC Director of External Relations Mike Kincaid and Space Center Houston CEO Richard E. Allen Jr.   Date: Sept. 20 Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Location: Hilton, Discovery Ballroom   Please RSVP by close of business this Friday, Sept. 14, 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   [top] 8.            Massage Specials at Starport -- Welcome Anette Starport has brought on a phenomenal new massage therapist, Anette! We are so excited to have her on board that we have decided to offer a special discount for anyone who books a massage with her.   "Welcome Anette" Massage Discount - 60-minute massage on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday - $55 - Reservation must be made between Sept. 12 and Sept. 30 (date of actual massage can be later). Discount only applies to massages on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.   This special is available to the whole NASA community and all family and friends.   To book your massage, please go to: http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/MassageTherapy/ - Select "60 Minute - Specialty Massage" - In the "Notes" section, please type "$55 Special!"   Make massage therapy a part of your personal wellness regimen today.   Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/MassageTherapy/   [top] 9.            JSC Contractor Safety Forum - Sept. 20 Mark your calendars!   The next JSC Contractor Safety Forum will be held on Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Gilruth Alamo Ballroom starting at 9 a.m. The guest speaker for this event will be Supervisory Special Agent Brian Rasmussen from the FBI Headquarters where he serves as the supervisor in the Domestic Terrorism Operations Unit. The topic of the presentation will be on Domestic Terrorism and the effects on the Homeland. Come and hear about the activities planned for the JSC Safety & Health Day event coming up in October.   If you have any questions, please contact Pat Farrell at 281-335-2012 or patricia.a.farrell@nasa.gov   Patricia Farrell 281-335-2012   [top] 10.          JSC Remote Access/VPN Services Down Thursday, Sept. 20, 7 to 8 p.m. For all JSC employees who connect remotely to JSC's internal resources via the Virtual Private Network (VPN) and R2S, please note connectively will be intermittent from 7 to 8 p.m. CDT on Thursday, Sept. 20. However, if you must connect to the VPN during this period, you may also use the White Sands Test Facility VPN at: https://vpn.wstf.jsc.nasa.gov   During that period, JSC's Information Resources Directorate (IRD) will perform service maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience.   If you have any questions, please call x34800. For questions leading up to this activity, please select the option for IRD's Customer Support Center, and then option 6.   JSC IRD Outreach x46367 http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov   [top] 11.          AFGE Local 2284 Union Lunch-and-Learns Open to all non-supervisory JSC civil servants. Come and hear American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) representatives discuss:   - Your rights - Union benefits - Union representation   Event days are as follows:   Monday, Sept. 17, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Building 1, Room 360 Friday, Sept. 21, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Building 30A, Room 1036   Remember to save the dates!   For additional information, please contact Bridget Broussard-Guidry at x34276 or Charles E. Pettway at x37669.   Charles E. Pettway x37669   [top] 12.          Let Starport Watch Your Children While You Work Out Introducing the newest addition to Starport's services - Starport Kids Space! Starport now offers short-term child care while you work out at the Gilruth Center. Anyone who is participating in a group exercise class or working out in the basketball gym and/or fitness center may bring their children to be supervised by our staff as you utilize the facility.   Days: Monday and Wednesday, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Cost: $3/hour Ages: 4+ Location: Inner Space Mind/Body Studio at the Gilruth Center   Visit http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Youth/ChildCare.cfm for more information.   Shericka Phillips x35563 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/   [top] 13.          NASA Night with the Houston Astros Celebrate NASA Night at the Ballpark with discounted tickets! Game is Friday, Sept. 14 against the Philadelphia Phillies at 7:05 p.m. First 10,000 fans will receive an Astros fleece blanket, plus enjoy a post-game NASA-themed fireworks show. Visit http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Events/ for ticket pricing and purchase information.   Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/   [top] 14.          Water-BOTs Teacher Workshop The Aerospace Academy - San Jacinto College (SJC) offers a two-part underwater robotics workshop including: 12 professional development contact hours, hands on soldering and robotics instruction and the ability to take back to your classroom the electronics that are created during the workshop. The curriculum will align with science and math TEKS. Dates: Oct. 6 and 13 Cost: $150 Time: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Location: SJC - Central Campus   For additional information or registration contact- Bridget Kramer 281-244-6803 bridget.a.kramer@nasa.gov.   Bridget Kramer x46803 http://www.aerospace-academy.org   [top] 15.          Houston Technology Center Presents Tech Link on Sept. 14 Come learn about Houston Technology Center's incubation and acceleration clients in the energy, life sciences, Information Technology and NASA/aerospace sectors at the next Tech Link on Friday, Sept. 14, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. in the Aerospace Transition Center (16921 El Camino Real).   Tech Link members represent the leaders, decision-makers and trendsetters of the technology community in the Houston and Clear Lake area. Open to the community, these meetings allow professionals to be involved with and influence the evolution of emerging technology.   The featured speaker for this event will be Mario C. Diaz, director of the City of Houston Department of Aviation. Diaz is responsible for the overall management of the Houston Airport System's three aviation facilities and its more than 1,400 employees. He is one of the industry's leading authorities in the study of future developments in commercial aviation.   Register at: http://houstontech.org/events/1031/   Pat Kidwell x37156 http://houstontech.org/events/1031/   [top] 16.          Today - Subject: Software Design from Desktop PCs to Super Computers Date/Time: Sept. 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.   Location: JSC Building 1/Room 620   You are invited to JSC's SAIC and Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) Speaker Forum featuring Lee Morris Taylor, Ph.D. Vice President, TeraScale Division, ANATECH Corporation.   Software effectiveness will be illustrated through real world examples of impact dynamics by the NEi Explicit code distributed by NEi Software of Westminster, CA. Examples will include 3D aircraft impact on large pre-stressed concrete structures. The size and complexity of nonlinear analysis models and the necessity to perform multi-physics simulations is a challenge for the mechanics community. The demand from the analyst is for easy-to-use, cost-effective, time-efficient analysis tools for these complex problems. This talk will describe the ANATECH parallel computational framework that facilitates rapid algorithm development and testing.   Della Cardona 281-335-2074   [top] 17.          Russian Phase One Language Course -- For Beginners Russian Phase One is an introductory course designed to acquaint the novice student with certain elementary aspects of the Russian language and provide a brief outline of Russian history and culture. Our goal is to introduce students to skills and strategies necessary for successful foreign language study that they can apply immediately in the classroom. The linguistic component of this class consists of learning the Cyrillic alphabet and a very limited number of simple words and phrases, which will serve as a foundation for further language study. Who: All JSC-badged civil servants and contractors with a work-related justification. Dates: October 1-26, 2012.   When: Monday through Friday, 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. OR 4 to 5 p.m. Where: Building 12, Room 158A.   Please register through SATERN. Deadline for registration is Sept. 25.   Natalia Rostova 281-851-3745   [top] 18.          Register for Tomorrow's Training on Aerospace Medicine Resources Learn about the Bioastronautics Library services and resources by attending the webinar hosted by the Scientific and Technical Information Center from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.   To register for the WebEx, go to the link below then click on the Classroom/WebEx schedule. http://library.jsc.nasa.gov/training/default.aspx   Provided by the Information Resources Directorate http://ird.jsc.nasa.gov/default.aspx   Ebony Fondren x32490 http://library.jsc.nasa.gov   [top] 19.          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.   Brought to you by External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111   [top]   ________________________________________ 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: ·                     10:15 am Central (11:15 EDT) – President Kennedy Rice University Speech Anniversary ·                     10:30 am Central (11:30 EDT) – HTV-3 release coverage (set for 10:50 CDT) ·               11:30 am Central (12:30 EDT) – Interpreted Replay of Exp 32 JAXA In-Flight Event  involving        Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda;   Human Spaceflight News Wednesday – September 12, 2012   50 yrs ago today: 'Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon…'   HEADLINES AND LEADS   JFK's 'Moon Speech' Still Resonates 50 Years Later   Mike Wall - Space.com   Fifty years ago today (Sept. 12), President John F. Kennedy whipped up support for NASA's fledgling Apollo program in a speech that contains perhaps the most famous words he ever uttered about space exploration. Kennedy's stirring, soaring "moon speech," delivered at Rice University in Houston, laid out why the president believed sending astronauts to Earth's nearest neighbor by the end of the 1960s was so important. Kennedy had first aired that ambitious goal in May 1961, just six weeks after the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first human to reach space. The Rice speech marked a key moment in the trajectory of the Apollo program and space exploration in general, experts say.   747 arrives at KSC for Endeavour ferry flight   James Dean - Florida Today   A Boeing 747 touched down at Kennedy Space Center at 5:05 p.m. today, six days before its planned departure from Florida with the retired space shuttle Endeavour. The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft labeled NASA 905 took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time and made a direct flight to Kennedy, approaching the shuttle runway from the northwest to the southeast. The modified jumbo jet parked on an apron near a gantry that will be used to hoist Endeavour and bolt it atop the 747 on Friday.   Endeavour's ride to the West Coast arrives at spaceport   Justin Ray - SpaceflightNow.com   The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft departed Edwards Air Force Base in California at 8:30 a.m. PDT, traveling 25,000 feet in altitude over the Southern U.S. at 365 knots before touching down on the Florida spaceport's runway around 5:05 p.m. EDT. Endeavour is sitting in storage at the Vehicle Assembly Building, the ferryflight aerodynamic tailcone already installed, awaiting tow to the landing strip early Friday morning. The orbiter will be brought into the Mate-Demate Device, the special-built lifting structure that will hoist the decommissioned craft off the ground so the 747 can pull underneath. The duo should be structurally mated together by late Friday afternoon.   NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft arrives In Florida for Shuttle Endeavour's departure   Mike Killian - AmericaSpace.org   NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida earlier this afternoon after a 6-hour cross-country flight from Edwards Air Force Base in southern California.  The modified Boeing 747 known as NASA 905, NASA’s original Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, is in Florida this week to transport the space shuttle Endeavour to its new home in Los Angeles.   NASA jumbo jet arrives in Fla. for final space shuttle ferry flight   Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com   A NASA jumbo jet used to ferry space shuttles around the country has arrived in Florida, where for the last time it'll be paired with one of the winged spacecraft for a transcontinental trip. On Tuesday, the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft landed at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral after flying in from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in southern California. The jetliner will be used to carry space shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles for its display at the California Science Center (CSC).   Endeavour Shows a Little ‘Bling’ Before Heading West   Julian Leek - AmericaSpace.org     When one wants to make an impression through their vehicle, adding new rims to the car, called ‘spinners’ to make sure that the proper impression is given. In the case of Endeavour, the men and women who have taken care of her since she first flew in 1992 decided to honor the orbiter’s new destination – L.A. NASA rolled out Endeavour from  Orbiter Processing Facility 2 (OPF-2 ) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida a few weeks ago she was sporting custom-made (and fully operational) shuttle spinners mounted on the inside of her huge ‘Michelin 44.5” Air Brand Tire’ left main gear.   NASA shuttle technology helps test tree strength   Erin Meyer - Chicago Tribune   NASA's space shuttle program may be grounded, but technology used to explore the solar system is making history in ways that may surprise you. Think baby formula. Think bras. But first think trees. Aeronautic engineers and arborists gathered Monday morning in a rather alien-looking patch of woods at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill., to figure out where trees are weakest and what makes them fall. "This simply had never been done ever, period," NASA's Matt Melis said of the joint effort. "We are making history."   My conversation with an astronaut   Ben Arnon - Huffington Post   Recently I had the privilege of speaking with an astronaut. Tom Marshburn has been with NASA for more than 16 years and has performed three spacewalks for a total of 18 hours and 59 minutes of Extravehicular Activity (EVA). Tom is currently in Russia, approximately 40 kilometers east of Moscow, stationed on an old Air Force base that has been converted into a cosmonaut training center. In December, Tom will be headed to the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month mission. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Tom recently via phone.   The Story of the Only American Not on Earth on September 11th Astronaut Frank Culbertson watched from Space Station as attacks unfolded on ground   Rebecca Rosen - The Atlantic   When astronauts describe the feeling of sailing around space, looking at our planet from hundreds of miles above, they often invoke the phrase "orbital perspective," a shorthand for the emotional, psychological, and intellectual effects of seeing "the Earth hanging in the blackness of space." This experience is characterized by not merely awe, but, as astronaut Ron Garan puts it, "a sobering contradiction. On the one hand, I saw this incredibly beautiful, fragile oasis -- the Earth. On the other, I was faced with the unfortunate realities of life on our planet for many of its inhabitants." This tension was particularly poignant on 9/11, when the effects of violence on Earth were actually visible from space. At the time, three people were not on Earth: Russian astronauts Mikhail Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov, and American Frank Culbertson, making Culbertson the only American not on Earth during the 9/11 attacks.   Mae Jemison looks to the future of space travel   Houston Chronicle   Twenty years ago today, Mae Jemison, physician and NASA astronaut, became the first black woman to travel in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison has launched 100 Year Starship, an ambitious project to encourage interstellar travel through the exchange of creative ideas. The organization will hold a public symposium in Houston this week. When Jemison was an undergraduate at Stanford University, her roommate was Linda Lorelle, who went on to become a KPRC-TV anchor. We asked Lorelle, moderator of PBS' "Red, White and Blue," to interview Jemison about her career and space travel. Excerpts follow…   Recapture the spirit of JFK's Rice speech   Houston Chronicle (Editorial)   When President John F. Kennedy committed this country to a goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s, the U.S. was a nation of about 200 million, little more than 17 years removed from victory over the Axis powers in World War II. In his remembrance of the speech made by Kennedy at Rice University 50 years ago ("50 years ago, JFK's Rice speech launched nation on a journey," Page A1, Monday), the noted Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley referred to Kennedy as an "avatar of American exceptionalism." __________   COMPLETE STORIES   JFK's 'Moon Speech' Still Resonates 50 Years Later   Mike Wall - Space.com   Fifty years ago today (Sept. 12), President John F. Kennedy whipped up support for NASA's fledgling Apollo program in a speech that contains perhaps the most famous words he ever uttered about space exploration.   Kennedy's stirring, soaring "moon speech," delivered at Rice University in Houston, laid out why the president believed sending astronauts to Earth's nearest neighbor by the end of the 1960s was so important. Kennedy had first aired that ambitious goal in May 1961, just six weeks after the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first human to reach space.   The Rice speech marked a key moment in the trajectory of the Apollo program and space exploration in general, experts say.   "Clearly, it's important, because you've got a president who steps up and says we're going to do it, makes it a policy objective, makes it a budgetary priority and reaffirms that commitment," Roger Launius, space history curator at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, told SPACE.com.   Kennedy's vision came true, of course. On July 20, 1969, late astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface. Four days later, he and his two Apollo 11 crewmates splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, wrapping up a huge victory for the United States over the Soviets in the Cold War space race.   'We choose to go to the moon'   Kennedy made the Rice speech during a tour that also stopped at Houston's Manned Spacecraft Center (now known as Johnson Space Center), the Launch Operations Center in Florida and Alabama's Marshall Space Flight Center — NASA sites that would be key to making Apollo a success.   The president wanted to give the Apollo program a boost and help explain to the nation why it should be such a high priority, said space policy expert John Logsdon, a professor emeritus at George Washington University.   "There were controversies over how much money to put into Apollo, and, indeed, even whether to continue it," Logsdon told SPACE.com. "He wanted to indicate his strong support for the program, and this [speech] was the chance to do it."   At Rice, Kennedy stressed that humanity's charge into space is inexorable, and that the world would be better off with the United States leading the way.   "For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace," the president told 40,000 people in Rice's football stadium that day. "We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding."   Kennedy viewed winning the space race as key to keeping the United States ahead of the Soviet Union technologically and militarily, as his next words make clear.   "Yet the vows of this nation can only be fulfilled if we in this nation are first, and, therefore, we intend to be first," he said. "In short, our leadership in science and in industry, our hopes for peace and security, our obligations to ourselves as well as others, all require us to make this effort, to solve these mysteries, to solve them for the good of all men, and to become the world's leading space-faring nation."   In perhaps the speech's most famous passage, Kennedy acknowledged the difficulty of Apollo's quest but argued that a challenge brings out the best in the United States.   "We choose to go to the moon," the president said. "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."   Drawing inspiration today   The federal government did indeed make Apollo a national priority, pouring an estimated $25 billion — well over $100 billion in today's money — into the program. In 1966, NASA funding represented 4.4 percent of the federal budget, compared with less than 0.5 percent last year.   The space race is over now. The Soviet Union no longer exists, and its descendant state, Russia, is now a key spaceflight partner of the United States.   But Kennedy's words of 50 years ago still have the power to inspire today, as celebrations of the speech's anniversary show. And while the president's Cold War rhetoric may not be so effective today, other passages of the speech may get people's space-exploration juices flowing again.   "The question for today is whether the other rationales are enough to sustain support for the [space] program," Logsdon said.   747 arrives at KSC for Endeavour ferry flight   James Dean - Florida Today   A Boeing 747 touched down at Kennedy Space Center at 5:05 p.m. today, six days before its planned departure from Florida with the retired space shuttle Endeavour.   The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft labeled NASA 905 took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time and made a direct flight to Kennedy, approaching the shuttle runway from the northwest to the southeast.   The modified jumbo jet parked on an apron near a gantry that will be used to hoist Endeavour and bolt it atop the 747 on Friday.   Weather permitting, the piggybacked aircraft and spaceship plan to take off around 7 a.m. Monday to begin the shuttle program’s final ferry flight.   Flyovers are likely of the KSC Visitor Complex, Patrick Air Force Base and other parts of the Space Coast.   The cross-country ferry flight to Los Angeles International Airport is the shuttle program’s last. It’s expected to end Sept. 20, including a stops at Ellington Field in Houston and the Dryden Flight Research Center in California.   In mid-October, Endeavour will roll from LAX to the California Science Center to take up residence in a new display hangar slated to open Oct. 30.   An advance team of NASA and United Space Alliance personnel is already in Los Angeles setting up the special equipment that will be used to remove Endeavour from the 747.   In April, NASA 905 ferried Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., where it replaced the prototype orbiter Enterprise. Enterprise then was flown to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and barged to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in Manhattan.   Atlantis is scheduled to roll from KSC to its nearby Visitor Complex on Nov. 2, completing NASA’s transfer of retired orbiters to their public display sites.   Endeavour's ride to the West Coast arrives at spaceport   Justin Ray - SpaceflightNow.com   The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft departed Edwards Air Force Base in California at 8:30 a.m. PDT, traveling 25,000 feet in altitude over the Southern U.S. at 365 knots before touching down on the Florida spaceport's runway around 5:05 p.m. EDT.   Endeavour is sitting in storage at the Vehicle Assembly Building, the ferryflight aerodynamic tailcone already installed, awaiting tow to the landing strip early Friday morning.   The orbiter will be brought into the Mate-Demate Device, the special-built lifting structure that will hoist the decommissioned craft off the ground so the 747 can pull underneath. The duo should be structurally mated together by late Friday afternoon.   The shuttle will weigh 155,250 pounds during the ferryflight, with the cone contributing 6,000 pounds of that mass, according to a NASA spokeswoman.   The combined duo will exit the structure on Sunday morning and prepare for takeoff next Monday at around 7:15 a.m. EDT (1115 GMT) on the initial leg of the multi-day ferryflight, giving the Space Coast beaches, Patrick Air Force Base and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex low-altitude buzzes for the locals bid a final farewell to Endeavour.   The orbiter's future home -- the California Science Center -- is paying for the ferryflight through a Space Act Agreement with NASA. The hands-on childrens' learning facility took ownership of Endeavour from NASA last October.   The west-bound carrier jet will soar above the Mississippi Gulf Coast and eastern New Orleans, making low flybys of NASA's Stennis Space Center where the space shuttle main engines were tested and the Michoud Assembly Facility where the external fuel tanks were manufactured.   The trek then heads for Houston, the home of NASA's Mission Control Center that has directed all manned spaceflights since 1965, for ceremonial flyovers of the region before landing at Ellington Field outside the Johnson Space Center around 10:45 a.m. local time (1545 GMT).   The flyovers at a mere 1,500 feet in altitude will cover areas of Houston, Clear Lake and Galveston between 9 and 10:30 a.m. Central, passing by such landmarks as George Bush Intercontinental, William P. Hobby and Ellington airports, plus the Houston skyline and the San Jacinto Monument. The Johnson Space Center expects to get a close encounter too.   NASA officials caution that the precise flight path and timing will be dictated by the weather and operational constraints.   After safely on the ground at Ellington, the site where the astronauts departed in T-38 jets bound for the Cape to begin their launch countdowns, the 747 with Endeavour will park near the NASA Hangar 990 pedestrian gate for public viewing on Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday. Viewing within about 100 feet of the vehicle begins 30 minutes after the 747 is parked and secured by ground personnel.   Monday's viewing will continue until 7 p.m. local time. Airport gates will reopen to the public from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. Tuesday.   The ferryflight resumes at sunrise Wednesday, Sept. 19 for a short jaunt to Biggs Army Airfield to El Paso for refueling. The journey continues later in the morning, doing a low flyby of White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico as the ferryflight continues en route to Edwards Air Force Base in California for a mid-day local time touchdown there to spend the night.   The final leg of the final space shuttle ferryflight starts at dawn Thursday, Sept. 20 with departure from Edwards and plots a course to make more low-altitude flyovers of NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field and landmarks in San Francisco and Sacramento before looping back toward Los Angeles to treat the locals and welcome Endeavour home before setting down on the runway at LAX, the international airport there at about 11 a.m.   "Endeavour's flight over Los Angeles' most picturesque landmarks will be a sight to inspire Angelenos for generations," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "Witnessing the shuttle's final flight over the Griffith Observatory, Hollywood Hills and our historic City Hall will be a sight to behold. I am proud to welcome this world-class landmark to its new home in the City of Angels."   Specific windows of time for the California flyovers have not been announced.   California Science Center Foundation President Jeffrey Rudolph noted, "It's great that the people of California will be able to see this remarkable flyover. It has great potential to inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators. We encourage everyone to come see it at the Science Center when it reaches its final destination here at the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion when it opens on October 30."   Once at LAX, shuttle workers will unload Endeavour and park her inside a United Airlines hangar to put the finishing touches on the spacecraft. NASA expects to hand over control of the orbiter to the California Science Center on Sept. 27.   But the highly complex planning for moving Endeavour on 12 miles of city streets through the concrete jungle won't begin until Oct. 12. Planning has dictated that precise date to begin the day-and-a-half move, arriving at the science center the night of Oct. 13.   Endeavour's display opens to the public on Oct. 30.   The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft used for ferrying the orbiter is known as NASA 905. It was purchased from American Airlines in 1974 and configured to carry the spacecraft beginning with the program's earliest years.   The aircraft has a wingspan of 195 feet, a length of 231 feet, a height to the top of the cockpit area of 32 feet and a maximum gross taxi weight of 713,000 pounds. It is powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7J gas turbine engines, each producing 50,000 pounds of thrust. The minimum crew for a flight with the shuttle aboard is two pilots and two flight engineers.   NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft arrives In Florida for Shuttle Endeavour's departure   Mike Killian - AmericaSpace.org   NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida earlier this afternoon after a 6-hour cross-country flight from Edwards Air Force Base in southern California.  The modified Boeing 747 known as NASA 905, NASA’s original Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, is in Florida this week to transport the space shuttle Endeavour to its new home in Los Angeles.   The now retired Endeavour, affectionately referred to as the baby of the NASA’s shuttle fleet, will be mounted atop the enormous SCA this coming weekend in preparation for its ferry flight Monday, September 17, to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  Endeavour will make one final journey a few weeks after landing, one which will take the orbiter through the streets of Los Angeles to her final destination as a permanent museum piece at the California Science Center in Exposition Park.   The cross-country flight is expected to take three days, with low-altitude flyovers planned for various locations along the way.  The SCA, with Endeavour riding piggyback, will make several passes up and down Florida’s Space Coast to give residents a final opportunity to say goodbye before heading west.  Low flyovers of NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans will be conducted before the aircraft arrives in the skies over Texas later that day.  The SCA will then descend to 1,500 feet for another series of low flyovers above Houston, Clear Lake, and Galveston before landing at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where the pair will remain for the rest of September 17 and all day September 18.   Endeavour’s final flight picks up again at sunrise on Wednesday, September 19, with a stop planned at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso to refuel before continuing on its westward journey across the southern United States.  Another series of low-level flyovers are planned for White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, New Mexico, and NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where the aircraft will land before embarking on the final leg of its the journey to Los Angeles.   Departing Dryden one final time on the morning of September 20, the SCA with Endeavour will head north towards the Bay Area and perform low-level flyovers of NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field and various landmarks over San Francisco and Sacramento before heading south towards Los Angeles.  The pair will make a final series of low flyovers in the skies above LA to allow the “City of Angels” to welcome Endeavour to its new home before landing at LAX around 11:00 a.m. PDT.   NASA jumbo jet arrives in Fla. for final space shuttle ferry flight   Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com   A NASA jumbo jet used to ferry space shuttles around the country has arrived in Florida, where for the last time it'll be paired with one of the winged spacecraft for a transcontinental trip.   On Tuesday, the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft landed at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral after flying in from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in southern California. The jetliner will be used to carry space shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles for its display at the California Science Center (CSC).   The SCA touched down at 5:05 p.m. EDT (2105 GMT) at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility, on the same runway where Endeavour returned from space after its 25th and final spaceflight on June 1, 2011   On Monday, the orbiter, mounted atop the SCA, will take off from the 15,000-foot (4,572-meter) concrete strip on a three-day trip to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).   From there, Endeavour will leave in October on a two-day, 12-mile parade through the streets of Inglewood and L.A., ultimately arriving in the CSC's new Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion on Oct. 13. The retired shuttle's exhibit will open to the public on Oct. 30.    Ferry flight plan   Before all that can happen though, Endeavour first needs to be mounted atop the carrier aircraft for its ferry flight to the West Coast.   That process will begin before dawn on Friday (Sept. 14), as the shuttle is rolled out to the runway to a gantry-like structure called the Mate-Demate Device (MDD). There, it will be attached to a sling and hoisted by crane into the air. The SCA will then taxi in underneath the shuttle, so Endeavour can be lowered down onto its back.   After bolts are secured, the SCA-shuttle combo will back out of the MDD, which is scheduled for sunrise on Sunday (Sept. 16). Weather permitting, the pair will take off around daybreak (7 a.m. EDT or 1100 GMT) the next day.   Before departing Florida for its final time, Endeavour, atop the SCA, will circle the Space Coast, flying over Kennedy Space Center, its visitor complex, the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the surrounding beaches.   On their way to Los Angeles, the SCA and Endeavour will fly over other NASA facilities and many local landmarks. The flight is planned to stop over in Houston for two days, in El Paso, Texas, to refuel, and then spend a night at Edwards Air Force Base, which was the shuttle program's California landing site for 30 years, before touching down at LAX.   Final ferry flight   Since being retired more than a year ago, Endeavour has been transformed from being a space-worthy vehicle to an exhibit safe for display. The orbiter's hazardous materials were carefully removed and some of its components, such as its three main engines, were replaced with replicas so they could be kept for possible future reuse.   In preparation for the ferry flight, an aerodynamic tail cone was installed over the replica engines and Endeavour's aft section. The shuttle's trip to L.A. is being paid for by the CSC, which took over ownership of the orbiter in October 2011.   The carrier aircraft, known by its tail number NASA 905, was built in 1970 and flew for four years as an American Airlines' passenger jet before being acquired by NASA. It was then modified by Boeing so it could carry the space shuttles piggyback between their West Coast landing and servicing sites and their East Coast launch pads.   When it touches down at LAX on Sept. 20, NASA 905 will have taken to the air carrying space shuttles a total of 223 times, a count represented by the vinyl logos affixed to its forward fuselage. In addition to its many flights during the course of the shuttle program, the SCA carried Discovery to Washington, D.C. and the prototype shuttle Enterprise to New York City before its current and last assignment to ferry Endeavour to Los Angeles.   After parting ways with its last shuttle passenger, NASA 905 is scheduled to return to Dryden, where it'll follow the other of NASA's carrier aircraft, NASA 911, into retirement and become a parts donor for the space agency's SOFIA airborne astronomical observatory.   Endeavour Shows a Little ‘Bling’ Before Heading West   Julian Leek - AmericaSpace.org     When one wants to make an impression through their vehicle, adding new rims to the car, called ‘spinners’ to make sure that the proper impression is given. In the case of Endeavour, the men and women who have taken care of her since she first flew in 1992 decided to honor the orbiter’s new destination – L.A.   NASA rolled out Endeavour from  Orbiter Processing Facility 2 (OPF-2 ) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida a few weeks ago she was sporting custom-made (and fully operational) shuttle spinners mounted on the inside of her huge ‘Michelin 44.5” Air Brand Tire’ left main gear.   This was more than just a nod to popular culture however, there are five orbiter silhouettes on the rims – one for each of NASA’s space-worthy shuttles -  Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis.   The spinner creation is not ‘ferry flight worthy’ as it was made out of cardboard and silver tape and has been signed by the flight crew of STS-135. The spinner has been removed and Endeavour is now ready for her cross country ferry flight to California. Endeavour will be the last shuttle to fly out of KSC.   This will only leave Atlantis at KSC, which will take a twelve hour ‘road trip’ to the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex in November. This will mark the first time in over thirty years that there will be no shuttles on NASA property.   NASA shuttle technology helps test tree strength   Erin Meyer - Chicago Tribune   NASA's space shuttle program may be grounded, but technology used to explore the solar system is making history in ways that may surprise you.   Think baby formula. Think bras. But first think trees. Aeronautic engineers and arborists gathered Monday morning in a rather alien-looking patch of woods at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill., to figure out where trees are weakest and what makes them fall. "This simply had never been done ever, period," NASA's Matt Melis said of the joint effort. "We are making history."   After stripping the bark from a handful of specimens infested by Emerald Ash borers, scientists painted the trunks white with black dots. One at a time, the scientists trained two high-tech, digital-imaging cameras on each, creating a perfect 3-D computer image of the tree before arborists pulled them down with cables attached to a winch.   By measuring the movement of each dot as pressure built on the tree, scientists could pinpoint areas of weakness — a great tool in helping experts determine risk assessment about how and where a tree might come down.   The experiment is just one of the most recent uses of NASA science — the agency holds 907 current patents — to spin off scientific applications and even a constellation of consumer products. These efforts include developing a nutrient contained in most baby formula, strengthening the durability of bras and in crime scene detection.   My conversation with an astronaut   Ben Arnon - Huffington Post   Recently I had the privilege of speaking with an astronaut. Tom Marshburn has been with NASA for more than 16 years and has performed three spacewalks for a total of 18 hours and 59 minutes of Extravehicular Activity (EVA). Tom is currently in Russia, approximately 40 kilometers east of Moscow, stationed on an old Air Force base that has been converted into a cosmonaut training center. In December, Tom will be headed to the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month mission. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview Tom recently via phone.   Tell me about this training you're currently doing in Russia.   I am in Russia training with a diverse group, several of whom will be headed to the space station in December. The U.S. is currently launching four Americans each year out of Kazakhstan. There are typically one to two Europeans training at any time, along with one to two Japanese and one to two Canadians training.   Training begins when you're selected. You go through a two-year process to gain flight status and you go through several expeditions. Training for a flight involves a lot of flying jets and a lot of simulators. It's also very busy academically. We must learn Russian. We need to learn how to take care of the space station and how to fix anything that may break. Additionally, we learn a lot of science. We need to be prepared to do any experiments up in space. We also train extensively on space walks.   At what age did you first desire to become an astronaut? What inspired you?   I loved adventuring in general. Space flights and reading books about it mesmerized me. I distinctly remember the Apollo 11 moon walk, sitting on the floor in my room in my slippers. I didn't initially think I could be an astronaut. I originally wanted to be an artist. In high school I started focusing a bit more on math and science.   After grad school for engineering, as well as medical school, I put in my application to NASA. I got in after my third application. NASA asks for references and they conduct background checks. There are several hours of psychological and physical checks as well. There were roughly 4,000 people who applied in my year. In my class, 11 Americans were accepted and three Japanese got in. So it is quite competitive.   Please describe your previous experience in space. What stands out most vividly to you?   In 2009 I went up on the space shuttle. I was in space for 16 days and docked at the space station for 11 days. The entire crew did five space walks of which I was involved with three of them. When you're doing a space walk, you always have a buddy with you. It's a very dangerous environment when you're doing a space walk.   Humans have an incredible capacity to adapt to what they're doing and to their environment. However, at least once per day when I was in space, I did get really, really excited. Simulators get you prepared but nothing can provide the exact same experience as actually being in space.   As an astronaut, when you're getting ready to go out of that hatch, you know that's the pinnacle of both your career and your life. The view completely blows you away. The real challenge is getting past the excitement and getting focused and down to work. Because the reality is that when we're in space, there is a lot of work that we are trying to accomplish.   In terms of the view, seeing space actually has just as much of an impact on you as seeing Earth. The way we see space from up there is very different from the way we can see it from Earth. The blackness of space was a big shock to me. It is a deep, three-dimensional, oily blackness. You can feel the distance   Another thing that stands out to me from the experience is feeling the temperature change. When we're on the space station, we orbit the Earth 16 times per day, which means we're constantly moving to and away from the sun. From light to shadow, the temperature swings by 300 degrees. Of course we're protected by the gear we wear, but you you can definitely feel this temperature change.   That's really fascinating. Can you describe your gut reaction to your first-ever view from space?   I was just astounded by the beauty. It was a view I'd never seen before. There is a 120-degree view from the station. I was stunned by the beauty but also by the silence. It was very quiet. You take a deep breath.   Tell us about your upcoming mission to space. When are you going, with whom, and what is the purpose of the trip?   My mission is scheduled to launch December 5, 2012, from Kazakhstan. We're launching on the same launchpad that Yuri Gagarin launched from. The mission will last six months. We try to keep missions to six months for a couple of reasons. First of all, you want to get as much use out of the spacecrafts. Also, during a six-month mission, I'll receive more radiation than someone who works at a nuclear power plant during their entire career.   We'll be going to the space station. That is always where we go now. The space station is roughly the size of a five-bedroom home that includes a power plant and a huge laboratory. The main purpose of the mission is to conduct scientific experiments.   Do you guys do anything up there to leave your mark? Do you sign your names or leave special mementos for future visitors to the space station?   The shuttle crews are allowed to sign a sticker of their mission patch and leave it up at the space station.   That's very cool! Are you going to look for your signature from your previous mission? What are you looking forward to the most during this mission?   What I'm looking forward to most is zero gravity. This is magical. You can simulate zero gravity for approximately 25 seconds on Earth so you get close but you don't truly capture the feeling until you're up there.   When you're in space for months at a time, are you busy most of the time or is there tons of downtime? What do you do during the downtime?   It's incredibly busy. You're pretty much sprinting the entire time. We refer to it as "racing with the red line." We tend to go really strong for approximately 14 hours per day, then there is time to eat and sleep. Fourteen hours does include two hours of exercise. You have to exercise or else you essentially turn into jelly up there. Without proper exercise, we can end up with tremendous physical issues. With no exercise, our bodies would go through an aging process that is many times faster than on Earth.   Does it get lonely when you're in space for an extended period of time?   It is well documented that after roughly two to four months people start to miss a lot of Earth-bound thing, such as family. But they do have satellite communications as well as email. Also, video conferences with families are scheduled for every two weeks.   What else comes to your mind that you think would be fascinating to non-scientific people?   There is no doubt that zero gravity, the view, and looking into deep space is fascinating. But one thing that hit me recently is here we were watching a robot land on Mars and the videos I was seeing everywhere were of people hugging and crying and slapping each other on backs. The human component of being on the space station is what is most meaningful to me. I work with incredibly bright and enthusiastic people -- not just while I'm in space. The folks who train us, the people who built the spacecrafts, and tons of others. Everyone at the space center is extremely excited about what they're doing. It feels like we're constantly racing toward a further step in human evolution.   Who are your greatest heroes and your inspirations?   Definitely some early astronauts. Neil Armstrong stands out for being incredibly humble, quiet, and noble (Note: this interview was conducted approximately one week prior to Mr. Armstrong's death). I've always been very inspired by artists and other people who have put a huge chunk of their life into something. Michelangelo, for instance.   I have also been inspired by my family. My father was a preacher. He and my mom set the tone for my family and my siblings set the bar extremely high. There was always an unspoken desire for excellence in my family. I am the youngest of seven children so I was inspired by my parents and all of my siblings.   For a fascinating journal of Tom's experiences and thoughts, follow him on Twitter (@AstroMarshburn)   What intrigues you most about astronauts and space?   The Story of the Only American Not on Earth on September 11th Astronaut Frank Culbertson watched from Space Station as attacks unfolded on ground   Rebecca Rosen - The Atlantic   When astronauts describe the feeling of sailing around space, looking at our planet from hundreds of miles above, they often invoke the phrase "orbital perspective," a shorthand for the emotional, psychological, and intellectual effects of seeing "the Earth hanging in the blackness of space." This experience is characterized by not merely awe, but, as astronaut Ron Garan puts it, "a sobering contradiction. On the one hand, I saw this incredibly beautiful, fragile oasis -- the Earth. On the other, I was faced with the unfortunate realities of life on our planet for many of its inhabitants."   This tension was particularly poignant on 9/11, when the effects of violence on Earth were actually visible from space. At the time, three people were not on Earth: Russian astronauts Mikhail Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov, and American Frank Culbertson, making Culbertson the only American not on Earth during the 9/11 attacks.   Over the course of that night and into the following few days, Culbertson wrote a letter to those at home, and his words echo that orbital perspective Garan describes. "It's horrible to see smoke pouring from wounds in your own country from such a fantastic vantage point," he wrote. "The dichotomy of being on a spacecraft dedicated to improving life on the earth and watching life being destroyed by such willful, terrible acts is jolting to the psyche."   Culbertson described the events as they unfolded on the Space Station:   I had just finished a number of tasks this morning, the most time-consuming being the physical exams of all crew members. In a private conversation following that, the flight surgeon told me they were having a very bad day on the ground. I had no idea...   He described the situation to me as best he knew it at ~0900 CDT. I was flabbergasted, then horrified. My first thought was that this wasn't a real conversation, that I was still listening to one of my Tom Clancy tapes. It just didn't seem possible on this scale in our country. I couldn't even imagine the particulars, even before the news of further destruction began coming in.   Vladimir came over pretty quickly, sensing that something very serious was being discussed. I waved Michael into the module as well. They were also amazed and stunned. After we signed off, I tried to explain to Vladimir and Michael as best I could the potential magnitude of this act of terror in downtown Manhattan and at the Pentagon. They clearly understood and were very sympathetic.   I glanced at the World Map on the computer to see where over the world we were and noticed that we were coming southeast out of Canada and would be passing over New England in a few minutes. I zipped around the station until I found a window that would give me a view of NYC and grabbed the nearest camera. It happened to be a video camera, and I was looking south from the window of Michael's cabin.   The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column that was streaming south of the city. After reading one of the news articles we just received, I believe we were looking at NY around the time of, or shortly after, the collapse of the second tower.   As he signed off, Culbertson reflected, "I miss all of you very much."   Mae Jemison looks to the future of space travel   Houston Chronicle   Twenty years ago today, Mae Jemison, physician and NASA astronaut, became the first black woman to travel in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison has launched 100 Year Starship, an ambitious project to encourage interstellar travel through the exchange of creative ideas. The organization will hold a public symposium in Houston this week.   When Jemison was an undergraduate at Stanford University, her roommate was Linda Lorelle, who went on to become a KPRC-TV anchor. We asked Lorelle, moderator of PBS' "Red, White and Blue," to interview Jemison about her career and space travel. Excerpts follow:   Q: Can you believe it's been 20 years since Endeavor? When you think back to the launch what are your most vivid memories?   A: It's mostly mundane stuff that nobody else would think of, sitting in crew quarters, working on charts … but one of the most vivid memories was that I was the last crew member to be strapped in. I had an opportunity to lean over the gantry and look out over Kennedy Space Center. I had this juxtaposition of being in the middle of all of this technology, and you are basically in the middle of a swamp and animal preserve. Just having the opportunity to stand there in the middle of the quiet was just amazing.   Q: And you felt calm?   A: Yes, I felt calm; there was really nothing to be nervous about. You have never had so many smart, bright people care about you. My suit tech was a wonderful woman named Sharon McDougle. "Dr. Jemison, I have you all strapped in, and you are all set." I had somebody dressing me, for goodness sake. I had worked the launch countdowns before. It is not that often that you get to be exactly where you want to be. You accept the possibilities.   Q: What is the impact of that event on your life? Is it different from what you expected?   A: I did not expect it to define me to other people as strongly as it has. In some ways, it gives you an entrée, and in others, it closes doors. For some, I am frozen in that orange flight suit - which is great, and it's spectacular to be associated that way. But I have so much more to give, and sometimes it has been a struggle to give more.   Q: You went to medical school at Cornell University and joined the Peace Corps before applying to the astronaut program.   A: I worked as an area medical officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia for two and half years. I took care of Peace Corps volunteers, as well as State Department personnel. I was younger than a lot of the volunteers, which was an interesting dynamic. Sometimes people ask me how difficult the astronaut program was, but being in Sierra Leone, being responsible for the health of more than 200 people, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, at age 26 - that prepared me to take on a lot of different challenges. I had some pretty exciting, hair-raising stuff out there. …   I went to school at night in L.A. to brush up on my engineering while I applied to the astronaut program. I really did not know if I would get in. It was the year after the Challenger accident in 1987.   Q: As luck would have it, I ended up in Houston and got to cover your flight. What's happened since then?   A: I stayed in the astronaut program until 1993. People ask me why I left. I thought I had a lot of things to contribute that would be difficult to do if I stayed. I thought I could have a stronger voice as an advocate for space exploration. So I ended up starting my own technology consulting company. I was very interested in different technologies and how they could be used in development. Using space-based satellites for health-care delivery to facilitate health care in other countries. At the time, I think I was just a little too far ahead. Of course, now we use satellites. I was having a hard time getting people to believe me.   I was a professor at Dartmouth College for environmental studies. I also started an international science camp called The Earth We Share and a nonprofit foundation that helped put together programs for product development here in Texas. And I was on an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."   Q: Today you are leading a cutting-edge initiative called 100 Year Starship. Tell us about the project.   A: I think that, as humans, we need a push. We need challenges that are greater than ourselves, greater than what we can accomplish. I also think that, as humans, we need to keep exploring and expanding. I think we need to have an adrenaline rush, and we get our rushes in different ways. I think right now we are turning in on ourselves, and we aren't doing the kinds of things we need to do. We get our rushes from things that are not beneficial to us in the long run. We need to push ourselves really hard.   We explore. As humans, we explore. 100 Year Starship will make sure that the capabilities of sending humans to another star system are reality within the next 100 years.   We are not about mounting the mission. We want to make sure those capabilities are present. As those capabilities become present, as we learn how to create energy and harness the energy, we need to do a self-renewing shift on how to handle the kinds of data and communication that would be necessary, how to have humans healthy in that environment. Then we will do a lot to change and understand our world here and to make changes for the better.   Voyager is the thing farthest from us in our solar system that humans have launched. At the speed it is going now - Voyager was launched in the 1970s - it would take 70,000 years to get there. So we have to go a whole lot faster, which means we have to have a whole lot more energy to get there. If we go just a little step toward figuring out how to have that energy, then we start to solve energy problems here on Earth.   What we find is that if you have a goal that is very, very far out, and you approach it in little steps, you start to get there faster. Your mind opens up to the possibilities. Here's the bottom line, at 100 Year Starship we believe that pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow will create a better world today. We need that goal in front of us.   Q: You have a strong creative side; you love to write and dance, and you are musical and visual as well. How does this symposium connect art and science?   A: Arts and sciences are both creative endeavors. We want to show how the arts, culture, society, fiction, push scientific technological development. And science and technology can push the arts and cultural development.   We are talking with (symposium speakers) who are very creative. The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art just had an exhibit called "African Cosmos," how we see the cosmos illustrated in African art from traditional to present-day artists. These are the things that put the mystery back in.   Way back when I started watching "Star Trek," they had this tricorder thing, and they would look at you with it and figure out what was going on with your body, and they had these communicators, and beaming people, they had talking computers, they did their documentation on these pads. Look where we are now. We are not beaming people up - but we do have those communicators - we have cellphones and tablets, and you talk to computers. So we are going to talk about these kinds of ideas.   Q: When you talk about being inclusive in 100 Year Starship, you are including the public, young people and the space community.   A: If we don't have the public involved, it's not going to work. We want the public to know that space exploration isn't just for rocket scientists. There's a role for all of us in this.   This has to be a global aspiration. There is incredible work going on in all of the fields that we need to work on. Sitting right here in Houston, there is an incredible resource in NASA. We are having a plenary session on Friday dedicated to Johnson Space Center. Miles O'Brien, who has been the space reporter for CNN and PBS, will be moderating. We will have various people from JSC talking about what is going on, and we'll have film clips, still photos and video to take people through the 50-year journey.   Come to the symposium. See what it's about and I think you will be encouraged, and you will see this is definitely all about you.   Recapture the spirit of JFK's Rice speech   Houston Chronicle (Editorial)   When President John F. Kennedy committed this country to a goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s, the U.S. was a nation of about 200 million, little more than 17 years removed from victory over the Axis powers in World War II.   In his remembrance of the speech made by Kennedy at Rice University 50 years ago ("50 years ago, JFK's Rice speech launched nation on a journey," Page A1, Monday), the noted Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley referred to Kennedy as an "avatar of American exceptionalism."   He was - and he was far from alone. Kennedy was a member of the Greatest Generation, and the early 1960s were but the beginning of a long and distinguished arc of power held by his contemporaries. Kennedy had all the personal bona fides: He was a PT boat commander and a war hero. He was also a man of his times, a strong believer in the inherent goodness of the nation he led.   Nowhere was that spirit more in evidence than in the bold declaration of national intent the young president made in the Houston humidity at Rice Stadium that day: "We choose to go to the moon."   And so we did, in July 1969.   Fifty years after his Rice speech, this nation of 350 million is three times further removed from the speech than the sweltering crowd at Rice Stadium in September 1962 was from the triumph of World War II. Much has changed. That is understatement. American exceptionalism is no longer the given that it was in the Kennedy era. It has been a matter of active debate throughout the Obama presidency and in the 2012 presidential election campaign.   At Rice all those years ago, President Kennedy rightly identified the benefits of space exploration and an eventual moon landing that would come to Rice University, Houston and Texas. They most certainly have. But 50 years later, the national view of space is decidedly less clear. The palpable excitement of the early 1960s has been replaced by an attitude approaching indifference.   The confidence that marked the Greatest Generation has been replaced, some say, by national doubt concerning our future in space. For all of our technological prowess, we seem to have lost our ability to define a national goal for space exploration and commit to achieving it the way President Kennedy did.   In his 1962 speech, President Kennedy cited a figure of $25.4 billion that would be required to reach the moon, and he labeled the amount astounding. In today's dollars, as Brinkley pointed out, that would be about $150 billion.   Not that much by today's reckoning. On the other hand, what would the young president think of $16 trillion and growing, the size of the national debt?   The recent success of the Mars rover Curiosity proves that there is no shortage of know-how to get this nation where it wants to go in space. That is, if we choose to go.   It's a useful and inspiring exercise to listen to the Kennedy moon speech in its 17:45-minute entirety, titled "JFK - We choose to go to the Moon" on YouTube. If you listen, you'll hear that the president had definite ideas about America's place in future space exploration beyond simply landing a man on the moon. He foresaw a future of space exploration stretching across decades and centuries, with America at the center of humankind's exploration - and with the emphasis of using our knowledge for peaceful purposes.   Will we realize that vision? The answer may be in doubt, but Kennedy's stirring challenge remains.   END    

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