10/15/12 news

  Monday, October 15, 2012   JSC TODAY HEADLINES 1.            You Only Have 14 Days to Complete the 2012 Joint Leadership Team Survey 2.            Formal Mentoring Program Applications Now Open 3.            The Single Habitat Module Concept: A Streamlined Way to Explore With Chambliss 4.            Astronomy Day at Brazos Bend State Park 5.            POWER of One Award 6.            Houston Technology Center Presents Tech Link ________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY “ If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.”   -- Henry David Thoreau ________________________________________ 1.            You Only Have 14 Days to Complete the 2012 Joint Leadership Team Survey JSC Director Mike Coats and the Joint Leadership Team (JLT) would like to invite you to participate in the 2012 JLT Survey. We appreciate your time and dedication to making JSC a successful team. To participate in the survey, please click here. If you have any questions about the survey or the instructions for completing it, please contact Erin Misegades at 281-244-0003. Erin Misegades x40003   [top] 2.            Formal Mentoring Program Applications Now Open Applications are open for the Formal Mentoring Program until Nov. 16. All civil servants of various GS and supervisory levels are encouraged to apply and participate as mentors and protégés. For further details, please visit the Formal Mentoring website. Joseff White 281-792-7831 http://mentoring.jsc.nasa.gov   [top] 3.            The Single Habitat Module Concept: A Streamlined Way to Explore With Chambliss In early 2010, NASA was directed to address changes in exploration destinations, consider using new technologies and develop new capabilities to support space exploration. This prompted the development of the Single Habitat Module (SHM) concept for a more streamlined approach to the infrastructure and conduct of exploration missions. During this presentation, Joe Chambliss will describe the SHM concept and advantages it provides to accomplish exploration objectives. When: Tuesday, Oct. 16, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Location: Building 5S, Room 3102 (near the guard shack at the entrance of the Building 4/Building 4S/Building 5S parking lot is a ramp leading to a door at the corner of Building 5S) A public access elevator is located past two sets of doors. We welcome you to join us! Registration is not required, and seating is on a first come, first served basis. For questions, contact any spacesuit knowledge capture point of contact: Cinda Chullen (x38384), Vladenka Oliva (281-461-5681) or Rose Bitterly. Rose Bitterly 281-461-5795   [top] 4.            Astronomy Day at Brazos Bend State Park Astronomy Day is Oct. 20 at the George Observatory inside Brazos Bend State Park. Daytime activities for the kids include face painting and learning the phases of the moon by eating Oreo cookies. There are outdoor and indoor speakers on various astronomy-related topics, a how-to-make-a-comet demonstration and telescopes set up to safely observe the sun. Once nighttime arrives, out come all the telescopes! Up to 35 telescopes will be set up for public observing, and there's an opportunity to look inside the observatory's three telescope domes. You'll see the moon, star clusters and nebulae. The Astronomy Day event starts at 3 p.m. and goes (clouds or shine) until 10:30 p.m., but telescope viewing may be impacted due to weather. Concessions are available. Come make a full day of it and learn a little astronomy in the process. It's a great time for the whole family! Jim Wessel x41128 http://www.astronomyday.net   [top] 5.            POWER of One Award The POWER of One Award has been a great success, but we still need your nominations. We're looking for standouts with specific examples of exceptional or superior performance. Our award criteria below will help guide you in writing the short write-up needed for submittal. •         Single Achievement: Explain how the person truly went above and beyond on a single project or initiative. •         Affect and impact: What was the significant impact? How many were impacted? Who was impacted? •         Standout: What stands out? What extra effort? Did the effort exceed and accomplish the goal? •         Category: Which category should nominee be in? •         Gold - agency impact award level •         Silver - center impact award level •         Bronze - organization impact award level If chosen, the recipient can choose from a list of JSC experiences and have their name and recognition shared on InsideJSC. For complete information on the JSC Awards Program, click here. Jessica Ocampo 281-792-7804 https://powerofone.jsc.nasa.gov   [top] 6.            Houston Technology Center Presents Tech Link Learn about Houston Technology Center's incubation and acceleration clients focused in the energy, life sciences, Information Technology and NASA/aerospace sectors. Open to the community, these meetings allow professionals to be involved with and influence the evolution of emerging technology. Friday, Nov. 9 Light breakfast and networking - 7:30 to 8 a.m. Presentations - 8 to 9 a.m. To register, click here. Pat Kidwell x37156 http://www.houstontech.org/events/1041/   [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.         FREE FALLIN’:   Felix Baumgartner's supersonic freefall from 128k' - Mission Highlights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtvDA0W34I&feature=player_embedded   After flying to an altitude of 128,100 ft in a helium-filled balloon, Felix Baumgartner completed a record breaking jump for the ages from the edge of space, exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket-powered airplane. Felix reached a maximum of speed of 833 mph through the near vacuum of the stratosphere before being slowed by the atmosphere later during his 4:20 minute long freefall. The 43-year-old Austrian skydiving expert also broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon flight), leaving the one for the longest freefall to project mentor Col. Joe Kittinger.   Full length video is viewable here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2217412/Felix-Baumgartner-Supersonic-skydiver-hits-mach-1-24-terrifying-plummet-Earth-128-000ft.html   Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Free Fallin' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A   Human Spaceflight News Monday – October 15, 2012   HEADLINES AND LEADS   NASA Budget Fundamentals Supercede Campaign Rhetoric   Dan Leone - Space News   NASA will continue to face a mismatch between available funding and programmatic mandates regardless of who wins the White House in November, space policy experts here said. Republican challenger Mitt Romney has criticized the current civil space program for its lack of direction, but with the election just three weeks away has yet to articulate an alternative vision. Romney has, however, hinted that he will not seek to boost NASA’s roughly $17 billion annual budget. “A strong and successful NASA does not require more funding,” Romney said in a space policy white paper released Sept. 22. “It needs clearer priorities.”   Esa boss confident agency will join US Orion project   Rob Coppinger - BBC News   The head of the European Space Agency has said he is confident member states will elect to participate in the US manned Orion spacecraft. The Esa chief, Jean-Jacques Dordain, was speaking at a space conference recently held in Naples, Italy. The technology would only be used for one test flight in 2017 that has no crew. It will be part of Orion's service module, which provides propulsion, life support and other functions. The European technology would be developed from Esa's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo spacecraft.   NASA in nasal spray deal to combat motion sickness   Irene Klotz - Reuters   NASA has signed an agreement with a California-based startup to develop and market a nasal spray for motion sickness, the U.S. space agency said on Friday. NASA will work with privately owned Epiomed Therapeutics of Irvine, California, on the nasal spray, which has been shown to be a fast-acting treatment for motion sickness. About half the astronauts who fly in space develop space motion sickness, with symptoms that anyone nauseated or light-headed from more terrestrial forms of travel will recognize.   Russia Wants Reusable Rockets By 2020   Rob Coppinger - Space.com   The first flight of a reusable Russian rocket booster that returns to the launch pad under its own power could occur by 2020, Russian space officials say. The flyback booster, called the Re-entry Rocket Module (RRM), is part of a larger Russian project that aims to develop a partially reusable rocket called the Reusable Integrated Launch Vehicle, or RILV. The RRM would be the RILV's first stage. The RRM is designed to operate for 100 launches, and its main engine, called the liquid-propellant rocket engine (LPRE), will be initially re-ignitable 10 times, with an ultimate goal of 25 uses. The LPRE will burn liquid oxygen along with methane or kerosene, officials say. The RRM is being developed for the Russian Federal Space Agency by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, based in Moscow.   Astronauts hail skydiver Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking supersonic jump   Tariq Malik - Space.com   Astronauts in the United States and Europe sent congratulations to Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner today (Oct. 14), showering the daredevil with praise after he broke the world record for the highest skydive during a harrowing supersonic freefall. Baumgartner, 43, set the new record for the world's highest skydive when he jumped from an altitude of 128,097 feet (39,044 meters) — the equivalent of just over 24 miles (39 kilometers) —and broke the sound barrier during his long descent back to Earth. The daring supersonic jump caught the eye of professional astronauts, even if Baumgartner did not leap from the official edge of space 62 miles (100 km) up.   Kids in South Bay connect to astronauts aboard Space Station   Mike Rosenberg - San Jose Mercury News   Ben Westlund is only in the third grade, but Saturday he seemed to fully grasp just how amazing it was to be talking to an astronaut in space. Decked out in a full astronaut costume, complete with space gloves and a jetpack backpack, the 8-year-old Santa Cruz boy said konnichiwa -- "hello" -- to the Japanese astronaut aboard the International Space Station and talked to him briefly about outer space. "That was like a rare time in life," Ben said after talking to English-speaking astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. "It was like he was standing right in front of me. Right there!" Ben was one of 14 local school kids that used a ham radio to ask Hoshide questions about space in an unusual opportunity for boys and girls to learn real-life science outside the classroom.   After glitches and delays, Endeavour finally reaches its new home   Andrew Khouri, Marisa Gerber & Abby Sewell - Los Angeles Times   It was built for orbital speeds approaching five miles per second, but space shuttle Endeavour took its own sweet time Sunday as it wheeled triumphantly onto the grounds of its new home, the California Science Center. "Mission 26 — mission accomplished," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced, amid the cheers of thousands of spectators. Before it was retired by NASA, the spacecraft had logged 25 flight missions.   Endeavour finally reaches permanent LA museum home   Christopher Weber & Alicia Chang - Associated Press   Space shuttle Endeavour was finally lodged at its retirement home Monday following a slow weekend parade through city streets that turned out to be a logistical headache. After a 12-mile weave past trees and utility poles that included thousands of adoring onlookers, flashing cameras and even the filming of a TV commercial, Endeavour arrived at the California Science Center Sunday - about 17 hours behind schedule. It sat on the grounds of the museum for several more hours before finally moving toward a hangar. "It's just a crazy thing that we did but we pulled it off," said Kenneth Philips, curator of aerospace science at the museum.   Space shuttle Endeavour rolls into new L.A. home at museum   Alex Dobuzinskis - Reuters   The retired space shuttle Endeavour rolled into its retirement home at a museum early on Sunday, in the conclusion of a slow-motion parade through the narrow streets of Los Angeles. Endeavour arrived at about 10:45 a.m. at Exposition Park, the site of the California Science Center where the shuttle will go on permanent display on October 30 inside a pavilion. "I'm so glad to be living to see this," said Los Angeles native Shirley Green, 78, who was on hand, wearing an American flag scarf, to watch the shuttle arrive at its new home.   Shuttle reaches retirement roost in sunny SoCal   Justin Ray - SpaceflightNow.com   Shimmying, zig-zagging and pivoting to dodge trees and poles in the final stretch, the space shuttle Endeavour pulled into her new residence for retirement Sunday, capping an arduous two-and-a-half-day trek through Los Angeles to reach the California Science Center at Exposition Park. Used to orbiting the planet at five miles per second, this dramatic Earth-bound journey took 61 hours to cover 12 miles -- 16 hours longer than planned -- with a million spectators packing sidewalks along the route to soak in this once-in-a-lifetime event. "Mother of all parades, baby!" said LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Endeavour's move to her exhibition hall completes three of the four shuttle deliveries, as NASA distributes the vehicles to display sites now that the 40-year-program is over.   Space shuttle Endeavour vendors cash in on 'shuttlemania'   Los Angeles Times   Randy Montano wasn’t planning on charging people to use his aerial lift. But when people started “throwing money” his way, space shuttle Endeavour’s journey through Los Angeles quickly became something of a business venture. As Montano -- owner of a sign and graphics company along the shuttle route -- controlled the lift, people strolled up to him, asking the price. "Whatever you want to give," Montano told one inquirer. "I am never going to have the space shuttle near my shop again."   Space flight leaders gather in Las Cruces for symposium   Steve Ramirez - Las Cruces-Sun News   Less than 10 years ago, all the talk about the commercial space flight industry was conceptual. Today, it's about the five Ws — who, what, where, when and why. New Mexico has been a major player in the growth of the industry. It is preparing to start operations of Spaceport America, which is supposed to signal the start of everyday people having opportunities to fly commercially into space. Commercial space flight has already started, with cargo and payloads delivered to the International Space Station this summer. To keep the synergy going, commercial space flight leaders will gather in Las Cruces this week for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight. The symposium will be a two-day affair, Wednesday and Thursday at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road, but other events associated with the symposium will also be conducted Tuesday and Friday.   Your presidential vote shouldn't be based on space   John Kelly - Florida Today (Commentary)   There is no good reason to cast your presidential vote based on space policy. Neither of the two major-party candidates running for the White House offers a robust, adequately funded national space policy. And, the fiscal demands facing both the president and the budget-writers in Congress by this winter will not allow a big boost. President Barack Obama should get credit for taking the fledgling commercial cargo and crew program in place before we elected him and doubling-down on the idea that private companies could bring innovation, agility and cost savings to space flight. With two private Dragon flights to the space station under NASA's belt, far faster and cheaper than any of the many failed government-conceived space transport systems envisioned to do the same work, it's time to double down again on the private sector.   Don’t Give Up Human Space Exploration   Vance Brand - Aviation Week (Opinion)   (Brand flew on Apollo-Soyuz and commanded three shuttle missions)   The U.S. currently leads the world in the human exploration of deep space, but the nation is on the verge of losing that distinction. It is approaching a tipping point. Apollo 17, the last lunar landing with humans, was 40 years ago. Transportation to Earth orbit is being turned over to the commercial sector, which is desirable. The exploration of deep space by humans is what is being dismantled. Today, NASA is developing a heavy-lift launch system and the Orion manned spacecraft, but there are no credible destinations or goals for them. What will historians say about us 50 years from now? __________   COMPLETE STORIES   NASA Budget Fundamentals Supercede Campaign Rhetoric   Dan Leone - Space News   NASA will continue to face a mismatch between available funding and programmatic mandates regardless of who wins the White House in November, space policy experts here said.   Republican challenger Mitt Romney has criticized the current civil space program for its lack of direction, but with the election just three weeks away has yet to articulate an alternative vision.   Romney has, however, hinted that he will not seek to boost NASA’s roughly $17 billion annual budget.   “A strong and successful NASA does not require more funding,” Romney said in a space policy white paper released Sept. 22. “It needs clearer priorities.”   That statement, analysts said, raises the question of which of NASA’s major programs can be sustained in the years ahead.   “The $17 billion-a-year question is, ‘What might those priorities be?’” said Jeff Foust, a space industry analyst with Bethesda, Md.-based Futron Corp. who independently publishes several well-read space policy blogs. Foust said he has no ties to either the Romney campaign or that of President Barack Obama.   “Any changes to NASA would have to fit within the current budget levels, since they’ve indicated that NASA doesn’t need more money,” Foust wrote in an Oct. 9 email. “What specifically would be delayed or canceled isn’t clear, but at current budget levels, something will have to give.”   Several Washington-area space policy observers said that if Obama wins re-election, NASA will simply press on with its current program: paying private operators to ship cargo and crews to the international space station while simultaneously managing development of the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The congressionally mandated SLS and Orion are remnants of the Moon-bound Constellation program that was scuttled by Obama a year into his term. NASA science programs, meanwhile, would continue to chip in to make sure the budget-busting James Webb Space Telescope, an astrophysics flagship, gets off the ground in 2018.   Romney is being advised by some of the strongest proponents of the Constellation program but also has offered qualified support for Obama’s commercial spaceflight strategy.   “NASA will look wherever possible to the private sector to provide repeatable space-based services like human and cargo transport to and from low Earth orbit,” the Romney campaign said in its space policy white paper.   Observers have long questioned whether NASA can afford to pursue parallel human spaceflight policies, and that situation will not change if the White House changes hands in January.   “The No. 1 issue after November will be the question of how NASA can complete its long-term vision for human spaceflight, expeditions into deep space, with a budget that is insufficient for its conduct,” said Howard McCurdy, a NASA historian and professor of public affairs at American University here. McCurdy said he is neither working for nor advising either campaign.   Foust said the mismatch between budget and mandate at NASA is not likely to disappear in the next four years. “In the 2010 NASA Authorization Act, NASA was authorized to spend $19.96 billion in 2013,” he said. “The actual amount appropriated is going to be significantly less: probably no more than about $17.5 billion, and perhaps much less if sequestration or other cuts go through.”   Sequestration is an across-the-board cut in federal spending that would take effect in January if the White House and Congress fail to reach an agreement on long-term deficit reduction before the end of this year. It would skim 8.2 percent off of NASA’s top-line budget during 2013.   Romney says that upon taking office, he would initiate a comprehensive space policy review that includes the stakeholders from the civil, military and commercial space communities “to set goals, identify missions, and define the pathway forward.”   This proposed policy planning exercise has drawn comparisons to the human spaceflight policy review commissioned by Obama shortly after he took office. The 90-day review, led by former Lockheed Martin chief Norman Augustine, said NASA’s Constellation program was unsustainable at projected funding levels, a conclusion the Obama administration cited in dismantling the effort.   John Logsdon, professor emeritus at the George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs and founder of the Space Policy Institute there, said Romney might have something a bit less formal in mind with his review.   “My impression is that they are not going to commission a 90-day or six-month review,” Logsdon said in an Oct. 8 phone interview. “It’s bringing good people together and meeting for a couple of days and then coming out with a position. But that’s a guess.”   Logsdon has publicly endorsed Obama’s NASA strategy, but said he has not worked directly for the president’s re-election campaign.   Romney’s supporters in the space community include former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin, who in that capacity was Constellation’s chief proponent, and Scott Pace, who served as NASA associate administrator under Griffin. Given that makeup, it is reasonable to expect that Romney’s NASA might tack back toward a Constellation-like exploration program, Logsdon said.   “All of those people are representative of a pro Vision for Space Exploration in the future,” Logsdon said. “So if they do indeed turn out to be Romney’s advisers [after the election] it’s likely that exploration will remain the guiding goal of the program.”   The Vision for Space Exploration was former president George W. Bush’s long-term strategy for NASA that spawned the Constellation program.   But given the potential cost of SLS and Orion, on which NASA is now spending nearly $3 billion a year, it is not clear “whether a Romney administration would endorse a future exploration program for which SLS is essential,” he said.   Despite the sustainability issue raised by the Augustine panel, Constellation had the political advantage of representing a guiding vision for NASA that is now lacking, said Marcia Smith, an Arlington, Va., consultant whose space policy website is closely followed inside the Beltway.   “Constellation was destination driven,” Smith said. No matter who wins the election, NASA will be vulnerable to accusations on Capitol Hill and elsewhere that it lacks focus “until there is a destination everyone embraces,” she said.   On the other hand, Smith said, Obama’s commercialization strategy, which was heavily criticized when it was unveiled in early 2009, appears to be here to stay. “Commercial cargo, barring a catastrophe, is pretty much on its way,” Smith said Oct. 9, a day before a cargo capsule launched by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — the first contractor to begin routine space station logistics flights under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program — was berthed with the orbital outpost.   The first commercial flight carrying astronauts to the station is tentatively slated for 2017. Outside of the commercial program, “there are not many realistic options” for ferrying U.S. personnel to and from space following the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle fleet last year, Smith said. She said she has no ties to either campaign.   The Romney campaign did not respond by press time to questions submitted by Space News regarding the challenger’s positions on civil or military space policy.   Esa boss confident agency will join US Orion project   Rob Coppinger - BBC News   The head of the European Space Agency has said he is confident member states will elect to participate in the US manned Orion spacecraft.   The Esa chief, Jean-Jacques Dordain, was speaking at a space conference recently held in Naples, Italy.   The technology would only be used for one test flight in 2017 that has no crew.   It will be part of Orion's service module, which provides propulsion, life support and other functions.   The European technology would be developed from Esa's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo spacecraft.   This vehicle will have supplied the International Space Station (ISS) five times by 2014, in return for Europe's use of the ISS until 2015.   The Orion module technology will pay for Europe's ISS access until 2020. Europe's Orion participation is expected to be agreed by Esa's member states at a budget meeting in Caserta, Italy on 20-21 November.   Speaking at the 63rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), held in Naples, Italy on 1 October, Esa director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain said of the service module proposal: "I think the members will choose this."   He added that his member states have to decide this November to finance the Orion service module technology because of Orion's 2017 mission deadline.   For this service module, Esa will have to develop propulsion technology deemed safe enough for propelling a crewed spacecraft - something the agency has never done. The cost to Esa of this work to meet its ISS obligations to 2020 is expected to be several hundred million euros.   Bernardo Patti is head of Esa's ISS programme and exploration department within the agency's directorate of human spaceflight. He told BBC News: "Esa, in order to offset its post ATV 5 obligations, builds the service module for the first mission of the [Orion], an unmanned mission that is scheduled for the end of 2017."   Other options   He added that the majority of the service module's hardware will be European, including the rocket engine, but there was no agreement for continued European production beyond the 2017 mission.   The service module provides propulsion, avionics, power generation with its solar arrays, vehicle thermal control and the storage of consumables, such as water, oxygen and nitrogen for life support and rocket engine fuel. Nasa declined to comment on Esa's involvement with its new manned spacecraft because there is no "formal agreement".   The company developing Orion for the US space agency, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, deferred enquiries to Nasa. Lockheed has been developing Orion ever since it won the contract in 2006.   Then Orion was part of President George Bush's Constellation programme that would return America to the Moon by 2020. For Orion, Lockheed has already developed the service module's circular solar arrays that are unfolded and deployed once the spacecraft is in orbit.   Orion is for exploration and beyond Earth orbit missions. Nasa is working with companies to develop astronaut taxis to go to the ISS, Orion is not expected to fulfil this role. The 2017 Orion launch will be the second unmanned flight for the spaceship but the first time it is orbited by Nasa's proposed heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS).   The first unmanned launch is in 2014 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket. The 2017 flight is called Exploration Mission 1. The second SLS mission, Exploration Mission 2, is targeted for 2021 and will launch Orion with a crew of up to four US astronauts.   During an IAC presentation Lockheed's exploration architect Josh Hopkins, who works with the company's Orion team, told his audience that Europe would provide the rocket engine and assemble the service module. Hopkins told the BBC that if the Esa member states miss the November deadline for the service module they could opt for the habitation module the spacecraft's crew needs.   Under President Barack Obama's exploration plans in the 2020s and 2030s astronauts will fly around the Moon's dark side, go beyond the Moon and back to Earth, visit a near Earth asteroid, and eventually fly to Mars and back.   For these long duration missions, the astronauts would stay onboard Orion for a lot longer, continuously, than planned under the Constellation programme.   So, Orion needs a habitation module that astronauts can live in for several weeks or more. Hopkins pointed out that technologies from ATV and Europe's ISS Columbus laboratory would be suitable for the habitation module.   But Patti told the BBC that his agency was not discussing a habitation module. The European agency had considered developing its ATV into a manned spacecraft but its member countries would not foot the bill.   Europe will have launched five ATVs by 2015, the original end date for the ISS. The fourth ATV, dubbed "Albert Einstein", will be despatched to the launch site in August for a lift-off in Spring next year. The fifth and final ATV, called "Georges Lemaitre," will be launched in 2014.   NASA in nasal spray deal to combat motion sickness   Irene Klotz - Reuters   NASA has signed an agreement with a California-based startup to develop and market a nasal spray for motion sickness, the U.S. space agency said on Friday.   NASA will work with privately owned Epiomed Therapeutics of Irvine, California, on the nasal spray, which has been shown to be a fast-acting treatment for motion sickness.   About half the astronauts who fly in space develop space motion sickness, with symptoms that anyone nauseated or light-headed from more terrestrial forms of travel will recognize.   NASA has been working on giving astronauts an edge: a fast-acting medicine called intranasal scopolamine, or INSCOP.   The drug also can be administered as a tablet, via a transdermal patch or injected, but a nasal spray can work faster and more reliably, NASA said.   "NASA and Epiomed will work closely together on further development of INSCOP to optimize therapeutic efficiency for both acute and chronic treatment of motion sickness," NASA researcher Lakshmi Putcha, with the Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement.   In addition to partnering with NASA, Epiomed is working with the U.S. Navy to test the nasal spray.   Epiomed will assume responsibility for sponsorship of future clinical trials and for Federal Drug Administration approvals, NASA said. There has been no word on whether a prescription would be required for the nasal spray.   Russia Wants Reusable Rockets By 2020   Rob Coppinger - Space.com   The first flight of a reusable Russian rocket booster that returns to the launch pad under its own power could occur by 2020, Russian space officials say.   The flyback booster, called the Re-entry Rocket Module (RRM), is part of a larger Russian project that aims to develop a partially reusable rocket called the Reusable Integrated Launch Vehicle, or RILV. The RRM would be the RILV's first stage.   The RRM is designed to operate for 100 launches, and its main engine, called the liquid-propellant rocket engine (LPRE), will be initially re-ignitable 10 times, with an ultimate goal of 25 uses. The LPRE will burn liquid oxygen along with methane or kerosene, officials say.   The RRM is being developed for the Russian Federal Space Agency by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, based in Moscow.   "We will finish the [RRM booster’s] preliminary design by September 2013, and our next step will be the development of the demonstrator system, which will include an engine like this one [LPRE]," Anatoly Kuzin, Khrunichev’s deputy general director, said Oct. 3 at the International Astronautical Federation’s 63rd congress in Naples, Italy.   The RRM will have four LPREs as engines, Kuzin added. If one fails during ascent, the others will increase their thrust to 130 percent of their normal levels. In addition to conventional rocket technology, the RRM will use aviation components, design philosophies and technologies. After its flight, the RRM will cruise back to its launch site autonomously, using a wing, along with airbreathing jet engines located in its nose.   Two RRM designs are being studied, one with a conventional "pivoting wing" and the other with an aerodynamic "tapered wing." The RRM nose shape is optimized for the aerodynamic needs of re-entry flight and to accommodate the booster’s jet engines, fuel tank, pneumatic and hydraulic mechanisms, and avionics, Kuzin said. The booster’s three-wheeled landing gear is stored in the nose and fuselage. Like an aircraft, the RRM has a vertical fin with a rudder installed in the tail section.   The larger RILV rocket that the RRM will power is being developed under the Russian space agency's Phase 1 Reusable Launch System project. The RILV is envisioned to be a family of four launch vehicles that can put between 55,000 and 132,000 pounds (25,000 to 60,000 kilograms) of payload into low-Earth orbit (LEO).   The 55,000-pound version uses a single, two-stage core and one RRM. The 77,000- and 99,000-pound RILV models use a similar core, but incorporate two RRM boosters instead of one. The 132,000-pound variant uses a longer two-stage core and two RRMs, Kuzin said. The RILV core stage will likely also use the LPRE, which has been in development since 2006.   The RRM will separate from the RILV core stage at an altitude of up to 34 miles (55 kilometers) above the launch site, while travelling at about seven times the speed of sound, officials say.   The RRM will then carry on in a suborbital coast. When it descends to an altitude of about 12 miles (19 km), it will tilt its wing and engage in a turning maneuver using its jet engines. The booster will then cruise home to the launch site’s runway, probably from a distance of about 93 miles (150 km).   The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory announced a similar project in 2011 called the Reusable Booster System. The American version would also employ a reusable first stage that could fly back to a runway at the launch site. Instead of using airbreathing jet engines, however, the U.S. craft would rely on its rocket engine to decelerate after staging, then use that engine again to cruise back to the runway. No date has been given for launching a demonstrator system for the U.S. version.   Astronauts hail skydiver Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking supersonic jump   Tariq Malik - Space.com   Astronauts in the United States and Europe sent congratulations to Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner today (Oct. 14), showering the daredevil with praise after he broke the world record for the highest skydive during a harrowing supersonic freefall.   Baumgartner, 43, set the new record for the world's highest skydive when he jumped from an altitude of 128,097 feet (39,044 meters) — the equivalent of just over 24 miles (39 kilometers) —and broke the sound barrier during his long descent back to Earth. The daring supersonic jump caught the eye of professional astronauts, even if Baumgartner did not leap from the official edge of space 62 miles (100 km) up.   "Simply awesome job #Felix...now that's what I call pushing the limit!" British astronaut Tim Peake of the European Space Agency wrote via Twitter as astro_timpeake.   Baumgartner's jump, called the Red Bull Stratos mission, was sponsored by the energy drink of the same name and webcast live, with camera views from the ground and from the skydiver's capsule.   "You go Felix!!!" NASA astronaut Nicole Stott added in her own Twitter post (Astro_Nicole), which included screenshots of webcast. Later, Stott celebrated Baumgartner's safe landing: "Felix Baumgartner on the ground! 128000ft!"   Baumgartner spent 4 minutes and 20 seconds in freefall and hit a preliminary top speed of 833 mph (1,342.8 kph), breaking the sound barrier as he hit Mach 1.24, Red Bull Stratos officials said.    " I didn't feel a sonic boom because I was so busy just trying to stabilize myself," Baumgartner said in a statement after landing, adding that he went into a tough spin at the jump's beginning. "It was really a lot harder than I thought it was going to be."   Baumgartner broke the record for the world's highest skydive, longest freefall without a drogue cute, highest manned balloon flight and fastest freefall during the leap, which began with a balloon launch from Roswell, N.M.   Red Bull Stratos officials said that in addition to breaking several standing records, the project was aimed at understanding how the human body responds to the extreme environment near the edge of space.   ESA astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy of France said the jump could help future astronaut escape systems, adding that the jump was something that he'd also thought about in the past.   "My dream of coming back from space by foot is about to be realized," Clervoy wrote as astro_JFrancois. "This is just like a spacewalk, but on a vertical orbit."   Several NASA and ESA astronauts appeared to be following Baumgartner's skydive attempt live. Some noted that the skydiver was the fourth-highest person near Earth, beat only by the three astronauts living on the International Space Station, which orbits more than 240 miles (386 km) above the planet.   ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian Air Force officer who writes on Twitter as Astro_Samantha, repeatedly posted links to the live Red Bull Stratos webcast to ask the public (and her fellow astronauts) if they were watching. She marveled at the live views of Earth from more than 24 miles.   "Look at that! Who says technology doesn't possess beauty?" Cristoforetti wrote.   The previous skydiving record, which stood unbroken for 52 years, was set in 1960 by U.S. Air Force Capt. Joe Kittinger when he made his own stratospheric jump from an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,333 m). Kittinger served as an team advisor on the Red Bull Stratos mission, and was Baumgartner's capsule communicator during the historic supersonic skydive.   "Records are made to be broken," Kittinger said in a post-jump news conference. "And a better champion could not have been found than Felix Baumgartner."   Praise for Baumgartner's leap did not only come from individual astronauts. ESA and NASA also weighed in on the jump.   "Congratulations … from all of us at ESA!" the European Space Agency wrote via Twitter.   "Congrats Felix Baumgartner and #spacejump team. We're working on supersonic flight for the rest of us - with a plane!" added officials at NASA's Langley Research Center in Langley, Va., which is researching future supersonic flight concepts.   Even private spaceflight companies sent congratulations to Baumgartner. The private space tourism company Virgin Galactic lauded the flight on its official Twitter account.   George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic's president (gtwhitesides), conceded that his company's SpaceShipTwo passenger spaceships will fly higher than Baumgartner when they make begin their commercial suborbital space launches, but passengers will always return home inside the spacecraft. Baumgartner's feat, Whitesides added, stands apart.   "Felix is a truly brave explorer, and his jump will benefit space exploration," Whitesides wrote.   Kids in South Bay connect to astronauts aboard Space Station   Mike Rosenberg - San Jose Mercury News   Ben Westlund is only in the third grade, but Saturday he seemed to fully grasp just how amazing it was to be talking to an astronaut in space.   Decked out in a full astronaut costume, complete with space gloves and a jetpack backpack, the 8-year-old Santa Cruz boy said konnichiwa -- "hello" -- to the Japanese astronaut aboard the International Space Station and talked to him briefly about outer space.   "That was like a rare time in life," Ben said after talking to English-speaking astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. "It was like he was standing right in front of me. Right there!"   Ben was one of 14 local school kids that used a ham radio to ask Hoshide questions about space in an unusual opportunity for boys and girls to learn real-life science outside the classroom.   The event was made possible after a year of planning by local amateur radio enthusiasts and NASA, which combined to set up an elaborate satellite radio system used to connect the Santa Clara Marriott with outer space.   As the space station hovered over Italy for 10 minutes, the astronauts connected to the kids at the hotel via a "telebridge" conference call involving Italian engineers and a moderator in Australia. Some phone signal problems in the minutes leading up to the event kept organizers nervous, but the call to space went off without a hitch.   The kids, mostly from Brook Knoll Elementary School in the Scotts Valley Unified School District, took turns asking the astronaut questions like:   ·         "Can you see other planets up there?" Hoshide answered that he saw Mars just the other day.   ·         "How do you sleep -- do you have beds?" Yes, they're the size of a phone booth.   ·         And, most importantly, "Can you eat ice cream in space?" Yes, they just got in a new batch.   Proud parents and the local ham radio enthusiasts in town for a large amateur radio convention at the hotel beamed with pride and couldn't seem to stop commenting on how cute the whole thing was.   Using proper ham radio etiquette, the kids all had to say "over" before ending their questions, which NASA had preapproved so Hoshide had plenty of time to think of some clever answers.   U.S. astronaut Lee Morin, in his blue NASA outfit, also was on hand to talk and take pictures with the kids.   "It was a level of excitement I haven't seen," said Joe Spier, the bowtie-wearing emcee of the event and an education director for the amateur radio group that helped organize it, called AMSAT.   For the kids, Spier said, "it's kind of like, now (the astronauts) actually exist. You can do this if you study and stay in school."   If you're wondering, the hardest part about living in space, according to Hoshide's answer to one inquisitive little girl, is taking a bath -- since the water would go everywhere in the weightless environment. He said they have to get clean by wetting towels with soapy water.   Hoshide -- from Japan's version of NASA, called JAXA -- reassured any kids thinking about becoming astronauts when they grow up:   "It's even cooler than I expected."   NASA, AMSAT and the American Radio Relay League launched the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program in 2000 and have since connected about 760 groups of kids with astronauts aboard the space station, AMSAT president Barry Baines said.   NASA usually sends "technical mentors" that show local ham radio enthusiasts how to set up the equipment. In the case of the Santa Clara event, it took organizers about six hours Friday to prepare.   Kids like Ben submitted 40 questions and the best were picked as organizers scrambled in the past two weeks to set up the event after learning of their upcoming brief window of communication with the space station.   Ben, who played astronaut Buzz Aldrin in a recent school role-playing activity, has read a couple of books about space. And his interest won't end with Saturday's event.   He said: "I want to be an astronaut for Halloween."   After glitches and delays, Endeavour finally reaches its new home   Andrew Khouri, Marisa Gerber & Abby Sewell - Los Angeles Times   It was built for orbital speeds approaching five miles per second, but space shuttle Endeavour took its own sweet time Sunday as it wheeled triumphantly onto the grounds of its new home, the California Science Center.   "Mission 26 — mission accomplished," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced, amid the cheers of thousands of spectators. Before it was retired by NASA, the spacecraft had logged 25 flight missions.   However, its final journey was slowed by unexpected maintenance issues and last-minute maneuvers to avoid obstacles like trees and utility poles. Ultimately, the 85-ton orbiter survived the trip with nary a scratch.   Endeavour arrived at Exposition Park more than 16 hours late, after a three-day, 12-mile journey from Los Angeles International Airport.   In preparation for the move, the city of Los Angeles felled 268 trees to make room for Endeavour's wings, while public works crews temporarily removed 223 traffic signals and raised more than 100 power and utility lines. Shuttle transporters designed a complex series of zigzag, crab-like movements to move the craft down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to avoid harming pine trees planted in honor of the late civil rights leader.   Even so, the journey was halted repeatedly so crews could do last-minute trims on tree branches. At one point, workers lowered the shuttle so it could sneak under the branches of a leafy tree.   The trip was also lengthened when a two-hour maintenance stop in Leimert Park on Saturday night stretched to five hours. As it began rolling again, crews spotted a hydraulic leak from one of the wheeled trailers under the spacecraft and hit the brakes.   Despite the delays, the crowds remained buoyant. When Endeavour reached the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Vermont Avenue about 10:45 a.m., thousands of people poured into the streets chanting "Science Center or bust!", "Let's go, let's go!" and "So close, so close!"   The Los Angeles Police Department reported no arrests, although some spectators suffered heat exhaustion and other injuries.   Many spectators waited through the night or rose long before dawn for their chance to view a piece of history. Some were still clad in pajamas and bathrobes as the shuttle passed through their neighborhoods early in the morning.   Guy Quesada, 42, began his stakeout at the California Science Center at 4 p.m. Saturday. But after hours of waiting, he decided to find the shuttle on his own. He walked west on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for about an hour and squeezed through the crowd to catch a glimpse. By Sunday morning, he had wandered back east to the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 6th Avenue, where he watched the shuttle through a pair of binoculars.   "The actual wing was right over us. It [crept] right over us," Quesada said, smiling. He said he was close enough to read the numbers on the shuttle's individual tiles.   Donna Rosen, 61, drove from Santa Clarita at 4 a.m. Sunday to walk alongside the shuttle for a few hours. For her, the mission was partly personal. In the early 1980s she had worked in the governor's office in Texas and met shuttle astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen.   "I didn't know it was on my bucket list, but it's one of the coolest things I've ever seen," Rosen said.   The California Science Center said the total bill for transporting Endeavour from LAX to its new home could top $10 million, a tab the center is covering with donations. Officials have stressed that none of the costs will be paid with taxpayer dollars.   Endeavour finally reaches permanent LA museum home   Christopher Weber & Alicia Chang - Associated Press   Space shuttle Endeavour was finally lodged at its retirement home Monday following a slow weekend parade through city streets that turned out to be a logistical headache.   After a 12-mile weave past trees and utility poles that included thousands of adoring onlookers, flashing cameras and even the filming of a TV commercial, Endeavour arrived at the California Science Center Sunday - about 17 hours behind schedule.   It sat on the grounds of the museum for several more hours before finally moving toward a hangar.   "It's just a crazy thing that we did but we pulled it off," said Kenneth Philips, curator of aerospace science at the museum.   Movers had planned a slow trip, saying the shuttle that once orbited at more than 17,000 mph would move at just 2 mph in its final voyage through Inglewood and southern Los Angeles.   But that estimate turned out to be generous, with Endeavour often creeping along at a barely detectable pace when it wasn't at a dead stop due to difficult-to-maneuver obstacles like tree branches and light posts.   Despite the holdups, the team charged with transporting the shuttle felt a "great sense of accomplishment" when it made it onto the museum grounds, said Jim Hennessy, a spokesman for Sarens, the contract mover.   "It's historic and will be a great memory," he said. "Not too many people will be able to match that - to say, `We moved the space shuttle through the streets of Inglewood and Los Angeles.'"   Transporting Endeavour cross-town was a costly feat with an estimated price tag of $10 million, to be paid for by the science center and private donations.   Late Friday, crews spent hours transferring the shuttle to a special, lighter towing dolly for its trip over Interstate 405. The dolly was pulled across the Manchester Boulevard bridge by a Toyota Tundra pickup, and the car company filmed the event for a commercial after paying for a permit, turning the entire scene into a movie set complete with special lighting, sound and staging.   Saturday started off promising, with Endeavour 90 minutes ahead of schedule. But accumulated hurdles and hiccups caused it to run hours behind at day's end.   Some 400 trees had been removed along the route, but officials said most of the trees that gave them trouble could not be cut down because they were old or treasured for other reasons, including some planted in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.   The crowd had its problems too. Despite temperatures in the mid-70s, several dozen people were treated for heat-related injuries after a long day in the sun, according to fire officials.   But it was a happy, peaceful crowd, with firefighters having only to respond to a sheared hydrant and a small rubbish fire, and no reports of any arrests.   At every turn of Endeavour's slow-speed commute through urban streets, spectators jammed intersections as the shuttle shuffled past stores, schools, churches and front yards through the working-class streets of southern Los Angeles. Sidewalks were off-limits due to Endeavour's enormous wingspan.   Endeavour's arrival in Los Angeles was a homecoming. It may have zipped around the Earth nearly 4,700 times, but its roots are solidly grounded in California. Its main engines were fashioned in the San Fernando Valley. The heat tiles were invented in Silicon Valley. Its "fly-by-wire" technology was developed in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey. In 1991, it rolled off the assembly line in the Mojave Desert to replace Challenger, which blew up during liftoff in 1986.   It was scheduled to go on display starting Oct. 30.   Space shuttle Endeavour rolls into new L.A. home at museum   Alex Dobuzinskis - Reuters   The retired space shuttle Endeavour rolled into its retirement home at a museum early on Sunday, in the conclusion of a slow-motion parade through the narrow streets of Los Angeles.   Endeavour arrived at about 10:45 a.m. at Exposition Park, the site of the California Science Center where the shuttle will go on permanent display on October 30 inside a pavilion.   "I'm so glad to be living to see this," said Los Angeles native Shirley Green, 78, who was on hand, wearing an American flag scarf, to watch the shuttle arrive at its new home.   Endeavour nosed out of Los Angeles International Airport before dawn on Friday for the 12-mile (19-km) trip to its retirement home. Organizers had expected the shuttle to complete its journey by Saturday evening but it fell behind schedule as crews had to make late adjustments to clear room for it.   The shuttle, which prompted cheers and expressions of awe from spectators as it inched through the city's streets, will become a tourist attraction at the center. Endeavour was largely built in southern California and was a workhorse of the U.S. space program, flying 25 missions.   The trip was delayed in part due to maintenance needed for the massive, wheeled transporter that carried Endeavor and to trim some trees along the route, organizers said.   Endeavour flew from 1992 to 2011 and was built to replace the Challenger, which exploded seconds into a 1986 launch in a mishap that killed all seven crew members on board. Endeavour was taken out of service at the end of the shuttle program.   The shuttle is 122 feet long and 78 feet wide and stands 5 stories tall at the tail, which police said makes it the largest object ever to move through Los Angeles. Its combined weight with the transporter was 80 tons.   Organizers say only a few inches separated Endeavour's wings from structures along the route, and workers felled 400 trees along curbs to clear a path. The science center will plant more than 1,000 trees to make up for their loss.   Making room   Some street lights, traffic signals, power poles and parking meters were temporarily removed.   The budget to move Endeavour was over $10 million, said Shell Amega, a science center spokeswoman. Charitable foundations and corporations have donated money and services for the move.   The delays and extra work added to the price tag of Endeavor's last journey, said William Harris, a senior vice president at the Science Center.   "This did cut into our costs," Harris said. "As we always said, safety and security are our main concern. It was very dark last night, there were times that we were literally inches of clearance, at times the thickness of a credit card."   Endeavour has hop-scotched across the country from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the back of a modified Boeing 747. It had been parked at the airport in Los Angeles since arriving on September 21 after a ceremonial piggyback flight around California.   The shuttle will be displayed in a temporary hangar-style metal structure to protect it from the elements. In 2017, a 200-foot-tall (61-meter) structure will open in which Endeavour will stand vertically, said Ken Phillips, aerospace curator at the California Science Center.   The other remaining shuttles also have found homes.   The Smithsonian in Washington has Discovery at its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center museum in Virginia. New York City has the prototype shuttle Enterprise at its Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. And the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral has Atlantis, which the center will move to an on-site visitors complex next month.   Shuttle reaches retirement roost in sunny SoCal   Justin Ray - SpaceflightNow.com   Shimmying, zig-zagging and pivoting to dodge trees and poles in the final stretch, the space shuttle Endeavour pulled into her new residence for retirement Sunday, capping an arduous two-and-a-half-day trek through Los Angeles to reach the California Science Center at Exposition Park.   Used to orbiting the planet at five miles per second, this dramatic Earth-bound journey took 61 hours to cover 12 miles -- 16 hours longer than planned -- with a million spectators packing sidewalks along the route to soak in this once-in-a-lifetime event.   "Mother of all parades, baby!" said LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.   Endeavour's move to her exhibition hall completes three of the four shuttle deliveries, as NASA distributes the vehicles to display sites now that the 40-year-program is over.   On April 12, 2011, the California Science Center was selected in the hotly-contested race to get an orbiter, joining the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C., Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and New York's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum as the winners of Discovery, Atlantis and prototype Enterprise. Only Atlantis remains to be shipped out, an event coming up on Nov. 2.   The California institution is known for its hands-on educational experience for schoolchildren. Lines of school buses parked outside are a familiar sight, as classes visit the learning center for field trips. Endeavour will serve as an inspirational tool for kids to study science, technology, engineering and math.   With Enterprise in America's largest city, Discovery now preserved in the national archive and Atlantis staying put at KSC, a short drive from the tourist mecca of Orlando, Endeavour finds herself with a future in motivating youngsters at CSC and adding to the museum's educational credentials.   The science center constructed a building -- the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion, named in honor of the late philanthropist -- to house Endeavour for display. It opens to the public on Oct. 30.   "Endeavour is a true national treasure," said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles). "I encourage each and every one of you, bring your friends, family and neighbors to the California Science Center to experience the impressive display of what may be considered the most complex machine ever built by mankind."   But the pavilion is meant to be only a temporary facility for the shuttle, as museum leaders envision grander plans to exhibit the 149,000-pound orbiter attached to an external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters as if she was poised to launch again. Fundraising is underway to finance that concept.   "I have had the pleasure of seeing their initial designs and let me tell you it's going to be really cool," said Stephanie Stilson, the NASA official in charge of decommissioning the space shuttle orbiters.   Endeavour's galley where astronauts prepared their meals and the space toilet both were removed from the ship's middeck for exhibiting outside of the shuttle, affording visitors a better view of the hardware that made the ship an orbital home to crews on 25 missions.   Another element for the center is the Spacehab module, acquired through Astrotech, that was flown most recently on Endeavour's STS-118 flight with teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan to the International Space Station, taking up a load of supplies and experiments. The vessel rode in the payload bay and was connected to the shuttle's crew module through a tunnel.   "They have lofty goals of installing that," Stilson said.   But NASA turned full possession and control of Endeavour over to the California Science Center. It will be up to the museum to insert the Spacehab module into Endeavour's payload bay and perform the work to hoist the shuttle upright for mating to the external fuel tank and booster rockets.   "We have, of course, given them our procedures of how we would do it (and) also given them lists of names of experts to consult with from United Space Alliance, pull those guys in and get their expertise."   USA was the private contractor whose workforce performed the the day-to-day operations that readied space shuttles for launch. But the end of the program sent that vast team into layoffs and retirements.   The eventual plans would display Endeavour, standing vertical, with the 60-foot-long payload bay doors open to see the Spacehab module tucked aboard.   "We won't have any official capacity or role, as of right now, things could change if they came back and said we officially want something, but I think we have a good partnership and will continue to consult with them and give them any type of help they could need," Stilson said.   "But really we will rely on those folks they could potentially hire from United Space Alliance, hire them as consultants and let them do that task because they are true experts."   In addition to handing over NASA procedures to use, the museum will get the space agency's ground-handling equipment for the operations.   Located in Exposition Park next to the LA Memorial Coliseum, where the University of Southern California plays football and site of the 1984 Summer Olympics, the CSC is between the Natural History Museum and the California African American Museum and just west of the 110 Harbor Freeway.   CSC already houses three space capsules -- Mercury 2 that launched the chimpanzee named Ham in 1961, Gemini 11 flown by Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon in 1966 and the U.S. command module from the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project that featured the first handshakes in space between Americans and the Soviets.   Endeavour returned from her final spaceflight on June 1, 2011, touching down at the Florida spaceport after delivering a particle physics experiment to the International Space Station. Over her 19-year flying career, the last of the shuttles to be built, the ship orbited the Earth 4,677 times and accumulated 299 days in space.   The past year has been spent decommissioning the vehicle, removing pyrotechnics, toxics and hazardous materials along with contaminated hardware that could be harmful to the public. Other key components were removed by NASA to save for possible future use.   She left her homeport at the Kennedy Space Center for the final time Sept. 19 mounted atop the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, stopping in Houston and then Edwards Air Force Base before arriving at the Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 21.   Endeavour was offloaded the next day and placed on a transporter was used in the early days of the shuttle program to haul brand new orbiters from their birthplace in Palmdale to Edwards Air Force Base for ferry to Florida. Industrial wheel dollies were added to the overland carrier for the Endeavour procession from LAX.   To await the precise dates negotiated in advance for the disruptive trek to the science center -- shutting down power, moving lines and the street signals out of the way -- Endeavour was parked in a United Airlines hangar from Sept. 22 until late Thursday night.   A self-propelled transporter under the control of one person using a remote joystick while walking alongside the vehicle moved the shuttle, periodically switching between wide and narrow spacings of its wheel dollies to straddle the roadways. A thousand-person team worked the exhausting procession to get Endeavour delivered safely and with no incidents reported by police.   But tree and utility poles posing as dangerous obstacles to the fragile shuttle caused the movers to slow the progress Saturday morning and then long into the evening. A celebration produced by renowned actress and choreographer Debbie Allen, complete with dancers and singers, at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Martin Luther King Blvd. with Endeavour there was supposed to happen at 2 p.m. Saturday. The show had to go on without Endeavour, however, which didn't arrive until 7:30 p.m.   Sunday morning presented very challenging conditions of crab-walking the shuttle's 78-foot wingspan down MLK, often having to back up a feet to safely angle the spaceship safely through.   The ship's maiden voyage in May 1992 was a dramatic adventure to rescue the wayward Intelsat 603 telecommunications satellite that required the astronauts to improvise with the first-ever three-man spacewalk to manually grab the spacecraft after attempts using a specially-designed capture bar failed to work.   The ship also conducted the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing in 1993, one of the stellar achievements for the space program that installed corrective optics to fix the observatory's flawed vision.   Other trips in the 1990s deployed and retrieved satellites, mapped the Earth with radar and scanned the cosmos with payloads carried in the orbiter's cargo bay. She also visited the Russian space station Mir once.   Then Endeavour opened the International Space Station era by launching the first American piece of the outpost -- the Unity connecting node -- to begin orbital construction in December 1998. Subsequent flights by Endeavour would take up the station's initial solar array power tower, all three sections of Canada's robotics including the arm, mobile transporter and Dextre hands, the Japanese science facility's "attic" and "back porch" for research, and the Tranquility utility room with the Cupola. Her 12th and final mission to the station finished the U.S. construction efforts by adding the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and a spare parts deck.   Construction of Endeavour started in September 1987 as a replacement vehicle for Challenger. The spaceplane was rolled out of the Palmdale factory in April 1991. She became NASA's fifth and final operational space shuttle with her inaugural launch a year later.   "Endeavour was born here," said State Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood). "The Endeavour was (assembled) between Palmdale and Downey. There were parts made in Inglewood and Long Beach. Southern California made the Endeavour. Southern California gave the Endeavour to the world and this morning, here in the great city of Inglewood, we have the opportunity to say 'Welcome home.'"   Space shuttle Endeavour vendors cash in on 'shuttlemania'   Los Angeles Times   Randy Montano wasn’t planning on charging people to use his aerial lift. But when people started “throwing money” his way, space shuttle Endeavour’s journey through Los Angeles quickly became something of a business venture.   As Montano -- owner of a sign and graphics company along the shuttle route -- controlled the lift, people strolled up to him, asking the price.   "Whatever you want to give," Montano told one inquirer.   "I am never going to have the space shuttle near my shop again."   Endeavour arrived in Los Angeles last month with an air of majesty, soaring over ocean and mountains, swooping past the Hollywood sign and Disneyland, and dazzling crowds gazing up from the ground.   The shuttle lost a little of that grandeur Friday, towed by four trailers, inching down city streets from Los Angeles International Airport toward its new life as an exhibit at the California Science Center. But it was greeted with fanfare by large crowds who marveled at its sheer size against the city backdrop.   With the crowd came those who cashed in on what some called "shuttlemania."   By 10 a.m. Friday, the spacecraft had already earned Mitch Warner almost $500.   The wiry 28-year-old with a wide smile and booming voice walked up and down Sepulveda Boulevard hawking posters.   His main product: a poster of the shuttle with a small picture of President Obama in the corner. It read: "Once in a lifetime, Shuttle on Shaw."   At $5 to $10 a pop, Warner had sold about 50 posters Friday morning.   Increasingly as the day went on, opportunists took to what seemed like every corner.   "Postcards four for $1! Postcards four for $1," shouted Antwan Wells, one of many vendors trying to turn a profit from the throngs who turned out to catch a glimpse of the shuttle. Restaurants expanded their hours, teenagers hawked homemade T-shirts for $30 and school boosters set up a bake sale.   "It's crazy money," said Wells, who claimed he made $2,000 by early afternoon. "These postcards are going like hotcakes!"   For vendors like Wells, the spacecraft's itinerary was their business plan.   "I'm following it," he said.   Space flight leaders gather in Las Cruces for symposium   Steve Ramirez - Las Cruces-Sun News   Less than 10 years ago, all the talk about the commercial space flight industry was conceptual. Today, it's about the five Ws — who, what, where, when and why.   New Mexico has been a major player in the growth of the industry. It is preparing to start operations of Spaceport America, which is supposed to signal the start of everyday people having opportunities to fly commercially into space. Commercial space flight has already started, with cargo and payloads delivered to the International Space Station this summer.   To keep the synergy going, commercial space flight leaders will gather in Las Cruces this week for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight. The symposium will be a two-day affair, Wednesday and Thursday at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum, 4100 Dripping Springs Road, but other events associated with the symposium will also be conducted Tuesday and Friday.   "The personal and commercial space flight industry has come a long way since those early days," said Pat Hynes, symposium chairwoman, and director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium. "We have again brought together some of the most pre-eminent people in the world who are part of this exciting industry to share their knowledge, insights and visions."   A veritable who's who of personal and commercial space flight industry will be involved in this year's symposium. There will be 40 speakers at the conference, including Lori Garver, deputy NASA administrator; Robert Dickman, executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; N. Wayne Hale, former program manager for the Space Shuttle program, who is now a consultant Special Aerospace Services; and several high-ranking officials with The Boeing Company.   Gov. Susana Martinez, and White Sands Missile Range commander Brig. Gen. Gwen Bingham will also be keynote speakers during the symposium. Bingham's speech, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, will be her first public appearance in Las Cruces since taking command at WSMR last month.   Martinez's speech will be at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.   "The list of people who will be speaking is impressive," Hynes said. "In this day and time, when the economy has prompted so many to curtail travel and appearances at conferences or symposiums, their willingness to come and participate says a lot about how much, and how well, this industry is progressing. The marketplace has been evolving, things have changed enormously."   Las Crucens Raja Taylor has attended several past symposiums, and said every speech and panel discussion is interesting.   "There's no way you could come from a symposium and not learned something," Taylor said. "Because so much of this has only been conceptual until now, it's fascinating to realize how far we've come in such a short period of time and where all of this new technology is going."   Those sentiments underlie the theme of this year's symposium, "The Demand-The Direction."   "It's always a wonderful event," said Las Cruces city Councilor Sharon Thomas. "There is so much gained, so much learned and to be shared from attending."   The event starts with the second annual Community Partnership Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Farm and Ranch Museum. Hale will be the featured speaker at that event, and the theme of his speech is "Human Voyagers in the Ocean of Space ... the Strict Rules."   "The gist of his speech could help us deal with the continuing dialogue of informed consent in New Mexico," Hynes said. "He'll speak to us on safety, and why that is an important business decision to ensure vehicles are safe to fly."   Legislation regarding informed consent and limited liability immunity for parts suppliers was defeated last year in the New Mexico Legislature, and it is anticipated to once again be considered by the Legislature when it convenes in January for a 60-day session.   Hynes hinted there could also be some breaking news from some of the symposium speakers.   Wednesday's panel discussions, at 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., will, respectively, focus on the themes of: Knowledge is Power; Cyber Defense and Security; and Training Astronauts for Personal and Commercial Flight: Human Factors and Readiness.   "We've tried to include one "fun' panel discussion each day," said Hynes, of the panel on human factors and readiness. "These are designed to help people in the audience get a better understanding of how this industry could directly affect them."   The symposium's final panel discussion, at 4 p.m. Thursday, will be a roundtable discussion centered on the theme "The Future Belongs to All of Us."   During the symposium, 34 companies and organizations will have exhibits on display. Among those will be a 27-foot model of XCOR's Lynx spaceplane.   Your presidential vote shouldn't be based on space   John Kelly - Florida Today (Commentary)   There is no good reason to cast your presidential vote based on space policy.   Neither of the two major-party candidates running for the White House offers a robust, adequately funded national space policy. And, the fiscal demands facing both the president and the budget-writers in Congress by this winter will not allow a big boost.   President Barack Obama should get credit for taking the fledgling commercial cargo and crew program in place before we elected him and doubling-down on the idea that private companies could bring innovation, agility and cost savings to space flight.   With two private Dragon flights to the space station under NASA's belt, far faster and cheaper than any of the many failed government-conceived space transport systems envisioned to do the same work, it's time to double down again on the private sector.   And, it's becoming more clear that whoever is elected is likely to go that direction. There is a building momentum among space policy experts, aerospace contractors, elected leaders and even some entrenched NASA bureaucrats for expanding this concept.   The president is likely to point to the success of SpaceX, see the limitations of the federal budget, and start asking questions about privatizing other space-development projects and providing incentives for successfully innovating solutions.   And, how could conservative Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan dismantle what is perhaps the most successful effort ever to privatize a once-exclusive government project? Facing the same realities as the current president, the Republicans are bound to look for ways to build on the success so far.   In reality, neither side is pronouncing a passion for space exploration, at least not enough passion to believe he would break out of the downward trend of NASA spending and commit substantial new dollars to the civil space program. If you're preparing to vote and believe that either Romney or Obama are about to restore a significant numbers of old-style space jobs here upon election, you'll be disappointed.   The future of space job growth, here and elsewhere, is going to be a more organic process. Jobs are going to be created, a few dozen at a time, by small innovative successes. Government entities such as NASA and Space Florida inevitably will function as enablers.   But, it's going to more companies like SpaceX and Craig Technologies venturing into uncharted areas of the space sector and taking risks, building a new space program. My read of the space policies and statements of both candidates, as sparing as they are, would indicate almost no difference in the direction each would take the program.   I'd be voting in a wide variety of issues important to the future of our country, not necessarily space. It’s not that space is not important right now. It’s just the candidates are likely to make similar decisions. Future presidential elections may provide a more distinct choice when it comes to space policy. This one doesn't.   Don’t Give Up Human Space Exploration   Vance Brand - Aviation Week (Opinion)   (Brand flew on Apollo-Soyuz and commanded three shuttle missions)   The U.S. currently leads the world in the human exploration of deep space, but the nation is on the verge of losing that distinction. It is approaching a tipping point. Apollo 17, the last lunar landing with humans, was 40 years ago. Transportation to Earth orbit is being turned over to the commercial sector, which is desirable. The exploration of deep space by humans is what is being dismantled.   Today, NASA is developing a heavy-lift launch system and the Orion manned spacecraft, but there are no credible destinations or goals for them. What will historians say about us 50 years from now?   In the 15th century, the Chinese had a large naval fleet that ranged far from home. But after exploring successfully, there was a change of policy, and government support for the fleet ended abruptly. A half-century later, European countries enjoyed the benefit of their own expeditions beginning with Columbus's voyages that opened the New World to European colonization. China had already withdrawn and missed the opportunity to have a stake in the Americas.   I am concerned that America's capability to explore outer space with humans—a capability that has taken decades to develop and apparently is taken for granted—will wither and die. We are looking at a human exploration generation gap. The Obama administration may think of it as “creative destruction” for the sake of enabling commercialization in Earth orbit, but in fact it is destruction of America's deep-space exploration capabilities.   These capabilities cannot quickly be rebuilt. Unless U.S. wakes up, the baton will pass to China or another country that is more motivated than America to lead the exploration of the Solar System in the 21st century. Does America still want to lead—or has America changed? Are we more risk-averse now? We are in the process of finding out.   Right now, America needs to kick-start its economy. Exploration preparations would contribute by stimulating invention, business and employment. Moreover, we would get stimulation of education at all levels and technology spinoffs into the U.S. economy, as was demonstrated by Apollo.   We must start by defining a deep-space destination, goals and a program. What should be the destination? Mars is a good place to start. Revisiting the Moon and visiting an asteroid with humans are not on the shortest path to Mars. The mission requirements are dissimilar. Besides, after learning how to send people to Mars, returning to the Moon or deflecting a threatening asteroid may prove easy.   What should we do to get started? I suggest the following:   ·         Confirm NASA's organizational vision. Should it still emphasize research and exploration?   ·         Enact a measure that assures enough continuity of funding for a challenging 10-year space exploration program with humans.   ·         Decide on the next outer space destination for human spaceflight. The destination must be worthwhile, challenging, exciting and achievable. I believe that the choice is Mars.   ·         While continuing associated robotic missions, immediately start a five-year or longer destination-focused research effort to better understand and mitigate specific issues related to sending people to Mars. Especially helpful would be more efficient propulsion (nuclear or Vasimr plasma rockets), which could cut the flight time to Mars to a little over a month.   ·         During the research phase, finalize the Mars reference missions and examine technology readiness to proceed with a 10-year landing program.   ·         If research results and public support for sending people to Mars are positive and sufficient, proclaim a national goal of sending humans to Mars and returning them safely to Earth.   ·         Develop a detailed program plan. Staff the key program positions. Quality of program and engineering management will be critical. Precursor missions will help to train the workforce.   ·         Accomplish the Mars human landings under an international program with U.S. leadership.   The U.S. needs a worthwhile yet exciting challenge that will help to lift the country out of its malaise. Continuation of deep-space exploration not only will reinvigorate America's international leadership, it will stimulate education, basic research, innovation, employment and the economy.   We are approaching a tipping point. Let's get started before we lose our deep space exploration capabilities.   END