Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - July 2, 2013 and JSC Today



Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: July 2, 2013 6:08:55 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - July 2, 2013 and JSC Today

 

 

 

 

 

   Headlines

  1. Badging Offices Closed

All badging offices will be closed Thursday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. Normal working operations will resume Friday, July 5, as listed below.

    • Building 110 - 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
    • Building 111 - 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    • Ellington Field - 7 to 11 a.m.
    • Sonny Carter Training Facility - 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Tifanny Sowell x37447

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  1. JSC Today Submission Deadlines This Week

This a reminder that JSC Today will not be released on Thursday, July 4, in observance of the Independence Day holiday. Though JSC Today will be released on Flex Friday, July 5, the deadline for submissions is Wednesday, July 3, at noon. The deadline for Monday, July 8, is also noon on July 3.

JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 http://pao.jsc.nasa.gov/news/jsctoday/

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  1. NASA Tech Briefs Showcases More JSC Technologies

Details on seven highly innovative and diverse technologies from JSC have been published in the June 2013 NASA Tech Briefs magazine.

NASA Tech Briefs introduces material about new innovations that stem from advanced research and technology programs conducted by NASA and its industry partners/contractors.

The JSC features include: Genesis Ultrapure Water Megasonic Wafer Spin Cleaner; Modular Connector Keying Concept; Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock; The Thermal Hogan -- A Means of Surviving the Lunar Night; Piezoelectrically Initiated Pyrotechnic Igniter; Application Program Interface for the Orion Aerodynamics Database; and ISS Live!

To read and learn more about these exciting JSC technologies and their inventors, just visit the Strategic Opportunities & Partnership Development (SOPD) website.

You can review all of the NASA Tech Briefs here.

Holly Kurth x32951

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   Organizations/Social

  1. Late Summer Sport Leagues - Registration Opening

Registration is opening for Starport's popular league sports!

Registration NOW OPEN:

- Volleyball (Rev 4s and Coed) | Mondays and Tuesdays | Registration ends July 16 | Leagues start July 22 and 23

- Basketball (Open) | Wednesdays and Thursdays | Registration ends July 25 | League starts July 31

Registration OPENING SOON:

- Kickball (Coed) | Mondays | Registration July 8 to 31 | League starts Aug. 5

- Softball (Coed) | Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays | Registration July 8 to 31 | Leagues start Aug. 6, 7 and 8

- Ultimate Frisbee (Coed) | Mondays | Registration July 8 to 30 | Leagues start Aug. 5

Free-agent registration opens when league opens.

Flag Football, Soccer and Men's Softball will return in fall 2013.

All participants must register here.

For more information, please contact the Gilruth information desk at 281-483-0304.

Steve Schade x30304 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Fitness/Sports/

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  1. Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting July 9

"Easy does it" reminds Al-Anon members to chill out and adapt to change. Our 12-step meeting is for co-workers, families and friends of those who work or live with the family disease of alcoholism. We will meet Tuesday, July 9, in Building 32, Room 146, from 11 to 11:45 a.m. Visitors are welcome.

Event Date: Tuesday, July 9, 2013   Event Start Time:11:00 AM   Event End Time:11:55 AM
Event Location: B. 32, room 146

Add to Calendar

Employee Assistance Program x36130 http://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/EAP/Pages/default.aspx

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   Jobs and Training

  1. FedTraveler Live Lab Tomorrow, July 3

Do you need some hands-on, personal help with FedTraveler.com? Join the Business Systems and Process Improvement Office for a FedTraveler Live Lab tomorrow, July 3, any time between 9 a.m. and noon in Building 12, Room 142. Our help desk representatives will be available to help you work through travel processes and learn more about using FedTraveler during this informal workshop. Bring your current travel documents or specific questions that you have about the system and join us for some hands-on, in-person help with the FedTraveler. If you'd like to sign up for this FedTraveler Live Lab, please log into SATERN and register. For additional information, please contact Judy Seier at x32771. To register in SATERN, please click on this SATERN direct link: https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Gina Clenney x39851

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  1. 50 Years of Astronaut Medical and Research Data

Please join us for a lecture on the Challenges and Opportunities in Managing 50 years of Astronaut Medical and Research Data on July 12 from 2 to 3 p.m.

There has been a renewed focus on continuity of care and occupational surveillance for both the immediate and lifetime needs of the astronaut corps, which has led to additional challenges and opportunities for growth in clinical and surveillance data management.

Space is limited, so please register today!

https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...

Cynthia Rando x41815 https://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/hsa/default.aspx

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  1. July Virtual PM Challenge Session

July's webcast session will happen on July 10 at 10 a.m. CDT and is entitled "In the Driver's Seat: Program, Planning and Control." Look forward to having you!

Event Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2013   Event Start Time:9:00 AM   Event End Time:11:00 AM
Event Location: Webcast

Add to Calendar

Neal Zapp 713-295-1264 http://nasa.gov/offices/oce/pmchallenge/index.html

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JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles.

Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NASA TV: 1 pm Central (2 EDT) – EVA preview press briefing (spacewalk scheduled for July 9)

 

Human Spaceflight News

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Boeing, SpaceX Detail Capsule Test Plans

 

Guy Norris - Aviation Week

 

As tow tests of Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Dream Chaser lifting body begin in California, the two competing capsule-based contenders for NASA's commercial crew program (CCP) are running through a fast-paced series of milestones toward the start of planned demonstration flights. While the three-way contest for NASA's competitive Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCAP) initiative was already highly charged, the outcome of the upcoming tests has become even more crucial given increasing budget pressure. The program, which aims to develop U.S. human spacelaunch capability to succeed the now retired space shuttle, has been slipping as Congress continues to cut funding. The shortfall has forced NASA to revise its acquisition plan that notionally calls for a request for proposals in fiscal 2016, and first U.S.-crewed service flights to the International Space Station (ISS) in November 2017—two years later than originally planned.

 

Orion takes shape for 2014 Test Flight

 

Ken Kremer - Universe Today

 

 

NASA is picking up the pace of assembly operations for the Orion capsule, America's next crew vehicle destined to carry US astronauts to Asteroids, the Moon, Mars and Beyond. Just over a year from now in September 2014, NASA will launch Orion on its first test flight, an unpiloted mission dubbed EFT-1. At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, expert work crews are already hard at work building a myriad of Orion's key components, insuring the spacecraft takes shape for an on time liftoff.

 

York's Chris Cassidy ready to run Four on the 4th from space

Astronaut set to complete road race on treadmill in zero gravity

 

Susan Morse - SeaCoastOnline (Maine)

 

The annual Four on the 4th Road Race is getting ready to blast off with a little help from astronaut Chris Cassidy, who is running the race in space, 200 miles above the Earth. Cassidy, a 1988 graduate of York High School, has been living on the International Space Station since March. With him is a video of the race course. As runners start off at 8 a.m. Thursday, July 4, Cassidy is expected to join them via treadmill — though he may end up running the race at a different time — in a videotaped race from space, according to race organizer Robin Cogger.

 

That Time an Astronaut Got a Pie Sent to the International Space Station

 

Megan Garber - The Atlantic

 

Peggy Whitson was the first female commander of the International Space Station. In October 2002, she was living on the Station. And during STS-112, the shuttle mission that sent astronauts to help build out the Station's infrastructure, her husband took part in a time-honored tradition: he sent her a care package. One of his gifts? A pie.

 

Bigfoot and the International Space Station

An intrepid group of adventurers went on the hunt for large reclusive wood apes near the area of a recent sighting

 

Sherry Kelley - Nevada County Picayune (Prescott, AZ)

 

Before the weather broke, on a hot Wednesday last week we met just after sunset with Tal Branco, Director, Field Researcher and Investigator from the Reclusive Forest-dwelling Primate Research Project in a pasture near Okolona. With the landowners and other reporters in tow we followed a trail that led us further away from the road and into a clearing surrounded by trees…I looked up and saw some bats flying around. I looked higher in the night sky and saw a very bright, large object moving quickly from the southwest to the northeast. It was a large light that was not blinking like an aircraft. I had seen it before once when I went out to Lowe Field with my mom to catch a glimpse of it. It was the International Space Station. In about a minute it would disappear behind the tree tops.

 

"How to do Business with Stennis" workshop presented

 

Picayune Item

 

More than 20 business owners within Hancock County attended a workshop hosted by the Hancock Chamber of Commerce to gather tips on how to secure contracts at John C. Stennis Space Center. Speakers included Stennis Space Center Small Business Specialist Michelle Stracener and Mississippi Enterprise for Technology Project Consultant Laurie Jugan.

 

Russian Proton-M rocket crashes, erupts in ball of fire

 

Russia Today

 

A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying three GLONASS navigation satellites crashed soon after takeoff from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome. Immediately after takeoff, the rocket swerved to one side, tried to correct itself, but instead veered in the opposite direction. It then flew horizontally and started to come apart with its engines in full thrust. Making a huge arch in the air, the rocket plummeted back to earth and exploded on impact close to another launch pad used for Proton commercial launches.

 

Houston's space shuttle to get new name in contest open to Texans

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

Florida has Atlantis, California is home to Endeavour, Virginia displays Discovery and New York has Enterprise. Texas has a space shuttle, too — a full-scale, high-fidelity mockup of the NASA winged vehicles — but what the Lone Star State's orbiter doesn't have is a name. Beginning Thursday, Space Center Houston will seek Texans' help to correct that by launching its "Name the Shuttle" contest. The official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center, Space Center Houston is looking for an "original name that symbolizes the spirit of Texas and its unique characteristics of independence, optimism and can-do attitude."

 

Space Center Houston to launch "Name the Shuttle" contest throughout Texas on the Fourth of July

 

Gilmer Mirror (northeast Texas)

 

On Thursday, July 4, Space Center Houston will launch a statewide "Name the Shuttle" contest – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for one lucky Texan to name the high-fidelity NASA Space Shuttle replica that will sit atop the massive 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft as part of a new $12 million, six-story attraction currently under development. On July 4, Texas residents can visit www.nametheshuttle.com and submit an original name, no more than three words, that symbolize the spirit of Texas and its unique characteristics of independence, optimism and can-do attitude. The contest closes at noon CST, Labor Day, Sept. 2.

 

We Don't Get an Actual Shuttle, but We Get a Chance to Name a Fake One!

 

Jeff Balke - Houston Press

 

Houston has long maintained a kind of inferiority complex. Even now after publications from coast to coast have proclaimed our surprising hipness, we still get things stuck in our craw. Case in point, not getting a space shuttle for Space Center Houston. Plagued by the insipid overuse of "Houston, we have a problem," being bypassed for one of the shuttles in the city that literally built them was a particularly potent kick in the crotch, which is why this new contest from NASA leaves me cold. Space Center Houston is launching a contest on July 4 that will allow Texans to name a space shuttle replica (ack) that will be part of a new $12 million attraction under development at the Clear Lake Facility. The winner gets a trip for four to Space Center Houston (that 30-minute drive will be AWESOME!) and a placard with the name of the winner's hometown inside the exhibit.

 

Geek dads and software visionaries aim for the stars

 

John Shinal - USA Today (Opinion)

 

(Shinal has covered tech and financial markets for 15 years at Bloomberg, BusinessWeek, the San Francisco Chronicle, Dow Jones MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal Digital Network and others)

 

By day, Steve Jurvetson is a marquee name in Silicon Valley, a partner with prominent venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, an early backer of pioneering tech companies like Hotmail, Skype and Tesla Motors. But after dozens of meetings every weekday, in between deciding whether to invest millions of dollars in entrepreneurs' ideas, Jurvetson on nights and weekends becomes a self-professed "geek dad." Sure enough, as he went through a series of slides at a recent technology conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif., there he was launching small rockets made by 3D printers at NASA's Ames Research Center, in the heart of the Valley.

 

The Revolution In Space Exploration Will Be Televised

 

Jonathan Salem Baskin - Forbes

 

When I wrote last December that NASA needed a new narrative for communicating the value of space exploration, the comments I got back ranged from "you don't understand how NASA works," to "anyway, it's impossible" (with a few notable and very encouraging exceptions). I was wrong, or maybe the last six months just changed the game. But the space exploration meme is coming back in ways we've haven't seen since the 1960s, and with it come opportunities for corporate sponsorship, educational tie-ins, potential jobs for kids who would like to work "out there" someday, and a return of a sense of national purpose that everyone might appreciate.

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

Boeing, SpaceX Detail Capsule Test Plans

 

Guy Norris - Aviation Week

 

As tow tests of Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Dream Chaser lifting body begin in California, the two competing capsule-based contenders for NASA's commercial crew program (CCP) are running through a fast-paced series of milestones toward the start of planned demonstration flights.

 

While the three-way contest for NASA's competitive Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCAP) initiative was already highly charged, the outcome of the upcoming tests has become even more crucial given increasing budget pressure. The program, which aims to develop U.S. human spacelaunch capability to succeed the now retired space shuttle, has been slipping as Congress continues to cut funding. The shortfall has forced NASA to revise its acquisition plan that notionally calls for a request for proposals in fiscal 2016, and first U.S.-crewed service flights to the International Space Station (ISS) in November 2017—two years later than originally planned.

 

To qualify, the teams must pass a rigorous, two-phase certification process which will include at least one crewed ISS mission in fiscal 2017. However, the squeeze on funding may force the agency to winnow down the contenders sooner than originally planned, which makes the upcoming milestones all the more important.

 

Boeing, with its CST-100, still aims to demonstrate the seven-person capsule on a three-day manned orbital test flight in 2016, says John Mulholland, vice president and program manager for Commercial Programs. At the recent Space Tech Expo in Long Beach, Calif., he said CST-100 "can be operational as soon as 2016. It is really important for NASA to maintain the 'no-later than 2017' launch date. That's the No. 1 priority and I think NASA, with good reason, wants to maintain competition through the next round. That would be healthy as long as you have the budget to allow that competition in the next round and still fly in 2017."

 

The company is more than a third of the way through a series of 13 key CCiCAP program performance milestones for 2013 that will lead the way to an integrated critical design review (CDR) in April 2014. In all, the company must pass a total of 19 such milestones by mid-2014. This month the company is set to conduct tests of the Aerojet Rocketdyne orbital maneuvering and attitude control thrusters, and in September will conduct a CDR of the spacecraft's primary structure. "It's the grind. This is where you get into the final engineering release and all the focus of the team is on the baseline release to support the build cycle. We are making sure we can receive flight design hardware by the end of the calendar year," Mulholland says.

 

Other milestones for this year include a support module propulsion system critical review in August, and two events in September covering a mission-control-center-interface demonstration and launch vehicle adapter CDR. The CST-100, like the Dream Chaser, is slated to launch initially on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V. Last April, Boeing completed wind-tunnel tests of a 7%-scale vehicle and adapter "to make sure we fully understood the loads and that there were no instabilities. It went really well," Mulholland says.

 

Boeing's plan calls for the first two launches to be on an Atlas, but the company has not ruled out other launchers, including the Falcon 9 developed by CCiCAP rival Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). "It's got to be compatible with others and we continue to have discussions with SpaceX because once the Falcon 9 has enough flights under its belt and is safe enough to fly crew, we feel we can make that business decision. We'll be going over [to SpaceX] soon to see what it will take to make sure our new vehicle is compatible with the Falcon 9. If the price point stays extremely attractive then that is the smart thing to do."

 

Boeing is also scheduled to conduct a launch site preliminary design review at Cape Canaveral, looking at the launch tower design for Space Launch Complex (SLC-41B) "to make sure ULA can go and build it," says Mulholland. In November, Boeing plans to conduct emergency detection-system standalone testing. "It is vitally important to make sure you know when to leave the rocket and that you do not have a false trigger. In December we will release the multi-string flight software," he adds. A pilot-in-the-loop demonstration is set for February 2014, with a software CDR the following month. "We will then move to the validation phase and flight test," he says

 

SpaceX Commercial Crew project manager Garrett Reisman says his company's plan to conduct a pad abort test in December remains on track, paving the way for a test flight to the space station with a non-NASA crew in a version of the Dragon spacecraft in 2015. "What we think we need to complete launch assurance is just over two years, so we could do a test with people on board around mid-2015. That is what we proposed under CCiCAP and it is the trajectory we are on today but," depending on funding, that may not hold," he warns.

 

The company delivered a detailed pad abort test plan to NASA in March, and in May completed its human certification plan review with delivery of overall certification and master verification plans. The preliminary design of the automatic-approach-and-docking system as well as the entry, descent and landing system is subject to an on-orbit and entry preliminary design review in July. Following a Dragon parachute test in August, the detailed inflight abort test review is slated for September, with the over-arching safety review covering hazard analysis, safety assessment and failure modes, due in October.

 

Following a flight review of the upgraded Falcon 9 standard for human missions in mid-November, SpaceX plans to conduct a pad abort test a month later. "The primary structure for the pad abort is already fabricated and almost complete. This the next really exciting milestone and the first abort test as part of commercial crew program. We are going to stick Dragon on top of a Falcon 9 and take it to the transonic regime. We will light up the launch abort system and fly away safely from the Falcon 9. This will demonstrate total thrust (as opposed to total impulse)," adds Reisman. "Then we move on to the human certification review." The qualification effort of the Dragon primary structure is due to be completed in mid-January, with the integrated CDR for the entire vehicle now set for March 2014 and an inflight abort test the following month.

 

Orion takes shape for 2014 Test Flight

 

Ken Kremer - Universe Today

 

 

NASA is picking up the pace of assembly operations for the Orion capsule, America's next crew vehicle destined to carry US astronauts to Asteroids, the Moon, Mars and Beyond.

 

Just over a year from now in September 2014, NASA will launch Orion on its first test flight, an unpiloted mission dubbed EFT-1.

 

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, expert work crews are already hard at work building a myriad of Orion's key components, insuring the spacecraft takes shape for an on time liftoff.

 

Universe Today is reporting on NASA's progress and I took an exclusive behind the scenes tour inside KSC facilities to check on Orion's progress.

 

In 2014 Orion will blast off to Earth orbit atop a mammoth Delta IV Heavy booster, the most powerful booster in America's rocket fleet following the retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle orbiters in 2011.

 

On later flights Orion will blast off on the gargantuan Space Launch System (SLS), the world's most powerful rocket which is simultaneously under development by NASA.

 

At the very top of the Orion launch stack sits the Launch Abort System (LAS) – a critically important component to ensure crew safety, bolted above the crew module.

 

In case of an emergency situation, the LAS is designed to ignite within milliseconds to rapidly propel the astronauts inside the crew module away from the rocket and save the astronauts lives.

 

The LAS is one of the five primary components of the flight test vehicle for the EFT-1 mission.

 

 

Prior to any launch from the Kennedy Space Center, all the rocket components are painstakingly attached piece by piece.

 

York's Chris Cassidy ready to run Four on the 4th from space

Astronaut set to complete road race on treadmill in zero gravity

 

Susan Morse - SeaCoastOnline (Maine)

 

The annual Four on the 4th Road Race is getting ready to blast off with a little help from astronaut Chris Cassidy, who is running the race in space, 200 miles above the Earth.

 

Cassidy, a 1988 graduate of York High School, has been living on the International Space Station since March. With him is a video of the race course. As runners start off at 8 a.m. Thursday, July 4, Cassidy is expected to join them via treadmill — though he may end up running the race at a different time — in a videotaped race from space, according to race organizer Robin Cogger.

 

As of Friday, it was unknown whether Cassidy would be able to run the race live. The International Space Station operates on Greenwich Mean Time, which is four hours ahead of Maine.

 

Cassidy will address runners in a pre-recorded video shown on a large screen television at the start of the race, Cogger said.

 

Unbeknownst to Cassidy, as he runs while tied down to a treadmill to keep him on track in zero gravity, family and friends will greet him along the way in the video of the course.

 

In November, race organizers recorded the 4-mile run, which begins and ends at York High School, so that Cassidy could experience the route by DVD.

 

At mile markers along the way, his mother Jan Cassidy, father Jack Cassidy, brother Jeff Cassidy and friends greet him, holding signs of encouragement.

 

Cassidy's family and friends are also expected to be at the live race and may possibly run it, Cogger said.

 

Also expected to be in attendance is Bill Green, of Bill Green's Maine, who took part in the video shoot in November.

 

Race T-shirts this year are imprinted with a space station design.

 

Registration begins at 6 a.m. at York High School. As of Friday, registration remained open, as organizers increased the number of allowed registrants from 1,000 to 1,200.

 

To register, visit www.run

 

ning4free.com. Registration is $27 online or $30 on race day. For information, call the York Parks and Recreation Department at (207) 363-1041. The race is held annually by the town's Parks and Recreation Department and the York Rotary Club.

 

The ground-to-space race came together after Cassidy contacted Cogger about finding a way to tie in his hometown of York and Maine to his stay at the space station from March until November, according to Cogger.

 

That Time an Astronaut Got a Pie Sent to the International Space Station

 

Megan Garber - The Atlantic

 

Peggy Whitson was the first female commander of the International Space Station. In October 2002, she was living on the Station. And during STS-112, the shuttle mission that sent astronauts to help build out the Station's infrastructure, her husband took part in a time-honored tradition: he sent her a care package.

 

One of his gifts? A pie.

 

In a talk about Station life at the Aspen Ideas Festival, astronaut Jeffrey Ashby told the pie-in-the-sky story. Traditional gifts that shuttles delivered to Station-bound astronauts tended to be things like books and movies and DVDs, he said -- things to help astronauts living on the Station keep connected to the people and cultures back on Earth.

 

In Whitson's case, though, the gift was a pecan pie -- a gesture from her husband. "I don't know how he got it past the food people," Ashby said.

 

There was a problem, though: in order to make it up to the Space Station, the pie had to be, you know, launched into space. Even stored in a locker aboard the shuttle -- and even being pecan, one of the hardier types of pie -- the baked good was subject to g-forces. So by the time it arrived, Ashby said, "the pie was in about half the shell."

 

That was okay, though. In this, as with most gifts, it was the thought that counted. And, fortunately, Whitson's husband had also included in his care package a foodstuff that is less delicate and, in tastebud-challenging space, even more valuable than pie: hot sauce.

 

Bigfoot and the International Space Station

An intrepid group of adventurers went on the hunt for large reclusive wood apes near the area of a recent sighting

 

Sherry Kelley - Nevada County Picayune (Prescott, AZ)

 

Before the weather broke, on a hot Wednesday last week we met just after sunset with Tal Branco, Director, Field Researcher and Investigator from the Reclusive Forest-dwelling Primate Research Project in a pasture near Okolona. With the landowners and other reporters in tow we followed a trail that led us further away from the road and into a clearing surrounded by trees.

 

It was hot and when the first few stars started to come out it got even hotter. Branco set up speakers and recording devices as we donned our 'hunters ears' and got ready for just about anything.

 

Branco played a cut from a compact disc. He was afraid it might scare the cows that had gathered near out of curiosity. The first recorded call sounded like a large animal's deep bellowing. Following the call we listened hard in the blistering buggy field. Owls, whippoorwills, crickets, cows, horse flies, mosquitoes and a dog barking in the distance were easily heard in the dark.

 

When two of us picked up an unrecognizable sound I felt like I was on the Finding Bigfoot tv show.

 

"Wait. What was that? Wait a minute, did you hear that?" I said to person nearest me.

 

"I think that's a deer snorting," he answered.

 

I looked up and saw some bats flying around. I looked higher in the night sky and saw a very bright, large object moving quickly from the southwest to the northeast. It was a large light that was not blinking like an aircraft. I had seen it before once when I went out to Lowe Field with my mom to catch a glimpse of it. It was the International Space Station. In about a minute it would disappear behind the tree tops.

 

"Look, that's the space station," I whispered to two of my fellow listeners. I could tell by their reactions that they didn't believe me.

 

"Look, it's not blinking, airplanes blink. See how fast it's traveling that's the space station."

 

They weren't buying it. The next morning I sent them a link that proved the craft's orbit had passed over the field around 9:10 p.m.

 

"Well I'll be dipped," replied one of them.

 

We continued listening. A few more calls were played and we listened. Branco hit a fence post with a club and we listened. We went to another area of the pasture and we listened. Branco told stories and we listened.

 

A little after 11 p.m. we reporters parted company with the landowners and Branco. He seemed a little disappointed that something spectacular failed to happen.

 

"It's like trying to find a moving needle in a haystack," said Branco who vowed, with the landowners consent, to continue the search for large reclusive primates in the sighting area. The seventy-nine year old is going to march over hill and dale and set up game cameras and put out food for what he is sure is there.

 

If he indeed locates what he hopes to find we will go out with him again. Most of those who believed it was tomfoolery at the beginning of the evening had softened a bit after listening in the pasture to the night sounds and Branco's stories. Most were a little bit more open to the possibility of a few reclusive primates living in the wilds of the Okolona area.

 

Some of my fellow adventurers however may feel more like you do. They were the ones that wouldn't believe the space station was orbiting over Okolona. Even when they saw it with their own eyes.

 

"How to do Business with Stennis" workshop presented

 

Picayune Item

 

More than 20 business owners within Hancock County attended a workshop hosted by the Hancock Chamber of Commerce to gather tips on how to secure contracts at John C. Stennis Space Center.

 

Speakers included Stennis Space Center Small Business Specialist Michelle Stracener and Mississippi Enterprise for Technology Project Consultant Laurie Jugan.

 

Some resources business owners could use to bring their business into the federal city included searching the South Mississippi Contract Procurement Center. The site will enable business owners to find opportunities that suit them. Another way to make the process easier is to become certified as a small business with the Small Business Administration, Jugan said.

 

Businesses working in Stennis will need to become accustomed with Federal Acquisition Regulations. To make that process smoother Jugan suggested purchasing a copy of a "Federal Contracting Made Easy" by Scott Stanberry. Business owners should also become accustomed to the government's cost accounting standards.

 

Securing a contract with Stennis can take time, so business owners should keep realistic expectations, and start the process early, Jugan said. Starting early ensures the necessary steps have been finished before the contract announced. In the meantime networking can help, such as signing up for one of MSET's Lunch and Learn, Showcase or Meet and Greet events. Signing up for the MSET email list will keep business owners abreast to those and other opportunities.

 

Opportunities that exist at Stennis include lab, technical, protection and administration and clerical services. Some contracts set to expire soon include operations and administration and clerical, Stracener said.

 

Interested business owners can get in on outreach opportunities by registering with MSET by going to their website, at www.mset.org They can also sign up for small business counseling sessions by emailing Deborah Case at deborah.k.case@nasa.gov.

 

Another tool involves registering with the NASA vendor database. It will not only register that business with Stennis but all space centers in the nation.

 

Hancock Chamber Executive Director Tish Williams informed business owners that becoming a member of Partners for Stennis is a great way to network with companies that work in Stennis. It will ensure their business name is heard within the federal city and could help with securing work inside Stennis. Any business interested in becoming a member of Partners for Stennis can attend a meeting, held the second of August, October and December. Contact the      Chamber to register for a meeting at 228-467-9048.

 

After the workshop Hancock Chamber Executive Director Tish Williams spoke to the business owners about the importance of becoming a Chamber member.

 

"The best investment you can make in your business is to be a member of the Chamber," Williams said.

 

Businesses that attended Wednesday's workshop represented businesses that offer insulation installation, CPA services, electric supply, pest control, tractor sales, drywall, painting, forensic science, design, janitorial services, realty, office supply, screen printing, security, chiropractic care, energy saving consulting, records management, as well as concrete and steel construction.

 

Russian Proton-M rocket crashes, erupts in ball of fire

 

Russia Today

 

A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying three GLONASS navigation satellites crashed soon after takeoff from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome.

 

Immediately after takeoff, the rocket swerved to one side, tried to correct itself, but instead veered in the opposite direction. It then flew horizontally and started to come apart with its engines in full thrust.

 

Making a huge arch in the air, the rocket plummeted back to earth and exploded on impact close to another launch pad used for Proton commercial launches.

 

The crash was broadcast live across the country and fears of a possible toxic fuel leak immediately surfaced following the incident. While no such leak has been confirmed, the rocket was initially carrying over 600 tons of toxic propellants.

 

There have reportedly been no casualties to surroundings structures and the town of Baikonur was not affected.

 

Taking into account the Proton-M rocket and three GLONASS satellites, the failed launch has potentially cost the Russian space industry around $200 million, reported Rossiya24 TV channel. 

 

An accident board headed by Aleksandr Lopatin, deputy head of Russia's space agency Roskosmos, has been created to investigate the crash. 

 

The emergency ministry of Kazakhstan has warned that toxic fuel from the rocket could pose an ecological threat to the surrounding area. 

 

A cloud of toxic smoke emanating from the burning fuel has led to the evacuation of the area in the immediate vicinity to the crash site.

 

Houston's space shuttle to get new name in contest open to Texans

 

Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com

 

Florida has Atlantis, California is home to Endeavour, Virginia displays Discovery and New York has Enterprise. Texas has a space shuttle, too — a full-scale, high-fidelity mockup of the NASA winged vehicles — but what the Lone Star State's orbiter doesn't have is a name.

 

Beginning Thursday, Space Center Houston will seek Texans' help to correct that by launching its "Name the Shuttle" contest. The official visitor center for NASA's Johnson Space Center, Space Center Houston is looking for an "original name that symbolizes the spirit of Texas and its unique characteristics of independence, optimism and can-do attitude."

 

The shuttle mockup, which was named "Explorer" during its 18 years on display at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, arrived by barge in Houston in June 2012. The 123-foot-long (37 meter) replica has been exhibited outside Space Center Houston for the past year.

 

Before sailing to Texas, the "Explorer" name was removed from the shuttle's side, leaving the model without a name — until now.

 

The "Name the Shuttle" contest, which starts at noon CDT (1700 GMT) on Independence Day, will run through Sept. 2. Beginning Thursday, Texas residents can visit the new website www.NameTheShuttle.com for contest details and to submit their suggestions for what to name the orbiter.

 

Rise of the [Insert Name Here]

 

Space Center Houston plans to select the winning name in mid-September, just a few months before the arrival of the shuttle mockup's new display "platform" — NASA's retired Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 905.

 

The title to the modified 747 jumbo jet was transferred to the visitor center by the space agency in May, setting in motion Space Center Houston's $12 million plan to pair the replica shuttle with the historic orbiter-ferrying aircraft.

 

The jetliner, which is currently waiting at nearby Ellington Field, will be partially disassembled and cut into segments before being trucked to Space Center Houston by the end of the year. Work will then begin to reassemble the aircraft and hoist the mockup shuttle atop the same mounts that were used to fly the space-flown orbiters between NASA's facilities and ultimately, to their museum homes.

 

The six-story-tall "The Shuttle and 747 Carrier" attraction is slated to open to the public in 2015. It will be the only place in the world where visitors will be able to go inside a real Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, as well as the orbiter mockup mounted atop it.

 

NASA nomenclature

 

When NASA first set about to name its fleet of orbiters, its committee recommended 15 names that had a "significant relationship to the heritage of the United States or to the shuttle's mission of exploration." Among these monikers were names were "Adventurer," "Prospector," "Freedom" and "Liberty."

 

On Feb. 1, 1979, NASA announced it would name its first four shuttles to launch into space after sea vessels used in world exploration.

 

Columbia was named for Captain Robert Gray's sloop that first explored the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest in 1792 (Gray named the river after his vessel). Challenger was named after the British ship that led a global marine research expedition undertaken from 1872 through 1876.

 

Discovery took its name from four British ships, but was primarily the namesake of the HMS Discovery, which was one of the ships helmed by Captain James Cook. Atlantis was named after the two-masted primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1930 to 1966.

 

NASA's first shuttle, the prototype orbiter Enterprise, was originally to be named "Constitution" after the U.S. Navy's three-masted heavy frigate. Instead, a fan-led letter writing campaign resulted in the test craft being named after the fictional flagship in the television series "Star Trek."

 

Enterprise was also the name of a sailing ship, which took part in an arctic expedition between 1851 and 1854.

 

Space Center Houston to launch "Name the Shuttle" contest throughout Texas on the Fourth of July

 

Gilmer Mirror (northeast Texas)

 

On Thursday, July 4, Space Center Houston will launch a statewide "Name the Shuttle" contest – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for one lucky Texan to name the high-fidelity NASA Space Shuttle replica that will sit atop the massive 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft as part of a new $12 million, six-story attraction currently under development.

 

On July 4, Texas residents can visit www.nametheshuttle.com and submit an original name, no more than three words, that symbolize the spirit of Texas and its unique characteristics of independence, optimism and can-do attitude. The contest closes at noon CST, Labor Day, Sept. 2.

 

All contestants will receive an email verification of submission and a thank-you coupon for discounted admission to Space Center Houston. A panel of judges will select one winner, who will be announced in mid-September.

 

The selected name will be painted onto the side of the Space Shuttle replica, and the winner will have his/her name and hometown incorporated onto a placard at the new attraction. Plus, the winner will receive a three-day trip for four to Space Center Houston, which includes a VIP tour of the facility, a behind-the-scenes experience at NASA's Johnson Space Center, hotel accommodations, meals, and travel compensation.

 

The winner will also be invited to attend and participate in the grand opening ceremony in 2015. For full contest details, visit www.nametheshuttle.com

 

We Don't Get an Actual Shuttle, but We Get a Chance to Name a Fake One!

 

Jeff Balke - Houston Press

 

Houston has long maintained a kind of inferiority complex. Even now after publications from coast to coast have proclaimed our surprising hipness, we still get things stuck in our craw. Case in point, not getting a space shuttle for Space Center Houston. Plagued by the insipid overuse of "Houston, we have a problem," being bypassed for one of the shuttles in the city that literally built them was a particularly potent kick in the crotch, which is why this new contest from NASA leaves me cold.

 

Space Center Houston is launching a contest on July 4 that will allow Texans to name a space shuttle replica (ack) that will be part of a new $12 million attraction under development at the Clear Lake Facility. The winner gets a trip for four to Space Center Houston (that 30-minute drive will be AWESOME!) and a placard with the name of the winner's hometown inside the exhibit.

 

I really admire NASA and I think their promotions department is one of the more clever out there, particularly their social media group, which won a Web Award this year for best hashtag, but this is just bizarre.

 

Not only is it adding insult to injury that we essentially get an amusement park version of a space shuttle instead of living history -- imagine if the Smithsonian got a plastic Wright Brothers replica plane kids could ride in circles 10 feet above the ground...scintillating! -- but the winner gets a plaque inside this thing with the name of HIS hometown? I can't wait to see Clute or Waco or, God help us, Dallas emblazoned across this monument to our collective disappointment.

 

But, if they are looking for names, how about Space Shuttle Disappointment or Space Shuttle Embarrassment or Space Shuttle We're Not Bitter...Seriously or Space Shuttle Thanks a Lot NASA for Putting a Shuttle in New York City Because They Obviously Need More Tourist Attractions and Had SO Much to Do With the Space Program.

 

Any of those would be suitable, but feel free to submit your own on their website. You have until Labor Day to get Laredo stitched onto the inside of the Shuttle Oh Give Me a F***ing Break.

 

Geek dads and software visionaries aim for the stars

 

John Shinal - USA Today (Opinion)

 

(Shinal has covered tech and financial markets for 15 years at Bloomberg, BusinessWeek, the San Francisco Chronicle, Dow Jones MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal Digital Network and others)

 

By day, Steve Jurvetson is a marquee name in Silicon Valley, a partner with prominent venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, an early backer of pioneering tech companies like Hotmail, Skype and Tesla Motors.

 

But after dozens of meetings every weekday, in between deciding whether to invest millions of dollars in entrepreneurs' ideas, Jurvetson on nights and weekends becomes a self-professed "geek dad."

 

Sure enough, as he went through a series of slides at a recent technology conference in Half Moon Bay, Calif., there he was launching small rockets made by 3D printers at NASA's Ames Research Center, in the heart of the Valley.

 

On the next slide, there was Jurvetson in Black Rock Desert, Nev., home to the famous Burning Man Festival, with his kids and a rocket "that reached Mach 2.5," or more than twice the speed of sound.

 

"There's no light pollution there; the FAA clears the airspace to 100,000 feet," Jurvetson told the crowd at Bloomberg's Next Big Thing conference, speaking with the kind of enthusiasm another dad might reserve for a softball tournament or golf game.

 

Indeed, his presentation seemed a bit pedestrian on its surface — until Jurvetson joined a panel of four other men all working to help turn space flight into one of the biggest tech markets of the next few decades.

 

The discussion by the panel — consisting of Jurvetson, a NASA scientist, two CEOs of space-related startups and a fellow technology investor — made one thing clear to this columnist: America's manned space-exploration program has already been privatized, and there's no going back.

 

On the contrary, the private U.S. space industry is moving forward at, well, rocket speed.

 

Last month, Space Exploration Technologies (better known as SpaceX), a company in which Jurvetson has been a key investor, signed another contract to launch a space satellite, this one for the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan.

 

Last September, the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company signed a contract to launch three satellites (and later a fourth) for the European giant SES and another for Intelsat, using SpaceX's Falcon Rockets.

 

Those contracts came shortly after SpaceX, founded in 2002 by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, became the first private company to successfully complete a resupply mission to the International Space Station, a feat it accomplished twice last year.

 

With each contract it signs, SpaceX is helping to revive a U.S. industry that had all but disappeared.

 

In 1980, the U.S. had a monopoly on the market for launching commercial satellites, Jurvetson says.

 

Yet by the end of the last decade, NASA and private U.S. companies were conducting no such launches, as lower-cost rivals from China and India came to dominate the market.

 

Part of the reason was due to the fiery explosions of the space shuttles Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003.

 

Those spectacular tragedies killed 14 astronauts and made it easier for Congress to slash NASA's budget, which it did repeatedly.

 

But the shuttle design itself, which made it an expensive alternative for launching satellites, was also to blame.

 

Whereas some Americans might have merely lamented such a fall in this country's competitive expertise as inevitable, Jurvetson saw it as an investment opportunity.

 

In 2009, Jurvetson's firm led a reported $60 million funding round in SpaceX, which previously had been backed mostly by the fortune of Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur also behind Tesla Motors.

 

"Before SpaceX, no space company was worth a second meeting," Jurvetson told the crowd gathered in Half Moon Bay.

 

The success of SpaceX is leading to a broader revival of the U.S. space industry, with one company, Planetary Resources, planning a 2014 launch to test technology designed to prospect and mine asteroids.

 

"Near-earth asteroids are the low-hanging fruit; we'll be (mining them) soon," says Eric Anderson, co-founder and co-chairman of the company, whose backers include Ross Perot and Google executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt.

 

When asked when humans will get back to the moon, Anderson said "a hotel in lunar orbit" will be "a better experience" and thus more likely. "It may not be worth the extra risks to go to the surface."

 

Speaking of those risks, Jurvetson said earlier that he does plan to visit space someday – just not right away.

 

"I'm going to wait five to 10 years. It will be much more affordable and safer then," he said, before quickly adding that no one has ever been killed on a launch that he's attended.

 

Even geek dads, it seems, have some limits on their enthusiasm.

 

The Revolution In Space Exploration Will Be Televised

 

Jonathan Salem Baskin - Forbes

 

When I wrote last December that NASA needed a new narrative for communicating the value of space exploration, the comments I got back ranged from "you don't understand how NASA works," to "anyway, it's impossible" (with a few notable and very encouraging exceptions).

 

I was wrong, or maybe the last six months just changed the game. But the space exploration meme is coming back in ways we've haven't seen since the 1960s, and with it come opportunities for corporate sponsorship, educational tie-ins, potential jobs for kids who would like to work "out there" someday, and a return of a sense of national purpose that everyone might appreciate.

 

Gone are the days of Shuttle launches barely making mention on the evening news or, worse, only drawing our attention when something went wrong. The revolution in space exploration is being "televised" (i.e. seen), thanks to such facts as:

 

NASA got the memo. You realize that most of us know more about the first 18 months of the Mars Mars Curiosity mission than we do about the last 20 years of NASA activities? That's because the agency has chucked its penchant for overly-technical announcements and sonorous epistles on the wonders of space, and instead gives us a really compelling, ongoing narrative replete with challenges, accomplishments, and events that seem like chapters in an adventure story. Its homepage is lightyears different (and better) than anything NASA has ever done in the past.

 

That's not all. It's embracing social conversation, having recently hosted a Google+ Hangout to talk about mining asteroids, rolling out projects that seem like sci-fi scripts (such as its work with the Europeans to search for dark energy), and breaking the chains of bureaucracy to talk boldly and publicly about a manned mission to Mars (accessible via smartphone and table apps).

 

There's a long way to go, especially in light of our Federal budget woes, but I'm guardedly hopeful that the space agency is doing exactly what it should be doing: Promoting smart, compelling basic science that literally paves the way for others to follow.

 

Industry is stepping up

 

NASA contractors and suppliers have upped the ante on communications with things like The Coalition for Space Exploration's national video contest that asked for UGC on "why space matters to the future" (here's the winner). The Aerospace Industries Association crowdfunded a trailer called "We Must Go" that ran at the premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness and then on 400 more screens across the country (remember that many Apollo-era engineers credited Star Trek with inspiring them to pursue careers in the space program). Every program seems to be supported with Facebook, Twitter, and other tech tools to give people multiple opportunities to engage.

 

Private initiatives are also contributing marvelous content to the emergent narrative, from SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft ferrying supplies to the International Space Station (Blue Origin is testing something similar), to Bigelow Aerospace announcing inflatable habitats for use in orbit or on the Moon. Virgin Galactic has already sold 600 reservations at $200,000/ea. to take tourists into low-orbit, and Orbital Sciences has been launching satellites for decades. These initiatives harken back to the days of privateers and investor-financed exploration of the New World. Their activities not only give more people a chance to be directly involved with their endeavors, but those actions are eminently visual and will only increase in watchability as the programs progress.

 

The story belongs to The People

 

Last week, a space entertainment production company called Orion Era announced that its first project will be a show about the latest group of astronaut candidates as they work their way through training, entitled Astronaut Candidates (Full disclosure: I've gotten involved since my essay as an unpaid advisor). It's a "reality show" only it's not focused on setting up characters who can't deal with reality, but instead sharing a narrative about how these overachievers go about changing and improving it.

 

Individual enthusiasts are telling the same stories on the Internet, producing rich, smart video, audio, and textual content. Sawyer Rosenstein is editor and host of Talking Space, and posts regularly about what's going on via the website and Twitter. A quick search on YouTube reveals literally hundreds of thousands of hits, many of them videos produced by people who simply want to help tell the story. Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it seem like there are lot of sci-fi movies about outer space coming out of Hollywood these days? If I'm right, it's because there's a fertile if not growing audience for the stuff.

 

The very premise that space exploration could be entertaining is itself an indication of how times are changing. It's also a potential tipping point; once the story of space exploration migrates from the screens of the individuals directly involved to become everyday viewing for the rest of us, the space meme will have taken on new meaning. The we who do it will become all of us, because what America does in space will matter to everyone. It's downright freaky to consider that this year's astronaut candidates could be the first humans to harvest an asteroid, or touch the dust of Mars. They are a window into what could be a new era, not just in the history of our country, but of the planet.

 

The sociology behind this revolution is fascinating to me. While NASA is contributing some directionally-relevant content, the phenomenon is really distributed and grassroots. Loyalists are finding other loyalists and stepping up, and it reminds me of the way people got one another excited during the Apollo Era.

 

As a marketer, there are lessons to be learned from the ways these disparate parties organize and collaborate with shared purpose (imagine if a wide variety of interested groups cared that much about your approach to selling insurance, or an energy company's long-term plan?). There are also hints to be gleaned about trends, and how they are sustained on social media platforms. Since there's no official "glue" holding these various activities together, they run the constant risk of losing any connective power. It'll be a trend until it's no longer one.

 

It just might be possible that brands will step in and help nudge the phenomenon along. Could brands want to be associated with outer space again, from sponsorship of specific activities to simply using the meme as a creative element in marketing content? There was a time when images like sleek rockets and space helmets were cool. It could happen again.

 

What's most interesting is that after decades of being ignored, we will witness — and many of us will participate in — what happens next in space exploration, thanks in large part to the efforts of inspired individuals and interested organizations to create and share compelling content.

 

The revolution will be televised.

 

END

 

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