Spacex launch is a go for this afternoon and ISS is preparing for the contingency EVA to replace the failed external MDM.
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- NASA Coverage Set for SpaceX Mission to ISS
- Administrator Bolden's Video and PowerPoint Posted
- Focus Group Screening For New Video Tomorrow
- Check Out 'IT Talk' for an IT Minute
- Managed Elevated Privileges Continues
- Electronic Document System (EDS) 2.0 Release - Organizations/Social
- Starport Café Online Survey
- Spinning for Beginners - Starts TODAY, April 14
- Get Beach Ready with Starport's Boot Camp
- April Shower of Savings Sale - Week 3
- Starport Book Fair - Building 3 Café This Wee
- Administrative Professionals Luncheon - Jobs and Training
- Writing Powerful Proposals Course
- Evaluating and Presenting Analysis Results Course
- Job Opportunities |  |
| Headlines - NASA Coverage Set for SpaceX Mission to ISS
The next SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract is scheduled to launch today, April 14, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The company's Falcon 9 rocket, carrying its Dragon cargo spacecraft, will lift off at 3:58 p.m. CDT. NASA TV coverage of the launch begins at 2:45 p.m. If for any reason the launch is postponed, the next launch opportunity is Friday, April 18. The mission, designated SpaceX-3, is the third of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the space station. It will be the fourth trip by a Dragon spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory. The spacecraft will be filled with almost 5,000 pounds of scientific experiments and supplies. The Dragon will remain attached to the space station's Harmony module until mid-May and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California with more than 3,000 pounds of experiment samples and equipment returning from the station. If launch occurs April 14, NASA TV will provide live coverage Wednesday, April 16, of the arrival of the Dragon cargo ship to the ISS. Grapple and berthing coverage will begin at 4:45 a.m., with grapple at 6:11 a.m. Berthing coverage begins at 8:30 a.m. First-time users will need to install the EZTV Monitor and Player client applications: - For those WITH admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you'll be prompted to download and install the clients when you first visit the IPTV website
- For those WITHOUT admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you can download the EZTV client applications from the ACES Software Refresh Portal (SRP)
If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367 or visit the FAQ site. - Administrator Bolden's Video and PowerPoint Posted
The Reaching New Heights PowerPoint used at Administrator Bolden's All Hands on Thursday is posted under Presentation Help on ERO's new communications toolkit site, Stuff to Know. You can also find Stuff to Know as a tile on the internal JSC homepage. The Reaching New Heights video is on the NASA YouTube account here. Explore Stuff to Know to learn how you can share NASA - from bringing family and friends onsite, to speaking to your kid's school, to how your neighbor can intern here at JSC. The site is a one-stop-shop so that you don't have to go to a bunch of different sites to find all the guidelines and opportunities for communicating NASA messages. JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
[top] - Focus Group Screening For New Video Tomorrow
ERO is looking for feedback on a new 5 minute video production. Please join us for a short screening and to answer four quick questions. The screening will be held in Studio B, the newly refurbished NASA TV studio behind the Teague Auditorium in Building 2 South. There are two sessions available; the first session is at noon and the second at 12:30 p.m. Event Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 Event Start Time:12:00 PM Event End Time:12:30 PM
Event Location: B2S/Studio B
Add to Calendar
Martha Hess x30920
[top] - Check Out 'IT Talk' for an IT Minute
Don't blink. You may miss an IT minute - or decade. To catch up on Information Technology (IT) trends on the horizon for NASA, click to the latest issue of IT Talk. In addition to the message from the NASA CIO, the April-June 2014 issue of IT Talk includes: - A roadmap for enhancing IT security at NASA
- Drones see second life mapping hurricanes - NASA's HS3 Program
- The SMACK Report (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud, Key Disruptors)
- Tech steps: Taking NASA anywhere
- A solution for agency electronic forms
- An I3P update
- And more …
Don't miss it. IT Talk is a quarterly publication that highlights Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) IT innovations, initiatives and programs across NASA centers. - Managed Elevated Privileges Continues
On Tuesday, April 15, Managed Elevated Privileges (MEP) continues with the DX (EVA, Robotics and Crew Systems Operations) org code. MEP controls admin rights (Elevated Privileges, or EP) on NASA computers and allows users to request EP when needed. Users must complete SATERN training before submitting any requests for EP. All users, especially those scheduled for MEP deployment, are strongly urged to complete the SATERN training for "Basic Users" (Elevated Privileges on NASA Information System - ITS-002-09). Users can coordinate with their supervisor, OCSO or organization IT point of contact to determine the level of EP they may need beyond "Basic User" and any additional training required. The next scheduled deployment date is April 29, which will begin the EA org codes. For more information, go to the MEP website or contact Heather Thomas at x30901. - Electronic Document System (EDS) 2.0 Release
On March 10, the EDS 2.0 document type Task Performance Sheet (TPS) replacement of the paper JSC Form 1225 was started. The plan is to implement according to record centers (RCs). On March 10, this went in to effect from RC15 to 44. The other RC schedules are as follows: Record Center Implementation Date RC Building 7 - April 2 RC Building 32 - May 1 RC Building 36 - June 1 RC Building 10 - June 1 RC Building 350 - June 1 Any new paper TPS (JF 1225) in the signature cycle will only be accepted for two weeks after the designated implementation date. Any exception will need to be coordinated with respective division management and provided to Quality and Flight Equipment Division management. Class schedules are available in SATERN. Organizations/Social - Starport Café Online Survey
- Spinning for Beginners – Starts TODAY, April 14
Have you wanted to try one of Starport's Spinning® classes, but 45 minutes seemed overwhelming? Join Fitness Director Richard Wooten on a journey to prepare you for a full Spinning® class. This six-week program (one class each week) is designed to show you the ropes of the Spinning® program and build the strength and confidence that will take you to the next level. This class will be easy and fun! Class Dates and Time: Must attend first class to be on roster. Classes are every Monday for six weeks and start at 6:30 p.m. SHARP. Please show up five minutes early. - April 14 - 6:30 p.m. (15-minute class)
- April 21 - 6:30 p.m. (15-minute class)
- April 28 - 6:30 p.m. (20-minute class)
- May 5 - 6:30 p.m. (25-minute class)
- May 12 - 6:30 p.m. (30-minute class)
- May 19 - 6:30 p.m. (35-minute class)
- Get Beach Ready with Starport's Boot Camp
Registration is open for the next session of Starport's popular Boot Camp. These results-(almost)-guaranteed classes begin Monday, April 21, with both morning and evening options available. Don't delay, as class sizes are limited! Program Details Registration: Open until April 21 Cost: $110 Classes meet Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for six weeks (18 sessions). Morning session: 6 to 7 a.m. Evening session: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Register online at the Starport website or by stopping by the Gilruth Center information desk. - April Shower of Savings Sale – Week 3
Starport is showering you with savings this week. Take 10 percent off tanks, shorts, puzzles and games, and 15 percent off picture frames. Don't forget - any rainy day in April, you can get a NASA umbrella for just $9 (regularly $12). Stop by Starport Gift Shop each week in April for the best prices on your space gift items! - Starport Book Fair – Building 3 Café This Week
Come and enjoy the Books Are Fun book fair held in the Building 3 Starport Café on Tuesday, April 15, Wednesday, April 16, and Thursday, April 17, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Search through more than 250 great titles in children's books, cookbooks, general-interest books, New York Times bestsellers, stationery and scrapbooking, music collections and more, all at unbelievable prices. These make great Easter gifts! Click here for more information. - Administrative Professionals Luncheon
Treat your administrative staff to a lavish event on Wednesday, April 23, at 11:30 a.m. Enjoy the Alamo ballroom at the Gilruth Center as you have never seen it before, transformed into the ultimate restaurant experience. It's $20 per person or $150 per table of eight. Paid reservations are required by this Wednesday, April 16. Call Danial at 281-483-0240 to reserve your spot, or register online. More information can be found here. Appetizer: Caprese - fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil leaves drizzled with olive oil salad Salad: Romaine pear salad Entrée: Lobster ravioli or chicken marsala Dessert: Berry sorbet garnished with a sprig of mint and topped with a vanilla shortbread cookie Jobs and Training - Writing Powerful Proposals Course
This dynamic Writing Powerful Proposals course guides participants through practical techniques to produce project-winning proposals. In this course, participants increase the clarity, impact and overall professionalism of their proposal writing; streamline their proposal-writing process; and learn how to capture proposal evaluation points with informative, responsive and persuasive text. The course will be held from June 17. Participants to be able to: - Analyze an Request for Proposal to understand the proposal preparation instructions (PPI); the customer's goals, requirements, and concerns; and the proposal-evaluation criteria.
- Work from outlines to storyboards to text to ensure logical, PPI-compliant organization and clear, substantive text and graphics. Use boilerplate effectively. "Match" personnel resumes and profiles to the customer's project.
- Write for decision makers. Articulate JSC's capabilities succinctly and differentiate the value you will deliver to the customer and the project. Interweave and emphasize proposal themes.
- Eliminate any wordiness and stale language.
- Evaluating and Presenting Analysis Results Course
Analysts have more responsibility than just analyzing and interpreting data. The Evaluating and Presenting Analysis Results Course focuses on transforming analysis findings into information the organization can use to make effective decisions. The course will be held from Aug. 12 to 14. Participants will learn the following: - How to determine if the analysis has met the project goals
- Steps to take when finalizing an analysis
- Select the appropriate method to present quantitative and qualitative results
- Write an executive report and learn how to develop tables, graphs and charts for the analysis
- Develop a clear message that effectively communicates the implications of your results
- Give a briefing or presentation to present analysis results to decision makers
- Job Opportunities
Where do I find job opportunities? To help you navigate to JSC vacancies, use the filter drop-down menu and select "JSC HR." The "Jobs" link will direct you to the USAJOBS website for the complete announcement and the ability to apply online. Lateral reassignment and rotation opportunities are posted in the Workforce Transition Tool. To access, go to: HR Portal > Employees > Workforce Transition > Workforce Transition Tool. These opportunities do not possess known promotion potential; therefore, employees can only see positions at or below their current grade level. If you have questions about any JSC job vacancies or reassignment opportunities, please call your HR representative. | |
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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 and Human Spaceflight News
Monday, April 14, 2014
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: Since Steve Swanson posted the first Instagram image from space, the ISS Instagram account has reached nearly 70,000 followers. That's about 64,000 more followers than it had less than one week ago. The image below of the Maldive Islands is the latest post with almost 10,000 likes.
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Space Station Launch Monday Despite Dead Computer
Marcia Dunn – AP
The International Space Station is about to get some fresh groceries and material for an urgent repair job.
NASA, SpaceX 'go' for Monday launch
James Dean – Florida Today
NASA today cleared SpaceX to attempt a 4:58 p.m. Monday launch of its next International Space Station resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
NASA studies glitch with backup ISS computer
William Harwood – CBS News
SpaceX engineers in Cape Canaveral pressed ahead Saturday with work to prepare a Falcon 9 rocket for launch Monday to boost a space station cargo ship into orbit. But a final decision to fly will not be made by NASA until Sunday, agency officials say, after additional work to troubleshoot a glitch aboard the lab complex Friday that knocked out a backup computer unit.
SpaceX 'Go' for Dragon Cargo Ship Launch to Space Station Monday
The private spaceflight company SpaceX will forge ahead with a Dragon cargo ship launch to the International Space Station on Monday (April 14) despite a backup computer failure on the station that will force NASA to perform a spacewalk repair, possibly as early as next week.
Astronauts to Grow Lettuce in Space with NASA Veggie Farm
Astronauts longing for fresh lettuce in orbit will soon have the chance to grow it for themselves: NASA is sending a mini-farm into space.
ESA unlike NASA to expand space cooperation with Russia - Russian agency
ITAR-TASS
The European Space Agency (ESA) will not limit its space cooperation with Russia as it has earlier been done by the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), Russian Federal Space Agency deputy head Sergey Saveliev told a teleconference at ITAR-TASS ahead of Cosmonautics Day marked in Russia on April 12.
NASA Space Apps 'Hackathon' Draws Future Tech Trailblazers
On the 17th floor of a building here in the heart of midtown Manhattan, more than 100 computer programmers, software engineers and graphic designers huddle together in small groups, chatting excitedly, scribbling notes or furiously typing on laptops. They have all gathered to take part in NASA's third annual International Space Apps Challenge — a 48-hour global hackathon that aims to find solutions to problems faced on Earth and in space.
NASA's new rover challenge is tough, just like the rest of the agency's life today
Lee Roop – Huntsville (AL) Times
The growing pains showed Friday as student teams struggled through the first lap of NASA's first Human Exploration Rover Challenge, and watchers familiar with the space program couldn't help see echoes of NASA's bigger growing pains in Washington.
Spaceport: One small step
A deal with Sierra Nevada Corp. gives reason to hope for Ellington Spaceport.
Houston Chronicle Editorial
The announcement last year that Houston would invest in upgrading Ellington Airport to a spaceport sent a thrill through the hearts of Space City boosters. It also sent a chill to the pocketbook of anyone familiar with the eight underserved spaceports that already dot our country. Houston's history and workforce make us an ideal location for a suburban spaceport, but there simply isn't the demand for yet another specialized landing strip that cannot handle rocket launches. At its core, Ellington Spaceport is a project of the heart.
U.S. in prime position to see full lunar eclipse Tuesday
Irene Klotz – Reuters
Night owls and early risers in North America will be able to watch a rare celestial show on Tuesday as Earth's shadow falls across the moon, shifting its color from bright orange to blood red to brown, depending on local weather conditions.
Space entrepreneur seeks end to spy satellite launch monopoly
SpaceX's Elon Musk is vying to break the controversial grip of Boeing and Lockheed Martin on launches of the U.S. government's most sophisticated national security satellites.
W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
A high-stakes battle is underway in Washington over launching the U.S. government's most sophisticated national security satellites.
COMPLETE STORIES
Space Station Launch Monday Despite Dead Computer
Marcia Dunn – AP
The International Space Station is about to get some fresh groceries and material for an urgent repair job.
An unmanned SpaceX rocket is on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. It's scheduled to blast off at 4:58 p.m. Monday with more than 2 tons of supplies.
NASA spent much of the weekend debating whether to proceed with the launch. A critical backup computer failed outside the space station Friday. Mission managers decided Sunday to stick with the plan after making sure everything would be safe.
The Dragon supply ship holds a gasket-like material for next week's computer replacement. Spacewalking astronauts will perform the job April 22. This new material was rushed to the launch site following the computer outage.
SpaceX is one of two American shippers hired by NASA.
NASA, SpaceX 'go' for Monday launch
James Dean – Florida Today
NASA today cleared SpaceX to attempt a 4:58 p.m. Monday launch of its next International Space Station resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
During meetings this morning, NASA determined it was safe to proceed with the launch of a Dragon cargo capsule despite the failure of a backup computer outside the station that will have to be replaced with a spacewalk.
The computer provides redundancy for a number of systems on the station's truss, but NASA determined they could be configured properly to protect against the potential failure of the primary computer, which is performing well.
"We need to get (the Dragon) on board as soon as we practically can," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager.
There's an 80 percent chance of favorable launch weather during Monday's instantaneous launch window at Launch Complex 40, with anvil clouds a possible threat as a cold front moves into the area.
If SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasts off Monday, the Dragon spacecraft -- packed with nearly 5,000 pounds of food, supplies and science experiments -- would be expected to berth at the station Wednesday morning.
If the launch scrubs, the next opportunity would be Friday afternoon, when the weather forecast is expected to be worse.
NASA has tentatively scheduled a spacewalk to replace the failed computer box for April 22.
After launch, SpaceX will attempt to drop the Falcon 9 rocket's first-stage gently in the Atlantic Ocean for recovery, the next step in the company's attempt to develop a reusable booster.
NASA studies glitch with backup ISS computer
William Harwood – CBS News
SpaceX engineers in Cape Canaveral pressed ahead Saturday with work to prepare a Falcon 9 rocket for launch Monday to boost a space station cargo ship into orbit. But a final decision to fly will not be made by NASA until Sunday, agency officials say, after additional work to troubleshoot a glitch aboard the lab complex Friday that knocked out a backup computer unit.
In the meantime, NASA managers have approved a contingency spacewalk to replace the "black box" as soon as possible, but no date has been set pending a decision on the SpaceX launch and additional analysis.
The computer in question, known as a multiplexer-demultiplexer, or MDM, provides a backup channel for commanding the station's mobile transporter, a railcar-like device used to position the station's robot arm at various work sites along the main power truss.
The robot arm will be needed to capture the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship once it reaches the station and engineers want full redundancy for subsequent moves and to prevent more widespread problems in case additional problems develop.
"Everything works just fine with 1 of the 2 computers failed," station Flight Director Ed Van Cise said in a Facebook posting. "2 of 2 computers failed is a really bad day -- effectively can't control anything on the truss." In parentheses, he added: "exaggeration but at a high level, close enough."
"So a replacement spacewalk gets us our redundancy back to protect against having that 2nd failure," he wrote. "Teams today are spending a lot of time talking about SpaceX and what we want to do. It's not just the SSRMS (robot arm) we need to worry about but control of all the hardware on the truss."
As for SpaceX, NASA managers could opt to accept reduced redundancy and clear SpaceX to launch the Dragon spacecraft on time Monday, or they could opt to delay the flight while the station crew installs a replacement unit. Replacing an MDM is a standard repair task that station crews routinely practice during ground training.
"While a final decision on the SpaceX launch is being reviewed, another team of engineers is laying out a timeline for a contingency spacewalk that is required to replace the failed spare MDM," NASA said in a statement Saturday. "No date for the spacewalk has been scheduled. Such a spacewalk is one of the so-called 'Big 12' spacewalks that station crews train to execute for the loss of a critical component on the complex."
The MDM is mounted in the central S0 section of the station's power truss, one of more than 12 similar units used to control a variety of systems. The device measures 10.5 by 14.9 by 16.4 inches and weighs 50.8 pounds.
The apparent failure occurred Friday afternoon, amid work at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to prepare a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule for launch at 4:58 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) Monday. Assuming an on-time launch, the uncrewed Dragon supply ship would reach the lab complex around 7:11 a.m. Wednesday.
Unlike supply ships built by the Russians and the European Space Agency, the SpaceX Dragon capsule is not able to dock on its own. Instead, the station's robot arm, operated by astronauts inside the space station, is used to lock onto a grapple fixture so the capsule can be moved into position for berthing at the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module.
"The prime multiplexer continues to operate flawlessly, and there has been no impact to station operations," NASA said in a Saturday update. "The crew was informed of the problem and is in no danger, continuing its normal complement of research work and routine maintenance."
Earlier Saturday, a Russian Progress supply ship docked to the station fired its thrusters, boosting the lab to the proper altitude for upcoming Soyuz crew ferry flights planned for May.
But the failure of MDM EXT-2 was the clear focus of attention in Houston.
"Station program officials, flight controllers and teams of engineers are working to determine whether there is any risk to launching the SpaceX cargo craft Monday," NASA said. "They will evaluate whether the station has enough redundancy to permit the launch to proceed, which would result in Dragon arriving at the station Wednesday. ... The station's Canadarm2 robotic arm that would be used to capture and berth Dragon has other redundancy capabilities not affected by the backup MDM failure."
The SpaceX cargo craft is loaded with 4,600 pounds of equipment and supplies, including spacesuit components intended to prevent any recurrence of a potentially catastrophic helmet water leak that occurred during a spacewalk last year.
If a spacewalk is required to replace the suspect MDM, two station astronauts would use spacesuits currently aboard the station, following safety procedures implemented for two excursions last December to replace a faulty cooling system component.
Those spacewalks were successful, and there was no recurrence of the leak that occurred during a July 2013 spacewalk by European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano.
SpaceX 'Go' for Dragon Cargo Ship Launch to Space Station Monday
The private spaceflight company SpaceX will forge ahead with a Dragon cargo ship launch to the International Space Station on Monday (April 14) despite a backup computer failure on the station that will force NASA to perform a spacewalk repair, possibly as early as next week.
The NASA decision sets the stage for SpaceX to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the robotic Dragon spacecraft from a pad on Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff is set for 4:58 p.m. EDT (2058 GMT) on Monday, with the Dragon due to arrive at the station two days later.
You can watch the SpaceX's Dragon launch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. The webcast will begin Monday at 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT). SpaceX's Dragon will deliver nearly 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kilograms) of food, experiments and other vital supplies for the station's crew when it arrives on Wednesday. In a press conference Sunday (April 13), NASA station program manager Michael Suffredini said the decision to move forward with the SpaceX launch came after an in-depth analysis of the Friday failure of a backup computer for the station's solar arrays, robotic arm rail car and other systems. The system's primary computer is working fine, and engineers devised workarounds that would safeguard the station's power and robotic systems in case of another failure, he added.
"We're just trying to fly as soon as we safely can, which is what we believe we're doing with this [plan]," Suffredini told reporters.
The Dragon launch has been delayed since March due to unrelated damage to a ground-based tracking radar used by the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Spacewalk repair needed
The failed backup computer is known in NASA parlance as a Multiplexer-Demultiplexer, or MDM, and is one of more than a dozen such devices used to route commands to various systems on the space station. It failed late Friday (April 11) when flight controllers on Earth attempted to activate it.
Suffredini said astronauts will eventually have to perform a spacewalk to replace the broken MDM computer, possibly as soon as April 22. The International Space Station is home to two American astronauts, one Japanese astronaut and three Russian cosmonauts. NASA plans to decide who will perform the spacewalk later today, Suffredini said.
"This would be one of the simplest that we could do," Suffredini said of the spacewalk. The actual spacewalk would last about 2.5 hours and require two astronauts to swap out one 50-lb. (22.6 kg) MDM computer one of several spares on the station.
Big science on SpaceX's Dragon
SpaceX's upcoming launch will mark the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company's third cargo delivery mission since 2012 under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for 12 resupply flights using the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rockets. Another company, company is Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., also has a $1.9 billion NASA contract for eight cargo using its own Antares rockets and Cygnus spacecraft.
For this mission, SpaceX's Dragon is carrying innovative science experiments in addition to a standard load of food, water and other basic needs. Among those experiments are:
Space legs:Prehensile legs for NASA's humanoid Robonaut 2 droid on the station.
Veggie: A mini-farm experiment to let astronauts grow lettuce in space.
MERCURRI: A microbe experiment orchestrated by NBA and NFL cheerleaders.
Phonesat 2.5: A tiny smartphone-powered satellite designed by NASA.
SpaceX will also deploy a set of four tiny pods carrying other small satellites as a secondary payload on the Falcon 9 rocket, according to Hans Koenigsmann, the company's vice president of mission assurance.
Koenigsmann said the Falcon 9 launching on Monday is also equipped with four landing legs, each one measuring 25 feet (7.6 meters) long, as part of a reusable rocket technology experiment.
Last year, SpaceX successfully demonstrated that it could launch a satellite into orbit, then relight the nine rocket engines on its falling Falcon 9 booster's first stage to slow its descent back to Earth. For Monday's test, that re-entry maneuver will be accompanied by a landing maneuver with the goal of delivering the Falcon 9 first stage to a preselected "landing" zone in the Atlantic Ocean.
If all goes well, the rocket would descend upright as if making a vertical landing, then topple over into the ocean to be retrieved by a recovery team, Koenigsmann said.
But SpaceX stresses the demonstration is an experimental technique. The chances of success are low, between 30 and 40 percent, Koenigsmann said.
"If we pull this off … we'll be super-thrilled," he added.
Astronauts to Grow Lettuce in Space with NASA Veggie Farm
Astronauts longing for fresh lettuce in orbit will soon have the chance to grow it for themselves: NASA is sending a mini-farm into space.
When the private spaceflight company SpaceX launches its next Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station on Monday (April 14), the capsule will be carrying a small plant growth chamber built to let astronauts grow "Outredgeous" lettuce in orbit.
The goal of the Veg-01 experiment, nicknamed "Veggie", is to see how well plants grow in orbit. If these early tests go well and the food proves safe, scientists hope to expand the menu.
"Veggie will provide a new resource for U.S. astronauts and researchers as we begin to develop the capabilities of growing fresh produce and other large plants on the space station," said Gioia Massa, NASA payload scientist for Veggie, in a statement. "Determining food safety is one of our primary goals for this validation test."
Space is at a premium on a spacecraft and also on the International Space Station, so the Veggie chamber is built to collapse for transportation and when it is in storage. When fully deployed, it's about a 1.5-feet (X meters) long, making it the biggest such plant chamber in space to date.
A version of the chamber has been tested on the ground, where lettuce and radishes were successfully grown at the Kennedy Space Center's space life sciences laboratory. Veggie was developed by Madison, Wis.-based Orbital Technologies Corp.
NASA's Veggie experimental space farm is slated to launch on SpaceX's Dragon capsule at 4:58 p.m. EDT (2058 GMT). Visit Space.com for complete coverage of the Dragon mission to the International Space Station. ESA unlike NASA to expand space cooperation with Russia - Russian agency
ITAR-TASS
The European Space Agency (ESA) will not limit its space cooperation with Russia as it has earlier been done by the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), Russian Federal Space Agency deputy head Sergey Saveliev told a teleconference at ITAR-TASS ahead of Cosmonautics Day marked in Russia on April 12.
"There will be no sanctions from European partners," he said. "On the contrary, there are plans to expand our cooperation."
Saveliev recalled that ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst will launch as a member of an international crew aboard a Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome on May 28 to begin a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
"A large delegation from the European Space Agency is expected at Baikonur," he added.
Last week, the US space agency posted on its Twitter and Facebook accounts a statement announcing the suspension of cooperation with Russia in an apparent move of siding with Washington administration's sanctions in regard to Moscow over the situation in Ukraine.
NASA's decision to suspend the majority of space cooperation projects with Russia was accepted not only with bewilderment among Russian space experts, but also drew criticism inside the US space agency as well. A number of Russian space experts remarked that the suspension of cooperation would be to the detriment of NASA itself.
Speaking about these sanctions against Russia, the Roscosmos official said: "We depend on each other to a large extent. This (NASA sanctions) is an incautious step."
NASA Space Apps 'Hackathon' Draws Future Tech Trailblazers
On the 17th floor of a building here in the heart of midtown Manhattan, more than 100 computer programmers, software engineers and graphic designers huddle together in small groups, chatting excitedly, scribbling notes or furiously typing on laptops. They have all gathered to take part in NASA's third annual International Space Apps Challenge — a 48-hour global hackathon that aims to find solutions to problems faced on Earth and in space.
The two-day Space Apps Challenge event kicked off today (April 12) in nearly 100 different locations across six continents. As part of the fun contest, teams around the world will spend the weekend trying to tackle 40 challenges released by NASA.
The tasks are designed to address many of the agency's top priorities, and the event is part of NASA's growing involvement in citizen science initiatives.
The challenges fall into five categories — Earth Watch, Technology in Space, Human Spaceflight, Robotics and Asteroids — and include such diverse tasks as figuring out how to turn a smartphone into a nanosatellite; designing high-tech "smart accessories" for astronauts; conceptualizing designs for a deployable greenhouse for missions to the moon or Mars; and creating an open-source network of robotic telescopes to perform quick follow-up observations of potentially threatening asteroids.
This year, the Challenge's main event is taking place here in New York City, but across the United States, teams are competing from Baltimore, Chicago, Kansas City, Mo., Pittsburgh, San Francisco and several other locations. Internationally, the event includes participants from Qatar, Greece, South Africa, New Zealand, Nigeria, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
"There's a spirit that infects everyone when we realize all these people around the world are working on the same thing," said James Wanga, who was part of a team last year that won a Space Apps Challenge award for building a prototype of an asteroid mapper.
Wanga's work at last year's event helped him and three others launch a new company, called Go Lab, which aims to develop nanosatellites for a variety of scientific purposes.
For this year's Space Apps Challenge, Wanga is building a network that can relay information from a device uptown to a separate device downtown without using the Internet. The technology could one day be used to create a new type of network that would allow astronauts to communicate or transmit information across vast distances while exploring deep space.
"We all understand here that we're trying to change the world," Wanga told Space.com. "This is the beginning of the space tech boom, and the people here right now are the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of space tech start-ups." Part of the appeal of the Space Apps Challenge is the ability to work with people who possess diverse sets of skills, said John Oquist, the creative director of Space Apps NYC.
"There are several layers of benefits," Oquist told Space.com. "NASA is getting solutions to real social needs, but this is also a huge educational and outreach effort." Last year, Oquist and his teammates used data from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to build a 3D environment that lets users explore the Red Planet with a virtual reality headset made by the gaming company Oculus VR. The award-winning project, called "Chillin' on Mars," has since been featured at the New York Hall of Science and World Maker Faire New York.
The primary goal of the Space Apps Challenge is to encourage freedom of thought, said NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, who hosted a live Google+ Hangout earlier today during the Space Apps NYC event.
"It's about casting ideas out there and hitting those sparks of innovation," Wheelock said.
At the end of the hackathon, local prizes will be awarded at each venue in the following classifications: Best Use of Data, Best Use of Hardware, Best Mission Concept, Galactic Impact and Most Inspiring. Then, a panel of NASA judges will select winners from each of the five finalist categories. Each local venue will also be able to nominate a team for the People's Choice award.
NASA's new rover challenge is tough, just like the rest of the agency's life today
Lee Roop – Huntsville (AL) Times
The growing pains showed Friday as student teams struggled through the first lap of NASA's first Human Exploration Rover Challenge, and watchers familiar with the space program couldn't help see echoes of NASA's bigger growing pains in Washington.
After 20 years, NASA dropped the name Great Moonbuggy Race from the popular annual event, changed the rules, and hardened the course to get the race in line with America's new space destination of Mars. Some schools didn't get word in time to change their buggies and others, including last year's high school winner from Puerto Rico, broke down on the tough new obstacles Friday and had to carry their old-school buggies across the finish line.
In a way, it all seemed familiar. In Washington this spring, NASA's administrator has clashed repeatedly with congressional oversight committees whose members have their own ideas about his agency's priorities. A tight budget is forcing tough choices, new missions, and a much tougher path to paying for and building Team America's new rockets. The problem in Washington is no one player seems to have the final say on anything.
Back at this year's rover race, Marshall Space Flight Center Director Patrick Scheuermann was committed to the new name, rules and mission. "Do you think these kids really care what it's called?" Scheuermann asked Friday, gesturing at hundreds of high-schoolers, many in team T-shirts and uniforms, who swarmed the race site at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. You can watch the race live on Marshall USTREAM here. The old race celebrated the Saturn V rocket that lifted a lunar rover built in Huntsville to the moon, Scheuermann said. But NASA needs young people thinking now about the new Space Launch System his team is building at Marshall Space Flight Center and the new planet it will traverse. These students are the age to be the first to step on Mars, he said.
"I have a job dating back to Wernher von Braun," Scheuermann said. "Am I going to top what he did? Of course not. My job is to keep Marshall relevant for the future."
Standing by a boulder field that is the new course's tough first obstacle, Scheuermann was asked if the teams were struggling. "Of course they are," he said. "That's the point. The Martian environment is not going to be easy."
The biggest difference this year is NASA banned inflated tires on the rovers. Any inflatable medium - air or foam, for example - would explode in space. Wheels have to be solid.
"They got around that this year and met the rules," Scheuermann said of the 80 teams that showed up. "It turns out Wal-Mart sells a solid bicycle tire, so there are a lot of those. But there's no Wal-Mart on the way to Mars."
The solid, but narrow bicycle tires had their own challenge. They sank in the fine-grain sand heaped in several course challenges this year. Teams like Fairhope High school had to get out and push, costing them a penalty of time added to their final score.
"It was harder than I thought," a red-faced Amanda Rylee said afterward. She was the back-seat pedaler on Fairhope's buggy and loves the competition and the engineering, even though her career goal now is youth ministry.
Driver and teammate Logan Murrell loves the race, too, and what he likes has little to do with running the course. "It teaches you both sides of engineering," he said. "You design and build,"added teammate Morgan Nyblon.
The race continues Saturday with awards presented to winning teams Saturday night at the space center. The public can watch the race with their paid admission to the center.
Spaceport: One small step
A deal with Sierra Nevada Corp. gives reason to hope for Ellington Spaceport.
Houston Chronicle Editorial
The announcement last year that Houston would invest in upgrading Ellington Airport to a spaceport sent a thrill through the hearts of Space City boosters. It also sent a chill to the pocketbook of anyone familiar with the eight underserved spaceports that already dot our country. Houston's history and workforce make us an ideal location for a suburban spaceport, but there simply isn't the demand for yet another specialized landing strip that cannot handle rocket launches. At its core, Ellington Spaceport is a project of the heart.
Luckily for Houston taxpayers, Sierra Nevada Corp. Vice President of Space Systems Mark Sirangelo shares in that heart, and signed a deal with the Houston Airport System to study what it would take to land at Ellington.
Sierra Nevada is building a small, winged shuttle called the Dream Chaser that it hopes will replace Russia's Soyuz as NASA's transport to the International Space Station. It would launch on top of a rocket, but land like a glider. Given that Vladimir Putin's Russia charges NASA more than $70 million to ferry a single astronaut to low-Earth orbit, an American alternative can't come soon enough.
Still, there is a long way to go before Ellington could serve as an occasional landing site for the next generation of shuttles. The barriers aren't necessarily technical, but more logistical and regulatory. How do you interrupt the plane traffic at nearby Hobby Airport? Is it safe to land a shuttle in the middle of a city? What would all this cost?
Even if Ellington can address those issues, the spaceport's success would also rely on the Dream Chaser being recruited for missions. With funds for the ISS set to run out in 2024, folks should wonder if there will be enough business in low-Earth orbit to go around.
That 2024 date isn't just a concern for Sierra Nevada. Thousands of Houston jobs and billions of dollars are in the ISS orbit, whether at the Johnson Space Center or with private contractors. An ill-timed budget cut could doom that forever. This is an area where Space City isn't just about heart, but the local economy. We can't afford to lose one of Houston's crown jewels.
While the Houston Airport System works to expand Space City into the next generation of spaceflight, Houston's delegation in Congress needs to ensure that we remain Space City at all.
U.S. in prime position to see full lunar eclipse Tuesday
Irene Klotz – Reuters
Night owls and early risers in North America will be able to watch a rare celestial show on Tuesday as Earth's shadow falls across the moon, shifting its color from bright orange to blood red to brown, depending on local weather conditions.
The lunar eclipse will unfold over three hours beginning at 1:58 a.m. EDT when the moon begins moving into Earth's shadow. A little more than an hour later, the moon will be fully eclipsed and shrouded in a red glow.
The celestial show will be over by 5:33 a.m., according to astronomers at the University of Texas's McDonald Observatory.
Eclipses occurs two or three times per year when the sun, Earth and the full moon line up so that the moon passes through Earth's shadow.
Tuesday's eclipse will be the last full lunar eclipse visible from the United States until 2019, NASA said.
Weather permitting, the eclipse will be visible from most of the country, with the exception of New England and Alaska.
Alaskans can get a view of the moon rising already partly eclipsed. From New England, the moon sets before the eclipse ends.
NASA plans live coverage of the eclipse on NASA TV, the NASA.gov website and on its social media accounts. Coverage will begin at 2 a.m. EDT.
Space entrepreneur seeks end to spy satellite launch monopoly
SpaceX's Elon Musk is vying to break the controversial grip of Boeing and Lockheed Martin on launches of the U.S. government's most sophisticated national security satellites.
W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
A high-stakes battle is underway in Washington over launching the U.S. government's most sophisticated national security satellites.
Space entrepreneur Elon Musk is pitted against the nation's two largest weapons makers, Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., in a fight for military contracts worth as much as $70 billion through 2030. For eight years, the Pentagon has paid Boeing and Lockheed — operating jointly as United Launch Alliance — to launch the government's pricey spy satellites without seeking competitive bids. Now, the arrangement is embroiled in controversy on Capitol Hill over escalating costs and the cozy partnership. The monopoly drew fire this month as lawmakers repeatedly peppered Defense leaders with questions about the arrangement. A bipartisan group of seven senators also wrote Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel asking for more scrutiny. That came days after the Government Accountability Office reported that the program had tripled in cost in the last five years. The letter urged Hagel to "take all necessary steps to ensure the Air Force fulfills its commitment to provide meaningful competition."
That's good for Musk and his Hawthorne firm, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX. Over the years, Musk has repeatedly battled to break the grip of entrenched aerospace giants on the nation's space programs. SpaceX has already changed the way NASA conducts spaceflight. The company now runs regular cargo resupply missions to astronauts aboard the International Space Station. It became the first private company to do so, a year after the space shuttle fleet was retired in 2011. Last month, Musk testified before Congress seeking the right to bid on the Air Force's space launch program, called the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. "There should be no more sole-sourcing under this program when competition is an option," Musk said.
In 2012, Undersecretary of Defense Frank Kendall wrote a memo advising the Air Force to introduce competition, and identify "up to 14 missions that should be competed as early as 2015."
But the Air Force's recent budget proposal offered no plans for competition next fiscal year, which starts in October. It also slashed from 14 to seven the number of missions from 2015 to 2017. That was the catalyst for the Senate letter, which included the signatures of Democratic California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. The Air Force has responded by saying it favors more competition — but cut the number of launches because there was no need to put additional satellites into orbit.
As it stands, the Air Force buys United Launch Alliance rockets to launch school-bus sized satellites for spying, weather forecasting, communications, GPS and other experimental purposes. The government pays the company nearly $1 billion each year whether it launches six times or none.
The money covers the alliance's costs including facility support, launch operations and support engineering.
"This is a great example of a bilateral monopoly at work: There is one buyer and one seller," said Todd Harrison, a military analyst for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, D.C. "We shouldn't expect it to be efficient. We shouldn't expect it to lower costs."
Boeing and Lockheed formed the alliance in 2006 because market demand could not sustain two competitors at the time. The goal was to slash costs by more than half and cut the time to prepare for launch.
United Launch Alliance developed its family of Delta IV and Atlas V rockets to dominate the launch business. When the rockets were built, they were the most powerful since the Saturn V launched three men to the moon decades earlier.
At the time, the company believed it could use demand from the telecommunications market to provide the military rockets at reduced prices. But the commercial boom never materialized, and the company has largely depended on the U.S. government.
All of the alliance's 69 launches for the Pentagon have been successful. That's critical because the satellites they carry are expensive and take years to build.
"There's a reason the Pentagon doesn't obsess over the launch costs anymore," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a website for military policy. "Their rockets aren't blowing up." END
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