FYI also, ….although her name has not made it to the potential losses page yet --- I saw on Facebook that Michelle Brekke is going to join the Retiree Club soon after 37 years with NASA. Congratulations to her!
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| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Vote, Blog, Engage - Take a Swim on JSC 2.0
- Get Ready With Your Camera! The #ImOnBoard Banner
- Mission Controllers Needed for Stress Study
- Who Is Always "Safe, Not Sorry?"
- Recent JSC Announcement
- The ISS Conference Facility is Moving - Organizations/Social
- Today! EVA 23 Suit Water Intrusion Lessons Learned
- ChiliI! Get Your Chili This Saturday
- Call for Photos
- JSC Lunarfins SCUBA Club Open House
- Spinning® for Beginners - Starting Next Week
- Starport's Sunrise Spinning - April 20
- Starport Jewelry Fair - Building 3 Café
- Administrative Professionals Luncheon
- Admin Day Flower and Balloon Deliveries
- JSC Annual Picnic at SplashTown on April 27
- Boot Camp at the Gilruth Center
- Register for Starport's Summer Camp Now - Jobs and Training
- Lateral Reassignment Positions Available
- Career Power - Optimize your Career Development
- HTC Lunch-and-Learn Tomorrow - Community
- Tour the WM Single-Stream Recycling Facility
- Do You Like To Explore?
- View the Lunar Eclipse at the George |  |
| Headlines - Vote, Blog, Engage – Take a Swim on JSC 2.0
Dive into the new JSC 2.0 website! Our swim lanes will allow you to learn more and understand better the changes happening at JSC. You can vote - this week get your Star Fleet on and tell us your fav wearable technology. You can "like" one of the blogs - be supportive, it takes a lot to put your ideas forth on a website. Or maybe share an idea, something cool you have seen on- or off-site. It can be a sentence or an article, such as this one on wireless electricity. Your choice! JSC 2.0 now features JSC 2.0 success story blogs in a dynamic design that can be easily navigated on your tablet or phone, as well as computer. Read, comment and like the blogs and submit your own to share your project with JSC. JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
[top] - Get Ready With Your Camera! The #ImOnBoard Banner
Orion is gearing up for its first mission to space, Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1), and is inviting you to participate in a social media campaign here on-site! Orion will have large "I'm On Board" banners hung in the Teague for the All Hands tomorrow morning. Sign the banners with the provided markers, then take a picture of yourself with the banner (a.k.a. a selfie!). Share your selfie on social media using #ImOnBoard. Prior to launch, the banners will be sent to Kennedy Space Center to be hung on the fences for the EFT-1 launch! - Mission Controllers Needed for Stress Study
Test Subject Screening (TSS) is seeking mission controllers to evaluate a self-guided, multimedia stress management and resilience training computer program called SMART-OP, which will be compared to an attention control group who will watch videos and read information on stress management. Volunteers will be randomly assigned to one of the two groups. They will attend one informational session; complete two pre- and post-test assessments (60 to 90 minutes) involving questionnaires, neuropsychological tasks, physiological data and biomarker assays; undergo six weekly stress-management training sessions (30 to 60 minutes); and a three-month follow-up, equaling a total of 10 session contacts. Volunteers must be healthy non-smokers taking no medications. Individuals must pass or have a current Category I physical. Volunteers will be compensated. (Restrictions apply to NASA civil servants and some contractors. Individuals should contact their local Human Resources department for details.) Please email or call both Linda Byrd, x37284, or Rori Yager, x37240, if you'd like to participate in this study. - Who Is Always "Safe, Not Sorry?"
John Bullock with L-3 Communications practices what he preaches. He is often seen taping down cords and cables to the floor that could be tripping hazards or measuring to make sure nothing is placed too close to heat or power sources. Bullock considers it a priority to keep fellow co-workers and visitors safe in his area! He has been spotted making sure empty boxes don't get too high, checking that floor tiles or carpet squares are secure and even looking for unsecured cubicle walls. No one will get hurt with Bullock around - he's always "Safe, Not Sorry!" To obtain Safe, Not Sorry pins, call the Safety Office at x45078. - Recent JSC Announcement
Please visit the JSC Announcements (JSCA) Web page to view the newly posted announcement: JSCA 14-007: Key Personnel Assignment - Brady Pyle Archived announcements are also available on the JSCA Web page. - The ISS Conference Facility is Moving
Beginning April 28, meetings scheduled for the International Space Station (ISS) Conference Facility, currently at Regents Park III, will be held at 1800 Space Park Drive in Nassau Bay. During the facility transition period between April 5 and April 27, meetings will be held at alternate locations. Please check with your meeting host to verify the location of your meeting prior to driving to Regents Park. Also, during the transition time, the ISS Conference Facility will have limited ability to accommodate non-ISS meeting requests. Organizations/Social - Today! EVA 23 Suit Water Intrusion Lessons Learned
Attend JSC's SAIC/Safety and Mission Assurance speaker forum featuring Chris Hansen, chief, Crew and Thermal Systems Division, and Dana Weigel, flight director, Mission Operations Directorate. Wednesday, April 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Topic: Lessons Learned on the EVA 23 Suit Water Intrusion Location: Building 1, Room 360 On July 16, two U.S. crew members (referred to here as EV1 and EV2) exited the International Space Station U.S. Airlock to begin EVA 23. Roughly 44 minutes into EVA 23, EV2 reported water inside his helmet on the back of his head. During the post-EVA debrief, EV2 reported impaired visibility and breathing with water covering his eyes, nose and ears. In addition, EV2 had audio-communication issues because of the water. When returning to the airlock, EV2 had to rely on manual feel of his safety tether's cable for pathway directions. Hear the lessons learned from this recent incident. - ChiliI! Get Your Chili This Saturday
The 36th annual JSC FOD Chili Cook-off will take place this Saturday, April 12. More than 45 teams will be cooking chili to share with all of the patrons, compete for prizes and, of course, be looking for bragging rights! Tickets are $7 in advance and can be purchased in Starport Gift Shops. Or, pay $10 at the gate on the day of the event for all the chili and drinks you can handle. Chili will be served starting at noon. Parking is limited to those with parking passes, but shuttles are available all day from on-site at JSC. Enter through the main gate. See you all out there! - Call for Photos
Calling all photographers! The ASIA Employee Resource Group (ERG) wants your pictures. We are looking for photos that capture culture; diversity; collaboration for innovation; and leadership with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). We would like to showcase them to the JSC community during the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in May. The theme for the ASIA ERG event is "Diverse Leadership + Expanding Opportunity: An Imperative for America." Guidelines are as follows: ALL ENTRIES: Send up to four images per person. Please include your name, address, phone, email, titles/captions and any other information pertinent to your submission on all files. By submitting your photos, the photographer affirms that he or she produced the artwork and that such reprint may be reproduced, published and exhibited. We will notify the finalists by April 22. - JSC Lunarfins SCUBA Club Open House
Just a reminder -- join us this afternoon at the Bluebonnet Pavilion if you're interested in scuba diving. If you've been thinking about learning to scuba dive, becoming a certified diver or just looking for colleagues who share your passion, join us today, April 9, for the JSC SCUBA Club's annual open house. The Lunarfins have been active as the JSC SCUBA Club for more than 50 years! Get information and answers to all your questions about membership, club history, dive trips, training and equipment. Free hot dogs, snacks and sodas will be served! Find out how to get started in SCUBA diving or advanced training events; learn about dive trips, club speakers and local social events; and check out our SCUBA flea market - bring to sell or come to buy. - Spinning® for Beginners – Starting Next Week
Spinning for Beginners - starting next week (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 Times: 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)
- Starport's Sunrise Spinning – April 20
Renew your senses and invigorate your mind and body with a 60-minute outdoor Spinning class that will conclude as the sun rises. This motivational endurance ride is great for all levels. Light refreshments will be provided after class. Reserve your spot now; there are still spots left at the discounted $10 registration fee (ends April 11)! Register at the Gilruth Center information desk or online. Starport's Sunrise Spinning - April 20
- 6 to 7 a.m.
Early Registration fee: - $10/person (ends April 11)
Regular Registration: - $15/person (April 12 to 19)
For more information about this Spinning class, or for those interested in biking or running in to the Gilruth that morning, please contact Kerri Knotts. - Starport Jewelry Fair – Building 3 Café
Jewelry is Fun will be out on April 29 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Building 3 Starport Café selling $5.99 jewelry. Enjoy great savings on jewelry and accessories! 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 just $20 per person or $150 per table of eight. Paid reservations are required by April 16. Call Danial at 281-483-0240 to reserve your spot, or register online here. More information can be found here. Appetizer: Caprese - fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil leaves drizzles 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 - Admin Day Flower and Balloon Deliveries
The Starport Gift Shops will be making on-site deliveries of floral arrangements, plants, balloons and other gift items purchased at Starport for Administrative Professionals Day on Wednesday, April 23. Let your administrative assistant know that he/she is appreciated with a beautiful flower arrangement, balloons or other unique gift delivered right to his/her desk. Orders will be accepted April 1 through 18. Check out this flyer and also this one. - JSC Annual Picnic at SplashTown on April 27
The NASA JSC Family Picnic takes place at SplashTown water park every year the weekend before the park opens to the public. Don't miss out on this fun family event taking place on April 27! Tickets are on sale from March 17 through April 18 in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops and Gilruth Center. Tickets will be $33 each for ages 3 and up (ages 2 and under do not need a ticket). After April 18, tickets will be $37. A ticket includes: admission to SplashTown from noon to 6 p.m. for plenty of thrills and admission to the NASA JSC exclusive pavilion (with wristband) for a barbecue lunch, beverages, snow cones, kids' games, Bingo with prizes, face painting, moon bounce, balloon artist, DJ, horseshoes, volleyball and basketball. - Boot Camp at the Gilruth Center
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: $90 before April 11/$110 after April 11 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. - Register for Starport's Summer Camp Now
Summer is fast approaching, and Starport will again be offering summer camp for youth at the Gilruth Center all summer long. We have tons of fun planned, and we expect each session to fill up, so get your registrations in early! Weekly themes are listed on our website, as well as information regarding registration. Ages: 6 to 12 Times: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Dates: June 9 to Aug. 22 in one-week sessions Fee per session: $140 per child | $125 per sibling Register for all sessions and receive a DISCOUNT! Register online or at the Gilruth Center information desk. Jobs and Training - Lateral Reassignment Positions Available
The Workforce Transition Tool is still the best place to find lateral reassignment and rotation opportunities for civil servants. Right now the following positions are posted: - Senior Collaborating Partner - BAHEP | AD111 (Any GS-15)
- Deputy Manager, JSC Source Selection Office | BB111 (GS-14-15)
- Vehicle Integration and Ops Flight Controller | DO531 (GS-12-13)
- NBL Project Engineer | DX121 (GS-13-14)
- S&MA Vehicle Systems Engineer | NC111 (GS-13-14)
- PRA Analyst | NC411 (GS-13-15)
- Contamination Control/Quality Engineer | NT411 (GS-12-13)
- OB8 Program Project Integrator | OB811 (GS-13-14)
To access the Workforce Transition Tool, open: HR Portal > Employees > Workforce Transition > Workforce Transition Tool. Check back frequently to see what new opportunities have been posted. All opportunities are lateral and do not possess known promotion potential; therefore, employees can only see positions posted at or below their current grade level. - Career Power – Optimize your Career Development
Career Power is an engaging learning experience that guides individuals in managing their own development and careers by using activities, discussions and skill-building exercises. Employees can manage their future with Career Power, a lifelong process for today's workforce. Outcomes: - Apply the Career Power model to design their own development strategy
- Identify future trends and see the implications for their own career
- Discover values, skills and interests; manage their personal brand
- Set career direction with multiple options
- Draft a development plan; complete their IDP; and prepare and practice for career conversations
Course Details: Date: Thursday, May 1 Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. Location: Building 12, Room 134 For: Civil servant and contractor employees SATERN ID: 73300 Use this direct link to register in SATERN. - HTC Lunch-and-Learn Tomorrow
Ever thought about starting your own business? Do you have an idea or technology that you think has potential as a commercial product? Then bring your bagged lunch and join the Houston Technology Center (HTC) in the HTC Conference Center located on the second floor of Building 35 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. tomorrow and for the next four Thursdays for a series of lectures on how to launch, fund and sustain a new business. Event Date: April 10 Event Start Time: 11:30 a.m. Event End Time: 12:30 p.m. Event Location: Building 35, Conference Room 212 Community - Tour the WM Single-Stream Recycling Facility
Courtesy of your JSC Green Team and in support of the JSC Recycling Campaign, you are invited to see the state-of-the-art Waste Management (WM) Single-Stream Recycling Facility off Gasmer. Take an extended lunch break and join us on April 15. Bring your own lunch and meet us in front of Building 11 at 11:15 a.m. We will return to JSC no later than 2 p.m. Reservations are required. Contact Laurie Peterson to reserve your seat in the van. - Do You Like To Explore?
Clear Lake City will soon be home to Exploration Green, the new recreation and conservation area right here in the backyard of JSC. We need a few volunteers to help with NASA exhibits/displays during the official groundbreaking of Exploration Green on Saturday, April 12, from 10 a.m. until noon. We plan to have an exhibit, a photo opportunity display and everyone's favorite: COSMO! Go to V-CORPs to check out this great opportunity, right here in Clear Lake! - View the Lunar Eclipse at the George
The George Observatory will be open starting at 5 p.m. on Monday, April 14, for viewing of the lunar eclipse. The observatory will be open all night. The Discovery Dome and telescopes will be available until 11 p.m. Discovery Dome tickets are $3, and telescope tickets are $5. George Observatory is located in the heart of Brazos Bend State Park. Admission to the park is $7 for adults; kids under 12 are free. | |
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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
Wednesday – April 9, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Space Station Cooperation With NASA to Continue – Russian Official
RIA Novosti
The Russian space agency Roscosmos has no plans to suspend cooperation with NASA on the International Space Station (ISS), the agency's deputy head said Tuesday.
NASA photo captures strange bright light coming out of Mars
Carol Christian – Houston Chronicle
A NASA camera on Mars has captured what appears to be artificial light emanating outward from the planet's surface.
'Light' on the surface of Mars gives NASA a new mystery solve
Douglas Ernst – The Washington Times
NASA has a new Mars mystery on its hands thanks to one of its rovers — artificial light.
'Mystery Light' spotted in Mars photo
Rob Quinn – USA Today
Is there life on Mars—and has it left its lights on? A strange blip of light in a photo snapped April 3 by NASA's Curiosity rover has excited UFO enthusiasts, the Houston Chronicle reports. While experts suspect a pixel problem, some believe the light shining upward signals Martians. "This could indicate there there is intelligent life below the ground [that] uses light as we do," writes the editor of UFO Sightings Daily. "This is not a glare from the sun, nor is it an artifact of the photo process."
Report questions NASA centers' security protocols
Ledyard King – Florida Today
Lax security at NASA centers has compromised the agency's sensitive technology network, according to a new report from an independent group led by former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh.
NASA eyes June launch for next Cygnus cargo mission
Stephen Clark – Spaceflight Now
Preparations for the next Orbital Sciences Corp. cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station are on track for launch in early May, but NASA plans to ask the company to reschedule its resupply run for some time in mid-June after delays in launching a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the complex, sources said.
Is NASA An Opening Pawn In A New Cold War?
Bruce Dorminey - Forbes
Late one Friday in the mid-'80s, I caught an uptown express for a midnight showing of Arthur C. Clarke's "2010." I remember sitting in a largely empty Manhattan theatre, popcorn in hand, watching Roy Scheider fret over the film's forbidding black monolith. The same highly-advanced monolith from "2001: A Space Odyssey" again wreaking havoc on a science mission to our solar system's frozen hinterlands.
COMPLETE STORIES
Space Station Cooperation With NASA to Continue – Russian Official
RIA Novosti
The Russian space agency Roscosmos has no plans to suspend cooperation with NASA on the International Space Station (ISS), the agency's deputy head said Tuesday.
NASA announced last week that amid tensions over Ukraine it would freeze joint projects with Russia, excluding collaboration on the International Space Station.
"We are in no way raising the question or trying to develop a response [to NASA's sanctions] because we don't see any grounds for it," Denis Lyskov said.
"All of the questions we have developed have always had an international format," Lyskov said at a press conference at RIA Novosti.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the space industry, mocked the move last week, saying that space cooperation between Russia and NASA was already limited to joint work on the ISS.
A number of NASA employees have condemned the decision to suspend the ties, saying cooperation in the peaceful exploration of outer space should not be affected by earthly politics.
The United States depends on the Russian Soyuz rocket and spacecraft – widely considered the most reliable manned space launch system in history – to ferry its astronauts to the ISS since the retirement of the US space shuttle in 2011.
The US pays Russia over $70 million for each seat aboard Soyuz.
NASA photo captures strange bright light coming out of Mars
Carol Christian – Houston Chronicle
A NASA camera on Mars has captured what appears to be artificial light emanating outward from the planet's surface.
The photo, beamed millions of miles from Mars to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., was taken last week, apparently by one of two NASA rovers on the red planet.
Although the space agency hasn't issued any official statement yet about the phenomenon, bloggers and NASA enthusiasts have started chiming in.
Scott C. Waring, who maintains the website UFO Sightings Daily, posted the photo April 6.
Waring noted that the light shines upward, as if from the ground, and is very flat across the bottom.
"This could indicate there there is intelligent life below the ground and uses light as we do," Waring wrote on his website. "This is not a glare from the sun, nor is it an artifact of the photo process."
On Tuesday, Slate.com's Bad Astronomy blog suggested that a UFO conspiracy site might not be the best source of information for exploring serious planetary phenomena. A more serious source of this light, said blogger Phil Plait, is that "a subatomic particle smacked into the camera, leaving behind its trail of energy."
Earlier this month, NASA announced that on April 2, the Curiosity rover drove the last 98 feet needed to arrive at "the Kimberley," a spot where it can study rock clues about ancient environments that might have been favorable for life, according to a news release.
The Kimberley, where four different types of rock intersect, is named for a region of western Australia. The rover's stay there has been planned since early last year, the release said.
"This is the spot on the map we've been headed for, on a little rise that gives us a great view for context imaging of the outcrops at the Kimberley," Melissa Rice of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena said in the release.
Rice is the scientist in charge of planning several weeks of observations, sample-drilling and on-site laboratory analysis of the area's rocks.
Arrival at this location means Curiosity has driven 3.8 miles since August 2012, when it landed inside Mars' Gale Crater.
The Kimberley investigations are to be the most extensive since Curiosity spent the first half of 2013 in an area called Yellowknife Bay, the release said.
At Yellowknife Bay, the one-ton rover examined the first samples ever drilled from rocks on Mars. These samples showed signs of an ancient lakebed environment that provided the chemical ingredients and energy necessary for life, the release said.
At the Kimberley and, later, at outcrops on the slope of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater, researchers plan to use Curiosity's science instruments to learn more about habitable past conditions and environmental changes.
'Light' on the surface of Mars gives NASA a new mystery solve
Douglas Ernst – The Washington Times
NASA has a new Mars mystery on its hands thanks to one of its rovers — artificial light.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., received images from the Red Planet last week that seem to contain artificial light emanating from the ground, the Houston Chronicle reported.
In February, NASA had the "jelly doughnut" rock mystery to solve, which turned out to simply be the underside of a stone kicked up by the Opportunity rover's wheels. The agency may still be stumped with the current image, as it has not yet released a statement regarding the light.
That hasn't stopped individuals from coming to conclusions that would make H.G. Wells proud.
"This could indicate there there is intelligent life below the ground and uses light as we do," the website UFO Sightings Daily read on April 6, according to the Chronicle. "This is not a glare from the sun, nor is it an artifact of the photo process."
Regardless, Mars watchers have another light story to focus on Tuesday: Mars, Earth and the sun will line up for the first time in two years. Due to the orbital alignment, Mars will be visible throughout the night. Sky watchers merely need to look for an orange glow starting around sunset.
NASA reported that the planet will be roughly 10 times brighter than the brightest stars in the sky during the "opposition" orbit, USA Today reported.
'Mystery Light' spotted in Mars photo
Rob Quinn – USA Today
Is there life on Mars—and has it left its lights on? A strange blip of light in a photo snapped April 3 by NASA's Curiosity rover has excited UFO enthusiasts, the Houston Chronicle reports. While experts suspect a pixel problem, some believe the light shining upward signals Martians. "This could indicate there there is intelligent life below the ground [that] uses light as we do," writes the editor of UFO Sightings Daily. "This is not a glare from the sun, nor is it an artifact of the photo process."
The mysterious light, spotted in a photo taken by the rover's right-hand navigation camera in a new area being studied known as the Kimberley, does not appear in the photo taken by the left-hand camera, suggesting the "light" is actually a speck of lost data, reports NBC News. It notes a photo taken the day before, again by the right navcam, shows a similar light that the left again did not capture. Whatever it is, the buzz about the blip shows that people are examining the rover photos very closely. An imaging expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory shares his theory: A "cosmic ray hit" affected Curiosity. (Meanwhile, this month Mars is the closest it has been to us since 2007.)
Report questions NASA centers' security protocols
Ledyard King – Florida Today
Lax security at NASA centers has compromised the agency's sensitive technology network, according to a new report from an independent group led by former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh.
The report by the National Academy of Public Administration found some centers the group visited during the past year applied different security standards when allowing access to foreign nationals or protecting information technology.
Investigators also found NASA didn't adequately relay security policies from its headquarters to its centers, and that neither workers nor managers were disciplined for lapses, according to a report summary issued Tuesday during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
"What we're talking about here is the culture," Thornburgh told members of the Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee, which had urged the study. "And the culture has to be one that recognizes that there's a price to be paid for not abiding by the rules."
Republican Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia, chairman of the subcommittee, has raised alarms — some say overly so — about the cyber threat to sensitive government networks posed by other countries, notably China. He called the findings "serious."
The Thornburgh report makes numerous recommendations, including: Use strict, uniform standards when granting foreign nationals access to NASA facilities, improve identification and protection of sensitive information technology, and make sure agency employees understand and are held to those standards.
NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr., told lawmakers he agreed with the findings. He said the agency is "taking aggressive action" to remedy security issues raised by Thornburgh.
The full report was not released to the public because NASA didn't want breaches at specific centers disclosed.
Some members of the committee wanted it made public. One, Republican John Culberson of Texas, said NASA opposed public release of the report simply "because it's embarrassing."
Thornburgh conceded the difficulties NASA faces in protecting assets from foreign intrusion while partnering with other countries on missions such as the International Space Station.
"This, as you can imagine, can prove to be a challenging task," he told lawmakers, noting that the agency's international operations were supported by some 600 cooperative agreements with 120 nations last year.
It's not the first time security concerns have been raised about NASA.
Last year, Wolf and other lawmakers wrote to then-FBI Director Robert Mueller about their concerns regarding the possible leak of highly sensitive technological information to China from the NASA Ames Research Center in California.
That same year, Wolf accused NASA of violating an anti-espionage law he wrote by failing to notify Congress about two visits Chinese officials made to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That led to agency facilities temporarily barring access to visitors from China and several other suspect countries while NASA investigated its cybersecurity measures involving foreign nationals.
And in 2011, thieves stole a laptop containing algorithms used to control the International Space Station, though Bolden said the orbiting laboratory was never at risk because of security firewalls.
NASA eyes June launch for next Cygnus cargo mission
Stephen Clark – Spaceflight Now
Preparations for the next Orbital Sciences Corp. cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station are on track for launch in early May, but NASA plans to ask the company to reschedule its resupply run for some time in mid-June after delays in launching a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the complex, sources said.
All rocket and spacecraft components have been delivered to Orbital's launch site at Wallops Island, Va., according to Barry Beneski, a company spokesperson.
The launch is currently scheduled for May 6.
Orbital's Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo craft will deliver approximately 1,650 kilograms, or 3,637 pounds, to the space station. The mission will mark Orbital's second operational resupply flight to the outpost in an eight-mission, $1.9 billion contract with NASA.
Launch processing achieved a milestone Friday with the mating of the Cygnus spacecraft's cargo and service modules in a clean room at Wallops. Beneski said the bulk of the mission's cache of experiments, spare parts and food has already been packed inside the craft's pressurized cargo module.
But SpaceX, NASA's other commercial resupply provider, is in the queue for launch before the next Cygnus mission.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon space capsule were grounded in late March after a component in a U.S. Air Force tracking radar short-circuited, knocking the critical asset offline. The radar is a required safety system on the Air Force's Eastern Range, so all launches from Cape Canaveral were delayed while officials sorted out the problem.
The Air Force activated a standby radar in time for launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket Thursday and SpaceX's Falcon 9 launcher April 14.
SpaceX is delivering several tons of cargo to the space station, including two experimental packages loaded inside the Dragon spacecraft's unpressurized payload bay. A series of complex maneuvers with the station's Canadian robotics systems is required to remove optical communications and high-definition Earth viewing experiments and place them on mounting platforms outside the complex.
SpaceX previously planned a launch March 16, but the company elected to forego that launch opportunity after reviews showed contamination stains on blankets in the Dragon spacecraft's trunk. SpaceX later deemed the stains were acceptable for flight.
The Dragon spacecraft is expected to remain attached to the space station for up to a month. With the launch delays from mid-March to mid-April, the Dragon spacecraft would still be berthed with the complex when Orbital's Cygnus was due to arrive.
The Dragon and Cygnus spacecraft use the same attachment port on the space station's Harmony module.
Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager, said the next opportunity for Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft to fly to the outpost would be in the second week of June.
Managing the space station's fleet of visiting vehicles is often a juggling act. Officials have compared the task with the job of an air traffic controller directing airplanes to take off and land in tight windows at busy airports.
The space station can only support the arrival or departure of one visiting cargo or crew vehicle at a time, and officials often try to schedule time between events to give the astronauts and cosmonauts time to rest and focus on experiments.
One-half of the space station's six-man crew is due to leave the complex May 13 for return to Earth. Koichi Wakata, Mikhail Tyurin and Rick Mastracchio will land in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz capsule to wrap up 187 days in space.
They will be replaced May 28 with the launch of Maxim Suraev, Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst.
High sun angles on the space station's orbit in early June will prevent the safe arrival of the Cygnus spacecraft until at least June 9. Sources said Orbital and NASA have not yet agreed on a target launch date in June.
Officials familiar with the space station's manifest said they would make the formal decision to delay the Orbital Sciences Cygnus mission once SpaceX's Dragon is berthed at the complex.
Dragon's rendezvous and capture by the space station's robotic arm is scheduled for April 16, assuming an on-time launch Apri1 14.
Is NASA An Opening Pawn In A New Cold War?
Bruce Dorminey - Forbes
Late one Friday in the mid-'80s, I caught an uptown express for a midnight showing of Arthur C. Clarke's "2010." I remember sitting in a largely empty Manhattan theatre, popcorn in hand, watching Roy Scheider fret over the film's forbidding black monolith. The same highly-advanced monolith from "2001: A Space Odyssey" again wreaking havoc on a science mission to our solar system's frozen hinterlands.
But halfway through, I was as spooked by the film's grousing earthbound politicians — warning of deteriorating relations between the old Soviet Union and the erstwhile West — as I was by the re-appearance of Clarke's fictional alien artifact.
At the time, a few months before Gorbachev and Glasnost, New York City remained a prime Cold War nuclear target.
As the current Ukrainian crisis puts a fresh chill on U.S.-Russian relations, it's hard not to be reminded of the Mark Twain adage: "History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
Only last week, Forbes' Alex Knapp reported that except for ongoing multilateral cooperation on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA indicated it will be suspending interaction with its Russian counterparts.
In a publicly-leaked April 2nd email to undisclosed colleagues, NASA Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations Michael O'Brien writes: "Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, until further notice, the U.S. government has determined that all NASA contacts with Russian government representatives are suspended, unless the activity has been specifically excepted."
O'Brien goes on to note that the "suspension includes NASA travel to Russia and visits by Russian government representatives to NASA facilities, bilateral meetings, email," even "teleconferences or videoconferences."
Aside from NASA's recent post-shuttle dependence on the Russians to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS, my first reaction was to wonder — what am I missing?
"There is a Russian instrument on the Mars Curiosity rover," said Scott Pace, Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. "But ISS is by far the dominant program in the relationship. So, I expect that the major impact will be [on] bilateral scientific cooperation."
But is NASA an opening high-profile pawn in a new Cold War?
"At least not yet," said Pace. "NASA is a federal agency and has to conform to government-wide diplomatic limits on direct Russian contacts." Pace says this current attention on NASA's role in U.S.-Russia relations is perhaps more indicative of the symbolic and emotional power that "human spaceflight has on the imagination."
What impact will NASA's new Russia policy have on the U.S. space agency's operations?
"As long as diplomatic relations are maintained and ISS cooperation is not impacted, I don't see current events as a major setback," said Pace. "The relationship has gone through cycles in the past when Russia was part of the Soviet Union."
For instance, Pace says a 1977 agreement to send the then future shuttle to a Russian Salyut station was put on hold after the 1981 declaration of martial law in Poland, which was then part of the old Soviet Bloc. Pace also notes that a U.S.-Soviet space cooperation agreement was allowed to lapse in 1982; before eventually being renewed in 1987.
Still, according to a recent Pew Research Center Survey, even among 26 percent of the American public that "views Russia as an adversary," 42 percent say "it is more important that the U.S. not get too involved in the situation involving Russia and Ukraine." And among the 22 percent who don't see Russia as "much of a problem," a whopping 75 percent prefer that the "U.S. not get too involved."
As for NASA?
In his email, O'Brien writes that "if the situation changes, further guidance will be disseminated."
As for "2010," the film?
It did have one bright note. Our solar system got a second sun out of the deal. Let's hope that any such future thermonuclear displays limit themselves to astrophysics.
END
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