Fwd: JSC Director News, May 2014

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: May 15, 2014 3:27:17 PM CDT
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: JSC Director News, May 2014

In case you are not signed up to receive this from her…..

 

 

From: JSC Director News
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 1:44 PM
To: Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)
Subject: JSC Director News, May 2014

 

Having trouble viewing this email? View it online. Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

May 15, 2014

Greetings:

I hope you follow JSC on Facebook, because a lot has occurred since my note last month. The Expedition 39 crew safely landed Tuesday, May 13. Koichi Wakata, the first ever Japanese commander of the International Space Station, handed command of the station to NASA astronaut Steve Swanson on Monday, kicking off Expedition 40. I know some of you have voiced concerns about the U.S.-Russia relations, so I want to assure you that operations on the ISS continue on a normal basis, including Tuesday's landing and the preparations for launch of Expedition 40 on May 28.

The "Big Move" – the two-night eight-mile highway trek made by the Shuttle Aircraft Carrier to its new home at Space Center Houston -- went national when the Associated Press shared KHOU-TV's story.  The exhibit is set to open next year.

The Houston Chronicle also gave NASA a nod, running an opinion piece I wrote with its editorials May 3. Please share it with friends and family and please continue to forward this newsletter too. Plus, last week, NASA's Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation , managed by JSC personnel, got a nod from the White House Office of Science and Technology for its efforts to spur innovation across government agencies and engage citizen solvers.

Since my last note, here's a quick rundown, including links, of what's happened:

• The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft arrived at ISS last month delivering a set of high-tech legs for Robonaut 2 and a number of science investigations, including a demonstration of laser optics communication.
• Astronauts Mastracchio and Swanson successfully completed a one hour, 36 minute spacewalk to replace a backup computer to restore redundancy in a critical ISS system.
• Orion proved up to the challenge during two recent tests: one of its parachute systems in an emergency scenario and another designed to make sure it can withstand the vibrations of launch. These paved the way for work to start on the installation of the spacecraft's heat shield, the last step necessary before the crew module is stacked on top of the service module, currently planned for the first week in June.
• Two astronauts went underwater at our Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory on May 9, to try out spacesuits and techniques for a mission to an asteroid. While there, they took time out for the first underwater interview to be conducted from the NBL.
• Last month we asked the public to vote on three versions of our next generation spacesuit design, Z-2. And the winner is…"Technology," a gray spacesuit with glowing patches of blue on its upper and lower torso, taking the vote with 63 percent of the 233,431 votes cast.
• Steve Swanson has been posting images from the ISS on Instagram. He recently posted about the Veggie experiment with the caption, "Getting a tan while growing lettuce."  He has close to 100,000 followers.

 

See you next month,

Ellen Ochoa
JSC Director

Visit www.nasa.gov/jscdirectornews to subscribe to JSC Director News

Stay Connected
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/NASAJSC
http://twitter.com/NASA_Johnson

This message was sent to larry.j.moon@nasa.gov from:
NASA - Johnson Space Center | 2101 NASA Pkwy | Houston, TX 77058 US
To opt-out of receiving future emails, click here.